VBTREE

Luigi and Leah

2011-10-03T07:37:00.000-07:00

Daddies are so creative and silly especially when it comes to electrical tape and their children.

Baby's First Tats

2011-10-03T07:35:00.001-07:00

Here is our precious little man with a precious new tattoo he received at the school family picnic. I'm sure he picked it out himself.

2.75 going on 15...

2011-06-27T12:37:00.000-07:00

We sure love summer! Sprinklers and bike riding are taking up a lot of our home time! But, never is she too busy to talk on the phone.....

SOOOO big!

2011-06-27T12:32:00.000-07:00

Bryce has hit the 9 month milestone! He is doing marvelously! He is crawling, pulling himself up and starting to respond to common phrases such as 'So big'. We have his 9 month well-child this week and I am interested to see what percentile he fits into.
He says "ma ma ma ma ma" which I am sure is translated to Mom, I love you....We sure love him!

He Is Risen!

2011-06-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

Easter, 2011. The kids were dressed to the nines even though I wasn't able to get a good shot of them both looking at the camera together while smiling, they still were cute!

My parents gave each of the Okkema grandkids a balloon to signify Jesus rising from the dead. The balloons were a big hit - as well as Easter Eggs full of candy!

Then, later in the evening the Gonzalez family came to our house and we were visited by a special friend....the Easter Bunny!

Spring 2011

2011-04-26T13:48:00.001-07:00

The VB's have been pretty much holed up in hybernation mode this winter. We've had some illness and trying to prevent illness...however...we didn't forget to take pictures!!
This picture of Bryce trying to eat his foot was a while ago, but too cute not to post.

The little guy has learned and mastered sitting on his own. He's taken a few tumbles face first, but he's learning that's not in his best interest.

Bryce is also eating at least 1 fruit or veggie a day and is really enjoying solids! He is also

really growing FAST!!

Last Saturday evening was such nice weather we were able to take our first bike ride as a family of 4. Rick was able to put the trailer behind his bike and Leah also has a bike seat...it looked pretty cute with him riding toting both the kids behind him. I was perfectly ok with just trying to keep up!

B - 4 Months!

2011-01-26T11:50:00.000-08:00

We're surviving winter so far....having lots of fun staying...in. Bryce is learning many new tricks lately. He can roll from his back to front AND front to back. He enjoys sitting in his Bumbo even though he spits up about every time he does. He feels like he is part of the team and enjoys helping me make his bottles before school in the morning from his Bumbo.

We also have gotten the exer-saucer out. Apparentely, in this picture, Bryce thought it was going to take off at top speed...notice the grip he has on the toy.

And of course, Big Sister Leah, the great helper that she is, wanted to make sure the exer-saucer was SAFE for her little brother and had to test it out for him. She now gets a "mime-out" if she is found playing in it.

Leah is also enjoying potty training her babies. Here this picture shows her 'white baby' taking a turn on the potty. She tells them "good-bob" when they're all done while nodding vigorously! It's funny to watch her interpret how she see's me!! She is doing a great job telling us when she needs to go and has had many successful trips but I feel as though we're not very close to big girl pants yet...a few more weeks of good practice may do the trick!

Our little rockstar, Bryce turned 4 months old yesterday. It's so hard to believe. He is laughing and squealing and singing a lot of the time that he is awake now.

We went for our 4 month wellness checkup this week and his stats are firmly in the 50th percentile. 15 lbs, 3 oz. We are very thankful for his development and health!!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T08:09:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from the VB family to yours!! We had a great holiday week. We spent Christmas Eve with Rick's mom and sister's family. The kids play so well together. It was a great time!!

Christmas morning we went to my parent's house for waffles a la Kyle and presents and naps...

Auntie Holly showed up with Santa hats for the kids.

This one I thought was cute - what a great big sister making sure his pacifier is in his mouth...

We are so blessed with such great families and warm homes with food to eat, and the ability to give gifts!!

Early Winter 2010

2010-12-21T07:17:00.000-08:00

Leah is becoming such a great big sister! She shows Bryce how to take a bath and play with his toys!

I was getting Bryce out of his bathtub (yes, it's pink) and Leah decided it was time for her bath. I heard some rustling in the bathroom and she had proceeded to take all of her clothes off and hopped into Bryce's tub.

Bryce's First Day of School (and other pictures too)

2010-11-16T08:15:00.000-08:00

Real life has started for us now that I am back to work and Bryce has started school. If you can go all the way back (I cannot figure out how to put a link to Leah's post), there is a similar picture of Leah on her first day of school - Bryce seems about twice her size!! He is doing very well at school and is learning a lot. He enjoys seeing his cousin Tyler everyday (as well as his aunt or uncle) and I am sure they will learn how to team up on their teachers!

Leah is hilarious these days! She is mimicing pretty much anything I do with Bryce with her baby. She hasn't given her baby a name yet, I am waiting for that one! This is a picture of her

'eat, eating' - that means feeding her baby. She likes to tell me what Bryce is doing all the time...her favorite is "AWAKE...OPEN", then she says "HI BWICE" with the C being a TH sound.

Saturday mornings are fun around our house because we aren't rushing off to school in the morning and it's much more relaxed. I thought this picture was kind of funny with Leah eating her oatmeal reading her US Weekly and Bryce hanging out in his bouncy seat.

Of course, I cannot forget to report in on the precious smiles that we're starting to get from our little guy!! Sometimes I will look over at him and he is just ALL smiles at someone or a random toy - or yes, the ceiling fan.

He is a happy little fella. We figured out if he is fussy, he normally wants to be put down on the floor and have his independant play time. I wish I had figured that out a few weeks ago, but it's making the VB house a little lower on the decibal level!!

Happy Halloween - 2010

2010-11-01T07:05:00.000-07:00

Halloween was a fun holiday with the 2 kids this year. We kicked off the week with a kid's costume party and hayride complete with pumpkin carving and a hotdog roast in the woods.

We have so much fun with all of our friends and their kids!! We were pretty proud to get almost all of them on the wagon minus one 3 month old ghost.

Our extent of Trick or Treating was going to my Grandparents and Rick's sister's house. I love this picture because Leah is giving GG a kiss. What a sweetie! The pumpkin is cousin Tyler who is 6 weeks older than Bryce.

And of course, Papa and Ima had to witness this trick or treating event...although the doggie was not really cooperating in the picture.

Bryce - 1 Month!

2010-11-01T06:58:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to think that at the end of August I was dreading the LONG month ahead...then after Bryce was born, this first month has just flown by. He is currently working on being able to hold his head up and he did roll over twice from his tummy to his back, although it hasn't been repeated since. The longest he has slept in a row is 6 hours and it delighted the entire family. :)

He is so much fun and is starting to coo and squeal. Big sister Leah enjoys mimicking him and makes us all laugh.

School Picture Day, Fall 2010

2010-10-22T06:58:00.000-07:00

They practiced smiling all day for this! Love it!

