Hello Everyone! It has been awhile, but here is a new post.

What you are going to see are three sets of pictures.

The first set (4 pics) are from Alex's third birthday party held April 14th. It was a cars movie theme. We even spray painted a track on the grass!

The second set is from a visit from my cousin James, his family and my Grandpa Klein . Grandpa just turned 96 this past May. James just shipped out for a 1 year vacation/tour in sunny Iraq!

The last set is from Easter. Enjoy!

Spring Greetings!

It is unbelievable that April is here and we are coming up on a year since meeting Alex.

Nothing too new here.....

Scott has been working on some moulding for our foyer, which is turning out great. He is also almost done his grad class- Not sure if we mentioned before, but Scott is getting his administrative certificate. I'm still trucking along with work- everyday is an adventure there ;) And, Alex continues to grow and improve with his language. We're now up to some 4 word sentences!

As you all know Easter is quickly approaching. We took Alex on a spring hayride to meet the Easter Bunny. Here's a couple of pictures from that. He didn't know what to think!




I am also including some recent photos-- you'll notice the one with the shiner. Yeah, you should see the other guy! Is he all boy or what?




Hope all is well with everyone else out there. Stay tuned next time for a glimpse at Alex's 3rd birthday EXTRAVAGANZA! It should be a hoot!

Time to update...
Sorry it has been so long everyone. Between school and everything else life throws at us, we just haven't had the time to post.Alex continues to thrive! His vocabulary is building immensely, although we are not using 3+ word sentences yet, we're getting there. And, as for food, he is certainly developing a list of favorites such as: yogurt, hot dogs, mac & cheese, cereal & milk, M&Ms, Cinnamon swirl toast, baked beans, popcorn, milk, chips, and cookies.

As for nuances~
Alex is now sleeping in his big-boy bed. We converted his crib into a double bed with side guards. He loves it and is able to stretch out clockwise in every direction during the night!

We are also starting to delve into potty training. He has been letting Mommy know when he has to go #2 and then off we trail to the potty. Scott now calls me the "Poop Coach," which is one of my MANY titles these days!!!

The snow was a fun time for Alex, as you can see in these pictures. He enjoyed sledding but wasn't too keen on touching the stuff at first. Then, after a few snow ball fights and a face plant while trudging
across the yard; we are good to go!



Lastly, I included Alex's 1st date with his friend, Sofia. The Cupano family came over to hang out and have dinner and these two were inseparable! It was WAY TOO cute! They were dancing together and holding hands- chasing each other around the house calling each other "Ofia" and "Ali"- and then the best part was when they cuddled up on the couch together, pulling down the blanket, and telling us "Night, night."

We'll have to keep an eye on these two in the future!!!!

Well, that's it for now. Thanks to those who continue to express in interest in our little sweetheart! We love hearing from you and appreciate all the love and support you give :)
Until next time~~~~
love,
The Van Voorens

~Happy Holidays~

Well, another month passes with tons of excitement....
The 1st weekend of December found us in Washington D.C. for a tour of the White House all decorated for Christmas! We met family there and stayed the night to view the sites, go to the museums, spend time with each other, and of course, our pre-arranged tour. Alex was so overwhelmed by the White House and all that it stands for, that he fell asleep on Mommy's shoulder about 5 minutes in-- Daddy, was appalled!!!!! Here are some pictures below:








The 2nd weekend of December brought us to my old stomping grounds in Pittsburgh. Scott won an award for his teacher's union website for Penn-Delco. For that, he was invited to come out to the 'burgh, stay at a very nice hotel, and attend the Union House of Delegates meeting for the state. Alex & I tagged along(sorry above pic is so small). It was cool to visit Pitt again and see all the changes; it had been years since my last visit. It was kinda' surreal to be there with Scott and Alex.

On the 3rd weekend, we went out with Poppop,
Maryanne, and Chloe to pick out our Christmas tree. Although there was no snow, we had a great time trudging through the fields together!





In quickly rolled the holiday....we went to visit Santa
(aka- Sansa) and had Alex's picture taken and got to
spend lots of time with family and friends. We spent one day at Grandma & Grandpa VanVooren's.

