A House Divided

We are both sports fans, but we often don't agree on teams....especially when it comes to football. We spend most weekends watching football and Zander seems to like watching sports with us as well.  Each of us (in addition to our family and friends) are already trying to convince him to root for our teams (there have been many gifts of sports gear) and the battle of Iowa/Wisconsin and Bears/Packers has already begun! This past weekend we had a trip to St. Louis planned to visit friends, but due to illness Zeb made the trip on his own, but ended up having the time of his life scoring pre-game field passes along with great seats to the Bears-Rams game thanks to one of his good friends. With connections like that, I think I'm going to have a hard time competing. 

Zander was neutral during the Iowa -Wisconsin football game this year!

 

 Zander cheered on the Packers with great-grandpa during one of our trips home to Wisconsin

During a weekend away, I got this message from Zeb as they cheered on the Hawkeyes together

 

 Zeb's on-field experience with his Iowa guys



Bottle Thief

Zander met a milestone his daycare has been working on with him for a while.......but it wasn't in the way anyone expected! His daycare ladies have been trying to teach him to hold his own bottle, but he has been very stubborn. We know he can hold his bottle, but he refuses to do it (I think he likes the extra attention). Well, today he must have been really hungry because he decided to feed himself a whole bottle (one handed no less)....the only problem was he stole the bottle from the girl sitting next to him!! She left them together while she was making Zander's bottle and came to see why the little girl was crying and there sat our little Zander feeding himself her bottle!!  So we are proud of him for learning this new skill, but we hope he learns to wait his turn and not steal from his girlfriends!!

 



Can you believe this little guy would take something away from his girlfriend?
I guess when you're hungry, you're hungry!

8 Months

Zander is now 8 months old and cuter than ever. He has mastered sitting....well, except when he dives for a toy. He loves to sit and play with his toys, especially ones that have lights or make sounds. He hasn't quite figured out how to crawl and continues to do a swimming motion when he tries to go forward, but this hasn't slowed him down as he gets where he wants to go by rolling or scooting around. His biggest motivation is still Parker, but he is also starting to figure out what he is NOT supposed to have and that is what he goes for. He is a very determined little guy. He continues to babble and is starting to make "ma" and "da" sounds, so we'll see who he calls for first (if it's the middle of the night, I am all for asking for dada). We are now looking forward to the holidays and spending more time with our active little guy!

our handsome 8 month old

We had a fall photo shoot at my parent's house

Getting into mischief! You can't leave him alone for too long

Zander was a gnome for Halloween and thought the costume was really funny.....poor Parker thought he wouldn't have to do this anymore

It wasn't easy getting Zander and Parker to pose for their pictures

By the end of the night, he ended up pulling apart the whole costume

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

 

6 Months

It is really hard to believe Zander is already 6 months old. He looks really grown up and is getting big! Zander now weighs 16lbs 4 oz and continues to get taller by the day; he is now 28 inches long! He now loves to eat solid foods can't get enough and of course already wants to feed himself. He is always trying to grab the spoon or put the whole bowl of food right into his mouth. Parker is now starting to pick up on this and he stays close to Zander while he is eating because some food is sure to go his way! He loves standing even more and wants to sit up on his own; he can sit by himself for about 20 seconds and could probably sit longer if he wasn't so interested in putting thins in his mouth. He is still not the biggest fan of rolling and prefers to scoot on his back and play with his feet, but he will roll onto his side and sometimes his stomach. We can't keep him on his tummy anymore because he has figured out how to get his arms under him and will immediately roll himself back over. He is very active and always on the move or tying to grab the nearest object to him. He is such a fun and happy baby and loves to explore the world and we are having so much fun watching him grow!!

 

6 months and cuter than ever!

 

He does not like being on his tummy for long!

 

 He loves playing on his farm, just like his great grandpas!!

 

 He has discovered he can put his feet into his mouth!

 

 Baby Z loves his food

 

 Standing and looking out the window (and looking at himself in the mirror) are still some of his favorite things to do