Sending Love to Texas

For Valentines Day Grandma and Grandpa Great gave Taylor and Kyler t-shirts. Since they are snowbirds living in the southern sun all winter, the shirts were shipped all the way from Texas. As you can see the shirts themselves had a lot to say. Thank you Grandma and Chuck!

Taylor's reads: MY GREAT GRANDMA GAVE ME THIS SHIRT BECAUSE SHE LOVES ME!
Kyler's says: DADDY KNOWS A LOT, BUT GRANDPA KNOWS EVERYTHING
Nothing says it like a t-shirt!

Bob the Builders

Kyler got some new tools from his big friend Orry who had outgrown them. He was very excited to receive them and especially loved the wearable items. By watching him play it appears he is already handier with a hammer than his father.

Kyler wanted to try some of the gear on little sis'...
Not a bad look!

Mid-Winter Break

For those of you who aren't in education, you might remember back to your school days when that special day off in February would come around. Well Jason decided to take it off as well which made for an extra long weekend for the family. Friday we loaded up the mini and headed to GR for some BAB fun (that is Build-a-Bear for those of you who aren't familiar). The process went a lot quicker than expected, but Kyler's new friend turned out quite nicely. Kyler fittingly named it after his best friend and cousin, Michael and dressed it in a Pistons' uniform (there are no fair-weather fans in this house). We also came across a U of M b-ball uniform daddy said couldn't wait till his birthday because the season would already be done. The rest of the weekend was spent with Kyler, Michael the Bear and daddy playing basketball together. Taylor and I enjoyed the weekend too:)

Taylor's Special Day

Today Taylor was baptized. It was a very special day we got to celebrate with our church family as well as many other family and friends. It was one of those days that reminds us how truly blessed we are. The service was beautiful. Pastor Case delivered a moving message and Aunt Rhoni's singing of, Give You Wings, was beautiful. God has so blessed our family!

Playtime!

We were confined to our house today. None of our usually errand outings due to Taylor's contagious nature. I took her in to the ER Tuesday night. She had been suffering with a stuffy nose and rattling chest for a number of days and it then it escalated to wheezing and shallow breathing. Scary stuff! We were told she did in fact have RSV, but that the case was mild compared to what can happen, thank God! Despite the illness, she has still been in high spirits. She seems to be on the upswing with some nasty coughing spells being the worst of it. So, by 11am this morning we had taken a good nap and used up all the entertaining toys so Kyler and I thought we would see if she would like the exersaucer. Despite possibly being too small and young for it, she did seem to enjoy it for a few minutes.

A Sunshiny Day

Halleluia! The day was warm (relatively speaking, of course), the sun was shining and people just seemed happier! The members of the DeKuiper family would be included in that group. We are all pretty sick of being stuck indoors. Poor Kyler has been stuck inside playing with the hundreds of toys he has over and over again the last few months. But not today! He was out riding around on his "dirt bike". He's been itching to ride that thing since he got it back in October (yes, weird time to purchase a bike, but that's a whole other story about bribery and potty training).

Winter Grillin'

We wanted to mix up dinner and steaks sounded good (one of Kyler's favorites). But we had to work for them. Daddy and Kyler had to shovel a path through the 2 1/2 feet of snow on our deck to the grill. I personally thought the meal was worth all the extra work, says the girl taking the picture from the other side of the sliding glass door.

The meal was even sweeter with the cutest centerpiece ever!

So Proud!

Today Taylor accomplished one of those great "firsts" all parents wait anxiously for. Over the last week she has been rolling on her side and really showing some determination in trying to get on her belly. Well today she finally achieved her goal! She even saved the feat for once I got home (at least according to my knowledge.) I even had the camera ready!

Here she is right after her first roll! She's looking proud of herself as well.

And not to be forgotten, Kyler, dressed as Spiderman, was suited up to "rescue people" according to his account. (Believe it or not, he really does come up with this stuff on his own:)

And here he is rescuing? a damsel in distress.