Grimaldi Family Reunion

This past Saturday (the 25th) we had a family reunion with the Grimaldi side of the family in the Greater Chicago area. We love spending time with this family!!! Emma especially loves it because she gets to see her favorite cousins ever!! She doesn't have any girl cousins her age around us, so she just loves to see all of them. We drove down Friday evening and spent the night with some family, had the reunion Saturday and drove back Saturday night. I guess it shouldn't really be called a "reunion." Reunions seem like times when you see people who you haven't seen in years. We actually do see a lot of this family fairly frequently. We try to make more of an effort now that Emma is forming relationships with her cousins. In June I drove down (by myself) with both kids to take Emma to Six Flags Great America with her cousins. She had a great time and it was great to be able to see them. Collin didn't do as well though, so it wasn't the most run and relaxing trip I've ever taken. Probably not one I'd ever do again by myself. It's great to be able to see them more often....I just wish we were a little closer so we could see them all the time!! My cousins, Will and Fiona, have a beautiful home with lots of space for the whole Grimaldi gang to get together. They even have a nice pool and BOTH of my kids just loved it!!

This was Collin's first time in a pool. I figured he would like it because he LOVES to take baths! We forgot our baby floaty at home, so fortunately for us there was one there that we could use. He just relaxed and enjoyed floating around in the pool and watching everyone. He didn't even complain the numerous times he was splashed by his crazy bigger cousins (and their parents)!!!

Analise loved the pool too! She feels more comfortable being held in the water than being in a floaty though. She just loves to see baby Collin and was so excited that he was in the pool with her!

Ryan was nice enough to swim with both kids so I didn't have to. He wanted a picture with both of them, but it was super sunny out and I couldn't see the screen on the camera, so I didn't notice his eyes were closed. Oops, sorry Ryan!

Emma just loved these squirt guns (more like squirt cannons)!! She was easily able to fill it up in the pool and spray everyone in there. She got sprayed back plenty of times, but doesn't care. She loves to rough-house with people!

Here's my sweet baby boy lounging in the pool!!! He was so cute in there!! I just wish I could have gotten more pictures of him, but I was afraid of my camera getting ruined by all the splashing and spraying of water around me!!

My cousin Vanessa's little boy, Vincent, would NOT go in the pool!!! His grandpa even got all ready to swim and in the water and he wouldn't go in!! What a sweet papa he has!! Vincent just turned 2 in June, so I guess that could explain the STRONG opinion about not wanting to get in that pool!! Vanessa and Natalie-hope you don't mind me posting this picture of you guys!! Vincent was just too cute not to post it!

Before Collin got in the pool, he loved just dipping his feet and legs in a watching everyone play. He's really been fascinated by watching people lately!

Here's Emma spraying people again!! She moved from spraying people in the pool to getting people NOT in the pool!! Good thing she can run fast and has that cute smile to get herself out of trouble!

I had to post a picture of the cutest neice EVER going for a swim with her daddy!! She sure loves him!

Collin was worn out after swimming, so his Auntie Angela rocked him to sleep in her arms!! What a good auntie he has!

Sorry for the red eyes, Analise was at a weird light angle I guess. Analise took great naps while we were at the party, so she was in a great mood when she was up! I just have to brag on how smart she is!! She knows all the motions to "Pat-A-Cake" and can do them along with the song without even watching someone do it!! Here she's doing "roll 'em and roll 'em." She was SO cute!! She was very proud of herself and would do her big open mouth smile and sniffy nose when everyone clapped for her!!

Collin has just recently noticed that he has feet and loves to grab at them and play with them! When he sees them, he looks at them for a few seconds like "hey, where did those come from." Then he tries as hard as he can to grab them. He's starting to suck on his big toe like he does his thumb!

These next few pictures were taking on my cell phone because my camera was packed away and I didn't have time to go find it. Cousin Maty did Emma and Laney's hair for them on Friday night. It was super cute!!

After getting their hair done, they dressed up wiht funny shoes and posed for the camera. Crazy girls!! Can you tell they're cousins??!!

