What fun we're having

Opening presents . . .

Making almond strips with Grandma VM
Eating almond strips . . . with Grandpa VM
Visiting Grandma M.

and so much more playing, laughing, eating, baking, cooking, napping, crawling, singing, reading, etc.
I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season with friends and family, too!

Merry Christmas

Our Family on Christmas 2009

We have been basically snowed in here in Iowa. There is a ton of snow outside, some huge drifts and piles made from plowing. We have enjoyed a lot of family time.

Ironic

So, this morning we are still working on the potty training . . . Briella is telling me, quite often, that she has to "go pee on potty" and it is working quite well. Although, I have realized the appeal of pull-ups, initially I thought that was a marketing ploy to get more money . . . But, our diaper is dry and she has 7 stickers in a few hours, along with lots of candy.
I was looking up constipation remedies for 2 year olds that pee on the potty, but haven't pooped recently. I hear "poop on the potty" for the fifth time and think, whatever, I'll be there in a minute. (She has frequently said this and only peed) Then I hear a more urgent "poop on the potty" so I head over to the bathroom. And, yes while I'm looking up constipation, my daughter did her deed in the diaper. unbelievable.
I think we're all glad there are no pictures for this one :)

Guess what we did yesterday?!?!?

crawling + teething + drooling = 8 months

I can hardly believe he is 8 months old that is 3/4 of the way to 1 year! WOAH! We go through several bibs a day and he is getting 3 bottom teeth, 2 have poked through and there is a third in between them that I'm hoping straightens out the 2 that are visible?!?!
Gideon is definitely on the move and we have taken out the gate to keep him from tumbling down the steps. Last week he was crawling after a ball and got himself stuck . . .I couldn't resist running to get the camera before rescuing him.
BTW-If you are a sister to me by blood and not marriage, I hope this makes your day, twice in fact (make sure you read below,too)!! . . .now leave me alone!!!

Counting Syllables

So, since my recent post received such a plethora of comments I was overwhelmed and couldn't write again for weeks, yes weeks! But alas if I want to avoid a once a month post, my time is running out, so here are a few things I've been learning about syllables from my brilliant 2 year old:
cupcake has 3 -- cup-a-cake (I think 3 syllables make them more enjoyable)
four has 2 -- foou-ur (sounds like a lot when you're 2)

Other vocabulary lessons:
bayou--not just a watery mass, also means to sit near someone as in "sit bayou"
bokky--not just what we are trying to put in the potty, also means green veggie that Briella now enjoys raw, as in "broccoli"
fawfaw--a material used to clean tables, doll faces, brother's hair, and various stuffed animals as in "washcloth"

Just wondering . . .

If your child wakes up with his jammies at his waist, is that bad?
If every time you walk into the kitchen, you feel the need to grab a snack . . . is that bad?
If your daughter holds a ball with holes in it to cover her eyes and says "see you" should you enlighten her?
If your 7 1/2 month old is up on all fours making progress across the room, is that considered crawling?
If your 2 year old walks around the house saying/asking "babe" "babe?" should you explain to her that two year olds should not use their parents' pet names?!?!
If your 2 year old tries to grab toys pictured in books, how do you explain that they are not real and even when she says "please" the pictured children playing with toys will not share?
If you think these are the cutest kids in the world, I agree!!

Celebrating 7 months and 91 years

Our little man is 7 months old and excited to be sitting up on his own . . . mostly. His first tooth seems to be on the verge of popping through, too. The drooly evidence has had us wondering for the last month!!
On Thursday, Stephan's grandma P turned 91!! We had a party on Friday night at Raybrook. It was a fun time with family and ended with flashing lights and buzzers!! (As we were packing up Landon pulled the firealarm and got to meet a fireman :) )

Brute and Tiny--what happened?!?!?

Evidently one of these boys has been growing a lot more than the other in the last couple of months! Remember this? So "Brute and Tiny" is no longer appropriate . . . now they're just buddies, I guess.
We had Quinn over for a few hours last night and thought we should take a few pictures, Briella really wanted to get in on the photo shoot and "hodit" and she got Quinn to smile as she let go of him . . .
"hodit" = hold it/ hold him

Wordless Wednesday--Another load with burp cloths and bibs

You might be a mom

As I was going about my morning, caring for the children, cleaning around the house, I was thinking about the unique and interesting things that moms with little ones deal with . . . and so here is my little list, enjoy :)

