the monkey and the banana

for halloween this year we decided to recycle the monkey costume i made gerrit a couple years ago. and what goes better with a monkey than a banana? definitely not my best work ever and it will be retired this year to just the dress up box, but they sure look cute together in the one picture that turned out even remotely decent (what would i do without the sucker bribe?)


gerrit still had a hard time keeping up with the big kids in the trick or treating and i think he had even more fun passing out the candy. we got together at my brother's and each time the doorbell rang he ran towards the door yelling "trick or treat, trick or treat!"

and look at this monkey...

travels to yellowstone

when you have a 2 year old and a 2 month old, what are some of the
fun activities you think of doing with them? a nap, maybe a visit to the zoo, a day at the beach...what about a 15 hour drive and tent camping for a week in yellowstone? we opted for a long drive and camping and it actually wasn't too bad.

in july we packed up my parents' suburban with just about everything but the kitchen sink (though that would have been useful too), put the boys in their jammies, and hit the road. hugh and i drove through the night and 15 hours later we were in yellowstone. we were meeting my sister and her family who were road tripping it from grand rapids, but hugh's parents were also in yellowstone at the same time. this was their first time seeing henry.

our first full day there we hit old faithful, morning
glory, the old faithful inn and many other geysers and springs. of course seeing old faithful in action was quite a site, but one of my favorite parts of the day was when we were walking past what appeared to be a serene spring. we realized it was not a spring, but a geyser just as it began to spray. the picture on your right shows olivia getting surprised by the geyser. and just as we were heading back to our campground the bee hive geyser erupted across the meadow from us.

on our second day, we headed to canyon and mammoth. along the way to canyon we had our first sighting of buffalo and we saw a lot. they look so docile, i can see why people think they can get close to them. but they are big animals with horns--ooch. the second area we stopped at was the canyon where we had a beautiful view of yellowstone falls. afterwards peri found a great spot for a picnic along a creek where the kids found some great big logs to play on. afterwards we made it up to mammoth with its intriguing terraces. i think the littles had had enough by this time, so it was a quick trip with lots of sites from the car. it had was raining off and on during the day, but luckily it only seemed to rain while we were in the car. we saw lots of wildlife that day including a black bear. we finished our night with pizza and beer and

the third day started with a visit to fishing bridge (though you are not allowed to fish at fishing bridge anymore) and then we made our way to the lake yellowstone hotel where kevin lost his wallet many moons ago and the little boys got stuffed buffalo to remember their trip. we had a picnic close to our campground and lake yellowstone. once we were done we walked out to one of the peninsulas in the lake where gerrit took a unexpected dip in the lake. on our way back we saw a young deer on the peninsula. our next stop was at geyser basin with many beautiful geysers, springs, and mud pots. on our way back we saw several elks. our last night with peri, kevin and family were spent making hobos, playing frizbee and whittling around the fire.

the next morning peri and kevin
packed up everyone into their nests and hit the road towards the tetons and jackson. we spent a lazy morning and afternoon around the campground and lunch with hugh's parents. while we hung around our campsite we saw several elk going through the forest behind us. after naps we went to play at the lake and had dinner with oma and grandpa. then back to pack.

we had a long and busy day ahead of us, so we got up early the next morning and took down camp, stopped for some coffee and good-byes at oma and grandpa's then hit the road towards tetons. we made a few stops around the tetons and had lunch on the shores of jenny lake, but didn't have enough time to go to the falls. we met up with peri and kevin in jackson and made our way to idaho falls where we would stay the night before the rest of our drive back to california. one must realize that we decided not to take showers while we were camping...it seemed like a big waste to get all clean just to get dirty again as soon as you step out....so that shower in idaho falls was delicious.

after breakfast at the hotel we left for our drive to california. the monkeys were not the gems they were when we drove through the night and by sacramento they were getting a little antsy, but we made it home in one piece and were glad to be in our own beds again.

we made it through 30 hours in a car with a two year old and two month old, nearly freezing nights, and five days without a shower. it was an interesting trip and not one i would make on a regular basis, but it was fun to be with family and enjoy the amazing sights of yellowstone and the tetons. gerrit won't remember much if anything from the trip except the buffalos and i think we will have a hard time remembering the fact that henry was with us--he was great.

our website of photos is down, so check out more of our yellowstone pictures below, for now.

yellowstone

a tooth

obviously i have a lot of catching up to do, but here is a quick post to try to satisfy a few eager bloggie beavers out there.


henry's first tooth came through last week, right before we left for colorado.

big brother to the rescue

the other day i had henry sitting in the bumbo on the counter (yes, i had my eye on him the whole time). i saw gerrit go somewhere on a mission. gerrit came back over, scoots over his kitchen stool, takes out the kleenex he just went to get and proceeds to wipe the big booger off his brother's face. that's love.

