Merry Christmas!

Just a brief hello and Merry Christmas from the Zapolski clan! I realize I haven't updated this blog in a really long time and hope to start adding things to it more often. In the meantime, I hope you all have a happy, healthy Christmas and a great new year!

Our little animals

On Halloween we all headed out to meet up with our friends, Joe and Jill and their kids, Nate and Addy to go trick or treating in their neighborhood. Asher was dressed up at an Ewok from Star Wars and Tatiana was a dalmatian puppy. We thought they had pretty recognizable costumes but apparently not. For the most part people knew Tatiana was a dalmatian except for the one guy who said, "Oh look at the cute cow!" Asher was called a lion and a bear several times throughout the night. I guess there aren't as many geeks out there like us as we thought there were. This was Asher's first time trick or treating. He refused to take a nap earlier in the day but did really well despite being tired.

**I just realized that I never posted this way back in the fall of 2011 so here you go!**

Fall Fun

We've continued to keep ourselves busy over the past few weeks. Tatiana and I went to the zoo last week with her preschool class for her first ever field trip. Our baby girl is growing up! It was a rainy day but most of the rain moved through shortly after we arrived when we were in the educational building spending time at a special up-close animal encounter.

The previous weekend we headed to a local fruit farm to pick some pumpkins and taste some of the yummy treats that they make at the farm. We all got to ride a hayride out to the pumpkin patch where the kids each picked a pumpkin or gourd...and I got to pick one of my own. They also had a small little fair of sorts with a juggler teaching God's Word, a face painter and a bounce house.

"Da plane! Da plane" Asher and Tatiana spotted a plane while in the pumpkin patch.

Tatiana wears her heart on her, uh, cheek.

It's been awhile...

So once again it's been awhile since I've posted on here. We've had a busy summer so far. We took a trip in June to Florida with Jon's siblings, Teresa and Steven, and their families. We had a good time just hanging out at the resort swimming in the pools and even got to see an alligator show. On the way back from our trip we headed to Jekyl Island off the Atlantic coast of Georgia to meet up with my sister, Marisa, and her family. We hadn't seen them in a year so it was good to catch up and spend some time at the beach and the Sea Turtle Center together.
We celebrated Tatiana's birthday in Florida, Georgia and Ohio so she should be set until next June. Jon just celebrated his 33rd on the first of August. Tatiana keeps asking when it'll be her birthday again. I guess three celebrations wasn't enough.
Our biggest excitement lately has been potty training (again) Tatiana. She is now in big girl underwear and goes most of the time on the potty chair. We're still working out some selective issues but this has been a huge step for her, especially with preschool coming up next month. I have started up a food blog, mommymadefromscratch.blogspot.com, that has kept me busy in addition to the busyness of life. Jon has kept busy with a big project at work, which he has taken lead on and will be done with after this weekend. So there's the short version of our summer. I sincerely hope to get better at updating this. Write at ya in a few months...just kidding!

Crazy Kid and Fun Surprises

Lately things have been fun but a little crazy. Asher is now 16 months old and EXTREMELY active...i.e. climbing everything and destroying all that he can find. He has mastered the art of getting into trouble then using his cuteness to get out of trouble. He's hard to say no to.

Jon and I also recently celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary, almost a year late. Last year with a new baby and a new house we never celebrated our anniversary. Jon surprised me a couple of weeks ago by showing up at the door with flowers, halfway through the workday to tell me that we were going on an overnight date for our anniversary. I, of course, thought he meant our 6th anniversary which at the time was coming up in a few weeks but he said this was for our 5th. We dropped the kids off at a friends house then went to our surprise location in Columbus and checked in at a hotel. We got changed then headed out to Max and Erma's for dinner, the spot of our first "unofficial" date. At the end of dinner Jon gave me a card which stated at the end that there was one more surprise...we were going to a Red Wings game!!! I have always wanted to go to an NHL game, especially a Red Wings game, but haven't been able to. Jon even fixed it so that the Red Wings won....at least that's what he told me. The kids spent the night at home with Uncle Bill and Aunt Teresa then we came and picked them up in the morning at our friends John and Tara's house. I'm so thankful for all of those in on the secret that helped to make this possible. And I am forever grateful to my wonderful husband for putting together a wonderful, belated 5th anniversary!