<-- Here are some shots -->

Christmas Eve was here at our house. It was my first year cooking and hosting the traditional 7-fishes dinner for the family. Of which, I am proud to say, turned out fantastic! The stink in the house, however, not so great. One of Alex's favoriate gifts came from Uncle Matt- Car 54....








The next morning we filmed Alex coming down to see what Santa had brought him. Opening gifts was quite the nuance for Alex, so he took his sweet little time ;) Of course, like any other toddler, he opened one and was set-- we had to keep showing him there were more. He seemed a bit overwhelmed but had no problem jumping right in and playing with all of his new toys. I am sure next year he'll understand more.

Following our morning, we went over to Mommom's house for dinner- By 6PM Alex was laying down in the middle of the kitchen saying "night-night." TOO CUTE!

Happy New Year Everyone!
** Best Wishes for 2007 **

Wow- so it's already November! I can't believe I haven't posted since September. I guess that goes to show how busy life gets with Alex :)

So, I thought I would start with Halloween: Alex was a fuzzy yellow chick for the night,
as you can see here. He willingly put on the gear and really got into going door to door. We worked on saying "trick or treat" all day. Well, his version was more like "t-t-t",
but still.....so when I prompted him at the door, he just smiled, not saying a peep (better luck next year). Actually, I think he liked the knocking part more than getting the candy!



The beginning of November brought equal excitement with Alex being baptized. He was so dapper in his little white tux with tails! All he needed was a white top hat to complete the outfit. Alex was very good during the ceremony- our favorite part was when standing in front of the parish, the Priest said something to the affect of having Christ watch over Alex, and at that moment, Alex points up toward the ceiling, calling out. Honestly, he is just too much! Just above is a family shot of Alex with his mommy, daddy, and grandparents. The other below is one of his godparents- Cousin Melissa & Uncle Matt.

We're now coming up on Thanksgiving, with Christmas closely following behind....hard to believe. So, we are working on a list for Santa and looking forward to all the excitement. I also included some extra pics for everyone to see what a big boy Alex is becoming.

Hope all is well with everyone-
love,
The V's

Hello Everyone! I know it's been a while since our last post. Needless to say, things have

been a tad busy around here.

UPDATES:
At this point, most of you know that I started my new job at the Coatesville Area School Disctrict this past August. I am the new Elementary Spec. Ed. Supervisor. While I was sad to leave Penn-Delco because of friends and some very cool students, this new position allows me to work in the district in which I live, is a 5 minute drive as opposed to 50 minutes, and I am closer to Alex during the day. Each day brings me new adventures and mysteries to solve, so things are great!

Scott is back in school now- he is getting into the swing of things between the schedule and new batch of interesting students. On the home front, he is just finishing up our paver walkway out front. It looks fantastic! <-- Also, a big thank you to Kraig K. for coming out last weekend to help Scott get a jump on the project. We really appreciate it :)

As for the most important person- Alex is wonderful! We decided not to have him attend the day care in Scott's building for various reasons, so he now spends 4 days with Andrea C. and the darling Sophia, out in beautiful, hoppin' Atglen. On Wednesdays he is still receiving his early intervention therapies at home. All of his therapists continue to be amazed with his progress, which, of course, thrills us. He is starting to say a few more words so we are pushing that as much as possible. To us, that seems to be the most important gain- language aquisition.
He is doing great sleeping and the eating has been pretty good as well. Recently we went out and got some new shows. His feet have grown 2 1/2 sizes since May and his height is shooting up! Looking back at pictures from then, I can't believe it is the same child!!! We are blessed :)


PICTURES:
I know several of you have been using the convertible picture as your desktop (myself included), so here are some more for you to view-

The first takes place on race day...Daddy and Alex were watching TV.

The next shot is Alex playing with the grocery cart....mostly he just enjoys chasing Chloe mercilessly with it, so here's a "before" shot!
See the guilty look on that cute face???

Chloe and Alex have this love-hate thing going on.....one minute they are at odds and
then the next minute you have a best friend moment,
as you can see in the pictures below and to your right. There's nothing like a boy and his dog!

~So, I'll leave you with a wave good bye from the King~
Hope all is well with everyone and we send our love to you all!

Hello All,

Just a few pics.

Here is one of Alex in his Grandfathers Convertible Camaro.















This one is of Alex at Ocean City, NJ















Final one, Alex sleeping in the Expedition.















Thanks for looking.

The Van Voorens.