Zoe and Willy

Our subdivision is surrounded by farms that have cows and horses. Everyday we call the animals as we drive down the road. Zoe loves to point them all out.
One of the places does pony rides every Saturday and we finally got a chance to go try it out. She was very excited going there but as soon as we got there, my ever cautious and shy baby girl was saying "no, no,no". We went to pet the pony and finally I convinced her to sit on him. The first several laps were spent with her signing finished and saying no, but she soon warmed up as we talked about the other horseys and what they were eating. Her horse was named Willy. He is seven years old and known and the lazy one. I guess sometimes he has to be practically pulled around the rink. That was good for Zoe though, considering she refused to hold onto the saddle, choosing to hold her "special pony hat" on with one hand and me with the other. She enjoyed it so much that she cried when we left, until I told her the pony had to go take a nap now, then she was ok with it.

Zoe, Willy and the owner Ashley

Trying to take her helmet off and crying for me to hold her hand

"Don't go too far Mommy"

Then we went to lunch together at Moe's (a burrito place)

My new favorite picture

Zoe and Grandpa

Nothing else to say, but AWWW!

Strawberry picking and potty talk

What a busy weekend for us. Friday I started potty training and I think it may have been a success. I don't want to speak to soon, but it went really well. She had one accident on Friday afternoon and none on Sat or Sun. She wore panties (or nothing) all during the day (diaper still at night for now) and even wore them to school on Monday. I took away her sippy at night to try to get her to drink more during the day, so she would need to go more often and get the feeling of a full bladder. I was also giving her watermelon at every meal. She didn't seem to go as much as she normally did in her diaper but she at least told me when she needed to go. I want to see her drinking more before I call it a true success. Not sure when we will tackle night time and poops, but we are super excited about our new big girl! Saturday I took Zoe strawberry picking. What a mess. They had received 3 inches of rain the day before and needless to say it was super muddy. Zoe sank in places up to her ankles. She did pick some but after about 30 minutes she was done and to the car we headed. I told her we had to go show the man our basket so she was carrying the basket through the field and calling "maaaannnnnnn, mmmaaaaaannnnnn". It was too cute. Then she got to strip down to her shirt and underwear for the ride home, which she loved.

Daddy has been taking karate lessons. He tested for his orange belt yesterday and got it. Yay for Daddy!!!!!!! He hope Zoe will like to try karate when she is a bit older. I have to say she would look awful cute in her outfit being so petite.

Finally got her allergies under control with Singulair. Zyrtec worked well last summer but didn't cut it this year. The change to Singulair seems to have done the trick though. Poor girl was spending most of her day getting a tissue.

Mommy's birthday is this Saturday. I'll be turning the big 3-0! Very exciting. We are celebrating later in the month with a cruise for Lar and I, no Zoe. It will be our first trip without her.

Think that about covers it for now.

Pool's open!

The neighborhood pool is open and this past Saturday they had a pool party. There was food, games and a DJ. It was a lot of fun. Zoe is still very cautious but a least walks in the baby pool with out having to cling to me the entire time. She only fell and got her head and face submerged once and I quickly reassured her it was alright to be scared and that I was here for her. Then I put her right back in where she fell at so she would not be scared to try again. She asks to go everytime we drive past it in the neighborhood, so I think we will be there a lot this summer.

Breaking for a snack

Relaxing on the stairs

She loves to "drive" the car all the time

Checking herself out in the mirror. Look how tan she is already!