6:39am Wake Up Call!

I am happy (and relieved) to report that Luke slept all night long...it was a small (very small) challenge to get him to agree to stay in bed, but once he realized it was o.k. he passed out and never made a peep until this morning at 6:39 when he woke up and came out of his room on his own for the first time!

Changing of the Guard

A final look at the crib as we know it...




The finished product...

Well, there was no talking Luke (or daddy) out of the change once we had all of the items necessary for the "big change over". Here it is complete with Pottery Barn Kids Jurassic Bedding...my baby is all grown up :-(

The End of Our Baby Era...

These photos are actually from Sunday, Luke was helping his daddy make bread (and was loving it!) Today is the last day I will ever have a one year old..sigh...don't get me wrong I am not itching for anymore little rascals...just sad that they grow too fast. (And for Luke I take that literally!) The older kids have been going to VBS in Alto at Grandma and Grandpa Rottier's church, so Luke is on day 2 of being the only child for half a day...he doesn't like it! I tried to go to the gym the morning and he cried (hard) for 10 minutes (actually 20) and I had to go get him...so we spend the late morning getting the final pieces for his big boy room...yes he gets his big bed faster than any of my other children. I guess that is how it goes with the more you have, the sooner they grow up! We have no plans for tomorrow except maybe making a cake and swim lessons in the evening, so it will be a very "boring" 2 year birthday!

I love your smiles!!!

These are the smiles I was talking about "trying to capture" when I did his little photo shoot at the park! I just can't get him to do this when he is all dressed up cute and being posed....sigh! I do love his smiles though!

Pool Party!

Our cousins, Madi and Matthew, came to play today and we had a blast as you can see. By the way, Matthew is 7 months OLDER than Luke, and Luke easily outweighs him by probably 10 pounds and maybe a couple inches in the height department at least as well!!!

Swimming Lessons Week 1

On your mark, get set...

In we go!!

So, what I have learned from this week at swim lessons is that Luke (who hated water before the start of this week) now has no fear of it at all! He jumps in freely, and doesn't like me holding him at all! Anna, is still timid and nervous about jumping in (she is in level 2) and Jake (who is the youngest in his group) also has no fear of jumping in and will swim unaided (well aside from all the floatation support). Sorry about the blurry photos, but they are funny to see in order of getting ready and jumping! Thanks to daddy for doing such a good job at taking photos for us!

Picture Perfect!

It's days like today that my kids prove that I actually do know how to take pictures!!!

The Boys Photo Sessions....

My plan was to bring Anna and Luke individually for their respective year photos...Jake decided he wanted to come with me to do Luke's...and look at who stole the show!? I don't know what I am going to do for Luke, he is a helpless cause!!! He has a great smile, I just can't "pose" him for the pictures and expect him to show off that great smile. Anna was unwilling to go, hopefully during the boys naps she will be more cooperative! Enjoy!

Having a Good Time

Anna had her friend, Kayla over to play today. It was pouring rain, so they played a lot of games instead. Their favorite was Pretty Pretty Princess. They wanted me to take a picture of them all dressed up in their jewels!

4th of July Parade!!!

Happy 4th of July! I brought the kids to the parade in Grandville (that thing lasted 1 1/2 hours!). Mike is helping put a floor in at Uncle Danny and Aunt Noelle's house today (can't wait to see it!) so I am solo. The kids had a blast watching all the fire trucks, cheerleaders, horses, bands, ponies, motorcycles and anything else you can think of come through town. We got as much candy as we did at Halloween (and I wasn't prepared for that!). The craziest thing was that I was standing next to another dad with a little one the exact age as Luke...for the record that little boy is HUGE like Luke (yeah, he's not the only big one!) anyways, it turns out that I knew them from NICU, they had a little one born with no kidneys a few years ago and this is the sibiling (and there is one more on the way, who is also healthy!) I just thought it is such a small world that I would run into him like that! Happy 4th, I am going to take a nap now!

Independence Day Celebration 2008

Forest Hills had fireworks tonight, and since we are lucky enough to have family that live right across the street from the "launching pad" we went to watch. Luke, as we figured, was VERY frightened! Jake and Anna were busy "ohhhing and ahhhing" the whole time. I have to work the rest of the weekend, so Happy Independence Day to all!