Pray for us...

...our children are gifted! Ha ha!

Ashlyn--our Dancing Queen--is now a YouTube girl :) Here's the link to her dancing video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onPV0xwbR-k It's hilarious! We burned it to a DVD for my mom for her birthday and watched it on their huge TV last night. Ashlyn was watching herself dancing on the video and dancing at the same time. When the video was done, she'd say "Uh-oh!" until we started it over again. After about 10 times we tried not starting the video again, but she grabbed the remote and started pushing buttons until we started it again. We taped her dancing to the video...I'll have to upload that one to YouTube and post that link too. She's such a crack-up!!

At six weeks old, Maguire is actually rolling over! I think he just gets frustrated enough being on his tummy that he tries anything he can to get back onto his back. We, of course, videotaped this too, so I'll upload that when I can.

Oh yeah...we hit another big milestone yesterday (which Kyle, of course, videotaped. We will NOT be posting this one on YouTube!). Ashlyn went poo-poo on the big potty :) She was SO proud! We aren't really all that close to potty training, but we occasionally ask if she wants to go wee-wee on the potty. She thinks it's pretty cool and always tries so hard to go poo-poo too. She finally succeeded yesterday at Great Grandpa and Great Grandma's. You never saw so many adults get so excited about a few little poo pellets ;)

Last night Kyle and I took the kids to the mall for an early Valentine's Day outing. We got pizza at the food court and then went to play on the breakfast food in the play area. Ashlyn loves to walk up the banana and then slide down it :)

It was a perfect time/night for us to go...there were hardly any people there!

Abby's 28th Birthday

My birthday lasted several days this year :) I went out for drinks to a deuling pianos bar with my friend Tina on Wednesday night, my mom came into town on Thursday (my actual birthday) and we went to the mall for lunch, and then I went out to dinner with Kristi, Tami, Anna, and Heather (Kyle's sister) Thursday night. We had a blast! It was 3 hours of straight laughing :) Saturday night my parents took Kyle and the kids and me out for dinner and then we came back to our house to play cards--my favorite--POUNCE! Kyle got me this really cool silver bracelet that has "Kyle" "Abby" "Christ" "Ashlyn" and "Maguire" engraved on it. So special!! I can't believe I'm 28 already...I know this year is going to be a great one!

Props to Melissa!

I just got this picture and wanted to--again--give major props to Melissa who took the fabulous pics of Maguire in the hospital. She has some MAD TALENT!! Check out her amazing stuff... www.melissadiekemaphotography.com

Thanks Melissa, we love you!!

Doctor appointments

I took the kids to their doctor appointments yesterday. Ashlyn had her very belated 18 month well child visit (3 months late!) and Mac had his--also late--2 week check up. It was my first outing with both kids...all by myself. And I survived!

Ashlyn is now 24lbs 14oz and 32" tall. She's up from the 25th percentile to a more "average" 40th percentile for both height and weight. She got one shot, but was more concerned about "Baby" crying than the pain from the needle in her thigh :)

Mac is growing like a weed! But a cute weed...like maybe a dandelion... He was 9lbs 7 oz at birth, 8lbs 12oz when we left the hospital. At 3-1/2 weeks he's already 10lbs 12oz! He's gained a whole 2 lbs in 3 weeks! Ashlyn didn't reach that weight until she was about 2 months old. The funny thing, though, is that he "shrunk" in height and is now 1/4" shorter than he was when he was born...not that making marks on the "butcher paper" to measure a wiggly baby is all that accurate ;)

In the last day or so Maguire has started to smile...and mean it! I'll get a picture posted of his adorable smile soon. Poor second child...when Ashlyn started smiling, I couldn't get the camera ready fast enough. Poor Mac will get his "first" smiles captured when I "get a minute" :)

Two Weeks Old

Here are a few more pics. We didn't get any pics of just brother and sister in the hospital, so my mom came over on Thursday and took these.

