More firsts ~

Apparently, rice cereal was just the beginning of a weekend full of firsts for Micah. We spent Memorial Day weekend up in the U.P. with Aaron's parents, and while this wasn't Micah's first trip up to the U.P., it was full of first time experiences for him! (which meant the camera was out almost constantly, and there are LOTS of pictures and videos to share!) :)

For starters, (this was a first for grandpa and Micah) when we finally made it to Grandpa and Grandma K's house, grandpa got to hold Micah first! Usually, grandma is so anxious to see and hold Micah that she gets her hands on him first. :)

Grandma waiting patiently for her turn

It was pretty late when we arrived, so after being passed around a little bit, we all headed to bed. After a fairly lazy Saturday morning, it was time for more firsts. For starters, grandma got out a bucket and we filled it with water so Micah could go "swimming"... or in this case, SPLASHING! :)

Here's a short video of Micah's first "pool" experience ~

We went to Aaron's school for a while that afternoon because it was the 50th anniversary of the school's existence, and they were having an all-class reunion. Alumni from any and all years were there to see the changes in the school since they had graduated! I don't have any pictures of that, but it was a fun time. :) And Micah got to meet some new family and friends as well.

After dinner, Aaron and I decided to make a campfire and add to Micah's list of firsts. While Aaron built the fire, Micah and I went over to the swing set in the yard and had fun swinging.

Another outdoor first ~ Micah met his first toad!

I love the look on his face... "should I be scared or interested in this thing?"

Micah's first campfire ~

I think he liked it! :) You can usually tell when Micah is interested in something because his arms and legs start flailing all over the place!

Family picture by the fire ~

On Sunday, we stopped at the dollar store after church and got Micah a kiddie pool to play in.

Daddy thought it looked like fun too. :)

Since this was a bigger pool, the water was a little colder than it had been the other day... Micah wasn't too sure about it at first, but was splashing around in no time

Micah got to meet his great aunt Carol for the first time. He had just woken up from a nap, and was very snuggly.

We had some fun with our friends, the Strietzels, on Sunday night.

Rebekah and Micah ~

Micah in the exersaucer ~

Timothy playing peek-a-boo ~

Monday morning, Micah was pretty interested in grandpa's coffee cup. Grandpa thought he'd come up with a good solution to Micah reaching for his cup any time he went to take a sip, and got Micah is own cup. Too bad Micah knew better and still wanted to trade! :)

We took Micah next door to the neighbor's farm, and Micah got to get up close and personal with some horses and cows ~

But the biggest first came when we took Micah to his first parade! He was very interested in all that was going on, and did very well... until the fire trucks went by at the end. He wasn't too impressed with all that noise!

Waiting for the parade to start ~

Watching the floats go by ~

There goes grandma, driving the Lion's Club float ~

Watching the parade with grandpa ~

Look, Pops! A train!!

Our last video of the parade... starts out with a big smile on his face, but ends with tears because of the loud sirens ~

And lastly, the drive back home... that's one tired little boy!

A few more pictures from the weekend ~

I had a diet coke on the way up and Micah wanted a taste REALLY badly! :)

Splash!

LOVE the looks on his face in these pictures! :)

WARNING ~ to anyone who wears glasses, Micah will grab on very quickly and tightly! :)

Chillin' with the guys Sunday morning ~

Micah has never been too interested in a pacifier... but when he does try to use it, here's what happens ~

What a weekend! There were lots of firsts, family, friends and fun! Thanks for sticking with us through this LONG blog post! :)

Tastes like......

There's no doubt about it... our baby is growing up! :) We gave Micah his first taste of rice cereal the other day and it was a rather uneventful occasion. He didn't really make any face that said, "what IS this you're feeding me?!" and while a good amount of it ended up on his face and bib, he did very well with it. He has been showing interest for a while now in any food Aaron and I are eating, so I gave him a spoon to see what he'd do with it. What do you think...

Am I ready for solid foods or what? :)

Aaron got a short video of Micah's first attempt at solid food... it only took about 30 seconds before he wanted to do it himself! :)

A few action shots ~

I love Aaron's face in this picture! :)

All done! YUMMY! And he wears it so well! :)

Outdoor fun!

