My guy

I finally got a new camera, so I had to try it out on my smiley little guy today. I know I'm biased, but isn't he so handsome?!?

And a few more...

I'm so in love!

3 months old

I've been absent from blogging lately because both of the cameras that I've been using have now officially died. I'm hoping to get a new one very soon, but until then you'll have to use your imagination!

Jack is three months old today. I know I say this every time, but the days are just flying by. Our little guy is becoming a big boy before our very eyes. Here's what Jack is up to:

*He is a smiley, smiley guy. All you have to do is talk to him and he gets a HUGE grin on his face.

*He thinks that clapping his hands is pretty funny and almost always gets a laugh out of him.

*He's a thumb sucker, especially when he's getting tired.

*He's recently discovered his feet. He likes to grab for them for entertainment.

*He's grasping for toys, particularly the ones that we hang on his car seat.

*His eyes seem to change color daily. Some days they're a dark, dark blue with some brown in the middle. Other days, they're more green with some brown.

*He likes to sleep on his side.

*He's getting into a pretty good routine:
-Wake and eat between 6 and 7
-Nap around 8:30
-Wake and eat about 10:30
-Nap around noon
-Wake and eat at 2:00
-Nap around 3:30
-Wake and eat about 5:00
-Cat nap sometime in the evening
-Eat and bed between 7:30 and 8
-Dream feed around 10:00
Sometimes he'll wake up and fuss a little bit around 4:30 a.m., but he usually goes back to sleep on his own.

*He's wearing 3-6 month and 6 month clothes. I've already put quite a few outfits away :-(

*He likes to sleep on his side with his arm over his head.

We just couldn't be happier having this little boy in our lives. He brings so much joy to our family. We're so blessed.

Fun at the Lake

The same weekend that Jason and I went to Hessel, we also spent time at my parents' cottage for the weekend. My brother, sister-in-law, and niece were also up, so we had a fun time hanging out with them.


Grandpa Cramer keeping Kara and Jack happy.


Jason, Hannah, and I were going to go for a boat ride on Sunday morning, but the lake was too rough, so we opted for the playground instead. Hannah went down the slide over and over and over!


It was actually a pretty fast slide, so thankfully Daddy was there to catch her at the bottom.

We also went "swimming" in the lake. The water was actually fairly warm for Higgins Lake anyway.

While we were at the beach, Hannah made friends with another little girl. She was nice enough to share her beach toys with Hannah, and that was all it took.

Of course, what would a trip up north be without ice cream? My mom and I had taken Hannah to get ice cream a few weeks before and were pretty laid back about how messy she got. However, Grandpa and Daddy were a bit more stressed about the stickiness.

Kiddie cone with sprinkles!

This is summer!

(Woody) Boaters' Paradise

A couple of weekends ago, Jason and I had the opportunity to sneak away for an entire day to check out a boat show that he'd been dying to attend in Hessel, east of St. Ignace. It was a beautiful day to be on the water. In fact, I think Jason was wishing he'd brought his boat because the lake was like glass, absolutely perfect for boating!

Jason was in seventh heaven, looking at all of the beautiful boats.

We even found our future boat :-) (A LONG ways off!)

Even though I'm definitely not the boater in the family, I must admit that there were some gorgeous boats at this show.

Honestly, though, I just enjoyed spending an entire day alone with my husband! It felt so strange to not be pushing a stroller or carrying a diaper bag. We really needed the time away. Thanks so much to my parents who took great care of the kids while we were gone, even if Jack didn't want to cooperate with bottle feeding!

On our way home, we stopped in Mackinaw City for dinner and some nice cold beer. After walking around in the hot sun all day, it tasted great!

Mmmm....Oberon! Summer in a glass :-)

29 Months Old

Oh my goodness, Hannah is nearly 2 1/2 years old. This summer it seems like she's really grown up. Perhaps having a sibling has something to do with it. She is a joy and a challenge all at the same time. Here's what she's been up to:

*She is pretty well into 2T clothes, although she can still wear some 18 month shorts or pants.

*She continues her fascination with my feeding Jack. Recently, I was pumping when Hannah came into the room. She was totally intrigued with what I was doing. After I was done and had put it away, she pulled it out, pulled her shirt up, put them up to her belly button, and told me she was making milk for her baby!

*She loves to sing. Lately, her favorites are Sunny Day (Sesame Street), Jesus Loves Me, and of course Christmas Comes to Town. She also likes to dance. She does this crazy slow motion wave with her body while moving her arms up and down. She particularly likes to do this on top of our laundry basket turned upside down. I'll have to catch it on video someday.

*She continues her Polar Express kick; however, for our sanity, Jason recently bought her Toy Story, which she really seems to like. She asks to either watch "Bug" (Buzz) or "Toy Sawy".

*We're still working on counting. She seems to have something against the number 4. She will count 1-2-3-5-6 but usually neglects the 4.

*She is pushing her limits more and more. We've had to start implementing time-outs more regularly. We're definitely learning that consistency is the key. At least she knows we mean business.

*She can open all of our inside doors and our sliding glass door. Thankfully we have a lock that you have to step on that's pretty hard to release or else she'd probably go outside on her own.

*She still loves to talk on my phone, only now she actually likes to talk on it as opposed to her only pushing buttons as before. Lately, she's also gotten into carrying it around in her pocket. In fact, my parents called one day while I was vacuuming. I didn't hear it ring, but they told me that Hannah answered loud and clear. She would pull it out of her pocket, open it up, and yell "Hi Papa!" and then hang up. They said they called 5 times with her answering that way every time. (Thankfully, it was actually "Papa" and not someone else!) I finally caught her doing it on their 5th call. They were almost ready to call Jason to see if I was ok! Needless to say, I've changed the answer setting on my phone so that I now have to hit the send button to answer calls instead of just opening it up.

For all of the challenges that come with raising a 2-year old, there are so many more rewards. We love her so much and are so thankful for the blessing of being her parents.

Favorites

What we love about summer...


Feeding the ducks


Stir-fry shish kabobs


Boating (Jason's and Hannah's favorite anyway)

Drinking water straight from the hose

Sucking on posicles

Sharing them with the dog

Napping

Savoring moments with our kids

Beautiful Sunday

We've been blessed with such beautiful weather this summer. Sunday was no exception. We once again took advantage of the perfect day and headed out to Grand Haven after church.



For the first time ever, we all tried a West Michigan tradition and enjoyed Pronto Pups for lunch (breaded, fried hot dog on a stick).

Hannah loved it!


Jason diggin his pup, too!


There just so happened to also be a car show in town, so of course we had to check it out.

Jason and Hannah had fun checking out the firetruck, too!