I can never think of appropriate blog titles...

My grandma passed away yesterday :( She was my last grandparent that I had left. I am sad, but also know that she is in an even better place now :) She lived in Colorado and though I didn't get to see her often, I do have some great memories for which I am thankful. I am mostly bummed though that she was never able to meet Jack.


On a sort of related (but more cheerful!) note, I am so thankful to have Rob's grandparents in our lives! They let me call them my own and they are so kind and welcoming. In fact, just last week Jack and I went swimming at their pool (all to ourselves :) one afternoon and then picked some fresh lavender in the garden. Then grandma fed us popsicles and fruit on the lawn while we dried off in the sun. I instantly relived my own childhood memories of my grandparents and it was nice. Grandparents definitely play a special role in our lives :)

In MyAmalies news, I invented a new animal last week! Say hello to the bird (this ones name is Hank):


And then I made this whole gang. They are all sold already...bittersweet. It sure was fun to make them and I sort of didn't want to part with them!


I'm working on a few more animal concepts and I think Amanda has a few up her sleeve as well! Fun times for us :) Also, we are excited to announce that you can now find MyAmalies critters at Hopscotch Children's Store in Grand Rapids! Rumor has it there will be a MyAmalies animal exclusive to their store in the near future (in other words, not available online so you'll just have to visit!) We're very excited about this partnership!

Jack got to have a little buddy, Colton, come and play for a little bit today! Most of Jack's little friends are girls right now so it was a nice change of pace to have a little boy for him to play with. Colton is 3 months older and such a sweet little boy! They got along so well and Jack couldn't stop giving him hugs :) I think we'll do more play time with Colton again soon!

Well, I'm off to catch some TV with Rob and relax. Everyone have a good evening!

Maybe my longest blog yet...or at least with the most pictures.

Lots of recaps for you! Enjoy the pictures :)

What a fabulous time we had last weekend with Rob's sister Jen and her husband Derek. Jack LOVED spending time with them. Last Friday we went to the Whitecaps game and although we left early b/c it was raining and Jack needed to get to bed, we still enjoyed the time with family (and all the calories that ballpark food has to offer.)

Jen and I pretending we know what's happening in the game...


The "lemon chill" pucker :)


Dancing and singing on the stage during the rain delay

Saturday, Jen, Derek, Rob and I went kayaking down the Rogue River in Rockford. Such a great time! I haven't been kayaking in probably 10 years. The river was very very calm though and (at most spots) only a couple feet deep. I didn't want to get my camera wet for obvious reasons, so no pictures from that event :(

Later on Sunday we did fireworks at Grandma and Grandpas! Too much fun!


Some of them were LOUD!


Admiring the pretty displays :)


We even managed to spring a leak in one of the buckets. Oops.

We also finished our vegetable garden last week. (Well we need to put a gate up yet...) As I mentioned previously, we had a really late start to the whole thing so we had to go with pre-grown plants this year. I just hope they stay alive :) Jack was having a blast helping us plant everything and putting up the chicken wire.

And as usual, Jack can always be found where the water is...

Yesterday, the fourth of July, we headed out to Holland to bike/skate. (Rob skates while I bike with Jack.) We all had a great time and it's one of our favorite things to do as a family! Not sure how many miles we covered as the odometer thing wasn't working but it was several hours worth. After a stop to get ice cream at the general store (yum!) we headed home. We did a few sparklers and some leftover fireworks from last week but were all in bed well before the big fireworks started.

Before biking, we made a pit stop to play some miniature golf...Jack just liked to throw the ball.



(Sorry, no pics of biking and skating or the sparklers we did that night...I forgot!)

Today Jack and I woke up early and made blueberry pancakes (from scratch :) We went back out to Holland but to the beach this time! So much fun! Jack had a riot playing in (read: throwing) the sand. We did go for a few quick dips in Lake Michigan as well, but it was quite chilly.

A quick shower after breakfast as he was covered in blueberries. (Oh and a favorite current pastime is brushing his teeth. All. the. time.)

