holiday snapshots

Christmas was tough this year! Dan started the week out sick and then Ari got really sick right before we left. When we arrived, she worsened as did our worry. After a short trip to urgent care and some serious medication, she seemed to have a lower fever and started having an appetite back.

Here is what she did most of the weekend:

Zach and Allie received an awesome John Deere tractor and entertained us for a few hours! It was nice to have pretty weather at Christmastime!

The [crazy] DeGeyter clan:

Ari and Great-Grammy Claire's dog! Some of the only smiles we were able to capture...

Panda received his own purple tutu and Zach received some stylin' boots.

Here's Ella!! (A present to be opened in March!)

The family football game tradition

AND, The food, Oh, the FOOD! There was a lot and it was gooood.

Ari's Gym

Ari has been practicing her pull-ups, getting ready for the beach this Christmas. Here she is workin' on her fitness.

And, here are her 6 teeth:

Teeth update

Ari has 3 teeth on the bottom and 3 1/2 on the top. So, almost 7! She's eating like a toddler now too! I keep having to put more food on her tray. 2 more weeks of being 11months... oh no!

(this bottom picture looks like Jenny, no?)

Oops we did it again.

There is no point in hiding it anymore.

Here are the facts:

• 12 weeks along
• Due date June 28
• No we did not plan this. But we didn't prevent it either.
• Ari is excited. She told me.
• Found out before my 26th birthday in October.
• Baby H2 has a healthy and strong heart beat.
• Women who are on their second baby show much more quickly than the first.
• Poopy diapers contribute greatly to nauseousness.
• Dan's face turned from white to green rather quickly when I told him. Shocked.
• Wow! Here we go again. Yeah Babies!

(The dark circle in the picture is my uterus. The tiny bean-shaped object is our baby. The picture was taken at a 7 week ultrasound. Baby H2 is much bigger now)

Oh Christmas Tree

We asked Ari which tree she wanted. She showed us to a little dainty about 5 feet tall. She bargained with the little farmer who sells them and he gave us ten dollars off.

It was a perfectly freezing trip to the tree farm and during her nap, we decorated the tree.

She was enamored by it and has pretty much stayed away from it after the first few times. We are excited about this Christmas with our little baby.

11 Months

Ari is 11 months old. One more to go! Jeesh.

So. Not. Ready.

Ari is around 20 pounds and is 30 inches tall. She is very wonderful and happy all the time. She sleeps 7pm-6am. She eats pretty much everything and loves broccoli, cheese and toast.

She currently says a few words: dadda, mama, gaahd (dog and other animals). She can tell you what a dog says! She loves to blow raspberries and sing to music. She shakes her hips when music is playing. Ari crawls all-over the place and has stood on her own a few times. She likes to crawl up the stairs and walk around with assistance.

She recently found her tongue and loves to stick it out and play with it! It is adorable. She is growing way too quickly and is getting more fun each day. With Christmas coming and her sweet spirit around, this December is shaping up to be wonderful!

Our Blue Ridge Thanksgiving.

We traded turkey and pumpkin pie for hiking boots and backpacks and we took a trip to Pisgah National Forest for Thanksgiving. We made this decision after realizing that Dan would be working sandwich days Wed and Friday and as a result, it would be difficult to have company. We also realized that we needed a break! Dan has been working a lot and I've been cooped up inside with Ari so a mountain trip was necessary!

First, there was a lot of this: sleeping! Grateful for the time away, we were able to talk and reconnect about the past year and the coming year. We played a few games and laughed at our silliness. We also planned our future and dreamt big about jobs, mountain homes and vacations.

We hiked Mt. Pisgah which is named after the Biblical Mount from which Moses first saw the promised land. The peak gave some amazing views (though dead trees) of Western North Carolina (including Cold Mountain!).

Dan wore Ari for the first part but she is 20 pounds now and it was very difficult to carry her. We will definitely be investing in a more rugged back-pack baby carrier if we decide to take longer hikes! She loved it, she clapped and squealed and waved at all the 'gaaahs' (dogs) that we saw on the trail.
Though it was a sunny 50 degrees, we knew the top would be windy and possibly chilly so I purchased a Russian-inspired fur hat and Ari wore it proudly. She was super cute but didn't love it the whole time.

Right inside the "Cradle of Forestry" of Pisgah is Looking Glass Falls, a large waterfall that we've always passed but never stopped. We stopped this time and really enjoyed the majestic beauty of such a large waterfall. (This picture is up at the top and we went down to get closer and get sprayed by the fall).

Though we missed our families and sweet potato praline, we really enjoyed our mini-break from our busy life. Special thanks to Mitch for his generous hotel rewards. Ari slept well in the bathroom (in the pack-n-play!) and we were grateful for a warm dry place to sleep!

