The Westra's

Hot Days

2011-07-22T12:39:00.008-04:00

Wowzers has it been HOT here!! Our house spiked up to the low 80's at the beginning of the week. Normally when it's not too bad in here and we haven't put our window unit in for a couple of years. However, when it doesn't cool off at night and with 3 active kiddos somethings just HAVE to get done; all of which make the house a little hotter(laundry, dishes, cooking, baths...). After getting a little sick, jeff and I decided it was time to put in the window unit to help take off the edge.

During the days we have become pool squatters. My brother in-laws parents have a pool they have so graciously said we could use. So, this week we have took them up on that offer a couple of times. We also spent an afternoon at another friend's pool. There were 5 adults and 15 kiddos....lots of fun!!! The kiddos have been falling asleep on the way home in the afternoon during our 10min drive. They are having a blast. When they wake up in the morning they ask if we're going to the Heasley's pool or the Payton and London's Grandma's pool. I do like it hot, maybe not all the humidity, but I'm not going to complain as we've been waiting for warm weather for many months. So thankful for our friends that have shared their pools with us.

God's Mercy Abounds

2011-07-12T14:58:00.003-04:00

Once again, God has shown His power...and mercy. We had a crazy storm roll through here Monday morning. I was in Muskegon cleaning with my mom and the girls were home with Aunt Alyssa. I heard there was potential for severe wind and called Alyssa to take the girls to mom and dad's house. We have many beautiful maple trees on all sides of the house. While they provide great shade in the summer, and beautiful color in the fall, they also provide a little bit of anxiety during strong wind storms as we know they are getting old and very weak. With everyone out of the house my mind was at ease the rest of the morning. When I called home later in the afternoon I found out how strong of wind we had (over 70mph). While driving home the roads and tress all looked fine. Once we got to the old farm house we grew up in (next door to parents current house)we saw the force God put into the wind that morning. I think all of their trees~except for two smaller trees had some sort of damage. Many were completely uprooted. The old shed has a corner completely blown out, and you couldn't even see the fondation of the house from all of the limbs, trees, and roots in front of it. Mom and Dad's current house also had many, many trees uprooted. The woods in the back have several tress laying down and more trying to lay down. As we traveled to our house it was the same in every yard. Limbs down and many trees uprooted laying on their side. Thankfully we did not lose any trees this go-around. We had some down limbs that required a chainsaw, we will also need to reshingle our shed. We thankfully also have power as many in the area don't have any and don't expect to get it till Thursday at the earliest. So much to be thankful for at the Westra household again. When driving around town it looks bad, barns have collapsed, trees are gone, etc. However, once again we need to remember this could have been soooo much worse. We all still have our loved ones, our houses are standing unscathed. While driving around I kept picturing the images of the tornados that tore through the midwest earlier this spring. They had NOTHING left but their faith. God has shown His mercy through the power of this storm in this community. Yes, there will be a lot of work to come; cleaning up trees and debri and fixing some structures. But at the end of the night, we still have a bed to crawl into, our family to cuddle with, and most importantly; a merciful God to praise!

Miya came inside in tears after her rest Monday. "Mommy, the storm took our trampoline away, I don't see it anywere. The wind just took it."

I knew she would realize it sooner or later, so we took this time for a teachable moment explaining that it's just a 'thing' and we need to be thankful that nothing worse happend. After this little lesson with the girls they were fine, but super wound up when Dad came home, telling him ALL that happend through out the day. Here are some pictures of how far the trampoline 'blew'. We found it in the woods 3/4 of mile behind our house.

This is a regular pictures from our house looking towards the woods. The trampoline is about in the middle.

OOPS!!!!

View from the woods looking back at our house....way out there. The beans sure look nice don't they? If this was corn, it would be laying down from the wind :(

This is how Tyler's pigs are getting water. Filling a trash can with water from our house and bringing it to his. A little redneck ya think? ?

Where have the last 5 years gone?

2011-06-29T08:54:00.002-04:00

This post is a little late and without pictures. I've been trying to upload them for a few days...im giving in for now and will keep trying. Miya turned 5 on June 15. I cannot believe how fast the past five years have passed by. I still remember every detail of her pregnancy and delivery. I remember all the firsts, and all the prodding to achieve those firsts :0) I have to say that is definantly something that has changed as of lately. I have always been one to push the kiddos to achieve that next milestone. Since little Melanie was born, I have now been holding back on pushing those milestones. I don't know if it's just that life is busier with 3 and I can't push as much, or if it's because I want to stretch these years out as long possible and treasure every minute of these infant/toddler/preschool years.

Miya and Jayden play sooooo nice together right now. I know that this dynamic will change (often) over the years so I'm enjoying it as much as possible right now. They love playing doll house, babies (in which they take turns being 'Jeff and Nicki'). They can play endlessly outside without me by their side. Miya also LOVES her baby sister Melanie. She reminds me of a VanOverLoop....always wanting to hold Melanie, even though she's 1/2 as long as her :0) Usually Melanie enjoys being lugged around by Miya and if she doesn't she'll let her know. Often times if Melanie is tired she'll grab her blankie and go cuddle by Miya. Precious!

I think the year of 5 is much like the first year of thier lives. There are soooo many things they learn at this age. Last weekend Miya learned to ride a 2-wheeler (this time with much prodding through many tears). She is learning to read and is trying ever-so-hard to tie her shoes. She has 2 of 5 days down for swimming lessons (this too is something we are pushing....both girls are NOT enjoying lessons).

Miya~you are growning up right before our eyes. You have given us so many memories already in these short 5 years. You fill up our days with questions and teachable moments and are always keeping your mom and dad on their toes. God has blessed our family. He has also blessed you with a heart that loves God. Already at such a young age you are memorizing memory verses, singing psalters, and teaching your little sisters to love reading the bible and going to church. You often talk about wanting to go heaven to see God. I LOVE being able to watch you grow in your faith, even at the tender age of 5. God has great plans for you life; I pray that you will follow those plan as you grow in age and keep this precious, innocent, love for God for the rest of the years God blesses you with. We love you around the world and back again Miya Lynn!!

Happy 5th Birthday~we pray the Lord will bless you with many more.

Ramblings

2011-06-21T23:58:00.003-04:00

For many reasons my mind has been reeling lately. The past week or so has brought many, many reasons to praise God for the mercy and grace he has given to this family. There are so many out there tonight that are hurting for various reasons, and yet God has blessed this family with health, strength, safety, and sooooo many more things. I recently read a book about joy. I'm trying to find 'joy' in all the daily tasks of our life as the book suggests. Since I've been looking for joy, I've found myself looking much closer at things I've taken for granted. There are so many things EVERY DAY God has provided for our family that just slip right past my even thinking of them; I even complain about them.

Life again has been put into perspective for me in this week. My sister on a mission trip in Alaska fell off a glacier into icy cold water. So easily she could have slipped under the shelf of the glacier and not come back, or not have been able to pull herself out of that water back onto the ice. It is only through God's hand that she came home today. When I first read a brief description of what happened I joked around with her. It's been bugging me all week though how serious that fall was. Then today I read of the tragic accident of 3 young adults from our churches in which a dad-to-be was called to his eternal home and the mother-to-be, baby, and friend are in critical condition. We do not know how long God will have us live here on this earth. We all have a purpose while we are here, to praise the God that created us and blesses us with each and every day.

I need to live these days to their fullest. To use them to teach my girls, the girls that God has entrusted in my care, about Him and his faithfulness. I need to teach them to look for God in everything around them and to find 'joy' even in the things we may not understand or even like. There will be a day when I won't be here to teach them anymore, a day when they will be all grown up and teaching their own children (the Lord willing). All I have is today, for we know not what tomorrow brings. If I were to die today, I would REGRET not necessarily what we did, but more so what I didn't do with THIS day that Lord blessed our family with. I would want those little girls (and dad to) to have a different memory of their last day with me.

Wow, i didn't mean for this post to go this way. I actually sat down to write up a birthday post for Miya....another day.

I guess where I'm going will all of this is that I need to make a few changes over here. There will be less complaining , there will be more organizing of our time, there will be more time spent enjoying each other''s company and playing (that means less time doing 'tasks'...which goes back to organizing time). And most of all, more time reading the bible and praising God, thanking him for all of His blessings. For that is truly want I want to pass on to three little girls. I don't know how many days the Lord will give me with them, today may have been the last. I need to make each day count!!