This picture may not seem like a big deal, but BOY it is!! For some reason Analise DOES NOT like swings!!! No one knows why, but she screams and tries to climb out when you put her in one. I thought I'd give it another try though and slowly put her into this one. I had to do one clip, then slowly the other so she didn't realize I was strapping her in (and so I could get her out quick if she cried right away). She sat in the swing for about 3 or 4 minutes and even let me push her! Jody had just gone to do something, so Aaron went to find her so she could see. Of course, as soon as she was coming out, Analise decided she was done. I took this picture as proof that she actually went in the swing because I knew she wouldn't last until Jody could see her! Way to go Analise!! What a big girl!!!

Fun in the tub!

Analise came over to play with us on Thursday night for a while. When it was time for Emma's bath, Analise was trying to dive into the tub.....she was so excited!!!! So, we stripped her down and let her play! Boy did she have a good time!! She sure LOVES to splash!


It was hard to get a lot of pictures because my camera was getting so wet (and I was trying to keep Analise from standing up)!! I kept missing all the cute smiles she was doing. This was the best shot I got!

Emma likes to dump water over her head, so she thought Analise would like it too. As you can see, she wasn't too fond of getting water poured over her head!

Emma used to scream whenever she would get even a drop of water in her eyes!!! Not so much anymore! She's gotten used to it now and this is what she LOVES to do when she takes a bath!

This is the best shot I could get of both girls (well, at least the best "G" rated shot!) They were really cute together! Analise just loves Emma, so she was so excited to get to take a bath with her!

This was Analise's favorite toy in the tub. She would bite down on this foam fish and yank it out of her mouth while she was still biting. Must have felt good on those gums or something. She was super cute!

5 Months of Collin!!

Yesterday (the 13th) we celebrated 5 months of having Collin in our lives! He's been such a wonderful addition to our family! It's amazing how fast these months have gone! For the most part, he's a happy little guy. He does have a little bit of whiner in him though. I blame his daddy for that. His mom has always told us that when he was little, his nickname was "Cryin' Ryan." Even if he's whining though, he's still such a sweet little boy!! Check out the difference between the first two pictures. The top one was taken yesterday, on his 5 month birthday and the one below it was taken in the delivery room. Wow!!! What a difference 5 months makes!

Only minutes after Collin was born on February 13, 2009 at 4:42 pm. Collin arrived by c-section 3 weeks and 2 days early due to complications with me, not him. He weighed in at 6 lb. 3 oz. and 19.5 inches long. The first thing I thought when I saw him was, "he has huge hands!" It must have been true because a lot of other people made the same comment when they came to visit in the hospital!

Emma was at the hospital waiting (and worrying) while we were in surgery. Even though visitors aren't really allowed in the recovery room, the nurses let her come in to see her new baby brother. She was the first person to see and hold him besides Ryan and myself. We were very glad that she was able to have that special moment with him before all the visitors wanted to see him!

Once we got up to our regular room there were plenty of family members waiting at the hospital to meet this new little guy. He was a very good sport about being passed around so much! When we left the hospital, Collin was discharged at 5 lb. 9 oz. He was SO tiny!! I could barely get the car seat straps to fit him tight enough!!

This is Collin's going home outfit. It was a preemie size because all of the newborn stuff was too big. He didn't even get into his newborn wardrobe until about 3 weeks old!

It's funny to think about how skinny he once was when I see those little rolls on his legs now!! He's filled out very nicely! This picture was taken around 2 weeks old for my grandparents who were in Florida. They missed his birth and were anxious to see him when they got back in April!



I had to throw one of the crying pictures in!! I always loved how cute his little face looked when he would cry! So sad how quickly these days go by!

When Collin was 4 weeks old, we took a trip up to Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan's UP (for all you non-michiganders). Ryan's mom, sister and brother all lived up there (his mom has since moved back down state closer to us). This picture is with Emma, Havannah and Daniel (his cousins).


Sleeping in the bouncy seat at 5 weeks old! He fills this seat out a lot more now when he's in it!


We tried Collin's Easter outfit on him a couple weeks before Easter to make sure it would fit. He was 6 weeks here and this is a 0-3 month outfit. It was pretty big, but we made it work!


