Grandparents . . .

We always appreciate the time we spend with our parents and siblings, since most of them are out of state.  The kids had a blast playing with aunts and uncles and grandparents.  Gideon enjoyed the wrestling, cars, and throwing of balls.  Briella enjoyed the sitting on various laps, playing dress up, and extra books being read to her.

 The best gift opening this year was not any of the kids, it was my Mom  . . . when she saw we (as in the siblings) got her and Dad a Kindle Fire and a few books for their trip to Alaska in August.  priceless.

 Briella loves to visit Great Grandma Miersma and play with all her dolls.  While Grandma was holding Asher and Gideon was playing on the floor, Asher started giggling--it was so cute!

 Evidently our kids were the most excited to help Great Grandma VM open her gifts.  She didn't seem to mind ;)


I have to include this one because I'm sure Brynn wants to see how it turned out:

 Here is our section of the VM party crowd.  It was a fun party, even though I am sure we maxed out the capacity in that place.
Later in the night, Asher was cracking up while Great Grandma was holding him.  So fun to see him enjoying his big happy family :)

Our trip to Iowa also included seeing Stephan's parents and sister, but we missed getting pictures of them.  We had a wonderful time in Iowa, including our first ever Chili Bash at Casey's Bakery (highly recommended!!), the typical stop at the candy store, and lots of food, games, and books at G & G Buys' house!

Advent Calendar

Last year,  I used several Christmas cards and holiday ads to make an Advent Calendar for our family (you can see it in the background of the first picture).  This year I printed out cards with activities for each day and added a few suckers to a few pockets.  It was so much fun!  The kids loved taking turns to find out what the paper said we could do, and it was great to have many opportunities to talk about what Christmas really about.  
Several days we made Christmas treats to share with others . . . lots of fun!!   One day we puts some treats in a container on our trash can for the trash guy.  We kept the blinds up and I stayed in the kitchen frequently checking outside to see if he was coming or if we missed him, etc.  Finally we had finished lunch and still not trash man :(  the kids were getting ready for naps when I saw him turn onto our street!  I yelled for them to come to the big window and they quickly came as he slowed down and reached out his door for the treats.  Gideon was jumping up and down at the long awaited event.  The trash man looked up and we waved vigorously as he smiled his thanks so us.  It was so fun to share some Christmas joy with the trash guy.

 One morning we opened gifts . . . also very exciting!

 

Some of our other activities were singing Christmas songs together, memorizing a Christmas verse, looking at Christmas lights, finding a bright star at night (on the way to Iowa was the perfect time for this one!), and making pictures and cards for grandparents and friends.
Because we left to visit my parents on the 16th, we kind of finished early and missed some of our plans.  The kids thoroughly enjoyed our special activities and I am looking forward to next year (maybe we'll have snow and get to go sledding?!?!?).

200th post

Note: There are no giveaways at this blog . . . even when I hit post #200 . . . so sorry if you were holding out for a freebie. 


It is hard to believe our little guy is 4months old already and I haven't finished posting these 3 month pics!!  Life has been a little hectic with holiday baking, holiday travels, and holiday clean up!
I enjoy trying to capture cute pictures of my kids . . . but it doesn't always go as slick as I would like.  Stephan was home helping with this photo shoot, thankfully, especially when it got a little spitty . . . see below (warning: do not scroll down if you are eating or are about to eat!)

 Nice, huh?!?  These last three shots were taken one right after the other . . . 
1-a little spit--wipe it up 
2-big spit--try a new position
3 smile with your tongue out!


Of course, our other 'helpers' wanted to get in on the action . . .

20 hour Chicago trip

 Thursday night Stephan was talking to his dad . . . and asked if we'd be interested in coming to Chicago Friday to hang out with them.  They had meetings on Saturday, but would be arriving at 2:30 on Friday.  Stephan had the day off, so we decided to go for it.  
We met them at Vito and Nick's a major dive with delicious, unique pizza.  We tried the Italian shredded beef in the video.
Next we headed to Chick fil A for the best shakes EVER!  Peppermint chocolate chip--YUM!  Believe it or not we found a way to eat two shakes in our 20 hour stay :)
Grandpa and Grandma had lots of fun holding Asher and getting him to smile.  Briella and Gideon thought the pool was awesome.

 

Briella and Gideon got to open presents from G & G --so exciting!!

 

 Gideon was thrilled with his new truck, a car carrier, and a hot wheels track that attaches to the wall--his dad thinks it's very cool, too.
Miss Briella was SO happy to see her princess things and thinks her cute rug is cozy, too.

 It was fun to take a little trip and the kids LOVED it!!  I know Chicago has more to offer than pizza and shakes, but the family time was worth the trip!

3 Months and Growing

 Sometimes . . .  Asher is so tired, no matter what we do he sleeps . . .  usually in the evenings when we try to keep him awake to encourage long nights for sleeping.

 I weighed our 'little' peanut this morning and according to our unofficial scale he weighs 14.8 pounds . . . over twice what he did at birth.  As you can see in the picture below the weight is well spread, but concentrated in the belly region.
And those are Gideon's hands . . . he does not give Asher baths, but he 'helps' by holding his hand and sometimes pushing Asher's hands under the water for frequent, unnecessary rinses.

A few other stats on Mr. Asher . . . He is sleeping through the night almost 12 hours (we are adjusting his bedtime to be closer to Briella and Gideon's so it varies a bit).  I want to buy him a new car or something for his champion nights of sleep because they are a huge blessing to me!!  He smiles a lot, especially for Briella, who will take the time to talk to him for several minutes at a time (Gideon isn't so good at being still and talking with a smile on his face, he is into kisses hugs/squeezing and saying "I love him SO much" and "He loves me" and "Hi Asher Dale").  Asher will usually take a nap if I hold him in church.  He usually eats 5 times a day and takes 3 naps, all subject to change on a moments notice.  We love this 'little' guy SO much and are so thankful for a healthy, happy, handsome boy!

 

Gideon's Genes

 

Gideon may have inherited some genes from Grandpa Buys and his distaste for having pictures taken of him . . . some typical symptoms include looking the wrong way or sticking your tongue out*!  Thankfully Jen took lots of shots so we still have several good ones :)

*I have no proof of my dad actually sticking his tongue out for a picture, but I'm sure he agrees with Gideon's sentiments here ;)

Family Pics

 Yesterday we took family pictures . . . for Christmas cards . . . here are a few . . . I will have to look through for some more outtakes, but thought I would start with some of the highlights!

 

Thanks Jen!!

Asher is 2 months old

Asher is 2 months old already!  He is growing so fast . . . 12.8 pounds this morning.   As I was taking these pictures he actually smiled at me, but I was looking at the picture I just took so I couldn't take another one in time.

We have officially switched to cloth diapers.  We are still trying to figure it all out, but it is going quite well (you can see the cow print diaper in the picture below).

 

Isn't this adorable?!?  I saw this idea on Pinterest (my newest way to waste time on the computer and find cool ideas).  This picture or some similar photo may show up on Christmas cards . . . or maybe not . . . no plans yet.

 

Asher's Baptism

 We were blessed to have both sets of our parents at the baptism.

 Briella and Gideon really wanted in on the picture taking this morning when I was trying to get a few pictures of Asher in his baptism outfit.

 My mom made his outfit -- so special.