Ketchup!

I am so far behind!  Three weeks ago, we had a stomach bug blow through the house.  The girls and I were all very sick, and Jonathan was gone.  I was relieved that he and I weren't battling for space to be sick, and thankful that with him out of town, he wouldn't get the bug.  More than anything, I was relieved that Zachariah didn't seem to be getting sick.  I had crazy visions of having to haul a baby that takes no liquids other than breast milk straight from the tap to an emergency room for dehydration, while my two older children and myself were all also throwing up.  Thank God we didn't have to cross that bridge.  The moment I was eating normally again, I came down with a cough.  Jonathan came home from Philadelphia, and was home for three days before he, too got a stomach bug.  My cough still hasn't gone away, Zachariah has a cough, and the two of us finally gave in yesterday and went to the doctor.  He was given an inhaler, I was given steroids.  So basically, it has been the saga of the sick people around here, and I have a TON to post!

I will start with the most important event in the last few weeks.  On September 22nd, Tatiana turned 12!  That's right, folks!  It's her last year as a tween.  This time next year when I have two teenage girls and an almost two year old, you'll be able to find me cowering under a rock.
We began our morning with brownies for breakfast...

Then went on to play Dungeon Quest, by special request of the birthday girl.

Opened a few presents...

And had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe...

Volcano!

Where the waitstaff sang happy birthday to her, and made her act like an elephant!

Someone didn't want a picture taken with her mouth open.  lol

Yes, Zachariah got some too.

Even with 4 out of 5 Martins tackling the Volcano we couldn't conquer it!

While we were at the mall, someone decided she was ready to have her ears pierced.  It wasn't planned, but she did great!  I apologise for the blurry photos.  Mom might have been a little nervous!  ;)

First time seeing her newly pierced ears!

We wrapped it all up with a visit to Nana and Papa's house for her to open more presents.

Happy birthday to my sweet, sweet Tatiana.  Sorry it's a little late, Baby!

So what else have we been up to lately besides being sick and having birthdays?
Well, we've enjoyed the cooler weather.

See the blurry feet?  He was kicking.  We call that his "happy feet"!

blurry baby!

First time down a slide.

Yay!  That was fun!!!

The kids and I went to Celestia's uncle's wedding...

We chased Zachariah most of the night.

It was SO cold, Tatiana used my ring sling to keep warm!

Mom forgot a bib.

MMMMM, fajitas!

Where there was a whole lot of dancin' going on!

Dancing on the stairs...

Dancing by the table...

Dancing on the dance floor...

Eric and Maritza

Mother and son

Celestia and Eric

Until someone fell asleep!

I honestly can't believe he slept through the DJ playing.

And tonight, I put an 11 month old to bed for the last time...

Bath time first!

Then we read his favourite book...

And snuggled up to nurse.

Tomorrow, we will celebrate a whole year with this little guy!  <3