A Great Family Saturday

Today, we went out and finished our Christmas shopping for the kids. As usual, we got way too much, and they will be spoiled! We are very excited for them to open the gifts. Brent has to start his Christmas shopping now. He has the entire family to buy for.

This evening we went to the mall and had pictues with Santa. This is the Deuel tradition. After pictures, the kids play in the play area, and we go watch the skateboarders. The kids love doing this. On the way home we drive through a couple of neighborhoods to look at the lights.

Ryann has many questions about Santa that she is going to ask this year: how old are you, when is your birthday, and a few others. We are all waiting to see if he answers them.

Hope you and your family are having a great holiday season!

Growing Up

Hope is now officially crawling! Needless to say, she thinks that she is "hot stuff". She is constantly clapping for herself and loves it when we clap for her as well. Because she is now crawling, Hope manages to get into everything. This doesn't always go over very well with her brother and sister. Hope's favorite things to grab are Ryann's books and bookmarks. I think Brent is a little worried that Hope will turn out like her mom and big sister. He likes to refer to us as "nerds" because we both love to read. So far Hope seems headed in that same direction. Hope is also starting to eat a lot of table foods. Her favorites include fruit (bananas and mandarin oranges), Cheerios, macaroni and cheese, and any kind of bread. After trying these different table foods, she really doesn't want too much to do with baby food. I guess she feels that she is too grown up to eat it. Our house is decorated for Christmas now, and so far Hope has done a great job leaving the Christmas tree and decorations alone. She does seem to like the bows on the presents and would really love to play with them if we would let her.

It is amazing to think that Hope is almost 11 months old. Our love for her grows more and more each day, and her presence in our lives always brings smiles to our faces.

More Pictures from Great Wolf Lodge

Here are some more pictures of our trip with the Saurs to Great Wolf Lodge.

Great Wolf Lodge

Last week we spent two days at Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City, Michigan with the Saur family. We all had a blast! There were only 8 families in the entire hotel, so we basically had the place to ourselves. We spent the majority of our time in the waterpark, but also spent time in the craft room and arcade. The kids completed a scavenger hunt and listened to a bedtime story performed by the animals. We had a "Wolf Den" room which meant that Ryann and Camden had their own special den (complete with bunk beds and a TV) within our room. They thought that was pretty neat. I would definitely recommend visiting Great Wolf Lodge if you haven't. November is a perfect time to go!

Hope's 9 Month Doctor's Appointments

Hope's 9 month well-child checkup went great! (Camden might disagree as he received a surprise flu shot at her appointment.) Hope finally got a little taller. She is 27 and 1/2 inches long and is a little over 19 lbs. She is now in the 50th percentile for both height and weight as compared to other 9 month olds. Dr. Henderson said that she was "just perfect". Needless to say, we were very pleased.

In addition to her well-child checkup, Hope also had an appointment with her Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist. She had to have a scope performed on her again, and she didn't like it one bit. The good news is that the scope looked great and she will not have to go to see the ENT any more.

Halloween

The kids had a great time at Halloween this year. The Dondits, Saurs, and Grandpa and Grandma Bogart came over. Both of the older kids were baseball players this year and Hope was the standard first year pumpkin. They had a great time and brought home a lot of candy. We have two big bags left if anyone wants some.

We had a great time carving pumpkins. As usual, Ryann would not touch the pumpkin guts. Camden and Hope had no problem. Brent had another great creations this year -- he continued his love for the Detroit Tigers.

Pumpkin Run

Ryann had her annual pumpkin run at school. She was very surprised to hear that this years run would be almost 2 miles long. Mom was the lucky one who got to run with her. Dad volunteered and was the man with the camera and at the finish line.

Ryann did an incredible job. She did a lot better than anyone would have expected. She enjoyed it, but we don't think a marathon runner is a future occupation.

First Haircut

Hope went for her first haircut on Wednesday (Oct 25). As you can see by the pictres, she did a great job. We can not believe how different she looks after the haircut.

9 Months Old Already!

It is hard to believe that Hope is 9 months old today. As she reaches all of these steps and milestones we continue to celebrate her and all that she has become. She continues to do well and is really starting to become her own little person. Her smiles light up the room and her giggles are so fun to listen to. She loves her brother and sister immensely and always seems to know where they are. Hope has two teeth and is starting to use them to eat things like Cheerios and Puffs in addition to all of her fruits and veggies and cereal. She is beginning to do some moving around. She is not yet crawling, but she still seems to get to the things that she wants by rolling, scooting, or doing the crab walk on her back. We go to Hope's doctor on November 1st and then back to the ENT on November 9th. We are excited to hear what they have to say about our little girl.

