Grandpa and Grandma Visit!

December is standing in the hallway of Grandpa and Grandma's hotel

Grammie plays "phone" with December (one of December's favorite games)

December loves Grammie's cell phone!

This picture and the one after it are taken at school, during Brad's graduation lunch

Grandpa tries to hand December her sippy cup before we go for a walk...but she keeps throwing it to the ground in a game she plays here with Grandpa

Heading to the park to play!

Grandma gives December her shoes at the park

Daddy helps December walk at the playground

Swimming at Grandpa and Grandma's hotel pool -- December loved swimming!

Uncle Stephen keeping December warm after she gets out of the pool

Daddy helping December learn how to drink out of a straw

As you can see, we had tons of fun playing with Grammie, Grampie, and Uncle Stephen! They came in on Wednesday and left yesterday...boy, we were sad to see them go! December loved having them around, and so did Brad and I! The reason why they came was for Brad's graduation, which happened on Friday...hopefully tomorrow I will tell you all about that!

Daddy and December Time

This was taken today -- Brad is helping December navigate the uneven ground

December's newest favorite thing to do: find a book, plop into your lap, and listen (as long as she is the one who gets to turn the pages)

It's getting to be December's bedtime, and Daddy is sharing her favorite blanket with her

More reading!

We are very excited because Grandpa and Grandma J and Uncle Stephen are coming into town tomorrow! They are coming in for Brad's graduation, which is on Friday. I showed December one of our dvds that has Grandpa, Grandma, and Uncle Stephen on it, so she will remember them tomorrow. Brad took his last exam earlier today, and he's in his last night class of the semester now. Yay! Tuesdays are rough here because of Brad's night class. December never sleeps well on Tuesday nights, and the only reason I can figure out why is because Tuesdays are the only nights when Brad isn't home. Somehow that throws her off, and she wakes up during the night because of it. Strange, eh??

December, the Dutch Baby

This is how December feels about getting her picture taken...

The doll that December is holding is dressed exactly like her (only December is supposed to be wearing that cute white hat, too)

The four grandchildren, all dressed up in Dutch costumes! (Makenzi at the top, then December, Markus, and Emilia)

Do you like these pictures?? They were taken yesterday at a studio...boy is it tough to get all four grandchildren to sit still enough for a picture! Makenzi and Markus aren't too bad...they're poseable and will eek out smile for the camera, if nothing else. But December and Emilia? Hehee, we sure make that photographer work for her money! We help the best we can, but there's not really a whole lot that can be done. Especially for December. If she doesn't feel like smiling, there is no way on earth you can finangle one out of her (as you can see by the top picture). Sad faces are cute, though, too.

Are you curious as to why they are dressed up in Dutch costumes? Well, at the beginning of May there is something called "Tulip Time." It's a week-long event -- imagine it like the Stampede, only trade the cow pies for tulips, the cowboy chaps and spurs for Dutch costumes, and the Cowboy hats for gray hair. I'm super excited to go! During it, there is a parade, and December and her cousins are going to walk in it -- wearing their cute costumes, of course. Brad and other members of my family will be watching the parade and getting pictures, so after it happens, I will show you the excitement!

The reason why they got special pictures taken of them is because my Mom wants them for her sewing room...she sews Dutch costumes. She works very hard at that and does great work -- can you tell from the pictures? December LOVES her Dutch dress and won't take it off. She is wearing it even right now...just for the fun of it. Yesterday, after the pictures, I took it off and put her regular clothes on her. A few minutes later, December had picked up the dress and was following me around with it, saying her classic "Nn! Nn! Nn!" I took it off and put it on her at least four times yesterday. This morning, after I dressed her, she went and sought out her Dutch costume again and wanted it put on. So today it is just staying on. I can't describe how much she loves that dress! Hopefully it won't get worn out before the parade...

December's Lunches

December is excited to help Mommy with laundry

Can you see them? 3 squirrels (the one on the far right is pretty hard to see -- it's on the fence post)

Yum, yum!

Here are some pictures taken out of one of the side windows of our house. I sometimes save December's food scraps from breakfast, lunch, and dinner -- she leaves a ton of scraps! -- and dump them outside, just outside the window. This provides great entertainment for December and I (okay...maybe just me), and it feeds the birds and squirrels, too! Yesterday, we had three squirrels and lots of birds eating December's leftover bits of corn dog...she loves the dog part but isn't so keen on the corn part.


