Kane is 13 months old

Happy 1st Birthday Kane!

Kane is 11 months old!

Kane is 10 months old

Yes, you're 10 months old!

You have learned so much over the last couple of months. It's unbelievable how fast you're growing and learning new things. Before we know it, you will be 1 year old. Really????

What's going on at 10 months old:

* after learning how to roll over just after your 6 months Birthday, you soon learned to start moving forward by army crawling. I think we were home from our trip to Holland just a few days when you started making your move this way. And you move super duper FAST!

* you're not only crawling around anymore though. You learned how to pull yourself up to standing and are doing a great job at walking around the table and other things where you can hold on. You're also stepping over from one thing towards the other (when you can reach). And although you still like to army crawl (because you move so fast this way), you also crawl on your hands and knees now and then.

* You have 4 teeth, 2 front ones on the top and 2 on the bottom.

* your schedule looks something like this:

Between 6 and 6.30am: wake up time and you drink about 6oz of milk (formula)

about 7.30am your sister is up also and we eat breakfast: oatmeal or mixed grain cereal

8/8.30am til about 9.30/10ish: naptime

11.30am: lunch: half a slice of bread and fruit

12.30pm: bottle with 8oz of formula

12.45/1pm til about 3/3.15pm: naptime

4.45pm: dinner: vegetables and yoghurt

7pm: pj's on, and bottle of milk (8oz) with some rice cereal

7.15/7.30pm:  bedtime

*You're doing very good at sleeping through the night. Your naps are sometimes shorter than mentioned above though.

* You love bathtime. I used to give Quinn her baths in the morning when she was this age, but now with two it's easier to do it in the evening before bedtime when there are two adults in the house to stand by and get wet ;-)

* You smile a lot and can laugh out loud hard! It's so much fun to see you in a good mood, which is almost always. When you're sad though, you are sad all the way through. Big big tears and a very droopy face......

* You love to play with music toys like the piano, and you are also very interested in playing with blocks. You can actually sit down and just "play" with them for quite some time. That is when your sister is not intervening and taking your attention away. I love watching you play so intense!

* You love to crawl on daddy when he's doing his situps on the floor.

In general, at 10 months old, you are a very BUSY body with a very HAPPY face and your SMILE goes from ear to ear.

We LOVE you little man!!!

Quinn's first day at pre-school!

Our little girl is going to pre-school!

Yes, we signed you up for pre-school at the Children's Day Out.

One day a week, from 9.30am to 2.30pm. You play, you eat, you sleep and play more! It's a great program for my little girl to get away from the house/me for a little bit and to spend some time with other kids of the same age. It's also great for me to spend some time away from my little sweetheart and have some one-on-one time with Kane.

The first day went remarkably well. There was just a little bit of crying when I left, but other than that she did great. Unlike the next few times........saying good bye to mommy is not her strongest point right now, but once I'm gone, she's having a BLAST! They get to color, paint, play with all kinds of different toys, sensory table, they go outside, they have snack time and lunch time and there's even nap time or rest time in case they don't sleep. Every time I pick her up she's so happy and had a great fun day. 

There are 8 kids in her class and 2 teachers, Ms Beth and Ms Lysa. For the summer program, the class is with 4 kids and only Ms Beth.

We have four weeks of school until there is a little break and then the Summer schedule starts on June 12th. And as I am writing this post (on June 19th) I can say that today she went to school and didn't cry at all when I dropped her off!

Way to go BIG girl!!! I'm SO PROUD of you!

Kane is 9 months old

Look at you, sitting all by yourself, on the grass (of which you were afraid of only a week ago) at your 9 months birthday!

Kane is 8 months old

Happy 8 months birthday buddy!

An extensive update about your busy body will follow at your 10 months post!

Easter 2012

Happy Easter to all of you!

What a nice and sunny day it was.

The easter bunny came by and hid some delicious chocolate easter eggs. Quinn did a great job finding them all and loved it even better that she could eat them!

In the afternoon we went to grandpa and grandma's house where there were more eggs and easter baskets to find. On a day like this, filled with chocolate and candy, nap time doesn't exist.....neither for Kane, even though he didn't get any candy or chocolate of course.....

Kane is 7 months old

Kane turned 7 months in Holland!

Since last month, he learned to roll over and is all over the place now. He's also making attempts to army crawl forward, but is not quite there yet.

Sitting up is going better, although he doesn't really like to sit that much.

Sleeping is going good. He takes 2 to 3 naps a day and his wake time in between is about 2 to 2,5 hours.

He loves to eat fruit and he loves his veggies!

Way to go little boy. Your smile and big blue eyes melt our hearts every time we look at you!

Our trip to Holland!

Our trip to Holland seems so long ago already. And it actually is since it's been over 3 months since we were there. It was Quinn's second time and Kane's first time to my home country. On the way to Holland, my parents were with me and the kids. It was a night flight, Quinn slept a good 4,5 hours and Kane was sleeping on and off throughout the flight. I was happy the flight was over caus I didn't get one minute of sleep in with Kane on my lap, but overall, I can't complain about how it went.

Adjusting to the time zone (7 hours difference) went remarkably good also. Quinn was up for 2 hours the first night, but slept all the way through the night for the rest of the nights except for the last one. Kane was up a few times the first 4 nights, but just for a short period of time. After a little bit of milk he pretty much went straight back to bed. After those first few nights he started sleeping all the way through as well....

