Smiles

This is Emerald trying to "make" him smile.

Zachary has recently found his hands. They are his favorite toys for now. He will just stare at them for a long time and seems fascinated by their movements. I love watching my kids discover new things (like hands).

Zachary is almost all smiles and giggles these days. Emerald and Calvin will do anything in their power to try to get him to smile (including forcing it with their hands). He rewards us all with his precious little smile. He loves watching them and is really starting to enjoy the mobile on his swing, his toys, and the occasional glance at the dog walking by.

In a medical update on Zachary, we have had to postpone his MRI that was scheduled for June 8. Because they are going to have to sedate him, they want to wait until he is 6 months adjusted age, which will fall after August 25. This means that the MRI is now set for August 31, a week after his surgery. Poor little guy has to be in the hospital 2 times in a week. We didn't want to put him under before that b/c there could be unnecessary complications, and they require him to stay overnight in the hospital. The MRI isn't a pressing issue, so we are opting to wait another couple of months. That just means that August will be a big month for little man. We will just be asking for prayers for him then that they don't find anything abnormal on the MRI and that the surgery is complication free.

Zach has really turned into a roly-poly lately. I went in 4 times during the night last night because he had rolled over onto his belly. He gets frustrated, and isn't quite able to roll himself back over (although his is really working on that this morning and I feel it is pretty close). When we lay him on the floor, he rolls over w/in minutes. He is really playing with toys more and more, and loves sucking on his fingers these days. He has gotten into a habit of waking at around 6 am and talking our ears off. We figure that he is trying to get his "air" time before the airwaves become filled with Emerald and Calvin. He just lays there cooing and chatting away, not even really wanting to eat.

My sleepy boys

I had to throw this picture in, too. Just b/c it was super sweet. Emerald loves taking care of her baby brother.

I am relishing in the fact that Zachary is still young enough to just fall asleep in our arms when he is tired. He is so sweet. It is a little dangerous, though. For some reason, if you are holding him, it makes you pretty sleepy, too.

A Pint-Sized Playdate

Emerald thought she was in charge "babysitting" the boys

Zachary with his cousin, Josiah. He is catching up on his size.
The above is the current pic, the below was where they started (or Feb. anyway)


My sweet nephew and his precious little half-smile (the full smile will blow you away, he is so adorable)

Although they are only 18 days apart, Zach's small size at first was quite remarkably different. However, he is catching up to his big cousin, Josiah.

We got to watch Josiah the other day and the boys had fun "playing" together. Luckily, neither of the boys were scared by the chaos and noise of the 2 big kids. Emerald and Calvin were so excited knowing Josiah was coming over, "Our friend, Josiah, is coming to play today!" they screamed. I am sure Heidi and I are in trouble in the future when these boys get together and come up with grand plans. Even scarier is when Emerald will be bossing all 4 of the younger boys around. Look out! Josiah is a precious little guy and we are so thankful to get to see him as often as we do. We look forward to seeing our other nephew, Simon, in a few weeks when he comes back to Kansas for a visit. If only Telluride wasn't quite so far away :)

I have to share one other, sweet, sweet story of the day. We were driving to take Emers to school today. Emerald started forever ago spelling "S T O P" then says "Stop Red Octagon". Of course, monkey see, monkey do, and now Calvin has to say it at every single stop sign. Today, same thing as always. Calvin says it, then Emerald comments, "great job Calv", that was sweet. Calvin replies, "thanks Gee," and adds, "your my hero." I loved hearing him say that. I love each day when we drop her off she has to give a "psssst"* to each of her brothers and tell them that she loves them. I love the love they have for one another. Makes a mommies heart melt.

*for those who don't know, "psssst" is the sign language sign for "I love you", thumb, pointer, and pinky out, and we all have to "pssssst" each other every night, before we leave each other, etc. "Psssst" is a very sweet and important part of the Pankewich household and started with Emerald when she was itty bitty. The tradition continues, as they are already "pssssst-ing" Zachary each night.

Just some every day pics

Zach lovin' on Rocky


Emerald building "Garmin" out of cups. She was so proud of herself. I was impressed, too.

Looking pretty cute.


Calvin giving mommy a flower on Mother's Day

We took Zachary to the doctor last week for his 4 month well-child check. He is up to 10 1/2 pounds now and looking good. We will go back in 3 weeks for a weight check/head check. He isn't on the charts yet for his weight or height, not even 0%, but is on the charts for his head circumference at 10-20%. Guess the kid has a big noggin! Dr. Mike said this is normal, especially for preemies, b/c their head is growing at the right rate but their weight just hasn't caught up yet. We are going in to make sure the head isn't growing too fast, though, b/c that could cause some concern. He is just being extra cautious and making sure we are on top of things.

