John - Age 23, Michigan

I thought it would be fun to participate in Kelly's "Show Us Your Life" Friday by introducing my single younger brother, John.  Because he lives right around the corner from us, we are lucky to spend lots of time with him!  My two daughters, Ava and Emma, absolutely adore their "Uncle John" and love that he visits so often to read a book, give a treat, or wrestle on the floor.  He's a wonderful uncle to his nieces and nephew!

John also enjoys spending time outdoors.  If he's not with family, he's probably on a boat fishing, hunting during deer season, goose season, and whatever other "hunting seasons" there can possibly be!  In the summers, he spends all of his time working on my cousins' farm, along with my husband.  During the fall and winter, he's been taking classes and still determining what career he hopes to pursue.  

Though he's my younger brother, I admire and respect him so much for how much he's grown, emotionally and spiritually, over the years!  He's an amazing person, who we continually pray will find an equally amazing woman to spend his life with some day!  If interested, please leave your info in a comment.

Welcome Baby DeWeerdt!

We were finally able to meet Landon John DeWeerdt on Easter Day!  He was born around 11:30 in the morning and was 7 lbs. 12 oz.  I must have been caught up in the excitement, because I didn't even remember to take my camera out for pictures.  He has so much dark hair and the cutest little face!  Andrea and Steve are both doing very well, but looked like they needed to get some rest when we visited them last night.  Congratulations guys -- we are so happy for you and can't wait to spend more time with the little guy!

Family Addition

Because I've been so behind on our blog, I've completely left out the newest addition to our family!  We've been wanting another pet since Josie died about a year and a half ago, but just weren't ready to take on the challenge right after Ava was born.  Just over a month ago, we picked out another Jack Russel terrier, which we named Abby.  I'm still adjusting to the puppy stage and "potty training", as she is an indoor dog (it's like having another kid!).  Ava loves having Abby around for a playmate, even though she doesn't always know how to handle her very nicely.  I've only taken a few pics of the puppy with Ava -- as you can see, they get into mischief together!

New Year's Eve

This was the first year that we didn't make any plans for New Year's Eve -- I didn't feel like trying to find a sitter, and Mike had to get up early the next morning for work.  Marcy, Eric, and Reese brought over pizza -- the girls played with Ava's new play-dough kit, while Marcy put their hair in sponge rollers (I never attempt to do this with all Ava's hair!).  They looked like little old ladies waiting for their hair to be done!  Reese stayed to play with Ava, while Marcy and Eric went to a party to ring in the New Year.  I couldn't control her hair the next morning!

Slotman Christmas

We celebrated with the Slotman family the weekend following Christmas day.  We're beginning to notice that the celebrating revolves around the kids, as they had stockings to dig through and piles of presents -- again, spoiled by Grandpa and Grandma!  Reese and Ava both got kitchen sets that took about two hours of assembly by ALL of us during their nap time -- we decided the work wasn't worth the good deal we bought them for!! After snacking all day on sweets, we also played some cards, which Ava decided she wanted to participate in -- another fun day with family!

Schutter Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve at my mom and dad's.  After enjoying pizza, we exchanged gifts -- Mom did a great job surprising us all!  Ava's new tent was such a hit, that we couldn't even get her to open her last presents, because she was so entertained crawling in and out!  Andrea and I were excited to get lots of comfy clothes to wear through the rest of our pregnancies, as we're becoming frustrated with our wardrobes that are no longer fitting.  We ended the night playing a round of Mom's Christmas memory matching game -- thanks for the fun Mom and Dad, and all the wonderful gifts!

More pink!

After much debate between Mike and I, we found out last week that we will be expecting another girl! It was so fun and exciting not finding out with Ava, but I couldn't withhold this time from knowing boy or girl, so I ruined the surprise for Mike (and Marcy, sorry!) We are very excited that Ava will have a little sister to make memories with in the coming years, though my brother has reminded me that his memories me and Andrea aren't always fond ones. I'm even more thankful that my pregnancy continues to be a safe and healthy one!