A Busy December So Far

Sat. night we had Dan's work party. A very fun night out with the two of us, and a reason to get all dressed up(Dan's favorite part...NOT)

Friday night I went out with Debi and Jenni, down town Holland for Up On The Roof Tops. Very fun! We will probably make this a yearly tradition.

Holiday baking with my mom and sister at our house on Friday afternoon, we did it all! YUM YUM!

I would say our December has been VERY busy so far, but also VERY FUN! Many more partys to come too.

Silly Norah

I'm not sure how else to describe Norah's personality other than SILLY! She makes us laugh constantly. She is talking all the time now, and told me she loved me for the first time, it melted my heart! Here are a few new pictures.

finger painting. Norah's favorite craft lately.

Her hand me down cowboy boots from Auntie Lynn.

I heard Norah calling me into the living room the other day, only to find she had climbed into her babies stroller. I still can't believe she even fit in there.

20 Week Appointment

This is by far my favorite appointment. Dan and I had our ultra sound appointment on Thursday. We are thankful that so far everything looks just as it should. What a miracle it is to see the baby and know that God designed this precious child just for us, and all I have to do is carry it, and he will take care of the rest. Also, we decided to find out the baby's sex this time around. There was no doubting it, a Baby Boy is on the way! We couldn't be any more excited. Hopefully the second half will go as good, and quickly as the first half has.

Such A Big Girl Now

Big changes this past week for Norah. First of all we moved her into a Big Girl Bed as we say. So far she has done awesome in it. No attempts at getting out, and sleeping just as good as always, some days even better. It still feels strange to know she is sleeping in that big bed compared to her crib. She totally thinks she is big stuff though, and has to show everyone when they come over. We are hoping this will be one less adjustment for her when the baby comes. Also we started only one nap this week and she is doing surprisingly well with that too. It gives mommy a nice afternoon break. Norah is just as silly as ever, keeping us on our toes every minute, and has started showing a huge interest in Elmo and Sesame Street. We can't seem to get enough of her, nothing new there.

Hanging in Kalamazoo

This past weekend, Dan and I got a chance to hang with some close friends of ours who moved to Kalamazoo a while back. It was the first time we got to go and see there new home and some of there favorite hang outs. We first stopped at a brewery in Battle Creek. They were having a mustache contest. It was to raise money for some charity. So we spent a buck at the door and got this mustache in return. Our next stop was at a new casino that just opened. Dan and I were to cheep to gamble, but had fun taking it all in anyway. Then back to there house for a card game or to. It was great to hang out with the old group we used to see all the time. It was nice to have a weekend away with the two of us too. Thanks mom and dad J. for taking Norah for us.

Our Trip To The Zoo

This past Friday, Norah and I, along with Jen, Liam, and Grandma H. made a trip to the John Ball Zoo. We also got to celebrate Grandma's Birthday. It was a great day. The kids loved seeing all the animals. We took a stroller, but had no need for it once we got into the zoo. Norah and Liam had much more fun being out where they could get a closer look at the animals. Grandma even took Norah on a camel ride. She thought that was pretty awesome. I'm sure going to the zoo will keep on getting more fun the older Norah gets.

Almost 30!

Well, Dan is officially almost 30, as of this past Thursday. Dan's 29th Birthday started out with Norah bringing him cut out cookies to work, and then taking him out for a birthday lunch. Later that day we celebrated with family. We went with Dan's family to the Wild Chef. It was great fun. Norah and Liam were all eyes when the chef started throwing food around and cooking in front of us. Then we took Dan to DQ for some Birthday cake and presents. I don't think your 29th birthday can get much better than that! Sorry these pictures are a little out of order.

Norah trying to feed Liam the dessert at wild chef. Both kids were a complete mess afterwards.

The whole group.

This is pretty serious.

A busy start to August

Sunday we went to Bass Pro to see some of Dad's Hunting idols. But of coarse, Norah stole the show. This event must not have been very promoted, because the store was almost empty. We got to spend a lot of time talking to the pro's Don and Kandi Kisky, Ralph and Vicki Cianciarulo and Neil Dougherty. Saturday night we went to Norah's first Tigers game.

Our August started out at Big Star Lake, with the DeWitts. This was our fourth year going up with them. Each year seems to be getting busier, last year Deacon wasn't around yet, and hopefully next year we will have another little one to chase around. It seems like we never had a dull moment the entire weekend. Norah, Jacob, and Deacon kept us pretty well entertained as you will see in the pictures below. Thanks Jason and Martha for sharing your weekend with us. We had a blast!

Baby On The Way

Yes, the news is officially out! Dan and I are expecting again, due February 21. We couldn't be more excited. Norah and our new little one will be about 22 months apart, which I think will be a lot of fun. I can't wait to see how Norah adjusts to having a baby around all the time. She seems to love other peoples babies, and her doll babies, but we will see what she does with our own baby. We are praying for another healthy baby and another great pregnancy. We announced the news to our families this past weekend. Everyone seemed excited but not to shocked. Norah wore a cute little t-shirt that read " I'm going to be a BIG SISTER"

15 Month Appointment

Norah had her 15 month appointment today. Everything looked great. We are once again thankful for a healthy, happy, little girl. Norah is now 22lbs, and is 31 inches long. Which makes her average for everything, she was a little taller than average. She had one last round of shots, and some blood drawn at the hospital, testing for lead. She had a rough morning with shots and blood work, but at least that is out of the way, and now she couldn't be any happier. Norah is saying so many words now, and putting words together. It is amazing to see this developmental milestone. We always wondered what Norah would have to say when she stared talking, I don't think we are going to have to wait to much longer. Our house has become a noisy place lately. We are so thankful we did the tubes this past May. It seems to have made a huge difference in Norah's temperament. I promise to post pictures of the little sweetie. I just got a new camera, and we haven't downloaded all the software yet. She is looking so big all of the sudden.

Summer Fun

Norah found a can of Frito's on the boat the other night, and thought her cousin Liam would like to try some too. They were both in their own little world, and both thought they were pretty big stuff! It was so funny!

Bear Hunt Pictures

Our bear hunt was a successful one, below are a couple of pictures of our hunt.

Great Views! It would not get dark until 11:30 p.m. and only stay dark for a couple of hours.

Great fishing! We caught these right off the dock in a short time, then ate them about ten minutes later.

Great Hunting! Three bears were shot on the second to the last day, mine was a big one weighing in at 320lbs.

Last day of the hunt and my dad shoots a blond bear.

We got both our hunts on video, I will post them soon.

Welcome Home Bear Hunters

For the past 10 days, Norah and I have been fending for ourselves.  Dan and his Dad left 10 days ago for Saskatchewan Canada black bear hunting.  We are so excited to have them home tomorrow.  We heard from the guys tonight finally, they had no service, so it has been a good week without hearing word from them.  They were both very successful.  Dan shot a record black bear for the camp, weighing over 300 lbs.  and his Dad shot a real nice blond bear, really rare to see.  They will have better details posted and pictures as well.  They also got both kills on video, so Dan will be happy about that, since his new hobby lately is creating hunting videos of all his kills.  The videos are actually awesome, and could totally pass for professional, and I'm not just saying that because he is my husband.  He has really become talented with photography and videoing.  As for Norah and I we are doing good, and will just be glad to have Dan back home again.  Thank goodness for family in the area.  We had a busy week with friends, and family, and ate out a lot!  Thanks everyone for taking good care of us last week with Dan gone.  We will post pictures of the bears soon!

Visiting Bowersox in Minneapolis