Faith-Hope-and-Love

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-23T20:35:00.016-05:00

Merry Christmas 2011! Love, Kyle, Heather, Elias and Ian

Elias-3 years old; Ian-8 mths old (and yes Elias is wearing a bib, don't ask)

I cannot believe it is the eve before Christmas Eve. This year has gone by so fast. I have thought often about writing the annual Christmas letter and what we would put into that letter to sum up our year for you. We did not get cards out or the annual Christmas letter...sorry! There are so many things to write...I decided that we shall call 2011 one of joys and sorrows, hurrahs and tears. We had an incredible blessing in 2011 in the form of our sweet Ian, whom mommy affectionately refers to as "boo boo". Elias has been my "bubby" from the beginning and somehow Ian got a silly name as well. Ian is now 8 months old. He is a happy little guy. He loves walking by holding our fingers (we have quite a lot of achey backs lately), he is learning to crawl (so far more of a crazy inch worm thing), he can scoot on his bottom to just about anywhere and rolls like a crazy man to reach what he wants. He enjoys any toy you put in front of him! He is doing ok with his "solids". He has good days and not so good days eating. He still wants to nurse during the night, but we have gotten him to stretch out about 4-6 hours on average between night feedings. He is definitely not the sleeper his brother was at this age! Elias would sleep 10-12 hours straight...oh how blessed we were and had no idea! Ian is getting lots of hair, but somehow teeth are still elusive...also different from big brother. But all in all, Ian is a joy and such a cutie...as Elias says, "Ian is cute." Elias thinks a lot of things are cute lately, which I find very endearing!

Elias is where we have had our sorrows and tears this year. Poor kid has just had a rough year. He really struggled adjusting to sharing mommy, even though he really does like Ian (not quite as much as Ian likes him). After that phase we had his 3 year old check up. He was really settling down and doing great. And after his 3 year old shots, Elias lost control. Not sure what happened or why. I just know that he took major steps backwards in development and functioning. Needless to say we are still trying to regain lost ground. Back in July he had actually started to get potty training, but that was also something that took a hit. So, we are now back to potty training, and coming along slowly, but at least he talks with us about it, and seems to be showing some interest again lately. He is also back to learning leaps and bounds again! And his vocabulary and imagination are beginning to take off. After so much heartache and joys over the past 8 months, I can honestly say that I love my boys more everyday! It has been a really tough road, but they are so worth the fight! Thankfully, through all the tears, Kyle and I have grown closer and stronger as a couple. I love that man so much more today than I ever thought possible 7 years ago. Yes, seven years ago, Kyle and I became man and wife, and we have been so blessed to walk through those years as best friends! We have hope in our hearts for the changes and blessings that 2012 is going to hold. We are thrilled to be stepping forward into it together as a family, and we are expecting GREAT things! We really look forward to sharing those great things with you. I tried to get some pictures for Christmas of the boys, and the pictures here say just about everything about where we are...they are crazy because life if just crazy for us. But it is what it is, and we are learning to grow and love through the ups and downs...and of course we have learned a lot more about prayer! So to close this Christmas update, we want to say Merry Christmas to you and yours. We send you our love!

Fall Days

2011-11-19T14:30:00.010-05:00

I love fall, the cool mornings, the crisp sun in changing leaves, the crunch of leaves while you walk, the rain of leaves and laughing little boys...I love fall. The boys and I have been trying to get outside more often since the weather has been so incredible. And since Ian just turned 7 months old yesterday, I decided to take some pictures outside of our fun. Here are a few of my favorites. I love these boys oh so much!

Elias is 3, and other news

2011-10-10T12:52:00.015-04:00

Oh my goodness...I did it again. Life got busy and somehow I forgot to blog about my sweet Elias turning the big 3! We had a great time celebrating his big day. Saturday before his birthday we went to the zoo with family and friends...and on labor day...Monday, we had a cookout and party. He enjoyed both equally! Especially the giraffes, cupcakes and presents. He totally gets presents now and wants to open any present he sees, even if it isn't his!
We are actually having a rough few weeks. Elias has really been struggling with a lot of stuff lately. We really are trying hard to find a balance for him, but it has been a hard road. It isn't just having a new brother, although that is affecting him, but it is more than that. We have several appointments over the next few weeks to see if we can pinpoint what is going on, and help him have happier days. Please keep us in prayer as we try to help our little guy. We are all really tired physically and emotionally.

In happier news, Ian is growing like a weed and sitting up really well. He will be 6 months old in a little over a week. He loves his brother and is really just a fun little guy. He got to start eating his first "solids" about a week ago and really thinks he is a big guy! He loves "meal time" and gets really excited about spoons and bibs!

We are heading to visit with famlily in a few weeks, please don't have snow in WI, please?!? We are really excited to have some time away, Kyle will hunt with the guys, and the boys and I will hang out with Oma. We are all pretty excited as you can imagine.

We have started "homeschool" preschool with Elias and recently he enjoyed cutting out letters with our cutters Oma gave us. We made homemade playdough with natural food dyes and Elias loved cutting out letters and naming them...we don't quite have all our letters down, but he is adding more everyday. We also do worksheets, read books, color, etc. He seems to like our time learning. I am sure there is more to share, but I will post some pictures instead. We are enjoying cooler temps now and we will leave you with this thought, "Happy Fall!"

Time it is a flying...

2011-08-24T20:34:00.011-04:00

Ian at 4 mths

Brothers (Elias 35 mths, Ian 4 mths)

I seemed to have dropped off the bloggesphere for a while there, but I am hoping to make a grand come back! Ian is now 4 mths old...eeek! He is over 17 lbs and really long (no official length until his next check up). Time is going by faster than it did with Elias! Ian is a wild man, rolling like crazy, sleeping on his tummy, sucking his thumb, playing with toys, enjoying the bumbo and swing, and loving watching his big brother! Elias will be three in less than 2 weeks, and he is growing up so fast! He is really becoming a great big helper and just a fun little guy to be around! He helps me at the store now, walking like a big boy and helping me push the buggy. I never dreamed handling both boys would be as easy at it is out and about, but I am thankful to say that they really make quick trips pretty easy, and actually a nice break from being at home! Elias is warming up to Ian a lot. He wants to help me "check on him" when Ian is napping. He even tried to share his juice and yogurt with Ian today...I caught him just in time. Ian had his mouth fully open and ready to go! I think he thinks he is really ready for solids, but we would really like for him to chill until closer to six months. With all the research available today on introducing solids, the best advice I think I have been given is to just relax and not rush it...now if he would agree with me on this it would help a lot! :) We are really thankful for our boys! I think daily how thankful I am for Elias making us parents in SO many ways, and for Ian balancing us out and completing our family! The past few months have been a crazy, busy journey, but we are enjoying the ride!

Ian Caleb Van Galder

2011-04-23T17:43:00.005-04:00

He is HERE!! Our little man arrived on April 18th at 8:16am. Here are his stats and then a quick little update on his birth and the first 5 days...

Weighed - 8 lbs 5 oz

Length - 21 1/2 inches long

Feet - REALLY BIG just like big brother!

My labor started at 1 am on April 18th. We had been having pretty regular, strong contractions for about two weeks prior and I was pretty tired of having contractions. But looking back I think they helped make labor shorter and easier...so I won't complain now! By 3:30 am we were pretty sure we were really in labor and called the midwife and the lady coming to stay with Elias. By 5:00am we were at the birthing center with me having some pretty bad back labor. We did a lot of moving and trying to help little Ian rotate and by 7 ish I got in the really large jetted tub. a little before 8 am I started to push and 21 minutes later at 8:16 am, Ian Caleb was born into the world via waterbirth! It was not my "plan" exactly, but when asked if I wanted to get out of the tub to the bed to push I was pretty sure a water birth sounded great to me! So, after 7 hours of labor Ian was born and healthy and beautiful! I am so very thankful that he was born at the birthing center! I was able to hold him immediately and while they assessed him, and Kyle was able to cut the cord! It was such a great experience! I won't say that it was easy by any means, but it was hard work that had a light at the end of the tunnel! Someone asked me if it was worse than a migraine to which I said a resounding NO! Migraines can last for days, and this was hard work that had good pain associated with it and had a definite end in sight! We were home about 3 and 1/2 hours after he was born and settling in!

Elias is definitely unsure of what to think of Ian...he likes that he is a baby, but the fact that he takes up a lot of mommy's time right now is pretty hard on him. We are trying to be there and love on him and keep life as normal as possible. I know he will be a good big brother!

We are hanging tough this first 5 days...Ian had a rough first night wanting to nurse every hour, but since then he is having good 3 and 2 hour stretches at night. He is nursing well and has been gaining weight like a champ! I say he gets the champion nurser medal! He is a little toungue-tied, but we have an appointment for a referral to check this out and assess if anything needs to be done this coming monday. So far it does not seem to be affecting his nursing. He is off the charts with his pees and poops...I know, that is a little more than some of you may want to know, but our world right now is about pees, poops, and sleep! :0) So far, we are incredibly thankful for both our healthy boys and so excited that our family feels complete! We cannot express how blessed we feel to have two boys to watch grow and learn! It is challenging so far, and I won't say it will be easy, but we are so very thankful to our heavenly Father!

Thanks for checking in on us via our blog, for the prayers during pregnancy, and now! We covet the prayers and need them as we adjust to being four in our family instead of just three! Enjoy the pictures and we hope to update soon on our little guys!

Lately

2011-03-29T15:51:00.012-04:00

Lately we have been trying to function normally, and yet nothing is normal about us lately. We are preparing for Ian to make his arrival daily with little things, like all his laundry getting done, his room is pretty much ready, we are stocked up on meal items and on basics (such as toilet paper, trash bags, cleaning stuff, etc.)...and I think I have cleaned all except my kitchen with gusto...think I will hit the kitchen next. I have the video camera ready, the camera ready, and our bags for the birthing center packed, and now we wait! Kyle and I had a great night away (even if it was just to downtown Greenville about 20 minutes from home)! It was our first night away from Elias since he was born and it was such a nice refresher! And Elias loved being with Oma, Opa and Gus! He always blossoms when he hangs out with them, and now is no different! He has new words he discovered and new things he likes to do. One of the cutest lately is that he says, "The End" when we finish reading a book and then he smiles and says "Real Nice"! He is such a cutie lately, and yet he is still such a two-year old! We have been having some "anger" issues when he gets upset or frustrated, but he really is trying hard to work through those. The other day he told Kyle he was really frustrated and then told him what frustrated him...what a change from a month ago! Of course, 15 minutes later he had a fit over something and did not use words at all...it is so tough being 2! On the pregnancy front, I am very tired and very big...I think I swallowed a beach ball. I am sleeping OK on and off, but really uncomfortable most of the time. I am just feeling that readiness that comes with being 38 1/2 weeks pregnant. We have a prenatal appointment tomorrow and shall see what the midwife says about us. Ian seems to be running out of room lately and he seems to be rolling from my left side to my right a lot the past few days. I guess he is tuning his engine for his big arrival. We are excited to have Opa back with us the first week of April and look forward to another visit with Oma sometime in April after Ian gets here. Grandma and Grandpa have plans to come hang with Mr. Elias for a bit while we are at the birthing center, and so everything seems planned out and thought out. I am sure there is something I have missed, but well, it will work out alright! I have such peace about having Ian, and I don't really feel anxious about having him since we are choosing the birthing center this time. So, all that to say, lately we are just hanging in here and preparing as best we can for a new kind of normal. I just hope and pray the transition is not too traumatic for Elias...but I know he will adapt! Here are a few pics of our lately!

Elias and Baby update

2011-02-17T17:37:00.006-05:00

Well, Elias has experienced a miracle! He is back to sleeping through the night with only occassional wake ups that don't last long and only every once in a while. And he is back to putting himself to sleep like a big boy! SO very thankful that we are back in a better pattern. He seems happier and mommy and daddy are thankful for sleep while we can get it...except mommy is getting to that third trimester trouble sleeping, but that is another post altogether! Our nap times are also seeing a huge improvement with him taking longer naps during the day...the sleep lady is right, sleep begets sleep! :) Elias is growing like a weed still. We have not been back to the doctor lately, but he is about to outgrow his 3T pants and I am hoping that we make it to warmer weather before he hits 4T...especially since most of his pants were 3T! But we are thankful he is healthy and growing well. He has also hit a new phase in eating where the pickies are not quite as dominant. He likes alot of new things lately, strawberries, mommy's tater tot casserole, ham and cheese canneloni, and his favorite right now is smoothies, which he calls moothies. I have been doing a lot of high protein smoothies for me and baby Ian, and Elias really gets excited when he sees the blender!

A funny story from today...Elias was up this morning around 7:30am and I went to get his gate down about 8:00am. He was excited to see me and when he asked really nicely for me to "open the gate", I asked him to say "please". He looked at me and repeated nicely, "open the gate?". I said, "please?"...once more he asked nicely, "open the gate?"...I said, "please"...you get the picture. Finally Elias looks at me and says, "I asked in a nice way..." I had to laugh! He was not being ugly at all, he just did not understand when he was already asking nicely why he needed to add please. Of course this led to the explaining that saying please is an even nicer way to ask, but I could not help but laugh! He is such a cutie sometimes!

On the baby update, Ian is growing great! We are measuring right at 32 weeks this past week and his heartbeat sounds great. We are 33 weeks tomorrow! He is also head down and back to my left side which is optimal for birth...I think he is ready to go! I just keep telling him that he needs to wait another 5 1/2 weeks at least until mommy is 38 weeks because mommy desperately wants to have him in a calm environment and not a hospital. Our midwife is pleased with how he is doing, and I am pleased that Kyle has felt him kick everyday for a very long time. Kyle only felt Elias move maybe 3 times because Elias would stop moving as soon as Kyle put his hand on my belly, but Ian likes daddy's hand on my belly, and he pushes against it gently as Kyle rubs his knees, elbows, feet, whatever it is that is poking me like crazy! It is amazing the difference in pregnancies and I am excited to see the difference in our boys' personalities!

It is amazing how much stuff you accumulate with kids! We having been organizing Ian's closet and room and I cannot believe how much stuff he has. And how very little a baby truly needs! :) I had so many cute things from Elias that I saved, and several people have blessed us with things that are not "Elias" hand me downs but new for Ian! I am excited he will have his own things as well as thankful that we have such nice things from Elias and that can be reused! We are so very blessed! I hope to do a little bit better at updating in the next few months before Ian gets here. We have a lot of pictures and videos of Elias lately, but I have yet to get them off the video camera and camera...oh well! Hope all is well on your homefronts! Happy "warmer weather is around the corner" to you and yours!

Some Days

2011-01-24T10:33:00.005-05:00

Wow, where to start with all that we have been trying to work through in the past few weeks. Elias has pretty much not slept through the night but once or twice in about 3 weeks. It all started with a rash on his back that spread like wildfire. We took him to the doctor and were told he was not contagious and to put him on prednisone to clear it up...as you can imagine, we opted not to put our 2 year old on something that would make him hyper not to mention all the other lovely side effects. And then we discovered the rash is most likely due to a virus and takes about 4-6 weeks to run its course. We are in the throws of week 4 and after several rounds with fever spikes (which drive me crazy since he is supposed to be more prone to a seizure during these spikes now that he has had a febrile seizure), we are sleep deprived and more than a little at our wits end with our toddler's sleep habits. I know that it is because he is feeling unwell, but we are just plain worn out. All this to say, that challenges either make you stronger or tear you to pieces...and after last night I might have said that we were being torn to pieces. But this morning after Kyle and I pulled together, I can honestly say that we are getting stronger as parents and as husband and wife. I know I have expressed my concerns about not being able to handle two boys by myself all day long with one nursing throughout the day, but I realized last night that this is not just concerns...I was scared to death. I was living in fear and yet joyful anticipation of the day that Ian is born. If Elias were a little different kind of child it might not be so scary, but even on his awesome days (which before the rash he was having a lot of) he is challenging...not just as a toddler but in general. He has been a tough kid for us to figure out from day one. I guess all this post is to say that some days are just harder than others. And although I still have lots of questions with how I will handle my two boys, in the desperation and tiredness of last night (our worst night yet since the whole rash/not sleeping thing), I found peace in the Lord that I will make it through with His help. Of course, it was also my awesome husband that helped me through. He is my hero this morning. I honestly know that without him is a life I don't want to ever have to experience going forward. So even though some days are hard to handle, I want to live with joyful anticipation of all that lies ahead of us in the next few months. And we are about ready to start on Ian's room in the next few weeks after selling furniture and reorganizing! What a beautiful time we have ahead of us! I am so very blessed and so very thankful this morning for some days.

Snow Day 2

2011-01-18T14:11:00.009-05:00

We have finally seen the last of the snow in our yard. There is still a little on the sides of the roads here and there, and we still have packed snow and ice in two sections of our road, but at least it has been warm enough to continue to melt it bit by bit. We got about 9 inches total with 1/2" of ice on top of the snow. As you can imagine, our roads were pretty bad until about Thursday afternoon. I still saw people taking sections too fast and saw two wrecks on Friday last week. This week started with dreary clouds and rain and Elias and I have been huddled inside staying warm and trying to keep ourselves occupied. We have done a lot of dancing around the kitchen to Elias' Raffi cds that Uncle Bryan and Aunt Caroline sent him for Christmas. That has helped burn some energy. Hopefully the sun will return tomorrow and we can get out and do some walking and not freeze!

We had Kyle at home all last week, and this week with him back in the office, Elias seems a little out of sorts. He definitely misses Kyle during the day when he is in the office. Baby Ian seems to be growing by leaps and bounds lately...either that or I swallowed a basketball! :) He has been lying transverse, and lately I have been doing lots of exercises to get him to turn and realize that coming head first is really best for all involved. He seems to be getting the picture and turns head down most of the time now. I also have been keeping up the excercises for my back which is complaining a lot more lately. These seem to be helping a lot as long as I keep up with them! We are slowly getting Ian's room ready with a lot of organizing and trying to sell some extra furniture. He at least has clean clothes for when he gets here! :) I am feeling that extra need to begin to make his room ready and for him to have his space. I guess this is the detail orientation kicking into high gear...just wish Kyle would catch this bug as well! He has been great about helping to organize things though and we are definitely getting things a bit more simple and less cluttered. Which with a two year old is important since Elias can "trash" a room in a heartbeat. He is learning to help mommy clean up though! Ok, I think that is all the rambling for today. We are no longer snowed in, but enjoy our snow day pictures!

