Ranum Family Reunion

We made a day trip to Wisconsin today for the Ranum family reunion (Jazzie's dad's side).  It was fun to see some extended family - aunts, uncles and cousins - that we don't get to see often and introduce Zander to some more extended family. He joins a very large family tree as the 99th great grandchild of my grandparents (both deceased) - the rest of the family stats for my grandparents include 13 children, 40 grandchildren, 99 great-grand children and 53 great-great grandchildren!!! I have always been fortunate to grow up in a large, but close family;  it was fun to share some memories of growing up together and look at some old photos of my grandparents, and it is always cool to see my dad with his brothers and sisters - they are all so much alike even after so many years!

Some more cuddle time with his grandparents



We all had fun despite the rainy weather - Abbie and Garrett hanging out with dad and Zeb

dad was joined by 7 of his siblings for the reunion - you can definitely see the family resemblance!
back: Tom, Larry, Paul (dad) and Bill
Front: Mary, Jean, Sherry and Sandy


 

More family fun

This past weekend we made a quick trip back to Wisconsin to visit family. My cousin was in town from Atlanta with her family to host a baby shower for her sister, so it was a good chance to get together with family again. Unfortunately, I had to work on Saturday so we missed the shower, but we still got a chance to hang out with my family and introduce Zander to some more of his cousins. We also had some family photos taken at the farm and we are looking forward to see how they turned out....stay tuned

Hanging out with the guys, including Parker

Zander with aunt Jean and cousin Sarah

 Isabelle helped Elizabeth entertain Zander  and is already a good big sister and offered to babysit for Zander anytime!

 The Ambrose family visiting from Atlanta

 Elizabeth and Nick celebrated their shower this weekend and are expecting a little one of their own soon, the Kruser family is growing!

Zander was worn out after a busy weekend and grandma loves to cuddle him when he needs it 

Guppy

Zander had his first swimming experience last week when I met up with some friends at their pool. As a former swim lessons instructor, I made sure to check off some of the beginner level skills with him:) He was getting ready for a nap when we went in the water, so he wasn't overly excited about it, but he did well and there were no tears (the water was heated which helped). He did kick his feet some and was pretty content to just hang out in the water.  And in case anyone else other than my sister, Abbie, were wondering....no, I did not dunk him. We're looking forward to more time in the water this summer, if the weather continues to cooperate.

He was ready for a nap and I think could have fallen asleep in the pool

Hanging out with the ladies....Lisa and Jenny

He did well in the water and looked cute all decked out in his swim gear! 

One step closer

Today was our day in court to petition for the adoption of Zander. The Cradle agency handles most of it on the front end, but we still have to go through the court system to finalize the adoption. We went to court today to petition (and were granted) custody of Zander. Prior to this, the Cradle agency had custody of him and we were legally considered  foster parents (with intent to adopt) by the state.  We still have to complete more supervision and additional paperwork has to be processed, but we anticipate everything should be finalized at the 6 month period as expected. It was a quick process with only a few minutes in front of the judge and, of course, Zander slept through the whole thing!

Getting ready for adoption court, and he dressed up for the occasion

Well..... maybe he didn't think the bowtie was necessary, but the judge thought he looked pretty sharp

 Hanging out at Wells Fargo with Zeb after the hearing. He was excited to spend some time at the office

He was very serious about conducting business.....who could resist this face?!

Big Weekend in the Quad Cities

We hit the road again this weekend and traveled to the Quad Cities. Zander and Zeb made a great cheering section during my first sprint triathlon. It was an early wake-up call on Saturday morning (even Zander wasn't up yet!), but a great day for a race besides a few sprinkles. We also got a chance to meet up with a lot of our family and friends including Grandma Vicki and Zander's girlfriend, Lydia. Once again, he did great with the traveling, but was very tired today and Parker and I were up before him this morning.

 



Getting ready to cheer me on!

 



I guess watching me compete was enough to wear this little guy out

He thought hanging out on the hotel bed was really cool

We stopped in to see Jazzie's aunt and uncle on Father's Day and were able to introduce Zander to Jazzie's cousin and his family as well - the girls loved him and hopefully will make good babysitters in the future!

 Lucas is a good big brother and took on the job of entertaining Zander too!

Hanging out with his girlfriend, Lydia

 

 

Zander and his friend Olive spent some time hanging out on Saturday

 

The Gilliam Boys

We celebrated Zeb's 33rd birthday with his family this weekend.  Zeb's dad, brother and sister in law made the trip from Joplin Missouri to meet Zander and celebrate with Zeb.  We don't get a chance to get together very often due to the distance, so we enjoyed our time hanging out. Of course they thought Zander was the greatest and gave him lots of love. We even got this group of Cardinals fans to cheer for the Cubs when we all went to the game on Saturday. It was Zander's first time in Wrigley field (we went down to opening day, but he didn't go to the game) and he was more awake than he was in Cincinnati - even he has an appreciation for the old park. Overall, it was a great weekend and we were sad to see them go.

Papa John absolutely loved Zander

 Uncle Josh and Aunt Christi

 All of the Gilliam boys

 He makes a good little Cubs fan

Hangin' with the family

Zeb was traveling for work last week, so Zander and I headed to Wisconsin for a few days to hang out with my family. He had fun getting spoiled by grandma and grandpa and entertained them by showing off his new skills, especially his karate kicks. Parker also liked the extra attention he got.  We also hung out with great-grandpa who can always get some smiles out of Zander. It was fun being home for a few days and gave me a chance to keep training for my upcoming triathlon.

 

 Showing off his kicking abilities

Zander is really into putting his hands in his mouth, sticking out his tongue and licking things - when he was playing with grandma, he found the pop can and went crazy licking it!

Three Months

Zander and the Gilliam family have had a busy month. He has had a lot of firsts this month and a lot of travels. He continues to grow like a weed and everyone comments on how long he is. He cheeks also continue to grow and I think he's added another chin!  He is much more interactive and loves to look around his environment. He is very curious and loves to people watch, especially other kids. It has been a lot of fun listening to him "talk" and in the mornings he seems to have a lot to say although every time we bring out our phones to film him he gets camera shy. He is also more interested in his toys and really likes to kick them; he has very active legs (do we have a runner on our hands?!) He is also getting much better with his head control and he sits really well with support. We're having so much fun hanging out with him and are looking forward to the months ahead.

 

He is such a happy baby and is always giving big smiles

So cute at 3 months!

 

 It's more difficult to get the pictures because he is always moving!

Growing is hard work....such a cute, sleepy guy

Bringing his legs up and kicking is his new favorite thing to do. I think he is getting ready to roll!

 

 He is beginning to have more personality and sometimes he can be a little dramatic....he is mastering the pouty lip

Sitting up like a big boy on Aunt Nellie's lap