Ashlyn checking out her baby brother




Here's our attempt at Mac in his cool duds, but they were HUGE on him!! Guess we'll try again in a month or two :)


Ashlyn wearing the hat I crocheted for her. "Hat" is one of the words she loves to say...that we can actually understand! ;)

Mac's latest

So far, at two weeks old, Maguire has been very little trouble to have around :) I actually made it to church last Sunday with both kids...and even got there a few minutes early! I was shocked! After a night where Mac was up from midnight until about 5:30am, wanting to eat the entire time, we decided I should try pumping to make sure that he was getting enough milk. Since then, he's been sleeping much better. Typically he'll have his last feeding at around 11pm and we put him down around 11:30-12:00. He sleeps until 4:00 or 5:00am, eats for 45ish minutes and then sleeps until 9:30 or 10:00. SO much better than being awake for 5+ hours in the middle of the night!! Ashlyn is still sleeping from 8:00pm-10:00am most nights, sometimes more :) I know, we're spoiled by her!

Speaking of Ashlyn, she loves her "Baby"! We thought she'd get really jealous, but she doesn't. She loves to touch, pat and kiss Mac. And every time we pray with her (meal times, bedtime, naptime, etc.) she keeps saying "Baby!" until we pray for him--it's so cute! While she's exhibiting some very annoying and trying "terrible two" behaviors, she's been so good and such a helper since Maguire was born. We just love that girl to pieces!

Hopefully I'll have some more pics of the two of them to post soon. My mom came over yesterday and took a bunch, so I'm just waiting for her to e-mail them to me.

One Week Old

We tried spiking Mac's hair up with gel to make him look more like the Asian prime minister that my dad thinks he resembles, but it didn't work too well :) Apparently this PM also wears glasses, but all we could come up with were these little sunglasses! Either way I think our little buddy is pretty doggone handsome!

Mac's Homecoming!

Well Mac is home now and doing well. Mom is still a bit sore in multiple places and Mac's suffering on the tip of his wee wee if you know what I mean. OUCH!!!! I just hate it when we have to change the gauze on his stuff. It looks SO PAINFUL!!! Poor guy!

Here is the link to the incredible pics that Melissa Diekema took for us. WOW!!!! You go girl!

Some of them are off the HOOK!!!! check it out. My favorite is the one at the bottom of this post. Truly model quality.....ha ha ha ha! I'd say he's already defining himself as "the Mac"!

http://melissadiekemaphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/2346135

Paparazzi allowed in today!

Well we had another eventful day but before that Abby and I napped a bit with Little Mac until our first visitors showed up. My mom showed up at around 2:30 and we hung our with her. She surprised us with a special gift with a reading of an original poem while we opened the gift which consisted of clothes I wore during my Christening and another outfit that she had saved all these years. They are cute and we'll put Mac in them at some point in the near future because he's a big boy already.

Shortly after she left Melissa Diekema, member of the Papparazzi, showed up and we allowed her in to shoot pics of Maguire and family. She was a lot of fun and she captured a TON of pictures. We're anxious to see them so later tonight hopefully we can share a link to have people look at them. Thanks a lot Melissa - can't wait to see your work!

Abby's parents arrived again with Ashlyn for the photo opp so we got some photos with her too.

Melissa departed and then Jessie Brooks and his son Josiah arrived. Josiah was lookin' cool in his cornrows. Ash and Josiah are buddies from Keystone so that was fun. We went down to eat dinner with JB and the kids had a great time with each other terrorizing the cafeteria.

After we returned to the room, Brian & Kristi Neeley and their daughter Elizabeth stopped in with long time friend Nathan Potts and his son Elliott.

That was a lot of fun as the kids played with each other. Ashlyn began to melt down so Abby's parents grabbed their stuff and they were off. We hung out passing Mac around the room.

As they were leaving Michael Will arrived and had his turn at holding Mac.

Finally Jordan and Katie "soon to be in 28 days" Venard dropped in. We again passed Mac around until he got hungry.

