Seasons Change

Summer has turned to fall and winter is on the horizon. As I sit at home on a day off with Zander getting over a fever, I am watching the colored leaves fall of the trees and  think of the many changes our family has gone through in the last 6 months. It has been a wonderful and welcome transition to welcome Zander into our home and we enjoy all the time we now get to spend together as a family. The last month has brought a few more changes. Zander’s adoption was finalized in the courts on Monday, September 30^th making him forever a part of our family. We recently sold our condo that seemed to be getting smaller by the day and moved into a new home. We are going to miss our first home together and all of the things our neighborhood had to offer, but we are excited about a quieter place with a lot more space to call home. It has been very nice to have a garage to pull into every night, a yard for Parker to explore and a space Zander will get to enjoy as he gets older. There is also a school right across the street that has a playground and Zander may go to when the time comes (we aren’t ready to think about that yet!!). I have also left my job at Shriners Hospital to take a job with Chicago Public Schools working on an early childhood program. It was very hard for me to leave my job of 7 years as I have such an emotional attachment to the kids and people I worked with for so many years, but I take away a lot of good memories. I have had so many experiences and grown so much as a person during my time there, but now my focus is on our family. I have an extra 90 minutes every day that I will get to spend with Zander in addition to a lot more time off for holiday and summer breaks.  It is crazy to think about all the changes that have happened in such a short period of time, but this marks a new chapter in our lives together and we look forward to all the future will bring....
“change with seasons of life – don’t try to stretch a season into a lifetime – unknown"

Spending time with my sick baby - I definitely enjoyed the extra cuddle time and helping him feel better (he's already back to his old active and playful self today)

 The change in my work schedule allows me more time to spend with s Zander and we were able to enjoy the last few days of summer taking !

 

Our new house!

Family Wedding

This weekend we celebrated aunt Abbie and uncle Garrett's wedding. It was a beautiful fall day and we all had a lot of fun. My parent's hosted the wedding at their house and it was transformed into an amazing wedding venue. Abbie and Garrett along with our family spent a lot of time and effort to make it the perfect day, and it really was. We loved getting the chance to spend with family and see some of aunts/uncles/cousins.  Overall, it was a great weekend and celebration as our families continue to grow.

 

 

7 Months

Zander is now 7 month old and is busier than ever! He is so much more active and is always moving and exploring. He now rolls over all the time and is trying really hard to crawl. He brings his legs forward and tries to push himself forward. He usually just spins in the circle then ends up flailing or swimming! I am not sure Parker is ready for Zander to be mobile because Parker is usually his biggest motivation to move…..Zander really wants to keep up with him. He is also starting to sit more on his own and can sit for at least 1 minute on his own, although we still have to stay close by because he is so busy reaching for things, he will knock himself over and isn’t yet able to catch himself.  He continues to explore his toys and really likes his farm (exersaucer) and a toy he can make spin, but some of his favorite toys are everyday objects that make noise and he can get his hands on (he really loves….newspapers, bags of chips, shopping bags, boxes, and keys). Zeb and I really don’t think we need to buy him any toys as we already have all of his favorite things.  One of the other things that he is doing more of this month is laughing, and a baby laugh is probably the best sound in the world! Zander is such a fun baby and we are loving each stage he goes through! Now we just have to get our house ready for our curious little explorer!

 

 

 

 

 Zander is becoming very mischievous and grabs anything that is near him - sometimes it looks like he is building himself a fort!

He is trying very hard to crawl as he is always trying to get things he doesn't think he is supposed to have....or if Parker is near him

 A few weeks ago, Zander met his new 2nd cousin, Brynn

 He also got to play with his other cousin's, Natalie and Kirsten  - they really loved him and wanted to play with him