A Pumpkin Party at the Nelsons

Last weekend the kids were invited to Mr. and Mrs. Nelson's house for their annual pumpkin party. The kids had a ball! They ate lots of yummy treats, chose pumpkins from the pumpkin patch, went on a hayride and just had fun playing with all of the kids that were there. Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Nelson spoiled them, and they each received a Halloween bag filled with treats to take home. Ryann and Camden have both decided to be baseball players for Halloween this year, and Hope will carry on the tradition of being a pumpkin by wearing the same pumpkin costume that Ryann and Camden wore when they were babies. Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Nelson for a great time!

We're Back!!!

We're finally back in "blog world". I'm sorry that we have not updated in such a long time. I guess that after being home for almost 8 months, it was a little bit of a shock to my system to be back at work and as a result, updating the blog was kind of forgotten. We will definitely try to update more frequently (I think I've said this before. This time we'll try to follow through a little better.).

Things here in the Deuel household are going well. We are having a busy fall as Ryann is in the middle of her basketball season, and Brent is in the middle of his football season. Of course, we've also spent a lot of time at Rockford Ram games and watching the Detroit Tigers. It has been so much fun for Brent to see his loyalty to the Tigers finally pay off. He is enjoying all of the games that he is attending, and is anxiously anticipating going to the World Series next weekend.

Ryann is off to a great 3rd grade year. She is enjoying her teacher Mrs. Taylor and is experiencing the MEAP test for the first time. Camden has Mrs. Annette again this year and is really having fun being back in school. The highlight for him has been riding the bus from school to Barbie's house. He thinks he is such a big guy! Hope continues to thrive. She has made the transition to mom working pretty easily. She seems to really love being at Barbies and watching the kids play all around her. It is hard to believe that Hope will be 9 months old on Friday. Wow - how time flies!

Thanks for continuing to check on us. It means the world to us!

Summer Fun

We continue to enjoy all that the summer has to offer. Ryann and Camden love to spend time riding their bikes or scooters or rollerblading. They also spend a majority of their time each day in the pool. Hope went swimming for the first time yesterday. She loved kicking her feet in the water and relaxing in the neat new float from the Larson family.

Hope's 6th Month Doctor's Appointment

Hope had her 6th month doctor's appointment today (she turned 6 months last Thursday), and boy has she grown! She currently weighs 16 pounds 3 and a half ounces and is 25 inches long. That puts her in about the 50th percentile for weight and the 25th percentile for height as compared to other 6 month olds. Looking at Hope today, you would never know that she was 2 months early or less than 5 pounds at birth.

She is now eating oatmeal each day and has also tried peas once. She is working really hard at sitting up and loves to stand on her legs and show off her muscles. Hope is able to roll from her back to her front, but hasn't yet tried to roll from her front to her back. Her arm muscles aren't quite as strong as her leg muscles, so she needs to use them more in order to build up her arm strength. Hope has taken her first boat ride this summer and has also had her first taste of ice cream. Thanks for checking in on us! We hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as we are!!!

Fun in the Water

After learning to kneeboard on Sunday, Ryann and Camden decided that Monday would be a great day to try waterskiing. This time Grandpa Deuel had a camera ready for us to use. We hope you enjoy these pictures of our two oldest water lovers.

Another Great Day at the Lake

We spent some time at Clifford Lake again this weekend. With temperatures in the 90 degree range, the water felt great! We played a lot of water volleyball, did a lot of swimming, and the Deuel kids experienced some "firsts". Camden and Ryann both learned to kneeboard this weekend and did a great job. They were both exhausted after their trips around the lake, but are both looking forward to the next time they go. Hope took her first ride on the pontoon and really enjoyed hanging out with her Aunt Jody during the ride. I wish we had pictures of these big events to show you, but Brent' s camera is in Africa on a hunting safari with his brother Brian and our nephew Kyle. Brent is definitely suffering camera withdrawal and is already planning on making up for lost time when he gets his camera back later this week. We hope that all of you had a great weekend!

