Eating Habits

Somedays Macyn thinks she's a baby and can sit in her Bumbo:

 Other days she thinks she such a big kid she can eat on the couch just like dad!

Family Photos 2012

We had our family pictures taken and we absolutely LOVE them! Here are some of our favorites:

If you want to see the rest of them, go to my album here. And here is the link to our photographer...she does such an AWESOME job!

Miss you, Grandpa.

 After a tough battle with leukemia, my grandpa went to be with his Lord and Savior the morning of Macyn's birthday party. I will always cherish the moments we had together. The laughter, the love, and the fellowship. This is harder than usual because he was my last grandparent left. It is a weird feeling, and an even stranger feeling knowing that I can't just go and see him.

When we delivered Macyn's invitation to Grandpa for her party, he was worried he wouldn't make it because of how tired he felt. We told him we would bring the party to him, and we were looking forward to that. Little did I know, less than a week and a half later he would be gone. We explained to Macyn about what happened to Grandpa Stan, and that he wouldn't be at her party because Grandpa went to go see Jesus. She replied, "I want Jesus to come to my birthday."

She understands more now. After we brought her to visitation, we explained to her the same things that happened with Grandma Van Aartsen, 2 months earlier, to the date. It melted my heart and made me shed a few more tears when we were viewing Grandpa in his casket when she said in the saddest little voice, "Goodbye Great Grandpa Stan."

Sometimes she will randomly ask, "Grandpa Stan went to heaven?" "with Jesus and Grandma Tillie?" We just tell her yes, and if he she has questions, we answer them. I think Macyn has a special place in her heart for him. She seems to get sad if she talks about him, but then she realizes he is in heaven, then she seems to be a little happier.

Rest in Peace, Grandpa Stan. We love you and miss you so much. We'll see you later, someday.

Princess Party

Cinder-"Macyn" and her birthday cake

Macyn with Great Grandpa Bernie

Presents!

Blowing out her candles

We had a small get together for Macyn's birthday! Both sets of grandparents, Great grandpa bernie, and Auntie Brandi, Kelly & Caden came to help us celebrate! She had a great time at her party!

Cinderella Cake

 I took the day off to get ready for Macyn's party on Saturday. I knew I wanted to make her a Cinderella cake, so I looked for some ideas on how to make a Barbie cake. I watched a YouTube video and it looked easy enough. Well, I had some issues. First, my dome cake fell apart. Then my crumb coat didn't work, AND the Cinderella Barbie was too tall....and her knees didn't bend. Sigh. So I just frosted up on her dress a little more than I had planned. I didn't spend a lot of time on it, because I was in and out all day of the hospital, visiting my grandpa. Quite frankly, this cake was the least of my worries at that point. But, I think it turned out pretty well - not my best work, but good enough considering the circumstances!

Birthday Treats

Macyn was super excited to bring birthday treats to daycare! We picked out some mini cupcakes and she decorated them with Cinderella toppers. The kids must have liked them - there were only 4 leftover!

Sunday Best

Today for church Macyn is wearing a gap dress from a garage sale. I think its a dress, at least. Hard to tell when tunics are in style now too! She loves dressing up and will often pick out random dresses in her closet to wear for fun. She was a big girl and was perfect in church today. I thought she would get mad during communion since she couldn't have the bread/wine. She was a little upset, but never threw a fit. Yes! Maybe our parenting class is helping :)