The Nibbelinks

First day of school!

2011-09-06T12:41:00.000-04:00

Happy First Day of School! The girls both had fun this morning and are looking forward to school this year.

Happy Birthday Oliver!

2011-08-25T14:27:00.003-04:00

Happy 1st Birthday Oliver!

Oliver turned 1 on the 18th, can you believe it? We had a party this past weekend for him and had a great time. All the kids had fun playing and everyone was well behaved! I cannot believe how this past year has flown by. It seems like yesterday we were building the house and moving and then he was here. He is such a sweet little boy and I love him to pieces. He is so easy going and almost never cries. I couldn't imagine my life without him! I guess I should also say happy birthday to our house, since we moved in just a little over a year ago now. We still haven't finished unpacking, but are mostly settled...That's what basements are for right? Here are some pictures from the party:

Happy Birthday Matt and Emma

2011-06-13T09:12:00.005-04:00

Oh my, the poor neglected blog! Well it's pretty late, but better late than never so Happy Birthday to Matt and Emma! Matt turned 32 in April and Emma turned 5. I cannot believe how time is flying by. Emma is getting so big and is ready to start school this fall. She had a great time at her birthday party and we had a good time seeing some old friends from St. Joe. Since it was a "big" birthday we had her party at the John Ball Zoo. They did animal presentations and the kids got to make breakfast for the Spider Monkeys. Here are a few pictures.

Emma Update

2011-02-18T09:59:00.004-05:00

Emma had her 6 month check-up with the endocrinologist yesterday and we finally have some good news! She was up to 34 pounds (from 31) and has grown almost 1 and 3/4 inches in 6 months! She is now 38.75 inches tall and moved up almost 2 percentiles on the charts. A big thank you to those of you who have been supporting us these last few months. It hasn't been easy lifestyle change and we are grateful to the people who have been sharing recipes and helping us try new foods. In other news, Oliver is 6 months old today! Where has the time gone? I can't believe my sweet little baby is half-way to 1.

Emma's Allergy Testing

2011-01-10T14:40:00.001-05:00

Emma had the basic allergy scratch testing done on December 22 and she had no reaction, so they did a "patch test". That's what you see in the picture here, well the aftermath of the patch test. They take little metal well, about the size of a nickel, and put pureed food in it. Then it's taped to your back for 48 hours and after the time is up they look to see if you have a reaction. Well we know that she had to have a food allergy and the patch testing was the better than the alternative. The alternative was eliminating the 8 major allergens (wheat, soy, peanut, tree nut, fish, shellfish, egg, milk) then waiting 6-8 weeks to have another endoscopy(scope). If the scope was clear after that then we would slowly reintroduce the foods back in and keep having her scoped to see if there was a reaction. Matt and I both hated the idea of her having another scope, so we are hoping the results of the patch test are good enough for the doctors now. Her patch testing showed a wheat, rye, pork, and string bean allergy. She may also have an allergy to corn and soy, but because she is not symptomatic we are not eliminating those 2 right now. So for now, we are gluten free plus pork(which we don't eat anyway) and string bean free. After a few months she will have another scope to see if the irritation and damage to her esophagus has healed then we'll know whether to eliminate corn and soy from her diet. I REALLY hope we don't have to get rid of corn/soy as they are found in almost everything you buy at the grocery store! So far both of the girls have been doing good on the gluten free diet and seem to be growing now.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2011-01-10T13:47:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Family Pictures 2010

2010-12-17T16:33:00.007-05:00

We had family pictures taken a few weeks ago by some good friends of ours. If you are interested in having pictures done and are in the West Michigan Area I would highly recommend Alexis. She does a great job, is very professional and has a cute new baby! This is the link to her website: http://www.studioxplore.com/ and here are a couple of my favorites.

Celiac's Sucks!

2010-11-18T15:00:00.000-05:00

Today we officially got Emma's diagnosis of Celiac Disease. For those of you who don't know what's been going on I'll give you a brief version. Emma was referred to an endocrinologist because of her short stature and her failure to grow/thrive. Basically she hasn't grown in the last year and has almost dropped off the growth charts. They ran a blood test and found she was testing positive for Celiac. So we had an endoscopy done last week and they took some biopsies. We thought that would be the end of it, but they also told me today she has Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EE). As I understand it she has damage in her esophagus due to a food allergy. She now has to have allergy testing done and more endoscopies to check for healing/damage. There is a possibility that the inflammation in her esophagus is from the wheat/gluten and once she heals from that she may be "normal".

So our new diet has started, which means we can no longer eat most of our favorite foods. Gluten is found in just about every processed food so we are still trying to find alternatives. Please don't be offended if we don't want to go out to eat or have dinner at any one's house, but we have to get all this figured out first. It's very overwhelming when you start learning about cross contamination in the kitchen and how much it's actually hurting her. All we want is for her to be healthy again. It looks like this coming year is going to be just as hard as this past, but hopefully we will get everything figured out soon.

On a side note, Isabella is also testing positive for Celiac and has an appointment in a few weeks to see if we should do further testing. Matt and I are also going to do genetic testing to see who is the carrier for Celiac. If we are both carriers then there is a good change Oliver has it too and that we can also develop it later in life. We will also be urging people in our families to get tested as well.

Isabella's 3rd Birthday

2010-11-18T14:45:00.006-05:00

Isabella turned 3 over the past weekend and we had a little party for her. Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated the day with us. We had a good time and good food.

Emma's Halloween Party

2010-10-28T15:03:00.004-04:00

Today was Emma's Halloween party at school. The kids were all dressed up and had a good time playing games and eating snacks. Emma also has a friend at school named Kennedy. They really seem to like each other and make it a point to sit next to each other.