You might be a MOM of little ones IF . . .
. . . you feel like you're off to a good start if you are showered and dressed by 7am
. . . you think you're off to a really good start if you and the kids are dressed by 8 am
. . . you shop places called "Hopscotch" and "Crackerjack Underpants"
. . . you throw in a few spit rags with every load of laundry to try to keep up with the spit
. . . you throw in a few bibs with every load of laundry to try to keep up with the drool
. . . you find your storage room filled with diaper boxes
. . . you can easily interpret words like 'kankie,' 'nak,' and 'teesss'
. . . you can't help but smile when you close the bedroom door at 1:00pm and no one is crying
. . . potty training is on your mind frequently, you even have typed 'easy potty training' 'potty training tips' and 'free potty trainers' into google
. . . your heart warms every time you hear 'wuv ewe'
. . . you find your self sitting on your steps, holding a teddy bear, and enjoying it because your were invited to 'sit, sit' by a 2 year old
. . . some days you think "Lord, I don't deserve these little blessings" and a few hours later you think "Lord, I can't handle these little rascals"

I love being home to care for my two little blessings, I am humbled by this great calling, I respect and appreciate my own mom and other moms so much more, and I rely on God for every little bit of wisdom and grace and guidance.

Wordless Wednesday--just another day to play

Happy Half-Birthday

Our little man is 6 months old and starting to roll and scoot all over. He is looking pretty determined to crawl, but we'll see!


Briella loves to give hugs and kisses, sometimes she gets a little (or a lot) aggressive. In the last week, we've both caught her giving Gideon zerberts (tummy kisses) when we set him down. Today I couldn't resist asking her for a repeat performance for you to enjoy :)

Picture This (because I don't have a picture of this)

Recently, Gideon has been lifting up his head and chest higher and more frequently. When he wakes up and I walk into his room I often see his forehead and sometimes his eyes peeking over the top of the crib. Once he sees me, he smiles and buries his head in the sheet and then looks up again. It is so fun to see that he is excited to see me :)

Stephan usually calls on his way home from work and then I tell Briella daddy is coming home. We used to go by the window and watch for him, wave when he drove up, etc. Well, today she took her favorite 'baby' over to the window, held the dolls head up to the window and says "see daddy, daddy, see daddy, yea, daddy home, see daddy." He wasn't there, but it sure was cute to see!

At least a month ago, Briella and Gideon were playing in the toy room and I was around the house doing other things. It was quiet for awhile and I was starting to think I better check on them (for Gideon's safety) and as I start heading to the toy room I hear "mommy, mommy, mommy" in a rather cheerful, accomplished tone. Looking around the corner, Briella's proud moment left Gideon's outfit unsnapped from head to toe and one tab of his diaper loosened . . . we could have been moments away from a urine emergency, but mommy to the rescue and no emergency, phew.

Wordless Wednesday

She's TWO!!!

Our little girl is two years old! She is so much fun to have around. I love the way she says "wuv you" and gives Gideon kisses. It warms my heart to hear her say "Hi buddy, Hi Giddya" and see her make him smile. She is the best mommy to her dolls and is generous with her hugs.
We hope to get some printed and sent out soon, but thought I'd post a few outtakes of our 2 year picture session!

5 months and counting . . .

All 7 grandkids on the P. side :) I snapped at least 10 shots and this is the only one with all 7 faces visible and no fingers in one boy's nose . . .



Gideon is 5 months and 16 pounds. He is rolling over and enjoying cereal, too. He still smiles when he sees Briella even though she is not always so gentle with him.

Big Star Lake

We recently spent a long weekend up at a cottage on the lake with Stephan's sister and brother and their families. We didn't have the greatest weather, but the one nice day (Monday) we did get the suits out and Briella had a ton of fun with Addy in the sand. Addy taught her to make sand cookies :)
Briella also bonded with their dog Sammy. Saturday afternoon she was bonding with his tail and he took her for a ride. Her forehead met the corner of the end table, it wasn't pretty. She got quite a bruise, but it healed quickly . . .

BOYS

Brian and Caleb, Stephan and Gideon (B&S are 17 months apart, their sons are 6 weeks apart). It was so fun to meet Caleb and have the boys 'play' together.

(I'm noticing this snake and realizing that in the future there could be a lot of trouble with these two. . . I wonder if they'll play tricks on their sister(s?) and cousins with snakes . . . we'll see

PS:To the anonymous impatient family member, our computer has been down and we have been busy with family in town, sorry for the delay. If all goes well I might be able to post again tonight :) Do you think it's funny that your initials are PS (+ W), but the PS part is what is funny to me write now . . . oh my a lame MrHoekema joke, I better stop!