7 months

Within the last two weeks our household has changed a ton. Lauren is now 7 months old and is one motivated little lady. She has uttered her first word, 'dada.' Two days later, she figured out how to crawl. 7 months. Emma didn't crawl until she was at least 8-9 months. Lauren is eager to pull herself up on our laps and on other furniture, but she isn't steady or strong enough to stand...pheeew! I am afraid that walking will be happening sooner rather than later (note: Emma walked at 13-14 months. No way Lauren will wait that long) It is great to watch her move around the house. She is able to find the toys that we have on shelves and in boxes and is thrilled to sit and play with them. She would love it if we would let her play with the computer or our camera (she bee-lines it over to me if I try to take her picture) and she loves paper and tags.

Emma is eagerly awaiting Christmas time and we are just as excited to experience it with her. She still maintains that she wants cold hard cash for a gift. She is excited to be with family and exchange gifts. She keeps looking out the back door for Santa and his reindeer...We are not pushing the Santa issue, but she has caught on quickly to the entire idea. She still and always has been fond of books (to say the least). It is something that we are truly thankful for, yet reading the same 5-6 books 3-4 times a day is driving us a bit nuts. Not to mention she is choosing the books we pulled out for Lauren. Poor girl will get to school and will have memorized all of the books.
We send you our warmest wishes this holiday season and pray that you delight in THE child, Jesus, who was born for you! Merry Christmas.

A lot has changed around here since my last update. Our little Lauren is now 6 months old and changing every day. We've hit a frustrating stage in her development. She has figured out how to get up on her hands and knees and truly wants to crawl, but she gets extremely frustrated by her inability to do so...and she cries and finds comfort only in the arms of mom walking through the house. She has also been able to sit up by herself with much more stability. She is eating solid food now...mostly just cereals and pureed fruits and vegetables.
We were able to experience our first 'real' Halloween as parents this year with a very excited little girl. Emma dressed up as 'Fancy Nancy,' a spunky and fancy girl from one of her favorite book series. We went trick or treating in Fremont and she did quite well. It took her a few houses to realize that she was getting more and more treats at each house. The part I find most humorous is that there is still a full sized bag of M&Ms in her trick or treat bag...the thing that I thought would go first. Her preference...the suckers that I bought as potty treats the week before and put in her bag. Whatever. Lauren dressed up, too, as a sweet, pink cat. No treats for her. It has been a pleasure experiencing life through Emma's eyes. She is thrilled about the holidays and is now at an age where she can understand more of what is going on. She still maintains that she wants cold hard cash for Christmas...which we won't argue with.

We are busy, but we are blessed and thankful! Thank you God for these two little girls.

Fall

School has started, the temperature has begun to change...Fall is here!! and God is good! Again, it is unbelievably fun to experience the change of seasons with a toddler. She is fascinated by the world around her which makes us stop and look and be thankful. Around our house, we are watching many creatures. There is a chrysalis in our garage (not sure if it is still alive) that we check each day. Many huge spiders that we watch. And just today, there was a praying mantis on our screen door that has kept us busy.
Emma, now 2 1/2, is a hoot. She continually walks around the house singing a cartoon song or some Michael Jackson lyrics. If you can believe it, she is becoming more verbal...and now we are having to watch what we say and what we watch. She is becoming more aware of God. The other day, after commenting on the clouds, she asked me, "Where is God?" Now, she will point to her belly and say that God is in her heart. She hears the names of Jesus and God on the radio. She also said that things make God and Jesus sad (and I have not played the God card). It is incredible to watch her faith grow.
Lauren, almost 5 months, is moving like crazy. She is rolling both back and forth and can scoot on the floor to get what she wants. She loves her exersaucer and is becoming fond of toys. She is waking up twice in the night (YAWN!) to eat (YAWN) and we all are hoping that changes really soon. Her smile lights up her room and her giggle is about as precious as can be.

Summer, continued

It is always incredible how fast the summer actually goes by. Here we are, the middle of August, and it's school time again. Nonetheless, we have made the most of this summer and have kept ourselves unbelievably busy.

At the beginning of August we took a trip to Columbus to spend time with the family down in Ohio. We had a fantastic time at the Columbus Zoo and just playing out in Gramma and Grampa Hio's backyard. The girls did pretty well on the trip, taking naps, riding in the car, and sleeping in a different place.

