Jayden's First Solids

Tonight I (finally) gave Jayden her first bowl of baby cereal. I was reassured that I waited too long because she thought it was great. She really didn't pull too many faces. Probably because she may have had a couple french fries before today :) According to Doctor's orders I will now be adding cereal to her bottles, which will hopefully help reduce the spitting. The goal for that is Friday. I want to make sure she does okay with this cereal. Her temper did not get any better while we were on vacation. If anything I think it got worse. I can't imagine how that would happen with Aunt Wendi. I think Wendi would have given her candy if that's what she wanted. Jayden is definitely learning how to push buttons....especially mine. She also is giggling quite often...when Miya is around. Some days it will only take Miya to whiz past her and she will giggle for minutes. Those are the moments I treasure and often find myself thinking about how close they will be when they get older.

Beach Day

A couple of weeks ago our church camped out at the state park. The girls and I visited for a day. Miya had so much fun. We even ventured down to the beach for several hours. The Wassink clan was there so Miya was able to play with Morgan, Faith, and Dillion. She also had a lot of fun playing with Brice and Brylynn. They were crawling all over the beach. Miya had sand everywhere but thanks to Jodi it didn't take long to clean up (thanks for the baby powder trick). At night the whole group got together for pizza (one of our favorites) and volleyball. We had to skip out on the volleyball; I heard it was a lot of fun. Next year I'm going to try to find a trailer to rent so we can stay out there for the whole week (any ideas????). Both girls will be old enough to enjoy it then---and Jeff too!

New Habit

Here is a picture of something that is becoming a habit as of late. As soon as Miya hears Jayden make the slightest sound she runs to her bedroom, throws her baby (and the babies' blanket) into Jayden's bed and then climbs in herself. Jayden thinks it's great and giggles like crazy which in turn makes Miya giggle. I usually let them play in there until Jayden starts screaming because her big sister 'accidentally' hurt her or scared her-Jayden has been quite scared by loud noises lately.

Saturday

Today was the day we have been DREADING since spring. It was time to take the shingles off the house. Jeff was quite surprised by how well it went. Tyler, Dan, and Dad B. helped him take off the shingles. Wendi and Mom B also came over to help with whatever needed to be done. The weather was beautiful. In the 70's with a light breeze. Very comfortable in the shade, which is mostly where they were working. We have a giant dumpster in our yard which is great. We are trashing things we should have trashed years ago. Tyler then came behind us and took everything back out of the dumpster and into his truck to scrap for $$ later. Miya had a TON of fun being outside all day with her MI family, riding on the tractor with grandpa and the lawn mower with Wendi (her form of mobility for the dayl; much easier than her crutches). Monday a local contractor will be her to shingle the roof and hopefully put in a new garage door....finally. Jeff, Tyler, Dan and some of his buddies are going to go shoot some clay pigeons now. We'll see if the girls will stay sleeping!

Nighttime Chats

Last night Jayden woke up shortly after Jeff got home. I'm not sure if she woke up because she was hot or if she woke up because she heard her daddy's voice. Either way the moment they were able to share was worth it. Jayden has started spitting (loudly) and she just started responding to people when they make that noise around her. Last night was the most she ever communicated with someone....if only we could know what she was trying to say.

Friends From England

Last week Wendi's friend Nataila and her sister Yasmine came for a visit from England. They had a lot of fun with Miya and Jayden. The girls always wanted to hold Jayden and EVERY time she did Jayden would spit or pee on them. I think they had fun while they were here. They learned how to water ski and tube. They went floating down the river on tubes, and Nataila went sky diving (Yas will go next time she's here-for Wendi's wedding). I'm sorry to say I don't have pictures of the girls with Nataila and Yasmine :( (Please e-mail me some pics when you get home girls). I do however have a picture of Miya and Jayden in their dresses from England. Thank you so much for them!! Everyone loves them. We can't wait to see you again in June! We hope you enjoy the rest of your time traveling the United States.

Dads turn

Hey everybody!

Just told Nicki I havent checked our website in a while. She said she hadnt put anything up in a while so I decided it was my turn. Things are going great here. Kids are growing like weeds, blueberries are in the fields so I should soon be getting the fruit squirts, business is going great, and work is slowing down a lot. Got a few pictures from vacation with Nickis family. That was fun. Fishing was terrible, but that was ok. Realized again that Miya is not afraid of anything. She would run the the end of the dock with no life jacket. She would get in and swim to the platform about 50 yards off the end of the dock. She watched the fish at the end of the dock. We fed the baby bluegill with bread and caught em with a little net. She loved it out there.

We got her to go tubing off the boat, and when she wanted to go tubing and the boat wasnt available, I got the privelage of pulling her behind the paddle boat.

We had a great week out there and are now looking forward for a little vacation, just me and Nicki in Bristol Tennessee. We decided we are gonna go hang out with the fellow red necks at the Nascar race on Friday and Saturday. Then, we are gonna enjoy a whole lot of beautiful creation in the Smokey Mountains. Should be very relaxing. Have no idea what we are gonna do though without kids. Usually what happens is we have nothing to talk about because we are so used to noise. We'll figure out what to do in a secluded cabin in the middle of no where with no kids and no noise though ;) Anyway, better not venture down that part of the details too much farther. Hope everyone is doing well! Love you all

Jeff

We had a wonderful vacation last week, this week has been a little bit of catch up which is why I haven't posted in awhile. The first part of the week we spent with the Wassink family on their vacation. We are so blessed that they have taken us in as part of their own family. Our family had a wonderful time. Jayden kinda missed her swing, but she found a replacement with the hammock. There were nine kids under the age of four on this vacation. Miya loved it since she doesn't get to be with that many kids for that long at a time. I think she really bonded with Morgan who is 10 days older than her. I felt kinda sorry for Donna (gramma wassink) because there were usually kids hanging on her. I know she loved it, but I'm sure she was ready for a break from hearing hearing "Grandma" all week.

I'll post more about the rest of our week tonight -hopefully (Jayden got a little spoiled while on vacation and thinks she needs to be held...ALL THE TIME...so we'll see if she cooperates later).