Busy Zobug Summer

You'd think things would slow down in the summer, but they don't. You leave all of the things you want to do during the busy time of the year to the summer and then you are busy doing the things you put off. For me, I still really need to decorate Zoe's room. I feel like a terrible mom because I didn't have the nursery done before she came. Between moving, my first year of having my own classroom, and dealing with being pregnant, I didn't get to it. I also kind of wanted to wait until we knew if the baby was a boy or girl. Hopefully I will make progress this week. I will keep you all posted.

Last week we took Zoe to see two doctors. On Tuesday, we took her to see her pediatrician. Once again, she is in the 50th percentile for height, weight and head circumference. She is the average baby. She had to get shots and she did great with them. She cried a little bit and then once I picked her up she felt better. Nothing a little mommy snuggling couldn't fix. That afternoon we drove to San Antonio for Zoe's appointment with her pediatric urologist on Wednesday. On the way up there, I realized that I had forgotten her medical records. I was beside myself. I had one job. Getting a baby packed for an overnight is way more work than it should be. In the process, I forgot the one thing we needed. Luckily because of modern technology and our friend Danny, we were able to have all of the records sent to us. I really don't know what people did without the internet. I suppose they were more responsible. Anyway, I dropped Nate and Zoe off at the hotel to watch the All-Star Game, while I went on a hunt for dinner. I found a Pei Wei. Done. We had a delicious meal. 

The next day we got up early and met our friend Rachel Schlie, that Nate and I went to college with. We met her at Panera, yet another great place we don't have in the Valley. I wish I didn't love to eat so much. Wait, I take that back. We had scrumptious bagels and caught up with Rachel. She got to meet and hold Zoe for the first time. I love it when our friends get to meet our daughter. It just makes me happy to share her with the ones I love. After a few hours at Panera, we had lunch with Rachel and then made our way to the doctor.

With Rachel. Love them.

Doctors' office waiting rooms are quickly becoming a great place on my list for people watching. Pediatric offices are the best. You see parenting at its finest in these places. We really like the doctor that we saw. He explained to us pretty much what I had expected. Zoe has the most severe grade of her condition which means that we will monitor her for now, keeping an eye on signs of UTIs and making sure she takes her medicine. She will have sonograms of her kidneys and bladder every three months, and then at a year they will repeat the reflux test. Depending upon if her condition improves or not, she will probably need surgery when she is one or two years old. The doctor seems to see a lot of these cases. He explained exactly what he would do for her surgery. He said that Zoe only has about a 5-10% chance to grow out of her condition. I pray every day that she will. If she has to have surgery, she has to have surgery. God gave doctors the gift the preform surgeries and heal babies for a reason. Zoe is an otherwise healthy and happy baby. She acts and functions just like all babies do. She just has a problem with her plumbing.

On a lighter note, our new senior pastor and his wife are here. Pastor Lorenz was installed on Sunday afternoon.  Nate and I couldn't be happier that they are here. Pastor Lorenz and Stephanie are fantastic people and we have had so much fun getting to know them already. They lived with us for a few days while they waited on their apartment to be ready to move in. We got to know them rather quickly. They didn't move far either, they live right next door for right now. It is so nice to have them close.

Nate, Zoe and I with Pastor Greg Lorenz and Stephanie Lorenz

The New Dream Team

Pastor Kasper and Zobug

 In an earlier post, I had mentioned us going up to Austin and meeting up with our friends Gabe and Melissa Kasper. Gabe's dad came down for the installation and preached a killer sermon. He used his fine tuned Grandpa skills on Zoe. They were instant friends.

Today was a big day for Zoe, she tried solid food! We introduced rice cereal today. She was very serious about the matter, but she didn't turn away from the food. I can't believe she is already starting food. Kids do grow up too fast. 

She makes rice cereal look good.

Once again, we are so blessed to have her. I can't believe the intense love I have for her. I love that thanks to my wonderful husband, bringing home the bacon, that I can stay home with her. I know she has only been here four months, but I am convinced that she is the best human being ever.

Rocking the tummy time.

"Mornin' momma!"

