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!