Day with the DeWitt's

2011-08-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

well it's been awhile, I wish I could blame it on our crazy busy last couple weeks (and I guess I probably COULD) but I hate it when people say they are too busy to get something done. I think where there is a will there is a way. {thud} I've stepped off my soapbox. No excuse for me.

Anyway. The last couple weeks have been long, exciting, and full of emotions. Alex's grandpa passed away, and although he had an amazing long, full life and touched so many people, it was still hard to let him go. I can't imagine how people do it without the peace that he is in heaven with our heavenly Father and healthy and strong. I've read a couple of the books fairly recently about people going to heaven and it just sounds absolutely thrilling! Beyond words amazing! And I couldn't help but think that is where Grandpa is right now!!! What a lucky man! He's the winner in all of this :)

Last week the house building seemed so trivial in the midst of everything. But we really have made great progress! And we are so excited! The roof should be done in the next few days and they've gotten all the windows and most doors in! This week will be kind of a slow week speaking for the visible progress of it. But they will be starting the plumbing and electrical! yay! Its coming and even though early December doesn't seem to most, too far off, it still seems like a lifetime to us :) I do have to say though that I'm pretty excited to start purging again in another month or so! Gosh, I love throwing stuff away. Its a nasty habit I have and sometimes things get thrown away when they shouldn't be, but man, it just feels so fabulous to open that trash and chuck it! And I kind of like filling our garbage can that we pay for to be taken away.

We have someone looking through our house tonight, say a prayer that they all LOVE it and want to buy it!!! We're getting anxious to have this thing sold before we move. Sometimes I wish we could look into the future and just see if all this worrying is worth it. I just hate un-knowns, but we shall see, it's not really up to us. thankfully. We have someone way better than ourselves looking out for us!

Zoo'y day...

2011-08-03T18:40:00.000-07:00

We went to the Zoo today and had so much fun. I was really quite shocked at the facts that 1. Lenah walked the ENTIRE time (and we were there a long time for not that huge of a zoo, like 4 hours long), with her shoes on the wrong feet no-less because that is how she insisted they go on this morning and well, we all know, who's gonna argue that with a 3 year old? and 2. Kinsley didn't whine a second ALL day being in her stroller and skipping naps. This is coming from the girl who screams bloody murder and arches her back so she doesn't have to get in the stroller or carseat against her will. She is a stongwilled child,takes after her daddy forsure ;-) They sure were sleepy tonight though and zonked right out the second their heads hit the pillow.

Speaking of that, I just have to brag up Kinsley a sec. Lately (the past couple months, read it took us MANY months to get to this point, this girl didn't sleep through the night until at least 8 months old.) when we tell her it's time for nigh night, she walks over to the gate on the stairs and waits for us to take it down so she can go to bed. Even if it means she waits for Lenah to pee, get her jammies on or just dawdle. Gosh, I really hope that never stops (not Lenah dawdling, but Kinsley wanting to go to bed!) I'll admit Lenah gets the dawdling from me. Though I am definitely NOT a dawdler anymore, I used to be BAD. My dad called me "pocahontas" as in being pokey, pocahontas when I was little. Wow, I'm really rambling now. I'll be done.

These are a few of my favorite things...

2011-07-20T18:37:00.000-07:00

"raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens, brown paper packages tied up with string, these are a few of my favorite things..."I have NO idea why, but I've been having that song in my head for a few days now, maybe it's a sign. Maybe I need to realize how good I've got it, so I'm sitting down and writing down some of my favs...

~ My girls and their pretty awesome daddy. I can't believe how much you can love someone else.

~ My magic bullet, this thing is awesome and makes fabulous drinks and smoothies!!! love love love!

~ olive oil, it's been a sick addiction for awhile. I use it for everything, cooking, my face, my feet, my whole body! It makes me feel so smooth and hydrated! wierd. i know. i don't care. i love it.
~ My comfy pants, it's ridiculous how much I love my comfy pants, don't worry, I dont go out in public with them, but honestly have them on every single chance I get. It's actually kinda embarrassing now that I think about it.~Green smoothies, I've been on a major kick for awhile and I'm convinced that one of these a day will keep you away from colds, etc! And bonus, my girls LOVE them!

~ My beautiful girls painted finger nails :)

~ Freshly picked flowers, ok mostly weeds, but still.

~ Fresh homemade bread from the breadmaker....mmmmm.... I usually eat the butt end before it makes it to the table :)

These are a few of my favorite things!!!!!

4th of July...

2011-07-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well, better late than never, but we had a great 4th of July. We went to Alex's parents cabin and spent saturday at my parents. Its so wonderful that they have cabins so close to eachother up there. Lots of water time, good food and family!

laundry....

2011-06-29T05:02:00.000-07:00

I love this laundry room, the open, airy, cheery feel. Ive had my eye on this for some time, soon.

speaking of laundry, it never ends. I have a couple loads I need to catch back up on today. I really hate having to turn dirty nasty socks right side out. I usually just dont. If they're still dirty it's not my problem. But I am grateful for all the toes at my house that wear those socks!

That's all for now...

Perhaps?

2011-06-27T04:34:00.001-07:00

I've been thinking as I blog stalk that maybe just maybe I should start up our blog again. It's always fun looking back at ours. We will see how long this continues, but I'll give it a go.
Here's what we've been up to:
~ We had another baby! what!?! Another baby! Ha, Kinsley isn't even on this blog, that's how long it's been. Yup, Kinsley and her silly, strong-willed adorable self. Man I love that girl.
~ Lenah is just a tender hearted little girl who doesn't always like to listen to mommy, but she is so sweet. She's almost 3 and its insane how quickly they grow up.
~ We're building, Alex had this land since highschool, and he proposed to me on it :) sappy I Know :) but it's kinda fun to think about raising our kids and growing old together on the same land as he asked me to be his wife....
~ We just had a giant garage sale and I got rid of soooo much stuff, but it doesn't even look like it and I'm sorely disappointed. I can't believe how much crap I had in this house! It doesn't even have that much storage! But I am madly in love with the basement again since we've regained a little space down there. yay! Who cares if there's no furniture, tv, etc, there is ROOM!
~ Last night we had our small group out to the lake and went see-dooing, cooked out, swam, well floated, it was cold to swim. And had lots of fun laughing and chatting. Alex and I are so grateful for our "new" church (we've been there about a year and a half) and we feel so much more at home here, this is where we need to be. The people are so inviting, I've never seen a church with such hospitality.
~ I haven't been keeping up on the house as well lately, its getting harder with 2 kids and nice weather. eh. There's always tommorow. There isn't cobwebs hanging from the ceiling yet, well ok, maybe a couple. But its good enough. I'd rather watch the girls outside while catching some rays anyhow.
~ Tonight we are going to have our first peas from the garden tonight, I'm pretty excited. I guess I shouldn't say first, we've been munching on em, but haven't had enough for a meal until now.
~ Right now Lenah's sitting next to me driving me nuts asking if she can go get Kinsley up. She's bored, how do you tell an almost 3 year old that she wouldn't be so bored if she would've slept longer than 6:40am? hmmmm maybe I'll work on that.

alright I guess that's all for now. I'm sure I'll be back. I'll leave you with a picture of our new baby, Kinsley. If I can remember how to post em.

Its December already!!!

2009-12-02T12:00:00.000-08:00

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...........

2009-12-01T05:18:00.000-08:00

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.

2009-11-12T10:27:00.000-08:00

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!!!

2009-11-09T10:30:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-10-27T14:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-03T13:50:00.000-07:00

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....

2009-09-16T11:10:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-09-02T12:28:00.000-07:00

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 :)

2009-09-02T12:16:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-08-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-08-19T06:21:00.000-07:00

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....

