The Talsma Family

Great Wolf Lodge

2009-01-24T18:41:00.000-08:00

Last week while the temperature outside was in the single figures we headed up to Great Wolf Lodge with the Hamberg's for a few days. My sister and brother in law were kind enough to stay home with Tyler so we could go and not have to worry about keeping him contained while we were in the water hours on end ( and let me tell you I think he rather enjoyed getting all the attention to himself and not having the kids carry him around like a rag doll!) As you can see from the above pictures the kids had a great time as did the adults!

Happy 4th Birthday Annika

2008-12-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

Annika's birthday this year was also the day of yet another big snow storm. Church was canceled, Christmas programs postponed so what better to do then play pin the tail on the dog! This was Rileigh's idea and all her work to get the game together for our party for the big 4 year old!

Notice the kids are still in there PJ's it is 2 in the afternoon! Just wondering why I by my kids real clothes all's they wear in the summer is Bathing Suits and in the winter PJ'S! I will let you know that my kids did change by the big party at 6pm!

Annika and her cousin Payton

Grandpa and the girls

Happy 4th Birthday Annika! You are such a gift from God and have been such a blessing to our family!! Mom and Dad are so proud of what a big girl you have become, how you are always willing to do anything for anyone and what a kind heart you have! We love you so much and can't wait to see what God has in store for you! We Love You!

Tyler's first sled ride

2008-12-19T19:11:00.000-08:00

Tyler watching the neighbor plow our drive way.

This afternoon Tyler was so crabby and I had done about everything for the kids short of standing on my head so I thought what a great time to take him out in the snow! So I haled out the ladder to get his little sled out of the attic but 2 layers of clothes on him and headed out. He loved it! The snow was so deep that he kept on getting it in his face but that didn't fase him. I guess I am going to have to invest in a "real" snow suite for him!

Annika's Christmas Program

2008-12-09T11:49:00.000-08:00

Annika and her friend Sawyer after the show

Sorry this is not a great picture but that is Annika saying her line. It was such a proud mom moment seeing her have the courage to get up in front of all thoose people!

Walking into the program

Sucessfull Surgery

2008-12-03T19:51:00.000-08:00

The above picture is of the pins that they removed from Rileigh's elbow this morning. Surgery was very quick (only about 15 min) and she once again was so brave through the whole thing! We returned home 2 (just in time for nap) and by 4:30 she was back outside playing with her friends! On the way home I asked her if she wanted us to drop he back off at school and she was all for it! What can I say she loves school!
Thanks so much for all your prayers today they were defiantly felt.

Rileigh's Surgery

2008-12-02T12:32:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow (Wednesday) at 9:55 am Rileigh will get her pins out of her elbow. This procedure is only lasts about 15-30 min and will be done at Butterworth Hospital. Please pray for Rileigh that she will not be to nervous and sleep well tonight as we have a early morning ahead of us (we have to be at the hospital at 7:55) Thanks in advance for all your prayers and I promise to update tomorrow.

Tylers Pictures

2008-11-03T19:08:00.000-08:00

To see Tyler's 9 mo. pictures go the link on the left called Whitney Jill Photography.
Anyone looking to get your kids pictures done I strongly recomend her! Sheis a dear friend of mine and does an amazing job at a reasonable price (only $30 sitting fee) and you can see her picture prices on her site. If you would like to get in touch with her let me know and I will get you her phone number.

Rileigh

2008-10-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

Could she get a brighter pink cast!

Friends

Rileigh is loving 1st grade! She once again has a awesome teacher, the night she broke her elbow she still wanted to go to school b/c she wanted to see Mrs. Woodring!

Rileigh has grown up so much in the past 6 months. She has been my big helper, of course now she can hardly do anything with her left hand! but she still gives a good effort! Right now she requires a lot of extra help getting dressed, showering, brushing teeth, making beds ect. You soon realise how much she did for herself when she can't do it herself!

Rileigh went to the Doc. on Tuesday and they took off the splint ( and in the mean time made Rileigh sick to her stomach and me almost pass out!) and put on a hard cast that she will have to wear until the 18th of November. They will then remove the cast and do more x-rays and make sure it is healed. If it is indeed healed they will then schedule the surgery to remove the pins and begin therapy. If it is not healed they will but the cast back on.

We love you Rileigh and pray everyday for you!

Annika

2008-10-30T19:34:00.000-07:00

Annika is enjoying Preschool on Tuesdays and Thursday mornings and I always enjoy going to help in the room when I can. Today she had her Harvest Party and we had a great time! I always feel like she is the one that never gets that one on one time and I try hard to make sure to be at all the extra school stuff for her.

Annika is the most loyal little girl, If she tells you she is going to go somewhere with you she will no matter what else she could be doing ( i really could learn a lesson from her) and she is always willing to give her stuff to Rileigh even when she knows that Rileigh would never do that for her. Annika you are a gift from God and I am so thankful God gave you to us! We Love You!

Tyler- 9 months

2008-10-30T19:22:00.000-07:00

Dress Rehearsal for Halloween. Derick is not so sure about the Peter Pan costume!

I can't believe my baby is now 9 months! Where has the time gone? What a blessing he has been to our family!

Tyler now has 4 teeth and is crawling all over the place and has taken his first trip by himself (us right behind him) up the stairs and has started to take a few step pushing his toys! For the most part he continues to be a happy guy and can light up the room with his smiles! We love you big guy!

Sunday Afternoon Fun

2008-10-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

Trying to pose for a quick picture possibly for Christmas card due to the fact that we will no longer be doing a family picture with a nice cast in it! This might have to do this year. Whitney I am open to other ideas!!

Crazy Girl!
Ok, So I went out to make sure Rileigh was not breaking another limb and was talking with a few neighbors and all the kids ( about 10 of them) thought it would be funny to start a leaf fight with the adults! I guess if you can't beat them join them! I had leaves all over! Stuck in my hair down my shirt in my mouth. It was a ton of fun though and needless to say the whole family got showers tonight! As we were getting this picture done the kids were throwing leaves on us.
The Leaf Monsters!
Check this one out you can't even see the kids with all the leaves!
I went in side to go get Tyler for a few pictures. Let just say he was not a big fan of the leaves.

Girls check out this handsome man!!

Hudsonville Harvest Fest.

2008-10-18T20:32:00.001-07:00

This morning Michelle and I took the kids to the Harvest Fest Parade in Hudsonville. Let me tell you this was the shortest parade I have every been to, I think there was 5 different entries that was it and it was over in about 5 minutes! After the parade they had some activities for the kids in the parking lot by Gemmens. It was a beautiful morning and the kids had fun.Annika and Mason. This picture cracks me up! Look at the difference in the kids clothing! Annika didn't want her sweatshirt or her coat on b/c she was to warm. All I have to say is that I have to chose my battles!
Tyler all bundled up for the parade.
Annika and Rileigh petting the miniature horses. In this picture at least I was able to talk her into wearing her coat!
Annika painting her pumpkin.

