My Little Houdini

Kyper as Houdini:

6 months ago Kyper used to sleep in his car seat all the time. It was the only way that we could get a long stretch of time from him. Now, he can escape it and we know how. The other day he fell asleep in his car seat while in the car, so we figured we'd let him stay there. Joel put car seat with sleeping Kyper in the crib. About 20-30 minutes later I hear Kyper awake. Not crying, just talking to himself. He really had slept long enough counting the time in the car, so I went in to check on him. There he was sitting in the crib at the foot of his car seat. (Joel has unbuckled him.) We were trying to figure out how he did it, so the other day before we had to leave I just let Kyper sit in the car seat without buckling him in. Ta-da!

Kyper found a new Kyper Cave:

My Parenting Motto

After becoming a mom, I have a new motto for parenting.

Being a parent means missing the past stages, enjoying the present stage, and looking forward to the future stages.

I miss my cuddly newborn, his gummy smile, and the days he'd fall asleep in his bouncy seat. I am enjoying the crawling and the smile with two teeth. I am looking forward to the day he takes his first step and has missing teeth from that smile.

Some Ponderings

Here are three things I am pondering today. One that makes me sad. One that makes me wonder. One that makes me smile.

First, I have been thinking about my time at Anawim a lot lately. One of my former co-workers and friend died of cancer this past weekend. I wish I was there to go to the funeral and support my other former co-workers during this time. Randy will be missed. He played Santa at our Christmas party. He loved it. He was sick the second year I was there, but there would be no stopping him from being Santa! Sadly, I don't think I have a digital picture of him as Santa on my computer here. He also was one of two co-workers that visited Joel and I at the hospital when Kyper was born. He didn't stay too long, because he didn't like hospitals--who can blame him. But, I thought it was so nice that he and his wife got us flowers and that he visited us. I'm glad he came, because he wasn't in the office the day Joel, Kyper, and I came to say goodbye before moving to MI. It is hard to imagine Anawim without Randy. I don't know how old Randy was. I would probably guess in his 40's so he was young. He leaves behind a wife and three kids. He was a good worker and a good guy. I'm praying and asking you to pray for comfort for his family. I pray that they feel God's peace and comfort during this difficult time.

Second, my baby boy is turning into a toddler before my eyes. He is starting to pull himself up to his feet on furniture. Before long, I know he will be able to walk while supporting himself on the furniture. Soon after that he will be toddling all by himself! Where does time go? When did my 6lbs 8oz newborn baby become this big?! I also made a call today about a pediatric dentist--what!? My baby has two teeth and is cutting 4 more! Wow and ouch! (Other moms, when did you take your child to the dentist the first time?)

Third, golf carts when not on the golf course make me smile. I just saw a older guy on one riding down the road. No, we do not live by a golf course. Rather, there is a guy (older) who lives down the street from us. He rides this golf cart to another house on our road to visit his buddy. (I'm assuming they are buddies.) This golf cart also carries a bunch of stuffed animals. Whenever he drives by in his golf cart, I get a smile on my face. The thing that gets me is that we live in the city. Stephanie's grandpa would ride back and forth on a golf cart in the country--that always made me smile too. Another thing I think about when I think about golf carts is Sandy Pines. I actually don't know a lot about Sandy Pines, but it is a vacation spot in MI where people own trailers/cottages. I visited there with a friend once or twice and I remember that golf carts are the chosen mode of transportation at Sandy Pines. Golf carts make me smile when they are used in a place other than a golf course.

Awakened Images

(Make that 3 posts in one day!)

Joel and I had Kyper's 9 month pictures by Awakened Images. The photographers are friends of ours--Cara and David Williams. Cara graduated from high school with us. Also, Cara and Joel grew up going to the same church. They are awesome and I was so happy that we were able to get Kyper's pictures taken with them. Click on the link below to see the pictures on their blog.

Awakened Images--Kyper

Since Kyper has become slightly a mommy's boy to say the least. So, the pictures were a little challenging. But, they got some good ones.

Only 3 more months...

until my baby turns ONE! How can he already be 9 months old?! Craziness. This year is flying by.

We went to the doctor yesterday for his well child visit. Here are stats for those interested:

Weight: 17 lbs and 6 oz. That puts him in the 10th percentile. (He's my little peanut.)
Height: 28 inches long. That is about the 50th percentile (He had quite the growth spurt since last time in this category.)

He unfortunately has a little cold and I think he might be cutting some new teeth. He is unusually cuddly in the last few days. His eyes got really gunky, so the doctor prescribed some eye drops--those are fun to give him. (Note the sarcasm.) It was easy the first time, now he knows to shut his eyes when he sees the bottle. I have a smart one on my hands.

Finally, he is starting to pull himself up on things. He sits on his knees, which I find slightly amusing. Yesterday, when we put him to bed he cried a little longer than usual, so I went to check on him and there he was sitting on his knees, about ready to pull himself up. (The mattress will be lowered shortly.) Here he is on his knees. You will also see the mirror we bought for him...he likes being held up to the mirror in the bathroom, but it is hard for us to really let him do that, since we don't have a counter to let him stand on beneath our mirror, so we got a cheap one to set on the ground for him.

