days with the driys

Happy Birthday Jonah!!!

2011-11-30T22:50:00.004-05:00

Today we got to celebrate my little buddy turning FIVE!!! We are SO thankful for Jonah, and the enormous blessing he has been in our lives. He makes us laugh everyday and has brought us so much joy.

We celebrated a little bit earlier in the month with the rest of the family... a "Monster Party" with the DeKocks, and a party for Jonah and his cousin Eli on Thanksgiving with the Driys. Today Jonah got to be the special helper at school, which meant I got to come along. He was pretty excited to wear a special birthday crown at school and have everyone sing to him. :) We then had some special mommy & Jonah time going out for lunch & dessert, and then he chose to go out to "the Buffalo Restaurant" for supper tonight. It was his lucky night... a balloon man was there and made him a birthday hat, a penguin, and did some magic tricks for him. And of course some more presents from mommy and daddy... he's getting a little too used to being spoiled since his birthday has been spread out for a couple weeks! ;)

We Love You, Jonah!!!! Hope you have a fun year being 5!!! Happy Birthday!!

Madison's First Birthday

2011-11-30T22:17:00.009-05:00

On October 26th we celebrated Madison's 1st birthday. Where has the time gone?? On some days the pain of missing her makes it seem like it was just yesterday that we held her in our arms, on others it feels surreal, like it was a lifetime ago. I wonder everyday what she'd be doing... what her smile and laugh would be like, if she'd still have her curly, dark hair, if she would be walking yet, if she would be an easy baby or a little trouble-maker, how her and Jonah would get along... do you think they take pictures up in heaven? I like to think God or someone else up in heaven is making a scrapbook for me for all those moments we are missing out on...

On her birthday we celebrated Madison by going to her grave with the whole family and singing Happy Birthday and sending balloons up to heaven for her. We also carved a pumpkin for her, and then went for dinner with just the 3 of us.

I thank God everyday for Madison, and for the short time we had with her. I know God has a good and perfect plan, and though I will probably never understand why part of that plan included taking my baby girl home so quickly, I can still PRAISE Him for the promise of eternal life and that we will see Madison again.

Thank you to so many who have been thinking and praying for us over the last year... for the many cards, messages, flowers, meals, hugs... and to our wonderful small group who also planned a special birthday celebration for Madison. Thank you all, it is so appreciated.

Happy Birthday sweet girl, we love and miss you everyday... and can't wait to see you again!!

Preschool!

2011-09-15T22:00:00.003-04:00

Jonah had his first week of Preschool this week! He was so excited to see some of his friends from last year and meet his new teacher, Mrs. Wiersema. On the first day the kids got to bring their mommy's or daddy's along to help everyone adjust and learn together how the school days would go. We got to do a little scavenger hunt finding things in the classroom, did a craft, and sang some songs. The rest of the week Jonah was on his own... what a difference from the beginning of school last year! He has no problem with me leaving in the morning and can't wait to get started on his projects for the day. He is absolutely loving it, though getting back on a school schedule has been a bit of an adjustment for him... he was so tired tonight he was in bed by 7 o'clock! ;)

Madison's Garden

2011-09-15T21:29:00.006-04:00

Last spring we cut down a huge, dying pine tree in our front yard, and in its place we planted a garden in memory of Madison. Our wonderful neighbors had gotten us a gift certificate for a tree, and after reading "I Will Carry You" by Angie Smith {amazing book for any baby loss mamas reading this}, I knew I wanted to get a Japanese Cherry Blossom tree. It will have beautiful pink flowers in the spring, but they will only last a short time... just like we only had a short time with our beautiful baby girl.

We want to thank our neighbors, family, and friends for your contributions to the garden, and help taking down the old tree. You have all been such a blessing to us. We are so thankful to have this beautiful garden to remember our little girl.

Summer

2011-09-15T20:41:00.005-04:00

Well, school has officially started, so I guess its time to do a quick update on our summer! As always summer has flown by, but we have had a great one. Lots of weekends up in Cadillac spending time with family on the beach and in the lake, my sister Liz & her husband Javi's wedding, swimming lessons, trips to the zoo, the beach with friends, hanging out with neighbors, camping with friends from our small group... lots of fun stuff! Rather than try to remember lots of details from the last few months I'll just share some pictures :)

{playing Wipe Out in Cadillac}

{swimming lessons}

{Binder Zoo}

{my little triceratops}

{camping at Hungry Horse}

Last Day of School & Memorial Day Parade

2011-06-04T21:34:00.003-04:00

How can it be that my little boy has already finished his first year of school?? My how he has changed since the beginning of the school year!! At the beginning of the year it was very hard for him when I would bring him to school... lots of hugs, wanting mommy to stay, and sometimes even tears or chasing me down the hallway. By the end of the year I hardly got a "bye mommy!" before he was off playing with his friends or working on his crafts. We were blessed with some AWESOME teachers, Mrs. Scholten and Mrs. Dykstra, that made Jonah's first experience with school such a great one. Now hopefully he'll still love it this much in about 10 years... ;)

One the last day of school we were supposed to have a field trip to Timbertown with Jonah's class, along with any parents or siblings that could come along. Even though Friday turned out to be a beautiful day, we had a lot of rain for a couple days before that, leaving the park pretty soggy. So we had to move our picnic to school instead. Jonah was pretty bummed at first, but it ended up a really fun day. We blew bubbles outside, made some fun games to play out in the hallways, did a scavenger hunt, face paint and went to the gym to play with a big parachute. Such a fun day!! Jonah sure is going to miss it this summer!

After Jonah's last day of school last week Friday he didn't have to say good-bye to his teachers and friends for too long... he got to ride on a wagon in the Memorial Day parade on Monday. He was SO excited to get to be in a parade, and loved waving to everyone as he rode by!

{Showing of his shaker he made for the parade.}

{Everyone under the parachute!}

{Jonah and Mrs. Scholten}

{Mrs. Dykstra and Jonah}

{Ethan and Jonah}

Spring Celebration Program

2011-05-01T22:38:00.002-04:00

Jonah was in his first church program tonight! The first song he just stood there looking cute... straight face, no singing, no motions... But later he came back and sang This Little Light of Mine and the New Doxology with all of his heart! I'm such a proud mommy! :)

Praise God, Praise God.. Praise God who saved my soul! Praise God, Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!

Bike Parade

2011-05-01T22:25:00.004-04:00

On Friday Jonah had his big bike parade! I got go to school a little bit early to help Jonah and the other kids in the class decorate their bikes and scooters. We covered them in balloons, crepe paper, streamers and ribbons...

Then they got to ride back and forth down the bus drive with mommys, daddys, grandparents, and younger siblings clapping and cheering for them. Such a fun day :)

Easter

2011-05-01T21:30:00.004-04:00

Easter brought on a whole new meaning for us this year... a day to celebrate our risen Savior... because He died for us, we can look forward to spending eternity with Him. Because God gave His son, we will get to hold our daughter again. What an AMAZING gift!!

We started the festivities with an Easter egg hunt at the Smeyers' house, with Ty, Josiah and lots of other friends! It was kind of a drizzly day, but the kids had a great time anyway and they found all the eggs in no time!

After the egg hunt we went in the garage to decorate cupcakes and do some Easter crafts!
The next week was another Easter egg hunt at our neighbor's church. There was a field FULL of eggs... 5000 to be exact!

Jonah and I decorated some Easter eggs...
Then on Easter day we celebrated first with my family for lunch... here's Jonah with his dinosaur Easter basket! isn't he a STUDMUFFIN?? ;)
And then to the Driy's at night, and another Easter egg hunt with his cousins Eli and Abe. (No, those are not the shoes he wore to church.. we need to keep the other ones looking nice for Auntie's wedding coming up!)

Madison's gravestone also was put in Easter weekend. Oh, how we miss you little girl. She also would have had her 6 month birthday last week... its so hard not to imagine what she'd be doing... all the things we are missing. But someday we will hold her again... see her smile... CAN'T WAIT FOR THAT DAY!!! Come quickly Lord Jesus!!!

one year ago...

2011-03-01T18:34:00.003-05:00

A year ago today I got a phone call that changed my life forever, though not at all in the way I thought that it would. I had just gotten Jonah into bed for his nap when the phone rang.. it was Amy from Dr. D's office telling me I was pregnant!! Probably the best phone call of my life. In case anyone is wondering why I got a phone call to tell me this, rather than waiting 3 minutes for a line to show up on a stick, its because Madison was conceived through IVF.. a home pregnancy test could have given me a false positive because of the medications I was on. I quickly got Jonah out of bed to share the news with him that he was going to be a big brother, and let him skip his nap so we could go shopping for a new shirt for him to show daddy...Madison would have been 18 weeks old today. We love and miss you every day, baby girl. I thank God everyday for the time we got to have with you, though it wasn't nearly enough. I cannot wait for the day when we will all be together again!!

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:18

As you do not know the path of the wind,

or how the body is formed in a mother's womb,

so you cannot understand the work of God,

the Maker of all things.

Ecclesiastes 11:5

Merry Christmas from Heaven

2010-12-23T20:52:00.002-05:00

I received this from a couple different friends this week... I can't think of a better way to celebrate Christmas than with Jesus himself. Merry Christmas Madison!

Merry Christmas from Heaven

I see the countless Christmas Trees, around the world below:

With tiny lights, like heaven's stars, reflecting on the snow.

The sight is so spectacular, please wipe away your tears,

For I am spending Christmas, with Jesus Christ this year.

I hear the many Christmas songs, that people hold so dear,

But the sounds of music can't compare with the Christmas choir up here.

For I have no words to tell you, the joy their voices bring,

For it is beyond description, to hear an angel sing.

I know how much you miss me; I see the pain inside your heart,

But I am not so far away, we are really not apart.

So be happy for me, everyone... you know I hold you dear,

And be glad I'm spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I send you all a special gift from my heavenly home above,

I send you each a memory of my undying love.

For after all "Love" is the gift more precious than gold,

It was always most important in the stories Jesus told.