It's been a great day and we're excited to see so much support and love from our friends and family. Thanks to all who stopped in - we've enjoyed introducing him to all of you. We feel blessed and are super grateful that you took time out of your busy lives to come and be with us. It means a lot to Abby and I. We love you all!

Enjoy the new pics with friends and we'll post a link soon so you can view today's "photo shoot".

Much love my peeps!

kw

One Happy Family

Ash meets Maguire for the first time!

She was so sweet and gentle.

She's gonna be a GREAT big sister!

She kissed him many times!

Finally a full family shot!

1.11.07 Maguire's Birthday Celebration

Poppa Spoelman hangs with his new buddy Mac.

John and Joann Aasman (Jessie and Katelyn)
We love you guys!

Darin and Emily Vandermolen stopped in for the party!

Calvin Webb joined the party when it was swingin'! Kyle's sister Heather and her husband Chris were there with their kids, Stone, Olivia, Eliani and Blaze. They all took their turns holding Maguire. It was super cute and fun! We'll have those pics hopefully tomorrow.

We got talking to Calvin and completely forgot to snap a photo. We're slipping a bit in our accurate documentation of the unfolding events.

Good times tonight celebrating MJ! More partying tomorrow!

PICS

Abby and Mac right after Mac was born

Kyle and Mac right after birth

Throwin Down!

Maguire is a big eater and sleeper so far! Yeeeehaaaaaa!!! He latched right on last night the very first time Abby tried and he just flat out threw down. So breast feeding has been a breeze for him so far which then makes him tired so he's sleepy all the time. Which rocks because he sleeps on your chest, or legs or pretty much wherever you lay him.......he's chillin!

I'm not kidding when I say you could put gel in his hair it is so thick. It's like a rug on his head! It's thick and dark - it's awesome! You could say - he's a Mac Daddy!

So far our visitors have been Tyler Emrick and his little honey daughter Ella. Tyler is one of my best friends and partner in a small business we have together. They hung out with us for a while and then Cheryl Sisco who works in St. Mary's ICU showed up. That was fun but we forgot to get a picture with her so we're going to try to do that tomorrow so we don't miss documenting all the visitors. Tyler is coming back with his wife later so we'll shoot his pic then.

John and Joann Aasman stopped down with their son Jessie and daughter Katelyn (Jordan was at school). That was great. John and Joann are our partners in crime over at the Keystone Eastside site and it was special as John made a point to pray for Maguire, his life, future, & faith. It was very meaningful! Thanks John and Joann ....we love you guys and Eastside has been a blast with your family. Looking forward to a powerful 2007 at Eastside with you.

We will be finishing off the night with a potentially big night. My sister, Heather and her kids are coming, Abby's parents, my parents, Mischelle Sytsma (who's been watching Ashlyn for us - thanks AUNTIE MISCHELLE- Ash thinks you are the bomb!) and our sweetie girl Ashlyn. That's just what we know of. There is potential for a lot more as we've heard rumblings of more people coming. We love it and keep on coming - we are enjoying your company. All are welcome!

We'll have more later for those of you who wish to read up on the Mac Yack Network.
This is your 5:30pm Newsline up date - I'm reporting live from the hospital room, I'm Mac's Daddy .....and I'm out!

Stop In!

Hey if you are at all interested in stopping by please do. Thursday after 12noon or Friday alll day. St. Mary's Hospital and just ask for our room.

Much love!!!

Mac Attack!

12:51 Maguire James slammed into Grand Rapids with a bang. Literally - once his shoulders came out he shot out toward the doctor - it was wild!!! 9lbs 7 oz. 21 inches - so this guy was a bit bigger than his sister, but has just about as much hair as she did. He's a cute buddy boy and we're grateful to God that he is perfectly healthy!

Thanks for your prayers and we'll have more pics up on the blog tomorrow. It's 2:30am - I am heading in to film his first bath and clean up. Abby is doing great but ready to sleep. He's nursing like a champ and we're hoping he's a champion sleeper like his sister too. Time will tell!

