Halloween 2011

Zearley got back into her adorable costume, once again today to enjoy some more trick-or-treating!  She did awesome!  She was in her costume from 4-8 and she did so much better than I thought she would!  We first started trick-or-treating at the Denver Sunset Nursing Home and Zearley's facial expression told it all....she had a blast!

Everyone wanted to give her things she hadn't had before and to her that seemed wonderful!  After this we went up to grandpa and grandma's for pictures with Quinn and neighborhood trick-or-treating.  Then we headed to Cedar Falls for trick-or-treating around our house with daddy, Alexa, Phoenix, Ledger, Tami, Kilei, Aunt Jillian, & Grandma Lisa- the temperature had gotten quite a bit cooler, but without a lot of wind, it was bearable!  Little Miss Zearley's hands and feet got pretty cold, but she never once complained!  What a trooper she was and she seemed to really enjoy herself.

I was a little bummed today that we didn't get Zearley a pumpkin carved this year, but we'll have to start for sure next year and continue the tradition as Zearley grows up.
Tonight, I can't stop thinking about the Janesville School Bus accident that involved an 11-year old boy (a grandson of one of our great substitute teachers).  My heart breaks for the family and the entire school family, mourning the loss of a young child.  There are no words to describe such an accident, it's so sad how fast a precious life can be taken from us.  Thinking of this family and hoping they find comfort in each other and the out pour of support that will be shown to them during this extremely difficult time.  Death is never an easy thing to comprehend- young or old, but I could never fathom the loss of a child.
Hard to believe tomorrow is November 1st already!  I remember this time last year, being on maternity leave and not worrying about much other than just spending time with Zearley, life was great... and it still is great...just much, much more stressful with report cards due to go home soon and conferences quickly approaching- and tonight's tragedy in Janesville, makes me think twice about the day to day things I let get me really stressed out!  Life is too short to get caught up in work, I need to work really hard on leaving work by 5 or before on a daily basis so I can spend more time with Jordan and Zearley!
You may have noticed above the picture of Quinn & Zearley and Quinn has a pumpkin with her name on it.  Zearley has one too, it just was at home for Halloween, but I wanted to still post a picture of her with her pumpkin that I had taken a couple weeks ago with a Halloween outfit on.  The pumpkins were from Kathy Schweer!

12 month checkup

Today Zearley had her 12 month physical!  Dr. Sims thinks she has the most adorable smile, and he thinks her hair keeps getting "redder" every time he sees her!  I'm so lucky to have such a happy, easy-going (for the most part) little girl!  She's healthy and growing just as she should!  Some people get hung up over percentiles, Dr. Sims said, but not to worry our little girl is growing just as she should and she is thriving just the way she's meant too in the 25, 50, 75, or 95% it doesn't really matter they are just comparisons to average...being in the 25% of weight does NOT indicate she's underweight!  If we were not giving her what she needed, she would be much, much more irritable!  So even though now she can try any foods, Dr. Sims stressed the importance of  making sure she's getting healthy nutrient-rich finger foods which will help her grow, rather than just trying to give her sugar packed, non-nutrient rich foods just in hopes of putting weight on her.  He assured me she's growing exactly the way she's meant to, there's absolutely no other way he would expect her to be!  I completely agree as well, I was not surprised by her percentiles, just a little surprised she was slightly less than 20 lbs. at 12 months, but that's very common especially with me being small and the last time she was weighed she had clothes on and this time she was bare so she is probably really exactly 20 lbs. his nurses thought.  I did not like seeing my baby get four shots and a finger prick to fill a rather big vial of blood!  Poor little pumpkin, her eyes got so big and she was speechless- she couldn't even catch her breath as she started to cry!  Those pokes hurt!  Her big alligator tears tore me apart!  The nurses just loved her though, Lauren said her husband has red hair and she hopes she has a little girl that looks just like Zearley one day and the other nurse wanted to rub her red hair for good luck to buy a lottery ticket this weekend, we'll have to remember she said she'd share with Zearley if she won!  That same nurse gave Zearley her first sucker to share with mommy since she is still too young to have her own.  It was sweet as we were walking out to the car sharing our sucker, she was really enjoying her turn to lick!  Absolutely every moment I spend with her is so much fun!  She's my world!  It was hard putting her in her car seat and taking the sucker away, if only she could understand why I couldn't leave it with her- she could so easily choke!
On our way home from the doctors it was so adorable, I wish I was able to video tape and drive at the same time, but Zearley sat in her seat with her still red-eyed ruby face and she held her cow and talked to it just as if she were telling her moo cow how mean the nurses were to her that they poked her 5 times!  It was too cute, but I felt so bad for her, I was glad she was clinging to her cow though to find comfort... she usually doesn't hang on to something very long- she looses interest, so she doesn't really have a "favorite" toy, stuffed animal, or blanket at this point.  However, you could say she has a favorite purple pacifier (however today she didn't seem to care to have it as much as she usually does).
I have a bad cold that came on late Wednesday night and it hit me like a ton of bricks, I had no idea I was even getting a cold until I already had it!  So I've been really worn out these last couple days- last night I was in bed by 8:30 and it was wonderful!  Now Zearley has been sneezing a lot today, so I'm certain she's getting a cold...hopefully she doesn't get hit with the cold I got, or hopefully it's not as hard on her!
Last night just Zearley and myself went up to Waverly for trick-or-treating on Bremer Ave. (main street).  I finally got Zearley a Halloween costume Wednesday night... so she's a cow for Halloween, the cutest cow you ever did see!  It was fun walking around trick-or-treating for a little bit, her costume is pretty warm and she sat so good in her stroller watching everyone put candy in her bag!  We didn't stay long, because I really wasn't feeling well, I knew she couldn't really enjoy most of the candy anyway, and it was getting close to her bed time and I wanted to spend time with her before putting her down.

