A long overdue update

I truly had hoped to make an entry for every event that occurred this fall; unfortunately that didn't happen. Part of it was because some of it was hard to write, and most of it is just due to the fact that time is precious, and playing and interacting with my daughter and son takes priority over keeping the blog up-to-date. That being said, I did want to summarize the last few months before we head off on our Christmas travels:

Violet's Updates:

• at her 3 year well-child appointment, it was discovered that her heart murmur had re-appeared. After a visit with a pediatric cardiologist, it was determined that she has a cleft mitral valve, which is causing moderate leakage of blood back into her atrium. It is not causing her any significant health problems at the present time, but will probably require surgery sometime in the next two years. As you can imagine, we were shocked and stunned, and covet deeply any thoughts and prayers you can send our way. It is a common surgery, but we still are quite worried over the fact that our daughter will more than likely require major surgery before or during her kindergarten year.
  
• is taking acrobat class at the local dance school. Ben and I realized over the summer that we needed to get Violet into an environment where she could learn how to take authority from people other than ourselves. She LOVES the class, and her teacher is phenomenal. I know I used to teach kindergarten, but it takes a special person to WILLINGLY teach a group of 12 3-4 year olds somersaults, cartwheels, crab walks, and the like!
  
• has also started Children's Worship and Sunday School at our church. It really warms our hearts when Violet comes home and starts telling us about Jesus, Jonah, and all those other 'kid' Bible stories.
• is really enjoying having her Uncle Nick as a babysitter. We know that Violet and Nick had a special bond, but I was a little concerned that the bond may strain a little when they're with each other every day, for many hours in a day! But, they both seem to be enjoying it just as much as the first few days...however, I will say that Nick's reaction to getting to leave for 2 weeks for Christmas was much different than Violet's! She really did not want to see him leave!
• loves to talk about Santa coming, but will not go near him.
  
• is, overall, a very good big sister. Now that Miles is playing with things a little more, it may be interesting to see how the sharing thing goes, but she does love him immensely, and will be his biggest defender--that is until he is bigger than she is and the roles reverse!

Miles update:

• grows by the day, we believe. He is currently tipping the scales at 16.5 lbs. and is 27 inches long. That was early-mid November. He's got some chub, but he's pretty much just long. He's outpacing Violet by about 3-4 months. Finding clothes that are long enough for him that don't hang too loosely is becoming rather difficult!
  
• loves food. Took him a couple of tries to figure it out, but once he did--he eats! For you new mommy's out there--at 5.5 months, he typically eats one container of Gerber 2 cereal/grain fruit mix at brunch, and then a container of veggies AND at least a 1/2 container of fruit at dinner. This is on top of his regular nursing schedule, although I can tell that at his dinner feeding he's not necessarily drinking as much. Of course, we have light days, but that's pretty much what we average!
• loves toys that make noise. We have a variety of little things he can grip and shake and chew on to explore, but if we give him one that doesn't rattle, he literally gives us a dirty look.
  
• loves to watch our cat--thinks he's the funniest thing ever!
• loves to watch his big sister--thinks she's the funniest thing ever!
  
• has rolled over front to back once. He's not a big fan of tummy time (neither was Violet) so both of them are late rollers. I figure that just gives us more time to make sure everything is out of the way that needs to be out of the way!
  

Ben & I update:
Things happen to us too, I guess: I am still working full time and enjoying my job. It has it's ups and downs as all do. My schedule is nice in the fact that I can come home for lunch most days and have 40 minutes with the kiddos. I don't have to pump as much, AND it breaks up my day, which is nice. I'm also participating regularly with a praise team at church, and finding some time to do some scrap-booking. I've also managed to read a few books for leisure!
Ben is still teaching 2nd grade, and has a year full of anecdotes that I'm sure he could share. His cross-country season had it's ups and downs, and I enjoyed the one week when cross-country ended and track and field practice hadn't begun yet... I believe that he will be looking into taking another grad class either in the spring or summer.

Well, I think that's about it for now. I hope that we do a little better job posting in 2010 than we did in 2009! I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and blessed New Year!

