July

Julia and a Heritage Camp teacher

Julia's preschool global camp

Just to prove that I can still do it

Classic picture taken by Steph

Family picture

The pen is for Stephen, but they all go in with him

Cutie. And nice looking Grandpa too

Here we go!

The end is in sight

Finished the race and got our cookies

Our cheering section

His Little Feet choir performing at church

Choir group that stayed at our house

Keeping up with the blog is proving difficult!  I need to start a page where I jot down things I want to remember so I'm not wracking my brain when it is time to blog.  I included a few more pics of Heritage Camp.  And my Mom took a picture of me waterskiing at the cottage last month.  I didn't ski last summer because I was pregnant so it was a good feeling to get up right away and find my groove again.  Wish we could ski more often! 

Stephanie came home for a visit, but the time always goes too fast.  I was a little sad that I couldn't spend much quality time with her because of some last minute busyness.  But, she was a huge help with the kids- as always!  I love the honest discussions we have and the silliness.  Love you Steph!

At the end of the month Nate, Steph and I ran a 5K.  The race raised money for adoption grants for special needs orphans.  I hate running and after the 5K I ran a couple years ago I swore I would never do it again.  However, I hadn't been getting to the gym much since Stephen was born and I needed some form of exercise.  Running was easy enough to do when Nate was home and the race was benefitting something I'm passionate about- seemed like a good idea.  It did NOT seem like a good idea while I was running the race.  It was brutal.  Steph kept me going though and I ran the whole thing.  And the race gave out cookies at the end, sweet!  Nate had a good race time and Steph would have had a better time if she hadn't stuck with me- what a nice sister.  And once again I say never again to a 5K...

The end of July also brought the choir His Little Feet to Holland.  I'd been working for a while to bring the choir to our church and it finally happened!  The choir is made up of orphans from Ethiopia and India.  The choir advocates and raises awareness for orphans around the world.  They performed at Faith CRC in the morning and then went to our old church in South Haven that evening.  Five families from our church, including us, hosted the kids and staff.  We had two boys and a staff member stay with us.  The day the choir left our homes they found out their next venue cancelled on them and they were without homes for 3 nights.  (The choir is based out of Colorado.)  We did a little scrambling and were able to find host homes.  We ended up hosting two groups.  So we had two boys and a staff member in the house and two boys and a staff member in our camper outside.  It was a great couple of days.  I had mentioned to Nate when the choir left the first time that we didn't have much time to connect with them.  But, God brought them back for an extended stay!  It was challenging to cook for 12 people, I felt like Grandma at the cottage. Our whole family enjoyed the time with the choir and are thankful for the relationships formed. 

Stephen is now crawling, here comes trouble!  He can now eat Cheerios too, I love that milestone.  It is much easier to keep babies happy in restaurants, etc when they can eat Cheerios.  Stephen had allergy testing done and he does not have any food allergies!  We are so thankful.  The Dr. said he probably has a milk intolerance.  So as he gets older we'll keep track of how his digestive system handles dairy products.  If he has discomfort we'll do lactose free products.

Now we are in the last weeks of summer vacation, hard to believe!

June

Saying goodbye to Caedmon, Madeline and Xavier

Picking strawberries

Camping in the backyard with Dad b/c he couldn't go backpacking this year

Baptism Sunday

Celebrating with family

Why can't we get one nice family picture?

Bike ride with the grandparents

On the sand dune with Uncle Pete

And Dad too

Swimming in Lake WI with Grandma

Ok, time to catch up!  Last month we said goodbye to our good friends, the Gross family as they moved to Pennsylvania.  Summer and I met when our kids were babies and have watched our kids grow up over the last 7 years.  Caleb finished up Little League and had a great time.  The kids participated in Heritage camp for a week up in Grand Rapids.  Heritage Camp is a day camp for internationally adopted kids and their siblings.  They split the kids up into the countries they were born in and teach them about culture, music, games, etc.  The boys really enjoyed the Tae Kwon Doe class and Isaac learned how to count to 7 in Korean.  It was a new experience to not be able to spot my daughter in a crowd, she blended right in with all of the other Asian girls.  I hope we can continue to attend Heritage Camp over the years.  Isaac has lost two teeth.  The first one when he was eating strawberries.  Isaac had been whining about his loose tooth so Grandpa D promised him a dollar if he pulled it out that day.  Guess that little motivation helped!  The boys are attending swim lessons for two weeks and Julia is doing gymnastics for the first time.  Nate is teaching Caleb piano lessons!  We found lesson plans on the internet and decided to try home instruction before paying a teacher.  Caleb doesn't seem to mind piano lessons, yet.  We have new windows being put in right now. They should look really good and save us some money on energy costs.

