Babies, Babies, and More Babies

Today was quite a busy day. We went to church this morning, and we were in nursery. There was only 5 kids in the nursery, including Zander, so it was manageable. Usually, if all the kids show up for church there are about 9 kids in nursery. One of my friends at church just had a girl last night, and 3 more women are pregnant from our church and due in October and November. So, if all the kids come to church, by November there will be 12 or 13 kids in the nursery (one is due to move up to children's church soon). I think that is a lot for being a small church of only about 125 people.

During nursery we put Zander in a walker for the first time. As you can tell he didn't like it very much. I think he is a little too young for it.

After church we picked up my parents truck and headed to a neighboring town where we met my friends at their old house. They had 2 truck loads of furniture to bring to their new house. My husband and our friend Sam packed the truck with the first load, and then we stopped at Steak and Shake along the way for lunch. After lunch we headed to their new house to unload the truck. After unloading the truck the men headed back for the second and last load. After we were all done helping our friends move their furniture, we wanted to head over to the hospital to visit my friend and their brand new baby girl. As I mentioned yesterday Jordyn Sue was born yesterday at 8:52 p.m. She is such a cutie. We enjoyed meeting her. Congratulations Matt, Joleen, and big brother Micah. Our friends watched Zander while we were at the hospital. He had so much fun with them, and didn't fuss at all while we were gone. I am so proud of our little boy. We are blessed with such a laid back, happy child. Thank you God for blessing us with Zander. Here are some pictures of Jordyn and her big brother Micah.

We had Micah, Jordyn's big brother in nursery this morning. He showed us how he says his new little sister's name. It was so cute.

I'm so excited, I just can't hide it...

We have wonderful news to share. My husband got a job today. We are thrilled. He has been out of a job since November. We have survived, and not gone into debt while only 1 person worked, but it was hard. Thank goodness we had some money in our savings account. But we really only got through the last 9 months through God's grace. God is so awesome and he sustained us the entire time McDreamy was out of a job. He provided for us too! Just when we were unsure we would make it through, God provided for us. I knew God would provide a job for my husband in His time, and I trusted Him completely. My husband, on the other hand, struggled at times. But it is different for guys because they want to be the bread winners. But McDreamy spent some much time with our son Zander. And Zander just loves his daddy. I remember one morning Zander and I were snuggling in bed. Well Zander kept looking at his daddy that was laying on the other side of him. I wanted him to focus on me, and spend some time just mommy and Zander before I had to go to work, but Zander couldn't help but stare at his daddy. I would call his name and he would look at me for a brief second and then turn his head right back toward his daddy and smile. He just loves his dad. I am glad McDreamy and Zander had those first 5 months to spend together. McDreamy is great dad. He loves Zander so much.

McDreamy was smitten with Zander from the second he laid eyes on him!

Well, McDreamy starts on Tuesday. I am so happy for him. Now we can save some money for another house. We are out growing the house we are in now.

Today I went to a bunch of garage sales. At first I just took my son, but then McDreamy had to use the car, so my little sister went with for the second round of garage sales. I found some cute books for Zander for 10 cents each. You can't beat that price and I love books. Then I found the cutest bike for Zander for $10. I could not pass it up. I know my son is only 5 months old and won't be riding a bike for quite a while, but it was soooo cute. (I will post a picture of the bike tomorrow.) The reason I went to these garage sales is because Zander needs fall and winter clothes. He hardly has any. Well, I found none. I repeat, I found none. And I went to at least 7 or more garage sales. (A whole block was lined with garage sales.) But my gracious friend from work had a garage sale this weekend. She lives about 45 minutes from my house so I didn't have a chance to go to her garage sale. Instead she brought two bags full of 6 to 12 month old boy clothes for Zander from her garage sale. And she gave them to me free. Thanks Karen, that was so kind of you. I am so excited, Zander will have some fall and winter clothes. He already has a winter coat that I posted about in an early post.
And last, but certainly not least I have one more piece of good news. My friend Joleen had her second child today. It was a girl and they named her Jordyn Sue. Joleen had to be induced today because she had high blood pressure. She was 2 weeks early. Jordyn Sue weighs 8 lbs. 8 oz. and is 20.5 in long. I can't wait to meet her tomorrow. Four of my friends from church are pregnant (well, now 3) and are all due this fall. I can't wait to meet all these babies. Zander will have a lot of friends to play with in the nursery. Good thing we expanded the nursery.

SISTERS HOW I LOVE THEM

I just love sisters. And I have 2 of them. Then I have 4 sister-in-laws. And I have one best friend who is like a sister to me, we grew up together and have known each other since third grade (maybe longer depending on who you talk to). So that brings my "sister" grand total to 7 (my favorite number). Here are my SISTERS. I have so many memories with each and everyone of these girls. I love them all so much. God has blessed me so much. I am overjoyed to have each of them in my life.

My younger sister, Aubrey, me, and my older sister, Abby

Yes we are Abby, Allie, Aubrey (from oldest to youngest of the girls)

My sister/best friend Jane

My sister-in-law Cindy, who is married to my younger brother Ryan

My sister-in-law Shonta, who is married to my younger brother Zane

Michelle, my sister-in-law who is married to my husband's brother Anthony, Me, and my
sister-in-law Jill who is married to my husband's brother Dustin

Relaxing in the Backyard

McDreamy had 2 job interviews today. So Zander and I hung out all day. This afternoon I put a blanket down in the backyard and we hung out there for quite a while. I read many books to him outside. He had a lot of tummy time today, and he surprisingly enjoyed it. While on his belly we had a staring contest. I laid on the ground beside him and stared into his big blue eyes for quite a while. After I hung outside with Zander, I gave Zander a bath. He smells so good now. I love that fresh from the bath smell. Then I dried him off and put him in his pajamas.

