4 years ago...

 Pretty crazy how fast it's gone by!!!

Ida's Baby Announcements

I did Ida's announcements through Tiny Prints and I absolutely love them!  I've admired Tiny Prints designs for awhile and this was the perfect excuse to try them out! 

Isn't she just a doll?!

Asa Sayings

I've decided I need to start writing down some of the things that Asa's been saying before I forget them all!

Within the last week alone I've had to tell Asa:

"Get your head out of the toilet."

"Take off your sister's pants."

"Don't color on Ida's head."

"Do NOT bite your sister." (This is the only malicious thing he's done to her... yet.)

Asa's really been extremely happy and excited about having Ida around. And in general is extremely sweet. He'll come up at least three times a day and ask me, "I take it, I take it." This has finally switched to, "I'll take her." He then sits and holds her for a couple minutes, pointing out her nose, eyes, toes and fingers until he says, "all done" and continues running busily around.

He loves helping me put her to bed and wishing her "sweet dreams." This little girl does not lack for slobbery kisses!

And frequently when she coughs I'll hear a little voice call out, "Cover Ida cover!"

I love my crazy little helper.

Ida's Name

Ida Mae Dekker Church

I realized that I haven't explained where we got Ida's name.  Honestly we had the hardest time landing on a name - and when she was born we thought we'd at least have another week to discuss it! But she came a little early and I'm so soo grateful she did. The handy thing about being in labor all night was that it allowed for a LOT of thinking time about the name.  Even so, it wasn't until we'd seen her that we were absolutely sure.
Ida Dekker was Mike's Great Grandma and a wonderful, godly woman.  Dekker is also my sister-in-law's middle name.  And Mae was Mike's Grandma's middle name.  So we ended up using all family names again!  And we're really not trying to only use three letter first names - it just seemed to happen!  The upside is that hopefully the kiddos can spell their names no problem!
(Vicki whipped up this sweater for her and I made the dress.)

The blanket in this picture was an extremely special present to Ida from her Great Grandma (Mike's Mom's Mom).  It was made by her namesake, Ida Dekker, for Mike's Aunt and little unborn cousin, Megan, who were killed in a car crash when Mike was young.  Needless to say, it is a great keepsake and we feel very honored to have it.  

Ida's Baptism

Ida  was baptized this past Sunday!  She used a blanket made by her Great Great Grandma, a sweater made just for the occasion by her Nana, and a dress made by me.  

After church we celebrated with the family over at my Mom's house - thanks Mom!

We were privileged to have Grandma Fran come to see her get baptized!

Best cousin shot that we got...

Warm Weather

Lest you think we forgot about Asa, here's what he's been up to the last week!  We got some really warm days in the 70s so Asa and Amara have been outside as much as possible.  (Seth and Naphtali are living in our basement until their house is ready for them to move in.  Fun and incredibly helpful with the new baby around!)

Amara knows how to pose...

Asa loves Baby Ida.  He constantly asks to hold her and is extremely sweet to her.

Well except when he grabs her toes...

And we've been working on the dreaded task of potty training.  We've been doing a lot of sitting and watching Leapfrog!

Our Darling Girl!

I did a mini "photo shoot" of Ida to get some good shots for her baby announcements. We're pretty smitten with this little face!

(feet shot esp for Kajsa)

Ida Sneezes

Gritman Announcement

Here's the link for the Gritman Announcement.

The Whole Family

Ida Mae Dekker

Bloomsday 2011

Yesterday Mike participated in his second Bloomsday!  Being 2 weeks away from my due date - I didn't participate (although I was really tempted to to try and get her to come!)  So Mike and Brian ran and Paige and I brought up the kiddos to cheer them on.

Asa and Oliver enjoying their post-race snack.

And we had to ride the carousel.  

Asa wasn't too sure about it at first.

Some of the girls!