Happy Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween. We decided to go to Fort Wayne to visit family. We had to get up really early since we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us and they are an hour ahead of us. We got up around 6:30 a.m., and got out of the house around 8 a.m. (I woke up even earlier at 5 a.m.). We went to my brother's house first to visit his family, and they were going to a party. So we decided to crash the party. My brother was not feeling well, so it was just my sister-in-law, my 2 nieces, my nephew, and Zander, me, and my husband. We had fun at the party, even if we didn't know many people. The kids went on a hayride at the party.

Zander and his daddy at the party

The kids on the hayride

The wagon for the hayride was pulled by horses. FUN!


A sleeping lion after the party, and we still had so much else to do.

Then we went back to my brother's house to take some pictures of Zander and his cousins in their costumes.


Julia as a princess and Alyssa as Bill, some tattoo guy.


Tyler as a Transformer, Julia as a princess, Cindy (my sister-in-law) with a witches hat, and Alyssa as Bill the scary tattoo guy


Alyssa, Julia, Zander, and Tyler
Then we met my cousin, her husband and some of their friends at the mall food court for dinner. Zander fell asleep at the food court before everyone arrived, but woke up before we were done eating. He just took a short cat nap.

After dinner we went to the Fort Wayne Zoo. We piled the 3 babies into a wagon and pulled them around the zoo.

Jacob the alligator, Zander the lion, and Michael the monkey
We saw a lot of carved pumpkins at the zoo and not many animals, except the pumpkin kind.


Zander's competition

After the zoo we went to my aunt and uncle's house. It was fun to visit with them and let all the babies play. We had a fun filled day. And we made it back from Fort Wayne in 1 hour when it usually takes 3 hours (not really, but it seemed like it because of the time change, fall back, and the fact that they are 1 hour ahead of us). We are extremely tired. It is hard to drive 6 hours in one day and do much more throughout the day. Time for bed.

Disappointed and another Ketchup of his first word

I have to play Ketchup with my blog. Yesterday, October 29, 2009, Zander said his first word. His first word was WOW. I just know he was trying to say Mom, but it came out upside down as WOW. He was lying on our bed and McDreamy and I were playing with him, and he said WOW, clear as ever. It was so cute. Yesterday we tried to take more pictures of Zander with pumpkins because my camera died when we went to the pumpkin patch. It was very nice weather yesterday morning; it was about 60 degrees out. The reason I say we tried is because they didn't turn out very well. Zander was tired and did not want to look up in the photographs. Then I tried to take some pictures of Zander in a pile of leaves. The same thing happened, he did not want to look up. Oh well, what can you do. That is the reason for the disappointment.

Case in point, but he loved to play with the leaves.

This picture was taken this morning as my husband was getting ready to take Zander to our friends house so they can babysit him today. Thanks Jen and Sam. It is not the greatest picture of him, but I loved his outfit.

Wordless Wednesday-Almost

Zander says BOO!

I love Abby

I love my sister, whose name is Abby, but that is not who I am referring to in my title for this post. I was watching The Biggest Loser in the wee hours of the morning, and I love Abby from the Biggest Loser. She lost her husband and her 2 children in a car accident, and she still has the greatest spirit ever. I hope I can have that attitude and spirit when tragedy strikes. She is amazing. I was very sad to see her voted off the show, but I am so happy that she lost so much weight. I am so glad she is in good spirits as well. She looks amazing, and she is loving life once again. What an inspiration for how to live life, and for how to lose weight. I love you Abby. Both Abbys.

Can't sleep so I pray and think

I can't sleep, so I thought I would blog a little. As I was tossing and turning I was thinking a lot and praying. I was praying for many people and many things. I was praying for people I don't know like Kate and Tanner who are 2 adorable girls fighting cancer. I was praying for my little sister and my friend Jane and for their future husbands. They both want to one day get married. And I was praying for my parents. I was thanking God for blessing me with 2 great parents. And I was praying for wisdom with the decision of where they should live. I haven't blogged about this much, because I think it is to hard, but you see, my parents house burned down on June 14, 2009. They are renting a house 1/2 a block from our house, and will be staying there until February. After that, they are not sure where they will be living. They have a very difficult decision to make. Do they move closer to Fort Wayne, Indiana where my brother (their son), his wife, and their 3 children and my mom's brother and his family live? Do they stay around this area that they are living in now because their other children (me, my 2 sisters, and my other brother and our families) live. They have a tough decision to make.