Riliegh, Austin, Annika and Mason.

Rileigh thinking she was going to jump this creek with her broken arm! Thankfully she took my advise and didn't try it.

A night with the Van Hofwegens!

2008-10-18T20:19:00.000-07:00

Tyler- 8 1/2 months old. Alyia about 8 months.

Last night we went to the Van Hofwegens for a fall feast as Lisa likes to call it. BBQ, Homemade Onion Rings and Apple Crisp! We did get a few pictures of the babes! Annika and Emmory are 6 weeks apart and Tyler and Alyia are 3 weeks apart (sorry Lisa if you do go for #3 you are going to have to go solo!) and of course Rileigh is the big sister to the whole group!

Annika's Class Trip to Post Family Farm

2008-10-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday I went with Annika and her class to Post Family Farm. It's always nice to have that special time together. We had a great time going on a hayride, picking pumpkins, going on the pumpkin train and who could forget those great donuts and apple cider! Annika's Preschool class.

Annika was the rain cloud for the skit that they do with the kids.

Annika and her friend Zach Harris.

Look mom, this one is just right for me!

Annika and mom

Back Home!!!

2008-10-15T18:31:00.000-07:00

We arrived back home about 7:30 tonight! Thanks so much for all your prayer, kind words of encouragement and gestures they mean so much at a time like this. As we speak Rileigh is up in bed getting some much needed sleep and is feeling much better most b/c her Aunt Missy was able to be her nurse today!! She is very excited to get back to school but I am going to try to hold her off until Monday when she should be off the heavy pain meds! Thanks again for all you have done! Rileigh will have to go back to the doc in 2 weeks to get a hard cast put on and then she will have the pins that she had put in her elbow removed once it all comes off, so that will be another small surgery.

Out of Surgery and Recovering

2008-10-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

Rileigh is out of surgery and everything went as planned. She did get nauseous and threw up after surgery. In order for her to go home today she has to be able to eat something and keep it down and take some pain medication as well. Pray she can do that so everyone can go home and sleep (well Rileigh doesn't need help with that one). Until then she has the best care around-Aunt Melissa!

Rileigh is in Surgery!!

2008-10-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

Long story short right now. Rieligh jumped off the swing and landed on her arm yesterday afternoon and broke her elbow in 2 places. We spent the night in the hospital and she was just taken back for surgery a few minutes ago. The surgery should last 30 min. I will try to update sometime today. Please pray for her, she has been so brave through all of this. Way more brave then her mother!!

Good News!

2008-10-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

My sister in law Missi got the pathology results late yesterday afternoon, all the Lymph Nodes looked good meaning no cancer in them! Praise be to The Lord! I think she has a appt. sometime this week to talk about where they go from here. Please keep her in your prayers as recovers! Thanks once again for all your prayers! God is good all the time. All the time God is good!

Weekend Pictures

2008-10-13T10:36:00.000-07:00

Tyler is now 8 months old and is getting into everything! He has mastered crawling and can do it with great speed!!! He is also pulling himself up on anything he can and is now sporting 4 teeth with many more on the way!! He is such a good boy and smiles at the drop of a hat!

Saturday night we picked up Justin and Jordan (we had Nici for the weekend) and headed to the fish ladder and enjoy this nice weather! Jordan said to me once we got back home "Thanks so much for taking me, I didn't think it would be fun at all but I had a blast! Bless his little heart!

Photo above is Justin, Annika, Austin, Jordan and Reese hanging out in their hide out!

5 of the 7 kids on the wall where in van doing cheers the whole way to the fish ladder! Even the boys where getting into it! Sorry Missi!!

Austin, Justin, Jordan, Nici, Annika, Rileigh and Mason

Reese, Austin, Justin and Annika

Annika's partner in crime!

Nici, Rileigh and Jordan

Rileigh had her last game on Saturday morning. We really lucked out with the weather for these games the coldest one we had was like 65. Not to bad!

Rileigh and Nici at half time

Sucessfull Surgery

2008-10-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

From what he heard (we had to go to Indiana today) the surgery was a success. The Lymph Nodes that they removed appeared to look good, of course they have to wait for the pathology report to come back and that should happen sometime late week. On behalf of Missi and her family we thank you for all your prayers, emails, phone calls and thoughtful words as she underwent this surgery. Please keep her in your prayers as she anticipates the results from pathology and as she recovers. God is good all the time, All the time God is good!. There is great power in prayer!

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

Annika was worried about triping over the vines so while Derick carried the pumpkins my job was to carry 2 kids!

Dressed in our Sunday afternoon Best!!

Rag a Muffins ready for the hunt.

Here are a few picture we go this afternoon as we took out anual trip to the pumpkin field. The kids always have a great time finding just the right one.

Please Pray

2008-10-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Missi's (Derick's sister) surgery. Please pray that she will be able to get some much needed sleep tonight, and tomorrow be a peace with the whole surgery.
Please pray for Jon as he has to watch his wife go through all this, that he will continue to be her rock as I am so sure that it has to be so hard to watch someone you love so deeply go through all of this.
For the kids as they try to understand all of this scary stuff. Pray that their minds will be at ease.
Pray for the doctors that will be performing the surgery that they will have steady hands and clear minds.
Pray that all the Lymph Nodes come out clean, meaning no cancer in them. They will take out a few of them and quick take a look at them, if they are good they will not take anymore out. If they are suspicious they will keep taking them until they feel they got it all.
Pray for Derick's parents as they watch their child go through this, and for them as they have the kids for the week.
God is the great physician and I know that he has a hand in this surgery. I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason, even though we have no idea why this is happening I have faith that God is using Missi for his good work.
Thanks so much for your prayer you have cast out already. I will update hopefully tomorrow night as Derick and I have to go to Shipshewana tomorrow.
Thanks again.

Derick New Job!

2008-10-05T18:17:00.001-07:00

Derick has gotten himself a new job modeling celery fields for Meijers! Check today's (Sunday) paper section A8-A9! What a bunch of great looking guys! In case you did not get the paper you can see the picture when you go to Meijers and by Crispheart Celery!

On a more serious note, we feel so blessed to have another successful year in business. I know I complain when he puts in a ton of hours but what a blessing it is to just have a job in this day and age. We are so thankful for all the hard work you do Derick so it is possible for me to stay home with the kids! We love you!

Intresting Afternoon

2008-10-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

We had a little excitement over here this afternoon! I was taking all of our stuff out of the rental car and getting everyone loaded in to go drop it off and pick up the van as Annika was playing around in it as she normally does. I told her to get in the seat and I was coming to buckle her up so she climbed out of the drivers seat and shut the door and was trying to open the side door when I hear her ask me to help her get it opened. I come over and try to open the door and realize that while she was in the front playing she must have hit the lock button and we now have Tyler looked in the rental car along with the keys on the front seat! I of course go into panic mode ! And of course Derick is not picking up his cell phone. WONDERFUL!! So what do I end up doing? I had to call 911. Annika of course thought it was cool that the police man had to come and a tow truck! Hopefully she doesn't try locking him in there for fun now!!

