Christmas gift idea...

Last weekend we went up north to my parents cabin. My dad and George went up Friday morning and my mom, Tara, and I went up after I got out of work. Over a year ago, George had this great idea to move one of the walls up there to make more room in the main living space. So, naturally he got suckered into helping with the project. George is known as the "idea man" in my family since he always has these "great" ideas but in the end he makes more work for himself. So him and my dad had to go up to pick up the trim and begin working. My brother, Sarah, and the girls arrived shortly after we did and then my brother was to pick up where George left off. You see, we couldn't stay Saturday night because I had a very important date!
With New Kids On The Block!!!!! It was one of the best concerts I have ever been to! Don't make fun, you know you wanted to be there! We had really great seats and really great company. I should have some pictures of them in the near future. Back to up north. Tara had a blast playing with her cousin Mila. If you are in need of a good Christmas gift, just blow up an air mattress and let the fun begin. Watch this video to see the instructions on how to set it up! Why do we spend money on expensive toys again?? They played on this for over 30 minutes!

They also had a lot of fun in the bath tub!

Gotta love the hair do's! Thanks Uncle Christopher!

My future photographer!

And her model below! You go Mila!

This is actually who Tara was taking a picture of. It was too cute!

Let's stall bedtime by playing with Uncle George/Daddy.

Up next: Halloween pictures and don't forget the NKOTB pictures!

What a difference a year makes!

I was recently informed that I need to blog more (I'll try Jay!) so I hope this will satisfy the hunger!

First an announcement: My very good friend Becky, whom I met at SVSU and roomed with my junior and senior year, just had her first baby! He was born on October 15, 2008 and weighed in at 7 pounds 2 ounces, 20.5 inches long. He is absolutely perfect! In the very near future I am lucky enough to be doing his newborn pictures and announcements. I can't wait! So far, Tyler John, does nothing but sleep so he should be very good during his pictures! For those of you that don't know, one of my hobbies is taking pictures and creating collages. I recently purchased a backdrop stand and lights so Tyler will be the first to try it out. I have a few backdrops and backgrounds already but I hoping to expand my inventory.

Here he is! Tyler John (TJ)

This is Tara playing on my new backdrop while I assembled the lights.

Now, a look into the past. This is one year ago! Tara and Emmy on a playdate! Emmy is my good friend Jenni's little girl who is about 2 months younger than Tara.
This is last Monday. Tara and Emmy got to spend the whole day together. Cousin "Cocoa" is starting to care for both girls on Mondays. This gives Grandma Noordwier a break and both girls some socialization. They had a great time together and even had more company to play with. Aunt Sarah, Mila, and Audrey came over to play too!

Mila being goofy! Tara, Emmy, and Mila playing outside.

Okay, this wasn't the best comparison picture but it was the best I could do before Daddy told me to stop torturing his little girl! Needless to say, Tara was not up for a retake of this adorable shot I got last year at this time!

Last year. This year. She's ignoring me!


Here are some fall shots I got. The tutu is compliments of my friend at work. Tara wasn't especially up for wearing it but once we got outside she was okay. I didn't get a shot of her smiling because she refused to look at me. Am I mean?? This one here is the only one I got of her looking.

This I just thought was cute.

Yesterday we walked over to Aunt Tanya's house and she raked some leaves up for Tara to play in. Since we don't have any trees in our yard, we don't have any leaves to play in. At first Tara wasn't so sure about it but she eventually warmed up. Thanks Aunt Tanya for letting us play in your leaves!

Did I ever mention how Tara is 100% daddy's girl? Well, lately she hasn't been going to bed as well as she used to. Bedtime around our house used to be great. She would take her bath, brush her teeth, put her pj's on, maybe read some books if she was in the mood, and get her dog and paci and it was lights out. No fussing, no crying, no protesting. The last two nights she has been throwing fits and just wanting to lie with daddy on the couch. I hope that this doesn't become a habit. I think George likes it when she cuddles with him but I would like her going to bed at a decent time.

Well, I think that about does it. Hopefully it won't be too long before I post again. I know I will have pictures of the NKOTB concert next Saturday! Don't act like you didn't like them, if you say you didn't you are lying!

18 months and Going, Going, Going...

Well, I guess she is almost 19 months old now! Wow, how time flies! Tara is just getting over a cold which she graciously shared with her cousin, grandma, and papa. I always encourage her to

share! Honestly though, she got the cold from me which is my annual welcome-back-to-school/work, sickness! Aw, good to be back though! Not really. This past week as soon as my foot stepped into our house and Tara heard that mommy was home, it was not-stop whining and crying until bedtime. It begins again when she wakes up and realizes that her mommy is going to leave her again unless I am fortunate enough leave before she wakes up. Lately this is not the case so my time spent with her has been full of whining and crying, eventually from both of us! Anyway, here are some pictures from the last month.

Coloring is a new favorite activity of Tara's. Mostly on the pages but a few marks on the couch, floor, elephant, etc.

An attempt at 18 month pictures but without success. I am going to try again this weekend and then it's off to Kiddie Kandids. I have some ideas I want to try including a Tutu and a lollipop so we'll see how it works out.

Oh, this isn't Tara but her very good (and very cute!) friend KJ. He was a good boy for his pictures when he came over this past Sunday, which I can't wait to share with his momma! She is going to love them!

My parents took Tara up north with them this past weekend while I had to work and we had a wedding for George's cousin. We went up Saturday morning and stayed for the day to get in one last boat ride before the cold hits! Tara had a great time despite her cold. She got to see her cousins Mila and Audrey. She loves playing with them! Mila and Tara didn't want to take turns driving the boat so Papa let them both. They didn't want to share at first but eventually they agreed that there was enough room on Papa's lap for both of them (for now!). Next year Papa will have to add Audrey to his lap and then we might have some issues!