Our Own Evil Knievel

Liam doesn't like sitting on his little bike, but prefers to stand on it. I think I see ER visits in the future.

 

Looking for Dad

Liam says goodbye to Andy at the front window. It seems like he looks for him throughout the day.

By the way, I have been posting a lot of pictures of Liam in only diapers. Just so you know, I do dress him more often than not :) He just must be freed to be so cute when not inhibited by clothes, thus resulting in a lot of pictures of him in the diapers.

 

Friends

Liam and Gracie play really well together. Well, Gracie has a lot of grace and doesn't mind when Liam steals toys from her. I guess it is better said that Gracie is a very tolerant little girl. When do kids learn how to share?

 

 

 

Just Cute

 

Porch and Yards

Finally, I'm posting pictures of the porch that we all worked on while the Tobins were here. We sanded in down and stained it. Andy likes it how it is, I am thinking one shade darker maybe? We also planted a lot of new bushes and perineals in the yard too. We're having fun with the home improvements!

 

 

 

 

6 Key Steps to Make the Most of a Sunny Day

 

1. Go outside to enjoy the warm weather.
2. Throw the recycling plastic in your kiddie pool.
3. Lean over the side and splash around.
4. Try to get the recycling out again.
5. Strip out of your diaper.
6. Drink out of the hose.

Working with Dad

Liam likes to stay close to Andy when he is home, whether it is working on the door frames or watching him mow the lawn. Liam is a man's man.

 

 

Liam and the Purple Couch

 

Happy

 

Zoning

Our Pets

Since Liam is allergic to dogs, we like to pay attention to the animals in our yard that have adopted us. Today, it was our faithful St. Andrew's Cross spider and a praying mantis.

 

Our spider friend has gained a lot of weight this past week, sort of like pregnant me. I don't think he can blame it on pregnancy though, more like the two big grasshoppers in his web.

 

Yay for predatory animals! Kill all the annoying insects, Mr. Mantis!

Ultrasound Update

Hi Friends,

Thanks for praying with us about the baby's kidney! Unfortunately, the kidney is looking worse. They said there may be some signs of cysts and of damage that could affect the function, although it is hard to tell definitively on an ultrasound. The doctor is consulting with a pediatric urologist to see if we need a prenatal referral. Kidney problems are the most common birth defect apparently, and our doctor has seen a lot of them (even his own daughter had one), but he has never had a kidney bad enough to warrant a referral before the baby is born. Even with this bad news, it is still possible that the kidney normalizes and has great function! We're praying that the doctors have wisdom and that the Lord would heal our baby. Thanks for praying with us!

Liam Walks

 

 

 

Liam has been standing up and taking a few wobbly steps for some weeks now. It never seemed to fully count as walking though, being so unsteady and all. Well, there is no denying it now. He's not ready for a marathon or anything, but he can do about five or six feet before sitting down again. Mama's got to get ready for a whole new way of life.

Peeling Frame

 

 

Even though our house is fairly new, the paint around the doors is peeling off already. We've been working on both the front and back-power washing and scraping. I made the poor decision about 8pm to power wash the back door and was quickly freezing and covered in paint chips. Andy thought it was quite funny.

Stained Deck

 

Chris stained the deck too-looks great!

River Birch

 

 

We've worked a bit on our plants with some great instruction from Chris while he was here about a month ago. We did some pruning (and those crazy Japanese beetles also worked on the tree). Thanks Chris for your advice!

We Like Spiders

 

Liam Has a Sweet Room!

 

 

 

Upon moving into this house, there were lots of discoveries, both good and bad. One of the bad discoveries was that the previous owners apparently weren't too particular where their animals went to the bathroom. Unfortunately, their dog made a mess of Liam's room, so after trying to get it professionally cleaned, we decided we needed to rip out the carpet. Andy did a ton of work, ripping out the carpet and pad, sealing the subflooring, then with the help of some friends, put down hard wood flooring! It looks fabulous (also notice that we painted the room too-now its blue instead of tan)!

Home Improvements

 

 

When the Tobins were here, they helped us with a ton of home improvements. Karen recovered our dining room chairs and now the room is finished!

More Time at the Lake!

 

 

 

 

We went to Lake Michigan with a group of friends from our church and had a relaxing Labor Day weekend. Liam loved being in the water and hanging out with all the Dirkse kids. We got to see the Thiry's too, but forgot to take pictures with them-maybe in another three years?!