Zana Jade

Zana's Friend Julia

2009-01-29T21:05:00.001-08:00

Zana's friend Julia came over on December 18th for a little play date (I know, I know - it is January now - it has taken me a little while to update the blog). They had a great time together. Zana and Julia were born only a couple of days apart. They are both getting so big!

Zana and Julia had a lot of fun together. Here is a little video of all the action.

Zana and Papa

2009-01-29T20:59:00.000-08:00

Zana loves her Papa. She lights up when he comes in the room. Here are a few pics of Zana and Papa spending time together.

Jungle Gym

2009-01-28T18:05:00.000-08:00

Grammy and Jay-Pa bought Zana a Jungle Crawl and Cruise gym for Christmas. She loves it! It lights up and plays music when she touches the toys that hang from it. She has figured out how to drop balls onto the ball ramp. She also likes to drop her pacifier onto the ball ramp and into the hippo and elephant's ears. She is pulling herself up onto her knees and into a half-standing position. She likes to pull herself up on her Jungle Gym so that she can look in the mirror and play with the toys that are on the top of the gym. She also likes to lick the monkey and the lights. The poor baby had pink eye the night that we put her gym together. You can tell how swollen her left eye is in the pictures below. However, even pink eye couldn't keep her from playing with her new toy. She loves it!

Little Swimmer

2009-01-28T17:05:00.000-08:00

Zana went swimming for the first time on New Year's Day in our hotel pool in Abilene. She loooooved the pool, and she loooooooved watching Kailee swim. We took her swimmimg every day that we were there. She kept kicking her little legs and swinging her little arms through the water . . . she was trying soooooo hard to copy Kailee's swimming moves. She loves her big sister and wants to do everything that she does.

We are taking a Parents and Me swim class in February, so we went ahead and bought Zana her very first swimsuit. She knows that her swimsuit is something special because she squeals and kicks her legs every time that we put it on her. She is definitely gonna be a little swimmer.

Zana lovin' on Aunt Winnie & showing off her new swimsuitZana showing her Great-Grandmother her new swimsuit

Zana's First (and Last) Bite of Peas

2009-01-27T18:52:00.000-08:00

My poor baby girl almost threw up when she tasted peas for the first time. I tried them, and I can't say I blame her. Here's a little video of all the excitement - and a video of Zana washing down the horrible taste with a little water.

Bath Time Once Again

2009-01-27T17:55:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows that Zana loves to take a bath . . . and suck on her toes . . . and play with Bailey. Here are a couple of videos of Zana enjoying all three.

New Shoes

2009-01-27T17:46:00.000-08:00

Zana got some new shoes, so naturally she decided to taste them as soon as we left the store.

New Year's Eve

2009-01-27T17:35:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve was my grandparents' (Zana's great-grandparents) 70th Wedding Anniversary. A lot of family came into town to help them celebrate. We all ate and celebrated at the 50 Yard Line. Zana had fun watching everyone in their "party hats".

Zana's 1st Christmas

2009-01-27T14:48:00.001-08:00

Zana had a wonderful first Christmas. We celebrated Christmas in Lubbock with my family and then traveled to Abilene the weekend after Christmas to celebrate with Jonathan's family. Here are some pics:

Ami and Papa bought Zana a rocking horse that makes noises - she loves it!

Aunt Winnie bought Zana a doll with a pacifier - she didn't know what to think at first because the doll was bigger than her . . .
. . . then she decided they could be friends - she likes to try to steal the baby's pacifier so she can suck on it herself

Zana loved opening presents . . .

. . . and tasting them

Here is a little video of Zana traveling backwards in her Princess Walker that she got for Christmas.

Mohawk

2008-12-18T19:42:00.000-08:00

Zana doesn't have a lot of hair, but we can finally form it into a little mohawk in the bathtub.

Escape Artist

2008-12-18T19:29:00.000-08:00

Zana can't crawl yet, but she can roll anywhere she wants to go . . . . and she is fast! I put her on a blanket in my bedroom and went around the corner to wash my hands. When I came back, she was under my bed! Her little head was sticking out from under the dust ruffle and she was smiling from ear to ear. She was sooooo proud of herself.

Stylin' Baby

2008-12-18T16:37:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics of Zana sporting some 1980's leg warmers. I love them!

My grandmother's good friend, Lou, made this adorable hooded sweater for Zana before she was born. It is so beautiful and it looks precious on Zana.

Messy Eater

2008-12-18T16:14:00.000-08:00

Ami and Papa bought Zana a high chair for Christmas, and she has definitely broken it in. We have to take off her clothes and feed her in only her diaper because she is so messy. She gets food EVERYWHERE and even tries to feed it to the dog.

