Double Digits

10 months today.

We have finally reached a few developmental milestones, as she is independently sitting up and slowly making her way across the floor with her own version of some kind an army crawl.

She continues to receive weekly physical therapy, however she screams at the poor woman for an hour straight so I am not exactly sure how much it is helping. But we will keep going with it for a while and see.

Overall though, she is an absolute delight and just melts my heart with her smiles!

Thanksgiving

We had a busy but fun Thanksgiving this year. We spent Wednesday & Thursday in Michigan, visiting my sister & her family, as well as our friends Brad & Bradi. The kids had a great time playing together, which included Kiera & Cameron playing dress up.























Friday night we were back in town and headed downtown Naperville for their annual Lights Parade which includes a Santa & Mrs. Claus float.








We froze our buns off with the Wiegers' family, but I think the biggest complainers were the adults. The kids didn't seem to mind the cold.





My parents treated us with tickets to see The Lion King downtown Chicago on Saturday. We had kept this as a surprise for Zachary as Cameron was a bit too young to go. He was so excited when we got in the car to head downtown & told him.


He was then even more surprised when he ran into his cousins at the bathroom at the theater. He had no idea they were coming down for the show and surprised Zach with their presence.

The show was absolutely amazing! I would highly recommend it to anybody who is a fan of the movie. The costumes were outstanding and the best part was that several times during the show some of the characters came up the aisle where we were sitting.









After the show we took a taxi over to Ed Debevic's which always produces some good laughs.

9 months

Sitting... almost at least. And its about time! Come on, girl, you are 9 months old!

I think she has finally gotten the hang of it, although she still topples over frequently & needs some support to sit for a long time. I am proud of her though, as she has come a long way this past month. She also is starting to show signs of crawling by wiggling her way forward. We have been participating in weekly physical therapy, which I think is helping her with her core strength, increasing her muscle tone, and getting her moving.
I am very much enjoying this new phase, as she just seems happier to be up and able to see the world at a new height. Long may it continue!

She also is starting to eat some 'table foods', which makes her seem so grown up. Knock on wood, she's my best eater yet.

R E S P E C T

Zachary was picked for his 1st grade to be a Longwood (name of his school) Leader. This past month they worked on the character trait of respect. Zach had earned the opportunity to be a leader last year, but for the character trait of cooperation and I was as equally as proud.

But as he gets older, wiser, mouth-ier, test-ier, sass-ier, etc. with us at home... I was wondering if he would earn such an accomplishment two years in a row at school.
Parenting is a challenge from day one and sometimes after a having some difficult times at home with dis-respectfulness, its nice to be reassured he is making us proud at school.
This was truly another proud moment and of course, and I must toot my own horn for a milla-second, as it must be a true reflection of our parenting! :-) Just kidding!
Congrats Zachary, your Mom & Dad couldn't be more proud of you!








Zachary and his 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Swieter, who is as sweet as can be. He is really enjoying his year with her.

October... thats a wrap up

October came & went and what a great month we had with fall activities & fabulous weather.

We managed to hit the 'Boo Zoo' at Brookfield Zoo, which was a fun family activity. We did some pumpkin carving, raking of numerous leaves, finished Zach's outdoor soccer season & had a fun cul-de-sac party.




Zachs carving attempt at a scary pumpkin












For Halloween we had a Star Wars Clone, a ladybug and Thomas the Train









Lindsey as a ladybug. She looked so cute & was as snug as a bug in her costume.

She was a trooper too as it was pretty chilly out and she contently stayed in her stroller for numerous hours and the boys could not get enough of the trick or treating.

Cousins

My sister and her kids came down for a short 24 hour visit yesterday. Her kids were off from school due to Teacher Convention so she kindly made the journey down to see us. I was a naughty mom and took Zach out of school for a half day so he could spend some time with his cousins. We enjoyed the afternoon together by hanging out downtown Naperville with some gorgeous fall weather. Thanks for coming Sian!

Dayna & Kiera taking on baby duty with miss Lindsey. She fortunately was willing to let them hold her without any crying. A big step for her!




They were running up & down the hill. Kiera is missing in this picture but you can see her in the background still rolling down the hill. They had a great time! Plus they earned a few extra dollars for Naperville's old school candy store, which was our next stop.





all the boys


















the cousin's posing... what a great shot!

8 months today

Lindsey is 8 months today!

Although she is looking older, not too much has changed in the past month. She continues to get stronger and is slowly using her lower body strength to move around on the floor. She has been evaluated for services and has qualified for physical therapy which is starting this week. A physical therapist will be coming once a week to work with her. It should be interesting, as she is currently a bit too much like her older brother, Zachary, as she cries at absolutely everybody. He was the same way as a baby. But hopefully she will warm up to the therapist and be a willing participant in the sessions.

So far she seems to be my best eater as she loves all and any baby foods, which hopefully continues for a while. She is also figuring out how to self feed herself with cheerios which is a fun new task!

weekend in Indy

We were down in Indianapolis this past weekend visiting Marks older brother, Chuck and his wife Jackie. They have two kids & a third one on the way that is due early November.

