Christmas Day

We spent Christmas Day with Matt's family. As always we began the day with breakfast together, took family pictures in front of the fireplace and then opened gifts. We spend the rest of the day playing games, watching movies and just relaxing. It is a wonderful day of fun and fellowship with our family!

We can hardly all fit around the table anymore!

Bitty Babies for both of the girls

Two baby dolls :)

Grandpa & Grandma got the girls all of the accessories they need to take care of their babies

Addison couldn't quite take all of the excitement

Christmas Eve

We celebrated Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve. We had our traditional stromboli for supper and then opened lots of presents. I think Noelle helped open every single present that was under the tree!

A shopping cart from Grandpa & Grandma

Addison's gift ... but Noelle would like to play with it first.

Did Grandpa get anything fun?

Kicking off Christmas Week ...

With lots more snow!! Since we were home unexpectedly on Sunday morning we decided to give the girls their Christmas present. Pretend kitchens have come a long way since I was a kid ... it took us a good part of the morning to assemble it, and we cleaned out our battery supply too!

Just a cute pic

Noelle was way too busy to stop and pose for a picture with her sister ... doesn't Addison look just thrilled about her gift?

We had the Geurink Christmas party at noon, for the most part everyone was able to make it ... but most of us live on the same street too. :) Noelle got a fun new cell phone.

And thankfully Addison has a big sister who loves to help her open her gifts. I think she would have slept through the entire party, but we woke her up at the end so she could at least make an appearance and open her present.

Christmas Cookies

Yesterday it was way to snowy to go anywhere, so since we were just going to have a relaxing day at home, I decided to make Christmas cookies with Noelle. This was the first time I allowed her to help me bake, she loved it!

Ready to go in the oven


Frosting the cookies ... and licking the knife

Her favorite part was putting on the sprinkles, our finished cookies had LOTS of sprinkles on them!

Fun in the Snow

This weekend Noelle got to play in the snow for the first time this year. The first time it snowed I didn't have boots for her yet, then she had a couple of colds and an ear infection ... now we have all the gear, and she is finally healthy again so I figured we could brave the cold outdoors. I think she liked the snow, she just wasn't real thrilled with the fact that she kept falling over and couldn't get up.

Yummy!

4 months old means starting cereal, so we let Addison take over the highchair to give it a try.

First we let her get the feel of the highchair while the rest of us ate supper

Then mommy shoveled in the cereal so Addison could spit it back out. It was a good practice session, we'll keep working on it!

Now my face is a mess & my bowl is still full, why are we doing this mommy?

Noelle graduated to the booster seat, she thinks she's big stuff. Last night she sat in it for 20 minutes waiting for Matt to come home for supper. For Noelle, that is a very long time to sit in one place!

I'm 4 Months Old!

Today we went in for Addison's 4 month well child visit, although today she wasn't all that 'well'. She has been dealing with a nasty cold for about a week now, and the doctor was a bit concerned about her wheezing, so he prescribed breathing treatments. They are not a fun experience for either of us, hoping she gets over this soon! Other than that, she is growing well and is developmentally doing everything that she should be. She is our little peanut, only 50th percentile for height and 75th for weight ... Noelle was always at least in the 90's! She loves to play in her exersaucer, gives her a better perspective on what's going on around her. She has the sweetest disposition, Matt & I just love cuddling with her at night, listening to all her stories, then letting her fall asleep in her arms ... we know we have to enjoy every minute of this, it's not going to last much longer!

Thanksgiving Day

Matt & I have so much to be thankful for ... eachother, our two precious girls, health and strength, good jobs, loving families ... just to name a few things. And most of all for a God who never leaves our side, who provides so richly for us here on earth and promises us a home in heaven someday. We got to spend time with both of our families this year, we had our first Thanksgiving dinner at the Grace Center with the Nienhuis extended family. Noelle enjoyed the feast, her favorite part was the jello.

Addison hung out in her carseat, playing with her toys during dinner. She'll have to wait til next year to experience all the yummy food.

Noelle and Delani

We had our second, more casual, Thanksgiving dinner with the Bussis extended family at night. We were still stuffed from the first one, but we still managed to eat more yummy food. We enjoyed spending the day with family that we just don't see often enough.

Christmas Pics

Yes, I had pictures taken again. :) This was their first 'together' photo session, I really wanted pictures of them in their Christmas dresses. I didn't have very high expectations, seeing as it can sometimes be hard enough to get a good picture of just one of them, but it went so much better than I anticipated. Both girls were in a happy mood and were very cooperative. Problem with that is all the pictures turned out so well that I wanted to order one of each, I'm afraid I spent a little more money than I was planning to. :)

3 Month Photo Shoot

Addison is a very smiley little girl, so I wasn't too worried about getting some good shots, as you can see she did great, I am very happy with the results!!

3 Months Old!

Addison is 3 months old already tomorrow. She seems so grown up compared to that tiny newborn that we took home from the hospital in August. She is starting to stand up on my lap and is sitting really well too. She is full of smiles and I've even heard a giggle a couple of times this past week. She is definitely interested in all that's going on around her, you can see her eyes just follow Noelle as she runs around the room. Before we know it she'll be chasing Noelle around the room! It is so exciting to see her new accomplishments, but it makes me sad that she's not going to be my baby for long!

Trick or Treat

The girls got to wear their costumes a second time, to visit some of the people who were not a part of our Halloween party and to attend Trunk Treats at church.

We started out the evening at Grandpa & Grandma Geurink's house. Poor Addison was stuck in her carseat for most of the night but she tolerated it very well. The girls both got a book for their treat, so Noelle had a few new treasures for her Halloween "purse". Since Grandpa wasn't home yet we had to stop at the barn to visit him too.

Then we headed to church for some hotdogs and trick-or-treating in the parking lot. I don't think Noelle understands what candy is, since we haven't really introduced it to her yet, but I think she was attracted to all of the bright shiny wrappers - more treasures!

By the time we got to the last cars, her "purse" was getting pretty heavy, but she was determined to keep carrying it herself.

Our last two stops were Great Grandpa and Great Grandma. By then Daddy & Mommy decided the girls had been in and out of the truck plenty of times, it was time to head home. :)

What Every Girl Needs

So Daddy decided that me & Addison needed a tractor to play with. I've always been interested in tractors .... when I started talking that was one of my first words, I love to ride with Daddy on his lawn tractor, and when we go for walks I always hope that we'll see grandpa driving one of his great big tractors. My new tractor is green (cause Daddy says it's not really a tractor if it's not green) and it lights up and even makes noise! Mommy says she knows us girls have a very special spot in Daddy's heart when he comes home with a noisy toy, cause he had very strong opinions about those before I was born. Thank you Daddy!