Swimming Lessons

This obviously isn't from swimming lessons, I just thought it was cute of Gibs and Grets hanging out.

 I can't believe how big she's getting!  She's not crawling yet, but gets up on all fours all the time.  She can also put herself into a sitting position, although she can't sit straight up on her own yet.  She gets around by rolling and scooting--often backwards. She just wants to be wherever her big siblings are:).  Her helmet is still going really well--it doesn't bother her at all.  She was taking her 1 hour break from it in these pictures:).

The girlies had fun watching their big sibs play the other day...

 Last week Layla and Gavin took swimming lessons and Sabrina and Anabelle's (and baby Emeline's) house.  They both really liked it and are getting more comfortable in the water which is great.  It's amazing each year now how they keep liking the water better and better!

 This was from one of the days later in the day last week.

 Layla, Payton and Gavin...

 Gibs did great just hanging out and playing during the lesson.

 Layla with Miss Jen on the last day--parent watch day...

 Anabelle, Layla and Gavin waiting for their turn...

Father's Day

The kids are so blessed to have such a great father!  We had a great day showing how thankful we are for him!

Joe's famiily came over for lunch.  Grandpa had fun being silly with the kids:)...

 Joe with a full lap:)...

 Layla and Gavin made these Disney pins for their daddy's.  Joe wore his proudly:).

 This isn't on Father's Day, I just thought it was cute of Gibs helping Greta eat.

 And one of my two loving little ladies together...

 This picture is very typical Layla.  She LOVES being a mommy to her dolls and often packs them up ready to go and makes sure to bring along a diaper bag and her "pump bag":).

 The kids got a new Lightenin McQueen car, but unfortunately it doesn't run well at all on the grass:(.  They are very disappointed.  They were so excited about it when we got it, especially Gibs.  We'll see if calling and complaining does anything.  It was from Disney Store online, so I assumed it would have worked well!

Helmet/6 months!

Greta got her helmet today!  She got measured for it over a month ago, but then due to insurance issues and then not being able to make any of their available sppointments last week work for us, we couldn't go in until today. I assumed this was for a remeasure since her head would have grown in over a month, but when we got there I learned that they had already made her helmet shortly after her last appointment.  The lady then said that she was afraid that it wouldn't fit and that we'd most likely have to remeasure and then they'd have to make a new one.  However, when she measure her head today she found that Greta's head had only grown by about 4mm which she said is not much head growth.  That is good in two ways--first, that we didn't have to get remeasured and then come back in a week to get it, and second, that since she didn't have much head growth last month, hopefully that means that the next next month or two will be very large head growth times for her which would then mean not having the helmet on too long.  The duration for which they have to have the helmet on all just depends on how fast their head grows.  So hopefully her head will grow a lot coming up so that she won't need it on all that long (2-4 months is normal, hopefully 2-3).  So far she's only worn it for an hour this morning and then 2 more times today she needs to wear it for an hour.  Then the length of time that she needs to wear it will gradually keep increasing until she can wear it for 23 hours a day.  We just need to look for spots that it's rubbing her head too much.  We would then need to take her back in to get it readjusted.  So far she didn't seem to mind, just made her head super sweaty:).  She'll now need daily baths (which she hates) and you need to wash the helmet at least once a day.  It's a slight inconvenience, but worth it to make her head nicely shaped:).

I need to take a 6 month pic, but she did have her 6 month appointment last week so for now I'll just post her stats.  And then hopefully remember to do her pic later:).  While at her appointment, the doctor noticed that she had a rash on her throat.  He said it may have been the start of hand foot and mouth (Harper had just had it) or it could be an infection called Herpangina.  With both you get a sore throat and a fever.  She never ended up getting sores on her hands or feet (or anywhere else) so I'm assuming her infection that she got from Harper just turned into Herpangina instead of hand foot and mouth.  Either way, there's nothing you can do about it and now she's fine.  Layla had a fever and threw up Friday night (which is like the second or third time in her life), but I think the throwing up was from working herself up about sores in her mouth (I could hardly see them, she just said she had them, so I guess she also had hand foot and mouth).  We were afraid we'd have to cancel her birthday party Saturday night, but she was basically back to herself by then.  Gibs normally catches things a lot more often than Layla, but he seemed okay thankfully. 

The doctor said that Greta looks great and is doing all the things she should be doing.  She can't sit alone yet but is getting herself into a crawling position at times and still rolling all over the place.  She is still such a happy little girl and sleeps well at night (besides when she was sick) and naps well too.  She hadn't done very well with the baby food I had tried so far, but last night I tried some carrots and she ate those okay.  We love her to pieces and love watching her grow (although I'd wish she'd slow down a bit--doesn't every mom say that?? :) )!

Weight: 15 lbs 7.5 oz - between 25th and 50th% (Harper was 16 lbs 9 oz the day before Gret'a appointment!  Pretty good for a preemie and seeing that Harper was born 1 week before Greta and over 2 lbs smaller)

Height: 25.75" - 50th% (exactly the same as Harper)

Head: 41.6 cm - 25th%

Memorial Day Part 2

Last night we went to my dad and Joyce's for a delicious meal and fun times for the kids.

The kid table...

 My littlest love and me in our polka dots...

 Natalie had fun catching frogs and teaching the other kids how to catch them:)...

 "Little Miss Independant" or at least that's what her shirt says:)...

Layla is very much a girly girl and does NOT like  bugs.  Either does Gibs.  We have been working on getting them used to it and it does seem to be helping (as it is a little ridiculous how she won't even shoe a fly away), but getting this close to a frog was definitely a big step for her!  Although is she's like her mother, little creatures like this aren't nearly as frightening as a spider:).

 After a bit, the kids went from catching things out of the creek, to walking in the creek.  They were dirty, but had fun and that's what counts, right? :)

 Natalie very much takes on the mother duckling role as the oldest and the little ducklings happily follow behind:)...

 Gibs was a very dirty and tired kiddo at the end of then night!

 We got home and gave them baths right away.  Here they are all clean and tuckered out from their big day.

Memorial Day Weekend

We've had a great weekend so far spending time together with our family.  This morning we went to Holland's Memorial Day parade and tonight we'll be going to Grampy and Gigi's house for a bbq. 

Last night the kids enjoyed their first S'mores of the year...

 A little messy:)...

 Riding the gator through the sprinkler...

 They LOVE riding on it.  Gibs is still a little hesitant about driving it and would prefer that his sissy drive him.  Hopefully they still get along this well and she will nicely drive him around when she's 16 too:).

Enjoying a quick bite and McDonald's before the parade...

Uncle Steve and Aunt Heidi at the parade this morning...

 Spotting the parade coming...

 Greta liked watching it too:)...

Waving her flag proudly for all the veterans...

 Apparently the bands were soothing to her and put her right to sleep:)...

 Gibs loves his Uncle Steve:)...