Homecoming

This weekend we celebrated our first Gilliam Family Homecoming - One year ago we brought Zander home. We wanted to have a special family weekend to mark the occasion. Due to a fever, Zander had some extra mom time on Friday and spent the day with Zeb on Saturday. On Sunday, we took advantage of the nice weather and took Zander to the park and spent some time out in our backyard. Zeb was able to put up the swing he received for his birthday on our deck. We didn't make it to the pool as planned due to Zander's cold, but had a fun weekend anyway.

We spent some time reflecting on how much our lives have changed in the last year. We had waited and waited for our adoption then with little warning we got the call that Zander was ready to go home with us.  One night we were just another couple out for dinner (OK, at the bar watching March Madness games), and the next day we were parents. When we went to the Cradle to meet him and his birthparents we were filled with anticipation and some anxiety......did we really know what we were doing??  I think most people ask them the same question, but we were chosen to be his parents and they put faith in us that we were the right family for him.  We were ready to take on the challenge and every day put all of our effort into raising this little guy. There have been a few adventures and bumps along the way, but we wouldn't trade any of it for the world. We sometimes laugh at how much things have changed, especially on a Friday night when I'm asleep on the couch at 8:30 or big weekend plans include going to the pool or even a trip to Target!  It has been an amazing year watching Zander grow into the little man he is!! Of course, we couldn't have done it without the help and support of all of our family and friends.

 

 

Michigan Getaway

 It has been a long winter with no end in sight, but we thought we would make the best of it and have a weekend escape. Although it's not quite beach weather yet, we made the trip to one of Michigan's beach towns, St. Joseph. It was only a few hours from the city and we found some fun things to do including a stop at a brewery for lunch, an indoor carrousel and children's museum, and a waterpark hotel. Zander's too young to fully enjoy the water park, but we did spend some time swimming in the heated kids pool. We had a lot of fun and we are now looking forward to our upcoming spring break vacation.

 

 

First Birthday Party

We celebrated Zander's first birthday on the day of his Birthday - Saturday, March 1. We had a sports themed birthday party (guess who picked the theme!) and we had a lot of family and friends here to celebrate with us. There were some other kids who gave suggestions for his birthday presents (luckily, one smart parent passed on the skateboard), helped him open presents and entertained him during the party. We had friends visit from St. Louis, Wisconsin and of course, Chicago. Jazzie's sisters and parents also added to the fun. We thank everyone for joining us or sending us birthday wishes as we celebrated Zander's big day!

 Zander hanging out with his friends 

 Grandma and Grandpa Ranum and his aunts and uncle spoiled  him

 Zander with his god-family and our local favorites, the LeFever family

 Henry and Zander continue to be good buds

 

Sports Theme for his Rookie Year

 

 

Checking out his presents.....lucky guy

 

 

 

1 Year!!!

Happy Birthday to Zander! On Saturday, March 1st Zander celebrated 1 year. We had a lot of family and friends to help us celebrate (I'll post more on the party later). It has been amazing to watch him grow into a little boy. He looks so grown up and seems to learn something new everyday. This last month, he has made a lot of gains with his strength and motor development. He continues to scoot on the floors (he is faster on the wood floors), but is now also crawling on his hands and knees. He has mastered pulling to stand and is becoming braver cruising around furniture where he will move between things to make his way around a room. He also continues to show us his love for climbing and he finds his way up/on/around a lot of things in our home. He has also learned to climb up the stairs! His standing table has become one of his favorite toys. He also loves to pop bubbles and Skype with Grandma and Grandpa Ranum.  He will also imitate actions and is starting to move along to some songs and is learning some sign language. He signs "more" (putting both hands together) usually when he likes the food he is eating and wants more food. He continues to be a good eater and likes to feed himself, but now he wants to use the spoon himself too! He is also learning to drink from a cup and is doing well with straw cups now that he is starting to drink milk instead of formula. It has been so much fun to watch his progress over this last year!

 

 Mostly smiles for the 12 month pictures although he continued to be distracted by the sticker on his shirt!

 He is still as dramatic as ever!

 Parker is still his favorite and luckily for Zander, Parker is getting used to him

He's going in for a puppy kiss