Last month I decided to take Isaac, Julia and Stephen strawberry picking.  My thought was that Stephen would take his morning nap in the stroller.  Well, that didn't work out so well.  Stephen started screaming so I was walking him up and down the row while Isaac and Julia picked (ate) strawberries.  Stephen finally fell asleep and I started picking.  Unfortunately he woke up after 10 minutes and could not be consoled, time to head home.  So Isaac is pushing the screaming baby in the stroller, I'm carrying our flat of strawberries that is basically empty and dragging Julia who was tantruming. When I was getting everyone into the van a lady came up to me and said, "you deserve a medal, you are doing a great job."  That was so kind of her, I almost started crying.  A little bit of understanding and encouragement make such a difference. 

Nate's parents visited us for a week.  Stephen was baptized during their stay.  Stephen did great during the water part, but he did not like the pastor holding him while praying.  Stephen was crying, loudly.  The pastor passed him off to Nate and tried to finish the prayer, but Stephen was so loud he finally gave up. Memories.  Nate's parents arrived right at strawberry time so they ended up helping us pick and make 6 batches of jam.  Unfortunately they had to do the same thing at Reuben's and then Colleen's house before coming to our house!  Pete flew out halfway thru the week.  Nate, Pete and Dad got some golfing in and helped Nate with some house projects.  The kids enjoyed bike rides, crafts, playing outside, and reading books with the grandparents.  Pete and Nate then took the older 3 kids camping at Warren Dunes State Park.  They hiked some sand dunes, played at the beach and enjoyed the nice weather.  The kids thought it was cool to have a whole weekend with Uncle Pete.  

We had a short term refugee foster teen, Enedina, move in with us.  She is 16 and pregnant.  So far it is going well, aside from the language barrier.  We're trying to encourage her to not spend all her time in her bedroom.  Hopefully she will be reunited with family here in America or she will end up in long term foster care.

Over the fourth of July we went to the cottage.  It was unbelievable how hard it was to get on this vacation.  On Wednesday I was busy cleaning, packing, etc.  I got a phone call from Bethany that Enedina had lice, that stressed me out.  Thankfully Bethany took her to a hair place that completely kills the lice, you don't have to comb out nits for days after and so forth.  I did still have to wash all of the bedding and her clothes that day.  We were supposed to leave Thursday morning, but had to take Stephen to urgent care for an ear infection.  We finally arrived at the cottage Thursday evening.  Friday morning I came down with a bad case of mastitis.  I was laid up all day with a fever, chills and aches.  Thankfully my OB in MI called in a prescription to WI for me.  By Saturday morning I was feeling better.  We had great weather and got to swim, tube and waterski.  Our cottage vacations always end too quickly.

Stephen is 7 months old.  He sits up and plays with his toys.  I really don't want him to crawl anytime soon.  But, he seems determined to learn as he rolls around and pulls himself up on his knees.  We have not baby-proofed yet...  He was sleeping 11 hours at night until he got his ear infection.  He is now too big for the infant carseat.  He says "ma-ma" but I don't think it is attached to me specifically.  Still makes me smile though!  He squeals with delight when his siblings play with him.  He also loves sitting outside in his exersaucer or swinging.  Everyone comments on what a happy baby he is and we agree! 

