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

Louie turns two

We spent a very pleasant afternoon over at Amanda and Pat's to celebrate Louie's 2nd birthday. There was a lot of riding around on toys, playing on the swing set, and wrestling. The weather was so nice that we were able to be outside most of the time and soak up some of the late season warmth.

growin', growin', growin'

Lauren in her "new" toy

Raina loves her jump up

Barrett in his wrestling stance (look at that stare down)

Taking down daddy by his leg

The kids keep getting bigger and bigger. I wish I could capture all these precious moments in a bottle. I'm loving all the times I get to spend with my husband and kids. Barrett is becoming quite the little man and less baby every day. Lauren is super smiley these days (unless she's hungry) and Raina is a little kicker. Both girls are growing and doing great.


We went tailgating yesterday. I wore green and white although notice that it is not state gear. I couldn't make myself take it that far. :) Ben went to the game and I stayed back with some people and continued with the tailgating. It was fun. Thank you to Stu and Noelle and kids for watching our kids for the day!

Wedding in New York

We packed our bags and headed off to New York this past weekend. The kids stayed with Sheryl Thursday night and with Dad and Trina for the weekend. We left Thursday night and met Jeff and Renee at their place in West Bloomfield. Jeff driving, we headed off through Canada. We got through customs easily enough both ways and arrived in Watertown, New York around 2:30 am. Whew! The next day there was a scheduled boat tour through the 1000 Islands and Boldt Castle in Alexandria Bay. Of course, I forgot my camera, sorry, but it was beautiful. The area is very nice with big homes to ooooh and aaaah at. The castle was built around 1900 by a man who wanted to honor the love of his life. He put the construction to a halt when she unexpectedly passed away. What is left is a very large castle with many unfinished room. Preservation people have finished a few of the main floor rooms to give us an idea of what it would look like. The castle had a magnificent stariway very similar to that in the Titanic complete with a colorful glass ceiling. Gorgeous. There is even a smaller castle that was built for the children with a bowling alley and everything. Very neat.
Later that day, Ben and I decided to treat ourselves to a date night with just the two of us. We asked the front desk for a nice local restaurant and off we went. While waiting for our table we went to the bar to get a drink. We ran into some of the Owen family (Jeff's aunts and uncles, etc.) They invited us to join them and we found it hard to resist. We had a nice evening chatting with some people we don't know very well, but were very easy to talk with. It was lovely. After dinner we went back to the hotel and ran into everyone (they all had rehearsal dinner) at the hotel bar. I was enjoying myself thoroughly by now. :) The next day was the wedding. It was at a small, yet beautiful church nearby. The ceremony was nice and afterward we went back to the hotel. While waiting for the shuttle to take us to the reception, we hung out with some of Ben's family. We watched football....I don't need to say any more....it was ugly. Then we took the provided shuttle to the hall which was in the large local military base at Fort Drum. We danced and danced and had a great time. Sunday we packed up and headed for home around 9:30 am. We got home, after picking up the kids, around 9:00 pm. What a long drive home, but the weekend was worth it. I guess Barrett was really sick, so we felt bad that we were away from him, but we did need the time for just the two of us. It was so nice and it made me realize even more how much I love my husband and my family. :)

happy 2nd birthday BARRETT

Today is Barrett's 2nd birthday! I just got my weekly information email where he was first refered to as a baby, then a toddler, and now....preschooler....what...2 is now considered a preschooler. Crazy. Anyway, this past Saturday we had his birthday party with a SpongeBob theme. He loves spongebob, so it seemed appropriate. It was a small get together this year, with a homemade cake and a pinata. It was a nice evening with family. Barrett loved all his new toys and even had to go to bed with one of his new tractors. He held it in his arms like you would a teddy bear. Too cute. He had constant candy on his face and he stayed up late. I guess you could say he had a GREAT time. :)

Barrett's stats @ 2 years:
**Blond hair, blue eyes
**Loves books, tractors, cars, music
**Says lots of words like "again", "please", "thank you", "momma", "dadda", "help me"
**Loves to play outside, especially in the sand box
**Loves to go for quad rides
**Loves to fish with daddy
**Roars like a lion and a dinosaur
**Uses utensils pretty well
**Loves his veggies, especially beans and broccoli
**Gives great hugs and kisses
**Loves his sisters
**Naps once a day
**Runs every where
**Says "sorry" most of the time
**Still sucks his thumb and loves his blankie
**Watches "Lion King" and the "Land Before Time" movie religiously
**The best son anyone could ask for!!