While I was praying for my parents and thinking about them, I began thinking about some of the things that were lost in the fire. You see my parents, and my little sister who was living in the house at the time, pretty much lost everything. (sorry for the run on sentence, but it is 3:45 a.m.) God blessed them in that everyone was able to get out of the house safely and was not injured at all. They were also blessed because a lot of their photo albums and other photos were saved because one room in the house did not get much damage at all. Most of the albums and photographs happened to be in that room. This was pretty much the only room in the house that was not completely gone. In the other rooms almost nothing was salvageable. While I was thinking, my thinking became a little selfish. I still had a few items at my parents house. I had a few containers in the basement of childhood memories and keepsakes, and some of that stuff was salvaged. I have a vest that I loved and wore when I was a little girl. I had saved that and hoped one day my daughter would wear that. Well guess what, that was saved from the fire, and was almost in perfect condition. But one thing I lost in the fire was a box of books. This box of books was on in my parents enclosed front porch for a few weeks before the fire. My husband and I had seen the box and kept meaning to put it in our car. But, with the baby and all of his stuff we usually did not have enough hands to carry it to the car on our way out or we would forget. Then we would tell ourselves that we would get it next time we were over there. The box mostly had some of my favorite books or medical books in it, all which can be replaced. But their was once "special book" I cannot replace. It was a scrapbook of sorts. When I graduated college my parents threw me a graduation party. My older sister got a special notebook/journal. She passed this journal around my party and had everyone at the party write memories, well wishes, stories or anything else that they wanted to write for me or about me. Some people congratulated me on getting my bachelors degree. Others wished me well as I started a new chapter of my life. Some reminisced of the past. Others told "Allie stories." This book meant a lot to me and was the best graduation gift ever. Most of my friends and family wrote in this book. Then later, I took some of the cards that I got from my graduation party, and put them in the book as well. As I thought about this book, I so wished we had remembered to put that box in our car. I am so bummed. I wish I could read what people wrote in that book. Of course, I don't remember everything written in that book. I don't remember much at all, but I know most of what was written in that book made me cry. I remember my Auntie Ree wrote about how she used to call me her "curly top" because of my curly hair. I remember my sister writing such fond memories of our time growing up and of all my funny stories. I remember my Auntie Gin writing about the "dog story." And I'm pretty sure my mom's entry was the longest. I am sad that I won't be able to show that book to my children when they are older. But I am trying not to think so selfishly. You see most of my stuff was out of the house. But my little sister had everything she owned in that house because she still lived there. And of course my parents lost almost everything as well. They lost so many things that meant so much to them. Like, the bench my Uncle Pat made my mom from a pew of the church he was a pastor at that had to close. Or the tea kettle that was my Grandma's ( my dad's mom), and was a prized possession of his because it was one of the only thing he had that was his mom's. I could go on and on. I want you to know, I am soooooo grateful and blessed. I am so grateful that my family is all here with me and they all got of the house safely. But, my parent's house fire was very hard for everyone, but especially for my parents and my little sister. It was hard to see my childhood home, where my parents lived for 31 years, demolished. My parents moved into that house when I was 1 1/2 years old. Now all that is there is an one hundred year old tree. That is hard.

7 Months

(I know this is a bad picture of Zander, but in most of the other pictures he is grabbing the sign)

My little boy turned 7 months old today. I can't believe it was 7 months ago that he was born and then whisked away from us to the special care nursery. I am so thankful he was okay and only had to spend 31 hours away from us in the special care nursery.

Zander, you are growing so fast. I treasure every moment with you. This is what you have been doing in the last month:

• You now have 2 teeth in the bottom. They are still growing in, but I just love them, they are so cute.
• You still love to eat your hands and sometimes your feet.
• You love to roll all over the place. We put you down in one place and before you know it you are across the room with all your rolling and army crawling.
• You haven't quite mastered crawling yet, but you sure are trying hard. I remember your first attempt to crawl was on your mommy's birthday, September 30th. We were at Grandma's house. You would pick up your right knee and move it forward, and then you would pick up your left knee and then lose your balance and fall over.
• You move backward more than you move forward in your attempt to crawl, and just the other day you did an army crawl.
• You still love the jumpy toy that goes in the doorway.
• You have graduated from your swing and bouncer. You have not used your swing in a long time.
• In the last few days you decided you finally like your exersaucer, at least for 15 minutes or so.
• You love to smile and laugh, and think it is really funny when Grandma Wiersema blows her nose.
• You learned to clap. Well, you taught yourself to clap.
• You eat baby food now. You started one week before your 6 month birthday. You have tried sweet peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, pears, and bananas (in that order). I think your favorite is sweet potatoes and carrots. You are still trying to get used to fruit. Oh how I hope you love fruits and vegetables as you get older. Your mommy sure does.
• You sit up very well on your own. And only fall over sometimes.
• You love putting everything in your mouth.
• Last time you were weighed at the doctor's office you weighed 18 lbs 1/2 oz. and you are 28.5 inches long.
• You are still wearing size 2 diapers.
• You wear mostly 6 to 9 months clothes, but mommy puts you in 12 month clothes because you have more of those and they are cute. Surprisingly, the 12 month pants are too long.
• You want to sit up so badly, and when you try it looks like you are doing sit ups. You bring your head, neck and part of your chest off the ground and at the same time you bring your feet and legs off the ground. You have sat up a few times from a laying position when I was holding your feet. You are going to have abs of steel, hard as a rock.
  
• You are the love of your mommy and daddy's lives.
  

Zander, Happy 7 month old birthday!

The outtakes (there were many more) . Zander was usually trying to grab the sign or eat it.

Wedding Invitations

Today my friend Jen and I went over to my older sister's house to make wedding invitations for my sister's wedding. This was also the first time I saw my sister's house, as she moved into it recently. It is a very cute house; I love it. I felt bad because I didn't help very much with making the invitations. I was busy taking care of Zander. She understood though and more family and friends are coming tomorrow to help her. Of course I forgot to take pictures. That is happening more now because I am busy taking care of Zander. That never used to happen before, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I am so thankful and grateful for my little boy Zander. I went on a leaf hunt when I got home, even though the ground was wet. I dried off the leaves and took some photos like these for an earlier post here

The pictures did not turn out as I had hoped, but I am going to try again.

At night McDreamy, Zander, and I went over to my friend Tracy's house to spend time with her and her family. We ordered pizza and hung out. The boys enjoyed playing with Zander.

H1N1 Vacine and being sick (the two not related)

I got the H1N1 vaccine today. I had to go to work for a couple of hours today to do our annual competencies. On my way out I saw my manager who said, "Do you want to get the H1N1 vaccine?" I wasn't planning on getting it then, but had decided I was going to get the H1N1 vaccine for my son's sake since I work in the Emergency Room. So I got the shot. And today, I am a little sick. It is just a cold and has nothing to do with the vaccine. I caught the cold from my son. What a fun day! (said sarcastically)

Wordless Wednesday

What a great fall day

Fall is my absolute favorite season. I love that it is not too hot, and not to cold. I love that it is sweater and sweatshirt weather. I love sweaters. I love the leaves changing colors. And most importantly I love that my birthday is in the fall. Today we had a gorgeous fall day. We had 70 degree weather. It was so nice.

Here are some nice fall photos of my son. (Well at least some of them turned out okay)

Until he started eating the leaves.

Yummy!

(note:these pictures were not taken on this day, but instead on October 23, 2009. Before taking these pictures, while I collected the leaves, I sang "Going on a leaf hunt" to the tune of "Going on a bear hunt.")


On another note all together. Zander did the army crawl today, and I think this may have been the first time he did this.

No TV

Today at midnight my husband and I are starting something that I think will be very hard for me. We have decided to go 1 week without any TV or DVDs. One week doesn't seem so bad. I think my house will be a lot cleaner. But in some ways it will be hard. We have also decided to limit all computer time to 30 minutes each a day. I hope to use that time to blog, so I can keep you up to date on how the no TV thing is going. Tomorrow I also am starting my strict diet. My sister's wedding is in a little less than 6 weeks and I want to lose at least some weight. I am far from my goal weight, but this will be a start at least. So here is hoping this week goes well, and the next 6 weeks go really well.

Fall Fest Yesterday

After my sister's bridal shower on Saturday, October 17, 2009, we went to Fall Fest that was put on by our church. This was the first Fall Fest that I went to because I always had to work for the other one. One of the families at our church owns 2 acres in Cedar Lake and has a barn. This year was chilly so my family stayed in the barn most of the evening. They had a fun group play called the Oxcart Ramblers. And some people had fun doing a little jig, as you can see below. They had games for the kids and had volley ball too. They had so much food that was so good. We had a nice time visiting with everyone.

