ONE + 1

Valentines Dinner/Dance and 14 Months

2012-02-13T13:12:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday Chad and I were invited to the Rotary Valentines Dinner/Dance Fundraiser. There were 5 couples from church at a table, and it was a lot of fun! It's not too often we get really dressed up, so it's fun to do once in awhile. :) It was a great night with just the two of us. Kassidy had a fun time with the baby-sitter too!

On February 3rd, Kassidy turned 14 months old. Sorry for the delay in writing a post about it... No good excuse except that time just keeps flying by!

We are amazed daily at how quickly Kassidy is growing up. One day we went to Storytime at the library and Babysitting at the gym and people in both places said, "Wow, she grew up overnight!" It seriously is crazy! Here's what she's up to at 14 months:

- Walking and Running EVERYWHERE!

- LOVING her little tykes slide that we have inside... She can climb up and slide down without any help!

- Getting into all sorts of things she's not supposed to (and looking at us to see if we're watching as she does it... She definitely has a mischievous side!)

- Wearing 18-24 month tops and 12-18 month pants

- Regularly sporting the "Pig Tails" look since her hair is now in her eyes

- Her favorite things to do include playing with her kitchen, pushing her shopping cart around, getting up and down off her little chairs, sliding down her slide, climbing onto her rocking chair, playing her instruments, being chased by mom/dad, and most of all reading books!

- She isn't talking much. Her words include: mommy, daddy, hi, no, and once in awhile "bye" and "nigh night"

- She signs "more" and "please" almost constantly and uses her head to indicate "yes"/"no". We are amazed at all that she understands and uses a lot of non-verbal communication to let us know what she wants. :)

- She loves playing outside and going for walks with Lucy

- She's a bit of a picky eater and we're working on finding new meal ideas. She'd eat dairy all day every day if we let her!

- She gives hugs (regularly) and kisses (only when she wants)... Melts our hearts EVERY time!

Kassidy is a constant joy to our lives, and we cannot imagine life without her! The past 14 months have flown by, and we are so blessed to have her as our daughter. :)

January

2012-01-30T14:01:00.000-05:00

Life just keeps on keeping on over here at the De Jager house. Here's a few pictures from the last couple weeks.

The bathroom has become one of Kassidy's favorite places to play! Needless to say, we try to keep the door closed most of the time. :)

January 21st we finally got snow! It hadn't snowed since the freak snowstorm over Halloween weekend. We got 4-5 inches, and it was beautiful. Kassidy just kept looking outside all morning. :)

We decided it would be fun to bundle her up and head outside. She looks like a giant marshmallow!

As much as she loved staring at it from the window, she wanted NOTHING to do with actually being out in it. We tried putting her on the ground and she started screaming. Maybe next year, right?!

Kassidy's latest hair style has been in two pigtails on top of her head. It's very cute while it's in, but it's hilarious when we take it out!

Kassidy's "latest" is reading books. She LOVES to read! I love this about her, but even I get a little tired of reading book after book after book. It is quite cute though when she hands you a book and then insists on snuggling on your lap to read it. I am definitely trying to soak up all these moments!

She'll read whatever she can get her hands on. She found my "Parenting" magazine.

All bundled up to head out for a walk.

I brought her car seat inside to wash it before putting it forward-facing in the van. She couldn't get enough of climbing in to play.

So the weekend of the 21st we had 4-5 inches of snow. This past weekend was blue sky, sunshine, and 40's. So we took advantage and went to our favorite place to hike. It felt great to get out!

Life These Days...

2012-01-17T14:23:00.000-05:00

It's been far too long since I've posted anything on the blog. So here is a random assortment of happenings over the past month.

The week before Christmas, one of my very dear friends, Kate VanderKolk, came to visit. We had a wonderful time when she was here!

We were able to pay off the rest of Chad's student loans, so we are officially DEBT FREE!!!

Kassidy has learned to climb. I put on her hat and went to pick up her shoes. In the 30 seconds I left her she climbed on top of the table.

I finished another little outfit for Kassidy in my sewing endeavors; this cute little jumper. My mom helped me with the project and it turned out so cute!

My parents came for a short visit the weekend of January 7th. Kassidy LOVES having Grandpa and Grandma around, and Chad and I love it too! We get a nice break when they are here, which is a blessing.

They bought Kassidy a super-cute shopping cart to go with her kitchen and play food. She was really excited to pull it out of the box.

She LOVES her little truck from Grandpa and Grandma De Jager. She can get on and off it by herself now and scoots all over!

Kassidy very quickly learned how to push her shopping cart around.

The bummer end of the last few weeks is that Kassidy came down with a nasty cold. It turned into a double ear infection and a need for breathing treatments 3x per day. Kassidy was a pretty good trooper through it all!

She did NOT want to take her antibiotic when we started and we had to force it down her throat. After a couple days she was taking it willingly by spoon. This picture was just so ironic as she was willingly playing with the medicine and dropper when only a couple days before she was screaming about it! We're definitely glad she changed her tune and took it willingly for us.

She feels MUCH better now and is back to her normal busy self. I could hardly get pictures of her because she never stops moving! This rocker is mine from when I was a kid, and Kassidy definitely loves it!

All smiles!

Loving her kitchen!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T14:25:00.000-05:00

Christmas this year was definitely different in many ways. The most obvious is that this is our first Christmas in New Jersey. This is Chad's first Christmas as a pastor with lots of responsibilities during the Christmas season. Our church has 3 Christmas Eve services and then also a Christmas Day service this year because Christmas fell on a Sunday. Chad had to preach at one of the services but was present and had roles to play in the other services. So it was definitely a very BUSY couple days for him!

Christmas was also different because we did not see any of our family over Christmas this year. We needed to be in NJ for the Christmas weekend, and traveling around the holidays is just plain expensive. So we opted to stay put for Christmas. It was strange not to see any family. We spent Christmas evening with a family from church and enjoyed being a part of their family for a few hours. We really appreciate the way people have taken us in and welcomed us into their lives!

This year was also the first year we have gone present-free (almost). Presents have never been a big deal with Chad's family, so that stayed the same. His parents actually got Kassidy a little kitchen set and gave us money toward buying meat for our family since we are no longer close enough for them to give us meat from the farm. My family has always exchanged presents but this year decided to do no gifts at Christmas as a way to alleviate stress and focus our time and energy on Jesus and what that means. We are now just planning to celebrate everyone's birthdays with gifts instead of giving on Christmas. Chad and I decided not to give gifts within our own family either. We are trying hard to figure out ways to raise Kassidy in a way that puts the meaning on Jesus and what that means instead of on the consumerism that constantly bombards us at this time of year. We did give her a stocking, which was fun, but no other gifts. We have no problems with gift-giving traditions but felt for us that it would help keep the meaning of Christmas on Jesus if we eliminated gifts altogether. Our church joins with Advent Conspiracy to promote less gifting and more giving in an attempt to change the world. We jumped on board with that and helped raise money to provide meals to hungry people both in New Jersey and Haiti. So we'll see where these traditions lead. But for this year, we really enjoyed a gift-free (almost) Christmas.

My mom helped me make Kassidy's stocking last year, but this is the first year we've put anything in it. I got it ready on Christmas Eve.

Grandpa and Grandma De Jager got Kassidy this adorable kitchen set. I set this up on Christmas Eve so it was ready for her on Christmas morning. She loved it from the moment she saw it. Thanks Mom and Dad DJ!

After Chad got up we had Kassidy empty her stocking. She wasn't sure about it at first but once she realized there was stuff inside, she loved it!

We filled it with play food to go with her kitchen set. :)

Though Christmas 2011 was a different sort of Christmas for a variety of reasons, we had a wonderful Christmas celebrating Jesus' birth as a family. We have SO much to be thankful for and to celebrate. MERRY CHRISTMAS from the De Jagers!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2011-12-25T14:55:00.000-05:00

Modern Christmas Christmas

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View the entire collection of cards.

Christmas Sharing & Walking

2011-12-25T13:15:00.000-05:00

First of all, MERRY CHRISTMAS! We are spending Christmas away from both families this year, which definitely feels strange. I did a little video taping of Kassidy over the last couple days to at least allow both Grandpas and Grandmas to see what she's up to these days. The video will probably be boring for anyone else who's not related to us. :) Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas celebrating the true miracle of God coming down to earth!

Back to November

2011-12-20T20:42:00.000-05:00

Our wonderful friends, Tony and Kate Rietema came to visit us with their kids in the beginning of November. Kate just sent me some pictures she had taken, so I decided to go back to November for this blog post. The weather cooperated and it was a beautiful week, so we were able to do some hiking.

The girls seemed to enjoy themselves. Sierra was a trooper and walked most of the way while the little girls rode in the backpacks.

Aren't they just too cute?!

We ventured into New York City with the whole crew for a day.

Walking through Central Park.

Chad and Tony went rock climbing a couple times.

We went to a children's museum.

This is out of order, but we took the ferry across the river to New York City.

It was wonderful to have them around for a week and we miss them! Thanks Tony and Kate for taking time out of your busy lives to spend time with us in New Jersey!

December Thus Far

2011-12-18T14:02:00.000-05:00

Here is a bit of an update on what we've been up to the last couple weeks! After Kassidy's birthday, the Christmas decorations came out! This is the nativity set that Chad stained as a child in his church's VBS. His mom gave it to us a few years ago, and we love having it displayed!

Last year one of my students' families gave us the Little People Nativity Set for kids. We were excited to put it out for Kassidy this year!

We decorated our Christmas tree. Though I always wish we had a real tree, it's kinda nice not to deal with the needles each year and to know that we spent $30 on this tree and it's lasted 7 years so far... Not bad!

Since we don't have a fireplace for the first year, we had to come up with some way to hang stockings. I found a really nice wall shelf online that Chad installed and put up in our living room. It looks great!

When Kassidy first started using her high chair about 6 months ago I thought it would be FOREVER until her feet actually touched the foot rest. But here is photographic proof that BOTH feet now touch... Crazy!

Kassidy woke up just on time to participate in licking the spatula after I finished dipping the peanut butter balls in chocolate. It took a little coaxing to get her to try it, but once she got a taste of the chocolate, she couldn't get enough! :)

When Kassidy was little, her hair was crazy. I thought full well that after it grew about an inch or so, it would lay down. She is now 1 and her hair is a few inches long and still crazy! Chad decided to put it in a mohawk after her bath one day. :)

We have officially locked all the cupboards in the kitchen EXCEPT the ones that turn, since those are impossible to lock. We left one drawer open for Kassidy to play with, but she decided the cupboard was much more fun. The other day I wasn't really paying attention to what she was playing with and when I walked into the kitchen, this is what I found. She had a blast!

One of our very good friends, Kate VanderKolk, is here for the week. She flew in Friday night when she finished teaching and will be here until Thursday. Yesterday we decided to brave New York City to see all the festivities for the holidays. We knew it would be crazy down there, but it was SO crowded! You could just feel the excitement in the air though, which was a lot of fun. Here we are in Times Square.

We battled about a million other people all trying to take their picture and get a view of the Rockefeller tree, but we successfully snapped proof of the experience.

This is a beautiful view of Southern Manhattan at night. We always park in Hoboken, across the river, and they have a walkway right along the river with stunning views of the city. Unfortunately it's a little blurry, but you get the idea. The tallest building is the new "Freedom Tower" at the World Trade Center site.

All in all, we are doing well here in New Jersey. It is really fun to have a friend here for the week. We're just planning to relax and enjoy time together. We might get back into the city once more, but otherwise we'll just be hanging out around town and maybe doing some hiking and sightseeing. :)

Off the Charts!

2011-12-09T16:04:00.000-05:00

This morning Kassidy had her 1-year well child visit to the doctor. She is growing GREAT! In fact, she is OFF THE CHARTS for height and in the 75th percentile for weight. She grew 2 1/2 inches in the past 3 months... Crazy! We are so thankful for a happy, healthy little girl.

As we were at the doctor's office this morning, I was reflecting on the dr. appointment a year ago when the doctor heard a heart murmur. That turned into seeing the cardiologist, talking about a 50/50 chance of needing open heart surgery, and ultimately ended with a clean bill of health 6 months later. God definitely worked in Kassidy's body to close the hole in her heart and allow her to be completely healthy today. We are so thankful for this past year and all that God has gifted us in Kassidy.

Hiking with Grandpa and Grandma

2011-12-07T10:50:00.000-05:00

On Sunday my parents, Kassidy and I went out for a hike to enjoy the beautiful weather. One of our favorite places out here is called Ramapo Mountain State Forest. It's really close to our house, which is a bonus!

Chad had to work, unfortunately, but the weather was too good to pass up! Even Lucy got to join us. :)

Kassidy loves hiking and just jabbers the whole time!

