Three Months Old

Last week on Thursday, Allison turned three months old. This sounds so cliche, but in some ways it seems like she was just born the other day and in other ways it seems she has been with us for a while now.

As you can see by her picture she is starting to look so big. You can also see her hands in her mouth, which has been her latest phase. She sucks on them all day long. I've tried giving her a pacifier but she pops it right out and smiles at me. Don't be surprised if you see her with chapped hands this winter. I am hoping this doesn't become a habit.

She is also talking like crazy now. She loves making sounds and howling. Brian can really get her going. Her smiles are coming more often and more freely. I love the morning when she first wakes up.

A few weeks ago, we invested in a mobile and she loves it. She will lay in her crib for the longest time watching the animals go round and round. But, boy does she get mad when time runs out and it stops. If we don't start it right away, we hear about it.

I think it is safe to say that she eats like her mom - smaller portions, more often. I am trying to get her up to 5 ozs but she wants nothing to do with it. Occasionally she will finish off the 4 ozs and I will make her an additional 1 oz and she will drink about half.

Although she still has her "fussy moments" or as we call them her "meltdowns" occasionally, things are starting to look better. There are more nights when she is in a better mood.

She is doing great at night in terms of sleeping. We usually put her down to bed around 7:30 or so. The past week, I have been waking her up around 11 pm to feed her and she will sleep until 3:30 or 4 am. She will usually go right back to sleep and stay sleeping until 7:30.

Allison is looking forward to her first holiday - Halloween. Tomorrow I am going to bring her to my former workplace and then Dad's work to show off her costume. Later in the afternoon, we will stop off at her Grandma Groen's for a quick visit and then it is back home for the trick-or-treaters. Hope you come back later this week to see pictures.

Then and Now

Then: October 22, 2005

Now: October 21, 2007



















Brian and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary this weekend along with Allison's Baptism. When choosing the date for her baptism, I thought there would be no better way to celebrate our anniversary than to stand at the same altar where we were married and have our daughter baptised.

We also got to celebrate our annivesary by ourselves. We decided that it would be a fun tradition to go wine tasting for our anniversary, so last weekend I surprised Brian by having my parents come up on Sunday to babysit Allison so we could go out for a bit (thanks Mom and Dad!!) We drove down to Coloma, near St. Joseph and visited two wineries, plus a cider mill. Even though the weather was deary and raining, it was a very relaxing afternoon.

This Saturday, we drove to Flint to have family pictures taken of all the grand kids. My mom drove back with us and babysat Allison so we could go out to dinner. Because we got up so early, we could only muster up enough energy for dinner and the mall even mom encouraged us to go to the movies (and we barely made it through the mall.)

On Sunday, the baptism went well. The weather was gorgeous. We stopped off at Aquinas College where we took some of our wedding pictures two years ago. After church we hosted a small luncheon at a neighborhood pizza place. With just the immediate family we took up almost the entire restaurant. At a time like this, I wish I could magically add a family room onto our house to host family parties.

To see more pictures of the baptism (and some other wedding pictures) click here http://tinyurl.com/2ahped

ABCs

A is for Allison





















B is for Big Blue Eyes












and Bath Time















C is for cutie pie















D is for doggie

Our Lil' Pumpkin

Last week we went to Post Family Farm to pick out our pumpkins and get my annual cider and donut. Allison was very excited by her vist as you can see by her pictures - she slept through the whole visit. Because of the cold weather we decided to forgoe the hay ride. Maybe next year.

Push for the Cure

A week ago Saturday, Allison participated in her first charity walk. Brian and I participated in the "Race for the Cure" in honor of some very special women in our lives. These women have fought and won or are winning the battle against breast cancer. All have shown amazing strength and courage over the years.

My Aunt Mary was diagnosed with breast cancer approximately 23 years ago and had been a survivor until her death from unrelated causes in 2002.

Our friend Peggy H. is now a five-year survivor. Yeah Peggy! She played a lead role in getting the Race for the Cure to Grand Rapids in honor of her friend who passed away from breast cancer. Unfortunately, Peggy was diagnosed a short time after getting the GR Race started. We walked on her team "Peggy's Pals." This was our fifth year.

Our friend Linda B. finished her treatment a year ago and is continuing to do great.

Our friend's mom, Linda J., is another courageous woman that is facing this disease.

I can only hope that one day when Allison looks at these blogs that we print off for her, she will ask me what the "Race for the Cure" was about because it will no longer be an annual event around the country. It is my hope that this disease will be cured by then. I also hope that as Brian and I continue this walk, we no longer have to add names to the list of people that we are walking in celebration of. We already have too many names on that list.

Picture Perfect

Last month I had someone come over and take some pictures of Allison. Here are just a few of them. To see more visit http://fourdirectionsphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/3400047

The password is maribeth. Enjoy.