Psalm 128:1-2 Blessed is every one that feareth the lord; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands; happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

fathers day 2011

2011-06-18T21:56:00.003-04:00

Another father's day is here already. This time of year always seems so busy to me and tends to creep up very quickly. Maybe because Miya's birthday falls within days of father's day and leaves lots of planning and organizing to accomplish both. As the girls are getting older, it is much more fun to celebrate father's day for Jeff. They are starting to get their own ideas of how to celebrate and I love listening to them. I asked what they wanted to do for dad this year here are some of their responses.
Jayden ~ ummmm eat birfday cake

Miya ~ lets go to crazy bounce
Mom-not this year sweetie,
Miya-okay, then we'll go bowling
Mom-not for fathers day
Miya -Okay, then how about we get icecream
(3 of her favorite things)

Jayden~ m...m...m...ma...mom, mom, mom,(stuttering and excited) how about we s...s...s...sing him a song like this "happy faffers day to you, happy faffers day to you, happy faffers day to you

Mom - if we could buy dad a present what would you like to buy him?
Miya - ummmm a boat
jayden - ummmm another pwrple shirt and pwrple tie
Miya- ya and some brown shoes to go with it

That's just a little bit of the conversations that went on trying to plan for Father's day. I only wish I had a camera around when we were talking about it.

This is a video of the girls answering the question "why they love their dad". We did not talk about this before turning on the camera (very obvious in the begining). These are the thoughts running through their heads at that exact moment...including Melanie's 'enh's'. I think she's saying "I love you daddy".

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Father's Day to all those Dad's out there, including our dad here in Michigan and our dad far, far, away in Iowa. The miles seem so far away the past few weeks. We love you all!!

Happy 5th Birthday Miya

2011-06-15T16:28:00.003-04:00

Happy 5th Birthday Miya!! Since you no longer nap, I will have to write up a blog entry later tonight when you're sleeping!! How can you be 5 already?

Silly Mel

2011-06-13T08:47:00.002-04:00

Here are couple videos of Melanie from last week. The first shows how sensitive her toes are (although, mine toes wouldn't like that thing either??). The second video is of Melanie trying to go down a ramp. She has conquered how to climb stairs; up and down. However, she hasn't realized what a stair really is. She often 'climbs' down when going between two different textures. For example, when crossing from tile to carpet, or cement to grass. She turns that little bottom around and 'steps' down. The same on a ramp. She thought she had to back down it. Better safe then sorry I guess :)

AFO Pictures

2011-06-10T10:29:00.003-04:00

(Yes, this is the face she ALWAYS makes when the camera comes out. And yes, that is how her hair ALWAYS looks. She pulls out her piggie tails usually within 20min of putting them in and a clump of hair usually accompanies it.)

Here are some pictures of Melanie's AFO's. They are much smaller then I was anticipating. The start just above the ankle instead of below the knee, YAY!! She is tolerating them very well. They take a while to fit on and she sometimes gets a little impatient with that, but once they're on she doesn't fight them one bit. A friend that also had a preemie that needed AFO's gave us a couple pairs of shoes to try that worked for her daughter. THEY FIT!! YAY! No more shoe stores. She had a size 6 and 7. Melanie 'just' fit into the 6. There's tons of toe room, just not much wiggle room in the top of the ankle.

The shoes/braces make walking for much more clumsy. She is dragging her left foot a little more and often chooses to crawl when she would normally stand or walk around things. It takes much more discipline on my part to walk with her and encourage her to walk. However, I am finding that once the shoes/braces come off she is light as a feather and feels much more confident. She then wants to walk everywhere and will try to take more steps on her own. So if that's the goal of these AFO's we're winning~however, I'm not sure that's how they're supposed to work.

Starting to Walk

2011-05-28T15:28:00.002-04:00

Little Melanie is starting to figure out this walking thing. Every day she is gaining more and more confidence in herself. She doesn't like to walk when we 'try' to get her walk. However, if you watch her while she's playing she'll take 2-3steps between toys, turn in circles, and even stand in the middle of the room and take 3ish steps. It won't be long before she's able to keep up with those older sisters!! Hopefuly her braces won't slow down this walking process but only speed it up (we pick them up on Wednesday).

Showing Pigs

2011-05-24T08:48:00.002-04:00

Here is the video of the girls showing pigs. This video is a little long. The first part is Miya showing, the second part is Jayden showing. Nothing special happens in either video so you may want to do so some fast forwarding :o)

I don't remember if I taped it, but Jayden did cry during her show. The judge asked what her name is and she started crying. Ha. Where do these girls get this shyness from? Definitely not their dad!!

Tulip Time/Pig Show

2011-05-23T08:45:00.005-04:00

I'm well aware that Tulip Time was two weeks ago, however I was hoping to get back downtown to try for more pictures in the tulips since round one of pictures didn't go the best. However, there are some very 'real' pictures of how our girls act at them moment :o). Thank you Brittany for taking the pictures and thank you Wendi for occupying the other girls while trying to get pictures. The goal was Melanie's 18month and Jayden's 3year~we'll be heading to Target soon for pictures :0)

This past Saturday Miya and Jayden showed pigs for the first time!! Yeah!! We practiced one time, about 3 weeks ago. We were told they wouldn't be able to show at this event due to some crazy rules...well, we found out Friday night at 9 (while we were at a wedding) that they could show the next morning at 10 if we wanted them to. Ha!! So Saturday morning we tried to find some clothes to wear (we are lacking in the Jean department in this house, everything has holes in it....patiently awaiting the warmer short weather). The girls had their first fight over clothes.....a pair of pink cowboy boots. I am so not ready for that!!!

The pee-wee show is very laid back. They are just trying to encourage the kiddos and get them interested in showing. The age of kiddos in this group was 3yrs old to 8 years old. They could have someone go in the ring with them and the pig. So they asked Aimee and Tyler of course. Once they got over their nerves they had a ton of fun. Surprisingly they didn't even loose their pig :0) I'm trying to upload videos of them showing, I'll keep trying. We're going on 36hrs of uploading to no avail~grrr. Here's a picture after they showed!

A little of everything

2011-05-18T17:30:00.002-04:00

I've been struggling uploading videos to One true Media. I found a different spot to upload them and surprisingly it is WAAAAYYY faster. Yeah, that means more videos on this blog in the near future!!

This is a video of Melanie standing up, her favorite thing to do right now. Miya is keeping the beat the at Tulip Time Parade oh so well!!! LOL!! She's gonna be really mad at me about 10 years from now :o) And I tried to capture Jayden talking, which is hilarious but she didn't really cooperate too well once she saw the video camera. The last video is of Jeff and the girls going down a HUGE slide at Crazy Bounce 2 weeks ago. You'll see Jayden a little sideways at the end, that was a calm ride for her. For some reason she always came down sideways or crooked :0) She still loved it though!!

Last Day of Preschool

2011-05-03T08:38:00.002-04:00

Miya had her last day of preschool Monday. I can not believe how fast the past 8 months have gone. It feels like yesterday was her FIRST day of preschool, not her last. Miya has LOVED going to preschool and looks forward to Monday and Wednesday mornings. We have been practicing her songs here at home for their end of the year program. Her and Jayden both belt them out here at home. A little birdie told me that Miya didn't sing at Grandma Day (she was nervous). So we have been talking about NOT being nervous and just focusing on praising God with our songs and prayers. I thought she this was helping. Well, I'll let you see for your self in a video of her singing :) She was very nervous. She tried her best not to be nervous, but was still very timid. Can't say as I blame her, I'm the exact same way. Jayden however, was just a singing away on my lap and learning some new hand motions she didn't know before (I think that's a difference between the oldest child and younger children). At the end of the program Miss Westing said all the kiddos had to give her hug, well Jayden heard that and thought that meant her too!! She gave Miss Westing a big-ol-bear hug. She cannot WAIT for preschool.

Melanies' 18 Months Old

2011-05-02T17:16:00.005-04:00

(this picture is from about a month ago....she has WAAAY more teeth now)!
Little Miss Melanie is 18 months old now (15 months corrected age-her developmental dr. would be upset if she knew I said she was 18 months old). Last week she had a developmental appointment. This is a run through the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital where they only work with preemies. They check their progress and compare that with other preemies of their gestation. I was very anxious for this appointment as Melanie is still having some issues with her little feet.

This particular appointment was very in-depth and to top that they had just started a new computer software and we were the first patients to experience it :) Her appointment ended up lasting almost 3 hours, she did GREAT :) However, she does have a very bad cold now (I broke down and let her play with the waiting room toys). NEVER AGAIN!!!

The good news first ....they are no longer concerned with her weight!!!! Yaaaay!!! She weighs a whooping 20lbs 11oz (still within limits of her infant seat), this puts her in the 6th percentile. They still want us to add as much fat to her diet as we can, but we can stop giving her formula and switch her to whole milk. I am sooooo excited about this. She also is testing at 20 months with her fine-motor skills which is great.

The areas she is testing lower then they'd like is her gross motor (walking) and her speech. I'm not concerned with her speech at all~ Jayden didn't start talking until after Melanie was born which was around 18 months; her one word was 'enh' for many, many, months. She has to compete for time to talk in this house of girls and I'm confident she'll get there very soon.