We love you all and are stunned again by the incredible craftsmanship and wonder of God's gift to us. We just passed Christmas and the "Stranger Than Fiction" story of Christ's birth. Having Mac just reminds of how awesome it is that God chose to manifest his plan through a little helpless child like Maguire. We are truly loved by an amazingly, humble and yet MIGHTY God!

John 6:28-29

Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"

Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

Today we find ourselves believing quite easily!

This Is Not a Drill!

"Paging Kyle Warmington to St. Mary's Hospital, paging Kyle Warmington. Please come to the St. Mary's Hospital immediately your wife is having a baby!"
Funny thing is we've been down to St. Mary's Hospital how many times? HELLO!!!! I got off at the WRONG exit getting there, then got back on the highway only to find that the exit was behind me. ARGHH!!!! Anyway - we're here and the doctors tell us it will be today. Of course we heard that last time with Ashlyn and and wouldn't ya know it she was born just after midnight just to show us who's boss. We had to change every sticker we had printed for the little cigars and lipstick we made up as gifts for visitors.
We'll keep updating the blog and hope to have pics up by tonight.........if he does actually come today.......ha ha ha ha ha!!!!
Thanks for your prayers and support. Hopefully not too terrible of a night ahead. We had 30 hours with Ashlyn so ......we'll see. Stay TUNED!

Guess where I am :)

I learned today that I've got a high pinpoint leak--leaking amniotic fluid, so my doctor sent me to the hospital. I've been admitted and am hooked up to an IV in preparation for my epidural and possible Pitocin. We'll post updates and pics as soon as we can! WooHoo!!

Still waiting...

I'm about 38 1/2 weeks pregnant now and pretty tired of it all! I'll spare you the gory details but at my appointment today the doctor said that I haven't dilated any more than my appointment last week (2-3cm) but that everything else is ready to go. All I need are some good contractions to get labor started :) Pray for me to be in pain soon! LOL! I'm really hoping and praying that I don't go overdue like I did with Ashlyn. Really, any day would be great :)

Here's a picture to satisfy anyone looking for more Ashlyn :) This was between Thanksgiving and Christmas. My grandma had made turkey soup with the leftovers from TGiving. Ashlyn can't think of anything in the world she loves more than GG's turkey soup!
I'd love to post some Christmas pics, but they were all taken on my mom's or my mother-in-law's cameras, so I don't have them on my computer. I'll have to have them e-mail me a couple good ones.

EVACUATED!

Well, we just got back home after having to evacuate our house Friday afternoon due to carbon monoxide. Talk about crazy! Our smoke/CO detector went off Friday afternoon and I called the fire department and they were out to the house within 5-10 minutes. As soon as they walked in, their tester started beeping. After just a couple minutes the readings were raised enough that they asked if there was somewhere Ashlyn and I could go NOW. I grabbed our coats and headed across the street to our fabulous neighbors' house (thanks Brian, Kristi and Elizabeth!!). I thought it would be a quick deal, but the firemen called the gas company to locate the CO leak and they had to turn our gas off. Brian and Kristi fed us dinner and kept Ashlyn while we headed to the ER and my mom headed into town to get Ashlyn. With the levels as high as they were in the house (they evacuate houses at 15 parts per million, 50PPM is considered critical and we had readings of 80PPM upstairs in our house), and after talking to my doctor, the ER and Poison Control we decided to go to the ER to get my blood levels checked to see if Maguire was in any danger. Fortunately we were in and out of the ER in less than an hour and my blood level was 3.4, where anything less than 5 is normal. We stayed at Kyle's parents' house Friday night until Monday night and then at my parents' house last night. Finally our new furnace (just what we wanted to spend money on right during the holidays!) is installed and we're in the clear. Praise the Lord we're all ok and we have great families who live relatively close. It's good to be home!!