First Graham Cracker's

YUM.

Both Brecken and Joelle approved.

Bruisers

Adelyn wanted to hold Brecken and Joelle.  I don't really think Joelle was in the mood to be held...

Take that!

I think these two cuties are starting to look more and more alike :)

Brecken crawled into the table leg the other day.  This picture totally doesn't do it any justice but he had a long bruise line down the middle of his forehead.  When he did it it was huge and BLACK.  It was crazy.  He is going to end up costing us a lot of money in ER bills.. 

Hudsonville Fair

I decided to go to the fair in the morning with the kids and my mom so Eric could get some yard work done in peace.  We had a blast (again!) Adelyn LOVES the rides and has so much fun.  Makes me happy.  Her favorite ride was the huge slide.  We didn't get any pictures of that because that was the ride I went on with her.  We went on it 4 or 5 times!

She was terrified of petting the horse and wouldn't but would stick her hands in the goat pens and pet the goats.  Silly girl.

She loved watching them milk the goats..

 We had a blast at the fair..and Eric had a blast mowing the lawn ;)

Pretty, sleepy, baby girl

Such a sweet picture of Joelle.  She had been screaming like crazy and refusing to nurse so we just rocked and watched Bachelor Pad.  I think she found Chris Harrison a little boring..

Love her little lips!

That boy..

...is full of it.  I caught him crawling around with this little terd hanging out of the top of his shorts.  Needless to say, I had to get a picture!  He poops more than anyone I know..just in case anyone wondered.

Michigan's Adventure

Eric's work picnic was yesterday at Michigan's Adventure.  Pretty sweet place for a work picnic if you ask me!  I asked my mom to watch Brecken and Joelle so we could actually enjoy ourselves and she did :)  The weather was supposed to be rainy but the only time it rained down-poured was right when we got there and we had to run to the other side of the park to get to the catering section.  One of the guys Eric works with brought his grandson, Ryan, and Adelyn rode quite a few rides with him.  Adelyn had a blast and kept saying "see ya next year!" the whole ride back.

The boat ride.  Pure love for Adelyn:: boat+water=love.

This fellow looked like he was having a blast..

"The elephant."  They had a lever you could control going up and down with ("flying") and Adelyn would pull and release it and pull and release..resulting in a very funny looking ride.

The airplane.

 Pretty baby and me on the train ride through the park.  One of the only rides Eric would venture on.

The De-Bop ride.  We waited forever and it wasn't a very long ride.  Adelyn, however, enjoyed it because she got to drive ;)  I think my expression says it all..

Cracks.me.up.  We saw Adelyn kiss Ryan (more than once) and then Ryan rubbed his cheek for probably half the ride.  When Neal went to get them after the ride he said to Ryan "Did Adelyn kiss you?"  He said "No! She spit on me!"  HAHAHA

Multiple pictures of this ride::I had to justify the horrific-ness of it.  We wonder why everybody's back in America is in need of repair.  This ride is the explanation for it all.  It was the worst.ride.ever.  Super jerk-y, you were really cramped in the seat and relatively fast.  My back hasn't hurt in a while (probably the longest time I have had it not hurt in a while..) and now it's killing me again.  Awesome.

Notice my hair flying behind me..that's how fast we were going.

The whale ride.  Also another horrible ride for your back.  Funny story, however.  The whale's have a horrible button that you can press and it emits an awful sound.  That lovely lady in front of us was getting really mad at her kids for pushing it; yelling at them and flicking the back of their heads when they did it.  I made sure I pushed the button for at least half the ride.  I had a headache afterwards but had an evil sense of satisfaction that hers was probably worse.

The wave pool.  Eric took Adelyn in it while I rode some tube rides and said she thought it was ok.

She loved going down this slide by herself.  She loved all the rides!

Somebody (ahem, Eric) left the camera on manual and then took these pictures without realizing he left it on manual so excuse the blurriness.  Thankfully I realized it right away so these ones are the only ones that are blurry..

Keep your sticky mess away from me ;)

On the fire truck.  She has been wanting to ride the fire truck and it was finally free right before we were going to leave.

We rode the ferris wheel at the end (probably the only ride, except for the spinning tea cups, that I am absolutely terrified of).  We wanted Adelyn to ride on it, though, and managed to get a picture of the three of us.

