Visitors

We have had a few visitors to our house recently. Yesterday evening Hannah, Ben, and Mom L. arrived. Mom and Hannah are helping Josh and Bethany with their new baby and Ben is helping Mark put a new roof on our house. The Grandma's came up to pick up Mom and Hannah this morning.

My aunt Donna stopped by on her way home from Chicago a few weeks ago. She is a "great" aunt and glad she could finally make it to our place. Aunt Donna is the relative you call when you need random assistance and she is always willing to help (my sister Diana has some noted experience with this).

Finally, my mom had to come get a Zoie fix.

We always love visitors, so come by and see us.

Mommy Jinxed It

So yesterday Mommy shared what a good baby I am (See Baby Lottery). While that's still true, I decided to be a bit ornery last night. I waited until after 11 to go to bed and then I woke up at 5 for a snack. Now I wasn't too bad as I just ate and went right back to sleep...but Mommy better careful what she says next time. Lots of love ~Zoie

Baby Lottery

My sister commented the other day "You really won the baby lottery with Zoie." The more I think about it, the more I conclude she is right. Now I am Zoie's mom, so that makes me a little biased which I ask you to forgive. A few highlights though

1. She's totally cute and adorable (pictures below to prove my point).

2. She has been sleeping through the night since she was 6 weeks old. I'm talking always at least 8 hours and up to 11. When she first came home from the hospital she'd go to bed at night, sleep 4 hours, eat, and go right back to sleep. She was only "up" in the day time.


3.She is growing and healthy

4. She is very interactive. Unless she's grumpy, you can count on a smile if you talk to her. She especially likes older women, which makes her a hit at the nursing home when we visit my grandparents.

5. She is a good traveler. We've been all over since she was born (Georgia, Michigan, Indiana, and more times to Central Illinois then I care to count). Overall she's pretty content in the car seat once we get moving and she's been fed. She doesn't always like to be put in it and sometimes she's had enough...but overall pretty good. She also is able to sleep in her pack n play just as well as her crib.

6. She can calm herself and put herself to sleep. Sometimes she'll be mad in the carseat for a minute or two and then just be done with it. I think she knows her parents aren't giving in :). Also, if she is tired, if I just lay her in bed, she may fuss for a couple of minutes but pretty soon she'll just go to sleep. A lot of times, she doesn't fuss at all.


Many of the things that make Zoie especially easy as a baby are just a result of her being her. Mark and I are NOT wonderfully gifted parents. There are many wonderful parents whose babies are no less wonderful, just more work. We're just taking it day by day, learning how to care and love our little girl.

With this good baby, Mark is especially nervous about even the thought of a #2. He doesn't think you can gamble and do this good twice :).

College Grad and A Visit From Amanda

As I hear Pomp and Circumstance in my head, it's with great pleasure I salute this family's newest college graduate. Mark completed his B.S. in Accounting from the University of Phoenix this summer. It's been a long road but he has done very well. I'm amazed at the diligence he has shown to reach this accomplishment.

He also was recently approved by the Illinois Board of Examiners to sit for the CPA exam. It's a 4-part exam and he sits for the first test at the end of August. So the studying isn't quite over, but he keeps making progress.

Last week Aunt Amanda came to get her Zoie fix. We had lots of fun shopping for Amanda's birthday which was yesterday. Happy 18th! I can't believe my "short-child" is already a legal adult.

Zoie August 2009 1 (39 photos), by Laura Lindberg

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you.

Lindberg Visit

I'm a little behind here but a few weeks ago the Lindberg's came to visit. It was wonderful to see them. Since the first week they were here it was the last week of my maternity leave, we got to spend a lot of time together. A little perk of Zoie coming a week late.

Here are a few random pictures.

3 Months Old

My little Zoie is 3 months old today. Below are pictures taken right around the time of the milestones. 3 months, 2 months, 1 month, and brand-new. It's amazing how she grows and changes so fast.

Boat ride

My parent's friend Barb has a pontoon boat on Lake Bloomington that she said we were always welcome to use. Mom and Dad had Braden last weeks, so they decided to take her up on this offer. We took out the boat for a beautiful evening on the Lake. Here are some pictures

Michigan Vacation

Mark, Zoie, & I took our first family vacation last week. We had a wonderful time. It was a very successful considering we took a 2 month old infant. She did very well. It was a wonderful week of wine tasting, visiting the beach, and just some general relaxation. We stayed in a small condo in Douglas, MI not far from Oval Beach. Here are a few good picture highlights

2 months old

Our little Zoie is 2 months old as of Saturday. She keeps getting bigger and bigger everyday. We sure love our little girl.

My Brother's Wedding

This spring/summer brought a lot of changes to my family. Our last big family event was my brother's wedding. He and his new wife Amber had a beautiful wedding (pictures below). We are excited to welcome her and Braden (her 8 year old son) into our family. I always wanted my brother to marry some one who is fun and caring person. She is all that and so much more.

Congrats to the very happy couple.

hickey

Zoie has been making many attempts to suck her thumb/hand. She doesn't have the motor control to quite do it yet but she certainly tries. A while back she got a good latch on her arm giving herself her first hickey. I was glad I was there to watch her do it otherwise I would have worried she really did something to bruise herself.

Smiles

Don't you just love these grins??

Baby Gear

As we've now made it over 6 weeks with our little one. There are several pieces of baby gear I'm really glad we have.

The first one is our baby monitor. Our baby monitor is one that not only provides sound so we can hear her cry, it monitors her breathing. It has a little pad you put under the mattress. After you lay her down, you turn that part on and it senses her breathing. If it doesn't feel any movement for 40 seconds, an alarm goes off. This monitor has given me such peace of mind. I don't get up in the middle of the night to see if she is breathing.

The second piece of equipment is the baby swing. Zoie loves her swing and so does mommy. This piece of equipment is great when she is semi-sleepy but too fidgety to go right to sleep. Sometimes she isn't a fan but most times she is very content here. We got this Nature's Touch one off of Craigslist. A little more pricey than some swings but it goes both front-to-back and side to side. She prefers the side to side motion and seems the most entertained by the nature sounds versus the music. The way it is shaped makes it great for sleeping. I'm very glad I searched long and hard to find this swing.