So please love and help each other, as my Father said to do,

For I cannot count the blessings, or the Love he has for you.

So have a Merry Christmas, and wipe away those tears,

For I am spending Christmas with Jesus Christ this year.

I can't tell you of the splendor, or the peace here in this place,

Can you just imagine Christmas, with our Savior face to face!

I'll ask him to lift your spirit and give you a hug, as I tell him of your love,

So then pray for one another, as you lift your eyes above.

So please try to let your hearts be joyful, and let your spirits sing,

FOR I'M SPENDING CHRISTMAS IN HEAVEN,

AND WALKING AND PLAYING WITH MY KING!!

Merry Christmas!

Love Always,

Madison

Florida

2010-12-21T14:32:00.008-05:00

A few weeks ago we had a kind of last minute getaway to Florida with my parents. It was in celebration of Chris passing his Series 7 exam, Jonah's 4th birthday, and just to get away and enjoy some time with family. We left for the airport right after Jonah celebrated his birthday with his class at school, and the next day we went to DISNEY! Jonah absolutely LOVED seeing Mickey, Minnie, Chip & Dale, Buzz & Woody and all the other characters. Though probably the first thing he'd tell you about Disney is that his NOT favorite part of it was seeing Zurg from Toy Story, because he was shooting at us on the Buzz Lightyear ride. For the most part he loved the other rides, except for a few where it got really dark and the 3D show where he thought forks were going to hit him. The night ended with seeing Cinderella's Castle all lit up for Christmas (beautiful!!) and watching the Electrical parade.

We stayed a few more days in Orlando at a very cool condo.. they had pirate ships in the pools with slides and water cannons, and activities like painting a treasure chest and treasure hunts around the pools. We spent some days relaxing by the pool and went to Downtown Disney and checked out Christmas decorations at some of the Disney hotels in the evenings.

After a few days in Orlando we spent a week in Fort Myers Beach. Unfortunately it was quite cool when we were there (low 60's most of the time) so we didn't get to spend a whole lot of time on the beach, but we still had a great time doing some shopping, going to the Naples Zoo, and going in the pool - the pool is outside, but the water was much warmer than the air so it wasn't too bad- until we got out :) Luckily our last day was beautiful, so we spent it on the beach in the sun!

Thanks for another great vacation Mom & Dad!

so what happened?

2010-11-22T23:37:00.002-05:00

My doctor suspected, and tests on the placenta later confirmed, that Madison died from a Group B Strep infection. I am by no means a medical professional, but I'll do my best to explain the way I understand it.. Group B Strep is a common bacteria that pregnant women are tested for late in pregnancy. From what I understand it's something that most women have at some point, and is usually harmless to the mother, but can cause complications in a baby. If a women tests positive for the bacteria, which I had, she is given antibiotics during labor, which I was given, and this is supposed to prevent the baby from getting it during delivery. My doctor figures that somehow the bacteria got into the bag of water earlier in labor, giving her the infection, and my body was sustaining her until she was born. This is extremely rare, my doctor has only ever seen one case like this. That woman went on to have 4 other healthy children. However, to be extra cautious, if I were to get pregnant again we would go to Spectrum at the first signs of labor and do a c-section, with a neonatal team standing by in case of complication.

Madison Paige

2010-11-17T14:16:00.009-05:00

Four weeks ago, at 11:21pm on October 26 our beautiful princess, Madison Paige, was born.

I woke up at about 1am that day, having contractions every few minutes. After an hour or so I woke Chris up, and we both paced the house for awhile, debating whether or not this was the real thing and if we should head to the hospital. Finally at about 5am we called my doctor to tell him we were heading in, and called my mom to come and stay with Jonah and take him to school. Funny thing is school ended up being cancelled that day due to high winds and a tornado watch - Jonah was also born during a storm, and there was a snow day the day after he was born!

The contractions were coming consistently every 2-3 minutes, but after about 3 hours in the hospital with no progress they sent me home to try and sleep. They said I might be back later that day, or it could be another week yet. Dr. Taylor told me how his wife had contractions every 5 minutes for 2 weeks before one of their children was born. I wanted to punch him. :)

I managed to get a few hours of sleep and Chris went in to work for a few hours. By about 5pm the contractions were still coming every couple minutes, and stronger than ever, so we went back in, a little afraid of being sent home again. Thankfully this time they saw some progress and we got to stay. Everything was looking great, baby's heart rate was perfect, and thanks to an epidural I was feeling much better! Things progressed fairly quickly, my water broke, and soon after I told the nurse it seemed like the baby was getting really low. She checked and said no... wait! I can feel the head! She called Dr. Taylor in a panic, and he broke many speed limits on his short drive to the hospital. During delivery the baby's heart rate started to drop, so Dr. Taylor had to help get her out quickly with a forceps. She had her cord wrapped around her neck, which is what caused the lower heart rate, and kept pulling her back in. But at 11:21 our beautiful baby girl was laid on my chest, and we heard her little cry.

After that the nurse took her from me.. I thought just to get her cleaned up and weighed and such, but when my doctor and several nurses gathered around her I knew something was wrong. She wasn't breathing. Chris and I started praying, and one of our wonderful nurses, Megan, came and prayed with us. They worked for several minutes on our baby girl right in our room, and later took her into the nursery to try some more to get her to breathe. They told us there was a neonatal team from Spectrum on the way. Chris called our parents to tell them to pray. Megan prayed with us again. Then a little more than an hour after she was born my doctor came to tell us she was gone. Our precious baby girl went home to be with Jesus.

They brought her to us and we got to hold her. We named her Madison Paige, a name that we had picked out before we were even pregnant with Jonah. She was the most beautiful, perfect baby I had ever seen. Beautiful dark, curly hair like her daddy, and even though we never got to see her smile, we could tell she was going to have a dimple like her big brother. Beautiful. Her grandpas and grandmas and Auntie Liz and Uncle Jonny came to see her and hold her. Then the nurses took her for a few hours while we somehow got a few hours of sleep.

We got to spend all day with Madison on Wednesday. Big brother Jonah got to come and meet her. He was so excited to be a big brother. He couldn't wait to make her laugh, he had been practicing how to burp her and give her a bottle and put her pipey in her mouth. He called her "Princess" from the time he found out he was having a little sister. He was going to be a great big brother.

The day is a bit of a blur... we got to have Madison all day, we had some visits from family and friends who hugged and prayed with us. But we went home that night. I think one of the hardest things we've ever had to do was hand our baby girl back to the nurse and go home. Without her. Without our baby who we've dreamed about for years. She didn't get to come home to her beautiful pink room her daddy made for her, to her closet full of pink clothes, to her mommy and daddy and big brother who loved her so much.

On Friday we got to spend some time with Madison again at the funeral home. We got to hold her again, Jonah got to hold her. She looked beautiful. Like a princess, an angel. On Saturday we had a beautiful service at our church with tons of people there to support us. Pastor Randy and Amy did an amazing job speaking and Terp made a beautiful video from our pictures of Madison. We then had a small graveside service with family at Zeeland Cemetery.

We are so blessed to have an amazing family, friends, and church family to help us through this time. The Sunday after Madison's death hundreds of people from our church surrounded our home in prayer and song. It was unbelievable. I have not had to cook a thing in the last 4 weeks, we've had tons of meals coming in. We've gotten hundreds of cards, emails, and facebook messages from people letting us know that they care and are praying for us, and many gifts to help us remember our baby. There is always someone there to give us hugs when we need them or cry with us. We are so thankful to all of you, we couldn't get through this without you.

So how are we doing? For the most part we're ok. The only explanation I have for that is God, and the tons of people lifting us up in prayer. And Jonah. We're so thankful for him.. he can make us smile when we're sad, he wipes away my tears, and he gives me his animals to cuddle with to make me happy. He doesn't really understand why Madison didn't get to come home and sleep in her bed. I recently realized he thinks heaven is at the funeral home... I told him that someday we'd get to go to heaven and see Madison again, and he asked if we could get mints from the bowl when we got there. He says "Don't worry mommy, when Madison's done at heaven she'll come home." Just the opposite, sweet boy. When we're done on earth we get to go to heaven to see her. We miss Madison like crazy. We don't understand. We're mad. We want her back so bad. I'd give anything to hold her again, and one of the only things that keeps me going some days is the promise that some day I WILL. I cannot wait for that day. Come quickly Lord Jesus!

Please continue to pray for us and the rest of our family. Pray for strength to get through each day, and for peace that only God can give.

For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you

because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you

When I was made in the secret place.

I was woven together

in the depths of the earth,

your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:13-16

Fall Family Pictures

2010-10-13T19:37:00.005-04:00

A couple of weeks ago our friend Terp (Christina Terpstra) took some family pictures of us. She's actually graciously donating her time and talent as a fundraiser for some other friends of ours, the Geurinks, whose family of five will be moving to Lesotho, Africa in a few months to help run the Beautiful Gate orphanage for five years. You can read the Geurinks blog here. Terp also still has a couple openings for family pictures this coming Sunday afternoon - you can read more about the fundraiser and sign up here for that! Thanks, Terp!

Pink!

2010-10-13T17:19:00.003-04:00

Baby girl's room is finally almost done! It's been a long process, but Chris did an amazing job! The room used to be used kind of as an office/storage room, so after emptying that stuff out it was time to pull out the old carpet. It ended up being two layers of carpet (who does that?!?) that was GLUED to the wood floor. So it took ALOT of scraping and sanding to get the floor ready to be finished. It turned out beautiful though, and Chris did a great job painting... see for yourself!

I think we are almost ready for baby girl to arrive! Now hopefully the doctor was right about this being a girl... or we might need some help doing some emergency painting and shopping! This room is definitely not for a boy!!

Jonah's Rainy Day Art Project

2010-10-13T17:10:00.004-04:00

Since Jonah loves all things dinosaur (go ahead, quiz him on his dinosaurs... you'll be amazed :) ) we decided to spend the rainy morning painting a new picture frame to put in his room. Now we just need a picture of him in his Halloween costume to put in it!

