Life Lessons

So ever since Millie was born, I have been feeling bad that she hasn't received some of the same things Madeline did. For example, I didn't get newborn portraits done, no new clothes (well, some of course!!), Madeline's old room. Some of this is inevitable, I suppose. However, there have been a few things that I have for Millie that I WISH I had for Madeline! Here is a list of things I wish I had the first time around:

1. BumGenius diapers. I LOVE these cloth diapers. I never thought I would be one for doing cloth diapers, but it is super easy! They are really soft, good for the earth and save you some money (some estimate $1800 per kid). www.bumgenius.com

2. My Ergo baby front carrier. Not only is it a front carrier, but can be used as a backpack carrier as well! The baby/toddler is right against your skin and it is very easy to use...I recommend it to everyone!

3. Hotsling! Once again, I never thought I would be t

he sling type, but Millie likes to snuggle in close to me. It's nice to use these first couple months when they can't sleep very well in the front carrier, but you need your hands free. Yes, there have been some recalls, so make sure you are using it correctly!

www.hotslings.com

4. My Volvo wagon. Yes, we just bought a car a year ago (--not the Volvo wagon...insert life lesson #36 here :)). After some deliberation and much consideration, we traded in our old/new car (which will remain nameless) for our Volvo wagon. It is 6 years old, but will save us some money in the long run and I feel much better about myself and my kids in it. I love it!!

This may sound like a commercial for baby products and cars, but these products are awesome and worth the money :)

Beach and Bath Time Fun

My Cup Runneth Over

Yesterday the four of us went back up to Holland for a day away. It was great to be out of town, only if it was an hour away. After lunch we stopped at JP's for a cup of coffee. While waiting in line, an older gentleman stopped me to ask how old Millie is. I told him just six weeks. He then told me he had just been to the hospital to visit his newborn great-grandson. His sixth! He told me when he thinks of his babies, "his cup runneth over." Exactly what I was thinking.

Dutch Baby

I just love Tulip Time in Holland. My mom, the girls and I went up last week to see the tulips and the dutch dancers (well and let's be honest, to shop). Madeline once again wore one of my old dutch costumes. Doesn't she look cute? Millie was passed out in the stroller all day and missed most of her first Tulip Time. There is always next year!

Sisters

I didn't grow up with sisters. As many of you know, I have two brothers. I love my brothers A LOT, but I am so excited for Madeline to have a sister. My prayer is that they are best friends and lean on each other in times of need.

Madeline already loves Millie. She loves to hold her, kiss her and help me give her a bath. She is the perfect age to do all these things and more. I wanted this baby a lot sooner, but am grateful for the age difference between them. I think it's perfect. I guess God knows what he's doing after all.

Millicent Grace Chappa

On April 2nd, I was laying in bed listening to Todd snore. I flung my leg over to kick him and my water finally broke! I was thrilled to know that I was going into labor. We called my mom, she came over to stay with Madeline and we drove to the hospital. At 12:30pm that day, our sweet Millicent Grace was born. We like to call her Millie, or Millie Bean for fun. She was 7lbs 15oz of perfection. The delivery went smooth and was much shorter in comparison to Madeline's. We are once again head-over-heels in love. The love you feel for your child is hard to describe and we feel that kind of love everyday for our two sweet girls.

"As surely as you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the LORD. I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD." 1 Samuel 1:26-28

Get Away

We were able to go on a little get away to Hawaii for the weekend...ha ha, just kidding! We went up to the Great Wolf Lodge, a close second to Hawaii, for the weekend to get out of the cold! Madeline had a blast sliding down the slides, splashing and swimming. She wore herself out completely! Todd had a good time chasing after her and I waddled around in my large bathing suit. :) It was good to get away, even for one night, to be somewhere different and have a change of scenery.

Madeline on the slide--"I do it myself!"

Shooting the water gun!

Toddler pool---so much to do, so little time!

Here is my sweet girl looking all grown up in her pigtails. She has some great new sayings these days!

My dad walked in the door the other day and Madeline asked "whobody else?" is coming in!!

She was hanging on to my credit cards and said, "mommy these are your credit cards and they say Mommy Danielle on them" She recently learned my name and says it so funny!

We are SO EXCITED it is almost spring! 4 more weeks until the baby comes and it has been sunny the last 3 days here---things that make me smile!