New House

2010-10-28T14:51:00.002-04:00

A lot has happened in the last 2 months and I am finally getting a chance to breath and get caught up. As you may or may have not known Matt got a new job working a Fulton Innovations, which is a division of Alticor/Amway. He started in February and we moved back up to Grand Rapids. We were renting a condo until we sold our house in St. Joe and decided where we wanted to live up here. We decided on Northview because of the location, schools and housing prices. This time we built a new house and are planning on staying here a while.

In July I turned the big 3-0 and celebrated by being pregnant for another birthday. Matt was going to throw me a party once we got moved but it looks like that is not going to happen now, so maybe next year.

We got moved into the new house over the second weekend in August, just 4 days before my due date. Thankfully Oliver was fashionably late and waited until we finished moving. We are still trying to unpack and get organized, but are finally settling in. If you ever want to come see the house or baby and visit us we would love to see you.

Also if you'd like to have access to our family pictures on Picasa let me know. It is no longer public and you have to be invited to see them. Nothing personal just need to protect my babies from all the creeps out there!

Emma's First Day of Preschool

2010-09-07T17:12:00.001-04:00

Today was Emma's first day of preschool. She was up about 7:15 and dressed and ready to go by 8. Of course school doesn't start until 9. I walked her in today and made sure she knew where she was going. She hung her backpack and sweatshirt up and found her seat. I had to ask for a hug and then she said bye mom, love you. I managed not to cry and I managed to get back to the school on time with a 2 year old and a 3 week old! So far she loves school so much and is excited to go back.

Oliver Matthew

2010-08-31T14:18:00.004-04:00

Welcome to the World Oliver Matthew Nibbelink
8-18-10

After two pretty difficult labors/deliveries with the girls I finally got a break. I also finally got my all natural birth that I wanted. My contractions started around 1:30 am and after laboring at home until my mom and our doula arrived we headed to the hospital. We arrived to the ER around 5am and he was born at 5:24. Only 5 hours past his due date. He was 6 pounds 11 ounces, just like his big sister Emma, and was 19 inches long. At his first checkup he was already up to 6# 13oz. and 19.5 inches. So far he is a very good baby and has 2 big sisters that love him very much!

Happy 4th Birthday Emma!

2010-05-06T12:32:00.004-04:00

Well this is quite a bit belated, but I wanted to post a few pictures from Emma's birthday party. We had some good friends and their kids come and celebrate. It was really fun and I was exhausted when we got home. I also had a friend from elementary school come and do face painting for the kids and let me tell you she is awesome! Thanks again Jenn. Emma had her 4 year check-up and hasn't really grown much since last year, so we had some blood work done. Our follow up appointment is in 2 weeks so we'll see what's going on then. Other than that she is happy and healthy, just a little short. She is also signed up for preschool this fall and is very excited to start school. Thanks again to everyone who came!
Here are some pictures:

Where have I been?

2010-03-11T20:58:00.005-05:00

Well it's been far too long since I've written anything, but the past few months have been crazy! Well let's see what has happened: We are expecting baby number 3 in August, Matt got a new job, we moved back up to Grand Rapids and we are waiting for our old house to sell so we can finally settle in the school district Emma will start school in next year!

Just before Christmas I had a second ultrasound with a specialist and he confirmed that everything is fine with the baby. I am now 17 weeks and awaiting my ultrasound in a few weeks to find out if everything is ok and if it's a boy or girl. Just a week after Christmas Matt was offered a new job and since we love Grand Rapids so much we couldn't say no. He started in February and is so far loving it. He is working for Fulton Innovations which is a division of Alticor or Amway for those of you who don't know the new company name. He is still working on electronic design and doing what he's good at.

We moved to a rental in Grandville at the end of January and have settled in a little. We don't want to get too comfortable as we will be moving again, hopefully in a few months, as soon as the house sells. We are still trying to decide which school district we want to live in and are having a very hard time. There are several great schools in the area and we are fortunate enough to be able to afford a house in any of them.

We all had a great Christmas and I did put pictures up on the Picasa page of that a while ago. There are also some new pictures up of Emma's first haircut. She got 10 inches cut off and wants to donate it. The girls are both doing good and we are getting ready for Emma's 4th birthday next month.

Here's the link for pictures again: http://picasaweb.google.com/seggers12

Happy Birthday Isabella!

2009-11-16T10:43:00.006-05:00

Well my baby turned 2 on Friday the 13th. We had a nice party for her on Saturday with some of our family and friends. It's always nice to see everyone and we had a great time. Although I am exhausted now! Here are a few pictures from the party.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-16T09:19:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween!

Happy Late July!

2009-07-30T13:22:00.005-04:00

Ok, talk about being a horrible blogger...it's been well over a month sine I posted anything. So let's fill everyone in on what's been going on.

Amber - I work every single Saturday and Sunday that I don't request off, so I'm busy every weekend. I finally had 2 Saturday's off these past 2 weeks and it was wonderful. I celebrated my 29th birthday on the 25th, but other than that I haven been doing much. I have finally gotten most of our pictures organized on the new computer. I know I have been saying it for a while, but there were almost 7000 pictures to go through, so cut me a little slack. I am now uploading them to the Picasa site as is. I will get to editing them someday

Matt - He works every weekday, so you can imagine that not much gets done around the house most days. He's having a tough time at work right now with the project he is assigned to, but we're hoping it gets better here real soon.

The girls are both growing bigger everyday. They got to take their first trip to Bear Lake at the beginning of July and LOVED it! Talk about some water babies. Just like their mama they had to be dragged out of the lake to eat and go to bed. It was great to see all of our family up there, but one special person was missing. We did find out that Isabella is awful to get to sleep anywhere but her crib, so we ended up only staying 1 night. Maybe next year we'll try camping with a camper and see if she does better. I think that brings us up to date. We are going to the Shedd Aquarium this coming Sunday so I'm sure I'll have a bunch of new pictures to put up.