Warning!!!! Lots of Wedding Pictures

2008-10-01T19:08:00.001-07:00

Ok. So it spent like an hour getting a slide show ready and then when I was loading my last 2 pictures my computer froze so I just did a regular post nothing fancy. Sorry guys it may be a little long. Enjoy!

Jason and Melissa getting ready for Mexico! - Rehearsal was at Jason parents house, They had food catered in from the Sand Man and it was awesome! Thanks Van Dyke's
Cute Hat's Guys

Rileigh wanted to get her picture taken by the turkey but would not do it with out Uncle Jason.

Silly Girls!

Roasting Marshmallows at the Van Dyke's .

Rileigh getting her nails done for the wedding

Annika getting her nails done

We had to get a picture of Tyler and the great wall of nail polish! He was such a trooper waiting for us to get our nails done!

We were so happy that my sister in law was able to do our hair, she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer 10 days before the wedding and still wanted to do our hair. She will have a double mastectomy on Monday so PLEASE pray for her!

Annika- Finished product!- sorry some how this picture got deleted off this post.

The Beautiful Bride

The girls all dressed up!

Dad and Mary

The girls and I

Sisters!

The wedding party

Scott and I

Ethan and Rileigh

The happy couple getting on the Trolley

Derick and I

Tami and I

Some pictures at the beach

The girls and I

Annika getting ready to dance. aka trash the dress!

The girls dancing with grandpa

The first dance

Annika and Emma dancing

Annika

Ethan caught the guarder!

Jason and my girls.

It was so cute. Annika asked Derick to dance!

I think this is the dance that trashed the dress!?!

Jason and Melissa and the girls.

New Surgery Date

2008-09-29T12:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry I realized when a friend called to see what time Missi's surgery was today that I never posted that they changed the date to Oct. 6. They had to move it back b/c the plastic surgon was not available for the original date. Thanks so much for all the prayers that have been offered on her behalf I know they have been felt.

It Came Clean!

2008-09-25T17:53:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it! I got the dresses cleaner then when we picked them up! I am so thankful to the girl at Jenison Cleaners who told me how to clean it instead of putting more money into dry cleaning them! I was going to take a picture of the dresses hanging from my umbrella on the deck but for some reason I have been having a hard time taking my pictures off the camera with my new one. One of these days soon I will sit down and trouble shoot that one! Anyways so when I went back to the ladies house tonight she was amazed that I got them clean. She was thinking that there was red wine on the dresses, like I would let my 3 yr old drink wine! What she was thinking was wine was really ketchup or a sucker something more likly to be found on a 3 yr olds dress. Come on Lady! ( I never knew you could you a Magic Eraser on clothes. Thanks again lady at Jenison Cleaners!) She did point out that one dress had a small snag in it but said she would but a "pick up" around there so it would blend real nice. I was just happy about getting my money back! So of course I don't think I was even out of the drive way and I was on the phone with Tami and I go to put the money in my purse and notice the lady shorted me $5! Whatever! I am sure she didn't mean to but I am so over this saga!!

Melissa and Jason Wedding

2008-09-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

As most of you know my sister, Melissa and Jason got married this past Saturday!! Rileigh, Annika and I where all in the wedding so the girls and I had a ton of fun getting nails and hair done together!! The photographer has a slide show posted on her blog for those of you who are waiting to see! Go to KariDouma.com and you can check out pictures from there. I will make sure to post some snap shots soon!!!!
The kids had a great time dancing (Annika and Emma almost to much!!) their dresses were rented so when I went to go drop them off today the lady said the dresses were ruined and she would need an extra $50 for each dress to cover the difference!! Let me tell you I was a little caught of guard on this one!!! Isn't it like renting a tux? You use it to death and then return it? So to make a long story short I gave her the extra $100 ($50 for Annika's and $50 for Emma's) and have been in touch with the dry cleaner and using some of there suggestions. Both dresses are as we speak soaking in the washing machine with a little oxy clean, dish soap and Clorox 2! As of last check the dresses looked like how we got them so hopefully we will be reimbursed the extra $50 per dress. The lady will have to go over them with a fine tooth comb to find something wrong with them! At this point I think that might be what she will do. I will have to update on this later.

Update on Missi

2008-09-17T19:43:00.001-07:00

Missi had her appointment with her doctor this morning and they feels that the cancer is contained in the ducks, of course they will not know for sure until they do the mastectomy and send it into the lab. If it is not in the Lymph Nodes there will more then likely be no chemo or radiation! Please keep her and her family in your prayers! Her surgery is scheduled for the 29th.

Prayer Request

2008-09-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

As some of you may know Derick's sister Missi was diagnosed with Breast Cancer last week. When they did the biopsy late last week they took out 6 samples and all 6 samples showed cancer. She will have a doctors appt. this week to find out what course of treatment she will need. Missi is very young to have breast cancer and also has 4 small children at home. Please pray for some positive information from this next appt. and for wisdom for her doctors as they decide the best way to treat it. Our God is overall the Great Physician and with him we can overcome all obstacle's. I will update as soon as I hear more information. Thanks so much for all your prayers! There is Great Power in Prayer!

Annika's first day of school

2008-09-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

Annika had been counting down the days till the first day of school since Rileigh started last week, she was very brave when we got there and had no problem staying at all! She told me on the way home that she could go back on Thursday and when she got home she wanted to color some more pictures for her teacher. All in all Preschool was just what Annika needed!

Go Rockets Go!

2008-09-08T18:57:00.001-07:00

This year Rileigh is cheer for the rocket football team. Their first game was on Saturday so of course we had to get picture with the "captian" of the football team (aka Luke Ritz) just in case some day they got married! They looked so cute in their uniforms! Rileigh has really enjoyed it so far and can't wait to cheer at Hudsonville Varsity game with their coaches ( Varsity cheerleaders) on the 19th! Go Rockets!

Happy 7th Birthday Rileigh!

2008-09-04T12:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Rileigh! I can't believe you are already 7 years old! Where has the time gone! We are so blessed to have you as our daughter and are so proud of who you have become! You are truly a gift from God! We Love You!

First Day of School

2008-09-02T13:59:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Rileigh is in First grade! Where did the time go? Last night she was saying she didn't want to go to school (not at all what I wanted to hear!) but this morning she was excited about going! It is going to take some getting used to having her gone all day. I never realised how much she helps out! By the time she got home this afternoon she was very hot and tired! I think that is going to call for an early bedtime tonight!

Tyler- 7 Months Old

2008-08-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

Tyler is 7 Months old today! I can't believe how fast time has gone! He has been such a blessing to our family, I could not imagine life without him! Tyler had his 6 month well baby visit at 7 months due to the fact that Annika had to have her physicall before she started preschool so we had to fip- flop the kids around. He weighted in at 18lbs 10 oz (50%) and 28inch long (85%) so he is starting to thin out some now that he is crawling everywhere!!! He still remains really tall ( I have no idea where he is getting that from) Everyone always comments on how much the kids smiles! I can't complain b/c he was not such a happy boy for the first 3 months of his life! Smiles are always welcomed!

