Devin -- April 2017

April is so much fun, especially now that the weather is getting better and summer is just around the corner. We also had the first time that both boys had spring break! It was a lot of fun to just get to hang out with kiddos and have time for Devin at home, but it is also great to see how much he has grown as well. We had a bit of a rough patch with sickness at the end of the month, but it is also a wonderful time to be outside and took full advantage of it too. Here are some of this months highlights.

• Loved going out to get the mail with me, even in his footie pjs
• Working on pulling up his own pants
• Devin loves donuts, just not the actual donut part (frosting only)
• For some reason Devin is terrified of the library doors and often has to be carried through them
• While on a walk, Kyler pushed him on his tricycle. When Kyler asked if he wanted to be pushed more Dev said "yeah, yeah"
• We put up a tent in the basement and he loved to just put lots of toys in it
• He brings me his PECTS cards for Apple all the time (picture card used for communication)
• He also bring me his PECTS card for outside, even if it is raining!
• When it was time to go back to school, Devin was SO excited to see one of his favorite aids, Miss Nicole
• Devin sat on the potty and had a few drops in! YEAH!
• When reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar he likes to do motions for Sun, Look and Big =)
• He will often use the board to communicate "I go home" at the end of the day
• Netflix has the Very Hungry Caterpillar and it soon became his favorite video to watch. 
• We went to the ECC to play and brought pizza. It was so cute to see you light up because you know this place and you loved looking into the windows too
• For Easter, we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house, and of course he loves to sit by the counter because that is where he gets treats
• Was given a wonderful Easter Bunny Cookie from Steenstra's Bakery from Aunt Lynsey and treated it a lot like he does donuts...frosting only
• Kyler was very thoughtful and found Color Crew one of Devin's favorite shows on his tablet 
• Poor kiddo had such a bad stomachache that he threw up every 15 minutes in the middle of the night
• We went to Frederick Meijer Gardens with Grandma and Devin loved to look around, but was a bit overwhelmed so wanted me to hold him the whole time
• When Kyler started to read to Devin, he soon became his favorite reading buddy and brings him books all the time saying "Kkkkk" to have him read to him
• At the end of the month had a terrible fever and had to be picked up from school. The temperature stayed for a couple of days. 
• Even with the fever he wanted to cuddle so he had his foot on my arm or leg to still have some contact
• As soon as he started to feel better Devin joined me for the Calvin 5K run! He loved riding in the Burley and fussed whenever I started to walk. What a great coach.
• When I was done running and it was time to go into the gym, he did not want to get out and every time I took him out of the Burley he would climb back into it. Silly kiddo! 
• Devin surprised us by loving the egg and cheese flatbread from Subway, so now we get to pick up food that does not just come with fries. Yeah! 

loving his bike and glasses...

...super cool dude!

Having fun showing us the playground at his school

He likes these bouncy toys

Going down the slide!

Where are my teachers? 

Watching his favorite shows

Boy time on the couch...with boots

Oh the fun in tub time

Best Buddy Brothers!

Someone is not feeling well

All smiles with his bubble mower

Exploring the playground at HCS after we drop off Kyler

Improvised headrest

This sweet and silly boy!

I must watch my brother! 

So strong!

Not sure what to do with this ice cream cone!

Taking mommy on in games

Kyler -- April 2017

This kiddo is super active and it is always fun to be around Kyler. We have had so many fun extra things this month with Spring Break. It is hard to believe that he is close to graduating from preschool and starting Kindergarten soon! Here are some of our fun adventures this spring.

• When Dev wants to walk, Ky often agrees but thankfully he was happy to take pictures of plants
• Popcorn is always more fun with you can add your own spices and Kyler went to town!
• After such a fun March and having the bracket on the wall for basketball, he was upset and crying when he saw that it was taken down
• Had a great visit to the dentist with no issues
• To keep the boys busy we put up a tent and Ky loves to put all kinds of toys into it
• Counted down to when Abby came to baby-sit!
• During church he just leaned over and kissed me on the cheek! I loved it!
• His Calvin volleyball friends came over for dinner and he loved the attention and getting to color with them
• It was fun to have Kyler request books from the library with me!
• At BSF, Kyler wanted to feed Lawson his bottle and finally got his turn this week.
• Daddy took him to a hockey game and he loved the music and all the extra things, like popcorn, shirts and even a foam hand (which he lost)
• Had fun looking for treasures when we garage saled
• We got a bigger bike for Kyler!
• Has been having a lot of fun dribbling and shooting a basketball
• Kyler loved getting to dye Easter eggs and going on an egg hunt too
• Found a new park and had a lot of fun on the new spinning toys! 
• Not sure why, but licked his hands when they were dirty at the playground, ewh!
• In the car loved talking about how Jesus makes diamonds out of us
• Had a great time at the airport with Grandpa for a field trip
• We started to watch Pokemon, see if this is the new obsession
• Ky loves to read Chicca Chicca Boom Boom to his brother and Dev always picks Kyler now to read to him
• Our neighbor told Kyler that he was her best friend =)
• With his new bike and training wheels we took a long bike ride to Grandma and Grandpa's house. When I asked if he wanted to, he said "I am up for the task!"
• He is big enough to ride in a Booster seat now!
• During his preschool concert he did great but had to be reminded to keep his fingers out of his nose
• Did so well running at the Calvin kids fun run! Maybe a runner like mom and dad!

