If your happy and you know it CLAP your hands

Zander was HAPPY today and so are his parents. He is officially not sick anymore in my books. He woke up at 8 a.m. this morning, and slept through the night again. Lately he has been waking up a couple of times a night, but not last night. Today I woke up just in time to be able to got to MOPS. I forgot to set an alarm clock, but woke up at 7:45 a.m. I made it to MOPS with minutes to spare. I am so happy I was able to go to MOPS today. I over slept for the first meeting 2 weeks ago because I went to bed at 4 a.m. I really enjoyed MOPS. I am working for the next meeting, but I hope I can switch with someone so I can attend. After MOPS, Zander and I went over to my sister-in-law's house to spend time with her and Zander's cousin Jaylyn. I have mentioned Jaylyn before, she is 2 1/2 months older than Zander. While we were there Zander learned to clap for the first time. Well he taught himself, and then Jaylyn joined him in clapping too. Zander loves his cousin and his Auntie Jill. He was laughing up a storm at her house. She was tickling him in just the right spot. Of course it doesn't work for me though. After our visit with Jill and Jaylyn, I planned on going home and trying to put Zander down for a nap since he missed both today. On the way home I called my mom to tell her that Zander clapped for the first time today. Well, she was mad (sort of) and said she doesn't see him enough and when am I bringing him over. Now, my mom and dad live 1/2 a block from me at this time, and they see Zander at least 1 to 2 times a week for many hours, if not more. But, off we went to my mom's house. Zander did show off his clapping skills while we were there. But he also laughed so much at his Grandma. My mom blows her nose really loud and she did it while we were sitting at the table, and I had Zander on my lap. Zander laughed so hard. He thought that was the funniest thing ever. Well of course we all thought it was hilarious. It was so cute. I caught a little on video, and in the video he is on my mom's friend Kathy's lap. I am video taping it, and my mom is the one blowing her nose. My mom said she laughed so hard she almost peed in her pants, and her ribs started hurting. You have to check out the video. One more thing, Zander went to bed at 7 p.m. because of the lack of naps, and he is still sleeping. Hopefully we will have another night like last night.

Flu Shot

I HAVE NEVER GOTTEN THE FLU SHOT.
I rarely get the flu.

But today, I got the flu shot. I was pressured by my coworkers. They convinced me to get it for the sake of my 6 month old baby boy, Zander. Now I have to convince my husband to get a flu shot too. Well here is to hoping I don't get sick this flu season. And I especially hope and pray Zander does not get the flu.

Sick Day

I had to take my first sick day from work today because my baby is sick. Let me tell you that was very hard to call off. At 5 a.m. when Zander woke up for yet another time, I asked my husband about 5 times, maybe more, if I should call off. He said yes each and every time I asked him. That is not like him. He said I really needed to be at home with Zander since he was pretty sick. I was sooooooo torn. I really didn't want to call off, but I knew I needed to be home with my baby. I also needed to take him into the doctor, and I work tomorrow, so I had to call off. Boy do I wish I was a stay at home mom. I love my job, but I feel so torn when I am at work. I miss my baby. And I always have the guilty mom feeling. Unfortunately I don't think that will ever go away. I took Zander to the Urgent Aid Center near our house because his pediatrician would not be in until 4:30 p.m. and only had hours until 6 p.m. I didn't want to wait that long and I did not want to chance it. She probably would not have been able to get us in. Zander has a left ear infection. My poor baby. But back to work I go tomorrow. I felt so guilty calling off. I hated doing that to them. In some ways I wish I hadn't, but I know if I went in that I would have wished I would have called off. The life of a working mom, you always feel so torn. Zander went to bed early tonight, at 7 p.m., because he was worn out.



On another note, Zander is doing well with his baby food. The last couple of days he has been eating baby food twice a day, one for lunch and one for dinner. So far he has tried sweet peas and sweet potatoes. He likes the sweet potatoes best so far. Today I only fed him baby food once because we were at the urgent aid at lunch. Zander has never eaten a whole jar. Today he ate the whole jar of sweet potatoes, well besides the stuff on his face. Boy is he a messy eater. And he doesn't open his mouth at all while I am feeding him unless it is to fuss. I just have to push the spoon full of food past his lips.

He may be messy, but he is so cute!

First tooth

Guess who is cutting his first tooth. Zander, of course, and his cousin Jaylyn. It is so fun that we found out they are both cutting their first tooth on the same day. I first noticed it when we were at the park with my little sister. So, of course I had to tell my sister-in-law and my in-laws at dinner tonight. Jill then checked Jaylyn and she is cutting her first tooth on the bottom right. We even did the metal spoon test with Zander, and he passed. You can see it peeking in. It is on the bottom left. I am not going to even attempt to get a picture, since it hasn't popped all the way through yet. I should have gotten a picture of just Jaylyn and Zander, because what a celebration for them. Jaylyn is 2 1/2 months older than Zander. She will be 9 months old in 4 days. I was hoping Zander would want to start crawling when he saw his cousin crawling all over the place, but all he did was lay on his back and grab her leg to pull her back as she was cruising by him. Zander just loves his cousin Jaylyn. He was staring at her and trying to hold her hand while we ate dinner.

