October is falling fast!

This little girlie is getting closer and closer to her 2nd birthday! We just cannot believe how fast she is growing up. She is now talking like crazy repeating everything we say. She can name most of her colors accurately, her shapes and also identify some letters of the alphabet! It amazes me how much she pics up on and says. It is such a blessing her hear her try and sing "Jesus Loves Me", say "bless you" after someone sneezes, and watch her fold her hands to pray and adamantly state "amen" when we are done praying.

September and October have been fun enjoying the weather changing and watching the leaves change. I am now starting to feel better as I have entered into my second trimester! We are excited and very nervous for this arrival but Spring baby will be welcomed with open arms! especially by Shaylen who has really taken to babies.

Shawn and I went on a weekend away from girlie with Shawn's work. It was a nice weekend away, though I had to take many snacks to hold me over! :) Girlie stayed with grandma Sherry and had a nice time.

Uncle Jamie "Mamie" came to visit during his birthday and stayed with us. Shaylen had him wrapped around her finger from the getgo! it was so cute watching them play with stickers and legos. Shaylen still looks in the room he stayed in almost a month ago now and says "uncle Jamie" knowing that he slept in there.

In September we finally took Shaylen to John Ball Zoo. She had so much fun!

Enjoy the pics of this little girlie from the last few months. She continues to grow!



































Feeding the birds with Mom.













Feeding the stingrays with Dad.
































Fall pics around the neighborhood :)

August Already!!

Summer is just flying by and since the last posting this girl has continued to grow and get even more of a personality, all good, and maybe some undesirable behaviors.

In June we had our block party, always a blast! and Jamie came in from Chicago for a bit.
Other than that we went camping over 4th of July weekend, what an experience! so fun with so many kids. We have gone to the beach a few times and done some pool time in the backyard with just us and sometimes with our neighbors.

Girlie is growing so fast, learning new words each day trying to repeat them after we say them.
We love this little girl so much and enjoy each day we get to spend with her and watch her grow older.

Enjoy the pics!

Sticker Time!!













Lake Michigan, this girl loves the water and the sand.



















Block Party, Shaylen and Liam sidewalk chalking it.













Shaylen and Eva just chillaxin'













Shaylen and Shawn, her first time in Pentwater.














All the kids we went camping with over the 4th, but there is one 10 mo old missing.
Adam, Shaylen Daylyn, Autumn, Jack and Noah, and Ruby is not in the pic.
It was so much fun.














At the beach at Interlochen State Park. Shawn and I got swimmers itch, eww.














Shaylen is taking after her dad. She literally sat here for 20-30 minutes just messing with all the stuff.

Oh Spring.... and FIRST HAIRCUT :)

So maybe if I post more often I will actually put more up! :)

Here are some pics from Mothers day, Easter, 18 mo photo shoot, Tulip Time and her first haircut!! and of course just a cute lil girlie.

Shaylen so excited about her John Deer boots she had to ride a horse with them on :)



















Easter Sunday egg hunt at shawns grandma's house. She found her eggs and each of them had a quarter in them!!













Mothers day we went to Boatwerks for brunch, this is my mom and grandma, 4 generations! :) (of fiesty girls! )













Shaylen and her buddy Ryann













John Deer boots and a dutch costume, normal, right?



















Our friend Cat from CA came to visit the last weekend in Tulip Time. Being that her fav flower is the Tulip, it was perfect. Shaylen really took to Cat :). This photo was taken at Veldheer tulip farms. Shaylen just wanted to give her a hug.













First haircut..... so cute. Then post haircut celebration at Captain Sundae!! This girl LOVES her ice cream.

spring has sprung and summer is here!

This month of May has gone by so quickly it just amazes me. Shaylen had her 18 mo check up on May 2 and came out with flying colors! She continues to grow so fast being in the 86th % for hieght and the 60th% for weight. She does like to eat and isnt too picky.

She is a climber these days and goes onto the dining table whenever someone walks away from their chair. On Tuesday, yesterday, she starting climbing onto the table while saying "no no, no no" and of course shawn and I could not keep from laughing a little. So why does she still do we ask, when she knows we are going to say no. Oh well someday she will understand.

She still signs when necessary like "please" and "thank you". She loves to blow kisses and give them others. We will hear her sometimes as she is falling asleep, giving kisses to her glowworm in bed going "mooowah".

She is a cuddly girl when she wants to be, otherwise she is constantly on the move. She does like to look outside and watch for anything that moves, but especially squirrels and birds. The other night while I was making dinner she was standing on the couch on the front porch watching the girls across the street play catch, completely mesmerized.

The past couple of months we have been enjoying the ever gradually warming weather, going out in the wagon, swinging on the swing and going for walks down the sidewalk and to the park. She loves our kid neighbors eva and liam, both are right around her age and are her first little buddies in this life of hers :). We enjoyed mothers day a lot what a joy it was to be called a mother to this little girlie, and we had a blast at tulip time. Girlie wore her dress with pride along with her John Deer boots :) that she put on herself!














supporting her mom and Jessica at the Irish Jig 5k




















Frederick Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies!!

