Rebecca is 5!!!

Happy Birthday, Rebecca Jean.  Our baby girl is five years old!!  It's hard to believe.

This week she had her 5-year check up.  She is a growing, healthy girl.  Although her weight gain in the last year (1 lb.) seemed small the doctor assured us that she is doing just fine.  She weighs 38.5 lbs. (25th - 50th %) and is 41.5 in. tall (50th%).  She has definitely grown up more than out...and is really thinning out.  A far cry from the chubby little girl she used to be!  She's still petite (which we expect given her genes ;).  But she's healthy.  And we are very thankful for that.

Rebecca is almost done with her first year of school!  She has blossomed and learned so much in preschool.  We are very thankful for the opportunity for her to be involved with a Spanish immersion program.  It helps keep her challenged.  Although lately she says that school is boring and that she'd rather be homeschooled.  Even though everything is in Spanish it's still letters, numbers, colors, etc.  And she's known that stuff since she was two years old.  So we are trying to keep her challenged and stimulated at home as well.

Rebecca spends most of her free time doing arts/crafts, reading, dancing and using her big imagination to come up with games/stories/pretend play.  Getting dressed?  Boring.  Eating?  Boring.  Picking up toys?  Boring.  Writing her own book?  Making necklaces?  Playing dress up?  Pretending to be princesses and fairies?  Reading 3rd grade + level books?  She can do those for hours on end.

Our little book worm is really taking off with her reading.  We expect her to be able to read simple words like hat, run, sit, etc.  She does that with no problem.  Even though she's learning Spanish and the vowels often make different sounds.  She can read simple words in both English and Spanish.  But sometimes she truly amazes us with the things she can read on her own.  After bringing home 22 books from the library this week she sat down with a Fancy Nancy book and read the entire first sentence (a long one) by herself, including words like closet and bulging.  Her favorite thing is being read to.  Last week we went through a 150 page book in two days and a 60 page book in one day.  It's hard to keep our house stocked with books!  We'll be making lots of trips to the library this summer.

Rebecca still loves to help Mom in the kitchen.  She creates her own recipes and helps with a lot of baking.

Rebecca is also improving her physical development.  She is finally getting the hang of riding her bike and is enjoying it.  She loves to dance and do gymnastics.  We are hoping to start her in a dance class soon.

Our advanced girl is still ahead of the curve with her teeth.  She has two bottom permanent teeth and two loose teeth on top.  Her top 6-year molars are all the way in, and her bottom ones are part way in.  She does have a very small/narrow mouth.  And after getting just two permanent teeth things are already crowded.  So we may have to get an early start on orthodontic type work.  If so we'll have to do some research to find someone that is more natural minded and let her body do things naturally as much as possible.

Overall Rebecca is growing well and healthy.  She's so smart (which can be a challenge for us as parents) and keeps us on our toes.  We know she will be good at whatever work God has planned for her.  Right now she says she would like to be an author or a nurse.  Or maybe she'll do both :)  She is very fascinated with how the human body works.  So maybe she will be a nurse or even a doctor someday.  Rebecca likes to play with her brother, but is looking forward to him getting a little older so he isn't quite so destructive when they play :)  She does think it 's fun to have someone to dress up with and play dolls with.  Rebecca has a heart of gold and a love for God.  We thank God for our precious girl and look forward to watching her grow and mature in her faith.

On Rebecca's birthday we went out for dinner at Red Robin.  When we got home she opened gifts and had a special sundae.  On Saturday we had a party to celebrate Rebecca's birthday.  Most of our extended family was able to join us.  It was an arts and crafts party.  Perfect for our little crafter.  The kids topped their own pizzas and worked on crafts.  Then we ate (a big spread of homemade gluten free, dye free foods).  Rebecca requested pizza for the main dish.  She also wanted a three layer cake - chocolate, vanilla, strawberry.  I think her original vision was for a 3-tier cake.  But I do have my limits when I have to clean a whole house and prepare enough food for 20 people and have house guests :P  After dinner Rebecca opened her gifts.  Everyone was beyond generous!!!  Rebecca has been reading, crafting, building Legos, giving her dolls hair cuts and dressing fancy since her party :)  After gifts we had cake and ice cream - a three layer gluten free cake, homemade strawberry, chocolate and vanilla ice creams, gluten free dairy free strawberry cupcakes and dairy free coconut milk ice cream.  I don't think anyone left hungry.  Rebecca enjoyed her special day and her whole weekend with family.  She was very sad to see everyone leave.  But we look forward to more visits in the near future.

Thank you to everyone that made Rebecca's 5th birthday so special!  And Happy Birthday to our big girl.  May God bless you in so many ways as you continue to grow and serve him.

