Can You Hear Me Now?

Blake was born blessed with oodles of cousins. Some near, some far. We miss the ones who are far away, and LOVE when they come for a visit. We also LOVE having cousins close by...some old enough to babysit (wink, wink) and some that are just the right size for playing ball, cars, and er, um telephone??


I've learned quickly in the last few months that anything can become a telephone if you just put a little thought into it! Blake has been caught walking around with real cell phones- both working and not-, TV remotes, play hammers, a free daily pill sorter from Meijer (that's one for another post), and most recently...his sound machine. Yesterday I heard Blake jibber jabbering a long string of "words" which ended with "BRI". I looked over to see him walking through the kitchen with his sound machine up to his ear like a phone slash 80's boom box, talking away to one of his beautiful aunties!

I digress...back to cousins =) So on Easter we headed over to Josh's parents house in the evening. Blake's cousin Nolan is 11 months older than him and they have great fun playing together! It's so nice to have a little friend, a familiar face in the church nursery, and at times a partner in crime when you're only 1 and 2 years old.

They had each found a "phone" and were contentedly chatting away by the front door when we found them. It looked like a serious conversation, and who could resist 2 cute boys in their jammies! I wonder what they talked about...the Smarties and animal crackers in their Easter baskets? How much pizza they were each going to eat that night? What it would take to escape out the front door? One can only imagine! But it was fun to see Blake and Noly having such a good time just being buddies!

Days That Flutter By

Here in West Michigan it can not be a proper spring without going to see the beautiful butterflies at the Fredrik Meijer Gardens! And apparantly I've not had a proper spring in quite a few years...this was the first time in many years that I have visited the gardens, and what an amazing place it is!

Josh came home quite awhile ago (like months and months) and brought 2 free admission passes to the Meijer Gardens with him! A very gracious co-worker had won 4 of the passes in a meeting and offered 2 of them to Josh. It was such a treat to be able to walk through the indoor and outdoor gardens, and to show Blake the hundreds of butterflies flying around us. I'm not sure he knew what to think, but I did hear him say 'birdie' at least once so maybe he kind of liked it!

I am always amazed at the sheer grandness of the plants that grow in the butterfly room, and it is so neat to see so many different sized, colorful butterflies flying above our heads. They rarely landed for more than a few seconds, but when they happened to be near us we tried to snap a few pictures.

We had a wonderful afternoon walking around with Blake in the stroller and enjoyed spending some time together as a family. It's so easy to get too busy with other things, and we forget to just celebrate the little moments in life that make us smile....like watching a little boy study the fluttering wings of a butterfly, something he's never seen before.

The Polderman Family

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18 Months Later....

I'll be the first to say that I am the type of person to start something and leave it unfinished for extended periods of time...I freely admit it! But the great thing about writing is that it evolves over time the same way our lives do. It's forgiving. It's freeing. It's available whenever I decide to pick it back up.
So here it is...I'm picking it back up.
We welcomed that " All Boy" into our lives in March 2010, and 14 months later, he is a daily delight. We've made our way through all things baby, and have found oursleves entering the unknown realm of "Toddler-dom"....dun, dun, dun! The language is at times indecipherable, but what fun it is to see the joy on Blake's face as he sees another truck or doggie.
We are so blessed in this life! I am constantly reminded of how much I've been given, and how abundant the storehouse of God's grace is. I could not ask for more! My hope is to start faithfully blogging again and to use this as a way for you all to see pictures and updates. And maybe, just maybe, be a way for me to comfortably say farewell to the "Facebook" world for awhile at least!
Thanks for reading!