Updates/ Happy June

2009-06-08T16:11:00.004-04:00

Well the month is almost half over and I'm just getting around to posting...oh well. We haven't been up to much. Just work and some playing in between shifts. The girls are getting bigger everyday and I really need to get more of the pictures posted. I have been really bad lately. I have a free 30 day trial of some new picture editing software that I'm trying out. I'm hoping to learn it quick enough to decide if it's worth the $200 price tag. So far it seems pretty cool, but I'm not really sure what I'm doing. It seems like our summer is filling up already and summer just barely started. I just wanted to post a quick note to let everyone know we are still here and haven't fallen off the face of the earth. Here are a couple of new pictures until I can get the rest up at our other site.

Isabella's hair is finally long enough for pig tails.

And the new picnic table. Emma's reward for going to bed/nap like a good girl 5 times in a row.

Forgot...

2009-05-13T08:52:00.001-04:00

I forgot to post this a week or two ago, but there are new pictures from Emma's birthday up on the Picasa site. Here is the address: http://picasaweb.google.com/seggers12

Guess?

2009-05-01T13:56:00.001-04:00

Can you guess who is in the box?

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.
.
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keep guessing...
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ok, I'll tell you.
It's grandma and Isabella!

Check-ups

2009-04-24T11:36:00.004-04:00

The girls had their check-ups on Monday so I figured I would update everyone.

Emma had her 3 year check-up and was 28 pounds(25th percentile) and 35.25 inches (10th percentile). She's still a little shorty, but perfectly healthy.

Isabella had her check-up also and was 24 pounds, 10 ounces(75th percentile) and 31.5 inches(75th percentile). So she is still my giant, but also perfectly healthy. She had to have one shot while we were there and was not happy about that, but a few minutes later she was waving bye-bye to everyone and blowing kisses.

We found out that our doctor we love so much is moving back to Pittsburgh to be closer to her family, so we are bummed about that. It also means we have to find someone new to go to. The girls also have to have their lead levels checked, so we are all going to go in 2 weeks when I have to have my thyroid rechecked. I'm not sure how they are going to do a blood test on a 17 month old who does not stop moving, so that should be interesting.

So that is the updates for now. We are all pretty healthy and ready to start enjoying this warmer weather that is coming this weekend, although I have to work all weekend. The girls are napping now so I'm going to go sit and relax. Here are a couple of new pictures. The playhouse is one of Emma's birthday presents and the other is what Isabella does when I turn my back for a minute.

Happy Birthday Emma!

2009-04-24T10:56:00.007-04:00

So I'm a bad mother because I didn't post this on her birthday, but we've been busy. Her party went well and we had beautiful weather so we all got sunburned. Here are a few pictures from the party.

Yes, I know you can see up her dress, but this is the only picture of her looking at the camera that day and she has shorts on just in case.

Happy Birthday

2009-04-17T11:25:00.002-04:00

Happy 30th Birthday! We love you!

Quick Update

2009-03-30T10:02:00.002-04:00

Well I had my blood work done last Tuesday and my levels are still off. The doctor changed the dosage on my medication so hopefully I will start to feel better in the next 2 weeks. Hopefully my thyroid will be more normal then and I can get back to life. Other than that the girls are still crazy as ever! As I type this they are jumping off the couch, yes, Isabella too! She has to do everything her older sister does. I can't believe Emma is going to be 3 in just a couple weeks!

Meet Buster!

2009-03-18T10:50:00.007-04:00

Well we finally got a new puppy. We have been talking about it for some time now, but we finally got one. We went and picked him up Saturday after I got out of work. He is slowly adjusting. Before we took him home he had never been outside, so potty training is a little difficult right now, but he's doing ok. He was born November 22, so he is almost 4 months old already. Because of his age we got a discount on the price. He is a fully registered AKC puppy, so he will have a full fancy name. I will post that when we finally register him. Hope all is well with everyone. We are all sick right now, but are getting better. I have a doctor's appointment next week so I should have some news then.

Happy March

2009-03-12T10:33:00.003-04:00

Well we are almost halfway into March and I haven't posted yet, so here it goes. Umm... there is nothing new going on. It's cold and snowy again today after being 60 last week, so that's crappy. I'm still waiting for the medication to work. The doctor is sure that my dosage will have to be increased in about 2 weeks when I have my levels rechecked. Then I may start feeling a difference.

We are getting ready for Matt's 30th birthday and Emma's 3rd birthday & party. Emma is going to have a Tinkerbell party and hopefully we will get good weather this year so the kids can play outside. So that's about it. Maybe I will have something better to report toward the end of the month.

Happy Fat Tuesday!

2009-02-24T18:16:00.003-05:00

Yes!!! We all like paczki!

Bad News...

2009-02-11T19:38:00.004-05:00

Well the next blog I posted was supposed to be the good news that I was finally pregnant again and due in September, but unfortunately the news is not good. I had another miscarriage this week. This is the second one since October. The doctor finally ran some tests and here's the kicker...I have Hashimoto's Disease. It is a very common form of hypothyroidism and an auto-immune disorder. Basically my own body is attacking my thyroid and causing it to not work. I was started on medication today and they will hopefully have the right dosage figured out within 2 months. I now have to take a pill everyday for the rest of my life, but at least I might start feeling better now.

I get a little comfort out of knowing the likely cause of the miscarriages and that it wasn't my fault. Some women never know why they have a miscarriage and that is hard to deal with. I have another appointment next Friday to do some more testing and rule out anything else. So for now I just have to keep taking my medicine and wait it out for a few months then we can start thinking about trying again. Hopefully in a few months I will also feel back to my normal self and my thyroid problem will be on the mend.