4th of July Weekend

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend at Clifford Lake with Brent's family. We always have a lot of fun at the lake, especially during 4th of July weekend. Our 5 days there were filled with hanging out in the sun, swimming in the lake, tubing, playing cards and other games, eating (way too much!), fishing (Ryann's most favorite thing to do at the lake!) hot tubbing (Camden's favorite lake activity), bonfires (with s'mores) and lots of fireworks (great firework display dad and Uncle Randy!)! We also participated in the annual pontoon parade. This year's theme was "Children's Books". Ryann came up with the idea to use Clifford the big red dog and create "Clifford and Friends Visit Clifford Lake". We ended up taking 3rd place in the competition, and we had a lot of fun working together to transform the pontoon into a children's book.

Ryann Goes to College

Ryann had the chance to become a Michigan State Spartan for three days at the end of June. She attended "Grandparents University" with her Grandma Bogart. While at MSU, she experienced dorm life and attended several classes. Ryann lived in McDonnel Hall while on campus and loved it! She especially loved the cafeteria and having so many things to choose from at meal time. The desserts, chocolate milk and fountain pop were her favorites. The classes she attended were all science related. She learned how ice cream is made (she also got to make some on her own) and had a chance to milk a cow and put her hand in a cow's stomach (she passed on both of these opportunities and instead watched Grandma do them). One night they went to the MSU planetarium and learned a lot about the solar system. This was her favorite class. Ryann absolutely loved the entire experience of being a Spartan. It was fun to hear her talk about all that she did and all that she saw. Thanks Grandma Bogart for giving her such a great experience!!!

Hope's Visit With the Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist

Last week Hope had her appointment with an Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist. The doctor did a scope through her nose and down into her airway. After the scope (which our little girl did not like one bit!) the doctor determined that Hope has an immature muscle in her larynx (There is a medical term for this, but I don't remember the exact term.). Because of this, she makes quite a rattling sound when she breathes. Apparently this issue should take care of itself. Hope just needs to keep maturing and getting bigger and stronger. Hope was also diagnosed with Acid Reflux and needs to have Zantac twice a day. Needless to say, we felt really good about how the appointment went and are thrilled to know that there is nothing serious going on with Hope. We have a follow-up appointment with the ENT doctor in August.

Last Day of School

Let the summer begin!! We are done with school for the summer and the Deuel Family is ready. The big plan for the summer is to sell the house. If you know anyone that is looking .... let us know.

Camden is going to continue speech during the summer. He is scheduled for 1/2 hour per week. Even though the picture does not show it, he loved his teacher and is looking forward to next year. His big goals this summer are no diapers and no life jacket.

Ryann shed some tears on her last day of school. She truly loves school and it was hard for her to leave her friends and teacher. Dad forgot to put the memory card back in the camera so we do not have a picture of her and her teacher. Ryann's goals this summer are to ski (she does not know that yet), not be bored, and go to all of her camps (MSU, soccer, and basketball).

Stop by and use the pool. The more swimmers the better.

A Great Report From the Doctor

Last week Hope went to see Dr. Henderson for her 4-month checkup. Things went really well! Dr. Henderson was thrilled to see how well she has grown. She weighs 12 and a half pounds and is 23 inches long. That puts her in the 25th percentile for weight and the 10th percentile for height. Wow!!! What a big girl she is becoming. Hope does need to see an ear, nose and throat specialist on June 14th due to the fact that she is a very loud breather. Originally we thought this was due to congestion or to swollen sinuses, but when she was checked last week, her sinuses and lungs both looked good. Dr. Henderson thought that it might be something in between the two, such as the trachea. He mentioned that sometimes babies born as early as Hope was have some developmental issues with their tracheas. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. The best news of all from the appointment is that Hope has now been given the okay to go out and enjoy the world. This is something we have looking forward to for quite a while now. After being given the news, we took Hope to Clifford Lake for the long weekend to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Deuel and to meet Granny (Hope's great-grandma) for the first time. Hope also got to experience Meijers for the first time yesterday. Camden had fun telling her all about the different things to see in the store. Our family is looking forward to the beginning of summer vacation at the end of next week. It will be great to be home enjoying each other.

Relay For Life

Wow!!! What a weekend! We spent our weekend (or at least most of it) at the Rockford Relay For Life. As a whole, the Relay raised over $315,000. That is an increase of $50,000 over last year's total. Our team, Friends for Life, raised a little over $32,000. Needless to say, it was a very successful Relay and a lot of money was raised to help in the fight against cancer. We are so proud of Brent for the incredible job he does as one of the two co-chairs of this event.

Hope turned 4 months old yesterday and celebrated with us at Relay. She was able to spend a few hours there on Friday and a few hours there on Saturday. What a blessing it was to be able to have her there with us and to walk around the track as a family of five.

