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.

Quinn is 23 months old

Happy 23 months!

Merry Christmas

Christmas 2011 came and Christmas 2011 was gone. I managed to capture this one family picture in front of the tree just on time.

It was a nice holiday though spend with the Everson family obviously as we were home this year.

Christmas Eve we were at grandpa and grandma Everson's house and what a surprise: Santa came to visit. Quinn was a little bit scared of the good old man even though he brought her some presents. Hopefully next year she will do better (if he comes to visit again) and she will take her little brother by the hand to show him how it's done.