One Last Plug...

Shannyn gave me one plug on here a while ago(about the ridiculous beard I was growing), but they extended my dead line for getting money turned in and I thought I would make one last ditch effort to get a few more dollars.
I have had the pleasure of working with the March of Dimes for a number of years now and I feel its my small way of trying to raise awareness and help for something that we have had very personal experience with.
As many of you know, Jack was born premature. Something we never expected and never anticipated. Fortunately for us, for the most part, all has worked out well for Jack and our family. It hasn't gone without some struggles and trials, but is has all been for the best.
When I started working for Citifinancial some 7 years ago, I first found out about March of Dimes. Hearing that they work to prevent prematurity and help families have healthy babies (you can read more about it here: http://www.marchofdimes.com/mission/prematurity.html ), I thought this was a great opportunity to get involved and do my part to try and make a difference.
If you have gotten this far, I am sure you are wondering, "What does this have to do with me?" Well, this is the part where I am asking you to help out as well. I have 3 more days to get to my goal. Anything helps me get there, even $1. Soooo...help me out...thanks in advance

www.marchforbabies.org/czarjohn

one year

(sign made by yours truly)

one year ago today we were blest to bring our little sam into this world. we are so glad to have him our lives, he brings so much joy into our lives.

• sammy is finally crawling on his hands and knees
  


• whenever my phone rings he will put his hand to his ear and say hello in his language



• loves to push cars around on the floor and he sometimes even makes the vroom sound



• has to be in the middle of all the action



• loves to climb all over you



• now has three teeth



• will eat just about anything (so nice to have a child that eats.)



• loves to be outside. as soon as anyone opens the back door sammy comes crawling over to get out there and cries and cries if he isn't allowed to go outside
  


• loves to throw balls

for his first party we were lucky enough to have nanna and papa here and aunt laura, lilly, max and luke come up and party.

we had a little easter egg hunt and some awesome torta's. my friend ashley let me borrow her super cute lanterns to make the house a little more festive.

i love our little family.

i made a jello cake with cool whip and i think the cool whip was sammy's favorite part.

he didn't go too crazy with the cake but i think enjoyed himself having the freedom to pick it up and poke it

opening presents. he was lucky enough to have a big brother and cousins there to help him get them open.

we had a blast and are so grateful that our family was able to come and celebrate with us. happy birthday sam we love you so much.

11 months

are you serious? how can my baby already be 11 months old. sam has been on the move and doing great, except for the fact that he seems be sick every other week, he has inherited my immune system. sam is now climbing the stairs and pulling himself up on everything. he isn't very stable on his feet so he falls fairly often and has a pretty good bump on his forehead to prove it. he thinks he is so funny and cool when he sneaks off and gets up the stairs or manages to push all the buttons on the surround sound. he keeps us on our toes constantly. he is also getting so much better at eating table foods and wants to feed himself. if you put something in his mouth he spits it out and looks at it and then puts it right back in. here is a video of our boy showing off his new skills.

what is this!?!?!

in the 17 years that i have known john i have never ever seen this before... this is after a week of not shaving, the man can't really grow a beard. he claims he is growing it out to help raise money for the march of dimes. please, please donate to a good cause and help me in the process so i can get rid of this "beard" soon. here is the website if you want to donate www.marchforbabies.org/czarjohn

spring break st george style

this year for jack's spring break we were lucky enough to be able to go up to st george and actually have one on one time with my parents. that is very rare in a family with 6 children. jack had a blast and loved getting to cuddle with grandma and go on outdoor adventures with grandpa. here are a few of our highlights...

kayaking at gunlock

jack helped slow down dad with his paddle in the water so i could win our kayaking race. gotta love that boy!!

it is so tiring having dad paddle you around the lake

zion

jack had a blast throwing the rocks into the river, especially the big ones that made an awesome sound when they hit the water. he could have stayed there all day doing this. i love that boys are so easily entertained with rocks, water and dirt.

at the end of the narrows trail people had been making rock towers so of course we had to give it a try too.

i love my boys

our very first family picture on "the rocks" in zion (a long standing everett tradition)

park day

red rocks

sammy's very first licks of a popsicle

jack had a blast climbing with dad and has gotten so brave over the years

in the slot canyon. he didn't go in very far because john didn't think he would fit, i think he was too afraid.

it was so nice to get jack away from computers, video games and tv shows and actually go outside and enjoy nature and time together as a family. there is nothing like st george and being with grandma and grandpa.

