A Most Precious Visit

Grandpa and Grandma Hoksbergen were able to come to Michigan and visit for a weekend before continuing on their way for a color tour out east. We had SOOOO much fun with them while they were here and only wish they could have stayed longer. We all went out for supper and ice cream Friday night and then back to the hotel to swim.
Miya and Jayden then got to stay overnight in Great G n G's hotel. This was such a special treat for them. A night in a hotel (one of their favorite things to do) and time alone with Great Grandma and Grandpa. I guess they woke up and had two breakfasts with swimming in between. I'm sure that was Grandpa and Grandmas' idea:0)
Jeff and I patiently waited at home with Melanie for them to come back so we could go fruit picking.....we'll they didn't come home till around 2. They ended up visiting an aunt in a nursing home and then spoiling the girls with Burger King. After a quick nap it was off to one of Jeff's customers to pick some raspberries and blackberries. It was good time picking and in between the spouts of rain we enjoyed some blueberry doughnuts and coffee to warm up. It turned out to be a beautiful evening once the rain stopped.





Then it was off to Crane's to pick a few apples. Being the first weekend to pick Honey Crisp, it was BUSY. So we quickly loaded up and ventured to Fenn Valley for a little wine tasting. Since we were in the fruit picking mode, I thought maybe we could pick some grapes. NOT the right kind of grapes to pick for eating....just for wine making. The wine sure tasted good though!! After an afternoon of fruit picking it was time for supper. And what to do you do after supper on a beautiful Saturday evening? ? You head to the beach of course!! We trekked out to oval beach to look at the view, and then the girls wanted to get out and run on the beach. Why not add some sand to the mud that's already in the clothes and van? It was a beautiful night on the beach (just a little chilly).


Once Melanie warmed up to Great Grandpa and Grandma, she had to be by "Papa's" side the rest of the weekend. She had to hold his hand while walking, sit by him at meals, and he was the only one who could carry her if the need be. She enjoyed playing with Great Grandma too, but Grandpa could never be far else she'd cry for him.
Sunday was much more relaxing. Melanie thought she had to sit by 'papa' during church. She actually did very well and sat on his lap throughout he whole service, she even took a little nap cuddled up in Great Grandpa's arms. After evening church we headed to the hotel for a little snack and to say goodbye. My secret pal left a basket of fall goodies that were just perfect for that night (thank you to my wonderful secret pal). It was much more delicious then the crackers and soup I had packed along. After visiting for awhile it was time to say goodbye. It's always sad to say goodbye, but we are so thankful they are able to come visit and treasure the memories they are making with us and the girls. We love you both! wish this picutre wasn't so dark :(

Glasses

The last couple of weeks we have had many, many, MANY appointments. Dr.s, therapists, opthamologists, and dentists, OH MY!! Miya had her first cavities filled and her first root canal (or whatever it's called on baby teeth, poly-something). She also got her first pair of glasses!! She LOVES them and so far is taking very good care of them. She asks to clean them all the time. Her first night, she put them in their case and then tucked them away with the cleaner and rag into the bag from the eye dr. The bag then went neatly on the counter in the bathroom. This morning I hardly got a "hello" from her before she ran to the bathroom to put her glasses on!! So thankful she enjoys wearing them. Hopefully her attitude towards her glasses will stay this way. She gets to wear her glasses all day - every day and since they really don't make her vision better I thought she might not want to wear them. So far so good! I think it helps that one of her friends from church gets to wear glasses too.

Allegan Fair

Last week was the Allegan Fair. Usually the girls and I are able to check out the Ottawa Fair and Hudsonville Fair early in the year. This year we were unable to go to either so the Allegan fair was our first fair this year. The girls behaved very well this year. . . I think. Those that saw us up and down, up and down at the show on Saturday may not have thought the same :0) They are definitely getting easier to entertain as they get older. Miya and Jayden were content playing behind the stands. When they got sick of that we would take them for a walk to the petting barn. Melanie was still a little difficult this year. Just like the other two, at her age, she likes to climb up and down the stairs. We'll like we've mentioned before, her balance isn't the best yet and she took a number of spills. We even got a "phhhhheeewwww" from the crowd as they all turned to look where that huge clunking/falling noise came from. . . . a couple of times. No blood, so all was good. We had lots of fun walking around petting the different animals. Melanie has gotten quite a bit better saying her animal noises. Maybe next year Miya will be able to walk a pig in the pee-wee show. Gonna take some practice come next summer. We'll have to see what next year brings.