Until then,
Charissa

Miles' Baptism

Taking our vows and the baptism.

On September 6, we presented our son Miles to be baptized. We were fortunate to have many family members in attendance to witness the dedication of Miles as a child of God. It was a happy time, and we enjoyed being able to spend some additional time with our extended family without the craziness of the birthday party! It was somewhat of a comical event; Violet, who normally sits very well during the service, was very impatient for the baptism to occur, and so was telling us to "Just Do It", prior to the ceremony. Then, when it was all done, she decided that it was enough church for one day, and during the sermon declared that, "Baptism is done, let's go home." Of course, there is no thing as a 3 year old whisper!

Family Picture after the service.
Violet did not want to be a part of it.


Miles and his Great-Grandpa Fynaardt

Violet's Birthday

Violet's 3rd birthday party!

Yes, we have been slacking in our blog posts; however, as always, we have been tremendously busy. Add to that some not so great news, and you have the perfect recipe for no blogging!

So rather than trying to tackle everything all at once, I thought I'd just try to tackle the big events.

We celebrated Violet's birthday a couple days early over the holiday (Labor Day) weekend. We combined it with Miles' baptism, which allowed some of Violet's extended family (Great-Grandpa and Grandma Fynaardt, Great Auntie Alice and cousin Lydia) to join her to celebrate three years.

I'm finding that birthdays get progressively more difficult; or that the 3 year birthday is just one of those birthdays where no major new skills come into play, so the realm of toys/presents is a bit smaller. Ben and I struggled with ideas for her; she had her heart set on getting one of those motorized cars, but we said no. One, we live on a very busy street, and two, we just don't have the space. That being said, Violet still managed to rake in quite the collection of new things--tools, coloring books, a talking view finder (from the Discovery channel, which is actually quite cool), more my little ponies, a kite, and some other things that aren't immediately coming to mind. But perhaps the most exciting present came courtesy of her Grandpa Fynaardt--our back yard is now the proud owner of a TIRE SWING! This was also something that Violet has wanted for a while, and it has been a nice source of entertainment for our live in babysitter--Uncle Nick.

Here are a few pictures from the big event; the theme was My Little Ponies--as much as I tried to prevent Violet from loving the color pink, it seems to have backfired!

Swinging on the Tire Swing!

Presents, Presents, Presents!

VIOLET'S THREE!

Three years ago today, at 1:45 AM, Violet Dawn Talsma entered our family. We can't believe it's gone that fast!

We love you Violet!

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Miles at 8 weeks

We had Miles two-month appointment today (officially, he's 8 weeks; he'll be 2 months next Wednesday) so I thought I would update the stats:

Weight: 12 lbs. 9 oz.
Height: 24 inches
Circ.: 15 cm

These put him smack dab at the 75th percentile. What does Miles do? It's really quite amazing. I knew with Violet that things went quickly, but with Miles things seem to be going even faster. He babbles a LOT and has become quite the smiler and laugher, especially at his sister. His 'happy' time is usually in the morning right after he eats, and he likes to see what's going on. He, like his sister, does not like tummy time at all, but still has great head control and will be ready for the bumbo seat in no time. He also likes to use his head to tell us where he wants to be--we've had some amazing catches as he decides to fling it one way or another. I'll have to post pictures later.

Violet has her 3 YEAR! appointment soon--I can't believe she's going to be 3 in a little over a week!

Pictures are up!

The photo albums have been updated and are now ready to view on the kids' websites. If you do not know the password, leave a comment and I'll send it to you--I'm a little leary of having the pictures just out in the world for anyone to see!

Enjoy!

Miles' pictures

Violet's pictures

Early Miles

Miles is proving to be a very convenient baby; he eats well and sleeps even better. He is healthy in every way, shape, and form, and is spending a little more time each day awake, alert, and generally pleased.

Violet has been greatly enjoying having Grandma with the Tractors up; it's especially nice that the fair is in town this week, and they get to make regular visits. This evening, she rode the Ferris Wheel, the Tilt-a-Whirl, the Berry-Go-Round, the Merry-Go-Round (also called a Carousel), and a tiny little horse (pictures to follow). She's enjoying an elephant ear even as we speak.

