More Bath Time and a Few Other Things...

This is what occupies all of Zoey's time for the first few minutes of every bath.

She was concentrating so hard on not getting the water in her eyes

Splash Attack!

I laugh every time I look at this picture.

When Zoey wakes up she usually doesn't cry anymore. She just talks, sings to herself, or finds other ways to entertain herself. The other day she decided she wanted to play with her bear who was outside of her crib. And she almost got it.  

Zoey also loves to talk/yell at Loki when he is locked in the laundry room. Every time we come home she crawls to the bathroom and starts talking to Loki through the gate. Notice chapstick in her mouth. After I took this picture she tried to feed it to Loki. 

Bath Time

Zoey, like almost every other kids in the world, loves bath time. Every night she gets all excited when we take her into the bath tub and turn the water on. She loves playing in the running water when the tub is filling up. She always tries to grab the water. She's a big fan of drinking the water too. Thanks for taking these pictures Shane!

 

Huge Post Update

Once again I have procrastinated updating my blog. The result: 11 new posts with a ton of pictures. You might have to click on the older post button at the bottom of the page if you want to see them all. Thanks for reading my blog!

Zoey's 1st Birthday!

Zoey is 1! I can't believe it. This past year has been the best year of my life. Having Zoey in our life has eclisped any hardships this year. She makes us laugh every day. Everyday when Matt comes home he's a little stressed and keyed up from school and the drive home, but the second he sees Zoey that all just melts away. She our little ray of sunshine, even when she is crying.
I can't express how grateful I am that she is ours forever. I remember being in the hospital after having her and crying when it hit me that we got to take her home. It felt like the most amazing gift I could ever receive.
Before we left Utah we did a little pre-birthday party with Nana and Brandon. She got to destroy a cake and open a few presents. She loved digging into the cake.
Her birthday was a little sad because she got sick for the first time. Such crummy timing. She had a temp, cough, and runny nose. I knew she really didn't feel good when she just sat there like a lump. Zoey never sits still unless she is asleep. We ended up laying around all day while Matt studied at school. We watched The Little Mermaid and read a ton of books. The upside, for me, of Zoey being sick was that she wanted to cuddle with me. She NEVER cuddles with me anymore because she NEVER sits still. I was in heaven cuddling with her all day. 
We decided to have cake and open present the day after birthday when she felt a little better. She was still sick but she was at least crawling around. It was a pretty small party, Zoey, Matt and myself. I think I'm going to throw her a half birthday party in July to make up for this one. I made her a little cake which I think turned out really cute. I had so much fun making it.

Zoey and Nana D

Cake #1

She was pretty into her balloons

But what she really liked was her candle

It took her awhile to dig into the cake

This was when it started to get fun

I love how the cake is all over the table

Zoey loved having Loki and Hurley lick her hands clean.

Zoey on her birthday Jan 15th. So sad.

Cake #2. I was so happy with how this turned out.

Especially the owl

We couldn't get her to smile for love nor money

Nana K's Party

Nana K (Matt's mom) threw a great party for all her grandkids. It was so much fun! Nana read us stories, played ring-around-the-rosi and decorated cookies. All the cousins were there: Allison, Brinley, Aiden, Malaki, Shaylee and Zoey. It's rare that we all get together because none of live close, so it was really fun to be all together.

We attemped to get a picture of all the cousins. It didn't go so well

Zoey didn't want to stay in line with the other kids

Attempt #2

Attempt #3. Notice Zoey is the only one crying. So dramatic

Attempt #4 the best one I could get.

Bowling!!!

The last few years the Rickard/Parkinson crew have made a tradition of going bowling after Christmas. We are all such amazing bowlers. Okay just a few are pretty good. Basically the goal is for someone to beat Brandon. This is rarely accomplished. Lucky for us Brandon was a bit off his game and Richard was killin it! Richard's high score was 197 or something close to that. The last game became speed bowling, which boils down to seeing who can thrown their ball down the ally the fastest. Matt won this competition with the speed of 24.6 mph. I am so proud of you honey!

Mom, Alli, and Kendal

We started the evening off playing a little pool. All of us were horrible. Lots of mocking eachother.

Shane was mocking my awesome dancing so I had to give him the evil eye.

This was the first game I ever won! I even beat Brandon!

Dear Shane, this is my revenge for making fun of my dancing.

....................and this. Shane's power bowling.

Matt's power bowling

Dylan's power bowling

Christmas

We had a great Christmas. It was so fun to come home to be with family for the holidays. We were super busy while we were here but I think it was the most relaxing Christmas Day we've had since getting married. Matt's mom was in Idaho with Rick's kids, so we did Christmas with them on the 26th. Shaunna, Rick's oldest daughter, was recovering from surgery so Nana K and Rick went up to help.
We had so much fun opening presents with Zoey. Matt and I liked it more than Zoey did. Then we were off to Matt's dad's for a couple house. We spent the rest of the day just relaxing.
The Parkinson's have a tradition to go to Denny's for breakfast every year on Christmas morning and then a movie. We skipped out on it this year because of Zoey and going to Curtis' house. But when it came to cooking dinner that night Richard decided no one should have to cook or clean up so they took us to Denny's for dinner. We loved it because we felt like we didn't miss out on a tradition but my mom and Richard ate Denny's twice in one day. Hopefully that doesn't become a tradition for them. No one should have to eat Denny's twice in one day.

Deep down Brandon LOVES holding her

How cute is my Mom!

So exciting

Opening her pal Violet, a talking, music playing, singing puppy. Zoey loves her Violet. 

Bonding with her doll from Nana D

My friend Madelyn gave us the great idea of giving Zoey a keyboard, mouse, and cell phone of her very own. Everything of course provided by her uncle Brandon. He said he just had them laying around, which I believe completely. Thanks Uncle Brandon!

All of Zoey's schwag! I think we may have gone a little overboard.

Uncle Shane was a little tired from staying up all night making Alli's present.

Opening present with the Nana D and Pop pop's

I love this picture of Sam, Dylan, and Shane sitting in from of the fireplace. Such cute young men!

Family Picture in front of the Tree!

Everyone at Grandpa Fletcher's on Christmas morning.

Christmas dinner at Nana K's

Family Photo at Nana K's