Fun in the Sun

2010-10-20T14:12:00.000-07:00

Bryce came home from the hospital with a bit of jaundice so we were instructed to have him exposed to sunlight. We hoped that that would be enough, but his bilirubin count continued to rise after we got home. The doctor decided he needed some additional treatment and prescribed 24 hours on the bilirubin phototherapy light. :)

It was kind of cute how he "glowed in the dark" for a night. It was kind of a pain because he had to be on it as much as possible - so pretty much we only took it off for diaper changes. The rest of the time he seemed as though he had a tail. The light wand was really thin and fit under his

onsie...thank God he only had to stay on it for a day and his jaundice went away pretty quickly.

On a positive note, we were able to get some extra snuggles in - I didn't want him to get all wrapped up in the (really short) chord after all!

The Scoop on Bryce's Birthday...

2010-10-10T08:23:00.000-07:00

After being discharged from Holland Hospital Friday 9/24, we were instructed to go home "get some rest" and come back at 8 am Saturday morning 9/25. Easier said than done! Saturday 9/25 was a date that we had anticipated the first annual Walk for Water fundraiser for Water Missions International for a long long time. Well, babies come when babies come! We were blessed with friends that were willing to take Leah so my parents could run the fundraiser all day with out a 2 year old "helper". This is us, dropping Leah off on our way to the hospital (which incidently, we passed the water purification machine and my parents on their way to setting up). I have labeled this picture 'Before there were 4'

The day went smoothly, but a bit longer than we had expected. I went in and was dialted to a 3 and almost all the way efaced...but it still took 12 hours for our little one to arrive. I was hooked up to pitocin and a bunch of fluids and away we ..sat around. The epidural was granted and put in about 2 pm in the hopes that it would allow them to crank up the pitocin and get the party started! We sat around some more....mainly because I was numb and was a captive audience.

At 7 pm our wonderful nurse was leaving...but she wanted to check one more time if I had progressed and if I had, she was going to stay until he was born. How sweet!! I hadn't really, so we said our goodbyes and thankyou's and the new nurse was going to come in...Between 7 pm and 7:13pm, I went from 8 cm to "complete"!! It must have been the whiff of a competition between me and the lady in the room next door. We began pushing, the dr. came in and Bryce Matthew was born at 8:02 pm. What a miracle he is!

Leah came to meet her baby brother the next morning. She was wearing a big sister shirt that was given to her by her babysitters the day before. Cute guys!! She was very interested and loving for about 3 minutes and then tried to destroy the hospital room for the rest of the time she visited...we knew our work was cut out for us!

This is Bryce chillin' in his bed. We were checking out name books in the hospital...just to be sure on his name and came across Bryce....meaning "Alert and Ambitious" yep, looks about right?

We passed the 'put your baby in the carseat' test and were cleared to go home to start a new chapter in our life! What a great time it has been so far!! to be continued...

Tractor

2010-10-07T06:05:00.000-07:00

Rick and Leah are doing lots of yard work together while I am inside keeping tabs on Bryce.

Rick figured it was time to teach Leah to drive the tractor - which is her dream come true. She LOVES all things tractor!!

Apparently there is a song that the singer yells out "Big Truck" and that is what she is yelling at the end of the video though it is almost impossible to decipher.

baby boy

2010-09-25T18:37:00.000-07:00

bryce mathew vb, born

8:02pm, 20.5" long, and 8.3lbs, healthy and hungry, love him.

2010-09-25T16:27:00.000-07:00

its go time, yeah.

6 hours in....

2010-09-25T11:18:00.001-07:00

I finally have some good news to report. I am now dialated to a 4 and 90% effaced. The doctor just broke my water and the epidural is on it's way!

The staff all seems to think this was the "jump start" that we've been waiting for and things will move quickly from here.

a Baby Story Part 2

2010-09-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hello He-VB fans! Today is finally the day we get to meet our little guy!! Yesterday we went to the dr and found that my blood pressure was quite elevated and they put me on a monitor to watch the baby's movements. From there, they decided there were a couple red flags and they sent me over to the Hospital for a "Biophysical Profile". That included sitting on the monitor for a few hours and an ultra sound to meaure movements, breathing patterns and fluid levels. The baby checked out GREAT but they found that my fluid level was a 6.5 and anything under 10 is a concern. I guess they don't let you leave the hospital if you're under 5 because of the risks to the baby. SO, the decision was made to move my induction up from Tuesday, September 28 to Saturday am, September 25. They put me on bed rest and told me to take it easy for the night.

It was stressful to sit on the couch and try and relax when there were so many things to get done. All in good time, right?

So, at this point, it's 10 am, we've been at the hospital for 2 hours and on pitocin for about an hour. The doctor says my contractions are coming along very nicely and regularly and the baby looks good so far!

There was only 1 scare this morning when they noticed my elevated blood pressure they said there is a slight chance if my blood platelet level is low I MAY not be able to get an epidural....uuuuhhhh, yeah. So, we're praying that those levels stay within normal and I can be as comfortable as possible through out the day.

We're excited to see how the day unfolds!!!

Leah and Cousin Tyler

2010-09-20T05:46:00.000-07:00

I had the "pleasure" of turning 30 last week. Holly, Kyle and their 5 week old baby Tyler came and brought dinner over to celebrate...it's just easier to stay home with Leah the world's busiest 2 year old, me being 9 1/2 months pregnant and mix that with the 5 week old baby and his momma having gallstones, it all made sense to hang out at home.
Leah is really enjoying getting to know her new cousin and has some new phrases "sshhh, it's ok baby, shhh" was our favorite.

Leah - 2 years old!!

2010-09-20T05:35:00.000-07:00

We are so blessed to have such a happy, healthy and active 2 year old!! We had a great birthday celebration including Leah's new cousin Tyler!!

d.o.n.e.!

2010-09-07T10:54:00.000-07:00

Well, despite a very busy Labor Day weekend consisting of a wedding, and a wonderful concert in Detroit, we were able to achieve my goal of being finished and prepared for HE-VB's arrival.
A big thank you to Katy for painting the nursery!! Apparently, Leah is taking a bow for all the hard work she has done as well.

What a ham! Leah is very excited to meet her little brother. She has been convinced that

this bedroom that used to be hers is now her "brudder's".

And of course, while mommy was working on this project this weekend, someone snuck into the oreos. It's amazing what she can reach on the kitchen counter now!! We are very excited to meet this little guy and hopefully it will be sooner than later. Our last dr's appt didn't really show many signs for hope, but I'm told that could change quickly! :)

Swimming

2010-08-24T13:48:00.001-07:00

Leah is getting smarter and smarter with every day that goes by!! This morning she asked if it was Water Wednesday...which is an activity they do at school every Wednesday involving bathing suits, sprinklers, water tables etc. I shook my head and said, "Nope, today is 2 in 2 days Tuesday!!". I can't believe our baby is turning 2 already!! Here is a nice shot of her swimming over the weekend. She did quite well, but really, how could she not have with swimmies AND a swim ring on!

New Bedroom for Leah!

2010-08-11T12:09:00.000-07:00

Leah is doing such a great job lately of embracing her almost 2-year-old-ness, we're so proud of her! Sunday was the first day we attempted to put her to sleep in her big girl bed for nap time, and she did great! So, Sunday night we decided it was time for no turning back, and tried out her new bedroom. Last night was night # 3 and she slept ALL night! For those of you that may not know, that is an amazing feat...she sleeps through the night MAYBE once a week, so we're going to cross our fingers that this becomes a more common habit at our house! I now have jumped in headfirst on transforming the nursery into HE-VB's room. There's so much to be done before he comes, but we're enjoying the change!!