Zander, at Fall Fest, sporting his new hat!

Today Zander was playing on a blanket we set down for him. He decided to roll himself up in it.

My little piggie in a blanket!

I wanted to write one more thing. It is kind of gross, but I thought I would add it any ways. On this past Friday, October 16, 2009, I was trying to get Zander to go to sleep. He cried for a bit and then was quiet, so I thought he had fallen asleep. Soon after he started crying again, so I waited 10 minutes and then got him out of his crib. I walked down a few stairs and he spit up a tiny bit on me. No problem. I went down 2 more stairs and he decided to vomit all over me. It went all down the front of my shirt. And yes, it even went down the inside of my shirt and down my bra. It was so gross. I was using a lot of stain removal for that. The joys of motherhood. And the fun is just beginning. But Zander is worth it all. I love being a mom even when I am covered in vomit.

Bridal Showers Galore

The shocked look of Zander saying, "You brought me to what, a Bridal Shower. There are all girls here."

This weekend was filled with Bridal Showers. My best friend, Jane, and I hosted a Bridal Shower for my sister on Saturday, October 17, 2009 (yesterday). I had attended to blog yesterday bu8t was to exhausted. We had sooooo much fun, but it was a lot of work. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the decorations and center pieces we did. We had a theme of black and white for the shower. We had black and white helium balloons. Then we had 11 rectangular glass containers filled with all different black and white candy. The candy I chose is chocolate covered pretzels, white yogurt covered pretzels, snow caps, black sixlets, white and chocolate candies, Tootsie Rolls, and lots of others. Then we had little white and black gift bags for people to take the candy home in as their favor. We had little black and white bride and groom confetti and lots of other confetti. We had the Bridal Shower at Sanfrantello's Pizza and the food was wonderful; well at least that is what I heard because I was too busy to eat. I brought my son along too so I was either hosting or taking care of my son. While everyone was eating I was feeding Zander. For a game I made up the Abby and Andy Love Quiz. The guests had to answer 10 questions about the soon to be bride and groom. I also had the guest write a note, advice, or congratulations on the balloons for Abby and Andy to read later. They got a lot of really nice gifts. I got her a nice wooden mirror. I had fun, but I am glad it is over because it was a lot of work.

The soon to be bride and groom, Abby and Andy

The mirror before they opened it.

The mirror I got them as a gift.

Abby and Andy acting goofy

My beautiful cousin Danielle with Madeline and Zander.


The only picture I was in all day, holding my sleeping baby boy.

Then today I went to another Bridal Shower for my sister. Abby's future mother-in-law and future sister-in-law hosted a Bridal Shower for them. It was very nice. They had a lot of games. We played guess the number of towels used in the wedding cake, bridal bingo, and the word game where you write down as many words as you can out of "Abby and Andy Forever." Of course my little sister dominated that game with 55 words, and we only had 5 minutes to do it in. She is the scrabble queen though so I should have known.

Here is the wedding cake made out of towels.

Abby and Andy with one of their engagement photos that were taken today



Aubrey, my little sister, and me



All of the sisters, Aubrey, Allie, and Abby

Kids will sleep anywhere

Zander was getting a bit fussy on his placemat, so I thought maybe he was hungry. I pick him up and put him in his highchair and get him all strapped in. Then I start feeding him. He is not to fond of eating peas or green beans by themselves. I think they are too thick for him. I decided to mix peas, green beans, and sweet potatoes together. After a few bites of that he was still fussy. I thought he may not like the taste of all three mixed together. So, for the first time I decided to try carrots. That was next on the list for him. After 2 bites of carrots I noticed his eyes were starting to close, and after the third bite of carrots he was fast asleep.

What a night

Oh my gosh I had quite a night at work. All I have to say is I HATE CHILD ABUSE! No matter what your child does, he or she does not deserve to be hit so much that bruises, burns, and welts are left on their bodies, some in the shape of a belt where the parent whipped them. WOW! I am so saddened. My heart is broken. All I can do is pray. I pray they never have to be in a situation like that again. I am so glad they are out of that home, and I hope they stay out of that home forever. I will never forget them, and will always pray for them.