I am a little concerned about her gross motor though. I wasn't concerned until about a month ago when I noticed her two big toes ALWAYS curled up under the rest of her toes. It looks like her big toe is at a 90 degree angle. We tried some things through physical therapy, but it didn't seem to effect anything. I showed her Primary Dr. and he is a little concerned as well and said to talk to the docs at Developmental Clinic. So we had a couple Dr.s look at them there and they think it MAY be that her ankles are soo weak she's tense and always clenching her toes. They suggested AFO's (???). I was told these are a plastic support that they will mold to fit her legs and feet perfectly and she will wear them in her shoes to help give her support so she can build-up more strength in her lower body. She gets fitted for them on Wednesday.

My prayer is that she will tolerate them and that they will not only increase her leg/ankle strength, but it will help those little toes to straighten out. If this doesn't help, they think it could be a structural thing and she would then be referred to a podiatrist. I'm not sure how they would fix an 18month olds two big toes and I really don't want to find out.

I've been doing some thinking lately and even though Melanie has a little obstacle with her feet; we are blessed beyond measure. I never would have dreamed that she'd be doing what she IS doing every day. God has blessed her every step of the way through these first 18 months of her life. We are so thankful His plan is not always our plan and that He gives us the grace to make it through. So even though I'm a little concerned about her feet, I know that this too is all in the hands of God and that His will will be done; and that plan will be the most PERFECT plan for Melanie.

Melanie in the Tub at OneTrueMedia.com

2011-05-02T12:54:00.001-04:00

What's Wrong With This Picture?

2011-04-27T19:12:00.003-04:00

Do you see what's wrong with this picture (ok, yes there are actually two things)?

Playing Around

2011-04-19T18:22:00.002-04:00

Yesterday morning Melanie had tubes put in her ears. Every appointment we go to she has fluid in her ears. It's not always infected, but there is ALWAYS fluid. So we finally got an appointment and put tubes in. She did great. I got lots of cuddle time in before they took her into surgery. The rest of the day she did well (minus our trip to the grocery store...that did not go so great....AT ALL). Today she has been a happy camper all day. We are so thankful God brought her through the surgery well. Even though it's a minor surgery, we still know that all things happen according to God's plan. Here is a video of her playing around today. You'll notice she has learned a new walk, we call it the knee walk. She really not even close to walking just yet.

Tubes

2011-04-19T17:34:00.003-04:00

Yesterday morning Melanie had tubes put in her ears. Every appointment we go to she has fluid in her ears. It's not always infected, but there is ALWAYS fluid. So we finally got an appointment and put tubes in. She did great. I got lots of cuddle time in before they took her into surgery. The rest of the day she did well (minus our trip to the grocery store...that did not go so great....AT ALL). Today she has been a happy camper all day. We are so thankful God brought her through the surgery well. Even though it's a minor surgery we still know that all things happen according to God's plan.

The Limbo

2011-04-15T08:41:00.003-04:00

I so wish I had videoed the girls doing the Limbo. Surprisingly they jumped right in even though they had no clue what to do. You'll notice in these two pictures that Jayden has the same head position....that is how she did the limbo. She'd walk up with her had back and walk under the stick with her head back. Then she'd go to the back of the line and wait patiently....with her head back. Ha! Laughs are always near when Jayden's around.

Spring Break

2011-04-13T08:37:00.004-04:00

Somehow I have to find sometime during our days to do some more blogging. Things just seem to be getting busier and busier around here. I've heard so many people say that as the kids get older it just gets busier. I'm finding that to be very true so I guess I better enjoy this level of busieness because next year at this time it we will be more busy.

Over spring break the girls and I ventured to Florida with my parents, sisters and brother-in-law. Jeff didn't feel comfortable being gone for a week during the first week of spring, he did make a really quick weekend out to Iowa though. I felt very guilty being on vacation while Jeff was working but he told me not to and to enjoy our time in the warm weather....so we soaked up as much sun as a mom and 3 little girls could.

Our mornings were spent eating breakfast (picnic style outside or on the floor)playing doll house in the hotel. Mid-morning we'd head down to the pool for swimming and snacks. We'd go up to the room for lunch and then back down to the pool for more swimming. By 3:00 Jaydes and Mel were practically falling asleep in the pool. The girls are NOT swimmers. When we go to the beach during the summer they often dont even get their toes wet. On our last day at the pool they were swimming with swimmies, going under the water, and jumping in. They even cried when it was time to get out. They now LOVE swimming. Yeah!! Melanie loves to swim too. Begining of the week she would just sit and splash a little, by the end of the week, she was crawling through the water. She'd keep crawling till she was totally under the water. I'd bring her back to the start of the shallow and she'd do it all over again. The child has no fear; I'm going to have to watch her like a hawk at the beach this summer.

We had a blast in Florida. My family was a HUGE help with girls. However, we did miss Jeff terribly and can't wait till we can have a vacation with him.

I have a feeling this is what our family pictures will look like for the next couple years...everyone looking different directions :)
Do you notice the wet hair...Yeah!!!! She's going under the water.
Does it get any better then this? (for grandpa and for Melanie)
"mom, I'm putting my suntan on"

Special Memories

2011-03-31T08:05:00.004-04:00

A couple weeks ago (wow has it been that long already) we were blessed to have Jeff's mom and dad come out for a visit. Our time together went way too quickly of course. The girls LOVE having Grandpa and Grandma come for a visit and sleep at their house. Our spare room is actually called Grandpa Westra's room. Living far away from family is very difficult. The one positive about it is being able to make these special memories when G and G come to visit. It's not typicall to have a grandpa and grandma tuck you in at night, wake up with you in the morning (or slightly after you :o) ), play with you all day, and start it all over again. I am so thankful that God has given them this time before planting begins in the spring, to make the trek to Michigan to make these special memories with Miya, Jayds, and little Melanie ( and of course mom and dad too). Thank you. We love you both dearly.
Riding with Grandpa on the tractor.
Riding bikes and having Grandpa wipe the tears when I fall.
Rescuing the tent.

Making a snowman....in 50 degree weather.

Can you tell who was running the camera? ? ? Grandma, soooo sorry I didn't take any pictures any of you with the kiddos. I HAVE to fix that the next time.

More Melanie

2011-03-15T18:34:00.001-04:00

Change In Plans

2011-03-10T09:18:00.003-05:00

Jeff is the one with the news....he is now employed by Wilbur Ellis. Jeff has been working at Green Valley since he moved to MI eight years ago. For the most part he has enjoyed his work and those he worked with and has a lot of respect for the owners. One down side of that job was the dreaded season of early spring to early summer. During that time he would leave the house at 5 and not return until 11. During the not as busy season he was still responsible to open and close the office which didn't leave a lot of room for flexibility. We know there are many that don't have jobs at this time and we were thankful he had a job. When the offer from Wilbur Ellis came, he was SHOCKED! He had never thought of working for another company so it was a little stressful around here as we weighed the pros and cons of a new job. The biggest positive being more time at home. The location Jeff is now working at doesn't do custom application (spreading and spraying). That means no CRAZY long hours for weeks on end. Jeff's responsibility is strictly sales. For those of you that know him well, you know how much he enjoys going out, meeting people and getting to know them. While Jeff was doing sales at GV, he also had to keep everything in-line at the plant. Now he has one focal point. The location he's working out of is a bit longer of a drive, however, he doesn't have to be there. His office is his truck.

Jeff has been a totally different person over the past few weeks. He is much more happy and much less stressed. He has had breakfast with the girls on numerous occasions, been able to bring Miya to preschool several times, and been home before suppers even started (oops). We are definitely not in a routine yet and have some logistical kinks to work out. We also know that the spring will still be a busy time for him, but are hopeful that he'll be home more then last year.

We are very thankful that God has given this new opportunity to Jeff to provide for his family and be home a little more too.

Naughty Melanie

2011-03-03T19:58:00.002-05:00

Here's a couple videos that show what a little stinker Melanie is. Not many people believe that she can be naughty since she's so quiet most of the time. Not the case. I had a long video of her with the cupcake, I'll keep trying to upload it along with some more of her taking toys away from big sisters. As for the lucky charm video....as soon as I shut the camera off she started crying!! She no longer get to eat lucky charms for breakfast cause she only eats the marshmallows and that's not enough to keep her growing tummy full. She is almost up to the 10th percentile on the 'corrected age' growth chart. She weighs 19lbs 11oz so she still gets to stay in her infant car seat (ugggh that thing is heavy). She also gets to stay on formula (and bottles) for most of her milk. We can try giving her whole milk in a sippy cup spiked with Carnation Instant Breakfast for added calories and taste :) I will try to post again very soon with some very exciting news....no we're NOT preggo.

