Happy Memorial Day!

We spent Sunday at my parent's cottage in Glenn, MI on the lake. Madeline loved looking out off the bluff at the big lake and even waved at it! We had a yummy cook out and then relaxed listening to the waves crash in.

We remembered our four grandpas who fought in World War II, Grandpas Johnson, Chappa, VandenBosch and Nave. I look at those names and think of the heritage that we have in our family and the importance of teaching our daughter about the family that has come before her.

"For there was a time when every man was part of his mother, and (earlier still) part of his father as well, and when they were part of his grandparents. If you could see humanity spread out in time, as God sees it, it would look like one single growing thing--rather like a very complicated tree. Every individual would appear connected with every other." - C. S. Lewis

Officially Mobile

So it is safe to say that Madeline can crawl!  I was a little timid about making an announcement like that a couple weeks ago because she was so inconsistent with her mobility.  However, that is definitely not the case anymore.  Danielle and I will have to keep our eye on her now.  I hope you enjoyed the progressing series of photos with this post that somewhat show her crawling capabilities.  You will notice that the last of these shown above is a bit blurry due to her blazing speed!  

Some other new developments besides the monumental

crawling include her nearly mastering the wave.  It's no longer all 

about Miss Madeline's babbling for greeting folks...oh no...she's now approaching a formal gesture of displaying rather than saying hello.  Other than that, she's pretty much the same schmoozer she's been.  

Chicago in the Springtime

We went to Chicago this past week for a couple days. We had a great time in the city and Madeline had plenty of new sights and sounds to take in. She couldn't believe there were that many people all in one place. We shopped (although didn't buy very much) and ate at some yummy places. We even saw the taping of the Ellen DeGeneres show right outside our hotel! It was hard sleeping in a new place and she was very ready to come home to her own bed. No place like home! It was her first trip overnight out of Kalamazoo and I think it was a success! On another note, she is VERY close to crawling. Any day now! We are also so happy it's spring here in Michigan and Madeline loves to look at all the pretty flowers.

A good Dutch girl can never resist pictures of tulips. :) The city was full of them, they were gorgeous! Below is a picture of where they wre taping the Ellen Degeneres show. There must have been a line of people two blocks to get into it! Needless to say, we were not!

Early Spring

Each Spring, I am amazed at the transformation that our little yard goes through. When we moved into this house, I was left a large perennial garden. I have cursed the previous owner many times for leaving me so much work! I really do love it, however, and so I thought I would post the transformation from Early Spring, to Summer to Fall. Each season brings out new plants and flowers in the garden. Here is a view from our back porch looking out into our yard. Yes, it's tiny and our fence really needs to be repaired (or replaced!!). The adirondack chairs were gifts from my parents, one for Todd's birthday and one for my birthday. Todd painted them red last summer. I was too fat and pregnant to be doing anything like that! :)












This is a view from the back of the yard (you know, by the broken fence!) to the back of our house. The house is a light yellow if you can't tell and we had it painted last fall.









And finally, here is the front of 1421 Hillcrest! If you look hard enough, you can see Charley the cat on the front step. We love the front door color, which is called Apple Red. We had the front porch windows done a couple winters ago and are so happy with how they turned out.

Well now that I've posted my house and garden for all to see, I guess I have a lot work to do so my next transformation pictures look good! Hope this finds everyone well...

Bath Time!

I know I say this everytime...but can you believe Madeline is almost 7 months? Maybe some of you can, but I really can't. She is such a big girl with a big personality as well. Here she is in the bath tub, which she loves. She seems to be quite the water baby and I can't wait to take her for her first real swim! The weather here in Michigan is finally warming up and my tulips and daffodils are blooming, a sure sign that spring is here to stay.

Madeline also loves to be outdoors seeing all the new sights (Ziggy and Marley, the neighbor dogs) and sounds (the birds in our trees and bird bath). When I take her for walks, she doesn't immediately fall asleep like she used to, she just has too many things to take in. No crawling yet, but she is scooting, so I'm sure she'll be on the move pretty soon. I think Todd and I will both be in for a surprise when that happens.

I was threatened with my life if I posted any pictures of the hot momma, so I opted for the cake picture instead. We threw our friends, Tim and Nicole, a baby shower on Sunday. It was fun and fabulous and there were even guys there! They were good sports despite never being to a shower before. I tried to keep it as dude-friendly as possible, with chips and pop and finger food. Madeline met a new friend and decided it was her time to shine. She had quite the time showing off her new-found voice. We had to have a little talk about manners after the shower :) We are lucky to have such good friends as Tim and Nicole and can't wait for their new addition so Madeline can have a playmate!