First Day of School!

2010-09-14T14:51:00.006-04:00

Today I got to join Jonah for his first day of Threeschool at Zeeland Christian! He was so excited! He got to meet his wonderful teachers, Mrs. Scholten and Mrs. Dykstra, and go on a little treasure hunt exploring his classroom. He had to find the hook with his name on it, where he got to hang his new backpack, two places to wash his hands, the Show and Tell basket, and his mailbox where his teacher left him a special treat -- a little bear with a Hershey's Hug & Kiss on it, a reminder for him to always give mommy a hug and a kiss before school :) They had circle time, where he chose to sit on the penguin, and they listened to a story, sang "Jesus Loves Me" and said prayers. They had some free time to check out all the fun toys in the classroom, eat a snack of Teddy Grahams and juice, and have their hands painted purple to make handprints on some special papers. He had a great day playing with all the toys and some new and old friends. Now hopefully Friday goes okay when mommy doesn't get to stay with him!

After lunch we went to celebrate his first day of school at Captain Sundae, where he thoroughly enjoyed some Spiderman ice cream. Unfortunately that didn't have such a happy ending... apparently a bee wanted to share the ice cream that was all over his face, and my poor little guy got stung in the eye :(

Montana

2010-07-22T15:45:00.006-04:00

Here are a BUNCH of pictures from Chris' recent trip to Montana with youth group. He doesn't want to blog about it (big surprise there!), so be sure to ask him about the trip and just enjoy these pictures from God's beautiful creation!

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-02T22:55:00.005-04:00

We spent an absolutely beautiful Memorial Day weekend up north in Cadillac! We had a great time just relaxing and getting fried on the beach and playing in the water. Chris had fun doing some jet-skiing and hiding a geocache in Lake Cadillac in front of our condo in about 6 feet of water. We actually saw 3 people go looking for it which was kind of fun! We did lots of grilling out, and got Jonah his first slip 'n slide, which he had a blast riding down the hill!

Also, I'd like to say a huge THANK YOU to all the men and women who have served and are currently serving our country in the military!

Day at the Zoo

2010-06-02T22:36:00.004-04:00

A couple weeks ago we went with my friends Laura, Melissa, and our 4 boys to John Ball Zoo. It was a beautiful day for it, though I think half of the schools in West Michigan were there on a field trip! So it was a little challenging getting our strollers close to the animals with hundreds of 3rd and 4th graders around! (I guess we were a little spoiled last time we went.. on a nice day in late NOVEMBER when we pretty much had the place to ourselves! :) ) The boys had fun seeing all the animals though, and again Jonah's favorite was the flamingos and the bears!

Since Laura, Melissa and I are all pregnant who knows.. by the next time we take the kids to the zoo we might have SEVEN boys between the 3 of us!! Oh BOY!

Easter

2010-06-02T22:26:00.002-04:00

Florida

2010-06-02T20:41:00.002-04:00

Ok... still catching up here! This is from way back in March (yes, I know its June now!) We flew down to Orlando and spent the weekend there. We stayed at a fabulous condo with some really fun pirate pools. Unfortunately the weather wasn't the warmest, but that didn't stop Jonah! We also spent a rainy day at Downtown Disney, and just had fun going in the shops and went to Rainforest Cafe for lunch. On Saturday we had a beautiful day that we spent at Sea World. Jonah did great, and loved watching all the shows.. Shamu, dophins, dogs & cats, and sea lions and walruses. Of all the animals we saw his favorite was the flamingos. He also went on his first amusement park rides at Shamu's Happy Harbor, a little amusement park for kids within Sea World. He went on some tea cup type things that spin and go up in the air, and we went on his first roller coaster! It was actually a pretty good sized roller coaster and he had fun, keeping his hands up most of the way.

After the weekend in Orlando we took the swagger-wagon (yep, we got a swagger-wagon! be jealous! :) ) down to Fort Myers Beach for the week. The week was much cooler than normal, but we still had a great time. We did get a couple nice days for the beach and pool, and spent some time shopping, going to dog track, going to Lake Park- a fun park with a playground, lakes, and a little train ride that goes through the park, the flea market, and of course lots of eating (and napping for me :) )

There were too many pictures to put on individually, so here's a little slideshow of our week:

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Catching up!

2010-06-02T17:30:00.004-04:00

As a few people have been reminding me lately, I have a lot of catching up to do on my blog! So I'll start with the biggest news, which anyone who reads this probably already knows...

Jonah is going to be a

BIG BROTHER!!!

My due date is November 8, just a few weeks before Jonah's 4th birthday. Over all things are going very well so far. I started out being very tired and nauseous most of the time, and then right when I hit my second trimester when I'm "supposed" to start feeling better, thats when I actually started getting sick. (Oh, and not in the morning, but usually right around dinnertime.. great thing for Chris to come home too after a long day of work!) But I'll take it if that means I've got a healthy baby growing in there! I hardly dare say it, but I think I'm starting to feel better, the last week has been pretty good. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself :)

And yes, for anyone wondering, we do hope to find out if Jonah will be having a brother or sister. (He's really hoping for both, but sorry Jonah, just one in there ;) ) Our ultrasound will be in early July.

We are all very thankful for and excited about the new baby and can't wait to meet him or her!

backyard sledding

2010-02-11T16:12:00.002-05:00

birthday surprise

2010-02-05T15:37:00.005-05:00

In the days leading up to my 30th birthday Chris kept telling me he had made reservations to go somewhere for dinner for my birthday... my mind was boggled at where he would have made reservations, but I thought, ok, whatever. The night before my birthday he couldn't hold it in any longer... we had reservations at Atlantis in THE BAHAMAS the following week!!
We stayed at Harbor Side, condos on the Atlantis property with full access to all the amazing things Atlantis has to offer. It was actually a trade my parents did for us with their condo up in Cadillac, they found a great last minute deal! The condos were beautiful with great views of Nassau, gorgeous sunsets, and the cruise ships coming in in the mornings. I would highly recommend Harbor Side to anyone thinking of going to the area... it was nice having a kitchen so we could make our own breakfast in the mornings (Chris made me amazing omlets!) and eat some other meals in the room since all the food in the area is very expensive!
We had perfect weather while we were there, mid-high 70's.. great for laying out in the sun, relaxing in "The Current" (like a lazy river, but with rapids and waves) checking out the MANY different pools (11 I think!), trying out all the waterslides, and jumping in the HUGE ocean waves. Atlantis also has amazing aquariums throughout the property, we saw tons of sharks, manta rays, and thousands of other sea creatures. One of the waterslides, called the "Leap of Faith" goes straight down a pyramid and underwater through a shark tank.. VERY FUN! But you go way to fast to see the sharks on your way through :)
We had a great, relaxing week! It was quite the surprise! I guess being 30's not so bad after all :)
Thanks Mom & Dad for the amazing gift and for taking great care of Jonah while we were gone!

This is a lagoon where we did some snorkeling.. saw TONS of beautiful fish!

sunset from our balcony

The Current

in one of our favorite pools

"Leap of Faith"

view of our condo from ferry docks

ocean waves - yes, we swam in those!

belated 3 year pictures

2010-01-06T22:08:00.002-05:00

i put off getting Jonah's 3 year pictures done this year.. i was dreading it, pretty much since last year was torture for both of us! he cried and kicked and screamed and wouldn't sit still for 2 seconds, so i had to choose from a few teary faced pictures where he was trying to escape. i was fully expecting that to happen again, but this year he was a CHAMP! i was so proud of him! the lady who took them did a great job and commented on how good a listener Jonah was. (really?? MY jonah??) isn't he such a little studmuffin??

we even got a picture of grammie, mommy and jonah together... not really planned, but we all coordinated so well she made us do it :)

I like to eat...

2009-12-30T21:47:00.002-05:00

critter barn

2009-12-30T16:54:00.004-05:00

this afternoon we went with grammie to the critter barn to see all the animals and the live nativity. Jonah wasn't quite so sure about holding the baby chicks and ducks himself, but loved to pet them if mommy was holding them. I think Jonah's favorite was the room full of cats. We had a great little tour guide, 11 year old Megan, who did a great job and knew all about the animals! We then had a private showing of the nativity (we were the only ones there) so Megan and the rest of the crew quickly changed into their costumes, and we got to go see baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, and of course more animals. While we were listening to the Christmas story, Jonah looks at baby Jesus, and then turns to me confused.. "but Mom, baby Jesus lives in my heart!" How sweet is he???

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-27T22:31:00.002-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. As busy as it is, I love getting together with family and friends for all the parties, we are so blessed to have so many loved ones to share the holidays with. We celebrated with the DeKock family and the Maat family the last two Sundays, then had the Driy party on Wednesday, our own little family party on Thursday morning, and then we went up to Cadillac with my family for the weekend and had our party on Christmas day. We've enjoyed lots of good food, games, laughs, and lots and lots (and lots) of new toys! I hope you all had a blessed holiday as well! Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday Jesus!

Griffins

2009-12-10T16:03:00.003-05:00

Last night we got some free tickets from Innotec for the Griffins hockey game. So we ventured out into the "blizzard" (there really wasn't much snow at the time, but the warning seemed to keep everyone else home.. the place was empty!!)
The highlight of the night was Chris and some of his buddies were asked to be in a tricycle race after the first period. They WON!! WOO HOOO! :) Unfortunatly there was no big prize for their victory, but it did give us a good laugh! Jeff and Keith did get to ride on the Zamboni though!

go, Chris, go!!

snowlump

2009-12-07T22:31:00.003-05:00

yeah.. so Jonah has been wanting to make a snowman ever since the first snowflakes fell on Thursday. today we finally attempted to build one. lets just say the snow was no longer in prime condition for snowmen.. our snowman is more of a snowlump :) oh well, looks like we'll have a lot more opportunities later in the week.

