Simon Mark Lindberg

Monday, July 9, at 12:14 in the afternoon, we welcomed Simon Mark Lindberg into the world. Everything went well and we are now happily enjoying him at home.  As you can probably tell from the pictures below we all love him very much. Enjoy the pictures.

Just like Aunt Amanda

Zoie loves all her Aunts and Uncles dearly. She is always up for big hugs, snuggles, kisses etc.  She always squeals in glee and talks about them when she sees their picture.

But the "cool" aunt who she wants to be like is Aunt Amanda.  Here they are in their similar style skirts and painted toes at Easter.

Zoie is in luck because she is built a lot like Aunt Amanda (long and thin) and has a similiar loving fun spirit. She's not quite as bold as Aunt Amanda, which Zoie's mommy is ok with :).  Zoie even looks a lot like Amanda did as a young child and I'll admit to calling Zoie "Amanda" more times than is probably normal. So Zoie, you are well on your way to being a lot like your Aunt Amanda.



Safe with Daddy

My little girl absolutely adores her Daddy. She gets so excited when he comes home. Here she is at our Super Bowl Party. She was tired, so she just climbs up on Dad's lap and goes to sleep, despite all the noise.

She also thinks every "Prince Charming" from Aladdin to the Prince in Cinderella is the Daddy character.  Shows you how highly she regards her Dad. Can't say I disagree with her.

Cousin Buddies...and an Aunt.

Here are some pictures of Zoie's special buddies. Some of her cousins who she loves to play with. So thankful for each one. Oh yes and one picture with Aunt Amanda who she is also a big fan of.

Auto Show

In February our little family took a short trip to the Chicago Auto Show. We stayed at the Hyatt at McCormick Place on Friday night and enjoyed the show the next day. Zoie definitely had fun getting in and out of the cars. A fun family day.

You can tell where we are in life as we spent a considerable amount of time looking at the vans and larger SUVs....oh dear :).

Oh Boy!

Mark and I found out yesterday that our little bundle of joy is a little boy. He is doing well and is on track to come sometime in early July. We feel very blessed to have another precious baby on the way.

As far as Zoie's reaction, she'll tell you that there is a baby in mommy's tummy, that she is going to be a big sister, and she is having a brother but I don't think she truthfully understands what any of those things mean. She just knows that is the right answers.

Open wide

Zoie had her first dentist appointment today. I was a little nervous about the whole thing for those of you who have heard my stories, she typically is afraid of new things. I wasn't sure how she would feel about people poking around in her mouth. But she did great, she was such a big girl. She opened her mouth nice, followed instructions on how to use the sucker thingy, and was just an all-around trouper.

I was very pleased. No cavities to report and she is doing great.  Good job little girl!

 (yes I'm the dorky mom who took pictures of them cleaning her teeth)

Staying Warm

I know it has been some time since I posted anything. I just thought I'd post this cute picture of Zoie to add variety to the blog.  Have a great day and stay warm!

Coming in June....

Say 1 ...2...3....Laura's Pregnant

Do this and the above reaction is what you will receive. At least with my family.  It's true, Zoie is going to be a big sister come the end of June 2012, Lord willing. We are very excited, despite all the people we apparently told we just wanted Zoie. While it's true we are very content with our little girl, we have been blessed by our siblings and felt Zoie would feel the same. It's just time to grow our little family.

My Little Flower

Zoie was a flower this year. She loved going around from house to house knowing each time they opened the door she'd get candy. The last picture is what happens when you tell her no to her 6th piece of candy. The next step after that is a short nap for Zoie :).

California Vacation - San Francisco

After we flew into Sacramento, we drove down to San Francisco for a long weekend. I loved San Francsico. It just is so unique in it's look, feel etc... We didn't do a quarter of the stuff we could have but I really enjoyed it. Here are a few pictures.

California Vacation - Wine Country

Mark and I had a wonderful opportunity to go on a 5-year anniversary trip to California. I had a conference out there at the end of our trip. We started out in San Francisco (pics of that to come later) but early in the week we went to Napa and Sonoma valleys for a few days of wine tasting and a trip to a spa (no pictures of that). At one of the wineries they had a walking tour where you could sample the grapes. As it was just before harvest, they were perfect.

Then after that we headed up to the American River for a day of white-water rafting. I'm putting the activities of our trip in backwards order.

As a note the trip was absolutely fabulous and I'd highly recommend the area for a vacation. We loved it. For those who may be wondering, Zoie had a fun filled 10-days at my parents house. It was a long time to be gone from her but I think it worked out best for everyone this way.  I missed her a bit but never enough to wish she was there :).

Pigtails

Recently I have started trying to do more with Zoie's hair then just add a bow. She tolerates it pretty well and I think she's super cute.

Lincoln Museum

We vactioned with my family this past July. On the way down, a few of us went to the Lincoln Museum in Springfield. Zoie had tons of fun in the Mary Todd Lincoln room where she could dress-up and play. It's a pretty neat museum. I'd recommend it.

Happy 2nd Birthday Zoie

Time has flown but Zoie is now 2. Here are pictures from her first party at Papa & Ma-Ga (Grandma)'s house. We feel so blessed by the love of family

The girls playing on Zoie's new toy....who needs toys when you have boxes?