My little girl is two!

We've had a lot going on these past few months. I have noticed that my dedication to the blog has decreased dramatically with morning sickness from baby #3. However...I cannot let my Gracie girl's second birthday go by with no recognition at all!!

We celebrated miss Grace's birthday a few times this month. She turned two on February 15th, and Curt had the day off of work! So, we headed out for some family fun and a lunch out with Grandma & Grandpa DeBoer. She got her very first dollhouse from G&G (along with the adorable dress she is wearing in her picture) plus some princess dolls from Dad, Mom & Joel. It was a great day...even though we sang Happy Birthday about twenty times!

We also had a mini-celebration this past weekend in Chicago with Nonie, GiGi O'Shaugnessy (who also turned 80!), Mom & Joel. Grace got a cake from our favorite bakery, Jarosch and opened cute clothes and dolls from everyone.

Some of Gracie's favorites...anything princess (much to my dismay!). She knows all the Disney princess names and sleeps with sleeping beauty every night. Today she wore her Halloween fairy princess costume to our friend's house. She loves playing with Joel...and bugging him. She likes to steal his toys and run. When he catches up to her, she just throws whatever she has as far away as she can. She loves her Daddy and is thrilled when he gets home from work. She is always saying "Love me!" And we do!

Party of Five...

Well...the "DeBoer Four" is officially going to become a party of five sometime next August! We found out that Baby #3 is on the way, and we have had lots of fun sharing the news with family and friends over the holidays!
Before we spilled the beans, we sat Joel and Grace down to tell them the good news. Gracie just said "baby...baby...baby..." and was staring at my shirt trying to see exactly where this baby in my belly was. Joel, on the other hand, said, "I don't really like big families. I think I just want Dad and Mom and me and Grace." He did come around to the idea and now gets a kick out of telling me the funny names he's going to call the baby. Today, he told me I was having a boy and a girl and that we would name them both Caffy??? He thought that was hysterical!
Anyway...we'll have plenty of time to figure out what we are going to name it, and I promise it won't be Caffy!
I'll try to get some Christmas pics up once we get through the holidays. I can't wait to see the kids faces when they get up tomorrow morning. It's so much more fun now that they are getting older!
Merry Christmas, everybody!!! We are so thankful for such great family and friends!

Joel's Christmas Program

Merry Christmas! We had lots of fun watching Joel's Christmas program last week. He has been practicing his songs and poems and was so excited that Mom, Dad, Grace, Grandpa & Grandma DeBoer were all coming to watch him. They did a great job. I, of course, thought that Joel totally stole the show! Here is a clip from one of the songs they did. You can see he turned it into more of a song AND dance. My favorite move is at the very end. Yup...he's a keeper.

(Oh yeah...you may have to turn off the music at the bottom of the page to hear the video. Sorry!)

We were also excited that my parents were able to come into town for a short visit this past weekend. The kids love to see them, and it was fun to be able to get some extra time in...especially during the holidays.

It has actually been a fairly quiet December. We have had some family get-togethers where the kids are totally spoiled, but it's also been nice to have some time as a family. We hope you all have a wonderful and peace-filled Christmas as well!

Halloween

Here are a few pics of trick-or-treating with the kids. Grace was a fairy/princess/pink thing. Joel was The Flash. He literally didn't stop running the entire time we were out. He would actually run PAST houses and we had to call him back to go up and get his candy! It was chilly out, but they had a blast!

My favorite Halloween Joel quote actually came today after I let him pick out a piece of candy from his bag after his lunch.

Joel: "Mom, you really shouldn't give me any more sugar after this. It's not good for my teeth."

Me: "Okay. Well, why don't I just throw that piece away, and you can go brush your teeth."

Joel: "No. I can have this one. I'm just talking about AFTER my nap you shouldn't give me any more candy."

Me: "Alrighty."

Amy's Library Meltdown...yeah...Amy

Okay...so the library meltdown. Usually it's the kids who are screaming, kicking and yelling when they are tired/hungry/don't get there way, but I, apparently, am living proof that there is a little "kid" in all of us. This morning, I had to get a few quick errands in and I only had a short window of time to get everything done and back in time for lunch and naps. (This, in retrospect, was where I started going wrong. NEVER plan on getting ANY errand accomplished in less than an hour when you are toting two children with you. Two errands...two hours. Three errands...three hours. There are no exceptions to this rule. Ever. Never.)

The grocery store went okay, but that is only because the grocery store is chock full of bribing opportunities to keep your children quiet. Example:
Grace: "Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!"
Me: "It's okay. Don't cry. Grace. Stop whining. Grace!! Sit down. GRACE...Look! Here's a banana! Ooooohhhhhh! A banana! MMMmmmmmmmmm!"

Joel: running down the aisles
Me: "Joel! Get over here! Joel! Come here! Joel!!! Stay where I can see you. JOEL.....look what I have! Goldfish!!! Ooooohhhhhh! Goldfish! MMMmmmmmmmmm!"

