We are eagerly anticpating the arrival of our third child, who is supposed to be a boy.
Hopefully he will be coming any day now since I'm past my due date. Emily is not a baby anymore.
She's a vibrant, independant little girl. Nathanael is growing so quickly, it's hard to believe he's 4 already.
He is very excited to have a new baby brother, but I don't think Emily is aware of what's in store.
Both Jon and I are at the point we are ready to have this baby, and I can't wait to finally see him (or her) for the first time.

May 30, 2012
Jenn

We are pleased to announce the birth of our daughter, Emily Maria Aukema.
Born March 2, 2010 at 3:57am
8lb 6oz, 51cm

Please enjoy our pictures
Page 5
House Pictures
Page 3
Page 2
Page 1

October 22nd New pictures update

Here's a few recent pictures and an older one of Emily and Nathanael.
Jenn

April 5th New pictures update

IT'S A GIRL! IT'S A GIRL!

We are very excited to announce the birth of our daughter, Emily Maria Aukema.

Born March 2^nd, 2010 at 3:57am, delivered by Jon at home (while talking to 911) Surprise! It happened a lot faster then we ever expected.

8lb 6 ½ oz, 51cm,

She smiled when we told her she bumped Nathanael's picture of the website. Pictures and a correction to our banner to follow.

Mom and daughter are fast asleep at home and doing well. Nathanael was slow to warm, but now very excited about his new partner in crime.

Jon

We are pleased to announce the birth of our son, Nathanael Clark Aukema.

Born January 30, 2008 at 2:03am

10lb 1oz, 55cm

Please enjoy our pictures

House Pictures
Page 3
Page 2
Page 1

February 6, 2010

Put up the four best family pictures from christmas.

Family Pics

November 20, 2009

I finally have some pictures of the new house up for all to see. We're farther along than I have pictures for. We have the drywall up in the living/dining/kitchen area and some up in the bedrooms upstairs. We now have a concrete floor in the basement and the garage!

Jenn

November 3

Sorry it's been so long since there's been an update. These are all pictures I got ready in a long time ago, but never got around to putting up. I hope to do some of the new house soon.

Jenn

February 9

I put up a bunch more pictures for you to enjoy from christmas up to his birthday. This year has gone so fast, it's almost amazing. He's growing up so quickly. He loves to cruise around on the furniture and has mastered getting up and down again. He's quite capable of feeding himself finger foods and some larger foods as well. Hope to write more soon.
I changed the photo gallery format so that you're not waiting for all the pictures to load, and put them on 3 separate pages. Hope that helps.

Jenn

Dec 11

Well it certainly wasn't soon that I got around to writing more. It just always seems there is something else to do! I'm sure you know how that goes. There have been many developments. He moved up to a big boy car seat, and boy was he proud of himself! You could just tell he was happy and feeling grown up about having more freedom to look around, and not have to travel everywhere in the car seat. He also discovered shopping carts. He can sit and ride around in the shopping cart. I wasn't there for his first experience, but Daddy said he loved it. Now he tries to turn around and get out and explore everything in the cart which is great fun for him.
The last update of pictures you could barely see his eyes if he pulled himself up on the coffee table. Now he get on his knees and plucks what he likes off the coffee table. He's growing like a weed. Some 12 months things are too small already. He has 4 teeth now, two on top and two on the bottom. He's enjoying trying some new foods. He loves his wheat cereal and cheese. We give him little pieces in a bowl and he happily feeds himself. He's very proud of feeding himself too.
Nathanael has started pointing to himself in the mirror and saying 'baba' or looks at Jon and excitedly says 'DADA!' or calls me 'mama'. He also tries to say butterfly to the little sticker we have on the bathroom mirror. He loves to turn lights off, and can sometimes turn them on. He helps by starting the dryer and closing the lid on the washer when we do laundry. He loves to point, and occasionally waves bye bye. We made some snowflakes for Christmas decorations and he's always pointing to them. I told him that snow is the millions of unique snowflakes that God makes, and ever since he points out the window when its snowing. It's so cute and amazing to watch them discover the world and God's creation. I'm very grateful for the little boy God has blessed us with.

Love you all, Merry Christmas
Jenn

Nov 9

More Pictures up, hope to write some more soon....

Jenn

Oct 1

We are back! But you don't care, you just want to see pictures. 20+ new pictures. At some point I hope to split the gallery so it doesn't take so long to load.

We moved. It was uneventful, other than the phone. The place is small, has next to no storage, awkwardly used space and no level, straight, or square surface. Through a little creative planning, book shelves to make our closet a walk in and give the bed something to rest against, a complete pantry revamp and additional kitchen cabinets, the place is starting to feel like home. We are down to 6 boxes that don't have a place to go yet, but we plan on building one or two more bookshelves and a computer unit (well... storage unit that the computer happens to reside in). We still need a spot to hang our coats, but we are getting there. Baby proofing is slow, but we are keeping ahead at this point. (Knock on wood) Our landlord is awesome and loves the fact he has a handyman under one of his roofs. He got an upstairs tenant the same time as us and I had to fix the lock after she got locked out. I also replaced the stairs on the deck; he still mentions how much he loves them. (Had 4 of 5 stairs fell of the day we moved in.) He also treated us to a dinner at Tony's.

