Happy Birthday Short Child- Brookfield Zoo

To celebrate my sister Amanda's birthday, we spent the day with the "girls + Braden" at Brookfield Zoo. We then met up with Brian at Adoke, a Japanese Hibachi grill. It was a fabulous time but I think the pictures will demonstrate that.

The water/fountain play area was Zoie's highlight of the visit. I didn't know the thing existed so I wasn't exactly prepared. But we just stripped her down to her diaper and off she went. As you can see the look of happiness on her face, she loved it!

My lovely sisters and mom.

Aunt Amber loves Zoie enough to share her treat.

Dinner at the Adoke...lots of fun and yummy.

Lindberg Family Visit

What a month August has been. I haven't posted much on the blog because of all the things we've been doing. I have a string of events to post about. I haven't really put all there was about South Carolina but we'll save that for another day.

Mark's family came to visit in the beginning of August. We met them at the Gateway Woods Sale. After an eventful long drive back to our house. Let's just say the van had some brake issues....issues that involved fire while we were in the middle of nowhere Indiana. Those bottles of water purchased at the gas station before we left Leo turned out to be a really great investment.

The family then stayed at our house (Ben and Joel went over to Brian and Amber's) for Saturday and Sunday night. It was a wonderful visit and a great opportunity for Zoie to get to know her Lindberg family a bit better.

Here are some of us waiting on the curb at this random gas station off of Route 30 while Mark drove my father-in-law to an auto parts store.

Zoie loved her aunts and uncles. By the end of the visit she had successfully said "Joel" and a version of "nana" aka Hannah.

Zoie snuggling with Aunt Lydia. She loved being carried around and played with.



Our kitchen isn't large enough for the entire family so we had to set a table up outside.

Here is Zoie enjoying her breakfast just before we went to the Gateway Woods Sale.

A fun shot of Joel.

We had a great time and hope they can visit again soon.

We love you!!!

S.C. Vacation - The Beach

The house we rented was only about 2 blocks from a public access beach site. The beach was wonderful. It was definitely a warm week we were in South Carolina but it made it very comfortable to be out in the water. Zoie loved the beach. She would play and play with her sand toys. She liked being carried out into the water and playing with the waves. She didn't even cry if she got hit in the face (and yes that happened on occasion). Of course we were always holding her but she she loved it.

With her little sun-safe swimsuit, hat, and lots of sunscreen she never got burned but she spent a lot of time out on the beach. Besides eating a bit of sand, she did great. Here are a few pictures

Sweet Corn

I was inspired by Sandra's post the other day to let Zoie try some sweet corn at dinner. Let's just say...she loved it.

Please

Zoie has recently learned to say "please" when she wants somethng. Zoie also knows what dessert is and will likely show you how she can say "please" if you have some...as Amanda found out :)

South Carolina Vacation -The House

My family (my parents, siblings, spouses etc...) took a family vacation to Surfside Beach S.C. last week. We had a fabulous time. My parents found a duplex about 2 blocks from the beach for us all to stay in. With 5 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, we had plenty of space. It also had it's own pool which was nice. Here are a few pictures.

Our family from the top balcony

View from the balcony

Our duplex...we were on the left side

The pool

Zoie relaxing with Brian in the living room

When we travel, we really enjoy getting a condo/house instead of hotel rooms. Here is a link to the property we stayed at http://www.vrbo.com/244670 called Katy's Dream. It was as wonderful as they said it was.

Lift Up In Prayer

Please pray for the Schroeder's. Jordan (the husband and father) is seriously ill with cancer. They have a beautiful family and an amazing faith. They need fellow believers to lift them up in prayer.

To read their story
http://jkschroeder.blogspot.com/

Sweet little angel or...

or a little girl with attitude?

As with most children, a bit of both. Zoie has been growing and changing so much the past few weeks. Unfortunately my photography frequency has not been keeping up. I'll try to do better.

I think I got this picture just because she wanted to touch my camera but it's fun either way.

VBS

Mark and I had the privilege of serving on the Chicago VBS committee this year. Even though it was a little nutty since we just got back from Jamaica when it started, it was a wonderful time. Here are a few pictures to enjoy.

The Junior High class building chairs to donate to the Gateway Woods Sale

Braden and Alexa "doing their craft"

Julie reading to the youngest class

The Junior High class

The Youngest class

I have a picture of the middle class somewhere but can't seem to locate it now. I'll post it when I find it.

Who do I look like?

Zoie here. From the time I was born people said I look like mommy. While that is undeniable, I think I may have a bit of my daddy too. Here are some pictures for comparison. Let me know what you think.

Zoie 9 Months

Daddy 9 Months

Zoie 1 Year

Mommy 19 Months



I want to know your thoughts! ~Zoie

Pomp and Circumstance

My first "baby" (aka Amanda) graduated high school this weekend. We are very proud of her and love her sooooo much. She is a wonderful Aunt and great sister. Love you "short child."

Table Manners

As you know, 1 year old children do not have table manners. Recently Zoie has found lots of fun finding food and eating it all by herself.

Zoie loves bananas. The other day she found one I had put in her diaper bag. I saw that she had it but hadn't worried about it too much. Well she was able to peel it by herself and proceeded to eat the entire thing. She was just so happy and content, I let her do it. Glad we have hardwood in the living room.




Friday she was playing in the kitchen. I could hear her and all of I sudden I could tell she had a spoon. She had pulled a half-eaten yogurt from breakfast off the table and the spoon. It was soon no longer half-eaten...and the spoon wasn't really necessary. Notice the yogurt all over her hair and clothes. She had another bath after that.

Zoie's Grandmas

Zoie is very blessed to have so many Grandma's. As Mother's Day has just passed. I thought I'd acknowledge all the love of Zoie's Grandmas.

Below is my mom, Zoie's Grandma Sonia. Zoie probably knows her the best, as she is who we've spent the most time with. Zoie loves Grandma. Potentially because Grandma will ALWAYS pick her up when she wants to, gives her favorite foods, and just generally gives her lots of love. Either way, Mark thinks that Grandma Sonia ranks higher than he does some days.


The next is Grandma Lindberg. Zoie hasn't spent as much time with her but every time she has Zoie definitely loves her Grandma. She went to her right away when we landed in Georgia and had lots of fun playing with her. Grandma Lindberg knows lots about babies and how to love them.

Great-Grandma Kuntz is my mom's mother. Great-Grandma likes to come visit Zoie whenever she gets the chance. I have many fond memories with my Grandma.

This is Grandma-great Schumacher (I have the wording right, Grandma-great is the name Ali bestowed upon Grandma-great Schumacher to not mix it up with her other Grandma). Mark's mom's mom. We have spent more time with her and that side of the family since Grandpa went home to heaven earlier this year. Mark often talks of all the fun things he did with Grandma. We hope Zoie is able to have many memories just like her Daddy does.

This is Great-Grandma Vercler, my dad's mom. We've gone to visit her in the nursing home many times. Unfortunately her mind isn't very good. Sometimes she knows who we are and other times not.

Finally, we have Great-Grandma Lindberg. She is Mark's dad's mom. She is a very active busy lady, who can teach us a lot about strength of character. We love her very much and glad to live closer.

Mommy's Sidekick

Today while we were out running errands, a lady asked Zoie if "she was mommy's sidekick for the day." I responded..."she's mommy's sidekick everyday."

As I left I thought about it a bit and really appreciated how much time Zoie and I spend together. While there are certainly times I need a break, I'm thankful I get to be with my little sidekick.