Zoey is eight months!

What a big girl Zoey is becoming! I can hardly believe she is already 8 months old! She is such a happy girl and a joy to be around.

She is taking more and more assisted steps, and is practicing standing. She loves to climb all over things as well. We have seen just a couple of waves goodbye! She still does not have any teeth, but we are expecting one soon!

Zoey also gives us the cutest and funniest faces! I am posting just a few!

She is currently 16 lbs 8 ounces and about 26 inches!

7 months . . . plus :)

Well, the holidays caught up with us, and thus no post for a while! AND so much has happened.

We had a wonderful Christmas break. Both of Dennis's brothers were able to make it. Chris lives in Chicago and Curt lives in Liverpool. Curt and Ria (Curt's fiancee) flew in and were able to spend a couple of weeks. They ever got stuck in Fargo for the snow storm!

Aurora continues with Tae Kwon Do and has picked up a private lesson each week. This allows her more personalized time with a trainer, and we have already seen improvements!

Kyle continues with preschool and what a difference it has made. He can sing all of his ABCs (in English and French). He can also spell his own name, mom and dad. He knows that A is for Aurora and Z is for Zoey (and Ziniel). W is for Wiggly, and P is for Panda (also apparently for poop and puke???). His vocabulary has exploded and he loves telling stories.

Zoey is also making leaps and bounds. First, she can stand holding on to things and "cruises" which means she can kind of walk along holding on to the couch. She also does an improvised crawl. This morning she turned around from the couch and stood for a few seconds on her own, until she realized she was standing on her own, got all excited, and fell down. She is eating more solid foods and enjoys cheerios, puffs and mumms as snacks. She is becoming much more independent!

I returned to a fresh new semester, and it has been going wonderfully! I am teaching an Oral Interpretation class, and we are even planning on attending a speech tournament and competing! I am hoping this is a stepping stone to an actual team for next year! I am also teaching a media writing, business writing, and a corporate communication class. All are wonderful, and I could not ask for better students!

Dennis is working full time at John Deere now. Although they did not offer him a true position, they are working out the fine details, and he is simply putting in 40 hours a week until an official offer comes. He has also had several interviews with a variety of places, and we are waiting to hear back on those. In the end, he would like to stay with John Deere, as it is close to home and he loves the company and people he works with!

We had our family photos done yesterday and cannot wait to see the results. We had them taken with a local photographer who is a member of our church and whose daughter attends Aurora's school. She take all of the kids' school photos, and was just wonderful to work with. I will post a link to the photos once I have one! This is our first family photo with Zoey. :)

I hope to write in just a couple more weeks, when Zoey turns 8 months. We will weigh and measure her then!

I can hardly believe Zoey is already 1/2 of a year old. Six months has flown by so fast!

Zoey is now 14 lbs 7 ounces and 26 inches long. She is the happiest baby! She is always smiling and giggling. This past month she has been working on crawling, but so far just scoots around. She has pulled herself up a couple of times to standing, but cannot do so consistently. She can bear her own weight on her legs, but is still figuring out how to balance.

Aurora tested successfully for her yellow belt, green stripe. We are very proud of her!

We look forward to celebrating the holidays with friends and family!

Aurora 6 party

Click here to view this photo book larger

Zoey is 5 months!

What a wonderful baby we have been blessed with! Zoey is 5 months old now, and loves to scoot and roll around! She is always happy and giggles all the time. She is now 14lbs and 4 ozs, and just over 24 inches! She also drools non-stop and we are expecting her first tooth any day now!

This month has been exciting for the Ziniels! We celebrated Halloween filled with parties, tricks, and treats!

Aurora also won her first medal in Tae Kwon Do! A silver in sparring!

We are looking forward to celebrating the holidays with friends and family . . . both near and from afar!

Zoey is 4 Months!--Exciting Times for the Ziniel Family!

Zoey is growing incredibly fast! I can hardly believe the progress she has made in just one month. She is able to roll both ways, but has only put it all together once. She still has some trouble rolling from her back to her tummy.
She also discovered her feet just last week, and has fallen in love with them! They are one of her favorite things to play with.
She can completely hold her head up on her own and is enjoying sitting at the dinner table in her high chair. She is also able to sit in the exersaucer, but does not go in it yet, because her legs are not long enough to tough the bottom of it!
She also can spend some time sitting on her own with no support! It is amazing to watch.
She had her 4 month visit this afternoon. She is 25 inches long and weighs 13 pounds and 1 ounce. That is almost double her birth weight!
Other exciting news is we purchased a new car! We finally broke down and bought a 2010 Dodge Caravan. I cannot imagine what we did without it. The entire family loves all the space it provides and it is much easier to travel now.
Aurora received wonderful news this week. She went in for a repeat allergy test and shows no allergy to eggs. She has already tried them out! She also shows no allergy to pecans, cashews and almonds! She has a almost non-existent allergy to peanuts, so she will be re-tested for it via a skin test. She is also highly allergic to cats, and we are considering alternate arrangements for Pandora if it is necessary.
Kyle is having a blast at preschool! He is learning many new things, and his language is greatly improved! He is excited for Halloween and dressing up in his Buzz Lightyear costume.
Finally, a special congratulations to my friend Sommer who welcomed an adorable baby boy this past weekend! Welcome to the world Carson! We cannot wait to meet you.

Zoey is 3 months!

WoW!

I can hardly believe that Zoey is already 3 months old! She is growing so fast, and is just advancing so quickly. Yesterday she weighed 12 lbs, 10 oz, and was still 23 inches long. That is a whole 2 pounds in the last month! She has moved completely from her 0-3 month clothing, and is into her 3-6 month clothing . . . which is perfect because they are her Fall clothes! It has been very cold lately and we have been having fun with all of her pants outfits!

She has continued to roll over sporadically, but still not consistently. She is getting a lot better at rolling from her back to her belly and is always at least trying to roll to her belly. She also loves to try and scoot around. Sometimes she gets a little traction with her feet and seems surprised that she is moving to new places! She can lift herself entirely on her front arms and LOVES to stand! She also loves to sit in her bumbo and her high chair.

For the rest of the family, it has been a busy time! Aurora started 2nd grade and loves it. We are back on our regular Tae Kwon Doe schedule, and she has a performance at the VCSU football game next weekend.

Kyle started preschool and goes twice a week! He loves getting to play with the other kids and I can already tell that his vocabulary and speech are improving. We are proud to say that he is fully potty trained and loves wearing his big boy underwear.

We hope everyone is enjoying the Fall weather because it feels like winter will start any day now!