Home Sweet Hoyleton: Christmas



Last year Christmas was a blur. We moved on December 6th. There are 4 family birthdays in December and Nate's schedule was busy right away. Also, I was pregnant. This meant we were also getting set up with my doctor and getting Zoe set up with hers. Needless to say, Christmas was a bit lack luster last year. There was very little decorating since our decor would have been set up on cardboard moving boxes. This year was much different. This year we got to experience what Christmas in Hoyleton is. Let me tell you, it is fantastic.

Zach is Eight Months!




Our Zach is eight months old and getting more handsome every day. No seriously, his cuteness cannot be contained. I know I am biased but this kid is so cute it hurts. He has been rolling for a while now but he really started rolling all over the place this month and he is almost crawling. Last night he took two crawls. He will be all over the place tomorrow I bet. I need to go buy baby gates. Our apartment in McAllen didn't really need gates. Our house here has some places that need to be roped off. Plus I'm trying to figure out how to keep Zoe from leaving things out that Zach can put in his mouth. A couple of days ago he ate the sticker off of a toy that didn't seem like it would pose a problem. Now that he is mobile, let the games begin!

He loves:
  • His family
  • Playing on the floor with his toys
  • Sitting up
  • Getting from laying down to sitting up on his own
  • Rolling
  • The ladies we walk with in the morning
  • Eating
  • The Exersaucer
  • His bear lovey
  • His whale lovey
  • Snuggling with mommy
  • Watching Zoe
  • Watching Little Einsteins with Zoe
  • Trying to eat paper
He is unsure of:
  • Wearing shoes
  • Eating yogurt melts
  • Cold weather
He doesn't like:
  • Being hungry
  • Someone changing his diaper before he eats
  • Diaper rash
  • Mommy flushing his nose out



This Hat. Best. Purchase. Ever.


So handsome.


Making all the girls crazy.


These two. My loves.


Let's bake cookies Mommy!


Sleeping with his bear... Swoon


This guy


Christmas baby photoshoot!


So happy...



I'll just take one.


Little feet. I love them so much.


Bear.

We love him. 

That's all for now. God is good.



Home Sweet Hoyleton: An Introduction



A year ago today, we rolled into Hoyleton, IL and our life has never been the same. I would like to take some posts to tell everyone just how much we love and appreciate Hoyleton. We are thankful for all the places that we have lived as single people and as a family but Hoyleton almost immediately felt like home.

Hoyleton is located in Southern Illinois about 1 hour east of St. Louis, MO. As almost all of you know, I am from St. Louis, so it is so nice to be close to where I grew up and close to friends and family. If we need anything, at the most, we drive an hour. Target is 35 minutes away, not too bad, and it probably saves me a lot of money.

Zach is 7 Months!

Well time keeps on ticking by and Zach keeps getting older and bigger. I can't believe he's already 7 months. Why do kids grow so fast? He is growing fast. He was over 17 pounds at this visit and above average in height. Zach is such and easy and happy baby. He makes me want to have more but I don't know if I should play the odds that I would end up with another easy baby. Zoe was easy and Zach's easier.

He loves:

  • His family
  • Playing on the floor with his toys
  • Sitting up!
  • The ladies we walk with in the morning
  • Eating
  • The Exersaucer
  • Butternut Squash
  • Pears
  • His bear lovey
  • His whale lovey
  • Snuggling with mommy
He is unsure of:
  • Baths in the tub and not the sink
  • Wearing shoes
  • Flying on airplanes
He doesn't like:
  • Peas
  • Being hungry
  • Someone changing his diaper before he eats
  • Diaper rash
Here are some pics of our little man!


THIS BOY


How can you not handle this?!?!?


Hold me, I'm cute!!!


Look at this tall drink of water.


What's that, bear?



These feet!!!!


So happy!

We love him so much!

That's all for now! God is good!

Zach is 6 months! (10 Days Ago)



Poor Zach. I'm behind again on his post. 10 days ago he turned 6 months! A half a year! He needs to stop growing now! He's supposed to be my baby and he's so big. He is 17.5 pounds (56th percentile), 27 inches (62nd percentile) and has a 95th percentile head. More brains right? I don't know where he's getting that average height. He comes from a family of leprechauns. He is only 9 inches shorter than is sister. He us going to pass her up quick and she is going to be MAAADD. Oh well, not the first time he will make her mad.

He is pretty much sitting up unassisted but he still topples over a lot. He started eating solid food and he is doing very well with pears and butternut squash.

Zach continues to be a super smiley and easy going kid. This is good for our household because Zoe and Mommy bring a lot of drama to the table. Zach and Daddy are no drama type of guys.

Zach likes:
  • Mommy
  • Daddy
  • Zoe
  • Grandma
  • Playgym
  • Bumbo
  • Baths
  • Being Tickled
  • Playing Peekaboo with Zoe
  • Standing (assisted) 
  • Taking pictures
  • Pears
  • Pears and Squash blend
  • Exersaucer
  • Going on walks every morning
  • Flirting with all women (babies and grown women, he doesn't discriminate)
  • Snuggles
  • His Bear Lovey
  • Having no clothes on (I think this is a boy thing.)

Zach doesn't like:
  • Changing his clothes
  • Dirty Diaper 
  • Being hungry
  • Shots
  • Apple, Pears and Pea baby food medly
Zach is unsure about:
  • Long car trips
  • Yogurt Melts


Smiley Guy



His feet



That chunky leg. I just want to squeeze it!


