Baby for a day

This weekend we had an extra baby in the house for a little while. Our cousin Lucas came and spent the night. Lucas is five months old and one of the most cheerful babies ever. He's always smiling and oh so cute!

The Handsome Little Man
Evie loved having a real life baby around.
She smothered him with many kisses.
Bathtime was especially fun. Little Lucas can splash as much as Evie!
Sunday, Lucas had to go back home.

Residence Permit!

Today Liz got a letter to come pick up her new residence permit, which means.... her application got approved!!! Wooohooo.

Monday, March 31
Today the residence permit was picked up at the immigration office. To our delight it is valid for a full five years!

Finn, Mila, Janna, and Evie

Today Terhi came over with Mila and Janna, and Ulrike came over with Finn. There is always a lot of energy when this bunch gets together.

Terhi with Janna, now four months old.
As usual Evie was very happy to see Janna.
When Janna came and sat on my lap, Evie wanted to as well so she could be close to Janna.
Finn and Mila were playing house and at one point Finn was the dog, as pictured here. Evie just followed along as if SHE was the dog.

Happy Easter!!!

Easter Greetings from the Schutte Family!

The Easter Bunny came and hid the eggs Evie decorated last week!

Sunday we went to visit Oma Els and Opa Erno in Zeyen. It's just about four hours door to door and we were crazy enough to go there, visit for a couple hours, and come back in one day. We were all pretty tired at the end!
Good friends Evie and Bincky relaxing on the rug.
The Schutte Family takes a walk.
Backside of Evie in her most beautiful raincoat.
Oma Els and Evie read some of her old childhood books together.
Evie did considerably well considering how long that train ride was.
Near the end she got quite busy, though.

Painting Eggs with Kaylee

Today Kaylee came over to paint some eggs in preparation for Easter.

The girls together at the table
Evie with the paintbrush. She painted some really pretty eggs
Kaylee thought it was a great idea to put the eggs in the water...

And earlier that day Evie made a very tall tower!!!

First Poop on the Potty

Don't worry, as tempted as I was, there are no pictures to record this accomplishment. This afternoon Evie said to me, "oops, poop, sorry." Which is what she usually says when she passes gas, but I asked anyway, "Do you want to go poop on the potty?" Of course, she did, so we sat on the potty for a couple minutes reading a book, and what do you know there was a doo doo deposit when we were done!!!

In other news, now that Evie has her first swimming diploma, she now does her swimming lessons with wings (those blow up things on her arms). Today we tried them out for the first time and it's amazing how well she can swim already without me holding on to her. She swam about four feet to me!!!

Our little girl is growing up!!!

Time for some pictures!

It's been a while since the last good photo entry, so here you go!

"cheeeeeeese"
Uncle Thijs came to visit!
VERY Cool Baby
Uncle Thijs and Evie
Finn and Evie got together to paint some eggs
The artist at work
Such a sweet little girl...
Heading out the door to go shopping, of course!
Papa's Girl

Evie's First Swimming Diploma

For almost a year now Evie has been attending "Teddy Bear Swimming" at a nearby swimming pool. Every Tuesday we get up early and she, along with about twelve other babies and toddlers, swim and sing songs in the pool for about a half hour. Evie LOVES it! We think she's got some swimming talent.

Two weeks ago Evie got to have her first swimming exam and she passed with flying colors, earning her Teddy Bear Bronze Diploma. After this is silver, and gold, of course. The requirements for bronze are:
          Sitting on the edge of the pool and entering the water
          Splashing water over head
          Walking through the water
          Laying on belly and traveling though 5 meters of water
          Laying on back and traveling though 5 meters of water

She really did a fantastic job. Luckily, there was a parent of another little swimmer there who kindly took video and pictures of Evie (as well as his own child). We've put together another video showcasing this memorable occasion. Hope you enjoy!