At the top of our hike is old ruins of a castle. Apparently the Dutch founded the area originally and this used to be a huge mansion. It's pretty cool to walk around in.

There are wonderful views from the top! You can even see the skyline of NYC.

Grandpa got to carry Kassidy on the way back down. All in all, it was a wonderful day to get out and enjoy the blue sky and sunshine!

Kassidy is ONE!

2011-12-05T10:18:00.000-05:00

Kassidy celebrated her 1st birthday on Saturday. It was a BIG day!

I made her cake first thing in the morning. We're watching it bake!

She played hard and is walking EVERYWHERE! She loves her little truck and takes it all over the house.

Grandpa and Grandma Pett (Kim's parents) arrived on Friday for the big day. On their morning walk they picked up a donut for Kassidy to have for breakfast. :)

Grandma decorated Kassidy's cake. It looked great!

We had lots of snacks for people to enjoy!

She thought it was pretty fun to have everyone sing Happy Birthday.

She wasn't so sure about the double kiss though. :)

Try as we might, she really wanted nothing to do with the cake. Dad was able to get her to eat a few bites, but she didn't want to "dig in" at all!

Grandpa and Grandma were very happy to be here for her birthday!

We got a bouquet of balloons for her birthday. Turns out she was scared to death of them! They were attached to her high chair and she wouldn't even sit and eat. She wouldn't even go in the living room when we moved them there. As you can see, she warmed up to them, but was still holding on with a death grip when we came too close. :) What kid is afraid of balloons?!

Kathleen (the other pastor on staff) and her family came by to wish Kassidy a Happy Birthday. Her daughter Eme was SOOO excited to play with Kassidy and brought her "Fancy Nancy", her very favorite book. :)

Kassidy had a wonderful time playing with Rose, who is just 2 1/2 weeks older and the daughter of our friends Jon and Meg.

Kassidy got to open LOTS of wonderful gifts!

Rose was an old pro since she just celebrated her birthday, so she very willingly helped Kassidy test out her new toys. :) This toy was from Rose, and she was showing Kassidy how to do it.

Kassidy had a lot of fun playing with Joe too.

God has provided us with some really wonderful friends already here in New Jersey. From the left: Jon, Rose, Meg, Kim, Whitney, Chad, Kassidy, and Joe. Thanks guys for celebrating Kassidy's big day with us!

At age one Kassidy is...

Walking more and more each day
Waving and Clapping
Saying "mama" and "daddy/dada"
Doing "SO BIG"
Signing "more" and "All Done"
Drinking cow's milk (and still nursing 2x per day)
Wearing mostly 12-month but some 18-month clothes
Going to bed at 7:15pm and waking up about 12 hours later
Developing a "silly" side and LOVES to laugh and make others laugh
Starting to be able to climb up on things (and is a very FAST stair climber!)
Playing much more intentionally with toys
Has 9 teeth with at least 3 more on the way!
A constant JOY to our lives! We cannot imagine life without her. :)

Signing "More", SO Big, and Waving

2011-12-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

Here's a little video update of Kassidy's latest favorites. :)

Visit from Gpa and Gma De Jager

2011-12-01T16:23:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, Chad's parents were in town to visit. This was their first time to New Jersey, so we were really excited to have them!

We had a 2nd Thanksgiving on Sunday, complete with turkey, stuffing, corn, mashed potatoes, cranberry salad, and green bean casserole.

Then we celebrated Kassidy's birthday a week early. She turns one on Saturday!

I made her a giant cupcake cake... It wasn't perfect, but it turned out pretty cute.

She got to open presents from Grandpa and Grandma. They got her a new table and chairs!

She also opened a present from Uncle Ryan, Aunt Anne, and cousin Benjamin. They gave her a fridge farm.

Kassidy loves putting toys on her table. Grandpa and Grandma were happy they got to play with her a little bit with the table.

We had a wonderful visit and were so thankful they were willing to make the trek out to see us. You guys are always welcome in New Jersey!

Thankful

2011-11-24T19:39:00.000-05:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Today we were welcomed into the home of another family and had a wonderful time celebrating Thanksgiving with them. We definitely missed seeing our families, but it's such a blessing to realize that our family extends beyond our traditional family members. It was a wonderful day! We had a low-key morning around the house just playing with Kassidy and getting a few projects done. Then headed over for Thanksgiving dinner around 2pm to indulge in wonderful food and conversation.

A year ago we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of our beautiful little girl, and this year we are chasing her around the house. In the past year Chad finished seminary, I wrapped up my teaching career for the time being, we sold our first house, we moved to New Jersey, and we had a baby. Wow... God has truly brought us through a lot and has provided abundantly every step of the way.

WE ARE THANKFUL! Tomorrow we will not be going out for Black Friday deals. We have been bombarded with commercials and ads for the past several weeks that offer amazing deals on things WE DON'T NEED. Other years I would go out just for the fun of it, but for some reason the idea is kind of repulsive to me this year. Consumerism is trying to steal the thankfulness from our lives. Why is it that we always think we need MORE? God has given us more than we ever need, and this year Chad and I are choosing to consciously be thankful for what we have, not what we're hoping to have next.

I pray that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Storytime and First Steps

2011-11-20T21:20:00.000-05:00

While we were in Maine, I captured "Storytime" with Kassidy and her Daddy. It makes my heart so incredibly happy to see them together! Chad is a wonderful Daddy to his little girl!

On Thursday, November 17th, Kassidy took her first real steps. We were able to capture it on film that night. She's still not consistent and doesn't do a lot of walking on her own, but she's gaining confidence every day!

Michigan and 11 Months Old

2011-11-14T15:28:00.000-05:00

A couple days after we returned from Maine we headed to Michigan for Chad to attend a conference. Unfortunately I hardly took any pictures. We got there Wednesday evening and left Saturday around noon, so it was a quick trip.

While we were there, Kassidy turned 11 months old!

At 11 months Kassidy is full of life! Here are some stats:

She LOVES to stand up and walk along furniture! She has stood up on her own for multiple seconds, but as soon as she realizes she's not holding onto something, down she goes.
She is a great eater! She LOVES grapes and pretty much any other kind of fruit. She still eats mostly pureed food, but she's getting more and more finger foods along the way.
She still loves clapping as well as waving and giving kisses (though she's become a bit stingy with her kisses).
She loves drinking out of her sippie cup as well as eating snack food out of her snack cup.
She is just starting to "dance" but is still a bit reserved.
She is wearing 12-month clothes.
She still has only 8 teeth, though it feels like she's getting a whole mouthful with the way she's been teething.
She is not a big fan of being away from her mom and dad. Nursery and baby-sitters (except grandpa and grandma) have been a bit rough and full of tears.
She is a daily joy and we can't imagine life without her!

Our little cow :)

2011-11-14T15:16:00.000-05:00

Kassidy was a very cute little cow for Halloween. She wore her costume to hand out candy to about 5 kids, but it was still super-cute. When we got back from Maine we had no power from the snowstorm that went through. Therefore, we had no way to turn lights on to let kids know that we were there and ready with candy. We ended up going over to a friend's house to enjoy power and warm water to give Kassidy a bath. She knocked on the door and say "Trick or Treat" with her costume on, but that's about the extent of her Halloween festivities. :)

Maine - Final Days

2011-11-14T15:12:00.000-05:00

As you can probably tell, the last couple weeks have been incredibly busy! There will be several blog posts today since I am finally able to sit down and catch up on everything. :)

On Friday morning we went out and did a short walk out to the ocean. The day was beautiful but chilly!

In the afternoon we went back to the visitor center to buy a National Park Passport for Kassidy. You can get a stamp from every national park you go to, so we thought it would be a fun way for her to keep track of where she's been. It's also fun for us to find more National Parks as vacation destinations. :) After the visitor center we went for a walk on some of the carriage roads.

The sun was setting over the hills, so it was a beautiful walk.

Our last hike was up Acadia Mountain. It was a pretty short but beautiful hike. The weather had turned colder by Saturday, so we were happy for the sunshine. All in all, Maine was a wonderful vacation getaway! We would highly recommend Acadia National Park to anyone who loves the outdoors. It's quite family-friendly too, so even if you have small kids, there's a lot of things you can still enjoy!

Acadia Day 4

2011-10-29T09:35:00.000-04:00

On Thursday the weather forecast was calling for a pretty good chance of rain in the morning. So we figured we'd head out in the afternoon. It ended up being a very nice day with no rain all day, but it definitely got colder! It was only in the 40's, so we had to bundle up.

We hiked up Flying Mountain, a fairly small mountain close to our resort. The views were great though, especially for the relatively small amount of effort it required to get there. :)

You can actually see our resort in this picture, though you have to look kinda hard. It's on the far hill in the distance, where you can see 4 little buildings.

I have to say, Kassidy is definitely learning to LOVE hiking. Hopefully some day she'll realize the definition of hiking doesn't involve sitting but is actually a physical activity. She has been GREAT on all our hikes and seems to love being outside!

We took a little break to let her stretch her legs a bit.

In the evening we headed over to Bar Harbor to check out the tide pools. There's a land bridge that connects Bar Harbor with Bar Island and is only accessible 1 1/2 hours before and after low tide. It was crazy to be walking along the ocean floor! We found millions of snails and clams as well as a handful of other creatures, but not as much as I'd think you'd see in the summer. It was still cool though!

Acadia Day 3

2011-10-28T14:03:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday we decided to explore the Carriage Roads. They are old roads that are off-limits to cars and are packed gravel. There are miles and miles of carriage roads throughout the park.

It was a beautiful day with clear blue skies!

Pretty waterfall along the way.

Isn't this just beautiful?!

Kassidy LOVES her bike trailer, and she also loves cheerios. We gave her a little cup where she can reach into the container but it's supposed to keep the cheerios inside so they don't spill. If you notice all the cheerios on the ground, you'll see how well that worked. She decided to just tip it upside down and pull on the top so they come out easier. She's a pretty smart cookie!

More beautiful views!

Though the high was only around 50, it was one of those days where we just wanted to stay outside all day with how absolutely beautiful it was!

Acadia Day 2

2011-10-26T09:40:00.000-04:00

On Tuesday we went hiking for the afternoon.

We found this adorable Patagonia base layer on clearance at REI and couldn't pass it up! It's a good thing too, because with temperatures only in the low 50's, we needed to be sure Kassidy was warm enough.

Our hike started walking along a beautiful lake for the first couple miles.

Kassidy was loving it! She stuck her head out the side almost the whole time... She couldn't miss out on anything!

After the first couple miles we turned in and hiked up to the top of Mansell Mountain. The views were awesome! We set the camera on a rock for this picture and got a bit more of the rock than we'd hoped... Sorry!

This is the view from the other side. Not bad! The way back down involved hundreds of rock stairs that they had created. We were thankful we came from the backside so we didn't need to go UP all those stairs! Right at the end of the hike it started raining and hailing. It didn't last long, but we were glad we were back to the car.

Acadia Day 1

2011-10-26T09:15:00.000-04:00

This week we are on vacation at Acadia National Park in Maine. We left after church Sunday and arrived to the resort late Sunday night.

On Monday we did the Park Loop Road. It's a beautiful drive around the perimeter of the park with several places to stop along the way. Due to the late change of leaves, there is still quite a bit of color to enjoy!

Kassidy loved getting out and exploring!

We brought her stroller, so we did a little bit of walking along the way.

The park is absolutely beautiful!

Our last stop was on top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest point in the park. It was a bit cloudy, so it was hard to get a picture to do it justice, but it was beautiful!

Canning 2011

2011-10-18T21:02:00.000-04:00

As of Sunday night, my canning for this year is all finished. Since we moved to New Jersey, I don't have my mom around to help me anymore, so it was a bit more challenging to find the time. Plus, I now have a very active 10-month old to chase after.

Thankfully Chad was willing to help with the applesauce. He refused to let me take his picture, so this is one of him trying to escape as I took the picture. We went apple picking last weekend and leave for Maine this coming weekend, so the applesauce needed to be made! He was a wonderful help and made the process go very smoothly and as quickly as possible.

The process: Some apples cooking on the stove, some in the canner, and some already finished and cooling.

We made a bit less this year since we had some left from last year, but we ended up with 7 quarts and 14 pints. And I must say... It is DELICIOUS! I'm a nerd and keep track of how many of what kind of apples per batch that I use so that I can replicate it in the future. This is a recipe worth keeping!

Here's our winter stock... Peaches, Pears, and Applesauce. I love canning! :)

Chad's Installation

2011-10-13T15:43:00.000-04:00

Well, I was hoping Chad might be able to post about this, but his "to-do" list is much longer than mine, so here you go!

