"Jenny Jump Up"

Tyler and I have noticed that Zoë is a very strong baby. We noticed from the day she was born, especially after she was delivered by our OB who also mentioned her strength. The first month she was trying so hard to stand her head up on her own and at 2 months she was using her legs to push off my lap into a standing position. Now I am not saying my baby is a super baby she just is loving the idea of using her muscles, a lot. Today we decided to go buy Zoë a jumper. As you can see in the picture she's a bit to small for it. She loved getting pushed around in it and somewhat bouncing. The Jenny Jump Up toy was a great buy.

Zoë's blessing Pics

We wanted to post again on Zoë's blessing for two reasons. First because our sister Courtney was the only one out of our whole families who could not make this special event. So here is to you Courtney, we love you and really wished you could of been there. We miss you tons. We will make it up there so we can see you and so that Zoë can get to bond with her beautiful Aunt. 2ND reason because my Aunt Sue is the best. My Aunt Sue is responsible for these beautiful captured images of Zoë. You know that saying"A jack of all trades but a master of none" She is the Jack of all trades, except that she is a master of all. She is the most talented and considerate, thoughtful person I know. I admire her so much and hope I can be at least half the person she is, because if i can at least accomplish that I will have succeeded in life. Plus Zoë will be one lucky girl to have a mother that can do half the things Sue does. My cousins definitely have a great Mother.

First day of school at Cal Poly Pomona

Today was Tyler's first day of school. His bag was packed, lunch made and his bike ready to go. He is so excited to be at Cal Poly. He has waited all summer to begin and only study his field of interests. Cal Poly is gaining an excellent student and Tyler is gaining a great education. Cal Poly's Architect, urban development, and environmental science programs are top of the nation, so I say again Tyler is receiving a wonderful education from Cal Poly. We plan on being here at least 2 years for his under graduate program and another year in a half for the environmental science masters program. I cant wait to find out how his day went today. Not only is he excited to be going to school full time, but he is excited to be riding his bike and the metro. If you know Tyler he is all about efficiency in travel. I guess he should be as this is part of what he will be studying at Cal Poly. I think he will make an excellent urban developer/architect.
Another thing I have to say is how impressed I am with Tyler. We felt very strongly that we needed to start a family. Since then he has never regretted, looked back, worried, stressed. You all know how hard it can be with starting out as a young family going through college living in California. His faith has never wavered, his eye has always been on the goal of getting an education, and last but not least he has always kept perspective when things were tough. All of our NEEDS have been met. The Lord provides what we need not what we want but definitely what we need. It definitely has required sacrifice on our part, but it has been well worth it. I can guarantee that when ever the Lord commands, he follows up with help and blessings. We have a beautiful daughter and a growing marriage. I really couldn't ask for more.

Love that Paula Dean "Carmel cake"

Ok everyone knows that I am not into baking cooking love it enjoy it, but baking not my style. I either grab the frozen dough on the shelf at the grocery store or pick something up at a bakery. Since Tyler and I do not eat stuff like that I have never felt inclined to make sweets of any kind. I don't know if it's the change in the season or what but Lately I have been on a baking frenzy. Today was my first creation, well not my receipt but the famous Paula Dean. It was Carmel Cake. Let me just say that she does not hold back 4 cups of butter was used between the cake batter, filling, and frosting. Now I know why she uses so much. It was so yummy. Because Tyler and I don't eat refined sweets we couldn't eat more than two bites. I had so much fun making it. I had to make cake batter, can you believe it. that was a first. A little side not did you know that there is such thing as self rising flour? I had no idea what it was but I also had to make that. It was a very involved cake. Like I said I had tons of fun. In fact I am very proud that I made something like that, I know I sound proud. I am not sure if this cooking frenzy will be short lived so if there are any request, make them quick.

The ever frightening nose sucker

Every once in awhile there will be a morning when Zoë wakes up and her nose is so plugged it makes noises when she sleeps. To keep her free and cleared from all intruders we bring out the green bulb yes the ever so frightening object. This is what occurs every time we perform the nose suck {picture above}. Am I a horrible mother if I said that I think she is so cute when she cries and it kind of makes me laugh, obviously not when it comes to the serious cries of pain and sadness. Her cries are really different when it comes to the nose suck. I always heard that babies have different cries for each thing. It pretty much is true although it took me awhile to get them down. Doesn't this picture make you want to just kiss her all over her face.