We were blessed with fabulous weather, actually it was unseasonably hot for October. In the morning we headed out to this adorable pumpkin patch that had pumpkin painting, pony rides, a tractor hay ride, petting zoo, train ride, etc... They even had live music. The kids loved it and my boys just love spending time with their cousins!















An afternoon hike in the woods.


















At the campfire roasting marshmallows & making smores. A must when camping out.


























The older kids camping out in the tent. They had a ball and loved it!

Lindsey Lu at 7 months

7 months today.
She's getting stronger & bigger everyday, which is a good thing, as her brothers are always wanting to hold her & cuddle her. She fortunately adores them just as much and gets very excited when they give her attention.

She's slowly developing at her own speed and beginning to roll her way around the floor. Our next milestone we are working on is sitting up, but I fear it might be a while before we get there. This one is definitely developing at her own pace.

Lindsey's update

I am so relieved to say that Wednesday September 8th has come & gone, as yesterday was our day for Lindsey's appointment with the Neurologist.

I am so happy to report that the appointment went really well. The neurologist was a super nice guy & spent a good hour with us talking about Lindsey and thankfully, alleviated all of our fears.

Without going into all of the details, he thinks she is doing well and doesn't think their is a need for further diagnostic testing (like an MRI or a CAT scan). He spent quite some time examining her head & measuring it, as the size of her head compared to her weight/body size was listed as one of the concerns for the referral. She is still little (below 20% for weight) and still has a big head (which all of our babies have had, I say the bigger the head, the bigger the brain :-), but her head measurements are not off the charts and he thinks developing appropriately. He does however think she could be about 4-6 weeks developmentally delayed with her motor skills and recommended we have her evaluated for PT services, which we already are in the process of doing.

So all in all a very positive appointment. He wants to see us back in about 4 months just to check on her one more time, but then after that her case with him will be closed!
I appreciate and am thankful for friends & family who have expressed concern and prayed for us during this time.
Lindsey is just such a blessing to us and adds great joy our family!

Cameron's off to preschool... yes!

Cameron's first day of preschool was yesterday! Don't know who was more excited about preschool starting, me or him? I was definitely ready for him to start & I think he actually was too.

Its funny how each of your children can be so different when they hit new milestones. As with Zachary, we have had and continue to have major tears and separation anxiety with every new transition. Cameron, however, walked off yesterday into his classroom without saying goodbye or even looking back at me. Ironically, Zach happened to be with me for the drop off as he didn't have school yesterday and said, "wow Mom, Cameron didn't even say goodbye or cry." It was a wonderful teaching moment to be able to say, 'yep Zach, that's how its supposed to be :-)" And I thought to myself, 'and this is how its supposed to feel when you take one of your children to school.'



Brothers... the older brother proudly helping him pose for the exciting day ahead.

A chilly Labor Day

After the super hot summer we have had it was a bit of a bummer that the final official weekend of summer wasn't the perfect beach weather. We normally plant ourselves on the beach all weekend, but not this year so instead we enjoyed some other activities.



We hit the Sheboygan County Fair, which is full of fun things to do. It includes tons of animals and carny rides.
My parents also came for a night on their way back from a few days away in Door County.









riding the rides











Mark on the Ferris Wheel with the boys














The boys on the dragon ride which they both loved.















Our parents. Aren't they a beautiful bunch?


Our best shot in an attempt for the "perfect family picture." Didn't turn out as good as I
hoped, but oh well. Try again next year.










One thing the chilly weather was good for was for lots of time in Mark's Mom & Dad's new hot tub!
the boys loved it and went in there several times a day.

my fishes

We are truly spoiled to be able to spend summer weekends in Sheboygan, Wisconsin with lazy days at Lake Michigan's beach. My boys absolutely love it and are fishes in the water. Nothing they enjoy more then a day with big waves for them to jump in.

Zach doesn't seem to notice that the water is freezing and that I can't even make it past my knees, as sometimes I find it so cold. He seems to take after his father in this regard who also doesn't mind the frigid (well, I think they are frigid) temps and regularly can be found bathing in the lake. Boys will be boys, I guess.

1st Grader

Tuesday Zachary had his first day of 1st Grade.
I feel like it snuck up on us & I don't quite know what happened to summer. This was one of the fastest summers for me.

I am glad that the adjustment to a full day of school is behind us, as last year we had full day Kindergarten. But despite that fact, we still had a lot of tears Monday evening & Tuesday morning. I think Zach will just be one of those kids that struggles with new transitions & change brings on anxiety for him.

Although the morning was rough, I think he had a good first day and has another great teacher this year. He also has a few of his buddies from last year in his class.











My attempt at a picture with him & he was really crying at this point. Poor guy!









Helping him unpack his school supplies in the classroom. Does he look happy or what? This was right before the tears started again as it was time to say goodbye.