BBQ

Early last week, the weekend forecast looked a bit cooler than the previous days during the week, but still nice enough to BBQ. This also meant to Jason that it would be warm enough to take his boat out. As the week progressed, the forecasted temperature went down and down, but he still held out the hope. Imagine his disappointment when we woke up on Saturday morning to 39 degrees and strong winds. The boating trip ended up getting postponed, but we still got together with friends to bbq.

As tends to happen when we get together with Bovens and Meulenbergs, we did not just have a little bbq. We had a gorge fest! We literally ate from 4:30 - 9:30 straight. Everything was wonderful, but we were all overly stuffed as we finally parted ways. Oh, but all of the food tasted so good, from Eric's homemade guacamole to Sara's brownies and everything in between!

The girls (Claire and Hannah) had fun playing together. Ok, Claire had fun playing, and Hannah pretty much just hung out. Don't worry, Claire, she will play with you one day! In fact, I think Claire was trying to teach Hannah her new trick of rolling over. Hannah hasn't quite gotten the hang of it, but Claire was a rolling fool :-) She's going to be keeping mom and dad busy!




So, what do you think? You want to try it?


No, look over here!


See, this is how you do it!

Random Happenings

With all of this beautiful weather, Hannah and I have been taking advantage of it by getting out and about. We ventured down to Holland today to stop by Haworth and visit some of my co-workers. She was quite a star. Most of the guys have kids (or grandkids), so they were all about her. One of my co-workers is somewhat newly married with no kids, and although he thought she was cute and enjoyed looking at her, he was afraid to get within a foot of her! So, to help him get over his fear of babies and diapers, we left him a little "present" on his work chair (a diaper filled with Mountain Dew and coffee grounds)! I can't wait to hear his response.


Yesterday, we spent the afternoon checking out Grand River Grocery, a neat little specialty grocery store on the other side of GR. Jason's parents love this place and stop there everytime they visit. We met Jill and Claire there and enjoyed some Starbucks coffee and lunch. Oh, I love being able to get out for these little trips during the day!

Below are just some random pics from the week:



No pictures, please!


Sister, don't you want to play??

Hallelujah!

She slept through the night!!!!!! It was probably a fluke, but I'll take it. She went from 9-5. I tried to get her up to feed her when we went to bed at 10, but she just didn't want to eat. I then figured I'd be up again at 1. What a surprise it was when I awoke at 5 hearing her happy, gurgly noises on the monitor and realizing I hadn't gotten up all night! I was so happy that I woke Jason up to tell him :-) I haven't felt so refreshed in a long time. There is hope after all!

Another perfect day

This morning we dressed Hannah in a dress for church for the first time. She and I had a deal that once I put her in it that she would not have any diaper explosions or spit-up. She held up the diaper end of the deal (although with the noises we were hearing from her during the sermon, we weren't so sure!) but she spit up as soon as I got the dress on. Since we were basically out the door, we wiped her off as best we could and headed off. I'm sure it won't be the last time that she gets her nice church outfit a little dirty! I must say, she did look adorable in her little Baby Gap dress (courtesy of the Haworth Steel plant guys that I used to work with). She also has the hat to match, but needless to say, she still has to grow into it.



Since it was such a gorgeous day, we decided to take Hannah for her first trip to the zoo. Of course, she was oblivious to the entire trip, but we enjoyed getting outside and checking out the animals. We definitely can't wait until she gets a little bit bigger and can really respond to the animals. I'm sure she'll have all kinds of fun.

What a beautiful weekend we're having! We took advantage of the perfect 80 degree day by grilling burgers and eating on the deck for the first time this season. It was wonderful being able to eat outside again! We're certainly looking forward to many more meals outdoors this summer.


This morning Hannah spent some time on her jungle mat. We haven't had her on it in a couple of weeks, so it was fun to see how much more interactive she was with it. She loved looking at herself in the mirror. She got so excited that she even batted at it for the first time (although I'm not sure she even knew she was doing this). She's growing up so quickly!


Hannah loves laying on her tummy. In fact, she squirms quite a bit when she's on her tummy and can push herself right across the blanket! Grandpa Cramer says she's getting her exercise, and she really does get quite a workout :-) I'm sure she'll be on the move way before we are ready!

