Summer Fun

Summer weather is here! And we have been taking full advantage of it by busting out the sprinkler and buckets and having fun with the neighbors.

Brielle thought it might be fun to run through the sprinkler like this...silly girl!

Brielle had so much fun playing with our neighbors...

...even Chad had to get in on the fun

And if we didn't have sprinklers to play in...there's always buckets!

And on a completely different topic...how is it that my child can sleep like this for a half hour to 45 minutes but decided she couldn't nap in her cozy bed for 2 minutes?
I will never understand

Let the summer

Just Gotta Love...

those sweet little diaper wedgies!

What We've Been Up To - Part 1 of 5

Its been a long while since we've posted anything and a lot has gone on since then so in order to give a little update I broke it up into 5 seperate posts.





This first post is all about Easter. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the family on Easter or even of Brielle in her Easter dress. Bad, I know. I did however capture moments of her on her egg hunt in our back yard. Here is the Brielle order of egg hunting

#1 - Find the egg

#2 - Open egg and eat all the contents inside. Share contents with nobody

#3 - Put empty egg into Easter basket.

We also made an attempt at getting her to sit on the Easter bunny's lap.
Attempt: Failed...well there's always next year

What We've Been Up To - Part 2 of 5

Chad, Brielle, and I took one last trip back to MI as a family of 3, mainly to celebrate Brielle's birthday with family and to take in the Tulip Time festivities (see part 3 and 4). But of course we always find time to hang out with family and friends and so here's a few pics of other adventures of the week.


We spent one day at John Ball Zoo with Chad's parents. Brielle had a great time checking out the animals...from a distance. The petting zoo was not one of the highlights for her. Poor Grandma had to hold her the entire time we were in there.

Brielle and Grandpa checking out the bears.

Brielle found the monkeys to be really funny. She just kept giggling as she watched them.

What's a trip to the zoo without a pic with John Ball?

I had to post some pics of these 2 little girls...Brookie and Brielle. It is so much fun to watch them start to play together. They were a lot like sisters the week we were home...it was a love/hate relationship...one day they loved playing with one another...the next not so much.

Future Dutch Dancers?

or future dancers in some other form? Yikes! :)

Of course there were many other people to play with to...like the grandparents!

Can't beat sidewalk chalk and water!

Brielle loved helping out with baby Peyton. She wanted to hold him and help feed him. Could this be a good sign for us that we have a great big sister on our hands? Fingers crossed!

Of course Dad is always a good source of entertainment

Grandpa and Grandma C took Brielle to Kinderplaats one night. The pic below should be of a petting zoo...but that's all the closer Brielle would get to the animals. Do we see any animals?? She likes to keep her distance.

Brielle was busting out dance moves left and right that night. Here she is attempting the moon walk. (We've got to stop letting her watch Dancing with the Stars!)

What We've Been Up to - Part 3 of 5

A trip to Michigan in May wouldn't be complete without joining in the Tulip Time festivities. Once again, Brielle had to amuse her mother and don her dutch costume and get a few pics by some tulips.

Isn't this just the sweetest face? Poor Peyton...doesn't have a clue how many years of dressing up lie ahead of him!

Of course we had to take in the parades while we were there. Brielle had a great time watching all the bands and floats go by...even showed her excitement by waving at them. She didn't however like Ronald McDonald as we was walking through the parade. (Note to self: Add Ronald McDonald to list of scary things...right next to Ariel, Snow White, and Cinderella)

And no Tulip Time would be complete without diving into some good ole fashioned junk food. Brielle took our "diving into" comment quite seriously as she decided using her hands to eat her elephant ear just took up too much time!

What We've Been Up To - Part 4 of 5

We had a little celebration for Brielle this past week in Michigan as our little girl turned 2! I can't believe she's already 2, but we've truly enjoyed watching her grow from a baby into a little girl (diva and all!)
Here are just a few pics of the festivities:

A pic of the kids table...isn't it only appropriate that my dad is sitting at the kids table?

I'm not one of those Moms who goes crazy with all the cute decorations and themes and stuff (I know can you believe it? An accountant doesn't like the creative stuff?!) But Brielle does have a special place in her heart for Elmo, so we ordered an Elmo cake (not to mention Elmo plates and napkins and Sesame Street candle...oh wait I didn't get any of that...Chad's Mom did! :)

Brielle loved the cake, but didn't want to get too close to the cake without someone else close by. So Grandpa C came to the rescue. If you recall last year's one year birthday celebration, Brielle didn't dig into the cake or put it in her hair or anything even resembling that. Well, her 2nd year birthday was no different. Just daintily sticking her finger in the frosting and licking it. That's all.

Thanks to the help of Grant and Brookie, Brielle really got the hang of opening presents by the end of the night.

What We've Been Up To - 5 of 5

Well, for starters, here's an updated preggo pic of me at 36 weeks. You know you're getting big when your niece assimilates you to a rhino and an elephant while reading a jungle book and your daughter takes cover under your belly while in the shower. Oh boy...only 4 weeks left!



I've been taking Brielle to a weekly Child Prep program for preschoolers and last night was their end of the year picnic/game night. Brielle had a blast. For those of you who know Brielle, she's a little timid in large groups and trying things on her own. So Chad and I were so excited when we saw her take off and freely roam the playground and do the games. Here are a few pics from the night.

Brielle picking her lucky ducky from the pool

Scoring big points in the bean bag toss. That game really got me excited...can you tell? :)

Brielle racing Hunter with super large shoes on (not to mention a clown wig)

Love this picture!

Brielle and her buddy Hunter. I can't tell you how much she loves hanging out with this guy!