Wedding Wine

2008-08-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of us bottling wine for the wedding. Melissa, Jason and his family went a month or so ago to go make the wine for the wedding the bridesmaids job was to go "sample" it and bottle it! We had a great time and what a cool idea! You get to design your own label, which in their case had their engagement picture on it, choose what bottles you want it in and what foil to put on top. Jason and Melissa are planning on putting 1 of each kind on each table at the wedding! Very Cool Idea!

Wednesday= Boating

2008-08-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

Tyler enjoy a day at the lake

Annika tubing. She went 1 other time this year on the "Big Bertha" tube and did not care for it. This tube keeps her out of water and is a lot easier to ride and she loved it!

Rileigh Annika and Abby

Tyler and Aunt Missy

I took Tyler for a kayak ride. He loved it! He loves to be in the water just like his sisters!

Ebates

2008-08-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

Last night while I was looking for a code to get free shipping at Home Depot I found this site called Ebates (see link to the right). It is totally free and each time you shop through there you get a percentage of your purchase back as a rebate. No UPC to send in it does it all for you.! Last night my rebate came to $9.63 and the best part is that I did not have to hall my three kids in a store to shop!! Right now if you sign up under me I get a $5 bonus! My user name is htalsma! Check it out and see what you think!! They have about every store imaginable!

New Pictures

2008-08-19T19:09:00.000-07:00

Last we I got the kids pictures taken again by Whitney, you can see them by clicking on the link to the right that says Whitney Jill Photography. Enjoy!

A World of Hurt

2008-08-13T07:52:00.000-07:00

Well I can proudly say that the kiddo's ears are all cleared up (knock on wood!) Now it's Derick and my turn to be in shambles!
Derick has been dealing with a abscess tooth, he went to the dentist Monday and had it drained and has been on Vicodin all weekend along with anti-biotic. He is now starting to feel better now that he realised that he has to take that medicine with food! Root Canal is scheduled for Tuesday! Good thing we did not cancel that dental insurance yet!

Monday I was also in a world of hurt. I have been dealing with a ingrown toenail for the past couple weeks and finally decided to get it taken out. The procedure was not to bad considering. Now if I can keep the kids from stepping on it life will be good!

Catch Up

2008-08-03T19:26:00.000-07:00

The end of this week got really busy so I have once again have a ton to blog about!! Sorry about no pictures, I got a new camera and I am still working on figuring the thing out! Sorry!
Wednesday- Wednesday is boating days in the summer time. My dad and Mary have the day off and most of the time they spend the day pulling the kids around the lake. This week was no exception.
Rileigh has been complaining about an ear ache since the last ear infection a month ago so I told her she had to go in and see the doc. but first she had to get in a few tube rides before the doc. told her she had to stay our of the water for a while. That was not the case she ended up having a ton of wax stuck and that was making it sore! ( Tami you would have gotten a kick out of this!!) She was so happy that she could climb back on the boat and go tubing some more.
Tyler also turned 6 months old on Wednesday! I can't believe how fast time goes by! He is staring to crawl and is sitting up by himself for a few minutes. He is such a charmer. He is always smiling at everyone. Watch out girls here he comes!!!

Thursday- Thursday we spent the day at Green Lake with the Newenhouse, Meyers and Hambergs! A great day was had by all! Thanks so much to the Hambergs and Schuts for having us out. The kids spent the day swimming in the lake and we even got in a little bit of tubing as well. After spending the day with the kids us girls had a night out coming!! We were all going out to Picnic Pops! Just us Girls!! Now if for those of you who don't know this doesn't happen often enough! We had a great time hang out and listening to ABBA!! Thanks Sherri and Michelle for giving us the idea and also the push to get us out without the kids!! I needed that!

Friday- The Curtis's are in town! We spent the day hanging out with them and catching up on mounds of laundry and sleep!

Saturday- We headed back out to Green Lake with the Hambergs to spend the day with them. We once again had a great time out there and feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends!! Both of our kids are a bunch of water rats ! The kids swam tubed and even Michelle and I got on the tubes for a while! Derick Knee Boarded for the first time in years and Annika and Rilegh had a great time jumping off the diving board. We ended the night with a chicken and steak on the grill, smores over the fire ( sorry mom Schut) and ice cream to finish a great day off!

Sunday- The ear ache continues for Rileigh! We finally decided we should take her in to the med-center since I am going in Indiana tomorrow. This time it is Swimmers ear! That means no swimming for at least 2-3 days until she can get an ear plug in it! Rileigh is my child that will put on a bathing suit the minute she get up and is in the water 24-7 ( hence the swimmers ear) this maybe a little tricky to keep her away from the water for a few days, so pray for rain!

2008-07-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight we rode our bike to Rileigh's school to meet the Hambergs and Meyers. The kids once again had a great time and us adults could actually hang out and catch up for a little while. Annika was super silly tonight as you can tell by the picture above!
All the kids pose for a few pictures. Can you tell the kids have been brain washed by their dad's about the Tigers?!? You will have to check Whitney's blog soon she took some cute one's of the kids. (Sorry Whitney nothing like me putting the pressure on you to update your blog!!)

Shipshewana

2008-07-26T11:09:00.000-07:00

On Monday Night Whitney and I had a great idea to take all of our kids to Shipshewana for the day! 9:30 am on Wednesday we loaded 6 kids into my mini van and off we went. The kids did awesome and a great time was had by all.

Above is a picture of Rileigh and Lucas at the flee market.

Tyler and Jackson in the "diaper Changing Station" aka the back of the van.

Annika, Lucas and Reese finally finding a place that they could play for a while in the shops down town. Most of the shops downtown are not real kids friendly(minus this one) so the kids got reminded a ton not to touch anything. We made it out of the town with only breaking one small item! Not to bad!
The kids cleaning off in a water fountain. Thank goodness all the shops in this area was closed at the time!

On the way home Tyler had a small melt down and thought he needed to eat NOW! We stopped at in a parking lot to feed the babies and let the kids run for a while! We finally made it home by 10pm!

A great time was had with great friends!

Week in Review

2008-07-20T18:47:00.000-07:00

Last week was a nice relaxing week over here! On Saturday we went to the Tigers game with our friends. It was raining when we left home and by the time we got to Detroit we would occasionally get a few sprinkles but not enough to stop us from tailgating! It was great to get away with just adults for a day, us girls where talking about how the whole day we did not having us call MOM a million times! Priceless!!!

On Monday we went to my sister in laws pool for the day and soak up some sun! Tyler had his first swim in the pool, He loved it!. Unfortunately I could not get any pictures b/c I was holding him the whole time! Maybe next time! The girls had so much fun hanging out with their cousins for the day and I enjoyed catching up with my Mother in Law and Sister in Law!