And more random pictures from the last week...

Parading around the living room in mommy's pink heels. Well, one of them at least.

After a really rough night (TEETHING! And it's 7 all at once now...not 6 as I had thought!) this is how I found Jack and Daddy in the morning.


Four generations of Strating men! It was really bright in the sun, hence the squinty eyes :) (Each one of them has their father's name as their middle name too, a family tradition.)


Jack loves playing with Great Aunt Nan every Sunday!


Being goofy or charming...or both.


Every morning at 10am we have a date with the underground sprinkling...

Fun times...

We love spending time with Uncle Derek and Aunt Jen!

A game of checkers with Uncle Derek...

Mom, I don't know how I feel about this...he's winning!

Take that!

Ducks!

Nan, save me! They're after us!

Surfing in the pool



...and then tonight we are going to a Whitecaps game and tomorrow is kayaking (sans Jack, of course :) Have a great weekend everyone!

Great day :)

It's a wonderful day because...

1). My sister-in-law and brother-in-law arrive any moment now from Colorado! We are so excited to see and spend time with them over the next several days.

2.) The FedEx man brought my newly fixed camera back to me this morning!

3.) I made delicious strawberry pie today with the strawberries we picked on Monday...Yum!

4.) ...simply because every day is a beautiful day in some way or another :)

Let me just rave about Canon's customer service for a moment. When I called them several weeks ago about my camera instead of waiting on hold, they called ME back when they were available (which was only 15 min. later). Then the gentlemen I spoke with was incredibly kind and Canon paid for me to send my camera to them. The camera was fixed free of charge and now I have it to take lots of pictures with again! I'm happy :) So very soon I can start blogging again with photos! Because blogs with photos are much more interesting.

Jack and I spent yesterday running through the underground sprinkling in the yard we have 7 different zones which means a lot of sprinklers! As one zone would turn off and another on, we would just move to a new area. He would get all distraught when they went back in the ground and then laugh hysterically moments later when the next zone turned on! He had a riot! Then Aunt Nan came over and we went swimming later on which is always a blast. And there was also some play time with the sand and water table...which is just a water table for right now. So lots of water play yesterday!

In other Jack news...he's teething. Has been for a few weeks and the first molars are just peeking through on top. Then last week, I noticed the eye teeth (aka the "fang teeth") on top are also cutting through. And today...add two more to that list! He has two (first molar and eye tooth) coming through as well! SIX teeth at once?! Poor baby dude! After these 6, only 6 more baby teeth before he has a full mouth!

Rob and I plotted out a vegetable garden a few days ago...I know, terribly late in the season. But I'm hoping to pick up some pre-grown plants for this year at least. (Next year I would like to plant my own from seeds.) It's all roto-tilled (is that how you spell it?) now and the wood beams that frame it and fabric-type stuff (that you lay between the clay ground and the soil) are in as well. We just need a lot of soil and plants now...and hope that it works :)

And now a funny story for the day...

Rob called me this morning. He was laughing and said "Don't let Jack play with the PS3 remote." I was wondering why he would say this? In fact, Jack DID get a hold of it this morning pressing buttons (I told him "no" and took it away, not thinking it was that big of a deal as the tv and receiver were off and I assumed the PS3 was off as well.) Well...with the PS3 you have the capability of purchasing games online from your remote control. Apparently it was NOT turned off and at 8:34 this morning, Jack purchased (brace yourself!) $1700 worth of video games!!! I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! Rob then told me he had already called Sony who was more than understanding and canceled the charges.
Whew!

Hope everyone has an excellent day!
(I'll put pictures in the next post!)

Announcing...

......................Drumroll please....................

THE WEBSITE IS FINISHED!!

www.MyAmalies.com

This is the website I mentioned a while back that I've been building. Amanda and I are so excited to launch this and we look forward to everyone's feedback!

Have a splendid day everyone! Jack and I are headed out strawberry picking this morning...

Lots of updates!

Hello, hello.

