Happy Birthday, Grandma Great!

How we wish we could celebrate with you in GR!  We miss you so much and hope you have a great day!!We love you!
Mark, Michelle, and Jack

Happy Birthday, Uncle Adam!

Happy birthday to you!  Happy Birthday to you!  Happy BIRTHDAY Uncle Adam!  Happy Birthday to you!!We hope you have a really fun birthday, and we can’t wait to celebrate with you soon!!

Love,
Mark, Michelle, and Jack

More bouncing fun!

from my cell phone

Some of my favorites from our {nearly} daily pictures. I. LOVE. THIS. BOY!

Sweet Kendall Harper

LOVE.  HER!And guess who has a blog now?!  You can find her here and in the sidebar under our friends!She didn’t want to miss anything during our little photo shoot so she was awake most of the time, but she loved being in the wrap and fell right to sleep!  So sweet!

13 days old

His two front {bottom} teeth!

There they are!

Me and my baby, my baby and me!

Even though I can’t really pinpoint it, people tend to tell us that Jack looks like me.  I found some old pictures and thought I’d compare us as babies.  What do you think?I love that I have a picture of both of us in our family baptismal gown.  I need to find a picture of my mom in it!  Wiersma family-did any one see a picture of her in the slides we looked at this summer??

Busy boy!

Jack is on the move these days!  He hardly sits still, so I’m trying to learn how to take pictures of him on the go!  SO, we spent our Saturday just playing with and chasing this sweet little boy!We also enjoyed lunch and some play time with Grandma and Grandpa Thomas.  Thanks for coming to see us!!

More walking progress!

Jack stood up without any help from us or a prop tonight!  He also walked from our coffee table into the breakfast area-a good 20 or so steps-on his own!  WOW!  He just took his first steps three weeks ago!

Eleven Months Old

With the Christmas Holiday and the fact that time is flying by, it really seems like I just wrote your ten month post!  And now here we are, one more month until your first birthday!  SO hard to believe!I can’t say enough about what a happy baby you continue to be!  You’re always smiling at us, and you laugh at most anything we do!  You’ve had a few rough days this month due to teething-you have two teeth now!-but with some extra hugs and some Motrin, you’ve handled that like a champ too!  Daddy taught you how to make that refreshing ‘Ahhh!’ after you take a drink, and it’s so funny and big boy like!This past month you took your first steps and are now walking in spurts a good bit.  You walk further and further each day!  You still prefer to crawl, but I see that changing pretty quickly!  I LOVE the super excited look you get on your face when you know you’re walking! Your schedule didn’t change too much this month-up between 7:00 and 7:30 to nurse, breakfast around 8:15, nap from 9:30 to 11:30, lunch at noon, nap from 2:00 to 4:00, a snack when you wake up-usually a cup of milk, dinner at 5:30, nurse at 7:00 and bedtime at 7:30.  Dr. Trey told us we could give you whole milk at eleven months, and that transition was pretty much a non-event for you.  So, no more formula-what a big boy!You don’t have any real words yet, but we can tell that you understand what we’re saying to you.  We’re teaching you one step directions-get the ball, clap your hands, sit down-and you usually respond correctly.  You also understand ‘no’, and it sometimes hurts your little feelings when we say it to you.  It’s sad to see you get upset, but it’s also good to see you learning and understanding!Jack, you are a true blessing and a JOY!  You have been a gift from God from the very beginning, and your daddy and I are so thankful that you’re a part of our family!  I can’t wait to see what the last month of your first year has in store!  I’m going to soak up every minute of it, because even though I’ll always say it, I know you won’t be my little baby boy for long!

We love you more than words can say!
Daddy and Mommy

No Work and All Play!