Nathanael is growing quickly. Every two weeks we need to add longer sleepers to his wardrobe because he can't straighten his legs in the old ones. He gets into everything he can. He gets miserable if he doesn't get solid food or daddy time. He has started babbling. He chatters back to you when you chatter to him. He stops fussing and smiles when you roar – but then you have to eat him. Still loves being under the covers, but now he can deliberately remove the blanket when ready to 'surprise'.

If you want results with Primus, hunt down the VP of residential service. They got Bell into fix the problem. They are willing to cover the cost of our cell phone and time, but who keeps used phone cards?

Boy is melting.

Jon

Sept 8

Hi, we have moved. Unfortunately, our phone and Internet has not moved with us. After giving Primus lots of chances to redeem themselves, I would like to say they have the best prices in town and are completely incompetent. If the system generates an error – why don’t you investigate it? Our fourth reconnect date is now Sept 19. If you do need to contact us, Jon has email at work and you can reach our cell (yes, we broke down and got one) by dialing our old number. Please keep in mind it cost us $0.20/min.

Thanks

Jon

Sorry – no new pictures till we get the net back.

Aug 5

Big Changes!

First of all, you will notice in the picture section that there is a sold sticker on the for sale sign in front of our condo. On Saturday we were told that the last condition had cleared and everything was firm. What a sale – one showing, offer the next day, all but the lawyer controlled conditions cleared the same week. We also looked at the other house pictured on Saturday and signed a lease on Monday. We have a 2 bedroom apartment with living room, eat in kitchen, front entrance area that we will use for an office (the land lord is putting in plugs and a phone line so we don't have to run wires), a private fenced in back yard with small patio, and a private deck. We also negotiated the installation of laundry. Our new address can be gotten from us or our parents in the near future if you do not receive an email. Our phone number will stay the same.

We started Nathanael on solid foods last week. He decided that the spoon was not moving fast enough, and thus swiped the food of the spoon and shoveled it into his mouth. We have a constant challenge to move the spoon in faster then his hands. He is in to everything that he can get his hands on – notice the chip bag. We rolls very effortlessly both ways now and sits up on his own fairly well. He is also starting to take shorter naps, but does not compensate for them by sleeping longer at night. Between him and our new neighbors (which are partly responsible for him as well), Jenn and I don't get much sleep.

All for now.

Jon

July 11

It is official – the condo is on the market. Showings start next Friday (18^th) and we still have about 2 weeks of work to do before then, so if we seem anti social, it is because we are, at least this week. Things are slowly pulling together and the larger projects are coming to a close. We have lots of trim to paint, one bedroom and would like to do the hallway. The kitchen is painted, the counter top is underway as we read, the cabinets are finished except the microwave, and it just needs trim and varnish. There are lots of little things to do.

So where are we going? We are headed to an apartment when the house sells, and would like to purchase land and build a house. If that doesn't work, we will be in a good position to sit tight and wait for a gem of a house.

Nathanael is doing well. The hustle and bustle has messed up his sleeping habits and we are lucky if he goes down before midnight. He has moved into a hold me while I explore my world phase. He can manage to sit up by himself for 20 - 30 secs and is slowly starting to clue in that he can use his arms to keep him from tipping so quickly. He reaches for anything in his view, and unfortunately has figured out that if he leans forward, things get closer. This makes eating with him on my lap a greater challenge. He is becoming very fond of certain songs, some that when sung can change his disposition instantly. He also smiles and giggles when he hears that theme song to Hockey Night in Canada. (I now know that I started him right)

Two sets of pictures and some other shots. This first set is what we have title “Learning to Sit.” Notice that snack break when we was done. The second section Jenn put him on the couch and he got a hold on the camera bag. You can see the results. We also have to progress pictures of the kitchen.

Jon

June 29

New pictures.

May 30

Well its been a busy month. A lot has happened. Grandma (Vicki) came down for a nice visit at the beginning of the month for a few days. Nathanael went on his first trip to Costco and slept through the whole thing while mommy and grandma picked out new sleepers for him. He's growing like crazy, he's already snug in 6 month size clothes.
He went for his 3 month well baby visit at the doctors and he was over 24 inches long and 14lbs, 6 oz. She also said he was teething much to our surprise! That explains the drooling up a storm. I (Jenn) was not expecting him to start getting teeth until 6 months or more. He's been up a lot more at night and having longer naps through the day as a result. We've discovered that the only thing he likes to chew on is fingers and frozen washcloths. I guess he's still a little too young to work teething rings on his own just yet. I can see his top two teeth just under the gums, so I guess it won't be too long before his gummy smile is a toothy ear to ear grin.

Saturday May 17 the church hosted a baby shower for us at Julie's. We both had a lovely time. Nathanael had a refreshing nap through part of it. We had lovely nibbles and soup and stews and bread for lunch. Nathanael made out with lots of great new clothes for summer, a few toys and a book too. I had a lovely time with all the ladies, and appreciated the shower very much!

