Van Heukelum Family Party and Other News

On Sunday, we traveled to Hudsonville, Michigan (over by Grand Rapids) for a Van Heukelum family party. The Van Heukelum family was almost there in its entirety, including family from Iowa, Bolivia, New York, and Canada. We were only missing two cousins from Deleware and three cousins from Canada. There have been four great-grandchildren (Carson, Rebecca, Maggie, Breanna) born into the family in the last few months, so it was fun to get them all together and take lots of pictures. Although I don't think we ever got a picture where they were all happy. Needless to say, there was never a dull or quiet time with all the kids around! :) It was a fun time though and great to see everyone. I wish we'd have had more time to visit, especially with those from out of state/country.

In other news, we found out last Thursday that Kevin no longer has a job. Gotta love the automotive industry, right? While it is stressing us both out a bit, it really could end up being a major blessing. Kevin has never really liked that job all that much and he's always all stressed out about it. So maybe he'll find something that he enjoys more. There are some jobs out there, believe it or not, but I'm sure the competition is very high, so please keep him in your thoughts/prayers that he'll find a good fit and find it soon! :)

I've posted a bunch of new pics at the link to the right - from June and from the Van Heukelum party, so feel free to check them out.

More open houses

We had a weekend filled with high school graduation open houses. There are four cousins graduating this year on the Odykirk side of Sara's family, so we'll have three weekends of open houses for them. Last weekend, we went to Crystal's, this past weekend we attended Nick's and Emilee's, and then next weekend we're hoping to make a trip up to Traverse City on Saturday for Allison's. We'll just have to see how the day goes next week and how Carson is doing.

Its been great to see the Odykirk family so much lately. It seems like we go in spurts of seeing everyone quite often, then we won't see them for months. Its always a fun time when the Odykirks are all together and we really should make it a point to keep getting together more often. Family and friends have always been very important to me, but the events of two weeks ago have really stressed the importance to the highest level. You just never know when your time will be cut short, so we're just trying to live each day to its fullest, taking lots of pictures along the way. :)

Carson recovered much better this time from his vaccines on Friday. He was a little cranky over the weekend, but nothing like last time. He also ate like a pig, more than he normally does, which is total opposite of what happened last time. He ate so much this weekend, I think he's probably hit the 14 pound mark now. :) He did sleep more than normal, though, but at least he slept pretty well when he did and didn't need to be held the entire time like he wanted after his 2-month shots.

Now its back to work again this week. Another 4-day week for me, which I love. Saturday we're thinking of going up to my cousin Allison's open house in Traverse City. Then Sunday we'll be in Grand Rapids for a big Van Heukelum family (Kevin's family) get together. I think all but two cousins from Deleware will be there. It'll be fun and great to see everyone!

I've posted pictures from the two open houses this weekend at the link to the right if you're interested.

4-Month Well-Baby Check-Up

Carson went in for his 4-month well-baby check-up this afternoon. We were there FOREVER! Our appointment was at 2:30, so we got there about 2:15 and we didn't walk out of there until 4:40! It was crazy! But the time went by really quickly, at least. Carson was soooo good, I was so thankful. It seems like he's finally getting back to his old happy-go-lucky self, at least today he was. He was the happiest he's been in a few weeks now. He had fun watching the other kids and babies in the waiting room and smiling at all of them, especially the little girls. He's already turning into a flirt! :) Once we were in the exam room, he had fun just playing with his toys and drinking a bottle.

Carson weighed in at 13 pounds, 14 ounces and is between the 25th and 50th percentiles for weight. He is 25 inches tall, which is in the 75th percentile for height. And his head measured 17 inches! They said he's between the 75th and 90th percentile for that, though when I looked it up just now, its closer to the 75th%. The doctor said that if his head keeps growing like that, we'll have ourselves a genius! Haha! So we have a tall and skinny kid with a big head. :) Well, at least taller than average and thinner than average. I don't think he's skinny, but he's definitely not chubby either.