Snow Day

2011-01-10T09:55:00.009-05:00

I woke up this morning feeling like I was in Wisconsin...the snow was beautiful and everywhere and there was a LOT of it. The only difference is that it is in the 20's and not the single digits! So far the measurement about 10 minutes down the road per the weather report is 8" accumulation. We have about 7" to 8" currently in the yard and on stuff in our yard and it is still snowing. We are supposed to get from 9-12 inches. The worst is that we are not supposed to get above freezing or get sun until Wesnesday, so we are hunkering down for a little indoor play time and some walking in the snow the next few days. Thankfully, we are warm and have power. Thought I would share the snow accumulation so far via pictures. We also decided to have a "snow" day breakfast, meaning a full breakfast at home with eggs, bacon, coffee, and homemade biscuits with homemade apple butter...isn't my hubby blessed? :) He bought me a cast iron biscuit pan a few weeks back...I think it was a hint! We will post a snow update with more pictures once we get a chance to get out and play...bundled from head to toe of course!

Happy New Year

2010-12-30T19:55:00.010-05:00

As we celebrate the arrival of a new year, I cannot help but think of all the new things that we will be undertaking in this coming year. We are happy to have another little boy joining our family around the first to mid part of April. We are thrilled that Elias will be a big brother and get to practice helping mommy more! We are pleased that our holidays arrived and passed with love and family and without any trips to the hospital or a sick baby!
One year ago from December 23rd, Elias had his seizure. Thankfully that was the first and hopefully his last one ever! He has been quite a healthy little guy this winter! One year ago from December 26th my mom was carried into the hospital emergency room by Kyle and we were really unsure what would lie ahead. This Christmas my mom called her do-over christmas because she was actually awake for it. We had a great time on web cam with Oma and Opa while Elias opened gifts on Christmas morning. We also had a great Christmas eve dinner consisting of steak and shrimp! I think I like the idea of steak and shrimp at Christmas instead of ham or turkey! :o) Elias also got his first taste of hot chocolate after a chilly walk in the snow. Yum! And recently, Kyle and I agreed on a name for our new little guy.

Baby Van Galder #2 will officially be called Ian Caleb Van Galder. Ian was a name that Kyle and I both like and it means "God is Gracious". Caleb is an old family name on Kyle's side and it means "Whole hearted or fully devoted". We cannot wait to see if this little one will fit his name as much as Elias Colt fits his! Elias is growing so fast and changing so much lately. His vocabulary is exploding and he is communicating so well. He can count to three, knows quite a few colors, and knows a lot of his shapes. We are working on our ABCs, and he loves to be read to. Dr. Suess is by far his favorite! He got a great new Dr. Suess book for Christmas from his WI cousins and has really enjoyed it. I almost know it by heart by now! He also got a neat puzzle set from his WI cousins that has trucks and he really loves trying to figure out which piece goes where. And of course he loves his new trucks that everyone sent! He plays with them all each day and has special things he likes each truck to do. This Christmas was also a white Christmas for us. It snowed about 4-5 inches here over Christmas day and the day after and we went for lots of walks taking in the snow. Elias loves snow...but he is not so sure about walking in it! It was the perfect snowfall...most stayed on the ground and our roads stayed just about perfect! I have never seen a white christmas in SC...and it was a neat year for Elias to enjoy the snow! Elias and Kyle delivered cookies to one of our neighbors for Christmas this year, and Elias loved going visiting! He discovered that our neighbor has lots of fun things to explore, and fortunately they love kids! We hope your holidays were blessed and that your New Year is reason to celebrate! We definitely send our love to you and your family and pray you know you are loved!

Where has the year gone?

2010-12-16T08:45:00.003-05:00

I cannot believe that December is half over and the year 2010 is coming to a close. I look back over this year and wonder where the time went, and then I read through our posts and look at pictures of this past year and realize that we had a rough, good, long, and incredibly short year. The year started rough with all Kyle's traveling to Brazil which lasted until about May. Elias seemed to be sick every time he left the country, and he missed Kyle really badly. Of course I missed him badly as well, but try to tell a 1 and a 1/2 year old that daddy will be back in two weeks! The summer was good because we got to return to one of our favorite vacation spots, Aruba. We had a great week there with Oma and Opa and Elias loved every minute of it! The year seemed to get longer as we prayed for another child, and then the year shortened dramatically with the news we were expecting...and later that we were having another boy! The last five months of this pregnancy are a blur to me, but we are excited and of course a little apprehensive about adding another child into the family. Elias is going to love having someone closer to his age to play with besides mommy all day, and this next baby will love having such a fun, expressive little boy as a big brother! I think our second one will test boundaries less and watch Elias get in trouble and learn from those uh-ohs! Especially since Elias is a little on the determined side and seems to grasp concepts but choose not to put them into practice all the time. :)

As we prepare for a new year and a new baby in the house, I am thankful for good health, for family, for time with those we love, for special smiles and hugs from a great little 2 year old boy, for a wonderful husband who is not only my companion but my friend, for vacation to remind us of how sweet time together is, for cold weather to remind us to enjoy the sun, for a home and reliable vehicles, for jobs, and ultimately for life in Christ. We have so very much to be thankful for and I want to try to remember all that we do have, especially on those tough days where it is easy to lose perspective!

Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. Happy New Year to you too! Enjoy every second of time with those you love! And most important remember you are loved!

With our love,
Kyle, Heather, Elias and baby boy VG (we do sort of have a name and will announce it as soon as decide completely!)

It's a Boy, Oh Boy!!

2010-12-07T11:30:00.015-05:00

Baby Van Galder is officially a boy! We are very excited and seeing him moving and already seeing his personality in the ultrasound is super exciting! The best part is that he is healthy and growing great! He is also a really active little guy bumping and kicking a lot during the day...and sometimes during the night! Here is his profile picture... We also recently had some family pictures made. It had been a little over a year, and I love seeing how much Elias has changed and grown. The photo sessions seem to be getting a bit harder since Elias really doesn't want to ham for a camera...he would rather play with the lego table in the waiting area! :o) Not to mention the place was packed, and they were rushing us a bit. I think we might have to find another option for family photos in the future. Something that allows more time to just be us and get Elias used to the idea of pictures. The pictures still turned out great! I am sharing just a few that we got on CD but did not purchase the actual picture because you never know when a picture of us will show up in your mailbox! :) We hope all is well on your homefront. We are hanging in here and enjoying the winter-like weather this week! Elias loves the cold and has been doing great bundling up to get out in it. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving vacation with Oma, Opa, Uncle Jon, Aunt Amber, and Zoe! It was great to be with family over the holiday! We are planning on sticking fairly close to home over christmas since riding in the car more than 2 hours is making my back hurt quite a bit with this baby. Our love to you and yours!

Saying Goodbye

2010-11-11T16:58:00.008-05:00

Yesterday, November 10th, we said goodbye to a part of our family and a part of our lives. Our Sophie Bear has been in poor health for going on over a month. She had started to decline pretty quickly and was in pain most of the time. As much of a struggle as it was to make the decision, seeing her suffering was killing us and felt so unnecessary. She was such a sweet and loving dog. Our hearts are definitely broken and sad at having to say goodbye to not only our dog but our friend. She had been with Kyle 12 years in February, and she had been a part of my life for about 6 years. Elias seems a little lost without her in the house today. When Kyle returned home from the vet Elias asked, "where is the dog?"...how do you explain to a 2 year old that his dog was not coming home? I just told him that Sophie was not coming home anymore and he seemed to just accept this bit of news and go on. But today he knows that she is missing and has asked for her several times. His favorite thing to do with Sophie was to run around the room with her chasing him trying to get whatever food he had in his hand. He would laugh and run and say, "I cheese the dog"...somehow the word tease got lost in translation to our little guy! Sophie loved it too. She had become really good at getting whatever it was that he held out of his hands and eating it before he knew what had happened. The tears still fall even today as I think of our Sophie girl. The worst this morning was that we had forgotten to do something with the food bowl last night and facing it this morning sent me to pieces. She will never be forgotten and there will definitely never be another Sophie! She was such a special, unique dog!

It seems only right that she gets a place of honor on the blog to celebrate her life and the joy that she brought to our lives! So, here is to Sophia "Sophie" Van Galder, the best Spinone and dog that we could have hoped for as a part of our family!

Learning to Breath

2010-11-01T11:50:00.007-04:00

Funny how much we have left to learn in life no matter how old we are or how much we already know. I was struck the other day in disciplining Elias that everyday I learn something new about him and about me. Some days are monumental things that I learn and others are just small little things. Today I learned that Elias really likes biscuits and gravy. I had this craving that would not go away this morning, so I loaded Elias in the car and we drove to get a biscuit and gravy. He surprised me by eating half of it...which I thought with all the pepper in the gravy that he would eat a couple of bites and not want anymore. Go figure! Last week we learned through the cloth diapering fun that Elias is sensitive to the detergent I was using when on a cloth diaper but not in his regular clothes. I have ordered a different detergent to wash just his diapers in to see if he does better with this one. And lately he has been testing some boundaries as far as certain things he knows not to do are concerned. It is on these days that I am learning to stop and just breath a little bit before figuring out how best to discipline him. I am sometimes at a loss with him, but I know that as we take each day a step at a time that we will find a balance between hugs, kisses, and discipline to help Elias become a better little guy each and everyday.

One of the other dilemmas we are facing lately is Sophie's health. She has really started to head downhill in the past month. We are having trouble with her going to the bathroom in her sleep, being sick on her stomach occasionally, and generally she is just not feeling well. The vet has pretty much said she is just aging and there is not much that can be done. We are struggling with when to have Sophie put down if at all. One of Kyle's biggest fears is that she will deteriorate and become even more miserable than she is. We definitely don't want to keep her around just for us, but at the same time, we want her to have as full a life as she can for as long as she can. She has become really needy lately wanting to be loved on for a large part of the day...it is as if she knows that she is not doing well and wants to be with us as much as possible. I cry every time I think of our life without Sophie, and I dread the decisions that might need to be made.

On a little lighter note, we go to our 18 week prenatal check up tomorrow, and I am excited to see how our little one is doing. I tell Elias about our baby quite a lot throughout the weeks, but right now he just looks at me and stares in a sort of "Huh?" kind of way. He definitely understands what a baby is, and he actually seems pretty thrilled with babies in general, but I wonder how thrilled he will be when the baby occupies mommy's time and is in his house all the time? :)

Have a beautiful, sunny Monday!

Rainy days at home

2010-10-25T15:15:00.007-04:00

We are homebound today...well sort of. It has been a gusher of a day until just about 20 minutes ago when the sun decided to peak between the clouds. We really need to go to the grocery store, but after getting rain logged this morning just going to the bank drive thru and thru another drive through to get lunch, I became a big wimp and decided we were done with errands for the day. Now that the sun is shining timidly, perhaps we will don rain gear just in case and go for a little walk. Elias loves to walk around the yard and neighborhood. His latest thing when you ask him to put his shoes on is to run to front door, look longingly out the windows by the door and say "Go for a walk?". How do we resist that, right? Well, sometimes you just have to because you are really trying to head out the door to the car to get somewhere. :) Elias has been playing really nicely around the house today while I have been catching up on laundry. We recently decided to attempt cloth diapering once again. I was a really big, unprepared chicken the first time around and it did not work out quite so well for us. We are still in the attempts at potty training, but since we are having another baby, we have decided to cloth diaper this one as well...so I have been on ebay for weeks looking at diapers for sale, and I have been researching as fast as my little fingers will type to try to figure out what is the best route for us to go. So far we have made it three days of cloth diapering, and I have to admit that it really is a lot better this time. Elias is not loving being wet in cloth diapers (praise the Lord!), and we discovered the secret to dealing with poopy diapers...which besides the whole leak issues most people have is the second biggest problem. We have had one leak so far...but we figured out why and think we can avoid that problem in the future. The poopy issue is really not that bad. We found this thing called a diaper sprayer. It attaches to the valve at the base of the toilet tank and creates a sprayer much like the one at my kitchen sink. Except this one can adjust water pressure to get enough to spray off those stubborn spots. Elias likes watching the whole spraying a poopy diaper routine, and I am thrilled he actually wants to be that close to the potty. This morning we actually got him to pee in the potty right after he got up! That is a huge deal for us. For a while he was doing great with the whole potty thing, and then he pulled a typical Elias meltdown aversion to the potty which we are dumbfounded to overcome. We have done a series of back off and try again to no avail. We have bribed with m and m's for using the potty. We have read books, played with trains, etc. Nothing seemed to make him want to be within 20 feet of the white beast in the bathroom until he started feeling wet with the cloth diapers these past few days. I am not saying we are making great headway yet, but hey I will take anything right now! :) Again, that is my kid...he makes even the simplest things challenges sometimes, but this is one of the many reasons we are parents. I am convinced after two years of struggling to understand my child sometimes that he is the one making us parents. It was not the actual act of giving birth to him as mommy and daddy that makes us parents, but these issues that rise up with our sensitive, passionate, stubborn little guy is what makes us parents. Learning to help him become the sweet little guy he is becoming is my greatest reward and hardest test as a mommy. So all that to say that we are beginning our potty training adventure once again, and this time we are adding lots of laundry into the mix with cloth diapers. I am hopeful that we can figure out the ups and downs of cloth diapers and get into a routine so that when this next little bundle of joy arrives that we are well equipped to make this work. Our budget would appreciate it, and so would our environment, I am sure! I think the sun is still peaking out, so we are off for a little walk together while we can! Enjoy your day rain or shine!

Parenting 101

2010-10-13T13:08:00.003-04:00

Boy, no one can prepare you for what parenthood brings...not someone else, not books, not even we can prepare ourselves! I had just such a moment the other day. Elias and I were in the grocery store finishing up grocery shopping and he was eating a cereal bar. He likes to chipmunk the last piece of the cereal bar and when it gets too mushy he swishes it around. I know that sounds gross, but really just wait for what is next! He had run out of juice so I knew we would have to wait until we got home to encourage him to drink something and let go of the cereal bar sludge he had created. Everything was going smoothly. We checked out, loaded our groceries in the car and as I went to get Elias the sun hit him in the eyes and he sneezed. Well, of course a two year old cannot contain cereal bar sludge when he sneezes...who could really? This yucky, brown, sticky, lumpy liquid came spewing out of his mouth all over him, the buggy, his horses he had with him, the trucks in their little bag...needless to say I had quite a mess. The unfortunate side to this mommy tale is that I had not slept well the night before, and I was feeling a little nauseous that day. It was all I could do to mop him up and all his stuff and keep my breakfast down. Again, nothing can prepare you for all the joys that mommy hood or parenting brings! :)

Fall Days

2010-10-08T20:15:00.014-04:00

We are really rolling into fall now. I know it is "officially" fall, but our temps are starting to reflect that we are actually having fall! We recently picked up a huge basket of apples (NC apples!) so that I could get my apple butter fix for the year. That and I have so many left over that we are going to grate them up for apple pies. I made two big batches of apple butter this year, 1 batch with sugar and 1 batch without sugar for my sweet momma. I love fall! We have plans to go to pumpkin town tomorrow which I am so very excited about! I cannot wait for Elias to actually be old enough to take some of what we will see in. The last time we made it to Pumpkintown he was about 2 months old. We have been having some ups and downs lately as a family...mostly related to the fact that I am completely exhausted most of the time with this pregnancy, but also partly because both of my grandmas have been having some health issues lately. Elias has also been having good days and not so good days. He had what I think was the beginning of a little cold earlier this week, and as he was on the mend from that, he fell and got a nasty scrape on his back. Needless to say, he has been a little more mommy needy this week than normal. We had our second prenatal check up this past week. The baby's heart sounds good and I got to meet the other midwife that could possibly deliver this baby. We decided this time around to go with a very experienced midwife group that is really well known here in the upstate instead of an OB group. There are so many reasons why that I would be here all night listing them out, but we are really excited about the decision. Both ladies are wonderful and have delivered a LOT of babies. They really give me confidence in the choice we made. The other choice we have made is to deliver in a birthing center this time around instead of a hospital setting. The birthing center is a great compromise between hospital and home birth...I swore that unless this pregnancy became high risk that I would not have another baby in a hospital setting. I won't be waiting an hour an a half this time around to push while the doctor is unavailable. The hospital is right around the corner from the birthing center should the need arise for emergency medical care, but we are hoping and praying for an uneventful birth, a healthy baby, and a natural delivery. One of my biggest apprehensions with this second baby is actually having the quiet time to sit and nurse while I have a two year old running around me. Hopefully by the time the baby is here, Elias will be able to let mommy sit in a chair for 20 -45 minutes straight without having to have momma get up to play!

I am hoping to begin Elias on a preschool program here at home. I already have it picked out, and I have hopes of adding some more structure to our day without adding too much. At least we are able to get outside a bit more now that the weather has cooled. Elias loves being outside to run and play. And he really has trouble wanting to come inside!

I guess that is all in the update area for tonight!

Love from our home to yours,

Heather, Kyle , Elias, Sophie and baby #2!

Oktoberfest, a Visit and Spiders

2010-09-27T08:32:00.011-04:00

Opa is down for a bit to hike and hang out with us! We are really excited to have him nearby. Elias has already learned that Opa's is great fun to play with, and Opa is really good with Elias and super patient with him. For those of you who know our little guy, sometimes extra patience is needed. He has been one tough kid from the moment he was born until now. That being said, Kyle and I continually tell ourselves we would not have him any other way than the way he is, and each day is a new adventure in helping Elias learn to be a great little guy and yet keep his passionate personality intact! He will always be sensitive and passionate, and I hope that we can continue to nurture those traits in the right direction.

Some of you may have heard that last week Elias was bitten by spiders in the night. He woke up screaming and it took a few hours to get him back to sleep. We were dumbfounded, but thought perhaps his teeth were bothering him since he has been cutting his far back molars. These teeth have been some of the hardest for him so far, and we really thought he was hurting. The next morning I was changing his diaper in the morning and realized that he had two huge, red spots on his left leg. I was pretty sure it was a spider bite, and I asked Kyle to look at it for me. He agreed that it was a spider bite, and we called the doctor and scheduled an appointment to have them looked at because they were so big. I decided then to move his bed out and try to discover where they might be hiding. It turns out that his car bed had perfect hiding spots for spiders in the wheels...the spiders came scurrying out. Of course I screamed like a little kid and Kyle came running to my side to give me his help! We are not completely sure, but from everything we could find online, we think the spiders were brown recluse...and we are very thankful that he was OK. We used activated charcoal on the bites, and really after a few hours started to see a difference. So, thankfully, Elias is healing up from that episode and back to sleeping through the night in a new bed...the other has already been thoroughly cleaned and sold.

After that excitement, Opa came in town with Gus, and Elias discovered his great love of dogs! Sophie sort of ignores Elias, but Gus would run around and steal his stuffed animals...which Elias found great! He started walking around saying "Where is the Dog?" when he could not find Gus, and he would say "Gus" and "Good Dog". I think Elias needs a puppy...but I think we will start with a sibling! Our little guy is exploding with words lately. It is almost like a switch got turned on and he has decided to say all those words I have been repeating for MONTHS!