He's started discovering new skills. He can slide himself along by pushing his body along with his feet and he's very proud of himself, though changing him has become more challenging since he likes to show off his new skills. He likes to pull himself forward and sit forward in his chair and his car seat. He has discovered that he has feet and toes and quite regularly grabs a hold of them and plays with them. He's getting better at tummy time and really enjoys his toys. He reaches for whatever your holding if you bring it close to him, and enjoys going for walks and looking at trees.

May 27

Not sure what to say.

We will start with sorry that its been so long, but there are new pictures!

What a wonderful month we have had. It is amazing to watch him slowly discover new tricks and facts about life. He now loves toys, grasps and hold objects, tracks very well, can find voices in a room, smiles at me when I come home from work, smiles at the hint of a bum change or food, has teeth coming,... and the best thing he has learned... he can occaisionally put himself back to sleep... without getting so upset he wakes the whole house.

My new boss does not afford me much time to update the site, but both Jenn and I want to write down all the wonderful things he is learning or doing. Hopefully we will get a chance in the very near future.

Jon

April 29, 9:00 am

We are sad to say good bye to a great grandmother this morning. Today and tomorrow will be a chance to say goodbye and celebrate a life well lived. (and the extended family get to see me)

We have thinned down some of the pictures, but there are 9 new ones.

Jon

April 15, 9:30 pm

6 new pictures.

April 6, 3:00 pm

Hello again, and sorry to those who faithfully watch the page. With Easter's visiting, I learned just how many of you follow this page and look forward to pictures. While I don't have any pictures ready presently, I promise I will try and get some up soon, and that I will also try to put a little update up every week or two.

I find it amazing how “little” people (like him) get so excited when they meet other “little” people. He was very happy to meet his cousin 'Elly' the week before Easter, the other little guys at church and the odd baby while shopping.

He has found something better then the lights at home depot; womens' summer time fashions – very nice colours. I'm content to give him this fad because it makes it much easier to entertain when mommy is shopping, and I have faith that he can be won back to home depot once he gets into power tools.

He has turned out to be a fairly chipper smiley baby until the evening (usually after supper), so I really enjoy the weekends with him. He was so depressed with the Maple Leafs performance that he cried through the third period. He is not old enough to be consoled by the “there is always next season” theory. Now we have to pick a team to cheer for through the playoffs.

We learned he can pull mommy out of a crowd at 25ft. I don't think they know what they are talking about when the say infants can only see 4 feet. He starting to point and grab more consistently. He is usually wide eyed in any new situation he finds himself in, and gets cranky if you limit his view. He loves being out doors and loves trees. Just wait till they get leaves? He also says the the sun is bright.

Both Jenn and I are good and tired. He sleeps well at night, but we are both still trying to get over the cold that ran through our house. The wonderful thing about Nathanael is that he sleeps more when not feeling well.

All for now,

Jon

March 10, 6:00 pm

Shame on me, 2 weeks. But time is short, so I don't feel too bad.

5 new pictures.

What a two weeks. We were depressed when he was dethroned from a loft his heaviest baby perch on the welcome board at our midwives. Yet, we are still proud of his 5 week run. We have also cleared the weight gain concerns, as he is back to his ounce per day habits.

He has started grasping for items. Then he quit. He has settled into a fairly regular sleep routine – he hates sleep. Sorry, he sleeps through the night with a snack inserted at his leisure. Through the day, though, he is hit and miss; some days hold nice long naps, other short naps and some result in a cranky over tired baby. His feeding is going much better. Jenn has strategies to minimize his gaseousness and they are working well. We are back to our wonderful happy little guy again.

He is already outgrowing some of his smaller 3-6 month range clothing.

We have had him out to church regularly and some shopping. He has decided that he likes it all except groceries.

Jenn still gets tired, but is slowly returning to herself. We now meal plan and cook together again.

Not much gets done beyond cooking, laundry, sleep and work. Close friends of ours are moving and we have been spending weekends helping them get their house ready for market. As Jenn mentioned yesterday - “Why is it he can sleep through a brad nailer putting up trim, but a mouse click wakes him up?”

Jon

Its a .... (Feb 2, 08)

Nathanael Clark Aukema

We are now home from the hospital (as of Friday evening). Nathanael gave us a chance to sleep last night – about 10 hours with 5 interruptions. Much better then what we were getting in the hospital.

Jenn is looking much better with some sleep and peace and starting to feel like a person again (her words). She is fairly tender and doesn't have a whole lot of steam, but is up and moving about for exercise. Don't worry, I don't let her do any house work. I did get a chance to get the labour mess cleaned up, us unpacked and the house looking like our home again (That means cleaning up, not dirtying – I know some of you are thinking it!)

Nathanael loves colours and to be carried around the house while I work. He loves feeding more.

I am starting to feel human again too. We are very happy to be home.

We would like to keep visitors to a minimum for now so Jenn can rest, be healed and regain her steam.

Pray for restoration for Jenn. Pray Nathanael develops good and strong feeding habits. Our last nurse got called into work for someone else – she was absolutely fabulous!

I will put up a small gallery once I get a chance.

Thanks

Jon