Where has the time gone?

Wow how time flies.  My last update was at the end of the summer (2011), it is now the beginning of the summer (2012).  For some reason time has gotten away from me... I wonder why!?

Anyway, in an attempt to keep everyone up to date, here is a massive overload of pictures from the last 10 months or so!  Enjoy catching up on our life!

 

 Above: Abram at 2, 3, and 4, months, and getting ready for his first taste of cereal!

Left: All three kiddos ready for Trick-or-Treating.  In case you can't tell, Sophia is a dinosaur, Abram was a very sad giraffe and Amelia was a clown!

 Below: Abram all bundled up for a fall outing to post family farms!  Oh how yummy those donuts sound right now! :)

That brings us to November of 2011.  Amelia turned 3! Can you believe it, my sweet little first born is 3 (going on 16)!  We celebrated with Grandma and Papa and Grandma Gates and Great Grandma Wiersma!

Amelia wanted a kitty cat cake, and got spoiled rotten with lots of fun gifts!

Abram was 5 months old in November!

 December brought the cold weather!  The girls LOVED the snow, although we had a pretty mild winter compared to the year before.  We started decorating for the holidays, after we got our Christmas tree we came home and put together a gingerbread house!

 

Amelia was old enough this year to light one of the Advent candles (a big deal at our family Christmas party)

 

                                The kids all dressed up for Christmas morning church service!

 Opening presents on Christmas morning.  Abram was totally clueless!  Amelia and Sophia got lots of fun packages to open, including a new kitchen set that daddy built just for them!

                                                              SPRING TIME!

 Abram has graduated to the big tub and LOVES to take baths with his sisters!  He screams bloody murder when we try to take him out and anytime he hears the water running in the bathroom he crawls there as fast as he possibly can and pulls himself up on the tub!

 March brought unseasonably warm weather for Michigan!  Sophia turned 2 and she is a total two-year old.  Oh my goodness we are in the throws of toddlerhood over here!  She wanted an Elmo cake and a tricycle for her birthday so that's what she got.  Grandma Gates couldn't join us for this party but she did make the girls some very special slippers (see picture below)!  Abram turned 9 months this month!

 

 April was Easter and Abram turning 10 months (he also learned to stand up independently). 

Amelia has found a new love for building with blocks.  Both of these pictures are things that she build all by herself!



Also in April we went to Chicago, our first getaway since having Abram.  We were gone for three days for a surprise trip for my dad's 60th birthday.  All the siblings and spouses spent the weekend taking in the sights and yummy food, along with a Tigers games to celebrate with my parents!  It was a wonderful weekend but we were ready to get back to our kiddos!

 

 They just keep growing! 

 

 So do I!  This is baby #4 at 20 weeks, we just found out we'll be welcoming another little girl to our family! 

May: Abram turned 11 months old, is taking steps, is completely weaned and is babbling like crazy!!!

I have put reminders on my calendar to update my blog!  Hopefully I can actually remember to do it!  Trying to catch up on almost a year is not something I enjoy doing!!!  We've been enjoying playing outside and going to the farmer's market and it's only the beginning of June.  Hoping for a wonderful summer!  Until next time...