We also spent some time at the Newaygo County Fair with my parents. Emma really enjoyed going to all of the different cages and petting each of the animals. Her favorite was a goat that stuck his tongue out and taunted another goat.

This past Sunday, we celebrated Lauren's baptism at our church. We were blessed to have been joined by almost our entire family! Lauren did great as she was being baptized and Emma was intrigued by the big church and baffled that everybody was sitting behind her! After church, we enjoyed a nice lunch together!

Here's an update on what's going on with the girls...
Emma is loving summer and enjoying everything outdoors. I think she would stay outside all day if we let her. She loves digging in the dirt playing in the water, and running in the backyard. Most days, she is completely potty trained, yet the past couple of weeks have been rough for her...but we've also had lots of distractions, too. She has developed an imagination and continues to introduce us to imaginary animals throughout the house. She has the world's best one-liners and always makes us laugh.

Lauren is already 3 months old and is really showing us her personality. She is such a content girl. She is currently laughing and 'talking' constantly (especially at her sister) and is almost rolling all the way over. She is sleeping longer and longer at night sometimes going 8 hours between feedings (not always, but every once in a while). She is such a delight!
We'll miss you, summer, but look forward to the new adventures that God has in store!

"Mommy, I'm going potty!"

We did it. Right after school was finished, we spent an intense 3 days to potty train Emma. We heard of friends who had successfully trained their kids in three days, so we gave it a whirl. Intense doesn't really give those three days justice, but we are proud to say she is completely trained. Sure, we have our occasional accidents, but those are getting fewer and far between. We carry our portable potty cover with us when we go out and keep the seat in the car. What a job, but the rewards are great.
At two months, Lauren is becoming more and more responsive. She is smiling a ton, cooing, and giggling. Her face lights up when she sees or hears Emma. She learned last week how to stick out her tongue and likes to copy us when we stick out our tongues. She is 11 pounds, 5.5 ounces and 23.5 inches long...50th percentile.
Nate has been working part time again this summer helping out a friend who has a dry-walling company. I think he enjoys getting out of the house and doing some work that can be left on the job sight...no homework with this job!
The girls are certainly keeping us busy this summer. We're taking advantage of Grandma GG's cottage and playing outside in the sandbox or pool whenever we can.

One Month!!

It is so hard to believe that our little Lauren is already one month old today. She just started to smile this past week and that is one of the most precious things to see. She is such a content baby...sleeps a ton during the day, cries only when she needs something, and loves to be snuggled. Sure we could use more sleep at night, but we'll take what we can get.

It is amazing how quickly the adjustment to a family of four happens. I was so lucky to have wonderful helpers for the first two weeks while I recovered, but have since been on my own. It is amazing what little gets done around our house with two little ones. I consider it a very successful day if I get a shower, brush my teeth before noon, and maybe do a load of laundry (which I could probably do at least once a day).

Emma is doing well in her new role as big sister. She routinely calls her sister, "baby Lauren Joy Wiechel." She loves Lauren immensely--sometimes too much. She has had some trouble realizing that I can't always do things for her right away...so we are working on patience.

Welcome Lauren Joy Wiechel

Much to my surprise and to the surprise of many others, it's a girl. Lauren Joy joined our family at 11:22 pm on Friday, May 7 at a healthy 9 lb. 2.5 oz. and 20.5 inches long.
We endured a long day at the hospital (starting at 5:00) and are now adjusting well to being a family of 4. So far, Emma is enjoying being a big sister. She loves to hold Lauren, talk to her, sing to her, and always wants to be aware of where she is. Proximity and volume seem to be our biggest challenges so far as she LOVES her little sister. It has been interesting trying to explain to a two year old the new changes in our household--all of the crying, nursing, the fact that Lauren was inside mommy's belly, etc. She has her moments where she craves her old routine, but we are very thankful that she loves her sister so much.

Update

Seriously, any day now...
On Tuesday, I had an ultrasound to discover how big this baby is...and found that it is big. At 37 weeks, it measured 8lb. 13oz.--give or take a pound. Because baby's grow at a rate of a half a pound a week at this point, we're hoping that nature takes its course...and soon. There is some concern that there may be labor complications due to a larger baby and its shoulder's getting stuck, and my doctor isn't going to induce until 39 weeks. So we are playing the waiting game.
I think that we've tied up all of the loose ends around here and are ready to go. Patience is a hard thing now knowing that it is best for this baby and for me for this baby to come soon, so the waiting and anticipation is very difficult.
Emma is as ready as we think she can be. Last night, I told her that it was time for "Huja-munja" to come and she responded, "Huja munja, it's time to come out. It's my turn to be a big sister."
Please be praying for this big, little one to arrive safely! and SOON!

