1 year old

  As you can see I haven't updated the blog in a LONG time! Hopefully this Spring/Summer we'll be able to do a better job!

 Mara turned 1 on March 19th. We can't believe how fast her first year went! So many firsts & many more to come! We often wonder what we did with our "spare time" before we had her. We're thoroughly enjoying our baby girl, laughing a lot & trying to catch everything on camera.  She has been such a little blessing to our lives!
 Some of the things Mara's been up to...
- Walking (practically running everywhere)
- Figured out how to open cupboard doors (and empties everything out!)
- Says: "bye bye", "mama", "da-da", "kya"
- Jabbers ALL the time :)
- Hates socks & shoes (the older ladies in our church usually have to comment on her bare feet!)
- Slowly growing more (dark) hair
- Tooth #5
- Gives high 5's, plays patty cake
- Best buddies with Kya--the 2 get into trouble already!
- Great eater! (she's not a picky eater like her mommy was)
I'm sure there's more...but I can't seem to remember all of them!

 We're loving the spring weather! Mara loves to be outdoors & cries when it's time to go in. I have a feeling we're going to be spending many hours outside this summer! The bad thing is she's constantly putting things in her mouth that shouldn't be.
 Happy Easter!

 Here are Mara's 1 year pictures! Taken by http://www.schoolmeesterphotography.com/

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7 months

Mara just turned 7 months last week! She had another follow-up appointment for her hips on Monday & the results were a great birthday present to mommy! Her hip/leg bones have been shaped correctly after wearing the braces & are maturing correctly. This means we don't have to follow up anymore! Thank the Lord for answering our prayers!
Mara has learned to be quite little miss independent:) She's pretty big stuff now that she can sit up all by herself! She's also figuring out this crawling thing--getting herself up on all fours & scooting back & forth. It's pretty exciting to watch your baby learn new things, even the simplest motor skills. Tiny points of multiple teeth have also made their appearance this week! Poor girl has some pretty swollen gumbs!
Here are some Fall pictures of Mara @ 7 months. Photos by Tom & Jessie Schoolmeester.

So many firsts!

Mara is almost 7 months old & growing up so fast! She still continues to be a happy, easy-going little girl (like her daddy:). We're still working on sitting up all by ourself, but she does pretty good most of the time balancing her chubby little thighs! That is, if she sits still long enough-she's very active as she rolls all around the room & LOVES her jumperoo! She even gets herself up on all fours & acts like she's going to start crawling...we're not ready for the mobile stage yet!
Kya & Mara are growing up to be buddies, as you can see in the first picture:) Mara usually has to know where Kya's at and her face lights up when she finds her. Recently we've noticed when Mara goes to bed, Kya wants to be the center of our attention. The 2 together can be quite a hand-ful at times. Is this what it's like with 2 kids?! (not that we're anywhere NEAR that!)
Some of her favorites.... She loves to eat applesauce & bananas but pulls a sour face every time we try giving her peaches. She's content just laying by herself in her crib & will jabber on and on. Mara loves reading books; especially when daddy makes farm animal noises:) It doesn't take much to get a smile out of her-just look at her & she lights up the room!
Mara's been sleeping through the night (we're Finally one of those parents who can say that...for tonight @ least) She likes her sleep (just like her mommy:)and it's got to be on her tummy. At her 6 month appointment she weighed 14lbs and was consistently in the 50% for height & weight. Her pediatrician told daddy he better just give up now...those dimples are going to be a heartbreaker!

Prins Fall Pictures

In September we took family pictures in Sioux Falls at the Japanese Gardens. It was the last "nice" day of fall we had...remember, before all the rain and sun-less days!? Here are some of our favorites! What a good-looking bunch!:) Photography by Tom & Jessie Schoolmeester http://www.schoolmeesterphotography.com/

5 months old

Mara is now 5 months old...we can't believe how fast time has gone by! She's recently learned how to roll from her back to her tummy & back again onto her tummy-pretty exciting for us first-time parents:)
We're trying out rice cereal...so far she hasn't been too impressed. We get more on our face & clothes than in our tummy! I think it's more of a change of texture for her to get used to.


Mara usually sleeps on her side with an arm over her head and the blanket between her legs...which is pretty much exactly how mommy likes to sleep as well:) It's amazing how those little traits come out & you notice little quirks about yourself.
We had a check-up with Mara's orthopedic specialist a few weeks ago. She's been out of her harness completely now, and does not even need to wear the step-down brace at night. All reports were "normal" and we have another check-up with xrays in 3 months. Her legs have strengthened faster than we expected & she's acting like a typical 5 month old. Praise the Lord for answering our prayers! Thank you to everyone for your support, prayers, and encouragement while Mara was in her brace! We're so thankful she's developing into a beautiful little girl.

~Twins Weekend Getaway~

This past weekend Justin & I went on a weekend getaway to Minneapolis with some friends of ours, Jade & Megan VanderHaar. Megan & I gave this to the boys for their first Father's Day gifts. We went to 2 Twins games vs. the Cleveland Indians...but unfortunately they lost both of them. It was our first overnight without Mara...but it went really well & we had a LOT of fun!!




On Saturday, we sat in "Home Run Court" out in left field. We didn't catch any home-runs, but SOME of us got on the Jumbo-Tron while singing Bon Jovi "Living on a Prayer" while playing air guitar!:)



We had such a fun weekend--it was nice to get away & relax without the kiddos for once! Thanks to Grandma Van Dyke for babysitting Mara (& Kya) so we could enjoy some time together!:)