On Saturday night we went to a local Oktoberfest at the yummiest German restaurant in town. We had lots of great food! Elias was unsure of the Schnitzel and Spaetzle, but he warmed up to Spaetzle after a while! He loved the black forest cake parfait though! He also liked the fresh rolls they served. But German potato salad is on the list to wait to try again next year I think! We are definitely having fun in Greer town, and are looking forward to more time with Opa and Gus while they are down our way. And we are enjoying some cooler weather this week! I think Opa and Gus brought it down our way from WI! At the end of last week it was in the mid 90s and by Sunday it was 65...needless to say, we were wearing long pants and coats and freezing! But it was wonderful to get Elias outside and not seem him turn bright red!

Have a blessed week and hopefully your weather is as delightful as ours is!

The BIG 2!

2010-09-19T10:17:00.008-04:00

Elias turned 2 on September 5. We celebrated with a trip to the Greenville Zoo and a party afterwards. On his actual birthday we headed north to see Grandma and Grandpa and ate breakfast at IHOP. We then rode on a real train (well a miniature real train)! Elias was teething really badly that day, but we still managed to have some good times. At his 2 year well baby check up the a few weeks ago he weighed in at 32.4 lbs and was 39 inches tall. He is off the chart in height and about 90th percentile in his weight. He is definitely using sentences more and communicating so much better now. Except for the molars he has been cutting lately, he has been having really good days with lots of discoveries. And lots of cute moments. Hopefully we get these molars in quickly and he will be a little more comfortable!

Happy 2nd Birthday Elias! You are such a special boy!

Cloth Diapering Give away

2010-09-12T08:32:00.004-04:00

How incredibly exciting - there is a big cloth diapering give away coming up in October! Since we are going to have another little on in our home, I would love to cloth diaper from the beginning with this new baby. Elias was a part-time cloth diapered baby at home for a stint of time, but I want it to be a full-time thing this time. Kyle is unsure about this passion, but he will adjust I am sure! Anyway, here is the link about the giveaway if you want to enter for yourself or on our behalf!

www.clothdiaperblog.com/cloth-diaper-blog-super-stash-giveaway/

You are Invited

2010-08-22T15:11:00.001-04:00

Join us for the pre-party fun at the Greenville Zoo at 9:30 am, Saturday, September 4, 2010.

Elias' BIG Secret

2010-08-17T20:57:00.015-04:00

Elias has a really BIG secret that he wants to share. We thought we would let him tell you his secret with a picture rather than words. There is a before his big reveal and an after picture...to keep you in suspense just a bit longer!

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Anticipated date of this big event is around April 11, 2011!

These boots were made for walking

2010-08-03T13:39:00.016-04:00

Elias still loves to be outside more than anything. We have had quite a lot of rain this past week and all been under the weather, but I thought I would post some pics of playing in the back yard a few weeks ago. Why Elias has no shorts on I cannot remember, but looking at these pictures with him in a pull-up trainer and his rain boots makes me smile! That is so Elias! We all got the yuckies upon coming home from vacation. First Elias got sick, then Kyle got sick, and then I got sick. At one point I thought about checking into the motel to get away from the cranky Van Galder boys, but I decided they needed me too much and hung in here. And I am sure I am not a bowl of cherries when I get sick either. We are all mending up, Kyle seems to have gotten another round of it, but I am determined to get him well. At least with all the rain we have gotten lately, everything looks greener and the temperatures have been a lot nicer! But we are just getting into August so I am sure the hot weather will return! Hope your Summer is breezing along nicely and cooler than ours has been until recently!

Vacation Bums in Aruba

2010-07-27T20:31:00.029-04:00

We got back late this past Sunday night from our wonderfully relaxing and of course not long enough vacation to Aruba. We have been planning this trip almost a year and it was heaven to be back on an Island that Kyle and I both share a love for! This was Elias' first trip to Aruba, and I must admit that he took to vacation and everything about it like he was born to go on vacation in exotic places! He handled the airport and flights like a champ. The only thing he did not do great while on vacation was sleep. We think that perhaps he was too excited to get up and get to the fun that he was trying to get up as early as possible! He took to the pool even better than during swim lessons. He started saying Up, Up, Up so that Kyle would throw him in the air and he would land with a huge splash! Of course Kyle caught him...just in case you were worried. He tried lots of yummy foods. He watched cars from the most awesome balcony we could have ever hoped to have had. He played in the ocean...he was a big fan of the ocean but not a big fan of the sand. He and Oma went for lots of walks and played and played and played, and Kyle and I had a wonderful time remembering why we love each other so very much! We had some great date nights and just some awesome time to reconnect. And we had a lovely time hanging out with Oma and Opa. Not to mention that we got to snorkle and see some amazing fish! Elias got heat rash, but has recovered nicely. We found some great places to fill up our bellies including the Ostrich farm where we had fresh Ostrich Satay! YUM!! Elias even got to try the Satay sauce since we eliminated possible peanut allergies a few weeks before we left for vacation. We also spent quite a lot of time watching sunsets from our balcony which was just incredible! Our last night in Aruba, Kyle and I went to an amazing dinner at a place where you cook your food on hot stones that had been heated to 600 degrees. We were headed back to see the sunset from our balcony but were not quite on time to make it to the room so we decided to head to the beach instead (that and Kyle missed the turn for our resort!). So we wandered onto the beach and noticed a bunch of people standing around one of the sea turtle nesting spots that had been blocked off...and we found out pretty quickly that the turtles were about to hatch. We stood there like little kids for about an hour and a half waiting for the turtles to hatch and make their flight, and I must admit that it was a once in a lifetime experience watching those little turtles struggle to get through the sand and to the water. It was amazing being among a bunch of tourists speaking all kinds of languages but cheering on with the same desire to see those baby turtles make it to the ocean! We did get to see the sunset that night, and we truly had the best end to our incredible vacation! Now if only we could return sooner rather than later!! We are pleased to share some pictures of our trip...Opa has some awesome pictures of fish while snorkeling...among the other great pictures he took while we were there. We will definitely share those with you all as soon as they get back to WI from that beautiful Island! Thanks Oma and Opa for helping to make that a trip to remember!

Fun around town and 22 months old

2010-07-06T12:32:00.020-04:00

We have been trying to find fun things for Elias to do this summer that are a bit cooler and inexpensive if not free. Swim lessons are over and Elias is doing well adapting to water and learning to kick and scoop with his hands, but now what, was my thought. Most of the structured classes are a tad on the expensive side although we are planing on checking out a class that introduces music in the next few weeks...and of course we have vacation coming up in a few weeks which has us very excited...we have already started packing if that tells you how ready we are! :o) So we have visited the mall in Greenville and discovered the escalator and the play area. Yesterday Elias met a little boy about his age and they ran and chased each other all over the play area. It was great to see him connecting with other kids. And he even tried out the slide. He has always been uncertain about the slide, but after a few times going down and watching his new buddy go down the slide, he decided it was the best new thing besides the escalators! He really loves escalators! We went down and up and down and up more times than I could count! Hey, it is free so whatever thrills him about it is fine with me! He is doing really well holding hands while we go places, and he loves the freedom of walking on his own. I have a feeling strollers might be becoming a thing of the past...sigh! But as long as he holds hands while we go places, I am ok with putting the stroller on the back burner for a while! We also discovered the joys of empty cardboard boxes a few weeks back. This one is open on one side which makes it great to pretend it is a car. I decided to draw wheels on the box for Elias, which he loved since wheels are his favorite thing right now. He wants everything to be a wheel...and if it cannot be a wheel he says, "It's not a wheel." I wanted to post a video of Elias jumping since it is one of his favorite things to do. And I realized it has been ages since we posted a video of our little guy. And Elias was 22 months old yesterday! We are counting down to the BIG 2!! Hope your summer is going well and not nearly as hot as ours is! Blessings and Love,

Heather

Made my day

2010-06-21T16:05:00.004-04:00

This morning marked such a monumental sweet moment that I had to share. Elias is really turning in to a very sweet, loving child. He wanted some juice this morning, and I went to go get it for him. After I got his juice ready he wanted me to hold him...so of course I picked him up, snuggled him, and gave him his juice. He drank for a bit, smiled, handed me his sippy cup and said very determined and looking straight in my eyes "Thank You". I was floored but managed to get out the words you are welcome and I love you. I kissed him on the head, put him down and watched him run off to play. My heart welled up with joy and I knew the satisfaction at that moment of pouring my life into another and seeing the fruit come forth! Thanks Elias! You made my day!

Summer fun and a weekend away

2010-06-16T20:23:00.020-04:00

What fun the summer brings with laughing, loving, and silly things!

We enrolled Elias in swim lessons for this summer. He loves them so far and has gotten so comfortable in the water. He is now brave enough to jump in the water whether or not you are ready for him to jump. It is another reason to watch him really closely right now around a swimming pool until he learns to float. We are big on him being able to swim early on even though we plan on watching him closely every time we are around water, it is just that you never know about pools and kids. I am amazed at how much he loves water...he definitely has a lot of Kyle in him! He was very upset over our long weekend away this past weekend when pool time had to end. For some more summer fun...Elias got a little mower that makes bubbles from grandma and grandpa. He loves the noise the mower makes without bubbles and we have let him push it all over the house. We actually got it out in the yard last week so he could see that it makes bubbles...the grass was a little too tall and he had trouble pushing it around, but he loved it just the same.

Our weekend away this past weekend was to Gatlinburg, TN. We discovered over this weekend that we are completely burnt out from tax season, daddy traveling, and sickness during the winter and spring. We really needed the time away, and we really could have used a couple more days. The weather was hot and humid even in the mountains, but our views from our room were to die for! We took lots of pictures...mostly of the mountains. Elias did really well in a new environment. He slept fairly well on a little toddler air mattress we had with us...and slept all night even though in a new place. He loved the new digs...loved pushing another vacuum cleaner around, using another broom, and pushing around this little ottoman thing that had wheels...which he constantly reminded us that there were wheels attached! This is by far his favorite word now, and today I thought I might lose my mind if I heard it one more time...and then daddy got home and mommy took a mental break!!
I am trying to include some pictures to sum up the past few weeks and our weekend away. one of the pictures of Elias pushing the vacuum makes me giggle to this day. He had put on one shoe and saw me vacuuming...he stopped putting on shoes (thus he is wearing only one) and found his little vacuum cleaner and starting pushing it around behind me...what a big helper. The other picture that makes me smile is of him eating a chocolate chip and coconut almond meal muffin. He liked the muffins a lot...as you can tell from the chocolate all over his face and the huge grin he is giving Kyle while he shot the picture!

Sophie also enjoyed her weekend at what I call the doggie resort. We kenneled her at our vet during the long weekend, and I think she thinks she is on vacation. She gets lots of attention because they love her and she is just lovable. She gets two walks a day while there and of course lots of petting and talking to...and no fussy toddlers are around! She is starting to show some age in ways that are a concern, but we are thankful she is still healthy and hanging in there. What a good dog she is, and I hope the last years of her life are good. We have made her an inside dog all the time since she is getting on in age, and she appreciates the cool of the air conditioning.

Hopefully summer will be filled with lots more fun. We have plans to visit the children's museum and also to take in some gym lessons to burn off some energy while in air conditioning. We are also planning some trips to the park (probably in the mornings). And of course we have swim lessons weekly...and then vacation in July. Kyle and I are both looking forward to vacation again...that is a definite!! Enjoy the pictures and have a blessed evening.

With love,

Heather, Kyle and Elias

21 Months old

2010-06-05T11:03:00.004-04:00

Elias is 21 months old today! We celebrated by going to Chic-Fil-A for breakfast and playing on the playground. Elias was a little intimidated by the big play area, but he enjoyed watching another little boy climbing and he ran around and squealed. Let me just say that those playground things are nasty! I had to just not look at everything and we just wiped our hands down and took off our socks when Elias was done...YUCK!!! Elias has gotten to be such a big boy and not just in size. He can put on his crocs all by himself and is getting the right shoe on the right foot more often now. He has added a lot of new words to his vocabulary and is just really a lot of fun to be around. He is doing really well in his big boy bed. We still stay with him until he falls asleep, but once Kyle is home and life is once again stable, I am hoping that we can start weaning him of needing someone to stay with him until he is asleep. I think it is a security thing while daddy has been away. He gets up in the morning and starts playing and putting shoes on until I go get him. And he is still sleeping really great all night long. He runs everywhere he goes, except when we let him walk and hold hands. It is one of his favorite things to do. He holds hands really well now (we have really been working on this one). As long as he holds hands he has freedom to walk and roam with us. We are training for the airport come July when we head to Aruba for vacation for a week. Kyle comes home today and I am so very thankful! I was just starting to feel like I was not going to make it another day. In fact, we leave for the airport in about an hour. Hopefully Elias stays awake until we get Kyle even though that is the middle of nap time. I cannot believe how the past year has flown. We are so blessed and so thankful for our family. Happy 21 Months Elias!

Summer has begun

2010-05-29T16:23:00.022-04:00

Well, I guess summer has begun. The weather is hot that is for sure...and the schools are out for the summer. Thank you Lord for air conditioning. Elias begs all day long to go outside and I had this idea that if he was splashing cold water on himself in the shade it might be something we could do in the afternoon...otherwise it is just too hot! So taking the money he got for Easter we bought him a sand/water table that has a train. This kid and water and wheels...it was a match made in heaven! And instead of sand...who needs icky old sand...we just fill both sides with water. Elias loves it already! And this handy little table has a top so it all stays clean...bonus for mommy! Elias already has figured out that putting his face and blowing bubbles in the water is the most fun...until he blows water up his nose...poor kid! He has also learned to put on his own shoes lately. He favors one foot over the other and half the time he gets the wrong shoe for that particular foot...but I give him props for figuring it out without mommy trying to teach him! He is also trying out sentences lately. The other day when my mom was down, she looked at him and said, "Elias, you are so cute!" He looked back and with a huge grin he said, "i'm Cute!"...oh dear was all I could think. He also discovered mommy's secret to making it through the really long days...coffee! He grabbed a coffee cup that had only an itty bitty sip in the bottom. He looked in the cup and said "Coffee!" And then he proceeded to stick his finger in the cup, lick his finger, smiled and said "That's yum!" That's my boy!
Elias has his first pet, besides Sophie. We bought him a fish for his room. It has a small aquarium with a filter and pump, and it is a cute little blue betta fish. He says Fish really proud-like when we feed Mr. Fish. Since Fish is now one of his favorite words and so is ball...he decided to name his dear friend the green monkey. It is this lime green monkey that has long legs and arms...just like Elias. He fell in love with this green monkey at some point and sleeps with it everynight. One day he decided to name the green monkey...Bish. Well, you can imagine that when he says that in public what kind of looks we get! But he loves the monkey and I don't care what people think. I know what he is saying...and I love my little green monkey hugging kid! I finally got the pictures of the camera this week and decided to share some new ones of our little guy!

We are still really missing daddy really bad. Elias says "Daddy?" with a question almost everyday. But we are still hanging in here. Bed time has been a little difficult for us, but we are working through it. Elias is learning so much everyday that some days I really feel in awe at how fast he can grow and change! Enjoy the new pictures of our little guy and stay cool...I know we are trying!!

Daddy is away

2010-05-24T09:08:00.004-04:00

Kyle is away again...huge YUCK! Elias is again taking the absence of daddy really hard. Kyle is such a great dad to him...I understand how he feels...I want Kyle back really bad myself! So yesterday Elias and I are having a chat about daddy being gone and I ask him if he is as excited as mommy to be hanging out together for a few weeks...he looks straight at me and says...Daddy! Ok, no biggie, I explain where daddy is and ask him again if he is excited about hanging out with mommy to which he says...Daddy! Ok, ok...I get the picture kid! He and I went to visit with Grandma and Grandpa yesterday for a few hours in NC. We went to the park and rode the electric, child-sized train, we rode the carousel, and we played on the playground. Elias had great fun. And then because it was so hot we decided to get ice cream. Elias and I were going to share Cookies and Cream ice cream. I gave him a bite to get him excited, we sat down and I went to dip some more ice cream for him and he waves his arms in the air really excited-like and shouts...SUGAR!!! I laughed...I don't call anything sugar and we constantly keep track of how much he gets...too much in this kid is really bad. This little guy cracks me up! Okay, so the stories go on. This morning I went to go get him out of his room around 8am. He smiles when he sees me and I smile...such a tender moment. I say "Good Morning Elias"...he says "DADDY?". Sigh...I guess I have been replaced! :)

Walking in the Rain

2010-05-22T11:06:00.012-04:00

Kyle seems to have a love of rain...apparently. He has taken Elias for walks in the backyard in the rain several times this week. Yesterday on their rain outing I decided to take some pictures. Elias still loves to be outside. I wonder if this is born in all of us and it is conditioned out of us as we grow or if this is something that only certain people are born with a passion for being outside...who knows. Anyway, Elias loves it and Kyle enjoys watching him trod around in his galoshes in the grass and rain. Elias also decided to try to walk in Daddy's shoes yesterday which I had to snap a shot of...I love that he has the one shoe he is walking in on the wrong foot! Also we wanted to tell Oma to feel better really soon - we miss you and love you! And we thought some pictures of Elias taking walks might encourage you to heal quickly!

Accomplishments

2010-05-18T19:58:00.008-04:00

My heart is welling up tonight. Elias has all the sudden started to blossom in ways that I am not quite sure I was ready to see blossom. Yesterday he discovered that he could not only climb up the stairs by himself, but he could also walk down the stairs without holding mommy's hand. I thought perhaps this was a one time thing he was interested in, and behold tonight he wanted to ascend and decend the stairs all by himself...over and over and over...well, you get the picture! I recently hung pictures at his 3, 6, 9, and 1 year marks of the first year of his life up the staircase (in chronological order of course!). As he was walking up and down the stairs, I thought about those pictures and how each one was a milestone...a step. It caused me to well up with tears for a second as I pictured the many more accomplishments that Elias would gain over the years to come. And then lo and behold another one happened tonight to my amazement. We bought a sesame street potty seat for the big toilet in our guest bathroom. I have been faithfully putting Elias on there each day and naming the characters on the potty. This was a no pressure, just to see if you are ready kind of thing. Tonight as we were naming the characters, Elias peed in the toilet. I was astounded and praised him...which caused him to cease. But when he realized what I was praising him for, he decided to let loose! I was so floored. I anticipated many, many times of sitting him on the potty and talking to him before anything like this occured. It may be the start of something like potty training or it may not. We are not into pushing him to do something he is not ready for, but we are all for him getting the concept and doing it because he is ready and wants to...we will just take it a step at a time and see. I am just about ready to cry though...it seems this past week that Elias not only hit a new stage in needing discipline, but he hit another stage in development...and I am so very thankful I was here to see it blossom! Now if we can just work on pooping in water...hmmm?!?! :) Since I was going down memory lane tonight anyway, I thought I would share a picture of Elias at 4 days old...I think the smile is because he was dreaming about eating! That's our little guy!

