Hippy Chick

Can you believe how big my girl has gotten?  Yeah....me neither!

Toy Story 3

We went this past Saturday and took Zoe to see Toy Story 3.  She has seen the other two and absolutely loved those so we thought we would have a little family outing and take Zoe to see her second movie!  It was such a cute movie!  Mark actually commented that he wouldn't mind going to see it again!  I'm sure you could ask our Zoe girl and she would say the same thing! 

Here's our girl at the movies:

My favorite character of the movie:

I laughed until I cried!  And since I turn this Blog into a yearly scrapbook, I had to add that I hate those little machines with the "claw" that comes down and tries to win you a stuffed animal!  Try telling your kid that they can't try it out and then having to carry them out of the theater screaming and crying!  You would've thought we had taken away Zoe's Ken doll!  Geez!

Station 3

So, you've heard me talk about swim lessons on here and how my girl was doing such a good job.  Well, I have to go ahead and brag because in 8 lessons, my girl has advanced to Station 3!  Woo Hoo!  I'm so proud of my girl!  First, I can't believe she is actually doing it!  Secondly, I've learned that my girl can do absolutely anything she sets her mind to!  I think we as parents have a tendency to hold our kids back...not intentionally...but when they start screaming and seem really scared of an activity, we cave and coddle, etc.  Well, I highly recommend  having someone teach your child to swim.  In my opinion (it's my Blog so I can freely give it), teaching our children to swim and about water safety should be a top priority!  I just wish my parents had done it for me (not your fault Dad)!  I tease Zoe and tell her all the time that's she's going to have to teach Mommy how to swim!  The sad part?  I'm so not joking either!  She is amazing!  Daddy got to go for the first time yesterday and he was blown away!  I don't think he really believed me when I told him all she was doing in the pool!  Anyway, you can check out what my girl is doing by clicking here.  In the meantime, I'm going to hug on my little fish!

Zoe's Four Year Checkup

Oh my!  Where has the time gone?  I can't believe that my Zoe girl just had her four year checkup!  We went this morning to see Dr. Beveridge (who we absolutely love) and I was a little worried about what would occur at this appointment.  I knew that the state of Tennessee had changed shot requirements and I wasn't too sure whether or not our girl would have to get shots.  She point blank asked me if she was going to have to get shots and I had responded that I wasn't sure.  She started to get really upset, but I told her not to worry about it.  I don't believe in lying to her and telling her she's not going to get any when she might.  I've found with my child that it's best just to face up to it.  Of course, that doesn't work for every parent, but it is what has worked for us.  Anyway, I digress. 

I knew Zoe was going to have her blood pressure checked, her weight checked, her height measured, etc., but I wasn't sure about the shots and I wasn't too sure about how she would react to peeing in a cup again.  If you don't remember my post from last year, you can check it out here.  But you know what?  I found I was worrying over nothing because my girl was AWESOME!  She was such a big girl.  She sat and talked it up with Dr. Beveridge and she handled all of the tests like a pro!  Her weight was 42.5 lbs (90th percentile) and her height measured at  42 1/4 inches (93rd percentile).  For those of you a little slow like me, my child is 3 feet 6 1/4 inches tall!  Holy Cow!  Where does that height come from?!?  It is certainly a blessing that she has continued to grow like she has considering all the times she has had to be on inhaled steroids and oral steroids.  Both Dr. Beveridge and I are very thankful for that!  Anyway, after consulting my list of questions and making sure I had gone over everything, we left with great big hugs for Dr. Beveridge and I took Zoe back to school.  The cutest part of the day?  Zoe got to wear her first "paper gown."  Check it out....

Thank God for a great checkup!

Partying at Pump-it-Up Again!

We celebrated Zoe's 4th birthday at Pump it Up again this year.  I repeatedly asked her where she wanted to have her party and she didn't want to have it at any other place!  So, we went to Pump it Up again and it is truly a kid's paradise!  Nana & Papa came back down again for the second weekend in a row so they could celebrate with us!  We had a blast! 

Zoe and her Corrine doll from Nana & Papa

Zoe & Papa

Princess Zoe!

Jumping with Ryan...

Slide Zoe Slide!

Climbing the rock wall...

Go Shyla & Ashlyn!

Becca & Shelley...contemplating something...Hmmmm...

Christina & Ella

The whole gang...

Funny faces!

Zoe's Barbie Cake...

Princess Zoe

Getting ready to blow out candles...