9 years and counting

can you believe it? we have been married for 9 years and wouldn't you know it, we still love each other. there is no one else i would want to go through this life with than john. i love you hooch, happy anniversary!!

Q.T.

this saturday i decided that jack and i need some fun quality time together. before i got pregnant and had sam, jack and i were partners in crime. we did everything together and i really miss those times with jack so i took him on a "date." the place of choice was the children's museum. it was so much fun being with jack and actually being able to climb and explore and just do whatever it was that he wanted to do, no interruptions. it was so nice to hear jack say days before our outing, "mom i wish it was saturday so we could go on our date."

jack was planting me a garden and then giving me a valentine's bouquet, he is very sweet. the best part of the day was at the end he said he wished we could go out on another date next saturday. i love this boy and i'm so glad he is mine.

nothing cuter...

then hearing a sweet baby laugh! enjoy

we messed with texas

can you believe it? the florez family went on two trips that required flying in a span of 4 months. the world must be coming to an end. for this adventure john had his work kick off meeting in dallas, texas and it just so happens that our really good friends buffy and ian live there so john decided to make it a family trip. i was so excited to go and see our friends again that wouldn't you know it i forgot to take a single picture, but here are a few of the high lights from the trip...

• for me getting to another state that i've never been to
• getting to reunite jack with his future wife riley
• going out to dinner at a bbq joint and seeing a real cowboy wearing his "fancy" going out cowboy boots, with the spurs and all.
• jack getting to play in the snow and getting pelted in the face with a snowball
• awesome food made by bufffy (seriously the girl can cook)
• hot date with buffy in the richy rich part of town all the while wearing my sweet corduroy jacket. i know i'm a hot mess! (thanks ian for watching the kids)
• getting an awesome sarah briggs necklace
• taking a wrong turn and driving through one of the scariest neighborhoods i've ever been in and i grew up in the hood
• getting hit up by two different homeless people at mcdonalds in the span of 5 minutes
• going to the the nature and science museum and getting freaked out by all the animatronic dinosaurs (serious they were freaky and loud.)
• buffy teaching me how to make some of her cute felt hair accessories
• all the girl talk and just hanging out.

seriously it was an awesome trip and we are lucky to be able to call buffy and ian our friends.

saint louis

back in october john had to go to st louis for work and he actually offered to take the whole family with him. if you know john you know that he doesn't offer to spend money to fly places very often so of course i had to take him up on his offer. so off we went and while john was working the boys and i were off to explore the city on our own. i was nervous at first taking on a new city but with the help of the handy gps we were off on a great adventure.

the first day i took the boys to the st louis science center. we spent a good 3 to 4 hours there which is amazing that there was enough there to keep jack entertained. we had fun playing with water current and races fish down the paths we had made.

pretending to be a mouse on the big exercise wheel.

sitting on the bridge watching the cars zoom underneath us.

building towers and knocking them over.

playing a magical harp with no strings

and of course playing on the computers.

the second day was a busy day of fun. the first stop was the st louis zoo and the city museum. needless to say we were all worn out by the end of the day. jack had a blast at the zoo finding all the signs to read and pushing the buttons, riding the train and of course seeing all the animals. jack still talks about this zoo today.

city museum is a place you could spend all day. there are so many tunnels and caves and slides and ball pits to discovery you could totally get lost. jack didn't want to leave.

our last full day john was actually with us and we got to meet up with our good friends scotty and rachel and their kids. we decided to be true tourist and visit the gateway arch

riding down the mississippi river on a "paddle" boat.

in the "pod" going up to the top of the arch.

we also went to a cute historic town, st charles.

this was such an awesome trip and i'm so grateful i got to take my boys to new places and expose them to so many different things. st louis was awesome and the best part about all of it was most of the things that we did were FREE. i would totally recommend going there if you get the chance. thanks john for letting us come along on your business trip we had a blast.

and this is just proof that sam was on the trip to being an amazing baby and going along for the ride.