Carson got four shots today, two in each leg. Poor little guy. He screamed so bad when he got them, worse than he did at the 2-month appointment. But he calmed down quickly and fell asleep. So far, he's been doing much better than he did with his 2-month vaccines. After the 2-month shots, he didn't eat for about nine hours and would only sleep on me, he was super cranky and sad, and had extremely sore legs, even the slightest touch to his foot would cause him to scream. This time, he seems like he's doing pretty well. He ate well this evening and had no problem going to sleep at his normal time and has now been sleeping in his crib for a few hours. His legs seem a little tender, but only on his thighs where he got the shot, not the entire leg like last time. We'll see how he's doing in the morning. But so far, so good.

Carson's eyes have been getting gunky again this week. They're not infected yet and we weren't given any more eyedrops yet. For now, we have to keep massaging the tear ducts and using warm cloths to wipe his eyes out frequently to see if that helps. If they're still not cleared up at 6 months, it sounds like we'll go for allergy testing to see if they can find anything. If nothing shows up, then he'll have to get the surgery to put the tubes in his tear ducts (similar to getting tubes in your ears). I really hope it clears up - I really don't want him to need that surgery!

We got the okay to begin introducing solids, both single-grain rice cereal and oatmeal were encouraged. I expressed my concern about the rice cereal possibly constipating Carson, which could be a problem since he already has very firm poos from the soy formula. But we'll try the rice first and see how it goes. If it seems to be causing a problem, then we'll just mix in some 1st food prunes and that should do the trick hopefully.

Tonight before bed, we gave Carson his first rice cereal. He did so well! He had no problems getting the cereal off the spoon. And most of it stayed in his mouth, too! Don't get me wrong, he did get a little messy, but I think he did better than some of the babies I used to baby-sit for, even after they'd been eating cereal for a few weeks. He seemed to like the cereal, too. Which is good. I'd read that many babies won't eat the rice cereal because it tastes so blah. He finished all of the cereal and then washed it down with a bottle before going to sleep.

Here are a few pics:

What Carson has been up to...

I realized I haven't really given any updates about Carson and what he is doing of late, so I figured it was time for one. Carson turned 4 months last Friday and we go this Friday for his 4-month well-baby visit. We'll get more immunizations, which hopefully go over a little better this time around. As I mentioned yesterday, he's just beginning to cut his first tooth. For those experienced moms that read this, do you remember how long it takes from beginning to see the tooth till its through all the way? I hope its not too long. Although I guess it has taken him 4 months to get this far, right?

Carson played in his exersaucer for the first time a couple of weeks ago. He wasn't too sure about it at first, feeling kind of unsteady, but he's getting used to it and plays in it a bit longer each time we try it now. He gets frustrated because he can't pull the attachments to his mouth, though. Speaking of which - EVERYTHING goes to his mouth now. He is constantly chewing on something and drooling everywhere... which is due to the teething I guess. He's been giving the open-mouthed baby kisses for quite a while now and they're progressively getting more and more wet. :)

Carson still isn't showing much interest in rolling over. He absolutely hates his tummy time still, so he doesn't ever give it much chance to get from tummy to back, so who knows when he'll go from his back to his tummy. He's much more interested in sitting up and standing - with assistance of course. He loves to grab hold of your fingers and go from lying on his back to sitting to standing - he just gets so proud and excited! Its so cute!