Happy February!

2009-02-03T09:50:00.002-05:00

Well I'm a few days late, but wow, it's February already! I have been getting scheduled all day Saturday and Sunday lately, so I've been having a hard time keeping up on everything. The whole family has started a new diet. It's not really a diet so much as eating healthier and portion control. The diet is the 50 million pound challenge from Dr. Ian Smith. Matt liked the idea of it because it has a meal plan and that is where we always fail. We can never think of what to eat, but this has all your meals planed for you. It's really no different for the girls since I already make sure they eat healthy, but it's a pretty big change for Matt. He doesn't like fruit and veggies as much as I do and he is addicted to coke. He's reached the 4 day mark of not drinking any and is feeling pretty crappy, but I know it will get better. My biggest challenge is eating breakfast. I'm usually so busy in the morning with feeding the girls, doing dishes and laundry and vacuuming up all the dog hair that I rarely eat until lunch. If you want to check it out you can register for free at the website and track your food and weight loss.
The site is: http://50millionpounds.com/

Not much going on here, but hopefully the next time I post it will be on my new Mac Mini! It should be here on Thursday! I am very excited since I hate the current computer we have. Hope all is well with everyone.

Just saying hi!

2009-01-28T08:35:00.005-05:00

The girls are eating breakfast so I have about 2 minutes... Things are good here, not a lot to report. But I have a couple of cute pictures I thought I'd post.

Matt took this one the other night while I was at work. He said he came out of Isabella's room after putting her to bed and this is how Emma looked:
The other pictures are Isabella's new game. She likes to play peek-a-boo upside down:

Christmas Pictures

2009-01-19T21:12:00.001-05:00

Ok, I have almost all the Christmas pictures up on the Picasa site. They are in the folder Christmas 2008.
http://picasaweb.google.com/seggers12

The Christmas Story

2009-01-19T19:22:00.004-05:00

Well I wanted to do this in 4 separate parts and put up pictures and such, but it's already half-way through January and I don't see myself finding that much time. So....

Christmas-part 1

We went to my mom's house Christmas Even and opened presents. Gave the girls a bath there, put on their jammies and drove home on a sheet of ice.

Christmas-part 2

Woke up Christmas morning and had our own family Christmas, just the 4 of us. Emma takes FOREVER to open presents. She wanted to open one and play with it all day. We'd probably still be opening presents if I hadn't hurried her along. Because later that day was...

Christmas-part 3

After opening our presents and getting cleaned up we drove to my grandparent's house for the HUGE family Christmas. Huge= 28 people. Surprised my grandparent's with a big family picture we had taken back in October. Then the chaos insued. My grandpa likes to pass out the presents to everyone at the same time. So it gets a little crazy with wrapping paper and gift boxes flying everywhere. After all the maddness we had a big dinner and then most of the guys and a few of the teenage/college students took naps. I will post one picture from that day on here because it's really cute. It's Emma and Isabella with a bunch of my younger cousins. They are watching the Grinch Who Stole Christmas. Although I was informed that it wasn't the real one because it didn't have Jim Carey in it...

Christmas-part 4

Matt's parents and brother came down a week or so after Christmas and we had a nice dinner and opened presents. Emma got one of her favorite gifts of all...her dress up clothes. There are tons of princess outfits and gloves, crowns, shoes, wands, oh and jewelry.

To wrap it all up, my living rooms looks like Toys R Us after an earthquake! Thanks a lot!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T21:39:00.003-05:00

The title says it all. We hope everyone has a safe and happy 2009! I'm still working on all the Christmas pictures. It's taking me a little longer than normal because I have been working full-time the past 2 weeks while Matt has been on vacation. There are also 300 and some pictures from 3 days worth of Christmas's, so I'm having a hard time picking a few to post.

But here are a couple of cute ones....

Christmas Cookies

2008-12-21T22:20:00.004-05:00

I promised Emma we would make cookies when I got home from work today so... here are her creations. If you look closely you will see that no one was watching her with the sprinkles. Oh, and you will notice in the first picture the snow plastered to our slider because it's a blizzard here!

Snow Day?

2008-12-19T16:09:00.005-05:00

Well we were supposed to get some huge ice/freezing rain/ snowstorm last night and this morning with 5-12 inches accumulation...didn't happen. We had some sort of freezing drizzle from 3 am until about 8 am and some snow after that, but the roads were still ok enough for school. The 3 schools here within 10 miles of our house were the only 3 schools in a 60-70 mile radius that were open! So Matt went to work and now I get to work tonight until 11:45. I also got my schedule for next week and I have a whopping 33 hours! So my only 2 days off are Monday and Christmas. I did tell them I could work on Matt's days off, so I guess it's my fault. I'm not complaining too much though since hours will be drastically cut the second week in January.

The girls are both doing good. Emma is actually understanding the concept of Santa bringing presents. The only thing she wants is a sucker...if I had only known that before I got her a ton of stuff! I am more excited for Christmas this year because the girls are old enough to maybe enjoy opening presents and playing together Christmas morning. These are a few pictures from the last snow storm we got before Thanksgiving. Isabella looks a little unsure about the whole snowsuit and about the sled, but I assure you all she was squealing while we pulled her on the sled.

15 days til christmas....

2008-12-10T09:47:00.004-05:00

Well now that it's almost Christmas I guess I should post a Happy December! It has been an eventful past few weeks. We had Thanksgiving dinner at my grandma's house and then I had to work at 4:30 the next morning. I've basically been working the past few weeks until last weekend.