On September 25th, Chad was officially installed as "Connecting Pastor" at the First Reformed Church of Pompton Plains.

Tim Dieffenbach, Pastor at Thornapple Community Church, came from Michigan to help with the installation. Tim and Chad worked together when Chad was a youth pastor in Grand Rapids and became great friends. Mark Howard, another good friend from TCC, came too. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of Mark! It was great to have them both here.

Pastor Kathleen officially welcoming Chad to New Jersey.

Many people from the church community came for the service.

They served a wonderful reception after the service with loads of delicious food! My parents were also in town for the occasion (They took all the pictures, so they're not in any of them!). It was a wonderful weekend and we look forward to what God plans to do with our family, with the church, and in New Jersey.

Apple Picking

2011-10-09T14:34:00.000-04:00

One of my very favorite family traditions is going apple picking in the fall. Chad has gotten wrapped into it because if he wants me to make applesauce then he needs to help. :) Now he actually kind of enjoys it. We had always gone to Crane Orchards in Michigan. Now that we live in New Jersey we needed to find a new orchard.

While at "Storytime" at the library on Thursday, I asked a couple other moms where they like to go. They referred us to Ochs Orchard in Warwick, NY. We had heard Warwick was the best place to go, so we figured we might as well try it out. It's only about 40 minutes away. It was a great orchard with a BEAUTIFUL view if you hiked up to the top of the hill. This picture doesn't do the view justice.

We attempted to get a family picture, but KJ was more interested in the apples than the camera.

It was in the upper 60's with beautiful blue skies... PERFECT apple-picking weather!

They even have a pumpkin patch for U-Pick pumpkins. We didn't get a pumpkin, but we had to snap a picture of Kassidy in the pumpkin patch. Overall, it was a very successful orchard experience! There are a couple other great orchards in Warwick, so maybe next year we'll check out a different one. :)

10 Months Old

2011-10-04T15:16:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Kassidy turned 10 months old. Wow, where has the time gone?!

She is crawling all over the house and has discovered that she can make ground quickly! She still "army crawls" most of the time but crawls normally sometimes. She is pulling herself up on EVERYTHING and can walk quite quickly while holding onto furniture or our fingers. She loves opening and closing drawers and cupboards, so we have started "baby proofing" some things. She can even just pull herself up using the wall or the sliding door.

She is becoming more and more of a toddler and less and less of an infant. She has 7 teeth with #8 just about through and several more on their way. She has a smile that completely melts our hearts and loves to give hugs and kisses. She is definitely a snuggler!

Kassidy Joy, you make us smile and laugh on a daily basis! It's hard for me to believe that you're coming up on one year already... I know time will only go faster and faster from here! We love you and cannot imagine life without you!

Kassidy LOVES Peek-A-Boo!

2011-10-02T14:08:00.000-04:00

Peek-A-Boo from Kim De Jager on Vimeo.

Anniversary Celebration

2011-09-27T10:56:00.000-04:00

Our 4-year anniversary is coming up this week. In celebration, we decided to go see a "Cirque Du Soleil" show in NYC. We got a great deal on tickets through Groupon and also took advantage of my parents being in town for free baby-sitting.

We went out to eat first and enjoyed a nice meal out together.

Radio City Music Hall is a place neither of us had been. It was great being able to get inside and see a theater where so many famous and popular events are held.

This picture cannot capture the size and feel of the theater. It is incredible! Apparently it has one of the largest and most extensive rope systems in the world, allowing the Cirque performers to do some incredible things! The show was 100 minutes of being completely stimulated by just oddball acts and performances. It was a really fun evening and well worth the money spent. Thanks mom and dad for taking care of Kassidy and allowing us to have a wonderful evening out!

Fall is in the air!

2011-09-20T09:48:00.000-04:00

Attachment

2011-09-19T19:29:00.000-04:00

I haven't updated the blog for awhile and I have no new pictures to add, but our latest happenings involve Kassidy's attachment to me. She seems to need to have me in her sight at every waking moment or she flips out. It didn't help that Chad was not around for 2 weeks during the flood relief and all she had was me, but I think mostly it's just a new phase in her development.

Tonight I was home alone with KJ and needed to pick up the dog poop before the trash gets picked up in the morning (and before it got dark). I left her happily playing with toys in the living room and waved at her through the sliding glass door that leads out to the deck. She laughed and I figured, "We're good!". It took me a couple minutes to pick up the backyard and when I came back on the deck she was standing up by the slider crying hysterically! I had vanished from her sight and she was MAD!

When she heard me come in the door and call her name she crawled as fast as she could to get me. As soon as I picked her up, she calmed down and is now playing happily by herself in the living room (with me in perfect sight, of course).

I need to remember that this is a phase and that it's good that she has attached to me. But there are times when I wish she would go happily to another person... In time I suppose. :) For now, I'll enjoy all the love, hugs, and snuggles I get!

Catching Up

2011-09-09T21:00:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures of the last few weeks...

The day before the hurricane we decided to get out for a hike. Kassidy loves her hiking pack and does GREAT on our hikes! It's a good thing we went then because everything is water-logged right now.

We hiked to a spot where you can cliff jump. Chad swam across the lake and jumped from where he is standing (you have to look carefully).

You can see him mid-air if you look hard. :) Mom DJ, don't worry, it wasn't dangerous at all! It took Chad a bit to get up the courage to actually jump, but when he was done he said it was well worth it! Maybe some day we'll go back and I'll jump.

We have met another couple who have a little girl, Rose, just a couple weeks older than Kassidy. We have determined that Kassidy and Rose are going to be great friends!

The girls do pretty well playing together considering they're 9 months old. We really enjoy that family and look forward to having the girls grow up playing together.

This is how Kassidy plays at our house. She knows the bottom shelf is all hers, and she takes full advantage of every toy and book she can get her hands on! We are already working on picking up the toys when we're done. :)

In the world of sleeping, this is Kassidy's new favorite position. Ashley, if you are reading this, we refer to this as the "Ashley Stanislav sleep position". :) We regularly find her this way when we check on her.

Labor Day weekend we had 3 other couples come visit. Doug and Carrie VanZanten came for a wedding in the area, and then Scott and Christina, and Tony and Danielle (and Zoe) Schnyders decided to join the fun. We had a wonderful time with them and we enjoyed a FULL house! We took the whole gang into NYC on Sunday since a couple of them had never been. The kids did AMAZING the whole time! Thanks guys for taking time out of your busy schedules to come see us. We really, really appreciate it!

In the last couple weeks, Kassidy has been into EVERYTHING! She has discovered how to pull herself up on just about anything, and she crawls everywhere. This is where I found her the other day. She thinks she's pretty big stuff and is loving her new skills. Our house has all of a sudden become much more dangerous with all the standing up and falling down that is taking place, but it's so much fun to see her little brain figuring everything out!

On a different note, Chad has been incredibly busy the last two weeks since Hurricane Irene hit. Our church, First Reformed Church of Pompton Plains, is leading the relief efforts for our township. Chad is coordinating most of what is happening, so his phone number is on EVERYTHING! His phone rings off the hook and he has been working 12-15 hour days most days. We are both extremely worn out and the lack of time together is wearing on all of us. Kassidy is in major need of "Daddy Time" and has been extremely clingy to me. She definitely knows things are different, and she is not a big fan. Please pray that the relief efforts can wind down and we can re-gain some sense of normalcy around here. Amazing things have happened and it's been an extremely important role that the church has played, but we are tired...

Video Update

2011-09-07T09:51:00.000-04:00

Here are some videos of what Kassidy has been up to these days.

Kassidy used a friend's jumperoo a few weeks ago and LOVED it! I found one that is almost brand new for a fraction of the price, so she now has her own jumperoo. As you can see, she really loves it!

Kassidy is pulling herself up on EVERYTHING! She already has one bruise on her cheek... Life has all of a sudden become much more dangerous in our house! She thinks she's pretty big stuff though. :)

We have discovered that Kassidy is a bit reserved with others around, but when she's home with just mom and dad, she talks a lot more! During lunch the other day I was able to capture a little bit of her "talking".

9 Months Old

2011-09-06T10:37:00.000-04:00

On Saturday Kassidy turned 9 months old. It's hard to believe how fast she's growing!

She is pulling herself up on everything!

She LOVES drinking from her sippie cup!

Kassidy Joy is a blessing to us! She learns things so quickly it's hard to keep up with them all. At 9 months she has 6 teeth, takes 2 naps each day, sleeps 8pm-7:30am at night, continues trying new foods and does pretty well with most things, is full of smiles and giggles daily, is "talking" more and more, wears mostly 12 month clothes, loves taking walks, army crawls everywhere in the house, stands up in her crib (making nap times a bit more difficult), pulls up on furniture, is starting to walk while holding onto furniture, gives hugs and kisses, waves (though not on command) and is all around a beautiful and loving little girl. Kassidy Joy, we love you!

Kassidy's First Tube Ride

2011-09-06T09:19:00.000-04:00

Michigan!

2011-08-25T09:21:00.007-04:00

Last week we were in Michigan for my brother's wedding. We went up for the entire week and had a WONDERFUL time!

We spent a couple days at the beach of Lake Michigan... It was GLORIOUS!
Grandpa and Grandma watched Kassidy for us A LOT... That freed us up to relax and do other things. We even got to go out for a date one night. :)
We visited Great Grandma.
And Great Grandpa
They still had a jumping toy that their kids used... It's an antique, but Kassidy thought it was pretty great!
We visited a lot of friends! This is her friend Elyana VanderKlok. They enjoyed playing together while we enjoyed catching up with her parents, Kevin and Tina.
Kassidy got her first taste of ice cream! She knew just what to do.
"Aunt" Kate came over and went on the boat with us.
Kassidy had her first tubing experience behind the boat.
We water skied a LOT!
The mornings were beautiful and calm, so there were several early morning ski runs!
Kyle and Haley got married!
Our family of 3.
I finished my first sewing project (with my mom's help). It's a little big, but still cute!
I had gotten all but the bottoms finished, so I brought the project along to Michigan to put the finishing touches on.
Isn't this jump suit the cutest thing ever?
We had a wonderful time with family and friends! Thanks to everyone who carved time out of their busy weeks to spend time with us!

Army Crawling

2011-08-12T16:12:00.001-04:00

We have moved from "lunge crawling" to a full-out army crawl!

At the end of the video she pulls the basket of toys over and begins sorting through them. She does this ALL the time! We are constantly picking up entire baskets of her toys. Whatever makes her happy, right? :)

8 months old

2011-08-05T19:44:00.005-04:00

On Wednesday Kassidy turned 8 months old!

Here she is next to "Jimbo"
Just for fun, here is a picture when she was 1 month old. :)
At 8 months Kassidy is eating lots of different solids. Her favorite veggies are sweet potatoes, carrots, and peas. Her favorite fruit is mango. She also LOVES oatmeal and could eat it all day, I'm convinced. She is on the move and has started "Lunge Crawling". (See video below) She won't sit for 5 seconds before she's down on all 4's and moving across the room.
She loves to smile and her laugh melts our hearts! She is really into toys that rattle and has mastered the "wrist flip" to make them shake. Most days she takes a good morning and afternoon nap but her evening nap seems to be unnecessary now. She loves to crawl or roll to her baskets of toys, pull them off the shelf, tip them over, and proceed to sort through all the toys to see what she wants to play with. She is still wearing mostly 9 month clothes but we are about ready to fully switch to 12 months. She is a blessing daily, and we can't imagine life without her!

Lunge Crawling from Kim De Jager on Vimeo.

Kassidy just started "crawling" earlier this week and already she's become more and more mobile. It's amazing how quickly they learn!

Kassidy received a very LARGE package from Grandpa and Grandma De Jager yesterday. I had to take a picture since it looked so big compared to her. :) She enjoyed helping me open it up and...

Loved playing with it! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma!

Lately

2011-07-31T09:35:00.004-04:00

Last weekend my parents were in town for just a couple days. It was great to have them here! We were able to have a fun date on Saturday during the day while they stayed home with Kassidy.