Smiling at Great-Grandma just a couple weeks after they got back from Florida and he was able to meet them!! She's one of his favorite people now!



He loves the bumbo! Now he's starting to throw his body backward and try to get out of it, but he sure loved it when he was smaller! This picture is at 2 months!

Emma found this baby cradle in the Children's Garden cabin at Frederick Meijer Gardens and just had to rock her baby Collin in it!! This was the end of May, when Collin was 3 months old!


Collin's first time in the exersaucer at 3 1/2 months! He LOVED it and still does!!

This is Collin's first boat ride at "Grandpa" Pete and "Grandma" Gayle's cottage at Bills Lake. The life jacket was kinda big on him, but he loved the ride! He even fell asleep!


4 months old and at the cottage again!! This was Collin's first time in his swimsuit swimming in a lake! Well, he didn't really swim....he wasn't too fond of the water (unlike Emma)!


This was Collin's first time eating rice cereal at 4 1/2 months. He LOVED it, but we're just slowly working it into his schedule! He's getting it a couple times a week for now. He gets really excited when he sees the spoon! He's cute!

Emma and Collin at the Fourth of July parade together! I was a little nervous about how he would react to the loud sirens, but he did surprisingly well!! He was a great little parade watcher!



At the parade again. It got a little drizzly and cool, so his cute 4th of July outfit had to get covered up by his jacket.....oh well!

Hope you enjoyed this little recap of Collin! He's been such a blessing to our family and we couldn't ask for a better or cuter baby!! It's neat to see how he's bonding with Emma as he's getting older. He sure loves her and likes to pull her face close to his and give her kisses! She's great at keeping him entertained in the car too! She makes silly faces at him and he laughs and laughs!! It's cute to listen to them play together!!

Emma....past and present

Since I started this blog so late into Emma's life, I wanted to go back and give a glimpse of her as she's grown up over the past 3 1/2 years. She sure has changed!!! It was neat to go back through these pictures and realize how much Collin looks like her!!! If it wasn't for the blue eyes and date on some of these pictures, I wouldn't know who I'm looking at!!! Emma's face was a little more round than Collin's is, but they're very similar!



This is newborn Emma before we left the hospital to take her home. She was so small and sweet. Actually, not too small. She was 8 lb. 2 oz., but her newborn clothes were still too big on her. She "swam" in the newborn size sleeper than we brought her home in! What a sweet little face!



This is Emma at about 2 weeks. I took a bunch of pictures of her in her Christmas outfit to make up some wallets for people in our be-lated Christmas cards. She was crying in a lot of them, but I still managed to get a few cute ones!

Emma at 5 weeks. We were at Aaron and Jody's house for Sunday dinner. She was a little spoiled being the first grandchild, great-grandchild, and niece!!

This is the first smile we caught on camera. Well, first real one that is! She was almost 7 weeks here and we were visiting all of my friends in Springfield, Missouri. This was Sunday morning before we went to visit my church down there!

Here's Emma at 2 1/2 months. Collin sure does look like her. Especially with her hand up by her mouth. He ALWAYS has his hands in his mouth!! Like I said before, her face is a little more round than his and there are other subtle differences, but they're definitely brother and sister!

Another 2 1/2 month old shot. We took a lot of pictures during this period because my grandparents were in Florida and missing out, so we sent a lot of pictures! This is another Collin look alike picture!

Almost 4 months old now! She sure grows fast in a post like this!! I should take a picture of Collin doing this pose and post it on here so you all can see really how much they do look alike!

5 months old eating Sunday dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Grimaldi's house. Well, we were all eating, not her. She would have loved to though!! She wasn't on baby food for very long!

6 months old, sleeping in Daddy's arms. Notice the bruises on her forehead??? Those are from pulling up on a chair....and then pulling the chair over on top of her. Guess she didn't know that you're too young to pull yourself up standing at 6 months!

We took these 9 month old pictures of Emma on my Grandpa's train track in his backyard. She loved to be outside, so it was a little difficult to get pictures of her actually sitting still. She kept running away....yep, I said running!!!