Mark and I took full advantage of the Martin Luther King Day Holiday and had such a fun day playing with our boy-we mostly practiced walking!  We also got a visit from Aunt Linds, Kendall, and Grandma, so we had a great day! Oooh, I just LOVE snuggling with a baby!  Isn’t she the sweetest!  I was going to try to sneak a teddy bear into the carrier when they were leaving, but I had to give Kendall back instead.  Can’t wait to see her again soon!Jack has really been doing a great job walking!  He got a pep talk from daddy, and then off he went! Trying again!He’s getting good!

He’s really loving his new, vertical view of the world!  It’s still not his primary way to get around, but he’s getting braver by the day!   Way to go, Jack!  We’re so proud of you, sweet boy!

Homemade Music

I love that he’s so committed that he even got his little piggies involved!

Happy Anniversary!

Happy 33rd Anniversary to the best parents a girl could ask for!!  Thank you for everything you’ve taught me-I’m who I am because of you!  I love you so much!! We hope you had a great day together!
We love you!
Mark, Michelle, and Jack

Time for a ride, mama!

“The laundry’s done, so it’s time for a ride in the basket!”And that’s just what we did!  Jack was not feeling great today-his teeth-so he had a PJ day full of extra hugs and kisses from daddy and mommy!

Baby it’s cold outside!

I know full well that our family in Michigan will laugh at this, but the temperatures over the past couple weeks have kept us inside!  The 30s and 40s aren’t good for our little Southern boy to play outside in, but we braved it today for a short, short bit! This boy has been really practicing walking, and his second tooth is clearly visible now!  AND he had a Pimento Cheese sandwich for lunch today!  That doesn’t seem too noteworthy except for the fact that I can’t believe he’s old enough to eat a sandwich!

Monkey See-Monkey Do!

I love my boys!!

Jack meet Kendall, Kendall meet Jack!

Jack met his sweet cousin for the first time today, and it was so cute!  He checked her out but then pretty much just went on his way to play.  He wasn’t jealous when I had her, so that’s good!

“Mom, who’s that?  Oh, my cousin?  I LOVE her!  I can’t wait until she’s big enough to play with me!  I have so much to teach her!!” What a blessing it is to have our babies so close in age!  I know they’ll be great playmates in the years to come!

Happy Birthday, Linds!

HAPPY, HAPPY Birthday to you, seester!!  We SO enjoyed celebrating with you today and seeing your most wonderful birthday present!  She’s the cutest! We love you!
Mark, Michelle, and Jack

She’s here! She’s HERE!

After a full day, Lindsey and Ryan, along with all their family and friends, welcomed, with love,The day was just amazing, and being there to share in the arrival of their new miracle was such a privilege that this new AUNT is so thankful to have had! Lindsey had some tough contractions around lunch time and handled them like a trooper, but she was more than happy to receive her epidural! After that-smooth sailing! She posted a few updates from her phone on Facebook, napped, visited with all of us, and waited-and in the end, she pushed for around 45 minutes, and then Kendall was born! When I walked in to find little Kendall in her mommy’s arms, it took my breath away! God is so good!

Yep, she made labor look easy! The anesthesiologist had come to visit by this point! Before Kendall- Here comes Ryan to share the good news! And after! Yep, it was love at first sight! Here’s our first good look at the cute little girly!Adam had class in Hilton Head, so he came to meet his niece today-Kendall is lucky to have such a great Uncle! Jack wanted me to tell her that she’s going to LOVE him!!The proud grandparents!She’s off to the nursery for her first bath!She was not loving it, but her daddy was right there to calm her down, and take her picture! LOVING the tiny baby toes! SO, there’s a glimpse into my niece’s birthday!

It truly was a special day, and I’m so happy for you, Linds and Ryan! She’s nothing short of a miracle, and she’ll change everything-for the better! With the sleepless nights-remember, this too, shall pass. Before you know it, she’ll be ten months old and you’ll be planning her first birthday party wondering where the time has gone. You’ll be thinking back on this day with fond memories-and lots of picture!! Ha! Thank you for letting me be a part of all this! We can’t wait to see you on Saturday!

We love you!
Mark, Michelle, and Jack