My friend Deb's wedding last weekend was beautiful. It was definitely an "eventful" weekend shall we call it, but like I said, the wedding and the bride were beautiful :) Here are a few pictures (from my friend Carrie's camera):

A group of my friends from high school. I haven't seen a couple of them in years and it was wonderful to reminisce!Makeup time! Although it looks like I'm beating her with the foundation brush...I promise I was being kind.

Carrie and me. Love this girl! (And I was very happy with our dresses too...which for the first of 7 times being a bridesmaid now I think I actually WILL wear it again!)

And with the beautiful bride, Deb :) Congratulations, again!

Now let's see if I can quickly recap the events that made the weekend "eventful" for an entertaining read...

We arrived in to town just in time to throw Jack in the tub (as a result from a VERY messy diaper that soiled the car seat even!) with about 15 min. to spare before heading to the church for the rehearsal. Little did we know, it didn't start for another 1/2 hr so we rushed for nothing! During the rehearsal the power went out and there were tornado warnings and horrible wind and hail outside. On the way to the rehearsal dinner, we had to pull over in fear of trees landing on our car! (Yes, it was THAT windy. Trees were down everywhere!) We made it the 2.5 miles to the rehearsal dinner and Rob began vomiting. Needless to say, we left early. We arrived back to our friends' house to be informed that their air conditioner ran out of freon and we'd be in for a long 95 degree night! (But wait, it gets better.) Jack decides to get up at 2am and stay up until 4am (thank you to the first molars, which are FINALLY cutting through as of yesterday!) He fell back asleep after some major rocking and I pulled the crib directly under the fan. (I have no idea how we didn't wake our friends up with all the furniture rearranging we were doing at 3am!) I then crashed on the floor next to the crib and Rob was sprawled out on the bed...sort of. We were both just exhausted! Morning finally rolled around and I headed out to the church to finish getting ready with the girls. About 1/2 hr. into it, Rob shows up with Jack yelling that we needed to go to the ER right away as he gashed his head on the corner of the fireplace and he's acting odd. We rush there (right next door, thank goodness...one good thing about a very small town I guess is that everything is close!) and are told that the chapstick-sized goose egg across his forehead simply looks a million times worse than it actually is. (No major damage, yay!) In the meantime, Rob is still not feeling well so I send him and Jack back to our friends' home to wait out the wedding that starts shortly. I rush back next door in time for photos and then the ceremony, which went perfectly and was beautiful. I decided it was wise at this point to (sadly!) skip out on the reception and just get my boys back home. So as the couples were being introduced and then seated at the head table for the reception, I just kept walking...right out the door! (I'm sure people were scratching their heads wondering what I was doing!) I did apologize ahead of time to the bride who was more than understanding given the circumstances. Anyway, we had a nice and smooth ride home, thank the Lord. And within an hour or so of arriving home, our basement flooded.

Whew. Did you catch all of that?! Honestly, I'm laughing about it all :) I don't think any other weekend has topped that one.

And this weekend was the craft show! The morning started out a little disastrous...our tent broke and wasn't even duct-tape fixable...I mean metal-pieces-broke-there-was-no-way-this-thing-was-going-to-stand-up! After that we decided to set the table up at the very least and we broke that too! Finally, we dumped our stuff, headed to Amanda's sister's house to ransack it for whatever we could find to house our items. We ended up with some super great laundry racks (that worked PERFECTLY!) and another table. Then we hit up my house for Jack's umbrella from his sand and water table for some much needed shade. The combination of random items actually ended up working out pretty well! Amanda and I couldn't help but laugh about the morning's events. But! We ended up having a great (dare I say relaxing even?!) and successful day :) The best part was seeing the little excited children fall in love with a sock animal and then walk away snuggling it in their arms :)

In other news, I just booked our family vacation for next winter! We are going on a cruise to the Bahamas. All of my family is going as well (my parents, sisters and their families). It's sort of a celebration for my parent's 40th anniversary as well. It should be a grand time with all the kiddos :) And we've never been cruising before, so I'm very much looking forward to the new experience. It will be nice to have that break of sunshine and warm weather in the middle of winter for sure!

