happy halloween

Louie, Elizabeth, Barrett, Lauren, and Raina

Trick-or-treating at Great Grandma's

My new hair cut

The side view

my peas are growing....

Halloween is right around the corner, so I thought I'd give their costumes a try. Do I need to even give it words...they are too cute. Anyway, the girls had their 6 month dr. appointment today and they are both doing well. Raina weighed in at 17 lbs 3 oz. and Lauren weighed in at 18 lbs. 4 oz. Both of these are right in the averages. They did get a lot of immunizations today and they go back for round 2 of the flu vaccine in a month. Raina will also need to be checked again at that time for her head manipulation stuff. Overall the girls are growing well!

UM/MSU weekend

Lauren giving a big beautiful smile

Raina showing off her dimples and pearly whites

Barrett would not smile....this is the closest I got

Lauren was coughing and Raina kept wiggling...Barrett was Mr. Cool...too funny

This past weekend was busy, but fun like always. Friday night Barrett was invited to go trick-or-treating with Kim (and Sheryl and Jenny) to the head office of the company Kim works for. From the sounds of it, he had a great time. He came home with lots of candy, too! Then Saturday we dropped the kids off with Sheryl and headed down to Whitemore Lake (we stopped at a multiples garage sale on the way....way too much fun!) to watch the big game. Click here for pictures. Ben went to the game (with Jeff) and I stayed back to watch the game at my sister's. The game did not end the way we wanted it to but it was a fun afternoon all the same. Sunday we just hung out at home, did laundry and watched football. It was nice relaxing end to the weekend.

at home

Barrett wanted to be like his sisters, so he climbed in this all on his own

Raina showing off her two front teeth

Blurry, but oh so cute

camo, animals, and boos

Raina and Lauren in their camo pants

Hanzel and Gretel

Barrett loved the fish

My little ghost and pumpkin

Friday night Ben and I had a halloween party to go to. Patrick G. turned 30 so his wife decided to throw him a birthday/halloween party. It was fun. We dressed up as Hanzel and Gretel (old costumes that we revived...actually the Hanzel outfit came from his Uncle Bernie and are real liederhosen). There were many old faces at the party that I haven't seen since I or they were in high school. Crazy. We did call it a night early though because Ben and I both had busy days the next day. Ben was off to watch the Spartans and I was headed to the zoo.

Saturday I met up with Sheryl and we headed to Grand Rapids to go to John Ball Zoo. There we met up with Sue, Diana, Amanda and her kids (we picked up Dewey on the way, too). John Ball Zoo was doing their annual halloween activity called Boo at the Zoo (or is it, the zoo goes boo?!?...not sure). Check out a few pics here. My kids just had their tee-shirts, but almost all the kids there were decked on in their adorable halloween costumes. Louie was a clown and Elizabeth was a ladybug...too cute. It was so much fun (and the weather couldn't have been more beautiful) to see all the animals and the cute costumes. There were even a few places where they were handing out candy and doing crafts and other fun things for the kids. It will be even more fun when the kids are a little bit older and they can fully appreciate all of the things the zoo had to offer. After the zoo, we went a grabbed a bite to eat. Dewey had to work, but Katie was just getting off of work, so we switched girls and headed over to the mall. Sue, Diana, and Amanda and kids headed for home, but we stayed and did some shopping. The kids were amazing all day and only fussed a few times. We didn't get home until 9 or so. It was almost 12 straight hours of out and about time. Whew! It was so much fun though.

Girls are 6 months old!

The girls turned six months old last Saturday. On the exact day, Raina cut her first teeth. Both of her two bottom teeth poked right through! Very exciting. Lauren's still waiting for hers, though. Here are their stats:

Raina~
::Loves to roll, but sometimes gets frustrated and gives up rolling back over (she can do it, but just gets mad)
::She suck her two middle fingers on either hand, whatever one suits her at the time (some people like to say it's the rock star look)
::She weighs 16 lbs.
::She loves to giggle and smile, but it takes her some warming up to you first
::Her hair is starting to come in more and more all the time
::She eats about 6 oz. every 3-4 hours and one small solid food meal a day
::She sleeps off and on throughout the day and then sleeps from about 9 pm until 6:30 am (we have to wake her up to go to work...She'll sleep until about 7:30am if not woken)
::She is my little wiggler and loves to jump and kick and move
::She makes every day so much better!!!