Backpacking

Guest blogger – Nate

After a one year hiatus, Caleb and I restarted our end of the school year backpacking tradition last weekend.  We have so many fond memories of the first trip, we couldn’t wait to get back out in the woods again.  We went with Caleb’s classmate Jackson, his dad, and younger brother Will back to the Manistee River Trail.  We started in the middle and hiked to each end and back in two and a half days.  The boys were awesome, hiking the entire 20 miles, about six of that with their packs on.  Here are some of the highlights:

Rescuing a sun turtle off the road.  Flushing out a whitetail deer from near the trail.  Seeing a snake with a recently eaten critter still evident in its middle.  Picking up a snapping turtle and numerous frogs on the trail.  Being woken up by wild turkeys one morning and a woodpecker the next.  Hearing the owls at night.  Throwing rocks in the river.  Climbing up and down the large sandy bank to the river.  Taking the plunge into a pool near the bank (it was COLD!).  Dave and I standing in our underwear on the riverbank talking to a group of paddlers floating by.  Caleb getting his shoes wet playing near a stream.  Hiking until after 6 pm the first day looking for an unoccupied campsite.  Ten mile hike on Sunday.  Whittling our walking sticks into spears.  The BEAUTIFUL views including the one from our campsite up on a bluff overlooking the river.  Candy bars for breakfast.  Practicing our fire-building techniques.  And lots of father/son bonding. 

Ready to hit the trail

Members of the 20 mile club

On the trail

It rained both nights, but the weather during the day was perfect.  Isaac was very disappointed he wasn’t old enough to go along this year.  He was somehow able to convince me to sleep one more night in a tent in our backyard the day we got back.  We had a fun time!  We’re looking forward to next year already when Caleb and Isaac will both come along.  

We love sleeping on the ground if it means more Skittles!

6 months old and other events

5 months old, time for his first haircut!

Looking good

Grandma D. made a great Dutch costume for Tulip Time

6 months old

Nate hung some swings- this tree is the neighborhood hangout now

Julia had a bike parade at school- she looks so big!

Christian stayed with us for a couple weeks

Iron Man and Bumblebee the Transformer

Mom needed a place to put me

Grandma J with the babies

Caleb is a big help with Stephen

Time keeps ticking away- the DC Talk song is in my head.  In the past month Stephen got his first haircut (and needs one again!) and his two bottom teeth.  He eats baby food 3 times a day and nurses 5 times a day.  One of those feeding times is during the night.  With the other kids I was much more strict about stopping the middle of the night feeding.  But honestly, we need sleep and it only takes 20 minutes of my night vs letting him cry it out.  My goal is to stop the middle of the night feeding when he is 9 months old.  He also ends up in our bed more often than the other kids did.  Mostly when he wakes up too early and I don't want him crying and waking everyone else up.  Last kids are so spoiled.  Stephen is doing better with naps.  He takes a morning nap around 9, afternoon nap around 12:30 and his last nap around 4.  If he takes two good naps he doesn't take the last one and just goes to bed early- like 6:30 pm.  He now rolls onto his side or stomach to sleep and can put the pacifier back in his mouth.  I need to put like 4 of them in there so he can find them.  I hate the middle of the night pacifier search.  Stephen makes happy but loud squeals and screams.  He also learned to blow raspberries and often does it in our faces.  We got a johnny jumper and he is quite proud of his jumping abilities.  He loves playing and giggling with his older siblings.  He really is a happy baby.  Caleb has been very helpful with Stephen when I am making dinner.  Caleb will feed Stephen his baby food and keep him entertained.  I sometimes pay Caleb 50 cents for his help, start training him now to babysit!  Stephen had his 6 month check up today and is 22 lbs and 28 inches, that puts him around the 95th percentile for height and weight.  Another big boy!  Stephen is sick with his first cough.  I feel bad when babies are sick because there is so little I can do for them. 

Tulip Time was at the beginning of May.  All of the 1st-3rd graders in Holland march in the KinderParade dressed in Dutch costumes.  It is quite a sight to see wave after wave of kids in Dutch gear.  I also took the kids to the final Tulip Time parade, it lasts about 1 1/2 hours.  It was freezing!! Which is slightly funny because 3 days earlier we had been sweating at the KinderParade.  And can I say Holland people are crazy about parades?  They start staking out their spots at 5:30 am.  Thankfully a friend from church saved us spots so we didn't have to get out super early. 

We had a refugee foster child stay with us for 2 weeks.  He didn't speak alot of English so we brushed up on our Spanish and used a translator app on our iPad.  He was 13 years old and a sweet kid.  The kids had fun playing with him and he taught the boys how to do jumps on their scooters. 