Spring Break 2013

Merry Christmas to Happy Easter :)  It's been a while since I've posted here.  Life has been very busy.

The kids are both getting so big!  And acting like it too :P  Rebecca walks around the house trying to read things, pointing out sight words, making crafts and singing in Spanish.  She now has her two bottom front permanent teeth mostly in.  And the top two are quite loose.  She passed her kindergarten assessment with flying colors and had a great report at parent-teacher conferences.

Abram is little Mr. Independent.  He wants to do EVERYTHING by himself...walk to the car, climb in his car seat, take off clothes/put on clothes, brush teeth, eat (he must use a utensil for everything...even finger foods :P).  He even practically changes his own diaper (yes, he's getting ready for potty training...he's gone once so far...he may be our fast trainer).  He also has to help Mommy with everything.  If I'm in the kitchen, he is either in my arms or on a chair or stool and trying to do everything possible to help make dinner, bake, etc.

His vocabulary is really taking off too.  He's getting close to talking in full sentences.  He often leaves out a word here and there yet.

Last week was spring break.  We celebrated Easter with an egg hunt on Saturday and then church on Sunday.  After lunch on Sunday we left for Indianapolis for a few days.

We got to the hotel Sunday around dinner time.  We just looked around and got settled.

Monday we went to the Indy Children's Museum.  It's the largest one in the US.  And it is BIG!  So much to see and do.  Both kids really enjoyed it.  We saw dinosaurs (even some that Grandma Voogt's cousins discovered!).  We played in Mr. Bear's house (for kids 5 and under) with sand, water and art.  We saw super heroes and geckos.  The kids really enjoyed playing with Hot Wheels and racing them on the tracks.  We stopped for a picnic lunch.  Then rode the merry-go-round.  After that we split up.  I walked with Abram in the stroller so he could nap while Rebecca and Daddy visited some other parts of the museum, like ancient and modern Egypt.

After we got back from the museum we had time for a quick dip in the pool.  Rebecca enjoyed practicing all of the skills she's been learning in swimming lessons this year.  Abram liked splashing Daddy over and over.  We then went out for dinner.  Our hotel was connected to a mall, so we could walk to the restaurant without even going outside!

Tuesday morning we walked to the Indy Zoo.  It was a bit chilly but at least it was sunny.  It was a really great zoo.  We started in the butterfly house to warm up a little.  Then we saw all kinds of animals.  We took another little break for the dolphin show.  And then finished with the grassland animals, like rhinos and giraffes.  It was a little disappointing that the elephants weren't out.  But we kind of expected that since it was only about 40 degrees.

We walked back to the hotel and had lunch in our room.  After that our plans were altered a bit.  Abram threw up after lunch.  We thought maybe it was just from eating too much or something.  So we went ahead with normal nap time.  I walked with him in the stroller around the mall while Daddy and Rebecca did some more swimming.  He slept ok.  But when we got back to the hotel he threw up again.  So Abram and I spent the next few hours on the couch with him alternating sleeping and throwing up.

Thankfully Abram is our tough little guy.  He usually bounces back very quickly from illnesses.  He started perking up around 6 and even started eating a little again.  And slept fine that night.

While Abram and I were in the hotel Justin and Rebecca went to a percussion museum.  Rebecca got to try all kinds of instruments.  Then they got take out to eat in our room since Abram and I couldn't go anywhere.

We are thankful that our trip home Wednesday was pretty uneventful.  Abram wasn't quite himself yet, but that allowed him to take 2 naps...and made for an easier trip for everyone :)  We stopped around lunch time at a mall to walk around and do a little shopping.  We got home around 3:30.  Just enough time to unpack, have dinner...and have Rebecca and Justin come down with the flu.

I held down the fort most of the day on Thursday until I got sick in the evening...just as Justin was starting to feel better and could take over.  Justin was able to go back to work on Friday since I was feeling better.  But then Sat. I got worse again.  And Rebecca was on and off sick the whole time, throwing up again still Sunday morning.  Thankfully we are all healthy again.  And hopefully we are DONE with the flu since this is the 4th time we've had it this year.

During the few hours of calm between sickness waves we celebrated Justin's birthday on Friday.  Abram and I made a rich chocolate/coffee cake and chocolate ice cream for him.  And we did gifts.

It was quite a crazy week.  Lots of highs and lows.  Easter, fun on vacation, birthday...long car rides, flu, adjusting back to normal routine.  We are thankful for the good times.  We are thankful for getting through the rough times.  And we are thankful for our risen Savior.

Now it's back to life as usual.  We are looking forward to next week when we will celebrate Rebecca's 5th birthday with lots of family.