Some of the gang in the "big chair"

Last Soccer Game - June 5, 2010

Zoe's last soccer game took place on June 5, 2010.  I must say that I've thoroughly enjoyed watching our girl play and getting out of the house as a family on Saturday mornings.  I don't think Zoe will be the next Mia Hamm, but she certainly had fun!  Below are pics of her last game...

Coming for a drink of water...

Go Zoe Go!

The Cutest #1 Ever!

Joseph, Zoe, Lewis, Malachai, Dylan, Collin, Augustus, Jonah & Allison

Go Titans One Last Time...

Zoe & Augustus

Zoe's Medal

Zoe & Allison...the only girls on the team!

Station 2

I think I forgot to mention on here that my Zoe girl has been taking swim lessions.  Well, she started taking swim lessons back in March; however, she ended up with pneumonia and Swim America was kind enough to move the remaining lessons I had already paid for to the Summer session.  Anyway, she started back this past week with her first class on Monday.  She had her second class on Wednesday and really seemed to just "get it."  This swim program has children in stations based on their abilities.  Obviously, beginning swimmers start at "Station 1" and so forth and so on.  In order to move to the next station, you have to complete certain requirements for each station.  To move from Station 1, you have to be able to blow bubbles, go under water and float on your back.  I'm so proud of my girl because in just two lessons, she has moved to Station 2!  Way to go Zoe!  I've started calling her "Nemo" as a joke, but she seems to love it!  She calls me "Mommy Nemo."  Little toot....

My girl on her first swim lesson back in March...

Papa's Age

When my parents were down to take care of Zoe last weekend while Mark and I went to the concert, Papa told me that he asked Zoe had old she was and she said, "Four!"  Papa said, "Do you know how old I am Zoe?"  Zoe replied, "Four!"  Papa said, "Not quite!  I'm 66!"  He said Zoe thought for a minute and said, "That sure is a long time Papa!"  Needless to say, Nana REALLY got a kick out of it!  When they were here this past weekend for Zoe's birthday party, Papa asked Zoe, "Zoe, how old is Papa?"  Zoe said, "62!"  Papa said, "I'm realy liking this....I've just gone back four years!"  Keep in mind that this was on Friday night.  Saturday morning Papa decided to ask Zoe the same question to which she replied, "92!"  I'm thinking Papa is going to stop asking now!  What do you think?  Ha!

"Dorfs"

Mark was giving Zoe a bath the other night and, apparently, they were discussing Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs.  Our girl just so happens to call them "Dorfs."  Anyway, Zoe came upsets butt naked after her bath and says, "Mommy, I'm going to be Bashful, your Dopey Dorf and Daddy is Grumpy Dorf!"  How is it that I'm Dopey?  I was actually laughing too hard to be offended.....

Indian Giving

I went to get Zoe from school the other day.  While I was in her classroom getting her stuff together (she was on the roof with her class), I noticed there was a gift in her cubby that was obviously wrapped by a child.  I could see through the paper that it was a book of nursery rhymes (one we already have) and on the front of the wrapping paper was a piece of construction paper.  It was obvious that a child had drawn pictures all over it and had written "Zoe Can" across the front.  At the top in what was apparently adult handwriting was the word "Borrow."  I also saw in her cubby that there were several other pieces of little paper and I finally caught the name "Lydia" written on it.  I realized that the gift was from her friend Lydia in the older preschool room.  I packed it up and proceeded to go to the roof to get Zoe and when I rounded the corner, Ms. Gina stopped me and asked, "Girl, did you see that present in Zoe's cubby?"  I said, "Yes and I don't get it."  She said, "Lydia came into school this morning and she stopped at our classroom and said she had a birthday present for Zoe."  I put it in her cubby and a few minutes later, Lydia's mother came into the room and told me that I needed to explain to you that the book was only to borrow and that Zoe would need to return it."  I said, "What?"  She said, "Girl, it's the craziest thing I've heard in a while."  Um, yeah.  Me, too!  Do you know how hard it was for me to explain to Zoe that she had to give a birthday present back that she was getting to open up?  She just didn't get it.  Of course, there was no hiding it from her either because she had seen the gift and knew it was in there, plus Lydia had told her all about it.  I had to convince her the entire car ride home that she had to give the gift back and that we weren't even taking it into the house.  I get that it was sweet and all, but I wouldn't do that to another child.  Seriously?  Give the gift back?  I was telling my buddy Julie about it and she said, "So, Zoe just got her first lesson in Indian giving, didn't she?"  I started laughing and she said, "Let me clarify that it was definitely Woo Woo and not Red Dot."  For those of you who don't know, Julie is Indian (red dot).  That at least got me to laugh (a lot I might add) about the whole ordeal.  I won't tell you what my buddy Shelley wanted to do to her!  Geez....

