Life with the Z's

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Potty training, Smiles, ER visits, and Ear Tubes!

Can you match each of these subjects with the right child??? The Ziesemer household has been plenty busy as of late!

We'll start with Jillian! Her one month appointment was great. She weighed 10 lbs 5 ounces (75-80th percentile), measured 21 1/4 inche (50th percentile), and had a head circumference of 15 inches (70th percentile). She is a such a welcome addition to our family. Easy-going (except for a time between 5:00pm and 9:00pm), taking a bottle great, and plenty of naps. What more could we ask for?!

Amelia is such a big girl! We are all so proud of her. Aunt Mara shared her potty training secrets with us and we went for it last weekend. It was a complete mess (literally) the first two days with plenty of accidents at home and at daycare. But it was all worth it! She had no accidents yesterday and we are hoping the trend continues. She is also talking a lot - she is forming entire sentences "Where did Dada go?, I don't know, Where my phone?, Sit down Mom, I want treat" and has a huge vocabulary.

Mike and Mara closed on their house last week, so we will be saying goodbye on May 11th. We hope their transition is incident-free as Vivian just had a trip to the ER because she fell down their steps in the new house and injured her forehead. Poor thing! And little Wyatt just had to have tubes put in his ears. He did great!

Here are pictures to visually update you on how things are going:

Easter Morning!

Finding eggs

Loving the egg hunt!

Wyatt and Amelia checking out the goods

Jillian 1 month

1 month - still wasn't smiling

Sisters!

Do we look alike??

Twins!

Bath time

She likes the water, just like Amelia did!

Starting to fall asleep

Smiles finally!

Happy girl!

So pretty!

Love!

Grandpa O coming for a visit

Mohawk in full effect!

She thinks she looks cool!

Cousins! Viv has her bandage on and Wyatt just had his tubes put in!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Sisterly Love at 2 weeks!

Jillian continues to do great. Minus a small bout of constipation. Kevin and I have to laugh, Amelia has persistent toddler's diarrhea and now Jillian goes days at time with no dirty diaper.

Jillian's two week appointment went great! She was up to 8 lbs 9 ozs and measured 21 inches long. So far, so good. JZ is a sweet, sweet baby. She always manages to have a mohawk though, I blame the fact that it appears she has two different parts in her hair. I hope it doesn't last!!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Jillian Kay Ziesemer

Jillian Kay Ziesemer! Oh, how we love her so! Details first:

Born March 6th, 2013 at 3:45am
Weighed 7 pounds 6 ounces and measured 20.5 inches long
I was induced one week early to make sure my doctor would be present and to make sure I did not have issues with the anesthesia team again.
Labor and delivery was pretty uneventful (except that anesthesia ran about 1.5 hours behind). I started pitocin at 7:00 and was ready to push by 3:00am. On a side note, I feel great this time. I am 95% and pretty much pain-free.
Jillian did great at her first doctor's appointment! She dropped in the hospital to 6 pounds 15 ounces, but was already back up to 7 pounds 3 ounces at her 4 day visit.

Jillian is the best baby! And I don't think I am just saying that because she's better than Amelia (any baby would have been better than Amelia). She sleeps all day. Literally, I think she sleep 23.5 hours a day. She cries only when she is hungry, has a dirty diaper, is getting a bath, or just wants to be held.

Amelia is adjusting to her so well. I am so proud of her. She is acting like a little "mom". She loves to help me put blankets on her, bring diaper supplies, give her the pacifier, and has even held her like a big girl. I can't wait for them to really "know" each other.

Here are pictures of my newest angel!

First picture!

Long Time, No Blog

Well, hello everybody! It has been about six months since I have been able to post a new blog. Plenty has happened, and I will bullet point all of the excitement!

Jillian Kay Ziesemer was born March 6, 2013! She is so well-behaved, it is truly remarkable. She will received her own post shortly after I finish a quick catch-up on our lives.
We moved! That's right, we are officially suburbanites residing in Itasca. Bye-bye Chicago! :(
Amelia started a new daycare and she seems to be very happy there. Speaking of Amelia, she is really becoming a little girl now. At 19 months, she can really communicate her wants and is becoming very independent.
Kevin started graduate school for his MBA. He is at DePaul, taking two classes a quarter. So far, it hasn't been too bad (for him, school-wise, and for me, handling the kids).
We are a household of 9 (including Freddie) for a short time. Mike, Mara, Vivian, and Wyatt are staying with us until they find a house. They needed flexibility since they sold their townhouse and we said, "Come on over!". It's been great so far (minus AZ and Viv having some sharing difficulties). As we all know, I do not cook and Mara does. NICE!
While this isn't exciting, I want to document this for the girls for when they get older. And hopefully they read a few of their mom's posts! I tested positive for the breast cancer gene (BRCA1 mutation), therefore will be having a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy in the coming year. I am extremely thankful for the knowledge. Choosing between facing this surgery or an 80% chance of cancer, the decision is easy.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

And then there were FIVE!

Clearly, this announcement deserves its very own post.

BZ2

Kevin, Amelia, Freddie, and I are thrilled (and slightly nervous) to announce that Baby Z #2 (a.k.a., BZ2) will be joining our family this spring! March 12, 2013 is the baby's due date. While I cannot say we were planning on this little addition so soon, we are feeling incredibly blessed to have another child. BZ2 has already been a firecracker in my mind. A lot of scares in the beginning (what ended up being a subchorionic bleed) made us realize how much we already loved him/her. I was told I would miscarry three different times, but BZ2 had a plan of his/her own! Everything is healthy now, and I am officially in my 2nd trimester and 14 weeks along.

Morning sickness has been horrible, as it was with Amelia, but has eased up this week. And, I already have a rash of acne which makes me think it's another girl. We will definitely find out the sex of the baby in October, but I am not sure I will be sharing that info immediately with certain people who didn't extend the same courtesy to me. Yes, Mara and Pauline, I am talking to you! :)

Kevin and I worry about how we will logistically handle two kids. A lot. Amelia has been such a handful, how will we manage two? I also worry I can't possibly love BZ2 as much as I love Amelia, but I will believe what everybody else tells me. I mean, I already haven't taken a single belly pic nor do I know where all of the ultrasound pictures are located. UGH.