Its December already!!!

I can not believe its Dec. already! I was stressing a bit yesterday thinking of all that needs to get done before Christmas and actually way before that since all our parties start next weekend already! But... Lenah was a trooper yesterday and let mommy get lots of christmas shopping done, so i just have the little things to do now, grab gifts, stocking stuffers, etc. whew!

We got our tree the day after thanksgiving and put it up that night. It was something with miss Lenah around this year! Well, she was around last year too, but not into things so much yet :) But she's doing ok with it so far. Only ripped one gift open so far. lol

We leave for Turks and Caicos with Alex's family the day after Christmas, so the next few weeks will be busy with Christmas parties, baking, packing, and getting last minute things ready! But I'm not complaining, it will be well worth it when we get there and can just relax! We are SOOOOO excited! Not so much for the planeride there with Lenah, but oh well, we have lots of help :) Thank goodness, because entertaining an active 16 mo old will not be an easy task I'm sure!

Lenah has been full of life lately as always. She is learning to whine to get her way exceptionally well and throws fits when she doesnt get what she wants. Terrible 2's already!?! But she is also the joy of our lives :) She is talking more and more and knows what she wants and points to it, which is nice you dont have to just guess. She loves to "feed" her baby or stuffed animals her sippy cup and makes a "chhhhhh" sound. It is precious. She loves to read books and is learning to like to color. I'm trying to hold off til christmas because I think someone might be getting her some cool crayons! She loves to climb on the couch and will sometimes just walk right off the end! agh! But oh well! crazy girl :)

Baby D is doing well! I'm feeling her more and more everyday and am loving it! I cant wait until Alex can feel her, and I know he is excited about that too :) It was pretty amazing watching her on the u/s the other day! I could watch all day long.... I just love being able to say, "my girls" it is so much fun!

Before we leave for vacation we need to empty out the computer room and make room for baby! The painter is coming while we are gone, so we have to have the room all ready for him. yay!!!

ok, ive bored you enough for today! Enjoy the weather, as I'm pretty sure this will be our last "nice" day for a long time :(

enjoying some reading time, reading to her kitty

helping daddy untangle the christmas lights as I put them on the tree

haha nice bling Lenah :)
Lenah making her fishie face that Daddy taught her :)

Its a...........

GIRL!!! We are SOOO excited! Little Miss Lenah will be joined by her little sister in April, 2010! I think Lenah is pretty excited too, ok, well, she might not have a clue, but I think she will be excited! It will be so nice to have the girls so close together and hopefully not have to buy so many clothes since this baby can use Lenahs. OK, who am I kidding, I'm sure I will still buy clothes. :)

Everything on the ultrasound looked good as far as we know! The tech said she didnt see anything to be concerned about and that the Dr would call in the next couple days. But We arent too worried! If it was something major I'm sure the tech wouldve seen it.

Alex and I both feel so blessed to be able to have another healthy happy pregnancy and to be having another little girl!

Lenah's 15 month appt.

We had Lenah's 15 month appt this morning and everything went well! She had to have 3 shots which I wasnt really prepared for :( And I totally had to hold back the tears this morning. lol I know it's for her own good, but I just feel sooo bad! Like every mom; I know :)
Dr. said that everything looked perfectly and that Lenah is right on track for her age. She said that to be saying almost 10 words is great! And that she might even try putting her on the potty every once in awhile just to see if it would work! Her suggestion, I honestly havent even thought of that yet. But she said girls are much quicker than boys (which I knew) and that she could possibly be potty trained by the time this next little one comes along or at least partially. That would be awesome! but..... we will see. My mom said I was potty trained by 1 1/2 so maybe!?!
Lenah weighed in at 24lb 12oz. which was about 75th % and was 30 1/4 in. long which was only in the 45th %, but the Dr said she thought she looked a little taller than that and she may have been measured just a bit off.
Now Lenah got some tylenol for her owies and is off to lala land. For a long time this afternoon I'm hoping!

halloween and beautiful fall weather!!!

well, we have been enjoying the fall weather lately! I am just loving that we finally are getting some real fall feeling weather! With a little sun :)

As you can see Lenah was raggedy ann for halloween and we might be a bit biased, but we think she was the cutest one ever!!!! :) She liked her costume and would even keep her hat on except for in the car. We hit lots of places and just enjoyed the night!