2009-08-11T12:39:00.003-07:00

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...

2009-08-05T15:40:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2009-07-31T07:17:00.000-07:00

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!!!,

2009-07-28T11:19:00.001-07:00

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!!!

almost a year already!!!

2009-07-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

I cant believe Lenah is almost a year already! (Saturday, July 25) Wow. This is just soooo amazing to me! I know it's so cliche to say, but her first bday seemed like it was going to be an eternity when she was born! But I can remember so distinctly the day she was born. Even though I miss cuddling with my baby girl, there isnt much cuddling anymore :) We have LOVED every stage and are looking forward to many many many more stages!

One year ago tommorow we had an ultrasound that told us Lenah wasnt growing as much as she should've been and that she wasnt getting the proper nutrients and we would be induced the next day ready or not! That was scary and a VERY scary emergency c-section later, Our precious baby girl was born! I dont remember a whole lot about that day, just that I was scared beforetime and sooooo happy once I woke up, and thankful that Lenah was healthy!

Now Lenah is cruising along furniture, crawling like crazy, eating anything (food or not :), getting into everything, is wearing 12-18 mo. clothes instead of preemie, has been on an airplane, has had 6 ear infections, 1 sinus infection, and tubes in her ears. She knows what "no" means and gives us kisses (which is the BEST!) You've come so far punkie!

We love you Lenah!!!

camping at Foster

2009-07-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went camping at Foster Lake with Alex's family. It was so nice and relaxing! Lots of fishing and "bonfires" they were huge :) It was a little chilly, but still nice! I'm soooo glad we have heat in our camper, it would've been a bit chilly for Lenah otherwise I'm afraid. She slept sooooo good! The best she EVER has in the camper. Which made it that much more enjoyable for Alex and I. As always, I wish we could've stayed longer!

Lenah and Mom on a pontoon ride! Lenah wasnt crazy about the lifejacket, so it didnt last too long.

Grandpa, Lenah and Daddy with one of Dad's fish!
Lenah LOVED the kids and would sit and watch them all day (ok, well maybe not sit, but she could watch them!)
Lenah and Dylan
Our view from our camper. We didnt spend much time by it though! mainly just sleeping!
Lenah and Aunt Alyse. She just adores her auntie and would hang out by her allll day!
while the boys were shooting guns lol
Alex, Grant and Roger shooting clay pigeons
Our huge bonfires. Yes that is almost a whole tree on there :) But they kept us warm!!!

breakthrough!!!

2009-07-16T05:01:00.000-07:00

yay! Lenah's got teeth! Her first one broke through Sunday July 5th, and the other one just last night. And I'm pretty sure she has a couple more coming in within the next couple weeks, I can see a couple bumps here and there, but who knows. What do we know, we are first time parents :) This is all as new to Alex and I as it is to Lenah. She has not been the happiest camper and I think I speak for both Alex and I when I say that we envy the parents who say they never knew their kids were teething! Because trust me, we know!!!! :) But thats ok!

I also thought I'd try to get Lenah used to her life jacket since we might be on the boat a little bit this weekend with camping, but she really didnt like it too much! Oh well, hopefully she will be occupied enough in the boat that she doesnt really care.

Enjoy your weekend! I think it's supposed to be kinda chilly :( Although I shouldnt complain, it'll be nice for camping this weekend. I'm sooooo glad we have heat in our camper!

this pic was rotated normally, sorry!

Think it's been long enough!?!

2009-07-14T11:44:00.000-07:00

lol I am so one of those people that drive me CRAZY by never posting on their blog!!! :) And I have NO excuses, except that I have been a terrible picture taker lately.

So, what have we been up to? Not a whole lot. We've been doing some camping and are leaving to go again this weekend (and I promise I will take my camera!). I just love camping, even though Lenah doesnt sleep well it's still fun. Our fav place (the only place we've gone so far this year) is Ed Henning Park in Newaygo, right on the river which is nice, and nice big grassy lots, which is super nice with Lenah crawling around this year.

For the fourth (I couldnt for the life of me find my camera, it was in Alex's truck!) Lenah and I went to my parents cabin thursday til Friday evening with my whole family then to Alex's parents until sunday. I love it up there. It's so peaceful and relaxing. There is just something about up north!

Since then we have just been hanging out and chillin! Lenah is finally getting some teeth in. One so far, but I'm thinking she is working on another one as we speak since she just spiked a 101.7 degree fever within about an hr this afternoon. I'm hoping its just teeth! I am trying to get her to take a nap right now, She is soooo tired, but just doesnt feel good and cant sleep. Poor thing. I cant even imagine how her poor mouth feels right now :( She had her 1 year pictures this morning I'm so excited to see them! I'm sure they will be adorable! I can NOT believe that she will be a year in 1 1/2 wks! Time goes way to fast, people always told me that, but I never believed them. I know I know, sooooo cliche lol

Thats all for now, I wont bore you anymore.

Lenah doesnt like to be IN her exersaucer, just play under it.

First round with spaghetti!
Lenah and Daddy playing in their "tent" Lenah thinks that is the funniest thing

yup, the ONE pic I have of camping! lol She loved playing on the bed with mom or daddy, I think she thought it was cool that she was so high up and could see everyone from there

and we're off!

2009-06-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

We are heading camping this weekend, but I thought I'd better quick post a couple pics before we leave, it might be picture overload when we come back, never know.

The last week has been a hot one! But we have just been hanging out in the kiddie pool and loving it! I (jen) am not complaining yet! It IS hot, but I'm glad it's not freezing and cold out when we walk out the door. Alex on the other hand IS complaining (and I totally dont blame him!) It gets soooooo hot in the shop, the yesterday it was 100 degrees in there and they have to wrench in that too yet! Yuck! I feel kind of guilty when Lenah and I are sitting in the pool to keep cool and Daddy is sweating his butt off to provide for us. Thank you Alex! We really truly do appreciate it! We love you so much!

Lenah is still crawling EVERYWHERE and getting into everything in sight. And can destroy the house in just seconds. But I like this stage as busy as it is! She is cruising along the couches, tables, walls, etc. I'm thinking she will be walking in the next couple months, but I could be wrong! Still no teeth for her! And she is 11 months! Seriously! They have GOT to be coming soon, else she will have a little old lady mouth until she gets her permanant teeth :) j/k I know she will eventually get them :) Its just a funny thought to me....

ok well thats all for now! Enjoy your weekend! Stay cool! I'm sure we wont be (pop-up camper with no air conditioning will NOT be cool :) oh well! Still fun)

Me and Mom!

Playing with my get well balloon from my tube surgery. From Gr. Gr. Brouwer

My new thing, crawling under the couch so mom or dad cant put their chairs down.
Mom made me some new bows! We have to put them on headbands still because I have no hair. I guess I kind of take after my Daddy : ) haha!
Happy Fathers day Daddy! Even though we ended up returning the chair.
Mom lets me play in the tupperware cupboard while she makes dinner. Its so FUN!

so it's been awhile!

2009-06-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

Sorry! It's been forever!!! I've been a terrible blogger lately!

So we'll have some catch up pictures :)

We got Lenah a kiddie pool, which she loves, she keeps crawling out of it but cant seem to figure out how to get back in it. Although I dont really let her try. I remember as a kid having scraps all over your body from the outside of those pools underneath that lip. that hard plastic is wicked! My friend Helene and her daughter came over the other day to play in the pool. It was fun! Next year the girls will have so much more fun and will be way more of a hand full

playing in the diaper box! I swear I dont even know why we buy this child toys! She would be just as happy with boxes, TV remotes, etc!

