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.