In Jack news...Oh my little boy just lights up my life! He will walk in to the room now simultaneously waving and saying "hi" ever so clear with the hugest (is that a word?) grin on his face. It is just precious! And tonight the three of us took a walk to a little goat farm right outside of our neighborhood (sans stroller because Jack wanted to actually walk himself). We stopped at I think every crack in the sidewalk to examine it and see what had fallen in there. And then every bird that flew overhead we looked up and screamed with excitement until he got so dizzy from looking up so much he fell over. Every moment with him is just too cool and I thank the Lord for bringing such an amazing little person into our lives :)

And last but not least, happy second birthday to my darling little nephew Sam tomorrow! I love you bunches, little man! I hope you enjoy your second year of life and wish you many blessings! Smooches for Sam! XOXO!

Happy June!

Well, last week Jack and I had a fabulous time at the zoo with my friend Amber and her little girl, Regan. (Remember the post with Jack and his friend digging through the fridge for cupcakes? That's Regan.) He LOVES the zoo...I think it's time to invest in a zoo pass because something tells me we'll be there a lot this year! Anyway, I convinced my friend Amber to ride a camel, Jack danced his little heart away on a mini stage, and we of course saw lots and lots of animals! (By the way, the new lion exhibit opens a week from Saturday! We'll be back in the near future for that!)

So, you're probably wondering where the pictures are? My camera broke! :( I could cry about this...I use it ALL THE TIME. It's currently being sent to Canon and hoping they can fix it for less than the cost of a new one at least! But boy oh boy, being camera-less is almost as bad as not having a cell phone or laptop. (Crazy how much technology plays a part of our lives, eh?) In the meantime, use your imagination and I'll try to be as descriptive as I can :)

We're headed out for a long weekend tomorrow as my best friend, Deb, is getting married! We've been friends since high school and I'm happy to be a part of this special day for her :) Looking forward to the celebration! But alas, I remind you...My camera broke! So I probably won't be sharing any photos with you from the weekend...bummer. And wow, I haven't been back to Caro in...a VERY LONG TIME. Several years at least? It's going to be fun :)

Well, sorry for such a short entry, but I have things to do! Going to finish picking up the house this morning (Jack STILL isn't up and it's 9am...woohoo for sleeping in!) so we can head to the neighborhood pool this afternoon. It's going to be a HOT one! (Also the first day we've turned the air conditioning on!)

All for now!

P.S.- Next weekend (June 14) my friend Amanda and I are going to be doing our first craft show! We've been working on making sock monkeys and other sock and glove critters since February for this. So we're both pretty excited! Come out and join us at the Annual Craft Show, part of the Cutlerville Days celebration. (Our tent will be in Cutler Park.)

The Beach

Yesterday we ventured out to Holland State Park to see the waves. There was supposed to be a storm and cooler weather (read: huge waves though they weren't that big this time.) It was very cold but the gorgeous landscape is worth bearing the temperature! This beach is special to us as Rob proposed to me here on the sand dunes and we were also married right on the beach almost 5 years ago! Anyway, a few pictures to share from yesterday :)

Jack had a blast, even though it was super windy and frigid.

There was only one other person out there and he was kind enough to take a picture for us.

In case you ever wondered what to do if you find yourself in a rip current...

Seriously...beautiful.

The scenery is so refreshing. I love it.

It's been a while...

A much long overdue post....apologies.

To sum up the last few weeks...

• Jack was sick.
• I was sick.
• He's better.
• I'm better.
• We participated as a family in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life a few weekends ago.
• Jack gave me the most beautiful balloon for Mother's Day.
• He learned how to "dance." It's quite humorous. (Going to attempt an uploaded video below...???)
• I went through allergy testing and had 63 scratches and 48 shots in one day....oy. It was sort of fascinating, actually, and now I have answers!
  
