Zach, 3 1/2 and Jake 16 months

We had a great summer and fall! We did a lot of swimming in our pool, went to the Pumpkin Patch, went trick-or-treating in Downtown McKinney, enjoyed the Texas State Fair and saw the dinosaurs at Heard Nature Trail.!

Zach is 3 1/2 and likes to watch movies, play computer games, playing with cars and truck, and playing baseball. He recently gave up the tee and is hitting dad's pitches! He likes to read book, too. Zach is very thoughtful and polite with his friends and Jake.

Jake is 16 months and is just beginning to say a few words. His first word was look. He has learned sign language at school and is doing well with his signs. He is a happy little guy! He laughs very easily and gives the best hugs and kisses. He loves to throw the football and screams football every time he sees it on TV!

Jake, age 1 year, having a good time with Dad!

Zach, 3 years old, singing The Continent Song!

And Jake makes four

So it's been a long time since I last updated this blog. Since the last entry we have welcomed Jacob Eugene Trout into the family. He was born on July 1st, 2009 weighing in at 6 lbs and just 18 inches long. He is now 2 1/2 months old and is smiling a bunch and squealing too! He's a pretty easy baby so far. At his two month check-up he weighed 11 1/2 pouunds and was 22 inches long.

It's been fun to watch Zach, who is now 2 years old, with Jake. He is so sweet with him. He's been a great big brother and a huge help. He told the kids at school yesterday to "Be nice to his brother" which I thought was hysterical. Zach is a man on a mission. He is a very determined, talkative, and funny little guy. Over the past month or so he has really been talking up a storm. He makes complete sentences and his inflections are priceless!

We took the boys on a Summer road trip to Illinois and to Michigan. We drove 3,000 miles and had a great time. Zach watched Finding Nemo about 100 times. Thank god for portable DVD players. Zach had fun riding the tractors and lawn mowers with Grandpa! I think Grandpa had a pretty good time, too! We were able to visit with quite a few family members, have a campfire, go out with Erin in Evansville, and we met Cole, my nephew, who is 5 1/2 months old. What a handsome and smiley boy!

Matt and I have put our house on the market and are looking to build in McKinney, which is just north of Dallas. Our fingers are crossed that our house sells before we lose out on the new one!

Well, it's back to work for me next week so I will do my best to keep this updated, but I am not making any promises!

Zach, 19 and 20 months

So, mom has kind of been slacking with this whole blog thing. Finally, a new update! Well, Christmas came and went. Grandma and Grandpa Trout were in town with Aunt Erin to celebrate. Zach got way too many toys, but enjoyed every minute of it. He's saying lots of words, of which, his favorite is "no". Dad and mom are busy preparing for another little one to join the family in July.


Grandpa reading Twas the Night before Chistmas to Zach.



























Dad and Zach playing with their Light Sabres Grandma and Grandpa got them.






















Grandma and Zach enjoying some R & R.

Almost 18 months

Well, a lot has happened since we last wrote. We took Zach to the pumpkin patch to pick out his pumpkin. He rode in an old John Deere wagon around the patch! He had a blast trying to pick up all the pumpkins. We still think he is going to be a furniture mover when he grows up!


Halloween was awesome! Zach chose not to wear his hat to complete his outfit, but nonetheless, he rocked the Incredible Hulk costume. We worked on the phrase "trick-or-treat" for a month leading up to Halloween. We went to a few houses and Zach never said the key phrase, but he picked out his own candy and put it in his bucket. We got back to our house , walked up to the front door and Zach yells trick-or-treat! It was hysterical. The timing couldn't have been better! A true classic!


Grandma Gwyn was in town and we did all sorts of things. We took Zach to get his first haircut. He did great. In fact, when it was over he wanted to get back in the chair! They spiked it all up and he was lookin' tough! We also went to the aquarium. It is a beautiful aquarium with lots to see. We saw a huge octopus, otters at feeding time, a tunnel where the sharks swam over your head. A fun Sunday morning.


Zach says a lot of words now. Too many to list. He is obsessed with an old pair of sunglasses of mine that he broke. There aren't any lens, but he wears them around the house all the time! He's our little professor!

Zach turned 16 months old and is busier than ever! He nows gives hi-5's, scales his high chair, and chases the cat. Yep! He's all boy. Make no mistake about it! He likes to look at books, throw objects across the room and eat often.