As most of you know I'm sure, Lenah's surgery for her tubes went well. We were home by shortly after 8:30am! And we didnt even see her under anesthesia which was nice. I was afraid that would break my heart! She was a trooper and the nurses said she was one of the best kids they've had because she didnt cry at all, even when she woke up from anesthesia and didnt know anyone. I'm sure they say that to everyone, but it made Alex and I feel better :) Here's a few pics of the day of her surgery....

Since her surgery she has been so happy! And unless there is something going on or she needs something, she will just play and entertain herself, which is wonderful and allows me to get some stuff done around here! She is so much fun to play with and is chatting away and giggling much more.

Lenah is crawling EVERYWHERE now and loves to follow us around the house. Her newest thing is climbing the stairs. great! :) So my dad is hopefully working on making a baby gate for the stairs since a regular one wont work due to the banister thing on one side.

As for Alex and I we are the same-o same-o. Our friends from Texas were in town this past weekend, so we were able to have a wonderful night out with them and Lenah had an overnighter at Gr. and Gr. DeWitt. Thanks again Mom and Dad!!! Next weekend again will be busy camping, which is always busy but well worth it! I just LOVE camping!

ok, well I'll quit boring you. This is like officially the longest post ever with the most pics ever! :)

Diva baby...

2009-06-09T06:05:00.001-07:00

I just couldnt resist posting these pictures of Lenah. lol She was in my side of the closet playing with shoes, so we had to get her dressed up! :) Enjoy! I'm sure I will update after her tubes tommorow or Thursday.

first camping trip of the year...

2009-06-07T18:50:00.000-07:00

We all had such a good time this weekend on our first camping trip of the year! We went with our good friends Jeff and Helene and their baby girl who is just about 5 1/2 mo younger than Lenah. We left Friday night and I think we all agree that we wish it was longer! There is just something about camping, you have to relax! It's so nice.

Lenah loved it. She loved being outside and crawling around everywhere. She puts everything in her mouth so we really had to watch her. But it was fun! She didn't sleep the best, I think it was a combo of her ears bugging her, her cold and the fact that it was a little chilly out too. But she was still a very good girl despite that, and we couldnt expect her to do much better than that!

Sorry about the picture overload, I just had so many cute ones. :)

On a whole different note, Lenah has her tubes put in on weds. morning (not sure of the time yet, I'm hoping they call tomm.) As a mommy I am soooooo ready to see my girl perk up and feel so much better, as is her daddy. But there is also that nagging in the back of my mind of something not going quite right. I try not to think or worry about it because I'm sure all will be well and we are already sending up the prayers for her that day, but as parents I think it's our duty to worry! So if you think of it send up a prayer for her, the Dr's, and mom and dad. As minor of a surgery as it is prayers are still appreciated! :)

check out the next 2 pictures. They were taken at the same park on the same bench. the bottom of the 2 was taken last sept. and the top this weekend. Look how much Lenah has grown already in just less than a year!!!!! We are so blessed!

Jeff and Madison

Lenah's hillbilly bathtub. lol but it worked perfectly! And she LOVED it! :)

10 months... And a few random shots

2009-06-05T11:00:00.000-07:00

Well, Lenah is 10 1/2 months now! I cant believe before long we will be celebrating her first birthday already! I know that's sooooo cliche, but seriously!

She is VERY fun (most of the time :) Although at the moment she is protesting her nap quite loudly! She is cruising all over the place, which is busy, but nice. I tend to get a lot more done around here than I have been the last month or two since she will now just follow me around. The house seems to be fairly baby proof, although we just need to remember to pick things up!

She will say dada occassionally and clap when you say "yay". She will once in awhile wave bye bye, but that is only if she is in a REALLY good mood :) She likes to walk behind her little pooh cart thingie. Sometimes she falls on her knees, but she will just get right back up and go again! We love to sit and watch her just explore.

She is having tubes next weds. and we are soooo ready for them! We're tired of getting up in the middle of the night to a screaming baby, which only happens once a week or so, but still!

She eats all table foods and eats anything. Which is very nice. We havent found anything she wont eat yet!

ok. I wont bore you with any more fun facts :) Have a wonderful weekend! We're camping and are hoping its nice out. So i'm sure we'll be back with more pictures next week!

I love to look at the difference! I love the age she is at now and how much she can do and interact, but sometimes I still miss the cute little stage where she just wanted to be held. And was sooooo tiny!

So happy now that she can be on the MOVE!

Daddy and Lenah playing. Lenah LOVES Daddy time at night! Sometimes she doesnt even want anything to do with me, just her Daddy!

haha she had her pants on her head. I know, kinda mean, but she looked so funny! lol

I made her a new cute headband, but she just pulls them off! ugh. I just need to figure out a way to totally distract her so she forgets its on her head.

and she's up....

2009-05-28T12:56:00.000-07:00

well, Lenah's new trick is pulling herself up on stuff, which is great and so much fun to watch her struggle to do it (i know, we're so mean :) until...................... NAPTIME! agh! Today has been the worst of it. She began pulling up on her bumper pads, so I took them out, well, she figured out how to pull herself up without bumper pads today. After going in there at least a dozen times and an hour and a half later, I put her in her little tent thing!

I feel like a bad mom, and I really dont want to make her sleeping in a tent a habit, but she needs her naps! Any ideas would be MUCH appreciated.

p.s. she can get up but not down. I tried just letting her wear herself out and it doesnt seem to be working!

i dont know whats up with these pics... sorry, they look kinda wierd!

memorial weekend...

2009-05-27T07:18:00.000-07:00

well, I only have a few pics of memorial weekend because my camera battery died and I of course kept forgetting to plug it in! Now I'm really regretting it. But here are a couple of the first day. It was so nice out so we went "swimming" in my parents pond by their cottage. It was a little chilly, but the girls didnt seem to mind! On Sat. we went to Alex's parents cabin until Sunday. It is so awesome that their cabins are only 10-15 min apart! Makes it MUCH easier for us! We can split the weekends up that way. Hope you all enjoyed your Holiday!

not sure why Gracie and Lenah are glowing like that, really they arent usually that angelic! :)

I didnt take a bathing suit along because I didnt think it would be warm enough to go in the water! Oops! She just was kind of a WT baby up there I guess :) haha. oh well, you can get away with it up there! :)
Poor Lenah.lol I think Gracie wants her to look at the camera so they can be done with pics already!

this one is at home, but I thought it was funny that she gets stuck under the table. She gets under there and cant quite figure out how to get out yet! Too cute. Maybe I shouldve been helping her out instead of taking pictures, but she was just too funny in there :)

little angel

2009-05-17T10:45:00.001-07:00

well, not exactly a little Angel, but I thought she was so stinkin cute today with her all white on (we've already had to haul out the bleach :) And she was scootin around like CRAZY today, so I thought I could get a couple cute "in motion" shots, but she was too quick for that and wanted the camera! But I still got a few. She is getting up on her hands and knees more now, but still doesnt quite get the hang of moving them together and generally just face plants it into the ground, she doesnt care. Just basically army crawls to wherever she wants to go!

She LOVES to hold on to things and stand by them, although she still will occassionally tip over, she usually just laughs and wants to stand back up. Soon enough and she will be into everything!!!

And... I looked at the weather online today, it's supposed to be in the high 70's this coming week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I sooooo hope that is the case!

getting that sippy!

lol, I love this pic

in motion

on the move....

2009-05-12T17:50:00.000-07:00

it's been a little while since I've posted, sorry, I guess there wasnt much to post about! But here are a few new things around here...

