I'm BACK!

Hi friends,

Anyone still there? Well, I've decided to start blogging again, after a hiatus (due to many things). For the time being I'm not going to make this blog private, because I think it's kind of a pain for those of you who want to read (and I WANT you to read!). I'll just be on the lookout for weird spam, and if it gets creepy, then I'll let you know I'm going private.

I'm going to be vague for now, but I hope to use this to expand a little more on what's been going on with us for the last several months. 2011 was not the best year for us, and 2012 was looking to be the same. In the last few weeks things have really started to sort of fall into place, and I finally feel a peace that I haven't felt in a LONG time. So, be on the lookout for family updates, pictures of the CUTEST KID EVER, and even some more personal stuff.

Hope you're still there, and if so, stick with me! Here's a picture of Zoe to tide you over for now. Love you all.

Going Private

So I've toyed with the thought of making this blog private before, but wasn't sure because I don't know if enough people read it or not... but after finding another unknown/spam comment on a post I wrote about Zoe, I'm either going to delete this blog or make it private. If you are one of the few readers, please let me know by email that you want added to the blog if I choose to keep it open. I'll either delete or make private by Tuesday.

13 Month Fun

There are a few things that this little cutie has started doing that I don't want to forget:

- when we hand her a book, if it's backwards/upside down, she knows to turn it the right way before she looks at it. We didn't teach her this, she just started doing it a month or so ago on her own.

- how she wants to share all of her food and toys with anybody else in the room. She reaches out her tiny but chubby arm and gives you this look like "please take my ___ , I'm adorable!" Mark and I are always more than happy to oblige, even for a soggy cheerio, but she doesn't yet understand that strangers don't want a drool covered pen.

- the paci game, where she gives us her paci, we put it in our mouth backwards and then she either takes it with her mouth or her hand. She thinks it's HILARIOUS.

- her little body as she learns to walk. The bent knees, the hard steps, the arms bent ever so carefully for balance, her little diaper bottom and the way she waddles, and the look of amazement/pride on her face as she does it. Simply adorable.

-the way she grabs all of the food we put on her tray, and then feeds herself from her what's in her hands. She LOVES food. Loves it.

- her sweet little voice. She can now say Mama, Dada, Papa, ba-ba (bye bye), hi, uh-oh (with a very cute influx on the 'oh'), ah-dah (all done) and gulga... she says gulga a lot, but we have yet to figure out what it means!

- how she plays peek-a-boo. She covers her eyes, or any other part of her face for that matter, and waits until we say "Where's Zoe?"... and she waits, and waits. Then after about 30-45 seconds, she pops her hands off of her face with a surprised look, waiting for us to say "There she is!!". She then laughs, smiles, and does it again and again.

-her rhythm! Zoe loves music, and she even dances when without music, just because she's happy. Her quickly shakes her head from side to side, she bounces & flaps her arms if she's standing up, and if she's crawling, she'll stop and slap her left foot against the floor. She's going to be a rug-cutter like her daddy!

- her eagerness to be like her Mama! She wants to eat what I'm eating, be where I am, and do what I'm doing! I could eat her up... and I do, with kisses! I love how when I pick her up she wraps her little arms tightly around my neck. Makes my heart melt. Every time.

- the other night I was combing her hair after her bath, and she grabbed her brush and started batting it at her head like she was trying to brush her hair! Little Miss Smarty Pants!

I've already added to this post 4 times... she does so many cute things! I feel like multiple times a day, one of us says "Could she be any cuter?"... to which we always answer no! What an adorable little monkey we have!

Catching up...

For anyone who still reads this blog (I may just be writing for my own memory, and not an audience... which is ok I guess!), I know I'm way behind. I started Zoe's 1 year post and never finished it... and I feel like i have so much more to blog about. But, things are busy, and now we'll be without internet for an undetermined amount of time- we're moving tomorrow! Staying at Gulf Drive, but moving into a 2 bedroom. It has been so difficult sleeping in the same room as Zoe for the past year, and our basement is not fit for a room- it's too wet. Yay for moving across the parking lot!

I'll update soon, I promise!

oh blogger

anyone have trouble with blogger, where it gets rid of your paragraph breaks when you publish your blog? argh. can't seem to fix it. I really do know how to write in ways other than one big long paragraph!

11 months

I can't believe we're one month from our baby's first birthday! It's hard to imagine that it's been almost a year since we saw her sweet face for the first time. What a bittersweet moment her first birthday will be! Since last month, Zoe now...

• has 3 bottom teeth, and 2 are ready to break through on top


• can say Mama!


• sign for more when she's eating


• When asked "How big is Zoe?", she responds by raising her arms up high when we answer "So big!"


• can cruise holding onto furniture


• say ba-ba (byebye), when waving (only happened a few times)

Zoe had her first ear infection this past month, which was a pretty sad milestone. She had a fever that would not go away, she was super duper clingy and fussy, and she really lost her appetite (even with nursing, which was when we knew something was really up). We took her to the doctor and sure enough, she had a pretty bad ear infection. She got a mild case of hives from the amoxicillin, so she's probably allergic to it just like her mommy is. In the last few days Zoe has started looking for things a lot. She will raise up on her tippy toes to try to see something when standing, or when crawling around, she'll peek under the couch, ottoman, chair, or anything really to see if there's a missing toy or paci she needs! Her new favorite toys are these little animals that have wheels on them. They're just her size, and she loves to have one for each hand at all times. What a cutie. She is so, so curious, and has recently discovered Mark's bookcases. Uh oh. This morning I caught her with Francis Shaeffer's book on Baptism : ) She also has become very affectionate, especially with her momma. She loves to wrap her chubby little arms around my neck, or grab my face with her hands, and give me a big 'ol opened mouth sloppy kiss. I love it! Next month we'll be celebrating her birthday with a family party in Ohio, and then on her actual birthday we'll be doing something small here in St. Louis. This has been the most challenging yet the best year of our lives! We love our little monkey so much!

10 months

Our girl is 10 months old! She is changing so quickly these days. I wish I could freeze this time right now- she is such a fun little girl and is doing so many fun things! This picture above is a perfect one- I think it really shows her personality (look at that face!), and just how busy she is (note the crumpled paper and toppled over bunny). Once again this past month has been a busy one for Zoe. In the past month, she:

-pulled herself up
-waved bye-bye
- went swimming for the first time
- said ba-ba-ba (not sure what ba-ba is though!)
- started dancing on her knees or when standing
- said mama (but only when crying!)
- slept all night without needing her mommy

When the Robertson's were here for a visit, they stayed in a hotel that had a pool, so Zoe got to go swimming for the first time! She was a little unsure at first, but once we showed her that she could splash, like in the tub at home, she had a ton of fun.

I feel like Zoe's sleeping issues should get their own post, but for now I'll just say this. Oh.my.word. Did we have some problems. We know that kids with tummy problems like her are usually not great sleepers, but saying she's not a great sleeper is a little generous. She's a pretty bad sleeper. She was waking every 60-90 minutes. All. night. long. Whoa. Unhealthy for all of us.
We finally went and talked to a sleep specialist in February about the issues we were having with Zoe at night. It was taking forever to get her to sleep, even at naps, and she would wake up way too often, needing lots of assistance in falling back to sleep. We read all sorts of books. Tried all sorts of things. She'd cry so hard she'd throw up. There were lots of tears, from all of us. To make a long, long story short, the sleep lady, a genius, really helped us. It took daddy stepping in at night time, a few nights with some crying, but now she's sleeping much better. She even goes to sleep a lot easier too!

I know I say this a lot, but Zoe is such a fun little girl! Before we know it she'll be walking and one!