More Van Galder Excitement

2010-05-17T08:23:00.011-04:00

We don't really consider ourselves as very exciting people, but this weekend we feel we had enough excitement to constitute sharing our fun on our blog. Saturday started out as a wonderful morning! For mother's day, Kyle and Elias treated me to a massage to rub away the mommy sanity blues. It did wonders for mommy's state of mind. I came home feeling a lot more ready to tackle my toddler hitting his "terrific twos". On a side note...I have been advised to call this lovely period that Elias is hitting as the "terrific twos" instead of the terrible twos. I must confess that there is not a lot too terrific about the screaming temper tantrums that cause me to put him in time-out several times a day. I must admit that the consistency of the punishment to the undesirable behavior is paying off. I already see a lot of improvement in Elias' ability to change his behavior when presented with a consequence. Okay, now back to the excitement around our household. Sunday, after we returned home from Church, Kyle decided to get Elias in the hot tub in our backyard. We have turned the temperature down low and are using it to get Elias adjusted to swimming. He loves water and he has really enjoyed getting in the warm tub (as Kyle calls it). Kyle and Elias played in the water for about 40 minutes, and then I went over to help get Elias out and get him dried off and redressed inside. The water looked a little cloudy which I commented on. As soon as I got Elias inside I found the reason the water had a little cloudy to it. There was poop in the swim diaper. Apparently all the splashing and being tossed in the air into the water by Kyle had encouraged the poop to exit said diaper and disperse itself into the hot tub and everything else! YUCK! And I am pretty confident that Elias was drinking the water...YUCK! So I threw Elias in the tub to wash him off, put drops in his eyes to make sure the bacteria did not render him unable to see, and proceeded to clean up his clothes. Kyle took a nice long shower thoroughly disgusted at the thought of swimming in poop. And then we went to clean out the hot tub...fortunately after we emptied the water we got a really good rain which Kyle commented that "dilution is the solution to pollution". Hopefully with a good scrub down with soap and plenty of rinsing and cleaning of the filters, the hot tub will be good as new! Unfortunately for Kyle, he is a little warm tub shy now. But I am sure that he will wear down and get back in there with Elias as soon as he sees that little boy's eyes begging for daddy to take him for a swim!

A walk in the park

2010-05-08T22:02:00.023-04:00

Today, Saturday, we decided to head to Paris Mountain state park to go for a light hike. Elias got to ride in his backpack carrier, and Kyle's back is still holding up even as I write this! We were very blessed by Opa and Oma this past Christmas. We received a tremendously nice and extra large zoom lens for our beloved Nikon camera. I hate to admit this, but we have really not had the time since then to get out and take some pictures to try the lens out until today. It was such a nice day and we took our time walking around the lovely lake that is located at the entrance to the park taking pictures and showing things to Elias...who loved every second of the little nature adventure. I am amazed each day at how much this little guy likes to be outside...he practically begs to go out everyday, several times a day. Throughout our little hike we saw some lovely flowers, ducks, turtles, lizards, and best of all I got to take pictures of two of my favorite guys in my life! It was really convenient how when you saw one you saw them both! I was struck as we were walking along that Elias is outgrowing his backpack carrier and that perhaps next summer when we go for hikes that he will be running along with us or even pulling us along by the hand to see the next neat thing along this trail. Really, time passes much too quickly!

Well, at least until the time Elias is able to charge through the woods with us in tow, we are enjoying showing him the beauty of the world our God has created. It is really a pleasure watching him discover things. Enjoy today's discoveries that are dear to my heart!

It's beginning to feel a lot like summer

2010-05-07T14:51:00.008-04:00

We are definitely in summer temps now. I know 80's is really just the beginning of our hot days, but by the afternoon we are really into some warm temperatures. I have taken to letting Elias run outside in the backyard in the mornings since the afternoons are so hot now. This morning was no exception. We headed to the backyard to enjoy some sunshine and clean off our patio. Elias discovered every area of the yard including how to roll down the hill (accidentally). He was unharmed except for a few grass stains. He is adjusting to his new "big boy" bed. It has been an interesting adjustment. The first few days were a little tough since we had to continually put him back in the bed and reassure him that he was OK. Now I can read him his night time stories and put him in the bed with kisses and hugs and night nights, and he will stay in the bed for the most part. He still occasionally tries to get out of bed just to make sure we have not changed our minds. We are still having to sit in the room for about 40 minutes to 1 hour before he will fall asleep. Our hope is that in the next week that he will transition to us being able to leave the room after we put him to bed. Overall he is sleeping great in his bed. Most nights he sleeps straight through and when he does wake he usually puts himself back to sleep without the aid of mommy and daddy. We still have those odd nights where he wakes at 5 am and needs someone to stay with him until he dozes back off. Fortunately there are two of us to take turns helping him learn to sleep in his "big boy" bed. He wakes in the morning and usually plays nicely in his room until about 7:30 am when we go get him. Overall I feel the change has been a good one, and at least mommy and daddy are not constantly worried about our little guy jumping out of the crib and landing on his head. We have noticed that he is a little more insecure since daddy has been traveling a bit more often. I hate how this seems to make him feel, but we are trying to be reassuring and still hold to consistent discipline. Boy that is a hard thing to do! I think the hardest thing about parenting a toddler for us right now is the balance between love and loving discipline.

A few weeks back we decided to implement a time-out rug instead of the pack and play for time-out. After a few sessions, Elias fully understood that he was in time-out and was to stay on that rug until he was told he could get up. He did not like it at all, but he learned quickly. The funny part of the story comes in when a few days after implementing this rug time-out, I went to his room to get his clothes for the day. We had just had a time-out session for climbing on the kitchen table and I forgot to pick up the time-out rug. When I returned to the living room, I found Elias sitting on the time-out rug waiting for me. I had already told him he could get up and I had left him playing with a car. I laughed of course and told him he was not in time-out and could get off the rug. It occurred to me sometime later that he must have decided that he would be naughty later on that day anyway so he might as well sit in time-out now and cover it!! I am not really sure this is what he was thinking, but the thought did give me a chuckle!

We have been finding a lot of great new recipes lately that I have been trying out on our family. Our pickiest eater by far is Elias, of course! So with that in mind I have been trying to implement family dinner time where I only have to cook one meal and we all eat the same thing. So far it is going great! We have had some great successes and discovered that Elias actually prefers sitting up at the table with us and eating what we eat. He has tried Peking pork chops, pesto chicken, salmon, quinoa pilaf, creamed cauliflower, meatloaf, and other new recipes and all have been a hit! I am so thrilled at this new enthusiasm that he is showing for eating dinner as a family! It might not last, but I will take it for now! I also made real-food brownies the other day that are actually good for you that Elias loves!! And he has had several smoothies over the past week and actually drank them. We have tried smoothies before, but Elias never seemed to care for them. We have been using coconut milk, almond milk, fruits and almond butter in our smoothies. Elias seems to have taken to them, and I must confess that Kyle and I love them as well! And they are great for you and have lots of protein-added bonuses!

That is all I can think to write for the moment, but I will hopefully update with pictures sometime this weekend. Elias is now 20 months old! I cannot believe how time is flying! Hope all is well with you and we send our love!

Growing too fast for Mommy and Daddy

2010-04-29T14:21:00.010-04:00

Elias is transitioning to a toddler bed. This is not just any toddler bed...it is a race car bed! We decided that since he enjoys climbing everything so much lately that it would be a wise idea to consider moving Elias to a regular bed. His top rail of his crib is in the middle of his chest and when he jumps on his mattress he can get as high as below his waist-line. This was really stressing mommy out big time, and I helped Kyle see that moving him before he jumped out of the crib and landed on his head, that we better get him out of the crib. Now, this was not the ideal situation for me. I truly think emotionally that he would benefit from being in his crib longer, but physically this kid is ready to move. He is between 36 and 37 inches tall now and weighs about 30 and 1/2 pounds. Yikes!! Our doctor stares in amazement at him everytime we go into the Doctor's office. So, anyway, we bought a Little Tikes race car bed since this kid is fascinated by cars and wheels, and we waited until he adjusted back to daddy being home. Now we are going to try this new sleeping arrangement. Here are some pictures of his room. We are transitioning it to be a big boy room. I have yet to figure out what else we will add to "pull" his room together, but this is our start.

Thinking things through

2010-04-20T12:40:00.012-04:00

The past week, as I have already said, has been difficult for Elias and me. We have had a few ups and downs even this week. I think now that Elias is feeling better that he has decided to retest all boundaries and see just how much mommy can take since daddy is away for a bit. Thankfully by the end of the day yesterday I was seeing some improvement although it took quite a LOT of time outs and a few toys taken away to get to the point where Elias knew mommy meant business. As we were running about doing errands this morning I was thinking about being a mommy and the joys and pains that go along with it. I knew when we were waiting on Elias to get here that our world would change, and that we would not ever really be ready. Parenthood is one of those things that you really have to experience to understand. I somehow knew it would be tough at times, but I never understood what tough would mean until now. I also knew there would be joys on this journey, but again, I never fully understood what the joys would mean until now. So here we are, working through our week until Daddy gets home on Saturday morning, and I was thinking about how blessed I truly am. If I began to count all of the blessings, I know I would most likely put myself to sleep because of the sheer number of them. I am thankful today for the joys and pains motherhood has brought, being a wife has brought, and being family and friend has brought. Life is truly worth living to the fullest when you look at it that way! So thank you today for reading this blog, for pouring into my life and into Elias' life...for loving us through the pains so that we can get to the joys! PS for Opa and Oma - Elias wears these Scooby Doo shoes everyday...he loves these shoes!!

Pre and Post Haircut

2010-04-17T19:46:00.004-04:00

Here are the haircut pics I promised. The color one is pre-haircut. My outside orchids are blooming right now, and I decided to get a picture of them before they bloom out. This led to Elias sitting in front of them, and I could not help taking a picture of my cutie. The black and white picture is post-haircut. He woke up from his nap with one side sticking straight out, but otherwise it is a nice haircut! Enjoy!

Tired

2010-04-16T09:21:00.003-04:00

I know at times since motherhood began I have felt really tired. But this week takes the cake so to speak. Kyle is in Brazil and I needed to work this week. Mom and Dad came down to help with Elias while I was working, and of course as if the timing was only because the household was in a tumble, Elias got sick, again. We had just gotten him over a nasty chest/head cold that started on last Friday (the day before Kyle left for Brazil). And then, Monday he started with a rash on his neck which the Dr said was most likely viral...followed by a temp on Tuesday. By Tuesday evening, the poor little monkey was burning up with fever and really sick. Today he still has a low-grade fever, and I am more tired right now than I have been in a long while. He slept ok last night, but I was up every 3 hours checking his temp since the two nights before that he had a fever spike in the middle of the night. At least this time when he was sick he was not hyper due to a reaction to medication. That happened the last time Kyle went to Brazil. Sigh! Today he appears to be feeling a bit better, and I have hopes the fever will completely leave today. He did get a big boy haircut yesterday...his first that I paid someone to do a really good job on. He looks so cute! I will try to take some pics and post them sometime this weekend. The hairdresser said he was working on a mini mullet before his hair cut...ahhh!!! :o) I do have one quick fun story to share today, though. At the Doctor's office on Monday, the lady taking his important info was going to weigh him and measure how tall he was. I put him on the scale and told him to stand still while she weighed him. He did really great and she told him to walk over to a wall so she could measure his height. He stepped down off the scale and backed over to the wall she pointed to, stood up straight against the wall, and he smiled really big at her. I about passed out on the floor. I think he was flirting! He has only had to do that one time before, and I am amazed he remembered what to do. She was a rather young, cute girl, and I can only think that he wanted to please her so very much. I smile now just remembering the scene! We are definitely missing Kyle very much. He returns next Saturday. Fortunately, tax season is over and I am done with working in the office. I will be working on some stuff from home for a few weeks for them. Working from home is more my speed! At least I can do that when Elias is napping or in bed at night. Well, I guess that is the latest update we have. Blessings to you on this beautiful April day!

Love,
Heather and Elias (and Sophie too!)

19 Months Old

2010-04-07T21:05:00.013-04:00

I forgot to post the other day about Elias turning 19 months old. I guess the newest cute things would have to be his new word, "hot", and the fact that the other day I asked for a kiss and he walked away. A little later he came back to me with his arms in the air and said, "I give kiss". When I picked him up he gave me a little kiss on the check and then wanted back down to go play. How does he know just what to do to melt mommy's heart? He is really too cute this week, and he has been doing really well with playing by himself during parts of the day so mommy can work. We go to the doctor for follow up shots tomorrow, so I will try to remember to post the update on weight and height! I just had to share some more pictures of our cutie from Easter and this week. He is so funny!

Easter 2010

2010-04-06T13:05:00.016-04:00

Easter was such a blessed day for us as a family. We got up early, got dressed up, and we went to early service at church. Elias had a great day in nursery with 7 other kids, although he still likes playing by himself most of the time, but he is starting to play with others more and more. My mom and dad came down and we had an easter egg hunt in the front yard for Elias. He thought the eggs were great, but did not really see the point of putting them in his basket. I guess he needed more competition for eggs! We ate a nice lunch out and then Elias took a long nap (and mommy and daddy took one too!). And then Elias went swimming in the hot tub...well, warm tub as Kyle calls it. We turned the temp down on the hot tub so that Elias could get in safely. He loved it! He discovered that we would let him splash to his hearts content and he found a new love of being outside! Then we made empanadas in mommy's new cupcake maker. I am now in love with this new gadget! It makes muffins, cupcakes, pies, empanadas, corn muffins, etc! Today we made corn muffins with ground beef and goat cheese. I know it sounds a little strange, but man were they good! Elias had a nice day and really it was a blessed day for our family. Kyle leaves this coming weekend for Brazil, and we really needed some good family time. I wanted to show you our day via pictures, so you could have a visual of a day that we had to celebrate family and the rising of Jesus from the grave. What a beautiful day! Happy Easter a little late. We hope your Easter was as blessed as our day!

A Pic to build a memory on

2010-04-02T13:50:00.012-04:00

I love pictures. They capture so much for me. They are not only the visual recollection of a moment in time, but they represent for me, the capturing of a heart connection, a memory composed of sights, sounds, thoughts, touch. Here are a few of my heart connections over the past few weeks.

Spring is in the air!

2010-04-01T08:28:00.007-04:00

Well, down here in the warm south it is beginning to hint of summer a little more than spring, but I will take sunshine and warm weather over ice and snow! I knew spring was officially here when the neighbors behind our house began to work on their REALLY loud motorcycle at 9 at night. And they begin cranking it again at 5 in the morning. Gotta love neighbors! On a positive note, Elias loves being outside! While Oma and Opa were here Elias got a lot of great walks through the neighborhood. And he got his first grass stains! Which I want Oma to know that I have tried to continue by letting him run up and down the hill in the back yard yesterday. He loves it of course, and I am sure we can get out grass stains. That much fun is worth the effort of pre-treating! Mr. Curious is in to everything this week. He is really missing having a play buddy in Oma and Opa, and he is really trying harder to get mommy to play a lot more than mommy has time for. But mommy keeps saying "Go play", and he is getting back to playing pretty well by himself for parts of the day. Of course, he and I still have fun play time together throughout the day. Oh, another fun note...Oma and Elias discovered how to turn on the lights in the house by standing on our tippy toes! Elias thinks this is the best new thing he has learned and shows mommy often how to turn the switches on an off. It is a great new accomplishment...if only his timing in using it were a bit better! :o)

This week has been a little rough for Kyle. He is working long hours because of meetings. In fact yesterday (and the day before that) he did not even get to see Elias. I feel for him. He is working so hard to be a good dad and husband. And then he leaves the 10th for Brazil, again. Yes, Brazil, again! I am really tired of the travel already, and it will not be over for a while.

Elias received several new toys over the past few weeks. We bought him a large Cozy coupe car that we are keeping in the house and using outside occassionally. He loves this car dearly! He has learned to get in and close the door behind him...and then he waits for someone to come push him about the house. Sometimes I stop and push him around and he turns the steering wheel as we go! Of course when I stop pushing him he begins to rock front to back as if to say...No Momma, Keep Going!

Sophie really is starting to show her age. I was watching her walking the back yard this morning after I let her out, and it occured to me how slowly she moves now compared to when Kyle and I were first married. She sleeps most of the day now, and really she seems almost bored to death. I think perhaps she needs more walks around the neighborhood...but it is quite a scene with me pushing a stroller and holding the leash of Sophie...who really is not that great at listening to what you want from her on a walk - I think she thinks old age has priveleges! Any volunteers to walk an aging but loveable dog a few times a week?!?

While Oma and Opa were in town we went to the zoo, and Elias really seemed to see more of the animals than he did the last time on his First Birthday. The Siamang monkeys were hilarious. They make quite a lot of racket and we thought perhaps Elias would be scared. But there my child surprises me, he was smiling at them...I guess he related to their loudness! :o) Elias also got a new pair of crocs for easter from Oma and Opa. They are scooby doo, and boy they are a hit! When I asked him on Monday if he wanted to go for a walk, he went and got these crocs and brought them right over to me! Ok, I guess that was a yes, then!

As soon as I get pictures off my camera, I will post some of our little guy just bein himself! 'Til then, have a blessed day. And a beautiful Easter...boy that is a lot to write about...another post perhaps!

Eat

2010-03-13T21:19:00.006-05:00

Elias has a fun new word! It started last week sometime when I handed him a banana, and I asked him if he was going to eat it or just look at it. He looked up at me and said "Eat". He then commenced with eating the banana. I love moments like that...when communication happens and is simple! I just had to share Elias "eating" his banana...I think I did ruin him though. He likes his banana with the peel still on it so that he can eat it and play with the peel. Gotta love toddlers!

