Halloween 2012

Here for my family and friends that didn't catch us on FB, a few Halloween pictures.

Here is my Super Flower Batman.

 

Our trick or treating troop

 

Fly Superflower batman!

 

Little Squirt enjoying a twizzler.

So it been a year and a half since I've last written and may be a while before I can again. I am in deperate need of a new computer, as mine officially died. So thanks mom for the use of yours. I really wanted to get pictures of up of the new look of our family. Annika Taylor joined our family on June 8th. She weighted in at 8lbs. 7oz., 20 1/2 inches long. Although she was a week late, she was well worth it.

This is my only early photo of her. The rest were take in the morning. I guess that's what happens when you are the second child.
She was a pretty content little girl. We also got a nice, comfy swaddler from the hospital.

Kaija joined us at the hospital quite a bit. This was our last morning. The hospital isn't too far from our house, so every now and then she asks if we can go back. She would like to eat there again too. I'm glad she felt comfortable there, thanks to RAMC birth center staff.

This is her first day home. I will try getting more pictures up this evening.

First time skiing!

Tyler only took her down the slight slope once, but it was a start. Yippy! Maybe next time we'll take her twice. We are just going to ease her into it. She probably won't be able to stand on her own until next year but hopefully she'll atleast enjoy being out with us at the ski hill this year.

I ran out of memory so the clip is a little short.

Fall into winter!

It's been a little while since I've been able to download some new pictures, but I think she's worth the wait. We went out to a cornmaze this fall. It was fun trying to get through but Kaija had more fun on the tractor made out of hay bales. They also had a really nice tractor ride. It took a long loop around the property.



This was Thanksgiving day after supper. She loves climbing onto chairs but she wasn't a big fan of keeping the Santa cap on.

Ohh...those cheeks are just too kissable.

Grandma Hill took Kaija outside to take some of her playing in the snow. She didn't know what to do at first, and then ended up taking a face dive into the snow with out knowing the cold consequence. I think this was taken shortly after. She is such a happy girl most days.

Kaija's 1st Birthday!

Here's the Birthday girl upon waking up. What a cute peanut to welcome in to the morning.

We did a little shopping for her party.
When Tyler got out of work, we headed to the DeYoung Zoo, in Wallace, MI, for the afternoon. Kaija really enjoyed seeing all the different animals. This was the first time she saw many of then, so it was fun to watch her.

After watching the tiger for a little bit, he became more interested in Kaija than she was in him. Good thing for double fences.

This was just a cute picture standing between the couger and lion's cage.

Our afternoon started winding down as we saw the baby camel.

All the kids really enjoyed seeing the monkey.

I just thought that this was a nice picture of the tiger.

As our day went on we went to our last day of summer bowling. During the summer Kaija and I joined Trisha, McKenna, and sometimes Randy for Wednesday night bowling. Tyler joined us on our last day as Kaija cheered me on as I took my turn.

Here's the team.

First steps, yippy!

While we were able to coax Kaija into a couple steps this past week, out of the blue she decided to do it on her own today. I was explaining to a visitor that Kaija was a bit of a chicken, and that every time she realized she was standing on her own she would sit down. Well, I stood her up in front of me to watch her sit down, only to my suprise, she stood there smirking. After about 6 seconds, she took 3 steps to me and grabbed on. I was more than happy to share my story tonight with Tyler. We tried it out again and decided to grab the camera while we were on a roll. I think this is the happiest I have been over a milestone. First one I tried to film on my own. The second, Tyler helped.

We have a bit more practicing to do but I am so excited about this start.

Busy weekend

We were pretty busy this last weekend. Friday night we had dinner and played cribbage at Morgan Lake with Floyd & Stella (great-uncle & aunt). Paul's daughter, Erica, was also able to join us for the evening. Kaija has grown quite bit since the last time Erica saw her. She was also able to enjoy the pleasure of a sleeping baby in her arms.

Saturday brought us some company, Bailey, and to Menominee where they were having a Lake Front Festival. The bigger kids were able to enjoy some blown up obsticle courses.

Bailey and Kaija were able to enjoy a pony ride too. Kaija liked sitting on the pony but wasn't quite sure what to think when it started to move. I had to hold her on while I tried to get her to grab the saddle horn.

The Water Front Festival also brought us fireworks that evening. I love fireworks. Kaija was tired and fell asleep shortly after they started.

Sunday brought us on another drive. We headed up to Marquette to Addison's 1st birthday party. She is my friend Betsy's daughter.

What a cute duo. I wish we were closer to hang out more often. They had fun playing and watching each other. We even made it to the lake for a little bit (sorry, didn't snap pics). While sitting on the beach, Kaija was still unsure of a wavy lake while Addi was a trooper and took a couple waves to the face without a whine. I was impressed.



Bailey found a new friend that day also. She enjoyed Betsy and Joel's son, James. We joined them for a Subway dinner to hang out a little longer.

We had such fun and packed weekend. The summer is ending too quick and we have a few more busy weekends to go.