• But overall, life is good. :)

We headed to Saugatuck this afternoon on a whim. We head there quite a bit during the summer...this was the first trip of the season. So fun to just stroll and browse, ice cream cone in hand. On our strolls, Jack got to meet a dog named Tiny Tim and thought he was the best little furry, squirmy thing. He laughed with delight when Tiny Tim licked him. It was a sight :) He also had an orange cream soda, chocolate ice cream cone and gobbled up some fancy cheeses (Rob and I LOVE cheeses...good to know Jack has the taste too.) Anyway, after a stop at the Spice Merchants to pick up some rice varieties and Spanish Paprika we decided to head home. What a great, leisurely afternoon :)

The neighborhood pool was opened last week. We decided to take full advantage of that later this afternoon after Saugatuck. Jack certainly didn't forget how much he loves the pool! He was laughing and smiling and screaming (happy screams). He is definitely a water baby. And he looked oh so adorable in his tiny swim trunks :) I'll take pictures on the next pool excursion.

And because photo-free blogs aren't all that exciting, here's one of my favorites from just a week ago...Jack is smiling! He never smiles for the camera...or I should say "rarely" smiles for the camera. He's such a happy boy, but when that camera shows up it's all seriousness. Anyway, I love this one with all of his 8 little teeth :)

Say "cheese!"

The dancing :)

Trips to the ER and pictures with balloons

Since every post title in the month of April contained the word cupcake I couldn't break that streak. And I couldn't think of how to creatively use the word cupcake again in a title yesterday so I had to wait until today, May 1. Wow, it's May already!

Here's the latest happenings with us...er, Jack :)

Last weekend was rough! On Jack, that is. (Well, I suppose on Rob and I too, indirectly.) Jack had a runny nose for a few days last week but I chalked it up to teething. Then Saturday evening it turned into a horrible fever, wheezing, coughing, congestion and struggled breathing. We decided to take him in to the med center. After a chest x-ray and evaluation, we were told he had RSV. The dr. wanted to admit him to the hospital for observation and regular breathing treatments as he was really struggling to breathe. We opted to have the two breathing treatments and a steroid shot that were offered and to monitor him at home instead. Sunday he was making great improvements. That evening however, he woke up choking/coughing and with the concerning chest retractions again. We took him to the ER and he was put on an inhaler. (By the way, 2am must be the hour to go to the ER...there was NO wait and we were in and out in a little over an hour.) Anyway, that was the worst of it and he is doing SO much better now! We have a follow-up appointment this afternoon with his pediatrician to check his lungs and I am expecting a great report :)

Yesterday we had Jack's 1 year photos taken with the super fabulous Amy Carroll. She put a few photos on her blog yesterday and they're adorable...though I realize I may be biased too :) I can't wait to see the rest! We had such a riot :)

I've compiled a list (more for my own reference as I'm bad about actually writing things in his baby book) of some of Jack's favorite things as of late:

Skates: Every time he sees Rob he shouts "Daddy! Sssssss...." and he knows that daddy will take him skating around the neighborhood. It's so darling! Actually, it's the first thing he says most mornings too to let us know he's up...chanting "Daddy! Sssssss...." from his crib :)

Rocks: He could spend hours outside digging through the rocks (and taste testing them all). We have great fun with the simplest things and I certainly have a new appreciation for them.

Lights: Any and all lights, he is just so eager to turn them on and off himself or at least have you acknowledge, "Yes, Jack, that IS a light! Good job!" He points and shouts "di-igh!" He is so proud of himself :)

Wind Chime: We have a little wind chime that hangs in the front door. I got this for him when were in in Calgary earlier this year. For whatever reason, the chime has been nicknamed that "pretty." So he will walk over to the door, point up and yell "Pity!"

Balloons: The balloon obsession continues as well. "Ba-mooon!" He was able to point out the singular mylar balloon that had floated to the very high rafted ceiling in Meijer the other day. "Ba-moon!!!!!!!!!" he says with just passion. I'm sure the other shoppers were in hysterics over his determination to show me the 'bamoon.' :) Balloons now have a strange way of appearing most places we go...or maybe it's just that I notice them now

Hope everyone has a nice finish to the week!