Stylin'

The other night, Zay and I decided to join daddy outside while he worked. Since it was after bath time, he showed off a style all his own...footy-pj's and crocs!

Here I come!

I'll get this figured out here...

How cute am I?

Enough pictures, Ma...

How about a walk?

But not before a kiss from Daddy!

Such a happy guy!!

That's all folks!

My Little Helper...

My little guy is becoming a great helper. He really does enjoy pleasing his mommy, for which I'm extremely grateful. It's so cute when he follows directions and helps me out!

However...there are still a lot of moments like the ones below when he makes my job about ten times harder than it needs to be.

That's ok...his cute little smile and jubilant personality allows him to get away with it!

Mom got all the groceries carried in from the car...now it's time for me to investigate what she bought.

And what's in this bag?

Now it's time to make some room in the fridge!

Get out the champagne...let's celebrate!

My work is done here...on to the next room!

I told you...that smile will get ya everytime!

Time

Time is a bit lacking in our lives lately. Free time that is.

Things are a LITTLE crazy for us at the present moment.

With Shane starting his new job, we’ve started a new routine this week. One that involves my husband waking up at 4:45 AM and leaving the house by 5:30 AM…at which time I’m getting up to get all things in order to get Zay and myself out the door by 7:00 AM.

Although this might seem like a painful adjustment. The first few days haven’t been so bad! And it’s temporary. (So far my attitude is positive…check back next week when reality sets in!)

We know we are in transition.

We met with 2 different realtors today. So our house will be on the market SOON. Sad, but good.
We’ve spent a lot of time doing little projects. Cleaning. Organizing. Then more cleaning and more organizing.

We are (getting) ready for this!

In the past week or so, we’ve done some fun things too! I have pictures to upload. But not really the time to do it right now. Hopefully soon!

In the mean time…a quote from the one and only Oprah. I have her last few shows recorded and I’m anxious to watch them…as soon as I have the TIME!

Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment. –Oprah Winfrey

today's adventure

I felt a little bit like we slipped back into our 'old world' today. AKA...Zay's first year of life with every other week feeling like my heart was being ripped from my chest.

Zay's been fighting a bit of something. Fever. Runny nose. Very tired. Nothing really out of the ordinary for a 17 month old boy that might have some sort of bug.

But the most alarming thing...this morning Zay woke up with some sort of rash on his neck. Not a normal skin rash, something else.

I dropped him off at daycare, asked our babysitter if she'd ever seen anything like it. She reassured me, that Shane and my thoughts about calling the doctor were justified, she'd never seen anything like it.

So, this morning Zay and I made a quick trip to see our doctor. As soon as I showed him Zay's little rash on his neck, he starts telling me they will need to do some blood work on him. Plus they did a strep test for an inflamed throat and confirmed another EAR INFECTION.

The rash...petechiae. Our doctor starts out explaining that he doesn't want to alarm me, but he wants to do a blood test to confirm that Zay's blood platelets aren't low. He advised he doesn't see this type of rash very often, maybe a couple times since he's been in practice. (And I'm thinking...of course this is rare, my little Isaiah would never have anything that is just typical!)

Our doctor goes on to explain petechiae. Basically it's small blood vessels that burst and hemorrhage into the skin. It can be caused by an intense bout of coughing or crying. Neither which Zay has been doing. It may be caused by trauma to that particular area of the body. Once again, can't think of how Zay would have trauma to his neck. There are many other reasons it might show up, like Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic (no guarantees that is spelled correctly) basically meaning it shows up after a viral infection.

So...I pretty much lost it for TWO hours while waiting for Zay's labwork to come back. Terrible feeling. It's hard not to think of the worst case scenarios in situations like this.

Results...Zay's platelet counts are perfect. Praise the Lord.

We have to watch the 'rash' and make sure it goes away. I guess it is supposed to go away, much like a bruise would go away. So it could be a few days. Praying it goes away FAST!