Mom and Zach have been trying to find fun activities to do when Dad's at work. We blow up balloons, finger paint, go to Ms. Sarah's pool, and draw on the sidewalk with chalk. Mom is only so creative so if you have any ideas, please send them our way!

Zach, 15 months

Zach is 15 months old and he is a boy on a mission. He is go, go, go from morning 'til night. He likes anything musical and dances to any sound...even the air conditioner! He enjoys taking walks around the neighborhood. He wants to be outside all the time now. Thankfully it's getting a bit cooler in Texas and we're able to spend more time outside.

He smiles most of the time and he laughs a lot. He does have his moments of fit throwing too! He is picking up new words and is mimicking our actions. He understands several commands which makes life that much easier.

14 months

Zach is now 14 months. He is talking gibberish and even slides in a few words every now and again. He says juice, no, mom, dada, and tree. I started throwing pureed veggies in everything so he will actually eat them. So far, so good! He likes to pretend to drink out of cans as you can see!

Zach 13 months

So, don't mind the date on the pictures. Apparently, we failed to input the correct date on the camera!

Anyhow, Zach is now 13 months old. He is walking around the house like he's been walking for years! He has 4 teeth with a 5th one just breaking through. He has defiitely started babbling a lot more since he turned 1. He sort of says "night-night" and he said "bye-bye" for the 1st time today, two different times! Once for me as we were leaving daycare and then for Matt this evening. Very exciting day for us!


Zach slept through his first 4th of July fireworks. Well, he did see a few when we woke him up to leave the party! Matt and Zach came out to mom's ski show along with Uncle Jason and Stephanie. It was nearly 100 degrees, but they all stuck it out.

Zach and mom are headed to Michigan on Saturday to spend time with the family. We're packed and ready to go. We are looking forward to hanging out on the lake and getting as much R & R as a mom and a 1-year old can!

Zach turns 1

We made it! Zach turned one on May 22nd. That night he took several steps several times between mom and dad! He laughs ALL the time. He finds himself very funny! He went from formula to cow's milk in one day. We were out of formula so I decided to go for it and he made no qualms about it.

At his 1-year check-up, he weighed 22 lbs. and was 29.5 inches tall (50% for both). Get this....his head is in the 5th percentile! His blood work came back as slightly anemic. More iron it is!


Grandma Gwyn came down for Zach's birthday and she helped Beth make a monkey (or bear) cake! We had his birthday party on Saturday with just a few friends and family. We set-up a pool and ball pit for Zach to play in. We set his high chair out on the back patio and let him dig into his own cake. He wasted no time getting very messy! We tossed him in the pool right after to clean him up!

11 months

Well, 11 months have come and gone. Zach is continuing to grow and learn new things. He is walking around the house holding on to everything. He won't quite let go and walk on his own yet, but he is getting closer! He sleeps from 7 to 7 which is great for Mom and Dad!

Zach is eating baby food along with some finger foods. He is a bit picky when it comes to new textures though.

He giggles and smiles all the time and is quite enjoyable! He makes us laugh everyday.

10 months

Zach is 10 months old and getting into everything! He enjoyed his first Easter with an Easter basket with his name on it from Grandma Gwyn.

He walked for the 1st time on April 2nd and we even got it on camera! He took four steps into Mom's arms three different times!

Zach is eating some table food. It takes him awhile to get used the different textures, but once he does.....it's on!

9 months

We can't believe it's already been 9 months. Zach is healthy and happy! He weighs 20 lbs. 3 oz and is 28 inches long. He sleeps through the night and eats like a horse! We're up to 4 jars of baby food a day and plenty of Cheerio's. Zach is slowly getting the hang of the whole sippy cup concept! He's pulling himself up on everything and walking around the coffee table. One of his favorite things to do is pull all the pillows off the couch. In no time at all, he'll be running around this house.




We're still taking Zach to Gymboree classes on Saturday's. Mom and Zach have been going to the park after work too. Zach likes to swing and has even been down the slide!