Hershey kiss eyes, a carrot nose, and a licorice mouth that wouldn't quite curl into a smile.. :)

train ride to the big city

2009-12-07T16:45:00.002-05:00

On Monday (Jonah's birthday!) we took a ride on the train from Michigan City to Chicago. Shedd's Aquarium had special "Community Days" on Mondays and Tuesdays this fall where they had free admission, so we took advantage of that for Jonah's special day! Jonah's favorite things at the aquarium were the seahorses, froggies, and Nemo. We had a fun time at the aquarium, but with an early start to our morning we were done already by noon, so we had some time to kill. We thought "Navy Pier doesn't look so far.. lets walk over there" Ok, so it was a LONG walk, especially since we had opted not to take the stroller along!! We wandered around the mall there for awhile, and had some McDonald's for lunch (birthday boy's choice!), and then had to walk to Michigan Ave to catch a bus back to the aquarium (yeah, we decided we weren't walking all the way back again!) Jonah was very excited to get to ride on a bus, but after about 2 minutes of our ride he was OUT. So we had to RUN back to the train station carrying a sleeping Jonah, and made it with about 2 minutes to spare! It was a fun but exhausting day for all of us!

riding on the train with Daddy

outside the aquarium

the big city!

checking out the fountain at Navy Pier

having a little chat with a statue ;)

Three!

2009-12-07T16:21:00.002-05:00

Last Sunday night we had a Pirate birthday party with my side of the family...Grammie and Grampa, Auntie Liz, Uncle Jonny, Great Grampa and Gramma Maat, and Great Gramma DeKock. We enjoyed our time together eating pizza, ice cream cake, and opening LOTS of presents. I have one spoiled little man!

Jonah trying out his new big boy bike

blowing out the candles...
his pirate birthday cake says
"Jonah, you ARRRRR 3!"
Cheesy, I know :)

sweet new motorcycle from Auntie

showing off his pirate cookies he helped make..

(or helped eat the frosting anyway)

Jonah, I can't believe you are 3 already. Where has the time gone? You are growing up so fast! You have been such a blessing to your mommy and daddy over the last three years. Everyday you challenge us, but all of your smiles, big hugs, and laughs you give us make it well worth it! We hope you enjoy your year being three, and that we can celebrate many many more birthdays with you! Love you Jonah!!

Happy Birthday Jonah and Eli!!

2009-11-15T16:18:00.003-05:00

Oh, and Todd and Brandi, too!! Last night we celebrated the many November birthdays in the Driy family. Eli turned 5 this week, Jonah will be 3 on "Nobember Firty," and Todd and Brandi are... older than me :) We enjoyed some yummy pizza, and the boys opened lots of presents.. though the Cars balloons were one of the biggest hits of the night! One of Jonah's favorite gifts was his new VeggieTales umbrella.. he is now wishing for rain since we won't let him open it in the house anymore!

Jonah sporting his new "Bob" shirt

the boys each got their own cake to blow out candles on!

Happy Birthday everyone!!

meet Edward...

2009-11-15T16:03:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we went with Auntie Liz to Westshore Mall to see the baby tigers. We weren't planning to play with them... but as Auntie said "its a once in a lifetime experience!" Oh wait, we did it last year too, Auntie! :) So we got to spend 8 minutes in 8 week old Edward's cage playing with him, petting him, and we even got to give him his bottle! Suprisingly Jonah warmed right up to him and wasn't afraid at all, dispite being scared at bedtime lately that lions and water buffalo are going to get him. They also had a bigger tiger, a baby kangaroo, and some baby monkeys who were quite funny to watch because they did NOT want to be in their cage!

Thanks Auntie!

Trick or Treat!

2009-11-01T15:29:00.003-05:00

Last night we took our cute little pirate out trick or treating. We visited some of our neighborhood friends, and then went to see great-grandpa and grandma Maat and Auntie Liz and Uncle Jonny. Jonah loved trick or treating and wanted to eat everything as soon as it went in his bucket. ;) I think we've got enough candy to last until next Halloween!

Fall

2009-10-17T16:39:00.002-04:00

It's hard to believe that in my last post Jonah was wearing shorts and a t-shirt! Fall is definately here now! I love all of the changing colors in the trees, and the fun things fall has to offer. We have taken advantage of the last couple weekends to do some of those fun things.
This morning we drove out to Green Acres Farmers Market out towards Grand Haven so Jonah could pick out a pumpkin. Don't ask me why we go all the way out there for over-priced pumpkins, but we have the last couple of years :) It is fun because they literally have MOUNTAINS of pumpkins to choose from, so Jonah likes to go through searching for the best one. I think maybe next year though we will need to start a new tradition and go to a pumpkin patch. Any suggestions of a good one we should visit?

This is Jonah modeling his sweater that his Great Grandma Driy made for him (she made one for all of the cousins.) Jonah loves it because it is very warm and cozy.

Last weekend we went to Crane's in Fennville to pick apples. Jonah loved to pick every apple he could reach :) We didn't stay long because it was alot chillier there than it was at home, so we just quick picked enough for a few apple crisps (if Jonah doesn't eat them all before I make it!) and then went to enjoy some delicious donuts and hot apple cider. Yumm!!

Daddy's Little Helper

2009-09-08T22:42:00.004-04:00

my boys fixin the car together

Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-08T22:15:00.005-04:00

We spent a nice relaxing Labor Day weekend up in Cadillac with the family. On Friday we drove up early and spent the afternoon canoeing down the Manistee River. It was beautiful and peaceful... well, for the first half hour or so, until Jonah got sick of sitting and we had to dive across the canoe to keep him from jumping in! Besides being a little restless, he loved it.. he had alot of fun looking for turtles and helping daddy row the boat- I had it pretty easy since Jonah stole my oar for most of the trip. :) Then Jonah had a blast playing in the FREEEEZING cold river with daddy when we were done, and riding in the bus back to our car with no carseat!

We spent most of the rest of the weekend just laying on the beach, taking boat rides, swimming, daddy did some jet-skiing, and playing catch on the hill. What a perfect end to summer, though I am not ready for summer to be over! Hopefully we'll get a few more nice weekends in before the snow flies!

Binder Park Zoo

2009-08-23T17:28:00.003-04:00

On Wednesday Jonah and I took a fun trip to Binder Park Zoo with Grammie and Auntie. It was a fun day of seeing lots of animals and we had perfect weather!

Jonah and a monkey
Sharing a drink with Auntie

Riding on the Zebra Tram with Jonah's new giraffe

Jonah, Grammie and the bull -- this one's for you , Grandpa! :)

We got to feed the giraffe some lettuce

Auntie, Jonah and Marty the Zebra :)

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-08T22:04:00.003-04:00

We had a fun 4th of July weekend with the family up in Cadillac. On Friday it was a bit chilly, and in the afternoon my mom, Liz and I went to check out "The Greatest Fourth in the North" in Lake City. Lets just say there must not be much competition if that's the greatest fourth in the north :) We could have bought some nice earrings at the craft show made from fishing lures... and they were guaranteed to catch us fish! We passed on those though. The fireworks in Cadillac were on Friday night as well. We had hoped to keep Jonah up for them, but by 9:30 he had had enough, so he missed out. The fireworks were not so spectacular, but in the middle of them the sprinklers came on and got a few people wet, so that added a little excitement for the few people watching from the lawn. :)

On Saturday we went up to Traverse City for the day for the Cherry Festival and to watch the air show. It was a gorgeous day, and Jonah loved watching all the airplanes and eating lots of popcorn!

On Sunday we enjoyed one of Wade's pancake breakfasts, then Chris and Jonah played in the lake for awhile and I enjoyed some time on the beach, and then we took Jonah on his first paddleboat ride. Last weekend Jonah learned to swim in the pool & lake with swimmies on, so he is alot more independant in the water. On one hand its really nice because he is not clinging to us the whole time in the pool, on the other hand its kind of scary that he is so much more confident around the water. After some play time my dad made some delicious kabobs on the grill. Good work dad :)

1..2..3.. WEEE!!

2009-06-18T15:43:00.002-04:00

Girls Week @ Sunset Shores

2009-06-18T15:00:00.005-04:00

We had a fun girls (and little boys) week up at Sunset Shores. We went with my mom & Liz, Laura & her boys Ty and Josiah, and Kathy, Rhonda & Taylor. The boys had so much fun playing together on the beach, rolling down the hill, playing 'ring around the rosie', and squirting eachother in the pool. We went to Johnny's Fish and Game Park for the first time, and got to see and feed lots of animals and fish. We ate way too much, got some reading done on the beach, and Laura and I even got to play some double solitare after the boys went to bed. Just like the good old days when we'd play about every night in college :)

2009-06-18T14:45:00.002-04:00

waterslide!!

2009-06-11T07:41:00.002-04:00

Thank You Jesus..

2009-06-05T14:24:00.002-04:00

A few nights ago Jonah and I were going to enjoy a bowl of ice cream out on the deck after dinner. As he was trying so hard to carry his bowl outside without spilling his ice cream he says "Thank you Jesus." I say, "What are you saying thank you to Jesus for, Jonah?"
"Thank you Jesus for ICE CREAM!!!" :) Thats my boy!!

Sandbox

2009-06-04T21:50:00.003-04:00

Last weekend Chris built Jonah a sandbox. We've been having lots of fun this week filling buckets, building castles, digging tunnels and throwing sand all over the yard... he's had a little trouble remembering the rule about that. It has brought out all the neighbor kids too, now the big kids are always coming over to see if Jonah can play. They get kind of mad though when Jonah smashes their towers.. :)

Here's a pic of Jonah and his new friend, Jordan.