Who knew lawnmowers could be so much fun? We were over at my parents' house the other day, helping dad cut a tree down that had been an eyesore for quite some time. (my brother started referring to this tree as the "poop tree" because it looked like it had little turds hanging from the branches!) :) Dad had purchased a cart to pull behind his lawnmower for just such an occasion, making carting the branches back to the pile in the backyard easier, as well as with the thought that carting grandkids around in it would be fun for everyone. And it is!

Aaron even got in on the riding...

When Micah saw how much fun that was, he had to have a turn too. I don't have any pictures of his first ride with daddy and Uncle Jim, but I got a short video...

And here's a shot of Micah and me in the cart... not the most comfortable ride in the world for me, but Micah loved it!

When we weren't outside going for rides in the lawnmower cart, we were inside playing with the "command center" Grannie Jannie invested in for play at their house. I tell you, whoever came up with the idea for the exersaucer was a genius! There are things to look at, play with, and chew on, all at an arm's reach away. Plus, we can step away for a second and know that Micah isn't going anywhere. :) Our "command center" has come in handy many times when I'm in desperate need of a shower and Micah isn't in nap mode just yet.

I don't know about any of you, but I think Micah is looking more and more like Aaron every day! (Which, in my opinion also means he's getting more and more handsome!) :) I took a few pictures of him in this outfit from "Uncle" Nino and got a few that I can just see Aaron in...

Micah got tired of the photo session after a little while and decided it was snuggle time with his lamb ~

And just for grins, here's a little video of playtime with the penguin from Uncle Jim. I LOVE the smile I got at the end ~

Micah's New Tricks ~

I'm not exactly sure how, but I managed to post this entry before anything was written or done with it. So, if you check our blog on a regular basis and saw a posting with half a title (actually, not even half... I posted it as I was trying to go back and change what I had typed) and nothing else, I apologize. Here's what I was trying to say ~

Micah has been learning all kinds of new tricks lately! He's gotten bigger, stronger, and LOUDER, and is an endless stream of entertainment and amusement! Diaper changing is now quite a challenge, as Micah has found his feet and now tries to pull them into his mouth whenever he's lying on his back... and he is working SO hard on figuring out how to sit up, which means he contracts his stomach muscles and pulls himself up on my arm when I'm trying to clean him up. Somehow, we manage to get it done, but life was so much simpler when he was less mobile! :)

Sitting up with the help of the boppy pillow ~

Sitting up on his own... kind of :)

Another trick that makes diaper changing interesting is ~ for some reason, Micah loves to try and see anything that is going on behind him. So, he'll be lying on his back, and basically arch his back and balance himself on the top of his head. I almost flipped him off of the changing table the other day when I picked his legs up to wipe him up and he arched his back and twisted! Yikes! That got my heart racing and made me realize I really have to start paying more attention to what I'm doing! :)

Demonstrating his new trick with the family watching

He also LOVES to be held so he is standing up, and can even hold himself up next to tables, couches, etc. Won't be long before he's doing that on his own, I'm sure! :)

I know I've said before that Micah has found his voice, but since then it has gotten about 100 times louder! He now screeches at the top of his lungs and makes all sorts of noises that turn anyone into a captivated audience. :) It's always a challenge to get a good video of Micah because any time the camera comes out, he's more interested in that then in doing whatever he was doing that got me to get the camera out in the first place. It seems to work better when one of us is keeping Micah distracted from realizing the camera is out. :) Here, he's demonstrating a bunch of his new tricks... talking, screeching, trying to get his feet into his mouth, and balancing on his head, to name a few ~

I could go on and on about the entertainment that is Micah, but I also wanted to post a few more pictures and videos from Mother's day and the weekend.

Here's my view of Micah playing with 2 of his 3 uncles ~

And here's what Uncle Jim got ~

Micah has some pretty goofy uncles! No doubt about that! :) And we love them all!

Aaron's family came down on Saturday to spend the day with Micah (well, all of us, but Micah was the main attraction) :) and Uncle Eric brought a slurpee with him, that Micah thought looked pretty good!