Charissa is recovering nicely; she walked about a mile today at a reasonably brisk pace, and lived to tell the tale. She and Grandma took the new double stroller--thanks D & J--and it worked wonderfully.

The Church has been providing meals, so we've been eating like kings and queens--thank you to any PM followers who also have volunteered your culinary talents!

I just submitted my final paper for my grad class--it was an enjoyable and intriguing two weeks, but I'm glad to be done. Now, aside from fathering, I'm staying busy getting the cross team ready for the season, and getting plenty of running and swimming in myself. I'm tentatively planning to run the Grand Rapids half-marathon in October.

Submitted by: Ben

Announcing the Arrival of...

Miles Eliot Talsma!!!

Miles entered the world at 2:19pm on Thursday, July 2. He weighed a whopping 9lbs., 7 oz. and was 22 in. long. He has the same dark blue eyes Violet had when she was born, but a dusting of dark hair. Right now he doesn't do much but sleep, eat, and snuggle, but that's okay. I'll post more details when I've had a chance to really reflect on the whole experience. It was not an easy delivery, but I'm slowly making my recovery, and feeling pretty well.

I'll leave with one of my favorite pictures thus far. We're happy to have you in our family, Miles!

Arrival Imminent

A brief update for those of you who do not follow Ben or I's facebook page: barring his decision to come on his own terms, baby "Sammy" will make his arrival sometime on July 2. I will be going in to be induced at 7 AM that morning, and we'll see how it goes from there. The doctor has prepped me for the possibility of a C-section, as Violet had a hard time getting her shoulders out, but reassured me that really, it's anybody's guess as to how well this guy will come out. Of course, we're expecting that this baby is considerably larger (the doctor threw around the 10 lb. lingo yesterday) but you still never know. Many people have told me that their bigger babies were actually easier to deliver. We shall see!

Anyway, it's nice to finally have a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm a little disappointed that I'm not there today having the baby, but the birthing center was full! And really, after 42 weeks, what's a couple more days?????

Anticipating the Arrival

For those of you that keep an eye on the baby counter on our blog, I thought I'd give you a little update. The date used on our countdown thing is our 'original' due date of June 15, which held up to around our 20 week ultrasound. That, however, dated baby closer to June 27, which is now the due date the doctor is using. So, depending on which one you pick, I either have 8 or 20 days to go.

To top this off, doctor doesn't believe that I will go early or on the due date--he anticipates me being late--possibly into July (that seems impossible, if you catch my drift). Not something you tell a 9-month pregnant woman who is already measuring 40cm at her official 36 week appointment, feels like she's carrying a toddler and not a baby, and who, being pregnant in September and through the entire school year, already feels like she's been pregnant for forever.

So, keep us in your thoughts the next couple of weeks--we're eagerly anticipating the arrival of this little guy, and I'm about done being pregnant. This pregnancy hasn't been the easiest to begin with, and the thought of going almost a month longer than originally anticipated, makes it even more challenging. We keep telling ourselves that it doesn't matter when he comes, as long as he is healthy, but it still is challenging--especially when you're school teachers and July signals half your summer is over already!

Alright...enough whining...but to put it in Violet's words: Baby "Sammy"--it's time to come out! I want to be a big sister!

Tulip Time in Pella

People have asked me why I have the desire to travel back to Iowa for Tulip Time, when there's a well-renowned festival right in Holland, MI. I say because they're completely different--even though they celebrate essentially the same thing--great, fatty Dutch food and tulips. The big difference is the one in Michigan is only 2 hours from the house, while the Iowa one is 8...on a good day.

And so begins our adventure to Tulip Time in Pella. I had been toying with the idea of going for a while; I had always wanted to take Violet back before we had more kids, and well, this was the last year that would be possible. And, I was having one of those stir-crazy moments where I had to just get away. Ben is super busy with track, and if I went, then grandma and grandpa could entertain Violet, and I could get some rest and relaxation. Tuesday, I decided to pull the trigger, and Thursday morning we left Big Rapids at 7:30 AM EDT.

