Sunday, April 27, 2014

Kingsday 2014


This past weekend we celebrated Kingsday. I've talked about our celebrating Queensday the past two years here and here. This year we celebrated with friends of ours at a park in the city. The weather was wonderful and Elliot loved spending the days outside with everyone. We parked ourselves right on an open piece of grass right across from the packed park. It was the perfect mix, we got to see all of the action but had plenty of room to relax.
I had no orange so thankfully Elliot and Brent pulled the weight for our family


Celebrating Kingsday and our sleeping babies

Part of our group

Elliot and Auntie Mel

Loving Kingsday!

Bente was going in for a kiss

Family in the city

Don't worry, it wasn't open :) 

The men and their babies



Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Keukenhof 2014

While my parents were here we went to the Keukenhof gardens. We have been one other time right after we moved here with my sister and brother in law. The fact the the garden is only open this time of year definitely played a part in why they booked their trip for April. We ended up spending a decent amount of time there and thankfully Elliot did great! They only downside was because we had such a mild winter here, the tulip fields bloomed early and most of the fields had already been harvested. Last time we had 100's of pictures of flowers, this time it's all Elliot :)


Love all the color combos

Next year Elliot will love this playground

Just hanging out in some wooden shoes

My sweet boy

Elliot was super distracted by some people next to us



Smiley boy with his swollen tooth



Happy Wednesday!

Mindy 




Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Mom and Dad Visit

On April 4, my parents came to visit us! My mom came shortly after Elliot was born, but this was my dads first time visiting us. There were here for 6 days and we packed those 6 days full! They got here on a Friday and Saturday morning the five of us drove to Cologne, Germany for the weekend. Brent and I were in Cologne when I was pregnant for the Christmas markets, but didn't spend a ton of time there.  We got there just in time for lunch and hit up a beer hall for some food and some beer. My mom is not a beer drinker at all. In fact in my 30 years, I haas never seen her have a beer...until Cologne! It was a fun weekend and Brent and I always like having any excuse to go to Germany!
Cheers mom!


Elliot wanted in on the German beer too


Outside the beer hall there was a group doing the cupid shuffle in a square. Mom and Elliot decided to join in


Our hotel had a pool so Elliot got to go swimming once again! He's a little fish!
Using the panoramic feature to get the whole cathedral



The next day we took a city bus tour, Elliot's first
Mom and Dad and the bridge. The lovers lock are similar to the bridge in paris where couples put there lock on and throw the key in the river.



Another beer hall for another lunch

We have to have ice cream :) 

All snuggled up for the drive home!

I'll be back with more posts about the rest of their visit later this week!

Mindy




Saturday, April 12, 2014

Elliot 9 Months

9 months! That means only 3 more months until 1!!
The only picture I could get before he took off!

This past month has brought us a little mover! Elliot is go-go all the time now. I swear, the speed he crawls at gets faster every day. Within days of learning how to crawl on all fours, Elliot began pulling himself up on everything.  He loves standing and is completely comfortable holding onto just one of our fingers while he is standing. At his last appointment they told me they think he will be walking before his next appointment(at 11 months). Let me tell you I am not ready for that!!
After his nap when he pulled up in the crib for the first time. He was so proud! 
He is still a great eater and since getting over being sick his appetite has tripled. He prefers to eat whole or cut up foods over purees and want to always feed himself.

Sleeping has not been the greatest this month for Elliot. With him getting sick and not eating much during the day he was waking at night. The doctor had me nurse him at night for about a week during and after being sick to help get his weight back up. So then we had to re-break that habit. Thankfully, he is getting back on schedule. I am still enjoying anytime he will fall asleep on me :)
Enjoying the nice weather with a sleepy baby

Starbucks is exhausting :) 

He does a really great job of entertaining himself. But of course has to have a constant eye on him because he quickly can get into EVERYTHING! We got him a small ball pit a few weeks ago that we bring out a few times a week. If I am lucky I can get 5-10 minutes of him playing before he remembers he knows how to crawl out. 

He even lets his papa in to play with him


New this month
*He waves "bye-bye" 
*Does so big. He used need our hands to do it but now brings them over his head whenever you ask      how big he is 
*He is really close to clapping. He brings his hands together softly or misses completely but he's trying :) 
*Like I said before pulls up on everything, especially if it is not stable
*Gives kisses-he loves giving kisses! They are a bit slobbery but it is so sweet and i take all I can get!
*He loves turning the pages in books when we are reading and loves "reading" by himself
*Talking all of the time. There are days he will talk in his stroller the whole way him from the grocery store. I wonder where he gets that from :) 


Every month just seems to be more and more fun with Elliot! Looking forward to seeing what month 10 brings us!



Friday, April 11, 2014

Favorites 4-11

It's been a few weeks since I have done a favorites post! We've been pretty busy the past few weeks and I'm hoping to get back to it! Here are some favorites from the week

1. My parents were in town for about a week and we had such a fun time with them(saving that for another post). On Monday we went to the Keukenhof(again I have another post for you ) and it was the perfect backdrop for some amazing pictures of Elliot.
He's definitely the cutest product of Holland :) 
2. Since my parents were in town Brent and I took advantage of it and went out for dinner. This is the first time since Elliot was born that we went out for a dinner just the 2 of us and man was it nice! It was so nice to be able to just talk and actually be an active listener :) We both wish it was possible to do it more!(we don't have anyone here who can watch Elliot)

3. I love this little t-shirt. 

4. Baby's first kettle bell workout





Monday, April 7, 2014

Barcelona Day 2


****this was supposed to post over a week ago, but our internet has been out and it took 6 days to get someone out to fix it! Better late than never!


Our 2nd day in Barcelona, we did a lot of walking and attempted to do some shopping. Of course we had to pick up Starbucks before the day could start :)
Coffee and sleeping baby on Las Ramblas

  We walked along Las Ramblas(a pedestrian only street, with lots of shops and cafes) and headed down to the water. While down there we took advantage of the great backdrop for some family pics.

One of my favorite pictures from the trip! Definitely getting framed

My boys

Our little family

Our Nautical attire makes un fit right in with the boats :) 
It was nice just walking around without a plan that day. We ended up seeing quite a few things that were on our list by just randomly walking and seeing them. Elliot did great all day taking naps on us in the carrier and just loving being outside all day.
Water fixture in a garden in the center of a Cathedral

Statue in the cathedral garden



We stumbled upon the Gaudi house. He is the same artichtecht who designed the Sagrada Familia, Guell Park, and the Guell Palace along with many other things in Spain. 

Back to the hotel after dinner so E can get some swimming in
                                     
He loved it! He giggled the entire time! So much fun to watch him