That's was pretty much my grocery trip this morning. Fortunately, we still had a stop at the library before heading home. Of course, in my mind, this was going to be a five minute stop AT MOST! I mean, there were refrigerated items in the back of my car. I did not have time to mess around! I simply wanted to grab a movie for the kids to watch tonight since Curt is working late. No problem, right?

Everything was going according to plan. The kids were fine. I found two movies in about 45 seconds and we were off to check out. La de da....library lady checking me out...let's get outta here...

Check-out lady: "Ma'am. You have a fine on your account"
Me: "Yeah...the last movies we took out were a couple days late. How much?"
Check-out lady: "Um....$31.00"

Huh? When I say "late" I mean like two days late....not like a month. Well, apparently, the fine wasn't for the movies at all but for one of the children's books I had previously returned. So...the check-out lady had to get the back-room manager lady who referred me to the children's desk lady who told me that the book I brought back last month, Think Happy (Seriously. That was the title), was no longer usable because two of the pages were stuck together. And how much did she want me to pay for this happy little book? $25! On top of the cost of the book, there is an additional re-ordering fee. But the good news, she told me, was that I get to take the book home.

Well, la dee fricken da!

I tried to be nice about it. I asked her if she really thought that it was reasonable to charge for a new book because of some pages stuck together. I asked her if the book was really no longer usable.
"Not to us," said she.

Mmmmm...but to a mangy little homebody like me, this could be the prize of my book collection...assuming I had a first-grade reading level (which I don't think she assumed).
Did I mention that Grace had reverted to a high-pitch wail back when we were still dealing with check-out lady and hadn't stopped the entire time back-room manager lady or children's desk lady were dealing with me. Yeah. Anyway...I grabbed my THINK HAPPY book and headed back to the checkout lane. The children's desk lady, apparently feeling some tinge of...I want to believe it was remorse, but I'm afraid it was more sympathy...told me, "You don't have to take care of this now. We can just put it on your account...especially if your daughter is not feeling well."

My daughter is FINE! If she's crying, it's because of YOU! Your little THINK HAPPY book just cleared out 50% of my Dave Ramsey "miscellaneous" envelope which means that I will have no extra money to do anything fun for the next two weeks...and even at the tender age of one, she recognizes the age-old truth that "If mama ain't happy...ain't nobody happy."
Of course...these aren't the things I actually say. I just think them in my mind and stew in anger until I can appreciate the irony of a children's book called Think Happy throwing me into a rage. At first, I was going to throw the book away, but, no. I'm keeping it. Perhaps on my bedside table where I can be reminded that while some people are enraged by war, famine and abuse...I become enraged by children's books with the pages stuck together. That, apparently, is the life of a mom with small children.

H-A-double L-O-W-double E-N spells Halloween!

I hear you, people. I didn't know anyone was that interested in our life, but I have actually gotten emails wondering what is up with the blog! Well, I'm glad to say that I have been busy working on my photography and design business and things are going well! You can see some of what I've been working on at http://www.amydeboer.com/ and my design blog has a few recent shoots on it at http://www.amydeboer.blogspot.com/ (there's also a link from the webpage).

Anyway...I've been totally loving doing my photo stuff. I've met so many cute babies! It makes me realize how big Joel and Grace are getting. Joel is loving preschool. He comes home every Thursday with a backpack full of projects and worksheets. He has me look at everything before we can even pull out of the parking lot. He is also having his first fundraiser, so anyone who is in dire need of some gourmet popcorn...feel free to give me a call! :)
Gracie and I are enjoying a little girls-only bonding time while Joel is in school, although she cries every single time I drop him off. I have to explain EVERY time that he's just going to school and he'll be back. She loves her big brother! Today, while Joel was at preschool, I took Gracie outside for some fall pics. For most of the time, she refused to look at the camera...but I did sneak a couple in there while pretending to play peek-a-boo.

Since my last post, we've been busy...We went to Chicago to visit my Gram ("GiGi" as the kids call her) and to watch our good friend, Curt M., run the Chicago Marathon. He did a great job. While we were there, we hit Shedd Aquarium at which (contrary to the picture) this kids had lots of fun. We celebrated our eighth anniversary as well as our niece, Alyssa's, eighth birthday. I'll always remember being on our honeymoon searching for internet access so we could see pictures of her the day she was born!

We found out earlier this month that our brother and sister-in-law will be going to pick up their two new sons from Ethiopia in the next few months! Andnet and Dagim will be welcome additions to the DeBoer clan, and Joel will be thrilled to have some more boys in the family! We're looking forward to Halloween, but all the real chatter around here is about Chranksgiving in Colorado. (That is the Christmas/Thanksgiving holiday for my side of the family). Joel tells me at least once a day how much fun we are going to have when we get there...especially when he gets the Batcave which he is SURE Nonie & Pop Pop bought for him because he really, really wants it more than anything. I told him that he might not get the Batcave because we don't get everything we ask for, but he reassured me, "Just wait, Mom. You'll see. It's gonna be there!" Gotta love the confidence!

Hopefully, I'll post soon with some Halloween costume pics of the kids. Until then, we hope everyone is healthy, happy and enjoying the beautifull fall!