On Tuesday Michelle stopped over to pick up her sunglasses she left in my purse from the game and ended up staying most of the day to let the kids play! Again my kids had a great time and was wonderful to hang out with them for the day! Summer doesn't get any better then this!

Wednesday is Farmers Market Day! In Hudsonville they have a small farmers market that we have been going to this year, unfortunately the main thing we go for is Kettle Corn!! If you have never had it you have to try it! I never knew there was really a difference between that and Popcorn! ( I know, I don't get out much!!) Rileigh ended up spending the afternoon and evening with her cousin Taylin while Annika and Tyler went home for a nap.

Thursday I did the unthinkable!! I took 3 kids shopping to Holland during prime time nap time!!! Tyler took a nap in the van on the way out but Annika and Rileigh where in the back horsing around the whole time so Annika never fell asleep like I thought she would!! People must have thought I was nuts!! Tyler was in his car seat in the stroller and Annika spent a good share of time in the basket under the stroller!! She was so tired she almost fell asleep. I wish I had my camera!

Friday and Saturday we just hung out and ran a few errands while it was raining. Saturday night the Hambergs came over for a campfire and to let the kids run for awhile. Phil and Michelle's oldest son was so scared of our dog for the longest time but Saturday night he beat that fear and became good friends with bear! ! Way to go Austin!!!

Tomorrow it is back to Indiana for Derick and I! Have a great week!

Tiger take 2

2008-07-11T18:24:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow morning the Hambergs, Meyers and Us are heading to the Tigers Game! Pray for no rain!!! We are looking forward to a day away, this week has been very busy for Derick and I know from here on out he will be putting in more hours, but we have to praise God that he has a job!
I am sure we will have pictures to post when we get back, but there will probably be no Red Wings in them. Sorry guys! I just don't think it will happen 2 times in a row but I could be wrong.
Enjoy your weekend!

Boating Take 2

2008-07-09T19:34:00.001-07:00

Rileigh Skiing
Annika and Mom getting ready to go tubing. Annika was unsure about it at first but once we got going she had fun!
Tyler and Grandma. Tyler loves to ride on the boat even with his sister's purple life jacket on. We need to go get him his own now that we know he loves to boat.
Annika trying to catch Minos
Enjoying the ride with Dad

2008-07-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

I had to throw this in. I came out of the house to find Rileigh and Morgan sitting like this! Very creative way of staying cool! The Happy Couple
"Charlies Angles"
My Angles!

Yesterday was just all together a great summer day! The kids and I hung out all day outside and at night we went to my dad's for some boating. We ended up taking Rileigh's friend "Belle" with us so Rileigh would have someone to tube with for hours on end. Belle had never been tubing before but she had a great time and we even got her and Riliegh up on ski's! Riliegh learned how when she was 4 but this was the first time she did it this year. The night was also full of lots of pictures for my sister Melissa's wedding slide show so I will thought I might as well included some on the blog! Enjoy!

4th of July

2008-07-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

Boating at Grandpa's

2008-07-08T08:27:00.001-07:00

Rileigh and Ethan
Annika and Mom Tubing
Boating Babe
Look mom no hands
Tyler's first boat ride
Annika and Emma

Camping

2008-07-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

Better late then never! I have been trying to put this slide show together for the blog and as you can see the first try did not work and I have no idea how to get it off so sorry!

We had a great time camping once again this year. The group we go with is kinda a mixture of a bunch of friends and friends of friends but we all have a great time together and the kids get along so good. Tyler had a hard time adjusting to the camping environment ( but now I am wondering if he was coming down with an ear infection) Annika and Rileigh swam a ton and had a great time catching all the caterpillars, playing, and going to the candy store of course! The last night was the night that they had a hot air balloon take off from the campground (see slide show) the kids really enjoyed watching that. It turned into an eventful night in the Talsma Trailer! When I came in from the fire I tripped over Annika who had gotten up to go to the bathroom and had sat on the lid (down of course) to discover that she never pulled her pants down to go to the bathroom! Sweet I am now standing in what I thought was water but it is actually pee! I get in bed around 1 am and Rileigh now is bawling, her ear hurts her. Wonderful! So I was up all night with her until Annika falls out of bed! it was so our last night! I took her to the doctor to find out that she has a double ear infection! Does anyone see a pattern hear?!?
Now that half of our house is on Amoxcillin we should be on the mend! I hope!

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-07-01T12:55:00.001-07:00

Ear Infection

2008-07-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

We just got back from the doctor and he said one of his ears looks "suspicious." He did suggest to treat it, for that I was happy! So hopfully by the 4th we will have a happy baby! If not it has to be teeth. YUCK!

5 Months Old

2008-07-01T08:31:00.000-07:00

Tyler turned 5 months yesterday! I can't believe how fast he is growing and learning new tricks everyday! He now has mastered rolling all the way across a room, dropping toys just to watch mom pick them up, and his new thing is that he holds his own bottle! I will admit that this is a huge time saver when needed but I still try to sit and hold him while he has it. Today I will be taking him to the doctor to see if he is fighting and ear infection, he has not been himself since camping so I would really like to rule the ears out.
I will post again when we get back.

Gone Camping!

2008-06-17T12:22:00.000-07:00

In a few hours Derick is going to pull the trailer out to Hungry Horse Campground for the kids and I for the week! This year I think there will be 8-10 families coming and going through out the week and I am sure a great time will be had by all! I will post again when we return home!

Kid Update

2008-06-11T07:52:00.000-07:00

It seems like the kids have done so much in the last week so I will give you a little up date on each one of them a minute.

Rileigh- Riliegh had a her last day of Kindergarten on Thursday! She had a great year and is going to miss Mrs. Nederveld next year (so will her mom!) She is really starting to enjoy softball and has improved 100% since the first game! Last night I was so proud of her she got hits every time she got up!! She got in the car and said to me " Mom, I had a really good game tonight!" It was great to see her do so well and be so proud of herself. Rileigh has also gotten herself in trouble on summer vacation! ( imagine that) One of my neighbors came over to inform me that Rileigh and Annika and a couple kids where taking down there pants and smelling each others butts!! ( i was tempted to asked who stunk the most after I was done punishing her) Everyone has informed me that this is pretty normal for kids to do stuff like that but still I was not happy with her! I don't think she will ever try that again!!!

Annika- Dear Sweet Annika! I think she is going thru her terrible 3's, or she has just realized she is the middle child!!! She was also was so easy going and listened so well and just my little buddy and now she is talking back, whining, will not listen, and did I mention the whining!! Yesterday I found her and the neighbor boy, who is also 3, on top of the slide with there pants down to there ankles! I of course yelled at them and sent the other boy home and made Annika come in for the day since we had this conversation the day before with the smelling of the butts! When I asked her what they were doing she informed me that they were peeing on the slide! Sure enough she tried it and her legs were soaked! Got to love it!