Zander and Jaylyn playing

Two cousins playing with their Great Grandma

I love Sundays

Sunday is one of my favorite days of the week. I just wish I didn't have to work every other Sunday. I love going to church and praising the Lord. Today we went to church, but stayed in the nursery. After church we had lunch with our friends. After lunch I was looking forward to naps for all three of us, but Zander had other plans. He did not want to take a nap. In the meantime, my younger sister called to see if I wanted to check out her new apartment and then maybe throw around a softball. So, Zander and I let McDreamy sleep, and we went the 2.5 miles to my sister's apartment. She has a very nice apartment and it was nicely decorated. Then we walked to a near by park to throw a softball around while Zander watched from his stroller. For dinner we went to my in-law's house to celebrate my birthday. My husband's family gets together once a month if there are any birthdays in the family for that month. We had a great time with family and took lots of family pictures.

Yes, my mother-in-law put 32 candles on the cake for me. I can't believe I'm 32 years old.

Giving Brian some hair

Zander playing with his Great Grandma


Giving Brian a little too much hair, Zander can't believe it!

A Baby Shower and Dinner With Friends

My friend Lana and Nate had a baby shower today. I almost didn't make it because GPS failed me. I left the exact address at home, but figured that would not be a problem because I could just plug it in as a point of interest in GPS because it was at a school and it be fine. I quickly found the school and began following the lovely lady's directions. When I arrived there I did not see the school. I called another friend that I knew was going to the shower and found I was not at the right place. A year ago the school had moved and I was at the old location. Darn GPS, this is the second time it has failed me. I ended up being 45 minutes late. What can you do. You see, I am terrible with the directions. I am the most directionally challenged person in the entire world. So, I have loved my GPS, up until the last 3 weeks, because that is when it has failed me twice. I guess it was bound to happen, because it does not automatically update itself. But, I had no idea the school had moved. The baby shower was a lot of fun. I missed all the games they played, but the food was delicious. She got a lot of gifts too. It was very nice.

The soon to be mommy and daddy, Lana and Nate

The table I sat at, friends from church.

Lana and I

Some of the decorations

Nate with a doll someone made out of burp cloths

After the baby shower I went over to a friends house who was at the shower. She gave me some clothes for Zander that did not fit her son. Her son is 10 months old. That was so nice of her. Then I went over to our friends house, Sam and Jen, for dinner. Brian and Zander met me at their house. We had Chicago style hot dogs and pasta salad. YUMMY. I left early at 9 p.m. because Zander was tired, and it was way past his bedtime. I was hoping he would fall asleep there, but that didn't happen. I got home at 9:30 p.m. and Zander wouldn't go to sleep until 10:45 p.m. Brian stayed a little later and came home 10 minutes after I put Zander to sleep. It was nice that we were able to do that since we drove separately.

What a great small group

My mom took me shopping for my birthday. She decided that I don't wear good shoes. You see, I love flip flops, and every chance I can, I wear them. My mom is often telling me how bad they are for my feet. Mom, I know all that, I am a nurse you know. But they are just so comfy and convenient to slip on. I also like my feet to be free and breathable. I am not a big shoe or sock fan. I used to wear flip flops in the winter, but have stopped that. Chicago winters are just too cold and snowy for that. So, another reason my mom wants me to have good shoes is for work. I wear the knock off, cheap brand of Crocs. So, my mom took me to the New Balance Shoe store. I got to pick out 2 pairs of shoes, one for work and one for the rest of the time. I have to say they are comfy. The work ones aren't very stylish, but they are supper comfy and supportive, and that is what the employee recommended for me since I am on my feet so much as an ER nurse. The lady was so nice that helped us. She has waited on my mom for the 2 other times she had gone into the store. She even remembered my mom's name, and she asked how everything was going since the fire. Here are the shoes.

Work shoes

Shoes for the rest of the time (non work shoes)

After shopping, my older sister came over to my parent's house to visit. We had a very nice visit.

Tonight we had small group. Every Thursday from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. we host a bible study/small group in our home. I am so bummed that my husband can't attend now that he got a job and works afternoons. But I am very thankful that he has a job. We had been praying for a job for him since we started going to this small group. God is so awesome and faithful. I just love seeing God work, and seeing answers to prayers. We had a fabulous time at small group. I learned a lot more about the people in our small group, and we had a great discussion after the lesson. We talked so much after the lesson and prayer was over that people didn't start leaving until 10:45 p.m. And my friend brought yummy cake to celebrate my birthday.

Note: This post was intended to be for Thursday, October 1, 2009