Here he is with Lewis the bear at 9 months.
Make sure to check out the post below...it is about our trip to West Michigan. Two posts in one day. :)

Trip out West

Kyper and I made a trip out west...that is west Michigan...last week. It was Joel's last week of surgery, so he had long hours and lots of studying for the test he took on Friday. My mom was hosting a wedding shower for Jen (Jeff's fiance) on Tuesday night, so Kyper and I drove out on Monday morning to spend a week on the west side.
Here are a few highlights from our days there:

1. On Monday, Kyper was a super rider! After a nice drive, Kyper and I had a playdate with my old friend Renee and her daughter Abby. Renee and I grew up down the road from each other and now have kids less than two months apart.

2. On Tuesday, Grandma Phillips watched Kyper while I ran errands and prepared the house for Jen's shower. At night, we had Jen's shower. It was fun.

3. On Wednesday, while I got my bumper fixed and went to Carter's outlet while Grandma Phillips watched Kyper again. I also got to have a nice chat with Mariah--my 15 year old niece. For dinner, Kyper and I ate with Grandma and Grandpa Phillips.

4. Thursday, Kyper and I spent the day with my nieces Sydney and Peyton. We were babysitting--it was a lot of fun. Although, at one point in the morning, I thought we may have lost Brutus their dog. I had hooked it, but the hook came loose and the dog ran. I had Kyper in my arms, so Syd (5), Peyton (3), and I were all trying to get him back inside. After calling my brother, Syd had started chasing the dog and chased him into the house. Good job Syd! Other than that it was a fun to spend some time with those girls. While Joel does his rotation in Grand Rapids this summer, I might babysit once or twice a week for them if they need me to. :) Thursday evening was spent walking the pier!

5. Friday, Kyper and I got to hang out with Rebecca B. Rebecca is one of the mellons-close high school friend. I hadn't seen her in a long time, since she now lives in Florida with her husband. She was up in MI for spring break. I now think all he mellons have met Kyper. :) We just had a great afternoon sitting and talking. Joel got done with his test early and was able to come Friday afternoon. He got to say hi and took Kyper while Rebecca and I had dinner with Erin, Matt and Lucy. Matt left after dinner and we had girl's night. Joel took Kyper to spend time with Tim and Melanie. (This was a nice break, since Kyper had become quite a mommy's boy this week and was on my hip the majority of the week.)

6. Saturday, Kyper had some 9 month pictures taken with Awakened Images-Cara and David Williams. They turned out great. I'll post a link when they put them up on their blog. But you can see one, that they used to show their prices for children's sessions. Here is the link. After the shower, Joel took Kyper to his parents and to Grand Haven to see GGma and I went to Rebecca's baby shower. (Did I mention that Rebecca is pregnant and due with a baby girl in July! Yay!) I had fun at the shower with Erin and Brooke. Friday night, Kyper, Joel and I hung out at Joel's parents house.

7. Sunday, we went to church with my parents and then dressed Kyper up in a dutch boy costume that we are borrowing from my cousin. The tulips are blooming now, so instead of taking pictures of Kyper in front of stems during the actual tulip time, we decided to take Tulip Time pictures early. (We still plan on going to Tulip Time--Mariah dutch dances, so we want to see her dance.) After pictures, we headed to church coffee at my grandparents, and then had a nice steak dinner with my parents. Kyper and I headed back out to Detroit during his afternoon nap! He again did a super job riding--slept almost the whole time. Joel stayed on the west side for an extra hour or two to play tennis with his dad and then drove back later.


Kyper learned how to go up the stairs a my parents. He only did it once and now he won't get much practice because we don't have stairs. :) He was crying, because I wasn't holding him. Silly mommy's boy.

Zoo Day--finally.

So, I had been trying to get to the zoo for 3 days and we finally made it on the third day! You have to realize that we live 5-10 minutes from the zoo.

On Friday, Mo, Lisa and Samuel came. Lisa didn't want to go to the zoo, because she wanted Jerel (her husband) to be there for Samuel's first zoo trip. So, instead we did a picnic lunch at a nearby park. It was fun to hang out with some friends from Des Moines. Both Mo and Lisa's husbands are working in Michigan.

On Saturday, Aren and Leah came to visit for the day. Our plan was to go to the zoo. Aren and Leah brought lunch and then we were going to go. We got in the car and drove to the zoo. It was crazy busy seeing as there was an Easter event going on. We got in the car and even made it to the gate. I stopped at a booth to buy a year membership as Aren and Leah went to buy their tickets. While, I was buying our membership, we heard over the loud speaker that a thunderstorm was imminent in less than 30 minutes. Joel stopped Aren and Leah and we got back into the car and went home. Ky took a nap while we played games. We then had a delicious dinner--pork tenderloin. After dinner, we went to a local spot and got milkshakes.

On Sunday, we headed to church and had a good Resurrection Sunday worship service. Joel and I didn't have big plans for dinner, so we got home made some hot dogs. Then the three of us took a nap. Canaan came over around 3 and we headed to the zoo. This time we made it through the gates and spent a few wonderful hours there. We saw the red pandas, tigers, lions, giraffes, polar bears, and a blind, but happy seal. :) We saw other animals too, but those were the animals we watched the longest. You can see pictures from the zoo below. After the zoo, Canaan stayed and had pizza with us. Then while Joel studied, Canaan and I played cards. It was a great Resurrection day!




Hope you enjoyed the pictures. I now have a zoo membership, so I plan on going to the zoo quite a bit this year!