Summer Vacation

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Just realized I'm REALLY behind in blogging. The last full week of August we were able to take a vacation with our family. It was SOOO relaxing and sooo much fun to hang out with just the 5 us every day. We vacationed at Barlow Lake, one of our favorites. We had visitors through out the week. But most days went like this. Jeff would wake up between 6 and 6:30 (CRAZY), make coffee and head out for a couple hours of fishing. He would get back between 8 and 9 and make us girls a BIG breakfast (the second breakfast for the girls since they couldn't wait that long to eat). Then Jeff would play rough with the girls for awhile. We'd go for walks/bike rides, go fishing, play games, or just hang out. Then it would be lunch time with more playing after. Then family 'rest' time. To Jayden and Melanie this means a NAP!! For Miya this means a lone time in a bed with lots and lots of books to look at (about 45min worth). For mom this meant a book, a lawn chair, and maybe a 15 min nap. For dad this meant another couple hours of fishing on the boat. After rest time we'd have snacks (lots of them) and play some more before deciding if we were going to grill or go out for supper. As a family we do not eat-out very often. Our vacations in the past are the same, lots of cooking. This vacation, for some reason, involved lots of suppers out. I LOVED it. It was a true vacation from cooking. Best part was I never asked, Jeff would just decide mom got the night off and we were going out for supper. Probably another reason this vacation was so relaxing.

Miya and Jayden are definantly able to "do" more on vacation now that they are older. They enjoy swimming, fishing, playing games, and playing in the loft and on the stairs(goofballs). Melanie was a little more of stinker. She had to be watched like a HAWK!! She would walk right up to the edge of the dock and try to touch the water. Great that she likes the water, but not so great since her balance isn't so good yet. She also liked sticking her head through the spindles of the stairs and attempting to go down the stairs walking forward. This girl is TROUBLE!!

Anyways, we were blesed to be able to spend a whole week together as a family. We loved not having to 'go' anywhere or keep a schedule. We made lots of memories....just didn't get to record them all in pictures since our camera went for a swim. Next time Jeff asks me if taking the camera near the water is a good idea, I will probably listen to the hidden meaning and leave it on-shore!!

We had a big adjustment Monday morning when Dad had to go back to work. The girls kept asking to play with him. They also kept asking for snacks and a 'big' breakfast. I had to adjust to a smaller living space and tripping over toys in the kitchen again. We loved our vacation and hope to go back next year.

First Day of Kindergarten

Tuesday was the first day of Kindergarten at the Westra house. Miya went to bed super excited and woke up super excited. The girls could hardly sit through breakfast. As soon as they finished eating they ran to the school room for a bible story. They had a long wait as they needed to get dressed, do their hair, and play a bit while mom set everything up. When we finished our plans for the morning I told the girls they could go play until lunch time. They kept asking me every 5 min if we could do more school, when I said no, they would ask if we could eat lunch. They loved it.

I have to say Tuesday was one of my favorite days EVER. It was so much fun having all this time with the girls when I didn't feel like I needed to be making a meal, or doing laundry, or cleaning, or whatever else needs to be done. This time is blocked out to do school! Yes, I slipped out to switch the clothes from washer to dryer and to change a poopy diaper, but aside from that it was our own time together. My favorite part of teaching 4th grade was the actual "teaching". I loved watching the eyes of the kiddos when they caught on to something or when you could see the determination in their face as they tried their best at something that was particularly hard for them. I know it's only day 1 of school, but I have already seen this with Miya (Jayden too) and I LOVED every minute of it. I'm so thankful that we are able to teach Miya at home this year and look forward to spending so many precious hours with our girls! I know every day won't be as easy as yesterday, but I also know this is a perfect fit for our family right now.

Goose Egg Continues

The feeling of terrible mom continues yet another day. I don't remember where exactly I left off with Melanie's falling incident this weekend. She acted fine on Saturday, a little sleepy, but still naughty. Sunday morning she cried around 5am, and like any other good mom....I let her cry. When I got her out of the bed at 8 it was very evident from the smell that she had gotten sick. So she stayed home from church and took a morning nap and an afternoon nap. She acted ok, just sleepy. Monday she was great. Her normal little pain in the pa-tooty. Today (Tuesday), we went to Big Rapids to help a friend set up her 1st grade classroom (if you call three children 5 and under 'help'). The day was uneventful, Melanie was a little bit of stinker, but also seemed tired again. We left with all intentions of Mel napping on the way home. She had a different idea. She thought crying for a long time and then throwing up at the half-way point would be really fun. Being the 'great' mother again, it took me a good 15 min to figure out what that smell was. I thought it was one of Mel's super nasty diapers but that just didn't seem right. Then I started looking at the vehicles we were traveling with on the road thinking we were following a rendering truck or something of the sort. Finally realized Melanie had puked at which point I had to do a couple sympathy dry heaves out the window. A good mom would pull-over and clean her up, put on the extra outfit folded in the diaper bag, right? Not this mommy. We notched up the cruise two more mph and busted for home with the windows down. After all, we ONLY had another 30min or so and she wasn't crying anymore.