This afternoon, Brad and I took December to the playground at the preschool near our house (the same one Grandpa and Grandma M. had taken her to last week). She loved it! Her favorite was the slides. It was beautiful here today (about 65 degrees F/about 18 degrees C) and sunny! Finally, the snow has left! Calgary sounds like it has been nicer than here lately. Brad and I were excited to be out, too, and I think we had as much fun on the playground as December did. We did the see-saw together and everything. There's nothing that brings out your inner child like a playground! You should really try it...or you can come over here -- we'll play with you!

Shoes...the Reprise

We are making progress! Every day since that last post about December and her shoe-phobia, Brad and I have been making a big deal about this pair of shoes. We say things like, "WOW! December, what beautiful shoes those are! I'll bet you will look really pretty with those shoes on...aren't they such nice shoes?" and on and on. A few days ago, December had progressed to the point where she would pick up a shoe and bring it to me (because she knew it made me say all kinds of wonderful things). As soon as she had deposited the shoe in my hand, she ran away as fast as her two little legs could carry her, to a safe distance where I couldn't put the shoe on her foot.

But, as you see in the picture, she has progressed even farther than that! She now is willing to put one--and only one--shoe on her foot and walk around in it! Even this is for limited periods of time, though. And yesterday, December and I took a walk, and she wore two shoes in her stroller! (For most of the walk, anyway.) She is getting there. Shoes are friends, not foes.

Go out? Without December??

December's sign for, "I'm sleepy. Please put me to bed now."

Daddy and December playing her all-time favorite game: "Chase me!"

Last Friday, Brad and I got the chance to go out on a date...alone. I was thrilled! We had been out together since December was born, but December always came with us. That worked better when she was younger -- and less mobile. Lately she can't sit still long enough to eat at a place where we'd actually have to sit down and wait for food to be brought to our table. Fast food restaurants are exactly December's speed.

Grandpa and Grandma M came over to babysit December, which, of course, she loved! December loves Grandma. They went and played at the park, on all the playground equipment. It sounds like they had a blast. Having Mommy and Daddy gone didn't bother her one bit, especially with a fun Grandpa and Grandma around to play with!

Brad looked online for indoor mini-golf places (don't you love mini-golf?), and he found one! It wasn't just your normal mini-golf, either. It was...Glo Golf! Wa-hoo! We mini-golfed under black lights, where the fish and sharks of their underwater theme glowed. Our golf balls glowed, too. It was fun! The black lights did mess with your eyes, though. After that, we went to the Olive Garden, my favorite restaurant. Since it was a Friday night, we did have to wait for half an hour or so, but I think it was worth it. It was definitely worth it for Brad and I to get to go out by ourselves again!

Oh! Side note: December's newest word is "Amen." It's so cute to hear her do this! I wish you could hear it. She doesn't do it spontaneously at the end of prayer yet, but she'll do it when she's prompted, at any time of the day.

Choosing Clothes

December dressed herself today. Do you like her outfit? She chose it out all by herself. She actually wanted to wear this outfit on Monday, but her mother is a bit pokey in understanding what she wants.

When I opened her drawer on Monday to chose her clothes for the day, December immediately snatched this pink dress and the red leggings out of the drawer. I took no notice, chosing what I wanted her to wear. But even after I dressed her, she still carried around these clothes. Throughout this week, I've tried to put the clothes away, but she's rescued them out of the drawer each time I've put them away. She has been carrying them from room to room every single day this week. Then, yesterday, it hit me. These clothes are the special ones she wants! I put them on her today. And now, December is happy that she doesn't have to carry these things around anymore, and she is happy to have communicated with her slow mother.

Easter Sunday

December carrying around her Easter egg bucket

December checking out the treasures inside her Easter egg bucket.