Hanging out with his bear.


Hanging out outside with mama.


Sleeper baby


Always with Mama


Uncle Alex came to visit!


He loves having no clothes on. 


Working on that sitting


Those feet! 


Snapchat filters on babies are hilarious.

That's all for now. God is good.


More Crazy Adventures for the Zobug (Another Update)


Yesterday was a trying yet still good day in St. Louis for our family. Nate had the day off and Zoe had to have some tests run at Children's Hospital.

I'll try to give you a quick back story on Zoe's condition. Last November before we moved, Zoe had a procedure called Deflux to hopefully correct her Vesicoureteral Reflux. That's a fancy way of saying her ureters from her kidneys to her bladder are kinked causing her to be susceptible to urinary tract infections. In September, Zoe had a high fever for a few days which ended with her being diagnosed with another UTI. She was scheduled for a test yesterday to find out if it was a fluke UTI or her procedure in the fall didn't work. Turns out the procedure in the fall was not successful. Her condition even may have worsened. So with the advice of her doctor, we have decided that the best course of treatment and hopefully curative treatment is ureteral reimplantation surgery. If you would like to know more about how this surgery works, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh has a great (not gross) explanation of the surgery. Here is the link: Ureteral Reimplantation. It will be open surgery and will require at least a one night stay in the hospital. The surgery is scheduled for November 28th. Right now she knows that she will be having a sleepover in the hospital with Mommy and that the doctor will be fixing her kidneys and bladder.

Zach is 5 Months!



So in true "Mom of two kids" fashion, I forgot that Zach turned 5 months yesterday. I didn't forget that he was turning 5 months on the 19th, I simply didn't know what day it was. We were traveling over the weekend and it completely threw me off, but I'm doing better than last month with getting Zach's pictures and post accomplished. I'm doing it the day after! Woo!

Zach is still such a good baby. He still sleeps through the night. He smiles all the time and is just so chill. I'm thinking he may turn out to be a Momma's boy, but we'll see. Zoe was all about Mommy until about 9 months and then became Daddy's girl. However, I think she likes Grandma the most.

Zach likes:

Zach is 4 Months!





I'm writing Zach's monthly post late again. Poor second kid. I'm trying to keep up with the normal stuff, but man we are busy these days, plus little man pretty much only wants to nap on top of Mommy. I love the snuggles but I don't get much done.

Bug Fever



This week has been a doozy. We lost a close family friend on Monday. A former boss/friend of mine died on Wednesday and my Mom's uncle died early Thursday morning. In the middle of all of this Zoe has had a high fever all week. On Tuesday night I spoke with the nurses at her doctor's office and we decided we would take her in at 9am on Wednesday. Well her fever woke her at 4:45am on Wednesday morning. She was burning up and complaining of pain in her neck. The nurse told me that if she was in pain we needed to get her seen right away.

A Very Meaningful Day



Today is a very meaningful day, today is Zoe's first day of school! Now, you may be thinking, sure its a very meaningful day she's starting school! What a huge milestone! For me its that she's starting her first day of Lutheran school. The thought of it gets me all misty, not just because I'm her mom, she's my baby and she's starting school, but also because Lutheran school is so very important to me and who I am.

When I was four, my parents were advised to put me in preschool for socialization (turns out that I didn't really need help with that. Haha.). My mom saw an ad in the paper for St. John's Lutheran School in Arnold, MO. My parents decided to sign me up. At the time, my parents were not regular church attendees. I began to attend St. John's and it changed my life. I learned about Jesus and at the advice of my preschool teacher, my parents started attending church. St. John's was our whole life when we (my sister and I) were little. It was our second home. My mom was super involved volunteering there and eventually working there. My dad served on boards and was very involved in the church.


This is from my preschool graduation. You can't see anyone because it's a bad scan of an old picture.


First Day of School at St. John's (Not sure of the year)

When we moved to Cincinnati, it was the same. We were very involved as a family at St. Paul. After high school, I attended Concordia University Wisconsin to continue my Lutheran Education and become a Lutheran Educator. Concordia was home. I loved it. My professors were fantastic, they not only were fantastic educators they cared for their students and their relationships with the Lord. So many of my closest friends are from my Concordia days and of course, that it where Nate and I met.


Nate and I on graduation day at CUW.

I am who I am and where I am today, incredibly blessed with a fantastic husband, two beautiful children, living in a lovely parsonage in Hoyleton, IL and loving the Lord because of Lutheran school. Going to Lutheran schools changed my life and today my daughter starts on that journey. Her journey begins differently. She already goes to church, loves the Lord and has a daddy for a pastor. However, I have no doubt in my mind that she will be blessed by this journey that she begins today. Today I pray for her teachers at Trinity Lutheran School in Hoyleton, IL. I pray that they are ready to take on the force that is my child, but more seriously that they begin the school year with energy and excitement knowing that they could be changing the life of someone like me. Someone who didn't know the Lord. I pray for all Lutheran educators the ones that have so greatly blessed me and the ones who are beginning another year of teaching, as their job is tough, rewarding and so very important.

Have a great day my Zoe bug, I hope you are just as blessed as your mommy has been. We love you so much! Happy first day!




Silly Goose!



Yay Trinity!


Coming home!

That's all for now. God is good.