Then and Now-Coming Home

2011-01-14T16:25:00.005-05:00

One year ago today we were able to take a 5 pound Melanie home from the hospital. She stayed there for 76 days gaining strength, developing, and growing big while we traveled back and forth to visit her, hold her, and take care of her. Praying that someday she'd be well enough to come home. That day finally came, you could get all your nutrition from a bottle and could breath on your own! We were soooo excited to have Melanie at home, and very nervous about doing everything without a nurse and dr. to answer all of our questions. Those first couple months home with her are a blur. There were failed attempts at nursing every 3 hours which lead to feedings and pumping every 3 hours. Dr. check ups, and trying to keep two other little girlys happy. It was GREAT having Melanie at home with us, but I so desperately needed some sleep. God was watching over our sleep deprived family for sure. So many of you helped with more meals, and offers to watch Miya and Jayden. I will forever be thankful to all of those helping hands.

Last night Melanie allowed me to revisit those nights from a year ago. She has been battling a cough the past couple days and has not been sleeping well. Last night, she was crying so I got her out of bed thinking I'd let her play for awhile. She decided to lay her head on my shoulder. So I laid down on the couch and she repositioned herself on my chest and fell asleep. I remember sooo many hours of holding this dear one on my chest in the hospital praying for her strength, her health, and her future. This continued when she came home too, just with a little more napping while I held her as the other girls napped in the afternoon.

So thank you Melanie, for letting mommy hold you as you slept last night and thank God for all he has blessed you with. And in true Melanie fashion, after a 10min nap on mom you woke up and played for awhile. You kept coming back to mom's lap for a 5 min head rest, and then you'd go off and play again. The night was great, memories of the past, thoughts of who you've become to this day, and prayers for the future. We love you to pieces Melanie Grace and can't imagine this house without your cuddles, giggles, and crazy smiles.

18 pounds 9 ounces...still on the growth chart. YEAHHHHH!!!!!!!!! She is in full snow gear as we tried to go sledding today. Since she wouldn't keep her mittens on she had to sit in the van...where she then fell asleep! Guess she wasn't' too heartbroken.

Then and Now-Diapers

2011-01-05T19:43:00.004-05:00

The picture at the end of this post may be considered a little much from some, but I thought the comparison was amazing. I honestly cannot believe she was ever that SMALL!! Everybody always told us "you'll forgot how small she really was". I thought they were crazy. How could I forget what a 2lb 2oz baby felt like...I'm the crazy one. I forgot! I think back to those first diaper changes and remember thinking I would break her, or pull out a tube, or cut off her ventilator. I was so scared. Scared to be her mom and do the things that mom's naturally do without even thinking. Pretty sure I let Jeff take charge of the first several care times. He was the one that had to encourage me to do it the first time, the one telling me everything would be okay. God has definitely given him a tremendous gift in being such a great encourager. I'm so thankful to have him beside me through thick and thin. As for little Mel, even though she just hit the growth chart she sure has grown a ton and we praise God everyday for the health and strength He's blessed her with.

Every 3 hours little Mel had her diaper changed. This was something that I actually looked forward to because it meant that we could touch her more, lift her up, and get a check on how those internal organs were operating. We would have to record the weight of her diapers (yes) and the nurses and drs. would keep an eye them. No weight in the diaper for a few in a row and tests would be ordered. Consistent weight = happy nurses, happy parents, and most of all happy baby! In the beginning diaper changes were very scary, but once we got the hang of it they were very comforting since that was the only time we could hold our littlest girl. It helped us get through the next 3 hours.

These are the same diapers!!! Yes, the diaper in the pict above is folded over because it was too big!!

She DID IT!!!!

2010-12-24T18:30:00.002-05:00

Yaayyyy!!!!!!!!! Melanie is now on the growth chart!!! I took her in to the Dr. tonight to make sure her cough was "just a cough" before we leave for Iowa tomorrow morning. We had good news all around. It is just a cough, her chest sounds normal which means I was one of those run-to-the-dr-with-a-little-cough moms (a little embarrassing I have to admit), but now I will have peace of mind for the next week. The other good news-Melanie weighed in at a whopping 18lbs 3.5oz which put her in the 5th percentile!! We have been oh so diligent trying to get her weight up, ice cream, licking chocolate off the spatula, mac-n-cheese, suckers, cookies and some high calorie milk!! Since it's working I guess we'll have to keep spoiling her a bit and see if we can make double digits in the percentile chart!!

Here are some pictures and a video of Melanie's friends from the NICU neighborhood. **side note-I typed this before uploading the pictures...well they didn't upload so I put them all together in one video. I'm going to leave the picture descriptions below since I can't add that many words in the video***

Here is a picture of Melanie with Dr. Gelfand, her primary doctor in the NICU. He is an amazing dr and we will forever be grateful for all he did for Melanie. He is the one who came up with the idea to insert a tube into her lung to drain the 'stuff' inside. He then had to persuade the rest of the Dr.s and then perform the procedure!! We know all things happen of God's will alone. We also know that Melanie would have had a lot of problems with her lungs if that procedure wasn't done and thank God that Dr. Gelfand was Melanie's primary Dr.

Here is a picture of Melanie's favorite weekend night nurse-Kelly We went back to the Hospital after the NICU reunion to say 'hi' to anyone that was working. So glad we could see Kelly and get a picture with her.

And then there's ONE of the other favorite weekend day nurses-Jane. Jane was the nurse taking care of Melanie right after she was born. We will always have a special bond with her because she walked us through the hardest weekend of our lives (and some more after that too). We tried to get a picture of all the kiddos with her....maybe next year they'll cooperate :)

Melanie's friends from Nursery 1. These kiddos are so strong. They each had their own struggles in the NICU and continue to fight their own different trials each day. We praise God that He has sustained all of these little ones and are thankful for all of the blessings He has given them along the way. Brady and Paige and Levi.

The parents from nursery 1. We will forever be thankful for the help and encouragement from these 4 parents. They walked us through the ups and downs of the NICU and provided lots of needed laughter during the good times. We love you guys!!

Late Pictures

2010-12-14T08:52:00.005-05:00

We have been without our camera for about a month now and it's driving me CRAZY!! Hoping it will be here before we leave next week for Christmas in Iowa. I found and discovered our old camera works so I'll try to take some pictures and videos of the craziness at the Westra household. Little Melanie is into EVERYTHING!! For now, here is a quick little collage of my attempt at a one year picture for Melanie. After two days of trying, I gave up and went to Target for her pictures thinking then I could focus on getting her to smile....WRONG. The little stinker has become quite stingy with her smiles as of lately. I also put some pictures of her enjoying her birthday cake. That was her first taste of sweets (aside from a crumb of cookie a couple times). She LOVED it!! She now gets to eat birthday cake and ice cream everyday....seriously. I've been told to add fat to her diet in every way possible. Some examples they gave me: when giving her mac n cheese use whole milk and real butter (she's never had mac n cheese). Add butter, oil, and dips whenever possible. Hagen Daz ice cream every night (460 calories per scoop vs 200calories of regular ice cream), etc. I'm not ready to set her up on this kind of diet just yet. We are changing what she eats and offering her more sweets. She also is quickly learning she can have a high-calorie bottle of milk whenever she wants....even twice during the wee hours of the morning if she so chooses :( but I'm not adding butter, oil, and dips to everything just yet. We'll see how her next weight check goes.

Then and Now - Hands and Feet

2010-11-04T11:39:00.008-04:00

While creating Melanie's one year video, I couldn't figure out how to compare pictures from then to now and still have it flow. So over the next couple months I'll be creating "Then and Now" posts. I'm going to try to keep them in order from when the original picture was taken. However, I'm already struggling with that since I can't find the first diaper (size) she wore. We seem to have misplaced (given away) ALL that we had. Jeff LOVED giving them away when people visited. So, if any of you still have one, I would love to borrow it for a picture. (Just let me know vie e-mail jeffwestra11@yahoo.com thanks)

"Then...and Now..." Hands and Feet
Melanie was born on October 31, Jeff's birthday is November 1. So last year his birthday was spent in the hospital with not a lot of focus. The wonderful weekend nurses found out it was his birthday and gave him the best birthday gift possible at that time... his first card from Melanie. Thanks Nurse Jane for such a special memory! Little stinker didn't want to co-operate with her feet for even a second...little different then a year ago.

Also, let me know if you have a request of something you'd like to see side by side and I'll do my best to get a picture of it.

Happy 1st Birthday Melanie Grace

2010-10-31T21:05:00.002-04:00

****Warning, this is a VERY long video. We created this video as a way to remember Melanie's first year of life. We thought we'd share it with those that are interested. If you choose to watch it, scroll to the bottom of our blog to turn off the music on the playlist first.