Hockey time with Daddy!

What a handsome guy!

Getting his new bike!

American Ninja man!

Bebej basketball boys

Hanging out with his little bro

oh the silliness

My handsome Easter boys

More exploring and fresh air

Soccer time!

Why not play tablet in the closet right? 

Sunshine in the park! Yeah!

New bike, new adventures

Spring concert time 

Me and my boy!

Kyler -- June 2015

The summer is here and we are finally getting to spend more time outside and in the pool. Later this month I had knee surgery so Kyler was with lot of people who were helping us out watching him. I think that Ky has really enjoyed all the excitement, but seeing how he behaves without a nap makes me think that he still needs a little rest time so that he can make good choices in the afternoon. Here are a few highlights from this past month.

• Tried some rice I made and said "This is not good mommy." Guess I have a food critic in the house
• Has been giving names to objects. Today his wagons name was "Chalky"
• We have started to explain privacy to him while we go to the bathroom. Today he could not figure out why I was not standing up. I told him I did not have a penis and he yelled horrified "you pee out of your butt?!"
• Had a great time going to the farmer's market for the first time and brought Grandma a lilac
• We played in the kiddie pool out back but then he decided to roll around in the sand...total mess but such a great smile
• When he had a bit of a stuffy nose he was upset because "I can't sniff my Lovey Mommy!"
• Has started to become obsessed with Wheel of Fortune
• Had a friend Clara over today to play and Kyler LOVED to help and play under the playmat with her
• While on a walk with Grandpa and Grandma he said that one of the construction guys "He is the Man" to which he said, "only my wife thinks that."
• Had a fun time trading and sharing toys with Charles down the street
• Had fun exploring the Hudsonville Nature Center and telling me anytime we saw a map. He also loved to figure out where we were on the map.
• Has been taking lots of pictures with his camera, most of them are pretty blurry but he still has fun with it
• We got a new van and it has directions on it, so now Kyler always asks what direction we are going and he tells us when the letters change (N for North etc)
• We had a great and pretty warm time visiting our friends the Triplets, it has been too long!
• Kyler was so excited to sign up for the summer reading program at the library and has had NO problem with getting the right amount of reading in each day
• Picked out the Superman PEZ dispenser and when I asked why he picked it out he said "Because Superman is the Man!"
• While scooping out dessert for Father's Day he LICKED the top of the ice cream carton! Crazy!
•  There was no Little Lambs at church but Kyler sat in the 3:18 room with us and colored really well!
• Kyler has become really good at his balance bike and is already starting to get too tall for it, new bike might be in the horizon.
• Woke up telling me he did not feel well and threw up all over our bed. Poor kid was laying around all morning
• Ben and Kellie came to visit and Kyler had a great time playing, eating ice cream and running around outside 
• Had fun with Grammy, Papa, Parker and Chase here for the weekend and loved eating out at Tom + Chee before going to the Slip and Slide and Epilepsy walk at the zoo.
• Swimming is becoming one of his favorite things of all times! He blows bubbles, jumps in from the deep end off the diving board and has gone under a few times with minimal tears. 
• Found Star Wars ABCs and 123s, which he soon memorized and later started to watch with Daddy
• "I love Aunt Lori, she smells like strawberries."
• After I had surgery he must have heard Ryan saying "let me know if you need anything" so when meeting a little old lady at the store he asked her the same thing.
• While at the pool, had a great time with Uncle Darrel swimming and wanted to make sure he ate dinner
• Had fun with Grandpa and Grandma on different days while I was healing and had fun watching the cement being poured for their new deck. 

Painting egg carton flowers

watering our garden, what a great helper

Fun times with the boys

Bubble mower man

He loves to draw with sidewalk chalk

Kyler's "spicy face"

Goofy face and hair

working on understanding coins

Still a snuggler

hanging out in the pool

He builds some great towers

Hanging out at the Hudsonville Nature Center

Super hero and the library

Summer Reading

Work lately has been so busy that I have been finding myself really starting to look forward to a little down time before "Peanut" arrives. If you don't already know, I love to read and always have. One genre I love to read is Young Adult fiction. Often they have amazing stories, drama, and romance without all the raunchy material found in adult books. Over the past years I have really enjoyed all the Harry Potter books (we'll be seeing the final midnight showing with friends on July 14!),

the Golden Compass Series,

the Twilight series,

the Percy Jackson series (and other of Rick Riordan books),

the Abarat series,

 and, my favorite lately, the Hunger Games Trilogy

So this summer I was not really focused on any specific new series until I finished reading a recent issue of Entertainment Weekly, which had a list of the "Hot" new YA fiction that will be coming out. So what did I do? I went on the Ann Arbor District Library website and requested all of the books that were recommended! So now I have a large stack of books that I need to read in the next 6 weeks before I move to Bourbonnais. One book that I had already heard and read about was "Matched," which I highly enjoyed

Now I am looking forward to the second book "Crossed," coming out in September

I love recommendations, and maybe I will even try to read "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" again after struggling through the first 100 pages.