The Boog

Aww.... she looks so peaceful.

Reading with mom - the attention span is very small. :)
Family bowling and pizza night! Alex always has this look of confusion.Again....
Aren't we cute? :)
See that letter "C" - yeah, that's me. I whomped everyone that game with a 180.
Easter pictures! A photo shoot soon to come with this outfit. Hehe. :)
Isn't she the cutest?
Dad feeding Anna, but what she really wants is a place to put her foot.

This was hilarious. I finished feeding her and almost immediately her eyes got real heavy.
Eating an orange with grandpa. She liked them almost too much.
Fiber may be a better way to go.

Anna is certainly showing her personality these days. She always rolling from her back to her tummy and back over again. She's almost to the point where we could walk away and come back a couple minutes later and she'd be across the room. We need gates ASAP. :) Most of the time now she ends up on her tummy when she's sleeping. We hear her struggle a little at night when she's finding a comfortable spot and she's down for the count. She's talking loudly quite a bit, laughing, giggling and of course, showing off her flirty smile to anyone looking her way. Gary said he's going to have a talk with her. :) I think the next few weeks she'll start to put sounds together a bit more than screaming.

She has figured out how to make noises with her mouth, like boat sounds and thinks it's hilarious. In the meantime, she drools like a sive and should be wearing a bucket around her neck. No teeth yet, but I'm sure those are on the horizon as well. I thinks she's finally outgrown all her newborn clothes (hehe) and most of her 3 month clothes. I discovered last night that she has a giant Rubbermaid container full of clothes for 6-9 months. Yay! This weekend may entail going through the clothes in her room and replacing them with a new wardrobe. I wish I got a new wardrobe every 3 months. :)

Despite trying to keep her clean from all her drool and dribbles, her daily bath may have given her a case of eczema on her legs. So we bought a vat of Euciderm and it seems to be doing the trick. What else... she holds her own bottle most of the time and doesn't want to when she see's moms hand by the bottle. Still sleeps through the night. She sees something from a bit of a distance and puts her hands out to get it. Still loves to put everything in her mouth. And this weekend begins baby food: round 1. Not sure what yet, but it'll be veggies. She enjoyed the juice from an orange last weekend with grandpa, but we're going to hold off on other big people foods for awhile yet. She's also gained yet another nickname of Booger or Boog, probably b/c of all the runny noses we've had in her short 5 months.

As for Anna's entourage: Gary's been dealing with a cold like sickness along with most of his office. Oh the joys of working at a college and coming home to a child who's been in daycare. Hopefully we're on the mends now. Work is going well. I'm keeping busy at work as our busy season is starting up soon - good thing I'm getting another graphic designer in here to help! We're both doing quite a bit of side work this year - a couple of big websites for local builders. I'm also doing some of my own graphics stuff while Gary keeps fixing peoples computers. We're trying to develop a routine and designated nights to work on side work. We're getting there! We are so ready to get outside - we've been looking at strollers/carts to attach to our bikes so we can all go out on a bike ride. And I'm ready to get some flowers and maybe veggies in too! So many things, so little time.

We enjoyed the Easter weekend in Chicago with my side. We had a trecherous drive in. It took us 4 hours instead of about 2 1/2. Saturday we went bowling and I cleaned up with a 180 and 140! Then we had pizza and finished up the night with a round table discussion of homework and planning a baby shower. Sunday we went to church and saw a lot of Anna's little friends. We had a good dinner with the Tiemens and Madany's. Then scooted home in the normal amount of time and got Anna back to her normal schedule. It was a great weekend!

I hope this finds all of you well! Have a great rest of the week and pray for no more snow!

Love,

Gary, Christie and the Boog

Spring is in the air!

My goodness, it's been so long since we've seen the sun or the grass or heard the birds chirping. 40 degrees sure feels like summer from what our winter has been like. We even were able to get out on Friday night for a walk! She loved it, checking everything out, head held high.

Let's see, where did we leave off from last post? Gary has since gone and returned back from DC, I think with a bit more knowledge than when he left. Anna and I managed without him, but loved to have him back! Gary and I do a lot of things together and when he's gone I realized how much I do value all that he does. I don't want to say help b/c we do it together, but his portion of what we do, I appreciate him doing it. :)

Anna is starting her 3 week of rice cereal and we love it most of the time. She has even gone up to 2 Tbsp of cereal and usually eats most of it. This week and next of the cereal, then we can throw in veggies. On to multi-color surprises in the diaper! She is talking up a storm, sometimes with her tongue other times really finding her range of voice and noises. She especially likes talking to her hands - they are wonderful company. :) She has successfully figured out how to roll on her tummy, get hand she always got stuck - unstuck and somewhat enjoys it. She, of course, did that when daddy was out of town. So you leave her for 30 seconds on her back and you come back to her groaning on her tummy. She also enjoys sleeping on her tummy much to our nervous and paranoid first parents dismay. I know that she's now strong enough to get her head up and fall asleep or cry for us. But still. She can grab for things that are sitting in front of her and of course, eats them. Her new favorite toy as of today, Pink Peep Bunny from Grandma Carol.