We drove to Jersey City, NJ and ate at Soul Flavors, a restaurant recommended to us. It was DELICIOUS! We then took the PATH train from Jersey City to the World Trade Center site.
We had never been to the site and wanted to see it. One thing we have quickly realized is that EVERYONE here either lost a loved one or knows someone who lost a loved one. It is real and fresh still after 10 years. We have also quickly realized that we will NEVER know what it feels like or felt like to them. It's been an interesting conversation with many people and one we are left without words to say. They are building 4 new towers as well as a memorial that will open in September for the 10th anniversary. Here is a picture of the new buildings going up. It was worth the visit to the site.
From the WTC we walked to the financial district and visited Wall Street. This is the New York Stock Exchange building.
We then walked to Battery Park. You could see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We walked along the river for awhile and enjoyed the view across the river. It was a HOT day (at least 100 degrees), but we had a good time! It was fun to explore the city without a baby.
My little bunny.
The other day I managed to get Kassidy's hair into a little sprout for the first time. She really needs a bit more hair for it to be really cute, but I thought it was still pretty cute. :)
On Friday we went in search of a U-Pick peach farm that is non-commercialized and cheaper than the grocery store. We found this farm on google and decided to give it a try. It had mixed reviews but was relatively close by.
The farm was not commercialized, so that was a plus, but it was a huge disappointment. There were only about 3 trees to pick from and the peaches were less than ideal. We made the most of it and picked a few peaches to take home, took a few pictures, and called it good. It was still fun despite the fact that we will not be visiting this farm again. :)

What KJ has been up to...

2011-07-19T19:54:00.004-04:00

Sunday was Mom/Grandma De Jager's birthday. We had every intention of posting these videos on Sunday for her birthday. But as you can see, it is now Tuesday and I am finally posting them. Mom/Grandma, we hope you enjoy a little glimpse into what Kassidy has been up to these days!

This is what Kassidy was doing when she was supposed to be sleeping.

Kassidy has a new-found love for clapping... ALL the time!

Kassidy started rolling (front to back) when she was 4 months old... Then she seemingly forgot how to do it. A couple weeks ago she took a whole new liking to the whole rolling thing, and this is what she is doing now. I think every day her rolls get better and faster! She can now make it all the way across the room in the matter of minutes. :)

KJ Giggle

2011-07-09T15:22:00.003-04:00

In case you are haven't heard Kassidy - here is your opportunity. This is her giggle, it is also an experiment to see if we can successfully upload videos. To watch the video, click play.

KJ Giggle from Kim De Jager on Vimeo.

7 Months Old

2011-07-09T10:41:00.003-04:00

On July 3rd Kassidy turned 7 months old! Wow, where has the time gone? Here are some pictures I took to mark the day. We have been taking one next to "Jimbo" the giraffe all along, but this month was a bit more difficult...She tried grabbing him...

Eating him...
And kicking him! Eventually I just gave up and figured it was good enough. :)

House Pictures

2011-07-07T10:50:00.005-04:00

I have been promising pictures of the INSIDE of our new house, so here you go!

This is our living room. There is a sliding door going out to the deck and fenced in backyard.
As you can see, Lucy loves her freedom! She doesn't have to be on a run anymore, but she spends most of her time laying right by the door so she can keep an eye on us. :)
This is our kitchen/dining area. I am taking this picture standing in the living room, so the back side of the house is the living room and dining/kitchen. We spend most of our time in this area!
The front half of the house on the main floor has another living space that we have set up with a couple couches in the picture above. I could see this being a great play room in the future! I've never had two living room spaces, so we really don't spend much time here for now. It will probably transform in the years ahead... time will tell!
There is also a formal dining room on the front half of the main floor. It'll be great for entertaining!
The upstairs consists of our bedroom, Kassidy's bedroom, a guest bedroom, a study (that's actually another bedroom), and two full bathrooms. The picture above is our bedroom.
Kassidy's bedroom
Guest bedroom... Just let us know if you want to book your stay at the De Jager Bed and Breakfast. We are already looking forward to several visitors this fall!
This is the study/sewing room/scrapbooking room/extra bedroom for guests. It's a nice space for us to use and also to use if we have more guests that need a place to stay. :)

An Update in Pictures

2011-07-05T10:30:00.013-04:00

Here is an update with lots of pictures! I go back to our time in Michigan for the first several... Enjoy!

Kassidy was born with LOTS of hair! Over the course of the last several months, most of her baby hair has fallen out and new hair has grown in. For some reason, the back bottom hair didn't seem to fall out, so that just grew and grew and grew... And became an impressive baby-mullet! I just couldn't stand it any longer, so I decided it was time for her first haircut.
I just took the scissors and leveled off the back. It looks MUCH better now! :)

Kassidy is now 7 months old, but I'm a bit behind on the blog, so here's some of her 6-month pictures that my cousin Ruthanne so graciously took for us! They turned out great! Thanks Ruthanne!

Before we left Michigan, we were able to participate in the annual burger cook-off with a bunch of our friends. Last year 3 of us girls were all pregnant and we took a picture of our pregnant bellies. We decided that it would be fun to now take a picture with all three kiddos a year later!
Elyana turns 1 year on Sunday (I think), Bennett is almost 9 months old, and Kassidy is 7 months old. Of course the men had to be in on the fun as well. (last year they took a picture all sticking out their guts to imitate our prego pic. :)
To end our pictures from Michigan, here's one of Chad's ordination. He was ordained in Holland. It was a special day for him and for us! His parents even drove up and surprised us for the ceremony... We had a wonderful time celebrating this milestone!
Now back to New Jersey... This is Kassidy's new favorite place to sit... She LOVES Lucy! She's getting more and more comfortable around her when we actually touch her, but she can't get enough from behind the glass. :)
We took Kassidy to the ocean for the very first time! This is our load as we headed out to find a spot on the beach.
Kassidy had a complete meltdown when we got there. She woke up in her carseat and was in a totally new environment. It took us a good 1/2 hour to get her to calm down. Once she did, she was having a great time!
That is until... Her feet touched the cold ocean water.
She HATED the water! I think it was the cold and the noise that did her in. At least she was happy whenever she was OUT of the water. Here's a few more pics from the beach.

Since Kassidy really hated the water at the beach, we decided getting a kiddie pool for her would be a good idea, so she could learn to play in the water when it was calm. She LOVED the kiddie pool...
And I loved watching Chad try to fit in it with her. :) What a fantastic dad!!
The next step was actually going in a BIG pool with her! A couple from church invited us over for a barbecue on Sunday. They have a pool (a nice heated pool) that we could use. Unfortunately it was a rainy day, but Chad and Kassidy still enjoyed a little pool time!
This little thing was awesome! Our friends had it at the pool, and Kassidy was in heaven sitting in it! She even leaned back and kicked her feet out in front of her... She couldn't get enough! I guess calm water is the way to go for her right now. We'll work up to the waves eventually!
Finally, the day arrived... July 1st marked Chad's first day of work as an ordained pastor. I made him take a "first day of work" picture with Kassidy. :) We are so proud of him and so excited to see what God has planned for us in New Jersey!

We Live in New Jersey

2011-06-26T09:55:00.006-04:00

Wow... The past week has been a bit of a whirlwind as we said good-bye to our friends and family in Michigan and said hello to our new life in New Jersey! Here is a little re-cap of our leaving Michigan and our time in New Jersey thus far:

Our last family photo in our house on Cypress Avenue. It was a little sad to leave our first house! We had a wonderful neighborhood with wonderful neighbors!

Tuesday, June 14th was Moving Day in Michigan. We have wonderful friends who came to offer their free labor helping us load the moving truck in exchange for pizza. They did a tremendous job utilizing all the space we had in the truck... We could not have done it without them!

We stayed with my parents for a couple days and left for New Jersey on Friday, June 17th. My parents drove with us to assist in driving our van, car, and the moving truck. My dad left early with the truck, and we met up with him in Pennsylvania for supper. The rest of us left about 8am and arrived around 10:30pm to our driveway. Here's our family at our new house!

We were welcomed SO well by so many people in the church. They had planted flowers, hung hanging flowers around the house, brought bagels during our move-in time, helped unload the truck, brought meals for almost our whole first week here, provided snacks and goodies for our family, filled our refrigerator with the "essentials", and on and on and on. We have felt VERY well taken care of and we are SO appreciative of that!

We enjoyed our first worship service outdoors last week Sunday. During the summer months there is an 8:15am outdoor service and a 9:30am indoor service. With Kassidy's schedule, the 8:15am service works great! Plus, we get to enjoy the great outdoors in the process. :)

Kassidy enjoyed her first bath in the big bath tub! We had been bathing her in the kitchen sink at home, so now she has her very own bathtub! As you can tell, she was definitely a fan. :)

My parents stayed with us until Thursday morning, and they were a huge help! With their help, we emptied almost all the boxes we needed to empty, hung pictures, hung shower rods/curtains, cleaned the house, and feel very settled already! They were also a huge help with Kassidy and allowed us to spend a day in New York City baby-free. :)

We took the bus from right in front of our house into New York City. It's super-easy and gets you there in about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on time of day. We walked from the bus station, through Time Square, up 5th Avenue, and eventually to Central Park.

Our objective of the day was to explore the public transit system as well as Central Park. We enjoyed a LOT of walking and the beauty of the green space of the park.

We also made a stop at FAO Schwarz, the ever-famous toy store right by Central Park. Chad decided he needed a picture with the guy out front. We didn't buy anything there, but we did have fun looking around.

All in all, we are feeling settled, and we are blown away with how kind everyone has been to us! Pompton Plains is a very cute town with cute houses, lots of front porches, and well taken care of lawns and landscape. We live right in the middle of town and have been walking a lot! The downtown is very small and quaint. I'm sure we'll run into the rude, impatient New Jersey folk eventually, but so far we have been very impressed and have enjoyed meeting a lot of new, very nice people. Our goal for the day is to finish putting away the last couple boxes and clean up the clutter that has accumulated. After that, I will take pictures of the inside of our house for all of you who have been asking. :) Thanks so much for your prayers and your encouragement in this process!

We are alive

2011-06-22T22:36:00.003-04:00

Just a really quick post to let everyone know we are indeed alive and are officially moved in to our new house in New Jersey. My (Kim's) parents have been here with us since we got here, so we've been taking advantage of free labor and working hard to settle in. They leave tomorrow, so we will be posting pictures and details of the move and the past month VERY soon!

Teeth, Tulips, and Graduation

2011-05-14T16:44:00.005-04:00

Kassidy has recently gotten not one but TWO teeth! Her first bottom tooth broke through a day after she turned 5 months, and her second one is now officially through the gums as well. They're still pretty small, so they're hard to see, but she's got them!

This past week was Tulip Time in Holland, so we got out a couple nights to enjoy the festivities. My Aunt Londa had made a Dutch costume for one of her girls that would fit Kassidy, so we were even able to get a few pictures in Dutch attire by the tulips. :) This will be our last Tulip Time for quite awhile.
This past Monday Chad officially graduated from Western Theological Seminary. His parents and brothers came to Michigan for the graduation, and we are so thankful to them for their support and encouragement! I am extremely proud of what a wonderful job he did all the way through and how well these past 3 years went. We couldn't have envisioned this time going more smoothly! We praise God for seminary and now for a new chapter opening in New Jersey in just 5 short weeks.
My dear friend Corrie is in Michigan this week, and a group of our college friends got together this past Tuesday. Corrie's little guy Isaac is about 3 weeks older than Kassidy. This was their first meeting. It was fun to have them meet and fun for us to pretend they'll get married some day. You never know, right? For now, they sure look cute, don't they?
Last but not least, I just like this picture, so I thought I'd include it. This is how Kassidy goes to bed at night. She loves her blankies! When she falls asleep we move them off to the side... I can't wait until she can snuggle into all her blankets safely, because she sure does like them!

Let the Pics Talk

2011-05-05T14:27:00.007-04:00

Rather than try to be poetic or demonstrate below-average writing skills we will let the pictures speak of life with KJ at 5 months.

I love this picture. Here are the possible captions...

a) "What are you looking at?" (with a classic New Jersey accent)
b) "Look dad, I can be cross-eyed"
c) Kassidy Joy in the zone, and by zone I mean the doing diaper work zone.

The real reason that KJ's tongue was out is that she has her first tooth. It was out of her mouth for the better part of 2 days. Drool everywhere. It isn't her best look, but its another of God's signs that this little girl is growing up and there is nothing we can do to stop it.

This picture may look cute and innocent with her being half-naked and half-smiling at you. But she is smiling because this is the 17th time she has pulled that sock off. She found her feet and today was sucking on her sock as it was on her foot. She could be the next Kerri Strug.

Alot of people ask me about being a primary care giver - or as I like to call myself - a masculist activist. What I always say is that its hard work, grueling at times with the spit-up, blow outs and constant crying. But they key is finding activities that you can do together. The picture to the left is one such activity that KJ and I share - it is called lounging. And yes, she is probably watching a movie.

Finally, an update one where we are at and where we have come from - all with the help of a green giraffe.

That's about it for this update. A couple exciting things coming up in the next two weeks.

Grandpa and Grandma DJ, Uncle Matt and Uncle Mike are coming to town
Mother's Day
Chad officially graduates
Tulip Festival
KJ's goes tubing behind the boat (that's a joke, that won't happen until August, its way too cold for her, she is only 5 months old).