Growing Joys and Pains

2010-03-11T08:56:00.003-05:00

Elias had a well baby check up on Tuesday and I am just getting around to posting his updates. He is officially 29.6 ounces, 35 inches tall and doing great! He is in the 90th percentile for weight and over the 97th percentile for height. He has met all his developmental milestones for 18 months, and they are really pleased with how he is doing. I was talking with the nurse doing the preliminary work up on Elias and she mentioned that because he rolled over and crawled a little bit later than most kids that he might have some trouble with fine motor or hand-eye coordination. I was a little amused by this since I have not seen him having issues in these areas at all. After she had given Elias his shots, and he recovered from the shock of that, I asked Elias to give her a high five. She put up her hand and he lifted his left hand and gently gave her a high five with a big smile on his face! I could not help but grin to myself as I was thinking...take that fine motor and hand-eye coordination issues! I was overjoyed that he picked up high fives and "give me five" so quickly the day before, and I had such a great opportunity to show off his hand-eye coordination. The even funnier part of this whole thing is that he favors his right hand most of the time, but he decided to give her a high five with his left because his right was occupied hugging momma! Another good update that we received was that even though he did not finish the antibiotics (he only had three doses) his ears miraculously recovered from a supposed ear infection that the nurse practitioner swore that she saw on the 1st of March. Well, I am just thankful that our doctor was the one checking him over today. I trust him to tell me everything I need to know, and just between us, I really don't think he had an ear infection on the 1st. We are adjusting back to life with daddy. Elias is excited to have daddy home, but I think the change has once again interrupted what everyday life had become. We have had a few days of crankiness, but I think that we are recovering now!

Well, I think that is all for now! Hope your Wednesday is blessed!

With our love!
Heather, Kyle and Elias

A year and a half

2010-03-07T09:12:00.006-05:00

Wow! That is the first thing that came to my mind on Friday. Elias was a year and a half! We spent the day celebrating Elias. It was a great 1/2 year birthday celebration. He started out sitting on things. Then he progressed to eating a whole apple by himself at Panera for lunch. And lastly he celebrated by reading a book to himself in the car. Of course we could not understand him at all, but it was quite a fun sight! Elias' new word this week is Dish. For some reason he really likes this word and goes around saying it and laughing. And when we say it back to him he gets really excited and laughs. This morning Elias is watching Sesame street and sitting on the couch. I just had to share some pictures of our 1 and a 1/2 year celebration! Kyle is home safe and sound from Brazil. It was by far the hardest two weeks we have had in a while. Elias got sick. We were told to put him on his first antibiotic...he had a reaction to the antibiotic and did not sleep for two days (which I took him off it myself...not really sure he needed the antibiotic in the first place...long story!). He recovered from that and is now back to sleeping well. I got sick with a cold because I did not sleep for two days, and then Elias got a stomach bug. Oh the joys! Thankfully my mom and dad were here to help me with him while I was sick and while I was at work. But we made it through all those difficulties, and Elias is doing better today. We decided to keep him home from church since his tummy is still a little out of whack and Kyle headed to church. We are excited to have time today to be a family and have plans to hang out together! We did find out last Monday that Elias now weighs 29.6 lbs. He has a well-baby checkup this coming Tuesday and should know more about height then. Hope all is well on your home fronts!

Happy 18 months Elias! You are such a big boy and growing up so well! Keep up the good work!

Ready for some spring

2010-02-25T08:36:00.003-05:00

We had a few warm days last week blow in and taunt us of the promise of spring that will come. Yesterday, the cold winds blew once again, and a cold biting rain fell for most of the day. My heart fell as the warm weather ceased. I realized with that last warm spurt that my heart and mind are ready for the warmth of the sun and the promise of more time outside. I used to love winter more than any other season for such a long time, but over the last few years I have come to appreciate what Spring means. It is the promise of hope, of life, of new things to come. Our family has been in such a shadowed place for several months with all the things going on in our lives, and the hope of new things to come has lifted my heart and spirit! This morning I just felt compelled to write down those thoughts of hope, and to also encourage that if you have found yourself in a place that is a bit testing of all that you are...Spring is coming!

Elias has been such a funny boy lately! I just had to share a few of the joys of my mommy day to day life. Last week my mom and dad came down to visit for day and bring us a mattress they had in a guest bedroom to replace our old mattress in our guest bedroom. They are downsizing and our guests will now sleep in a little more luxury! Anyway, all that to say, I asked Elias if he would give grandma hugs and kisses. He is not the most compliant child at times, but what he responded shocked us and gave us quite a few giggles! Elias turned away from my mom walked away and shook his head saying "No Kisses". That little guy has so much personality!! The other night in the tub I was naming major body parts to him (those that I would not mind him saying in public of course!). I touched his feet and said feet, touched his toes and said toes...etc. And all the sudden Elias says "Feet....Toes!" With that said he grinned really big and went back to bathing. All those things I say to him are sinking in! Yeah! I feel like I talk all day long without anything said back...but then he gives me hope. Gosh I love that little guy.

Happy February 25th...and keep heart at the hope of Spring!

With love,
Heather

Where has the time gone to?

2010-02-22T19:45:00.015-05:00

It seems like just yesterday that I posted on here about our happenings in the crazy VG household, and yet here it is so many weeks later that I am astounded that I had no idea so much time had passed. We are adjusting back to a different daily life, again. My mom and dad have moved to a nice little apartment in NC owned by some dear friends of our family. They are settling in, and we are settling back to life without them. Elias has now stopped going to the room they were staying in and wanting Grandma to play with him. It was really sad the first time that he went into their room and looked around and did not find Grandma. They are good buddies now after all the time spent dancing and singing together.

Elias has been changing so much over the past few weeks. He is now tall enough to see inside the drawers in the kitchen, and after catching him with his hands in the silverware drawer reaching for a knife, we have added baby locks to the kitchen drawers. One of his favorite pasttimes is opening the dishwasher and crawling in to play with the dishes. Tape on the handle has done the job of helping deter him for the time being, but I can see that the tape will not last long in slowing him down. Another favorite pastime Elias has is opening the doors to every room that he can. We have installed those child-proof (and sometimes parent proof) door things now, and these have helped so far. It amazes me daily the things that he can find to get into. I am not sure if this is a boy thing or an Elias thing, but noticing details and exploring everything is one of his talents! A few weeks back I taught him to sit down in a chair and he now thinks that everything that is the height of his heiny is for sitting on...my leg, the bricks in front of the fireplace, the little chair in his room, his rocking chair in the living room, the dog, etc. He also has discovered a love of climbing, and I hold my breath nightly as we put him to bed praying that he does not figure out how to climb out of the crib. So far climbing kitchen chairs, the table in the hall, the couch, and the recliner are the only items he can repeatedly get up on...like I said, I hold my breath. We have discussed putting him in a toddler bed, but I feel tired at the challenge of getting him to actually stay in the bed in his room let alone sleep in it. I can imagine coming into his room in the morning and seeing him sleeping on the floor with monkey rug! He also discovered recently that he can jump up and get both feet of the ground. This delights him incredibly, and when we tell him to jump, he gets very excited and starts jumping around the living room...this is a secret weapon of mine to wear him out before nap time or bed time!

News for Oma - Elias still loves walks outside. Yesterday we had a lovely day with temps in the mid 60's. We had our first long walk outside since the cold set in. Elias walked half of our neighborhood pushing his stroller. He was so cute holding onto the back of the stroller and "helping" mommy push it around the sidewalks. He is definintely ready for lots of Oma walks in March when you head our way! We are thrilled he will have some good Oma and Opa time!

I am sure there is so much more to say about the past few weeks, but they will have to wait for another post. When you think of Kyle, pray for his safety in travel. He is headed to brazil as I type. In fact, he is in DC right now at the airport waiting for his flight to Brazil. He will be gone until the first week of March. We are already missing him, but Elias and I will have reserves from Grandma and Grandpa coming tomorrow to help out. I am working some evenings during the week this tax season, and I need someone to watch our wild little man! I am adding some pictures of the past few weeks of fun including the snow we had a little over a week ago. Elias LOVES snow! He was really upset when we brought him inside after a time of playing and walking around the neighborhood.

Goodnight all and our love to you and yours!

Heather and Elias (holding down the homefront)

The worst-best days of my life

2010-01-13T18:33:00.021-05:00

I know that title seems a little strange. Lately our household has been turned a little topsy turvey, but we are all doing good and have added more fun to the mix. My mom and dad are staying with us for a bit while mom recovers from a hospital visit the day after Christmas. She is doing really well now, but if you had asked me on Christmas day if she would make it, my answer would have been - really not sure. Our christmas was memorable...there are so many stories I have thought of sharing since then, but it seems life has overcome me, and I seem to have trouble finding the time and energy to do much these days besides surviving. Elias was sick before Christmas. The 23rd I worked and came home to him being really whiny and needy. I went to put him down for afternoon nap and he was a little feverish. While I was holding him, he got REALLY hot REALLY quick and as I was thinking, I better get some tylenol in him, my world stopped moving. Elias was shaking and I knew instantly that he was having a seizure. I yelled for my dad, and while he waited with Elias and talked to him, I called 911. Long story short, he turned blue, passed out, started breathing again and was sleeping on my chest by the time the ambluance got to the house. I was told he'd had a febrile seizure and that I could take him to our family doctor instead of to the emergency room. The last emergency room trip was awful and long, so I opted for family doctor...not to mention I trust him more than I do a random doctor in the emergency room. Now I have to monitor fevers a bit closer than before and medicate a little sooner if they start climbing with any rapidness at all. Now onto my mom...she had been sick with a really bad cold a few weeks before Christmas and ended up with a lot of infections in her body. These we believe, caused her blood sugar to go crazy and she ended up in the hospital with acidosis. She had several cysts develop during the sickness that they decided to do surgery on while she was in the hospital. She came home from the hospital on insulin and with some large open wounds that have to be tended to daily. Our family doctor is now working with her to get her off the insulin which is such a blessing and the wounds are healing up quickly! I am trying new recipes trying to manage the carbs she gets to help manage the blood sugar right now. We have come out of the this with GREAT recipes and some new ideas for staying healthy.

Elias has been adjusting to the changes in family life a bit slowly. He thinks that he has an open door to retest all his boundaries, so that has been really fun! :o) But I think that Tuesday we had a break through and he had a great day on Wednesday and so far today has been a little easier. During my blogging absence, Elias had his first real haircut and got a cupcake for making it through it, he found poop and ate it (YUCK! might I add), Sophie found Elias' poop and ate it (DOUBLE YUCK!), and the holidays came and went in a blur. Oh, and we discovered Elias likes to pretend he is a bull and run into towels and giggle! :o) He is adding new words to the vocabulary daily and we are thankful he is understanding more words daily. His new question is "What's this?". Which he says quite often. And the funniest thing he has said lately is My baby. I have no idea why he started this one, but he just pops out with it at unusual times. I asked him one night whose baby he was and he said "Daddy"! We laughed and I asked again..."Daddy"! We laughed and once again..."Daddy"! He is definitely all boy and Kyle and he love to rough house now that Elias is stable on his feet and can run really good. Kyle is in Brazil again and will be home this weekend. Unfortunately these trips will be more frequent for us until later this summer. The Coffee Song on the playlist is for him!

We recently had a visit with friends who live in Sweden. They have welcomed a new little boy, Samuel, into their home and they have a little girl named Esther who would steal anyone's heart. Elias liked Esther quite a bit and even ran up to her and put his nose on her nose and smiled at her...of course, he then proceeded to poke her in the eye and run away...we have quite a bit of training up to do on how boys should treat girls I am afraid! Well, I think that is about all I can think to write at the moment. Below are a few pictures of the past month at various times. The Hand made by God shirt was Kyle's when he was little. His Nana made it for him, and I am so delighted that Elias can wear it! What a family treasure! Our love to you and yours and we hope your holidays were memorable as well - but in a slightly less traumatic way!

Much love,

Heather

2010-01-13T18:25:00.001-05:00

Kyle is Home

2009-12-14T10:49:00.003-05:00

I thought it fitting to devote a post to celebrating that Kyle is home with us again from Brazil. He got in late Saturday afternoon after many delays in Dallas. Put we are thankful he made it here safely and that we had yesterday to spend time as a family. It was so good to be at home and all of us were here together. Elias was really unsure whether he was glad to see Kyle or really upset with him for not being here. But he is coming around and enjoying being near Kyle again. The two of them have been rough housing and just having a good time together yesterday and this morning before Kyle headed out to work again. Sophie was also thrilled that dad made it home safe and sound!!

Not much is new around the house other than this news. We are enjoying the sounds of the season around us...rain on the windows, cold air blowing through the trees, birds flying further south, Christmas music playing everywhere you go...I truly love this time of year. Elias now has a nativity set that he can discover and not get in trouble for touching. Our "fragile" nativity is on the mantel, and Elias has his very own set that can be played with, chewed on, and walked around with. The funny thing is that he thinks the little people Hawaiian girl from his airplane play set should stand next to the other "people" in his nativity. It is really cute watching him add her to the group. We have been reading books about the reason for Christmas and talking with Elias about what his nativity set means. And Oma gave him an advent calender with books to read our way to Christmas! It has been fun watching him take everything in. He definitely has a new respect for the Christmas tree. The lights entertain him, but he is careful not to pull and only gently touches the lights and ornaments. He is such a smart boy and understands so much that I tell him. I am amazed daily at him. He said his first three sentences while Kyle was gone. Our little guys does not speak out in words that we understand constantly, but when he wants to communicate, there is not a word he cannot conquer. It amazes me that he has no interest in "Parroting" words back to us. He will not repeat cat, duck, car, etc, but he will say things like elephant, turtle, I wasn't going to, I did, No, Yes, milk, juice, silly, cookie, dirty, and the list goes on. He is so funny! He has been a difficult child at times from the beginning, and we really laugh at the fact that he will communicate very well, but on his own terms! We have our hands full daily with our little miracle! He is really a blessing and makes my heart smile! We will post more pictures soon, I just have to go get busy on the house while our little guy naps.

Love to all,
The Van Galders

A Happy Thanksgiving

2009-12-05T14:22:00.015-05:00

So, we are back from Thanksgiving vacation with family. What a wonderful trip we had, and lately we have been reminded quite often that we have so much to be thankful for! We got back last Saturday evening and Kyle got on a plane to head to Brazil for a two week business trip. So today marks almost one week that we have been without Daddy about the house (may I add for a personal note that it really sucks!). Kyle and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary yesterday by reading each other's card over web cam. At least I got to see his smiling face! Thanks Oma for the early Christmas web cam gift! My mom and dad came up to break up my week this past Monday and stayed a night. They helped me get the Christmas decorations up and we waited in anticipation as we watched Elias "discover" the Christmas tree. He just looked at first and Mom and Dad hit the road south, while Elias and I moved on to play with toys around the house and enjoy the rest of the afternoon. I left Elias to play for a bit while I hung up some laundry, and just as soon as I was out of the room I heard a tremendously loud "CRASH" and screaming that followed. What I saw as I rushed back into the living room was Elias pinned to the floor by a 4 foot christmas tree, and he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Boy did it scare him...and me might I add! He came away from the incident with only two scratches on his face that faded pretty quickly (no damage to eyes or important functions of the face), but Elias now has a new respect for the Christmas tree and when he is tempted to touch it, all I have to do is remind him off what happened the last time he touched the pretty lights on the tree. He is now learning that lights are to look at and not to pull on. Sigh! Some days I wonder if I will make it through the day with my sanity and other days I know I will most definitely not! For the curious, the Christmas tree and ornaments did survive the crash and were fairly easy to set right.

Elias has also added some bad habits to his bath time regimen. He has loved splashing water in his face since he was able to sit in the tub by himself, however, he has decided he likes splashing the water in the tub hard enough to soak mommy, the floor, the towel, and everything else within 3 feet of the tub. This is fun enough when Oma is bathing him on vacation, but day after day was wearing on me. So, a friend of mine came down to stay for a few days this past week and we decided to break Elias of this lovely habit at home. He can splash with Oma as much as she will let him, I promise!! :o) It took quite a bit of standing my ground and a lot of no splashy, but last night I saw a glimmer of victory! Elias now lightly plays with the water instead of soaking everything within reach. And when he gets a little too excited with playing...well, bathtime is just over for the night (and for a child that LOVES bathtime, this is quite a terrible thing!). With these two fun antics, life is pretty much back to "life as usual"! Sophie has begun to sit next to Elias more and drag her toys out to play while he is playing with his. Elias loves laying next to her and rubbing her belly. I can see that these two might just have a lifelong love...that is as long as Elias continues to walk around with cookies occassionally! I am posting a few pictures of vacation to FL and of Elias playing around the house. And a few of Tobias coming to visit this past week...Elias was not really sure about having a younger baby around the house if even for a few days, but he did warm up a little to Tobi this past visit. Hope all is well on your home front and Happy Thanksgiving a little late!

Much Love,

Heather and Elias (and Kyle from Brazil)

Back to Life as Usual

2009-11-06T14:48:00.006-05:00

We are getting back to everyday life around here. It took about a week for Elias to decide that sleeping back in his own room was OK after being in the room with mommy and daddy for almost two weeks. Funny how quickly he can get used to things that you don't want him to get used to! He is cutting two more teeth on the top which will bring our grand total to 12 teeth. The teeth are just through the skin for which I am incredibly thankful!! :o) Teething has to be my least favorite thing over the past year.

The latest child safey device is a lock for the refrigerator. Our little guy decided that opening and closing this new door was the best thing since wheels were invented, and he was wearing mom down with having to continually say "Elias, no touch." The next locks will have to be the commodes in the bathrooms...until we can find some that work, we are closing bathroom doors. The scariest thing lately is the day Elias locked himself in the guest bedroom and started to cry. It had my heart racing and until I got the little lock pick thing to work I was considering kicking down the door like in the movies. I was really thankful I got the key thing to work, and we don't have to buy a new door!

The other day at snack time, Elias decided he wanted to carry his cookie around for a bit before sitting down to eat it. Sophie took full advantage of this, and Elias was quite dumbfounded that he no longer had a cookie in his hand and the dog seemed really happy...yes, Sophie got rebuked quite fiercely for that one, but it had already happened by the time I made it to his side.

The other funny that has happened lately I am not sure is appropriate to share on a public blog, but what the hey...Elias was getting ready to take a bath the other night and likes to stand in the tub when I put him in before I get him to sit for his bath. Well, the large floating boat in the bathroom must have inspired him to try out his aim. He promptly pee'd on the floating boat (he does have good aim, might I add), and was so proud of himself that he laughed and thought he might even taste the lovely stream of liquid aiming at the boat...I did get this action stopped in time, but just barely. I was laughing so hard from the boat aiming that I almost didn't catch the hand attempting to take a drink. Ok, sorry for sharing that on the blog, but I still laugh at him to this day over that one. Elias has so much personality that some days I wonder if he will outlast me in determination. I pray daily for endurance to last through his pushing the limits at every turn!

We are excitedly preparing for a trip down to FL at Thanksgiving. We look forward to seeing family, exploring St. Augustine, and just being away from life here for a bit. Kyle's work load took a turn towards the heavy side with the passing of a colleague a few weeks back. He will be headed to Brazil the first part of December for several weeks. I am really not looking forward to that, but I know we will make it. Elias and I will probably head to grandma and grandpas for a visit for part of that time...and we welcome house guests who might need a bit of a break and want to come visit with us!