We then walked over to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a few minutes. While we were there, Zander opened a drawer for the first time. I was getting ready to sit at their computer desk, and it has a drawer that opens pretty easily. Zander slipped his fingers underneath the desk as I was sitting down with him on my lap, and he pulled the drawer open as I sat down. It was so cool, and I was very impressed. Then we were down on the ground and Zander was showing off. He was showing Grandma how he has been practicing sitting up, and he sat up unassisted for about 20 or 30 seconds. After he was done showing off, I picked him up, put him on my shoulder where he laid his head down, and I stood up. As soon as I got up I said goodbye to his Grandma and Grandpa and left, and before I could get out the front door Zander had already fallen asleep. It was very cute. Zander slept for about 45 minutes and then woke up right before we had bible study. One of our friends, Jen held him most of the bible study and he snuggled in her arms for quite a while, even interlacing one of his hands with hers. He eventually fell asleep in her arms. It was so cute.

What a smile that boy has on him.

Don't mind all the drool he has on his shirt.

Just chilling. And that is more drool on his onsie/shirt. What can I say, the boy drools a lot.

Zander reading.

Okay, I did most of the reading to him, but I let him have a chance to read to me too!


The stare down. Zander and I just stared at each other for a while as we rested on our bellies on the blanket.

McDreamy found Zander sleeping like this yesterday during nap time. This is only the second or third time he has ever turned onto his stomach and slept that way. We put him on his back to sleep, and he usually sleeps on his right side.

This is how I found Zander when I got home from work at 5 p.m yesterday. He had fallen asleep and my husband just left him there. The poor baby.

Last Ketchup post

Sunday, August 30, 2009, I worked. I already posted about Monday. Tuesday I worked, but I got a surprise visit from my cousin Danielle in the Emergency Room. Yes, she was a patient. And Danielle, if you are reading this, I am so glad you are feeling better and I am so glad everything is okay. I love you! Today I worked again, but I just worked a princess shift. A princess shift is a 4 hour shift. I usually work 12 hour shifts, so 4 hour shifts are a piece of cake. I just picked this shift up for overtime. Well let me tell you, I definitely earned my time and a half today. My princess shift was not so princess like today. I was supposed to work 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Early on in my shift I got a critical patient. And from then on I spent all my time with that patient. Thankfully I have awesome coworkers who are all about teamwork. Someone covered the other 3 rooms of patients that I had, so I could devote all my time to this one patient. This patient needed that time. Then the rest of my coworkers helped me with the critical patient. I just love the people that I work with. They helped me so much, otherwise I would not have gotten through the shift. SO, I was supposed to get off at 3 p.m., but didn't leave the hospital until 4:30 p.m. because I had to finish charting, and call poison control. Oh well. Then I was supposed to go walking with my best friend, but we both forgot about it. You see I am trying to lose weight. It is not going so well so far. But I did go home and spend quality time with Zander before he went to bed. I just love that boy. I am soooooo excited. I am off tomorrow and I plan on spending all day with my cute little boy. I'm not sure what we will do, but I know we will have fun! Now, I am all caught up. I hope I continue to stay caught up. Of course my posts seem bare if I don't have pictures, so here are some. Oh and one last thing. Last night Zander slept the longest that he has ever slept. He slept 12 1/2 hours in a row. I hope this trend continues. He also took a 2 hour nap today, which is really good for him. He usually only naps for 45 minutes to an hour. I hope this keeps up.

Since I've seen so much of Danielle in the last couple of days, I thought I'd post this picture. This was at Den and Danielle's Bridal Shower.

And just for fun...

End of Summer BBQ-almost done with ketchup

Where is Zander?

Where did he go? I cannot find him!



Oh, there he is!

Zander enjoying the party, but wishing summer was not coming to an end!

This past Saturday, August 29, 2009, we had such a good time. In the morning and early afternoon we just relaxed. And then around 3 p.m. we went to an end of summer BBQ bash that our friends were hosting. We had so much fun. McDreamy played volleyball most of the afternoon and night while I had quality time with Zander and mingled with old and new friends. We had a nice time, and I had fun meeting new people. Our friends have a bash like this every year in August, so much fun!

I love this jacket of Zander's, but he is outgrowing it. I'm surprised he can still wear it because it is size 3 months. I just love the little ears on the hood.



The hosts of the party. It was Bob's birthday too! He stopped for 2 seconds to blow out candles and pose for this picture, and then he handed off his cake to his wife and was off to play more volleyball. Thanks for hosting a great "end to summer bash." We had so much fun!

Still in Ketchup mode

Even though he isn't smiling, he is still IRRESISTIBLE to me. Zander has found his tongue.

I am still trying to ketchup (I know this is not the right spelling when it is used this way, but it is more fun) with my posts. So I am posting on yesterday, Monday, August 31, 2009. On a side note, I can't believe it is September. Where has the summer gone? Yesterday my cousin Danielle, and my Auntie Ree came to visit. We had a nice visit. Then I went to work for 4 hours. We were really busy. So busy that I was dreaming about work last night and this morning. After work we went to watch my dad and my little sister play baseball. They are on a team with their church. They won the first game, but we left part way through the second game. They were losing when we left. The team they were playing the second game were really good.

My Auntie Ree and Danielle

Zander was infatuated with something. I'm sure you can tell what!

But, we finally got him to look at the camera.