Zoe's 1st Illini Game!

Today we all went to see the Illini Women's Basketball team take on Purdue @ the Assembly Hall. Unfortunately the Illini lost :( BUT a fantastic time was had by all of us... There was plenty of walking space for Zoe and there were also lots of stairs for her to climb. That's her newest thing... she can't get enough of stairs... when we go ANYPLACE with ANY stairs whatsoever, she tries climbing them. Going up isn't so bad, but coming down is a real challenge because she hasn't yet figured out that you need to BEND a knee to go down a step. She really just sort of "slips off" each step while I hold her hands.

You never really notice how many steps there are in the places you go regularly until your little one becomes infatuated with them, at which point you can spot a stairwell a mile away and will do almost anything to steer clear of it, which in turn saves your back from being tied up in one big knot by bedtime. Stairs are EVERYWHERE we go... the library, daddy's work, the children's museum, you-name-it!

Goodbye, Chief.

Wednesday morning Zoe was just TOO PRECIOUS FOR WORDS when I laid her down for her morning nap. I laid her down and she wasn't the least bit unsettled. She rolled over partially onto her side and was OUT cold. By the time I went to the kitchen, got the camera, and got back to her room she had already spat out the binky (which is the undeniable sign that she's zonked out), as you can see in this new favorite "kodak moment" :)



After she napped for 2.5 hours she was feelin' great! She got some walkin' time in, and stopped at the fridge to play with the magnets for a bit. Oh and she didn't want to be dressed. As soon as I took her sleeper off, she was begging to get down and run around, so that's the way I left it :) Who can argue with her, looking all cutsie-patootsie in her diaper?



In the afternoon Grandma & Grandpa Green came down so they could visit and so they could babysit for us while we went to the last home game for the men's Illini Basketball team (Leif won tix from the radio station!!!!!! Otherwise the game was already sold out months ago!!!!!!). We were lucky to get to go to this game because it was also the game that would be Chief Illiniwek's final performance (The "Last Dance" as it has become known 'round here). The University finally gave in to the NCAA's rulings........ I don't know all the politics and details, but it was a really touching and sad moment to see him leave the court, knowing that such a longstanding and proud tradition was coming to an end right then and there. Prior to the performance they played a video montage of historical "Chief" footage and they scrolled through a list of all the past Chiefs. The whole thing brought tears to my eyes, and I'm not even an alum. I can't imagine what it felt like to all the former Chiefs themselves (many of whom were apparently at the game).



ANYWAY- Zoe had a blast w/ Gma & Gpa and she slept all night long, even though she ended up waiting up for mommy to lay her down (at 10:45/11pm or something like that!). I can't thank you guys enough for helping us get to the game! It was a much-needed break for the two of us to get some "us" time :)



Hasta luego,
Lisa

PANCAKES!!!!!!!!

Today was National Pancake Day @ IHOP, so we went to get our free short stack of pancakes. Leif and I each ordered one shortstack, with the intention of sharing with Zoe.... but once she got started eating the pancake she wanted more and more! SO we ordered her a single pancake and she had a great time. We had a great waitress named Stephanie and she just couldn't get over the cuteness that is Zoe ;-)

We made our donation to Children's Miracle Network @ IHOP, headed to the store for some groceries, then got home to play a little before hitting the sack. Zoe's been sleeping pretty well lately (KNOCK ON WOOD), so that's super-duper :) Even when she does wake up, she can usually either put herself back to sleep or just get back to sleep with a few pats on the bum. She's becoming a pretty well-adjusted baby which is a huge relief compared to the first 4-5 months that were pure chaos. When I think back about all the sleeping in the recliner I had to do with her I can't believe how I did it. I guess it's really true- life only deals you what you can handle- even if you think it's impossible, if there's a will there's a way. Are there more cliches I could tack on right now? Yeah, of course. But I'll spare you :)

Lisa

Dress-Up Fun :)

Here's daddy & Zoe, walking around the kitchen after church... thank you to the Leland family for Zoe's beautiful dress! She got lots of compliments on it from the people sitting near us :) (by the way- the tshirt she's wearing under the dress is labeled 3-6 months... now C'MON! I know Zoe's on the small side, but REALLY?!?! She's 10.5 months.... she shouldn't be fitting in a 3-6 mo outfit. Seriously. Whose babies are they measuring to make these patterns?!?!)

Here's that prize smile again :) She loves being able to walk... she's still building up confidence to walk completely independently, but she's getting there little by little. Leif made a good point- she seems like she doesn't want to be seen "messing up".... perhaps she has inherited her mother's perfectionism... poor thing.

Snow Play

After taking a good 15-20 minutes to get READY to play in the snow, here we are! Layers and layers of clothing keeping us warm :)

Daddy tied a scarf to the toboggan to pull me, and Mommy helped keep me ON the toboggan :)

Once I had a couple turns going down one of the bigger snow drifts in our back yard, daddy took his turn. He was having a good time for sure :)

Before we came inside to warm up, daddy made a beautiful snow angel for me. It's pretty awesome. He says it's the deepest snow angel he's ever made... and what's funny is that as daddy was falling backwards into the snow, mommy said "OH! The Camera!" which made both of them laugh, realizing that it was in daddy's coat pocket. Fortunately it was unharmed and we got a super shot of the snow angel after all.

Well it's off to my nap!
Toodles
Zoe

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day was interesting around here... at first it was great! Leif had another snow day, so we were playing and walking all morning. During Zoe's nap, I went outside and shoveled for about a half hour (we were still completely buried at that point because the snow didn't stop comin' until Tuesday pm and it was so darn cold it wasn't worth trying to shovel that night). When I came back in, my tummy started doing flip flops. Apparently I contracted the "24 hr flu" that's going around. Bleh. So the rest of my Valentine's Day was spent making a run to the bathroom every couple of hours and writhing with discomfort in bed the rest of the time, while Leif tried to entertain Zoe the entire time. It broke my heart to hear her crying for me, but I just could not do it. What a terrible feeling.