On Tuesday, Zearley had her 12 month pictures up in Waverly and she did pretty well- she LOVED the crystal chandeliers and of course she would... she's our little jewel, so anything that sparkles should catch her eye!  She didn't want to stand still for many pictures, but I'm hoping we got some good ones!  I had a cute onesie  made by Donna Donaldson (the night before pictures- she's a lifesaver) and she wore it with a denim skirt with tulle Tami gave her when she was born.  It was darling together, so I'm hoping we got a good shot of her in it!
Well I know there's more I could continue to write about from this week tonight, but I'm going to close for now as I need to get to bed so I can get some rest myself before Zearley wakes up!

A week has gone by...

Nothing like waiting until the last minute, but I'm holding myself to my goal of at least one blog per week!  Every week is busy and it only seems to be getting busier and more stressful each week with work nearing the time of report cards and conferences!  I'm thankful to have a stable job, but at the same time I can hardly stomach the amount of time I'm missing out with our little jewel!  This weekend Zearley and I spent most of our time at home and that of course is just the best time in my mind.  I love just being with her and not having anything we HAVE to do!  Jordan was out of town for his brother, Landan's football game it was homecoming at Northwest and they won.  Zearley and I had Jessica Wittenburg's baby shower Saturday afternoon.  And after a frantic near loss of Zearley's beloved purple pacifier and with mommy's stress level and emotions through the roof, Courtney found her pacifier lying safely in our driveway when we got home!  Who would have thought, Courtney, like I was certain it had to be in the car or at the shower because we were sure I handed her her pacifier a couple times during the "long" ride to Denver for the shower.  Sometimes I think I'm more attached to it than she is, in fact I know I am, a little crazy I know, but I can't help it, in fact I even looked through wrapping paper/tissue garbage looking for the "sacred" binky!  Anyways, it was like a 100 pounds were lifted off my chest when Courtney got out of the car to go home probably thinking man I can't wait to get out of the car with that grump, when whalla... there it was, Courtney made my day!  So if you read this Courtney, I'm sorry I was such an unpleasant driver on our way home!
So after that, back to the busy week:  Monday was just simply exhausting after Zearley's party and I had to wait at school until 5:00 rolled around and I could call the court house to see if I needed to report for jury duty the next day, and of course with my luck... I learned I had to report.  So there I sat at school until after 8:00 writing lesson plans for the next day... did I mention I do NOT enjoy missing a day of school and having to plan for a sub?  It's so much more work to plan for a sub than it is just to go to work!  Ugh!
Tuesday morning, I took Zearley out to Grandma Lisa's like normal, and then headed to Waterloo to report for jury duty.  However, before I could get there, I must have ran over something in the road that hit my back left tire just right, and POP went my tire!  Great, now what was I going to do, my tire pressure was going down right before my eyes 14 lbs., 7 lbs., 5 lbs., 3 lbs, 2 lbs....and finally I was able to pull into the downtown Waterloo fire station, with 1 lb. of air left!  Not a great idea, but I made it to a location I felt safe leaving my vehicle and walking to the court house.  I got to the court house and forgot about leaving my keys with the van to be towed, so luckily my mom doesn't work far from downtown and she was able to save my day by coming to get my keys from me and taking them back to the van.  Then after sitting in my assigned court room for over an hour (I got ALL Zearley's birthday thank you's written), the judge came in and let us know there wouldn't be a trial and we were done and wouldn't be asked to do anything else....I was relieved, but now I didn't know how I was going to get anywhere without a vehicle, so luckily my mom was able to come and get me again.  Then after all that sub planning.... I did the right thing and returned to work for the remainder of the day.
Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday came and went quickly... and I STILL don't know what Zearley is going to be for Halloween, I'm starting to hope there's a 12 month Carter's costume left somewhere around here and I'll just have to go with one of them.  Nothing unique, but I suppose she'll still  look really cute in one of them!  The important thing is that she has a costume, I don't have time to get real unique anymore... have to do that a different time!
This week is busy with Zearley's 1 year pictures on Tuesday and her 1 year doctor appointment on Friday!  She's so close to walking, she has great balance and can take a step or two without even knowing she did when I let go, but after that, she has no interest and just wants to sit down and crawl!  Silly girl...but once she gets it, she'll be a pro and she'll be off and running!  This week she's really in to pointing at things and it almost sounds like she's saying "What's that?"  What a sweetheart, she's growing up so fast!  Within the last month, she's really started to hate having her diaper changed!  It's not even that she's too wiggly, she's always been pretty wiggly, but now it's more like having a fit over having them changed!
Zearley has gotten pretty good at giving kisses now too, however she opens her mouth to give kisses and you better be careful she doesn't lock down and bite you!
You have to be careful having Zearley in a cart now too because she wiggles around until she can try to stand and that's VERY dangerous!
Tonight she was so tired, she fell right to sleep, but she woke up every time I tried to put her down and then I needed to get ready for tomorrow, so I had Jordan take her for a bit and she screamed for about 10 minutes and when I finally got out of the shower, she was sound asleep in her daddy's arms.