Well, that is all I can think to post as an update today. Elias is napping, and I think I might take advantage of this time to nap myself!

Lots of love,
Heather

A fun Trip

2009-10-26T17:05:00.007-04:00

We are home as of last night, Sunday. It was a long ride to and back, but the in between was a lot of fun! Kyle and Sophie headed to South Dakota with the guys to hunt pheasant and Elias and I were showered with love as we spent time with Oma. Elias had a great time and has really learned some neat things over the past two weeks...such as how to say "Shoe" and help when we put on his coat. He has learned that stuffed animals are great friends to confide in and he spends quite a bit of time telling them all his secrets. Here are a few pictures from the trip and one from today of his pal time with Elephant. Elephant was a gift from Aunt Ellen. At first Elias did not seem to really be interested in Elephant, but he has grown to appreciate what a great listener Elephant is and he walks around loving Elephant, dancing with Elephant, and just generally sharing time with Elephant. What a great thing to have others to share with when you are 13 months old! The Trick or Treat shirt picture I love...it is right before Elias decided that whipped cream was not enough and he nabbed the rest of Opa's pumpkin pie...there is the Trick for ya! And the treat? Well, pumpkin pie of course!

A day at the Park in WI

2009-10-18T18:42:00.013-04:00

Elias went to the park and playground for the first time today. He did so great and loved it! He got to swing, slide, run, discover leaves and dirt, and he had just a great time! And he even wore his hat the entire time without fussing. This is a big deal for him! Kyle said the cold of WI would set him straight on wearing a hat and coat, and sure enough, it seems Daddy was right! Elias has been such a great guy. He has had a little trouble adjusting to the changes of daily life, but he is really being a trooper and trying to have good days. So far, he has 10 teeth and two more on the way in. He has been handling the teething a bit better lately for which I am VERY thankful! Here are a few pics of his first park/playground trip! The one with the turtle is for grandma T! We miss you two! Enjoy Elias' big park adventure!

Stepping Into the Water and hoping I don't sink!

2009-10-09T11:04:00.012-04:00

So, after noticing my very talented friend's Etsy shop, I decided to set up a shop of my own. Check out Jackie's great handmade pocket books at her esty shop: http://javajackie.etsy.com/.

I have quite a large collection of vintage jewlery that I have bought over the years and have decided to part with some of it. I also love to buy vintage jewelry so I think I can sustain any amount of inventory if I decide this is a worthwhile venture. The other aspiration that I have is to put my handmade jewelry on Etsy. I have to actually make myself sit down and make jewelry now, but I am really looking forward to it. I have a ton of ideas that I want to do with my jewelry and now I have inspiration. Etsy gets quite a lot of traffic, and I have hopes that this is something that will take off for me! Check out my shop for recently listed vintage items, and keep checking back because I will definitely be listing my own creations soon! My Etsy shop: notice the link on the left hand side of the blog or click here to take a look http://beingrenewed.etsy.com/.

Here is a peak at a couple of my first items listed:

Just Because

2009-10-07T09:53:00.011-04:00

This week has been a little different for Elias and me. Kyle is watching him two afternoons this week so that I can work a little for the company I worked with before Elias was born. They need the help, and a little extra money never hurts. Monday was the first day that I was gone for almost 6 hours. Elias did fairly well with daddy except for at nap time when he needs mommy a little more. Kyle was very tired when I got home...his comment "You know the saying I walked a mile in your shoes...well, I walked 10 miles in your shoes today and I am exhausted!". I laugh at this comment even as I write this post. Elias is a joy to love and be with, although challenging on a lot of days. He is a classic strong-willed, stubborn child. As difficult as this is some days, I love this about him. If I can just help him focus those traits in the right direction, he will be quite a force to be reckoned with when he is older! All of that above I write about to share how Elias responded to me when I got home Monday night. As I got home and opened the door, Elias looked up at me, half-smiled, and then he turned and went the opposite way. What proceeded was Elias ignoring me for the rest of the night until bedtime. He was mad at me for leaving him for so long on Monday afternoon. It has been quite a while since I have left him for that long at one time. He came around when he wanted to be snuggled and loved before bed, but it really hurt my mommy heart to watch him ignore me because I had left him. I work again tomorrow afternoon, and I am just hoping that he does better than monday when I get home. I keep telling him that I will be gone a little while but that I will be home and have lots of hugs and kisses for him. We shall see! It probably does not help that he has been teething again for about two weeks. It has been a rough two weeks for him with a lot of pain and crankiness. He is cutting four teeth at once again. Why does he have to do this the hard way?!? He has two almost through and the other two are just swollen and red. Once he gets them all in he will have 12 teeth!! As a result of the teething, his eating habits have taken a ding, but we are trying new things to keep him interested in food. Veggies are becoming more difficult, but mixing them with things seems to help a little! He also discovered fish sticks about two weeks ago, and those have been a staple for him lately!!

We hit the road a week from today to head to WI and my excitement is mounting. I cannot wait for him to be with his WI family. He will have cousins to play with and lots of hugs and snuggles from Oma and Opa. It will be such a nice treat to be with family! And Kyle and I might even get a date night while Oma and Opa have a play date with Elias! Sounds great to me! And Sophie will get to hunt her little heart out in South Dakota while we are up there! I am so excited for her. I keep telling her about it, but she does not seem to grasp what this will mean for her just yet! She will soon enough!

On a sad note, my mom and dad have had to move down closer to Columbia, SC. They are about 2 hours away. Although this is not as far as Kyle's family, it seems so very far. I was used to them being here and seeing them almost everyday. My heart is heavy and sad and we miss them terribly! I miss Elias having Grandma and Grandpa in his life often. It will hopefully be a temporary thing while they get some stuff taken care of and settled.

Well, blessings and love we send today. Elias is napping, so I am going to go clean while I can!

Love,

Heather, Kyle, Elias and Sophie!

Tigers Rule!

2009-09-18T15:35:00.013-04:00

Elias has an outfit that he received from Jody and Mary Roberts at a baby shower in WI...before he was born! I have been waiting for the weather to cool so he could wear this cute little outfit, and finally the day arrived. Yesterday was a cooler rainy day...much like today is outside. So, I asked Kyle to take pictures, and our little Elias was being a ham for the camera and daddy! Thank you Jody and Mary for the cute outfit! The front says, Tigers Rule and Lions Drool( and don't you forget it!). Our little guy definitely sports plenty of personality and this little outfit seemed just the right fit for him! Hope it doesn't outgrow it before next month, though. We are planning on heading to WI for a visit about middle of the month, and I would love for Jody and Mary to see him wearing his Tigers Rule outfit!
Funny for the day...I put a rain/wind breaker jacket on Elias today because it was a little chilly out. He decided that this is the worst thing I could have done to him and had a complete melt down with big tears running down both cheeks...my dad said he hasn't figured out that he lives in the south yet. We don't have tolerance to the cold like we would if we lived up in cold country. I think Elias wants to move where there is snow more often than ice! :o) Hopefully he will understand the coat thing before we head to WI for a visit next month!

Another Photo Session

2009-09-17T10:26:00.009-04:00

Well, I promised Kyle that after Elias' one year photo session that we would slow WAY down with the pictures! But after these one year pictures...I don't know! He is so very cute...although now that we are mobile, the pictures seem to be harder on everyone! Here is a sneak preview of the one year photo session. I just love that little boy, even on the very difficult days of toddlerhood!

Happy Birthday Elias!

2009-09-09T15:05:00.012-04:00

Elias is one year old!! We had such a great trip to the zoo on his birthday. His favorite animals were the giraffes...maybe because they are tall like he is! Elias is now officially 24 lbs 2 oz and 32.5 inches tall. He is doing great! And we got to turn our car seat around for him to ride facing forward! I think he likes it a lot. He definitely enjoys being able to see mommy and daddy while riding. He got a great health report, although he had a cold on the day we saw the doctor, so we are doing our first round of vaccinations next week. I am definitely not looking forward to those, but Kyle will be brave for both of us and is planning on going with me. He will get two shots next week, and I feel sick at the thought of him hurting, but he will not remember the shots I am sure!
For Elias' birthday lunch we ate at Fudruckers and he got fries. He got to taste his first onion ring and was not really all that impressed. Today he got his first taste of Chick-fil-A chicken nuggets and this was a completely different story from the onion rings! He liked it a lot, which is amazing to me. He seems to have trouble with the chicken I feed him at home and we have to mix it with apples...I guess everything is a little better with apples!

We had such a great birthday with our little monkey! He is such a joy...although birthday fun seemed a bit overwhelming a couple of times that day, he did seem to have a great day! He received so many gifts and cards and birthday wishes...I tell him often that he is such a blessed little boy. I hope one day that he truly understands what this means!

PS - (Birthday videos to come in a day or so...I have yet to get all the video off our little video camera.)

New Shoes

2009-09-04T11:40:00.016-04:00

Elias got his first pair of real shoes last week. They are called squeaker sneakers. I went ahead and bought up a size and with socks he is in a size 6 toddler and they fit nicely...yikes! We knew the kid had big feet, but goodness! His squeaker shoes squeak every time he walks correctly...heel to toe. And he is a squeaking maniac! We are putting a video on here of his first shoe experience! Also in the news...Elias and Tobias are becoming good friends! Elias likes to touch Tobi's head and Tobi pretty much just likes to look at Elias, but I know they will be good friends as they get older. Here are a few pictures of our two little friends! Unfortunately they would not cooperate to get their picture made together just yet, but we will keep trying!

Elias has been trying to switch his nap schedule on me lately. Some days he seems to only need 1 long afternoon nap and some days he still needs a morning and an afternoon nap...go figure! I like the two naps a day thing because it means I get things done during the day, but we will work with our little guy...not like we have much choice but to adjust his napping as he needs it. At least he is not fighting naps all together!!

We are having a party tomorrow for Elias' first birthday. I am so excited and have plans to make his birthday cake today. My Mom and Aunt Pat (long time family friend) are coming over to play with Elias while I get in the kitchen to cook. I have been planning his cake for weeks and I am so excited to see how it turns out...not to mention I can control the ingredients that end up in my cake so I know it is ok for Elias to eat! I am certain he will like the cake...who doesn't like cake! We are planning to head to the greenville zoo in the morning, eat lunch out to celebrate, and then have his party tomorrow afternoon, after an afternoon nap for our little guy! I have been telling Elias he is turning one tomorrow, but I am not certain he gets the concept just yet.

Yesterday Elias said his first word with two syllables. He is saying it pretty regularly now, his new word is "Tickle"! I think of Oma everytime he says "Tickle" to me! What a great year this has been...hard, challenging, tiring, and so very rewarding that words just cannot share all that is in my heart. We are so thankful for our little family. What a blessing it is to have a family to love and care for everyday. Kyle is a great daddy! He is good with Elias, and Elias loves his DaDa. And of course I love my little guy so very much. He is such a joy(even in the challenges!). Happy Birthday Elias! We love you so very much!

Where has all the blogging gone? Elias is walking!!

2009-08-26T21:23:00.023-04:00

I cannot believe it has been so long since I have been on to post the happenings in the wild and crazy Van Galder household. We have been mucho busy and having a lot of fun. Elias is Walking!!! He took his first steps a few weeks ago, but my little guy is a cautious walker. He has taken about two weeks to decide to walk towards things that he wants, however, he still drops to his bottom to crawl if he loses his balances. We are working on the walking all the time...it is a process with our little one! Funny that he tried to lunge out of the car and fell on his head at 8 months old, but he a little unsure of walking across carpet and the possibility of falling 10 inches!! We have had friends in to visit for a few days which was nice. We got to take more pictures of Tobias (of whom we posted pictures earlier this summer). Elias has enjoyed a fun yet slightly too warm of a summer. He enjoys playing in the pool, walking (with help most of the time until lately), playing with cars, and pushing just about anything around from boxes to his toy box! He even took to pushing an empty rubbermaid container around the living room a few weeks back until mommy took it to fill with clothes he had outgrown. That is another huge report on his part...the growing is insane!! Elias is in 18 month clothing for the most part and wearing a size 5 shoe! He is such a big boy! I can tell when he hits a growth spurt for sure! He eats a LOT more and starts to get skinny again...I think he wants to be as tall as daddy by the time he reaches 2! This kid can pack away the food! And he likes just about everything so far. He is a little unsure of broccoli and green veggies now, but I trick him into eating broccoli by adding apples to it...for some strange reason this works! He loves cheese, boiled eggs, crackers, cereal, carrots, acorn squash, plums, peaches, watermelon, bananas, sweet potatoes, butternut squash...too much to list! He will seriously eat just about anything. And I am so glad to say that he loves to drink water! We are working on the milk...it must be an acquired taste?!? He is still nursing, but I have plans to cut him back slowly to just a few times a day after he turns 1 in a little over a week. I am looking forward to this change in routine. I am so thankful that we managed to nurse for a year, but I must admit that I am tired physically. I hope to have him weaned by a year and a half...we shall see. Any thoughts on weaning how to would be greatly appreciated! We are posting an Elias walking video. He was a little distracted by something, but he managed a few steps for the video camera...and the spoon was something I could not get him to give up without a fight this morning for some reason...we did stop walking though...for the safety conscious out there, so that he would not jam the spoon down his throat! Thankfully, the end of the spoon is soft and squishy. I guess he liked breakfast so much that he decided to take the spoon with him! I am also posting a video of his singing bear from Opa. Oma and Opa blessed us with a wonderful visit a little while back, and Elias is very attached to this bear. We play it a few times a day. The last video is of Elias getting up from a nap. He wakes up so happy sometimes that I just had to video it! And notice how tall he is in the crib and it is at the lowest possible setting! What a tall boy he is!

Playing Fun - 11 months old

2009-08-05T11:25:00.012-04:00

Since I have not posted in a while, I thought I would put some recent pictures up today. Today Elias is 11 months old!! I cannot believe it has been almost a year since Elias joined the world. This has been such a hard and such a rewarding year. A few weeks ago now, Oma and Opa came down to visit and spend time with us. It was such a blessing to have them here and Elias is definitely missing all the attention! He had a wonderful time and seemed to blossom the week they were here. He is getting so many things down now and playing in some new and neat ways! He is "playing" with Sophie more lately and she is such a good dog! She just lays there and lets him "play" all over her. What a good girl you are Sophie...we love you!

Enjoy the pictures and we hope to update more later!

Our Love,

Kyle, Heather, Elias and Sophie

On the move

2009-07-12T20:18:00.024-04:00

In the news today -

Elias takes to the road with his toy cart and makes laps around the living room. He is definitely getting this walking thing down a little more and it seems he is determined to keep up with the cute little girl, Esther, in the church nursery! :o) This morning at church, Esther wanted to give Elias a kiss, which he was very unsure of, but Elias returned the favor and decided Esther was worth sharing his sloppy kisses with her. Our little guy is really blossoming lately. He takes in everything around him and occassionally we hear the result of all the observing and absorbing. A week ago Elias said very plainly with a shake of his head, "No", to his grandma when she asked him if he was trying to poopy. I laugh at this because I repeat "No Touchie" so much lately that I think I hear it in my sleep at night. Elias knows now what this means. He can also comprehend no bite, gentle, and uh-uh (which usually precedes No Touchie). Isn't it funny how adding an "ie" to the end of a statement seems to make it seem more gentle?!? :o)

We have also discovered that in addition to his love of housework, Elias likes to cook! I have been in the kitchen a lot lately making baby food, baking lots of goodies, making bread, and cutting a ton of peaches. Elias likes to play on the floor while I cook when he is not crawling, or walking with his cart, or pushing his animal book all over the floor. Maybe Elias can clean and cook for mommy when he gets older!

For the past few weeks, Elias has been waking in the middle of the night screaming and wants to play after he is calmed down. Well, we are exhausted physically and have exhausted every parenting-down method we can to get our little guy back to sleep. The advice of the streets is that it is now time to let him "cry-it-out" until he realizes that night-time is for sleeping and no one will come to play with him. We are unsure of all this emphasis on "crying-it-out". What does a sleep-deprived parent do with a ten-month old who now does not sleep through the night but previously slept like a log?!?

We are including some of our favorite pictures over the last few weeks and a video of the toy cart pushing. We really have a cute little ham on our hands!! I cannot believe our little guy is now 10 months old. I have already started planning his 1st birthday party and thinking about it makes me stop and realize how much life has changed. Thankfully it is for the better even through all the challenges!

Bath Time Fun

2009-07-01T21:21:00.010-04:00

Elias loves bath time. He has since he was a little guy. Tonight we captured Elias smacking the bubbles in the bath water. I got so tickled at him that I had Kyle video him! I think I miss the bath times when he just sat and played with Rubber ducky! :o) It is fun though and we don't do bubble bath everynight. His bubble bath is called Calm by California Baby. We use it when he seems a little cranky and may need some help getting to sleep - it makes me want to crawl in bed and sleep, so I cannot imagine what it makes Elias feel like...but apparently the bubbles get him all excited!

In the news this week, Elias turns 10 months old on Sunday this coming weekend. He has his 8th tooth coming in and we think he may have #9 trying to break through his gums. He has been pulling up, standing, and trying to let go and walk when we walk him through the house. Today he let go of one finger and walked a little ways just holding one finger before landing on his bottom. I have a feeling he will be off before we know it, running through the house. He also climbed the steps today by himself. I was of course right behind him making sure he did not fall, and we have a baby gate to make sure he does not try this when mommy is not right there with him. He got a little tired towards the last few steps, but he is doing really well controlling his climbing ability. I have been trying to teach him to go up and down safely, but I don't want him attempting it by himself anytime soon! He had a nice visit with his great-grandmother, Gammy (my dad's mom) and his great-aunt Ellen (my dad's sister) today. We had a sort of tea party this afternoon with home-made banana bread and butter cookies. Elias likes both very much even if he only got to taste them a little bit.

The latest Sophie news is that she has learned that when Elias eats, he misses his mouth quite a bit. She now camps out beneath his high chair to clean up the bits of yummies that his drops. She is such a funny dog!! Last week she tried to make a break one afternoon and went visiting the neighbors. Thankfully she was ok, and we made sure to reinforce the backyard gate so that it is more Sophie proof!

We would also like to say Happy Birthday to Pop Pop!! Wish we could be with you on your birthday to celebrate you! Kyle mailed a package to you today so it should be there soon! Hope your birthday is extra special! We love you!

Well, that is about all the new things going on this week. We are learning and growing each day and discovering new things. Our love to each of you!

Love,
Heather, Kyle and Elias (and of course Sophie too!!)

