Zaida's First Halloween

Zaida had a good day today. After her photo shoot with her cute little bear friends, she anxiously awaited for her Daddy to come home.

We decided to show off our sweet little cub to a few friends ... she made it to the first house, then promptly fell asleep! What a cutie!

Then after a couple more visits we came home to begin a new family tradition ... we watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". Only a few minutes into the movie and she zonked out again!

So, after that was over, Corey and I decided to watch "Young Frankenstein" --- only a few minutes in and lo & behold, HE zonked out!

Now I just hope I can get some sleep ... wish me luck!

Trick or Treat!

Here I am all decked out in white,
Protected and warm this Halloween night.
Papa Bear, Mama Bear, baby bear too,
All bunched together like toes in a shoe.

That's me in the middle, with the big happy smile,
My first Halloween is just my style.
Gotta go now, and get all my treats,
While I wear out my mommy's and daddy's feets!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

P.S. Thanks for the adorable poem, Daddy!

Lil' Miss-chievious

Typical Work Day

Normally Zaida will either be hanging out on her floor mat in my office ...

... or I have set up shop somewhere else, like the bed. We have a whole operation going this day - the work computer on the right, the personal computer on the left (with webcam so Quinn can check out the little girl) & PLENTY of toys.
Most of the time Zaida is pretty content to hang out for a while as long as she can see Mommy.
Here is my ingenius way of keeping Zaida occupied while trying to warm up her little fingers! She surprisingly didn't mind it as much as I thought she might.

The Next Stage

Well, since I brought it up in my last post ... I thought I would fill you in on my work situation. Even though I was hoping to not have to work, things have worked out alright on that front anyway. In order for me to continue working, my conditions were that I would only work part-time (the minimum amount to keep my benefits & insurance coverage) and I needed to be able to work from home. To my surprise, my previous manager contacted me & offered to create this new position for me. Besides being very flattered, it just made sense for our current situation. It was a tough decision --- and one that Corey and I struggled with for months! But, ultimately having the ability to stay home with my baby & still be able to make a little bit of income - well, we'll see how it works out.

So, I have now worked for the bank for almost 7 years - crazy how time flies! Here is the boring part ... feel free to skip this if you don't care about business jargon. :) Since moving back from Minnesota, I have worked in the Corporate Trust department. I worked for three and a half years in the leverage lease group. Then I moved on to the Risk Management department about a year and a half ago. So, now my current position is being the liaison between these 2 groups. It's a pretty comfortable transition for me. Which, to be honest, was a big selling point for this new position too. I'm pretty hopeful that this will work for our family. But, of course, Zaida's always my top priority!

It's so strange to me because I really was determined that I was not going to work when we had kids ... I have read the book "I am a Mother" by Jane Clayson Johnson probably 4 times now. (It's an AWESOME book about the importance of motherhood - I would totally recommend it! I honestly have never felt so empowered or so proud of being a woman.) I thought that if she could give up her lucrative career then I could give up my little measly one ... but Corey and I prayed about it & I got an answer I wasn't really expecting. I just hope that I have enough courage & faith to follow the path the Lord has prepared for me.

Our nighttime routine

So, this is pretty much our nightly routine ... I'm awake while these 2 get cozy & cuddle each other to sleep. Most of the time I don't have the heart to wake them up ... so about an hour after I've gone to bed the little sleepy heads drag themselves upstairs to bed.

Zaida's sleeping most of the night. She's always been a really good sleeper though. Lately she has been sleeping from about 11-6. Then after about an hour (eat, diaper change & a little cuddling) she will go back down for another couple of hours. We're pretty lucky! And, it's a good thing too ... Corey and I do not function well if we don't get our sleep in. And, with both of us working - I just can't imagine if we didn't get a good night's rest!

Zaida had a little lamb ...