Easter 2010

For Easter this year we decided to get away the three of us, and we spent the weekend in a small cabin along the Poudre River in Colorado. Ben and I had spent Easter in that area before, and that year we had a great time in the sunshine along the river, so I was hoping the same for this year, envisioning Andi playing with the rocks by the riverside. Well, so much for living in this part of the country and being in the mountains, because instead we got hammered with wind and snow. I guess we truly got our money's worth out of that cabin, because we spent a lot of time inside it :) We did have a great time though, and I think Andi thought it was the greatest, being in a small space, playing with mom and dad ALL day! We ate lots of yummy food, and just relaxed. The temperature wasn't too cold, so we did go out for a little bit, exploring the area around the cabin. We had been itching to try out this new backpack that we got from good friends the Mortensons after Andi was born, and it rocks! I love it! Can't wait to take Andi out in it on a real hike this summer!

Our cabin:

The happy family. Andi's not too impressed having to smile into the wind :)

By the river.

Awesome backpack!

The cabin we stayed in was a 1 bedroom, so Andi 'slept' in the room with us. Night times didn't go too well as it always takes quite a while before Andi gets used to a new sleeping environment, so by morning time, Ben and I both exhausted, Andi came in bed with us, snuggled lots and finally fell asleep = smiles on our faces.

Easter morning we celebrated Jesus' resurrection together and had a glorious breakfast. After that we hoped to get out for at least one hike that weekend, but instead we got pummeled with lots of snow, and while it felt like we had packed our entire house for just that one weekend, we hadn't actually packed the snowsuits and snowshoes, so we just drove home. I guess Andi was tired from all that not-sleeping, and she took the best nap in the car:

With dolly.

Look at that face :)

Just to throw in some Andi updates: It's been so fun lately as she just loves to cuddle! She'll gently rest her head on your shoulder when you hold her, and will completely melt your heart when she also pats your shoulder, giving a true hug :) Her girly side is coming out as she will also do this with her dolly...she will pick her up, and hug her and pat her back!

She's getting better and better at pushing herself up to a stand, and with help can pull herself up, and is getting eager to learn to walk along furniture.

Sometimes though a little too much personality is coming through and she can get quite upset over not having her way, especially when sweets are involved :) I guess she can't help it with a mom whose babybook is full of things like "Wiesje likes her sweets, and would love to start the day off with a breakfast of lollipops and licorice." Oy.

See also new short videos of Andi here

Andi's first Birthday party

A photo report of Andi's first Birthday party!
We had lots of Ben's side of the family come to celebrate (Tom, Marilyn, grandma Maynard, grandma Bryan, aunt Melody and uncle Fred, aunt Kim, uncle Les, Anna and Stephen, aunt Lori, Mike, Jen, Abby, Tyler, Isaiah, and Aubrey) and friend Eric.
It was a great party! At first, Andi was a little hesitant with all the people and noise in the house, but after a while she warmed up to everyone.

Unwrapping a PILE (!) of presents with Dad:

2nd cousin Aubrey likes to help.

Her first birthday cake! A smiling strawberry lady bug, with red velvet cupcakes. We won't mention how long it took mom to frost these! ;)

In her pretty dress by the cake.

She's a professional cupcake eater now!

Hap!

Clap, clap, clap. Smear, smear smear!

This time it also ended up all over her head and in her ears :) Mmmm!

Did I mention that ever since those delicious tastes of cake and frosting, our little miss Andi has pretty much lost her interests in vegetables? Why bother?! Haha.

And a couple of pictures of the fun presents she got:

A pink dump truck, and a barn to learn a few colors, letters and animals;

A little table filled with excitement and to help her learn to stand and walk;

A bunch of clothes for the coming summer and fall! She's going to be way better dressed than mom and dad!

And, a rocking horse that grandpa Tom and grandma Marilyn made!

Now it is on to year #2! Looking forward to seeing what it will bring!

Happy 1st Birthday Andi!

Big day yesterday: Andi turned one year old!

Since she was born in the afternoon, the whole day I kept thinking about what it was like one year before: getting induced, how my contractions were progressing, pacing the halls of the hospital, trying my hardest to manage the pain by bouncing like a mad woman on that exercise ball having Ben there with me, and then, finally, pushing, and getting to meet our girl. What a miracle!

Anyway...enough with memories, on to the big day! Here's her 1 year shot with Slungel!

When Andi woke up in the morning, both Ben and I went into her room, and sang "Happy Birthday" to her while she was laying in her crib. She just looked at us with a straight face like: "Mommy, daddy, you guys are weird. What's all this?" Ben left for work, and I made us some blueberry pancakes for breakfast... she wasn't all that interested in those either :) So much for a birthday feeling. She did however show some interest in the birthday sign and balloons that were up. :)

At lunchtime, she got her first present: A lamb walk bike from her Grandma and Grandpa Mooiweer! Though her feet don't touch the floor yet, she loves riding on it, being pushed forward, and holds on for dear life.

In the evening, grandma and grandpa Bryan came over for dinner. After dinner, it was time for presents! More pictures here. Since she loves emptying out my purse, I sewed her a little purse of her own. From Aunt Liselotte she got a cute wooden tea set and loves to play with it. Of course, Navy people Uncle Grant and Aunt Sara had to give her a Navy shirt and doll that say "beat Army", and from grandma and grandpa Bryan she got a cool electronic book.

After the presents, it was time for the highlight of the evening...Andi's first cake! Because we are having a bigger family birthday party on Saturday that I am making her real birthday cake for, we just had some delicious red velvet cupcakes to celebrate. By now Andi was already getting a little tired, cranky and ready for bed. However, when this little thing came in sight, with candle and all, her interests were once again spiked....

A little hesitant she poked her fingers into the cream cheese frosting, and ...

... as soon as that first taste of sugary frosting hit her lips, it was All Systems GO! "This stuff is delicious!" It was hilarious to watch her absolutely devour her cupcake :)

How can I get this stuff in my mouth any faster?!

Then, the sugar hit her blood stream, and on a sugar high she went! What a ride! Smearing, splatting, cake everywhere! So much fun :) She definitely has a sweet tooth, just like her momma!

And, she gets to do it all over again on Saturday!

This morning we had her 1 yr checkup with Dr. Horst. Everything looks great. She is right on track developmentally. A little ahead on her fine motor skills, and neither behind nor ahead (;)) on her large motor skills (she crawls, and pushes to a stand, but doesn't walk along furniture (let alone by herself) yet). Here are her stats:

Weight: 20 lbs 5 oz - 35th percentile (down from 50th %)

Height: 28 inches - 18th percentile (down from 30th %)

Head circumference: 49.7 cm - 70th percentile (up from 65th %)

Still a pretty short girl! Everytime we go in the doc says he's waiting for her parents' genes to kick in and see a growth spurt :)

Some of her latest developments: Besides crawling and pushing herself up to a stand, she loves waving "bye" or "hi"; she claps her hands; she says "Dadda" when she wants her daddy, and "Mama" when she wants her mama; and, when you ask her "Waar is je voet?" or "Where is your foot?" she will promptly touch her feet :). Yes, my dear friends, this little girl is bilingual already. A post about that is to come soon! It is so cool to see that your little one is actually starting to understand what you are saying, and responding to it! This, and Andi's new found mobility certainly also opens up a new world of discipline. It comes as no suprise that we are noticing that she has a gentle heart ... the other day I had to tell her "No" about something, and immediately her lip started quivering, and the crocodile tears came out...sad face :( It would be nice if it stays that way, and she doesn't become defiant! Haha!

Potty photo shoot

Our good friends the Watsons have the coolest little old fashioned potty for their kids to potty train on, and ever since Andi has been able to sit up on her own, I've been wanting to take some pictures of her sitting on it naked :) Yesterday it finally happened ... thanks for letting us use it Jo! The potty is a true bathroom throne, it even has a little magazine rack and toilet roll holder! Also fun, Andi even actually went and peed in it :)
Here's a few pictures from the shoot! Because of course this is the internet, and you never know, I went and drew in a little bikini on the pictures posted here to protect our little girl:


This is a pretty potty!


Examining her environment...

hey, wait a minute...a roll of toilet paper!

Oeh, this is fun!

Yay!

Relaxing.

Tee hee ... tinkle, tinkle!

Giggle piggies.

This whole week is a big week of firsts...not only the first time peeing in a potty (though by accident), but, today she clapped her hands in excitement while playing with daddy, and she also started crawling!!!! Pictures or a video of crawling is soon to come too, I'm sure :)

Edit: short videos of her crawling on her blog!

Hey Ma! Rubes ...

11 Months

Andi is 11 months old today!

Buddies.

She's getting so close to crawling, and showed us yesterday that she is able to go from a sitting position to laying on her belly and back up to sitting again. January 30th marked a big day as it was the day we noticed her first tooth coming through! I still nurse her about 3-4 times a day (depending on whether she wakes up at night), and though I'm still just fine with that, we will see how long this continues as I'm learning that nursing and teeth don't mix :)

I recently looked in my old babybook to see how Andi and I compare, and here were my stats: fully weened at 8 months, 2 teeth at 9 months (4 at 11 months), crawling by 10 by months, I walked holding someone's hand at 12 months and walked alone with confidence at 14.

Watching a movie with Dad

:)

Wait, how did this get in here? Ben having fun shaving his head in preparation for the first weekend of OCS in Guernsey.

Watching the Superbowl with the Ennists, Linds and Watsons!

Baby romance

Ever since Andi was born, we have joked about her betrothal to little Mr. Weston Ennist, including how many goats should be included in her dowry. Little does Weston know though that he has some pretty strong competition in form of his brother, bigger Mr. Tyler Ennist. Though the relationship between Weston and Andi doesn't go much further than taking toys from eachother, and maybe Andi looking in envy at Westons ease of moving about the room (and maybe his pearly whites), Tyler will never let an opportunity go by to give Andi kisses, and has even (though for reasons we are not quite sure of ... you will have to ask Debbie about those ...) asked Ben for Andi's hand in marriage (Ben told him to ask again in a couple of years). Yesterday we went over to watch a movie at their house, and I had hardly taken Andi out of the carseat or Tyler was there, asking if he could hold her. Because initially Tyler didn't have a very good grip on Andi, I asked him if he was able to hold her ... mistake! ... he looked at me like [DUH], and said "I'm 4 years old!". Debbie and I helped him get a better grip on Andi, and within no time they were twirling around the room together! Tyler didn't just want to hold her, he wanted to dance with her! Probably the cutest thing I have seen in quite a while!
We tried to quickly get a shot of it on our cameras, but by the time I was ready, Andi was already sliding down. Maybe Debbie has a better shot? I do also have a video a few seconds long.... (sorry it's sideways)




One thing these little ones haven't learned yet is that sharing kisses also means sharing cooties, which has resulted in them all having a nice cold. When I was a teenager, I remember my dad telling me once that if he saw me with a cold sore on my lip, he would know I had been kissing too many boys. I was always very very glad that I never got one :)
Andi will have to learn too (or maybe not I guess :) ), because the way she wakes up now every morning, you can definitely tell she's been sharing kisses: boogers everywhere!