I think Carson has definitely got his Mama's social personality. I will lay him in his crib to watch his mobile (which he still loves) and play with some toys while I'm making dinner and he just complains and complains until I go in there and pay attention to him. He isn't fussing, but he's just complaining. He gets to the point where he's yelling sometimes - its kind of funny. When he's complaining, it almost sounds like he says mama, but of course he has no idea what he's saying still. As soon as he hears me coming towards his room, the complaining will stop and I'll be greeted with a big, drooley smile when he sees me. Then he'll start babbling till I leave again when he starts his complaining. I think he thinks its a game, which I guess it kind of is. :)

We finally transitioned Carson to his crib for night-time sleeping on the 6th, I believe it was. It went very smoothly. He was waking during the night for a feeding there for a week or two, but that has settled back again and he's now sleeping through again. Generally, he sleeps about 9-10 hours when he wakes up to eat, up for 20-30 minutes to eat a quick bottle, then sleeps again for another 2 hours when he's ready to be up for the day. He doesn't seem to nap well for either of his Grandmas when they watch him during the week, but he takes great naps for my Aunt Jeri during the week and for me on the weekend. Generally a 2-hour nap mid-mornng, and then a 3-hour nap around lunch time, then a quick 45 minute nap in the late afternoon. I wish he'd do the same when he's at either Grandma Holleboom's or Grandma Moore's. I'm not sure why he doesn't.

Anyway, there were other things I had thought to write of, but I can't remember them now. I'll make another post later if I think of them.

Open Houses, Father's Day, and Other Family Happenings

Last week was a very emotional, rough week for my entire family. I thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers, they are much appreciated. The healing process will be a long one for everyone, but especially for my Aunt Sharon, Uncle Dave, cousins Becky and Charlie. So please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

On Saturday, after spending some time at my Aunt Sharon's, we went out to Holly to attend my cousin Crystal's high school graduation open house. Carson was such a good little boy! After such a rough week of having his routines flipped upside down and all around, he'd been having a very bad morning and afternoon, but he was so good at the open house. Let's hope he is just as good next weekend - we'll be at an open house on Saturday and on Sunday for more cousins.

Yesterday was Kevin's first Father's Day (and you know, we didn't get one picture with just Kevin and Carson together). I think he had a pretty good day. Carson and I got him a hammock for relaxation in the yard. We went out to my Aunt Jeri's for a family party and Kevin got to drive my uncle's Ski Nautique and do some wakeboarding, so he was pretty stoked about that. Carson went on his first pontoon boat ride, too! He slept just about the entire time. We didn't try swimming yet since the water is still a bit chilly for his liking, but we're hoping to try swimming in the lake on the 4th of July!

For about 5 or 6 weeks now, we've known that Carson was starting to teethe, but hadn't seen anything or felt anything coming through yet. Well, yesterday I noticed that his first tooth is starting to break through on the bottom!! Its just the tip, so it still has a ways to come. The poor baby, having his routines all messed up last week and having to deal with the pain of cutting his first tooth! Poor thing! At least it explains why he was so extra fussy last week, though.

Anyway, be sure to check out the latest pictures from Crystal's open house and Father's Day at the link to the right!

RIP Jason and Rachelle

For those of you that haven't heard, my cousin Jason and his girlfriend Rachelle passed away yesterday from carbon monoxide poisoning (link to news story). I guess it is a blessing that they didn't suffer, but it really doesn't make it any easier. Thank God that the ambulance got there when they did to save Becky, too.

Please keep my Aunt Sharon, Uncle Dave, cousin Becky, the rest of my family, and Rachelle's family in your thoughts. This next week and the weeks to come will be very difficult for everyone.

Cousin Rebecca's Baptism

Today we traveled west to Grand Rapids to attend the baptism of Rebecca Jean Voogt at Seymour Christian Reformed Church. It was a very nice service and the pastor that baptized Rebecca was great. She was a perfect little angel during the baptism, not even waking up when the water was put to her head. After the church service, the family traveled to Grandville to Justin and Mary's house for a luncheon in honor of Rebecca's baptism. It was the first time since I think probably Christmas that all the Hollebooms were together all at once. It was quite hot, but nothing that we couldn't handle (though Carson did throw a fit at one point :). It was a very nice afternoon, indeed. The drive home was quite entertaining, at least the first half hour of it as we were driving directly with a terrible line of storms. Luckily the tornadoes didn't start out in Grand Rapids, so we were ahead of the storm and made it in the house with about 15 minutes to spare before we had to head to the basement!

