Giggles

I love baby giggles. There's just nothing quite as sweet sounding. I finally captured Hannah giggling away. She thinks Mumma is pretty funny :-)

Day trip

Since we've been traveling so much this summer, we really haven't had the opportunity to take many local road trips. Hannah and I got home yesterday from our great-grandparent tour, so we finally had a Sunday free. We decided to take advantage of the time and the beautiful weather and hit the road.

The road led us to Saugatuck. As our luck would have it, this weekend turned out to be a great time to visit as they were having their annual Taste of Saugatuck event. It was similar to the Taste of GR that we attended earlier this summer, only they had the vendors set-up on a portion of the main street (which was such down for the event). There were so many great choices it was hard to decide. We ended up getting bbq ribs, crab cakes, salmon and couscous salad, chips and salsa, caramel corn, blueberry buckel and washed it down with sangria. Oh, it was fabulous! It was such a perfect day for it, too - blue skies, slight breeze, mid-70's. Just beautiful!


The salmon with couscous salad was awesome!

Jason dreaming...

Look out - her first driving lesson!

After we feasted, window shopped, and strolled the boardwalk, we drove over to Douglas. The S. S. Keewatin Museum caught Jason's eye. It's basically an old Great Lakes passenger liner that they've docked and restored and now turned into a museum. Since I work in Douglas one day a week, I pass it regularly, and quite honestly have never had any interest in it. However, anything that floats excites Jason, so he convinced me that we needed to go on the tour. I was a little nervous about how Hannah would do, but she was great. It really is a beautiful boat, and now I can cross it off of my of my things-to-do-once-in-my-lifetime list :-)

Hannah and Mumma on board the S.S. Keewatin

The Great-Grandparent Tour

Between Jason and I, we have 3 full sets of grandparents still alive, which gives Hannah 6 great-grandparents! Growing up, I had one set of great-grandparents until I was into my teens. They meant so much to me, so it's important to us that Hannah form some special memories of her great-grandparents as well. Unfortunately, they all live on the other side of the state, so we don't get to see them very often. Since it had been awhile since she'd seen any of them, I decided to take her over to do a whirlwind tour on my day off.

Our first stop was at my Grandma and Grandpa Cramer's house in Birch Run. Not only did we see them, but also my Aunt Tina, her two children (Haley and John), my Uncle Tom, and my brother Todd. She definitely got a lot of attention. Unfortunately, after riding in the car for over 2 hours, Hannah was not in the best mood. Thankfully everybody understood.


Hannah with cousin Haley

From there, we went to Frankenmuth to see my Grandma and Grandpa Oberholtzer. Of course, Hannah got a very warm welcome there as well. She even got some one-on-one grandma time as I took a short ride with my grandpa.


Hanging out with Great-Grandma O

On the way to our next stop, we made a quick detour and stopped and saw our good friend Julie and Richard. Julie is basically a second mom to me, so I was really happy that we were able to visit for a little bit. Although Julie doesn't have any grandchildren of her own yet, she definitely has the grandma touch. After spending almost a full day without a nap, she put Hannah right to sleep!

We ended the day at Jason's parents' house in Owosso. By the time we got there, Hannah had had it for the day. She only lasted about an hour before I put her to bed. For all of the activity, though, she did great.

The next morning, Hannah got in some grandma and grandpa Davis time. We even went to the farmers' market where we ran into several people that Grandma Davis knew (and could show Hannah off!). Before leaving, we made a visit to Jason's Grandma and Grandpa Ocedek. They sent us home with the fruits of their garden's harvest - lots of tomatoes and cucumbers. Yum!


A big smile for Great-Grandma Ocedek


Rocking with Great-Grandpa Ocedek

It was definitely a quick couple of days, but all-in-all it went very well. We're so thankful that we have so much family who loves and cares for us. Hopefully we'll see them all again soon.

Strollin'

Normally, our nightly ritual includes taking an after dinner walk around our nighborhood. This is something Jason and I have done for a long time, so it's only natural to do it now with Hannah. She loves to ride in the stroller. Plus, it's a great way to relax her before bed. The stroller we have is part of a travel system, so her carrier snaps right into it. However, we figure that since she's a little bit older, it would be nice for her to be able to look out, so we've been putting her right into the stoller minus the carrier. She looks so tiny in it, but she does really well. She loves looking out. Not only that, but she stretches her legs out and puts her feet up on the "dash", just like Mumma :-)

Forget sucking the thumb...

...when you can suck on your toes instead!



Yes, she has found her feet, and she's been putting them in her mouth ever since.

5 months old!

Yes, our baby turned 5 months old last Thursday (8/14). I swear every month flies by more quickly than the last. She certainly is becoming a big girl. Here's what she's been up to:

*Loves faces (and hair!). She's particularly interested in grabbing the mouth or the nose.

*Rolls regularly- at least from her stomach to her back. She isn't on her stomach for more than a few seconds before rolling over.

*Now sleeps on her side.

*Spent her first full day alone with daddy. They both did very well!

*Starting to notice JJ. I think they will be great friends.

*Has such blue eyes that I think they're going to stay that color.

*Chatters all the time. She must have a lot to say!

*Spontaneously bursts out laughing at us. We must be pretty funny :-)

We've been so blessed with this little life. People have told us that we've "done good" with creating this little person, but really all of the glory has to go to God. He has given us this precious gift who we love more than life itself. We just hope that we can bring him honor by raising her in a way that is pleasing to Him. What a privilege it is to be her parents!