Lauren~
::She rolls and rolls and rolls. She absolutely loves to roll all around the room
::She gives the biggest smiles
::She weighs around 17 lbs.
::She eats 6-8oz about every 3 hours. She definitely lets you know when she is hungry...don't mess with this child when she is hungry!
::She sleeps off and on throughout the day and sleeps through the night like Raina
::She doesn't really suck any thumbs or fingers, but occasionally puts them in her mouth to chew on (I think its the whole teething thing)
::Loves the exersaucer and all the toys on it and even making it jump and jump
::She makes me so happy and every day is wonderful because of her

Both girls light up when their brother comes near. They smile and crack up just when he is in the room. Barrett gives them the best kisses and hugs ever! Barrett is too cute for words these days. He is talking more and more all the time. He's becoming such a big boy. He still sometimes gives me some cuddle time and I cherish those moments, because they don't happen much anymore. He loves to play with his tractors, cars, and dinosaurs. He's pretty fearless too and will ride on any moving toy possible. He loves being outside and running around. I am happy to say that he'll have another boy to play with soon too, as I just found out that my sister is expecting a baby boy! Yeah!

All in all, the family is doing well. The kids are healthy and thriving. Ben and I are as happy as ever. We've got each other and these beautiful babies. Life is good. :)

Gwen is 3!!!

Gwen waiting to blow out her candles

Barrett riding Bullett

Cruising around in the pink Jeep

Today we headed over to my sister's place to celebrate Gwen's 3rd birthday. It was a cowgirl theme with a rented pony named "Bullet". The day before she had received a Barbie Jeep...needless to say Barrett loved it! He has no fear of anything motorized and jumped right into the driver's seat. He drove Gwen around while she "talked" on the vehicle's phone. It was quite entertaining. All the kids loved the pony, too. After Gwen took her turn, Barrett was right on the pony wanted to keep riding as long as possible. He just kept saying "again". Like I already said, he is fearless. This could lead to trouble down the road, so we'll definitely need to talk with him about safety. :) Gwen seemed very happy all day. She is becoming quite the big girl these days. I just adore her and love spending time with her. Happy Birthday Gwen!

Kelly's Wedding

Last night was so much fun! Kelly Bernath, a friend from high school, got married and it brought a lot of old friends together. Kelly seemed so happy and was so beautiful. It was so much fun to catch up with everyone. Brooke flew in from Arizona, Kelly (used to be Sandborn) flew in from Virgina, and Kelly flew in from Virginia, too. It's crazy how long it's been since we all got together. Brooke is a dentist, Kelly is a dentist, Kelly is a dietitian, Andrea is a doctor, Billie is an Assistant Principal, and both Andrea and Kelly are expecting their first child. So much to talk about. :) The best part about the whole night is that no one has changed. Brooke and Billie still crack me up! I had the best time. We should get together more often!!!

Girls' Baptism

The girls got baptized last Sunday. We were fortunate enough to have Ben's Uncle, Father Denis perform the ceremony at our church in town. It was a beautiful ceremony and we feel very blessed to have so many people who love and care for our daughters. After the ceremony we all headed back to our house to celebrate. What I wasn't able to capture on camera was the fishing that Ben did with the kids. You can see these pics on Kim's blog, I believe. Anyway, it was a very nice afternoon. A little on the chilly side, but still nice enough to be outside one last time before winter comes. Thank you to everyone who was able to share in this special day.

Afternoon @ the park and Highchair time!

Daddy with his blue eyed beauties

Barrett's face is priceless...he wasn't really going that fast

Lauren

Raina