Does not justify my terror..

I think you can get a feel for Eric's terror though..

All in all we had a blast!  Can't wait to do it again!!

B and J::8 Months

Love, love, love these two precious little babies.  Some days I look at them and think it is so crazy that I was blessed with them.  They are so much fun right now and I love that their little personalities are showing more and more.

Brecken::

-weigh 19lbs

-wear 9 month and 6-12 month clothes

-size 3 diaper during the day and a 4 at night

-nurse 3 times, eat meals 3 times

-take 2 naps

-you are (finally!) sleeping 11ish hours.  the final thing I tried was putting a pillow under your mattress and the night after I did that you slept through the night.  I think you might have reflux but I'll wait until your 9 month appointment to discuss it with your doctor.  you have been sleeping consistently for about 3 weeks now.

-you are crawling!  as of 2 days ago.

-love to get into adelyn's things.  now that you can move it's worse..

-such a happy boy but when you want something everybody knows!

-you are constantly on the go..constantly.  when I nurse you, you are always wiggling or pulling your ears or your hair.  you always kick your legs.

-the day you started crawling you started trying to pull up on things.  you are going to be an early walker.

-i tell daddy that we are going to have to take out extra medical insurance for you..i can tell already that you are going to be the one we end up with in the e.r. all the time.

-you love to torment your sisters

-love to eat! you just shovel cheerios in your mouth and you gobble your food right up.  you are also our pickiest.  the way you wrinkle your face if something is even the slightest bit different is so cute.  it makes me laugh every time

-you think adelyn is hilarious.  she can get you to laugh the easiest

-now that you can crawl, if i'm on the floor with you, you are constantly trying to pull yourself into my lap

Adelyn at 8 months

Joelle::

-weigh 19.4lbs

-wear 9 month and 6-12 month clothes

-wear a size 3 diaper during the day and a 4 at night

-sleep 11ish hours.  i feel bad for you, 5ish mornings out of 7 i have to wake you up because brecken has already been awake for 1/2 an hour and if i let you sleep much longer you both would not be on the same schedule for the day..that does not work

-take 2 naps

-nurse 3 times, eat meals 3 times

-get up on all fours to crawl but then you just do a pushup instead.  you roll around and push yourself backwards on your belly though

-you love to mimic sounds. you will say da-da-da after me or click your tongue/smack your lips

-you love it when you start a sound and somebody does it after you

-you are a very vocal individual.  with happy sounds and sad ;)

-love your paci

-love to cuddle with your blankie

-you now let momma, daddy, nana, papa and auntie rach hold you 

-when you wake up somebody has to hold you for a couple minutes before you can play on the floor otherwise you have a heart attack

-you love to eat!  with that being said you are the most meticulous eater i know.  you will only eat one cheerio at a time and you usually put it in your mouth with just your pincher grasp and chew and chew until it's gone.  you love all the foods i have tried with you.  you are the only one of our kids that has a "stop" button when it comes to eating.

-love to be snuggled tightly

-are so, so dramatic

-still have the biggest smile

-have the cutest giggles

It has become somewhat hard to take a picture of the two of them together when one is on the move..I can't imagine what it's going to be like with two on the move..

I'm outta here..this chair is much cooler.

Such a big boy

The only half-way decent picture I got of the two of them ;)

 

Just a day in my life..