Lots of big changes

Since first moving into our new house a little over a year ago we have always planned to replace the existing appliances at some point. We didn't realize when we bought the house that each appliance had at least one problem but mostly worked. We were able to replace the completely non-working dishwasher a few months after we moved in but have had to wait on the fridge and oven. We were super excited to receive our tax return this year and apply that towards a new fridge and stove over the past few weeks.

Another challenge that we have always had is the use of only one car. It's manageable but especially since we moved farther away from where Jon works, it has become a big problem. This past weekend we were able to get a second car from Jon's brother, Steven and his wife, Tamika. We're still waiting on some paperwork before it's officially ours but it's in the works and we now have a second car to help us out!

God has always been faithful to us in both spiritual and physical needs and in the last month we have seen his hand at work in providing some much needed items to help with our daily lives!

Birthday and Christmas and Snow! Oh My!

To start off, I'm bad at this blogging thing. I rarely remember to do it until someone mentions this blog and I realize that I haven't updated it in several months. I'm not calling it a new year's resolution but I hope to be better at keeping this up to date this year.

That being said, a lot has happened since August when I last updated. Our little boy is becoming a big man now! On November 29th, Asher turned 1 year old. We celebrated with a small birthday party at home with family and a few friends. Asher was teething pretty badly so he wasn't his usual happy self but had a pretty good time nonetheless.

The holidays this year were pretty messed up as we tried to get together with family around illness and weather. We still have to get together with my family but managed to piece together some time with most of Jon's family to celebrate Christmas.

We also took the kids to church before Christmas to a birthday party for Jesus. They had a great time! We hope to make this a yearly thing for our family.

Summer, summer, summertime!

Once again, sorry that I haven't written in awhile. We have been busy this summer with a visit to the Goldstons in Georgia, Tatiana and Jon's birthdays, fun at the zoo with the Howards and just everyday life. Asher is now 8 months old as of a few days ago and Tatiana is 3 as of June 25th. I can't believe how big they are becoming!

We're still busy with the house. It's been slow-going as far as painting, decorating, etc. as we've been busier with the not-so-fun chores of owning a home but we are very thankful to have a home of our own.

Asher now has two teeth and is in the process of figuring out how to crawl. He's an expert roller and scooter and gets into enough trouble that way already so it'll be pretty interesting once he figures out how to move his arms and legs at the same time up on all fours!

Tatiana has reached some fun stages that I thought she had skipped over...taking off her clothes at random and climbing all over things. We had hoped that she was just going to skip those things but now she has made up for lost time!

I think it's safe to say that Asher and Tatiana keep mommy and daddy on their toes everyday. Life's an adventure!

growing and growing

Sorry it's been a while since I have blogged but we have had constant computer issues as well as little time available for me to have two hands to type with!

Asher continues to grow and grow. At his 4 month check up he weighed 15 lbs. 4 oz. and was 25 1/2 inches long. This puts him in the 70th percentile in length and the 50th in weight. At his previous appointment about 3 weeks prior to the last check up he was in the 30th percentile in length and 50th in weight. Needless to say, Asher is in a major growth spurt! He has become more and more aware of his surroundings and is laughing a whole lot more. He started solid foods at 4 months old to hopefully help in adding some weight to his food to keep it down longer. Overall it seems to have helped with the acid reflux a bit. We can't wait until he outgrows this! He now rolls over from front to back but hasn't made it fully over onto his tummy from his back.

We had a good Easter spent with Jon's family where we got to meet our niece, Jasmine, for the first time. She's adorable! We also had some visitors recently. My sister, Tricia, and her kids came through on their way to and from Georgia to visit my sister, Marisa and her family. Tatiana loved having her cousins to play with for a few days!

Other than that we're basically busy with lots of yardwork and home repairs but feel blessed to have a home to be responsible for.

Missing Xander

Today would have been Xander's 4th birthday. Each year that has passed since his death has been a little easier, especially since the births of Tatiana and Asher. But every February 19th is hard. We think of what we have missed. What he would think of his little sister and brother. What his personality would be like. As a mother, I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to hold him inside of me. I was able to know him better than anyone else. Each of our kids have so far held true to their personalities inside of the womb when they have come out. I like to think that to be true of Xander also. I think he was our gentle spirit. Maybe a bit shy. Easily soothed by music. Xander has taught us so much. He has taught us to treasure our children. He has made heaven more real to us. We're thankful to have the comfort of God's promise of heaven. We know that we will see Xander again. Without that, I'm not sure how we would be today.