Big girl

This weekend, our friend Aubrey came over for a visit. Since Aubrey lives in the Detroit Metro area, we don't get to see each other very often, so it was really nice to spend some time together. The 4 of us spent the afternoon at the Van Andel Museum downtown and then went to dinner at Rose's. Hannah was quite a star and got all kinds of attention from the waitresses and other diners near our table. She, of course, was oblivious to all of this due to her deep state of slumber.

Hannah met another big milestone this weekend - Jason fed Hannha her first bottle! She took to it really well and ate the whole thing. I was sure she would spit it all up afterward, but she didn't. What a relief! That milk is liquid gold :-) Of course, I'm going to continue nursing the large majority of the time, but it's nice to know that she will eat from a bottle from time to time. Maybe Jason will even be able to share in those 2:00 a.m. feedings now!

4 weeks old

Technically Hannah doesn't turn a month old until next week, but I decided to go ahead and take a picture of her today on her 4 week birthday. It's hard to tell how much she's grown day to day, but comparing her 1 week picture with her 4 week picture shows just how big she really has gotten.

Today, Hannah and I drove up to Muskegon and met Jason for lunch. This was Hannah's first time out with us to a restaurant, and she did very well. In fact, I don't even think she knew we went anywhere since she slept the whole time! I'm sure she won't always be so easy when we go out, so we'll enjoy this stage while we have it.

Friends

Last night, our friend Juleen brought her new little girl Morgan over for a visit. She's about 2 weeks older than Hannah. What a little cutie! It will be so much fun to watch Hannah and all of her little friends grow up!



JJ, Hannah, and I have fallen into a pretty good routine during the day. JJ used to spend his days in the laundry room while we were at work, but now he gets to stay out with us during the day. Even though most of my time is consumed with Hannah, I think that he's enjoying his freedom. This is how I found him sleeping yesterday:



Oh, to have a dog's life...

Spring!

We are so happy that the weather has finally gotten nice! We took Hannah for her first walk yesterday. I think the stroller wins her approval. She fell right asleep. It was so nice to get out of the house for a little while and get some fresh air.

This afternoon, Hannah and I enjoyed the beautiful weather once again by hanging out outside while Jason painted his boat. We even played a little fetch with JJ before going on another walk. We're starting to get this walking thing down :-)

JJ had to include Hannah in our game of fetch

We had a little diaper incident this morning before church. The 5:30 diaper change must have been done half asleep, and so the diaper only got put half on. Needless to say, we had some clean up to do before leaving. I'm somewhat amazed that we were all able to get ready and make it on time. Somehow we did it, though, with Miss Hannah looking adorable in her hat from Grandma Davis.

Overall, we had a nice, relaxing weekend. It's great to finally enjoy spring!!

Many faces of Hannah

Hannah is now 3 weeks old. I can already see her changing - she looks around a lot more, makes the funniest expressions. In fact, today I tried getting a picture for her birth announcement, and she decided to ham it up for the camera.

We had a big week this week. Grandma Davis came over to help us out for a few days, which was really nice. She and Hannah even got some one-on-one time last night while Jason and I went out to dinner. I think we all enjoyed our time. Earlier this week, the doctor encouraged us to start doing some tummy time, so we started doing that this week, too. Big brother JJ had to get in on the fun, too.

We'll see what the next week brings....

Outings

This weekend, Hannah went on her first outings since leaving the hospital. Saturday was so nice and sunny, that we decided to just take off for an afternoon drive. She did really well, sleeping the entire time. That car seat must be comfy :-)

Sunday, we went to church for the first time. Everybody just fell in love with her. It's so nice to have such a great support network, kind of like a family away from home. After church, we decided to venture out to the mall. Jason took Hannah so that I could do some of my own shopping. Turns out that they did some shopping of their own. They surprised me with a new soft, cushy bathrobe from Restoration Hardware. I absolutely love it!!

Yesterday was Hannah's first visit to the pediatrician. We love Dr. Staublin! Their office is nice and close, and she makes us feel totally comfortable. She spent lots of time doing a thorough check-up, and we're happy to report that she's doing fantastic! She's up to 6 lbs. 7 oz., which is only 2 oz. more than when she was born, but actually 6 oz. more than when we left the hospital. Dr. Staublin told us that she's just happy when babies regain their birth weight, so gaining a little more was great! Plus, she's now 20" long. We definitely have a growing girl :-)