I went to put Isabella down for her nap and my back decided to stop working. Thankfully I dropped her in her crib and she stayed asleep! I then spent 10 minutes trying to crawl out of her room. Once I made it to the living room I grabbed the phone and called matt to come home since I couldn't stand up. Of course this whole time Emma was afraid and starting to cry because I was sobbing and couldn't get up. A few hours later I was able to stand and take a few steps and Matt took me to the chiropracter. He confirmed what I had suspected I had a severly pinched nerve in my lower back. Now I must say this happened on Friday and it is now Wednesday and I am still in pain. Matt was gone Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday for training so I had to do all the picking up of the girls, so I don't know if that added to me still being in pain, but I am. This has been worse than childbirth!

I have also been trying to get a good picture of the girls for a Christmas card, but I don't know if that's going to happen. Isabella does NOT sit still for longer than 2.3 seconds! On the other hand Emma is very good at posing for pictures now so I do get good pictures of her. So we shall see if I can get a picture together to send out cards before Christmas. I am running out of time now though. Here are a few of the blooper shots. Hope everyone is doing well and getting geared up for the holidays.

Isabella's Birthday Update

2008-11-17T10:02:00.006-05:00

We had Ella's 1 year checkup on Friday...She was 22lbs. 9 oz. (75th percentile) and 30 inches (80th percentile). So she is getting big! She is pretty much running now and is very active. She also says: mama, dada, hi, bye, baby and also moos and barks. She continues to be a good baby and only crys when her sister takes her toys away or when she's hungry. This kid could go days without sleeping as long as she has food in her tummy she's happy.

Emma is doing good as well. She puts complete sentences together now and still loves books and reading. Matt took her to see her first movie last week while I was working. I'm happy to report she made it through the whole movie without moving. She also knows most of her colors, letters and can count to about 12.

I'm posting a few pictures here from the party and I'll try and get the rest up today or tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Baby!

2008-11-13T16:00:00.007-05:00

Today is Isabella's 1st birthday! She is a very busy girl and will not really hold still for pictures, but here are a few I got today. I'll post another one sometime this weekend with her stats from her doctors appt. and pictures from her party.

Cold, Snowy, Sick and Tired!!

2008-11-10T13:02:00.002-05:00

I know....it's a horrible sounding title for this post, but it's the honest truth. First it is freezing cold now and it snowed last night, although it thankfully didn't stick! And thanks to stupid daylight savings time ending Matt and I are both painfully sleep deprived! The girls are waking up at normal time, but that has now become 6:30 am... I have also had a very busy week of working non-stop. Not to mention all us girls got sick while Matt was gone last week at work training.

Ok, so that's enough of that. Isabella turns 1 this week!!! I cannot believe it has been a whole year already. We are having a party this weekend for her and she also has her 1 year checkup on Friday, so I'll post her new stats then.

Trick or Treat

2008-11-01T21:07:00.003-04:00

So I guess I'm just a bad mother. I didn't get any pictures of Isabella in her costume and only a couple of Emma before we left for trick or treating. Emma would barely stand still and we only went to a few houses, so not so many pictures. It was also Isabella's bedtime when trick or treating started and she was crabby by the time we got home. So for your viewing pleasure the only good picture of Emma in her costume. I'll try and dress them up in the next few days and get some more pictures. She's a monkey by the way....

Pumpkins or punkins (as Emma calls them)

2008-10-27T09:06:00.005-04:00

Yesterday we had some friends come over with their girls and we all carved pumpkins. Isabella of course wanted to eat all the guts and Emma lost interest after the other girls got here, but we all had fun. Once I finished the first pumpkin (the one that says BOO!) we put a light in it and then that was the hit of the night. Here are a few pictures. I'm going to put the rest up in a new folder on the Picasa site.

Happy 11 Months!

2008-10-16T14:35:00.005-04:00

I took some pictures on monday, which was Isabella's 11 month birthday. She is now walking and trying to run after Emma all day. I posted some of the pictures on the picasa site under "Isabella First Year". I want to try and get some video of her walking and put it up. She was also smiling for the camera this morning, so I'll try and get those up later.

This one is right before running to me:Look at the lips on this kid...And finally, this one was really cute...not so much with me in it, but the girls.

Pumpkin Party

2008-10-14T22:13:00.007-04:00

On Sunday we went to a friend's daughter's birthday party. They had it at a local farm with fall activities. There was a hayride and some stuff for the kids to play with. On our way out we stopped and got a few pumpkins. Hopefully I'll get some time off in the next 2 weeks so we can carve them. Here are a few pictures from this weekend.

Hello October

2008-10-01T15:16:00.003-04:00

Well it's October already and boy is time flying by this year! Isabella turns 1 next month and Emma is almost completely potty trained! Just a quick note to let you all know that I finally got some new pictures up on the Picasa site. They are under the folders: The girls, Isabella and Emma 2. Hope you enjoy!

The address: http://picasaweb.google.com/seggers12

Grandpa Visits

2008-09-29T14:04:00.006-04:00

So my dad and his wife visited last week. They left for home last Monday, but I've had a busy weekend of work, so this is my first chance to post. Thankfully, the weather was beautiful while they were here, unlike the turn it has taken today.

We went to John Ball Park Zoo in Grand Rapids last Friday. We stopped and ate a nice lunch at Olive Garden first so we got to the zoo a little late. We only had about 2 hours to walk around before they closed, but as anyone who has been there before knows 2 hours is PLENTY of time to see that zoo. I'm happy to report Emma did not have a single accident the whole time we were gone. She wore a pull-up just in case, but it was still dry when we got home.

Saturday we went apple picking. Nothing too involved. Just a quick trip to the back of the orchard for some Empire apples. They are my absolute favorite apples in the whole world! Sunday everyone went to the beach in the morning while Isabella and I hung out at the house. I made a nice chicken dinner with mashed potatoes and corn on the cob and Isabella took a nice nap. Then Monday Matt and Emma went to drop them off at the train station for their long trip back to Washington. Of course after waiting for the train for an hour they finally called Amtrak and found out the train was still an hour and a half away. So we packed up the car real quick and drove to Chicago to get them to Union Station to catch the train to Washington. We made it to Chicago in record time, dropped off our company and headed to Ikea.