As I was pulling Melanie out of the bath, I started wondering if these puking incidents were related to her fall from Friday. She didn't act like she was sick so I called Dr. G even though the goal was to go a WHOLE 6 months without seeing him. FAILED!! They wanted to see her just to make sure. Dr. G checked her out and just wasn't comfortable sending her home for the night. He wanted a head CT to make sure there wasn't something going on inside that tiny little head of hers. We are so thankful for a Dr. that treats our kids just like he would his own. We love Dr. G and his staff~maybe that's why we can't stay out of their office. Anyways, due to insurance and timing issues we had the joy of getting her head CT through the ER. Yuppers, Melanie got to be checked over AGAIN before they ordered her CT. By this time it was around 7 and the poor thing had her last meal at 11:30. She was not the happiest kid. I forgot to mention I had used the last diaper at the Dr.s office and didn't pack a bottle (Dr. G gave us some diapers just in case they were needed, but didn't want her to eat in case she had to be sedated). My sister came to take Miya and Jayden home for some supper and my dad stayed to help entertain Mel (Jeff was 45min from Chicago).

The event of the CT scan went okay. Melanie's cry is getting louder and she may have nightmares of a man with a large rubber glove. She acted like any hungry, 18month old would act. We then waited an hour for the results (through a shift change I think). God has once again blessed our family with health. They said Melanie looked just fine. Nothing in her head came back abnormal....NOTHING, which also means that little area of white matter on the movement part of her brain when she was born was not found!!! Dr. G didn't think anything would be found, but wanted to cover the bases. So glad he did, now we'll be able to sleep in peace tonight, thanking God for his mercies.

Melanie finally ate supper at 8:30, she wasn't too hungry since Papa was able to find her a bag of cookies in a vending machine. She did enjoy the chocolate malt Aunt Wendi made though. By the way, she now weighs 22lbs and 8oz's.Yaayy!! She officially graduated out of her infant seat today (mostly because it was in the wash and we needed to get to the Doctor's office).

I think it's time for bed!! Maybe tomorrow we'll just stick around the house. . . maybe.

Up North

I think I won a "bad parent" award this weekend. We went up north to Boyne Highlands and Avalanche Bay Friday and Saturday for Jeff's work. Friday night after we finished eating the girls were walking around the tables with some friends they met. Melanie, whose not so great at walking yet, fell and hit her head on the edge of a metal chair. She has a very quiet cry (as many of you know) and we didn't realize she was crying till the 7 year old brought her over to us at which time Melanie threw her whole body backwards....the 7 yr old did a great job of not dropping her, pretty sure I would have. So Jeff grab her right away at which point she started turning purple and then passed out from crying and not breathing. This was our first experience with a child passing out. I was trying to think through what Dr. G has told me to do in this situation. He is always surprised this hasn't happened in our family yet. Jeff was getting very anxious but was able to get her to take a breath after several blows to her face. Melanie had a goose egg on her head that was sticking out at least an inch!! No JOKE!! I've never seen a bump that big. We were trying to decide if we should take her in or not. Jeff was able to get some smiles from her after about 15 min and by the end of the night she was back to her naughty little self. I felt terrible, but I'm not sure how to stop the child from falling. It seems she is falling all the time lately. Either she trips while walking, or she falls off from something she climbed. I try to deter the climbing, that doesn't seem to work very well. As for the walking, eventually she'll figure it out, right? Thankfully she's a tough kid and usually doesn't cry when she falls.

Saturday morning we went to Avalanche Bay, and indoor water park. The girls had lots of fun. Thankfully they enjoy swimming now (since their swimming lessons earlier this year) so they tried the slides. Until Melanie gets a little bigger I think we can skip the water parks. Either Jeff or I had to stay back with Melanie while the other took Miya or Jayden down a slide. Once they went down the bigger slides they didn't want to go again which was a bummer for the other parent. So I think we can put off the water parks till the kids are a little older, or until we have more helpers, or wait till we can go with some of their friends or COUSINS!! Everyone still had lots of fun. Including Melanie who feel asleep on Jeff's shoulder cuddled up in a towel while still in the water park. Would have made a great picture if would have remembered to pull out the camera :(

After some great family time together we are anxiously awaiting our vacation next week. I will hopefully use my camera a little more too. And we should probably scout out the nearest intermed just in case.