Merry Christmas!

What a fun Christmas we had.  It was very low key which was nice.  Rogue was really into Christmas this year.  She still isn't a fan of Santa though.  We started of the season with Christmas morning with just us as a family opening gifts.  Then that evening going to Grandpa and Grandma Koeman's.  The girls of course were extremely spoiled.  The Kraker's Christmas was on January 1 this year.  What a good way to bring in the New Year!  Again, the girls were completely spoiled.  I think I'll have to go through all of their toys now just to find room for the new ones!

She's 3!

Happy birthday to my oldest!  Can't believe its been three whole years already.  Your personality has really come out this year and man is it a strong one!  Although the year hasn't been the easiest, its also been one of the most fun.  You love anything to do with animals.  Your "babies" in fact are all animals.  Hardly ever do you play with an actual baby doll.  You choose a frong themed party this year.  Mainly because on the last camping trip we took for the season, you did nothing but hunt for frogs.
 We love you so much Rogue McKenzie, and can't wait to see what your next year has to bring!

Christmas Tree

We always get our tree the day after Thanksgiving, I just can';t wait any longer than that.  As always, we headed out to the big town of Borculo were we always get our tree.  Rogue was excited at first and wanted to take home the first one we saw.  When it came time for a picture by the tree she wasn't having it.  I just love the smell of a real tree!

4 month Well Child Visit

Today was Blair's 4 month well child visit.  All is well her.  We have been blessed with a very happy baby.  Although, she could sleep more.  We are still getting up with her about every 2-3 hours.  Makes for a tired mama.

Her stats for today were 13lbs 5oz in the 25th percentile and 25 inches putting her in the 75th percentile.

Happy Halloween

You'll have to excuse my lack of pictures for this post.  Our camera has taken up the good habit of draining the battery, so often the batteries in my camera are dead when I go to take a picture.  Thus, no pictures of the actual trick or treating.

Every year our friends, the Dykstras, put on an awesome Halloween party for the kids.  We go on a hayride to a neat little nook on their property and have some munchies.  This year we had a pinata and even a corn maze (even though it was sorgum).  Fun was had by all.  Can't wait until next year!

2 month well child visit

Today we had Blair's 2 month well child visit and the first dreaded shots.  I'm happy to report that all is still well with our little peanut, and a little peanut she is.  She weighed a whopping 10lbs 6oz!  When I saw the weight for the first time I had to ask the nurse to try again!  That only put Blair in the 25th percentile for her weight.  Rogue had always been around the 75th percentile and for some reason I had just assumed Blair would be the same.  Blair was 22.75 inches and that put her in the 50-75th percentile so that wasn't a shock to her mama.  She handled the shots alright and of course Rogue and I felt terrible for her.  Rogue says she doesn't want any shots from the doctor.

Michigan's Adventure

Gentex has their annual Summer Picnic for their employees every year at Michigan's Adventure.  We brought the girls thinking that she would have a riot.  I however, was very skeptical.  Bryan insisted that she could have a good time.  I will gladly admit that I was very wrong.  This girl LOVED the rides.  She would say that they tickled her tummy.  There wasn't a ride in that park that she was allowed to go on that she didn't ride.

Kraker Farm

I am happy to introduce to you the first members of the Kraker Family Farm.  In one day we purchased two Holland Lop bunnies and six Isa Brown Laying Chicks.



The black bunnies name is Jessica Rabbit (Jess for short) and the brown bunnies name is Bunny Holly (Holly for short).

The chicks I (Bryan) named are Booker T Washington and Peepy Le Pugh. Katy named the remaining four chicks after the golden girls: Blanche, Dorthy, Sophia, and Rose.

This is the beautiful house I built for my peeps.  It is where they will lay the eggs we harvest.



Project 2011

It is a project that has been a long time coming. Since we built our house back in 2005/2006, we have wanted to put on a deck. The problem is that there were always other projects that were more important, like putting in a lawn and pouring a cement approach.

Finally, this year was the year for the deck.  We took our tax return money and bought us some deck materials.  We decided to go with composite so we never have to power spray or stain.  Maintenance is not our strong suit so the less of it we have to do, the better off we are. 

Todd Wabeke and I worked on it during the week

after we got out of work so it took a couple of weeks to get it completed.  My Dad helped lay the decking one saturday and my borother Andrew stopped by a night or two to help out as well.

Thanks to everyone for the help.  The deck looks great and we love spending time on it. 

God Bless Blair

Yesterday we had Blair baptized.  I was a little nervous on how things would go.  Not only that Blair wouldn't scream through the whole thing but that Rogue would cooperate as well.  I'm happy to report that Blair was baptized without a hitch.  Blair has been such a blessing to us all.

The first 3 weeks

I honestly can't believe Blair has been with us for just over 3 weeks now.  She fits so perfectly with our family that it feels she has been with us forever.  Blair is an amazing baby so far.  She sleeps the day away and most of the night.  The only issue at night is her eating.  This girl likes to eat!  She wakes every 2 hours (almost on the dot) for feedings. Since she (for the most part) goes right back down after a feeding its not so bad to be awake so often.  I try to get naps in when I can but Rogue doesn't always nap anymore, so it makes it a bit difficult.  You can definately tell that she is not a first born.  Bryan and I haven't taken near the amount of pictures we did of Rogue.  Poor Blair.  We also don't hold her like we did Rogue but that could be because she is very content to be in her swing.

Rogue has done very well with adjusting to not being the only child.  She doesn't pay Blair much attention but likes to know where she is at all times.  Rogue is also a bit protective of her.  When people hold Blair, Rogue usually asks repeatedly to hold her.  Its pretty cute.  Rogue has been such a good big sister.

Blair's Hospital Stay

Who's Who?

Can you guess which pictures are Rogue and which are Blair? Leave your answers in the comment section, and I will provide answers later on.

Baby Blair Arrives

Blair Delaney Kraker was born this morning (7/22/11) at 7:53am. She weighs 8lbs 1oz, and I think she looks exactly like Rogue. We are very happy parents and there will be more pictures coming to the blog soon.