It's been nice and hot these past few days, so we took Leah down to the local splash pad. She had a great time running in and out of the water and signing that it was cold.

Here is a video of her activity, if you catch at the end that a motorcycle drove by, that is what she is signing with her right hand. (what a smart girl!)

The other weekend, Rick went to our friends Kevin and Maggie's house to help with a car repair and took Leah with him. Their daughter Charlotte and Leah had a cocktail while they waited. Thanks Maggie for sending this picture, it's adorable!!

July's come and GONE!

2010-07-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to think how fast time goes in the grand scheme of things! I am 31 1/2 weeks along and the nesting phase is in full effect! Rick is doing a great job of getting projects done for me so we can start transitioning Leah into her new bedroom and we can get started on HeVB's room!
Here is Rick and Leah paging through her favorite picture book of her first year.

Also, my tummy is getting in the way of my snuggle time with Leah, so I guess it's not just the 2 of us anymore! Leah cuddles up to her brother and gives him good night kisses. Also, there is a game at her school to have all the kids walk around with balls under their shirts, this morning Leah was walking around with one and someone asked her what it was and she stated very clearly, "It's a baby!" I think she's getting the hint!! She continues to keep us on our toes and laughing at all the new words that she's coming up with lately. Her favorite phrase is "wut bappin?" translation: what happened? Her favorite babysign is the sign for ice cream, she is constantly whipping out her imiginary ice cream cone and giving it a couple licks and then signs that it's cold. I will also try and follow up with a video of this cute occurance.

Busy-Body

2010-07-09T08:32:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of a typical evening at the VB house....Leah finds some interesting things to play with when mommy is doing the dishes or has her back turned. Last night was no different. She learned how to get into the box where we keep all the items that may poke an eye out...etc. I found her sitting in the box and it prompted the video.

She is adding words to her dictionary every day - I believe I heard "what happened" in the correct context - and another one of her favorite phrases is "where did it go"...you may have to listen closely to translate it, but that's what it is!

Also, baby boy VB is doing well - we're happily in the 3rd trimester and moving right along. According to the last doctor visit we were still measuring right on schedule and I passed the real glucose test so no diabetes diet for Mommy!

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

2010-06-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

One of Leah's favorite books is Brown Bear Brown Bear....so we went to John Ball Park Zoo over Memorial Day weekend and found a brown bear for her. She had a great time looking at the animals but her favorites were definitely the monkeys. She was trying to imitate their gestures which was a priceless things to watch. :)

Daddy and Leah really enjoyed the aquarium as well - watching all the big fish swim by. Good photo op!

These are the sunglasses from way back when she was a baby. She still enjoys putting them on and hanging out around the house.

And of course, I can't resist putting on the 4 sister picture! We spent some bittersweet family time last week with the passing of our Grandma. BUT it was a great time to catch up with Aunti So and a lot of other out of town relatives during the funeral functions over the weekend. Grandma B will be missed but your spunk lives on in all of us...even Leah!!

Summer 2010 is Here!

2010-05-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

Oh thank heaven for summer! There are so many fun things going on in the VB house lately!! Rick installed a cute little bike seat for Leah and they've been taking little rides here and there- mostly to watch the fountains aka "bubbles" in Royal Park Condos. We rode to my parent's for Sunday dinner this week and apparently, the ride was very soothing and relaxing for the passenger.

Leah has started to take an interest in the "potty". She is demonstrating this interest by taking off her pants / diaper at random times throughout the day. We decided it was time to get her her own potty, but she hasn't quite caught on that she needs to actually stay seated for a duration of time. But...when does she stay seated at all anyways? We aren't pushing it, but I think it's a step in the right direction.

This is just one of Leah's cute little summer outfits. Oh, there are MANY more to come. I love seeing the little leg rolls come out from their winter hybernation!

Someone CLEARLY did not check the weather for this week.....we're having fun with some new interests in picking her own clothes and for instance, wearing a rain coat on a sunny day. I wonder where she might get that from?????

Baby BOY VB is doing very well. He is growing daily and we're a little past the halfway mark. I will post belly pics someday. :)

Easter 2010

2010-04-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

Spring is here and we're super excited! This is a picture of Leah in her Easter dress. I apologize for my facial expression as I didn't realize I got into the glamour shot also...Leah enjoyed her new outfit and kept the headband on her head for almost an hour!

Here is a random picture of just her little cuteness. I couldn't resist posting this one! She's starting to look so old!

Annnnd, here's just another day at the VB's getting ready for school in the morning. If you notice the bruise on her left cheek, that was actually added AFTER her spring pictures! She's catching on that she's not allowed to mark up her face until she is done getting her school pictures taken. These are the same school pictures that her teacher had to call me and tell me she was BEGGING for pigtails. We can't wait to see the pictures!!

Also, an update on VB2 - we had a doctor's appointment last week and all seemed well. The heartbeat was 144 bpm. Our ultrasound is scheduled for April 28....we cannot WAIT to find out if Leah is having a brother or a sister!!

19 Months!!

2010-03-31T05:46:00.000-07:00

19 months old- already! Leah is losing all baby-ness about her and definitely an active toddler! She is adding a few words a week to her cute little vocabulary such as mommy, stuck, duck, shoes, toes, bubbles (which she confuses for water), da-da, woof, and makes a "vroom" sound for motorcycle. We are starting to try and play with a baby-doll during playtime to try and get her used to having a baby around. We use words like gentle ALOT and hopefully she will be fully "big-sister" trained by the time the new baby arrives this fall. Leah is learning some new habits such as climbing and standing on furniture. How can you be mad when you turn around and see her sitting so nicely on this kitchen chair, paging through a magazine? She is up on the Hollywood news for sure! She definitely has an idea of what she wants to do. It mostly involves the word "Elmo or Bob". Although Leah will NOT sit down to watch a movie on the tv, she WILL sit in front of Youtube watching little video clips of Veggie Tales or Elmo's World. When we are finished or say, no to her requests, she throws quite the trantrum. Hopefully this phase will pass...a strong willed child is a GOOD thing, later in life right?

We have added a new toy to the VB house - a play kitchen for Leah! This is with hopes that she will extend her attention span to more than a few seconds and also maybe it will teach her valuable life skills. I know that I have probably spent longer playing with the new kitchen than making real food in my own. Whoops.

I apologize for not posting a bunch of pictures lately...as many of you know, Leah is BUSY. She doesn't sit still for more than a few seconds and it makes picture taking very difficult! Her friend Rogue comes over about once a week to play and we have tried many times for that "perfect" photo op. This is Rogue running away from the chair and Leah is doing summersaults on the chair. They are EVERYWHERE. They have HILARIOUS dance parties and I promise to get a video to post of moshing 1 year olds.

I was delighted and a bit saddened when I picked this pig-tail girl up from school yesterday - her teachers LOVE to style her hair and she kept her pig tails in all day long! They say that she twirls them around her finger. We're all convinced she will be a girly girl. She also steals jewelry from who ever she can and walks around very proudly displaying it.