Had a good time shopping at Ikea, but had to get going to avoid traffic....yeah right. Of course we were stuck in some crappy traffic on the way home, but still made it home for dinner. Now today I am still trying to recover from the last week and a half. I worked Wednesday and Friday nights and all day Saturday and Sunday. And now I am being paged by Ella. Still working on all the pictures. Here are a couple from the zoo and apple picking.

Quick Update

2008-09-17T14:50:00.005-04:00

So we started some serious potty training last Saturday and I am happy to report that Emma is pretty much potty trained. She had a couple of accidents Sunday morning, mostly because she wasn't telling us when she had to go. She has been wearing diapers overnight, but has woken up dry every morning but 1. The best thing is that she now hates to put a diaper on and would rather wear big girl undies! I have a few new pictures and I'm going to try and get them on the Picasa site tonight. My dad will be here tomorrow night so I probably won't have much time to blog or put pictures up for a few days. Oh, and not to forget the baby, but Isabella is now taking a few steps at a time by herself. It will probably be a few more weeks before she's running, but she is pretty mobile. She also likes to climb on the couch and crawl around now. There is a picture of her on the couch with the remotes and she did all of that herself.

September already?

2008-09-02T10:41:00.002-04:00

Wow how the summer has flown by....I realized at work last night that school starts today. Thankfully I don't have any kids in school yet, but wow, summer is over. Since I started working it seems like time is going by faster. I have less time at home with Matt and the girls because I'm working almost all day every weekend. I'm trying to not let it bother me since we really need the money, but I feel like I'm missing my girls growing up. Emma will be 2 and a half next month and Isabella turns 1 in 2 short months.

A quick update on the girls...Emma is still working on potty training but is really more interested in playing and talking than the potty chair. She is very petite still...only weighing 26 pounds and only tall enough for 18 month size pants. Isabella on the other hand weighs 22 pounds and is only about 3-4 inches shorter than Emma. She is 9 and a half months right now and is almost walking! She can stand up by herself and will turn and kind of take a few steps, but isn't quite there yet. Emma is also mastering the alphabet and is starting to spell small words. She knows most of her colors and can count to 10. I guess she will just be my genius midget.

My dad will be here to visit in a few weeks so I hope to have all the pictures organized by then, but keep in mind my hours have doubled at work lately since people have gone back to school. So I will do what I can on my days off.

Nothing New

2008-08-18T10:44:00.003-04:00

Realized I hadn't posted in a while, but that's because nothing has been going on. Well not nothing, but nothing exciting. Just work, naps, playing and sleeping. I'm still trying to get the pictures edited and moved to the desktop computer. I have been a little less than motivated to work on the computer since I can't start doing any of it until Emma is in bed and lately that has been almost 9pm. She has been driving me nuts lately as she seems to be in her peak of the terrible 2's! I have also been trying to work on some genealogy stuff in between pictures, so it's just taking longer than I want. Here's Isabella eating magnets off grandma's fridge.

Happy Birthday/ Dave Matthews

2008-07-27T22:31:00.003-04:00

So my birthday was on Friday and I picked up a shift and went to work. I know, I know, but I need the money. Besides we had plans for this weekend anyway. Yes, Matt and I went out of town overnight without the girls!!! My mom came and stayed while we drove down to Noblesville (Indiana) and saw a Dave Matthews Band concert. The last concert we went to was in New York on our honeymoon. We used to go to at least 1 every summer, but haven't in the last couple of years because of babies. I must say it was an awesome concert. The band was in rare form....well different from what I've seen the previous 5 times. Dave actually put his guitar down for the last song and danced around the stage. Even Matt had never seen him do that before and he's seen twice as many concerts as I have. They also covered a Beatles song (Money, that's what I want). Needless to say it was a great concert, one of my favorites. It was also nice for us to spend some time together doing something we used to always do before kids. So thank you very much grandma and Ashley for coming and helping!!!!

Bunnies and sheep and pigs...oh my!

2008-07-23T09:49:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I posted, but I have a few good reasons: both girls have been sick for over a week now and matt and I are both getting it. I have also been working, so there. Last weekend Emma had another repeat of her waking up with a really high fever. We had plans for that sunday though...we had to pick grandma up from the airport so we were gone all day. When we finally got home her fever was 103.7. So we drugged her up and I took them both to the doc. the next day. They thought she had strep throat, but the test was negative. Isabella had double ear infections and she was really congested and snotty.

They were feeling better by thursday so we went to the Van Buren County Youth Fair. It's the fair I always went to when I was younger because my cousin's showed pigs there. Some friends of ours went with us and we had a good time. The friends that went with us are both pregnant and due in a few weeks and man was I glad I'm not pregnant!! When we got in the car to go home the temp. said 97!! Once we finally got going down the road it was 91! Add to that the humidity was about 90%, so I'm sure it actually felt like 100 and some degrees. Needless to say it was hotter than @%&*!

Here are a few pictures from the fair. We got to hold a chicken and pet some bunnies. We also saw sheep, pigs, cows and horses. I am still working on the picasa website and editing pictures. I will post when it's done.

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-06T21:07:00.007-04:00

We had a very busy few days and I am now finding time to post some pictures. Matt had Thursday and Friday off this week and of course I had to work those nights, but we still had fun. We went to Grand Haven on Thursday for a quick trip. We took our rings in to the jewelry store and walked downtown a little. Then we had a nice lunch at BW3's....mmm....chicken wings. We got home just in time for me to get ready for work. Friday we went to the parade in South Haven. We invited our friends Nick and Faith and their 2 little girls to come with us. Grandma was out of town, so we partied at her house. We also met Amanda and Jocelyn and sat with them at the parade. After the parade we grilled out at my mom's and then headed home for me to work.