Thanks Daddy!!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-26T08:14:00.003-04:00

We had a nice, relaxing Memorial Day weekend up in Cadillac with the family. The weather was beautiful so we got to spend some time on the beach, take a few boat rides and go to the Cadillac parade - it pretty much consisited of a band, a UPS truck, some motorcycles, horses, and about every firetruck in the northern half of Michigan :) Oh, and lots of people throwing candy :)

sushi

2009-04-08T16:26:00.004-04:00

Last night we took daddy along to get groceries with us... and he strayed a bit from the list. He thought that Jonah should have a fishy, so he found him a little tank with plants and fish food. We were going to pick out a fish at Meijer, but since no one ever came to help us we decided to just get one from Grandpa Driy instead. So we went and picked one out from his basement last night, and 'Sushi' has been swimming happily on the kitchen counter ever since. (to clarify to Terp and anyone else who was wondering... he is swimming happily IN HIS TANK on the kitchen counter :) )

growing up

2009-04-02T15:06:00.004-04:00

Yesterday Chris helped Jonah put together his new big boy bed. We got it back a few months ago, but have kind of avoided putting it up... he's our baby!! :) Jonah was pretty excited to have a new bed with "no bars!!" and wanted to go to bed already at 7 last night. When it finally came down to it though he wasn't quite so sure... but after a little extra time trying to get him settled into bed he slept really good. He woke up once, but didn't get out of bed, just called for mommy, then went right back to sleep. I was worried that we would hear him up all night playing with his toys, but even this morning he called for mommy when he woke up and waited in bed until I came to get him.

Jonah is also getting better at going on the potty again. By no means potty trained, but he usually will go on the potty a few times a day. He even got to pick out big boy underwear at the store yesterday, though I have not been brave enough (and we have not been home for long enough!) to let him try them out yet. Hopefully he will keep getting better and better so we can sign him up for THREE-SCHOOL soon!! AHHHHH!!!! My baby's getting TOO BIG!!!! :)

a few more florida pics

2009-03-30T14:19:00.004-04:00

playing in the water

catch with grampa

racing daddy down the slide

jonah at the dog races

building a sand castle with daddy

the fam at Parrot Key for dinner

jonah and auntie

dancing with grammie at Parrot Key

pirate at yucatan!! arrrrr!

our family

Florida!

2009-03-26T14:25:00.004-04:00

Last week we had an amazing week at Fort Myers Beach. Jonah did perfect on the plane rides, and had so much fun playing at the beach. It was so wonderful to wake up in the morning and eat breakfast out on the deck as we watched for dolphins swimming in the gulf! We enjoyed lots of time on the beach, went swimming in the pool, some shopping, eating out, winning big money at the dog track (I think we ended up a buck ;) ) and playing at a fun park. Chris did some fishing on the pier and even caught a little 2 foot shark! It was so relaxing, but the week went by way too fast! Can't wait to go back next year!!

I don't have a lot of pictures because our new camera DIED early in the week!! Here's a couple, and hopefully I'll get some more once mom and dad get home!

too quiet

2009-02-26T14:25:00.003-05:00

Today as I was making lunch Jonah was being a little too quiet... so I went in search of him, expecting him to be getting into some sort of trouble...

this is how I found him:

sitting on the potty, reading a book and brushing his teeth (with daddy's toothbrush! ;) )

Happy Valentines Day!

2009-02-26T14:06:00.004-05:00

ok, I know it's a little late for a Valetines Day post... but I had to share some pictures of our fun weekend. :) Our annual youth group ski retreat fell over Valentines Day, and this year a couple of the girls who weren't going to ski stayed with me at my parents condo near Caberfae. We had a fun time making Valentine's cupcakes for everyone, watching chick flicks, and "shopping" in fabulous downtown Cadillac. we told Wayne that we were going ice fishing while everyone else was skiing... so he asked us to bring him a fish for dinner! so we did! meet "Carpe"...

yummmmm.... seafood.... (yes, he really ate it!)

spoiled

2009-02-12T15:36:00.003-05:00

Leave it to Auntie to find something that combines two of Jonah's favorite things: VeggieTales and Play-doh. Jonah has been having so much fun with his new Bob & Larry Play-doh! It came with eyes, mouths, and hats to make Bob, Larry, Junior & Laura Carrot, molds to make peas, and tons of other accessories, all in a great big Bob! Thanks Auntie!

sledding!

2009-01-14T14:07:00.004-05:00

Last night we finally took Jonah sledding for the first time this year, despite it being one of the coldest nights of the season! I am not a huge fan of cold and snow, and Jonah seems to be following in my footsteps... he freaks out if he gets snow on his boots, so I didn't think he'd like sledding too much. Boy was I wrong! We took a walk down the street to the Zeeland Christian hill, and Jonah had fun as daddy pulled him around in the street in the new tube. (which, by the way, Jonah thought worked GREAT as a trampoline after we blew it up!) Then up the hill we went, first daddy and Jonah. They had a blast, yelling "WEEEEEEEE!" the whole way down. Then Jonah and mommy, and believe it or not, even I had fun :) Jonah claimed he wasn't cold, but his poor little cheeks were pretty red as he said "sledding again, pleeease?" He went one more time with daddy, then it was back home to warm up. Hopefully after this bitter cold weather we have coming this week we can go again!

prayer

2009-01-12T09:23:00.002-05:00

last night at youth group we talked about the rich young ruler from luke 18, and the things that grip our hearts... the things we just can't fully hand over to Him and keep us from fully following Jesus. (our time, worries, goals..) we ended with this prayer that I thought was very powerful and challenging.

"Father I abandon myself to you. Do with me as you will. Whatever you may do with me I thank you. I am prepared for anything. I accept everything, provided your will is fulfilled in me and in all creatures. I ask for nothing more, my God. I place my soul in your hands. I give it to you, my God, with all the love of my heart, because I love you. And for me it is a necessity of love, this gift of myself. This placing of myself in your hands without reserve in boundless confidence, because you are my Father."
~Charles De Foucauld, 1858-1916

a dry driy boy

2009-01-02T23:43:00.003-05:00

Jonah loves going to grammie and grandpa's house. When I went to pick him up today after work he had lots of excuses of why he had to stay.. he had to finish watching Bob & Larry, he needed a drink, he wanted to go upstairs... finally I had to chase him down to get his coat and boots on. I had him cornered in the laundry room, so this is what he did...

hmmm... why does he smile in the dryer, but not for Christmas card pictures??

Another random thing.. Jonah's been just cracking us up lately. One funny thing he's been doing over the last couple of days is he's talking about himself in third person. We're not quite sure where this came from. example~Jonah, did you sleep good? "Yes he did" Do you like your pizza? "Yes, he does"

he can always bring a smile to our face, he definately keeps us laughing!

Critter Barn

2009-01-02T23:20:00.003-05:00

ok, this should have been before the Christmas party stuff, but oh well :)

The week before Christmas, when it was reallllly cold and snowy my mom, Liz, my cousin Taylor, Jonah and I went to the Critter Barn to see the animals and the live nativity. Jonah loved seeing the baby chicks and duckies (although he didn't want to hold them!) and the bunnies (including one that looked like a small fluffy dog!), goats, sheep, cows, and Baby Jesus. They had lots of pictures of what Bethlehem would have looked like when Jesus was born, told the story of seeing the star from the perspective of a 10 year old shepherd girl, and had a live nativity scene with kids dressed as Mary, Joseph, and shepherds, surrounded by hay and lots of animals.

In the busyness of the season this was a good reminder about what its all really about... not presents and shopping and parties and lots of food, but that precious baby born that first Christmas morning.

believe it or not, this is a bunny!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

2009-01-02T22:38:00.005-05:00

I've got a bit of updating to do... we had a great Christmas this year with lots of Christmas parties to keep us busy! At every party we would ask him what day it was, and his response was "Happy Birthday Jesus!!" He quickly got the hang of opening presents, he's now asking almost daily to open more. :) NO MORE!! The house is full!!! :)

Here's the picture I ended up using for our Christmas cards this year.. sorry to all of you who didn't get one. Jonah isn't very into smiling for pictures lately.. he usually says "cheese" and looks the other way. So at the last minute I settled for the best one I could get and cards were mostly just handed out during family Christmas parties.

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas! Here's a couple more pictures from the holidays..

Jonah and cousin Eli getting spun in the chair by grandpa

Jonah playing with his new train table

Jonah getting a piggy back ride from one of his favorite people, my cousin Taylor

more birthday pics

2008-12-04T11:58:00.004-05:00

It's not working for some reason to line up descriptions with the pictures, so I'll just quickly say what they are.
~Auntie Liz, me and Jonah trying to blow up his new doggie ball pit that he got from Auntie.
~Jonah's yummy cake.
~Family pic, eating cake at great-grandma & grandpa's house
~sideways view of Jonah's new tool bench..he calls grandpa on the fake phone several times a day saying "grandpa, fix it!!"
~opening presents.. a remote control car from Unkie Jonny (who couldn't be there.. we're looking forward to you coming home for Christmas though!)
~blowing out the candles.. you can see the new ball pit in the background

Happy Birthday!

2008-12-04T11:09:00.003-05:00

It is hard to believe that my little baby is two already! Seems like just yesterday that we took our little 5 pound bundle home from the hospital!
On Sunday night we had grammie and grandpa, Auntie Liz, and great-grandpa and grandpa Maat over to celebrate. We enjoyed some pizza and Dairy Queen ice cream cake, and filled our house with yet more toys.
Since it is kind of hard for great-grandpa and grandma DeKock to get out these days we took the party to them on Tuesday night. Jonah had fun eating more pizza (with olives, his favorite :) and cake, riding the elevator and seeing grandpa's train.

Jonah riding his new bike he got for his birthday

Bye Bye Pipeys!!