April

2011-05-01T13:50:00.003-04:00

Here are some pictures from this month.

At the beginning of this month, Chad celebrated his 28th birthday. I made him monkey bread for breakfast, and we enjoyed a day celebrating him. :)
Kassidy has a new friend: Eva. Eva's dad Nate is good friends with Chad from seminary. Since Nate takes care of Eva on Fridays, they do daddy play dates together with the girls. I'm not sure who has more fun, the dads or the girls. :)
We had a wonderful Easter. Kassidy looked incredibly adorable in her dress, and the weather was pretty nice. She freaked out a bit at our family gathering, but did well other than that.
Kassidy has been sporting her Yankees onesies these days, thanks to our new friends in Pompton Plains, NJ. Chad still isn't sure how he feels about cheering for the Yankees, but he has allowed Kassidy to wear the gear for now. It helps that they're really cute onesies and they fit her very well. :)
Grandpa and Grandma have been spending as much time as possible with Kassidy. They baby-sat last week so that we could go out for supper and run a couple errands.
Kassidy just keeps getting bigger and more grown up by the day. She is full of smiles and is such a happy, lovey, snuggly girl! We just love her so much!!

This is what happens when dad is home

2011-04-20T15:33:00.005-04:00

Look @ KJ's eyes - she is trying to watch the game (that's my girl)

Now let's be direct - this blog is not just an excuse to post really cute pictures of Kassidy so that family and friends from around the world can see her and go, "Awww, she is adorable!" (This is Chad writing if you can't tell yet)

She is adorable, and smart, and clever, and every other positive attribute you want to throw her way. We all know that she is great, not better than you or your kids or your grandkids or your neighbor's kids. Just great in and of herself. Kim and I have really interesting things going on too and Kim is adorable and smart and I am clever. What would happen if we posted information about us?
1) No one would ever read the blog.
2) Beautiful pictures of Kassidy would be lost and left unshared with the world wide web.
3) My mom would stop using the Internet (she only uses it to look at pictures of KJ) and we don't want all that progress wasted.
4) And I would have no place to ask really important questions. (See one interesting questions for discussion posted at the bottom)

So here is the DJ family update with pictures to boot.

Kim had a week off for spring break and soaked up all the KJ time she could. We took at 2 day trip to beautiful Upland, Indiana and said "What's up?" to the Stanislav family.

Kassidy got her 4 month shots - there was some screaming and crying. Kassidy was pretty worked up too! She is officially 25 inches tall and 15 lbs of pure beauty. To help deal with the pain we got her a new toy. It is an exersaucer. If drooling all over it and trying to reach all the toys on it is exercise -then she is well on her way to being very trim. Its only been a week and she has gained a pound, so I don't think it is working.

To make the exersaucer more effective - she is watching a Richard Simmons workout video

I had a birthday, my 28th, and it was awesome. I got games, tools and a beautiful and aerodynamic bike helmet. I also got a year older, I didn't ask for that, but what do you do?

I started my side-job of officiating girls soccer. So far only 3 girls have cried during my games.

Oh and the biggee - WE SOLD OUR HOUSE! We kind of sold it a month ago but it closed last Friday. We are officially homeless. But its a good kind of homelessness.

I am still at home brainwashing Kassidy on a daily basis. Last week I convinced her that country music is of the devil. This week we are reaffirming the lesson from 3 weeks ago - that she is and will always only be an Iowa Hawkeye fan. Next week is "Assaulting young boys who show any interest in you." If you have anything else you think she needs to know before mom takes over in June I would be happy to have the referral.

What a ferocious little Hawkeye!

So here is the question to consider -
How should we / did you celebrate the selling of your home?
(And giving our mortgage payment to you is not a good suggestion)

4 Months Old

2011-04-07T21:32:00.003-04:00

Kassidy Joy is FOUR months old!!

Where has the time gone? She is quickly becoming more and more like a little girl and less and less like a little baby. She has recently started eating only 4x per day instead of 5x. She sleeps 11-12 hours at night and takes 3 naps during the day. She is full of smiles, giggles, coos, and loves to babble! When her mom or dad walk in the room her whole face lights up.
Kassidy Joy, you are such a tremendous JOY to us! You are such a sweet, sweet baby and we are so blessed to be your parents. We love your gummy smile, your sweet giggles, and your love for snuggling when you're sleepy. You absolutely LOVE your thumb! You tend to suck on your left thumb, but your right thumb gets plenty of attention too. You are wearing 6-month clothes and quickly filling them out. We love your chunky little cheeks and how adorable they are when you smile. You are so mild-tempered and only cry when you're sleepy or hungry. Your dad and I argue over who gets to go to you when you wake up, who gets to hold you, who gets to play with you, etc. You are an incredibly LOVED baby! We just can't get enough of you!

The last few weeks

2011-04-02T20:45:00.003-04:00

I know Chad gave a comprehensive update on the De Jager family. I just uploaded a bunch of pictures from the last month or so, so I decided to give a picture update. Enjoy!

As I said earlier, we had a great time at Mike and Karissa's wedding a couple weeks ago. Here are all 5 grand kids. Kassidy enjoyed spending time with her cousins!
Kassidy just keeps growing and growing! We found a "Bumbo" chair on Craigslist, and she has loved her new ability to sit up and check out everything happening around her. (Check out her Iowa Hawkeye socks and Hope College outfit)
Kassidy rolled over for the first time this past Sunday night. She doesn't do it consistently, but it's been fun to see her continue to develop and grow. She has really hated her tummy for a long time, but now that she can prop herself up she's tolerating it much better!
It is officially baseball season, so Kassidy got to sport her little Cubs hat for the first time. Though they lost their season opener, they won today, making Chad very happy!

Is it too late for an update?

2011-03-29T08:38:00.008-04:00

How can you be mad at that face?
So don't get mad at us for not posting anything significant for a month!

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Kim is at work and altogether busy. Kassidy hasn't yet learned how to type and upload pictures and the world out there has only seen one picture of Kassidy in the last 35 days. That is unacceptable. To all the beautiful people around the world who check up on us occasionally - I have taken control of the situation and am committed to giving you a complete and comprehensive update.
In the last month Kim has gone back to work, I have become a homemaker (stay at home dad), we have received and accepted a job in NJ, sold our house, sold the FOCUS and as of yesterday we bought a new/used car. It has been a whirlwind - so here is the update, and if you get to the end there are pictures of Kassidy Joy.

Back to School
The strong and courageous Kimberly Joy De Jager returned to teaching at the end of February. And she returned to excellence, somehow waking herself up everyday at 5:15 so that she can come home right after school. That means I am by default the primary care giver. It is funny and concerning for all you responsible people out there. So when there isn't an IOWA Hawkeye game I can put her in front of, there is alot of baby talk, giggling and burping. The whole experience is filled with adventure. Like yesterday when KJ promptly threw up the 4-5 oz of milk she had just drank all over herself, me and our couch. That like other problems was not too much for me to handle.

New Jersey
Back in October I started talking with a church in Northern New Jersey about and opening they had posted for "a pastor of missional engagement and spiritual enrichment" (fancy title). I applied for the position because it seemed to be a perfect match of their desired direction and my gifts. But we never anticipated it would go anywhere. In January we flew out there for a long weekend and met some wonderful people and tried to understand what ministry would look like in NJ. We left NJ without a clear sense of direction or call. The next weekend we flew west for another long weekend (that is alot of flying for a 2 month old baby). The trip somewhere else affirmed that although New Jersey will be completely different than so much of what we are accustomed to, it is where God is calling us. We returned to NJ at the end of February for a final interview. They extended the call and we accepted it. Summary - WE ARE MOVING TO NEW JERSEY! (this is us in Times Square back in January, KJ is in the blanket)
We know that us moving to NJ means that we are leaving Michigan and the midwest. It has been hard for us to come to grips with that at times, but when we are wise enough to take a step back and see the big perspective, we know that it is God who is calling and moving us. The same God that raised us in Iowa and Michigan and brought us together, the same God that blessed us with KJ, that same God is moving us to the church in NJ. We are going there to serve the kingdom in NJ. As a side note, we will be living in a 4-bedroom parsonage near the church. That's right 4 bedrooms. And since Kim and I share one of the bedrooms most nights - there are two open rooms for you and all your friends. So make your plans to visit NYC soon and plan on staying for free at the De Jager Inn and Suites.

House and Cars
In preparation for our move we placed our house on the market and began exploring selling the Ford Focus with the hope of finding a more spacious family car. Within a week we had an offer on our house and within two weeks we had a deal. It will close in April and we will be homeless for a few weeks in June. All told - we are very fortunate to have found great buyers (from our church) and a great new/used car that will carry us for the next decade. We will post pictures of the new car when we get more time.

That is the update and now for what you really want - cute pictures of KJ.

Sleep

2011-03-25T07:03:00.003-04:00

Right before I went back to work (when Kassidy was about 11 weeks old) she started sleeping through the night. It was wonderful! Then, after a couple weeks, she decided she didn't want to sleep through the night anymore. She was waking up somewhere between 3-5am each day starving hungry. She would eat and then go back to sleep for another few hours. I need to give her a little credit because she was still sleeping 8-9 hours at a time, but after 11-hour chunks and no waking up for me, it was a bit annoying. :)
This week Tuesday I was entirely exhausted! We had been out in Iowa for the weekend, and though it was a wonderful time, I wasn't caught up on sleep in the least. Well, my sweet, beautiful daughter decided that she would help me out and once again beginning to sleep through the night. She found her thumb, which has been a huge blessing! She slept 11 1/2 hours Tuesday night, 13 hours Wednesday night, and we're still waiting to see when she's going to wake up this morning. Yay Kassidy! I'm now just crossing my fingers that this sticks!

Iowa

2011-03-22T07:26:00.002-04:00

This past weekend we traveled back to NW Iowa for Chad's brother Mike's wedding. We left right after school Thursday and arrived there around 3:30am Iowa time. We had a whirlwind couple days seeing family and taking care of wedding business and got home around 6:30pm Sunday night. It was a great time even though it was incredibly short. I'll post more pictures soon...

Back to Work = No Time!

2011-03-07T21:20:00.003-05:00

SO... the blog has taken a large hit now that I am back to work. We will try hard to keep it updated, but at this point, life is very FULL. The transition back to teaching has gone very smoothly, and Chad is thoroughly enjoying his full-time parenting responsibilities. I leave early in the morning before Kassidy wakes up and rush home as soon as school is over in order to get back to feed Kassidy around 4pm. The rest of the evening is spent hanging out with Kassidy. She goes to sleep and it feels like it's time for me to wind down for the night. So for all of you who I have been bad about contacting or who read the blog expecting updates, I apologize. Hopefully we'll fall into a new "normal" soon. :)

Kassidy's Baptism

2011-02-20T20:27:00.003-05:00

This morning we had Kassidy's baptism. It was a blessed morning with family and friends!

Kassidy wore the baptism gown that I wore as a baby. It fit her quite well!
Chad's parents came for the weekend from Iowa for the big day.
Four Generations: Great Grandpa and Grandma Schierbeek, Grandpa and Grandma Pett, us, and Kassidy. Great Grandma made the beautiful blanket for Kassidy!

Happy (Belated) Valentine's Day

2011-02-15T14:25:00.002-05:00

2 Months and Heart Update

2011-02-08T17:20:00.005-05:00

Kassidy is now two months old! Time definitely flies! She is full of smiles, giggles, and coos these days and is so much fun. This morning we went back to the cardiologist for Kassidy's 2 month check-up. They are now located in the Helen DeVos Children's Hospital, so we were able to see a little bit of the hospital. It is AMAZING and such a blessing for so many kids!!

When the cardiologist listened to Kassidy's heart, he heard NO MURMUR!! He was surprised since the hole was quite large when she was born. We are THRILLED!!
She will need to go back in 4 months to do a CT scan and ultrasound to determine if there is anything else that needs to be done, but for now, we praise God for good news and answered prayers!

Chad's Second Entry

2011-01-22T19:09:00.005-05:00

A few years ago, Kim and I decided to write a blog. It was a way for family and friends around the country to keep up on happenings for the De Jagers. I set it up and wrote the first entry. Then I took 3 years off. Today I return pen to paper, or in this case, characters to a webpage. The reason for my return is simply -- joy. Pure joy.

7 weeks ago yesterday - I got to hold the single greatest miracle I have ever seen, Kassidy Joy. For the last 7 weeks, I haven't stopped holding her. I get to hold her when she is sleeping, smiling, crying, using a bottle and crying harder. I still have no idea what I am doing - we find ourselves guessing what she is feeling/needing everyday. But the babe is gracious and likely won't remember all the mistakes when she grows up.