A little Catch-up

2010-10-25T16:35:00.005-04:00

(The pictures in the rest of this post are from an outing to Post Family Farm on Saturday with some of our dearest friends. We had a blast despite the weather!!)

Things are busy, but everything is going great! Miya loves preschool and is bummed when she doesn't have it. Her favorite thing to play at home is still babies, however there's a twist now. They ask if Melanie can play to, guess who Mel gets to be? Yup, she's the baby. Miya will carry her from one room to the next. One time she was actually in the baby highchair. While I was posting pictures today Miya quickly got Melanie up into our bed to play babies in bed. I couldn't help but laugh!! Then we discussed how careful we have to be with Melanie since she's not a pretend baby and can fall and get hurt, not sure she understood :)Foot zip-line we couldn't get the girls to say goodbye to last Saturday. Jayden was the smallest kid up there but absolutely LOVED it!
Ridding horses. Thankful it was one time around the pen (for $2!!!!)and the girls couldn't get too attached :)

Jayden is officially potty trained, YAAAAAAAAY!!!!! After a couple disastrous attempts earlier in the year when I think I was borderline insane, she pretty much trained herself...once she figured out how to actually 'let go' in the potty. She pouts every night because I won't let her wear underwear to bed at night. She is still our CRAZY kid, although Melanie is going to give her a run for that title. She does not like Miya going to preschool. When Miya gets out of the van in the morning she encourages her "have a good day in preschool My". She then asks me all morning if it's time to pick My up yet. When Miya gets back in the van Jayden greets her the same every time "how was preschool today My? Did you have fun?" Jayden is still struggling with ear-infections (arrrgh) even though she does not have the cold symptoms. Thankful Dr. Green referred her to an ENT, not because he wants tubes, but because he wants to make sure her hearing is normal. So we'll meet with the ENT Dr. and then with an audiologist. I can't say I've noticed her hearing below par, but all of the bloody drainage from ruptures really concerns me. So we will see what they have to say next Tuesday. Aside from that she's one happy kiddo that loves to play with her big sister!!Jaydes thought these bikes ROCKED!! She kept going and going and going and going with the same look on her face. Pretty sure we could have left her there all day!
Jayden has a thing lately for kissing goats. GROSS!!

Little Melanie will be one on Sunday!!! Yuppers, Sunday!!! I can't believe it's almost been a year. Her health is fantastic. Insurance declined her synagis so we will have to be extra careful this cold/flu season. She will not be in nurseries, around sick children, and no indoor playlands. Hmmmm, I sure did enjoy the freedom of summer! Melanie is officially crawling as of this weekend. She is much faster at army crawling but will get up on all fours and crawl, of course after rocking in place for awhile first. Her newest progression is going from sitting to crawling. This was one of her goals from her last physical therapy appointment. On to the next goal- tummy to sitting position. Her personality is really starting to show. For a two week period I couldn't get the girl to eat her food, by boycotting her meals she was telling me she no longer liked the baby food and wanted big girl food like her sisters instead. Since we figured that out she's been eating what we eat (unless were on the go or in a hurry-then she'll eat her babyfood). She can hold her own bottle now and will drink a 6oz bottle of formula.
Melanie pulled the cutest faces while getting her face painted!

*******Note to the nurses reading this******It was a sad, sad, day when the freezer no longer held any of Melanie's 'special milk'. I am soooooooooo thankful to ALL the nurses at DeVos that encouraged me to pump. There were times; 1am, 3am, and 6am for 4straight months that I wanted to throw my alarm clock at you, but when I pulled out that last bottle I cried wishing I had gone longer. It brought back lots of memories of our little peanut and the long days and nights in the hospital. So keep up the great work ladies. Karen, without you I don't think I would have made it past month 1-you ROCK!

Back to Melanie, we love her to pieces and are so thankful that we can celebrate her first year of life; there were days we never thought we'd be able to stay that. We praise God he has blessed our lives with her. We'll try to post on or around her b-day with more updates.I want to paint her face to look like a kitty everyday!!

Pre-school

2010-09-30T17:40:00.003-04:00

Going back a few weeks-here is a picture of Miya's fist day of preschool!! She was so excited to go (I was not). I woke her up in the morning to get ready and she started SCREAMING, "i get to go to preschool today, I get to go to preschool today!" Of course that woke up Jayden and she joined in too. Jayds and Mel went with my mom to the fair and I went with Miya to a shortened day of preschool. She was all chatter in the van. Once we got to Hudsonville the van became very quiet. After parking the van, I told her we had to go quick because we were running late. I couldn't get her to move her buns any faster. I've never seen her take so long to go down a flight of stairs. Once I looked at her face I saw the reason for the extreme pokeyness, she was NERVOUS!! Once we got into the room she was much better and then it was just a matter of time before she was VERY comfortable in her new surroundings. She absolutely LOVES preschool! Mom's still not so sure!!

Dad brought her on day two-the first day to leave her there. She did wonderful! Jeff said goodbye and started walking up the stairs and decided he wasn't ready....he walked back down into the room and asked Miya if she had to go potty. Of course her answer was no. So then he asked for another hug and said goodbye to our 4 year old!! (you can see she's nervous)

Computer Glitch

2010-09-28T23:40:00.004-04:00

Yay!! We are back on-line. Our monitor went out. It has been warning us for a couple months; we would just smack it and it would come back on. Then we would have to smack it several times before it would turn back on. Then one day it didn't matter how many times I hit it, it wasn't coming back on. Sooo, Jeff tried to fix it. The girls and I were at the kitchen table, Jeff took the back off the monitor and was poking around at it with a screwdriver....I heard a zap and then I heard a girl scream....from the computer room. It was Jeff. I ran to check on him, trying not to laugh. Thankfully he had a little smile on his face, I BUSTED out laughing. After being electrocuted he decided to find a different monitor. :) I'll try to post Miya's preschool pictures Wednesday. We love you dear-Thankful you didn't get hurt...and that you were okay with me laughing right away-sorry about that. Thanks for getting us another monitor too!!

Phfissing and ar-melon-nos

2010-09-16T21:24:00.001-04:00

WOWzers!

2010-09-15T20:52:00.004-04:00

WOWzers, has things been busy over here. They say every year your kids grow, you get more busy....I'm beginning to see this! I'll try to catch everyone up with some bog posts.

Last week we were blessed to be able to spend some much needed family time out at Baseline lake with the girls and Dad!! What a wonderful week we had. The weather was on the chilly side, but we created lots of memories anyway. Dad's favorite I would guess would be fishing. The fish didn't really want to be caught like they did last year. Could it be the noise from two little girls playing "babies" on the boat instead of fishing....I don't know? The girls LOVED going fishing because one of Dad's rules -you have to take snacks and drinks when you go fishing. Mom enjoyed some QUIET moments with Melanie while Dad took the older two on the boat. It was wonderful to have time together playing, eating, and playing some more. For the record, I thoroughly whooped Jeff at Baggo and he squeaked out a win against me with the girls crochet set (they played for about 30 seconds and ran off to play babies on the boat). I'll try to upload some videos today. Early morning fishing with dad.
Actually caught her holding her fishing pole :)
Enjoying a boat ride.
Miya and Jaydes playing babies on the boat!! Their favorite activity of the week!!!
Yaaay, finally caught some fish.

My Montage 8/30/10 at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-08-30T13:24:00.002-04:00

I really think Jayden should have a "titty" at home to play with; how about you????

Before I could get the camera out she actually was holding the kitty by it's tail, by it's neck, and fell down pulling the kitty down with her!!

The Journey to Freedom-CRAWLING!!

2010-08-28T11:54:00.003-04:00

Can it be??? Melanie will have a physical therapist coming in a couple weeks since she's not sitting....and now she's decided to start crawling!!! What a little stinker. She is VERY sanguine though as you'll see from the video, one little speck and she's sidetracked for awhile. We are so thankful she has reached this milestone and praise God for ALL the blessings He has given us.

What a day!

2010-08-22T23:03:00.006-04:00

This is one of my new favorite pictures. Saturday night I was able to watch my husband talk to and learn from the #8 leadership 'guru' in the entire WORLD (on the same list...John Maxwell, Stephen Covey, Ken Blanchard, Tony Robbins, Jack Welch, Jim Collins). What an inspiring moment for me as his wife. I love my husband. He is an amazing dad and husband. Most of all, I love that he is not complacent with who he is. He is always trying to improve and get better. I am so blessed with the leadership Jeff has provided for our family. I will follow him anywhere. Thank you for striving to be the Man God has called you to be- you inspire me to be a better mom and wife. God has tremendous plans for your future; I pray I'll be able to see the hundreds of lives you're going to impact.

Happy!

