The Great Escape (by Travis)

A few Fridays ago I was mowing the lawn while Marcie was inside with the boys. As i turned the lawn mower around I saw Zane making a break for it. He had done this before but it was almost a year ago. So I stopped the mower and pulled out my phone to document his escape. When i turned the mower off I heard Mace was crying and Marcie was making him a bottle, perfect timing for Zane. So I left the lawn for a while and Zane and I played in the fort/clubhouse.






Lately Mace is all smiles and tongue, usually both at the same time. He is happy most of the time, I think it makes it that much sadder when he is sad. When he cries it breaks my heart and makes me laugh, his eyes shut in just a way that it looks like they are frowning and his lower lip triples in size. Very sad. If i have a chance I will take a picture. There really is nothing like waking up to a smiley face like that looking up from the crib.

Happy Anniversary Trav...

It was so fun being back in San Diego this past week. While we have never lived there, I will always consider it our city. Each time we return we make a new memory to build on our first trip there 4 years ago today! We went to get married, for our first anniversary, when Zane was 3 months old, and this past weekend when Mace was 3 months old. What a fun tradition for us! Just a quick look back at the fun we've had and a chance to finally tell Travis - I love you and Happy Anniversary! (This morning we both sort of forgot for a moment). For most of you, 4 years is nothing at all, and for Travis maybe it feels like a lifetime, but I can't believe how quickly it's gone and I look forward to every one that follows - especially if we keep going to San Diego ;).

May 2009

November 2008

May 2006

May 20, 2005

San Diego and Other Stuff

We just got back from a quick, but very fun, trip to San Diego. Zane ended up loving the sand and we all got a little break from the every day. Zane even got to inspect a fire truck up close, however, to his disappointment, it was not a garbage truck.

Farm Fun (by Travis)

Zane is growing fast. Here he is sitting in the booster seat. I am not sure what he was eating or why I took the picture but it was a good one. You can see a little road rash on his forhead. He tried to exfoiliate his skin on the drive way. Not sure I recommend this, the new skin looks quite young so we may be opening up a clinic.

Here is Mace happy as a clam. He is growing even faster than Zane. He is so much fun and gives the best smiles when one makes eye contact with him.

It is hard to take pictures where both boys are smiling. Add me and it is near impossible, Marcie is a saint for dealing with us.

Here are the promised farm pictures. Zane "drove" every tractor they would let him on. He also spent a good amount of time chasing ducks and geese. I got there just in time for the tractor ride. We had a blast.
Zane at dinner after the farm I'm not sure how long he would have slept but we did eventually wake him up so he could eat dinner.

Good Laughs

Mace's new little laugh is so cute!

Zane's Nap

On Sunday we decided to try to put Zane down for his nap at noon. This is earlier than usual but we were trying not to miss any of our block (we have 1:00 backwards church). We heard him in his room making some noise but this is typical of any given day and eventually he climbs back in bed and falls asleep. Not on Sunday. After making noise for a while he started to call for daddy to come rescue him. I guess he ran out of things to do.

BEFORE

AFTER

Zane is not actually in the bed but he piled everything from his floor and the toy buckets on top of it! By the way, the tan lump on top is Doggie, one of Zane's favorite things.

A Message for Mace and Zane

I just felt like writing a message to my boys about their dad.

I hope you know how lucky you are. Your dad truly is the best. His greatest desire is to spend time with you boys and teach you all he can. Most dads work out of the house like yours so their responsibilities at home are limited, but not your dad. When he gets home from work he immediately takes you into his arms for a hug and he's involved with you until it's time for bed. He's always giving you a bath and he gladly changes diapers! While this will seem like the standard for you, please note, your dad is exceptional. On so many occasions he woke up in the middle of the night with both of you so that I could get some sleep even though he had to work the next day.

It is my main objective in life to always keep you clean, safe, and happy. I realize this is not the objective of life but I can't help myself. Your dad is so much better at letting you live, grow and experience rather than stifling you. He likes to let you get a little dirty, eat a stick (it has protein), and let you discover things on your own. He teaches you things before I can imagine they need to be taught. Zane learned to climb the stairs up to the slide all on his own before I would have thought it was possible. You’ll both be smarter, stronger, and just plain better because of him. You should know that I think he is a wonderful man and the greatest father. I’m so thrilled to have you two boys because I know that he can teach you to be great men too. He’ll teach you how to fix things, mow the lawn the 'right' way, put in a sprinkling system, play the wii, navigate a foreign city and just about every other thing you can imagine. But he’ll also teach you by example if you’re watching. He’ll show you how you should treat your future wives, how to honor your priesthood, and how to be a strong father. In short, I love him.

Basically, your dad is nothing less than a super star and you are absolutely right in getting so excited for his arrival every evening!

Happy Easter

What a wonderful day to spend time with our families. Zane got a new bubble gun and we played with it all day. He certainly wore himself out trying to chase down all the bubbles and pop them with a stick. Zane also loved hunting for his football shaped eggs.

Last Day's of Winter (by Travis)

Winter doesn't really affect Mace right now, but true to the title of the entry, this was taken sometime in March before the 2oth. He is growing fast and putting on the pounds.

One Saturday morning I got up with the boys and was in the kitchen fixing breakfast, i came back into the living room to see this. Zane was laying on the ground hands on his head watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I miss Saturday morning cartoons.

On the last big snow storm I went out to shovel and Zane wanted to come out and play. Here is a short video of us treking through the front yard.