2008-11-20T14:57:00.002-05:00

Also on Sunday Jonah took yet another step towards being a big boy. He has slept with his pacifier basically since he was born, but over the last few months we've been telling him that they are for babies. For about the last month or so, he would hand me his pipey in the morning
and say "baby's pipey! Abe's pipey!" So we decided that when we saw cousin Abe on Sunday Jonah would give him his pipeys. (not really, don't worry :) We put all of the pipey's in a special bag, and Jonah handed them right over without a problem! When we got home and got ready for bed he had a bit of a panic attack, realizing that his pipeys were actually gone. I expected to have a rough night (well, week actually), but he cried for about a half hour that first night, about 3 minutes before his nap the next day, and then it was done! Not a problem going to bed, and not waking up at night screaming for his pipey! He still asks for "blankie? pipey?" before bed, but then quickly remembers. "Abe's pipey all gone"

Happy Birthday to Jonah!! (almost)

2008-11-20T14:41:00.003-05:00

On Sunday night we got together with the Driy's for birthdays. November is a busy month of birthdays with Jonah, Cousin Eli, and Aunt Brandi & Uncle Todd! We celebrated with pizza, TWO birthday cakes (one for each of the boys) and lots of presents! Jonah loved the cake (mostly the frosting) and chasing his cousin around. We are now having lots of fun with Play-doh, Mr. & Mrs. and baby Potatohead, and learning letters with his new magnets. He knows most of his letters already. Today at lunch he couldn't get the last bit of jello out from the bottom of the bowl, so I scooped it up and said "say Ahhhhh!" he replied with " 'A' says ahhhh!" What a smartiepants :)

Big Boy!

2008-11-05T21:01:00.003-05:00

Jonah went on the big boy potty today!! He had absolutly no interest before... and then today his friend Ty was over, and Jonah caught him going on the potty, and ever since he was all over it! We got him a new potty seat, and he did not want to get off! He was determined... he sat there saying "Stinkies in there!" as he pointed to the potty. And then we had success!! #1 and #2, and #1 again later tonight! YAYYY!!! Mommy and daddy are so proud :)
He's probably going to hate me someday for posting pictures of him on the toilet!! :)

down on the farm.. again

2008-11-01T21:35:00.003-04:00

This time I'm talking about a real farm! Today we went with the DeYoung's for some fun at Post Family Farm. We thought we'd go after the boys woke up from their naps this afternoon...but when we pulled in at 4:18 we were bummed to see the sign at the enterance that said 'Open Saturday 10-4' That didn't stop us! There were still a few people there, so we thought we'd quick take the boys to see the animals when we were there and enjoy some of their yummy donuts. The boys ran around and played on the toys and had lots of fun. They went to check out the pumpkin train and tractor that was sitting in the field, and one of the ladies working there came up with a couple of her girls and took them for a ride! Extra bonus-since we got there late there was no one there taking money anymore so we got in for free!! :)

Trick or Treat!

2008-11-01T21:22:00.003-04:00

We had a fun halloween with our little monkey this year. We went trick-or-treating through the neighborhood and got lots of candy... and some mini bananas for the monkey from Jess :) And of course we had to go see the fishies when we went to Grandpa and Grandmas! Then we went to Great Grandpa and Grandma's for more candy and to see the musical horsies. And then on to 'Light of the World' at Faith Church where we played some games, got more candy, and saw grammy and grampa and Ethan the zebra. Busy night! We had lots of fun, but Jonah couldn't quite understand why we couldn't open everything as soon as we got it!!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

2008-10-30T22:36:00.003-04:00

On Monday we got to celebrate Ethan's 2nd birthday. First we went to the DeYoung's for some pizza and delicious birthday cake and lots of presents. Then we moved the party on to Crazy Bounce. I thought Jonah might be a little overwhelmed and not really like it... not the case at all! He had a blast!! It probably helped that we pretty much had the place to ourself, but he loved to jump and play in the balls and go through the obstacle course. He liked going up to the top of the slides.. but got kind of nervous going down. Always had a big smile when he got to the bottom though! :) Thanks for inviting us Ethan (well, Rachel) we hope you had a happy birthday!!

Only one more month until MY baby turns 2!!

Down on the farm

2008-10-22T13:15:00.004-04:00

This week Grandpa Driy got a barn filled with animals out of the attic for Jonah. It was made for Chris by his grandpa when he was little. Jonah has been having lots of fun with all the tractors, horses, cows and piggies!Here's a random picture my little artist. He loves to color, and has finally stopped trying to eat the crayons all the time! :)

Mommy's Little Monkey

2008-10-16T14:06:00.005-04:00

Today we attempted to get Jonah's pictures taken in his monkey costume. Despite the bad experiences our last couple of times getting pictures taken, I really hoped this time would go better since he LOVES to be in his monkey costume. No such luck. He was as happy as could be waiting in the waiting room, but as soon as they called our name and we went into the studio he turned into a different person. Crying, clinging to mommy for dear life, and stealing the ugly little ducks that they use to try and make him laugh. Any suggestions?

Oh well, hopefully we'll get some cute shots of my cute little monkey on halloween!

Crane's Apple Orchard

2008-10-11T20:52:00.004-04:00

Today we spent a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Crane's Apple Orchard. Jonah was so excited to go, the whole way there he kept saying "Apples? Apples?" Jonah loved trying to pick the apples off the tree, but he quickly figured out they were kind of hard to get off, so he wanted to take the apples off the ground instead. He liked the "geen apples" so he'd take us on a detour everytime he saw a green one on the ground, he thought he should get them all!

As we were heading back towards the car after picking our apples, Jonah was so hot and tired out from all his running around he just stopped in the middle of the path and laid down!
After picking apples we had to stop by the pie pantry for some donuts and apple cider-YUM!! Jonah has been asking for "more nonuts?" ever since :)

hip hop

2008-10-09T16:17:00.003-04:00

this morning Jonah woke up with the hiccups. everytime he would hiccup he would say "hip hop!" isn't he just the cutest?? :)

Pumpkin Parade

2008-10-06T16:03:00.003-04:00

On Saturday we enjoyed the festivities of Zeeland's 25th Annual Pumpkinfest. Jonah loved the parade! I kind of expected that we would be chasing him all over the place, but he sat good as can be on the curb waving to all the kids on the floats and dancing to the beat of the drums. He loved all the tractors, and called out each one by color. "Blue tractor!! Green tractor!!" Jonah wore his monkey costume to the parade, which kept him nice and warm on the cool fall day, and it also earned him lots of candy from people handing it out in the parade! We will be eating Tootsie Rolls for a month!

Girls Weekend!!

2008-09-22T21:02:00.003-04:00

Last weekend we had our annual girls shopping weekend. For the last probably 10 or 11 years (WOW we're old! ) we've gone to Merrillville, Indiana. This year we decided to change things up a bit and stayed at my parents condo in Cadillac, and spent Saturday shopping in Traverse City. We enjoyed lots of laughs, some time in the hot tub, chick flicks, a fun game ofApples to Apples, pedicures, and lots of food!! Can't wait for next year girls!!

Meanwhile, back at home, Chris and Jonah enjoyed "Man Weekend" by running through the doggy sprinkler, playing with the neighbors, and watching some VeggieTales!

Where did my baby go?

2008-09-10T13:23:00.002-04:00

Jonah has been in need of new shoes. It has been getting pretty chilly for his sandals from summer, but I can't even get his shoes from last spring on his feet. All of his sandals were size 5's, but starting to get small, so when I'd see a cute pair of shoes for him I'd get a 6. They all had to be returned. Finally this morning I took him along to try on some shoes, and we ended up getting size EIGHT!!!! How did we go right from 5s to 8s??? My baby is getting too big too fast!!

While I'm talking about feet... this morning as I was getting Jonah dressed we were checking out his new socks from grammie. Todays socks had whales on them, so I asked him what was on his socks. His answer? "SHOES!!"

Return to the Museum!

2008-09-05T22:14:00.003-04:00

Yesterday we were supposed to go to the zoo with Laura, Ty, and Josiah... of course it decided to pour outside! So we went back to the children's museum instead. The boys had a great time, and we even saw our friends Rachel and Ethan there! Jonah says his favorite thing was the "yellow truck" (the yellow vw beetle that he got to sit and "drive"-he's his mommy's boy!! mommy luvs bugs!!) and Ty said his favorite was the sand. Josiah, he's Mr. Independant, and was keeping his mommy busy chasing after him all morning. Jonah also loved pounding away on the piano... I think we've got a little musician! There is so much for them to do there, I'm sure we'll be making many more trips to GR when we have cabin fever this winter!

driving the "yellow truck"

digging in the rocks

Little drummer boy Ty

Ty, Jonah & Josiah playing in the sand

Future Beethoven

"Happy Grammie!"

2008-09-05T22:00:00.004-04:00

Ok, so I'm kind of behind on this again... :)

Last weekend we went up to Cadillac for Labor Day and to celebrate grammie's birthday. It was nice because for the first time we had the whole family there! We went to Lakeside Charlie's for grammie's birthday dinner, and had a fun couple of days playing on the beach, jumping in the pool, going to the music park and seeing fishies (and more fishies!) at the nature center.Grammie- your pictures turned out way better than mine!! You'll have to get them to me so I can add them! :)

Fun with cousins!

2008-08-30T23:12:00.003-04:00

Tonight my cousins Eli and Abe got to come over while Grandpa and Grandma, and Uncle Todd and Aunt Brandi went to a wedding. Eli and I had lots of fun playing with trucks, swinging on "blue" (my swing), blowing bubbles and splashing eachother in the tub. I love baby Abe, but sometimes we had to say "shhhh" because he was sleeping. I was jealous because he had a cool pipe with a bee on it, and I'm not allowed to have mine, except for at bedtime... I tried to steal Abe's a few times when I thought mommy wasn't looking. :) Thanks for coming Eli and Abe, come back again soon!!

"Eli, are you gonna swing so high you touch the clouds?"

"No, cause when my mom and dad get home they'll say 'Where's Eli?' And you'll say 'Eli got stuck in the sky' They'd be mad."

3 year olds say the funniest things!!

Day at the Zoo

2008-08-11T21:03:00.005-04:00

Chris and I took Jonah to John Ball Zoo on Saturday, and we had a great day! The weather was perfect, not 110 like Chris swears it always is at zoos :) Jonah liked seeing the animals, especially brushing the baby goats. He pointed out the "wa-wa" to us in each of the animals cages and LOVED going under the waterfall with daddy!

pumping water for the goats

brushing the baby goats

under the waterfall with daddy

looking at the fishies

a few more pictures from TJ...