Family Christmas Pictures

2008-12-18T15:22:00.000-08:00

We had family photos taken outside at Canyon Lakes 2 days after Zana turned 6 months old. Zana and Kailee both look beautiful - Zana was happy and smiling in almost every single pic. The pics are wonderful thanks to Cassandra McDonald - she is going to be taking a lot of pictures for us in the future - she is a wonderful photographer. We love the pics!!!!

Bath Time

2008-11-16T20:57:00.000-08:00

Zana loves to take a bath! We have recently started bathing her in the kitchen sink because she gets a little crazy in the bath tub and tries to dive off of her bath cushion to chase after any toys that go floating by. Here are some pics of Zana taking a bath and a little video of "Little Miss Determination" going after her duck.

Zana's New Trick

2008-11-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

Anyone who knows Zana knows that this baby girl LOVES her pacifier . . . . or "sucky" as we call it. Well, she has recently mastered the art of finding her sucky and getting it back in her mouth after she drops it. She will literally roll all the way across the room to get to a sucky that is out of her reach. Here is a little video of her picking up a dropped sucky in her Jumperoo.

Zana's 1st Halloween

2008-11-11T18:44:00.000-08:00

Jonathan had to work on Halloween, so Zana and I spent Halloween at Ami and Papa's house. Papa dressed Zana in her beautiful princess costume, and then we followed some of our friends around the neighborhood while they went trick-or-treating. Although she didn't get any candy, she still found plenty of things to put in her mouth . . . . like her dress, her fingers, and her favorite treat of all . . . . her feet! Zana also got a cute monster costume from my friend Hunter, and a ladybug costume and "I love my mummy" onesie from my brother Tommy and his family. We played "dress-up" with all her new costumes when we got home from Ami and Papa's. Here are some pics from the evening:

Papa dressing Zana

Mama and Zana

pretty little princess Zana

yummy

our little monster

little love bug

Zana's "I love my mummy" onesie

Zana's favorite treat - her feet . . .

. . . and her fingers
she even eats her feet in mid air . . . lolshe loves when her Daddy blows raspberries on her cheeks

Zana's New Toy

2008-11-02T19:48:00.000-08:00

We recently bought Zana a Rainforest Jumperoo, and she absolutely LOVES it! We took her to Babies 'R Us and actually let her try out all the bouncers and exersaucers until we found one she liked. It was hilarious! She just sat still in most of them, but her eyes got really wide, she smiled from ear to ear, and she immediately started playing with all the gadgets when we put her in the Jumperoo. It took her a few days to learn how to actually bounce in the jumperoo, but trust me, she has it mastered now. She bounces around like a maniac (see the video below)! It is currently her favorite toy.

Here is a video of Zana bouncing - ignore the weirdo talking like an idiot to the baby:

Zana and Grammy

2008-11-02T19:38:00.000-08:00

Grammy and Jay-Pa recently came to Lubbock to visit. Zana had a lot of fun loving on both of them. She also had a great time watching her cousins Gage and Molly while they played.

Zana and Ami

2008-11-02T19:28:00.000-08:00

Zana loves her Ami. She stays with Ami all the time, and she loves to cuddle up in Ami's arms to look at pictures in her books.

Zana is 5 Months Old!!!!

2008-11-02T19:19:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Zana's 5 month "birthday" on October 21st. It is sooooo hard to believe that our tiny baby girl is now 5 months old! She tried rice cereal for the 1st time on Saturday, October 18th; however, she is not a fan. We have tried it on several other occasions as well . . . and baby girl is just not ready. Her doctor said that some babies aren't ready for cereal until they are closer to 6 months, so we are gonna wait and try again later. Here are some pics of her 1st attempt at cereal:

Zana's Baptism

2008-11-02T17:59:00.000-08:00

Zana was baptised by Monsignor Ben Kasteel at Christ the King Cathedral on October 5th - which also happened to be her Papa's 60th birthday. It was a very special day for our entire family! Zana's Godparents are Aunt Caprice and Uncle Jamie. Zana is very lucky because her Auntie Reagan (a good friend of mine) came to her baptism to take some beautiful pictures of her special day. Here are some of the pictures:

My 30th Birthday

2008-10-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

I turned 30 on August 11th, and we celebrated by going out to dinner with the whole family. Zana was 2 and a half months old, and it was her first time to wear shoes and pants . . . she looked adorable! Here are some pics from the restaurant:

Our New Home

2008-10-14T22:24:00.001-07:00

Jonathan and I had a house built and we closed on our new home on July 15th. We had only been in the new house a few days when Zana was admitted to the hospital.
Here are a few pics of the new house before landscaping.