"Mom, I don't know what these things on my feet are, but I look fabulous."

The computer went rouge and added a bunch of adorable pictures of Zoe to the end of this post. Weird. Guess we'll just have to get this thing looked at.

That's all for now. God is good.

Zoe: Most Popular Baby on the Plane

Zoe’s travels started out on a plane Dallas and then another to New York City. We would eventually end up at Nate’s parent’s house in Connecticut. She did great on the plane from McAllen to Dallas. In Dallas we weren't able to get anything to eat because by the time we got to the gate for our connecting flight, it was boarding. I was a worse traveler than Zoe at this point because if I don’t eat, things get ugly. We boarded the plane to New York. Nate and I forgot to pack headphones so we watched “The Lego Movie” without any sound. It is actually quite fascinating.

Out of the five flights, this was the only flight that really bothered Zoe. Her ears were hurting so bad. She just cried and cried. Like all good, crazy mothers, I couldn't take her discomfort and I started getting weepy. Poor Nate is a saint. We were the family you watched. Luckily we didn’t really get too many stares. There was a guy across the aisle from us that fell asleep with his Bluetooth headphones on. The Bluetooth disconnected and it kept playing the same song over and over again for the entire section of the plane to hear. That guy got more dirty looks than we did.

We landed at LaGuardia Airport in New York City at 10pm. There are no chairs in the American baggage claim there. What is that?!? I needed to feed and change Zoe. I ended up holding her while standing up to feed her and changing her when we got to the car. Due to the confusing nature of the parking at LGA, it took us a while to connect with Nate’s brother Andrew. We didn’t end up leaving the airport until 11:50pm and getting back to the house until 2:00am. It was an extremely long day. I was not in very good spirits because for that entire night all I ate was homemade Chex Mix. Yes, it was delicious, but it wasn’t a meal. Man, bed felt really good that night. All three of us got some much needed rest.

We spent the week in Connecticut seeing Nate’s relatives. A Once Upon A Child location went in near Nate’s parents’ house. Needless to say, Nate’s mom and I went a little crazy with the baby clothes. We must have spent at least an hour in there. Baby heaven. We had a very good time. Zoe met her Great Aunt Jen and her Great Grandma (GG).  She spent a good deal of time with them.

Great Aunt Jen

Great Grandma

Nate’s dad, Alex, Andrew, Nate’s Aunt Kathy and Uncle Dick, his cousin; Scott and I all went to the hottest Yankees game ever on Wednesday. I love going to New York and seeing a major league baseball game, even when it isn’t the Cardinals. We happened to go on the hottest day in New England. I don’t take the heat well (Yes, I live very close to Mexico, practically on the surface of the Sun. God has a very funny sense of humor.).  I developed a system to keep cool at this game. I would leave our seats, stop into the coldest gift shop for a while, refill my water bottle at the fountain, and watch the game from the concourse.  This worked quite well for me. I had Nate’s brother Alex in the routine by the end of the game. It was fun. We then took a 4 hour ride back to Connecticut because traffic was horrible. We had some serious bonding time.

On Friday, Nate’s cousin Katie got married. Zoe attended her first wedding and did fabulous. Catholic masses are long. She came through it with flying colors. She danced the night away. Everyone at the reception was amazed at how the atmosphere didn't negatively affect her mood. She’s a party animal. She had her first trip to a photo-booth. Yes, we are those parents.

On Sunday, we traveled to St. Louis. Nate had a pastor’s conference there. We were able to see my parents and a good deal of our friends from seminary. Zoe rolled over for the first time and about 10 seconds later, rolled back. I think she wasn't fond of it.

Zoe took her first trip to the Zoo, Ted Drewes and Hodak’s. This was all very exciting. I got Zoe a book called, “Goodnight St. Louis”  that says goodnight to all of the different special things in St. Louis. It is only the best book ever written. I’m pretty sure it says goodnight to the Budweiser Clydesdales. I get all misty just thinking about it.

Love Aunt Betsy!

