Pictures

I thought that I'd post some pictures of the boys.  We had an afternoon when they were both having fun together and I got a bunch of great shots.  Please excuse Judah's dirty face.  Apparently lunch was very tasty and I forgot to wash his face before pictures.  Oh well, that's life.

And those are the adorable boys I spend my day with.  I wish life was always full of smiles but I do treasure the days that are.

The month that flew by.

It's hard to believe that a month has gone by since my last post. It has flown by.

On top of the regular daily household tasks and caring for the kids, I have been sewing up aprons and burp cloths for some craft fairs. On the 17th I was at my first fair in Sioux Center. It was a moderate success. It seems the smaller craft fairs are better for people with less expensive items so my aprons are a stretch for the customers but I did sell a couple. This one went first - it was my favorite.

I decided to do at least one more fair which is coming up on the 31st so I am again sewing during very spare moment.

These are the "new" burp cloths that sold really well at the last fair. I'm currently working on an additional 48.

Of course, Judah and Izzy have been keeping me extremely busy. Izzy is growing like a weed. He seems to be out growing his clothes daily.

He sleeps like a champ. I almost feel bad telling people since I have friends who haven't had full night of sleep in over a year but Izzy has been sleeping 10 hours a night for over a month now. It is amazing. I am so blessed.

Judah is a little sponge trying to soak up as much information as possible. We started doing "learning time" with some preschool books and he asked to do it all the time. I think he would sit down and do the entire book at once if I'd let him. Actually the thing that he's struggling with the most is holding his pen correcting and working from left to right. He seems to want to work from right to left. I have also been doing "art projects" with fall leaves (which the cats decided to eat off the fridge) and of course play doh is always a hit here.

Judah's also just learning how to use scissors.  He always cutting up his paintings and drawings.  It makes a mess but he has a blast.

We had a small marker mishap.  Good thing they are washable!

This past month we also went up to Winnipeg for Canadian Thanksgiving.  It was a blast.  More to come about that trip soon.  I promise it won't be another month before I post again.

The Morning After

Well, we made it through a busy weekend. It was wonderful and amazing and I hate that out out of town guests are leaving. Now it's back to reality. The beds didn't magically make themselves this morning and lunch dishes are still on the table. We do have an extraordinary amount of toys stashed throughout the house though. Judah can hardly decide what to play with first.
Since it was a rainy day today, we decided to work something a little more low key this morning.
From GG (that's great grandma Eekhoff) Judah got the coolest gift. It's called Magnetic Mosaics. It's a magnetic board with a bunch of foam cubes (with magnets on one side) and you used templates to create different pictures. Since it's all numbered, Judah can easily do it. He had a blast this morning.

He actually does most of this himself with a little help from me. It's nice because it give me some time to do some stuff - like update the blog when I should be cleaning up. But I am taking it easy this morning, knowing that tonight I will be up to my elbows in applesauce. We only got half the tree picked and I have more apples than I could imagine.

Izzy's Dedication

Since it was Judah's birthday this weekend and a lot of family were coming in to celebrate, we decided to have Izzy's dedication service this weekend as well.

We had a wonderful service at Falls Church and Pastor Lance really captured our commitment to our family as well as our belief that our kids are not only a gift from God but they are truly His. We pray that we can submit to His will for their lives and that we can guide them as best we can to come to personally know and love Christ by creating a Godly environment for them to grow up in.

One thing that was amazing and meaningful about this day was the legacy of faith that stood behind us. We not only had our parents there, but siblings, aunts and uncles and even our grandparents were there. We have always felt the support of our family whether they were together or miles apart but having so many people witnessing this event in Izzy's life was very special to us.

Judah and Izzy with Grandma Hazeu and Oma.

This is what Izzy did most of the service. Even with the full band booming away, he slept.

Judah is Three!!!

I can hardly believe that Judah is three! It's amazing how time flies.
This was a fun birthday for us since he understands everything so much more. We have been counting the sleeps until his birthday for the entire week.

We started the day off with special mickey mouse pancakes. He was so very excited!

Before lunchtime arrived, we had company. Grandma and Grandpa Hazeu and Oma and Opa arrived for the weekend. Judah was just so excited to show them the new house and his new bedroom and before you know it, he was roping everyone into playing with him.