She had her first (early) Easter with Grandma and Grandpa Tidd today and a special basket from "Grandma" Carol. She got socks, PJs, hats, headbands, toys, a book and shoes all in a pink purse and a oinky pig basket. Way too cute. She's the sparkle in all their eyes and they spoil her rotten. :)

I'm keeping quite busy at work now that our busy season has arrived due to trade shows and new advertising campaigns. Gary and I are also keeping busy with website jobs and me trying to work on my Etsy shop (www.christabelle81.etsy.com). It's fun. We're also in the midst of my "declutter" resolution. We started going through the basement as it's becoming a bunker for all of our stuff. I'm letting go of things that I'm just holding onto for no good reason. I'm excited to get the house back into shape and get rid of all the stuff weighing us down. Gary is doing well at work - keeping busy there. We're always on the go, here there and everywhere, so we're trying to slow that down, but it doesn't always work. Sigh.

That's the low down on what's going on with the Tidd's. We're excited for spring, to get the yard all beautiful with new landscaping and flowers. To go to the beach, take walks and get outside! I hope everyone has a great week!

Here are a bunch of pictures to look at. I'll upload a few to the blog, but for now here's them all for the 5th month of Anna! http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31134&l=2f860&id=501622976

Love to you all!
Gary, Christie and Rolly Polly Anna

What a beautiful day!

Mmm.... rice cereal, not too sure about it but it's wonderful to wear!

This is her new way to talk - looking slightly unsure and using her tongue.
Aww... so precious on daddy.
What a cute family. :)
The proud grandparents

What a beautiful day today was! It was sunny, warmer than it's been, together with family and friends to celebrate Anna's baptism. In our baptism class a couple weeks ago, Pastor Mical explained what the sacraments meant in a unique way. God gives us all a check with our names on it when we are baptised. Written out to us, with today's date, paid in full and signed by God. From there, we decide what we do with it. When we decide to profess our faith and understand what God has done for us through his Son, that's when the check is signed by you to cash in. Sometimes the check gets lost or torn up, but He always give us another one when we feel it's time for us to profess our faith.

It was also very special that Anna was able to wear my mom's baptism dress as she's named after her (Deanna Lynn) and wear the locket her great grandma and grandpa gave her. We were also surrounded and supported by our family and friends on such a special day!

On the other side of things, Anna had her 4 month shots on Thursday. She screamed something horrible when they did it, but a switch turns when she gets Tylenol and she's out. She did pretty well considering - she woke up at 4am that night, but went back to sleep when we gave her her pipe. The next day at daycare, she was running a fever but Grandpa Tidd saved the day and brought some Tylenol to her, gave him a quick smile and shortly there after took a 2 hour nap. Poor little girl. She's still stuffed up and on to coughing quite a bit. My guess is that it's draining into her throat and hopefully we can get over this sickness we can't seem to get over!

Saturday was another big day for Anna. She started on rice cereal. She wasn't quite sure of it at first, but after she realized it was ok, she wanted more. So for about a month we'll give her some twice a day and then start introducing veggies. We also found out that when she's in her walker, she loves to talk! After dad and Martha arrived, she carried on for about 15 minutes. It was really funny b/c she uses her tongue to do this kind of talking. She's really developing her own personality. She's now a hefty 11 pounds 14 ounces, 23.75" long and has a large melon (50th percentile). She's getting so big considering how small she was when she was born.

Gary and I are still doing well. Both of us are fighting different sicknesses still. Getting rather old, but we're managing. Saturday Gary heads off for a few days to Washington DC. Anna and I are going to hack out together for the couple work days Gary's gone. Work is certainly picking up for me and Gary is keeping busy as well. We're ready for this snow to be gone and we can get to spring.

Well off to bed to start another week!

Love to you all,

Gary, Christie and the Babbler

Trying to get back to normal

How adorable!
Our new thing to sit in! I can't really touch the ground yet, but it definitely keeps me occupied.
How can you not love this face!
Mom and Dad!

She looks a little freightened, but it's still a darn cute picture. This is Anna's new friend, Ethan. He's only a month older than Anna. :)
My current favorite picture.
What's going on out there?
Just chillin' while mommy takes more pictures of me.