Chloe and The Dora Watch

Zoe has a Dora watch.  She wanted to wear it to school the other day so I let her even though it wasn't a "Show & Share" day.  I went in to pick up Zoe and saw that her watch was in her cubby.  I was getting it out, along with all of her other items for that day, when her classmate Chloe (I feel sorry for her teachers...I'm sure they get them confused a lot) came up to me and asked, "What's that?"  I said, "That's Zoe's Dora watch."  Chloe said, "Can I put that on?"  I asked Zoe if it was okay and when she said it was, I put it on Chloe.  After letting her wear it for a few minutes, I was just beginning to take it off when Joy Margaret came up to me and said, "Can I put that on?"  I again asked Zoe if it was okay and she replied, "Sure."  I put the watch on Joy Margaret when Zoe yells, "Hey Sydney, want to try on my Dora watch?"  So, Sydney comes over and we repeat the whole process.  While I'm putting the watch on Sydney Chloe asks, "What that?"  While she's asking the question, she has proceeded to stick her first finger between my boobs and is apparently asking about my cleavage.  I'm stunned silent when my Zoe girl says, "Ahhhh, that's just my Mommy's boobies!"  Of course, she waives her hand like it's no big deal.  I begin to laugh hysterically, which I guess caused Chloe to think the whole thing was okay and she proceeded to do it again!  I said, "That's my personal space and you need to stay out of it."  Of course, I said it very nicely and the teachers were crying.  It was a pretty funny episode!

Parent/Teacher Conference

I had my first parent/teacher conference with Zoe's teacher, Ms. Jennifer, not too long ago.  I love having these because I really get an insight into my daughter from the people who spend the most time with her.  That's sad, isn't it?  It really depresses me every time I think about it so I try hard not to.  Both Mark and I have to work...especially in this economy.  Me getting to stay home just isn't an option and I find myself envious of those who do get to stay home.  Anyway, McKendree has their teachers go through the state's guidelines on how much they have progressed, areas where they are behind, etc.  You never really know what to expect (I've always been told areas where my child needed improvement).  But, I'm thrilled to say that my child has far exceeded any goal set by the state.  As a matter of fact, she is far advanced.  She can write her own name, all of her letters and most of her numbers (there weren't any others in her class who could).  They said she is the most polite child (we are very big on manners in the Lawrence household) and the most well behaved.  They said they wished they could have a classroom full of nothing but little Zoe girls.  They actually commented that they had a few that they would like to send home with me for one week to see what I could do with them!  Ha!  Do you know how good that feels?  I feel like I'm on my child all the time, but apparently it works.  I told her teacher that we've already started on  sight words at home for early reading and that she knows at least half of those now, too.  She said, "That just doesn't surprise me at all.  You can tell when a child is worked with outside of the home so whatever you are doing, keep doing it."  I just had to brag because I'm so extremely proud of my Zoe girl!

The Dentist.....

My girl is a grinder in her sleep....BIG TIME!  So much so that she has ground her little baby teeth down to almost nothing.  Of course, that's a problem because they need to last until her "big girl teeth" get here.  I was feeding Zoe an apple the other day when she complained, "My teeth hurt."  This was a major red flag to me because she has been going to the dentist since she was 8 months old due to the fact she has been on many breathing treatments for asthma.  They told me to watch for tooth sensitivity since she is such a grinder.  I called the very next morning and they had us an appointment for first thing the every next morning.  I was so thankful that the solution to this was pretty simple.  They "built up" her back top teeth with "filling material" in order to prevent Zoe from reaching her front two teeth.  If she can't reach them, then she can't grind them.  They said she will still grind those down and when that happens, just to bring her back in and they will do the process all over again to help save those teeth until she loses them naturally and her permanent teeth come in.  They told me not to stress over it because this is a common problem and that research shows that most children will grow out of it between the ages of 6 and 9.  Boy do I hope she grows out of it!  Why am I blogging out this you might ask?  Well, when your child reaches four at her dentist office, they have to go back by themselves for procedures.  They said she did great until they put cotton in her mouth to dry the surface and she just lost it.  I could tell she had because she came out and her eyes were extremely red.  The tech who did the procedure said, "I just have to tell you this story."  I'm thinking, "Oh no!"  She said, " I told Zoe she had very pretty hair and she was so polite and said thank you.  I then told Zoe she was a very pretty little girl."  Do you know how my Zoe girl replied?  She said, "I know.  I get told that all the time."  Now that is hysterical!  Not shy about telling the truth is she?  Here's a picture of my girl at the dentist....

This was pre meltdown of course!