Tyler- Tyler is loving his baby food and now is getting more in his mouth then on the bib!! He continues to be a happy baby and just loves to be outside and watching the kids! This morning he did manage to roll from his back to his belly so hopefully he will remember that in the middle of the night!

Just for the Record

2008-06-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

I guess the word on the street is that the Stanley Cup got a small dent in it when the players took it to Chelio's Saturday night. I would just like to state that we had nothing to do with it!!! Have a Great Day!

Tigers Game

2008-06-08T18:28:00.000-07:00

Zetterberg holding up the cup.
Us Soaked with Beer and Champagne!

Dallas Drake signing Heathers Shirt
Jiri Hudler
Lidstrom and Chelios, I think.

Osgood Tanked

Hasek

Dallas Drake

Bat Boy (Nate Robertson?)

On Saturday we took our 2nd Annual trip to the Tigers game with Jason and Melissa. We left home at 9:30 to get to the game early so we could do some people watching and tailgating! During the game Jason and Melissa told me the guy with the Tigers Jersey on, on the field was one of the Tigers pitchers and if we had the chance we had to go get his autograph. Well you know me I am all over that! In between innings the guys went up to the top and I had the perfect opportunity to get his autograph so down I go and the dude kept telling me that I did not want his autograph I was thinking what a humble player till I turned around and Melissa is cracking up because he was only the bat boy! You know what they say about paybacks!

Once the Game got out we were walking to our car in Cheli's Chili parking lot when we spotted the Stanley cup at Cheli's! We were all over that! Some of the players were on the the stage signing autographs and partying while others were on the roof spraying everyone on the ground with champagne! After trying with not much luck of getting any closer to the cup we decided to head back to the car. I was walking with Derick and Jason and Melissa were a ways behind us when they started clearing the way because the cup was coming thru! Then I was like 6inchs from the cup when I spot Jason running to get to the store next to us b/c Melissa just got her picture with Chris Osgood and he had to go get a Red Wings hat! Melissa was like quick take Dericks hat and let's try to get that signed! I did manage to get an autograph and I think she got a picture of him signing it. Oh you think that is cool our night was just begining!!! We walked to the car, regrouped, and I am not sure who's idea it was to go into the bar b/c that was the direction of the Stanley cup was going so in the bar we go and 6-8 players were standing on the bar with the cup! We got as close as we could which for me was right on the back of the bar stool of the bar they were standing on!! Oh Yeah!! I can't tell you how many times we touched the cup, had quite a few drinks from the Stanley cup and I even sacrificed one of my 2 tank tops for a few autographs!!! By the time we walked out of there we all were full of beer from the cup and champagne that they were shooting at all of us and we even got a bottle of champagne and a Bud light from Dallas Drake !!!!! Sorry if I rambled but I still can't believe it!!

Last Day of School

2008-06-05T18:19:00.000-07:00

Today at 1:00pm school was let out for the summer. What a bittersweet day for me! I can't believe I am going to have a 1st grader next year! Now the big question is what do I do with them all summer long! Tami called me today to let me know that she is counting down the day's until September and Ethan has not even been out of school for a week yet!! That will probably be me!!

That's all for tonight! I can hear the first tempertantram starting for the summer!!

Tyler is 4 months!

2008-06-03T18:32:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby is already 4 months old! He had his check up today and weighed in at 16lbs 10oz (80%) and was 26 3/4 inch long (95%) . I started to spoon feed him his cereal and now he thinks he is such a big boy!

Updates

2008-06-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

Emma and Annika's Table for the weekend!

Rileigh and Ethan at the park

The Curtis Family

Family picture at the zoo

Sorry it has been so long since my last post, last minute we decided to go to Wisconsin for Memorial day! We had a wonderful time even though it took us 3 hrs longer then we had planned to get there do to construction on the north side of Chicago. While stuck in traffic for hours on end the kids did amazingly well! Rileigh learned a great lesson in the power of prayer ( so did mom and dad) Rileigh started to go nuts after the first 2 hours of moving only a few miles so I suggested she pray and ask God if he could make the traffic start moving,and I kid you not we started to move!! Every time after that as soon as we would start to slow down she would pray and we would start moving again! What an answer to prayer! I was so cool to see Our Awesome God at work!

Pictures

2008-05-18T18:45:00.000-07:00

Check out www.whitneyjillphotography.smugmug.com/ once you get that up click on galleries and you will find all the pictures she took Friday of our kids. She is amazing! I would recommend her to any of you guy who are looking for a photographer. She is also very reasonable compared to the $100 sitting fee some people charge ( Don't quote me on this but I think she is right around $30) Her phone number is 616-502-7837.

Weekend Update

2008-05-18T18:14:00.001-07:00

Rileigh and Luke found a bunny nest this afternoon and decided that they need to save there lives b/c one of there siblings got run over with a lawn mower. The bunny that Rileigh is holding she named Rascal. We did make them put them back and we will have to see if the mom comes back for them. I had a hard time telling her that we need to leave them alone so there mother will come back for them, hopefully next time they find creatures they will just look and not touch. How hard is that for a couple 6 year olds!

Derick showing off for the girls! Check out those Abs!!!

I showed the girls how to do hand stands against the wall like her mom and Auntie did! Don't you just love the picture of me and my sisters! (I am on the left, Tami is on the right doing the head stand next to me and Melissa is just sitting there! )

Rileigh up to bat at her game on Saturday. She had a couple good hits and she even got a girl out at 3rd base!

Whitney's Blog

2008-05-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

Make sure you check out Whitney's Blog soon! She just put on some of the pictures she took today on my kids. We were not planning on getting picture of Annika and Rileigh but they turned out so cute anyways and she did a great job hiding one of Annika's High School Musical shirts!

www. Meyersboy.blogspot.com

It happened to Me!

2008-05-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

I hesitate to blog this but on the other hand if it can save just one person from going through what Tyler and I went through today it is worth it.

Today we went to our friend Whitney's house to take some pictures of Tyler and ended up staying for lunch. We were enjoying a " Pizza Picnic" on the deck when Tyler started to fuss so of course I take him out of the car seat and hold him. Whitney and I started to pick up so I set Tyler in his car seat and of course he was not to happy, so I went to grab the car seat and take him inside ( now mind you he is not buckled now) as I picked him up the handle it must not have been locked in place and he went tumbling out on to the deck!!!! By the grace of God he was not seriously hurt but of course both of us were shook en up!

This whole scenario almost happened with Annika when she was little but she was buckled up, so I knew better! But of course I was in a hurry and never thought twice about it. So the reason I post this is to remind everyone out there with babies PLEASE buckle them up before you move the carrier even a few feet or take your baby out. I would hate to have someone get seriously hurt.

I will post some of the pictures she took once I get the cd.

Under Construction!

2008-05-14T08:48:00.000-07:00

Last night the plumbers started breaking up the concrete so they can put a bathroom in our basement. After a few hours with a sledge hammer and a shovel this is what it looked like!

Rileigh's FIeld Trip

2008-05-14T08:29:00.000-07:00

Rileigh's class

Rileigh holding a turtle

OutDoor Discovery Center!