A Tribute to All My Mother Friends

I don't know how you all do it. You are constantly making blankets for the new baby the friend's baby or the neighbor baby, finding a bargain, saving a bundle, writing your history, cooking a five star meal, making a purse, designing a blog, reading a story, teaching pre-school, going to the park, going to the zoo, working a part-time job, working a full-time job, teaching a primary lesson, watching someone else's children, decorating your home, celebrating a birthday with the world's cutest cake and all the while, you still find time to look good. I don't know how you do it and do it so well. Don't ever underestimate your impact on others and thank you for your inspiration!

You Can't Live With 'Em, You Can't Live Without 'Em

I found a great new food storage product. It's not edible but it is entertaining. Take a look:

Home Sweet Home

I finally finished Mace's room (and thanks to Heidi, I put the final vinyl touches on the wall) so he was able to spend the night in his crib last night for the first time. I think his room turned out so cute. Also, for those interested he did pretty well. He slept for a over three hours so we (actually Travis got up with him last night, thanks Trav) had to get up twice to feed him. We're working on it and a couple of nights ago he slept for over five hours. I look forward to the day that we are back to getting enough sleep....until then at least I have a cute room and a cute rocking chair to sit in while I'm up in the middle of the night.

Fun at the Park (by Travis)

Zane loves the Park. It took one trip in the Fall to realize that the park was for him. He loves to slide. He would climb the playground to get to the slide all day if we would let him.

Mace had fun at the park too, but he was wrapped up and asleep.

The Peanut and the Nutter Butter

Mace

Just to be clear, Mace is our little peanut (not the nutter butter) because he is just so tiny. We are so excited that he now weighs over 8 pounds! My favorite thing is all of his squeaking. It keeps me up at night but he just makes the cutest noise while he sleeps that sounds like 'meeeep'. I think Heavenly Father made newborns and puppies so cute so it's impossible not to love them like crazy!

Zane

Zane is definitely the nutter butter (it's our loving term for crazy). To quote Travis "he is the perfect mix of cute and evil (just like his mother). For a while now, he has been running everywhere he goes, everywhere. More recently he has taken to running no where.

P.S. You may see a follow-up post of Zane watching this video because it's even more entertaining than the video.

The Weather Forecast

While it's looking a bit like spring outside right now, Zane decided the forecast called for snow inside the Hopkins house.

So maybe it wasn't snow, it was salt. And good thing I refilled it a couple of days ago, otherwise it wouldn't have been nearly as much fun. It's noteworthy that he had at least a tsp on top of his head. P.S. that salt shaker holds about 1/4 cup of salt and anyone who tells me it doesn't look like much of a mess can dump 1/4 cup of salt on their floor and in their lap and clean it up, then we'll talk.

Home, and Finally Feeling Better

We had a bit of a rough return home from the hospital. It turns out that I had Influenza A, yuck! It can be treated with medication that gets rid of it more quickly but it has not been tested with breastfeeding and infants so that was a no go. BTW, if it comes down to getting a test for Influenza, I personally recommend taking your chances with the bug than getting the cotton swab shoved into your brain, but that's another story! Anyway, Zane was also feeling pretty lousy but he seems to be bouncing back as well. This was one of those weeks that Heavenly Father really took some pity on me. My mom was able to stay home with me a couple of days while I was sick and miraculously, today I feel pretty good and have a lot of energy back to deal with two kids.

Zane is showing some interest in the baby and doing quite well with him. He doesn't really understand why I don't want his help swinging the baby in the swing, but we'll work on that. Meanwhile here is a picture of them together. And just so Zane doesn't begin to feel upstaged, there is a picture of him sitting in a toy bucket being just as silly as ever.

Baby Pictures (by Travis)

Mace Alan Hopkins (by Travis)

Today at 4 PM Marcie gave birth to Mace Alan Hopkins. He was 7 lbs 11oz and 19 1/2 inches long. Both the baby and Marcie are doing great. We will post some pictures tomorrow.

The Forgotten Christmas Pics

So, typically I take pictures with my camera for special occasions etc and we use Trav's for everyday things. Well, I got the camera out today to take a few cute pictures of Zane...and low and behold, there were quite a few of our Christmas pictures. I thought I would share a couple of my favorites and one from this morning...

This is just a representation of the beginning of the end! For Christmas Zane got a couple of sets of Handy Manny tools (from his favorite show, if 18 month olds can have a favorite show, yikes). He's taken a special interest in the screwdrivers and he carries them everywhere. I mean everywhere. I find them in the snack cupboard, the new babies room, my sewing box, and who knows where else (because one is missing right now). He even uses them to 'work' on his firetruck and slide.

I just thought this was the cutest. Sydney and Brooklyn just can't get enough of Zane now that he can walk and will follow them everywhere. I'm so grateful that they embrace him rather than shut him out.

And, this morning, we took a few pictures of Zane to mark 18 months since things are about to get quite hectic around here. This is one of my favorites! Zane, blue is definitely your color. I just keep wondering how long this super human cuteness of his is going to last.

Zane's Last Days Before Being a Big Brother (by Travis)

This has become a common occurance as of late. Every day Zane is more and more self reliant. Pictured here with a whole box of Teddy Grahams just back from the store. He loves to do this with raisins and gold fish crackers too, I don't think there has been a day in the past 2 weeks that one of us hasn't stepped on a raisin in the family room.

At stores Zane likes to either ride in the cars that are carts or if they don't have those he has to push the cart. Here we are at Costco with a printer a few other items in the cart and Zane pushed it all over the store. All I did was steer. Marcie would do the shopping and I would steer Zane toward her because he wouldn't stop. It is kind of like shopping with a hocky puck on ice.