Merry Christmas!

From our family....to yours
Merry Christmas!

We're Still Surviving!

The transition to two children has definitely made life much busier, but we are thoroughly enjoying every minute! This past week has been pretty hectic. Aside from the obvious adjustment to a new little one in the family (and the lack of sleep that comes along with it!) we've had numerous things going on. Last weekend, there were a few Christmas parties that Eric and Grant went to while I stayed home with Brooke. One of those parties was with a group of friends. We've been celebrating Christmas together for a number of years now (when there weren't any kids in the picture), and now, there are 8! Boy, has time sure flown and have the kids grown so fast! Here are a few pictures:

the "gang" (minus Brooke)Heather bought all of the kids punching balloons. What a blast!

On Sunday, Eric took Grant to see Santa (a.k.a. Dick V.D. from church).

And then afterwards, it was off to Grant's Christmas pageant at church. The two and three year olds did the introduction - so Grant and his buddies had a short piece to recite as well as two songs to sing (We Wish You A Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday - to Jesus). Grant had these down pat - but yet when the time came to show his stuff, he remained mute! Shocker! The kid who doesn't stop talking had nothing to say! Oh well, at least he didn't jump off the stage!
Brooke's cord fell off this week, so we were able to start giving her baths in the tub instead of sponge bathing her. Can you tell from the picture that she thoroughly enjoyed it? - NOT! Needless to say, her baths are complete in record setting time!

Grant continues to be very welcoming of her into the family. He just can be a little rough with her sometimes. He doesn't fully understand the word "gentle" yet, and will go up to her bouncy seat and try to "help" by bouncing her - a.k.a. giving her whiplash! Yesterday, after I had bundled her up in her car seat before heading out to a Christmas party, I turned around to get Grant's coat and shoes. Next thing I knew, I looked back and Grant was dragging her in her seat across the kitchen floor telling me that we couldn't leave her behind. At least he hasn't tried to give her one of his goldfish crackers yet.

Hmmmm....are you sensing a trend here by viewing the picture below??!! (I just posted another similar picture last week!). Brooke just poops daddy out!

Welcome Home Brooke!

We came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon (had to take advantage of my last gourmet meal at the hospital, lunch - they feed you so good!). I really enjoyed my hospital stay - being weighted on hand and foot and all, but by yesterday, I was ready to get home, get settled, and see Grant again!

Eric's parents were watching him, so we came home and were able to get the house in order a bit before it would be destroyed again later that night once G arrived. Eric had to coach a basketball game, so left shortly thereafter - but not before first taking a cat nap with Brooke!

Wait a minute - he got a full night's sleep the past two night because he slept at home! Shouldn't I have been the one napping??? (as you'll see later in the post, the answer is YES!). Brooke literally hibernated all afternoon and evening. I woke her up to feed her every few hours, but it was like waking the dead - all she wanted to do was sleep. We gave her a bath around 7:00 to rouse and feed her, and that worked somewhat, but she cashed out again shortly thereafter, UNTIL, it was time for the rest of us to go to bed. Then, we had a child on our hands who did not want to sleep and wanted to eat every 1/2 hour (or should I say "snack" for five minutes - it was so annoying!). I think I got about 45 minutes of sleep prior to 3:00, and at that point I said screw it, picked up her, and slept with her in my arms on the couch until 6:00, when she was hungry again. Oh well - at least I got almost 4 hrs. of sleep total - that's about 4 hrs. more than what I can say for Grant's first night home. Here's hoping for the best for tonight!!
It was so cute to see Grant interact with her. Grant went to Eric's basketball game with grandpa and grandma, and instead of staying for JV and Varsity like Eric's normally responsible for doing, he came home with G after his team's game. When Grant walked into the house, the first thing he asked was "Where's my baby sister??" It was priceless. He ran up to her and was so excited to see her. He then proceeded to go downstairs to his kitchen set and "make" a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He brought up two plates (the small one for Brooke, the bigger one for himself), a knife to "cut" the P, B, and J and then gave Brooke half of the plastic sandwich and gave half to himself. Not too long thereafter, he went to get his "yellow deedee" (this is his stuffed animal that he adores - it's one of those small blankets with an animal head on it - and he cannot go to bed without the thing). He has a "green deedee" and yellow one, and Grandpa and Grandma Petroelje bought Brooke a pink one. Grant put "yellow deedee" on Brooke's lap and told me that he was giving it to her. How adorable!!

It's a Girl!

Oh my goodness. I never thought I'd be saying this - it's a girl!!! Brooke Elyse Petroelje was born at 9:24 this morning. She weighed in at 8 lbs. 3 oz. and was 20.5 inches long. Things went so well! I started some pretty strong contractions at 4:45 this morning, was at the hospital by 6:00, got my epidural at 7:00 (God bless the epidural man!), relaxed for a while, pushed for 5-10 minutes, and out she came! I swore I was having a boy - everything about this pregnancy was just like Grant's, so I was absolutely shocked to hear "It's a girl!" come out of Eric's mouth. Good thing we nailed down our girl name just last night - nothing like last minute decisions! Here are a few pictures:

Isn't this just the cutest shirt? - Eric's mom and dad got it for him!

This was the best pic we could get of brother and sister. Getting a 2 1/2 year old to cooperate is not easy!

Happy 80th Birthday Grandma (a few months late!)

In addition to celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday this past weekend, we had the opportunity to celebrate my Grandma's 80th birthday as well. Grandma's birthday was actually back in mid-October, but we had a family dinner this past Saturday night at Beechwood Inn to honor her. For those of you that don't know my Grandma, she is truly one of a kind. She has the spunk of a 20 year old and the social calendar of a celebrity. She is one that never had a bad thing to say about anyone, and she is ALWAYS happy. She would much rather give than receive (you should see our family Christmas parties!) and loves the Lord with all her heart. Happy birthday Grandma - we love you very much!!

My sister and Chad were home from Pennsylvania for the holiday and my cousin Lindsay is also pregnant, so we decided to get a "pregnant ladies" picture of the three of us while at the dinner(well, Kathi and Lindsay thought it was a good idea - they're not 38 1/2 weeks pregnant and feeling like the Goodyear Blimp!). Susanne could have been the fourth pregnant cousin in the picture - but she gave birth last week - lucky dog!

Kathi - due in mid-May, Lindsay - due in late February, and me - due in 1 1/2 weeks (yikes!)

The nesting continues...I did end up cleaning out all of my bathroom cupboards, dusted above my kitchen cupboards (shhh...don't tell my doctor I stood on the counters to do this!), almost finished my Christmas shopping (mom, Kathi, and I went out on Black Friday to Rivertown - what a zoo!!), wrapped most all of my presents, finished addressing my Christmas cards, vacuumed again, cleaned out the hallway closet, organized some things in the basement, and packed my hospital bag. Aside from needing a few days to get things all lined up at work, I am ready to roll. We'll keep you updated - as I hope my next post will be announcing the arrival of our new little one (it may be delayed just a bit if we end up having a girl and still can't agree on a name!).