10 days ago I walked out of Western Seminary with a feeling I have not known for 29 months: freedom. Nearly 3 years of homework, memorizing Greek and Hebrew vocabulary, writing papers and reading books have come to an end. I walked out of Western with a smile that no professor or assignment could wipe off my face. In truth, the experience has been better than I could have predicted. I have made great friends in fellow students and professors. I have grown and learned a lot or tremendous lessons and had some life changing experiences.

All this should communicate one central thought - I live a blessed life. The baby and the completion of seminary are a testament to my wife and her faithfulness. Kim proofed every paper I ever wrote. She single handedly brought up my GPA one full point. Oh and Kassidy, that was all her. She was a trooper throughout pregnancy and has already been an exceptional mother.

It might be awhile before my next entry, so I wanted to say something briefly about the future. We cannot predict the future, I have been trying for a few years and I continually find myself pleasantly surprised by a reality that is far better than the future I had dreamed of. In the next 30-45 days we should know a lot more about what comes next. We know that there are a lot of friends and family that care a lot and are curious to hear. Starting this week will begin some serious interviews and discussions with communities of faith in different parts of this country. We are also in the midst of an intense season of prayer. To all who feel comfortable and compelled, we would ask you to join us in prayer. Because of the positions I am interviewing for and my desire to respect their processes, as well as other candidates I might know, I would ask that you respect the silence that you will likely receive for the next few weeks. As soon as our process is complete and things can become public, we will make it public. Until then, enjoy some pictures of Kassidy.

A Chapter Closed

2011-01-20T12:38:00.003-05:00

January 12, 2011 marked Chad's last day of class at Western Theological Seminary. He was able to finish the program in 2 1/2 years, a semester early. Hopefully he will post about his reflection of his time there, but I wanted to go on record saying how extremely proud I am of him! It's been a ton of work, but he has excelled in so many ways!

He is officially unemployed and will be taking care of Kassidy full-time once I go back to work. We are excitedly anticipating what lies ahead as Chad pursues a job once the school year is over. God is extremely good and will continue to provide for us in the future just as he has in the past. In the adventure of life it sure is nice to have peace knowing we are in the arms of our Father.

Friends

2011-01-13T12:25:00.004-05:00

One of the greatest things we have going for us is our amazing friends! We are so incredibly blessed with the people God has placed in our lives.

The Rietemas are two of our best friends, and they have two beautiful little girls. We are so excited to have all our girls grow up together! We couldn't resist taking some pictures of the 3 of them when we were together last week. Ellery is about 4 months older than Kassidy. I'm sure we'll have lots more pictures of them!

Let's Go Hope!

2011-01-07T09:49:00.003-05:00

This week Kassidy went to her first Hope basketball game: Hope vs. Calvin!

Grandpa and Grandma Pett got her some Hope gear that she was able to sport for the event. I have to say, she looked stinkin' cute!
Unfortunately, Hope didn't play very well and Calvin won the game. Either way, we had a fun time showing her off and cheering Hope on!

One Month Old!

2011-01-04T20:02:00.004-05:00

It's hard to believe that Kassidy turned one month old yesterday! Time is definitely flying by, and she continues to change and grow.

When we were in Iowa we dug up a baby picture of Chad. We also have my 1-day old picture from when I was a baby. Unfortunately, they're not the same age, so it's a little hard to compare to Kassidy. BUT... Who do you think she looks like??
Kassidy - 1 Day Old
Kim - 1 Day Old
Kassidy - 1 Month Old
Chad - Not sure how old :)
This is random, but I thought it was cute. The weather warmed up above freezing last week, so we bundled up and took Kassidy for her first walk outside. She looked too cute in her bear snow suit!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-30T21:37:00.003-05:00

Blogging has taken a backseat to the busyness of the Christmas season. This has been Kassidy's first Christmas, and she has definitely changed the holidays! Here are a few of the highlights of our Christmas celebrations:

We headed to Iowa to see Chad's family the weekend before Christmas. A lot of his family had not met Kassidy yet, and we didn't have anything going, so we ventured the 12 hours with Kassidy. Grandpa and Grandpa De Jager thoroughly enjoyed spending as much time holding Kassidy as they could! Grandpa had a little run-in with the 4-wheeler, so he had a pretty good black eye (and by "good" I mean "really bad"). I think Kassidy made him feel at least a little better. :) It was a very quick trip, but it was definitely worth seeing everyone and having Kassidy meet the whole clan.

My sister flew in from Florida for Christmas and also got to meet Kassidy for the first time. Unfortunately, those pictures are on my parents' camera, so I'll have to get them and post more later. We had a great time with my family in Michigan over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
I just couldn't resist this little onesie!
We were able to celebrate together with our little family on Christmas night. We loved all the time with family, but after a busy couple weeks it was great to be home together with just our family of 3!

Kassidy and Santa

2010-12-23T20:31:00.002-05:00

SO... earlier this month Santa Claus was visiting Ecobuns, the local cloth diapering store. I needed to go to Ecobuns to buy a shower gift for a friend, and it just so happened that I needed to go when Santa was there. We were kind of in a hurry and we don't really know how we feel about Santa yet, so we weren't planning to have Kassidy see Santa. BUT... when we got there Santa was VERY nice and he was definitely an authentic Santa Claus. We couldn't resist, so Kassidy got to see Santa for the first time this year. I have to admit... It was VERY cute! :) Plus, I ended up winning a $25 gift certificate for stopping in. What a deal!

Newborn Pictures

2010-12-15T22:58:00.005-05:00

My cousin Ruthanne is a wonderful photographer. She agreed to take newborn pictures of Kassidy for us. We were SO excited to get some nice shots of her! Thanks Ruthanne for taking the time to do this for us. We REALLY appreciate it! Here are some of my favorites:

Kassidy's Heart

2010-12-09T14:45:00.002-05:00

We went to the pediatrician for Kassidy's first appointment on Monday. He heard a heart murmur, so he referred us to the cardiologist. We went to the cardiologist on Wednesday morning. Though heart murmurs are very normal for newborns, Kassidy's murmur is a little larger than they like to see. There's a good chance it will close on its own, but they can't guarantee that at this point. If it doesn't close enough, it would require surgery down the road.

The cardiologist also found another abnormality with the way the aorta is going once it leaves the main chambers of the heart, though he couldn't get a great look at it. This could be no big deal at all, but it could require surgery.

Both heart issues are fairly minor on the "heart issue" list, but it was a bit scary to process none-the-less. We will go back in a couple months for a check-up to determine how things are going. Thankfully, neither of the issues affect her negatively and we don't need to do anything precautionary at this point. Please join us in praying that both issues resolve themselves and that Kassidy does not need surgery down the road!

The past few days

2010-12-07T15:00:00.004-05:00

We came home from the hospital on Saturday night. Here are a few things that we've been up to these last couple days...

Chad's parents came right away when we were heading to the hospital, so they enjoyed a couple days with Kassidy. Both sets of grandparents are thrilled with their new granddaughter.

Chad's sister Anne surprised us and came along with her parents to visit. She had Benjamin 7 weeks ago, and we haven't met him yet, so we were SO excited to get to see both of them. The cousins enjoyed meeting each other as well. :)

Kassidy's first ride in her car seat. She screamed the whole time until the car started moving. I think she now enjoys the car seat, so we'll hope so!
Kassidy's first bath. She was a trooper!

The last couple mornings Kassidy has had a good amount of awake time. I took advantage and decided that story time was a must!

It's A Girl!

2010-12-03T13:54:00.003-05:00

We are SO happy to introduce our new little bundle of blessing!

Kassidy Joy was born at 12:01am on December 3. She weighs 6 pounds, 11 ounces, and measured 20 inches long.
The labor was extremely long but went well. We were thrilled when she finally decided to come into the world.
We think she's perfect!!

A Great Day For A Walk!

2010-11-28T17:30:00.003-05:00

Chad agreed several weeks ago that every Sunday until the baby comes we will go for a nice long walk together. With the due date tomorrow, those Sunday walks are quickly coming to a close. Today was a BEAUTIFUL day for a walk though!

The temperatures were back up in the 40's and there was blue sky and sunshine. I even got warm on our walk! Lucy absolutely LOVES being outside and off her leash, so we always look for places she can just run free.
The past several weeks we've walked out by my parents' house and then out to Lake Michigan. We were up for a change today, so they came our way and we went to the Lower Macatawa Park. The trails are extensive, and we probably walked at least 5 miles. It was wonderful to get outside and enjoy time together before the baby comes!

39 Weeks

2010-11-23T22:55:00.002-05:00

Yesterday marked 39 weeks of pregnancy with only one more until my due date. We had parent/teacher conferences last night and tonight. I am now looking at 5 full days off, so Baby De Jager can make his/her appearance at any time! It's a bit strange to leave working ready to not go back but yet not knowing what's going to happen. Time will tell...

Shower, Nesting, and 38 Weeks

2010-11-16T20:36:00.002-05:00

Time continues to fly by, and our due date is fast approaching! Yesterday marked 38 weeks of pregnancy with only 2 weeks left until our due date.

This past Saturday I had my final shower with family and friends. It was such a wonderful time, and I felt incredibly blessed by all the amazing love and gifts that were "showered" on us for our new little one!
When I got home I went into MAJOR "nesting" mode, washing up all the clothes/diapers, putting things away, cleaning up the house, etc. Pretty much, the rest of my weekend was spent in over-drive around the house, just getting everything ready. I loved EVERY minute of it! :)
Here's the crib, all ready to go with crib skirt, sheets, and bumper!
The changing table area!
And the closet. We don't know if we're having a boy or a girl, so we haven't gotten a lot of clothes yet. I'm sure it will fill up in no time once this little bundle decides to arrive!

The Countdown Has Begun!

2010-11-01T19:44:00.002-04:00

Today marks 36 weeks of pregnancy! It's hard to believe that we've officially entered the month of my due date.

The baby is "due" to arrive in 4 weeks from today. There are a lot of people guessing the actual date will be early December, so we'll just have to see when this baby decides to make an appearance into the world! Needless to say, we're pretty excited. :)

Baby Shower and Christmas Stocking

2010-10-30T20:51:00.003-04:00

Today was full of fun and blessings!

My friend Sarah threw a baby shower for me this morning. She and I have been friends since 3rd grade, and she is a blessing to me. She did such a wonderful job hosting and making it a wonderful time with wonderful friends!
We truly are blessed with amazing friends! It was fun to be surrounded by so many women who care about us and who are excited to help us welcome our little babe into the world in a few weeks. Thanks to everyone who came and for all the showering of gifts and love that you provided! I am SO thankful for all of you!
After the shower my mom and I worked on Christmas stockings. I was making one for the baby, and she was making one for Haley, my brother's fiance. We had bought fabric a few weeks ago, so it was very fun to put them together!
It turned out VERY cute! The only thing that needs to be added is the name, but that has to wait until we actually know what we're having. :) Thanks mom for helping me with this project!

34 Weeks and Chicago

2010-10-24T21:03:00.002-04:00

In this picture I was 34 weeks pregnant. Tomorrow (Monday), I will be 35 weeks. The reality of becoming parents is starting to set in, and Chad and I are both starting to gear up for the arrival of our first child. It's extremely surreal and yet indescribably exciting. It's amazing to think that any time between now and early December, we will be holding our child in our arms. Our lives are about to be drastically altered... And we are thrilled!

This past weekend we went to the Chicago area to visit our cousins. I (Kim) had a convention in South Bend, Indiana on Thursday and Friday, so Chad picked me up around 12:30pm Friday and we headed to Chicago. It really was our last weekend we could feel good about being farther away from home since the baby is due soon. We haven't been down to see them in over a year, so it was long overdue. On our way we stopped by IKEA and an outlet mall to look for a few baby things. This is a picture of their two wonderful kids: Jacob and Brooke. We enjoyed an evening of deep dish pizza and simply hanging out with them. We are so thankful they live close, yet we do not see them nearly often enough! It was a wonderful little getaway for us before the baby comes. Thanks for having us Roberts family!! :)

Life

2010-10-19T16:57:00.002-04:00

Once again, the busyness of life has prevented me from posting regular blogs. Here's a little snapshot into what we've been up to lately...

