Love

This was supposed to be a mohawk during bath time but oh well...I just think he's so beautiful sometimes! :-)

I'm so proud of...

ME!!! Henry will have breast milk for the entire first year of his life! This week I'm finally allowed to enjoy a day without having to stop every few hours to pump. There are so many benefits of breast milk, and it became important to us for Henry to have it for as long as I could produce it. It just worked out that I produced enough and had the patience to stick with it for this long! I have enough stored in the freezer to get him to his first birthday and a little after. Yea! When I first went back to work in June, my production decreased dramatically, but I didn't give up! Thanks An, for the pep talks and referring me to the lactation consultant...and, of course, all the difficult/time-consuming caring you do for our little Doodle! I know he loves you and is so well taken care of! So cheers to me!!!! I'm really quite proud!!!

Road Trip and Happy Anniversary!

Jared, Henry, and I took a road trip to Madison, WI to visit family 2 weeks ago. It was Jared's idea, of course, to drive...he's the most stubborn person I know. Oh well, we did it, and he promised me to NEVER do it again. Henry didn't sleep but about 30 minutes the whole night, Jared drank a 5-hour energy drink and got sick, and I drove the most difficult leg of the trip. The alleged 15 hour trip turned into 20! Thank goodness when we got there everything worked out great! We visited with Lauri, Jason, Emma, and Maddy since they were visiting from England, Grammy Judy and Pop-pop John, hung with Bobby and his new gal MK, and Judy hosted a fish fry one evening with several family members. We had such a great time. Emma is such a sweet little girl, and she's picked up an English accent with some things...She asks to "go wee in the potty" and sings a song about Dickey birds. Check it out below. It's pretty cute! :-)


Maddy's a sweet baby! She's laid back and content...I thoroughly enjoyed cuddling her and holding her because my baby boy has better things to do these days. We had Verwiel Family Fun day at the zoo one day. Judy was sweet enough to take every one's order for sandwiches AND put them in baggies with their names on them ;-)

My camera batteries died as we walk into the zoo, so Lauri and Krisi got some great pics of the kiddos. I managed to get these 2. Henry LOVED the zoo and all the animals.

John and Judy have a playground in their neighborhood; I got a few pics that afternoon

The trip home went much smoother than expected...yea! Then poor Jared had to take the next day off work because his back was hurting so bad. Here are some latest pics of our Doodle! We've planned a pool party for his first birthday. He loves the pool, and I don't have to prepare our house for a party.

Speaking of preparing our house, we're putting it on the market this week. I'll let you know what happens.

In other news, Jared and I celebrated our 5th anniversary this Friday. Andrea watched Henry (which entailed putting him to bed and letting him sleep until we got back!) while we went out to dinner just the two of us. Jared did a FANTASTIC job with my gift! I get to pick out a ring! I'll post pics once I get it. We've definitely learned much from each other these past 5 years, I hope we never stop learning. We've mostly learned the sacrifice of being selfless and learning what it means to glorify God with our union...some days we do a great job...then there are others. I love you, Boo.

Cheap Thrills

Henry's waving ALL THE TIME these days! All the time except when we've got the camera that is! We tried to get him to wave, but he just won't do it!

Look how much fun a laundry basket can provide :-)

Figuring out this new push toy from Andrea! :-)

Goin' back to Cali, Cali, Cali

Jared and I enjoyed a fantastic vacation to Cali...just the 2 of us!!! Grumps (my dad) and Meemee (my dad's wife) came and took care of Henry. They did a wonderful job and graciously stuck to his schedule. Henry also got to try some yummy table food! Dad and Jeri, thank you so much for coming and taking amazing care of our Doodle-bug!

Jared and I went to California for our friends' wedding. Adam and Jessi live in LA and asked Jared to officiate their wedding. He did such a sweet job, if I do say so myself. Adam and Jessi are friends of Jared's from high school in good ol' Greendale, WI. They enjoyed such a beautiful day; thank you Adam and Jessi for inviting us out! Here are a few highlights from our week. Jared and I left early Tuesday morning and had dinner with the lovely couple Tuesday evening. On Wednesday, Jared and I went to Santa Monica and enjoyed a beautiful day on the beach, shopping, and just having fun. Then on Thursday, the festivities began for the wedding. Adam's aunt and uncle hosted a pool party at their house. Everything was set up beautifully...of course I didn't get a single pic, BUT I managed to catch this video. I promised Adam that I'd put it on our blog! Adam's sister and cousin created this marvelous synchronized swimming routine! Check it out! :-)



Friday was the rehearsal dinner that turned into a late night...well, for me anyway! Jared was tired and went to bed. I, however, stayed and made friends. For those of you reading, I'm sure you're shocked! ;-) The wedding was absolutely stunning...Jessi looked AH-MAZING! Adam cleans up nice, too! Haha! We really needed to get away, and it was an added bonus that my dad suggested he come and take care of Doodle. Here are pics from our trip! :-)

Long Time No See...So Much to See!

It's been almost a month since I last posted. Sorry about that! I'll do my best to go back to once a week. Lots of things have happened since then...Henry's loving the pool more and more these days. Jared enjoyed a great, relaxing Father's day. Lauren and Justin visited. Shannon and her girls came to visit for the 4th. We took the little ones to Chuck E Cheese! Jared turned 28! Henry's pulling up and scooting around everywhere! Enjoy a several pics and videos below. Like I said...lots going on! :-) FYI - the comments aren't posting near the pictures, so I had to go back and number the comments with the corresponding picture...so frustrating!

4 -

Henry and

YaYa

chicken

fighting!

5 - Henry loves his YaYa!

(Pretty sure YaYa loves her Henry too)

6 - Quite possibly my

favorite picture! :-)

7 - Look at me! I'm so big!

8 - Not quite ready to slide by myself!

9 - Gettin' him started early...haha!!!

10 - Daddy, thanks for letting me drive

12 - Henry is OBSESSED with Karlee! She can just look at him and he laughs...I think it's his first crush! She's so great with him! You may not be able to tell, but they're laughing at each other here.

13 - Family picture. Aren't we festive in our red, white, and blue ;-)

14 - Hmmm...what's going on here?

15 - Can I play?

16 - Wow, look at these!

17 - Holy Moly, It's Chuck E Cheese!

18 - Shannon and her beautiful girls

19 - Caroline, Mattilyn, and Emma

20 - 21 The face that melts my heart!

l