I'd done the trip this way before; with a early awake time, Violet takes a relatively early nap, usually allowing me to get through Chicago before she wakes up and we need to take a break. The trip was going well; we'd had one potty break in Holland, and although Violet didn't fall asleep, she was riding very well and keeping herself entertained. We got to Chicago proper without much of a hitch...and then the fun began.

First, there was an accident at the Indiana/Illinois border. For those of you familiar with I-80/94/I-294 in the Chicago area, you know this is not the best place to have an accident. Fortunately, the construction of the last five years has helped congestion quite a bit; it slowed us down considerably, but we were never 'stopped' and waiting. And, Violet was having a ball at watching all the cars zoom by. No big deal; got through it and as soon as we were past, traffic pace picked up to normal. I breathed a sigh of relief...and then...

...came the I-80/I-294 toll booth. Now, the great minds that compose the construction crews of Illinois must have decided that the Thursday before the Mother's Day weeked would be the best time to close down not one, but TWO (out of 3) anes of I-80 about a mile past the toll booth. Traffic was backed up to two miles PRIOR to even reaching the toll booth--I didn't time it but I'm pretty sure, based on our total travel time, which I will reveal later, that we spent 2+ hours going 4 miles to go through and past the toll booth. I must say, thank goodness for freight traffic, (even though I was tired of breathing all the fumes) because I was able to entertain Violet by looking for different colors of semi-trucks. It is important to note, that during this two hour trek of 4 miles, the air conditioning was not keep up, so I rolled down my window to try to avoid having the car overheat.

So, finally, we make it through the toll booth, squeeze through the one lane of traffic (seriously, it was for about 500ft to patch holes with that granular black stuff--it couldn't be done at a time other than in the middle of the day??), and as I went to roll up my window...it wouldn't go. Ever. For the rest of the trip (about 4 hours) I got to drive down the interstate with my window rolled down. All the way. And, did you know it was pop-up thunderstorm season in Illinois and Iowa? Yes. Through two of them. With the window down.

Finally, after 11 hours, we rolled into my parent's house in Iowa. I must say, Violet, though, was a trooper. When I noticed we were approaching a thunderstorm, I pulled off, threw her her coat and told her to hold it over her head and in front of her so she would get wet. She thought that was one of the funniest games ever. Her reward--a Fisher-Price doctor kit. A two year old that loves to tell the story of the 11 hour trip to Iowa with a giggle, no fits, and not an accident until we were only an hour away from our destination (and that was more my fault) deserves a little bribe.

So, was Tulip Time worth all that. Yes. It was nice to be home for spring planting and seeing the plains of Iowa in that time of the growing cycle was very rewarding. I don't think I've been home in May since I graduated from college, so it was time. It was also fun to eat some of the good food that I remember from my high school days, and see some old friends--even running into my high school track coach, who's daughter I baby sat is now a junior in high school.

And, these pictures really tell the story of Tulip Time. Violet is actually in my sister's Dutch costume; I would've had a bigger one that matched. There's nothing like bringing a blond haired, blue-eyed girl to Pella and sticking her in a Dutch costume...

Smelling the tulips..thank goodness she didn't pick one; that's a $500 fine!

She's not smiling, but this is just such a classic picture...

Our return trip was much more uneventful...thank goodness. I have more pictures, but these are the ones that are currently accessible on the computer. All she needs now is a pair of wooden shoes...

Finally...an update

So, I think we have earned the title of terrible bloggers. It's not that we haven't had things to blog about--it's a matter of finding time to do it. So, here are a few highlights of the last few months:

February:

• School continued, and the plethora of snow days ended.
  
• Ben began planning for the beginning of track and field season, and kept plugging away with the 2nd grade curriculum
• Charissa began planning for 'track widow' season, and her curriculum job became a lot busier with the beginning of state education grant/funding application season. Trying to make sense of the education 'stimulus' package also takes up a lot of her time, as well as dealing with being increasingly more pregnant and tired
• Violet continued to be Violet--amazing us more and more everyday--and visibly becoming a little girl, and not a 'big baby'.
  