Grandpa Cox tried to convince her to stay with him in St. Louis. He kept whispering things in her ear about not getting on a plane. Grandpa is always right. That kind of thing. She ended up coming with us, she may have been on the fence, though.

Chillin' with Grandpa Cox

Playing with Grandma Cox

She did well on our trip back to McAllen. She thought our flight delay from Dallas to McAllen was so funny, she laughed for the first time! We finally arrived back in McAllen around 9:30 pm and back home by 10:30. We are still exhausted. We had a great trip, but we are glad to be sleeping in our own bed again. We were also excited that when we got here, our new senior  pastor, Rev. Greg Lorenz and Stephanie were here. We are so happy that they are joining the ministry at St. Paul.

Zoe has her routine 4-month doctor’s appointment tomorrow and she sees the specialist in San Antonio for her bladder reflux on Wednesday. Please keep us in your prayers while we travel to see the doctor and get his advice.

In case you forgot how cute she is, here is another reminder.

We love her so.

That's all for now, God is good.

Zoe is 4 Months!

Zoe is now 4 months! It feels like we will be doing college visits tomorrow. I had to put away her 0-3 month clothes. It was tragic. We fall more in love with her every day.

Zoe loves:

• Jesus
• Mommy and Daddy
• Her grandparents
• Snuggling with Aunt Victoria
• Her Uncle Andrew and Uncle Alex
• Her Godmother, Katie Lane
• Mommy and Daddy's friends
• Snuggling
• Hamming it up with anyone who smiles at her
• Grabbing Daddy’s Face
• Those Blankets with a Stuffed Animal Attached (I think they are called Lovies.)
• Soft Lighting at Night
• Ceiling Fans
• Yelling when she is hungry (not crying or screaming, yelling)
• Chewing on many assorted things
• The Song of the Cebu
• Flight Attendants
• Staying up all day long
• Pulling mommy’s hair
• Yelling until mommy or daddy walks around with her
• Formula
• Her teddy bear
• The Rock N Play
• Blankets
• To smile
• To chat with Mommy
• Popular Songs that Mommy and Daddy insert her name into for example:
• My Little Zobug for My Little Deuce Coupe by The Beach Boys
• Millions of Zoes for Peaches by the Presidents of the United States of America
• The Zoe-Bug Talk Show for The Barry Gibb Talk Show which is a Saturday Night Live skit that uses the theme of Nights on Broadway by the BeeGees 

Zoe doesn't like:

• Long Naps
• When people aren't paying attention to her
• Being hungry (just like her mommy)
• Wet diapers
• The Ice Machine
• A wall hanging in Grams and Grandpa Wollenberg’s house that looks like Aunt Jemima

 Zoe is undecided on:

• Pacifiers
• Sandals
• Headband Bows
• Bath time
• Airplanes

What people say about Zoe:

“She looks so much like her daddy.”

“She looks so much like her mommy.”

“She’s such a good baby.”

“She’s (insert synonym for cute here).”

“She has beautiful eyes.”

“She has her daddy’s hair.”

“She did so well on the flight.”

“What is the price to take her home?”

“Oooo chiquita!!”

Mommy and Daddy's Nicknames for Zoe:

• Zobug
• Bug
• Baby Bug
• Bugaboo
• Little Bug
• Little Baby
• Mommy's Girl
• Daddy's Girl
• Little Snuggler
• ZoZoBee
• Buggy
• Buggily
• Little Mama
• Baby Girl
• Sweet Pea

She is our world.

Don't worry, she still has two feet. One is hiding.

She clearly loves him.

This photo shoot was a little bit more difficult. She is wiggling more these days and she tried to eat the sticker on her shirt.

She is fantastic.

God is Good.