I told you a ton has been going on since I last posted (hence all the post's today!) Last we Tuesday I was able to go on a Field Trip with Rileigh's class to the Outdoor Discovery Center in Holland and then to Timber Town in Zeeland for a Picnic Lunch and Play time! We had great weather and the kids had a ton of fun learning about animals and where they live.

Play Ball

2008-05-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

Rileigh is once again playing softball through Georgetown Little League, this year she has the best couch in the world! Her dad! Derick has been enjoying coaching her team so far and each game is amazed at how much they have improved since the prior game! One of the benefits of your husband being the coach is that if there are any extras ( shirts, snacks at the end of the game) Annika gets them! Annika thinks she is so cool wearing her softball shirt around on game day, this is about the only way I get her to take off one of her High School Musical shirts!

Tyler's Baptism

2008-05-12T19:43:00.000-07:00

Well life has been very busy over here the last few weeks between getting ready for Tyler's baptism, softball games, field trips, trips to Indiana and garage sales the last few weeks have gotten away from me. Tyler was baptised on April 20 , Pastor Don was able to perform the baptism and for that we were so thankfull! Our brother in law Jon sang "He know's my Name" and did just a fantastic job!! What a wonderfull day that we were able to share with our family and friends! God is Good!

New hobby!

2008-04-23T19:23:00.001-07:00

Thanks to my wonderful hubby teaching me how to list stuff on craigs list, I am proud to say I have sold my first item today! I posted my old bed room furniture from when I was a kid at 10:30 last night and by 10 this morning I had 10 emails from people about it. By 2pm when the first the people came to buy it I had 16!! That was an easy way to make some cash! I am already well on my way for my second sale! Tomorrow that should be gone and not to mention I listed 4 more things tonight!!! Did I ever mention that we are getting ready for a garage sale and unloading just a ton of stuff from our house and boy does it feel good!!

As I mention before about the kids and naps, today was another nap less day! Annika had heard me talking to Derick about a friend of ours daughter ( who will remain nameless!!) who is very upset with her room and the color's (not to mention the color of her house- it's a boy color- white) that her dad told he she had to sleep on the floor if she was going to be ungrateful of what room she has. Well Annika most have over heard this b/c tonight she informed me that she just wanted to sleep on the ground! Whatever as long as you don't get out of you room!

Great Weekend

2008-04-20T18:48:00.000-07:00

How can you not have a great weekend with weather like this!! As I wrote last post Derick and I were going out Friday night once again with no kids! We ended up going to Crazy Horse in Holland with my sister Melissa and her soon to be "hubby" Jason, after a great dinner we ( or should I say Derick and Jason) decided that we could not stay there for drinks due to the fact that they did not get the Tigers game. After a little brain storming of where to go next we ended up at Pappeno's in Allendale, well if you know me at all I love to play pull tabs and they happen to have them so I was thrilled with the choice of bars! After putting $10 into this little machine and winning not a whole lot I decided that I would try one more 5 for the night, Thank goodness b/c in that bunch of tickets was the big winner!! $150!! What a way to end a great night!!!

This weekend we tried to do things a little different with the girls. As some of you know that I am the nap notzi at our house, well Saturday was such a nice day and all the neighbor kids were outside that we just let them play and boy did they have fun!! By the end of the night everyone was very dirty and tired since they did not get a nap on Friday also. Derick and I were a little nervous how they would handle this but they were so happy that they could keep playing that they were on their best behavior! On Sunday afternoon we made them lay down for a while and promised them they could get on their bathing suits after nap, after an afternoon of myself sitting in the sun I was fried and needing some frozen yogurt from Country Sundae, so we had our first trip to the ice cream shop on Sunday and also the kids took there first dip in the pool. Life doesn't get any better then that!!

Derick and I were talking on the deck tonight that maybe no nap a few times a week is a wonderful thing b/c at night we have the advantage on them that they are more tired then us!!! Hope you all were able to get out and enjoy this awesome weather!!!

Family Update

2008-04-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been so long since our last post we have been busy trying to spring clean, getting stuff ready for our block sale, softball practice and trying to fit time in just hanging out with the kids! During Rileigh's spring break I thought I should do something fun with the kids since we stayed home this year, we did manage to get to a movie and one night we went to the Holland Aquatic Center to swim. It felt good to be in 80 degree temps and playing in the water with the kids ( can't say it was fun putting on a bathing suit 2 months after having your 3rd kid but that is another story.)

Tyler continues to grow! He is now starting to "coo" at us and he smiles all the time! We just took him of the zantec b/c we did not feel it was doing anything for him and the doctor now put him on Previcid, it 's only been a few days but I still can't see any change. Tyler also has mastered the art of rolling from his tummy to his back! the problem with this is that he sleeps on his tummy and then in the middle of the night he rolls and can't get back over he get really upset. Yes, I know my child is sleeping on his tummy a big no no! I kinda am regretting it in a way b/c he will not sleep in his car seat so that makes going anywhere with him a big pain, but thankfully we inherited a Baby Bjorn. What a life saver!

Annika is just loving life now that she can get outside and play! If you do see her she will be wearing 1 of 2 High School Musical shirts! The kid loves her HSM shirts and wants to wear them everyday! Annika everyday asks us if today she can go to church! She can't wait to go there everyweek! Maybe we all need a little more of her attitude! !

Rileigh is also allot more manageable (if you could say that) now that she can be outside all day riding her bike and playing with friends! She is still loving school, she was counting down the day till she could go back ( as was I!) Rileigh has also started softball and this year Derick is her coach so she is excited about that!

Derick and I also are loving life! Tonight we were supposed to go to Def Leopard, but as most of you know the lead singer is sick so they had to reschdule, my mother in law said that she would still take the kids tonight so Derick and I are going to go out for the second time this week!!! Tuesday night my dad and Mary had a babysitting night so we were also able to go out then!! Let me tell you it felt so good to get out with no kids in tow and have a conversation together!!

2 months old

2008-03-31T12:57:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you guys but our family does not do mornings well! This morning we had Tyler's 2 month check up at 9:50 you would think that we could get out of the house just fine by then, OH NO! We where doing well for time when we lost power at 9:30, the kids thought it was kind cool to live the way our Amish friends live for a few hours until we couldn't get out of our garage! I knew we had to pull the cord in the garage to get the door open , but little do I know that the cord is still wrapped around the top on the opener from when I was try to shoo out a hummingbird a few years ago, still not to frazzled I tell the kids to get buckled up and I will get on the van to get the cord untangled. I manage to get the cord untangled and have I now have the whole cord in my hand not attached to anything! Great!!! Everyone out of the car! I am now getting frazzled call Derick and ask him to come home so I can get to the doctor (late of course) and he can fix the door while I am gone! While waiting for Derick to come Tyler manages to poop his pants and the girls decide they are hungry and need to eat NOW!!! I now an thinking maybe 3 kids is more then enough for me!