JOEL-ISMS:

Okay...my favorite recent quote from Joel was when he was going downstairs to play with his train table. I was making dinner and told him he could go down by himself. First, he needed to know if there were any monsters, spiders, skeletons or anything scary down there. I told him NO. Then he said, "That's right mom. God did not give us a spirit of fear. He gave us power and love and a remote control." I love that he knows a bible verse...but I love it more that he thinks God gave us a remote control!

He is constantly cracking me up by answering questions with "Of course I will! Absolutely!" and telling me that what he really wants to be when he grows up is a dad, a doctor and a baseball player. Of course...those three change all the time, but it's always more than one thing.

Joel's First Day of Preschool

Yes...Joel started preschool today. I can't believe it! He woke up this morning, and I told him that today was the day we go to school together. He was excited about the "school" part, but not so much about the "together" part.

"Mom, you don't have to go with me. I can do it by myself."

Unfortunately for Joel, Mom came with him! We dropped Grace off with Kara and headed to school. His backpack took up about 80% of his entire body! He looked so cute! He was so excited to get there that he ran ahead of me to get in the door. However, once we got in the building, he realized that having mom there was probably not such a bad idea. By the time we visited the art room and the classroom, he was starting to warm up. It was so fun to see him with all the other kids...singing songs, listening to stories.
We went on a scavenger hunt to find all the different areas of the school. Each spot had a sticker bin so he could put a sticker on his chart. When we were through, we ended up in the gym for a story and snack. He met his first school friend, and is very excited to go back next Tuesday all by himself.

When I picked up Gracie, Kara asked Joel how his first day of school went.

"Perfect," he said.

I love that little man!

Other than the fact that I got a little teary-eyed on the ride to school and that I took seventy-nine pictures between 8-11AM (no...I'm not exaggerating), I did pretty well. It did make me realize, though, how fast he is growing up. (Sigh.)

We celebrated with Grace and Daddy by going out to lunch at McDonald's. It was the first time I saw Joel climb up and down the entire playland without asking for any help. What else would I expect? He IS a preschooler after all!

Coloring his picture...

The scavenger hunt...

Mrs. Modderman reading the kids a story...

www.amydeboer.com

So...check it out. I'm official!

I have my own website now at http://www.amydeboer.com/ for all of my photography and design stuff. I'm super excited about it, and I have been having lots of fun building up my portfolio and coming up with some new birth announcement, invitation and christmas card designs. Feel free to check it out and tell everyone you know. ;)

I'll still be keeping up on the blog, but I have been a little slower on the posting since I've been trying to get things started up with my business.

Hope you all had a fantastic summer!

I got it, Mom....

Joel and I had to have a quick chat in the car after he had a meltdown with some friends.
Once we started on the road, I began my little parenting schpiel on how it's important to share and be patient. I had barely begun when Joel cut me off saying, "I GOT IT, MOM! No whining. No crying. I got it."

Wow. Am I already getting cut off during my parenting lectures. I asked him what a better choice would be next time he is tempted to whine or cry, and he told me that he'll just give me a thumbs up.

I'll let you know how that goes.

Grace is generally busy doing whatever Joel tells her to do! Today, they were pretending that they were flying an airplane to Colorado when Joel decided that HE needed to be in the front seat of the plane. He got up and barked his orders, "Grace! Get in the back seat. I'm driving!" To which she immediatly got up and moved to the "backseat" of their imaginary plane. Unbelieveable! I may need to see if Joel is interested in a little subcontracted parenting duty. I can't even get her to listen to ME that well!

Grace and I actually had a little solo girl time tonight. She was running a temp today so we had to stay home from Curt's work party up in Grand Rapids. Joel and Curt had a great time while Grace and I snuggled, read books, and generally had a relaxing evening. I'm looking forward to Joel starting preschool this fall so that Grace and I can have a little more girl time. She is so stinkin' sweet.

August already...

I haven't been the best blogger lately. Summer is flying by and I have barely posted. Joel and Grace are growing like crazy. Overnight, clothes and shoes seem to be shrinking on them! Grace is looking so tall and she suddenly has lots to say. She doesn't care one bit that we only understand a handful of words. She just keeps on chatting away. Her favorite person in the world is Joel (or "Jo Jo" as she calls him). The first one she wants to see when I get her up in the morning is big brother. They have become quite a duo. I love that they are starting to play together more and more. We love our Gracie girl more and more every day.

Joel continues to be our little character. A few days ago, I was loading Grace into the car to go run some errands. Joel came outside and noticed that it had started to sprinkle a bit. He ran back into the house and when he came back, he was holding the work goggles from his tool box. I asked him why he needed his goggles, and he told me he didn't want to get any rain in his eyes! He fell asleep on the was home from the store, and I just couldn't resist running in and grabbing my camera. He was just too cute.

Other than Joel and Gracie, I have really been enjoying my camera and photography classes. I've been working a lot this summer on setting up my own photography and design business, and I can't wait to get that going. My website is under construction, but I'll be sure to share it soon. Here's my two favorite kids in the world...do they look so big or what?!?!