Thursday, June 18, 2009

Genevieve is Six Months!

Our sweet sweet Genevieve is six months old today! Amazing that she is halfway to one year old already! She continues to be our sweet, mellow, smiley baby. Here are some milestones:

- 16.5 lbs (nearly 2 lbs less than Cade and Gabrielle at this age and almost 3 less than Willem).
- She can sit up but not for very long.
- She loves to jump in her jumper (see pics below).
- She is sleeping from about 9:30 pm until 5:00 in her crib then I feed her and she sleeps till 8:00ish with us. We will sometimes put her nukie back in her mouth once in the night if she wakes before 5:00 am.
- Genevieve will take a good 1.5+ hour nap around 10:00 am and then another 1.5+ hr at 2:00 pm in her crib if we are home then she'll take another shorter nap or two in the car or on a walk later in the day.
-Nev is getting good at falling asleep in her crib on her own though we sometimes go to her after a few minutes and put her nuk in one more time to settle her.
- We haven't tried solid food yet, she still just nurses.
- Nev can turn over both ways very easily now. She can get up on all fours and scoot a little; she goes in all directions turning and scooting forward and backward but doesn't make much progress and doesn't seem to have figured out how to consistently move forward or backward.
- Genevieve loves to say babababa or dadadada or lalalala or mamama or just aaaahh.
- Nev continues to love to talk to people and loves to give us smiles.
- She also is pretty ticklish!
- Genevieve still has no teeth but seems to have been teething for a while!
- Lately she's been loving to grab things with her hands and her dexterity has improved a bunch.
- She really seems to recognize and love her siblings!

We sure do love our sweet Genevieve!!

Enjoy some (ok, a lot of!) pictures of our six month old from today in the beautiful weather outside...

almost falling over but holding it together!

she loves checking out the grass!

crawling is next!

sweet little chubby profile!

a smile we can't resist!

love the tongue and crazy hair!


We went for a walk tonight and Genevieve wore my hat. She looked pretty cute....

Not sure what this face is but it is too cute!

check out the drool coming off her chin!

She loves her jumper!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Surprise! Happy Birthday Sheri!

On Saturday evening we went to a surprise birthday party for my good friend, Sheri. I think she was genuinely surprised which took quite an effort! We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Davis' and then wine at B-Squared. It was a great evening with great friends!

A surprised birthday girl!

The girls!

The boys!

Brandy and me with the birthday girl!

And finally, the drinks!

Getting So Big!

While we were at Sheri's birthday party, Grandma and Grandpa watched our kids. We were going to be gone for more than four hours so I got a bottle ready for Genevieve even though it's been a couple months since she's had a bottle. I was a little worried she may not take it but boy was I wrong! She not only took the bottle but held it herself and drank it all and then some! I can't believe she's almost six months old and old enough to hold a bottle!


Thursday, June 11, 2009

Girls' Shopping & Baseball

Today was the last day of school and the kids got out at noon. What better way to start summer than a girls' lunch and shopping followed by a little baseball! Gabrielle and her friend Jorja have been asking their moms (Julie and me) for an afternoon of lunch and shopping and we finally did it today. It was fun to visit with Julie and help our girls pick out a couple summer outfits at their favorite store 'Justice'. While we were shopping, Willem got to spend a few hours with Opa including a visit to Starbucks and a trip to visit Terry and her horses.


Later in the day Cade played in his 2nd baseball game of the season. He is really enjoying playing with his buddies from school and has a home run in each game which makes it all the more fun for him! He's been playing 1st base. The only problem has been trying to make it to the practices and games with his soccer and basketball which are still going on!

Monday, June 8, 2009

The Graduates

Congratulations to my nieces, Searra, Mariah and Jackie, Class of 2009, who graduated this weekend! Mariah graduated from St. Paul (K thru 8) and Searra from Marist High with a 4.0 GPA. Also, my niece in Nicaragua, Jackie, graduated as the valedictorian of her class at the Nicaragua Christian Academy (high school). I have smart nieces! Mariah is now off to Marist, Searra to U of O (Go Ducks!) and Jackie is headed to Calvin College in Michigan. We had a yummy and fun BBQ this evening at James and Jenn's house to celebrate Searra and Mariah's graduation!

Searra and Mariah at the BBQ

And the only recent picture I have of Jackie (far right) with her family (just her big sis Erika is missing); Marilyn promises she'll send me pictures of Jackie's graduation soon which I will post here when I get them!


Yeah, Marilyn (my sister) sent pictures of her family at Jackie's graduation! Congrats again, Jackie...

Jackie, Marilyn, Jonathan, Erika, Leah, Eric, Naomi, Daniel

Daniel & Jackie

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Happy Birthday Amandi Family!

Amber, Tony and Jacoby as well as Duane and Mary came to visit this weekend and we had a BBQ to celebrate Jacoby's belated 1st birthday (May 1st) as well as Amber and Tony's June birthdays. It was fun to see Jacoby enjoy the dairy and his cousins more and more. Genevieve and Jacoby are not looking quite as far apart in age now that Genevieve is no longer a newborn though Jacoby sure feels heavy compared to our little girl! Amber, Tony, Duane and Mary also came to celebrate Mariah's 8th grade graduation and Searra's high school graduation this weekend. I hope to get some of those photos in a post later.

Jacoby loved playing with Gabrielle...


Genevieve got some good floor time with Jacoby. She was entertained just watching all the activity...

Jacoby giving Genevieve a hug while they 'play'!


Jacoby loved his walks on the dairy...


Jacoby with Uncle James

On our trip to Costco before the party, Genevieve had her first unassisted ride in a grocery cart. She was pretty happy and excited; Jacoby wasn't so sure what all the excitement was about...


And finally, the birthday party...

Amber and I made a Monkey Cake!

Jacoby gets mauled by cousins...again!

Uncle James, Genevieve and Opa

Me and three of my brothers!

Genevieve talking...again! "Aaaaaah"

Selene & Gabrielle

The birthday family!

Frances & Me

Amber and Me

Gabrielle was a great help all weekend!