Grandma (and a little bit of Grandpa) Time

Jason's parents came over from Owosso to spend the day with us. Although we love Grand Rapids, we do miss our families who live on the other side of the state. Whenever either set of grandparents can make it over to visit, we jump at the chance. We feel very blessed to have 2 sets of grandparents and 3 sets of great-grandparents for Hannah to love.



Off the topic for a minute - does anybody else feel like these last few days fall has been setting in?? It's way too early for this! We were out on the deck the majority of the day, and I was actually chilly. Where did our 80-degree temperatures go?? I love the cool nights, but not in August! Ok, rant over...

Anyway, Jason's dad had a birthday last weekend, so we surprised him with a mini-celebration with cake and ice cream. I won't give away his age here, but I will say that we put 5 candles on the cake to represent the 5 (+) decades that he's lived thus far!



Jason's dad and JJ have a special "bond". Whenever they come over, JJ gets extra attention, with plenty of fetch and walks. Although they didn't have time to squeeze in a walk today, a few rounds of catch with JJ's duck made it onto the agenda. I think JJ was disappointed that he coudn't hop in the Cadillac and head to Owosso with them when they left today. Maybe someday, bud :-)

New and old

This past week went by way too quickly. Sometimes I just don't know where the time goes. I think we've hit the teething stage, so Hannah's been a bit more needy than normal. Lots of drooling and poopy diapers going on here! Hopefully we see something pop through very soon.

Since we were actually home this weekend, we decided to take a drive down to Holland this afternoon for their downtown sidewalk sales. I thought the stores might just have a few things out on the sidewalks, but was I wrong. They actually close off the street and have tents set-up all through downtown. It was really quite impressive. There is an adorable baby boutique that I really could have spent some cash at, but I was good. I am still kicking myself for not buying Hannah a pair of Pedipeds at 20% off, though! Oh well.


Hannah and Daddy enjoying the sales

Last weekend, we brought Hannah's new exersaucer (courtesy of my parents' awesome neighbor!) home with us. She's been loving it! It's amazing how well she can actually stand and spin in it. What a great toy!



Jason and I have been looking at buying a new dining room table for quite sometime. The table we had was Jason's from his bachelor days. It was in great condition, but the glass tabletop and super heavy chairs were just not practical for us anymore. This week, he decided to list our table on e-bay and sold it in a day! So, last night Jason picked up our new table and chairs and the buyer came and got our old table today. After we got home from Holland, Jason spent the majority of the evening putting together our new set. None of it came assembled, so it was quite a project, but he did a fantastic job. What a great husband I have! It's now in our dining room, and we absolutely love it! It's a bit smaller than our previous table, which is what we were looking for. We think it's a perfect fit.





Finally, my mom gave Hannah a dress that she had worn as a baby (not sure if I wore it or not??). It's adorable! So classic. I hope to take very good care of it so hopefully someday Hannah can pass it down to her daughter. Such a special family momento.

Weekend up north

With all of the beautiful weather we've been having, Jason and I have both been itching to get up north to the Higgins Lake. The whole Oberholtzer crew was up on Friday, including Great-Grandma and Grandpa O!


When we go up to the cottage, it is dog central. My parents graciously adopted my yellow lab, Abby, several years ago. My brother Todd and his wife Courtney have Molly, a beagle-something mix, and of course, we bring JJ. Thankfully, we are all dog people and don't mind the chaos. Although we don't give JJ "people food", he's learned to beg with the other 2!



My parents' neighbor has 2 children a bit older than Hannah. This summer, she's given us so many nice baby things to us. This past week, she gave my mom not one but two exersaucers!! I have been looking for a good used one for awhile, and these are absolutely perfect. Hannah loves them!


We found out Thursday night that our good friends Aubrey and Brian (the two who originally set us up!) actually had a weekend available, so we were lucky enough to have them come up from the Detroit area to spend Saturday and Sunday with us. We always have so much fun with them! This was the first time that Brian had met Hannah. They both look like naturals to me :-)



We spent all day Saturday on my parents' boat. It was pretty windy and the water was pretty rough, so we stayed docked for the day. That just gave JJ more opportunities to play fetch off the dock (actually, he's a big chicken and won't jump off the dock, but we did finally convince him to go down the steps). What could be better than his two favorite things - fetch and the lake!?!



My Aunt Lynn gave us a little baby tent cabana when Hannah was first born, but we hadn't had a chance to use it unti this weekend. It worked out great! Hannah was so comfy in it that she took a few good naps lying in it on the boat.



Unfortunately, Hannah just wasn't herself by late Saturday afternoon. We're not sure if she had a touch of something or if she's starting to cut teeth. She was just very lethargic and a little warm. When we got back from the boat, she and Daddy took a nap together.



Sunday was absolutely gorgeous! Early in the morning, the lake was like glass, so Aubrey, Brian, and Jason took his boat out for a spin (unfortunately, I didn't get a picture :-( ). I met them, with my parents, down at the dock after I had fed Hannah. Since the water was so beautiful, we actually took the pontoon off the hoist and anchored a little ways' out. All of us, except Hannah and my mom, went in for a swim - some more voluntarily than others (Brian!). Higgins Lake is just a gorgeous, spring-fed lake. It's just crystal clear, but also a bit chilly. Let's just say our swim was very refreshing :-) Once you were in for a minute, the water really did feel good.




We just couldn't have asked for a better weekend!



Please, no pictures!


Life is good!