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!

He is All Boy

Well it's official.....we have a little boy coming our way this Spring!

I've thought numerous times since yesterday when we found out we were having a boy, about that old Nursery Rhyme, 'What Are Little Boys Made Of?'

Snakes and Snails, and Puppy Dog Tails...That's What Little Boys Are Made Of!

Josh and I are thrilled to have a baby on the way, and we were both equally as thrilled when the ultrasound tech told us he's a boy! We are excited for our son to arrive and meet him for the first time...to see what his personality will be, what he comes to love, the things he will eventually do and say! I can only imagine the things I'll find in his pockets =)

Our little guy is going to blessed with built in buddies from the get go...he'll have a cousin named Jack just a few weeks older than him on my side-Katie and Ryan's son due the end of January. Josh's sister has 4 boys, including the youngest- Nolan- who will be just about a year older than our little man. And with our good friends Kim & Brian's two boys and Jeff & Sarah's son Jakob, we are sure to have some rough and tumble times of fun with all these potential partner's in crime!

Well, I'm still waiting on paint for my bookcase and step-stool from the barn sale....so I'll just write a few things that are on my mind today. I've been thinking alot about how wonderful it is to know that all things in life are overseen by my Heavenly Father. This quote is from a Max Lucado book I read along time ago, and I think it's an excellent view of life's circumstances:

"We live beneath the protective palm of a sovreign King who superintends every circumstance of our lives and delights in doing us good. Nothing comes your way that has not first passed through the filter of his love."

I've been feeling a little anxious recently about a few things going on personally right now, and I keep coming back to the knowledge that every aspect of my life is governed by a sovreign, loving God who knows me personally and knows my heart. There are things in life that seem so overwhelming, and yet every step of the path I'm on has already been directed and lit up before me by my Saviour. It is so comforting to me to know that I am safe in his grasp. That nothing can come my way, whether it is a trial or a dissapointment, or a change in plans and timing, that has not first passed through God's perfect, sovreign "filtration system" for my life. I love the promise found in Psalm 84:11- "For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly." I know that in the end God delights in giving good gifts to His children, and in His timing the big and the little "good things" are always far better than even what my wild imagination can cook up.
Just some heart thoughts for the day....may they bless your life as well!

My organizing continues! I've been working on the drawers in our apartment, since they always seem to be overflowing with way too much stuff....

First up was the bathroom, and I came up with some inexpensive fixes to the very tiny bathroom drawers...don't they know girls need lots of room for their stuff?? These drawer organizers were only $1 for the big one and the same for the set of 3 smaller ones at the dollar store. They snap together and fit perfectly inside the drawer. I separated my bobby pins and hair ties, and used the others for miscellaneous bathroom items that needed a home and found their way into this drawer! There's still plenty of space on the side and back for bigger things that don't need to be contained.

The other thing I did in the bathroom was get some of my cosmetics out of the "too small" drawer and put them in these ice cream dishes! I very rarely have ever used these dishes, and pretty as they are they deserved to be out in the open! They worked great especially for my makeup brushes, and they are a fun and unexpected addition to the countertop. You could definitely do this with any quirky or odd shaped containers you have lying around the house...it's a great way to organize all those little must-haves in the bathroom or for things like pens and pencils in the office!

The kitchen!! This room is by far the hardest for me to keep organized because there's never enough cabinet or drawer space for all the kitchen gadgets, pots and pans, utensils, and food! So I've gotten in the habit of putting things to work that otherwise would just sit useless on a shelf. I decided to dig out these plastic cereal bowls that we never use, and put them in one of my kitchen drawers to help keep track of all those little chip-clips and cookie cutters. It's really helped with keeping this drawers neater, and makes finding clips for the open bags of crackers and chips way easier! That's the goal =)

Next up....more domesticity, what do ya know! I found some great deals at the local barn sale, and will be giving them a new life, a la junking style. I'm very excited to break out some paint!