Here are just a few pictures from this afternoon. Check out the link on the right for more pictures from the luncheon. The picture above represents four generations of the Van Heukelum gals - Mary with Rebecca, Great Grandma Van H, and Grandma Holleboom.

And here are four generations of Van Heukelum/Holleboom boys - Great Grandpa Van H, Kevin with Carson, and Grandpa Holleboom.


And just a couple from the car ride home (after we made it through the storms). Carson just wasn't into the sleeping in the car thing today. Rather, he wanted to talk and play the entire time.

New stroller

After much deliberation between the different options, we bought a BOB Revolution on Thursday. Both strollers were great strollers, so it was a tough decision, but we ultimately think the BOB will meet our needs just a little better than the Baby Jogger would have. With the shock absorbers, it'll be better for using it on our property and on trails. Plus, with the larger, more rugged tires, it'll go through sand and slush and snow better. We haven't had a chance to test it out yet with Carson in it, but hopefully we'll have a chance a bit later. Hopefully he enjoys it!

Stroller shopping

This isn't really family news, just a small dilemma I'm having in trying to decide on a new stroller. So I figured I'd blog about it and maybe the answer would become more clear. So bear with me.

We've realized that our Chicco Trevi and our Peg Perego Venezia just don't cut it in the realm of strollers. We should have gone with an all-terrain stroller from the beginning, but oh well. You live and you learn. The Chicco and the Peg would be fine if we were just using them on sidewalks and at the mall and such, but we would like to use them around the property and yard a lot more... they're quite difficult to maneuver through grass and over tree roots and bumps. And they don't move at all through sand. So we're realizing we really are in need of an all-terrain stroller... a jogging type.

So that brings me to the dilemma of which to go with... the BOB Revolution, the Baby Jogger City Classic, or the Baby Jogger City Elite.

The Baby Jogger City Elite has all the features of the City Classic, plus some additional features... a parent console, magnetic vents and viewing panels in the sun shade (instead of velcro), a vented seat back, much more padding in the seat, and different color schemes. And I think I've made the decision it'd be worth the extra $50 for the Elite over the Classic just for those additional features. The real dilemma is between the Baby Jogger and the BOB.

The BOB has a more rugged look with larger tires than the BJ and would be much better for trails and for running if we ever did jog with it. It has an adjustable locking front wheel so you can tweak it if need be, which makes it better for off-road trails, too. The major positive feature of the BOB is the suspension... it has adjustable shock absorbers whereas the BJ does not. The BJ is a much stiffer ride compared to the BOB. This is what causes me my biggest dilemma. The suspension would be so nice, and much safer, really for Carson or a future baby so they're not jarred around so much.

But I like that the BJ has a one-step fold, whereas the BOB is a two-step and I don't really think it could be done one-handed. Granted, a one-handed fold isn't that important to me really since I've never folded our other strollers one-handed or while holding Carson. Both the BOB and BJ unfold the same. The BOB is a bit larger than the BJ when folded up. So that will probably be a key deciding factor... whether the BOB fits in the Vibe. We know the BJ will fit since Justin and Mary have a City Classic and they have a Vibe, too. They both weigh about the same. And both have color options that I like, though I do favor the BOB's color choices better... although I don't know if I'd go for the orange one or the light blue and brown one. We'd get the tan and black City Elite if we went that way. The BJ has a much plusher seat... the BOB is basically just flat foam, whereas the BJ is cushy padding. The 5-point harness on the BOB adjusts much easier than the BJ. Both have equally large sun shades, though the BJ has side vents and two windows, whereas the BOB just has one window. I wish I could get the BJ sunshade on the BOB. Then the BOB would be almost perfect! :)

So anyway, I don't think I'm any closer to making a decision. I think we'll stop at Moosejaw in East Lansing on our way home from Grand Rapids on Sunday so that Kevin can see the two strollers and do a comparison of his own. And we'll have to see how the BOB fits in the Vibe. Then we can make our decision.