What Bailey has been up to

Most of you know that we have another child, I guess we dont speak of him since Zoë has come into our lives. Bailey our 3 year old Pomeranian. Last night as I was feeding Zoë Bailey just sat and stared at me for seriously about an hour. Everywhere I go he follows, everywhere I sit he sits, every time I leave he is right at the door begging to go or when I get back from where ever he is at the door to greet me. This was all normal activity before Zoë came but he has a more pathetic way about him. I feel kinda bad that he has been well lets just say demotted. So I thought I would dedicate an entri on him for a change. I know what your thinking, Like he really understands or cares or Oh know the Foresters are those kind of people about their dog. I dont care I love Bailey and he is a part of the family. This is the dog that Zoë will dress up with gloves and a hat, or put make up on, and have tea parties with. He will be around for a long time which makes me happy. He is a good dog, just wanting to own back the crown of attention. Fat chance but I'll definatley give him some.

Boppy Time is Mommy and Zoë's special moments

My days are full of so much JOY. It is little wonder why it is that the family is centered in Heavenly Fathers plan and is where our greatest joys are. I get to wake up to this every single day. Isn't she precious, I don't care if I am biased, she is a pretty incredible kid. These pictures are of Zoë and I having our everyday "Boppy Time" after she wakes up from her naps we have Boppy time this is where Zoë and I talk to each other, make faces at each other, sing to each other, practice her sitting up and leg exercises. Its GREAT. There will come a day when she out grows Boppy time, but until then folks these are what my wonderful days consist of.

Happy Birthday Daddy Dunham

My Dad's birthday was last week and he turned an age of monumental recognition. Although I probably should not mention on here since he reads my blog and it will only send him to the doctor to recieve a prescription of Prozak. To keep his mind of the age he would be turning and all the senior special questions he would be getting we had his party somewhat a youthful one. Hopefully it brought back good memories. We love you Dad and again Happy Birthday.

My Little Zoё is Brave, picture of her when we got home

Last Thursday was the 11th of September which marks the two month mark for Zoё. This means she is getting bigger, stronger, and smarter. It also means that she is mature enough to receive 3 important shots. This morning Tyler and I took our little one to get her first set of immunizations. She had no idea what was coming. It seemed like eternity in the waiting room well that's because it was literally. Welcome to socialize health medicine. Well never do that again. Finally we went to the back room, I have to say that our little Zoё is so brave. She cried after each shot but it only lasted a second and then she calmed down and was happy again until the next shot. At one point during the in between she stared at the nurse with this serious look as though she was saying "why are you doing this to me" It was so adorable. After that last shot I swooped her into my arms held her tight while Tyler and I sang her favorite song. She calmed down quickly for the third time and then fell asleep in my arms. She was so good, I cant believe it. I thought she would be crying for a lot longer. I learned today that my daughter has a mellow personality when it comes to pain. As a treat for her being so brave we let her sleep, eat,and read her Dr Seuss books I guess that's nothing special from her daily activity, but until she has teeth I think it will due.

Ё The diacritic Mark

Please don't think I am snobby, anal, OCD fill in the blank. I am writing another blog entry on my daughters name because 1 I just figured out how to add the diacritic mark above the ё and 2 because I thought that without the diacritic mark people would still pronounce her name right, well I was wrong those two dots above the ё allow the person to know that two vowels adjacent to each other have their own syllables. So here it goes the true spelling of my daughters name Zoё.

"Match maker match maker make me a match..."

"Find me a find, catch me a catch" Could this possibly be Zoe's future Husband? Ohhhhh wait and see. J/K this will definately be one of Zoe's playmates. This is Donavan Devard, he was born in May, two months before Zoe was born. Today Tyler Zoe and I went to Olvera Street in downtown L.A and we noticed she started drooling and making spitting noices. We think she learned from her buddy Donavan since he is definately in the oral fixation stage. Cant wait till they can really know who they are. We definatley love Donavan and his parents.