Baby D is doing good, I've been feeling much better and cant complain too much! Or at least try not too. It is such a blessing to be able to get pregnant, have healthy pregnancies and healthy babies and I try to remember that when I'm feeling aches and pains, tired or uncomfortable.

Hope you are all enjoying the fall weather out there!

hangin out with Dave and Christy, they came over while Alex was gone, and Lenah loved having someone at home other than me! I guess I cant blame her :)
Lenah LOVES carrying around her "purse" and has lots of things to put in it. Her newest thing lately is to "feed" her baby (or "baybay" as she says) her sippy cup. Its so cute

pumpkins!

Sunday morning Lenah wasnt feeling that great (She just has a cold) so we werent going to put her in the church nursery and there's not much point in going to church with her because we wont pay any attention! So we all stayed home and carved some pumpkins :) Lenah was ok with it and wanted to eat the seeds and was not a happy camper when we told her no no and took them out of her mouth, she cried and cried. She was feeling a bit sensitive that day I think. Here are a few pics!

What else has been up lately? Not much! It's been so crappy outside lately that it is really hard to do much! I wish we could just get outside and enjoy the beautiful fall weather and leaves. It seems like it only gets nice out by the afternoon finally which is during Miss Lenah's nap time! oh well! Nothing we can do about it right?

Baby news, I had a Dr.s appt last week weds and everything looked good. The baby and I are both growing as we should (I'm still down a couple lbs, but am quite unsure of how that could be!) and the Dr. answered some ?'s for me. I love going to the Drs for baby. :) Its so fun to be able hear and see (yes I've been able to get an u/s both times I've been to the Dr!) I had one at my last appt. because the baby kept moving away from the Dr and we could hear it moving but couldnt get a good heartbeat. On the ultrasound it was 160. hmmmm boy or girl? whattya think? morning sickness (day sickness), craving salt not so much sweets, heartbeats were 170 and 160, very sensitive to smells. What could it be? I'm leaning towards girl :) I have ultrasound pictures, I'll try to post them soon!

Alex has been doing a lot of duck/goose hunting lately and leaves for Montana this coming monday. So in otherwards he's been having a great last few weeks! And weeks to come! :) Thats good I'm glad he has a good hobby. Next week while he's gone Lenah and I will be trying to keep ourselves very busy!

Sorry the pics are a little out of order!





Lenah scraping the outside of her pumpkin :)

Poor Lenah, she doesnt look like she feels very well!

Fall, Fall, Fall

Whew it's been awhile since my last post to here. I was seriously thinking about giving it up but am doing it for the few people who told me they LOVE our blog and want us to keep doing it. (Mainly you Mom D :) So, what have we been up to since my last post? Kinda seems like a lot, but I wont go into tooo much detail so we dont have a 10 page post :)

We went Apple picking a couple saturdays ago. Lenah, Me (Jen) and our friend Christy went. We had so much fun and Lenah was sooooo good! She just sat in her stroller and ate almost an entire whole apple! I thought she would just gum it, but she got right into it and ate it, skin and all. She was a sticky mess, but hey, it kept her happy. Then we went out to eat afterwards at the pie pantry, which was yummy as always.

I am just over 11 weeks pregnant and am feeling much better. I think I have figured out how to manage it and need to eat every couple hrs. before I get nauseous, else it's game over and the ralphing begins, or at least the nausea! lol This week once I realized wow I'm over 11 weeks already and we've known for 5 weeks that we are pregnant; I am beginning to feel overwhelmed. Not just at having another little one because ready or not here she/he comes! And I'm good with that, but it's all the preparing! I know its really early and We dont need to prepare yet, but I just feel like if time flies like it has been we are going to have to hustle by the time we start anything! I think I am feeling like this because the baby will be in our DISASTER of a computer room upstairs and we need to move everything downstairs, store this computer desk, get a new computer desk because this one wont fit down our stairs, organize EVERYTHING, put our entire basement back together AGAIN (it flooded a year ago and we got new carpet a couple months after that, had everything put back into place and 6 months later the carpet started bowing so had to take everything back out and just got it fixed and have to put it all together again), paint the upstairs rooms, ceilings, etc, and decorate. whew! I guess it's not THAT much, but I'm just feeling overwhelmed this week! Oh and on top of that get Lenah a big girl bed, order more furniture and get her to actually SLEEP in her big girl bed. Sorry, thanks for listening to my rant lol I had to get it out. I' m sure it wont be a prob to get it all done!