And Micah got to experience the toy boat in the nursery at church Saturday night. He thought that was pretty cool!

A few more random pictures ~

Tummy time with the mirror

Look at me, sitting up!

In the new swing at Auntie Tracy and Uncle Eric's ~

Playing with Uncle Eric ~

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

My first Mother's Day!

I think it's safe to say that my first Mother's day as a mom was incredible! Not only was I blessed to be able to celebrate the fact that I'm a mom and have a wonderful little boy, but we dedicated Micah in church that day, which made it even more special. We were surrounded by family and friends supporting us and celebrating with us as we dedicated Micah to the Lord. Some family wasn't able to be here for the dedication, so I had my brother record it... hopefully it uploads correctly. He recorded it on our video camera, rather than on our digital camera, and I've never uploaded videos this way before. :) It's a little on the long side, as blog videos go, but it's worth watching. Pastor Warren walked us through a responsive reading, where we committed to raising Micah in a way that recognizes that he is a gift from the Lord and keeps Christ at the center of our lives and child-rearing methods. The last statement is made by the congregation, committing to helping us to raise our kids to honor God. (It's kind of hard to understand what the parents are saying, so below the video, I posted the transcript of what was said and committed to.) I loved every second of the dedication, but my favorite part was the prayer at the end. I've been to child dedications before, and knew Pastor Warren would be praying for each of the families at the end, but he added a little something that I thought was very special. Rather than just standing at one end of the platform and praying, he walked behind each of the couples standing up there and placed his hands on our shoulders as he prayed for us and for our children. That was a tremendous blessing and added a special touch to the service. So without further adieu, here is Micah's dedication, Mother's Day, 2010.

PASTOR: Our God is the Creator and Sustainer of human life.

PARENTS: With great thanksgiving, we declare our children to be gifts from God.

PASTOR: Our God is the source of all blessing and every good gift.

PARENTS: We look to God alone for blessing upon our children.

PASTOR: Our God is the only hope for salvation, through the person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ.

PARENTS: Christ alone is our children's hope for salvation.

PASTOR: Our God is God alone and our true Father.

PARENTS: Gladly and without reservation, we, as parents, dedicate our children to the Lord.

PASTOR: Our God uses Christian parents powerfully in His work in their children.

PARENTS: We dedicate ourselves, as parents, to pray for our children, to teach them the Scriptures, and to live before them in faithfulness to the Lord.

PASTOR: Our God uses the local church powerfully in His work in children.

CONGREGATION: We dedicate ourselves, as a church, to teach the Gospel and to live in a manner worthy of Christ.

After the service, we invited family and friends over to Pops and Grannie Jannie's house for brunch. It was a beautiful day, and the celebration continued all afternoon! :) Micah did great, being passed around as much as he was. I think he feeds off of all the attention! :)

I couldn't have asked for a more perfect first Mother's day! What a blessing to be surrounded by family and friends, and dedicating our son to the Lord.

Here's Micah in the outfit his Uncle Jim was baptized in as a baby. (the pants and shoes are new) Good thing we did the dedication when we did because the vest and onesie were a little snug! :)

On the screen at church

Pastor Warren praying for us and for Micah (my FAVORITE part of the service!)

With our friends and small group leaders, Steve and Heather, and their daughter Meghan, who was also dedicated that day

CAKE! :)

With friends and family at the "after-party"

Great Uncle Paul

Entertaining the Robinsons and the Kroepels

Mrs. Kroepel

Mr. Kroepel (aka "Fruit Loop") :)

Flying through the air with Uncle Eric

Making faces for Uncle Jim (I'll try to get the video of this uploaded soon)

Grandma K and his new favorite toy... a stuffed lamb that plays "Jesus Loves Me" :) Thanks, Kroepels! :)

Pops and the lamb

Family pics ~

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!"

2 Corinthians 9:15

Fun times with daddy...

Micah sure loves his daddy! Aaron is really good at getting all of the details from the day out of Micah. They'll sit together and talk for ages about all that went on... sometimes I wonder where he comes up with this stuff, but it's very entertaining and makes for some good videos! Enjoy!

Monkey see, monkey do...