Saturday we hung out at the house and pretty much did nothing. Well I did about 6 loads of laundry and some cleaning. Today we went cherry picking and then came home and had some very good grilled salmon with wild rice and peas. It was the perfect end to the weekend, well the food and the fact the girls were so tired they passed out and haven't made a peep.

Hope everyone had a great 4th. Here are some pictures:

The Binky Fairy!

2008-07-05T21:16:00.000-04:00

So the binky fairy came to visit on Wednesday night. For those of you who don't know the concept. You gather up all your binkies (pacifiers) put them in a special bag and set them out for the binky fairy to come and get them. She takes them and gives them to all the babies in the world that need binkies. Then she leaves a special surprise in the bag for you in the morning.

Well this sounds like a super idea and your kid goes along with it until she gets into bed and asks for her binky. Then she throws a freaking tantrum when you tell her they are gone. Then after an hour or so of screaming and fighting she finally falls asleep only to wake up at 1:30am screaming for a binky!! It has been a couple of days now and she finally gets the concept that they are for babies and she doesn't ask for it, but she's still being a pain in the butt about going to bed. Although she has been more difficult to get to bed lately anyway. So hopefully by next week she stops waking up in the middle of the night and Matt and I can finally get some sleep again.

Oh, Emma got a travel aqua doodle, a princess crown with some matching jewelry and an elephant webkinz. Ella also got a hippo webkinz. She doesn't use binkies but there was 1 small sized binky left so we put it in too. We also have been collecting hippo's for Ella and elephant's for Emma and when the fairy saw both of them together at the store she just had to get them for the girls.

Yet another new trick

2008-06-30T13:54:00.007-04:00

Yes, Isabella has another new trick. She is already pulling herself up on furniture....be afraid, very afraid. She's going to be walking in no time. We had an exciting weekend as Emma woke up Saturday morning with a 101.3 degree fever! She was of course wide awake screaming at 6:30 am and I of course had to work from 11-3. Oh, and for those of you who don't know I am working again (well outside of our home work) at Old Navy. Just part-time a few days a week and only when Matt is home with the girls. Anyway, Emma laid low on Saturday and took some Advil a few times. She woke up Sunday feeling like her usual self so we went to my grandparent's house for dinner. It was a nice quiet day.

We also got our new camera last week, so I've been taking a ton of pictures. I am also trying to reorganize all our photos both on the computer and on the website. This means I haven't been putting much up lately, but they will be up soon. We are also trying to get the computer in a better set up so I can edit the pictures more easily. Here are a few new pictures of the girls to satisfy you until I get them all up.

Quick note about the last picture. Emma doesn't like the flash or noise that the new camera makes, so I have about 30 pictures of her doing some variation on this face. Once I get a better picture of her I'll put it up.

2 Mobile Kids

2008-06-23T09:18:00.004-04:00

Well Isabella finally started to crawl forward. She's been rolling around and going backward for a few weeks now, but last week she finally went forward. She is still a little wobbly and not real fast yet, but she is moving. I have to get the video camera out and when I get some footage I will post it. For now here are a few pictures from this weekend. We went to a D-day reenactment on Saturday and have a few pictures.

Random Pictures

2008-06-17T21:41:00.010-04:00

I have a few new pictures to put up. I haven't had time to update the picasa yet because that requires me to organize the pictures first and that requires work! There are some pictures of Emma on her new swingset and some of the girls in the bath tub.

First Trip to the Big Lake

2008-06-13T21:08:00.006-04:00

So today the girls had their 6 month (she's really 7 months) and 2 year check ups. Matt took the day off so we could go to the beach afterward. Emma was in heaven! She could have played in the sand and the freezing water for hours! Isabella could have cared less where we were, but maybe that will change next year. After playing at the beach we went back up to grandma's house and got cleaned up. Then we went for a walk downtown to see the sights of Harborfest. Mostly we wanted to go get a snack. Emma got her first big ow-ee while we were down there. She tripped and skinned her knee so we got some cotton candy and went home. The cotton candy made her knee better every time she took another bite.

Emma did great at her check-up. She is very healthy and enjoyed showing off to the doctor how smart she is. She was 24 lbs. 15oz. which is the 25th percentile and 34 inches tall which is the 50th percentile. So she is getting a little taller and skinnier than her last appointment.

Isabella was also very good for her appointment, although she didn't like the nurse very much. She was a little scary at first and then gave her shots at the end, so who can blame her. She was 18lbs. 13 oz. which is the 85th percentile and 26.5 inches which is the 60th percentile. For comparison; Emma was 14 lbs. 11 oz. and 25 inches at her 6 month check-up (done at 6 and a half months). So basically I have 1 midget and 1 giant and by the time Isabella is a year old I will have twins that are 18 months apart.

Here are a couple of pictures from today:

Happy June!

2008-06-05T15:48:00.006-04:00

So I'm running a little behind, but I was waiting for some pictures from a friend to finish this post. We had a little get together with some friends and their kids this past Saturday. So there are a few pictures from that. Then on Sunday we went to my mom's house in South Haven. We had lunch and a friend of mine from high school was in town from Florida and she stopped by and visited for a while. It was the first time we had seen her since Isabella was born so it was a nice visit. My mom took Emma down to the beach again while Matt and I ran to Menard's with Isabella. They had sand on sale and that's the last thing we have to do for the swing set to be finished. Of course, no camera on the beach, but Emma was "swimming" in the sand. She was basically making snow angels in the sand. Although she was doing this on both her back and her stomach. Needless to say she was covered in wet sand for our ride home.