As for Miss Lenah, her little personality just keeps coming out for us to see. Not always nice, but usually kind of funny (unfortunatly we cant always laugh when we want to though!). The other day she woke up in the morning (9am! yes, she's still a good sleeper :) and was yelling, " MOM! MOM! MOM! MOM!" it was so cute! I just sat and listened for a bit before getting her because it was too darn cute. She still likes to crawl behind the couch. Annoying!!! Now she realizes that I cant get her out though unless I move the whole couch. nice. Yesterday I caught her behind the couch playing in the candy dish that she had somehow gotten from off the end table (we have it pushed far back so she cant get it!) She was NOT happy when I had to take it away and screamed and kicked for a few minutes. naughty naughty. I really think a little brother or sister will be good for her and maybe she will realize that the world does not revolve around her. It's so hard to punish a 14 month old when they are naughty, they are too young for a real spanking (yes, we will spank our kids if they really need it!) and obviously does not understand a time out, and yelling just doesnt accomplish much except giving myself a headache! Any ideas parents? :)

Even though it's been rainy and yucky a lot lately. I still LOVE fall! I love the cooler weather, wearing sweatshirts and the change of clothes. I love Lenah wearing her little boots and hats and fall clothes. I love drinking warm hot chocolate, coffee or tea. And making warm muffins, and baked goods. Alex of course loves the hunting (which is where he is tonight). And I dont mind a night with Lenah and I ONCE in AWHILE :) He is pretty good about not going out tooooo much now that we have kid"s". Oh I just love this time of year!!!

ok, I think this lONG chapter of our life is enough for now! Sorry!

haha tubby time! She loves bubbles, and I think Daddy loves them just as much, you think?

Lenah in her play tutu. She thinks she is hot stuff walking around with it on :)
getting into the candy dish behind the couch!

been thinking....

And I'm not sure I am going to keep up on the blog anymore. I just dont really see the sense! Pretty much everyone that looks at it could probably also just look at facebook and probably does so more frequently. I dont know. I wont close it down because I might update very occassionally but we will just have to see. If you dont see any updates that's why!

With that said, this may be my last update for awhile....... As you all know I'm sure Alex, Lenah and I are elated to say that we are going to have a little addition in our family come April! Yes! I'm pregnant again :) We are very happy about it and yes, were trying, we wanted our kids close together. At least the 1st two. And close they will be! 21 months apart. I have been feeling ok. a little sick , but I think I am learning to manage it a little bit better everyday. Just hoping it goes away completely, and soon :) We told my family with a pregnancy test cake that i made and alexs family with a big sister teeshirt. which I didnt even get a picture of! I'll have to put it on her and take one. They were all very excited and surprisingly not too shocked!

As for Lenah, she has been into more and more. Its amazing what a 14 month old can do to your house in a very short period of time! lol but that's ok. I just leave it and try to enjoy her instead of following around picking up after her :) plus I'm too tired to do both these days anyway! She is talking a bit more and says "baby" constantly. Thats also her new fav toy. which is good i guess! She is still an amazing eater and we STILL havent found anything that girl dont like! I love it! The other day I gave her banana peppers from my blimpies and she even liked those! Olives, raw onions, anything! I really hope our next one likes anything too :)

until... ???? have a wonderful day!

climbing...

Just a few random shots of Lenah trying to climb in her baby stroller, she has never done this before! But I took the baby out of it today and maybe she thought she would give it a whirl! haha. Her buns are a bit too thick for it :) good thing, else I would have to constantly take her back out of it.

Lenah eating the taco bell that Katie and I picked up after Target yesterday. thoroughly enjoying it I'd say!!!
Sorry about the 2 posts. I had a little catch up to do :)

This past weekend we went up north to Foster Lake camping with our friends Aaron and Heidi and Dave and Christy. It was a lot of fun but very cold and rainy all weekend. Lenah ended up going home with Alex's parents (who were up north at their cabin) because it was so cold and yucky for her to be outside all day. That was wonderful! It also allowed for Alex and I to just have some alone time with friends. Thanks mom and Dad D!

