Merry Christmas!

We were blessed to have the entire family in from the Missouri, Oregon, and Atlanta...Zen and Zion got to meet cousin Jake for the very first time. The time flew by.

Zen, 4 weeks

Dad had some fun with the outfits and the camera one day. Zen is looking forward to meeting the rest of the family as they travel to the Midwest from Oregon and Atlanta.

Zion Science Fair

The volcano was a hit! We managed to guard it for almost 2 months without dropping it. The thing had about 10 pounds of paper mache on its frame, so that was quite a feat. Now it's in the garbage (Zion took some convincing...he wanted to save it forever and ever) but it's memory will live on in pictures.

Jedi Hasn't Had One in Awhile...

Here she is, making herself comfortable. She loves to lick the baby's head, a habit that Grandma Pam is trying to discourage...

I Think My Eyes are Gonna be Brown

Zen at 2 weeks

Thanks to everyone for all their thoughts and prayers as we adjust to the new life in our house...Zen is continuing to grow and gain weight--almost a half a pound since his birthday! He has periods of increasing alertness these days (both during the day and in the middle of the night!). He loves to stare at the Christmas lights and hang out in his bouncy chair. Zen had his first non-medical outing on Sunday when we went to church in Evanston. He was a big hit in his little teddy bear suit (Aunt Susie does such a good job picking out cute clothes :-) We spent yesterday down at Children's Memorial Hospital for more tests, this time to see why his blood doesn't clot as well as it should. Zen gave his blood like a trooper. He does much better than Mommy in these situations; luckily Dad was there to take charge.

Zion is doing well and enjoying the 6 inches of snow we got here last week. We are looking forward to having Grandma Pam back with us safe and sound after her trip back to Missouri to get her house in order. Sam is off work this week, and it has been nice to bond as a little family unit.

We are going to be lame again this year and not send out Christmas cards, but we are enjoying receiving them, so keep 'em coming!

Zen, Day 4

Zen spent his first full day at home without a hospital visit on Wednesday, November 28. Zen has been under the watchful care of Grandma Pam, much to our relief. She's been taking the night shift, and some of the day shifts as well. Zen has been mostly confined to his bedroom, a prisoner of the light source that will help his body breakdown his extra bilirubin. However, he was allowed to receive visitors in the evening, including Auntie Denise, Kelsey, Madison, and Auntie Susie. Zen and Zion also spent their first real time getting to know each other as Zen studied his brother through his increasingly alert eyes. Aunt Susie snapped this family picture.

Zen is Here!

Baby Zen arrived on Saturday, November 24 at 12:07 p.m., in time to share his brother's birth date. I went into labor on the way to an appointment at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and Grandma Pam was able to get the last seat out of Atlanta so she arrived just in time to help coach him out, along with very proud Dad and Aunt Susie. Zen spent the remainder of his time at Northwestern in the NICU for some special observation and TLC. We were fortunate enough to get him released on Monday evening for a 10 pm arrival at home. He's still having some issues with bilirubin and kidneys, so he has lots of follow-up appointments scheduled in the next few days and weeks, but he's eating like a champion, so we are confident that he'll move past this tough period in his new little life. Enjoy the pictures from the hospital! :-)

Halloween

Zion got tired of explaining the elaborate nature of his costume, so he told everyone who asked that he was a "shape-shifter." Sam went as "a losing football season". Jedi was a hit with her devil costume (a hand-me-down from Payton). My pumpkin was covered due to the cold, but we got a few pics so that Zen could hear about his first trick-or-treat. Enjoy the pictures! :-)

Zion's Birthday Party

Take 28 kids, 25 adults...add a pinata, marshmallow fling, cold spaghetti relay, egg toss, and a pudding drop=one very messy yard, one tired mommy, waaaaaay too many presents, and one very happy little boy. A wild and good time was had by all. Here are some photos.

Jedi in the Leaves

Sam blew all the leaves into a pile, but he neglected to pick them up before they caught the attention of all the neighborhood kids, and the puppy. Are they still in a pile? nope! :-)

Missouri Road Trip

Zion and I took a mommy-son road trip last weekend...We had a great time staying with the Feeney family and playing with cousins Abi, Katie Grace, and Hannah. We also enjoyed meeting Kelly (ahem...Professor Hogan) at Knox for lunch on the way home. It was a beautiful, relaxing weekend.

My How You've Grown!

...Jedi and Zion's hair, that is. Scroll back to the very first post from 6 weeks ago to see the progress of both the puppy and the hair :-)

Belly Shot

Sam and I took the dogs for a 90-minute hike in the forest preserve today ( Zion was at a classmate's birthday party). We got some pix of the belly while we were out. Only about 10 weeks left to go--These walks are gonna turn into waddles before too long.

Mud Day

What's an unplanted garden good for? We sure did miss the tomatoes, cilantro, jalepenos, and onions in our salsa garden this year. Too bad we didn't plant 'cuz we had hoped to be outta Schaumburg by summer's end. Zion and his buddy, Ben, found good use for it, though.

The Dog Really DID Eat My Homework!

Zion's first-year teacher, Miss Schmitdke, will probably remember her first-ever "the dog ate my homework excuse." Zion was in tears after he discovered his month-long science project on the phases of the moon in tatters on the floor. Luckily, we were able to provide a note and the evidence. BAD DOG!!!

Pictures from Apple Picking