Babbling

Tonight at dinner Joy joined in on the conversation.  Whenever we stopped talking, she would stop babbling.  When we started chatting again, she would begin "talking" too. 

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Hudsonville Fair

A couple years ago Micah and I were introduced to the Hudsonville Fair by a new friend. We went together again last year. Though we weren't able to reconnect with his buddy this year, the kiddos and I went today and did the usual - checking out all the animals and climbing on really cool farming equipment!

Our first stop was the poultry building - a whole lot of squawking was going on!

I'm pretty sure Micah's scrunching his nose like the bunny here. :-)

We got to pet the biggest goat I've ever seen in my entire life, "Bullwinkle."

The bigger the machine the better, in Micah's opinion!

Joy was mostly just hungry and tired the whole time, but she was a trooper and lasted the hour or so we were there.  Here she is taking care of business.

Micah having the time of his life!

I think it's becoming tradition for me to get one of these pictures...

One last activity - coloring on a tabletop picture, then we were homeward bound!

Sitting up in Style!

Joy has been sitting up pretty well the past couple weeks.  We are all so proud of her!  She just keeps growing up...had to switch out her wardrobe again as she's busting out of the smaller sizes (thanks to the Galicinski clan for this cute outfit)!

Biking and book-reading

I just love my little sibling set...and I can tell they really love each other too and they already like doing things together, which I am so thankful for!

Joy's Jumperoo: Take 2

I know I've already posted a video with Joy's Jumperoo, but that was weeks ago...her bouncing skills are off the charts now and is just hilarious to watch...

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Tool Time

This morning Micah asked Joy, "do you want to play tools with me?" Joy answered, non-verbally, "yes!"  (Papa Sovilla, we've got some future summer recruits for you)!

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You gotta want it.

Joy's doing so well with her baby milestones, that I thought I'd aid her along in learning how to crawl.  I put a toy just out of her reach so that she would do all she could to get to it (a.k.a crawl)!  It didn't motivate her to do anything except cry, cry, cry because she couldn't have it.  She was not a happy camper...

Anything with wheels

Micah just loves cars...trucks...motorcycles...anything with wheels.  

This Erector set bulldozer took a crazy long amount of time to assemble yesterday...

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An afternoon at the beach...

Today Joy experienced another "first" - the beach! We all had a great time!

Getting the lay of the land:

Joy scaring away the seagulls with her chubby cheeks.

The last photo my sunglasses will ever be in - the lake swallowed them whole...

This green bucket was a great find for Micah!

It's ridiculous how much he loves having sand all over himself...

Just some pics!

Here's just a taste of some things we've been doing and people we've seen over the past couple weeks...

My college friend and her daughter came over for dinner and a park playdate when Scotty was gone for an evening.

Joy playing with her "tag-blanket" that one of my Bible Study friends made for her.

We have to keep an eye on our roly-poly these days!

We got to visit some old neighbor friends and meet the new babies (they had a son 5-weeks prior and they hadn't met Joy yet).  They had some fun craft time together.

A few days later, Micah and Joy (with my help of course) made some beautiful portraits at home.

Scotty and Micah putting in some stepping stones...

...in the new front landscaping my in-laws gifted to us!

To welcome in our new landscaping, we had a family BBQ at our place (any excuse for a family BBQ is a good one - we just love 'em!)  Here Micah and DeeDee play with some new bubbles from papa and mama Ruth.

Our neighbor was baby-sitting her great-grand-nephew for the day (who's just about Micah's age), and we enjoyed several hours together playing, eating and laughing!

Well, it's time to pack the swing away!  Joy's learned how to lean forward (I can remember when Micah did the same thing)...

Lisa was kind enough to watch the kids for over 8 hours so I could go to a women's day conference at Maranatha's breathtaking campus. It was AMAZING. We studied Psalm 46, taught by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and heard from Gracia Burnham (American missionary who had been a hostage in the Philippines for a year where her husband died in the rescue).