We did a lot of fishing, although we didnt catch much, Sat around the fire, cooked, ate and mostly just had fun! Saturday night Aaron and Heidi had to go home for a wedding (they came back up afterwards) and Alex, Dave, Christy and I went to Alex's parents cabin and sat in the woods there in a coop to look for bear. we saw 4 turkeys :) But it was still fun!

boys cuddling.

Lenah's new accomplishments...

TEMPER TANTRUMS AND WALKING.... oh boy I thought the temper tantrums werent supposed to start until closer to 2 years old!!!! We might have a fiesty little thing on our hands! We just let her throw them and leave her wherever she is, but she swats at us and screams and crys. She looks sooooo ridiculous! It's kind of funny I gotta say (as long as its just at home lol) I'm just waiting until she does it at meijer or something! agh! ok, so she does have these occasionally, we really do have a sweet natured little girl on our hands :)

She learned to walk thursday! She was taking a few steps at a time before that but thursday she walked from the livingroom into the bathroom and kitchen no hands! yay! She's been working on it ever since, she still falls a LOT, but loves to try! She thinks she is so cool when she can walk and not hold on. We just love watching her! Yesterday she woke up trying to pull her tongue out of her mouth, not quite sure where she came up with that phase, but it's kinda gross with slobber all over and her hands constantly in her mouth. oh well, this too will pass!

And we got rid of our kitty last week. He (or she not sure) went to our friends aaron and katie to be an indoor kitty. Lenah still looks out into the entryway and squeals thinking the kitty is in there :( I gotta say it's a little bit sad, but not sad enough to have an indoor kitty for us yet!

camping and baby kittens!

Well, this past weekend Alex, Lenah and I went camping with one of my brothers, his wife and 2 boys. We went to Holland state park overflow and had so much fun! We kind of camped in a dirt hole, so the kids were constantly dirty, but it was still fun! Alex Lenah and I went to the beach on Saturday which was packed but so fun, Lenah loved the beach, the water was a bit chilly for her, but she was ok as long as one of us was holding her and not too far in the water. 

And.... last night alex, lenah, me, and our friends katie and aaron were on a ranger ride out by our parents and we spotted 3 very small kittens! One was dead but the other two are so cute and look fairly healthy, other than being small.  So we took them home and they have now found a home in our entryway in a rubbermaid tub until thursday or Friday then Aaron and Katie are taking them. 

Look at this little piggie! It was bathtime every night for her! lol

busy busy....

well, we've been busy since I've posted last!  Lenah and I went up north to my parents cabin with my parents thursday morning after she had her 1 year check-up (more on that later...). Then Alex and our friends Dave and Christy came up Friday night after work and we headed to Alex's parents cabin! It was such a nice relaxing weekend!  We got home Sunday night and seems like we have been busy ever since because we are leaving for camping weds.-sunday. Just Holland State park overflow, but still away. I know, rough life huh? :)

Lenah's 1 year check-up: Went well, more shots which is always hard to see, and I honestly think it was the worst this time, the way she just looked at me and started to SCREAM, then she needed 2 more yet! Poor baby :( But she really did do pretty good with them. She was 22 lbs 13 oz and 30 inches long. both in the 75th percentile. And if I remember right her head was in the 50th percentile, which is what it's been for awhile! Everything looked perfect!!!

This afternoon while Lenah was napping I decided to add a little girlie flair to her shirt (we are having family pics done tonight with Alex's side) and I chose green for our family, so I wanted a little more girlies on Lenah's shirt. Its not often she's not in pink!!!  :) lol  Then of course while I had all the stuff out I decided to make a few bows too! For now I will put them on headbands for her, until she finally grows enough hair!!!!

I know its only teusday, but I'm sure I wont blog again before we leave, so have a super week and weekend!!!

Morning coffee on the deck overlooking the lake, doesnt get much better than this!!!

dinner saturday night
Brian and Pam took a ride over on the motorcycle and stayed for dinner

Grandpa D. reading a book to Lenah

Dave, Christy, Me, Lenah, and Alex
Alex and Dave prepping the turkey we deep fried for dinner saturday night YUMMY!
haha. Lenah's make-shift sunhat. I forgot her hat

playing in the raft! this was her fav toy at my parents for the couple days we were there! 
Grandpa encouraging Lenah's climbing  :)

Lenah and her cousins...