The rolling over thing wasn't a fluke! Zach has continued rolling from his back to his belly. He even managed to roll over during his nap the other day, while swaddled!!! Don't ask me??!! When on his mat he spins round and round and continues to try to roll over.

This is Emerald's last week of school. I think she is going to be pretty sad when she doesn't get to go to school this summer. Poor little girl just loves school so much! That is this mommy/teacher's dream! I think Calvin will be happy, though, b/c he loves his "Gee".

Calvin is in the early stages of potty training. He tells us when he has to pee, although he still hasn't masted going yet on the potty. But, he wants to try, and we will let him. He has been quite the little stinker lately with the 2 year old attitude. Whew, if we live through this!! No is a favorite word of his, but only when said with full attitude! He can be so super sweet at other times, coming up and hugging you for now reason telling you he loves you.

My first class is graduating from high school. I can't believe it. I so wish I could be there to watch these kiddos/young adults walk across the stage. I remember each of them more than they will ever realize. I love being able to keep up with so many of them through Facebook. It has been nice knowing what they plan to do with their lives. I wish them all the very best as they begin this new chapter in their life!! My prayers will remain with you.

We've been spending a great deal of time outside lately. It was gorgeous here this weekend, in the mid 70's or so. The kids have loved having some fun time playing with neighborhood kids and with some friends we've made at school. It is fun watching them play together.

Big day for little Z-man--updated!!

Big sister feeding Zach and Calvin giving kisses

Zachary liked hanging out on Daddy's chest.

He wasn't so sure about the flying thing yet.


That is a look of pride on her face!!

Our little Z-man had a big day yesterday. It is all just a slew of minor little things that all add up when you are trying to grow up and play with your fun big sister and brother. In the morning Zachary was sitting in his swing. Emerald and Calvin, in their usual "let's entertain our little brother" mode, were just chatting away with him and bombarding him with love. 1) Zachary giggled at their antics!! This is the first time he has really had a stronger reaction than a smile, so needless to say, the kids were on cloud 9!! They thought it was just the best thing of all, and were encouraged to bug him even more all day long to try to get him to giggle more. 2) Then, that evening after all the kids had a bath, we were praying and reading our story in Zach's room. We decided to offer him a toy and he grabbed it like it was a normal thing and started playing with it (aka straight to the mouth). This was his first real grab at toys and Emerald hasn't wanted the toy to leave his side since. 3) Then we rolled him over on his belly for some tummy-time. Zachary picked his head up higher than we've seen him do yet. He raised that big old melon up high and tried to watch what we were doing with our story. We were all pretty excited. 4) After he had his head up for the 4th or 5th time, he just rolled over!!!!!! He did it in front of the entire family and we were all shocked. He acted like he'd been doing it all along, and it was no big deal. I am sure it was just a fluke. He didn't look like he was attempting a roll, or trying hard at all. I think the big noggin just helped pull him over on his side, but I will mark his baby book that it was his first "roll over". Em & Cal were so sweet. They were cheering him on, clapping, praising, and Emerald kept saying, "Zachy, I'm so proud of you. Good job!" I'm proud of them for being so encouraging to their baby brother. Emerald also has a thing with calling Zach "little guy" and "peanut" (things she hasn't picked up from us, b/c I don't thing we ever call him either of those names--lots of other nicknames, but not those). It is sweet.

Updated--and at 4:30 this afternoon 5) Zachary rolled over from his back to his tummy. Last night belly to back, today back to belly. Guess he saw all the rolling Josiah was doing this weekend and is trying to play catch-up--all in a 24 hour period!! Way to go little Z-man!! Although, I have to say, if you start rocking, preparing to crawl, or pulling up, be prepared for this mommy to gently knock you back down. I'm not ready for that yet :) JK for all those who don't know me well enough to know I wouldn't really knock my baby down.

We go to the doctor tomorrow and we will get an official weight and will be getting shots. Yuck! It has been so awesome to only have to visit the doctor for our well-baby checks. We haven't been to the office since April 7th and that was just for our Synagis shot. Impressive!! (Knocking on wood here).

Funny side-note story: Calvin was getting out the of the bathtub last week. He's standing there stark naked. He puts his hands on his nipples and declares, "I'm pumping like momma. Making milk for Zachy." Pretty funny! Gave me a good laugh for the night. I'm sure he will love hearing that story when he's 16!! :) I love you Calvinator!

Emerald is really improving in the reading department. She is spouting off letters in words faster than I can at times, and can recognize almost all the letters in lower case. You think that sounds simple, but with all the varied fonts, it can be tricky. She is sounding out her letters and can recognize some words. She read BABY to me the other day. Skip wears a new shirt from Garmin and she read "Garmin Argyle Army" to us several times. I think repetition played a factor in that one :) Not many 4 year olds can read argyle, right?? We are pretty proud of our little reader bee. Now when we spell to each other (you know, things like candy, cake, etc.), she attempts to tell us what we are spelling.