After some party prep and supper Judah enjoyed a birthday "pupcake" (not sure why he decided they weren't cupcakes anymore) it was final time for some presents. He actually did really well all day and didn't ask once for presents. Once we started opening though, there was no stopping him.

He was a very lucky boy and maybe a bit spoiled this year. He was so excited about all his new things, he wasn't really sure what to play with first.

We decided to have a bigger party for Judah on Sunday rather than Saturday since we really wanted Uncle Tim to be able to come. So after church everyone gathered at our place for burgers, cake and fellowship. We had a house full! We were very blessed to have wonderful weather so we spent most of the day in the back yard.

Judah was very eager to show off his new toys. I'm not sure who had more fun with the video games, Judah or Uncle Eric.

Judah was spoiled with even more gifts.

I'm proud of how gracious he was, he did say thank you to everyone and gave out lots of hugs.

So, happy birthday Judah! You have blessed us in numerous ways. We love you lots!!!

Another week has come and gone in a flash. It's amazing how time flies when you're having fun and we are having fun. Staying home has actually made me realize how much I missed with Judah by working so much. It was necessary but I am thankful that I can be home to enjoy them both now.
This week we are getting ready to celebrate Judah's 3rd birthday. I can't believe he's three!!!! We are looking forward to having Grandma and Grandpa Hazeu as well as Oma and Opa Hazeu (my grandparents) come and stay with us for a few days. Since everyone was going to be in town, we decided to also have Izzy's dedication this weekend with a little party after church. The party started out as a small gathering but it has grown into a lot more. We're praying for nice weather so we're not all crammed into the house. It's going to be a busy weekend but it should be a blast. We are looking forward to celebrating the blessings that our kids are.

As always, here are a few pictures from the last 2 weeks.

Izzy is smiling and laughing more and more. It's so adorable.

He also started sucking his thumb this week.

One thing to note is that he sucks his left hand. Judah sucks his right hand so we might just have a lefty in the family.

Judah and I goofing off.

This is what Judah does when the camera comes out - the cheesy smile.

Judah loves to wear everybody's shoes. He thinks it's so funny. He asks "Is this right?" When it's Pete's shoes it really cute but then he goes into my closet for my "fancy shoes". He walks amazing well in heels.

Smiles and coos

Work is finally finished and I am enjoying my first week of officially being a full-time, stay-at-home mom. It has been a good week filled with making cookies, pickles and spending a lot of time with playing Judah. (Izzy still pretty much just eats and sleeps still) Judah is still adjusting to the idea of being home full time. He really wants me to play with him all the time, which honestly, just isn't going to happen. Not only because it's good for him to play by himself but I also want to keep up with housework so I'm not spending all my evenings cleaning. Not to mention that I'm trying to prepare for a craft fair that is only 7 weeks away. It seems like a ways off yet but I didn't plan on actually doing one this year so I am now playing catch up.

Izzy is now 2 months old and he is making our day by smiling and cooing. It is a HUGE milestone - actually getting a reaction from him is amazing. He has an adorable dimple on the right check and we just love seeing it. Judah thinks Izzy is just the greatest and we have to continually remind him to be gentle.

And now for some pictures. A couple weeks ago we went to Orange City for Bethany Family Services annual family fair. Judah was quite overwhelmed when we first walked in but he quickly realized that he would get prizes for playing games and he was all about that!

The first thing that Judah saw was the puppies that they had there. They were adorable and just reinforced the idea that he really wants a puppy. I'm not giving in though - no puppy until he's old enough to care for it himself. That'll buy me some time.

He really enjoyed all the games but a lot of them were meant for bigger kids. He "cheated" a lot but had a blast.

PLINKO!!!

And of course no fair would be complete without face painting. Judah just wanted a smiley face.

I have been trying to get a picture of Izzy smiling but it's proving to be difficult. Especially when I'm trying to both take the picture and get him to smile. I had a lot of off center photos. This is as close as I got. It's not a full smile but you can see the sparkle in his eye.

But then, literally seconds later, I got this shot.

If you remember, Izzy was born with a good head of hair but with every bath he seems to be loosing it. Now he has just a little tuft of hair down the center that refuses to lay flat. It's the cutest little mohawk I've ever seen.