Tobias Cade Hiwale

2009-06-29T13:20:00.015-04:00

We recently visited with friends in VA who celebrated the birth of their son Tobias Cade a little while back. I was blessed to be there for Tobi's birth and we got to see him and his parents this past weekend. Tobi was born on June 8th. He weighed in at 6 lbs and 8 oz and was 19 nd 1/2 inches long. I got the pleasure of taking his picture at 20 days old for our dear friends. It was great practice since I am still considering taking pictures for a part-time business. He is such a cute baby and so calm!! Enjoy the cuteness!! And we will post more pictures of our cutie soon!

Roomba - Numero Dos and a sneak peek

2009-06-19T21:34:00.026-04:00

Here is the second video of Elias and Roomba. Elias also discovered the Flip video device in this video...he does love his buttons and anything with lights. We are also giving you all a sneak peek at his 9 month pictures! Elias did so great getting his picture made once again! Why won't he smile like this for me and my camera?!? I guess I am not quite as silly as the people at the studio?!? :o) Anyway, we had great fun getting these pictures made and documenting another great stepping point in our little guys first year...Kyle has made me promise to slow down on the portraits after his first birthday...sigh! Oh, the latest news for Elias is that he now has seven teeth! Whew - is all I can say about 7 teeth in a little over 4 months! Enjoy the pictures and the video!

Elias vs Roomba - Part numero uno

2009-06-17T21:32:00.007-04:00

We have had Roomba for quite a while now. It was really a blessing during our pregnancy with Elias, and now that Elias is all over the place exploring, we have discovered that he loves to chase Roomba all over the house. He will literally crawl all over the house trying to get to Roomba. And anytime I am holding him and he sees Roomba, it is all I can do to keep him in my arms. I am not sure how this love affair developed for Elias, but I am just thankful that at 9 months that it is a robotic vacuum cleaner and not a cute little girl!! Perhaps it is the buttons that light up and make noise when pushed...or the fact that when certain buttons are pushed that actions happen. Who knows, but one thing is certain, Elias and Roomba have been getting aquainted daily since we discovered Elias's passion for Roomba...our carpet has never seen so much vacuuming! I just hope that Elias carries this love for cleaning throughout his life! :o) Enjoy the video - it was a lot of fun making it...and stay tuned in for Elias vs Roomba part 2!

Beach Bums and a milestone

2009-06-06T17:43:00.042-04:00

Elias turned 9 months old yesterday! Happy 9 months little guy! He went to the doctor this past week, not really for a check-up but to get his head checked. For those of you who have not heard, Elias decided to jump out of the car sitting in Uncle Jon's driveway while Kyle was trying to get him to the car seat. It is a long story, but the short version is that he was scraped up pretty bad and spent the night in the ER and PCU in Orlando, FL for overnight observation. He left there with a fractured skull but no dings to his rambunctious spirit! We proceeded from there to Bradenton Beach where we spent the remainder of the week with Oma, Opa and Uncle Jon. It was such a nice treat! Kyle and I got to walk on the beach together at sunset several nights and even went to dinner while Oma and Opa watched our little man! Elias did really great, and even though "normal" was a bit different for him that week, he was a great little guy! Coming home he has had a little trouble getting back to mundane life with no Oma and Opa, but we are trying to keep life fun. He might just be missing being able to sleep in his fun pop-up tent! He has decided that playing with toys in one spot is no fun and has taken a great interest in anything he can reach by crawling/bear crawling. He has also decided that when you take something from him or redirect him away from something that it is the worst thing in the world for him!! This is a fun stage that we are trying to find new ways to work through. His report from the doctor this week was that he is no worse for the wear from the fall and looks good. He is weighing in at 21 lbs 12 ounces and is now 32" long. He loves to eat that is for sure!! Plain whole milk yogurt is his new favorite and of course he still likes his veggies and fruits. Oatmeal is still his favorite grain! He also likes remote controls, of course! He is after all a boy!
The beach was a nice break for Kyle to refresh. We were right on the beach and were able to see the ocean out our window every morning. What a beautiful place Anna Maria Island is to vacation!! We took in the Aquarium, and Elias really seemed to enjoy the fish, dolphins and manatee. Not to mention that he got to ride in the backpack carrier on Oma's back the whole time which was fun for him! We are including some pictures of our great week!! Some we took and some Opa took for us. Kyle was able to go with Jon on a jet ski which is something he has always wanted to do. And I got to be with my guys and great family, and we all got to enjoy Elias's first beach trip. It was a blessing and something we will always treasure!

Kyle's vacation notes -
The best time in Orlando was going to the Magic-Cavaliers game with the family sans Heather and Elias. Jon got some truly awesome seats for us. It was great to see Lebron James live. He is an incredible athlete. The game went into overtime and Lebron almost pulled it out singlehandedly for the Cav's, but his last shot at the buzzer missed the mark. Even though Elias missed the game, he has enjoyed the noisemaker that I got for attending. Unfortunately, I guess this may lead to a drum set down the line...

4 teeth and counting

2009-05-15T20:18:00.005-04:00

We officially have 4 teeth and two more on the way in. Whew! I am tired tonight...nap time was a bit hard today, but we will make it through this teething stuff. The newest thing that Elias likes to do is blow air! He has been watching me blow is food to cool it down a bit the past few nights and has started blowing air! It is too cute! Especially when he combines it with giving kisses and you get a spray of yummy kisses slober all over your cheek! Oh the fun of being 8 months old - you get away with so many things!

Pray for Mary Grace

2009-05-11T11:37:00.004-04:00

A dear friend of ours had her little girl May 1st. Mary Grace was 7 lbs 3 oz and 20 inches long. She was born with a heart defect and is now in Charlottesville, VA at the Mdical University hospital. She has a caringbridge site that is updated on her current medical conditions. Our prayer for Mary Grace is that the Lord's hand will be upon her and that he will touch her little body and bring healing. She is at a critical medical point and truly needs prayer. Please check the following site for more details http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ginaragan.

Thank you!

My Promotion

2009-05-11T10:31:00.006-04:00

Many of you know that I am now staying home with Elias. My part-time work ended with tax season and with it came a lot of mixed emotions on my part. I have worked at least part-time since I was about 17 years old. "Now what do I do?", is the first thought that came into my head. I am still looking into and considering several avenues for part-time work, but thankfully by Kyle and I both working hard to budget and pay down things, we do not need me to work for us to meet our budget. Now, with that being said, I would love to be able to contribute to our budget and create even more cushion. Not to mention to help pay for our vacations! :o) But as I have been thinking about not actually working a job outside our home, it occurred to me that in reality, I have received a promotion! No, I am not working in accounting or getting paid for what I do with money, but I am working a job here with Elias that carries so much responsibility (more than I have ever had on a job before). But with this responsibility comes much greater rewards than I have ever received before. I am here daily making sure that our little boy is loved and cared for like no one else would. Wow, what a great new job title I have received, "Mommy"!!! Yesterday was my first mother's day, and I celebrated it with the two most wonderful guys in the world, Kyle and Elias! My cup runneth over with love and blessing!

Happy 8 months Elias!

2009-05-05T20:12:00.013-04:00

Elias turned 8 months-old today. He is such a big boy and we are so very proud. We are so thankful for such a healthy, growing, little guy to have the honor to raise. He is learning so much each day...and it usually involves trying to out think me so that he can get something he wants and most likely should not have! He loves eating, of course! And loves to pull up on things, although right now he only makes it to his knees. He is getting so tall. He can pick up cereal to eat now, eat teething biscuits and make the biggest mess I have ever seen, help mommy with laundry, drink out of a sippy cup, play with his toys like there is no tomorrow, take naps and give mommy a rest, sleep through the night even while teething (this is a big deal to mommy!), and he now has three teeth completely through and three more almost through his gums. This teething stuff has been a hard road, but he is hanging tough! And he knows his bedtime routines now. He loves bath time, and lately his favorite thing is to splash water and get mommy really wet! Rubber ducks are his favorite bath time toy! Here are a few pictures of the last little bit in Elias' life.

Happy 8 months sweet baby Elias!

Washing Machine Watching

2009-05-01T10:21:00.005-04:00

Elias discovered a new love the other day. I was getting caught up on laundry, and Elias was hanging out (literally) in the Johnny Jump Up that we borrowed from a friend until her baby needs it. Elias turned around in the Johnny Jump Up and started watching the washing machine...and a light bulb came on in my head! If he likes laundry that much, I will have a little helper one day!!! Yeah!! Enjoy the video!

Happy Easter

2009-04-16T11:06:00.016-04:00

Easter, as some of you might guess, is one of my favorite holidays. I not only love the changes in the weather, I love the promise of hope and new life that comes at this time of the year. I also loved celebrating Elias' first Easter with him. He was showered with love this Easter. He is such a loved little boy - and I hope to help him realize how loved he is over the years. He went to sunrise service, and he was oohed and aahed over by my grandmother's church family. He also got to meet my Dad's side of the family (some of them for the first time) which was really nice! It was a beautiful day! We have some pictures to share of Easter and the past few days...he really is being terribly cute lately! We missed those of you that we could not be with this Easter and send out our love.

The latest news from our home front includes Elias pulling himself up to try to stand (usually when he is going after something he is not supposed to have!). I had and recovered from the flu last week and Elias, thankfully, did not get what I had. We are sort of just getting back to normal around here. I am done with tax season and not sure what the next step is, but in the meantime I am enjoying just being with Elias. We are going to a program at the library each week called "Bouncing Babies". It is for moms and babies from birth to two years of age. We sing and say nursery rhymes and read books. Elias loves the bubbles at the end - so much so that we bought some bubbles to blow at home. He gets a little tired and cranky towards the end because it is usually during nap time, but we try to adjust our schedule a little to accomodate it, and it is only one day a week. We are heading out of town this weekend to see friends and to give a dear friend of mine, aka"Aunt Peggy", a baby shower. Her little one is due in June and we are thrilled to be able to share that time with Peg and Jo and her family! Elias will definitely get lots of attention because there are quite a lot of people whom he has yet to meet and they are dying to meet our little guy! Elias' favorite word right now is Dada and he says it with gusto! He occassionally says Mama when he needs some snuggling or loving. And he also added BaBa and HaHa to his vocabulary last week. Not sure what that is supposed to be, but I am glad he is getting some consanant sounds down!! He is still growing like a weed and doing really well eating. We have added some cereal puffs to the menu which Elias really likes because he can pick them up and eat them (they are made by Happy Baby and are organic which I like). And we are trying to get used to fresh avocado and cooked carrots lately. I made hime some homemade Teething biscuits which he really seems to enjoy. Elias is also enjoying a lot of new toys lately. We have added some fun blocks that he got from Target with his gift card from Oma and Opa. He also got a rock and stack with his gift card. And with his money from Aunt Connie and Uncle Gene he picked out a special flower toy that plays music when he pushes on the flowers. We took him to OP Taylors toy store in downtown Greenville to pick out this toy which he really enjoyed! The weather has definitely been wonderful down here and we are really looking forward to more time outside...we just need to find a good sunscreen for our little fair skinned little guy! Enjoy the pictures and we are adding a video at the end of Elias vocalizing! Love to all,

Heather, Kyle, Elias and Sophie too!!

In the News - Sunday Edition

2009-04-05T21:03:00.012-04:00

Headline - Elias grazes among the flowers...Kyle and I decided to take advantage of a beautiful sunshine day yesterday. We took Elias and Sophie (our two kids) to the Reedy River Falls Park in Greenville. It was such a warm day. We decided to try out our Jeep stroller in a different environment than our neighborhood. We are ready for vacation in May that is for sure!! I made my guys and Sophie pose for several shots trying to figure out all the buttons on our camera. I guess that is a plus and a negative to having a little more professional of a camera is that it is harder to use, but it can do some really great stuff if you can just get all the components to work together! I have decided that I really need to take some photography classes and plan on doing that this summer if I can find them locally and affordable. I also thought I would get some photography reading for those blissful moments when Elias naps and I can clean, do laundry, and occassionally even read! :o) We are all ready for the warm weather I think...Sophie especially, since it means she gets more walks. She got shaved last week in preparation for the warm weather. She looks so great and is such fun to cuddle now. She even lets Elias rub her on the head when she is feeling especially in need of affection. We hope you enjoy the pictures of our fun! One of my favorites is of Elias trying to eat grass and discovering dirt! At least the dirt did not make it to his mouth!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OPA!

2009-04-02T13:44:00.004-04:00

Wish we could be with you to celebrate, give you hugs and Elias' favorite right now is to give kisses (wet and sloppy of course) on your cheek! Cannot wait to see you in May! Hope your birthday is extra special, and hope you eat lots of cookies and cake for us!

With Love,
Kyle, Heather and Elias!

Elias tackles the mighty bumbo

2009-03-31T16:53:00.008-04:00

In the News today...Elias took on the mighty bumbo today in an all out wrestling match. It is uncertain who won, however, good times were had by all! Stay tuned for more updates on the next match of Elias versus...well, you'll just have to stay tuned in!

New Pictures for your viewing!

2009-03-26T19:40:00.014-04:00

We have been taking pictures like crazy...and I wanted to share some of my favorites! We hope you enjoy!

Modern Day Martyrs

2009-03-23T21:08:00.007-04:00

I have been reading this book in snipets called Jesus Freaks. It is composed of the stories of men, women, and even children all over the world throughout a wide range of time that endured torture, saw their families lose everything they owned, and even sometimes gave their lives for their love and belief in Jesus. These stories not only bring tears to my eyes, but they remind me that this faith I claim is worth dying for. In my daily life, I am not required to give my life because I believe in Jesus. I have that part easy I guess. So, I started thinking about how this book can apply to my life. I don't have to fight for what I believe...or do I? I began to think of the moments when my faith is tested. I began to think of the moments when I have the choice to choose to be the child that Jesus has been rearing for the past 25 years or to just be someone who goes along with anything and everything. I do have a choice to stand for what I know I believe, and even though this does not threaten my life, it impacts those I know, come in contact with, and even those I will meet. It impacts my husband's life as well as that of my child. What I say I believe impacts so much, but the choice to stand behind what I say I believe impacts even more. I want to change my life in ways that will stand for what I know I believe...where do I start?

This is a lot of seriousness for a post so late at night, but these thoughts have been on my heart for about a week. And tonight they are weighing heavy on me...you see, Elias is sick. He got some yucky cold with a runny nose, cough and fever. It is killing my mommy heart to see him not feeling good. He is fussy and you can just tell he does not feel well and needs extra loving. Although I know this sickness will run its course, I am worried about him and really want to make him feel better. Tonight as I was preparing to put him to bed...Kyle prayed for him like we do every night. After that, in a dark room with the light of the humidifier illuminating the corners of the room, I began to sing..."My Savior, He can move the mountains...my God is mighty to save...he is mighty to save...Forever, author of salvation...he rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave". As I sang, I noticed Elias calm and relax into my arms as he nursed. And then, I stopped for the chorus and felt his neck where he is the most feverish and it is cool...his fever has broken. Will it return? I really cannot tell at this point...but the miracle is mine. My baby is not really mine...he belongs to Jesus. Not only that, but Jesus has him continually on his heart even more than his mommy. Thank you Jesus! And then the chorus welled up in my heart and I sang for Elias, "Let your light shine, let the whole world see, singing, for the glory of the risen King...Jesus, let your light shine, let the whole world see, singing, for the glory of the risen King!!!"

Portrait session

2009-03-18T11:02:00.011-04:00

We finally got our pictures from the portraits taken, and I thought I would post these to share while Elias is taking a nap. We are finally getting scheduled nap times where Elias can put himself to sleep during the day around the sames times. He is still sleeping great through the night. He is such a big boy! :o) Each day I am blown away at how fast he is growing and changing. He is sitting up like a big boy and exploring everything! And on the menu, peas are ok (the jar kind he likes a bit better than mommy's homemade), butternut squash is his favorite so far, sweet potatoes are still a yummy addition, and lately bananas are an acquired taste evidently! He is doing so well with eating though! I am so proud of our little guy. Sophie is even trying to give him a chance lately since he shares his food with her sometimes. And he is being very gentle when he pets her! Enjoy the pictures!

New Camera Pics

2009-03-13T12:57:00.012-04:00

So, Kyle and I decided after much debate and consideration to buy a new camera. We love our point and shoot little sony and plan on taking it for those times when we need a small light camera, however, we wanted a larger camera to take those jaw-dropping-portrait-type-shots. And not to mention that Kyle heard me talking about how much I have always wanted to learn to take really, really good pictures. We shopped and decided on a Nikon digital camera. We are still playing around with learning how to take pictures with it since there are so many menus and buttons, but here is a preview of our first two days of non-stop picture taking! You know you are excited about something when you take pictures of your curtains for color and lighting tests! :o) We are so thankful for the blessing to be able to purchase something so big at this point in our lives. With me working part-time during tax season only, we have given ourselves a pretty tight budget...but having Elias definitely helped when it came to filing our taxes!! I have been calling Elias our little tax deduction occasionally when we talk about the extra money we got back because we had him. I just love that little buy, and although we joke about the tax break, I know that having him in my life was the very thing I didn't know that I was missing. Being a mom ranks right up there with one of the best things to ever happen to me...right after meeting Kyle!! :o) Blessings and enjoy the pics...more to come I am sure!

6 months young

2009-03-05T20:25:00.013-05:00

Elias celebrated his 6 month mark today!! Happy 1/2 year baby Elias! We had his doctor visit today and, officially, Elias is 19 lbs 12.4 ounces and 29 inches long. His weight is about the 80th percentile and his height puts him in the 99th percentile for his age. He will be a tall boy most likely! And the doctor called our chubby little guy a lean little boy! :o) I just smiled when that was said...Elias is definitely not on the lean side! :o) He has been sitting up for a bit now and can balance enough to play with toys. He is now trying to push off from a sitting position to get toys in an almost crawl and if he figures out what to do with his arms when he lunges forward, he will be off before we know it! So far he loves his oatmeal each morning and in the afternoons he is starting to get used to sweet potatoes. We are planning on adding peas to the menu tomorrow...we shall see how that goes over! He definitely likes his sweet potatoes warm and prefers them in a "big boy" bowl like mommy and daddy would use instead of his little Elias-sized bowls. His second tooth is pushing through and the Dr thinks it will be showing itself by tomorrow. He has been pretty fussy as a result of all the teething stuff. But "Aunt" Peggy suggested these teething tablets that are homeopathic, and I now call them the wonder or magic tablets!! On his really fussy days they help him feel better, enough to nap a bit more, and I give them to him at night before bed when he has had a rough teeth day. It seems to help him sleep through the night without hurting which I am so thankful for! I need my sleep, but I know he also needs a good night sleep as well. The tablets, a numbing gum oil called gum-o-mile and a lavender bath wash make him go down much easier at night!! Our other great find in baby gear has been a leather bib. It was on clearance at our favorite store (yes, Megan, it is target!!) and I thought I would give it a try. It cleans up really easy and Elias likes the colors enough to play with it. It is really soft which is nice for his chubby little neck. Tomorrow Elias gets his picture made at JC Penny to celebrate being a 1/2-year-old. Sophie also turned 10 this past Valentines day. I hate to forget to mention our sweet Spinone. She is getting used to Elias a bit more. He loves her and wants to play and talk to Sophie. She is a bit more receptive to the point where she will walk over and lick him on the arm or chin now. She also hangs around when I make baby food for Elias...Sophie likes sweet potatoes. She also enjoyed his peas before he even gets to try them!! :o) I guess that is all in major updates for now.