Genetic traits

Who does Zoe look like? When I was up at BYU Idaho I had a class called Heredity. Loved that class for it's interesting topic of genetic traits and figuring out the traits through the Punnett square. I actually tried to do a punnett square before Zoe was born, but it was nearly impossible because I forgot I am adopted and do not have a clue what my family looks like. This made Zoe's delivery date even more exciting for me since it would be a complete mystery of how Zoe would turn out. Through Zoe I am learning my biological families traits, which is the reason for this post and survey. I want your opinion on where Zoe's features come from. Her mother or her father. This should be fun. You cant tell from the pictures but Zoe has dark blue eyes with brown near the pupil. I hear that their eye color isn't permanent until 6 months or so. If she has Blue eyes that means that I have a resessive blue eyed gene, which also means that I am not fully Korean, crazy huh. Have fun.

She is coming to life

It's been a special couple of weeks due to Zoe's exceptional development. She is smiling a lot more and she is begining to talk that baby talk to us. It melts my heart to see her big smile after each nap and play time. She is becoming a little person, if that makes any sense. We will post a video of her talking so that you can understand why it is that I love my life as a full time mommy.

Yesterday was Zoe's 2 month check up with her pediatrician. She weighed in at 9 pounds and 13 ounces and she is 22 3/4 " long. Her head is still on the small side but growing normally. Her doctor said that she is on the skinny side for her length. Our goal is to fatten her up. Too me she seems just perfect. She is a happy baby as long as she gets her sleep, to me that seems to be everyone.

"What's in a Name"

Zoe Vaughan Hei-Joo Forester
I wanted to dedicate a post on my daughters name, I got to thinking about Sundays event when Zoe was blessed and given a name. I feel like giving a name to a child is like picking out a wedding dress or picking a place to live where you will raise your children, or deciding what college to go to. It took Tyler and I a long time to decide Zoe's name. Especially when your dealing with important documents where a name will be permanent such as a Birth certificate, social security card, church records, drivers license and so on. The meaning behind her name was the deciding factor. "LIFE" what a deep and beautiful meaning to a name. Zoe has two middle names, it didn't start out that way in fact it wasn't decided till Saturday morning when I woke up feeling strongly that she needed two. The first middle name Vaughan comes from my fathers side of the family. It goes back 8 generations of middle names for the girls in that line. It was generated from a last name and then became a middle name as a marriage occured. For me It all began when I realized in 2nd grade that my middle name was different from all my girl cousins. They all had the middle name of Vaughan, I was feeling quit left out so I went to my grandmother Shirley and asked her why I was different and had Kathleen Hei-Joo and not Vaughan. That day she made it offical that I would be Leah Kathleen Hei-joo Vaughan Dunham. I loved her for that. It was in middle school that I realized that only my grandma Shirley made it offical but it wasn't offical on any of the major documents. It was only appropraite that Zoe would carry forth Vaughan in her name ofically for the major documents. Like I said earlier she had only one middle name until recently when I realized how important it was to carry on my korean name. I always thought how ridiculous it was that I had two middle names but it has grown on me and there is a special meaning to that. So that's where Hei-Joo comes in. The meaning of that name is "Jewels of wisdom" Another beautiful meaning. Her name is now complete and will truly fit her contemplative personality.

Zoe Vaughan Hei-joo Forester

Today was a very important day for our family. Zoe recieved a baby blessing. She was given a name and a blessing was pronouced on her. How momentous this day was for our little girl and for us as her parents. I am so grateful for Tyler that he is living a life that allows him to act on his priesthood responsibilities at any given time. That will mean so much to Zoe when she gets old enough to understand. I was not raised with that while I was growing up and am so glad that Zoe will have the Preisthood throughout her entire life. The blessing given to Zoe was absolutley beautiful. My religon taught me at a very young age that family is the center of the creators plan, so you can imagine just how important that day was. How special to Tyler and I to have our family at Zoe's blessing. We certainly do love our family and feel that our lives would not be the same without them. Seeing her in her white dress and bonet,Zoe could not have been more beautiful. We look forward to the day wherein she will again be clothed in white and be presented at the baptisimal font to embark in a life of service and dedication to her God. She is our perfect little girl whom we love and adore.