The next day we hung out with the Janiczeks and Owens. It had been awhile since all of us have gotten together, especially since the Janiczeks were living in Germany for the last 6 months. It was such a great day. After they left Ben said to me "I could do that every Sunday". I, of course, agreed. We just talked, played some cards, fished & golfed (well...the boys did), played Ladderball, grilled, and relaxed. Nothing better, really. :)

Labor Day Weekend and Work

SO, here are my belated pics from last weekend. I don't really feel like writing right now. I started back to work this past Tuesday and already I am sick! :( Gotta get ready for Barrett's b-day party tomorrow, too. SO much to do all the time!!! Also, for some reason I cannot get my html part to run, so just copy and paste the link to view. Ugh...sorry about all of this. I guess I just don't want to deal with it right now.

http://picasaweb.google.com/spitzlbm/LaborDayWeekend2008#

first day back to work

The girls in their matching outfits...so cute!!

The drooling has begun

Raina's beginning to look a little blonde....hmmm...

First day back with Sheryl....he's exhausted!

Today was my first day back at work. No students, but meetings all day. It wasn't that difficult of a tansition, because I came up to school a few days last week and the kids have been with Sheryl on several occassions, so it was nothing new for them. It was actually kind of nice to be back to work and using my mind a little bit more than I so at home. I did start the day with a pretty bad headache which came and went throughout the day. All in all though it was anice day. Ben picked the kids us, too, so I was able to stay a little later and work in my classroom. When the kids arrived home with Ben later, Barrett was zonked out. I guess Louie and Elizabeth were there today, so he must have played and played. I actually can't even wake him up for dinner. Yikes! I'll have to keep trying though. Tomorrow is another day of work and then we are off until Tuesday when the students have their first day.

lake, family, & friends

Me, Andrea (due Dec. 6th), Kristen (due Oct. 3rd), and Renee

Last Friday the girls had their 4 month check-up. It went well. Raina still needs to go back in a few weeks for more head manipulation stuff. The doctor said he's worried about a few things and he mentioned doing some stretches with her (but then he didn't teach me how to do the stretches). Both girls are growing well, though. Lauren weighed in at 15 lbs. 2 oz. and Raina weighed in at 14 lbs. 5 oz. Raina was in the 25-50% for all measurements, whereas Lauren was in the 75th for weight and over the 100th for head size! She does have quite the noggin on her! :) After the appointment, we headed up to the lake. We figured it would be the last time we would get up there this year, so we wanted to make a go for it (even though the weatherman said it was going to rain a lot). Lucky for us the rain held off most of the day Saturday, so we were able to sit in the sun and swim. Barrett is becoming quite the little swimmer. It's so much fun to play with him in the water! I had a lot of help there, too. Cousin Jessica, Aunt Noelle, and Aunt Sheryl all helped out so much with the girls. Thank you! Also, Cousin Chad and Uncle Stu enjoyed playing with the girls and entertaining Barrett, too. It was so nice to be able to relax a bit! Sunday I had to leave in the morning (Ben stayed at the lake with the kids) to head down to a baby shower for my friend, Kristen. She is due October 3rd and just got back from a 6 month stay in Germany. It was so nice to see her. We'll be getting together again in a few weeks, so we'll be able to catch up more then. It was a very nice shower and definitely worth the long drive. Later that evening I had to venture over to Chris and Heather's for a birthday party grill. Chris just turned 27 and Heather wanted to get the family together. It was a nice winding down to the busy weekend. Today I am home with my kids enjoying one of the last days at home before going back to work. This week I have two days I have to go in for PD time at school (meetings and such all day). Then school starts Sept. 2nd. Here's to a new school year!!!

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Today I went into school to get ready for the first day and I ran into a few colleagues. I talked to them about how I know that as soon as I go back to work I'm going to miss stuff with my kids. Sure enough, when I went to pick them up Sheryl told me that Lauren rolled over! Raina rolled and rolled all over the place and now Lauren is too. She keeps doing it too. It's so neat to see the girls moving all over the place!

A Busy Few Days

Last Thursday Dad and Trina watched my kids for a few hours so that I could get some shopping done. I met up with them later and we went to the Music on the Grand. This is where the city brings in a band and they play outside under a bandshell. Gwen was also there (Dad and Trina had her all week while her parents were vacationing). It was a nice evening watching the kids dance and play and listening to music with family.

Kelly's Bachelorette Party

Then Saturday I went to a wedding shower for a friend from high school, Kelly B. It was fun catching up with her, of course Andrea, and another friend from high school Kelly L. Kelly L. (used to be Sandborn) is expecting her first baby at the end of November so we had a lot to talk about. It was fun! Kelly B.'s wedding is in October. Both Kellys live out in Virginia, so we don't see each other much anymore, but this time was nice. Later that night we all met up again for Kelly's bachelorette party. We did more catching up, especially on the old times from middle and high school. Some of the stories are so funny! :) I did have to leave the party early though because I had to go to an engagement party for our friend, John.

