Zaiden's Baptism

We were feeling very blessed last weekend when we were able to get friends and family together to celebrate Zaiden's baptism. Dan and Kelly agreed to be his god parents and made the trip to Chicago with their family to celebrate his big day. We had a fun filled weekend with their kids including a trip to the zoo to see the zoo lights, pizza night and lots of kid play time. We enjoy the church we attend and had a very nice ceremony. Zaiden did really well through the whole thing and looked adorable in the same Christening outfit we had custom made for Zander's baptism. We look forward to becoming closer to our church community as we look forward to possibly having the boys attend school there in the future.

Fall Fun

This fall we have had a good mix of fun weekend events and quiet family weekends at home. We are still adjusting to being a family of four, but seem to be getting into a good rhythm. Our weeks are generally pretty busy with both Jasmine and Zeb at work and both boys at daycare, but we still manage to have some fun family time including some trips to the park during the unseasonably warm fall weather and a few nights out for pizza. Our weekends at home were often filled with trips to the YMCA, the parks, spending time in the yard (Zander loved helping with the garden and helping with other yard work tasks), baking cookies, and crafts (Zander really wants to go to school and loves doing crafts at daycare and home with mom!). Some of our fun weekend trips included a trip to the Children's Museum in Milwaukee, the Exploratorium, apple picking in Wisconsin, Circus night out in the park, Cheese Fest in Wisconsin with Aunt Abbie while we went to a football game, a trip to the Pumpkin Patch with Aunt Maggie and a train Ride with Aunt Nellie and Abbie! We also had a fun Halloween this year and Zander was very excited to choose his costume and was a hit with all the kids at the Halloween festival......He chose to dress up as Elmo and chose Cookie Monster for Zaiden. We are a busy family and love spending as much family time together as we can.

We are also trying to give Zander some extra one on one time including some "dates" with mom or dad. He is a fun, imaginative and super smart little guy! Some of his current interests are identifying letters (the D is for the Doughnut store!), time (he always asks what time it is and is excited when he knows what some of the numbers are.... it's 5:00 or 8:00) and he really likes money including asking people (all of my co-workers at a recent pot luck or my grandpa) for "more monies" and finding out how much his toys cost (most of them cost $60 according to him!)

Painting pumpkins 

Our little Elmo, Cookie Monster and a Halloween cooking project (dirt!) 

Fun at the Exploratorium 

Taking a train ride to one of our favorite destinations....the doughnut store and the park! 

The boys hanging out together a the Play Place 

Family Photo at the Pumpkin Patch 

Apple picking and petting zoo 

6 months

Zaiden is a busy 6 month old little boy! He is now sitting really well and can sit for at least 5 minutes at a time. His favorite thing to play is sitting at his piano and hitting the keys. He is also trying really hard to craw. He scoots all the way around when he is on his tummy and can sometimes inch forward or backwards a little bit. Other times, when he is really motivated to reach a toy, he will just fling his body forward to get it. He is also "talking" and babbling a lot and now loves to say "dada." He continues to charm everyone with his smile and dimple (except for the camera) and loves to laugh. He often thinks big brother Zander is hilarious! He is also eating baby food and does pretty well most meals. He is also improving in the sleep department.....yay! 

Playing with his toy and sitting up like a big boy

Aunt Maggie spent a lot of time to finally catch a smile on camera! 

5 months

Zaiden is getting big! He is now 5 months old and a generally happy little guy.  He loves to smile, coo and stick out his tongue. He is always interested in what is going on around him (and doesn't want to fall asleep to miss anything!). He is also very active and is already on the move. This past month he has mastered rolling over and rolls both ways and from his stomach to his back....and all over the place! He is also starting to sit up already and sat for at least 3 minutes while I took some pictures a few days ago! He likes to play with toys and put them in his mouth and throw them. He still loves to watch Zander and now tries to move towards him, reach for him or spin himself around so he can see him. It won't be long until he is trying to keep up with Zander.

this is how our photo shoot started, which may be why I did not get any smiles for the camera

Big boy 

He was smiling right before I took the picture, but the smile (and his cute dimple) goes away right as I take the picture!