Leah is certainly a ball of energy, we try to come up with new ways to exert this so she will sleep well at night - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I especially like her exibiting the baby sign for "more" when I tell her to jump more. She is picking up more and more signs - some are a bit skewed, but we eventually figure out what she is trying to communicate.

Pnemonia

2010-03-02T10:40:00.000-08:00

We had a little pnemonia excitement last week in our house and had to visit the doctor. Apparently, Leah was worried about catching a chill and had to keep her hat on.

This is a good summary of how we feel when Leah is sick, she must have felt the same way. We are thankful for a speedy and full recovery back into normal life!

Opposite

2010-02-16T13:54:00.000-08:00

This picture just shows how Leah's parents are teaching her to be well-rounded and cultured in lots of things. Last post showed her tough side, this post, however shows the complete opposite. This is the soft, pink, cuddly girly side of our little lady! She really enjoyed playing around the house Saturday in her jammies + tutu that she received for Christmas this year.

Tough Kid

2010-02-04T13:29:00.001-08:00

When Leah was still baking in my tummy, Rick decided that he didn't want Leah to be ALL girly. So, in trying to keep up with that dream for her, he has to make sure she has a "wild" streak. The first pictures of of her sweet mohawk and the second picture is Daddy and Leahs' "tough" faces while sporting their matching wife beaters. They make me laugh constantly!

Weekend

2010-01-12T15:36:00.000-08:00

We're still here! We finally had our 15 month well-baby check up last week. Leah weighed in at 23 lbs and 3 oz. (up 3 ounces from 12/8/09) and 31 3/4" inches tall (up 1 3/4 inches since 128/8/09). She is in wonderful health and for that we are very thankful! Leah decided to experiment with drinking her yogurt the other day..it was almost bathtime, so I figured why not?! Well - this is why not. She tried her luck again the next morning with her oatmeal. We're going to stay away from running foods for a while in hopes that she forgets that trick.

We had a productive weekend and replaced a toilet. Leah enjoyed climbing in and out and reading her favorite book of the week - Brown Bear Brown Bear. She hasn't attempted to do this with any of the fully functioning toilets...yet. She is SUPER busy all the time and makes us laugh constantly. Our lives would be boring without her, that's for sure!

Lastly, Leah learned to give kisses and it melts our hearts every single time!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-31T06:35:00.000-08:00

The VB family had a great Christmas this year! We are thankful to have such a great family and everyone is healthy. Christmas Eve was spent with Rick's family, and Leah REALLY enjoyed playing with her cousins. She hardly sat still the whole night - so much fun!

My parents gave Leah her very own rocking chair for Christmas and she LOVES to sit and rock in it. She even learned a new word "weeeee" and says it while she rocks.

She also discovered a new favorite spot to play - we are in the process of getting a new dishwasher (YAY!) and she found the new cubby such an exciting new place to play! Needless to say, plug covers were put in almost immediately after her discovery. She is growing so fast and seems SO tall lately! She most definitely makes us laugh a lot throughout the day!

Utensils

2009-12-20T12:46:00.000-08:00

Leah's getting pretty crafty when it comes to climbing and retrieving toys. She is also climbing on furniture very well. Thankfully, she is a bit of a clumsy child so she has perfected the art of falling without getting hurt (usually). There may be a career in stunts ahead.

Ho ho ho Merry Christmas!

Leah gets a report card on her activities everyday from her teachers at school. It has categories such as nap times, meal times, diaper changes and activities...this week, we got a report card home and a specific box was checked "used utensils without help". While I was crying inside, I decided to test this report out to see if they were pulling my leg...please enjoy the video.

Christmas Program 2009

2009-12-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

We had the joy and privilege of attending Leah's 2nd annual school Christmas program last night. She seemed to enjoy her time on stage. As you may recall, last year she was the youngest one in the program and was hypnotized by the stage lights. This year....well...let's just say she enjoyed being on the stage. The theme was "Christmas Around the World" (hence the Dutch costume). Leah started out on her teacher's lap a little unsure of what was happening.

Then, she started to feel a bit more comfortable once the older kids started singing.

She REALLY enjoyed when the audience clapped for the performers - if I could read her mind she would have been thinking "they like me, they really like me"...she would get a joyful look on her face and clap along.

Then, she got MUCH more comfortable - here is a short video of a little bit of her stage performance. I believe she was blowing kisses to her fans. She also did a bit of dancing which I did not capture, but it sure did capture me!! I am looking forward to next year.

VB Dance Party

2009-11-22T16:18:00.000-08:00

We were pleasantly suprised that Leah chose to debut her mad dancing skills this weekend for us. They have a "music and movement" segment at school everyday and it looks like she's been learning lots!! Sorry the camera is shaking I was laughing too hard to hold it steady.

Bucket List

2009-11-11T15:38:00.000-08:00

Leah is developing such a funny little sense of humor. She continues to enjoy walking around with a bucket on her head. I hope you enjoy!

In other news, she is starting to jibber jabber quite a bit. One of these days it will turn into complete sentences that I can understand!! Also we are noticing a few molars popping through her gums - we believe there are 4 are making their appearance at once. Poor thing!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

Leah had a great Halloween weekend. Her school hosted a harvest party on Friday morning where the kids dressed up in their costumes and went trick or treating at a business across the parking lot from her school. All the employees were dressed in their costumes and handed out tons of candy! Then we went back and shared some snacks.

Leah wasn't to sure about the whole trick or treating, but when it came time to have a snack, she was all about it! These are the tables and chairs that they have their breakfast, lunch and snacks at during the day in her classroom. It's amazing that they get 11 children under the age of 2 to sit so nicely! I have to give the teachers props for that!!

As for her costume, Leah was a fuzzy green monster. It was a great costume considering it was quite chilly for trick or treating. She learned that monsters say "raaarrr" and actually did it on command a couple times over the weekend.

Too cute!

Head Gear Part # 2

2009-11-01T16:58:00.000-08:00

Leah got this adorable little hat that my mom made, and she seems quite proud of it!

Thanks Mom!

Halloween Preview

2009-10-20T07:05:00.001-07:00

We had the pleasure of attending a pumkpin carving/costume party for a lot of our friends and their kids Sunday. We are so blessed to have such a great group of friends...as well as all having healthy kids! Leah is the green furry monster to the far right. This costume was originally worn by Snow White (two kids over) when she was that size. They grow so fast! Leah was NOT happy to be in the picture because she wanted to keep eating the yummy donuts! She perked back up after a delicious hot dog roast. Thank you Dykstra's for hosting!!

Head Gear

2009-10-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

Now that we have cooler weather, we were excited to break out some new accessories. Leah got this adorable little hat for her birthday. Too bad I was wearing brown - but if you can't see, there are the cutest little ears on the hat.

I found this little gem in Shipshewana this summer. The hood makes her look like a little gnome and it probably just as tall as she is. I can't get enough and giggle every time I put it on. She is thrilled, as you can probably tell.

Leah is officially starting her first full day in the next classroom up at school tomorrow. She has been visiting for a few hours at a time here and there. She is doing quite well and adapting nicely to the new teachers and kids. This is the room they learn to sit in real chairs, eat their meals sitting at a table, and they take naps on little cots. From what I hear, Leah will advance by leaps and bounds during the next year in this new room. We are blessed to be able to send her to such a great place during the day!