2010-08-22T22:44:00.004-04:00

If I could just get this prickly grass INTO my mouth life would be good!!
Jayden loves my ears,
so does Miya.

No ones touching my ears, now I'm happy!

Nnnnnnn nooooooo Tipping!!

2010-08-13T12:40:00.002-04:00

Jayden is very good at telling us not to tip back on our chairs while sitting at the table. Probably two reasons for that 1-she's fallen several times and has had to have many band aids. The last time she fell was the day we got home from Miya's urgent care visit. I may have told her she'd have to go to the hospital and have stitches like Miya if she kept falling from tipping on the chair, oops. Reason #2-She's almost 2 1/2 and wants to sit in a big-girl chair so she figures if she tells us how to sit properly she'll be able to sit in one soon :)

Update

2010-08-11T09:36:00.005-04:00

Yes, the zucchini is almost as tall as Melanie-probably weighs the same too!!

Melanie-
Melanie is doing WONDERFUL! She's rolling all over, especially in her crib when she's supposed to be napping. She thinks a few 20min naps are enough sleep for her lately. She seems to be right, I can't say she gets crabby from lack of sleep and she'll sleep through the night no matter what. I guess I'll let her win that battle and just enjoy watching her roll around. She weighs just over 15 pounds now. Yeah!!! However, she is still under the growth chart for her weight :( However, when people see her they always say she looks great and that she appears to be getting "chunky". She does have some chunky thighs, I love squeezing them!! She's eating baby food now and loving it. It was a slow start, but now that she understands it better she'll lean forward into the spoon to eat! She gets VERY excited when you put something she can grab in front of her like a toy, her sisters, paper and especially her bottle! At her 9month appointment; yes, she's 9 months old already, we were told she may need some physical therapy because she's not sitting yet (or really attempting to sit). We're not too concerned since she's hitting her other milestones. I would love to have some exercises to do with her though to strengthen her trunk muscles. I have a feeling that means crawling and walking are a ways off for her. I think I'm okay with that since that means more cuddle time with my baby, which she LOVES to do. She loves to snuggle which is not a normal thing in the Westra household. I'm treasuring every minute of it!!

Jayden-
Aaaahhh, there are no words to describe this kiddo lately :) She adds sooooo much humor to our house. She is a crazy, silly kid! When driving past our house she's the one you'll see outside wearing her orange Dora bike helmet a tank top and her diaper-walking around. She LOVES wearing her helmet even in this 90+degree weather with sweat dripping down her face; she'll just take off her shorts too cool off. She LOVES her big sister and trys to do everything she does. Whatever Miya asks me, Jayden will repeat even though I've already answered the question. Lately she's started to realize she doesn't HAVE to let Miya boss her around- that has caused some arguments here :) Potty training-not happening......yet. The kid is super stubborn and in her 28months of life she has yet to pee in the potty! The cutest thing as of lately has to be her stuttering. When she's copying what Miya says she does fine, but when she's trying to communicate to us on her own she stutters and it's sooo cute. For example, Aunt Wendi's favorite is when she's asking for help with putting her helmet on "nnnnnnnnnnooooooo, no, no hurt me" (she's had her chin pinched in the buckles a few too many times). We love her to pieces!! By the way, she's riding her bike all over and LOVES it!!

Miya-
Miya is getting so old. She is a huge help with Jayden and Melanie. Her favorite thing to play is babies (still). She has really enjoyed painting rocks with sidewalk chalk as of lately and swiping the cherry tomatoes out of the garden. I'll be looking around the house for her and then I'll see her little head (and Jayds' orange helmet) pop-up out of the weeds from the garden :) We also taught Miya to ride her bike without training wheels. She got the hang of it very quickly, but still needs some help. So when Dad's not around to help we put the training wheels back on. Miya will be starting preschool in a month and I'm so not ready....she can't wait!A skirt, dirty tennis shoes, roller skating arm and knee pads, and a bike helmet-Only Miya!!!!

Awww!

2010-08-09T11:34:00.003-04:00

I love playing with Melanie's little piggys-probably why I don't even try to find shoes to fit her feet. When she sleeps she has a thumb in her mouth and with the other hand she rubs something soft on her checks, in this case her dress. I'll try to post an update when I have more time-I just couldn't resist this one.

Family Pictures

2010-07-28T09:45:00.005-04:00

We finally completed the Berens' Family pictures (after two years of trying)!! They turned out great! Valerie Dietsche was our photographer and she did a wonderful job. Click here if you want to check them out. http://www.valeriedietsche.com/?page_id=2959 I think my favorite is of Jayden and Miya holding Melanie while she's crying. I love that big lip!!

Time with Family

2010-07-23T13:59:00.007-04:00

We were blessed to be able to spend some time visiting Jeff's family in Iowa this past week. The long weekend away seemed to go way too quickly. It was a busy weekend even though there weren't a lot of things planned. The guys enjoyed golfing, some fishing, and even playing some baseball. The ladies were able to have a couple hours away from the kids to enjoy a trip to the bakery and some shopping at Maurices. And the kids...play, play, play. Miya and Jayden had sooo much fun playing with all of their cousins. The played outside on the bikes, mini pool, and slip-n-slide. Inside they made necklaces and birthday cakes. Played pretend babies and house and of course thought it was great playing in Aunt Janelle's room with all of her "very cool" stuff (sorry Janelle). Even Melanie and baby Whitney enjoyed playing with each other. Being around a large family is so much fun. There's always food to prepare and kids to re-direct, but the memories made are priceless. Thanks to our Iowa family for taking the time away from you're busy lives to make some family memories. We love you all and miss you already.

2010-07-19T10:21:00.003-04:00

Enjoying our time in Iowa with family :)

Turned out pretty well for 8 grandkids 5 and under.

4th of July Weekend

2010-07-08T10:08:00.004-04:00

Aaah, the 4th of July weekend has come and gone. We had an enjoyable weekend starting Saturday afternoon when Jeff got home from work. After the girls' much needed naps, we headed out to the beach to enjoy G and G's last day of camping. It was fun having Jeff there too. The girls rode their bikes to the General Store and the huge sand dune that takes over 200 steps to climb(yes Jayden is riding her bike now- yeah!!!).
Miya climbed it with no problem. Uncle Dan however had trouble with-in the first 4 steps....he blames it on his sandals :)
The reward for climbing the sand dune? ? A work-out for the adults and candy from the general store for the girls. Then it was back to the camp ground to ride bikes. The girls decided it was TONS of fun to ride back and forth between G n G's camper and my aunt and uncle's camper.
So they spent some time doing that while we had a little baggo tournament!

We stayed for the fireworks (BIG MISTAKE). The girls enjoyed it. Miya let all the adults have a turn holding her baby during the fireworks and Jayden couldn't decide who to sit by.
The fireworks were not great...not many are after you've seen Lyle's fireworks. Miya was sleeping before we even left the parking lot and Jaydes eventually fell asleep too.

Monday we had a group of friends over to our house for supper and then we all headed to the Oversiel fireworks. WOW!!
Once again, Lyle Brokehuis outdid himself. The fireworks were phenomenal!! Next year our family will be going early for the kids games. They LOVE the glow necklaces the best. So does mom since it's very hard for a 4 and 2 year old to sit and watch an hour's worth of fireworks (after 2 cans of POP...thanks Brenda ;) ), the glow necklaces gave them something to occupy themselves with. We had tons of fun, just wish I took my camera out more often.

Playing in the Puddles

2010-06-25T16:02:00.005-04:00

We have had TONS of rain over here in Bentheim. Spots of our lawn have turned into little ponds, our garden is a mud pit (sunk to shins), and Miya informed me that she was jumping over the river in the lawn in the backyard. Instead of brumming about all the water and the fact we'll have to bale our lawn we went out and played in it! The girls loved it even though it was a cool evening. Jayden was just a shivering but didn't want to quit. Here are some pictures.

Baptism

2010-06-23T20:56:00.005-04:00

We were blessed to be able to have Melanie's baptism Sunday. At the moment, our chruch does not have a Pastor. We have been having Professor Gritters preach for us on Sunday mornings, but he is in South Africa right now. So we were very excited when Rev. VanOverLoop was able to Baptize Melanie. He took the time away from his very busy schedule and visited us while Melanie was in the hospital. He would go sometimes in the early morning hours to visit with Jeff and Melanie, and sometimes during the day to visit with Melanie and me. He was always very encouraging and left us with bible passages to ponder on. We were very excited and thankful he was also able to Baptize Melanie. His sermon was titled Sufficient is My Grace, the bible text was II Corinthians 12:9. It was a very humbling sermon. I look forward to listening to it again and again.