At the doctor Tyler weighed in at 13lb and 9 oz. and 24 and 1/4 long. He remains in the 90% for both height and weight. Tyler is staring to coo at us and he smiles a ton, but when he wants to eat or sleep watch out he will let you know!!!

Rileigh and Annika continue you to enjoy Tyler (sometimes to much) Annika is always in his face and Rileigh is always trying to move him. At least they don't want to send him back!

Toothless Tony

2008-03-19T18:11:00.000-07:00

As you can see Rileigh has now lost her front two teeth, Thank goodness we don't have to get pictures done for a while! Rileigh has had a good time grossing me out with turning her tooth backwards and showing me how loose they get and so on. I am convinced she does it so I bribe her to just pull the tooth out because I can't stand looking at it any more!

Not to much new here. I managed to get strep throat last week and thankfully no one else got it from me! Annika was sick last week for about an hour, (I have no idea what that is about.) Rileigh and Annika have now learned the art of faking sickness ( I wonder where they got that from!!) If they decide that they don't like what we are having for dinner they will start to hold there tummies and say they don't feel good, and unfortunately in the past week it's hard to know if they are serious or not with everything going around!! I always know they are just fine when as soon as I clear the table they ask for a snack!! Drives me nuts!

Tyler is a new boy!! The soy seems to be doing the trick! He no longer trashes around after his bottles, instead he will just look at us and give us a huge smile!!! He is so much better then just a week ago! Praise the Lord!

Big Boy

2008-03-04T19:09:00.000-08:00

Today we went for Tyler's 1 month check up, he is now up to 12lbs and 4 oz! The nurse informed me that he was above average for his height and weight for even a 2 month old! I knew we had an overachiever! He also gave me a prescription for his reflux if the soy doesn't seem to do the trick! Hopefully we don't have to but him on the medicine but if that's what it takes for him to feel better I will not think twice about it!

First Trip to Indiana

2008-03-03T18:58:00.000-08:00

Today I took the kids to Indiana along with my Dad and Mary to go meet the Millers! Rileigh and Annika have been "packing" for 2 days to go, I was just praying that neither of the girls would mention to them that there dad made a Mii on the Wii of Mr. Miller, I am not sure what they would think of that. The whole way there Annika kept asking if we were almost there yet but all together they did well on the way down. We got there about 2:30 and showed them around the girls wanted to go see the horses and it so happened that one of their horses had just had a baby last month so Rileigh got a kick out of that ( Annika was a little scared of them) On the way home we stopped at the Dutch Essenhouse for dinner and that is when Annika started to act up of course (no nap so what did I expect) Thankfully Grandpa and Grandma where there to wipe up so sad sad tears! I don't know about you guys but the more tiered my kids get the faster and louder they get! I think Grandpa and Grandma where happy to get out of the van! We keep telling my dad you don't need hearing aids you will be driven nuts if you could hear the full magnitude of these kids voices!! Tyler did amazingly well on the trip and altogether I we had a good time! I think I am getting ready to go down and start working in two weeks I think I will be ready for a little time away!

Good News

2008-02-27T12:39:00.000-08:00

I just got official word from Tyler's Doctor that there is no refluxing going on and he said that there would be no follow up testing needed! Praise the Lord!
On the other hand we are wondering if Tyler has acid reflux. He has not been content since we left the hospital and seems all together uncomfortable, so now we are in the process of trying different things to see if it will help him. So far we have done the gas drops and now we are on to adding cereal to his formula with not much luck. The doctor told me that he has had the best luck with adding the cereal even over zantac, he also mentioned that awful c word ( Colic)! My next step is to try him on soy and see if that helps. The good news is that he is doing better at night. Last night he made it to 5:30!! I guess you have to take the good with the bad.

2008-02-24T18:42:00.000-08:00

Last week I enlisted in the help of my friend Whitney to take some pictures of Tyler for a birth Announcement. We had a great time capturing some 240 shots of him and the girls! If anyone is looking for someone to take their kids pictures I would highly recommend her! Enjoy a few of my favorites in the following post.

2008-02-24T18:28:00.000-08:00

2008-02-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

Well today Tyler had his VCUG to see if his urine was refluxing back into the kidney. He did very good thru the whole thing but it was so hard to see him straped to a board so they could catherize him and take ex-rays. The good news is that there is no Refluxing going on! Praise the Lord! But there is still extra fluid on the kidney so I have know idea what that means so I guess we do some more waiting for his doctor to give us a call. Thanks so much for all your prayers, emails and encouraging words as we go thru this. We are so blessed to have such awsome family and friends!!! I will post again once I hear from his Doctor.

Tyler Update

2008-02-19T12:51:00.000-08:00

Tyler continues to grow like a weed! Today he wieghed 10lbs 15 oz! He is a big boy! I talked with his doctor about his hydronephrosis and she reassured me it was a minor case but she would like him to go ahead and have the VCUG done because this way they can see if the urine is backing up into the kidney and if that is the case they want to put him on Anti-biotics for a year to prevent and small infections. She did say that if we would not get the VCUG he could have minor infections that could go undiganosed and that could case kidney damage and we really do not want that. So Thursday we will go back to DeVos Childrens Hospital and have the test.

Rileigh and Annika continue to do well with him but are getting a little stir crazy with all the snow storms and snow days! We are ready for spring!!!

It's a Boy!

2008-02-16T19:03:00.001-08:00

Well I decided to give this whole blog thing a try to keep everyone updated on are growing family! On Wednesday Jan. 30 ( the night of the big snow storm!) we had a baby boy! His name is Tyler Derick and was 9lbs and 6 oz.. Rileigh and Annika have handled our new addition to the family very well, the adjustment from 2 to 3 was not nearly as callanging as going from 1 to 2 , for me at least. Tyler has been a great baby so far, he does pretty good at night he is usually up at 2 and 5:30 and he goes back to sleep right after his bottle. This past Wednesday we had to take Tyler to DeVos Childrens Hospital to have an ultra sound and a VCUG of his kidney because when I was pregnant the saw that one of his kidneys had hydroneferouses (sp?) what this is, is urine backs up in to the kidney and can cause kidney infections so they wanted the ultrasound to see if was still there and a VCUG ( which they catherize him and take ex-rays to see if urine refluxed in the kidney YUCK!) Derick and I didn't know if we really wanted to put him thru the VCUG if this issue has resolved it's self already. So to make a long story short we asked the ultrasound tech if she could have someone read the ultrasound before we had the VCUG. When she came back she informed us that there was a little fluid in the kidney and they really didn't think is was nessarey to do the VCUG since the issue was very minor and we still had a lot of questions we wanted answered before this test, so we left with out the test. The Doc. office gave us a call on Friday and said there was very little reflux and he was not concered at all about it. Most of these issues resolve themselves by the time kids are 5. Some of the kids go on a preventative anti-biotic until then to prevent any kidney infections but for now they are not even going to do that because his case is go minor. Praise be to GOD!!! Enough for now it is time for Tylers bottle!!