Eight months have passed since Zach arrived. He's now crawling on all fours and climbing all over your lap and off the couch! He sleeps through the night most of the time. He has found his voice, and we won't be surprised if he's talking non-stop sooner rather than later. He babbles constantly! We couldn't have asked for a happier baby. He truly has stayed very mild-mannered. We just wonder how long will it last? We think he's just storing up so when he goes wild as a 2 year old we can say, "Remember when he was such a mellow baby!"







We started taking classes at Gymboree on Saturdays. Today was our first day and we all had a blast! Mom, Dad and Zach played games and sang songs together (don't tell Matt I wrote that)! Zach looked like he was having a good time. He spit up a few times, but what's new! He was the youngest one by a month, but he hung in there with the other kids and played right beside them. We took home lots of ideas for new games to play.

Zach turned 7 months old today! Time has flown by! He's 18 pounds now and is busier than ever. He puts everything into his mouth and drools like crazy. He has started to crawl a little over the past few days. He is still trying to figure out how to use the arms AND the knees! He inches forward a few times and then crashes on his belly. Zach is a very easy going little guy. He smiles all the time and, for the most part, is in a good mood. He sleeps through the night and puts himself to sleep around 7:00 p.m.

We are staying in Texas for Christmas this year. We will go over to Tom and Rita's on Christmas day. We are very busy with work and Zach, but we are enjoying parenthood immensely! We took Zach to see Santa at the mall last Sunday. He did great and took a very nice picture. Zach has learned so much over the last month that I can't imagine what I will be typing about next month!

First Halloween

Zach is 5 months old now. He weighs 18 pounds and is solid as a rock. The pediatrician says he's a baby hulk! He puts anything and everything in his mouth. For the most part he is sleeping through the night!

We went to New Orleans at the end of October for our friend Jen's wedding. Zach stayed with Aunt Becky and Uncle John. It was a nice weekend for us to get away and we are truly grateful John and Becky said they'd watch him. They had their hands full with 4 kids over the weekend!

So, October 31st rolls around and Beth can't wait to take Zach trick-or-treating! She put him in his costume and gave him a bottle. Big mistake! He ended up sleeping through the whole thing! The one night he decided to go to bed at 6:00 pm and it's Halloween! Anyhow, we did get some good pictures of him as a sleeping dinosaur.

4 months old

Today marks 4 months since Zach was born. We can barely remember our lives without him. He's on his third day of rice cereal. He's actually doing quite well. When you put him on his belly now he tries to pull his knees underneath him. We think he's trying to get on the move. We're not sure if we're ready for that yet though!

3 months old

So, Zach is 3 months old already. He weighs just over 14 lbs. and is 25 inches long. He smiles all the time and is such an easy baby! He can stand up solid as rock just holding your pinkies. He's an incredibly strong little boy. Zach sleeps anywhere from 6 to 9 hours at night now. He's eating 6 ounces and we're getting ready to bump him up to 7 ounces.

Grandpa and Grandma Trout came to Dallas to stay with Matt while Beth went to Michigan for her cousin, Shawn's, wedding. Grandpa Terry had to head back to Illinois, but Grandma Cindy was able to stay another whole week. Zach and Grandma spent everyday together. They read books, watched Sesame Street, and talked. Zach found his voice while Grandma was in town. It's been fun to listen to his screeches and screams.

Brad & Sara's wedding

So, Beth headed back to work and Zach is off to daycare. Both were only back for a few weeks then it was off to Michigan to attend Uncle Brad's wedding. Zach's first trip on a plane went well. He didn't utter a peep on the way up and we only heard a few little cries on the way back. We were even delayed an hour in Detroit and sat on the plane for an hour and half once we got back to Dallas.

Brad and Sara had a beautiful wedding. Riley was a beautiful flower girl and did a wonderful job. Zach went to the wedding and was asleep during the ceremony thanks to his great-aunt Kay. We hardly saw Zach once we got to the wedding. He went from person to person and was quiet the whole time. Once we droppped Zach off with the babysitter, we made it our mission to have a good time ourselves. Mission accomplished!!!

Zach is 2 months old now. He weighed 11 lbs. 11 oz. and was 22 1/2 inches long at his 2 month check-up. He's smiling a lot more now. The best time to catch him is first thing in the morning. He's all smiles when he wakes up. We haven't seen him roll over in awhile though. He's grabbing rattles and holding them in his hand. He changes more each day and it's amazing to watch him grow!