This past week Monday Alex and I got a little taste of what it will be like to have 3 kids someday. We're now thinking we will never have any more.... just kidding! Just maybe a bit more spaced apart :)  We took care of My brother and sister in laws kids Caden and Easton. Cadens 2 1/2 and Easton is 3 months. So it would be pretty much impossible to have them quite that close, but wow, what a lot of work!!!!  lol     Even though it was super chaotic It was so much fun! We went to alex's parents to look at all the animals. I think Lenah's Grandma D. liked having a baby baby around again!  :)  Here are a few pics of the three of them!

This weekend we are going up north to Alex's parents cabin (well I, Jen and Lenah, are leaving tommorow morning to go to my parents first, since my mom is up there all this week). Friday after work Alex, Dave, and Christy will head up and come get me from my parents. Yes, I am extremely directionally challenged and cant find my way from my parents cabin to alex's parents; we've only driven it a total of 1,298 times too.  lol! Thank goodness I have a Garmin to get to my parents cabin! haha

we'll update with some more pics after that I'm hoping! Have a fantastic weekend!!!

haha think I caught poor Easton off guard?  :)

getting into trouble!!!

Lenah is getting into so much lately, keeping mom and Daddy on their toes! :) I have to admit though its kind of fun and usually funny! I try to keep a straight face while disciplining her and telling her "no, no!" but sometimes she's just too cute!!!  

The other day Alex watched her climb on top of her bebe pod seat (bumbo) and then on top of her activity table. the other day she was climbing on the couch and then later on top of her diapers, etc to look out the window. She's a little monkey already! 

Earlier this week I found her in the laundry room ( I think I was making dinner or something) and she had gone in the laundry room, into her diaper bag, found her butt wipes, opened them and was taking them all out of the package. She just looked at me like what mom? lol It was cute I have to admit! She usually cant get into toooo much around here because we tend to put everything out of her reach, but she manages once in awhile :)

Weds. morning I had my niece Gracie over for a little bit so her mom could get some errands done. Lenah and her ate lunch on Lenah's new picnic table that Grandpa Brouwer made her! She loved it and ended up feeding most of her food to the dog I think, but she sat there like such a big girl and ate some food! I was fairly surprised. I guess I dont giver her enough credit, I thought she was too little to sit by a picnic table. The girls had so much fun!

It's fun to be one!!!,

Especially when you get the amount of presents Lenah got for her bday!!! Alex and I want to start off by saying THANK-YOU to everyone who came to and helped with Lenah's party! She had so much fun! And thank you for all the gifts! She is one SPOILED child :) That was so sweet of you all and there is not a single gift that she doesnt LOVE! I think she is in kid heaven playing with all these new things, she just goes from one to another all day long :)

Sorry about all the pics, I just couldnt decide! And they arent in the best order either! :(

Lenah, we cant believe you are one year old already! I know that is sooooo cliche, but its so true! I can remember the day you were born and the night before like it was yesterday (well when I wasnt too drugged up :) I hope I can remember that until I am gone, those memories are so precious! You have changed so much in 1 year and are cruising along furniture, taking a step or two, crawling like crazy, eating anything and everything, you have 2 teeth and 2 more coming through, you still sleep really good! (most days), love other kids, love animals, I could go on and on all day! You have been such a blessing to your Daddy and I and we dont know what we would ever do without you! We love to see your personalities come out, you can be so silly sometimes! Your many faces that you pull, the way you pull toys out of the toy box and throw them out over your shoulder. You are just too cute!  We love you and cant wait to see how much you grow in the next year! We are so blessed that God gave us a beautiful healthy fun loving baby like you!

part of the decor ( centerpieces) Sorry pics are totally out of order! :)

playing with some of her new toys on monday morning :)

Cozy coupe from Grandpa and Grandma DeWitt! She LOVES it!

part of the decor. Theme was (well not really theme, just a color theme. Pink, green, orange, and yellow)
picnic table that Grampa Brouwer made her! 
opening her gifts and bows :) 

Lenah and Grandma DeWitt

BIG bite!!!
the ultimate griller :)  Such an awesome Daddy! He worked so hard to make her party perfect too!
The adorable cake that Auntie Alyse made! It turned out exactly like I had thought!!! Thanks Alyse!!!