Little Helper

2009-10-08T13:51:00.001-07:00

Leah has been a bit under the weather and not too smiley in pictures lately....but we're coming out of the worst of it and we're beginning to see the real Leah again...and it's good to have her back! She has recently taken on walking around the house with a bucket on her head. She seems to enjoy running into walls and has the bruises on her forehead to prove it. She giggles from under the bucket after she falls over, so it must be entertaining to her!

She has also started to turn into mommy's little helper and enjoys playing with the dishwasher (or in the dishwasher, rather). She is facinated watching the trays roll in and out. It's amazing how simple things can be mind-blowing to a toddler.

Crane's 09

2009-09-30T07:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday afternoon we went with some friends to pick apples at Crane's Orchard. My FAVORITE!

Leah preferred to pick the apples from the ground, she must be an efficiency expert.

Leah was very tired from the family fun and zonked out on the way home.

12 Month Well-baby Checkup

2009-09-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Today, Leah and I got to go to visit her favorite doctor for her 12 month checkup. We are thankful to report Leah is the picture of a healthy little girl and is developing right on track.
The doctor asked if she was gesturing with her hands yet as she asked, Leah blew a kiss to her. Good girl!

The stats are that she is about 30 inches tall, and 21 lbs. She is 75th percentile for her height and 50th for her weight. Very good!

We are still going to stay away from giving her regular cow's milk for now in hopes that she is still outgrowing her dairy sensitivity, but she will be completely done with bottles by the end of this week...(according to my plan). She had 5 shots and 1 finger poke, but she understood that they were for her own good...and even though she screamed and cried, she was able to calm down and was sleeping by the time I dropped her back off at school.

Labor Day Weekend FUN!

2009-09-07T18:13:00.000-07:00

What a FUN holiday weekend! Friday, Tracy and I chaperoned an outing for Leah and Deacon for dinner and a romantic sunset stroll on the beach. Leah enjoyed a pickle-on-a-stick for dinner while Deacon preferred a soft pretzel.

Leah had never experienced sand before, so Deacon helped her get a feel for it. It was just too cute!

We also visited Lawrence St. Park on Labor Day. Leah enjoyed the playground equipment, especially the SLIDE!

Peek-a-boo!

Really? A YEAR?

2009-09-07T18:05:00.001-07:00

My sister has generously offered to do a photo album of Leah's first year. For those of you who may not know, I am TERRIBLE at stuff like that. I believe that some of my friends had an intervention with me and tried to train me to start taking pictures before Leah was born. I am thankful they did!! I have been going through hundreds of photo's for this album and I seem to be having a hard time believing that a whole year has gone by! I still think of Leah as she is in the first picture, it's unbelievable that she has grown so much and turned into a little person! Thanks Holly for taking on this challenge - I know we will cherish this book FOREVER!!

Random Pics

2009-09-04T05:20:00.001-07:00

It was kind of fun earlier this week to break out some of the new fall clothes with the cooler weather. Leah was spoiled for her birthday and got a bunch of REALLY cute new outfits...
Also, one of her favorite toys is her cell phone. She gets pretty excited when she has a call coming in.

Bath time is always lots of fun!

Here is a great example of Leah using BabySigns asking for more. Rick was eating Trix cereal (yes, Trix are for kids) and she was using her signs in the right context while being a bit silly.

Family

2009-08-26T05:59:00.000-07:00

It is amazing to think that 1 year ago today, we were holding our new precious baby in our arms and became a new family. Happy Birthday to our precious baby Leah. We love you with all of our hearts.

boo-boo's and shoes

2009-08-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

Rick and I enjoyed a night away with friends this past weekend, but we were also excited to get home to our little lady. About 12 minutes after we walked in the door, Leah tripped over her own feet and landed forehead first into a wall.

The poor thing, we went into first parent crisis mode - talking about concussions and head injuries while we tried to hold ice onto the swelling bump. Thankfully, we think she is fine and there was no brain damage. :) She has forgiven us for our panicky parenting!

Also, during this past week, Leah has started to wear real shoes. She was originally going to be moving up to the next age classroom at her school where socks and shoes are a full-time requirement, so we figured it was time to start getting her used to them. The first morning we put them on her, she was quite confused and then was even more confused when she tried to walk. It literally looked like she was walking in moon-boots, she picked her feet up so high. Have you ever put booties on a cat? (me neither) That is the same idea... It was hilarious! She isn't thrilled at all about them and she hasn't kept them on for more than an hour at a time at school. We'll get used to them slowly - and we're allowed to because now she isn't moving up at school until about November.

51 weeks

2009-08-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

One week from today, Leah will be a year old! I am having trouble believing that a whole year has gone by! She is learning new things every day - she has officially said her first word " Uh-oh". She points and says "uh-oh" to everything. This is a picture of her reading her favorite book. Over, and over and over ....this is a flip book and some of the flip-out pictures have been ripped out due to over-use. She has a certain picture that she kisses every time she sees it.

Leah's friend Rogue came to play Sunday night - they get along pretty well - if they're not after the same toy. They're both getting so big - it's so much fun to watch them together.

1st Birthday Party

2009-08-18T05:29:00.001-07:00

Ok, ok...I am sorry...I've been busy! Better late then never, I say! The weekend of Aug 8/9 - we had LOTS going on. We had my cousin's wedding which my oldest sister and her beau flew in to attend. We get to see them if we're lucky, twice a year, so it's always a treat when they come! (Thanks!) With the wedding, we had a majority of my dad's side of the family home, so we opted for a family picture. We took a few of our own - this is me and my 3 sisters. We don't get many opportunities to take these kinds of photos so we leap at the chance. Don't we So!?

We figured that the wedding was in Leah's birthday month - close enough, so we planned Leah's first birthday party for Sunday so that all of her aunties could attend. We had a GREAT turn out and even though it was a bit hot, it was a great time! We are again, very overwhelmed with the outpouring of love for our little girl. Thanks everyone!

Leah very much enjoyed her first taste of cake. A girl after her mommy's heart! She has been learning baby sign language and had just perfected the sign for "more". Here is a picture of her frantically asking for more cake. What a smartie!!

This is how I look if I get cake in front of me too.

Big Girl

2009-08-05T19:57:00.001-07:00

Each day with Leah gets more and more fun! She is learning so many new things so quickly! She has a preference on which book she is reading, and has even on occasion, brought a book to me and crawled into my lap so I can read it to her. It melts my heart each time she does it!

She has also decided that fitness is a wonderful thing. Health needs to be maintained by regular exercise...here is an example of her doing her Downward Facing Dog Yoga pose.....and as of 7 pm this evening, she has added WALKING to her list of exercises!! She all of a sudden walked all the way across the living room (towards her friend Deacon) and shocked us ALL! What a HUGE milestone today!!

And of course, she needs to be a good helper in the kitchen, after all, a healthy diet is important too! She learned that opening the drawer and cubbards make a cool loud noise. Perhaps it's time for some child safety locks!

11 months old

2009-07-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

Our little Leah turned 11 months old on Sunday. 11 MONTHS ALREADY! Can you tell I am getting a bit emotional about the next month milestone?