Chad rode 60 miles in "Ride for Refugees" in order to raise money for different refugee organizations. Our friend Chuck, from seminary, passed away in the spring after a very short battle with melanoma. Last year Chuck helped organize the ride. In his honor, a group from seminary rode this year.
This is Anthony, a teenager that Chad mentors. Chad and Anthony both got a great ski run in a couple weeks ago when the weather was in the 70's. It was a beautiful day! Chad is still hoping for 1-2 more runs yet this year. :)
We went to Traverse City with our friends Mike and Krista. We had a beautiful hotel room overlooking the bay. It was the most peaceful, gorgeous fall morning!
We found a place to hike, skip stones, and enjoy the beautiful views up north. The leaves were GORGEOUS too! It was a great little getaway. Thanks Mike and Krista for joining us!
This past Saturday we went to the Iowa/Michigan football game in Ann Arbor. As you can see, we were cheering for Iowa. It was a day full of tailgating, hanging out with great friends, watching Iowa win, and beautiful fall football weather. Our friend Mark got us tickets, and we couldn't be more thankful! It was a wonderful day!

Canning Applesauce

2010-10-02T14:19:00.003-04:00

Fall is officially here! The temperatures have cooled, the leaves are just starting to change colors, and the apples are ready to be picked! Last week Sunday Chad and I went to Crane Orchards to pick our annual apples. Today was the day that those apples became applesauce and apple pie.

Chad was riding 60 miles on his bicycle today in an event called "Ride for Refugees". Therefore, my mom and I decided that it would be a good day to take over the kitchen and conquer applesauce. Last year my parents gave me an applesauce processor, so we got to use that for the first time today. As you can see, it just pours out the good stuff on one side and the junk on the other. You don't even have to peel or core the apples! I don't think I'd ever make homemade applesauce without it... it's a beautiful thing. :)
In the end, 74 pounds of apples produced 30 quarts and 11 pints of applesauce, one beautiful apple pie, and 3 leftover apples for eating. Canning is a lot of work, but it sure is worth it when you get to eat homemade applesauce all year long! A big thank-you to my mom for giving a good chunk of the day to help me. It would take FOREVER by myself! :)

A Day to Celebrate!

2010-09-29T13:23:00.005-04:00

On this day three years ago, Chad and I were preparing for the day that would forever change our lives. Through the chaos, joy, laughter, and memorable moments, we became Mr. and Mrs. De Jager.

Chad, you are such a blessing to my life! It has been a fast three years, but full of adventures. I would never want to be journeying through life without you by my side. We make a good team... Together, we are one. As we prepare for another year together, a year destined to be full of life changes, I thank God for the blessing of marriage!

We have another reason to celebrate to day... in two months from today, our first child is due to arrive into the world! Granted, it would be a miracle if the baby actually came on the due date, but it's fun to celebrate the little milestones along the way. We cannot wait to meet our little peanut and become a family of three! :)

Apple-Picking and Master's Degrees

2010-09-27T21:19:00.002-04:00

So this is going to be a random post, but that's ok. :) Sometimes life is just random.

This past Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous fall day! The temperatures were cool, the sun was shining, and the sky was a bright blue. We had planned to go apple-picking no matter what the weather, but we couldn't have asked for anything better! I (Kim) LOVE going to pick apples... it's not just the picking, it's the whole experience. Chad humors me and comes along since he knows how much I love it!
We picked about 75 pounds of apples! My mom is coming over on Saturday for our annual applesauce-making day, so we need lots of apples. I am also hoping to make at least a couple apple pies!
On a completely unrelated note, I received my official diploma in the mail for "Master of Education" from Grand Valley State University. It feels so official now so I decided I better take a picture of it! It has been a HUGE relief to have my coursework finished and not have to think about homework every night when I get home. The summer was long trying to finish my thesis project, but I am now feeling that it was worth the work!

The Nursery

2010-09-17T21:13:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted a lot lately, so I thought I'd put a few pictures of the nursery. It's still a work in progress, but it's really fun to have it start coming together!

The rug matches the bedding I picked out for the crib. It's SUPER cute!! I was thrilled when it arrived in the mail!
Since we don't know what we're having, I just have a couple things in regards to clothing. It was fun to clear out the closet and start thinking about organizing baby clothes. :)

Update

2010-09-06T11:27:00.006-04:00

I just went through the pictures on our camera and decided I should just do a random update of things that have been happening the past couple weeks. So here ya go!

Last weekend we went camping with Doug and Carrie. It was one of the only weekends we could both make it work, and it was nice because it was our last weekend before school started. We went to Tri-Ponds and had a wonderful time! The weather was perfect!

At my 26 week Dr. appointment, I was measuring small. So the doctor decided she wanted to do an ultrasound just to be sure the baby was growing appropriately and that all was good. It made me a little nervous at first, but it was amazing to see our little peanut again. Ultrasounds are incredible! You can't get a great picture because the baby's getting too big, but it was so much fun to see the baby moving around during the ultrasound. Everything looked great!

Last week Tuesday was our first day at Zeeland Christian. I am now teaching 3rd grade for the first time after being in 1st grade 3 years and 2nd grade 4 years. I have 1/2 of my same class, so it was a fun week getting to know the rest of the kids. I have a wonderful job!

Today I am 28 weeks along in this pregnancy with only 12 weeks to go. I'm still pretty comfortable and don't feel overly big, so that is a blessing. I have another appointment tomorrow and now start going every 2 weeks. I love going in and being able to hear the baby's heartbeat, knowing that everything is ok. The reality of the baby coming is starting to set in, and I've been busy cleaning out the nursery and setting things up. When I have more things up, I'll be sure to post pictures. :)

College Football

2010-09-04T20:41:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures to go with this post, but I wanted to give an update about what our weekend has centered around thus far. :) Today was the kick-off to the Iowa Hawkeye football season. Chad is a VERY big fan, and so are our friends Doug and Carrie (also from Iowa but now living in GR). In preparation for the big game today, we actually spent the night at their house last night.

The evening began with a meal at the Pizza Ranch in Hudsonville. We then headed to their house in GR to play games and hang out for the evening. Saturday morning brought with it breakfast together and then preparing for the game. The boys watched last year's bowl game while Carrie and I went to the local farmer's market. We then played a few rounds of corn hole before the game began. Thankfully, the Hawkeyes looked good and won their game! They played Eastern Illinois, so they were definitely supposed to win. But it's always nice when they actually pull through and look pretty good.

I am definitely an Iowa fan, but I haven't given up my Michigan State fandome. We did a little channel flipping during the game to catch a little bit of the MSU game, and they also came out with a victory. So today was a great day to the kick-off to college football season. :)

The Nursery

2010-08-27T13:18:00.003-04:00

My parents generously offered to buy our crib for us as their gift to us, so my mom and I went shopping a few weeks ago to find something we liked. We placed the order and were told it would be at least 8-10 weeks and likely a little longer. For those of you who know me, I'm horribly patient, especially when I'm excited about something! I've been wanting to clear out the nursery (which is the spare bedroom for now) for weeks, but with no crib, that didn't make sense. I was excited to place the order for the crib and psyched myself into a long wait ahead.

WELL... Last night we received a phone call that the crib and mattress had arrived! It was less than 3 weeks after we ordered and it was there. We had to pick it up within 3 days, so Chad and I as well as my parents made the trek to GR to get the crib. Once we got it home, Chad and my dad put it together and helped us move the spare bed into the other room.

The crib looks absolutely fantastic! I can hardly wait to get all the other nursery accessories to make it feel like we're ready for the baby!! :)

Niagara Falls

2010-08-26T12:50:00.004-04:00

Chad and I decided that we wanted to get away for a couple days before the chaos of a new school year comes along. It was also tempting to do one last road trip before the baby is born with our family of 2. We had a total of 3 days available for a trip, so we decided that Niagara Falls, Ontario was a good destination. Neither of us had ever been there and we had heard that you really don't need much more than a day there. SO... Last week Wednesday morning we headed out. Everything was going smoothly until we met up with a friend in GR to drop off a bag, filled the car up with gas, then tried to start it again and it was dead. Thankfully, that's where Chad used to work, so his mechanic from Tuffy drove out and determined that it was a poor battery connection. He got us started, we made it to the shop (barely), and after about a 2-hour delay, we had a new battery and were ready to continue on our journey. Could have been a lot worse!

Everything went very smoothly, and Chad was excited to be crossing the bridge into Canada!

Unfortunately, as soon as we were about 15 cars from the customs booth, traffic was stopped. After a few minutes of going nowhere we realized that no cars were being let through. People started getting out of their cars, walking around, talking to each other, trying to figure out what was going on. We came to find out that they were doing construction on the road and closed it right in the middle of the day for about 1/2 hour. That delayed us another 1 1/2 hours, but again, it could have been a lot worse.

The first night we got there we walked down to the falls and enjoyed the beautiful rainbow from the sun and mist. Our hotel was only a couple blocks away, so we enjoyed a calm, relaxed evening just checking things out. They did fireworks at night, so that was fun too!
Typically we hate tourism, but we decided that this was the place to just embrace it and enjoy the day. On Thursday we were full-out tourists and had an action-packed day. We rode our bikes north to the Rapids Walkway where you take an elevator down and there is a boardwalk right along the fastest rapids in the world. It was quite amazing!
We dropped our bikes off and headed to the Maid of the Mist, the boat that takes you really close to the falls. It was VERY cool and well worth the money!
Here's a picture of the Maid of the Mist heading into the falls. They pack about 500 people per boat, so it was an adventure. :)
We also did the "Journey Behind the Falls" where you again take an elevator down and are able to be quite close to the falls. There were a couple tunnels that actually took you behind the falls, but you really could only see a lot of water through the observation areas. It was cool, but not quite as cool as the Maid of the Mist.

The last thing we did was the 4D movie about how the falls have been formed and changed over time. It came in our "Adventure Pack" so we were a bit skeptical that it would be any good. The first part was quite lame, but then it ended up exceeding our expectations. I don't think we would have paid for it normally, but it was cool.

By the end of the day were were both beat from walking, riding our bikes, and standing in lines all day long. We relaxed a little while, ate supper, then drove down to Lake Erie for Chad to swim in another one of the Great Lakes. It was a chilly evening, but the water was warm, so it was fun to see another part of Ontario away from the tourism.

It was a great little getaway and fun to do something with just the 2 of us. Now we are gearing up for school as Chad prepares for his final semester of seminary and I gear up for teaching 3rd grade. :) We live a very blessed life and are continually thankful for all that God has given us.

25 Weeks

2010-08-17T23:09:00.002-04:00

Wow, it's hard to believe that we're already 25 weeks into this pregnancy. The crazier part is that we only have 15 more weeks to go... Time is flying!

I have definitely started to "pop" more and am looking more and more pregnant. :) Most days I still feel pretty "normal", which is a blessing. We are praying for this little peanut to stay put until the due date and that the rest of the pregnancy goes as smoothly as the first 25 weeks.

Tomorrow morning Chad and I are heading to Niagara Falls, Ontario to enjoy a quick little "escape" before school and seminary start up and before this new addition enters our family. I'm sure I'll have lots more to post when we arrive home!

Catching Up

2010-08-10T18:17:00.003-04:00

Wow, life has been CRAZY these last few weeks and I haven't had time to sit down and update the blog. Here's a little glimpse at the past few weeks:

Chad has been busy with his summer job "Blacktop Rec". It's a program that our church runs for youth in our neighborhood. Most of the kids would be considered "at risk". Kids are there from 11am-3pm every day and receive a free lunch as part of the program. Last week the fire department came and hosed off the kids... They had a blast! This is Chad's final week with Blacktop before he switches gears back to seminary for one more semester!

The De Jager clan came to Michigan mid-July for a week. They rented a cottage out by Lake Michigan. The weather was hot and humid, so it was a great week to be by the lake. Anne is due with their first baby on October 20th, so she's just 6 weeks ahead of me. We're excited for our kids to be so close in age!

This past weekend several of my college friends got together in Fremont. Corrie (my roomie) was in town staying with her parents for a couple weeks, so we decided to take advantage and get together. They threw me a surprise baby shower, which was really fun! It was the first shower I've had, and it's so fun to start getting baby things. :)

Corrie is 27 weeks, I am 24 weeks, and Sara is expecting a baby from Ethiopia hopefully within the next 6-9 months. All our kiddos are going to be quite close in age! Next time we all get together, it'll be a baby fest. :)

Camping

2010-08-03T08:56:00.003-04:00

This summer has been spent finishing my Master's of Education in Reading at GVSU. I have been quite unmotivated, and it's been a long, tedious process. Last week I finished my last chapter and sent it off to my professor for review. I am still tweaking a few things based on feedback, but it's by and large finished! Chad decided to surprise me this past weekend and take me camping. He came home from work on Friday and said he had planned two nights at Tri-Ponds campground where our good friends live and run the campground. I LOVE camping, so this was definitely a treat. We borrowed a wonderfully large tent from a friend, packed up the car, and headed to the campground. It was so nice to get away from the busyness of life and simply relax. I feel that I really haven't been able to do that all summer, so it was a much needed get away. I honestly have the most thoughtful husband a girl could ask for! Unfortunately, we took the camera but failed to take any pictures. So here's at least an update. :)

Ultrasound!