Lenah is officially on the move! "crawling" to where she wants to be. She hasnt completely gotten the hang of it yet, but she's definitely getting there! It's kind of fun! (until she totally gets the hang of it and we just want her to SIT STILL! :)

Also we went to the Dr. this morning. Lenah hasnt been sleeping well the last few days/nights which is usually a sure sign for her that she has an ear infection and yup! Sure enough another double ear infection! She literally just had one like 2 1/2 weeks ago and I'm sure she was recovered from that because she was a whole new baby until this weekend! Soooo frustrating! I think we are ready to just do tubes already. We just hate watching her in pain all the time! Dr. says if she has another one, tubes it is... probably. She has really been surprisingly happy for having a double ear infection, although not her happy self. I think I would be much crankier if I were her!!! Poor baby!

Enough of that, in good news Alex and I were really excited to "have" to get new furniture for the livingroom (minus couches). ok, I know it's totally cheesey that I'm posting pics of it, but we're excited ok!?! :)

It all started mothers day morning. Alex and I were just talking about getting new TV stand and side tables since Lenah would be getting into everything very soon (our previous TV stand was actually a coffee table part of a set, we got the whole set for less than $100, so we didnt really expect it to last even this long!)

well, wouldnt you know it, as I was reaching behind the end table to get Pooh from behind it for Gracie (our niece) Sunday night, the whole table came crashing down! And no, I honestly did not do it on purpose! :) But it totally gave us an excuse to go get what we wanted! So off we went to VanHill last night and it was delivered today! yay!

Anyway... Hope you all had a fantastic Mom's day! I did, it was busy, but I truly feel more than blessed to have an amazing Husband and a beautiful, healthy (despite ears) baby girl. I wouldnt trade my life for anything in the world!

Our new end tables (2 of them) and TV stand...
wild hair tonight :)

Lenah on the move!

Lenah and Gracie in the firetruck buggy at VanHill. I think Lenah enjoyed it more than Gracie because she was able to reach Gracie's hair to pull! :0

Florida and Tulip Time...

2009-05-04T17:50:00.000-07:00

Well, as most of you know I'm sure, we have arrived safely home from Florida. We actually got back Friday night and have been busy ever since! It seems like forever to me that we were there! Even though it's only been a few days! We miss the weather there, but it is good to be home, as always.

We had a busy but fun weekend, and tonight we went downtown Holland for some junkfood, dutch dancing and pictures. For some reason Lenah wasn't too happy about getting her picture taken and wouldnt smile. She even got a 3 1/2 hr nap this afternoon! But we still got a few cute ones.

In the airport in Orlando, Lenah loved watching the fountains...

on our balcony (it was ground level) Lenah thought she was pretty hot stuff standing there looking out of the "cage" :)

Lenah and Daddy playing in the kiddie pool!

ok, lets try this...

2009-04-28T18:06:00.000-07:00

Hopefully this post will be better. (see previous post) This internet here is acting kinda funky so sorry all these pictures are kind of out of order... Oh, and there are so many pictures for Lenahs Grandpas and Grandmas, that miss her :) so sorry! :)

Oh and one quick tidbit that I think I left out in the post from Sunday... We actually had someone tell us that Lenah looks just like me!!!! That is the first time I've heard that. Dont get me wrong, I LOVE it that Lenah looks just like her Daddy, theres just something about having a baby girl that looks like her daddy. But it was nice once in awhile! :)

hot stuff! :)

ewwwww.... And people swim in this water!?! I have to admit that I was slightly intrigued by how they looked, especially out of water. I always thought they were more see through that that. maybe they are in the water, I dunno.

I love these pictures of Alex and Lenah.

Alex and Lenah in the petting zoo.

bird man!!!! This reminded us of that one scene with the pigeon lady off the movie "home alone" I hated it in that bird aviary! ugh, all those birds landing on people! Luckily Lenah and I didnt have any nectar, so they didnt want to be by us :) I loved everything else about the zoo though!

the man eating giraffes. ok not really, Alex had just fed him a cracker :)

pictures.pictures & more pictures

2009-04-28T17:33:00.000-07:00

wow. sorry this post will be a bit picture heavy! But... we've been doing a lot! Last night we went to Cocoa Beach Pier and walked the pier, ate some dinner and went to the Ron Jon shop.

Today we went to the zoo (Brevard Zoo). It was a lot of fun! Lenah LOVED watching the animals. We were surprised at how many of them caught her eye and she watched them. She was very content in her stroller the whole time! They had a petting zoo, feeding the birds in a bird aviary, feeding giraffes, etc. It was very hands-on and fun!

Tonight we went for a walk on the beach after eating dinner here at the the resort restaurant, there were a bunch of jellyfish washed up on the beach! Gross! Alex thought they were really cool, but I did not! :) Then Alex informed me that he wants to try surfing tommorow. I'm not thrilled about that idea, but whatever... Alex told me I would just have to pee on him if he gets stung :) I do not like the ocean to begin with, all those jellyfish just confirmed that! So no, dont worry, neither Lenah nor I will be going into that water! Just makes me love living by lake MI that much more, nothing can hurt you in there :)

family picture on the cocoa beach pier.....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a 3 year old alligator some guy was walking by the pool yesterday. We were surprised that it was that small and 3 yrs old!
Lenah and Mom in the kiddie pool

ok, this post was going to be picture heavy! It wont let me post anymore! I'll try to do a new post with some more, if it doesnt work, maybe I will try again tommorow...

we've made it!!!

2009-04-26T17:47:00.000-07:00

well, we've made it to Florida! The weather is BEAUTIFUL! We got in yesterday afternoon and when we finally made it to the resort it was still sunny and 80's (at around 4:00ish). So we took a little walk to the beach, which is about 1/2 mile away. not as close as we had thought, but we are directly on the pool which is where we will spend most of our time anyway.

The resort so far is amazing and we are lovin it! Our villa is awesome and is in the perfect location, we honestly couldnt have picked a better one! I will try to take a few pics this week of that too. :)

The flight went well and we were incredibly greatful to the airline people that checked us in. The lady was checking us in and said, "hold on a minute" and got on the phone. When she hung up she told us we were leaving in 1/2 hr instead of an hour because she had gotten us a non-stop flight!!!!! (we originally had a 2 hour layover in Detroit and werent arriving in FL until 6pm, but we got here at 2!) It was so nice of her!

Lenah did well on the flight considering she had an ear infection. She was a little fussy, but overall did very well. And she is loving it here! I think she is feeling much better and she LOVES to be outside so she's doing great!

Until later........

Lenah sleeping in her tent this morning while we laid out. it was wonderful! :)

She likes the kiddie pools with little fountains etc. and the lazy river. We have more pics of these, but they are on the underwater camera.

playing in her tent away from the sun for a bit.
Her first feel of real sand. she loved it and kept running her fingers through it.
Dont mind the squinty eyes or lack there of eyes (lenah) it was very bright! :)

9 months!

2009-04-24T09:36:00.001-07:00

Here's a quick 9 mo. pic of Lenah that I promised in the last post... And the many faces of Lenah lately. She has a new thing of sticking her tongue out all the time. Of course she wouldnt do it really good for me when I had the camera out, but I got it a little bit.

This morning at the chiropracter she would not stop sticking it out at him! oops! :) He thought it was cute though.

frustrated!!!!!

2009-04-22T11:16:00.000-07:00

uuuugggghhhhhhhhh!!!! I am soooo frustrated! Poor Lenah has another ear infection! I am sooooo sick of these things! And what perfect timing, right before we fly to sunny Florida! We are really hoping the antibiotics kick in VERY quickly (say a little prayer that they do!) and that she will be her happy normal self on vacation, it wouldnt be a very fun vacation if she was cranky the whole time.

ok, sorry, enough complaining, I'm just so very frustrated.

Anyway. The rest of her appointment went great (it was her 9 mo. check-up, and I'm so glad we had that before we left!). Lenah now weighs 20lb 6oz and is 28in long. Both in the 75% Still no teeth or crawling, but Dr. said the later the better for teeth and that as long as Lenah is walking by 15 mo. she would be happy (since she was so small to begin with). Which I dont forsee as a problem seeing as how she loves to "walk" holding your fingers or along the couch.