I think we managed to kick the sickness out of the house today. Gary finally got something yesterday, whether it was something he ate or the flu just getting him now, but lets just say he didn't make it home in time. :) I'm feeling just fine and Anna is just about over her cold. Her cough is gone, thank goodness!

She's giggling all the time now, half the time she laughs at the wall or herself and sometimes for us. It's great! She's seriously the happiest baby I've ever known. She smiles and flirts with anyone she passes by. She only really crys when she's hungry, wet or just wants to be left alone. She still sleeps through the night and going to be around 8:30 every night. She has come to fear when mom's hand comes in front of her face b/c it's suck the boogies out time. :) She'll thank me for it later. She takes everything in and hates to miss anything (not like mom at all....). Gary and I talked tonight about how did we ever live life without her? She's so amazing and her life has only just begun!

This weekend is a big weekend for us. Anna is being baptised on Sunday at our church. All the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends will be around. What an amazing thing it is that we can be a part of the family of God and what the sacrament of baptism is. We were able to take the baptism class last week and it was great to hear more in depth what it truely means.

We're starting to revamp my website and I'm starting to sell things on my newest addiction, Etsy. You can check out my items for sale at http://www.christabelle81.etsy.com/. Soon I'll have my new site up and it'll be linked to that site. I'm also partnering up with a good friend of mine and we're going to see what the two of us can do! So stay tuned for new sites and items to purchase!

We're sick of the snow and cold. Our jobs are going well. Cars still run. We're doing well. :)

Enjoy the pictures!

Love,

Christie, Gary and the Banana

The New Bug

Yet another Anna inspired gizmo. A walker that a bit to big for her little body, but she'll be cruising in no time! When Anna is naps at home, she enjoys being surrounded by her blanket. She pulls it until is in just the right place for her to nestle her head.
Mommy couldn't resist the adorable hat and jean jacket.
Anna just loves these shots. :) Ha!
Now dad, this is how it's going to be. Hehe. Anna telling dad that she rules the roost.

We thought we kicked the bug out, but instead a new cold and cough bug came for a visit and is still residing in our house. We got through the flu (Anna and I) and then we both started coughing and had a stuffy nose. Fortunetly I can take something to help it and I know how to blow my nose, but Anna is a different story. Attack of the blue bulb to get the boogies out has become a hated event by Anna. On top of that, we worked some nose drops in there to thin it out and more frequent burping to keep it all down. She wailed and probably thought we were the meanest parents ever, but soon after she realized we're ok. So I'm feeling better, about 85% and Anna is slowly getting better. Her cough has lessoned and we're constantly sucking out the boogies. She still sleeps through the night and takes good naps during the day most of the time. We've also bumped her up to a 6oz bottle as she got so mad for awhile there when her bottle was empty. We'll talk with the doctor at the end of the month to discuss rice cereal!

She is plumping up now, complete with dimples on her elbows and knees and her thighs are chubbin up! So cute. She smiles/flirts all the time. And we finally got her to laugh more than once, in fact, she did it for about 10 minutes straight! It's so darn cute! She does it best when daddy is holding her and I come up to her and say boo, she giggles away! Although we did find out that she got her "scared" feeling. Gary and I were playing with her about a week ago, doing boo to her, and one time we triggered it. She looked startled and started to ball! It was sad but kind of funny to see such a reaction.

She's truely coming in to her own person. Gary and I often talk about what she might be like when she gets older. What personality will she have, what her hair will look like when she gets rid of her mullet, all the things she'll say. I don't want this time to go by so fast but in the same right I'm curious and excited to see what kind of person she'll be.

We're out of car limbo! We got our grey Taurus last week (complete with remote starter). It's nice to have our own cars again. We're slightly contemplating a mini-van, but I really don't want one. We'll see, no 2nd child yet. :) Our jobs are going well, keeping us busy. We have baptism class this Sunday and on March 2 is Anna's baptism. It's exciting, another milestone for her and for us. Then the following weekend, Gary's off to DC for a few days for work. A conference this time. Should be cool.

Well hopefully we don't get dumped on this weekend, but good old West Michigan and that darn lake effect snow might get us again. Yay. Have a great weekend and stay warm!

Love,

Gary, Christie and the Giggle Butt

The Bug

Anna (3 months, almost 4) and Mason (6 months)A few photos after we started feeling better today!



Took a little morning nap with mom and dad before we headed to the doctor's
My favorite one from today!