Day @ Upton's

Finally, Sunday we got invited up to Kate and Matt's new house on the lake. Cheryl, a friend from college, was visiting, too, so we all spent the afternoon and evening swimming in their pool, riding on the pontoon boat, and talking over dinner. It was a nice finish to the weekend and we felt completely spoiled to be in that environment. :) Barrett was non-stop the entire afternoon and crashed as soon as the car started to move. I guess that's a good way to know if he had a good time. :) We all did!

**Remember that you can click on the pictures above (except the first one) to see more pictures!**

Weekend with the Girls

I left last Thursday night for my first weekend away from the kiddies (and my husband). It was our second annual girls weekend in Pentwater at Andrea's parents' cottage. It was so nice to get away from the every day and catch up with my friends. Every night we stayed up late just talking. Sometimes I forget how much I need that time. It was an exciting weekend with lots to talk about because Andrea is expecting her first baby in Decemeber, Kate just started her own business, and Rachel is well on her way to becoming Chicago's best lawyer!! I have to go back to teaching again in a few weeks, so that has me rattled a bit, too. Plenty to talk about...that's for sure. The first day we spent on Lake Michigan. Kate slept some, I read some, and Andrea and Rachel played some bean bags. It was nice...but there happened to be a nice breeze and none of us really noticed the effects of the sun until too late. Andrea, being pregnant, sat under an umbrella for some of the time and didn't seem to get burned, yet the rest of us fried. It was worth it though, since I never get to Lake Michigan...not much beats it. That night Kate cooked an amzing meal and we watched our video from college. Hilarious! The next day we spent time walking around Pentwater and Ludington shopping. Rachel had to head back that night, so after she left we just picked up a pizza and went back to the cottage and played games. Sunday we left pretty early and Andrea dropped me off at Ben's grandma's house. Kate and Andrea stayed for a bit to visit with my kids. I sure did miss my family, but weekends like this do not come around often. I love these girls!!

Also, while I was away Barrett turned 23 months old and the girls turned 4 months old. Here are their stats:

Barrett @ 23 mos.:
{} Is talking more and more every day
{} Favorite words: peez, dank do (thank you), sorry, hi momma, baby, dadda, papa, nigh nigh, cerweal (cereal)
{} Will often go to bed easily...after you say "go nigh nigh?" he'll walk into his room and go to bed
{} Is beginning to use his silverware more often
{} Refuses the high chair...moved on to the booster seat
{} Still loves his blankie and his thumb
{} Loves being outside, watering plants, playing in the sand, or going for a ride on the quad
{} Loves spongebob and elmo
{} Loves his sisters, gives kisses often
{} Has gone potty on the toilet a few times, but still not potty trained
{} Still drinks out of a sippy, but can use a regular cup sometimes
{} Eats pretty much anything
{} Gives great hugs
{} Loves to read book after book
{} He's always pointing to things so that you can say what it is then he repeats it

Raina @ 4 mos.:
{} Sleeps from 9 pm to 6:30 am
{} Eats 4-6 oz. every feeding (~3-4 hours)
{} Takes several naps through out the day
{} She can sleep pretty much anywhere: swing, the play mat, her crib
{} She can roll over both ways now
{} She also moves in circles too...she rolled and moved under her crib the other day...DOH!
{} She loves to kick and kick...makes it difficult to hold her on your lap
{} She can lift her head well during tummy time
{} Her head still wobbles sometimes when you hold her upright
{} She giggled for the first time a week or so ago
{} It takes you a little bit to get her to smile...it's like she's not so sure of you at first
{} She has beautiful dimples when she does smile
{} She's smaller than Lauren (they go to the dr. next week)
{} She is very talkative
{} She doesn't love the bath, but she'll take one now without crying
{} Getting cuter and cuter every day!

Lauren @ 4 mos.:
{} Sleeps from 9 pm to 6:30 am
{} Eats 4-6 oz. every feeding (~3-4 hours)
{} Takes several naps through out the day (make sure you get to her before she gets over tired otherwise she is very difficult to soothe)
{} She prefers to sleep in the swing, but you can put her in the crib and she'll fall asleep on her own there, too
{} Cannot roll over yet, but she's working on it...she can get to her side pretty well
{} She loves to grab for toys
{} She can lift her head well during tummy time
{} She has very good head control when you hold her upright
{} She giggled for the first time a week or so ago
{} She loves to give smiles!! So adorable!
{} Lauren is growing so fast I think she hit a growth spurt recently because she would eat 9-10oz. at feedings sometimes...whoa!
{} Loves to coo and make conversation
{} She loves the bath!
{} Getting cuter and cuter every day!