Everything but her ears checked out great! So for that we are greatful, ear infections can be treated and we should be thankful there is nothing seriously wrong with our baby girl.

I will try to get a 9 mo. pic up here before we leave. Which is in 3 days!!! We cant wait and are sooooo excited for it! I'm sure we'll try to update while we are there. Dont forget to say a prayer for us that Lenah feels better very quickly!

Finally, nice weather!

2009-04-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

It is soooo nice outside! This is the weather we have been waiting for! Earlier this week Lenah was sooooo cranky, but last night and today, she is doing so much better, especially when we go outside! We love it!!!

So today we spent a little time outside after running a few errands and meeting my mom for lunch. Lenah LOVES Harley and would sit and watch him all day. And harley does well with Lenah too. Today Harley sat down right next to us, so I sat Lenah there and took a few pictures. She even grabbed his eyeball (oops!) and he just sat there and didnt do a thing, he has such an amazing demeanor for kids. He is still a big dog and one roll over of him and he could squash a kid, so we have to watch very closely, but not because he is a cranky dog!

As for a Lenah update... Nothing really too new. STILL no teeth or crawling. She is beginning to love "walking" when we let her hold onto our fingers and would "walk" all day long, and will even try to take a few steps along the couch. Maybe she will never crawl! who knows!?! She has very bad diaper rash right now and we can not seem to get rid of it! We change her ALL the time and put butt paste and prescription magic butt cream on at every changing, but it still is not working, so any home remedies or ideas are more than welcome!!!

And, 9 more days until we will be in sunny (hopefully :) Florida!!! We are so excited! Of course Alex is still bummed it's not Alaska, but he is still excited. We cant wait to get away for a little bit and are anxious to see how everything will pan out flying/traveling with Lenah for our very first time. I'm sure it will all work out great.

well, until next time! Have a great rest of the week and weekend! Enjoy the weather!!!

Easter Bunnies and Beach Babes...

2009-04-10T13:41:00.000-07:00

Kind of a crazy title I know, you're probably wondering what kind of Easter Bunny we go see!?! :)

LOL. Nope, nothin too wild, just a couple cute pics of OUR beach babe!

We have decided where we are going on vacation (nothing like Alaska for Alex, but I'm pumped!) we are going to Ron Jon resorts in Florida. Not sure of the exact name of the town, but it is between Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach. We were hoping for something a little different and a state Alex nor I had been to (or at least I hadn't, Alex has traveled a lot) But everywhere is having the chilly spring like we are, so in order to assure some warmth, we decided on this! And are very excited about it!!! It looks like an awesome resort and we get a 2 bedroom villa, which will be amazing with Lenah's naps and sleeping at night. Check it out if ya want at ronjonresorts.com

So Lenah's been trying on lots of outfits and there is a lot of last minute things to do in order to be ready to leave in 2 weeks! But it will all be worth it, and I kind of like it, it's a rush for me :)

And today we went to Walmart to pick a few things up for vacation and over the loud speaker it said that the Easter Bunny was there today and pictures were free! Bonus! Not the best quality, but hey, it was free! I have GOT to start carrying my camera in the diaper bag... Lenah liked the Bunny and just sat there and kept wanting to look at and touch his furry legs. Kinda creepy.

haha, these pictures crack me up. I doubt she will keep her sunglasses on too long, but hey, they're cute anyway!

it's about time!!!

2009-04-08T10:52:00.000-07:00

wow. I've been a blog slacker lately! I thought I would be able to keep up, but We just have nothing too exciting to blog about! But since Alex told me I needed to update this last night, I guess i better!

Well, Alex was supposed to be going on a Alaskan Grizzly Bear Hunt in a couple weeks, but unfortunately that got cancelled. Something about the outfitter losing his license to guide for 6 months, which sounds kinda "fishy" to Alex. So needless to say Alex is VERY disappointed and I am relieved... :) No, not really, as much as I was NOT looking forward to him going and leaving us for 10-12 days; I feel bad for him and am bummed for him because I know how much he was looking forward to this.

But, on the up side we will be taking a family vacation! woohoo! Which I am totally pumped about. We have contacted a travel agent as neither of us are very savvy with travel plans and are just anxiously awaiting word back! We aren't exactly sure where to go, so if you have any fun ideas let us know! We are wanting warmth, something fairly child friendly and not tooooo long of a plane ride for the first time on a plane with Lenah.

Quick question for the Rose's how long of a flight to North Carolina? Whats fun to do there? Ever been to Myrtle Beach?

Of course a little update on Lenah, as always.... Although she really isnt do anything too new. Still not crawling or really even trying too hard. Just spins on circles, she is just so content on her tummy and always has been! Still no teeth, and although I keep thinking I see signs of them (runny nose, diaper rash, cranky! still nothin!) She thinks she's really cool that she can drink out of sippy cups and loves to lay on the floor and drink them all by herself. Which is actually really nice for mom and dad!

And of course I've stuck in a pic of her on this post :)

Anyways, this ended up being a long post for nothing to post about! :) Until next time!

little dutch girl...

2009-03-30T16:48:00.000-07:00

Well, I was busy this afternoon! (jen, not alex :) I made Lenah her first dutch costume! And the first one that I've ever made too. I'm really happy with how it turned out. There is lots of room for next year (if not the year following) there's lots of hems and scootched over buttons. But it still fits her well!

hunting...

2009-03-26T17:09:00.000-07:00

While I was posting the last post Alex and Lenah decided to go hunting out the bedroom window. (Yes kinda hillbilly i know). They have been hunting together all night. They got 1 rabbit so far! :) Which I 'm glad for cuz they are already eating all my flowers!!!

So I snapped a couple pics of them and Alex of course wanted them on the blog :)

8 months...

2009-03-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

Well, our baby girl is 8 months old already! We can not even believe it, time goes by so fast! She is still growing and changing by the day. Yesterday I got on the scale with her and she was 20.4 lbs. So she's getting really big! :)

She is beginning to entertain herself a bit more and will sit and play with her toys by herself if I need to do something. It is wonderful!

She loves to eat and really will eat anything! She has even gotten used to the baby food meats with veggies, although it took a couple tries. She loves to feed herself (gerber puffs, yogurt melts, etc) and gets it in her mouth by herself pretty much every time!

She still isnt crawling, but will scoot herself around in circles and usually can get what she wants. The other day I thought my i pod was out of her reach, but she somehow scooted herself over to get it! Crazy girl :) She loves to stand by the couch and play with toys, she thinks she's hot stuff, but will forget that she has to hold on and tips over, we think she's pretty tough though, she usually just looks at us and laughs or smiles.

Still no teeth, I constantly think maybe she is teething because of a runny nose or something, but then nothing! But soon enough I'm sure!

We love you Lenah! You are such a HUGE blessing in our lives and we thank Jesus for you!

look how much I've grown!

random...

2009-03-24T16:10:00.000-07:00

ok, so here is another random post, with just some very random pictures on it... But I thought they were cute, so here we go!

Again, not much new here. We were loving the warmer weather, but it's been so windy lately that we havent been outside playing very much the last few days. But are anxiously awaiting those days again soon!

I, jen, got a little motivated to start on my spring cleaning today, although it tends to go very slow with an 8 month old needing your attention on top of all the day to day cleaning and things to do! But I have a list and will be thrilled if it gets done in the next couple weeks : )

I started wiping walls and baseboards today and am kinda embarrassed to say that it can be kind of a work-out! I still have a TON to do, but am happy with what I got accomplished today. And hey, lets be honest, I blame it on Lenah, but would I really WANT to do that much cleaning in just a few days anyway? nope! : )

Anyway... I'll stop rambling, you know our life isnt too interesting right now if I'm blogging about cleaning! The pics are what everyone cares about anyway!

my new fav pic of her... She gets so excited about seeing the phone. It was hard to get her to stay still. She is going to be such a girlie girl!!!