March:

• A few glimpses of spring appeared, but generally we were reminded that 'spring' does not really come to northern Michigan until AT LEAST April
• Track season started on March 9, and Ben is very excited about the potential of his athletes--especially on the boys' side.
• Charissa continues to plug away in solving what exactly the state wants schools to spend grant money on
• Work begins on Violet's big girl room in preparation for the arrival of 'Baby Sammy' (Violet's name for the baby, not necessarily the chosen name). This results in the downstairs of our house looking like a storage facility, as everything in that room must find a new place. Also results in us probably using more than our fair share of landfill space (but we did try to repurpose and recycle as much as we could). No one wants old plaster, though. It is currently a shell of a room, patiently waiting for either the planting in Iowa to be finished, or for a week of rainy weather which prevents Charissa's dad from being in the field (ideally, the former, rather than the latter).
  
• Violet began swimming lessons at Ferris State University. These lessons are a little more intense than the summer program at the community pool, but after the first couple of lessons, our little fish reappears. This makes our weeks tremendously busy as lessons are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings--many weeks we are not home in the evening until Friday.
  

April

• Spring break is a welcome week of respite from the day-to-day efforts of teaching; however, it is replaced by MAJOR cleaning of the house. By the end of the week, the downstairs no longer resembled a warehouse of odds and ends, and Charissa's scrap-booking stuff was organized into a closet. The weather even cooperated towards the end of the week, showing us that winter is NOT eternal in Michigan. Easter found us not going to any organized egg-hunts, but having our own in our backyard.
  
• Track season is going strong, and Ben's athlete's post some great early season performances. For the most part, weather is cooperating, and the team and Track Force One (the track booster club) pull off a successful pancake breakfast. Unfortunately, the accompanying club meet is cut short by a monsoon...
• Grant proposals and state funding applications are coming together, and planning for next year has begun. Charissa would prefer knowing a little more concretely what her job is going to be next year, but has chosen not to devote too much worry to that quite yet. She is perpetually exhausted, and has a hard time believing it's still 6-8 weeks before Baby Boy Talsma makes his appearance.
  
• Violet continues to flourish at swimming lessons--paddling to the deep end and back with the assistance of the floaty barbell on her own (25 meters), and willingly and under her own power, going under the water. Her bravery and comfort with the water makes mom and dad proud, yet a little concerned, as we've had multiple occurrences where Violet decides it's time to 'swim' and Mom and Dad weren't quite ready. We'll have to keep a very close eye on her at the beach this summer. She has also started 'reading' to her stuffed animals (pointing to the words and everything) and her favorite 'activity' right now is telling us she has to go to a meeting, and that she'll be back in a "few minutes". Hmm...wonder where she got that....

Well, that takes us pretty much to the present. Hopefully, as things begin 'winding down' for the year, we'll be able to post more frequently. The good news is, that if we haven't posted, there hasn't been anything major to share--just the regular old stuff. But, it's the regular old stuff that makes life interesting and worth it all. I'll leave you with a couple of pictures, and I'll post more later; this afternoon, I was able to get the annual Violet in the violet's picture...and it struck me today just how much of a girl Violet is--she's really not my 'baby' anymore.

Violet 2007

Violet 2008

Violet 2009

He's a Boy!

See with what frequency the blog is updated?

We had our ultrasound on Wednesday, and were able to determine quite clearly that the newest Talsma will be a boy! Finally, some balance around here. While I have suggested the name Estevanico, Charissa has given it a veto.

At Long Last

Life at Possibility Manor has not been nearly as dormant as "Life at Possibility Manor". We embarked on and returned from our annual Christmas Odyssey, a description of which will constitute the bulk of this particular post. In addition, we've gotten started with the 2009 portion of the 2008-2009 school year, and Violet has continued to grow up at breakneck speed. Therefore, we owe you an update (full disclosure: I am not the regular blog author. Charissa is drawing with Violet, and so I--Ben Talsma--am filling in).