Zearley's First Birthday!

Wow what a day today was!  It was Zearley's first birthday and she had a great day!  The day started off by mommy and Zearley running some errands and Zearley got to ride in her convertible car seat for the FIRST time!  She loved it, she would kick her feet with excitement a lot!  So cute, and so funny to look back at my little girl watching me drive!
Her big party was at 5:00 and she laid down for a late nap so she had to be woke up to get dressed for her party!  We got to Pizza Ranch on time before the rest of our crew started showing up (Tami, Kilei, Phoenix, and Courtney got there at the same time as us)!  It wasn't long before our party room was filling up and anxiety set in if we were going to have enough room or not, but we added some extra chairs and everything turned out fine...everyone had a place to sit and I do believe, "The more the merrier!"  I was just so happy everyone who could make it did, the only ones we were really missing were: Landan to football, Jason to work in Alaska, Tim, and Randy and Skylin.
During supper, Zearley got to try "regular" food for the first time!  Real mashed potatoes, some cheesy breadsticks, and teeny tiny bites of chicken.  She liked it all and she did very good!  She wanted to try the spoon out herself, but she couldn't quite get the food on it and to her mouth like she wanted to.
After dinner, we lit the candle on her cake and sang Happy Birthday to Zearley.  Then we opened Zearley's presents...and boy did she get a lot!  She's one very spoiled little girl!  She didn't need a thing before her birthday, now an entire corner of her room is filled with brand new toys!
When the presents were all unwrapped, it was time to strip Zearley down to her diaper and let her enjoy her very own "smash" cake!  What a silly girl, she loved it and she loved just putting her mouth right up to the cake, not using her hands much.  Every once in awhile she'd get her hands in there, and then towards the end she grabbed at it more, but she had a BLAST!  We thought for sure we were in for a real treat tonight at bedtime for her loading up on all that sugar, but (knock on wood) so far so good, she was cleaned up, nursed, and asleep in bed by 9:00, so we're hoping she has a good night and a good day tomorrow for grandpa!