2008-08-05T22:34:00.003-04:00

Estrella, Jordan, Lindsey & Luis
Me and one of the precious little girls
Tiling Crew! Chris, Danny, Melissa, Heidi, Deb & Jenna
View from Cristo Arca de Salvacion where we stayed
On Saturday we dressed up as clowns and went into the neighborhood inviting kids to VBS. The clowns certainly got alot of attention!
Dios Viviente church before we started painting
VBS/painting crew. No one fell off the scaffolding!! YEAH GOD!!!
Worship at sunset at the beach in Tijuana
Hanging out on the roof

A story from TJ...

2008-08-05T20:57:00.006-04:00

Right after we crossed the border into Mexico the group went to a market to buy blankets, jewelry, giant sombreros, etc. Since it is not the safest area, Scott and Marcia stayed back to keep an eye on our vans while everyone else went shopping. As they were waiting for us they met a little boy, Jesse, who was selling gum. They learned that he lived in the same neighborhood where we would be doing VBS the next week, so they invited him to come. I should add that this neighborhood was over half an hour away, so it was pretty amazing that they connected! Monday came along, and Jesse showed up with his 4 younger siblings. Many of us grew attached to him right away, partly because he was an awesome kid (with some killer dance moves!) but also because he spoke English! (His siblings, however, did not.) After VBS on Monday all of the kids went home, and our group took a break for lunch before starting to paint the church. Then back came Jesse and his siblings, wanting to help! The same thing went on for the rest of the week, they were always ready and willing to help us however they could. As the week went on we learned that they used to live in the US, near Los Angeles, but didn't get much more detail. We saw that their shoes were very worn, held together with nails, and they didn't have socks.
Some of the girls decided to take a collection from our group to try and get the kids new shoes. Within a half an hour we raised exactly $350. We got a pair of school shoes and tennis shoes for each of those 5 children, a shirt for an older sister (who we hadn't met), socks for each child, school supplies, and a new soccer ball, with money left for their mom to use as they needed.
On the last day their mother came to VBS, and a few in our group had an opportunity to talk with her and get a little more of their story... The children were all born in the US, so they were all US citizens. 2-3 years ago her mother-in-law died, so she got on a bus with all six children to go to the funeral. She had a child in each arm, and a bag over her shoulder with all of their money and identification. Her bag was stolen, along with their money and proof of citizenship. So they have been stuck in Mexico ever since, trying to get the money to get their paperwork together so they can go back to the US.
We told the mother that we had a suprise for them, and she invited us to their house after we were done with VBS. When we got to their house, they welcomed us inside. There was a small "yard" (dirt) and then a house built out of old garage doors and a plywood roof. The house had two small rooms with dirt floors, the first one was basically empty, the second had two very worn queen sized mattresses on the floor (to sleep 7-8 people- I don't know if the dad is in the picture), a small table with a little pile of clothes, a tv, and a crock pot.
When we gave the family their gifts their mother did not have the words to express her gratitude, she just cried, and gave us HUGE hugs. We all stood in a circle and held hands and prayed together, with Jesse translating for us.

So often we take what we have for granted, and are always wanting more. It was so humbling to see time after time in Tijuana people who literally had basically nothing, yet were still full of joy. We were so blessed to have met Jesse and his family, and I hope that we have changed their lives at least a fraction of how much they have changed ours! Jesse, Soledad, Gregoria, Isabel, Gilberto, Mom, and Marisela

Praying with the family

Tijuana

2008-08-05T15:06:00.004-04:00

Chris and I spent last week in Tijuana, Mexico with 43 AMAZING students and leaders from Haven. We stayed at the Cristo Arca de Salvacion church, where they had several classrooms we could sleep in, although many chose to sleep out on the roof!!

We spent the week working with Scott and Marcia Geurink and their family, who are missionaries in Tijuana. About half of the group worked at Dios Viviente, where we did a VBS in the morning and painted the church in the afternoons. By the end of the week we had about 130 children who attended VBS, and we all fell in love with them! The other half of the group worked at a new church, Agua Viva (Living Water), doing various projects such as drywalling and painting the sanctuary, mixing and laying cement, tiling the parsonage, and putting up a fence.

We could really feel God with us in Tijuana this week in many different ways: the smiles on the faces of the children, and the pure joy that they have; keeping us all safe and healthy throughout the week; the men at the rehab center singing their hearts out to God; the lessons we can learn from the people there who have literally nothing, but are still willing to give, and do it joyfully.

Thats a very brief overview of the week... I'll also post a few stories from the week and some pictures!

May the Lord make your love increase & overflow for eachother and for everyone else.

1 Thesselonians 3:12

Jonah's week with grammie

2008-08-02T23:09:00.003-04:00

While Chris and I went to Tijuana with youth group last week, Jonah spent the week with grammie in Cadillac. Pictures and stories of our week to come... after some SLEEP!!!! But first here's what Jonah's been up to all week...

Day 1
Since Mommie and Daddy are going to Tijuana for a whole week without me, I get to spend the week up in Cadillac with Grammie. So far off to a good start. We left for Cadillac late Thursday afternoon; I think it was harder on Mommy and Daddy then me. As usual in the car, I sang to myself until I fell asleep. I slept most of the ride up till we got to Reed City, then Grammie decided it was time for me to wake up so I'd get back to sleep at night. We stopped at Burger King for supper, a favorite stop because they have cool toys and also those yummy apple fries. It's still ok to dip them in ketchup, right?We got up to Cadillac and I still had a couple hours to play with my toys and check out the place again since I hadn't been here in a week. Everything seems like new again. I was SO excited to see my favorite "toy", my toothbrush! I couldn't WAIT to show Grammie!Then it was time for bed; I went to sleep perfectly, just like always, but decided I should wake up at 3:30 cuz that's when Mommie and Daddy were leaving for the airplane. But Grammie wouldn't let me call to say good-bye again, so I just went back to sleep till almost 8 o'clock. Grammie hopes it gets a little later each day, cuz she really needs her beauty sleep. She's way behind.This morning, after my walk with Bumpa to see the duckies, we went to the Cadillac sidewalk sales and found some good deals. Of course I charmed everybody as we walked around. This afternoon after my nap we got to play on the beach and in the water. We had lots of fun. Tonight we went to the campfire and I had a YUMMY s'more. Most of it got in my tummy, but I did leave a little on my face. :) Now I'm off to bed so I'll be good and rested for another day at the beach tomorrow.
Day 2
Today was another good day. I slept all night long, till almost 8 a.m. Me and Grammie got to spend some time alone outside while Bumpa had a breakfast meeting. Then I made new friends with Bumpa's friend Mike and his wife Steph. We went for a boat ride, and then I held their hands and they counted with me, 2 - 2 - 2 wheeeeee!!! It was sooo much fun! After they left I had fun playing on the beach with Keelie. We filled the sand pails together and shared really nice. I think I forgot to tell you yesterday we gave each other big hugs. It was really cute till we started knocking each other over. :)After my nap this afternoon we went for groceries and I got to ride the horsie. Then I danced for everybody in the store. After supper I got to have another s'more at the campfire -- they are so yummy! I think we're gonna have to do this every day! Now it's off to bed with my doggie - night night!!
Day 3
Today was a pretty laid-back day. No visitors today. I was really hoping Auntie and Unkie Jonny were going to come for the day, but they were too busy. But tomorrow should be fun, Aunt Pat and Taylor are coming! Today we just stuck around and relaxed all day, played in the sand, counted lots of duckies, and I went up and down all 3 flights of stairs 3 times with Bumpa! Now I'm sleepy, time for ni-night!
Day 4
What a fun day I had today! I met a new friend, Griffin from Texas. He's 5 and gonna start kindergarten in the fall. First I watched him and his sister and his daddy fish for a while. They were catching lots and lots of fishies. Mostly perch. Every time Griffin would catch one, while his daddy was taking him off the line his sister would catch another one. Kept daddy busy just taking fish off the line, one after another. The fishies were fighting over the worms! After that me and Griffin went and played in the sand and went swimming in the lake. It was lots of fun till I went in for lunch and my nappie. And surprise! when I woke up from my nap, Taylor was there!! We had so much fun together, swimming in the pool, playing on the beach, swinging in the swing, climbing the stairs ... we kept really busy all day. Then for supper we got Taylor's favorite, BC Pizza. I really liked it too - I had 2 whole pieces!!
Day 5
Today was another fun day! We went swimming in the pool after breakfast, then we went to Peebles and Meijers because Taylor wanted a new school outfit. I wasn't real crazy about shopping, since I had the beach and the pool waiting for me; but when we got to Meijers Taylor took me on the horsie, so that made everything all better. When we got back, Jaiden and Brady and Yasoo were there!! We had fun swimming in the lake and playing on the beach till it was time for nappie. Then after our naps we had fun playing - Taylor was so much fun to have here to play with us, we really hoped she could stay longer. But TJ wanted her to come home, so we'll just have to have fun without her. Tomorrow should be a fun day again with Brady and Jaiden! I'm being SUCH a good boy for grammie, we're having lots of fun. But when I see pictures of Mommie and Daddy it makes me just a little sad because I miss them and can't wait for their hugs and kisses. But it won't be long before I get them again!Day 6We had a really busy day today. We went swimming in the pool for over an hour in the morning; it's so fun to jump off the side of the pool to grammie. Jaiden and Brady had lots of fun jumping too! Then we went back and had lunch and guess what Jaiden saw hop, hop, hopping behind the couch?!? You guessed it, another one of those little froggies (aka toads). Grammie caught it in a container; then after lunch grammie found another one outside by the cooler, so she added it to the container too. It was a really big one!! We put grass in it and some holes in the top so they could breathe but not hop out. After our naps, we went to the pool AGAIN for another hour! More jumping in; I found some favorite new steps - the ones by the deep end of the pool. It was so fun to climb them, jump in to grammie, then climb them again. Steps are just the coolest thing ever. (Well next to lights of course.) After we went swimming we got cleaned up and then went out for supper - McDonalds!! I got a cool new toy, Ronald McDonald that does hula hoops. And I had my chicken nuggets, dipped in caramel sauce, and apple fries dipped in ketchup. Just doesn't get much better than this! Then we went to the park and played on all the fun toys there. After we got back we were really tired, so we went to bed. But guess who decided to come back while I was sleeping? BUMPA!! That was a nice surprise to wake up to in the morning. :)
Day 6
Since Bumpa came back last night, he decided to take us all for a boat ride this morning. That was lots of fun! He even let me and Brady and Jaiden drive the boat! :) (After it was back in the lift, of course.) But it was a lot of fun. Then Brady and Jaiden had to go home, so things got pretty quiet around here. But it was still a fun day. Grammie and Bumpa took me swimming in the pool after my nap. After supper we just played on the beach. I also got to see all the thishies that another bumpa caught -- a WHOLE BUNCH!! It was a lot of fun, but I think I can tell it's almost time for Mommie and Daddy to come home. I'm starting to miss them more and more. I can't wait to see them soon - only 2 more sleeps!!
Day 7
Today was our last day in Cadillac. This morning Bumpa took me out for our morning walk and we saw a squirrel and thishies and a mink, but no guckies this morning. Then just before lunch we left for Grammies house back in Zeeland. I slept most of the way home. When we got home I got to see Rocky, Unkie Jonny, and finally AUNTIE!!! It had been a long time since I saw her! We went to Target, then afterwards we went to have supper with Great Bumpa and Great Gramma DeKock. Great Bumpa had surgery on his head this afternoon, he looked pretty funny, like a mummy! (Not like my mommie tho!!) We had pizza and an ice cream cone, yummy!! I was really tired before we went there because my nap was shorter than usual. But once we got home to Grammies, no way did I want to go to bed! Grammie says I got a second wind. I'm staying up pretty late tonight, but guess what??? When I wake up, Mommy and Daddy will be home!! I just can't wait to see them!! I miss them SOOO much! It's been a really fun week with Grammie and Bumpa and everybody else, but nothing is better than being home with Mommy and Daddy!!