We had lunch at church this time so everyone wouldn't have to travel out to Bentheim. Everything went very smooth, except I forgot to take pictures of Melanie with family. I'm not really sure what I was thinking. I have a couple of her (laying on the floor), I guess that will just have to do. Her dress was made by Jeff's Aunt Sandy. It was BEAUTIFUL!! And of course, she wore it for about one minute before marking her territory around the collar with spit. I think it just smelled too good for her :)

The Video wouldn't load so here are some pictures.

Sunday afternoon nap! She was one tired little peanut!!

Miya's 4

2010-06-16T21:10:00.004-04:00

Our oldest, little girl is FOUR now!
Miya you are changing right before our eyes! Everyday you look more girl and less little. You are becoming more independent with each day too. You are trying to understand everything in the world around you and are constantly asking why. You started the why questions at an early age, but as of lately you ask them to understand, not just out of habit (like you've taught your little sister to do). You LOVE playing house and baby with Jayden. With Dad you like to rough-house and 'hide shakey' at bedtime. You enjoying doing pretty much anything with mom as long as she's not on the computer or getting groceries. Melanie is your favorite to hold and cuddle with. Lately you say "I gave all my loves to Melanie today" which means you gave her all of your kisses-somehow we always manage to find more.

You wear your Dora undies to bed now and have 'rests' instead of naps. You are beginning to pick out your own clothes now which are the craziest combinations, and you think you have to do your own hair-which means putting in every clippy you can find! You still could sit and read books ALL day long. With the nice weather, you and Jades are outside by 9:00 and somehow 'wet' by 9:30 and needing to change into your swimsuits (even though mom says "no playing with water").

Favorite food is 'steak kabob' which is any kind of meat in your eyes. Favorite lunch item lately is peanut butter sandwiches....just peanut butter and bread, NO jelly (with strawberries or grapes on the side). You have discovered how to get Jayden to ask mom for something you know you shouldn't have...like ice-cream for a morning snack. You and Jayden typically go to bed around 9:00, however you talk till about 10:00 most nights (about what we do not know???). The two of you together are going to give mom and dad some gray hair I think!!

When we are running errands you will say 'hi' to everyone we pass by, if you're not too busy asking questions. You also enjoy yelling 'hi' to people that walk past the house, even if it means running out the screen door in your undies to yell 'hi'. If they don't yell hi back you always say "Mom, they weren't nice to me, they didn't want to say hi".

Usually you are very patient when we ask you to "wait a minute" and are a very big helper around the house. Next week you will be starting Sunday School and then it's pre-school in the fall. This will be the beginning of a whole new world for you. You will be making friends, being away from home (and Jayden), and having to learn lots of new things. I'm so excited to see the plans God has for your future (even though that means you're growing up). I pray that you will praise God with all you say and do.

On your birthday we visited Dad at work and he took us to your favorite restaurant. Then we went back to his work for some cake from the ladies in the office! Of course the visit had to end with a ride on the Gator. What a great day!!

Inevitable

2010-06-03T15:53:00.005-04:00

We had our first experience with urgent care and stitches for one of the girls yesterday. Guess who? Those of you that know us are probably wondering what Jayden did since she's our monkey. But, it was Miya (although she says it's Jades'fault). We were at the grocery store and were about 1/4 of the way done with groceries. I needed a lot of groceries so I put Melanie's carseat in the front of the cart where Jayden usually sits and let Jayden and Miya walk....together (I learned my lesson). They were mucking around and before I knew it Jayden had dropped a glass jar of something (sauerkraut maybe?), Miya with her cat-like reflexes tried to pick it up before mom could see they dropped something and sliced her hand on a piece of glass before she realized it was broken. She's crying and mom is spinning in circles wondering what the next step should be. I wrapped her hand in a clean spit rag and told her to quit crying, she was fine (I had no idea how deep the cut was-poor kid). So we haul off to the bathroom (on the opposite end of the store) after informing an employee of "clean-up on isle 5". When we rinsed her hand off I started to wonder if stitches were needed but decided to finish our grocery adventure. This time with a new seating chart. Miya in the cart with her hand wrapped in a bloody spit rag hanging out the side (we were quite the sight). My goal was to get groceries as quickly as possible which we were doing, that is until we saw a very friendly lady that wanted to comfort Miya and then tell us all about her life. We were polite, but looking for anyway to sprint through the rest of our groceries. On our way out the door I asked a fellow mom if she thought this cut would need stitches since I had no clue. With one look she said "yup".

So we headed right to the Dr. right? ? Nope, we brought the groceries home first so they wouldn't spoil. And since we couldn't get in at her peds office I knew we'd probably be at urgent care for awhile and little Melanie was out of milk. Once we dropped the groceries and retrieved the milk we were off for an afternoon of WAITING. Miya did great. We made a big deal of her getting to be the "patient" this time (she's had lots of hospital experience). She got to sit on the bed by herself AND watch TV. She was very excited about this but was wondering when they were going to bring food for the tray by the bed :)

Getting the actual stitches didn't go so great. I'm not sure if her poor little hand wasn't numb or if she was freaked out by the scissors. But that is something I don't ever want to experience again. I'm so thankful Melanie was so tiny with all of her pokes and procedures and couldn't say "mom no, no mom" over and over again.

Once we were done (and waited some more) it was off to the ice cream shop for superman ice cream, instead of supper.

Id' like to say all ended well, but there was one more incident at the Westra household before bedtime. Bath time!! Many of you know that the girls tend to poop in the tub. They haven't done it for a very long time, until last night. Miya had to go; I was changing Melanie and told her to hold it. Well she took that in the literal sense and made a mess on her stitched hand. EWWWW! There were lots of tears from the Westra girls over the next 20min, excluding only Jayden. We'll be keeping a close eye on those stitches for infection.

Thankfully the girls ALL went to bed well, not even one reminder to quit talking. Yesterday was a day I don't want to repeat, but I am able to look at it today and laugh. I know there will be a time when I miss crazy days like these, so for now I'll enjoy them as much as I can.
Watching Curious George
Feeling pretty good after hand was numbed.
Before the cut was cleaned.
After the 4 stitches were completed. She called them "those black pokes"

Her smiles are back. She's excited because she gets to keep the bracelet.

Randomness

2010-05-28T16:41:00.005-04:00

Here are some random pictures with captions. We have had BEAUTIFUL weather this week and have been busy outside but I have not been taking many pictures. The girls are playing outside by 8:30 in the morning and don't comeback inside until they are forced to for naps. Then it's right back outside. On Monday I forgot the sunscreen and we started the week off with some great burn/tan lines. I'll try to do a better job with the camera and the sunscreen.

These pictures were taken today after naps. The girls like to cuddle with Melanie after their own naps (for about 30secs). You can see how big Melanie is getting when you see them holding her, well trying to hold her.

This is a picture of the Wassink babies and Melanie. Evan is 9months old and the girls are 6months old. They were born about 2 weeks AFTER Melanie (they are only a couple days apart). This picture shows how small she really is compared to other babies born at the same time as she was. I sure wish Melanie had legs like Kara's, I would squeeze them ALL day long!! They are so cute!!

Baths for everyone after a fun day at the beach with friends. Even little Melanie had sand in her rolls. So thankful she has rolls for the sand to collect in!!! By the way at her 6month checkup last week (even though she's almost 7 months old)she weighed 11lbs 6ozs Still on the small side and no where near the growth chart. Dr. G has increased the calorie content of her milk again. When she left the hospital she was on 22-cal. Every appointment we seem to have to increase it, she's now at 26-calorie. I think she's gaining like crazy right now. She has a follow-up weight check in the middle of June.

6 Month and 2 Year Pictures

2010-05-17T09:56:00.005-04:00

Here are Melanie's 6 month pictures and Jayden's 2 year pictures. I did a a couple (yes just two, that's all patience allowed for) of all three girls together!! Two things we found, Jayden tends to have her tongue out just a little bit (she gives kisses the same way), and Melanie has a crooked smile....and we LOVE it!!

Jayden's ABC's

2010-05-13T14:17:00.003-04:00

Jayden is now saying her ABC's. Don't get too excited yet...she will only sing them with this car, she has to be pushing the car while singing, and I don't think "walrus" is the same as "q,r,s" and "teev" (what she calls the T.V.) isn't the same as "t,u,v". But, it's a start and I commend her for that :0) Please pay no attention to the random objects laying all over our floor....including the iron mark scorched into our carpet!! It's life at the Westra's lately, gotta love it! My bother walked in Monday morning, his eyes got big, and he asked if a tornado went through???? I actually thought the house looked pretty good for a Monday morning :)

6 Months Old

2010-05-10T09:24:00.007-04:00

Melanie is 6 months old now (ok, so she's well over 6 months....). Where oh where has the past 6 months gone. I can hardly believe 6 months ago we were watching our little baby fighting for her next breaths. That first month in the hospital was one of the most trying times of my life. There were so many fears I felt and so many obstacles to overcome. The only constant was knowing that WHATEVER happened was in God's plan for Melanie's life, and ours. We are so thankful to have made it out of that valley of our lives. When looking back at Melanie's NICU days I often think of the footprints poem. I'm sure most of us can almost say it by heart as we have experienced that poem at one point or another in our lives, but I know the only reason we survived those days was because God carried us through. He held Melanie when we couldn't. He caused the research for the surfactant Melanie received at birth. He gave the Dr.s wisdom in how to treat her pnematoceal. He guided the surgeon's hands during her surgery's. He gave her the BEST nurses to care for her and give her love while we were gone. He made her little body to grow and develop outside of the womb! He caused all of you, our friends and family, to shower us with love, support, and prayers over these past 6 months. And he comforted us with peace even though we didn't understand. Through this trial we have been blessed beyond measure.