Zachary's Baptism

A happy little boy

He smiled while the water was being poured on him. He loves bath time, so I assumed he would be fine during this portion of the ceremony.

Gathered around the altar, which Fr. Larry referenced as gathering around the Lord's table.

Fr. Larry giving the sign of the cross on Zachary's head. This was followed by all of us giving him the sign of the cross as well, including his siblings.

Shown after he was draped with the white cloth and given the light of Christ. I always explained this as the song "This little light of mine" which I sing to the kids often and hope that we teach them every day.

This weekend we had our baby boy baptized. We attend this adorable, quaint, country church. We loved how the ceremony was held after mass, as it felt intimate and personalized for our family. We also felt that Emerald and Calvin then could come close to see what was happening w/o being a distraction to others in the church. We were honored to have Zachary's godparents, Jenny & Mike attend the ceremony with us. They are such wonderful examples of our faith. Zachary was his usual quiet, calm self and smiled while awake, and even slept some during his baptism. We have planted the seed of faith in our children and we hope that it develops into something wonderful as they grow up. What an amazing day--Mother's day, family and friends, and Zachary's baptism. I had a sweet day! :)

Zachary's Baptism

Not a bad family shot!!

Godfather Mike and Godmother Jenny--special note that we are super excited for them. They announced this week that they are expecting their first child in November! Prayers for a healthy baby!!

Zachary and Josiah having a serious discussion at church.

Zachary wearing the traditional baptismal gown. Pop Pop, Aunt Laura, and all 3 kids have worn this gown. It means so much to me to have this family tradition.

Zachary's Baptism

Nana & Pop Pop with Zachary

Zachary was one tired boy by the end of the baptism

Mike, Jenny, Fr. Larry, and our family

Zachary's Baptsim

The whole family on the steps of our sweet, country church.

Mike and Calvin

Emerald had fun after the baptism, cake is always fun.

Our neighbors, Jamie, Chris, Avery, and Carson, helped us celebrate Zachary's baptism. Chris had fun playing music on his phone and all the kids were dancing like crazy. It was too sweet.

Happy Mother's Day!!

I am so blessed with my 3 angels! What more could any mother ask for?? To think, there were years upon years that Skip and I prayed for children, noise, fun, love, chaos, hugs, kisses, "mommy" and "daddy" sounds, "I love you's", etc.............prayed and prayed. God does answer prayers, doesn't he??!! Thanksgiving prayer heading up to Heaven as I type! Thank you God for my life, my husband, my beautiful, healthy children, and every other blessing bestowed upon me. I love you Skip, I love you Emerald, I love you Calvin, I love you Zachary!!! It is funny how a mother can love so many, and all in unique ways. Before I was a mother, I wondered how I could love someone as much as I loved Skip--I knew I could, I just didn't understand it. Then, after Emerald came along, I wondered how I could love more than one child. How does a heart grow big enough to love so much?? It is possible, and I do love each of my children, I love them all so very much! I love them equally, the same, and different. It doesn't make sense writing it, but feeling it, oh, it makes perfect sense. I can't imagine my life any other way than how it is right now. And for those silly, silly people who don't know me and ask anyway--yes, you do love your children the same, adopted or not! My love is so strong for my children. There are times when I don't feel as if I brag about them enough. Right now, I am bragging my heart out because I have the best job of anyone on the planet--I am wife to Skip, and mother to 3 amazingly beautiful individuals. Thank you God for answering our prayers!!

Sending hugs and love to both of the moms in our life, and the wonderful grandmothers of my children. We wouldn't be who we are without the love and support from you both. I also send out all my love to all the mommies out there wishing you a Happy Mother's Day! May you feel as blessed as I do! There are several mommies in our lives celebrating their first Mother's day. The fun is just beginning.....enjoy!

PS, thanks M ;)

The ball pit

You have to know the ball pit was a favorite. Calvin was scared to go in at first, then followed big sis and had a great time. They had a good setup. The kids put the balls into the "target" and the ball went up, into a tube, and into a ball cleaner, then came out the tube into the opposite side of the pit. At least you felt a little good about the balls getting cleaned at some point. I didn't get pictures of another favorite area, the pretend area. They had a grocery store, bank, kitchen, pizza parlor, and dress-up area. The older 2 stayed in this area the longest and had so much fun pretending to pass out money, ring up purchases in the store, dressing up, etc. I am so glad we decided to go to Paradise Park and look forward to taking the kids back at some point in the future.