So I forgot that tinsey-winsey detail that when you are a teacher, you basically have picture day every year, even in adulthood. And yeah, it's just as terrible as you remember it. The photographers who do school pictures are over it. I'm over it 2 minutes in when they tell me to line up the students according to height and suddenly everyone is standing on their tip toes because they don't want to stand in the front row. And I was waaaay over it when my kids saw me and were like, "You look like a different person!"

... So I haven't been doing my hair or makeup regularly... bite me...

I've never been good about picture day. I've included some of my school pictures that depict not only my little 8-year-old thoughts on picture day, but genuine adult-thoughts too. Like, do you really need to squeeze that parrot toy to get 11-year-olds to take a picture? Do we really have to say "Superman," "cheese," and "smile" to take the flipping picture? For our patriotic background, I think we are missing about 6 bald eagles. Those would really bring the background up a notch. Also, do we have to lean against a pedestal? Like, can't we just sit and smile at the camera? 

Unfortunately, I've never been a good liar - or good at not being sassy. I've also never been good at doing my hair... or remembering it was picture day. Really, I've just never been good with professional pictures, school photographers, or outer beauty kind of crap.

So I present to you some of the school pictures I still have copies of. Please relish in the fact that I was, in fact, that kid the photographers warned you about when they said, "Don't be the only one not smiling!"

Let's just be grateful I managed to stop myself from tongue-biting and impromptu dance moves, which many of my "homemade" pictures as a child were riddled with. 

I would like to call 5th grade the year of the faux-lesbian. It was a difficult time in my life. I am grateful that I only dressed like a boy for probably 6 more years after that, but at least I had the decency to start stealing my older sister's clothing in 6th grade so that I was somewhat presentable as a female. Ah, the old bring-new-clothes-and-change-in-the-girls-bathroom-so-your-older-sister-didn't-see-that-you-were-wearing-her-shirt trick. 60% of the time, works every time. 

Also, sorry to anyone who is pictured in these. You definitely look better than I do, let's just put that out there. 

I'm sad to say that my teacher pictures might be eerily similar to these. Let's hope not, especially since I'll probably be the only teacher that didn't get the memo to accept their fate and just deal with picture day. 

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, let's make an announcement! I am expecting again! Above, washboard abs. Two months later, serious food baby... and actual baby. Only two months apart! 

Mitch and I are so blessed to be welcoming another baby into the world! We are equally blessed to be welcoming another boy! We can't wait to see Zane and his new baby brother interact and become the best of friends, driving us insane in their camaraderie for rascal-y-ness.

The honest truth is we tried for this baby a long time. Another honest truth is that it only took us 9 months, a doctors appointment for fertility, and then coming home to find out we were already pregnant. 20 weeks later and here we are, large and in charge.

A really hard truth is that we've found that this sweet baby has a very large cyst on the left hemisphere of his brain and is not growing as he should be. He is only in the 27th percentile for weight, whereas Zane was large from day one. This is leading our doctor to believe that there might be something more to this cyst than just an abnormal growth. Realistically, all baby's cells divide rapidly to provide the gestational growth required in just 9 months time. This cyst could be absolutely nothing, but when combined with the really small size, we just aren't sure. We have an appointment in a month to determine what needs to happen - will the cyst take care of itself, like most cysts do? Is it growing? Shrinking? What do the next steps need to be?

I'm surprisingly calm with all that said. I just feel peaceful about the whole situation, no matter what happens. This little guy (who still does not have a name) is my son forever, and in that I take comfort. If this cyst really does turn into something dangerous, we can deal with that in a month's time. Right now, I'm trying to keep in mind that worrying for an entire month won't help my small guy and will instead only be detrimental. So, for now, we eat blizzards when we are feeling down. Blizzards make you gain weight, right?

With all scariness aside, this pregnancy started off rough. I was constantly sick and puking regularly. If I wasn't puking, I was dizzy and nauseous. If I wasn't puking, I was more than likely sleeping. Thankfully, I was blessed to have my worst days on the weekends so that I could still make it up to school to teach. After the first trimester, things really got better and I've had a dream of a pregnancy again. I've been going to the gym regularly and lifting weights. I've been able to eat foods that I had aversions to during my first tri, and I've pretty much been able to do whatever I have wanted. It has been a night and day difference between trimesters. 

Everyone, a slow-clap is in order. I finally got some actual camera pictures of Zane rather than phone pictures. I am definitely out of practice using my camera, but that's ok. Z is adorable with or without perfect lighting! Zane's favorite past time is stealing treats from the elderly and then running off his sugar-high outside around the farm. Here's some documentation of this exact event.

At 20 months, Zane is really diving into his rascally personality. He likes to draw and color, and he has a special knack for finding stray pens and markers in random places. He then opens them and hides them around for a while, so we are never sure what has gotten marked once one surfaces. He is usually good to only color on important documents and books, the little angel. He has also perfected the "uh-oh" that goes along with anything naughty.

Zane is still giant and likes to use his height and weight to throw down in the wrestling ring. His favorite targets are small children, like his cousin, Gavin. Really, his only target is Gavin. So we're working on that.

While he loves to wrestle, he is a perfect gentleman to animals and babies. He is very loving to them, actually. He gently pats them, tries to rub them, and is very alert to where different animals are at all times. His favorites continue to be dogs and horses, but he was recently introduced to a cat that let Zane basically maul him patiently, so Zane likes cats too. 

Recently, Zane has gotten to develop a special relationship with his great-grandpa. Grandpa Hansen's health has taken a turn for the worse, so he has moved in. Each morning, Zane and Grandpa eat breakfast together and play with cars together. Grandpa loves to give Zane peanuts and other little treats, and Zane is very obliging to every gift. However, we do find crunched up peanuts spattered on the carpet some days from when Grandpa offers Zane a better treat, and he has to dispose of the peanuts he was still working on. 

Zane sticks out his tongue like crazy whenever he is doing something he loves. We see his tongue most often now when he is getting ready to throw toys. How do you get an almost two-year-old to stop throwing?! Please, fill me in!!! We also see his tongue when he gets to play outside, put on socks, and do something he thinks he shouldn't be doing. 

He loves being a rascal. When we change his diapers, he will let us do everything but put his pants back on. When it gets to that part, he dashes up and sprints away, as if he were an Olympian. When we put him to bed at night, he escapes from his crib and some nights we are woken up by Zane trying to pull the blankets off of us. When we tell him it is "night-night time," he will run to whatever flat, semi-comfortable surface he can find and pretend to snore. Boy he thinks he is so smart, and he is becoming too clever for his own good.

He knows exactly what food is a good treat, what food is probably less appetizing than a treat, and all the right ways to get a treat from the poor innocent souls who don't know what kind of a scoundrel he is.

He is also experimenting with what actions get the most laughs. He will do anything to make people entertained, so please don't give him any pity laughs or we will be dealing with dorky stuff for weeks. We learned this the hard way when he just simply shook his head back and forth to dance one night. Apparently, give the kid a few stale laughs and that kid is going to give himself shaking baby syndrome. 

Overall, he is such a joy and I love seeing him test things out constantly. He reminds me of the Little Mermaid when she gets the dinglehopper and starts brushing her hair with it. Everything he does seems so strange and yet has perfectly acceptable reasoning. I can't wait for him to be able to fully communicate his thoughts so I can hear what is going on in that crazy little mind of his. 

To see Zane's 19 month pictures, click here!