Leah is starting to stand for a few seconds at a time on her own and is VERY quick to cruise around furniture or crawl across the room. She has so many new tricks but she needs to WANT to do them for you otherwise she just makes her parents look a bit foolish attempting to show them off.

Rick and I enjoyed a night off up north with some of our friends. Leah stayed at my parents house over night. She did really well and probably didn't even realize we were gone!

Her 4th tooth showed up Sunday night. She now has the two bottom middle teeth and two top teeth - not the middle, but on each side of the middle - maybe incisors? Rachel? She looks quite hick-ish without the top middle teeth, but we forgive her cuz she's so cute!

Now, I hope you enjoy the video and please excuse the prodding from the peanut gallery :)

'Woah'

2009-07-21T13:04:00.001-07:00

The O-face as Leah's teachers are calling it developed about 2 weeks ago out of the blue one morning, much to my delight. She is the cutest thing ever while saying Oh, or Woah as we're calling it...I will try and capture it on a short video but I haven't been able to do it yet without making a complete idiot of myself while trying to encourage this little trick.

just to post

2009-07-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

I know I have been a slacker lately....I promise I will put a much better post up soon. This is where you can find Leah 80% of the time when we're home. She just loves this toy as do I. It keeps her well entertained!
Also, I believe that she took her first 2 un-assisted steps on Friday evening. She was turning and walking towards me and I am PRETTY sure she was not hanging on to the item she was standing by...it all happened so fast...but I will keep on watching for the FOR SURE thing! It won't be long, I am sure of it! Look out world!

July 4, 2009

2009-07-10T05:01:00.000-07:00

We had a great 4th of July weekend! Our family went to hang out with some friends at the Dykstra house. They had some pretty neat toys that Leah felt she needed to test drive. We found that she seems to be a natural driver - which she MUST get from her daddy!

She is aware of other vehicles around her, and she may have asked for a little Grey Poupon....

(remember that commercial?)

And of course, she is also respectful of the environment and doesn't mind carpooling once in a while. It's so great to have such fun friends!

10 months old!

2009-06-29T07:18:00.001-07:00

Leah is now double digits! We can't believe that she is 10 months old already! We had a great weekend full of family bonding time. Leah saw all 3 of her grandma's this weekend, 1 great grandma, a great-great aunt, and she also met her aunt and 2 cousins that live out of state. We went to a fun pool party where Leah got to try her hand and swimming. She wasn't too sure about it, but accepted it with style (as long as she had her pacifier). Silly girl.

Sunday, Leah's friend Rogue came to check out Leah's new earrings. Yes, earrings. At the pool party, Grandma Dawn had sticker earrings for the girls and we decided that it was so cute...and we headed to the Piercing Pagoda the very next day. Leah was a TROOPER!! She was so happy and didn't take long to recover afterwards with some good snuggle time - and of course play time with Rogue!

Here is the after-shot. We felt a bit guilty causing our baby pain at beauty's expense....but she's just so darn cute!

She is doing very well with the after-care (which I was concerned with) and doesn't seem to mind getting told how cute she is 30 million times a day either. We consider this a MAJOR milestone!

Look Ma, No Hands!

2009-06-25T10:05:00.000-07:00

Look at who can pull herself to standing...and then some! She's learning too much too fast!

Father's Day '09

2009-06-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

Our little family celebrated a great father's day. We spent some good family time at my Grandparent's house for lunch, after which Rick and Leah headed outside to feed the ducks a left over roll. It was really funny because we were all sitting inside gathered around the sliding door, watching how adorable they were just sitting there having some quality time. Leah is blessed to have such a great daddy!! We love you!

9 month well child

2009-06-25T08:11:00.000-07:00

We took our little lady to her 9 month well-child check up on Friday afternoon. She weighed in at 20lbs 3 oz. (50-75th percentile), 29 inches tall (75th percentile) and her head is 44 cm (50-75th percentile). All in all she is very healthy and developmentally on the "normal" track. We didn't have to get ANY shots this time, which was a welcome relief! We are so thankful for a healthy baby!!

Summer Jammies

2009-06-17T08:05:00.001-07:00

I sure am loving the nice summer weather. There are so many more outfits that Leah gets to wear -cute little rompers (as seen above) - thanks Aunt Barb!

and adorable little jammies that I can hardly get enough of.......

...especially with the belly button hanging out!

9 month photo preview

2009-06-09T17:04:00.001-07:00

We had Leah's 9 month pictures taken last week and just got a preview of a few pictures that were posted on the photographer's blog....http://www.marc-photography.net/blog/....scroll down a little ways and you can see the first few photos. They do GREAT work and we're so excited to see the rest of them when they're finished being edited. Enjoy!!

She's MOBILE!

2009-06-08T14:57:00.000-07:00

Leah and I went to visit my Grandparents on Saturday morning as we often do. I started laying out her toys as usual but she suprised us all by crawling towards them!! She has been trying to go forward for about two weeks but always ended up going backwards. (which was super cute as well!)

She has been practicing a lot at her new skills - and is now a pro - I mean, it doesn't look very easy to crawl while wearing a dress. What a lady!!

She is becoming a very observant and quick learner. She is starting to mimic facial expressions especially her "angry face", and also is starting to copy certain gestures like clapping her hands together (or trying, even though she misses 90% of the time). We are having so much fun discovering the world through her eyes.

Leah is also becoming a wiggly sleeper. Plenty of times we check on her at night she is in very different positions than we put her down, her newest favorites are side and tummy sleeping. Hopefully this will encourage her to sleep through the night once in a while. :)

Swinging Along

2009-06-01T07:11:00.001-07:00

We rode our bikes to the park near our house last night to introduce Leah to the thrilling activities such as slides and swings. She wasn't too sure about the slide, but the swings were a BIG hit!!
(forgive me, the pictures were action shots)

I just can't handle this face...she is just so scrumptious!

And of course, we had to capture the giggles on video.

There will be many more trips to Timbertown in our future, guaranteed!

9 months ALREADY!

2009-05-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable- 9 months has passed since Leah arrived. This has been a very fun month for us. She is still figuring out the logistics of crawling...but it won't be long - there is a lot rocking back and forth and other scooting techniques - so we're just waiting for the day she takes off!

She loves to look at books - especially the books with textures - like soft patches or fuzzy pictures. I am SURE she will be a bookworm like some of her aunties!
The classic Leah picture...

She is also starting to enjoy musical instruments...(Auntie Holly) every day she has to play a little tune on her piano.

And of course she enjoys lots of snuggle/napping time with Daddy. You can tell she is SUPER sleeping because her pacifer is dangling from her mouth. Precious moments...

Jammies

2009-05-18T05:40:00.000-07:00

This lady is about ready to crawl! She is up on all 4's a lot of time rocking back and forth. I am sure it's only a matter of days before she takes off after one of the kitties.

Her main form of transportation these days is sitting in this position and moving her legs so it propels her body kind of in circles. She sure is creative!!

My mom and I ventured to Rivertown on Saturday morning and found the cutest jammies ever at the Children's Place. I am now a jammie sucker. :) I think Rick was sick of me gushing over how cut she was in these last night.

Leah is also learning how to eat solid foods - particularly puffs. She is not really sure about what is going into her mouth and I really think it's pretty funny how she rolls it around in her mouth while it disolves. I think it's good that she's starting to mimic the chewing motion - so soon we'll move on to biter biscuits. She's growing up too fast!!

