Nikelle Loves bath time!

Nikelle is getting so big! I returned to work and I can see the changes more then ever. I leave her with my mom everyday and am so lucky to have her be able to take the chance to watch her, so I can go to work and know that she is ok! It seems like since I have returned to work, we have been taking more pictures of her. Every night Nikelle starts getting fussy around 7:30 and wants to take her bath. She loves her bath time (now). I can't say the same for getting dressed after, but she is starting to splash. We are so lucky to have a precious little girl that is a great baby. People always say having a baby is life changing and hard at times, but you have a hard time wondering what life would be without them. It is so true. I look forward to coming home each day to see my little girl and my husband. It's wierd to think we did not have her in our life two months ago. So many things have changed, but we are slowly adjusting and can not imagine life without her!

Cozy little towel and on her way to get dressed!

Dressing Nikelle for the weather...What a cute little bear!

Nikelle's first pumpkin

She loves her little chair and keeps trying to talk to them.

Oh, she found the one on the side.

Happy birthday to me!!

Happy birthday to me!!

On Saturday, November 8th I turned another year older. I always look forward to my birthday because it is a busy time for the family. Nik's sister's b-day is on the 6th, and his grandma's is on the 10th so, it is filled with dinners and celebrations.

For my birthday, my mom took Nikelle for her first night away.

It was a nice break. We have been dealing with her screaming non-stop for a few weeks,

and it was a day worth waiting. Although I did not have her, I found myself waking

up every few hours waiting to hear her grunts and movements. (She is a very noisy sleeper)

Nik and I went to dinner and did not need to rush through to attend to her and then relaxed the rest of the night.

Awww it was a great birthday!

P.S. Since I return to work tomorrow, we think we have found out what was wrong

with Nikelle and the crying has quit. It is amazing what happens when you go

to the doctor each week.....grrr! It is nice to have my happy baby back!

Happy Halloween

It was Nikelle's and Aniston's (my niece) first halloween. I can say, I think they really enjoyed it....haha. It was a pretty good day and I have to say that Halloween is more fun when you have a kid. Well, we started by going to visit Nik's grandma, then went and saw my parents and then went to Nik's sister to meet up with his family and take my nephews trick or treating.
Dallas thought that going to one or two houses was enough and then was giving out his own candy. Garett couldn't see why his uncles wanted to go back out to get more candy. Then finally he saw that he would get more candy. When you see his costume you will say it fits him after hearing that.
At least next year, Nikelle will be walking and she will be able to get her own candy (and give most of it to her dad).

Happy One Month Birthday Nikelle

It is official! Nikelle is one month old today.

It is hard to believe that she has been in our life for one month. It just seems like yesterday that we found out we were going to have a baby. Life has had many changes in the last month. I think we are finally finding our way and adjusting to the changes.

I thought I would start out for telling you how Nikelle got her name. Some of you know, but some of you do not. So.....Nik and I have had this name decided for a while. We always used to joke about the funny names we would name our kids. Some of them was jeep, jetta, Barthamou, you get the point. Well, Nik's mom said that Justin could name one of his kids Justine so it would be like having his name (if it was a girl, instead of jr or something). We started combing our names and came up with Nikchelle, but it was to close to Michelle. We took a few letters out and got Nikelle. It is Nik's name plus the last part of mine.

Now for the middle name....Annlea (pronounced ann-lee). Nik and I struggled with this one and finally one night we sat down and listed both sides of the family and was trying to combine letters and names in some way. Nik's dad's middle name is lee and we were trying to think of how to carry part of the Gerritsen's after Nikelle got married. Well, almost two years ago, we both lost our close aunts. My aunt Ann was serving her mission in Flordia and past away from a car accident. His aunt past away a few months later after struggling with MS. Her middle name was Lea (Lee). Both of our aunts played a huge role in our life, and we started considering how to do this. Nik thought of Leann, but we wern't to sure. He later came up wit Annlea. When Nikelle was born we had to decide. Nik felt that Leann was an older name and liked how Annlea was different from everyone else, kinda like her first name. So, that is how Nikelle got her name. Now, Nikelle can grow up knowing she has her mom and dad's name and two very important peoples, in our life's, name to help complete it.
Now that we all know the history, and have become attached to cute little Nikelle, here is a slideshow to show how much our little princess has grown in one month! Enjoy!

Starting to see.....

Well, today I think it finally got official.....I feel like a mom. It is starting to sink in that I actually have a family of my own (haha). I know this is wierd, but I'm one of those people that think things will really never change. I know we grow up, but it is hard to see that things REALLY change. Get my drift? Well, sorry if you don't, but looking back it has already been a month since Nikelle was born. It has been almost a year since we found out that we were going to have a baby (in Jan). And today, when I went in to change Nikelle, I put on an outfit that was one of the first newborn outfits to fit her. Well, I think today will be the last time that she will wear it. It is starting to get a little small. She is still really small, but I thought I would put it in perspective for you. I laid her next to the elmo and well you can see....



She is starting to get so big so quick. Everyone always says they grow up quickly and I believe that, but I didn't think it would be this fast.