tales from a nursing mom

here are some of the joys from the household of a nursing mother and a toddler (don't worry, i am not nursing the toddler)....

i was just finishing up feeding henry this morning when gerrit sits down next to me. he proceeds to lift up his shirt and says "henry. eat. me." translation: gerrit would also like to feed henry. wouldn't that be conventient.

gerrit loves anything remotely related to cooking and if it isn't related to cooking, well then, he makes it part of cooking. the other day i got the new kids bakeware set from ikea for gerrit. soon after giving it to him i hear him say "oh. hot pancake. ooch." i look in and there on his baking sheet are two of my nursing pads that are doubling wonderfully as pancakes--hot ones at that.

enough embarrassment for me for one day!

watch henry grow

henry is already a month old and we have continued the tradition of the "watch me grow" pictures we started with gerrit. each month we take a picture of henry in a white onesie in the same green chair and "watch him grow."

we always seem to be comparing henry to when gerrit was a baby, so here is a little side by side of each of their one month "watch me grow" photos.

henry gerrit

a little preoccupied

so obviously we have been busy with the kitchen remodel, but more importantly we have been a little preoccupied with our newest addition...henry grant.henry was born on may 12 weighing in at 9 lb. 7 oz. and a length of 21 inches long. he had a little case of jaundice. after a few blood tests they decided he just needed a little sunbathing by the window and wouldn't need to sit under the lights in the hospital like gerrit did. i was very relieved! he is doing great now.gerrit seems to be loving his new role as big brother, so far. his first question after he wakes up from a nap is typically "where's henry?" that might all change as henry starts requiring a little more attention one of these days.

check out more pictures

it's done...well, just about

before

after

our kitchen is finally done! well, we are still figuring out our faucet, but at least we have a temporary which means we have running water, usable sink and garbage disposal, dishwasher and ice maker. and hugh just needs to wire the fabby lights over the counter. yahoo!

kitchen remodel

what is it about this...

that makes one do this...

check out more of our kitchen remodel progression pictures here. Hopefully you will see a completed photo soon!

dishwasher in training?

this is my view from our laptop in the kitchen for about 2/3rds of my day lately. gerrit seems to have found a new love for playing in the sink or more fondly called wah-er (water) by the wee one. he pulls up a dining room chair, i throw in a few containers, pour in some water and you have got yourself a happy boy (a wet one too, but oh so worth it). add a squirt of hand soap or a wet paper towel every once in a while and now you are at the top of his list.

class clown

the other night we were reading to gerrit before bed and he had one "pashie" (pacifier) in his mouth and one in his hand. soon i hear giggling. i look up from the book that we are reading to find gerrit with two pacifiers in his mouth and a huge grin underneath as he is showing hugh. he seemed to know this was going to be quite humorous. i think we might have the class clown on our hands.

cast off, splint on

pick yourself up off the ground...yes, this is my second post in two days!

gerrit had an appointment with the orthopedist today. the great news: gerrit's arm is healing quickly, so they were able to remove the cast and he didn't have to get a new one on! gerrit now needs to wear a splint for the next couple of weeks. they tried to fit him with the tiniest splint i have ever seen, but he has got the chubby arms. the next size up was too big, so he has a splint made of an ace bandage. it is a little more work for us, but it still means we don't need to go through the big bagging ordeal we had to go through when gerrit would ask "shower?"

together again

this past june

eight months later
lincoln, zane, gerrit & jackson

the boys were all together on the big brown sofa again, but this time it was four boys with three moms (and two babes on the way)--much better odds. sally, shelly and the boys made a visit this week and the big question is whether the play date is for the boys or for the moms.

first of many

on tuesday of this week we started to notice that gerrit's left arm was a little sore. when we would put on his shirt he would whimper a little and he didn't seem to use it as much. we watched it for a day and it didn't seem to be getting better, so we called the advice nurse on wednesday and of course they told us to bring him in.

so thursday afternoon found us at the doctor, then radiology for an x-ray, and then the minor injury center for the cast on a broken arm. there was never a big fall with lots of tears, so hugh and i aren't quite sure what happened. he seems to handle injury well as he was dancing and running around the waiting room at the minor injury center. and he was an excellent patient as he just sat back with a pacifier while the technician put on the cast. the doctor did tell us it wasn't a spiral break, therefore cps will not be hounding us (yet). phew!

we go to the orthopedist on thursday, so hopefully we will find out how long he will be in the cast. as you can see from the picture he seems to be doing just fine with the cast. somehow i have gone 31 years without a broken bone in my body and gerrit can't seem to be go 20 months, so i am sure this is the first of many injuries.