here's to you, irene cara

So, Aunt Amy made Mercy the most fantastic leg warmers when she was visiting here in February. A few weeks ago, we took advantage of the early spring weather and invited Mercy to strut her stuff on the Pearl Street Mall. She gladly obliged without hesitation. And believe me when I say that we did NOT ask her to do any of these poses. It's the power of the leg warmer, people. It just makes you want to move.

In closing, I will say four things:

1) Andy dressed her. My husband is awesome.
2) My daughter really really really makes me smile.
3) Amy, it was a beautifully bold move and such an appropriate tribute to the decade we love. Thank you.
4) I am music now. I am rhythm now. (If you haven't rocked out to "Fame" or "What a Feeling" lately, you need to. Soon.)

And now, for the gazillion pictures of Miss Leg Warmers 2008...because picking two or three would just be plain wrong.

time, she flies

I can't believe it's almost been six weeks since my last post! We've had a busy last month with some weird health issues for me (which have apparently turned out to be a very messed up thyroid - fun) and a job change for Andy (he's now a Graphic Artist with Whole Foods - much more fun than a messed up thyroid!). The girls are growing like crazy, so I thought I'd post some recent pictures before they move in to their college dorms.

Mercy officially turned 2 1/2 last week, and Eden will be 7 months old this Saturday. What?! Eden is sitting up now and thinking quite seriously about rolling over. She's been eating rice cereal as well as homemade pureed sweet potato, squash, and carrots. Yum.

Mercy's rolling out long sentences these days and providing a great deal of the Zenz family entertainment. Some words she really nails, but others are her own little creation. Here's a sampling of some of our favorites: "dare doe" (there you go), "mercy wait up" (Mercy wake up), "you doin'?" (What are you doing?), "hold you" (hold me), "real tozy" (real cozy), "yesss" (very long and drawn out), "sums up" (thumbs up), "edie joWAYull" (edie joelle in a southern accent), "samich" (sandwich), "get see-yull" (get cereal), "doovy" (groovy), "I'm saw-yuh" (I'm sorry), "vedo" (video), "do den" (do it again), "nossnocerous" (rhinocerous), and "hittopottus" (hippopotamus). And as I was typing just now, she threw out these gems: "Mine wortin' real hard" (I'm working real hard), "Mercy tatin' a brait" (Mercy's taking a break), "my tatin' my sots off" (I'm taking my socks off), and "whoa. i pretty hot" (self-explanatory).

Oh, how I enjoy being Mercy & Eden's mom, and Andy's wife, and a friend, and a daughter, and a sister, and on and on and on. It's great to be alive, isn't it? Thank you Jesus, for each breath, and for the reality of knowing you as my risen Savior.

Here's to a wonderful spring tomorrow...and a meaningful, life-changing Easter celebration this weekend!

mercy hammin' it up while a patient eden looks on (really reminds me of the early 80's when amy and i always hogged the camera, leaving sweet, patient carrie in the background time after time)

excited that she looks her doll, groovy, after wearing braids yesterday

hi, smiles

a few weekends ago, we went to a festival called "frozen dead guys" in a nearby mountain town called nederland. very, very interesting experience. the food was completely naughty.

that's our girl.

own that rice krispie treat.

one of eden's first sitting up days

beautiful girl

eden's first bites of cereal (february 2008)

flashback: mercy's first bites of cereal (march 2006)

andy & mercy painting our bedroom (mercy almost 2 1/2 years old)

flashback: andy & mercy painting our living room (mercy almost 1 year old)

eden at (almost) 7 months

mercy at 7 months

babe, bets, and ninja kicks

so mercy has started calling me "bets" and andy "babe" from time to time. she doesn't do it disrespectfully (though i think she's picking up on the fact that we think it's hilarious); we think she's just repeating what we call each other. she also reminds us to "be careful" and "hold hands" when one of us is getting ready to leave the house. the other night, i was told to "be good for all the peoples" before i left for Bible study. always good advice.


the other day, we had a large piece of styrofoam that needed to be disposed of. before doing so, andy invited our fantastic neighbor garret to perform some ninja kicks on it. he happily obliged. they both had a jolly good time obliterating the chunk of styrofoam while the girls looked on with glee.

awesome.

our trip to michigan (or "mishinen" if you're talking with mercy)

we spent a little over a week with andy's family in michigan. we relaxed, played in the snow, visited with old friends, and made lots of memories with our ever-growing extended family. mercy had a blast playing with her cousins. and andy & i just loved seeing each other all day, every day for lots of days in a row.

the newest cousin...miss evangeline susan.

gracie & mercy share a fun moment.

edie's happy because she's with...

...grammy!

for some reason, mercy opens her mouth when she uses scissors. cute.

we made the kids individualized hooded towels. isaac plans to use his as a jedi cloak.

lily and her cute butterfly towel.

we see you, elijah!

m & e

i snapped these shots over the last few weeks. the girls sure are getting cute together.

mercy getting just right the angle for our "eden shoot."