Before and After

 Yesterday Kylynn was so excited to make a snowman.  This is the second one of the season.  She is starting to become a pro at making snowmen.  She did this all by herself.  She rolled the bottom, then she rolled the middle one, well she had to do it twice cause I broke the first one she rolled when I put it on the bottom one.  Then she did the top one.  She loves making snowmen.  I was informed that I needed to buy some carrots and things for the face though.  What sliced peppers and tomatoes don't work?  I thought they looked fine.

We came home to this in the front yard.  Must have been pretty warm today.  Mr. Snowman didn't quite make it!

Melt my heart...

My little man just melts my heart!  Love him to pieces!

Here's our big boy!  He went to the doctor on Friday and weighed 29 lbs 2 oz and was 33 1/4 inches tall.  90th percentile for both height and weight.  The doctor was impressed with his growth and encouraged us to keep doing what we are doing.  That might be feeding him zucchini, he loves zucchini.  Dr. M was pretty impressed with that.  My only concern with Easton is his vocabulary but Dr. M says that is completely normal for an 18 month old boy who is #3.  He does have 5 words though, Mommy, Daddy, Hi, This, and That.  Dr. M said his vocabulary will take off here in the next few months.  He encouraged me to track it on the refrigerator so I will be doing that.  Writing his new words down as he says them and the date and you can see how it will go from one new word a month to one new word every other week, to one new word a week to more than you can count in no time.  Should be fun to track it this way and have that as a keepsake.
As you can see his hair is a little shaggy looking, not any more.  He had a hair cut on Saturday and looks so handsome.  He always looks handsome but he looks all cleaned up.  He had to have one shot and he did fine.  He just likes to snuggle his mommy when it's all done.  When we got home it was very quiet as the girls were with Grandma Vugteveen at the mall for a little while.  Just having one is something we aren't used to and neither is Easton.  He loves having his sisters around. 

The perfect snow...

The other day Jason picked the kids up from Miss Amy's house while I had a meeting at school.  He had emailed me and told me I needed to get home ASAP cause it was snowman making weather.  So I rushed home as soon as the meeting was over and got some great pictures.  The only problem was there wasn't a ton of snow so it pulled up the dirt from the ground when you rolled the snow.  That was okay though, the girls packed some new white snow all around to cover up the dirt.  Easton wasn't too sure of the snow and couldn't move too much but he did just fine.  He really liked it when we were done and he could run around on the pavement. 

Kylynn Joy

Addisyn Joy

Daddy, rolling up the snow

Just a little bit of dirt on those snow balls

Easton Marc

The finished product!

400th Post

Never did I ever think that I would be hitting 400 blog posts.  I really didn't know what to think when I first started blogging 5 years ago, that's right 5 years ago.  3 kids later and a ton of fun this has been.  The whole point of blogging was to keep my parents in the loop.  I really enjoy sharing what is happening at the Vugteveen home with all of you and I hope you will continue to follow me for the next 5 years! 

My Baby is 18 months!

 My baby turned 18 months today.  I have always wanted to take pictures outside in the snow and today we did.  It was beautiful out!  After church this morning the little man and I headed out to a local park to get some pictures taken.  It didn't go so well.  He just cried when I sat him down.  I decided we'd come back after naps with Daddy so he'd have someone to try to help him smile.

Not so sure of this

Much better!

I can't believe he's already 1 1/2!

 Easton Marc, you are such a happy boy!

Daddy and Easton

After nap we headed back and got a couple of cute ones, he still wasn't so sure of it but Daddy got a few smiles.

Easton Marc - what would we do without you?  Life would be so dull.  Here's what you've been up to.
-loves to say hi (when I get him up in the morning he yells hi as soon as I open the door)
-pushes his trucks all over the house now, with sound effects
-started throwing fits over the last few weeks
-chases the dogs
-loves to give hugs - especially when one of his sisters is crying
-likes to eat all by himself, no help from mommy or daddy
-helped daddy unload the dishwasher tonight - was able to match his cups together - lids and bottoms
-loves the TV
-likes to dance in the car
-still taking 2 naps, except for Sunday's

Easton has his 18 month check - up on Friday.  I'm curious to see how big he's gotten.  I'll update after his appointment and give his latest stats!

Happy Birthday Grandma Vugteveen!

Tonight we celebrated Jason's mom's birtthday with the family. It was a little quieter than normal as Cambrey and Cole were not feeling well so they were not there. I still think the kids had fun as they had their Uncle Brandon to keep them busy. We had pizza, opened presents and then they enjoyed some ice cream and hot fudge, homemade by Grandma. A fun night with family.

The three youngest grandkids

-Brinley, Easton, and Mason-

 Enjoying some pizza with Uncle Brandon

Grandma with the kids

Playing in the snow

The girls were so excited when they realized that there was snow on the ground this morning.  I thought it would be fun for all of us to go outside and have some fun in the snow, Easton had other plans.  So I layed him down for a snooze and helped the girls get bundled up.  It is pretty nice now, they do most of it themselves.  We trooped off to the shed to find a sled, only one did we find.  Looks like Daddy needs to go buy us some more.  They were happy as clams though.  I stayed around and took a few pics and then I hurried back inside.  Oh how I love the snow! They went back and forth between the front and back yards, I only gave them one warning, watch out for poop.  It stands out pretty good now in the snow.  They just laughed at me.  I think they played for about an hour outside and then they were done.  I just love watching them play together.  What a blessing they are to me!

 Addisyn Joy

can't quite figure out where the camera is

Kylynn Joy

Kylynn and Addisyn

 Peeking from the window, oh how fun it was to watch them play together

The best part was I was warm and cozy

This picture is priceless, off to find her sister

Play World with Cousins

The kids enjoyed another trip to Play World with their cousins.  Last year we went during Christmas break and so Grandma put it on our calendar to go again this year.  This year Easton got to take part.  They all had a great time and love being able to run around and play with their cousins.  No major tears, well I take that back, Addisyn flew down the new slide and got airborn so I had to console her and I had to climb up and rescue Easton who woulddn't come down the slide.  Other than that nothing major.  Lots of fun for everyone.



Addisyn Joy

 Addi, Cambrey and Kylynn

 Going down the big slide

a little blurry but they had fun

 Easton playing peek a boo in the house

Climbing across to the slide

having a blast

The new slide, they loved it

Next year we'll have Brinley and Mason running around.  Baby Boy Vugteveen may join us but won't be as mobile yet.

Goals for 2012...

Here we go...
-spend more time with God
-have more patience as a mom, they are only young once
-acknowledge a friend or loved one at least once a week (card, email, phone call, face book)
-run 1/2 marathon
-loose 10 more pounds
-do more for others
-have more date nights with my hubby
-cultivate more healthy friendships
-enjoy my family
-start and continue a photo blog - click here to check it out (we'll see how this goes)
-be a more loving and compassionate teacher
-try new things (wine, recipes, authors)

I think that is a pretty good list of goals to have.  I thought about my list as I ran yesterday, it was a great way to reflect on this past year and think about the year ahead.  I don't think any of them will be too tough to complete, maybe the half marathon but I'm committed and can't wait to see this through.  I'm excited about starting a photo blog as I've watched my sister I have been thinking about it for a while and thought the first of the year would be a great way to begin.  Here's to a great 2012, May God bless you this year!