So what is Melanie up to these days????
At 6 months old she weighed 10lbs 9oz (hopefully she's up to 11 lbs now). She is still in size 1 diapers and 3 month clothes. Melanie still despises tummy time. 30sec on her tummy and she will start crying, (screaming actually). She is drinking 90ml per feeding is at about 6 feedings a day. She is successfully sleeping through the night now. She goes from 10:00ish at night till about 8:00am~!!!!! Yeah for sleep!! During the day she doesn't really have a sleep schedule. She'll nap on and off all day. I am finding lately that she only takes really good naps in her swing!!! If she's in her bed or being held she'll sleep for about 30-45min and wake up. This will work for now, but she will soon be outgrowing her swing :( Melanie is just beginning to coo and interact with us. When in a good mood she'll hand out the smiles willingly. But if she's tired, she'll just stare right through you like you're not even there!! She is a thumb sucker. I'm trying to discourage it as much as I can, but when she gives me that big, pouty lip I melt and put her thumb in her mouth for her. She detests dirty diapers, wet are okay, but with-in a couple minutes of a stinky she'll be crying for a diaper change (maybe she'll potty train as easy as Miya did). Melanie LOVES to play patty cake, especially the round and round. She also enjoys putting her arm out straight in front of her and staring at her hand as she moves it back and forth, basic yes, but a good sign that she can see her hand and track it as she moves it!!! (an attempt at a picture of her leg chub)
The BEST thing about a preemie is all the extra cuddle time we get with her. Most 6 month olds are eating baby food, sitting up (almost), starting to teeth, and maybe evening beginning to scoot. Melanie LOVES to cuddle. Her favorite position is with her cheek on my cheek cuddled up tight against me. Our other girls were always moving around...Melanie is content to lay on our lap or cuddle close. The baby stage is so much fun (once the reflux is figured out) and I've always wished we could enjoy it longer. We'll, Melanie is allowing us to enjoy that baby stage longer then usual and we are so thankful for it. I often forget what she "should" be doing according to her age until I see another baby her age. Then I just remind myself that I GET to enjoy these cuddle times a little longer!!! As for her development....she is right on track with other babies according to her corrected age. That basically means we need to compare her with babies born around her due date (Feb.4). When we look at other 3 month olds she's doing great and we praise God for that.

I'll end this really long post (sorry) with a couple videos of Melanie taken a couple weeks ago. Please ignore my talking in the video and for those of you in a hurry, there's nothing exciting. It's just a video of of us trying to get Melanie to smile and coo!

March for Babies

2010-04-17T21:31:00.004-04:00

Dads turn...Its been a while since Ive done one of these,so bare with me. Ive been gettin a few requests today for pictures of the March for Babies that we had today in Holland for the March of Dimes.

It was a very sunny day for it, but very windy and cold. We started near the lake shore at Lake Macatawa, which didnt help any because of the west wind, but once we got to walking, we warmed up a little because we got out of the wind.
What a wonderful experience this was. The Melanie Marchers, and probably 2-300 other people walking today which was really cool. There were people walking in remembrance of the children they lost, and those walking for the victory of a premature child born that survived like we have been blessed with. It was really neat seeing so many people and their compassion for the cause of the March of Dimes. It was humbling seeing everyone registering and handing in the money they collected.
Being the Ambassador family meant we had to speak in front of all these people though. That was not nearly the highlight, although it went pretty smooth. Nicki did great :)
We also got to hang out with some friends from the hospital. The Lamar Twinners, as they are called looked adorable. They grew like crazy as well. Its hard to believe these kids born a few months ago weighing 2 + pounds look as well as they do. We are all very greatful.
Afterwards, there were some activities, although it was very cold, so not a lot of people hung around for that. There was a dunk tank, and some poor sap kept getting wet. He was shivering like crazy...unbelievable. There was a girl in a chicken suit whom Jayden despised, pizza, a few games, and of course, the jungle gym for the girls to play on.

All in all, it went pretty well. We now know what we're doing a little better, so we hope to be able to do a better job next year. Sounds like they might want us to do a little more volunteering as well next year, which is cool. Means we weren't total failures this year :)
We again want to thank the March of Dimes for what they do. What a wonderful experience we had at the hospital. It was good to do some reflecting today, especially with the Lamars while on our 5 mile walk. God has blessed this family with a very healthy Melanie, and we are thankful for this.
Hope you are all doing well!

Til next time

March for Babies on Saturday

2010-04-12T08:58:00.005-04:00

Somehow it is the middle of April already. The March of Dimes Walk is Saturday. Yes, Saturday, I was just as surprised when I realized how quickly the past month has gone by. As ambassadors for the MOD, we will be giving a quick (hopefully very quick) talk on Saturday morning before we begin the 5 mile walk downtown Holland. The purpose of the MOD is to help all babies, the unborn, the premature, and the healthy ones. They do this through many different avenues; educating parents, hosting programs at the hospital, research, and so much more. We are so thankful for an organization like the MOD that helped research the surfactant Melanie received at birth to help her lungs. Without that surfactant her lungs may not have been able to breath at 26 weeks outside of the womb. The MOD has helped our family in numerous ways so we will be walking on Saturday to give back.

Yes, we are trying to raise money before the walk. We are also looking for others to walk along with us. If the weather is nice we will be taking the whole family and would love to see you and your family too. For those of you that are already walking with us we would love it if you could e-mail us with your phone number and we'll send out a text Saturday morning(after we scout it out) with a place we can all meet and then walk together if possible. Our e-mail is jeffwestra11@yahoo.com

The walk begins and ends at Kollen's Park in Holland

April 17, 2010
East 10th St. & VanRaalte Ave
Holland, MI 49423

Walk Distance: 5 miles
Registration Time: 8:00 AM
Start Time: 8:30 AM
Chapter: Grand Rapids Division
Phone: (616) 247-6861
(I've heard there's a $15 or $20 registration fee which includes a t-shirt, I'm checking on that)

For those of you that are unable to walk and would like to help through donations, check out the website below.
http://www.marchforbabies.org/team/t1377031
Melanie-first week of life.
Melanie compared to Dad's hand.Melanie-growing, growing, growing!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Jayden at OneTrueMedia.com

2010-04-05T13:43:00.003-04:00

Oh Jayden, can it be you're 2 already?? I still remember the details of the day you were born. You showed us that day already that you were going to have a stubborn side :) We love you so much and can not imagine what this house would be like without you. You add so much humor and silliness to our everyday lives! You LOVE to have fun and will giggle at almost anything. You are a daredevil, always climbing on things, touching, and never afraid to try anything new. Your favorite color is purple (even though every color is purple to you), your favorite thing to play right now is house with Miya. You are so tender and caring (with your babies), feeding them while I feed Melanie and always asking us if we want to hold them. Your favorite food is mac and cheese and fruit snacks. You have just begun to string words together to make sentences and are now talking a blue streak. I remember the days when all you'd say was "aah, aah", it seems like sooo long ago but it was really only a few months ago. You LOVE your daddy and run to him every night when he gets home. You always ask to hold Melanie even though it usually lasts for less then a minute. Reading books is another of your favorite pass times; something we thought you'd never enjoy as you wouldn't sit for more then 30 seconds. You are always the one to remind us to read the bible after meals and will cry if you can't put it away when we finish. You like to pick on your big sister and are often found hitting, biting, pinching, or pulling her hair. However, you love her so much and try to do everything she does and go everywhere she goes. You two have so much fun together!

Jayden, we have enjoyed watching you grow into a toddler over the last year and are so thankful for every minute God has given us with you. We are so excited to see the plans the Lord has for your future. Our prayer is that you will serve Him in all that you do. For now, we'll continue to enjoy the moments God blesses us with you. We love you Jades!!!!!!!!!

Before hitting play on the slide show you'll want to scroll to the bottom of this blog and pause the music...even though the first song is the one I wanted to use...those of you that know how to download and upload music let me know!! Just hit the green triangle to start the slide show, ENJOY!!