Jewels

pretty pretty princess

4 Months!

My baby is 4 months!
















A few facts...

He's ticklish. Try it, he will laugh.
He rolled over this morning!!
And he is an expert at holding his head up.
All his daddy has to do is smile at him and Ollie gives a great big smile right back.
He tends to look concerned whenever Amparo gets too close.
And he's drooling like crazy.

Overheard

Amparo to Oliver --

You love me? Well, goodie! I love you too.

Gerrit's New Trick

3 Months!

He coos and smiles and still smells really good...

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today my daddy is 85! Pretty much from day one I've been a daddy's girl. It was actually recorded that on May 20th 1980, he was first person I gave a smile. Some say it was gas, but I know different. My dad has worked most of his 85 years... starting out very young on farms and factories in the Netherlands. He's strong, hard working, and stubborn (I don't think he'd even deny that last one)... not to mention loving and silly. He's always provided for, and taken care of, his family. I was able to see this at it's greatest when my mom was sick and dying of cancer. I'm proud of my dad and am so grateful that he's mine...

Happy birthday daddy!
I love you three... and more

Bedtime

Big 5 Years

So almost 2 weeks after his birthday, we finally had the party. We didn't start out with a theme, but by the end, it ended up being colors - it was a very colorful birthday party. We watched Toy Story 3, ate pizza, had popcorn, and finished off with cupcakes and opening presents. Here's our BIG 5 year old...

BALLOONS!

Cleaning

So I normally write about funny/ memorable things the kids say or do, but not this time.
This one is about Brian...

Today, at the store, I bought some bathroom cleaning supplies (more specifically, toilet cleaning supplies) -- we had run out and were in desperate need. Brian saw what I bought and said, "That [ring around the toilet] never happened before we started using those bleach drop ins." I laughed and informed him that it did, but I cleaned them and had just run out of supplies so our potty has been neglected. Our conversation reminded me of when I was younger living in my parents house. I thought the potty and the bathtub and everything just stayed clean all on it's own. Little did I know then, there was a cleaning fairy at work - her name was "mom".

Snow Day

Small Town Living

Oliver

A few facts...

His eyes are already blue. (like his big brother's)
He does NOT like bath-time.
He smells really good and he's very very soft.
He does not spit up! (in fact, I think he only has 4 times in his whole life - not at all like his big brother)
He loves to be held and/ or rocked.
And I just think he may be the chubbiest of the 3...

*image taken 6 days ago

Trains & Parties

A couple things...

This morning we headed to the train show in Portland - the same one we went to back in 2008 in Louisville (you can read about it here - oh and we had Starbucks this morning too ;)). We ran into Owen and Ethan... all the boys were super excited about the trains - Amparo spotted a baby doll and she was pretty excited about that. Come to think of it, next time a doll convention is in town, I think us girls will just have to drag the boys on over.





We didn't stay too long, we had to get home for Dena's birthday party (Gerrit's classmate). It was at the bagel shop across from Brian's work. Her mom owns it. The theme was crazy outfits (Gerrit had already taken off his goggles and dragon cape by the time I snapped a few photos). Tons of kids, lots of running around and Oliver slept through all of it.

Whew - us parents are worn out. Looking forward to a very low-key Sunday.

OPA

This morning Gerrit and I were working on sounding letters out and spelling simple words -- then he says, "Look mama! I spelled Amparo!" And to my surprise, it wasn't Amparo he spelled, but this...

*to his credit, Amparo does have an A, P, and O

Whoa

Gerrit and Brian went out and had some bonding time last Saturday. While they were out, Amparo was being her regular silly self. She was rolling, on her side, all over the living room floor. She came to a stop on her back, eyes up to the ceiling, and said, "Whoa, that's scary. Mama... is the house failing down?"

Balentines

Santa's Elves

Today I was playing around with Netflix and started to watch Star Trek 6. Gerrit walked in the room, looked up at the TV and asked "Hey, are those Santa's elves?"

Oliver @ 4 weeks

Gerrit's Class

Halloween

Last Night

The Oregon Coast -no tan lines here...

I had a great trip home and I can't wait to take Gerrit with me in May. When I got back to OR, we drove to the coast with uncle Britton. It was chilly and rainy - we have since moved on to sunny, warmer temps, but I thought I'd share a few photos from our Cannon Beach visit.

Here's my baby, my little boy. And that look makes me a puddle on the ground. I can't believe he'll start school this fall... he's growing so fast and now I know what my mom meant when she said I'd always be her baby - he's mine.

And I'm going to show Amparo this picture when she's upset with her big brother. Maybe it won't work now, but surely when she's a teenager. That's her I-love-you-and-I-think-you're-really-super look.

I love this picture of the four of them. Next time you see it, it will be in my house, framed.

Easter Eggs

Gerrit and Dragons

Today after church I took Gerrit to see the movie "How to Train Your Dragon" - It was in 3D so Gerrit had to wear these big clunky black glasses - he looked really cute. During the movie there was a scene were the Dragon sticks his face into the camera. I looked over and saw Gerrit leaning back away from the screen like it was going to get him.

Hilarious!!!!

parks and trails

Here's a few pictures from last week I've been meaning to post:
















On Saturday we went to Jackson Park and met up with a few of Brian's coworkers and their kids. Gerrit had fun pushing Amparo on the swing and I think she could've been pushed all day.






































Then later that day went to the Washington side of the river (which I keep calling Indiana) and explored a trail... an easy, paved 1 mile loop. We saw pretty flowers and a little waterfall.












































































Gerrit made it to the top!

Gerrit's 4th Birthday

He's been 4 for about 2 weeks, so I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you about his birthday. The Friday before Gerrit's 4th (!!) birthday we drove up to Seattle. Our first stop, the airplane museum... I could've spent hours there, and I think Gerrit could too. Unfortunately we showed up just 2 hours before closing. We'll definitely make a trip back sometime soon... On Saturday morning we checked out the Pike Place Market. There were so many things to look at there... pretty flowers, fish, jewelry... Gerrit and Amparo got a balloon animal, lasted about 20 minutes, but it's about the memories, right? They loved it. Then we checked out the Seattle Center (space needle, science museum, & fair rides). The kids got to hold their first, and hopefully their last, hissing cockroach @ the science museum. Amparo squished his rear a little and it ran up her arm, that was exciting, for me - I don't think she noticed. Gerrit's favorite part of the museum was playing with the big water feature outside. Amparo rode her first "roller coaster" right next to her big brother. And neither of them were impressed by the views from the Space Needle. We headed over to Gasworks park... so neat! Next time we're bringing a kite - love that hill. Beautiful views - we just had the best time playing/ walking around. And to top the day off, we went over one of the floating bridges. (The whole day we had beautiful views of Mt. Rainier.) On Sunday we checked out the zoo. It was a little chilly that day so we peeked at a few animals, but mainly played in their indoor play area.

sprains and humor

A lot has happened, I think.

On Saturday, Gerrit jumped off a platform @ the May St. playground. He limped/ piggybacked all the way home, but before the incident, he and I just had the best time... just the two of us. We played "soccer" and went down a few slides and swung on a few swings and of course I chased him a bit... he's getting fast (!)

When we got back home, Amparo was awake from her nap so Brian and I packed the kids in the stroller and walked into town. We went down to the beachy/ playground area... SO fun! Can't wait till it gets even warmer and we can stick our toes in the river.

Later that night, Gerrit couldn't put any weight on his left foot. We debated if we should go to the ER... decided to wait it out till morning... he could after all, wiggle his toes.

In the morning we decided we better go on and take him in. We opted for the immediate care center, only catch...it's in Portland, and it didn't open till 1pm. Since we were headed that way, we stopped by the zoo and looked at some monkeys, giraffes, and the like. Gerrit was now able to limp around a little...

Made it to the immediate care and turns out he had sprained his ankle. Doctor ordered Motrin and a foot rub... nice, huh? Gerrit thought so.

He's all better now...

Oh and on the way to Portland, we also stopped by the Vista House. What a beautiful view! I loved it because Brian hadn't been there before... so it was a first for all of us. The kids weren't too wow-ed so we moved on fairly quickly. (I can't wait till I can actually stop and read the signs at museums/historical spots/ anywhere with signs -- but I don't want to wish away now either)

A few other things that have been going on around here...

The kids pick up their toys before bed every night, helps keep me sane at the end of the day. But it's so cute because, as they're picking up, Amparo says, "good job guys". (And she's right)
She has also discovered potty humor. She held a cup to her face and it made a "brrrrrr" sound. She laughed so hard and kept replicating the sound and laughing, laughing, laughing. We got video.

A Good Day

So my last post was about a not so good day, today is about a really good day (and those, I like to remember). It started when the kids woke up... they were both in the best, sweetest moods. Amparo rubbed Gerrit's back till he woke up and then he hugged her. They giggled and cuddled and it was perfect. Then we met daddy for lunch at the taco place. After Amparo's nap, the three of us walked to the park and had a fun time playing. Amparo went down the slide on her bum with no help! She usually goes on her tummy (the safer route), but today she was a really big girl. And Gerrit helped me make dinner... pancakes and eggs, his favorite! Seriously, he'd eat that at every meal if he could. We read and prayed before bed... it was a good day.






























*Photos from this past weekend