October 15th, 2011

Today was a busy day going to the annual UNI craft show, running errands at the mall to complete Zearley's birthday outfit, and watching the Hawkeyes beat Northwestern!  It was a good day, however I don't think Zearley really enjoyed staying so busy, it's hard to keep her in her stroller or hold her all the time when she wants to get down and crawl around.  It made for a long day for her!
Although I didn't buy much at the craft show, it's always fun to go!  I'm always amazed how many people go to it, and I've now learned just how hard it is to bring a nearly 1 year old and push a stroller up and down the busy aisles!  I know it's not a great place for strollers, but some people could be a little less rude about strollers being present, it's crowed either way, with or without them... I understand they take up more room, but I don't think there's anything wrong with pushing a stroller around there, as long as I'm respectful of those around me!
The tears came again today... I'm just not ready for our baby to be 1.  She was born on a Saturday, so with today being Saturday it brought me right back to the beautiful Saturday afternoon we had a year ago, when I gave birth to the most precious jewel.  It's so bittersweet, I love thinking about the memory of her birth, how much I enjoyed every bit of being pregnant and even giving birth (except for the 2 hours I waited for the anesthesiologist), but I'm so sad that it's a year old memory already.  I would love to go back to that day, but I'm so happy and lucky she's healthy and growing like she should.  I hope to have a few more times to enjoy being pregnant and I hope my other birthing experiences are just as enjoyable as Zearley's was, I'm just not ready to prepare myself for sharing my attention with another child.  However, whenever that time comes I will welcome a new baby with just as much love as I have for her!
Tonight shortly after Zearley ate her supper and I was trying to get her calmed down for bed, she seemed quite irritable and I couldn't figure out what was wrong.  I had nursed her, and she still wasn't happy and nursing has always been a "cure all" for her.  So I discovered she needed her diaper changed, and much to my surprise, she had developed a bad diaper rash rather quickly.  I'm unsure what from because I haven't changed her foods, except for the kind of applesauce she ate.  She's mostly eaten applesauce made from Braeburn apples, but more recently I've given her apples made from Honeycrisp apples.  I don't know if that change would cause some rash/discomfort, or if it's just a result of more teething, which is a great possibility!  I just don't like not knowing what has caused it, and I felt terrible for her wiping her bottom and putting cream on it tonight, as I could tell it hurt.... and with it being her birthday tomorrow I felt even worse... thinking she can't have diaper rash on her birthday!  Poor thing, I hope by morning my magic "concoction" of butt paste and baby powder have taken the edge off the sting and relieved the redness!
The next time I blog... I'll be a mommy of a 1-year old!

October 14th, 2011

Today is Jordan's 28th birthday and in just two days our little jewel will be 1!  It's unbelievable how fast time has gone!  Zearley is growing up so fast!  Everyone told me the first year would go fast (as will the rest of her childhood), but I never believed it would go this fast!  I am loving every minute I get with Zearley, she is such a joy!  She's been a very good baby, we've been so lucky!  She's been so healthy- with only two minors colds in her first year.  I am still nursing her at night time and occassionally through the night/morning- I love our snuggle time, it's going to be very hard to give up, but we will make the adjustment slowly together. 
I'm starting this blog in hopes that I will journal about Zearley on a weekly basis as she grows up!  I'm hoping opening this blog and typing will be easier for me than filling out her baby book has been!  Being a mom and working full-time is very hard, I'm torn between not being able to spend the majority of my days with our baby even though I know she's with grandmas all day.  I feel like teaching consumes a lot of my time and energy, and then when I finally arrive home at night, all I have time for is to feed Zearley supper, play a little bit, and get her to bed.  I'm very thankful to have the teaching job I do have, in my hometown, teaching kindergarten with two amazing team teachers.  I know if I were to make the decision to stay home with my child, I would never get the opportunity to have my job back!  So I'm trying to make the best of an emotional time in my life.  The best part about my job is I do have the summers off to spend with Zearley!
Speaking of an emotional time... Zearley's First Birthday has been so hard on me this week.  I'm not ready for her to be 1, I wish time would slow down.  I cry every time I start thinking about her birthday- I'm so excited for her big day because it should be a lot of fun, but at the same time I'm torn that she's growing up and changing so fast!  Every new stage she enters has been fun and exciting so I look forward to everything ahead of us, but I'm not ready for the days that she no longer wants to snuggle and just be carried around.  Already she's obtaining her own personality and there are times she just doesn't want to be held, she wants to crawl around everywhere, but for the most part she still enjoys being held.  When she is crawling, she stands up to everything...and reaches for anything in her reach even if it means standing on her tippy-toes!  She's recently been into "dancing" and giving "high-fives" she's slowly this week just starting to understand how to give a kiss!  The words she likes to say are baby, momma, dadda, puppy, and sometimes bye bye.  She definitely understands what bye bye and hi mean- she's a great waver!  Zearley loves her 3 puppies, especially Ramona...she thinks she's hilarious! 
I've been very proud of myself for trying to give Zearley the very best first year I could give her.  I have nursed/pumped for her entire first year and I've made all her baby food from fresh vegetables and fruits and Zearley's been a wonderful guinea pig!  She's a great eater! 
Zearley has 5 teeth (two bottom, three top), and she hasn't had too terrible of a time teething from my observations.  At times she was more irritable than usual, but her teeth never kept her up through the night.  She had a couple runny noses and small diaper rashes, but those were her only real symptoms and they never seemed to make her too unbearable.  Even when she probably felt miserable, she kept in pretty good spirits!
So I did pretty good getting some thoughts down for my first blog!  I hope I can continue, so others can watch Zearley grow up too!