Well we got it. The Bug. The Flu Bug that is. What all started out to be what we thought was a reaction to regular formula for a couple of days turned out to the be the flu for both Anna and I. It all started Friday when we picked her up from day care and we were informed that she spit up half her 2nd bottle and refused her 3rd. I thought, ok, it's the formula and I rushed home to get the soy again. I fed her some of the bottle as she "gagged" on the last couple ounces. I set her in her swing to eat and out came about 2 bottles worth. Scary for me. Soon after I stripped her down and she was smiling from ear to ear. Saturday morning was good, Saturday afternoon she threw up about half as much as the night before. Then I fell victim to the flu and knew it wasn't the formula. Sunday we all lounged around the house all day not feeling too great, nothing came out of Anna and I. Monday I stayed home still not feeling well and not wanting to be the mom who brought the sickness in, kept Anna home too. She threw up again. Fine afterwards. At this point we called the nurse and said to give her Pedialyte. We took it as give her that with the formula. Tuesday Gary stayed home with Anna and she threw up again. Called the nurse again and found out we were supposed to just give her Pedialyte. Had a doctor's appointment scheduled for today. Which brings us to now. I stayed home today due to the horrible West Michigan weather (it dropped 30 degrees in under 12 hours - going from rain on my way home yesterday to 1-4 inches of snow today with high winds!). We got her to the doctor, said she looked good. She didn't have a fever, breathing sounded good and were instructed to continue her on Pedialyte for the rest of today and start back on formula tomorrow. Whew. What a long long weekend it's been learning how to care for a sick baby for the first time! Now I know and we'll be more calm and know just what to do. :)

With that said, Anna now weighs a whopping..... 9 pounds 15 ounces! We almost have a 10 pounder on our hands. :) Hehe. Still a peanut but getting cuter with her smiles, talking and still trying to giggle again. She loves to try and sit up when you have her a semi-upright position, loves to stand when you grab her fingers and she'll stay there for quite awhile! She's moving onto 3 month old clothes when she's almost 16 weeks old! Hehe. I guess it's nice to not have to guess what size she it, she's the one of few babys that are actually wearing her size.

I'm feeling better for the most part, a few side effects of the flu still working there way out. Gary came out of it unscathed - he filled the part of caring daddy and wonderful husband as usual. :) We're still in car limbo. Ugh. Patience is a virtue. We're shovling our way out of drifting snow and going to work each day.

For anyone who is interested in coming, Anna's baptism is on March 2 at our church, Fairhaven Ministries in Hudsonville, MI. It'll be at the 10:45 service and we'll have a lunch/cake and coffee thing afterwards at our house. More details to come. Let me know if you'd like to come and we'll see where you can fit in if you come for the whole weekend.

Enjoy the few pictures I took since we got sick.

Love,


Gary, Christie and Pookie

Drool Monster

Anna has now figured out how to saturate her clothes before we even start the day! She has taken on drooling as a favorite pastime. Along with that, she is growing out of newborn clothes. They are becoming too short in the torso and arms, so we're packing them up after she wears them one last time. Kind of sad as her "coming home" outfit is wrapping up it's life until the next girl. Oh well, on to the next batch of cute clothes!

Not only is she getting bigger, but she's getting smarter! No bias opinion there. :) If she's laying down and you hold on to her finger, she tries to pull herself up to sit. From there, she really enjoys standing up. She holds her weight for quite some time. She may be a walker before she crawls. Oh dear. :)

She's also finding her fingers, but more so her thumb in a desperate need to suck on something, anything! We also think she's going to start to teeth soon. Instead of wanting to suck on our fingers, she wants to clamp down on our fingers, not the numerous teething rings she has, but just our fingers. When we do have her standing, she's much more interested in pulling our fingers to her mouth than working on the whole balance thing.

She's grabbing on to her "friends" on her play mat and pulling them (or trying to) to her mouth.She's sometimes is able to get Lulu the Ladybug to sing her the ABC's - only if she flings her limbs around enough. She's smiling all the time, still trying to get out more giggles. No more since last week. She's kicking around a lot in her bath tub, but still enjoying it and doesn't mind water in her eyes. I just tell her to blink it out. :) She's really turning on her little personality everyday. It's so much fun to see her grow and do new things each day. We really love this whole parenting thing (ask us about that in a couple years, hehe).

Here's the Gary and Christie report: Jobs going well, getting busier for both of us. Gary's trip to Norfolk was good, learned a lot and is still learning. I'm getting a few side jobs here and there, so that's a little extra money brought in. We're still in car limbo. Gary's driving the dying Taurus while I drive Gary's parents Sable as we await the new Taurus and finding out tonight that the truck has some more issues (Gary's dad is driving that). Stupid cars. The snow continues to fall and Gary continously digs us out. I'm trying to work out and eat better so I can beat my dad in a bet we have. Watch out dad, I got my new DDR mats tonight! Hehe. Otherwise, we're doing well and looking forward to the 40 degree weather we're supposed to have next week.

This is what Tuesday morning brought.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Love,

Gary, Christie & the Banana