Cute faces

Her little eyes!

The teeth!

Uncle Dave and Ari have similar expressions!

Woopsies, I forgot!

"Seriously Mom, you forgot to do my 10 month update."

Well, Ari is 10 months (and 1/2 if you're counting...) She is a-movin' and a-shakin'. Crawling and standing all over the place. Ari is probably 19+ pounds and is not too tall (no exact measurements). She popped 2 top teeth and is super cute with them now. She eats pretty much anything but especially loves bananas, peas and green beans! She is sleeping great, except for a few early mornings but we can handle those! She is such a joy to be around, travels well and loves to play with non-baby items.

We are SO NOT READY for her first birthday. Really, has it been that long? Everyone tells you that it flies by and they're right!!

If you are wondering, I made that headband. Thats right, "Jenny-most-athletic" actually crafted something. It wasn't too difficult and its modern enough to show gender without being obnoxious! (obviously, I'm proud!)

Ari, on the other hand, is NOT so proud and tries to remove the headband at every chance.

Lalalala

Enjoy this short video of Ari playing her own tunes. And with a little assistance from Dan, she does it even more!

Hallerween and Booritos

This year for the 'holiday' that is currently upon us and nauseating me with it's lawn decor and massive amounts of high fructose corn syrup, we did things a little bit different. I had heard about Chipotle's initiative to encourage people to ban processed foods by giving $2 burritos for people who dressed as a grotesque chemically-laden food. Though Doritos and Cosmic Brownies were our first choices for processed foods, we decided on doing something a bit more simple: S'Mores

Here we have the graham crackers and the marshmallows. Dan's costume was a simple camp shirt with tons of graham crackers glued on; we also included the ingredients so that anyone who asked could easily read for themselves.

Ari's costume was easily assembled using a hot glue gun, an old onsie and a bag of marshmallows. We also had old socks that I made into leggings for her and they too were covered with those white and gooey things... in NC heat, we were a little sticky afterwards.

Because someone had to carry the diaper bag, camera and child, I wore the least amount of food. but I still got to be chocolate!

The manager informed us that we were early. The event wasn't supposed to start until after 6pm but noone told us that...and we have a baby who goes to sleep at 7... they let us anyway!! No wonder there was noone else there dressed up; we received quite a few interesting looks!

All in all, worth it for this burrito goodness.

Happy Birthday Great Grammy Claire!

Baba, Pumpkins and Fevers

This past week (wait, its only Wednesday?!) has been a little rough because Ari got sick with a little virus. She had a fever for a few days and was up all night unable to sleep in pain. Barb came to visit and it was a blessing to have help for a few days while Ari struggled with her sickness. We did have a few minutes one afternoon to go to the pumpkin patch.

Ari rode a little wagon and held on tight while I looked for the perfect pumpkin. Round, a cute stem, no bumps, and a rick orange color.

She was a little sleepy but had a good time with her Baba.

Maybe those top two teeth are going to come in and that is what this chaos has been. Her smile will change but it will still be stinkin' adorable!

And we were 'swingin'

There is an amazingly large park in south Charlotte that we have been to a few times. We went on one of the first crisp fall Fridays (and I'm just now posting about it!). We ordered a local pizza and headed to play catch, swing and play.

Obviously, it was very different from the usual park visits because we had a little cutie with us. She received a lot of attention from fellow swingers and was a trooper while Dan and I played catch!

She has dreamy eyes, do you agree? She loves to play football already. Throws a perfect spiral.

Short Trip, Lotsa pictures

We traveled to Lawrenceville, GA this weekend to surprise my (Jenny's) mom for her birthday! It was a quick trip but the activities were fun and family-focused. First, a feeding at the Yellow River Game Ranch. A zoo-like park with trails and interesting [and hungry] animals.
Ryan and Raschelle (yah for being pregnant!) came up from Florida and were there too! It was the whole fam and it was lovely!

Here we all are... approaching the rabbit arena. This place had it all, rabbits, wolves, buffalo, cows, cougars, bobcats, crows?!, turtles and mad-donkeys.

Ari was clad in her feminine jersey and was easily loved-on by her aunts, uncles and g-parents!

She was not, however, loved on by the cow's slimy tongue and wet nose.

After that we cleaned-up real nice together and went to take family photos!

Cuties.

Handsome boy.

Yah for Aunt Shell and Uncle Ryan being pregnant! We cant wait to find out if its a niece or nephew!

Who needs serious pictures when you can do a tongue and quail dance?

We had a fantastic time and enjoyed games, football and food. Thanks Rebecca for hosting and thanks to your friend who took these last two pics. To see the rest, go to the Eaker's blog.

(And Happy Birthday Mom!)