Tulip Time 2009

2009-05-09T08:15:00.001-07:00

Ah, the scent of tulips is in the air....do tulips smell like fried food, or is that elephant ears? Yesterday, we had a GREAT outing. My dad's side of the family (dubbed the Boerman Babes) got together form near and far to celebrate my grandma's 80th birthday. It just so happens that my cousin Heidi (in the first picture) is a Dutch Dancer, so we hopped in the van and went downtown to watch her dance. My mom was thinking ahead and whipped up this special little Dutch Costume - because my sisters and I all wore one the same style when we were little. As an after thought, she remembered that my Grandma had made the same type for Heidi...so it was a little suprise for them all when Leah showed up in a matching costume. You can just IMAGINE how many pictures were taken of them. Soooo cute! Unfortunately, the wooden shoes (pictured in the previous post) didn't fit Leah's too fat of feet. What a fun family day - I am thankful to have such an AWESOME family!! Thanks again Mom for making Leah's costume!

Welcome To Tulip Time!

2009-05-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

Grandpa and Grandma must have had a fun lunch excursion - look at what came back to my office with Grandpa.....(the envelope is to show size). How CUTE!!! Leah is so lucky to have such loving grandparents. :) Thanks!!

Longest Post Ever.

2009-05-04T05:49:00.000-07:00

Now that Leah is here, I am learning a wonderful thing about garage sales - you can find some REALLY cool stuff! This is Leah's new favorite toy. It has activities on each side and doubles as storage. Seriously, so COOL! I found myself playing with it, as well as the cats. I think there will be hours of fun with this thing. Yay garage sales! (you can also see the mini piano in the back ground, Rick has banned new toys at our house for a while)

Friday night we all had the pleasure of having Rogue over to play with Leah. They were just too cute in all their purple-ness that we spent a lot of time taking pictures of them. They are 3 1/2 months apart and I am SURE they will be B.F.F.'s.

It is almost impossible to pose to kiddos that don't sit up well by themselves yet, but we had a lot of laughs trying!! Here are some out-takes.

F. U.N.!! Thanks for letting us play Krakers!

Our precious baby is growing up so fast. She is 8.1 months (according to her daddy) old already! Milestones of this week are she is So close to crawling. She is finding creative ways of transporting herself around and I know it's a matter of days before it clicks in her mind and she takes off - before we get the baby gate up. She also has HER FIRST TOOTH!!! I found it by accident when she was randomly chewing on my finger. It is on the bottom right and I admit, I cried - not because it hurt, but she's just growing and changing SO fast!!

Spring is my favorite time of year at our house...we have a gorgeous flowering tree in the front yard, so Rick decided Leah needed to explore the tree and the flowers. She was kind of curious but I think she was more curious about why she was so high up in the air. She loved it!

It was my dad's birthday yesterday - a special day for our family since we have a renewed appreciation for his life! Leah was happy to be hanging out with her 2 favorite guys yesterday for her Grandpa's birthday dinner.

We also experience our first parade at the Dandelion Festival in good 'ole Borculo. That was sumthin! I wanted to see how Leah reacted to 'parade activity' before I got all pscyched up about Tulip Time - she did GREAT and enjoyed all the people watching. I think we're going to attempt to get to the big parade on Saturday. Stay tuned for pictures!!!

nice weekend

2009-04-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

The weather so GREAT on Saturday, so we took our first family bike ride. This is Leah not sure what to expect out of this interesting cart looking contraption. She did great! We visited the Little's house for a bit - and played with all the kiddo's!! FUN - thanks for letting us crash the party!

And of course, as Michigan weather does, it was super cold the next day...a lady at Rick's work made a BUNCH of really cute little socks - so here is a picture of one of the pairs. Some had beads, some had the floss. They're adorable. THANK YOU KIM!

Last but not least...the sweater. Leah's Great Grandma (or GG) made this sweater for one of our shower presents and it fits right now. My favorite is that the hood goes into the point. And I promise that she doesn't ALWAYS have her pacifier in...it just so happened that all of these 3 pictures, did. I'll be more conscious of that from now on! :)

Casual Friday

2009-04-17T05:26:00.000-07:00

Leah's a in a BIG GIRL car seat! She seems to be comfortable in it - as she fell asleep on one of our first outings in it. It's hard to get used to, but it's nice not having 30 lbs of child + car seat to carry around everywhere now!!

Yes, I am in love with her outfit today. Jeans and a collared shirt. She was pretty excited about the nice weather that we're having, so bring on the t-shirts!!

And, we cannot forget the dinosaur sweatshirt. Her auntie Heather picked this little gem up a little while back. I remember thinking how HUGE it looked....

It fits now!! Thanks Heather, we LOVE it!

Happy to be home!

2009-04-13T09:53:00.001-07:00

This wasn't Leah's actual Easter dress, but it is cute anyways - please excuse the drool - we feel as though she is teething and the drool just keeps coming...

Leah was so excited to get home back to all her fun toys!!

The Whole Clan

2009-04-09T11:11:00.001-07:00

As I may have mentioned before, we all go out for din-din together once during vacation. Here is a good picture of all of us together. 15 total. Special!! :)

This is Leah and my (single) cousin Tom. She wanted to help him pick out what he was having for dinner. It was a great night!

Charleston Playdate

2009-04-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

As many of you may know, my dad does a lot of work with WaterMissions International on water purifcation projects. They happen to be located in Charleston - just a few miles from where we stay. George III is the founder, he has a son George IV that also works there...and George V made his arrival last March. We thought it would be fun for Leah to have a playdate with George V....so he and his parents came over for a bit yesterday afternoon. They had a GREAT time playing - they may have even held hands for a brief moment. Too cute!!

Day 3/4

2009-04-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today brought lots of family fun and togetherness. Yesterday, Dad, Leah and I went to pick Rosemary up from the airport while the rest of the clan went on a tour of Cypress Gardens. I was so excited get Rosemary, that I was a bit clumsy and slammed my thumb in the car door. Officer Leo was very kind and bandaged me up and advised me to keep it elevated.

Then, every spring break, Grandpa O likes to take the whole family out for a nice dinner at our favorite spot, California Dreaming. We decided that Tuesday was a good night to do that, so we all caravaned into the city and enjoyed a GREAT dinner. After that, we all rode through the city for a refresher course of the historical houses and landmarks. Charleston is SUCH a rich city and I forgot how beautiful it was.

Today, we're hoping it gets up to 60 degrees so we can at least venture out for a walk or something later on.

Day 2, part 2

2009-04-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

dining room tables are for eating....so we hear.

Naptime with Grandpa - but he SAYS that he wasn't actually sleeping and it was staged for photographic purposes....believe that if you wish. :)

Just cuz she was so cute at bath-time...there's a couple more pictures. Don't mind me - it was early in the am.

Spring Break - Day 2

2009-04-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

Day # 2 - we love vacation! Leah got to take a bath in the kitchen sink this morning after eating breakfast with Ima and Grandpa.

How many computers can you count in this picture....there are 6 laptops in our condo right now. Apparently we need to stay connected to home life on vacation - shocking....

We all enjoy typing listening to the waves...ahhhh.