2010-07-16T12:52:00.002-04:00

This morning we had our 20-week ultrasound. It was absolutely amazing to see such a little person so perfectly formed! We feel incredibly blessed with this pregnancy and cannot wait to meet our little bundle of joy. The baby was moving quite a bit, so it was hard to get a clear picture. The ultrasound was the best way to start off the day! :)

HALF-WAY!!

2010-07-13T23:40:00.002-04:00

Yesterday (Monday) marked our half-way point for this pregnancy!! It's very hard to believe it's already been 20 weeks. We have our ultrasound Friday, so we're pretty excited to see this little one in action. And no... we're not finding out the baby's gender. You'll all have to wait in eager anticipation until Baby De Jager officially makes an appearance outside the womb. :)

19 Weeks

2010-07-07T13:58:00.006-04:00

We are officially 19 weeks along! The baby is now about 6 inches long (head to rump) and approximately 8 1/2 ounces. Only one more week 'til the half-way mark! It's hard to believe that time is going so quickly. November 29 still feels like a long ways off, but I'm sure the time will continue ticking away much faster than I expect!

One exciting area of parenting that we have finalized is that we will be using cloth diapers! My mom used cloth on all three of us, and I am very excited to be using it for our kids as well. It saves LOADS of money as well as many tons of diapers being thrown into landfills. They've made it SO easy and super-cute as well, which is a bonus!
There is an area store called Ecobuns, and I met with Kellie, the owner, for about 1 1/2 hours last week to get the low-down. She was incredibly helpful and answered all my questions (for now). :) It's a bit of cost up-front, but pays itself off quite quickly.

18 weeks

2010-06-30T08:40:00.003-04:00

As of this past Monday, I am 18 weeks along with this pregnancy. It's hard to believe that it's already almost halfway through! We have our ultra sound in a couple weeks, and we're both really excited for that. It's been a fun journey thus far, and I'm sure it will only continue to get better and better from here.

Here is a picture of me at 17 weeks.
This week the baby is about the size of a deli pickle: approximately 5 1/2 inches long and around 5-7 ounces. I have started feeling the baby move, which is VERY cool! It is still pretty faint and I question if that's really the baby sometimes, but I'm fairly certain. :)
Here I am at 18 weeks. My belly is definitely growing!

Happy Father's Day (Unofficially)

2010-06-20T19:14:00.004-04:00

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful fathers out there! I have been blessed with a wonderful dad who has been loving and supportive of all my endeavors over the past 29 years! Now I am blessed with a wonderful father-in-law who also loves and supports us as we continue this life together. We truly are blessed with the fathers God has placed in our lives!

This is the first Father's Day that Chad gets to celebrate being a dad (unofficially). He was really sweet and got me beautiful flowers for Mother's Day, so I wanted to do something for him as well. He has clearly let me know that this child WILL be an Iowa Hawkeye fan and nothing else! I decided that for this Father's Day, I would buy the baby its first hawkeye gear. I have to admit... it's pretty stinkin' cute! :)

I know all you other wives won't agree with me, but I have the very best husband in the entire world! He is incredibly supportive, loving, and encouraging. I am SO excited to see him as a dad, and I know he's going to be fantastic! So to my absolutely incredible husband,
HAPPY 1st FATHER'S DAY!!

House For Sale!

2010-06-16T11:31:00.004-04:00

We have officially put our house on the market as of this week. Chad finishes seminary in January, graduates in May and will hopefully have a job somewhere by this time next year. We decided it would be in our favor to sell the house this summer so we are free to move wherever need be next year at this time. Plus, with a baby on the way, if we can take one stress out of our lives, that would be nice. :)

This house is absolutely wonderful! We will be very sad to leave, but yet it's exciting to think of all the new opportunities ahead of us. If you know anyone looking for a house in a beautiful Holland neighborhood, send them our way! :)

16 Weeks

2010-06-14T15:25:00.006-04:00

It's hard to believe that I'm already 16 weeks along with this pregnancy! The baby is about the size of an avocado this week, approximately 4 1/2 inches long (crown to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. Other fun information is that the heart is now pumping around 25 quarts of blood per day! That's pretty hard to believe for such a tiny little thing.

I am beginning to show a little more, but it's still small in comparison to what it will be a few weeks/months down the road. My mom lovingly took me to buy some much needed maternity clothes last week, so I feel like I actually have a choice of wardrobe again! It was kind of fun to clear out my closet and put my maternity clothes in it for the next several months. :)

SUMMER!!

2010-06-12T10:40:00.003-04:00

We are officially on Summer Vacation!! I finished with students last week Friday and then had Monday and Tuesday of in-service at school. Chad has been done for awhile, but it feels different having both of us home. This is (hopefully) our last summer when Chad is not working at a church, so we are trying to take advantage of this time together.

We are keeping busy though, and our summer is fairly full even with summer vacation. Chad will be working at our church full-time with a program called "Blacktop Rec". It is a program that goes from 11am-3pm every day for kids kindergarten-8th grade. It provides organized activities for mostly at-risk kids in our neighborhood as well as a free lunch for them. Different activities include going to the pool, the local park, playing sports on the blacktop at church, etc. Chad is really excited about the experience! He has already had several meetings with his college and high school staff, but the kids begin officially on Monday. We'll see how it goes!

I will be spending most of my time either tutoring at school or working on finishing up my masters program. Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday mornings will be spent tutoring. I am still trying to figure out exactly how to carve out time specifically for my paper, but it will get done as well. It's a little hard to find motivation for that when I'd rather be doing just about anything else! It will feel GREAT to have my master's project finished and have my master's degree before the start of next school year... especially with the baby coming!

We are also putting our house up for sale next week. We met with realtors this week and are really happy with who we are going to use. We are hoping to get the sign out front by early next week! The market is pretty slow right now, but we are praying that there is a buyer who will enjoy our house as much as we have. It will be really sad to leave our house and our neighborhood, but we feel that it's a good plan in preparing to go wherever Chad gets a call in a year from now. It will also be really nice if we can sell and move before the baby comes. Then we can get settled into a rental that we know we'll stay for the coming year. :)

So we are enjoying summer, but we definitely have a full schedule! It should leave us plenty of time to relax and hopefully get good use of the water, so we'll see how it goes. :)

Memorial Day Weekend

2010-06-06T12:39:00.003-04:00

SO... I'm about a week late with this post. Better late than never, right? We had a great Memorial Day weekend. Scott, Christina, Tony, Danielle, and Zoe Schnyders came to visit us from Ohio. They are college friends of Chad, but I have gotten to know them over the years as well. We always love when we get to see them!

Saturday night we went to the Whitecaps game in GR. One of our friends works for a company that has a suite, so we were able to enjoy some great seats and great environment for hanging out and spending time together. The boys decided to split a "Fifth Third Burger". It was mediocre at best, but insanely large!
It was Scott's birthday, so they announced a "Happy Birthday" over the loudspeaker and the Whitecaps Pig came and joined in the fun in the suite.
The weather was absolutely perfect, so we enjoyed a lot of time outside. We went to my parents' house on Sunday. Some people enjoyed a swim in Lake Mac and then the crew went out to Lake Michigan on the boat. A few brave souls decided to jump into the chilly water of Lake Michigan. The water temperature was only in the upper 50's. Good thing the air was warm!

We were so excited that our friends came to visit, and had a great time with them. Thanks guys for taking the time to make the drive and spend a few days in Michigan!

BIG NEWS!!

2010-05-24T21:35:00.003-04:00

Yup, that's right... Chad and I are excited to announce that we are expecting our first child this fall!! We are THRILLED and cannot wait to add the new addition to our family.

I am 13 weeks and already starting to show a little baby bump. My clothes are definitely fitting a bit tighter these days, which is both fun and frustrating. :) It'll be nice when I really look pregnant instead of just look like I've gained some weight!
The baby is about the size of a Nutter Butter this week and is looking more and more like a little person. We have been absolutely blown away with the miracle of life within me and are constantly baffled by all that takes place so early in pregnancy.

Things have been going very smoothly thus far, and we are so thankful for that. I have not been sick at all and other than being more tired and more hungry, I feel great! We are praying for a smooth and healthy pregnancy for the remainder of the time.

Busyness of Life

2010-05-22T22:42:00.003-04:00

I have been very bad at updating the blog these days, so I thought I should at least write a quick update on life. Chad officially finished his second year of seminary last week! He has one semester left to go and is planning to be completely finished with school in January. We are both anticipating the end with a lot of excitement. He has classis exams on Tuesday and is then off until the end of August. Chad's brother Mike graduated from Sioux Falls Seminary today, so Chad is off in Iowa celebrating with Mike and hanging out with the De Jager clan.

Due to the fact that I have only two weeks left of school for this year, I decided I should stay back in Michigan instead of heading with Chad to Iowa. It's crazy to think the end of another school year is coming, but I'm definitely excited for summer. Because Chad has been gone, I've gotten a TON of stuff done. I spent about 5 hours at school today getting everything set for the end of the school year as well as beginning to pack up my stuff to move classrooms. I am changing from 2nd grade to 3rd grade next year, and I also need to move to a new room. It felt really good to be organized and to start packing some of my stuff up that I won't need again until next school year.

Life has been incredibly busy these days, but we are anticipating a much more relaxing summer ahead. Chad will be working full-time at our church. I will be finishing my master's degree and also tutoring during the summer. But life should slow down and allow us to really enjoy time with friends, relaxing, and taking in all that summer as to offer. Since Chad graduates from seminary next spring, there's a good chance that this summer will be the last one in Michigan. Hopefully he'll have a "call" from a church by this time next year!

The Windy City

2010-05-04T17:08:00.005-04:00

This past weekend we enjoyed a great time with Kendall and Ashley in Chicago! We met up in Indiana and went into the city Saturday afternoon through Sunday evening.

There was a walk to protest the new immigration law that was passed. We could watch it outside our hotel window since we were staying right downtown.
Deep dish pizza is always one of the highlights of our trips to Chicago. On Saturday night we met up with a friend of Chad's from college for supper. It was GREAT and exceptionally filling!

Sunday morning we had time to walk around downtown Chicago. We could walk right from our hotel, which was a bonus. Millennium Park is always a fun place to visit! Chicago has done a great job making their lakeshore very people-friendly.
Sunday afternoon was the Cubs vs. Diamondbacks game. It's been a couple years since I've seen the Cubs win in person, so their 10-5 win was a highlight! Plus, we got to sing "Go Cubs Go" with the rest of the stadium. :) It was fun to be there!

Spring Break 2010

2010-04-11T16:52:00.004-04:00

This past week was Spring Break for both Chad and I. Since this very well might be the last year we both have Spring Break, we decided to make the most of it. My parents offered to vacation with us and therefore fly us (in my dad's plane) all over the eastern part of the United States.

Our first stop was Baltimore, Maryland. Several of my cousins live there, and two of them have had babies in the last few months. Unfortunately, the big family picture was not on my camera, so I don't have much to show from that trip. This is the boys playing on the balance board we encountered during one of our walks. We had a WONDERFUL time with family and spent Easter weekend with them.

Easter evening we ventured downtown Baltimore to walk around and have supper. My dad was the only one who'd been there, so we had a fun time exploring. This was a cool waterfall area that had walkways all through it, right on the waterfront.

The next stop was Atlanta, Georgia. We left early Monday morning and flew down to Atlanta in time to catch the season opener of the Cubs vs. Braves. It was Chad's birthday, and he's a huge Cubs fan. With season opener, it was PACKED and they had a lot of great things going on for the fans.

It is the former Olympic Stadium that they turned into "Turner Field". It was BEAUTIFUL, and you could see a great view of downtown from our seats.

Unfortunately the Cubs got smoked by the Braves, but it was still a really fun time. Chad got a Cubs jersey for his birthday from my parents, so we were sporting our Cubs gear. One more stadium was checked off our list. :)

Our final destination was Tampa, Florida to visit the Hillary family. We saw them last Spring Break as well, so we declared it a "tradition". It was wonderful to hang out with them, play games, and get to know Clare a little better. Chad and I got to baby-sit Clare on Thursday morning, so the only shot I captured was a very rare moment when Clare was sitting still. :)

We flew back to Michigan on Friday and enjoyed the beautiful view of the country from about 6-8,000 feet. It was a wonderful vacation filled with quality time with friends and family. What more can you ask for? Thanks to everyone who allowed us to interrupt your lives for a few days. We really appreciated it!