Christmas 2009

Well Christmas is over and done... whew! We had a very busy holiday and besides Jackson being sick and Kevin having to work Christmas Day, we all survived. Christmas Eve started with Church with the Tessmer's and Hoekstra's, followed by dinner at Christine's and presents at our house. Christmas morning Jackson and I stopped back over to Christine's before we headed to Detroit. Here are a few photos and videos...enjoy!

2 more Mia postings

I just thought she was so sweet in her car seat, so here you go...

Birds and Walking

This is a cute little video of Jackson looking at the birds at Grandma Tessmer's house. He stayed up there for a few days last week. His new favorite word is 'bird' and he says it about 1000 times a day. Also Jackson took his first steps on camera. As you can see by my excitement in the video, I actually thought it was his first steps ever, but Marybeth informed me that he had being doing that for a few days... cool... good to know.

Mia Videos!

2 Videos of Mia

Kissing the Kitty

Jackson has this new thing where he has to kiss the kitty in his book. He won't kiss any of the other animals on the other pages, nor will he even look at the other pages. Just wants his kitty....

Thanksgiving

We had a really great Thanksgiving this year. It was a Greenwood year, so Kevin, Jackson and I headed to Belleville early Thursday morning. Dad, Steve and Kevin went to the Lions game during the day, so Kenzie, Mom, Jackson and I had a fun time just hanging out at home. While Kevin hunted the rest of the weekend, Jackson and I stayed in Belleville until Saturday. Jackson discovered Hugo's kennel and split his obsession between sitting in the kennel and trying to get people to let him into the laundry room to see the birds. All in all it was a great holiday. Enjoy the photos and two fun videos...

More pics from this past weekend

Uncle Jason's Visit and Talking Dogs

Jackson and I had a great weekend in Detroit. It was so nice having Jason in town. I rarely get to hang out with him one on one and had a lot of fun last night, just shooting the breeze. Jackson was enamored with his Uncle Jason and couldn't stop smiling and laughing around him. He loved to play "peek-a-boo" with him.

Jackson was also obsessed with breaking into the laundry room to see the birds. He spent half the weekend trying to peek through the crack in the door to get a glimpse (see photo).

Sunday Kenzie and Steve came over and we all had a nice little belated birthday celebration for me. All in all it was a great weekend. Enjoy the photos and the video of Jackson and grandma's talking dog...

Weekend Up North

Well the whole family headed up north for the weekend. Kevin went to the hunting property and Jackson and I (along with Shannon and Carly) headed over to Grandma Tessmer's for a girls weekend. We decorated Christmas cookies, went to church and then out lunch, and even squeezed in time for a wagon ride. Jackson went and visited Daddy and the guys at the hunting property today and from what I hear, had a blast.

Playing in the leaves (and not crawling on grass)

Jackson is scared of the grass and will not crawl on it. Not sure how this occured or what to do about it. We just keep plopping him down on the grass hoping he'll get used to the texture. He loves the leaves and sticks and will sit there and play for a long time, he just won't move. Come to think of it, maybe I should enjoy him being still for once...

Jackson's Picture Day Proofs

Goofballs

Jackson's 1st Haircut!

Well we finally took Jackson to get his haircut today. I could stand the mullet he had grown, no longer. He did pretty well at first, but after a few minutes in the chair he was definitely over sitting still. But the lady who cut his hair was amazingly fast and we were in and out of there in minutes. So enjoy the photos and video!

Ultrasound Video Clips

The clips are even more fun!

Ultrasound pics!

I had an ultrasound today, though the pics aren't the best b/c she is getting big. I will be 34 weeks this Saturday!! She is doing great, and is an estimated 4lb12oz (in the 36th percentile)!

Here is a view of her leg and foot (foot is at the TOP Nessa)

Here is her side shot.

Just Swing

Long time no blog from anyone, so I thought I'd post this video of Jackson swinging away on the swing that mom got for him. Sadly, its too cold out for a outside swing, so we hung it in the basement. Now Jackson can play on it all winter long... Thanks Mom!

Punching Bag

Jackson is obsessed with Kevin's punching bag in the garage. Kevin has shown him out to hit it, so EVERY time we enter the garage we have to go over there for at least a minute so he can hit it. The first video is of me attempting to hold him and the camera AND show him doing this... didn't work out quite so well (I had to hit the punching bag with my head a few times so he would do it). But then Kevin came home and you get a better idea of what he really does in the second video. Enjoy!

Eatin' Green Beans

Jackson's new favorite food to chew on is green beans (fresh from Grandpa Tessmer's garden). He is also VERY into sharing his foods with me... just a quick little video showing this.

Baby!

Kenzie, those pictures and little videos are amazing! Reminds me just how much of a miracle our children are! And I'm so excited that Diane got to be there to see!
XOXO, L

Ultrasound Pics

Two pics from the ultrasound. One is an image from the side (typical US), and the other is her face more head on (like the videos), so tilt your head to the right to see it. It took me a while, lol.

It was a full house in the room. It was Steve, myself, Mom, and Linda. It was great, though! Thanks Mama for coming!!

Baby Videos

Here are 2 videos of lil' baby Van Riper. You have to tilt your head to the right b/c baby is on their side. In the first one baby is sorta winking, and in the second one baby opens their eyes and wiggles their chin!

Bouncing Boy

Here's a cute video of Jackson from last weekend at Mom and Dad's. He loves this bouncey chair!!

Baby Moving

Oops, forgot to post the baby kicking video from a couple weeks ago. Hopefully you can see a few kicks. My breathing kind of gets in the way, lol.

Baby Bumps

Laura had suggested putting some baby bump pictures on the blog, so here they are! The first 2 were from Saturday night, after our all day garage sale, so I look "a tad bit worn down" to say the least. The other one is from before church, so I look a little better. Then, I also added a pic of Steve "working hard" at the garage sale.

The garage sale was a lot of work, and Steve's back is in horrible shape again, but it was really profitable. Plus, we got rid of a bunch of necessary items to boot!

Bye all,
Kenzer

Happy 1st Birthday, Jackson! We love you soooo much!

Jackson's 1st Birthday Party!!

Jackson's 1st birthday party was wonderful! We had a great brunch of quiche, mimosa's and of course cake! Jackson hammed it up as always, and had a great time. Jackson loved his first taste of cake. Once he realized what it was, he chowed down. Thank you to everyone who came. And to those who couldn't make it, we know you were there in spirit. I've attached many photos and a few videos of Jackson eating cake and enjoying his new playhouse (there's a lot of playhouse videos, but I wanted Jason, Laura, and Ami to see what it actually is).