Sping Break -Day 1

2009-04-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a busy day of packing up Leah and my suitcase and getting ready for our big trip. Leah enjoyed the packing experience - and thought this was how she had to travel.

We left our house at 4 am - Leah was a TROOPER! Here she is getting ready for her first airplane right with Uncle Ky-Ky and Auntie Holly-hol. She did SO great on both our flights to Charleston. She slept for most of the time and enjoyed all the people watching in between. We are thankful for a smooth and safe trip!

Playtime

2009-04-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

I love playtime.

7 months old!

2009-03-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

Leah is officially 7 months old today! We tried to get some good pictures before she went to school this morning, but she smiled and laughed AFTER each picture was taken. We'll work on that. She is learning Baby Sign Language at school and is starting to pick it up, just a little bit! At least, I like to think that she is, anyways! Note - she IS sitting up all by herself for extended periods of time now! I am working on not reacting too quickly when she falls over into a little heap. She smiles at EVERYTHING now! We think she may be getting her first teeth, she's been a bit cranky in the evenings, but it's nothing that a little tylenol can't fix!

6 month photos

2009-03-26T07:15:00.000-07:00

Our good friend Beth from RubyLu Photography took Leah's 6 month pictures 3 weeks ago, and I thought I would post a couple of them....mmmmm :)

So, We Meet Again....

2009-03-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

Ah, I cannot even describe how amazing this pizza was last night. After almost 7 months of no dairy products...this was a welcomed meal at the VB house. Rick might have been more excited than me - he's excited to have LOTS more meal options with me again!

Baby Babble

2009-03-20T06:53:00.000-07:00

Look who learned to talk this week!!

Very healthy!

2009-03-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

The 6 month well-baby appointment GREAT yesterday! Leah is in perfect health - what a blessing!! She is 17 lbs 9 oz and 26 1/2 inches tall. She is still hovering around the 50th percentile for sizes, but is starting to get towards the 75th in her weight...YES! We of course, had the shots, but she recovered nicely and took a good nap during our 'romantic' dinner at Brann's to celebrate our anniversary.

6 1/2 months!

2009-03-16T08:01:00.001-07:00

I was delighted to see this onsie in 2 different sizes....what a GREAT way to track Leah's growth! She is 6 1/2 months old, and we are going in for our well-baby check up today. I am predicting over 17lbs and 26 inches long - we shall see.

There have been some significant milestones in the past few weeks. Leah is eating many different fruits and vegetables - her favorites right now are PRUNES and Sweet Potatoes. Interesting - she hasn't really not liked any though, so we are hoping that we will be a good eater!

She is sitting up mostly by her self for a few minutes at a time, and she is up almost on her hands and knees during tummy time....I feel as though she will be crawling (or at least scooting) very soon! We are having SO much fun watching her learn new things.

Our favorite from yesterday was sticking her tongue out in and out in and out. I don't know if it will STAY super cute, but we were all very entertained. She also opens and closes her hands as if she is waving a lot, and lastly...but very importantly, she can put her own pacifier back in her mouth...by herself! YAY!!!!!

Today is also our 7 year wedding annivesary - we are both in awe at how fast the 7 years have flown by...but we both agree that this is DEFINITELY our favorite!

Sunday Dinner

2009-03-02T06:46:00.000-08:00

We go to my parent's house for weekly family dinner on Sunday afternoons. Leah has a much better time if she can see people's faces and take attendance. My parents received this little chair as a gift when she was born, so we decided to try it out yesterday. The chair practically swallows her, but she seemed very comfortable. She eventually got so tired that she started to rest her head on the table. She was ready for the classic Sunday afternoon nap!

Squash

2009-02-24T07:27:00.000-08:00

Our little punkin enjoyed her first taste of baby food last night. You wouldn't think squash was an amazing choice, but it seems by the way she devoured it that it was delicious! She was a little upset when I told her we were finished eating. She did so good, we're so proud!

All Better!!

2009-02-24T07:24:00.000-08:00

Just in case we haven't mentioned it, Leah is all better and we're back in a normal schedule again. She is doing SO great in her crib at night. She slept from 6:30 pm to 4 am this morning! YEAH LEAH!!

Tummy Time

2009-02-18T13:08:00.000-08:00

It's so much fun to watch all her new discoveries!!

Healthy sleep habits, happy child

2009-02-16T16:23:00.000-08:00

A while ago, I decided that this was going to be the week that we teach Leah how to sleep in her crib. I've been reading books on how the best way to do this is...but then she got sick and I kind of chickened out. Today, my mom came to watch Leah for a bit so I could go into work for a while. She decided to jump start the sleep training while I was gone. It was a good first day. She took 3 short naps in the crib and is currently down for the night. She fussed for about 20 minutes each time, but not too badly. Hopefully this will be a relatively painless transition. She doesn't seem to be coughing much anymore, so I guess I don't really have an excuse to let her sleep in bed with me while Rick is gone. Thanks mom for making me stick to my guns.

Happy V-day 09

2009-02-14T07:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to allllllll the people we love.

We're feeling MUCH better today!

sleep in heavenly peace

2009-02-13T11:44:00.000-08:00

Oh boy. We decided to take Leah to the doctor today after hearing there was a confirmed RSV case in her classroom....and sure enough, the bad cough mentioned in the post below has just been confirmed as RSV. SAD! Thankfully, she seems to have a mild case and the doctor thinks that she is over the bad part of it. It can be a VERY dangerous virus and a lot of times requires hospitalization. We have God's healing hand over us all the time - and sometimes we don't even acknowedge or realize it....We were told to spend the next week at home chillin' out. We're not allowed to take her back to daycare until she has a clean bill of health next week. Oh yeah, and she has an ear infection as well. That could explain the irritability. Whhoops!

Babin' Suit

2009-02-12T17:46:00.001-08:00

Honestly, I could not WAIT to post this. Leah has been home from school for the past two days with a terrible cough. Sad, I know! I stayed home with her yesterday and Rick stayed home with her today. She wasn't her normal cheery self for him and he decided that they needed to get some "fresh air" and change the scenery for a bit.

What better way to do that, but to shop at Old Navy....he came home with this bathing suit and a sweater for her. I almost cried, it was the most adorable thing. R.D. is the cutest daddy ever!!

Spring Break, here we come!

Reaching

2009-02-11T08:16:00.001-08:00

Our baby is REALLY starting to take notice of things around her...she is very excited to reach out and feel things - and it is just adorable!!

Jumperoo!

2009-02-11T08:12:00.000-08:00

Leah figured out that she has some super-skills in her jumperoo!

This makes her the happiest baby ever!!! What a GREAT toy!!

SuperBowl Sunday

2009-02-03T06:51:00.001-08:00

These lovely ladies had a great time cheering for their favorite team at their first SuperBowl party. Leah and her friend Rogue enjoyed their playtime, even though we had to stop Leah from trying to roll over on Rogue a few times. They are about 3 months apart - I can hardly remember Leah that little! It goes so fast! Thanks to Tracy for remembering her camera to capture the cute moments!

sprinkler

2009-01-26T05:29:00.000-08:00

Leah and Deacon had a little pajama party on Saturday night. I feel as though Leah is doing the sprinkler dance...ah, I'm so proud!