Thursday, September 13, 2012

Karter at Five Months

The five month mark seems to mark a few bigger changes!  My little baby is growing up! 
After the cottage, I felt like our little buddy needed a bit more stimulation.  So out of storage came the exersaucer and the jolly jumper. He's been enjoying the saucer especially!
The boys say the toy he has ahold of is his microphone - and he talks RIGHT INTO IT:0)!
Whatever can go in his mouth, will.
 My three handsome boys:)
 Karter and his handsome daddio.
 Look at them big, blue eyes!
 The large amounts of drool did amount to something.  The second day we were at the cottage, his first tooth came through - at 4.5 months.  I even looked it up in my other kids baby books before we left for the cottage, to see when they got their first tooth. The earliest any of them got one, was 7 months.  So I figured it would be a while . . . . Ha!
Here he is showing off his big one toothed grin:)
 And two weeks later - just before 5 months, the other one came through. They are starting to balance eachother out now.  No more big gummy smiles.  But his are still MIGHTY adorable!!!
 At five months, Karter:
  • has two teeth
  • has had his first diaper rash. Thank you teeth. It is almost better, and thankfully didn't seem to bother him hardly at all.
  • can roll from back to front.
  • likes it on his belly - the view of the world is better this way for him than lying on his back.
  • still drools a lot. His tray on his exersaucer gets a good wet down when he's in there!
  • it getting more hair!!! And it is really, really cute. And really blond.
  • is not super chubby, but is solid.  People are surprised at how heavy he feels when they pick him up.
  • has caught up to his cousin Spencer (who is 4 months older) in size and probably weight . . but Spencer has a much larger repertoire of what he is able to do.  Wait till my boys find out that he can crawl!!! (They are always amazed at how talented Spencer is . . . .)
  • has very strong legs.  If he can kick off of something, he will and he will move along pretty good.  Combined with his rolling over, this makes any heights pretty much unsafe unless he is cushioned by pillows . . . but even those, he tends to kick away.
  • seems to miss his siblings when they are at school. (or maybe that is me missing their extra hands to help;))
  • has not figured out the jolly jumper 100%, but does bounce a bit in it.  He doesn't like it for too long in there, but enjoys the view for a bit.
  • still puts the bumbo to good use.
  • sleeps much better when we are on the go, than when we are home.  At home, the longest he ever seems to nap is an hour . . . not very productive.
  • is starting to become scheduled.  At least we are trying.  Not saying what that schedule is at this point;0)
  • puts everything in his mouth.  The kids try getting him to sit (and he does for a bit), but then he tries to put his foot in his mouth, and who can balance like that?!
  • loves faces. He grabs both sides of my face with his soft, soft hands and it is just so cozy. (until he grabs my nose or cheek!)
  • is an extreme morning person. He wakes up SO happy.  This is good for the rest of us on these early mornings. It puts a smile on our faces too. The only problem is that sometimes it is hard to get the kids to keep moving to catch the bus, b/c they have to have some "Karter time". 
  • thrives on attention!!  He is rarely sad or fussy when someone is holding him or engaging him in conversation.  May we call him spoiled?!
  • loves seeing himself in the mirror. He makes himself smile.
  • has the best smile ever.
  • is extremely loved.
 My five monther with my five yearer. Ky is proud that they are both five! 

Monday, September 10, 2012

First Day of School

Well! We are already a week into school! It has been a bit of a struggle to get back into routines, but of course it is always a good thing. Though I do not like the shorter days (wow does it get dark fast!!), it is helpful in getting kids to bed slightly on time.
Kylie is now in Kindergarten. She was super excited to go and she was very ready! She loved it!  Because she was so excited to be going, it was not overly sad for me to see her go.  Her first day was a busy day for me - assembly, groceries, and errands.  I did not really miss her. Wednesday she was home - and she wished she was not. She drove me a little crazy with her asking "When will the boys be home?" "Is the bus coming yet?" "I miss the boys." "Can I have a snack?" etc. etc. But then Thursday came. Wow. I felt a little lost without my sidekick! Though there is always lots to do around here, the day felt a little long without her chatter, interruptions and help.  I suppose I will get used to it soon enough, but I am very glad she is only gone two days a week!  In her opinion, the distance between Thursday and Tuesday is a VERY long time to wait till she gets to go again.  She figured Sunday should be a school day.
The boys were not that excited to go back to school, but they do seem to enjoy being there now that the time has come!
And yes - the first day of school was rather foggy out our way - though there were no delays. They saved that for the second day:)

