Tulip Time

Okay, so I'm a lot late in posting, but these last two months have just seemed to get away from me. At the beginning of May we went out to my in-laws in Pella for Tulip Time. We love to go every year and my mother-in-law has even made Dutch costumes for all the girls and manages to find wonderful costumes for all the boys. This year she even made Alyssa a costume that matches mine. I hope that she knows how special that was to me. It is such a wonderful time--all of my hubby's family finds a way to be there together. We come from Chicago and Denver and it has become more of a family affair than Christmas and it's very speical that way. Anyway, after much eating and parade-watching, here are some of the pictures that were taken.

Doesn't Jacob look extremely excited to be scrubbing streets?

Kyle did a great job! Maybe I should hire him permenantly!

Zachary pulls the "I'm too cute to work" face!

This is the Dutch costume my mother-in-law made for Alyssa. She looks so happy to be wearing it! Hopefully it will fit her again next year!

Here is the best picture that we have of the whole family. It's pretty good!

Looking forward to next year!

B

Overheard

Zachary: What kind of shower talks?
Mom: I don't know, what kind?
Zachary: A TALKING SHOWER!
Mom: Oh, of course.
Zachary: That was a joke.
Mom: Oh, it was, huh?
Zachary: Was it funny?
Oh Zachary, not as funny as you are telling it!
B

Overheard

Not sure if I remember the words exactly, but the conversation in the car this week went something like this:

Kyle: Mom, what happens if Dad dies before you do.
Mom: Well, I don't like to think about it, but we would be okay, I guess.
Kyle: Then I could marry you.
Mom: Well no, we don't marry our moms.
Kyle: Then who am I going to marry?
Mom: Well, I'm sure you will find a nice girl to marry someday when you are a grown-up.
Kyle: When I am 18 then I will be a grown up and I can get married.
Mom: You can get married then but most people don't get married until MUCH later than that!
Kyle: (after thinking for a minute or so) Mom, how will I find someone who has the same last name as me?

After a little giggle in my head, I explained that girls usually change their last name when they marry boys. Just another example of how my boys are growing up in the world and trying to understand it!
B

Alyssa Update-Two Months

Well, officially, Alyssa will be two months old tomorrow, but since we were at the pediatrician today, I thought I would go ahead and give you all the update. She weighed in today at 9 pounds, 12 ounces, and was 22 3/4 inches long. Both of those put her at the 25th percentile, so the doctor thinks that we may just have a cute, little peanut on our hands. She has been hitting all her milestones. She loves to smile at us and has started to "talk" to us as well. However, I think she smiles and "talks" more to the star that lights up and plays music on her playmat than she does to us. Here is her most recent picture. I took this yesterday.

She has also continued to be a pretty good sleeper. The last two nights she has slept over 7 hours, so we have been able to start feeling a little more normal around here as well. Hopefully that will continue. Now that she has discovered that there is a world outside of her, she is less enthusiastic about taking naps, but will sleep for a couple hours in our arms. Oh well, they're only little once and we will never have another one this little again, so I am just trying to go with the flow. Before long she will be up and walking and walking away from me. Right now, I will just try to hold onto her while she is little.

B

P.S. Here is one more picture. This was taken at 6 weeks, right when she started smiling.

Baptism Memories

We baptized Alyssa on Sunday, March 22. It was a wonderful weekend of friends and family. My hubby's family all were able to come in. They all stayed at our house and it was fun playing games and chatting. The weekend seemed to go by very fast and it left us counting the days until we see each other again. Zachary and Carson (my 2 1/2 yr. old nephew) especially loved playing together. Here are some of the memories that I have from that day.

This is Alyssa in her baptism gown. It was made by my aunt, my mom's sister, and worn by both my sister and me. It was still beautiful. It was perfect.

Afterwards, we were taking pictures and this was the closest that I could get to a smile. Her hair looks really red here too. It's not that red.

Here are three generations of Brown women (my mother's maiden name).

Here is my family.

Here is my hubby's family.

Afterwards we had a brunch in the fellowship hall of the church. We fed between 75 and 80 people. We just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been so supportive to us over all the years. We know that we are truly blessed.

This was the food table. My sister here is just testing the food to make sure it tastes good.

My friend Ann made these cute centerpieces for all the tables.

My mom got the cake and was so excited to be able to order something pink!

It was a wonderful day. One I will not soon forget. As she grows, I am so proud that I am able to show her how many wonderful people she has in her life that love her. Her "family" is truly huge! Thank you to all who were a part of it!

B

Zachary

Just wanted to let you know that Zachary is finding ways to entertain himself as well. Yesterday he insisted that Daddy take his picture on the "spinny thing."

B

Alyssa Update-1 Month

Okay, so I know that some of you are dying for some new pictures of Alyssa. Here she is!

I'm ready for a smile, but I think this is the closest we are going to get--for the next few weeks anyway!

This is an outfit that her Aunt Sara gave her and I am hopeful that the weather is warm enough in the next few weeks for her to wear it. Although she is not outgrowing it in the tummy, she is starting to outgrow stuff in the arms and legs--typical of all of my children!

This is how Alyssa spends a great deal of her time. She is a great sleeper--during the day! At night she doesn't want to go to bed until about 2 am. I need that to change, and fast!

Don't you just love the pants! I think all the clothes are so much fun to dress her in!

This is her just the other day! She doesn't look so newborn anymore. She is really starting to be more alert and look at the things around her.

All in all, so far, we seem to have a very easy baby. She is eating well. I had her at the doctor last week Friday and she weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. We'll soon be at 8 pounds! During the day, I can feed her and then she'll play for a little bit, then when she gets tired, usually only about an hour after she wakes up, I can swaddle her in her bed, give her a pacifier, and she'll fall asleep on her own. I don't think I've had any other babies that can do that. Night time has been a little more difficult. She still seems to have her days and nights mixed up. She sleeps a lot lighter at night and is not so happy with being put down. She refuses the pacifier and we wind up walking her a bit just to get her to go to sleep. When we do get her to sleep, one of us usually ends up in the recliner with her sleeping in our arms. Of course I went right to my sleep book to see if this was normal and how to fix it, because let's face it, with three other children who are up at 7 am every morning, going to bed between 2 and 4 am is just not an option. Unfortunately, my book (which is an awesome book, called Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child, by Dr. Weissbluth) says that this is totally normal until about 6 weeks of age and then she should start to turn it around. I am hopeful this is true because right now I struggle with being grumpy because I am up at night and being guilty because my hubby has been up at night. So we are four weeks down, and two to go. I still can't complain too much because if I can get Zachary to take a nap and Alyssa to eat before he takes his nap, then the three of us can all nap together in the afternoon while Jacob and Kyle have some quiet time. I am just starting to be able to pull this off on a regular basis. Hopefully it will help us get through the next two weeks.

However, she is still by far this easiest baby I have had. In fact, until this week, I was worried that she slept too much and wasn't getting up to eat. She has been very hard to wake up to get a good feeding in her. She has been waking a little more this week and I am hopeful that this will mean a little more weight gain. She is kind of on the low end for how much she should be gaining each week. However, she is happy and calm and starting to be much more alert. I can't wait until she starts smiling at us for real, although I do love the half-asleep grins. I think I have seen a dimple in both of her cheeks!

B