Warning:  This is not exactly a happy day in my life..just an FYI.  I wanted to document all that has happened so far today because I want to remember it and hopefully, someday, Adelyn, Brecken and Joelle will look back and thank me for my hard work (and for not going insane).  Some days, I should actually say hours, I wish I could go to work.  Most days I would not trade my life for anything.  This morning started at 6am.  Not to unheard of but still, nobody likes to wake up at 6.  Brecken generally wakes up around 6:30 and comes to bed with me until he gets to fussy and then I feed him.  I have found if I try to put him back to sleep upstairs (just in the mornings otherwise she sleeps on through..) Joelle wakes up, every time.  I think it's because it's so close to when she wakes up that she is in a very light sleep.  I start feeding him around 6:30 and when he's done I play with him and cuddle with him for a little bit.  Adelyn and Joelle both woke up at 7..yippee.  I hate it when Adelyn gets up early in the morning (if she woke up at 7:30 every day I would be elated).  She's very needy, cartoons, milk, bathroom runs, clothes on, where's my toys, etc; not necessarily in that order.  I cleaned up 3 nasty poopie diapers before 9.  Adelyn was coloring with her markers and peed all over the chair (they are covered).   Brecken started crawling everywhere today.  I hadn't vacuumed so he was scavenging all kinds of things.  I go to put them down for their nap and Jojo wouldn't go to sleep (I had Mexican last night and I'm positive that had to deal with her horrible mood).  I tried twice and she woke up twice so I finally brought her downstairs and she fell asleep while cuddling with Adelyn and me.  Brecken and Joelle both woke up crying and crabby so I nursed them early.  I kept stepping in random piles of spit-up on the carpet (remember the Mexican?)..we wonder why our house smells bad..  We ate lunch early and then right after I made dinner (took me all of 10 minutes)  Right when I was finishing up with that Adelyn peed all over the bathroom and my bedroom floor.  Since I am no longer in sight and they are tired (I'm cleaning up pee, remember)  Brecken and Joelle are screaming.  I take Adelyn upstairs for her nap and tell her that I'm sorry but I can't read to her today..sad.  Alas, I had forgotten her blankies downstairs (because she had flipped out earlier when I brought Joelle down in her blanket, so Adelyn needed hers) so now I have to go parade in front of the screaming children again just to walk away.  I put Adelyn in bed and she freaks out because she doesn't have pants on.  Mind you I have been putting her down in just a shirt and a pull-up for about 2 weeks now..  She's finally all set in bed.  I get Brecken, because he's wailing the loudest, and put him down.  While upstairs I hear Joelle starting to really get upset.  I go downstairs to find her munching on a salsa sunchip.  Sigh.  She's asleep (and went down easily).

Mind you it's not all bad.  My days like these are, generally, interspersed with a couple giggles.  When I had put Joelle down for her first nap and I let her fuss upstairs for a little bit I was holding Adelyn and she was incredibly whiny.  After a little while I said "Hop down, please.  I have to go get Jojo."  She said "no."  I said "Jojo is very sad."  She yelled "I'm bery sad too!"  I laughed.  She then saw a fly go by and said "I get down, I get fly."  

At lunch time she laughed and said "Pepper teeth, Mommy."  You know you have lots of pepper in your teeth when your 2-year-old sees it.

She also leaned over and gave me a random hug and kiss.

A view of said nasty floor.  I swept yesterday morning..and this is what it looked like after lunchtime today.

Most parents can probably relate to this one..Eric refers to it as a toy tornado.  I say it looks like someone farted toys.

A trip to the blueberry patch (to buy not to pick), homemade strawberry ice-cream in the fridge (waiting to be churned), pork loin in the oven and my cousin bringing (fresh! organic!) eggs tonight should ensure a good remainder of my day.

Alas..Adelyn is currently wailing upstairs from her nap.  I also have no clue why the font is smaller in some parts..it looks the same when I edit it so I can't change it. 

John Ball Zoo::S'mores

Earlier this week I had asked Eric to take Friday off so we could go to the zoo.  I have been wanting to go all summer and the weather was PERFECT.  When we told Adelyn we were going this morning she wasn't to excited because she was convinced the animals were going to get her.  We got there a little before 10 with some minor craziness along the way.  Adelyn had her first "I have to go poopies!" while we were driving down the highway so we pull over like crazed maniacs, get her on my new porta-potty and then she tells us "no. i don't."  A mile down the road she says the same thing so we pull over on the Hudsonville off ramp and she proceeds to do the same thing.  Seriously?!?!  The life with a potty-training child.  Eric was slightly extremely frustrated (as was I) and took off before the sliding door was closed (they are automatic).  It didn't/wouldn't close until we stopped (again!).  A couple miles down the highway we laughed about it because Adelyn kept asking to open the door ;)

Adelyn and I looking at the monkeys.

Adelyn petting the goats.

They look like they were caught doing something wrong :)

  

Daddy and Adelyn petting (touching?) the sting rays.

Handsome boy loved sitting in the front seat for the first time

Loved it so much..he chewed on the rope.  Gross.

Pretty Jojo and her big blue eyes.

The petting zoo

 Adelyn loved playing on the train

Adelyn's first s'more of the season..better late than never ;)

Y.U.M.