Happy birthday, Mike!!!

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband, Mike!! You're awesome and I hope this year is a great one. Love you!!

Flittery float float

... is a line from one of Kyle's books describing a butterfly. It's very fitting based on our experiences from the past week. We went to the Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids to see their annual butterfly exhibit. It lasts for two months, and is the largest of its kind in the country. We've gone the past two years and always enjoy it. This year Kyle, Erin and I met with friends of ours, Jennifer, and her two children, Sydney and Max, who are about the same ages as Kyle and Erin.

Here are pictures from the main attraction... the butterfly area.

Kyle and Sydney

Kyle holds his arm out to see if a butterfly will land on it.

Peering at the cocoons.

Jennifer and Max.

Erin and I... and Kyle saying, "How can I get out of being in this picture?"

Butterflies!!

"People shots" in the gardens

There were a few other activities for the kids while we were there. Since it was a rainy day and we couldn't enjoy the outdoor gardens and sculptures it worked out well.

Pipe cleaner crafts.

Hello Mr. Turtle!Erin sprung loose from the stroller.

And it wouldn't be the gardens without pictures of flowers! These were much easier to capture than butterfly pictures. They stay still for me, and Erin was still in the stroller! (No strollers in the butterfly area, so I was holding her and taking pictures.)

Happy 11 months, Erin!!

Happy 11 months Erin, you’ve had a great month! Erin cruises like crazy and walks really fast holding just a pinkie. She easily stands on her own. When provoked she will take four or five steps on her own, usually falling because she is laughing so much at her accomplishment. Any day she is going to decide that she prefers walking to crawling, and then before we know it she’ll will be off and running.

Though I’ve only taught Erin a couple signs, she’s picked them up. She tells me all done when she’s had enough food, signing it with both hands. She also says something that sounds very close to done at the same time. Often Erin says other things that I’m sure are words… such as handing me something and saying “ah-go.” I think she’s saying, “Here you go!” The word I know she’s got down is hi; Erin waves and say hi ALL the time. She loves to do it, and always has a huge grin on her face. The funny thing is how often she says it to her reflection in the window – I’m not sure if she knows it is her, or she’s saying hi to that pretty girl in the window. Erin also loves the uh oh game, where she drops something just so she can say uh oh and have me pick it back up.

Erin is a really good eater now. She enjoys table food, and will eat just about anything we give her. She also really likes baby food now, too, and again will eat any of them. She’s a bottle girl all the way now and also does really well with a sippy cup on her own.

Nighttime is getting much better around here. Erin is usually up to eat once during the night, going right back to sleep, and then will sleep until between 6 and 6:30. Even getting up one time during the night is so preferable to where we used to be at!!

At Erin’s ten month birthday I thought her front teeth were about to pop through because they were big bulges. They still are, and still seem about to pop through. Although she has a bottom left tooth that I think is going to beat them in the next day or so. They are taking their time, and giving her a hard time a lot. Even through the gum pain, Erin has been cheerful.

Erin is really having fun with toys, and can entertain herself with the same toy for good stretches of time. Her favorite thing lately is to put toys into bins or boxes. She has a little box that some megablocks came in and she will put a ball in and take it out again and again and again. She usually takes it out, hands it to Mike or me, takes it back, and then puts it back in. She likes repetition right now.

As I say every month, Erin is happy, happy, happy. She always smiles and laughs. We are so blessed!

Happy Easter!! (yesterday anyway!)

We had a nice Easter weekend. It was fun to have Kyle be so into the kid-part of the holiday... you know, the stuff that has nothing to do with the real meaning of Easter, lol.

He was VERY excited about the Easter Bunny coming and hiding the eggs that we had decorated. Of course his mom kept waking up during the night, instead of thinking, "Time to make the doughnuts," I kept thinking, "Is it time to hide the eggs??" In the category of things that I worry about too much, I kept worrying about how I was going to get the eggs hidden before Kyle was up, yet not so soon before that they started to go bad. Erin helped me out by waking up at 4. I lay awake trying to fall asleep, and finally got up at 5 and hid the eggs.

We finally did get up at 6:30 and Kyle was super excited about the eggs and the baskets. Then he was really excited to get to Gran and Papa's for breakfast, and then to go to their church. He has an obssession with where people go to church, and asks me often. So much so that when Mike took him to Grand Rapids today to pick up a truck part, Kyle said, "Oh, where Aunt Susan goes to church!"

Church was really nice. I BEAMED with pride as again and again people commented on how beautiful and well behaved our children are. Ahhhhhhhh. I did have to leave with Erin at one point, not because she was crying, but because she was being a little too exhuberant.

Here are some pictures from our Easter weekend. I hope yours was wonderful as well.

He has risen. He has risen indeed.

The egg dying...

Waiting for the colors

Dying

Deep concentration. Look closely, and you'll realize why we still aren't sure if Kyle is a righty or a lefty!

Erin gets in on the action... should she eat it now? No? In the yellow, which was the color Kyle picked for Erin. :)

Finished products!

The hunt and the baskets...

Finding eggs

Kyle's basket

Erin's basket

At Gran and Papa's

Being a scrapbooker and loving photography, we didn't get quite the family photos I hoped for being unable to get two children smiling at the same time or sitting pretty together. Oh well, says who we were at that moment in time!

I did get this awesome picture of Mike and Erin.

The Ayottes... my sister Beth with my little nephew inside, my nephew Jack, and my brother-in-law Troy.

Jack and Kyle

And my parents. I would like to shout out to them, Happy 45th Anniversary!! They celebrated the milestone on Saturday. Congratulations, I love you both!

Finally, I take a picture of Kyle with this stuffed bunny and stuffed lamb each Easter. I'll do the same with Erin, but still need to snap that shot in the next day or so. Here is Kyle this year, and his very first Easter. Boy those animals have shrunk! :)

The Sahara Desert

That's what this dry spell feels like. I can't believe I haven't made a blog post in two full weeks! It doesn't seem that long, we've just been going through all the normal busy-ness of our lives. We've had all the normal things, like preschool, the gym, playgroup, etc. I also got to enjoy a day of scrapbooking and a night out with the girls. Yesterday we went to a birthday party (happy sixth birthday Jack and Joey!) and dinner with some friends. So here are some tide-you-over pictures until I am inspired with something meaningful to write. :-)

Here is Erin's 10 month picture. I take it with the same pillow each month on her birthday so I can compare her growth. Kyle's ten month picture, always in the same chair, was his bum as he climbed out. I could not manage to snap a picture before he turned to get down. I finally figured that was just the picture that would describe him that month!

Erin had a blast with these balloons!

Yet again, Kyle, this can't be comfortable!

Erin's deer-in-the-headlights look is saying, "You cannot be taking a picture of me with my hair like this mommy!!"

We had a great dinner with some friends last night. Their daughter Carly and Kyle are great buddies. Here is Carly holding Erin, and then Kyle and Carly goofing around with some glasses.

And yet again... this was today. Kyle slept through Erin playing next to him. The deal is that Kyle is trying to give up naps, but really isn't ready to. So this happens.

And finally, a picture for my friend Jessica, who is an amazing bird photographer. I watched these two birds fluffing their home this morning from the bathroom window as I got ready.