Ringing in the New Year : 2012

Happy New Year! What a year of change this past year has brought to us. What will the new year hold? First steps? First words? First birthday? Though Zoë has only been a part of our family for about 8 months now, it is hard to imagine what life was like before she came around. As you can see, Zoë is SUPER excited about 2012!

Our New Year's Eve festivities included "sleeping in" (more like going back to bed :), attending a birthday party of one of Zoë's friends, getting a treat at DQ, then enjoying a nice little party of our own after the little one went to bed. You can't go wrong with sparkling grape juice and bbq little smokies!

2011 ended with another first: the first boo-boo. :*( Thankfully, our neighbor Janelle was prepared with neosporin spray and a mini "Dora" bandaid. Bandaids really do make everything better! Mommy's New Year's resolution is to learn to think and see like a baby to better prevent and protect my sweet cheeks from harm. Gates are ordered and on their way! Now to figure out what to do with all those cords...

What does 2012 hold for the Poppen family? Well, at this point it seems as though we will be staying in Holland, Michigan one more year. Zac will graduate with a Master of Divinity on May 7th (Zoë's birthday!), then hopefully will continue at Western Theological Seminary for a year to complete a Master of Theology and prepare applications for a Ph.D. program. Otherwise, our prayer for this year is to become better listeners as we seek God's guidance in every aspect of our lives and for the life of our little one.

May the Lord bless you and keep you in this coming year; may he make his face shine upon you and give you peace!

Merry Christmas!

What a delight to share the joy of Christmas with our sweet Zoë! 

"Behold, a virgin will be with child, and will bring forth a son, and they will call his name Immanuel, which means, 'God with us.'" Matthew 1:23

"And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken it. O Zion, that brings good tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that brings good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, 'Behold your God!'"  Isaiah 40:5,9

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

Wishing you all the love, peace and joy of Christ our Lord and Savior this Christmas Day! 

Giggles & Babbles

Time for some more home videos!

All I want for Christmas is...

My two front teeth! 

Here are the lovely toofers :)

(with a third one on the way...)

So I can wish you Merry Christmas!! 

Let It Snow!

We woke up this morning to a beautiful winter-wonderland! Our first true snow of the year. So, of course, Zoë and I had to go outside and play. 

 My little snow angel :)

Checkin' it out...

 It was a little chilly outside, so we brought the snow inside with us for a little "fun"

"Mommy, what is this stuff?? It's a little weird."

"Mommy this is cold! I don't think I like it..."

"MOMMY!!! I don't want to hold on to this anymore!!! Get it out of my hand!!!"

So, maybe mommy had a little more fun that Zoë did, but hey - we'll love having pictures that show the full range of her emotions. Don't worry, I put down the camera, helped her unclamp her hand, got her out of the highchair and blew warm air on her hands. She liked that very much! 

Happy winter!

What's that you said? Seven Months Already?!

Our little Sweet "P" is growing up so fast! Today marks 7 crazy-wonderful months of life. At Zoë's last appointment on November 27th, she weighed 15 lbs 12 oz, and was 27 1/2 inches tall. The pediatrician said he's never seen a baby her age with so much personality!

This past month has been filled with adorable babbling, silly giggles, sitting and rolling, messy food-faces, backwards wiggling, hanging upside-down and discovering more fun ways to interact with one another.

No crawling yet (thank you Jesus!), but this little girl can scooch herself backwards and in circles all around the living room. Zoë is a curious creature - already getting herself into things, like pulling on the cord for the blinds or trying to pullover my potted plant. Zoë also loves paper. Yes, paper. A crumpled up magazine page will keep her entertained for quite some time!

Those little hands have been very active, passing objects from one to the other and often holding two things at once. Today I even saw what may have been her first wave! As far as eating goes - there has been more "munch" and "mess" than actual eating, and Zoë's strong gag reflex is keeping her from learning the important skill of swallowing. So, for now she sticks to "lick-munch-suck-spit." But she does like the taste of things - apples especially, mango, pear, carrots and multi-grain cheerios.

Look at that big girl sitting up all by herself! 

Oh, and another thing that has been going on...teething! Nothing much to show yet, but there are two little pearly white peaks poking out from her bottom gum. It's been a week already without much progress and quite a bit of pain, but we are hoping that they will come in by Christmas. :)