Friday, September 7, 2012

Rock Lake 2012

In the midst of a crazy busy summer, this vacation was welcomed with open arms. It was soooo nice to have a break from everything - to just sit back, relax, and enjoy family.  I didn't even think about all the things going on back home once.  Jonathan had a harder time leaving things behind, but he was able to really enjoy himself and get some rest too.
What a beautiful, beautiful place.  We all just love it here so much.  We are so thankful to Uncle Klaas and Auntie Ann for allowing us to use it year after year. This year marked 10 years of coming here. Crazy!! It really doesn't seem like that many at all.  There are so many memories tied up in this place. I sometimes wonder if we would really connect with family like we do here, if we didn't have our week at the cottage.  We would try . . . but it would be hard.  This place is just so great for every age - from newborns to Opa and Oma.  It is easy and really allows us to relax. I love camping, but it is definitely more work. Without further ado, let me share a whole bunch of pictures of our great time at a great place with a great family:)
I thought I'd start with all the family pictures first:
Mom and Dad
David, Mom, Dad, Christy, Matt
Dan and Sarah, Jesse, Jacob, Joshua, Josiah, and Jonathan
John Michael and Becky, Maaike, Holly, Tim, Christiaan, Isaiah and Judah
Steve and Jo, Allison, Kate, MaryBeth, Faith, Isaac, Matthew, and Keziah
(and b/c they did two poses, I posted two pictures of them:))
Jonathan and Denise, Kevin, Kade, Kylie, Karter
Josh and Steph, Ryan, Jonathan, James, Jeremy, Brooke, and Owen
Nate and Beth, Mackenzie, Titus and Reese
Richard and MaryBeth, Summer, Hunter, and Savannah
Stephen, Jenna, and Mason
Jeff and Christy
Matt and Elizabeth
Becky and Sarah
The sisters
and the sisters-in-law thrown in there too!
Summer, Kylie, and Brooke
We had beautiful weather again. We had one day of rain (Monday) and the rest was really nice. Some days we had a bit of a breeze, but every day was a swimming day - even the rainy one!  The water was well used - but I have to say - more by the adults than the kids!!! The kids have so many things to do, that the water is just one stop in their busy day!
Stephen, Jenna, and Mason out for their daily paddleboat ride.
Jeremy and Kade out snorkeling. Snorkeling was a popular activity this year - though no major treasures were found!
Coffee time!
Karter loved the water once again.
The raft is always popular.
Kade
Enjoying the sun.
Kevin

Jeremy and Kade
Stephen, Mason, and Jonathan
Kylie
MaryBeth doing flips off the raft.
Kylie, Isaiah, and Judah
MaryBeth enjoying a Readers Digest in the sun.
Jeff practicing his casting:)
Jonathan and Karter
Karter and Mason out for a dip.
Karter
Mason

Lots of beautiful ladies.
Frog kingdom being set up . . .
These two boys were so cute with their frogs. They carried them around and named them and had a great time with them.

Nate took a bunch of the kids fishing again this year. They love going with him!
Kylie and Mackenzie on Bluebeards boat.
Fun in the sand.
Isaiah
Summer is such a great sister to Hunter. He absolutely loves her!
Savannah
Savannah, Mackenzie and Hunter
We had lots of fun volleyball games - girls only, guys only and mixed. The next generation is starting to play now too and are doing really well. They are going to be taking over the court soon!


The spectators . . .
The kids playing dodgeball.
Sarah brought a box of princess stuff that she found in her second hand store. The girls (and a few boys!) absolutely LOVED it! It was so cute to watch them.  They wore the dresses for days and the dresses took a lot of abuse and got a bit dirty, but it was so fun for them.
Isaiah, Brooke, Summer, Kylie, Mackenzie and Faith
Summer, Kylie and Mackenzie
Summer and Ky.  Who knew princesses could be SO dirty!!!



Savannah

Fun making card pyramids at night.  Lots of other games were enjoyed too.
Ryan enjoying his book.
Bedtime story for Ky.
Karter taking things in.
Karter being cozy with Aunt Christy
Mackenzie
Josiah and Kylie. These two had a great time together too!
Titus
Kylie
Brooke
Savannah
MaryBeth and Savannah
Jenna and Mason
Holly
Maaike, Christy, and Allison
MaryBeth and Karter. MaryBeth was such a great help with the babies. We sure love it that she loves helping out and holding them!
Hunter and Holly
Karter

Mackenzie was the first to spot the snake, but when Jo saw it next, a few boys just couldn't resist leaving it alone! Kade just loves critters like this. This one had just swallowed something and had a huge lump.
Colouring by Oma's cottage.
Karter and Jonathan
Karter. Did I mention that this boy was on his best behavior at the cottage - during the day anyway!! He was so happy almost all the time. Night was a bit of a different story, but that's okay!
And that is all!  Doesn't it look wonderful?! It was.  Thanks to each and every family member for coming and making it another special year! Every person contributes in a different way and it makes a wonderful  mix. Thank you to all of you. We love you all!