Zoe: The Most Popular Baby in the Hospital

Our life over the past couple of weeks has been up and down for all of us. Zoe made her first trip to the hospital. On Tuesday night, June 3, Zoe had a high fever. Our pediatrician told us to take her to a clinic. After waiting at the clinic for a while, we were sent to the hospital for tests. Now, I was already pretty scared and upset on the way to the hospital. We were told when we left the clinic that there would be a room waiting for us and we would be admitted. We would just have to talk to Erica. We went into the ER because admitting was closed. We handed the man at reception our papers and ask to speak with Erica about getting a room. The man goes over to Erica and talks to her and what I deciphered from their conversation was, "I don't know anything about these people, take it to the other ladies." The man from reception comes back out and tells us to take a seat. There is a good deal of sick adults there and so I ask how long is this going to take? I was promised a room. He is like well, all of these emergency cases are before you. He walks away and I say my child is 12 weeks old with a fever, IT IS AN EMERGENCY. Poor Nate should get a medal because the crazy was only starting at this point. I then decided that I was not going to wait for Zoe to catch anything else from the people around her so I went to talk to the admitting ladies.

This is the part of the story where I went pretty crazy. My middle school students would always tell me that their moms were crazy. They would say things like, "My mom said I won't be able to drive anywhere when I am sixteen." I would always tell them that there is a switch that flips when their moms had them that made them crazy and that I was sure that I would have it happen to me too. I. Was. Right. I was, Sally Field in Steel Magnolias, level of emotional at this point. It's one of those moments where you realize how crazy you sound and you don't care at all. I went over to admitting and said that I was promised a room and I needed one because my baby didn't need to be around all the germs. I was almost yelling. They directed us to an empty waiting room where one other couple with an infant joined us. After a WHILE, we were shown to a room. I thought everything took a long time that night, I have no idea if it actually did. We were finally taken to our room. The worst part of the whole night was next, Zoe started getting the chills. Nate had to hold her because I was so worried and upset, I thought I was going to throw up. I went out to the nurse and interrupted his phone conversation to get him to give her something. I was beside myself. I couldn't see her suffer like that. They gave her Tylenol and she calmed down. I kept asking when we would see a doctor. The name of the hospital we were at was Doctor's Hospital at Renaissance. I said to Nate, "Don't hospitals employ doctors? Why are we waiting for the doctor to come? The name of the hospital is 'Doctor's Hospital'." Again, Nate should get a medal.

The doctor came and ordered the tests to be run. The nurses took us to a place called the "Procedure Room". The “Procedure Room" sucks. I don't like to use the word sucks, but I will make an exception for this one time. They do any procedure that causes pain in this room. In Zoe's case, they took blood, catheterized her, and started an IV. Zoe hates this room, Mommy hates this room, I imagine all people on Earth hate this room. At one point, she had to have her IV redone. That was the worst part of our stay. I was crying because I couldn't bear the pain they were putting her through. Put the IV in me! If you poke her one more time, I am stealing all of the needles and holding them hostage. The "Procedure Room" sucks.

At about 1:30 am, they informed us she had a urinary tract infection. There was a relief that came over me at this point because I knew what she had and how it could be treated. Before that, she could have had anything. We must have been on the floor with pediatric oncology because the scale they weighed her on when we first got there said "pediatric oncology" and one of the nurses' ID cards said it too. In my mind I am not thinking, "Oh my goodness, they think she has cancer!" Yes, I was a crazy mess. Anyway, they started her on antibiotics right away. We had to wait two days for a urine culture to return to determine what kind of bacteria was creating the infection.

Zoe was also diagnosed with bladder reflux. It has a fancier name, but it is hard to say and spell. If you Google bladder reflux it will come up. It starts with the letter V. This basically means her urine is traveling back up to her kidneys and collecting bacteria and coming back down, creating infections. She has a severe case of this. The most common treatment is to keep her on antibiotics and see if she grows out of it. The other option is surgery. We have been referred to a see a pediatric urologist to determine the course of treatment. We may have to travel as far away as Houston to see the doctor because the Valley doesn't have a pediatric urologist. Please keep Zoe, Nate and I in your prayers as we wait to see the doctor. Waiting makes the mind wander.

Even though my little girl was put through so much, she kept smiling. I love her. She really is the best baby. The nurses kept saying how good of a baby she is. I naturally agree. Here are some pics of her in the hospital.

Look at my IV

Her smile that she flashed at all the nurses and doctors. She loves to make friends.

They put this diaper with warm water on her arm because her IV blew. She is ready to box. She watched all five Rocky movies in her first month of life.