The Countdown Continues

I initially was going to title this entry as 'The countdown begins,' but we all know that that isn't true...we've been counting down to baby #2 now for a while (at least I have). At 35+ weeks now, we know that he/she could arrive any day now! Nate and I spent some of our Spring Break getting the new baby's room ready and changing Emma's room into a big girl room.
I can truly say that I am so excited about this new little baby. At this point with Emma, I think that I was feeling much more anxiety and nerves about labor. I've been there and done that now and know that it's not so bad.
We are a little bit nervous about Emma's adjustment to being a sibling. Already, after changing the rooms over, she is acting out a little bit and expressing her will--but that may just be the beginning of the 'twos.'
Feel free to make a guess about when this baby will arrive, what sex it will be, weight, height, name, etc. in the comment section. We'd love to hear your opinion.

Happy Birthday

Today is a big day...our little lady turns two years old. We've been talking about this big day for a bit now, but I'm still sure she doesn't realize what exactly is happening. She has loved getting letters in the mail and a couple of packages. We gave her the choice of what she wanted for dinner and a few weeks ago she told us 'birthday cake and Jimmy Johns' and yesterday, she told Nate that she wants steak and asparagus...but we're going to the Pizza Ranch--she's only two, she doesn't know the difference. We're looking forward to celebrating her birthday with family next weekend.
I know that we are incredibly bias, but we certainly think that she is an unbelievable joy and a wonderful gift from God. She makes us laugh every day and we still are amazed by what she knows (and sometimes wonder where she picks these things up--like steak and asparagus---come on?!).
At this point here are some facts about her at age 2:
Her favorite tv show: Right now it's Super Why on PBS but is a big fan of Curious George and Disney, too.
Her favorite songs: He's got the whole world, Jesus loves the little children
Potty-trained: NO
Big girl bed: YES
Favorite breakfast food: Daddy's pancakes
Favorite lunch food: Costco pizza--and if you ask her, we go every day (we don't)
Favorite snack food: Pretzels, chex mix, cottage cheese, crackers, fruit snacks, candy
Favorite book: Anything Kevin Henkes--Chrysanthemum, Owen, Wendell
Are we having a boy or girl (according to Emma): most days its girl
She loves to go outside and play with rocks and sticks. She loves Sigsbee and constantly is hugging and squeezing her (what a good dog!). She loves to bake and play pretend kitchen.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMMA!!!

We had such a fantastic Christmas this year. Emma was excited to open all of her gifts and has since enjoyed playing with the all. She got a set of plastic dishes from Grandma and Grandpa Vredeveld and has become really interested in everything kitchen. We are making more cookies and breads and baked goods these days because she loves to help out. She loves to add the ingredients and 'stir, stir, stir.' Another gift she got for Christmas was a series of DVDs of favorite children's stories...and now we are obsessed with movies. It has been fun to hear her respond to these videos, though. It isn't unusual to hear her walking around the house quoting lines from one of her videos or signing a nursery rhyme.
We have tackled the transfer to a big girl bed which has been a huge success. She has only fallen out a few times and knows to stay in her bed until we come and get her. The potty, on the other hand, is a different story. We tried (and tried and tried) to get her interested in taking this next step, but she has NO interest...None!
Baby #2 is coming! soon! It is incredible how fast this pregnancy is. Before we know it we'll be chasing around two little kids. Unfortunately, this pregnancy is world's different. I've landed my self in the ER twice in the past month---nothing major, just playing things safe. At 25 weeks now, I'm having a hard time bending over, I'm getting fuller, faster, and I'm just plain tired out! Regardless of how I'm feeling, the baby is doing well. It's a big kid--97th percentile for size at week 20--and very active. We did not find out the gender so we'll all be surprised in May.
On top of taking care of a toddler, growing a baby, I've just started an intense grad class to finish off my hours to stay a certified teacher. The class meets every Tuesday night and requires me to spend at least 20 hours in a classroom setting.
Compared to everyone else in our family, it seems like Nate is smooth sailing. Just the normal day-to-day stuff that keeps him busy!