Jace - 18 months

It's hard to believe that my little baby is 18 months old already...not so much a baby anymore!

Jace recently had his 18 month check up. Here are his stats:

Weight - 26.9lbs (just above the 50th percentile)

Height - 34" (the 90th percentile)

Head - 50th percentile

Most of you who know Jace, know that he does not appreciate being told what to do, so Jace basically screamed throughout his entire doctor's visit! Fun!

A few things about Jace at 18 months:

- He got his 1st ear infection this month. He hated his medicine and I had to pin him to the ground and force it down him. I hated every second of it.

- Jace LOVES to give big wet kisses! He also learned how to do razzberries and loves to give those as well. Although, he occasionally slips in a bite when doing so. He also loves to give cuddly hugs.

- Jace loves fruit and eats it by the handful. He would probably eat himself sick with fruit if we would let him. He is also a big meat lover (any kind). He hates vegetables and won't even touch them.

- Jace has about 10 words in his vocabulary, most of which can only be understood by Jer or I.

They are:

Mama = mom or grandma

Dada

Nee = blanket

Maymay = baby

Mo = More

Mmmm = Milk or movie

Ehmooo = Elmo

Ahnee = Barney

Wywee = Wylie (our cat)

And there are probably a few more that I am forgetting.

- Jace is very attached to his blanket.

- Jace has started to notice that there are things he doesn't do like the rest of us (ex: sit in a big chair, etc) and refuses to do things differently anymore. Hopefully, he will do that with potty training soon (which we have not started yet).

- Jace is (I like to say) a "Dr Jekyll and Hyde". When he is good, he is sooo good. He can keep himself occupied for hours and just loves to sneak hugs and kisses in between playing. However, when Jace does not get his way, he throws a tantrum for the record books and does NOT get over it. I am lost at what to do with him sometimes. Either way, I love my Jekyll and Hyde!

We LOVE you Jace!! Thanks for a wonderful 18 months!!

# 3

Jer, Jordyn, Jace & I are excited to annouce that we are expecting baby #3. We feel so blessed to have the 2 beautiful children that we have and are so thankful that God is blessing us with even more. God is so good!!

I am due on January 16, 2011....however, I'm thinking 1/11/11 would be pretty cool! We had our first doctor's appointment on June 23 and even got to have an ultrasound. So amazing to see a head, legs, and arms already!! So far everything looks good!

When we told Jordyn and Jace that they would have a new baby brother or sister, Jordyn was very excited! Jace didn't so much understand what we were saying :-). Jordyn's first words were "I would like a sister". We explained to her that we do not get to pick, God does....which is what she now tells everyone. She also came out of her room a couple weeks after we told her with her baby doll stuffed under her shirt and a blanket in her hand. She said, "Look mama, I have a baby in my tummy too! And I have a blanket for her whenever she pops outta there." I just love the things she comes up with!

Some people think we are CRAZY for having a 3rd so soon (yes, 3 kids 3 and under will be crazy), however, we left everything up to God and prayed for His will to be done. We feel that this is God's perfect timing for this child and our family.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WYLIE!

Wylie had her 8th birthday today! Jordyn was quite excited about this, so we celebrated for Wylie by singing Happy Birthday to her, giving her some treats and a new toy, and also cupcakes for the family! This must have been her best birthday ever...hahaha!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WYLIE! WE LOVE YOU!

Jace - 15 months

Jace had his 15 month check up today. Here are some of his stats:

Weight: 24lbs (50%)

Height: 32 inches (75%)

Head: 50th %

At his last check up, the doctor was slightly concerned with his weight, but he is looking good and right on track now. We have also been concerned about a milk allergy or lactose intolerance. The doctor does not think this is the issue for him. We are trying a couple of other dietary changes instead (ex: no juice) to see if that helps him out. If it doesn't, we will go back to check for allergies.

Praise God for a healthy boy!!

Jordyn's Stitches

Poor Jordyn ended up in Urgent Care last night at the hospital. She fell and cut her head above her eye open on our TV stand. I saw the whole thing happened but still am not quite sure why or how she fell. She ended up with 5 stitches.

It's hard to watch a little one when they are hurt. She had blood running everywhere, including into her eyes and she just didn't understand what was going on. She stopped crying once I was able to clean her eyes out and put pressure on the cut to stop the bleeding.

I really didn't think she would need stitches because the bleeding stopped quite quickly and turned to just a slow ooze. I debated not taking her in, but when Jer got home from work and looked at it, he decided she should go in. I am thankful he made that decision because she ended up needing 5 stithces and the Dr. told him without the stitches she would have ended up with quite a large scar. She shouldn't have a scar now.

I asked Jer to take her in because I couldn't bear to see her cry again. I also figured she would need someone calm and he would be much more calm than me.

Jordyn did an excellent job!! She just sat on daddy's lap while the nurses and Dr. checked her out. She let him numb the area. Then she laid on daddy on the hospital bed while the Dr. stitched her up. She never flinched or cried!! Thank goodness, because the doctor had warned Jer that if she were to get too restless they would have to put her under.

She was quite proud of herself and also quite excited about the hospital. She came home with some Dora stickers, some candy, and a big teddy bear with a band-aid on its eye as well. She also got a bowl of ice cream with daddy when they got home.

She bumped her finger this afternoon and after kisses to make it better she told me, "Me hurt me finger. Me need to go to the hospital to get it fixed."

Aquatic Center

Yesterday Jer and I took the kids to the Holland Aquatic Center to get them out of the house and to release some of their energy. I wasn't sure how they would do since they haven't been swimming since this summer. Jordyn ran right in without hesitation. She even ran under the fountains and didn't care if her head got wet at all! Jace was unsure at first and didn't want to let go of mom. After about ten minutes, he got brave. After that he went nuts!! I've never seen him so happy or excited! He couldn't stop squealing, laughing and splashing. He went under a few times and didn't care at all! Afterwards, we stopped by Grandma Dirette for lunch. The kids were wore out and I got a nice long afternoon to myself while they napped!

Christmas 2009

I am really late with this post and I really have no excuse other than maybe laziness. Christmas this year was extra special to me for many reasons. First, after being gone for 2 weeks, Jer came back home from Alabama the week of Christmas. We really missed him and were so happy to have him back. He surprised us by coming home early. He just showed up at the front door!!

Second, this year was so much more laid back than usual for me. Our parties were spread out from December 20 - January 2 and for the first year ever, we did not have more than one party per day! I also didn't have a newborn this year and was actually getting a full nights sleep on a regular basis!! Also, mine and Jer's families were EXTRA helpful while Jer was gone and I was able to get my shopping done way earlier than usual!

We got our tree and lights up early this year because we wanted to do it while Jer was still home. We got our tree at Post Farms. We usually go to Tuesink's Farm and I really missed that this year. They give hot cider and donuts away and have a petting zoo and hayride. We will look forward to that next year!

Decorating the tree

Jer also managed to get appendicitus a week before he left for Alabama. Here he is posing with the fruit basket his mom and grandma made him!

Playing in the snow!

I had to join the kids when we visited Santa. Otherwise, they were not going to sit by him.

We made sugar cookies and decorated them with Jordyn this year. She had sooo much fun. I think we have started a tradition!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!