Her new smile, she looks like a little old grandma!
Lenah eating one of her little biter biscuit things. She makes SUCH a mess, she only gets them on her tub nights! And we stick her straight in the tub!

trying out my new camera on our "lovely" wildlife in our front yard. Alex tries to shoot them, but they usually get away before he can get the gun out. Or Lenah decides to let out a scream as he opens the door. Great, she's decided already to be an animal rights activist... lol! wonder what her daddy would have to say about that!

a day at the park...

2009-03-18T07:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pics of the park yesterday (see previous post). Thanks Rachel!!!

Lovin this weather!!!

2009-03-17T13:45:00.001-07:00

So therefore I had to almost force myself to sit down and update this today! It was on my to-do list! Along with a million other things, but I don't mind because it's mostly outdoor work!

We've been too busy to work because Lenah and I have been going on walks with friends each morning this week so far. Yesterday we went with my friend Helene and her daughter Madison and today we went with my friend Rachel and her son Ethan! We hit downtown Zeeland from her house then back to the park for a picnic then back home! It was sooooo nice! Lenah and I even got a little sun today! I guess it's time to go out and get some baby sunblock. I didnt even think about getting a "tan" today!

Last night we did lots of yard work and Lenah was pretty content to just sit and watch us work. We got a lot accomplished! It felt so good

This past weekend we went to Lansing for our HUGE family reunion. It was so much fun and so relaxing. Lenah loved to watch all the people and kids and of course loved the pool. I think she did get a bit overstimulated though as she wouldn't sleep real well for us. But it was sooo worth it! Lots of food (its nice to be back home and eating a little healthier again :), fun, relaxation and chatting!

Sorry it's been so long since our last post! I'm going to try to keep up with it a bit more, but no promises. : ) Now that it's nicer out all I have to do is remember my camera!

ENJOY THIS BEAUTIFUL WEATHER!!!

My fav pic from this past weekend.
Hangin out in the hotel bathroom while mom gets ready! Just like at home!
walking with the stroller, Lenah just loved to chill in there...

We kept trying to get a little 4 generation snapshot, but either Lenah wouldn't look or Caden kept sneaking in :) good enough!

Grandma teaching Lenah how to use a raft

Aaron and Heidi. No this was not this weekend (like 2 weeks ago!!!) but I thought this was such a precious picture of Aaron feeding Lenah. He asked if he could do it, it was so sweet!

we're gonna be killin u with pictures!!!

2009-03-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

I (jen) just got a new camera!!! It was a belated (because I hadn't picked one out yet) birthday present from Mom and Dad DeWitt! Thanks Mom and Dad! I LOVE it and can't wait to use it more!

Well, Lenah wouldn't sleep this afternoon (1 hr, thats it!) but I guess I shouldn't complain because then I got to use my new camera on my favorite subject! : ) But she wasn't the most smiley, I still got a few cute ones though!

Here they are... Get used to me killing you all with pictures because I'm sure I'll be taking tons! I didn't realize how much easier it is to take pictures with the black background vs. the white one, but I just like white for spring.

Other than this, not too much is new here. Alex and I are ready for a little vacation this weekend with my mom's whole side of the family. We are going up a day early just the three of us for a mini family vacation. This is such an awesome weekend and we just LOVE spending time with my family. I have such an awesome hubby who actually enjoys it too! I know lots of guys would not want to go to this sort of "in-law family thing" but I am SOOOO greatful that Alex is so amazing!

As everyone, we are ready in our household for this warmer weather to continue. We are praying for no more snow!

ok, I'm done boring you for now, but I have a feeling I will be back with more pictures soon! : )

look I can stand!

2009-03-04T05:14:00.000-08:00

well. kind of : ) Lenah has been standing holding on to things ALL the time lately, that's all she wants to do, so we broke down and bought her this toy that she could stand by and be entertained.

Other than that, there really isn't too much new here! Just ready for a little bit of warmth, as everyone I'm sure. We are so ready to be outside! Although we shouldn't complain too loudly, because at least it's been nice and sunny...

A girl after my own heart... checking out the jewelry catalog!!!!

splish splash...

2009-02-26T16:17:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures of Lenah the past day or so...

She is finally starting to be able to get her feet to her mouth and actually grab on to them! As of last week she couldnt quite figure out how to keep them up there! She would just bend over when she was sitting and suck on them that way : )

We gave her one of those little hard crusty bread things tonight (i forget what they are really called) and she did good with it. kinda gagged once because I think a piece came off, but she did good else! Just made a HUGE mess, so we just threw her right in the tub!

with her new bath toy! We're thinking it will better serve as a pool toy though. It was just one of those toys from a cheap magazine so I didnt think it would squirt very high, but it squirts over the tub : ( Bummer... oh well! She'll have a fun pool toy! And she loved it to squirt her in the face, it was so cute!

McDonalds playland + poop...

2009-02-24T13:34:00.000-08:00

So today I had Gracie for a little bit, and wow did we have an eventful day! First we went to McDonalds with my friend Rachel and her son Ethan. They had a blast playing in the playland! And Lenah sat and watched and just LOVED it! All those kids running around I think she would've sat there all day!

Then we got home and fed Lenah and tried our best to get her to sleep, well she was having none of that! (i think she was overly tired 2:00 is almost too late) So we just ended up taking a bath! (well, Gracie and Lenah did) I was trying to get them out of the tub, but Gracie did not want to get out, sooooo Lenah decided to poop in the tub! Yup! For the first time ever, she pooped in there! And let me tell ya, it was a good one, ALL over everything!!! Needless to say the tub will be bleached along with all the toys in it! At least it got gracie out! She freaked out and said, "help me jen! help me, ewww theres poop in here!" it was so funny, i just couldnt help but laugh!

Now Gracies gone, and Lenah has been sleeping for a few minutes, so I'm hoping she will sleep at least another hour or so!

Oh and I have a couple really cute videos that I've been trying to get on our blog, but I seriously can not figure it out!!! It will try and try for hours, but it will never finish. any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated!!! TIA!

before the poop!
Isnt this a darling picture? She thought it was so funny to do this and look at us mommy's chatting!

valentines weekend...

2009-02-16T04:56:00.000-08:00

Well, we had a relaxing weekend up north with Alex's family this past weekend. It was so nice up there!!! We got up there Friday night and just hung out. Sat. mid morning everyone went skiing to caberfae, Lenah and I just hung back at the cabin, so we spent the day chillin there! Went for a walk in the woods, etc. it is just so beautiful up there!

Lenah sleeping in her new "tent" we thought this would be very nice for camping this summer too, since the pack n play is a little big to fit comfortably in the pop up. She slept in it really good!

face masks! The rest of the crew was down stairs watching a movie, so Alyse and I did mud masks. Perfect for a relaxing weekend away!

Lenah and Aunt Rachael~ I love this picture with the fireplace in the background!

Alyses valentines day gift from roger. Lenah liked it too!!!!

lovin the weather!!!

2009-02-12T13:32:00.001-08:00

mmm we are loving this little bit warmer weather! The last couple days have been slightly chillier, but seriously! SO much better than single digits!

Alex put up Lenah's "new" swing (my steal deal from a garage sale last year, yup I was thinking ahead!) I think I got it for $2 and in the stores they are between $25-30! I'm so glad I snatched it up when I could! And she LOVES it! I figured she would, but I think she would sit in that thing all day long, should be good entertainment for this summer!