When I became pregnant with Tatiana we so desperately wanted for her to be a boy. We didn't want a replacement son but simply wanted to experience the things that little boys bring since we didn't get to do that with Xander. But God knew what we needed and gave us Tatiana. She is full of spirit and humor and love. We wouldn't trade her for anything. We're so thankful now to have Asher too. We got another boy, only in Gods' timing. He is such a smilie, easy going(apart from the acid reflux moments) baby.

We have talked for years about keeping Xander in our conversations to our other children so that they can realize that they have a brother in heaven. This year we are starting a tradition of baking a cake for Xander and singing "Happy Birthday" to him in an effort to make him more real to Tatiana and Asher. Tatiana was very excited to help me bake the cake this morning. She said she wanted to go see Baby Xander. I love hearing her say his name. She recognizes him in his picture which is very precious to Jon and I. We hope that some of what we have learned through Xander will be learned by Tatiana and Asher someday as well.

Happy Birthday, Xander! We love you and miss you!

Moving!

We are excited to finally be moving into our new home tomorrow! Hopefully everything will go well despite the freezing cold temperatures! We'll update later with photos, etc.

On a completely different note, Asher is two months old today! He's chubby and adorable. We're so happy to have him in our lives!

Taking things a day at a time

Jon is now officially back to work while Heidi stays at home with the kids. Each day has its' own struggles as Tatiana deals with not being the center of attention anymore and all of us deal with not getting enough sleep. Tatiana has recently decided that she's too old for a nap or for going to bed before 11:30 p.m. most nights. This has created a challenge for us as sleep-deprived parents. We're all just trying to get everything figured out and know that in time it will be.

Another struggle for us is getting Asher's acid reflux under control. He's on his second medication but we aren't sure that it is doing anything for him. We have been looking into buying a special sleep positioner specifically for babies with acid reflux but with it being expensive to buy from the manufacturer we're looking to eBay and hoping to find a deal there. If this works, it would be a great help to Heidi as she spends most nights sleeping in a chair to keep Asher upright. Please pray that God would provide this for us in some way or another. Asher seems to be a laid-back kid, compared to Tatiana at this age, but because of the acid reflux he constantly needs to be held.

We're looking forward to moving into our new house soon...hopefully. It seems that the status of the move-in date keeps changing. We're waiting for the work that the financier has required of the seller to be done on the home before they can do the appraisal. Once those things are done, we can move forward. As of now, the closing date is set for January 20th with the move-in date sometime afterward in January.

Sleepily adjusting

Asher will be three weeks old tomorrow! We are all adjusting well to having him in our lives. It has been a real blessing to Heidi and Tatiana especially to have Jon home all this time from work. He will be heading back on Monday to work 3 1/2 days next week, then he'll be off of work again for all but 1/2 a day the following week. Heidi has really appreciated the help and Tatiana has loved having lots of extra time with daddy as mommy is occupied with Asher a majority of the day. Next week will be the real test for Heidi to see how she can handle both kids on her own!

Asher is now past his birth weight! It was a struggle to get him past that point but through some successful nursing (praise God!) he has now made it to 8 lbs. 1/2 oz. as of Friday. It's good to see some chub on his face and a double chin forming.

We were all excited to hear from Jon's brother, Steven, on Thursday as our niece, Jasmine Christine was born to Steven and his wife, Tamika. She is beautiful! We can't wait to meet her and introduce our little ones to each other.

We are still waiting to finalize everything on the house. The sellers have agreed to fix everything found in the home inspection, delaying the closing and move-in dates. We probably won't be moving in until sometime around mid- to late January.

Asher/Heidi update continued

Here's the link to Asher's first photo shoot: www.our365.com/NewbornPortraits/BabyDetail.aspx?birthid=21568be1-a4e5-4555-ba99-35c83fc7ef6e&babyid=f533add2-ca04-4502-b7c8-99b2d2873dce

Also, it seems that as of now Asher and Heidi will be able to go home tomorrow. Heidi's liver tests are heading in the right direction. She will probably have to have a follow up appointment with the doctor to check her levels again in about one week.

Asher/Heidi update

Asher had a busy day yesterday. He had his circumcision (ouch), some shots and plenty of feeding on mommy. He also had his first photo shoot

Asher Cole Zapolski has arrived!!!

This morning Heidi woke up with lower abdomen pains (labor pains) and she started having contractions which got closer and closer together. She called the after hours doctor's number and they told her to come in. While in the hospital, she got the results from the test for the ICP and they came back positive, so they said it was "baby time".