Shopping, More Shopping, Doctor's visit, and even more shopping

I'm getting ready for the Bridal Shower on Saturday so I have been busy. Yesterday, Monday, October 12, 2009, I went shopping with my mom during the day. We went shopping at 2 different Carson Pierre Scott stores because the first one didn't have everything we wanted. At the second store I got a great deal on something, but I can't say what because it is a Christmas present for some people. After shopping at both Carsons we went back to my parent's house and I fed Zander. Then my mom watched Zander while I ran to Target. I rushed back to my parent's house and then took Zander to the doctor's office for his 6 month well baby visit. Zander is doing well. He had to get one shot, and some liquid medicine. I forgot what the liquid stuff was called. What a good nurse I am. Zander weighs 18 lbs. 1/2 oz. and he is 28.5 inches long, and his head circumference was 42 cm. He is in the 50th percentile for weight, the 95th percentile for height, and the 50th percentile for head circumference. Zander was done crying after the shot before I was able to pick him up. After the doctor's visit, we went shopping with my best friend Jane to get stuff for my older sister Abby's bridal shower. Zander and I are exhausted from all the shopping we did. I do not enjoy shopping very much, so today was a long day.

Cold

Today I worked and Brian stayed home with Zander. We almost had them ready for church. Brian was just finishing giving Zander a bottle. Well, Zander decided to vomit all over Brian, his outfit, and the couch when he was finished with the bottle. My poor baby. So they stayed home from church. I worked 8 hours in Triage. So I was exposed to all the little sick ones, and the sick big ones too. I had a lot of patients with fevers today. I was really busy for the last 3 hours of my shift. I hope Zander feels better tomorrow, and I hope I don't get sick. I have a busy week getting ready for my older sister's bridal shower.

Rainy Day

Today I just wanted to stay in my pajamas all day and veg out, but that didn't happen. It has been raining all day. When I woke up this morning it was raining, and at 6 p.m. it is still raining. I was awoken around 8 a.m. with a phone call from my mom because my brother Zane thought he broke his heel. I got ready and went over to my parent's house, where my brother was. I figured we could take him to the hospital I work at. He wanted to wait until 11 a.m. to go because that is when the fast track of the E.R. opens up and they would get him in and out quicker. While we waited, I decided to head over to a garage sale I had heard about in a neighboring town. There I found some clothes for Zander. On my way back I stopped at a Thrift Store and picked a sweater and a sweat suit outfit for Zander. While I was at the Thrift store my brother decided not to go to the hospital after talking it over with his wife. He decided he would make an appointment with an orthopedic doctor instead. So, I went home hoping to spend the rest of the day at home. My husband picked up lunch for us at a Mediterranean Restaurant near our house. We had gone there once and loved it. We have been meaning to go back there to eat. We even wanted to go there for my birthday, but McDreamy had to go into work early. The food was yummy. Then I tried unsuccessfully to get Zander down for a nap. Instead, my mom called and wanted Zander and I to come over to her house to visit with my brother. Now I am back home and Zander is napping. When I pulled into the garage and got Zander out of the car he was awake. I walked the 2 feet from the garage to the house and by the time I got in Zander, he was asleep. He has now been sleeping for an hour. I kept him in his car carrier because I knew if I took him out of it to bring him up to his bed he would wake up and not nap. Hopefully he still goes to bed on time. Now I am going to relax at home. Maybe make some hot chocolate because today has been such a cold and rainy day. I had plans to have my friend and her kids come over, but she had to cancel. I am okay with that because now I am going to get into my jammies and veg, like I had planned to do earlier today.

Just another day in paradise

Today was just an ordinary day, but I thought I would post anyways. Zander and I went out to lunch with my mom, my sister, my aunt, and my mom's friend. Then I cleaned the rest of the day. I did notice that Zander has not 1 but 2 teeth coming in the bottom. We were supposed to have bible study today, hence all the cleaning, but only one couple showed up, so we just chatted for a while. I am busy getting ready for my sister's bridal shower. My best friend and I are throwing my sister and her fiance a bridal shower on October 17th. I am excited because I finally decided on a theme. I am going to be doing a black and white theme. I didn't run it past my best friend yet, but I think she will be okay with it. I decided to post some pictures of Zander just because. These are old, they are from July 7, 2009 when we went to a splash park with some friends and their kids.