We had a WONDERFUL 5 weeks in Holland with my family and friends. We started out with Carnaval of course. I brought Quinn's halloween outfit along, so she was a little bumble bee. We went to the parade in Roosendaal and to the kid's carnaval afternoon on Tuesday. Tess and Luke were off from school that entire week, so the cousins got to spend some intense quality time together. They LOVE eachother so much and it was so sweet to see them play together. It was the first time for everone to see Kane as well, so that made it even more special. That boy got so many kisses and hugs....:-).

I think I have more than one thousand pictures of the 5 weeks in Holland and since it takes forever to upload them and I'm actually trying to catch up with this blog, I'm gonna skip the pictures, except for the following two:

The 4 cousins finally together!  

Oma and Opa with their grandchildren.

 Besides carnaval, we made a lot of new memories. Quinn got to ride on the back of a bike for the first time. This is such a normal thing in Holland: kid in the front of the bike, kid on the back (or  two) and on the way you go. Unfortunately we don't have that here. It will be a daytrip to get some groceries on the bike. Quinn was a little hesitant at first, but she soon started to LOVE riding along on the bike.

I got to reconnect with many of my "old" friends from work and from school. It was so GREAT catching up with them again. We also visited a lot of family. I think we had something planned pretty much every day.

Ryan joined us for the last week. That's when we went with my parents and my brother and his family to Arcen for a long weekend in a vacation village, to celebrate my dad's 65th Birthday and my moms 60st Birthday this year. It was a great time and the kids got to swim and play and be together 24/7. It was awesome.

THANKS MOM AND DAD! HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN!!!

5 Weeks just flew by and before we knew it, it was time to fly back to the States again. This trip took a little bit longer and it was during the day, but besides the fact that Kane hardly slept (he was too busy looking around and entertaining the people sitting around us), it went pretty well.

Grandma and grandpa Everson picked us up from the airport, we were home around 5.30pm and we got both kids washed and in bed around 7pm. We followed not much later.....;-)

When will our next trip to Holland be? It might be still this year. Ryan likes me/us to go in November, so he doesn't feel so guilty when he's gone hunting all the time. We'll see. For now, we're first looking forward to opa and oma's visit here in August!

Kane is 6 months old!

Our little boy is a half year old! Happy 6-month birthday Kane!!!!

You learned a lot of new things in the past month:

* first of all, you learned how to roll over from your belly to your back and you almost figured out how to go the other way. I don't think it will be long until you acquire that skill as well, and hopefully that bald spot on the back of your head will start to fill in soon then as well. 

* you got your first bottle of formula a few weeks ago as I couldn't keep up with your hungry belly anymore. You didn't mind drinking the formula, which was nice to know since the supply of stored breastmilk in the freezer wouldn't last forever.

* we started introducing cereal 2 weeks ago and last week you had your first experience with fruit. The first time you weren't too sure about it, but the second time you opened up your mouth wide already.

* your 6 months old wellness stats are:

weight: 19 lbs 6 oz (8700 grams)

height: 27 1/4 inches (69 cm)

headcircumference: 45.3 cm

* sleeping is going good again now you get a bottle before you go to bed. As long as your belly is full, you go to bed without fussing.

* you are such a happy little guy and even though I don't want you to grow up too fast, I can't wait to find out what the next 6 months with you will bring us!

Quinn is 2 years!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART!!!!

Yes, you're finally 2! Or should I say already. Because it sure feels like yesterday the day you were born......

At your first birthday you didn't really understand what was going on yet, but that was definetely different this year. You enjoyed every minute of it and understood that everything that was wrapped was meant for you to open!

You were spoiled crazy with many toys.

Hieperdepiep HOERA!!!!!!!!

Your cousins Tess and Luke and uncle Arjan and tante Aafke visited you via skype and you unwrapped their present for you while they were watching.....

... a stroller for your baby. I didn't count the number of laps around the living room/kitchen you made, but it were many......

Our family....

A proud mom and her 2 year old girl!

Your party was in the afternoon and many friends came to celebrate your birthday. You didn't nap before, so I was kind of worried of how you would be doing, but you did great! You loved opening all your presents (of course) and you enjoyed playing with your friends.

Time for Birthday cake. You were a little overwhelmed.....

....and weren't quite sure what to do with it.

It had your 2 favorite tv friends on it.....Dora and Boots.....

Why not just take a bite out of it huh!!! Silly girl....

Cake with ijsje (ice cream). Two words you know all to well!

Anna, Addison and Emma enjoying some birthday cake and ice cream as well.

Gavin making a funny face before he attacked his plate with cake.

Brynn is one of Quinn's best friends. They love to play together and Brynn (who is two years older) loves to be a "mommy" to Quinn.  

Drew Kapla.....just a few months older than Kane......

.....and Jameson Luebke, also just a few months older than Kane........those three boys are going to be best buds (and hopefully not trouble like their dads ;-)...)  

It was a great party.

Thanks everyone for coming and for thinking of Quinn on her 2nd Birthday. 

Kane is 5 months old

Happy 5 months old! Another month has passed. And you're just getting wiser and wiser every day.

Your favorite "toy" is your sister. You LOVE checking her out and following her with your eyes everywhere she goes. I bet you can't wait to chase after her! Quinn loves you too and calls you "baby" all the time.

Our two babes underneath the jungle gym.