South Haven's Icebreaker Festival

This weekend was the South Haven Icebreaker Festival. With all the snow and ice we've had it couldn't have come at a better time. And the icing on the cake (hee hee, icing) is that it actually felt like a heat wave today since we got into the 30s. So it was even enjoyable to be out.

Our great day began at the library for the Polar Bear Picnic. This fun children's activity included stories, a short movie, a craft, and cookie decorating. They really did a nice job with the program and drew in a lot of children. Kyle and Jack had fun.The train table is always a huge hit at the library.Serious Erin, and then Erin with Uncle Troy and Aunt Beth. We left the library and went across the street to the art center where they were doing a children's craft. There Kyle got to make a mobile of icicles and snowflakes. This was really fun for him since we have to talk about icicles on houses every time we are out in the car lately... Kyle is really interested in them and loves to point them out. After we went home for afternoon naps we went back downtown to check out the results of the ice sculpting contest. There are definitely some talented ice carvers around! This was Erin's first time spending any time outside other than going to the car and back -- she got to wear a snow suit!South Haven's mascot is the ram.

Finally, we got to see a beautiful Lake Michigan sunset before we headed home. What a super day!

Honorable Discharge

Erin has been honorably discharged from the army crawl and is officially doing the hands and knees crawl.

When naptime goes wrong

Quiet times

We're enjoying a little bit of quiet around here with mostly just our "regular" activities. Erin turned a corner last week and started going to town on the baby food, but now she's on strike from it again. Ya win some and ya lose some. Her favorite activity right now is clapping her hands, she loves to clap!

Kyle is still loving the snow. Me, not so much; I'm ready for spring. He wants to play in it all the time. He noticed Mike bought a new shovel, so Kyle thinks he is in charge of shoveling now. By the time he can *really* shovel, he won't want to, LOL.

Oh, and I watched the inauguration with Kyle on Tuesday, trying to explain the significance in simple terms to him. I then asked him who the president was and he replied, "President of Your Mama."

I got to scrapbook with my girlfriends on Saturday all day. It was so fun to laugh, catch up, and make some headway on my scrapbooking. The scrapping times have been few and far between lately, but I think we'll be back to our once a month routine.

Here are some pictures of our goings-on the past week.

Dash & Splash

Kyle goes to Dash & Splash at the gym on Tuesdays and loves it. The kids spend a half hour in the gym and then a half hour in the pool. The group is usually small, and the instructor works really well with the kids. Kyle has learned a lot at it, and the pool portion incorporates a lot of one-on-one swim instruction. Kyle talks about exercising, about making A's and I's (jumping jacks), and teaches Erin how to paddle in the bath tub. We are so fortunate to have such a great activity to go to.

I have to include this picture because it's a rare moment... Kyle is sitting listening, as he should. Kyle is probably Julie's biggest challenge because he is so active. He has really calmed down in the last year, though, and participates much better.

Stretching before they begin "working out"

Balance exercises

Hockey

Putting the goal cone back

Running

Making a chain

The kids form a train to go from the gym to the locker rooms to get ready for the pool portion. They always get a lot of smiles as they go "choo-chooing" through the gym.

The group sits on the steps waiting to begin the swimming time.

Riding their horses. :-)

Kick board time

Happy Eight Months, Erin!!

Erin is eight months old today!! It’s hard to believe she is growing so quickly. She is so mobile now, doing the army crawl quickly and efficiently. She sits up from laying down in the blink of an eye. She can also pull herself up, and we have walked in to see her standing in her crib holding onto the side rail.

Since Erin is such an excellent sitter now she now takes baths in the big tub, usually with Kyle. She absolutely loves the water and splashes like crazy. She also has a lot of fun with all the bath tub toys floating around. We took her to the Holland Aquatic Center this month where there are lots of fountains and fun water activities. She seemed to enjoy herself, although not as enthusiastically as the bath tub (maybe because it was not as warm.)

A big milestone for Erin this month was the arrival of two teeth. The saying goes, “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth,” and Erin got them. The two bottom ones arrived; one a couple days before Christmas and the other the day after. Now she is working on the top two.

Speaking of Christmas, Erin was such a happy girl all day. While fairly oblivious to all the hoopla of gifts and all, she did seem to enjoy taking it all in and watching her family. She got some great gifts and plays with them a lot.

Erin continues to be happy and offers a big smile constantly. She laughs frequently, especially at Mulligan and when you rub your head into her belly. She has recently become quite a babbler, and we frequently think it actually sounds like she is saying various things. That or she is simply talking away in another language!

Erin LOVES playing peek a boo right now, and will even initiate it on her own with her blankie. I love to see her hold it up in front of her face and then pull it down giving me a huge grin, then giggling when I say, “Peek a boo Erin!!” Erin also loves to clap her hands and lift her hand up and wave.

We began feeding Erin puffs this month (small pieces of cereal that basically dissolve in her mouth) and she absolutely loves them. She is a pro at picking them up and putting them in her mouth. It keeps her very entertained as well! She still won’t take a bottle or sippy cup, and really wants nothing to do with baby food. (Big sigh.) We’ll be asking the pediatrician for advice on that at her next appointment. And while we're talking about things she still won't do... the girl is still up at least twice a night. (Big sigh.)

Kyle continues to love on Erin all the time, and tries to teach her things. In the bath tub he tries to teach her how to paddle, and he often picks up different toys or objects and tells her what they are. She is so very well loved in this family, as she should be!

Big ol' picture catch up post

I realized I haven't done a picture catch up post since October! There were a lot of occasions/events since then -- Halloween, Kyle's birthday, Christmas, etc. -- that had pictures. But not a post of the miscellaneous pictures that don't really warrant their own post. So here we are, a big bunch of pics!

Kyle and Erin with their cousin Jack

Erin contemplates whether she is ready to move on to showers yet.

Awwwww...

Erin puts a whole new spin on "cutting teeth"

While we didn't make a gingerbread house this year, we did manage to buy some gingerbread snow people on clearance after Christmas. Kyle had a great time with them. And yes, he's wearing nothing but Thomas underpants. We pick our battles here.

With Erin's new teeth we moved on to puffs! She loves them!!!

Kyle and his trains, then he needed to take a break from them to fix his car.

Erin just couldn't go on another minute without a little shut eye.

Okay, for that matter, neither could Kyle or Daddy.

Erin gets clean.

Kyle proudly finishes a puzzle he got for Christmas. He did really, really well with very little help!

Finally, we've gotten a lot of snow again. Yesterday we had friends over and the two boys, Jack and Joey, both five, decided to step right off the deck. Hey, it looked like it kept going!

And Kyle out with Daddy in the sled today.

Thanks for looking!!