fun with Ty guy

2008-07-23T14:35:00.004-04:00

today Jonah's friend Tyler got to come over to play while his mommy took Josiah to the doctor. Jonah and Ty look like they could be brothers with their red hair! They had lots of fun playing outside together blowing bubbles, riding on the trucks, going down the slide and mowing the lawn!

Come back soon Ty!

first ice cream cone...

2008-07-14T23:04:00.000-04:00

Tonight we went to Captain Sundae after Chris' last softball game of the year. Jonah has always loved ice cream, but he usually just steals all of mommy's and daddy's. This time he got his very own kiddy cone and LOVED it!! He sat on the bench licking away at his ice cream, hardly spilling a drip!

this week...

2008-06-22T23:01:00.000-04:00

I realize its been a while since I last posted, so I thought I would at least give a little update on what we've been up to this week...

Last Sunday was Father's Day, so we went to the Conference Grounds (where my mom was camping for the week) for a delicious lunch with my family and the Timmers. At night the Driy's came over for dinner on the deck, and Jonah and Eli had a great time playing in the pool and running through the doggy sprinker.

I realized I didn't have any pictures of the dads on Father's Day, just the kids! But I do have a good one of Chris and Jonah from a few days later... Jonah got to go for a ride with daddy on the lawnmower. He thought he was pretty cool, and I'm sure he will be begging for a ride anytime daddy mows the lawn for the rest of the summer! We spent the weekend up at the condo in Cadillac with Bill, Rachel, and Ethan DeYoung. We had a great time playing on the beach, swimming in the pool and getting our exercise by chasing after our boys!! Rachel and I even got to relax and get some sun by the beach during naptime!

And the perfect way to end the week: A new little nephew!!! Brandi gave birth to Abraham John yesterday morning. We got to go and see him today, he is so precious. Its hard to believe just a year and a half ago Jonah was that tiny, it flies by way too fast!! Congratulations Brandi and Todd and Eli!!

day at the museum

2008-05-14T15:21:00.000-04:00

Today we spent the morning at the Grand Rapids Children's Museum with our friends Laura, Ty, and Josiah, and Deb, Amber, Ben and Matthew. We had SO much fun!! There were so many fun things to do and play with there... we got to play in a kitchen-Jonah found the bananas, so he was happy! There were big bubbles, trucks to drive, steps to go up and down (and up and down, and up and down...) sandboxes, fun mirrors, a boat where we could go "fishing," and lots of other fun stuff! Definately a fun way to spend a rainy morning!

Running through the sprinklers!

2008-05-08T14:22:00.000-04:00

Jonah loves to play in the "wa-wa," so on Tuesday when we had such a nice day daddy turned on the sprinkers and let Jonah run through them. It was so much fun!! He loves to be outside, and we are looking forward to summertime when we can play in the "wa-wa" all the time!

Day of the Young Child

2008-04-21T21:58:00.000-04:00

On Saturday we went downtown Zeeland for the Day of the Young Child. Jonah loved all the big trucks on display outside, he especially liked getting to climb on the fire truck and going on the school bus with mommy and our neighbors Big Brian and Little Brian.

Welcome Home Jonny!

2008-04-21T21:30:00.000-04:00

Last week we headed out to Kansas to welcome Jonny home from Iraq after 15 long months. The ceremony was at 4:30 in the morning, so we woke up at about 2am to head over to Fort Riley and get a seat. After a quick ceremony the soldiers were released for 2 days, so we got to spend some time hanging out with Jon, going to the mall, out to eat and hanging out at the hotel... (there's really not much to do in Kansas!)

We thank God for protecting Jon over the last 3 years while he's been serving in the army, and are looking forward to when he will be back home, hopefully sometime in July.

Jonah did SO good on the trip, I was so proud of him! He did really good on the long car rides and getting up at 2am to go see Uncle Jonny.

fun in the sun!

2008-03-26T14:43:00.000-04:00

We spent last week in Fort Myers Beach where we got to spend some time in the sun! I flew with Jonah, Liz, and our friends Heidi Wolters and her daughters Jennika and Jossalyn, while the guys drove down with our van FULL of stuff! Jonah did pretty good on the plane, besides the fact that he could not sit still! He likes to be up and running around, so he was jumping between me and Auntie Liz during most of the flight down there.

While in Florida we spent lots of time at the pool and at the beach. Jonah LOVES the water. The first day we were sitting on the beach, and he was content playing with his sand toys... until he realized the gulf was nearby. Off he ran! We could not keep him out if it! He would run right in and sit down, letting the waves just crash around him. He got a mouth full of salt water a couple of times, but that didn't stop him! Almost as good as the gulf was the shower where we would rinse our feet before going back inside, he loved playing in it!

We spent one morning at the zoo in Naples, which was lots of fun. Jonah liked seeing the monkeys, lions (RAAAAR!), kangaroos and zebras.

All in all we had a great vacation, besides the fact that Jonah would not sleep in the pack n play, so he was up for a few hours every night. We also had a rough trip home with a snow storm delaying our flight into Grand Rapids... we finally got into GR at around midnight with three very tired kids (and moms!)

fun in the snow

2008-01-31T15:28:00.000-05:00

jonah loves being outside, even in the snow. we had alot of fun last week sledding in the backyard and driveway. the snow was almost up to my knees!

Jonah's First Trip to the ER

2008-01-20T22:21:00.000-05:00

Tonight Jonah took a dive into the corner of our end table, sending him on his first (and hopefully last!!) trip to the ER. He was a really tough boy, he had stopped crying halfway to the hospital and was ready to play. The doctor gave Jonah 4 stitches above his right eye while Chris and I held down his arms and legs. Jonah definately did not have much fun with that, although I think it was even harder on mommy and daddy. We are so thankful that Jonah is okay and that it wasn't any worse!

best buds

2007-12-06T15:13:00.000-05:00

today we had a playdate with jonah's best friend ethan. the boys had lots of fun eating cookies and goldfish crackers, playing with toys, stealing each others pacifiers, and beating each other up. boys will be boys i guess! we had a good time though, and can't wait to play again soon! thanks rachel and ethan for having us over and sharing your toys!!

a not-so-fun day at the doctor

2007-12-04T22:25:00.000-05:00

today jonah had his one year doctors appointment. we are thankful for a healthy, growing little boy! jonah, however, is not so thankful for the six shots that he had to get. poor little guy... he was sitting on my lap, screaming, looking at me like "mommy!! why are you letting her do this to me?!?" but by the time we got him dressed he was happy and flirting with the nurses. (not the one who gave him shots... she just got dirty looks.)

jonah's stats
weight 20 lbs. 14 oz. (20th percentile)
height 29 inches (25th percentile)

jonah's first birthday

2007-12-04T22:22:00.001-05:00

on friday we celebrated jonah 's first birthday. i can't believe how fast the year has gone!! on friday night we had a party with the dekock side of the family, where jonah got WAY to many presents!! we had alot of fun though. jonah had fun digging into the birthday cake, but especially loved the ice cream. i think he's addicted.
one of jonah's favorite toys he got was from auntie liz- the bounce and spin zebra. he got right on and jumped..and jumped..and jumped! he thought it was the greatest thing, and it was so fun watching his big smile and listening to him giggle.
on sunday night we had another party with the driy family. jonah had lots of fun chasing cousin eli around the house, and loved the pizza (the crazy kid loves green olives!!) and once again he got WAY to many presents!! i don't know where we will put everything, especially with christmas coming soon! one of the favorites from the driy family was his new dump truck. it makes lots of noise, and he can push it around, ride on it, and fill it full of blocks. it was a big hit, and cousin eli can't wait to come back so he can play with it again, too!

a day at Post Family Farm

2007-10-22T11:26:00.000-04:00

On Saturday we had a fun day taking Jonah to Post Family Farm. He had fun petting the horses and seeing the giant pumpkins. His favorite part was the goats. He would stand by the fence yelling "BAA BAA BAA" at them until they came to the fence so he could pet them.