Memorial Day

2008-06-05T14:14:00.003-04:00

Better late than never....
Memorial Day we went to my mom's house in South Haven. We got some take out Chinese food and played at grandmas. Matt and my mom took Emma down to the beach for the first time. I stayed and tried to put Isabella down for a nap and when that didn't work I went down to the beach too. Emma had a lot of fun playing in the ice cold water! We headed up from the beach and then made a quick stop at Menard's on the way home. Unfortunately we didn't have the camera down there, but I will try and get some new pictures up soon.

Chicago

2008-05-24T20:08:00.003-04:00

So yesterday we took a little trip to Chicago because Matt had the day off of work. We went to Oakbrook Center, which is a fancy outdoor mall. They have a Pottery Barn Kids store there and we needed to get chair covers for the new little girl chairs we got. We ate at a little deli there and then went to Ikea. I really loved Ikea. I couldn't help but think of my Aunt June as I walked through the massive store. Her grandmother was born in Sweden and barely spoke English so she could also speak Swedish. Ikea, for those of you who don't know, is a Swedish store so everything is written in Swedish. I wish she could have gone shopping with us and maybe taught me how to say some of the names of the items we bought. For those of you who have never been to an Ikea you should definitely go, it's a very cool store.

The girls were pretty well behaved and we all had a good time. Today we stayed around the house and worked. Emma helped Matt mow the lawn and I did some laundry. Hopefully the weather will be a little warmer and we can finally get out and play for a while.

New Swingset

2008-05-20T21:44:00.004-04:00

Matt has pretty much finished the new swingset. The little rocks for the rock climber still need to be attached and we have to get sand for the sandbox, but the rest of it is finished. Here are a couple of pictures.

Emma's First Overnight

2008-05-20T13:09:00.003-04:00

So on Saturday I dropped Emma off at my mom's and she stayed the whole day and night! She had a good time at Grandma's house. They went for several walks and Emma got to play with the neighbor's dogs. She only woke up once at 2:30am looking for "meme"(that is her word for grandma) and then went right back to bed. I spent my afternoon volunteering at a Humane Society Adoption Event and Matt stayed home with Isabella. While she napped he worked on the new swingset. When I got home I played with Isabella for a little bit and then fed her a nice quiet dinner; then off to bed she went. Matt had a friend of his over to help finish up the swingset and then they went to get some pizza and his friend's wife and we watched a movie. It was a nice quiet evening.

On Sunday we went up to Matt's parent's house for Grandma Fred's 88th birthday. I of course am still feeling sick. I was really sick a few weeks ago and thought it had cleared up, but I'm still having some sinus problems. Hopefully I will start feeling better when the weather gets warmer.

Isabella's New Trick

2008-05-15T10:08:00.003-04:00

Isabella is getting even closer to crawling. She now gets up on her hands and knees and rocks. She can scoot backward and she rolls all over the place. She just turned 6 months old on tuesday and is doing things much sooner than Emma did. Emma, of course, is a challenge just about everyday. As soon as Matt finishes the new swingset then we can go out and play in the warmer weather.

New Foster Dog

2008-05-08T10:18:00.003-04:00

So we have embarked on a new venture to help give back. We are fostering dogs through our local shelter. We will probably end up mostly with puppies, since it is puppy season, but after helping with an adoption event last weekend I just knew we had to foster her. She already has a new family, but they needed to get their fence on their yard finished first. So she'll just be with us for a couple of weeks. Her name is Willow and she is an Australian Shepherd, although I think she looks like a sheltie. She is a very sweet dog and would sit in your lap all day if you'd let her.

Happy Anniversary

2008-05-06T12:11:00.003-04:00

So yesterday (5/5) was our 3 year anniversary. My mom came and watched the girls while we went out for dinner. Matt took me to a fancy Italian restaurant called Tosi's. It was very good and it was so nice to get out of the house without the girls. That was the first time we had been out together without the kids since Isabella was born! Thanks mom!

Welcome/Happy May

2008-05-01T13:56:00.000-04:00

Matt and I have talked about doing one of these for a while and I've finally gotten around to actually making one. We decided this would be the best way to keep people updated on what's going on with our family.

Matt is still at Whirlpool but is in a new building/department. He really likes what he is doing and his new boss. He's staying busy working on the yard and finishing up projects on the house.

Emma turned 2 on April 18th and is a very busy toddler. The "terrible" two's started around the time we brought Isabella home from the hospital and they aren't showing signs of stopping yet. She is very independent, but loves to get hugs all the time. She is really starting to talk non-stop now and will try and repeat everything you say. Now that the weather is getting warmer she really likes going out to swing or play in the dirt. We were supposed to get her a swing set/jungle gym for her birthday, but the weather was bad and we couldn't get it in time, so hopefully we will get it in the next few weeks.

Isabella (Ella) is a few days away from being 6 months old and is the best baby in the world. She is so happy and the best part is she doesn't have reflux like Emma did. The only time she fusses is when she's hungry. She is doing things much sooner than Emma did too. She's being rolling all over since about 4 months and she has been wearing 6-9 month clothes since then too! She is a very long girl and I think she'll be taller than me. I also think when she turns 1 that her and Emma will be about the same size and people will think they are twins. She is also getting ready to crawl. She likes to get up on her hands and almost her knees and starts to wiggle. Her bottom 2 teeth have also broken through and are getting bigger everyday.

I (Amber) am keeping busy with the girls and taking care of the house. We finished up the half bathroom and only have a few projects left around the house. I have now officially painted every room in this house at least once. I'm looking forward to getting out and walking with the girls in the new double stroller.

Well Ella is waking up from her nap, so I think that is enough of an update for now. As always new pictures are on the Picasa website: http://picasaweb.google.com/seggers12