This is Emma's first birthday party. We actually celebrated a couple weeks early. I didn't want her birthday and Christmas to come for her all at once. That's something we've continued to do. In fact, I think this year we might have her party in November. December is crazy enough as it is and she wants a party with friends this year.

We flew to Florida to visit Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Boger when Emma was 14 months. She did great on the flight and LOVED spending time down there with them!! She really loved these rocks in their yard!

This is from Fourth of July in 2007. Emma was just over 18 months then. Hardly any hair still. I can't even tell you how long I was asked if she was a boy!!!

Fall of 2007 at Post Family Farm. Emma was 22 months here.....still not much hair, as you can see. She's always been as outgoing as she is now and LOVES to be outside!!!

Waiting in line to see Santa at 2 years old (December 2007). She wasn't this happy once she actually sat on his lap!!

Just Emma and I got the chance to go to Florida in 2008. Ryan wasn't able to get off of work. My parents were going to come with us, but our extended family was going through a rough time while we were down there, so they decided to spend this week with them instead. Emma was a little over 2 years old here. We went to a park with fountains and she just loved to get sprayed by them!

In May of 2008, Emma was in my good friend, Marian's, wedding. She was a flowergirl along with 2 other girls and 1 ringbearer. They all did a great job and were super cute!!! We were able to get a little something in that short hair of hers too and she looked adorable!

In August of 2008, we went with my parents to Michigan's Adventure. Emma sure loved it!! She's gonna be a rollercoaster rider for sure!! She rode every ride she was tall enough for....even the scrambler, tilt-a-whirl, and a roller coaster!!

On October 24, 2008, Emma's cousin, Analise, was born. She was so excited to have a baby cousin! It was good practice for when she would be a big sister. Analise sure loves Emma now and they'll be good friends as they grow up....even though they're almost 3 years apart! Emma was 2 years and 10 months when Analise was born.

For Emma's 3rd birthday, she had a Cinderella party. Cinderella herself even came to celebrate!!! A sweet girl from the youth group was willing to come dressed as Cinderella and Emma was literally speechless when she saw her!

On the morning Collin was born, we took Emma to the Children's Museum to spend some final alone time with her. It worked out nicely that the c-section wasn't scheduled until 3:30 pm so we could have this time. We were only a few blocks from the hospital too, so my mom met us for lunch and took her when we went in. She was planning to go back to the museum until Collin was born, but Emma was worried and just wanted to be at the hospital instead. She waited from 1:30-5:30 when we were out of surgery. We did see her a couple times before the surgery while they were prepping me. When we were in recovery, the nurses let Emma come in, so she was able to be the first person to see and hold Collin. It was special for her. I remember when Ryan brought her in, he showed her Collin laying in the warmer and she looked for a minute and then said, "Is that Collin?" Once we told her it was, she smiled and touched him and kissed him. It was very sweet and cute!

Another wedding, 1 year later. This time she was the only flowergirl though, with no ringbearer. She did GREAT by herself!! She walked right down the aisle, dropped her flowers nicely, and stood in front by the bridesmaids just like she was supposed to!!! We were so proud. This was on May 30, 2009. She was just about 3 1/2! By the way, look at all of that beautiful hair!!!!

This is the last and most recent picture. It was just taken on the Fourth of July of this year at the parade. Emma loves parades and always has. She's very good at getting candy!! There was a float with a girl dressed as Hannah Montana in the parade and when she saw it, she started shouting "Hannah Montana! Hannah Montana!!" Don't ask me how she knows who Hannah Montana is. One day she just started talking about her and singing her song, "The Best of Both Worlds." I have no idea when she saw her, but she obviously did. No big deal, I guess. There isn't really anything wrong with her. I even took her to see the Hannah Montana movie.....it was actually really cute.

Anyway, I guess that about sums up Emma's life until now. She's grown into a very sweet little girl and we're beyond blessed to have her and so very thankful to God for entrusting us to raise this precious and special child. I hope to get an update like this on Collin soon too, but this one took long enough for tonight!!! Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!!