Asher Cole Zapolski was born into the world today (11/29/09) at 1:08pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs 15 oz and is 20 1/2 inches long. Asher and mommy are doing fine. Asher is breathing good and his vitals are good as well. His first poo was a good one (the nurse said it was one of the biggest she has seen). He has a decent amount of hair but not as much as Tatiana when she was born.

Heidi was having some issues with her blood pressure being too low but it has gone up but still needs to be higher. She is now just trying to get some sleep.

Pictures to come.

Itchy for a reason

So Heidi has been itching horribly for several weeks now. We thought that she was allergic to her medication that was used to slow down the contractions. She has now been off of the pills for over a week and has continued to itch. To make a very long story short, Heidi was doing some online research to try and determine the cause of all of her itching and came across some info about a condition called Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP). This is a condition that only happens in 1-2 out of 1,000 pregnant women. She saw the doctor today for a previously unscheduled appointment to discuss this issue. The doctor had the same feeling and ordered another non-stress test as well as some blood drawn to confirm the condition. After about 20 minutes with the baby being hyperactive with a very high heart rate during the non-stress test, he calmed down for the next 20 or 30 minutes to a normal heart rate. Heidi continued to have contractions as usual with nothing to be of concern to report.

The blood tests will take several days to come back, probably sometime between Monday and Wednesday of next week. Once they come back positive, the c-section will be done. We asked the doctor what would happen if the test results came back negative. He just shook his head 'no' and said that Heidi was a textbook case of this condition.

ICP can result in stillbirth if the baby is not taken in enough time. It is important for the doctor to have confirmation of the condition so that the mother and baby can be monitored and treated properly, especially right before and after the birth. Please check out this website for more detailed information about the condition: http://www.itchymoms.com/ It was the best source Heidi found about ICP.

Please keep Asher and Heidi in prayer as we await the test results. For now Heidi is supposed to do kick counts twice a day as well as just generally paying attention to how Asher is moving and if there are any general changes in the pregnancy. This is especially difficult to handle with our loss of Xander and the problems during the pregnancy with Tatiana. Please pray for continued peace and fast test results.

We're Homeowners, sort of, & the latest baby news

Well as a lot of you know, we have found a home in Lebanon! We're very excited. This comes at both good and bad timing. Good because our current lease will be up December 31st and we have to let them know by December 1st if we want to renew or not. Bad because, as you all know, we're expecting Asher to arrive anytime between now and December 10th. Now all we have to do is the inspection and appraisal and we're good to go. Both of them should be done this Friday. The current homeowners have agreed to be out of the house by December 29th. Needless to say, we'll have a busy few days of moving, cleaning and possibly even some painting! We're so thankful for God's provision and we know that his timing is perfect.

On the baby front, Heidi had an ultrasound and appointment this morning. Everything looked good. Asher was very active and we were told that he has a lot of hair. Heidi continues to have regular contractions but they don't seem to be putting her into labor. She'll be 37 weeks along on Thanksgiving which is considered full term. This may be the first baby to make it to term! We're happy that Asher is doing great and that Heidi's contractions haven't gotten to the point that they were a few weeks ago. The countdown continues...

Still Waiting

On Thursday, Heidi had her usual appointment and ultrasound. Everything looks good! We found out that Asher is measuring at an estimated 8 lbs. 3 oz. at 36 weeks in the pregnancy! We know that this is only an estimate and can be off but Heidi sure feels like he's bigger than Xander or Tatiana ever were. Heidi stopped taking her anti-contraction medication Wednesday night and so far so good! She has continued to have contractions but not like the ones that she had earlier. Now she is farther along in the pregnancy than she has ever made it with the previous two children. It's a blessing because we know that at this point in the pregnancy, each day in the womb is one more day to mature Asher's lungs and improve his chance at life outside of the womb. We're excited to know that we will be holding him in our arms in less than three weeks!

On the house hunt, today we looked at a few houses, including one that we had looked at twice before. We have really felt that God wants us to make an offer on that house which we will be doing this weekend. If it all goes through we hope to move in by the end of December. However, the house is occupied with people who don't yet have another home to move to. Please keep this situation in your prayers as our current lease is up on December 31st and we have to let the office know by December 1st whether or not we'll be moving. They also increased the month-to-month rent by $50 this week so we would really rather not stay here if at all possible.