My first Mothersday

Last year I didn't know I was pregnant yet when Mothersday came along, so this year it was my first official Mothersday. I'm so blessed to be the mother of such a special little sweetheart. Having her it feels like Mohtersday every day.

Ryan bought my and Aafke's favorite ice cream cake to celebrate Mothersday. Yammie. He wanted to write "We love you mommy's, from Tess, Luke and Quinn" on it.....but the cake was a little too small for that.

Another try for a group picture....Quinn was looking at everything but the camera. Still cute though.

The cousins finally meet....

May 2nd finally came, so we headed to Austin Straubel Airport to pick up my brother Arjan, his wife Aafke and their two kids Tess and Luke, who flew in from The Netherlands. Quinn was sooo excited to meet her aunt and uncle and especially her two cousins for whom we bought some baloons.

After a long flight they finally came through the gate. The kids hadn't slept a lot during the flight, but on the last stretch from Minneapolis to Green Bay, the light finally went out for Tess and Luke. Luckily it didn't take long for them to wake up and give us a big kiss and hug hello.

Tess had been asking many times before they came if she could hold her little cousin Quinn. And she was so proud when she finally could. She held her many times over the 2 weeks they were here, and every time we had to take a picture.



Luke was very impressed with his baby cousin as well. He loves to give her kisses and hugs, however this little Bam Bam (that's how Ryan calls him) doesn't know his own strength.....so we had to watch him carefully when he was around her.

The two moms and the three little munchkins. It's hard to get three young kids at one picture at the same time. But we did a good job here.

Three little butts...

Quinn with my brother Arjan...he couldn't believe how small she was and that his own two sweethearts were once as small as she is right now. They grow sooo fast....

Aunt Aafke gives Quinn her bath. Tess is watching carefully. She wanted Quinn to go in the big bathtub with her, but we explained her she is a little bit too little for that yet. In December, when we will go to Holland to visit them, she will be big enough and then they can have a bath together we promised her.

Quinn loves it when you talk to her. She talks back to you in her own special way with "oohs" and "aahs" and by blowing bubbles....lots of bubbles...

After a good conversation, it's time for a nap. Normally she takes a little nap before her last feeding, and then we either hold her or she sleeps in her swing... All the other naps are in her own bed.

3 months old

Quinn is 3 months today and what a transition she has made already. She is so much fun. Most of the time full of smiles, she loves it when she gets attention and trust me, she gets plenty of that. We don't have a wellness check until next month so I don't know her exact weight, but it will probably be a little bit under 10 pounds right now.

What's going on at 3 months?

* She loves to hang out on her jungle gym where she can check out everything what is happening around her.

* She already grabs toys that are laying around her and holds on to them for a few minutes.

* Doesn't stick them in her mouth yet though.

* She sleeps anywhere between 6-8 hours at night.

* Her naps during the day are only about an hour long though

* She eats 6-7 times a day.

* She can sit up (when supporting her of course), which she likes, because then she can look around.

* She takes her pacifier only when she's sleepy and ready to go to bed. By the time she sleeps, it's normally out of her mouth already.

* She finds her thumb more and more

* She gets a million kisses a day from mom and dad.

* She just had her picture taken for her first US passport.

Visit from aunt Kelly

Ryan's sister Kelly came to visit us last weekend. It was the first time Quinn met her aunt Kelly, who lives in San Diego. We had lots of fun together. Aunt Kelly told Quinn all about the beach and the sun in California. You can imagine she is already excited to go there to visit her aunt and to play on the beach.

Quinn loves it when you lay next to her on her jungle gym and talk to her.

The Everson girls.

Kisses from aunt Kelly's dog Jaxon. He was very interested in Quinn, her toys and especially her dirty diapers.....he managed to get them out of the waste basket one at a time and wanted to throw them around like a ball.

Happy Easter

On Quinn's first Easter, the easter bunny couldn't hide a basket with easter eggs yet. But he did leave her something else instead. Daddy had to help her find it. Look how happy she is with her toy. She can't wait to start playing with it.

Spring is in the air!

With the beautiful weather at the end of March and beginning of April, we were able to take nice walks around the neighborhood. Hopefully we get nice weather in the coming months, so we can do many more of these walks. Talking about Spring time, let's quickly forget about Spring snow storm Ella, which brought us 5 inches or so of snow on this past Thursday the 8th of April. Luckily it warmed up soon and pretty much all snow is gone by now.

Our friends Todd and Christine and their two boys John and James came to visit us to meet little Quinn. They were very excited to see her.

John was very proud he got to hold Quinn. She was a little bit hungry and fussy that evening, but that didn't startle him. He did a great job holding her.

We also got a visit from aunt Shirley and uncle Bill from Laona.

2 months old

March 29 2010: Quinn is 2 months old today. What fun it has been already to see her grow and develop in just these first two months. I can't wait for what's to come. She is full of smiles when she sees you, which is the most wonderful experience. Her 2 month wellness checkup with the pediatrician went good as well. A moment of sadness when they gave her her shots (trust me, it was as hard for me as it was for her), but other than that she was doing awesome.

Our little peanut is growing well. Her 2 months wellness stats are:

weight: 9 lbs, 0.5 oz

length: 22 inches

head circumference: 39 cm

A little bit of tummy time each day. It's not her favorite thing, but she is getting better and better at it.

Her favorite toy at the moment is her jungle gym. She loves to look around, kick her legs and arms and see what moves.

Hanging out with daddy.

Looking at and talking to opa and oma at the computer.

And after that it's time for a nap. Also for daddy.