Blessings and Much Love!

Love,

Kyle, Heather, and Elias (oh, and Sophie too!!)

Yummy!

2009-02-24T16:09:00.009-05:00

We thought we would post a video of Oatmeal time for the grandparents! We are also throwing in a few pictures of the last week. Elias is ready for the beach in May! He now has one tooth in front and one that is about to make its appearance right beside the first one! Hope all is well with you all!

Love,
Heather, Kyle and Elias

Eating Solid Food (Sort Of) and A Day in Greenville

2009-02-16T22:26:00.007-05:00

Elias has been eating rice cereal for about a week now, and so we decided this weekend to graduate him to Oatmeal cereal. It was a big hit! The rice cereal was a painful process with many funny faces and quite a lot of mess on him, me, the high chair...yup, it was messy. But the oatmeal has managed to stay mostly on his face and in his mouth! He likes it so much that each serving has been completely finished! And he likes sitting in the high chair and eating! Perhaps it is the fact that he is actually sitting at the table with us. Anyway, oatmeal has been a fun food to get him started with and we are hoping that in a week or so we can try another fun food...but we are not in a hurry! He has a long time to enjoy the fun of eating "solid" foods!

A few weekends back we decided to head to downtown Greenville for some walking, indian food, and gellato!! :o) Elias likes going "raking" as my mom and I call going out and about running errands, and this day was no exception until he tired of the sun and his stroller. Until the point of exhaustion he actually had a really good day. By the time I remembered I had brought along the camera his mood had headed down hill! Poor little guy! His lightweight stroller has been a nice addition to the baby items we have purchased, but his Jeep stoller remains the best one for heavy duty walking. At least Elias brought his keys along with him...now if only he had something to go with those keys so he could have driven himself a while...oh, well!! :o)

Missing Oma and Opa Video

2009-02-11T10:06:00.006-05:00

Sorry Oma and Opa...somehow the video we made did not get posted. But we are posting it today to say hello!! We also threw in a few pictures from this week...a little past 5 month shots.

Olympic size rollover

2009-02-09T10:12:00.003-05:00

Elias has been "rolling" for a few weeks now. He decided to take a break for a few, and now thinks that it is worth investing some time into once again. The video I have been meaning to post for a few weeks is of his rolling display for oma and opa! And we made a video of talking and laughing Elias for Oma and Opa as well. We miss you two! All is well here. Working seems to add a new element of stress for me. Although it is only 10 hours a week and an occasional saturday, I feel a little pressed for time on Mondays and Wednesdays. I hate getting home to feed Elias and put him to bed, but it won't be forever. Last Wednesday, Elias was mad at me when I got home and would not even look at me to emphasize how mad he was. Kyle laughed at him, but it broke my heart. He of course forgave and decided he was just glad to have mommy with him, but I still remember vividly how it felt to have him mad at me and not want anything to do with mommy because she left him for an entire afternoon. He will get better, I am sure. It is a good reminder though that even though he is so cute and great to be with, he is a sinner first and still needs us to remind him of who Jesus is and will be in his life. He just has to choose to let him in. What a difficult and fun road ahead of us!! Hope all is well on your homefronts!

Love,
Heather, Kyle and Elias

Look Ma, I have feet!

2009-01-20T21:35:00.007-05:00

Elias found his feet and he thinks they are just so great! The only thing that frustrates him is his inability to get them to his mouth. He also started rolling from tummy to back last week. He is getting better at it and now tries to roll from back to tummy, although, this move is a bit harder for him and he has not actually made it all the way over yet. He gets a huge smile on his face when he rolls from his tummy to his back! He really is changing fast lately. It seems we are seeing more of his personality emerging. He is doing really well with me at work. This past Monday he only cried a few times. I just love it when I get home and he seems so excited to see me! It makes me not want to leave him. Today, Elias and I just wasted the day away playing and being with each other. I know I had things to do around the house, but I wanted to cherish my time with him since tomorrow I work. There will be plenty of time the rest of the week to clean and do laundry...today was a beautiful, lazy day with the little man that I love! I am a bit more tired lately. Elias is sleeping great, but I am having to wake him around 4 or 5 am to nurse to increase my milk supply. It seems that his sleeping through the night has decreased my milk supply and causing me problems with pumping at work. I really miss sleeping through the night. I usually put him down at 8 pm and get him up at 4 or 5 am to nurse. Add a 10:30pm pumping for me and we are good to go with milk for little guy! :o) I am just thankful that I am able to feed him the best food for him. I love being able to encourage new moms to breastfeed their babies and to seek help from a lactation consultant if they have problems. It is one of the hardest things I have undertaken besides natural child birth...I think the birth part was easy compared to the struggles I have had with breastfeeding in the beginning. But Elias is such a great guy. He can go from bottle to mommy in a heart beat and not miss a step. He really is a smart little boy when it comes to food. Can you tell he is a little Van Galder? I love that he is starting to exhibit parts of Kyle and myself...I just hope he continues with good traits and leaves the ones that are a little less desireable alone! :o) The picture below is for Barb - he is a Beloit college baby thanks to Barb! I just love that little T-shirt on him. We may have to get a bigger size later on so that he can continue to be a Beloit College baby advertiser! I liked that Kyle was wearing his Iowa shirt and Elias had on his Beloit college shirt. Whatever Elias decides to do, I definitely want to be supportive. I am just thankful we have a little while before he has to decide! Of course, saving now for whatever he needs to do is not a bad idea! He already has a great start with bonds from Oma and Opa, Uncle Gene and Aunt Connie, and Nana and Pop Pop. Thank you for starting him on the right path of saving already!! I cannot believe Elias is already 4 and 1/2 months old. I look back at when he was born in pictures, and I am amazed at how much he has grown and changed over the past few months. What a wonderful job this is being parents (and a really challenging one too!). Enjoy the pictures and we will updated you when he learns to roll from his back to this tummy!

Love,
Kyle, Heather, Elias and Sophie too!

Back to work

2009-01-07T21:25:00.011-05:00

Today I started back to work...may I say yuck in a big way?!? I will only be away from Elias for about 6 hours, 2 days a week, but it hurt my heart to leave him that long. That is the longest I have been away from him since his birth, and I really did not want to experience that feeling at all! I cried twice and then when I got home he was asleep. I delayed my hugs and kisses for him until he awoke. Once he was awake, I ran to his nursery and smiled at him. He looked up at me, smiled a huge toothless grin and giggled. Of course I melted right there and cried! What a big, mushy mess I became in a hurry. I just love that little guy more than I could ever express in words...my heart wells up with love and I just want to be near him. I am so thankful that I am such an important part of Elias' life. I just dread next Monday, my next day of work, but I have decided to think only of the fact that tomorrow I am with him all day! Not to mention I have 3 more days after tomorrow (before I return to work) that I get to hang out with the coolest kid in the whole world! I am posting some pictures of the past few weeks in our life. The plaid shirt picture is of Elias at 4 months which was this past Monday. He is such a healthy growing boy. He has been sleeping about 10 hours a night for a few weeks now, and he is still eating like crazy. Kyle and I weighed him the other night and he was weighing in at 17.4 lbs. He is definitely getting bigger and longer! We are considering starting him on rice cereal in a few weeks, but are waiting to see if he reaches a point where he is a little more ready. I know he will begin to show more signs of being ready, and so we are waiting before we introduce something besides breastmilk. Hope everyone had a blessed New Year! We definitely had a blessed year this past year, and we look forward with hope and expectation to the coming year - 2009!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T10:28:00.006-05:00

Well, we truly have a white Christmas in WI...no more dreaming of it necessary! We are getting ready to head over to visit with family on this beautiful Christmas morning. Kyle and I read the story of Jesus' birth to Elias while he ate this morning and we are going to go get hugs and yummy food shortly! What a blessing to be with family and those that love us on such a special day. I am truly missing my family and I am thankful that they are only a phone call and picture message away. Elias is so excited about today he decided to take a nap! Actually, Oma is the best at getting little guy to take naps during the day...she has a great shoulder to nap on. I am attaching some pictures of the snow and of the family gathering last night. To Megan - enjoy this Christmas with Patrick! I know it will be a lot of fun...and don't get a sunburn in that tank top while I snuggle in five layers of clothing! :o) It is negative 1 degree here today...BRRRR!!! Merry Christmas to everyone - if we are not with you, we miss you. And if we are with you today, we love being with you all!

Blessings this Christmas to your family and much love from ours!

The Van Galders

Baby it's cold outside

2008-12-20T11:32:00.009-05:00

Welcome to Wisconsin! This is Elias' first trip to the cold and beautiful state of Wisconsin. This has been a trip of firsts for Elias and for myself. I have never been to Kentucky or Indiana until this trip. I had never driven through Chicago and seen downtown a little closer. I have never seen this much snow at once! Elias has now been to VA, NC, TN, KY, IN, IL, and WI. He has not been out in the snow yet, but we will introduce him soon! He is already a well traveled little guy! He is loving all the attention and enjoying meeting his family! So far his sleep is off, but I have a feeling tonight will be better. He took a short nap this morning and this afternoon he will meet Stacy and Nolan for this first time! I know he has no idea that they are coming over, but I am very excited! I wanted to include a few pictures of our first few days here in WI for the family in the warm south. Enjoy a little warmth for us...Monday the high will be 2 degrees....eeek!! :o) We are staying warm, though, and eating like kings! We sure are spoiled when we come visit in WI. We love you guys and look forward to keeping you up to date on our trip. The picture of Sophie is of her snuggling with her christmas duck from Grandma and Grandpa Thompson. And the picture of Elias and I is of a walk in Greer on a chilly night...he was preparing for Wisconsin weather!

Much love,

Heather, Kyle and Elias

It's coming on Christmas

2008-12-08T21:56:00.005-05:00

Stores are decorated and stocked with Christmas decorations and gifts. Sales are going on everywhere in every store and every sale is the best ever for the season. All of the hoopla about buying and spending for Christmas does get to me after a few weeks and I begin to wonder about the Christmas season. We have our tree up and I love that we have decorated for Elias' first Christmas. We even have a little handprint ornament that we are going to make for him. We are even done with our Christmas shopping to remind others that we think of them and they are special to us. But as I think of Christmas and what it means, I want Elias to definitely know that the reason we celebrate a Christmas season is because of a Savior that came to give us freedom, life eternal and relationship with God. Elias is growing so fast and learning new things each day. I want to be sure to instill in him the knowledge of Jesus and his death on a cross for us. Kyle and I have started praying with Elias each night before we put him down to bed. Of course we pray for him at night anyway, but it seems that if he grows up hearing us pray at bedtime with him, that he will grow to know the God and Savior that we know.

Back to the Christmas season...I just love this time of the year. I do love the decorations and the music playing everywhere you go. I love that starbucks has yummy coffee just for this season. I love that people seem to smile a little bit more and that we all begin to think of giving to others. I guess growing up with a mom that loves Christmas has rubbed off on me. The only thing that I am not so crazy about is the amount of crowds that you encounter. I have never been big on crowded parking lots or stores, but this time of the year just seems a lot worse in that area. I even avoid going to certain stores and areas because of the amount of people. I do like the spirit of this time of the year though! Elias seems oblivous that Christmas is just around the corner. I keep telling him that Christmas day is coming. And I tell him often that we will be in WI this time next week to see Oma and Opa, Pop Pop and Nana, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins...so much fun he will have with such a wonderful family! I am excited that we will get to catch up with the Van Galder side of our family...and I like that it is not just Kyle's family anymore but my family too!

Well, all of this post to say, Merry Christmas! May this season of love and sacrifice fill your heart with joy! May the birth and death and life of Jesus give you hope and purpose. And even though I did not get Christmas cards done this year, we do think of each of you and love you.

Love,

Kyle, Heather, Elias and Sophie

Family Picture Day!

2008-12-03T17:00:00.006-05:00

We started off rough this morning. Elias was all cute and talkative until he woke up from his morning nap a grumpy bear. He cried the whole way to the portrait place and we were so afraid that this was going to be a nightmare of an experience for all involved. We got into the portrait studio and changed a wet diaper and then all of the sudden the cutest baby ever emerged from Elias. I think perhaps he wanted to flirt with the cute girl taking our picture. He smiled and laughed and was cooing at her. I was floored. Here is a sneak preview of a few pictures for you to enjoy and we will post more soon!!

Love to all!

Heather, Kyle and Elias

3 Month check up

2008-12-02T18:22:00.010-05:00

Well, Elias went to the doctor today for a well-baby check up. He is in the 95th percentile for height and weight for being 3 months old. He is weighing in at 15 lbs 14 oz and 25.5 inches long. He is definitely growing like a weed! :o) He got a healthy report and we are so thankful for how well he is growing. And I love the new developments he is making. He found his thumb Monday morning and was quite thrilled to be sucking only one finger instead of his whole fist! Today he actually started interacting with his activity center and could cause the bird hanging thing to move when he swatted at it! I was so excited to see him be able to cause something to happen that he wanted to happen...that must be very rewarding for such a determined little guy! We are still having some hard days every now and then. But he is such a joy and treasure! I am planning on working two or so mornings a week after first of the year while Elias hangs out with Grandma. I know this will be good for him and for me for a few months until tax season is over. He will get good grandma time, and I will get some use of my brain besides for being a mommy. I love, love, love being a mom...don't misunderstand me, but the extra money will be a blessing and the time in the office will be good for me to get my mind back on things besides nursing, diapers, and play time! :o) Kyle and I are celebrating our 4th anniversary this Thursday, and we decided to go to dinner at the most wonderful place. We had our lunch reception there when we got married and have celebrated our anniversary there with dinner every year since. It will be so nice to eat good food and just be Kyle and Heather for an evening. And I am sure that Grandma and Grandpa will enjoy some Elias time. I am nervous about pumping a bottle for him and how he will do with that, but we are going to be brave and explore something we have not done yet...Elias being without Mommy or Daddy for a bit. Kyle threw his back out this past Saturday and has been in some extreme pain. I hate it for him, and I hate it for me. I am so tired. The break Kyle usually offers on the weekends with diapers and getting up with me to help at night was just not there this past weekend. I could use a really nice long hot bubble bath to get away from it all!! :o) Anyway, that is what is new with us. We are enjoying getting to know our little guys personality as he begins to share it with us...I just love our chubby little man!! Here are a few pictures that I took recently. We go tomorrow to have a family picture made...I hope and pray Elias has a good day!!

Love to you all and pray all is good on your homefront!!

Heather, Kyle and Elias

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T23:18:00.009-05:00

Elias has started talking in his own little language over the past few days. It is really quite cute! Hopefully he can also start picking up on some of our words as well. He is doing really well lately. He is definitely getting bigger - mostly because he likes to eat. We go to the doctor next week for his 3 month check up...I cannot believe it has already been 3 months. And then sometimes it seems like forever since he was born and he has always been with us. We celebrated Thanksgiving as a family for the first time today. It was such a blessing of a day. The latest news for Elias is that he started sleeping 6 to 7 hour stretches at night about a week ago and it has continued. I thought perhaps this was a short lived phase of his...and perhaps it will change again, but right now I am enjoying the extra sleep whenever I can get it! :o) Enjoy the video and Happy Thanksgiving!

A Happy Birthday!

2008-11-19T16:49:00.003-05:00

I forgot such an important THANK YOU...my birthday was the day we left for vacation and with us I was able to take my awesome birthday present from Oma, Opa and Uncle Jon. Even Elias likes my birthday present! Thank you for the Ipod Touch...you three spoil me and I am so honored to be a part of your family!

Love you!

Heather

Babymoon

2008-11-19T12:50:00.009-05:00

Kyle and I planned a "babymoon" to get away with Elias for a bit while we were still pregnant. We made plans to head to Virginia and stay in a yurt. Yes, I said a yurt, kind of like a tent and a cabin all in one! We decided even with the challenges that Elias has presented being a strongwilled child that we would keep the reservation and take our two month old to VA. As difficult as some moments were, I must admit it was nice to get away with my hubby and son for a break from normal life. Kyle took off the week from work and we hit the road. The 6 hour 45 minute drive turned into 8 hours with the diaper change stops and eating, but we survived and learned some valuable lessons about driving with Elias that will help when we head out in December to make the long trek to WI to visit family. Elias did much better than even I could fathom. He slept most of the way and was really a pleasure to travel with. There were a few nights that were difficult on us, but we learned some new things even in the midst of those struggles. I am definitely looking forward to vacationing with Oma and Opa and Uncle Jon next May in Florida! It will be such fun to have them experience Elias' first beach trip! Unfortunately, I started with a fever this past Monday, and I am just now getting back to normal. Sleeping on the floor in the nursery helped with middle of the night feeding last night, but I am definitely back to our comfy bed tonight! Elias seems to know that mommy is not feeling great and has taken a few naps yesterday and this morning! Here are a few updated pictures, some of our trip and some just of our cutie Elias! Enjoy!

Love,

Heather, Kyle and Elias (and Sophie too!!)

Elias and Target

2008-11-03T21:13:00.003-05:00

Elias hates Target. Not that I can say that I blame him some days...he is not a shopper I guess. He had such a great day today. So, we decided to take him to target and Sophie to petsmart so our kids could have an outing. Well, Elias was walked around by daddy in target and actually settled down after a small crying session getting in the carseat and took a nap on the way home. We really thought we had solved the whole target gives him meltdowns thing until after we got home for a little while. He ate dinner and mommy changed him and then his world came crashing down and delayed target attack hit us full in the faces! At moments like this nothing seems to work for long...until he got tired enough to comfort nurse and fell asleep. So, we are banning target for the time being until Elias decides that it is not so bright, big and scary afterall!! On the bright side he did get a set of keys tonight that light up and have little beads and such to chew on - at least he will have fun with that later!

Happy Pumpkin Days!

2008-11-02T20:14:00.002-05:00

Linus is right - there is a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown...no wait, it is Elias! He is such a cutie - and we dressed him up for a party with our home group/bible study. He was so well behaved and sweet while we were there...it really made the 40 minutes prior to getting there of crying almost not so bad afterall! :o) As you can tell by that comment, we are still having some hard days, but Elias knows what he wants and needs...we just need to figure it out so we can help him out! Enjoy our little pumpkin!

Love,

Heather, Kyle and Elias (and Sophie too!)