We rearranged our Christmas voyage slightly this year, beginning in Muskegon so that Alex could make it back to California in time for the wild and crazy New Year's parties. We continued our tradition of pitching twenty bucks into a pool from which we could shop for each other's presents--this year, we opted to shop at Target. I got a very nice wicking shirt. Charissa got wild and crazy socks. We played a host of board games, most of which I won, and then struck off for Miracle Camp and the Extended Talsma Christmas.

If you're not a Miracle Camp regular, it would be instructive to know that there is a gym and a volleyball net, and many tables conducive to the play of card games of all varieties. There is also an adequate kitchen, and so the various family chefs all nicely contribute contributions that contribute nicely to our waistlines. As usual, a good time was had by most, although the brothers and I were soundly bested at Snerts, and Violet had a tendency to roll off the bed.

We went from Miracle Camp Christmas to Beach House Christmas. When we left Miracle Camp, the powdery snow had blown over some of the two-tracky backroads, so we had an adventurous time billowing through the drifts as we plowed our way back to the highway. Violet received several books aimed at postgraduate students, but returned the favor by drawing all over the wall. She certainly has a nose for trouble.

Yes, her nose is like a magnet for trouble.

In fact, you could call her old, Magnet Nose*.

Violet, Grandpa T, Grandma Jeannee, and Uncle Alex also made a trek to see the frozen lake and beach, and while there, built quite the snowman. Charissa, Uncle Nick and I decided to forgo the chilly walk, and instead entertained ourselves with some Wii golf, bowling, and tennis. Upon the return of the beach-goers, we again packed up the fan and made the trek to Iowa. Considering the plethora of snow and ice storms that pounded the Midwest, our trip was remarkably uneventful, however; on the night before Christmas, cars and mice stir alike.

We had an excellent time in Iowa, enjoying both the traditional Immediate Fynnaardt Christmas celebration and the Extended Fynaardt Christmas celebration at the local Comfort Inn, where we tested the capacity of the indoor pool. Charissa received a bike to replace the one that is still on the lamb, and I got a visual encyclopedia for students that is still the hottest item in class. Sully CRC does a nice job with their Christmas service and concludes with "The Hallelujah Chorus", as every Christmas service ought.

We took off on our return trip to Michigan looking forward to the Sikkenga Christmas, but on our way back we received word that Grandma Marilyn had passed away. She had been very ill for quite some time, but it was still something of a shock, and we were very disappointed that we had not been able to see her recently. After attending the visitation, we were struck by some terrible sort of bug, and were not able to attend the funeral, or the Sikkenga Christmas. All in all, it was a rather unfortunate end to the vacation.

However, we recovered in time to go back to school. Violet is, in general, enjoying her baby sitter's, although she has recently gone through a spell of very two-ish behavior both there and at home. Charissa continues to enjoy her new job, and I continue to have a very remarkable class. In response to student curiosity, we recently conducted an experiment on whether your stomach would explode if you drank Diet Coke and ate Mentos. Only one of the student's stomachs exploded**.

Violet's newest gig is going around and offering her hand and saying, "I'm Violet Dawn Talsmo. Pleased to meet you. Shake hands please." She is also really enjoying her new whiteboard, a gift from Grandma and Grandpa Fynaardt, and can write her name quite well, as long as you don't worry about whether the letters go from left to right.

We are nicely settled back in, just finished a fairly thorough cleaning of the house today, and should be able to post more frequently now.

*This is an inside joke, obviously. And you really should buy "The New Yorker" board game.

**Actually, we used a dummy stomach. And no matter the combination of saliva, stomach acid, and the chewing of the Mento means that your stomach is quite safe.

Delay in Posting

My apologies for the delay in posting about our Christmas travels. The end of our Christmas vacation was marred by a terrible illness to Ben & Violet, and the death of Ben's grandma Sikkenga. Throw in the start of school, and hopefully you can understand our delay in posting.

That being said, other than a day of intensive stomach illness by me (which I'm still not sure wasn't connected more to pregnancy and cleaning up from the other two) I seem to have avoided whatever bug it was. (Everyone knock on wood now please!)