And while we wait for that. We are back on antibiotics for an ear infection. BUT, we have a referral to go to an ENT doctor. We are thinking tubes will be in our future. This makes me nervous, but I would LOVE for my little Zay to not have to suffer through these on-going infections.

Sigh...today has taken it out of me. Emotionally.Mentally. Physically. and even a little Spiritually.

I think I've let my tolerance to this kind of stuff slip a little.

I was thankfully reminded by a friend today:

"God is good, all the time. Sometimes he just does a temperature check of our faith to make sure that we're still in the game"

Yep! Still here, God! Still in the game! Thanks for the heat check!!! :)

Goodnight!

And just when you think you are making progress...

Referencing the 'spoon' blogpost a couple posts back...we thought we were coming right along with teaching our boy about table manners.

Then, this morning Zay decided to wow us with his new way of eating his toast.

Taking lessons from the dogs, Zay?

Aren't I cool, Mom!? :)

A great day!

Last Sunday, Shane got up early with Zay and let me sleep in. When I came downstairs and looked out our window, this is what I saw...the cutest boy ever bringing a "Happy Mother's Day" balloon to me! What a great day!

laptops

Zay has really started imitating things we do.

The other day, Shane was working on homework and Zay decided he would grab his laptop and join Daddy. Too cute! :)

Trying to keep up...the spoon!

Zay has been growing and doing so many new things lately...it's hard to keep up with him!

A few weeks ago Zay decided that he would use his spoon...all by himself. He's pretty much mastered eating his applesauce all by himself...although a bath is usually necessary after dinner. :)

Happy Mother's Day...weekend!

My mom…

I have an incredible mom! Seriously, she's great. It’s funny how many times I will catch myself doing and saying things that I know came straight from my mother…and probably straight from my Gram…and probably straight from my great-grandma whom I don’t even remember…as much as I try to resist certain things that drove me crazy when I was a young lady, it’s just a part of who I am. It’s who my mom has formed me to be. And for so many of those things I can be grateful.

For example:

I LOVE that my mom made sure that our home was a place where God was loved and morals were taught.

I LOVE that my mom stayed home with us kiddos. As I transition into becoming a stay at home mom, I know that it’s a hard decision and one that you have to rearrange your life in order to make it work!

I LOVE how my mom (& dad) fought for her marriage and family. I don’t ever recall a time when I thought my parents might not be together. They are a strong, unwavering pair and that’s rare in today’s world.

I LOVE that my mom used to take me along to go visit the elderly neighbor ladies. It’s taught me to be respectful and caring.

I LOVE that my mom (and Gram) loved to read and were examples to me. The older I get, the more I have a desire to read and learn just like them.

I LOVE that my mom knows how to make her kids feel special. I still remember one of my birthdays when I was in my early teens. My mom and dad took me out to eat in Dubuque and then went shopping, just the three of us…that’s a special treat when you have two brothers competing for attention!

I LOVE how my mom would cheer for me at my high school track meets. I could pick her voice out of the entire crowd, she single-handedly willed me to run faster and harder.

I LOVE that my mom is a hard worker. I've been told that I'm an 'independent woman', because I resist help from others. I think I received some of my mom's ability to at least try to accomplish things on my own first, you can always call in the backups later... ;)

I LOVE how my mom loves her grandkids. It's such a blessing for all three of them!

There are a million things I LOVE about my mom – I’m blessed to have her and should tell her that more often!

Judy...

I’ve been blessed to have a super mother-in-law! To be honest, I've heard the horror stories from wive's that have less than ideal MIL, and I lucked out with mine! Although I’ve only known Judy for about 7ish years, I’ve learned a lot from her and thank her for raising such an amazing son!

I LOVE that Judy embraces life wherever she is at. She's taught me that you don't have to have the best of 'things' to be happy.

I LOVE how Judy loves unconditionally. She's truly lives this out every single day, you always know that she loves and cares for you.

I LOVE that Judy is so flexible. She is always willing to work around anyone's schedule to make sure everyone can be present at holidays, birthdays, and any other celebration. She understands that it's people that matter, not the date.