(L to R): Makenzi (4 yr), Markus (3 yr), Emilia (17 months), December

Here is December on Easter Sunday! I had fun trying to find December a dress for the occasion. She got her 1-year picture taken in it, too. On Sunday, Grandma and Grandpa put on Easter egg hunt for the grandkids -- an indoor Easter egg hunt, just like the indoor Halloween candy hunt last October. The weather is just too frigid here for outdoor candy hunts, I guess! I don't even think the kids minded, though. They were all thrilled to find the colorful, candy-filled eggs hiding under couches and on top of coffee tables. Emilia and December definitely get the most-improved award from the Halloween hunt to the Easter egg hunt! This time, they actually picked up eggs off the floor and put them into their own buckets...and then they stole the eggs out of each other's buckets and put them in their own.


If you are looking for a gift for a toddler, I've got one for you. December has been enjoying her M&M-filled plastic eggs more than any other toy she's ever had! She shakes them, she puts them in her bucket, she empties them out, she throws them across the room...normally when she does this, they don't break open, but when they do, she is extremely pleased with herself and gets a few tasty little rewards. So far, it's provided lots of entertainment for her (and me).

Shoes? No, thanks!

March 2007


December hates shoes. I don't understand this crazy feeling, but she refuses to wear them! I tried again yesterday to put shoes on her feet. This time I decided to put on those soft shoes, almost like slippers, without rubber soles. Surely she wouldn't mind that, right?!?


Wrong. As soon as I got them on her feet and stood her up, she started whining and crumpled to the ground. She refused to walk -- or even stand! She crawled along on the ground for a few paces. Then, she forgot she had shoes on her feet and began to stand. It didn't take long for her to remember those weird things that were strapped to her feet, and she crumpled down to the floor again, whining louder. I watched her antics for a while, trying not to show her that I thought it was quite funny, and then I thought, "I know: if anything can get her to walk, it would be a cookie!" So I went to the kitchen for a chocolate chip cookie, December's kryptonite.


I stood a ways away from her and held out the cookie. She hadn't moved. She showed immediate interest in the cookie and flailed about, trying to figure out a way she could get the cookie by not using her shoed feet. I waited, coaxing her. I was really suprised at her stubbornness! It wasn't like she couldn't get up and grab the cookie...she just wouldn't. She never did get her treat. Walking with shoes on her feet just wasn't worth a cookie to her.

December is smarter than I think she is. She knows a whole lot more than I think she does. For example, when she wants a snack, she comes and gets my attention by staring up at me and saying, "Nn! Nn! Nn!" She waits until I start to follow her, then she leads me to the kitchen and stands right under the counter where I keep the snacks. She points upward and says again, "Nn! Nn!" She has been doing this for a few weeks, but I'm still so amazed by this! I was just reminded of it again because she just made me follow her to get a snack right now. What did she want this time? A chocolate chip cookie, of course.

Our House

Last week, we put our house up for sale in preparation to move away for seminary. Would you like to buy our house? The market here is really, really bad, and there are tons of houses for sale. Here are some pictures of our house. The first two, of the outside of our house, were taken last summer -- it's not that nice and green here yet (but I really wish it was!). It's actually snowing here right now. Easter yesterday was colder than Christmas Day or New Year's Day this past year. Ick!

The other pictures are of our living room, kitchen, and dining room. I actually wanted this post to be about Easter and show you pictures that we took yesterday at my parents' house after church, but alas, I am dumb. I forgot my camera at my parents' house, so I can't download any pictures! As soon as I get them, though, I will put them up here.

Now I need to go dress December for the second time today...already. I dressed her, fed her breakfast (without a bib -- I should really know better than that), and she got grape jam ALL over her sweater and her pants. I cleaned her off the best that I could, took her out of her high chair, and peeled my hands off her sticky clothes. She's wandering around in her t-shirt and getting colder by the minute, so I should go put Outfit #2 on her. We'll see if that outfit can endure past lunch.

December from her birth until now!

December at the hospital -- February 2006

At the hospital, right after December was born -- February 15, 2006

1 month old -- March 2006

2 months old -- April 2006

3 months old -- May 2006

4 months old -- June 2006

5 months old -- July 2006

6 months old -- August 2006

7 months old -- September 2006

8 months old -- October 2006

9 months old -- November 2006

10 months old -- December 2006

11 months old -- January 2007

Happy Birthday, December! 12 months old -- February 2007

13 months old -- March 2007

There she is, all grown up!