ANYWAY- here's a family portrait we snapped in the morning (Thanks, Meghan for the great V-Day outfit :)).

Here's another pre-flu pic that is a new personal favorite- daddy actually caught that perfect moment of Zoe's smile!

Once I got over the flu, I was pretty tired... as was Leif, after having taken care of Zoe all day & night... so we got out her play yard and threw in the colored balls and POOF! Instant Baby Entertainment. It was a good thing :)

Well Zoe just woke from her nap... she's back to feeling a little under the weather herself again. We gotta get outta this house- I think it's keeping us sick. We've been in here since Sunday, which is totally unusual for us!

AVOID THE STOMACH FLU!!!!!!! IT'S THE PITS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lisa

26 Hours and Still Snowing

Yeah. That's right. After something like 26 hours of constant snow here, we are pretty much stuck inside. Not only is it snowy, but it's windy. This means drifting snow that piles up really high in some places. Like, for instance, our back patio. This picture was taken in the afternoon after less than 20 hours of snow, so you know it's only gotten deeper by now... the remains of Frosty (the snowman from our last snowstorm) are getting covered! His entire lower body is under new fallen snow (he is really a 3-part snowman, but you can only see 2 parts now :))

I just peeked out the window a moment ago to see if it was still snowing. Yep. And there was a poor little bunny running back and forth across a snowdrift, trying to find its way out of our yard. The spot in the fence where the bunnies usually enter/exit has been covered, so I think this little guy got confused. Leif tried putting out a carrot or two for it, so those will either get snatched up or buried in snow to freeze for a later date.

We're already feeling the effects of being cooped up in our not-so-big house, and tomorrow has already been declared another snow day for Leif. I sure hope this snow subsides soon!!! Fortunately we have plenty of food to keep us going if need be.

I know Leif has been needing to get back to the school to pick up some things to work on, but we couldn't unbury ourselves today with all the drifting snow and below zero windchill factors... but all is not lost... Leif's time off today provided an opportunity to WIN ILLINI BASKETBALL TICKETS! That's right! Leif won the "3 at 3" game on the radio station today (the same game I won at the end of January) so he gets a pair of tickets to see the Illinois/Michigan game next Wednesday! ROCK ON!!!!

Well if you're reading this because you too are stuck inside, I feel ya. If you're reading this from someplace with temperatures above freezing, I'm jealous and I want to come visit you immediately ;-)

TTFN
Lisa

HEY BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE!

 

It's been a few days since an update and a lot of things have been happening! Saturday & Sunday we took a road trip over to Indianapolis to go see Uncle Mike perform at the WGI Percussion Regional with Matrix. It was AWESOME! Their show was the best... they won the Independent World class and Zoe could NOT sit still during their entire show :) She was jumpin' and singing along as she watched intently as everyone moved around the gym floor.

Zoe has been fighting a cold, which has made her a little more grumpy than usual, but we seem to be on the downhill side of that now. Sunday & Monday were the worst- her eyes were puffy & watery and she had a runny nose as well as a slight fever. We gave her a couple doses of Tylenol, and as of this morning her fever was gone and her other symptoms were much less prevalent. Yesterday she took a warm shower, which seemed to make her feel really good- yay for steam!

Leif is now on his 4th day off from school- Saturday and Sunday for obvious reasons, Monday for Lincoln's Birthday, and today for a SNOW DAY! It's his first snow day since we returned to the midwest and MAN it's a doosey out there. It hasn't stopped snowing yet since it started last night and the crazy wind is blowing the snow all over the place, causing huge drifts. Poor Roxy fell off the patio step into a pile of snow this morning when she tried to go potty! We shoveled a pathway for her, but it has since filled up again, so we'll have to keep doing that all day, I imagine. She's gotta be missing good ol' Cali weather a lot now.

We figured we were in for a bad storm when Leif's school called off classes for today YESTERDAY afternoon before the snow even started! This is one of those districts that rarely cancels school, so we were all shocked and amazed when the phone rang yesterday and Leif's department chairperson shared the news. Even the UofI cancelled class today!

For those of you who've been to our house and know what our back patio looks like (with the shrubs encircling a concrete patio), the snow is filling that whole area... the shrubs are about halfway covered already! If Roxy fell in there, I think she'd be covered up to her ears.

Well I'm gonna sign off so I can get some other things done around here. We're stocked up on food and water, so LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW!

 

For our midwestern friends and family, STAY WARM & COZY!!! For our California friends, SEND WARMTH OUR WAY!!! :)

Lisa

Rub a Dub, Dub 3 girls in a tub... well... not really

 

Here's Zoe, Natalie, & May at Natalie's house for today's play date! We had a lot of fun- Zoe wanted to walk all over the place (exhibiting a definite affinity for the basket of dog toys and the adjacent stereo speaker) but she finally settled down with the other babies to play. The 'big hit' of the day seemed to be the ball popper/slide thing-a-ma-jigger (made by Playskool... I dunno it's official name :)) The girls had a super time catching the balls as they popped up and rolled around- that is when one of them didn't have her hand IN the popping part of the toy :) The balls are just the right size for sucking/chewing, which is also a big hit of course.

Zoe's not very smiley in this picture because she was totally ready for a nap and she was finished being social for the time-being.... and she just now woke from her p.m. nap, so I'm gonna sign off for now!

Lisa

Oh yeah- Zoe's officially 10 months old as of Monday!!! :)