Dancing time

Both kids with their tap shoes on, tapping away!

I had to add this picture. It was a sweet moment after his last bottle of the evening, Zach just passed out cold. You couldn't have woken this baby if you tried with all your might.

This is Calvin trying to dance just like Gee.

Emerald took a Disney Princess dance camp last week. She had so much fun pretending to be a different princess each day. Of course, Calvin, always wanting to be "just like you", wanted to dance, too. He and Emerald had a blast in the tap shoes. Emerald was pretty patient, trying to teach Calvin some new moves.

Happy 1/2 bday little Z man

His smiles light up the room

I found Z asleep on his blanket like this the other day. He looks like he is a thumb sucker, right?

Can you remember when Rocky was as long as Zach? Look at him grow. The first picture was taken on Feb. 7, the day we brought him home (6 weeks). I couldn't resist this adorable lobster outfit for out little Lobster!

Working on big boy things, like sitting up!

Our little Z man is 6 months old today. How fast the last 6 months seems to have flown. Of course, if I look back to where were were 5 months ago, I don't think I would have agreed with that statement! Zachary is such an amazing joy to our family. He is still such an easy-going baby. He is sleeping through the night from about 8 until 8! Our Z man has recently found his toes, and his ears. It is cute to watch him play with his feet and tug on that ear of his. Zach continues to remain healthy, and we thank God for that! He is giggling out loud often at his siblings--he thinks that they are both the best thing on the planet. He has also really been interested in watching Laney lately, too. We've taken 2 big trips to visit both sets of grandparents this month. He did pretty well on the drive, for the most part. Zach loves playing with his toys, and we just have to watch to make sure Emerald and Calvin don't overwhelm him with too many toys. Zach's hair is growing a little bit longer. We haven't had a weight check for a few weeks, the last time he was at 11 lb 3 oz. I am confident he is a little bigger now, as he is feeling heavier to both of us. He is up to about 6 oz at each feeding and has stretched out his feeds to about every 4 hours. We have an eye appt on Monday for our little Z man. It is a follow-up 6 month appt from when they checked him in the NICU. Preemies can have some eye issues, so we just want to make sure he is doing ok. For now we have no other appts in the near future. We will have a 6 month check, but that is up in the air, as it needs to be near his MRI date (which is not scheduled until Aug. 31). Zachary is a blessing (as are all of our children) and we continue to pray thanksgiving prayers for his health and happiness!

We did have our Parents as Teachers person here yesterday. She gave us a referral to a program called Infant/Toddler. They are going to send out a PT/OT person to evaluate Zach's neck muscles. We just want to make sure that he is on target for his actual/adjusted age and where he should be. He does still have a floppy neck and doesn't hold it up consistently. We are not overly concerned, but just want to stay on top of things to make sure there isn't anything we should be doing for him and aren't. On the plus side of this, it does make him such a cuddler and we are both loving that time very much.

On a personal note, I just have to say that I have met my personal goal! I pumped for Zachary for 6 months. I am now done. I originally wasn't sure I'd be able to survive his NICU stay. Then I set a goal of 2 months. I passed that and re-set my goal to make it thru cold/flu season to try my hardest to keep our little Z man healthy. After 6 months I am packing away the pump and moving him on to full formula feeds. It has been a long 6 months as far as pumping goes. I can't say I wouldn't do it again, as it was the best thing for our little boy. However, I can say it wasn't always fun! Goodbye pump, hello free time to play with my kiddos!

Happy 1/2 birthday little Z man. We all love you so much!

Father's day

Josiah and his daddy! What a precious smile

Getting my kids to smile was like pulling teeth

Pop Pop and Josiah

More of Simon's baptism

What a special Father's Day for these 3 guys

Shane's sister and her husband

Simon's baptism

On Father's Day my nephew, Simon, was baptized. We were so happy to be a part of his special day.

The gang all together

Our growing Pankewich family!

With my sweet nephew, Simon

Check it out, one of the first (and only) pics I have of Zach holding his head up. He's really working hard on making that neck stronger.

A sweet Father's Day pose with the boys (and Emerald)

Playing in the rain

Emerald and Calvin had fun splashing in the rain with Nana and Pop Pop this weekend. I have to admit, I'm not sure who really had the most fun, though!

Fun times with Nana and Pop Pop

Nana and Simon were enjoying some time together with Pop Pop laughing in the background


Emerald and Calvin were helping us make some homemade ice cream

Calvin reading the directions to us "I tell you how to do it"

Now, a funny story about the homemade ice cream. I love homemade ice cream in the summertime. It was always something we did as a family. I bought an ice cream maker and told the kids we could make some in McPherson. Unfortunatly, the thing wouldn't work (need to return it). It was pretty sad for the kids. Luckily the neighbors had one we could borrow. When we were trying to make it with their maker, the tornado sirens began to go off and we had to unplug it before it was finished. We ended up in the basement for the next hour having a "picnic" in the dark (we lost electricity for 5 hours). It was quite the storm, taking down trees, strewing limbs everywhere, heavy rain causing flooding, and creating just enough chaos for all of us. Luckily we were all ok. The shed across the street, not so much.

5 cousin photo shoot

This was about the best picture I got of all 5 kids It isn't easy getting 5 kids to sit still and look at the camera.

Zach, Calvin, and Josiah hamming it up. Why Calvin wouldn't smile, who knows!!

Pretty cute one of Emers and Simon

This is what it looked like most of the time we were attempting a shot of all the kids :)

Maybe some day, when they are all age 10 or so, we can get them to sit still, look at the camera, and smile, right?

More fun in Mac town

Simon with Great-Grandma Konicek

Josiah loves eating his carrots.

Aunt Laura loving on Zachary

We got 3 kids to sit still long enough for a quick shot