I LOVE that Judy is patient with me as a cook. She's worked in the restaurant business for years and knows how to cook so well...but she never pokes fun at my sad attempts at dinners sometimes.

I LOVE Judy's generosity. She passed this on to her son. Both Judy and Shane would give the shirt off their back's if someone else needed it more than them!

I LOVE how Judy lights up when she see Zay...and how Zay lights up when he sees Grandma.

Once again..there are a million things I love about Judy. I'm so fortunate to call her my mother-in-law!

I hope that I can take all the knowledge, tips, and wisdom from both of my wonderful moms and become a great mom just like them!

...Happy Mother's Day!

BIG News!

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
-Proverbs 16:9

Guess….what….

We are MOVING!

Not just to a new house across town, but to an entirely new town more than hour away from here!

Allow me to explain…

Some of you know a little bit about how our lives were turned upside down last August…

Shane’s employer announced last fall that they would be closing their office in Waterloo. We were told we would have an option to move to Oak Creek, WI, otherwise Shane would not have a job. This sent us into a spiral of emotions.

Thankfully, a small, select group of people were allowed to keep their jobs in Waterloo…Shane being one of them! Praise the Lord!

When all of this happened, we were on a roller coaster of thoughts and emotions! I was in shock and had pretty much dug my feet in the ground and told Shane I couldn’t move to Wisconsin.

After we found out we could stay in Waterloo, God definitely began to work on me. Shane and I really believe that he had used the “scare” of having to move to open our eyes to his plans for us.

As the months went on, Shane felt as though he should probably keep his eyes open for a new job. The job security of his current job really wasn’t something we could count on.

Shane found a couple job options, but nothing that was panning out perfectly here in the Cedar Valley. He and I decided that we would be open to him looking outside the Cedar Valley. We thought about Des Moines, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago was even a (small) option!

I was a little stressed about the thought of moving to a bigger city, but also knew that at some point we could be in the same position we were in last August…desperate for a job, without the luxury of time to find one. The thought of finding all new doctors for Zay was overwhelming to me as well. We LOVE our doctors in Iowa City, and they’ve known Zay since he was born. Not generally something that is taken into consideration while job searching, however this was a big factor for us.

Then a couple months ago a recruiter contacted Shane. Up until this point Shane hadn’t been working with a recruiter. Like I said before, we weren’t necessarily desperate for him to find a new job, we just wanted to keep our options open and were ready to jump when the opportunity presented itself.

The recruiter worked for Pearson Education in Iowa City.

Shane went through the whole process…phone interview, in-person interview, intelligence test, references, negotiating, and finally ACCEPTED a position at Pearson!

What this all means? We will be eventually moving to the Iowa City area. And Zay and I will be transitioning into spending everyday together! I think I’ll save a whole other blogpost just on my feelings about becoming a stay at home mom! Words can’t begin to describe my excitement, as well as my fears about this new role!

Overall, this is a VERY bittersweet announcement for us.

I’m trying VERY hard to focus mainly on the excitement of this new chapter in our lives, but with moving comes a lot of sadness. The Cedar Valley has been our home for over 9 years. This is where we both went to college. Where we met. Where we bought our first house. Where we had our first baby. Not to mention, we have so many friends here! We have a fantastic church here. We have the most amazing small group here. We have an incredible babysitter right down the street. We have neighbors, families, coworkers, committee members, basketball and volleyball teams, even just acquaintances that we are going to miss so much, it brings me to tears just thinking about saying goodbye. There are SO many things we are going to miss about the Cedar Valley.

With all that being said, we feel incredibly blessed. God has definitely led us through this important decision. He has completely blessed us with the location we are moving to. And one of the biggest reliefs…we don’t have to change doctors!

Now, for the next step…we will be preparing our house to sell! We have a few projects we’d like to complete before we put it on the market, but we are praying for the perfect buyer. I love this house and we have so many memories here. I hope that someone else will come and see our home as a place to make their family’s memories too.

Bittersweet thoughts to say the least.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
-Proverbs 16:9