Ryann also had a soccer game this weekend. Her team tied, but she scored a goal. She has scored a goal in each of her last four games. We are all pretty excited about the great season she is having.

Our entire family is counting down the days until we are all on summer vacation. Camden has 6 more school days left, Brent has 12 and Ryann has 13. We are definitely looking forward to a summer of family time, friends time, swimming time and warm, sunny weather!

Hope has her four month doctor's appointment on Tuesday. We can't wait to hear what he has to say. She really seems to have grown quite a bit. She has a double chin now and even some rolls on her legs.

Thanks for checking in on us!

Pictures of the Kids

Here are some more recent pictures of Ryann, Camden and Hope.

The Latest Happenings in the Deuel Household

I can't believe that it has been almost a month since our last update. I'm sorry that it has been so long, and we will definitely work on updating more often. I guess as they say, no news is good news.

We recently spent a quiet spring vacation here in Michigan. Although it was very hard to not be in the warm Florida sunshine enjoying the sun and sand with family and friends, it was nice to spend 10 days together as a family. Brent spent much of the week working on our house in order to get it ready to sell. It seems as if we have quickly outgrown our house with the addition of Hope to our family. Even though it will be hard to leave this house that we have called home for over 10 years, we are also excited about the possibility of a new beginning for the 5 of us. As of Sunday, April 16, the "For Sale by Owner" sign is now officially displayed in our yard.

On April 4th, Camden turned 3. We celebrated at Chuck E. Cheese with the Watters, Saur and Lewis families. Camden had a lot of fun eating pizza and playing games. Shannon Ouellette was kind enough to stay with Hope so that the rest of us could go celebrate with the Camden man. Camden continues to enjoy school, and we are already noticing some improvements in his speech.

On April 14th, Ryann turned 8. It is hard to believe that we have an 8-year-old daughter. Ryann celebrated her special day by taking 4 of her friends and Camden to a movie (The Shaggy Dog), McDonalds and Cold Stone Creamery for ice cream. She had a lot of fun, and the day seemed to fly by. Ryann started soccer practice today. Brent and Larry Watters are coaching Ryann and Maddy's team again this spring. Ryann is really looking forward to the season and the fun times that it will bring.

Hope is now about 10 and a half pounds. She has a double chin and a few rolls on her legs. She will be three months old tomorrow. She is smiling up a storm and is starting to "talk" to us. The coos and sounds that she makes are music to our ears. Hope is such a joy to all of us, and we can't wait for all of you to meet her.

Thank you to all of you for your continued thoughts and prayers. We feel so blessed to be surrounded by such wonderful families and friends.

Hope's Doctor's Appointment

Yesterday Hope went to see Dr. Henderson for her two month check-up. Everything went really well. She is now very close to the 9lb. mark, and will probably pass 9lbs. within the next couple of days. Based on her date of birth, she is in the 5th percentile for both height and weight. Dr. Henderson was very pleased with her progress, and said that he thought she looked great. Hope received four shots at her appointment. She didn't really care for the shots when they were being administered, but she seemed to recover from them quickly. She will go back to the doctor in May for a four month check-up. At that time Doctor Henderson said that if she continues to be doing as well as she is now, he would feel good about Hope being able to start going places and meeting new people. It will be such a blessing for our family to be able to go places as a family of five.

Camden has now been to school five times. He loves it! The first week everything revolved around Clifford and this past week it was Dr. Seuss. He is enjoying his teachers, time spent playing, music and time in his "gym". On Wednesday of next week he has his first field trip. He gets to go swimming at mom and dad's school. He can't wait. He definitely thinks he is a big kid now. He even has homework to do this weekend which he is excited about. I only hope that he will continue to be excited about homework when he is in middle school (probably not!).

Ryann is finally healthy. She missed four days of school last week because of the flu. Soccer season should be starting within a few weeks, and she is excited to be playing again. She continues to be the best big sister to Camden and Hope, and we continue to be very proud of her.

Camden Starts School

Over the last 3 months we have noticed Camden having some speech difficulties. He also was getting increasingly more upset when we did not understand what he was saying. Last week we took him to be tested. They determined that he did have some speech dificulties. They determined these dificulties to be easily overcome. With that said, he started ECSE today.

He loves going to school because he has a backpack, he will get homework, and he is just like his big sister. Camden thought playtime was the best thing at school and also remembered that a "girl" was naughty. He also enjoyed the "gym" (gross motor skills room) where he could swing, play with balls, and jump.

Check out these pics. Our little boy is off to school!