Nate took the boys and Caleb's friend, Jason to a Whitecaps game

Last day of school! I promise Caleb was happy

Isaac and Julia finished school last week and Caleb finished today.  I really can't believe how fast the school year went.  I started the school year as big as a house and ended it lugging around a heavy 6 month old in an infant carseat.  There were many nerves about starting at a new school, but this year was a fantastic experience for the kids.  They quickly felt comfortable, made friends, had excellent Christian teachers and learned alot.  Our primary reason for moving to Holland was for school, so we're thankful the first year went so well.  I'm also thankful I won't have two kids in the preschool program again!  Preschool classes are so time intensive.  They are always having special color days, show and tells or field trips and they were never on the same day.  Never mind the different dismissal times.  I will not miss that.  Isaac is sad that his teacher can't be his kindergarten teacher next year.  But, he met his new teacher and he loves the countdown to kindergarten calendar she gave the class.  He's excited his best friend will be in his class next year and he'll get to eat lunch at school.  Julia is proud to tell everyone that she will be in 4 year old preschool next year and that she is older than her friend Asha, because that is very important- ha!  The second graders visited the school they will attend next year.  Caleb seems relaxed about the change, he just doesn't want to learn multiplication in 3rd grade.  He did tell us the lockers, gym and playground are all bigger at the new school. 

The kids are getting spoiled in our new neighborhood.  There are so many kids to play with that when the neighbors aren't home my kids don't know what to do with themselves.  How quickly they forget there weren't any kids to play with at our South Haven house.  Caleb is having a harder time playing with his siblings and their friends.  There is a boy his age that moved in down the street so hopefully that works out this summer. 

Florida 2013

Have to get a picture at the Juice Store

Chilling pool side

Mini- golfing

Alligator pond at mini-golf

Feeding the alligators

Let's feed some gators

 Gotta love Florida!  We spent the week with Nate's parents and had a relaxing vacation.  Dad had to work, but was able to get out early in the afternoons.  We had an interesting trip on the way down.  We got to Midway and learned our tickets had been cancelled. Say what?!  While I kept the kids occupied Nate figured out how to get our tickets, thankfully we got on our original flight.  We had two flights down and the kids did great.  Julia had a cold so her ears hurt a little. I gave her Dramamine on the car ride to the airport.  When we got out of the car she couldn't really walk straight.  Guess I should have reduced the dosage!   Stephen didn't seem to have any ear issues.  On Sunday we went to church but Julia didn't last long as her stomach was hurting and she had a fever.  I took her home and she threw up, doh!  By the afternoon she perked up and was ready to go swimming.  Maybe it was residual travel effects?  The rest of the week we swam in the pool, when to Ft. Myers Beach and went to Sanibel Island.  Stephen was not a fan of the beach.  Probably the combination of wind and sun.  He did like splashing his toes in the pool.  The kids saw some dolphins in the ocean which was cool.  We let them use their spending money in Florida and Caleb bought a snorkel set.  He spent the rest of the time snorkeling around the pool, it was funny to watch.  Isaac bought a wooden sword and a grabbing claw, not sure how to describe it.  Julia picked out a dress.  The kids loved hanging out at the grandparents house and playing with all the old toys.  Isaac really likes Uncle Pete's old toys.  I'm doing a couch to 5K workout and it was so nice to run in Florida where it was warm!  Running wasn't completely painful.  It was also wonderful to sit and read books during the week, not something I get to do often.  Mom and Dad enjoyed seeing Stephen again, he's changed alot since Christmas!  Stephen is at a fun age where he laughs and makes numerous baby noises.  Julia loves hanging out with her Grandpa, we got alot of pictures of them together.  Although she had to be reminded that Grandpa doesn't like to talk at breakfast, ha!  Grandma had her playdoh, crafts and books on hand.  Mom and Dad watched the kids one night so we could go out for dinner.  We went to Doc Fords and enjoyed sitting outside and having uninterrupted conversation.  We had a long day of travelling home with two flights and a 4 hour layover in Atlanta.  The kids did really well though.  After we were home a couple days we realized we left one of our bags at the parking garage in Chicago- ahh!  Thankfully my parents were going to Chicago later in the week and they picked it up for us.  I guess that is what happens when you have 4 tired, hungry kids and you just want to get in your car as fast as possible. Even though we were sad about not getting to do Mexico with my family, we were thankful for the opportunity to see Nate's parents again.  And any day now Isaac is going to start asking, "when are we going to Florida?"  I swear that kid is going to live down there someday.