Is winter almost done?

So tomorrow is March, which makes me think, man its been a while since I posted some new pics of the girlie. She is doing much better these days and we are just waiting for this winter to be DONE. Sickness has just infiltrated our house all winter long. From colds, to strep, to ear infections to bronchitis. The only illness I think we escaped was the Flu!

Shaylen is 16 mo old! She is getting so big, and so smart! Well in our opinion she has been smart from day 1. She loves to color and play with stickers, run around on the front porch on sunny days, and empty the drawer full of plastic container covers. She has not started saying a whole lot yet, but makes a lot of noises and fluctuations in her voice very sincerely with high expectations of you understanding her. The thing that just baffles us, is that she completely seems to understand us and what we tell her to do. Sometimes I wonder if sign language helped with this.

We are continuously enjoying her as she gets older, and all that comes with her growing bigger and more independent. The one thing that is always a challenge is teething. She has been working on four molars for a month. We think they are all finally here, but they keep bothering her as they keep coming in more and more. She is getting better and better at climbing onto furniture which just petrifies me! and she finds things to help her like stools and her crate full of books. She likes to climb onto the dining chairs too! then proceed to the table, not good!

These are some fun pics from winter over January and February. This girlie loves to go sledding :)! though because of colds and stuff, we did not do it that often.

OH and she had her 15 mo appt and girlie is REALLY tall :) 32 inches and 23.3 lb's. She is in the 91st % for height and the 60th for weight. Tall and average is our little girl. We can see it in her clothes now that she has been wearing 24 mo clothes! She grows so fast.

OOO cool snow!














Okay back to the puzzle













She loves to help clean, so she gets her own towel to help!



















Saturday mornings with daddy.













Saturday mornings with mommy :)













MMMM good chocolate cookie :)













she is getting very good at her utensil usage!



















What a great helper!



















More saturday morning time with daddy :)













Sledding down our back deck steps where shawn made a homemade
sledding hill. It works great at this age!




















































lil cousin Luis turned 1! these two might just be close buds being
so close in age.













Playdate with our buddy Camden! he is 4 weeks younger and OH so cute!













Shaylen fed cookie monster cheerios :)


























Making Valentines day cookies with daddy! She
did great with the sprinkles! it was fun, they didn't taste that good,
but it was fun.

Its a NEW YEAR so lets lose some weight.

After having Shaylen, I was just so tired I let myself rest and repair. Well that time is LONG gone, and my goal this year is to get into a more healthy state before the next time around and I thought I might motivate some people to do this along with me.

Here is a website that a friend sent me. I used to jog all the time and have since slowed down a lot.
Well friends here you go.

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

Hope some of you find this inspiring and helpful. Good luck to you all with new years resolutions and do not forget that each day is new, don't count by weeks or months, then you might just give up till next year!!

Christmas with the Girlie!

This Christmas was SO different from last year! Shaylen liked all the decor, but really was not that into it, in the literal sense of the word. She really stayed away from the tree for the most part which we were SO thankful for. We put a select few ornaments that we did not mind her playing with, low enough and that was it. December was filled with baking, and cooking. Girlie even helped with sprinkles and cookie cutting which was so much fun to watch. Christmas music permeated the household, as presents were wrapped and cookies were made. It was a fun time. Shaylen got some great gifts and was actually sort into the unwrapping thing. These are some photos of family at Christmas parties. Shaylen was just a hoot with all the people! It was a great holiday season and we are so sad to see it go. I guess we just have to get ready for spring!

Besides that, Shaylen has been learning more sign language over the last couple months like "please" and "thank you". She is just a sponge with information!! She wants to help flush the toilet, and unclog vacuums, she would not leave my side one day while I was unclogging the vacuum, it was adorable, and not so fun at the same time. She can climb onto the dining chairs, so we keep those pushed in. She just loves to sit on the floor and read in her room, but mostly she will bring book after book to you to read to her. She has also been making preferences on what you read to her, shaking her head in response to some that she clearly does not want to read. This is a little new territory for us, 'what, you have an opinion, we cant just throw a book at you to read and you comply?'. Pretty crazy how this little girl is growing so fast, who now has eight teeth! At 14 1/2 months now, she has such an amazing personality, with lots of patience and smiles.



















Getting our tree. We had great aspirations of cutting down a tree, didn't happen with all the crazy weather, so we drove up the street. Just as good :).














In the snow, after we got the tree.



















cookie making!!!




























Loves to read in mom and dad's bed!














Opening her stocking with daddy.




















All ready for Christmas Day, with her new slippers and all.














Playing with her dad at the "Bolt" party













Sharing Great Great Uncle Lloyds lap with 4th cousin Kate. (don't really know how the cousin thing works, its my mom's cousins daughter so you figure it out :) )
































Shaylen, trying to get Santa's attention!













Oh, she got his attention, and yes he is missing his beard!













UGH! so tired......



















Shaylen got a sled for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Anderson. She LOVES it!
And yes, Shawn did take her down our deck steps in it, but she had a great time.













loves our neighbors john deer mower on new years eve :), a country girl? nawww.