Zana's Hospital Stay July 24th - July 30th

2008-10-14T21:18:00.000-07:00

Zana woke up around 3:30 am on July 24th with a temp. of 103. I was a nervous wreck, so I called the doctor on call and was told to give Zana baby Tylenol. The doctor told me to take her to the ER if her fever didn't break, otherwise, I was supposed to call her doctor first thing the next morning when the office opened.

We called Dr. Hanson and they got us in first thing that morning. We had noticed some strange looking urine, so we suspected a Urinary Tract Infection. Dr. Hanson had blood drawn, chest x-rays taken, and had Zana catheterized for a urine sample. Zana was given a shot of Rocephin because Dr. Hanson wanted to start treating the possible UTI immediately since Zana was only 2 months old. Zana was acting normal and her fever was gone, so we were sent home.

Later that afternoon, Zana's fever returned and was not responding to Tylenol. She also became listless and was crying, moaning, and clenching her fists in her sleep . . . we knew she was in pain. Dr. Hanson told us to take her to the hospital immediately and she would meet us there.

Zana was admitted to the hospital, where she spent 7 days! The poor baby's test results showed a UTI and a blood infection. Therefore, Zana had to have a spinal tap to make sure the infection was not in her spinal fluid, which could indicate meningitis. God answered our prayers because Zana's spinal tap showed that everything was okay . . . no meningitis! However, Zana had to stay in the hospital for IV antibiotics. She also underwent an ultrasound and various tests to make sure that there were no anatomical abnormalities that could be contributing to the UTI and could cause recurring UTI's. Once again, the Lord answered our prayers . . . Zana's urinary tract looked perfectly normal.

Zana was discharged from the hospital on July 30th. She continued with home health so she could finish her course of IV antibiotics at home, which Jonathan and I had to administer.

Zana has been perfectly healthy ever since. Dr. Hanson said it was just a random UTI that became very serious because of Zana's young age and the fact that her immune system was so immature. We want to thank everyone for all of their prayers! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!

*By the way, Zana laughed out loud for the first time when she was in the hospital. She evidently thought it was very funny when I leaned over her hospital crib and told her to say "Mama". lol*

Here are some pics from Zana's hospital stay:

Here are a couple of pics of Zana in her first pair of sunglasses that Ami bought her when she got home from the hospital:

4th of July

2008-10-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

July 4th was our 1st anniversary . . . and naturally Jonathan had to work. We usually spend the 4th with my parents and Caprice, but they went on a trip to Albuquerque. So . . . Kailee, Zana, and I spent the 4th of July with Uncle Justin, Aunt Winnie, and Uncle Dew. After Jonathan got off work, Aunt Winnie kept Zana so Justin, Jonathan and I could take Kailee to pop fireworks. We had a lot of fun.

Here are some pics from the 4th:

Zana's 1st 3 Months

2008-10-13T19:26:00.001-07:00

Zana Jade and Kailee Ann loving on each other when we brought Zana home from the hospital on May 23, 2008

Zana and her Daddy

Aunt Caprice Aunt Winnie and Uncle Justin
Uncle Dew

Uncle Jamie

Zana's 1st sponge bath

Zana swinging

Zana getting some sun for her jaundice

Zana taking a bath in the kitchen sink

Zana's 1st stroller ride

Beautiful Sisters - Kailee Ann and Zana Jade

Zana and Grammy

Zana and Mama

Zana's Birth

2008-09-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

Our precious Zana Jade is 4 months old today! I am creating this blog to keep friends and family up to date on Zana's life; however, we had such a busy summer (new baby, new house, sick baby, etc.) that I am just now finding time to get this thing started. Zana has already grown so much, and we have a lot of "Zana news" to share that started way back in May.

So, I am gonna start from the beginning . . . . .

Zana Jade was born on May 21, 2008 at 7:10 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was 21 inches long.

I was induced at 7:00 am and Zana was born at 7:10 pm. Delivery was pain free (thanks to an epidural); however, the whole event was pretty scary . . . especially since Zana was literally "sucked" into this world with a vacuum extractor! Zana had a little cone shaped head for a few hours since she was in the birth canal for so long. The poor baby also had a large circular shaped bruise on the top of her head for a few weeks due to the vacuum extractor. Even though her head was a little bruised, she was still breathtaking and absolutely beautiful!! I bet Jonathan and I kissed her a million times the night she was born.

Here is our first family photo: