Gerrit Belly Laugh

Vintage Baby

We picked the kids up from nana's this morning. Mrs. Brooks and I had fun with Amparo's mini photo shoot. The dress, hat, and shoes were all Mrs. Brooks' when she was a baby. How neat is that?

Seinfeld

For Brian's birthday, his parents got him (well, us) tickets to Seinfeld. That was a pretty great gift. We had such a good time. Not only did they give us the tickets, but they also watched the kids. We had dinner at Ramsi's before we headed over to the Palace. After the show, which was super funny, we went to Cafe Classico for a coffee and a cookie. We were home and in bed by 10:30. Yes, we're old... and tired.

Thursday

Little

Amparo had her 15 month check today.
She weighs 17 lbs. 7 oz.
She really hasn't gained any weight in 3 months. the funny thing is, most of the time she eats more than Gerrit. I've also noticed that I don't have the baby itch yet. At around Gerrit's 1st birthday, I started to get the itch. (Which coincidentally, is also about the time I got pregnant with Amparo).
It could just be that I'm too busy now to think about wanting another baby, but mostly I think its because Amparo's so tiny. She's still my baby. (and my little cuddle bug)

Jade

Today we found a dog... Jade. I think she was mostly Lab, mixed with a little something else. She had chewed her tags so I couldn't read the number (only her and her owners name), but after much searching on the internet, I found the mother of her owner. Jade spent 5 or so hours with us today and that's all it took for Gerrit to become totally attached... and me too! She was such a sweet dog.


















As an early birthday present, my dad got me a backpack baby carrier. It's mainly for Amparo, but Gerrit wanted to check it out too. I think he liked it more than she did. He didn't want me to put him down.

Hi Nana

This one is from a couple weeks ago - but still a goodie.

Every time Gerrit sees the webcam on, he thinks he's talking to Nana (my mom) on iChat.

So I decided to hit the record button.  - If you listen carefully, after Gerrit trys to tear Amparo's arm off,  she adds a "Hi Nana" - good job little girl!

Wink

Tonight Gerrit learned to wink. 

Watch out ladies!

Carrot Lineup

One of Gerrit's favorite things to do is line stuff up. When making dinner for Valentines day, Gerrit decided to help by taking a bunch of carrots and meticulosity line them up on the counter. - He was so proud!

Plumber's Helper

We had a leak and Mr. Brooks came to the rescue. And I think next time, we might just need to call on Gerrit. He was the plumber's helper today.





















The kids and I ate dinner without Brian tonight.
He was working late.
Here's a snippet of our dinner conversation:
G: Niki says woof woof. Puff says meow.
B: What does Gerrit say?
G: Gerrit says no like it, go to bed.
(translation: Gerrit says he doesn't like to go to bed)

Happy Birthday Britton!

Today was Britton's birthday. We went over to his house for dinner. Gerrit had such a good time playing with Muffin and Abbey. Abbey was crazy about him; Muffin, not so much. We all just had a super fun time.
*a funny little fact... It was unseasonably warm on Brian's birthday and Britton's birthday this year.

And... it's been a year since my first post!
A day with Emmy
really... already?

Frozen Saturday at Home

Opa's power is out from the big ice storm last week. He and his dog (Baasje) spent the day with Gerrit and Amparo. Brenda was out most of the day at wedding meetings and getting a much needed break....So I took some pictures - of us hanging out on this frozen Saturday.

Power Out... Again

My dad came over last night to stay until his power returns. He's in the upstairs suite. He lost his power back in September with the windstorm and now again with the ice storm. I think everybody is considering a generator at this point...
Gerrit and Baasje are becoming fast buddies. They follow each other around everywhere and sometimes Baasje even tackles Gerrit a little. And he laughs and laughs...


















*It turns out they have matching winter hats*

Our Snow Day

We were one of the lucky ones to have our power today, most of our family, not so much. But since we had a warm house to return too, we ventured outside. We only played for a few minutes... Gerrit ended up falling in some icy water. And the funny thing was, he was so so cold, but he still didn't want to come in.

Peek-a-Boo

her new favorite...

Vent

First thing, after breakfast, Gerrit sits on this vent... every morning. He plays there for 15 to 20 minutes and then I guess he figures he's warm enough to start the day and off he goes.

Elmo with Sissy

Bathtime

I'm pretty

This morning Brian asked Gerrit who's pretty. To which he replied, "I'm pretty".

Pull ups

Amparo pulled up today! ... to a standing position!!
Of course I missed it. She was sitting on the floor, I turned around, and when I turned back around she was standing.

Gerrit, whenever he needs my help, will say "HELP" and he says it as if he was a damsel in distress. And I mean, he says it for EVERYTHING... if he's sick and wants to be cuddled, he says it, if his train track comes apart, he says it... if he can't reach his milk in the refrigerator, he says it. It's really a little ridiculous and a little funny too.

14 months today

New Toothbrush

Amparo got her first toothbrush... it's pink with little ladybugs. And boy did we brush those four little teeth this morning.

Happy Birthday Mommie!

Today would have been her 60th...

*She's the cute one on the right.

Oh my goodness...

it's been a while!

Happy New Year...
Brian and I stayed home for the festivities... actually we went to bed before midnight. We know how the whole ball drop thing ends...

So for the past few days Amparo has been mainly crawling on all fours (except when she really wants to go fast).
Gerrit has gotten into a super BAD habit of calling Brian, Brian. So when he does, I tell him not to and so he calls him "new daddy" (long story on how that started). But can you imagine the looks I get when we're out and he does that. Yeah, it's pretty embarrassing.

Happy Birthday Brian!!

Today Brian turns *gulp* 29!

I think it must've been the warmest it's ever been on his birthday this year. Brian and Gerrit wore shorts all day... absolutely crazy. We had family over for lunch to celebrate. And for dessert we had a pumpkin cheesecake... I just love making dessert!

Happy birthday my sweet!

Our Christmas

Monday

the week in a nutshell

So it's been a pretty busy week.

Last Friday was the Stewart Christmas Party. It was at L&N Wine Bar and was super fun. I think Rachel and I were the only ones not wearing a pant suit... I don't know what it is about pant suits lately, they're just funny.
Gerrit and Amparo spent the night at Nellie and Bobby's. On Saturday Gerrit made a craft with his aunt Nellie... a paper wreath, using Gerrit's hands as a stencil. It's very cute and is currently residing on our refrigerator. And Gerrit is so proud.
Saturday night, Britton and Kristin watched the kids while Brian and I got to grab a bite to eat at Cafe LuLu's. I had the potato pizza (oh my goodness, so good! even the next day) and Brian had the hummus (well, we shared both).
















Monday we headed over to Erin's house for a sugar cookie baking extravaganza. And it was!















We finshed our baking on Tuesday night and met up at the store for some more supplies on Wednesday. Wednesday afternoon I took a loooong nap. Who knew baking could be so exhausting.

Emmy shared her "blanket" with a one very tired miss Amparo.















Thursday the kids went to Brian's parents. Of course they went to the Ark (Gerrit requests it often) and of course Gerrit attached himself to one of the other mothers. I went to my dad's to help get ready for Christmas. Oh, and we took the Volvo to get worked on in the morning and then picked it up in the evening. And when we got home we decorated those Christmas cookies.

















Today Gerrit helped me make some hot chocolate mix...





















Other news this week...
Amparo no longer takes an afternoon nap. She hasn't all week. She's a big girl now. And Gerrit turning into a big boy too. He climbed in to bed with me one morning and pulled the covers on himself... such a big boy thing to do. He says things like "just one" and "for just a minute" now.
Oh, and the weather has been pretty crazy... from sleet to warm temps, I think we've had it all this week.
Whenever Amparo hears a dog bark, she gets super excited and barks back.
Have I said how much I love this time of year? I Love it all, but boy do I LOVE getting the Christmas cards. I look forward to seeing the mailman for most of December. Christmas cards make me happy.

Little Sickly

Amparo, Gerrit, and I have been sick for the past 5 or 6 days now, congestion, cough and all that fun stuff. Well 2 days ago Amparo got a fever. We took her in for a chest x-ray yesterday, no pneumonia. She has been so lethargic, sleeping most of yesterday, and unable sit up on her own. Today she's doing a lot better. She's playing some and eating and drinking. To help bring down her fever and to get liquids in her, I gave her a popcicle for lunch (she had that and toast... much better than yesterday).

Then Gerrit wanted one too...

After he was finished with his, he helped Amparo...

Christmas Fun

Today we took photos for our Christmas card...