Action shot!!!
Lenah's cousin Gracie was over for a couple hrs the other day and I think she took out EVERY single toy out of the toybox and set it in front of Lenah (or as she says "Yeanah") to play with. It was cute and I wasnt complaining! She was entertaining Lenah and herself : )

our weekend + some random pics!

2009-02-09T16:36:00.000-08:00

Well, our weekend consisted of a date night for Alex and I. and an ear wax candle party! I know, we are disgusting... : ) But you really should try it, its really fun! And totally absurd what comes out of your ears, I wont even get into that! Anyway...

Friday night Alex and I got a sitter (very last minute) and decided we needed a night out. So we went out for dinner just the 2 of us, then met up with some friends. It was so nice to just have some adult time!

Then Saturday night we had our lil party! Dave and Christy and Don and Nicole came over. Once Lenah went to bed we did ear candles. You just light them and have someone cut off the "ashes" into a bowl of water as you go. It takes about 5 mins per ear and it really works! (trust me, we were doubtful) So much fun and so many laughs!

Bored tonight! : )

Lenah's new thing is sucking on icecubes in her little mesh bag thing. She loves it but gets SO wet! (we usually put a bib on her, but I forgot this time!) But we still usually end up having to change outfits. But hey, it keeps her entertained and happy!

Our messy little eater! She likes to try to grab the spoon, so we will give her her own spoon if she does, that keeps her away from our spoon so we can feed her!

sledding

2009-02-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

Yup, another post for today!!! : ) This afternoon I took Lenah out in the yard to pull her on the sled. She is hard to pull! But not because she is so heavy, she's so light that I'm afraid to tip her over any little bump! And probably because I've already done that to her like a month ago! : ( She just tipped head first right into the snow! oops! But she didnt even flinch. tough girl! : ) She just loves being outside, she even almost fell asleep in the sled, it was so precious.

Thank goodness her cousin Gracie gave her these snowpants, because her little outfit is getting a little short for her and I would NOT buy her another one for this season. This outfit is a little big but it works! I always have to tuck this blanket around her in the sled because she's so bundled up that she cant bend very well and ends up sliding down. lol

random...

2009-02-02T07:52:00.000-08:00

Here is kinda a random post! : ) Just a few pics of the last few days and super bowl night last night. We had Dave and Christy and Don and Nicole over and ate lots, watched the game a little and were all disappointed in the lack of funny commercials! Christy made a yummy pie that Lenah loved. She was mad at me when it was gone, so we let her lick the plate! Yup, we actually did, she was so funny!

Don and Nicole thought it was soooo funny to take funny pictures on my camera, so here they are! : ) I know, you guys are gonna kill me for doing this! lol! Oh and nicole, I just wanna say, you look HOT in that picture! : )

watching baby einstein... a somewhat rare occassion at our house. I try not to have the TV on very much during the day, and when I put something "educational" on she usually doesn't sit like this to watch it! Or at least not for long!

six month check-up...

2009-01-29T11:13:00.000-08:00

Lenah had her 6 month check-up yesterday. It went pretty good, she REALLY did NOT like the shots this time though! Poor baby! She screamed for a long time afterwards, but I dont think it helped that she was tired and ready for a nap.

She is growing like a mad woman!!! She is now 17 lb 12 oz. and 26 inches long! In the 50-75% for height and 75% for weight. I dont remember her head measurement, but they said its growing normally.

She checked out in everything else just perfect! Sitting up, rolling over, all the normal 6 mo. age things.

As for things around our house, not much new! Just really hoping that we don't get the flu bug that seems to continue to go around. (Alex and I have already had it once) we're hoping Lenah doesn't get it, but thinking that she is still fairly young to be getting the flu? Everyone on my side of the family has gotten it except for Lenah and my dad (hopefully I dont jinx them two!) : (

I think everyone is feeling this way, but I am ready for a little warmer weather! Today is better at least, out of the teens, but gosh this winter seems long! It's not even feb. yet! YIKES! Even just the 30's so that we can get outside for a little while would be nice! But oh well, it is what it is! Unfortunatly, the weather won't change just because i want it to! :)

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and Super Bowl!!!!

Just a couple pics I took of Lenah lately!

LOL, she looks like a little thug on this one! (below)

My latest sewing project. Lenah was in desperate need of a couple new bibs, but I just couldnt spend $15 per bib, but thought these kind were adorable! So decided to make a few!

Lenah sportin' one of her new bibs... You get out the camera and she instantly smiles! i just LOVE it! And hope ALL our kids someday are like this!

so... I take WAY too many pictures!!!

2009-01-23T10:47:00.000-08:00

But only of Lenah : ) I know I know I really do take way too many pics, but she's just so much fun!!! So anyway, here are a few picture of the last few days...

Oh yeah, and her little 6 month comparison picture. She is sitting up like a champ and rolling over if she feels like it, she is still learning to roll over from back to tummy, she can do it, but usually doesnt. We just can't believe it, looking at her newborn pictures how BIG she is getting!!!

Obviously, her 6 month and newborn pictures...

officially my new fav pic of her! (above)

Alex's birthday

2009-01-20T12:24:00.001-08:00

Well, Alex's birthday was pretty uneventful (yesterday). I had Gracie during the day and got a little preview of what it will be like when we have two kids someday. Remind me why I want more than one again??? : ) just kidding, it was fun. Me and the girls picked up balloons and brought cupcakes and balloons to Alex at work, then we went to see my parents at work a minute. Came home and I was exhausted! So once Lenah went to bed Gracie and I layed on the couch for awhile and watched the little mermaid!

Once Alex came home we ate dinner and Aaron Leech came over to play rockband. It was a nice relaxing night.

Here are some pictures of yesterday. Alex and Lenah played the guitar for awhile after dinner, it was cute, Lenah was totally just checkin everything out and Alex had an almost constant grin on his face trying to keep her from hitting the buttons and playing the guitar himself. It was just one of those moments you know??? One of those moments where you realize how blessed you really are and how much you (I) take my awesome life for granted. The camera did it NO justice : )

Gracie, Lenah and Pooh just hangin out on the couch cuddling because they were "cold", or so Gracie thought. Gracie is usually really good with Lenah and actually is huge for entertaining her, but yesterday at one point I had set Lenah on a blanket and walked out of the room, I went back in there and Lenah was flipped over and Gracie had the blanket on herself! Kinda funny, I guess I need to watch her a little more than I thought, although Lenah couldnt care less!

~Rockin out~

Our little bathing beauty...

6 Months....

2009-01-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

Well, almost... Lenah is almost 6 months old already. wow we truly can't even believe how fast this time went already! And I know I put this in here almost everytime, but we both feel sooooo blessed to have our little pumpkin in our lives!

I thought I would try out a couple little pictures just for fun and ok, so I got a little into it. But now that they're done I'm thinking I might just use them as her 6 month wallets to give to people! I think they turned out pretty good.

Other than these pictures not a whole lot is new here... Well, we got the guitar hero world tour (rockband) for the wii this weekend. It is for Alex's birthday and Christmas (he had to return the christmas gift I got him). So we've been rockin out a lot this weekend! So fun :)

It's Alex's birthday tommorow so Lenah and I are looking forward to bringing Daddy a little birthday treat to work tommorow! I told Alex that I had a little singing trio coming to work to sing for him, three chubby tubby men in red and white striped shirts with suspenders :) I thought it was funny, but he didnt so much, so I decided that it might not be such a good idea!

ok, well I think I wrote enough for today! Now I'm off to take a nap while Lenah is. She was up at 5:45 this morning! (& wouldnt go back to sleep) yuck! Not like her, or me for that matter...

Drive safely, it's nasty out there!

the past few days...

2009-01-12T07:17:00.000-08:00

Well, we havent done a whole lot the past few days, kinda kept the weekend somewhat low key, although we did go out with friends Sat. night and Lenah got to spend the night at Grandpa and Grandma brouwer's house!