Our little pumpkin

working on his sitting skills!

Summer Fun

This post is a bit late due to the craziness of going back to work and finding a new routine with our expanding family as well as some computer problems. We had a very busy and fun summer and Zaiden was quickly introduced to the busy lifestyle of the Gilliam family. I (Jazzie) had a ton of fun being home for most of summer break and had a chance to bond with Zaiden as well as had many fun days with both boys. I did not work at the school assessment teams and only filled in a few days at Shriners. Zeb also enjoyed the summer by taking a few days off, some work from home or early days as well as spent the last week at home with both boys before returning to our work schedule. Most summer days consisted of trips to the park, picnics, and spending time outside. We also had some fun summer days at the zoo or beach with family and friends. Our weekends remained busy as we traveled to visit family and friends as well as planned some other fun family events. We are sad to see the summer go, but are already beginning to enjoy the fall season and are looking forward to more adventures to come.

Our summer days were spent at the many parks in our area and adding a picnic to our day was one of our favorite ways to hang out

Beating the heat at the splash pad (We made sure Zander got some trips out with just mom or dad without little brother too)

Zeb is part of a group that has Cubs season tickets this year and he took big boy Zander to one of the games. Zander's favorite part was having a hot dog and eating ice cream

Zander loved taking care of our garden and eating the fresh vegetables all summer. Here he showed off his gardening skills to grandma and grandpa on one of our trips to Wisconsin

 Beach Day!!

 Hanging with his pals in Wisconsin (still working on his jumping skills!)

 We had 2 zoo days with Aunt Abbie this summer with one in Milwaukee and the other at Lincoln Park zoo. We had a lot of fun hanging out with her (and I liked having the extra help!)

The highlight of our summer was "Day Out With Thomas" at the Illinois Railway museum. Zander loves Thomas and the day was filled with Thomas themed activities, visiting all the old trains and even a ride on Thomas. It was a great day and Zander had a ton of fun....we plan to return again when Zaiden is old enough to enjoy it too!

 

Adoption Day

We are moving forward with our adoption of Zaiden.  August 20, 2015 was a big day for our family as we made the trip to the court house to petition for his full adoption. We went in front of the judge who asked us and even Zander a few questions (if he likes being a big brother, etc)! It was an exciting day and Zaiden was all dressed up for the occasion. We have a finalization date of December 17, 2015 and look forward to having Zaiden be a part of our forever family! After our day in court, we celebrated by visiting Zeb's office and going out for lunch.

Our family

Zaiden looked very handsome!

Visiting daddy's office

Zaiden 4 month

Time is flying by! Zaiden is 4 months old already! He is growing (despite some issues with reflux) and weighs 14# 8 oz and is 244 inches long! He is generally a happy boy and loves to smile and coo. He is able to hold onto some toys and loves to put them in his mouth. His other favorite activities are watching Zander (and now the other kids at daycare), rolling and reaching for toys on his play mat or his chair. He loves tummy time and is already on the move! He scoots himself around his play mat (usually to get a better view of Zander) or to try to move towards a toy. He also is often able to roll himself from his tummy to his back and rolls to both sides. Sleep is still not his favorite activity as he would rather be on the go than sleeping…….we’re still working on this one!

He loves tummy time and is already on the move!

This is the only way we could get a smile on camera

Hanging with his big brother....his favorite person to watch

Zaiden 3 months

Time flies! Zaiden is 3 months old today and continues to keep us on our toes! He is a very active boy and has been learning many new things. He can move himself around on his belly and has even figured out how to move himself forward if he can push his legs against something or can push with his legs to roll himself over sometimes....he is a fast learner and we think we are in for trouble! He also loves to play with his hands and put his hands/finger in his mouth. He is also starting to grab and hold onto toys which keeps him entertained for a while. His favorite thing to do is still to look at and "talk" to us or brother, Zander. He continues to have some trouble sleeping, although is steadily improving. We are hoping the addition of medicine for reflux as well as a change in formula may help with this. Despite all that, he is growing fast and is following in Zander's footsteps by being a very long/tall boy.

Silly boy!

He is getting big!

He loves his hands!

 

So handsome!