Sitting by our window.

Baby Hospital Gown

Now when you are in undesirable situations, like being in the hospital, it is always good to look for a silver lining. My silver lining was the large window right next to the hospital bed I spent all of my time in during our s. Our apartment has no windows in the living room. I noticed when I started staying home with Zoe that I craved sunlight. There is no natural light in the room that I spend most of my time in. (I would go outside if I didn't live on the surface of the sun.) This window not only provided sunshine, it was a source of entertainment. Our room overlooked the parking lot closest to the ER. While Zoe was sleeping or while I held her, I would watch people in this parking lot. It was like the mall at Christmas time. People were constantly in a Wild West type show down over parking spots.

In our stay, we were blessed with good doctors and nurses. We were also blessed with friends who brought us food and other items. Our very good friend, Alan, even went to our apartment at 1 am that first night to get our phone chargers and Zoe's teddy bear. Alan is the man. God puts the right people in place at the right times. Thank you for all of your prayers for Zoe, Nate and I. We appreciate all of the love and support.

This week Nate is busy leading VBS. Zobug and I are taking pictures. I will post about that next time because this has turned into a novel.

That is all for now. God is good.

Zoe is 3 Months!

Zobug is 3 months old!

Today our Zobug turned 3 months old. She had a very rough week in the hospital. (I will write more on that later.) Even with all of that she is growing so fast and is the best little thing ever.

Zoe loves:

• Jesus
• Mommy and Daddy
• Her grandparents
• Snuggling with Aunt Victoria
• Her Uncle Andrew and Uncle Alex
• Her Godmother, Katie Lane
• Mommy and Daddy's friends
• Snuggling
• Touching Grandpa Cox’s Beard
• Hamming it up with anyone who smiles at her
• Grabbing Daddy’s Face
• Those Blankets with a Stuffed Animal Attached (I think they are called Lovies.)
• Big happy smiles
• Soft Lighting at Night
• Ceiling Fans
• Pulling Bows Off of Her Baptismal Gown
• Hymn of Praise - "This is the Feast"
• Formula
• Her teddy bear
• The Rock N Play
• Blankets
• To wake up when Mommy is washing bottles
• To smile
• To chat with Mommy
• Bath time!!
• Laying in her Boppy
• Rides on Mommy’s lap in a Wheel Chair
• The Beach
• Popular Songs that Mommy and Daddy insert her name into for example: 
• My Little Zobug for My Little Deuce Coupe by The Beach Boys
•  Millions of Zoes for Peaches by the Presidents of the United States of America   
• The Zoe-Bug Talk Show for The Barry Gibb Talk Show which is a Saturday Night Live skit that uses the tune of Nights on Broadway by the BeeGees

Zoe doesn't like:

• Getting an IV
• Fevers
• Getting an IV
• Hospitals
• Getting an IV
• Taking Grape Flavored Medicine
• Getting out of the Bath
• When people aren't paying attention to her
• Being hungry (just like her mommy)
• Wet diapers!!

Zoe is undecided on:

• The Beach
• Long Car Rides
• Daddy’s Old Spice Spray
• Gas Drops

What people say about Zoe:

• “She looks so much like her daddy.”
•  
• “She looks so much like her mommy.”
•  
• “She’s such a good baby.”
•  
• “She’s (insert synonym for cute here).”
•  
• “She has beautiful eyes.”
•  
• “She has her daddy’s hair.”

Mommy and Daddy's Nicknames for Zoe:

•  Zobug
• Bug
• Baby Bug
• Bugaboo
• Little Bug
• Little Baby
• Mommy's Girl
• Daddy's Girl
• Little Snuggler
• ZoZoBee

 The nicknames will only get worse.

Basically, the obsession with my child continues. 

"Oh Mom, you crack me up." 

"Hey, Buddy."

"Come over here."

"What??"

Yep. I am one of those people who says things now like, "They grow up so fast." They do.

We are so blessed to have such an amazing baby. These have been the best three months of our lives. We are completely in love with her and wouldn't have it any other way.