Since Lenah has an ear infection, she has been a little high maintenance :) She just always wants to be held and be able to see you (although I guess part of that could be her age too) so anything I needed to get done, she came with me! Hence he in the laundry basket in the picture below.

I think she's starting to feel a bit better though now. She's happier and chatting much much more, I think when she gets her ear infections it affects her hearing because her chattering always decreases. She's downstairs chatting and screaching away right now!

okay, well we're off to go out for lunch with Lenah's new friend Madison! Our friends Jeff and Helene had their baby a week ago, so we are going to go out with them for a little bit! Hope everyone has a fantastic day!!!

in her johnny jumper, she LOVES this thing! It is a lifesaver! Thanks to Alex's cousins who gave it to us! We appreciate it!

checking herself out in the mirror in the bathroom, she sits in her bebe pod seat while I get ready in the morning and like to look in the mirror
Helping mom with Laundry!!!

Poor Baby...

2009-01-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

well, we guessed it, Lenah has another ear infection.

She just hasnt been herself lately and she was hating the pool last night (which is soooo not like her) so we thought i better take her in today a minute. and she has another DOUBLE ear infection!!! : ( Poor thing, we feel so bad for her. Oh well, I guess we just get back on antibiotics and hope the first round works!

So Don and Nicole, I guess it wasnt just you at the pool last night that she didnt like : ) At least that will make us all feel better!

say a little prayer that we wont have to go through 2 rounds of antibiotics this time and that she doesnt keep getting these ear infections, else I have a feeling it will be tubes for her : (

it's been awhile!

2009-01-05T10:28:00.000-08:00

I just looked and its been a little bit since I posted, so I thought it was time to post again! Although the Holidays were fantastic and we had soooo much fun, it is nice to get back into our groove a little bit too. Lenah is still getting back into HER groove : ) But we expected nothing less!

We got a sitter for NYE and spent our night tooling around with Mark and Vernee, and stopping at the Kosters. It was pretty uneventful, but nice to get out. as always...

Lenah is getting big! She has a little cold, not sure if its teeth, another ear infection, or just a cold from being passed around over the holidays. Oh well! She's still happy and it doesnt seem to be bothering her much.

Here's some pictures, what everyone wants to see anyway!

Lenah gumming a pea pod. We give her carrot sticks, pea pods, etc when we're sitting right there. She LOVES gnawing on them, she could do it for hours. I tried a pear slice the other day, but it was a little slippery for her to hang on to, therefore she just got frustrated and didnt like it.

I (jen) had to work this weekend, so on Saturday morning when I left for work this was Alex and Lenah. Laying in our bed watching hunting shows. surprise surprise huh? : ) They prolly sat here all morning long! who knows. Lenah has been more and more into watching the TV. So I no longer have it on for background noise during the day! We just don't want her to get used to zoning out in front of the TV...
Lenah's new fav toy from Daddy for Christmas! unfortunatley she cant press the buttons herself yet, but soon enough!
haha, funny story. I had her sitting in her bebe pod seat while I was doing something in the kitchen the other day and I looked over and noticed that she was digging in this tupperware of candy. oh well, no biggie, until the next time I looked over and there was sugar from the sour patch kids ALL over! I didnt think she could really reach it, but I was wrong! There was sugar in the picture frames, all over her and the table, in her seat, on the floor. it was kinda a mess, but nothing compared to what she'll be doing in the near future I'm sure! I guess I will not underestimate her again for awhile : )

5 Months... Lenah style

2008-12-27T13:26:00.000-08:00

Look how much i've grown! We arent exactly sure how much I weigh, but are thinking in the mid 16 lb range. I was 5 months old on Christmas day!

Mom and Daddy say they can't believe that I am their little peanut that was so small to start. Yup, it's me!

I am getting closer and closer to sitting up by myself and am starting to get frustrated when I can't get stuff in my mouth!!! I love to chew on anything and everything!

Mommy and Daddy say that I have to get back on my schedule after the holidays, but I kinda like staying up late and not taking such a long nap! We'll see if I give mom and daddy the pleasure of such great sleeping habits again. I've been teasing them and waking up lately during my nap, and about 1 in the morning : ) I just like to be cuddled for a bit! I have a feeling they might just let me cry if I continue to do that though. ok, I'm getting sick of sitting by the computer telling mom what to write, so until next time!

I'm holding up my fingers... I'm 5 months old! : )

Our first family of 3 Christmas...

2008-12-27T13:00:00.000-08:00

and we thoroughly enjoyed it! It didnt last very long because it was just the 3 of us and we had to get going to another party, but it was still nice! : ) Lenah was a big girl and loved checking out her presents and trying to pull stuff out of her stocking.

Lenah with her lil chef set. Its so cute, a little salt and pepper shaker, measuring cups and a pan

Our Christmas Eve...

2008-12-24T10:23:00.001-08:00

Lenah and I are spending our Christmas eve day on the down-low... I did a little baking and attempted to get ready for the day. I kept Lenah entertained while I did that as you can see on the below pictures :) I know I will regret this in about 15 years when she takes 3 hrs to get ready in the morning, but hey, it keeps her entertained and lets me get ready for the day!

Then we gave her a few tablespoons of prunes. Because I'm sure you ALL want to hear this, so I will tell you :) We have decided to give her a few prunes to help her little bowels, she hasn't been able to poo in a couple days which is NOT like her at all! So we are following the Dr.'s orders! Can you tell she likes them? mmmm I gotta say though that I like prunes too. My girl, taking after my own heart! :)

Once Daddy gets home from work and Lenah wakes up from her much needed nap (she was a bit on the cranky side for her this morning) we are going to have our own little christmas this afternoon. I made Alex his favorite, cherry pie. Then we are off to my parents house again. They have all the loners come over for a night of cards, games, fellowship and of course food! (all of us who have no where else to go on xmas eve). So if you don't have anywhere to go tonight come on over! The more the merrier!!!

Lenah turns 5 months tommorow, so I'm sure I'll be posting again with her "5 month pictures" within the next couple days!

Drive safely and enjoy the next few days!

anything she could get her little hands around that I was using, she wanted! :) makeup brush, comb, she had headbands, bracelets, everything!!! :)

haha. I LOVE this smile! Looks kinda gross with the brown prunes, but is still sweet! :)

Brouwer family Christmas...

2008-12-24T10:15:00.000-08:00

Yeah I know I am posting like a thousand posts today... I just didnt have time before this! And I thought it would be easier to just post all different posts than to explain it all in one :)

Anyway.... We also had my family christmas party this past weekend. Again, as always... spoiled! We got lots of stuff for our new camper that we bought at the end of the season last year. we are all set to go camping a ton this coming summer!

Lenah enjoyed playing with the wrapping paper and bows this year more than anything, well, more eating it than even playing :) But thats ok, because we had a couple others that were more than willing to help unwrap her presents for her! Gracie especially wanted to unwrap everyone's gifts, Caden just wanted to play!!!

Lenah loved being stuck underneath wrapping paper, but we didnt do it for long, Caden and Gracie didnt realize she was under there and almost stepped on her :)

Caden was now entertained for the rest of the nite!

1st tractor ride...

2008-12-24T10:10:00.000-08:00

Lenah went on her first tractor ride saturday! Alex was burning brush (or trying to, it was a little too wet) so Lenah and I took a little hike out to the land. The snow was way deep so we had to walk back there. I had my arms full! Of Lenah, cookies and coffee : ) My arms were ready to fall off by the time we got to the back of the land... So..... Alex gave us a ride back to the car! It was a little chilly, but Lenah was so bundled she couldnt even move! She looked like the little boy on the christmas story (Ralphie???) It was cute