Back to the gardens

Today Anna and I went back to visit the butterfly exhibit with Grandma and Grandpa Dutra, who are visiting from Saint Louis.

Laughing, Squealing, and 2 Hiccups

Fortune Cookie

Today we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant with Grandma Van Hal. The nice waitress gave Anna her very first fortune cookie!

Baby push-ups

Her form may not be quite right, but what a workout!

Happy Easter!

Butterfly garden

Today we went to Frederik Meijer Gardens to visit their yearly butterfly exhibit. We were able to walk through a greenhouse and bask in the wonderful hot and humid goodness. We made a day of it, only emerging to have lunch. Anna did quite well, and she napped through some of it.

Exersaucer

Today we let Anna try out her Exersaucer for the first time. She didn't play with the toys much, but she enjoyed looking at them! She's still a little short for it, so we gave her a boost.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Oops! We'll try again later.

Much better!

Bryan and I had shamrock pancakes for dinner :).

Little Professor

Hiccups: Part Two

Bryan has been known to get very powerful hiccups. Anna seems to have inherited them.

Birthday Girl

Anna is 3 months old today! According to our home scale she now weighs 11 lbs, 12 oz.

I don't know why I enjoy photographing Anna's feet, but aren't they cute?

North Carolina, Day Four: Adventures in Diapering

Have you ever tried to change a diaper in a plane lavatory? Have you dropped a clean diaper in the toilet which required you to fish it out, and then carry a crying baby to her seat diaperless and just hope she wouldn't pee in the aisle? Yeah...

Anyway, today we traveled back to Michigan. Once again we had to leave quite early, but the girls forgave us and fell asleep in the car. Anna was a little more difficult on the plane ride on this trip, but overall she did well.

North Carolina, Day Three: The Big Day!

Wedding day! Today the three of us went back to Olive Garden for lunch with our friends Julie and Karen. Next we went to the church where Bryan participated in photos and Anna and I hung out in the church nursery with Karissa and Lillian. Anna stayed in the nursery with a baby-sitter while I attended the ceremony. I am told that she was a very good girl :). After a group Hope College photo we all headed over to the beautiful reception site to celebrate.

Anna and Julie.

Anna taking a nap in the church nursery.

Aren't they a beautiful couple?

Anna and her Daddy in their best party duds.

Looking good

Mmmmm...

Party time!

North Carolina, Day Two

Today was another very busy day! Today we went to pick up tuxedos for Bryan and Dan, had lunch at Olive Garden, ran some errands, and attended the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

After an excellent night's sleep, Anna is ready to conquer the world!

Snoozing at Olive Garden.

The wedding rehearsal.

North Carolina, Day One

Today we left on our trip to North Carolina to attend the wedding of our friends Jason and Desiree. We traveled with Dan, Karissa, and Anna's buddy Lillian, their nine-month old. We had to leave very early, which did not make the girls very happy, but they fell asleep once we got on the road. After a long nap they were ready to be up and playing!

It is difficult to get Anna to take a nap when we're away from home, but we used our Moby wrap at the Chicago airport and it did the trick this time. One point for Mom!

A seat with a view...

The girls were both very good on their flight!

We rented a minivan in Charlotte and drove to Raleigh. On our way we stopped at Sonic so we could all eat. The girls enjoyed hanging out with their dads in the front seat before we left.

Lillian wants a turn at the wheel.

We're here! We arrived in Asheville at about 7:00. Here is Anna meeting Jason, the groom. Desiree arranged for the three of us to stay in a beautiful little cottage.