fun, fun , fun

Raina in her sweater dress and fuzzy boots

Lauren in her dress and boots

Barrett on the way to Tatym's 1st birthday party

Andrea and Cheryl came to visit on Sunday

Gwen, Sammy, Raina, Lauren, Tatym, & Barrett (trying to poke the birthday girl)

Happy Birthday, Tatym!

This past weekend was so much fun! Saturday we headed over to Troy to celebrate Tatym's 1st birthday. It was a busy afternoon and evening, but great catching up with everyone. There were a lot of kids and we kept saying how much times have changed! :)

Then on Sunday, the Simons and Weages came to visit. It was so nice to see baby Kaylynn again, too. She is 3 months old now and starting to smile and fill out. Time goes so fast. It was a relaxing afternoon and a great way to close out the weekend.

Movin' and Shakin'

has it been 9 months already?

Chillin' in their denim

Too cute

Lauren @ 9 months old

Raina @ 9 months old

The girls are 9 months old today! Crazy to think although at times it has felt like they have been here forever other times I realize that these are the last of their baby stages. They are busier than ever, but so interactive and entertaining! Here are their stats:

Raina @ 9 months:
::She has 7 teeth (4 on top and 3 on the bottom)
::She sleeps through the night (8 pm - 7 am)
::She takes two naps throughout the day, one morning and one afternoon nap
::She sucks her two middle fingers (preferably her right hand, but will sometimes suck her left)
::She loves to be rocked, but can often go without (she's more cuddly than Lauren)
::She army crawls everywhere, yet she can also do the standard hands-knees crawl too
::Loves to create obstacle courses (she'll crawl over Lauren all the time or through the bottom of the exersaucers)
::She can pull herself up to things (her crib was lowered because I found her standing in her crib one morning)
::She is a good eater...she eats 3 solid meals a day, with 3 formula feedings throughout the day
::She eats like Barrett does, though, which means that she likes to shove as much food in her mouth at one time as possible
::Her hair is starting to come in although it sort of looks like a faux hawk right now
::She likes to play peek-a-boo and she thinks it's really funny when you suck on her fingers
::She has a great laugh that comes out when you tickle her tummy
::She love to say "momma" and I claim it as her first word (Ben would argue that point, but whatever)
::She wiggles and squirms everywhere and I call her my little runt
::I love her so much and feel so very blessed to have her in my life

Lauren @ 9 months
::She has 2 teeth (two on bottom)
::She sleeps through the night (8 pm - 7 am)
::She takes two naps throughout the day, one morning and one afternoon nap
::She loves silky things
::She prefers to just be left alone in her crib to sleep
::She can army crawl and roll to get wherever she wants to go
::She is very flexible
::She gets frustrated with crawling sometimes
::She loves to just lay on the floor (or sit) and play with something
::She loves to stand, but cannot pull herself up on her own yet
::She is a great eater...she eats 3 solid meals a day plus 3 formula feedings thoughout the day
::She loves to feed herself
::Her hair is pretty minimal right now...my little baldy
::She loves to play pee-a-boo and she loves to yell at the "kid" in the mirror
::She also can say "momma"
::She is a smiler and giggler
::I love her so much, too. How lucky I feel each and every day!

I don't want to forget about my little man, either. Barrett is so much fun these days. He is talking all the time and saying and doing the funniest things. He loves to build and he will often come over and ask "Mom, build" and he'll take my hand and bring me over to his blocks. I love it that he wants to sit and play with me! I loves to watch his toons and there are still times that he wants to just sit on the couch on my lap and watch. I love those moments. He laughs a lot and helps around the house with things when he can. He is starting to say please and thank you without probing him. He loves to run, wrestle, play with his tools and dinosaurs, and play outside on the big toys. He is definitely all boy, but he is still my sweet little baby. It's incredible watching him grow and change. :) My kids are the best!

Sprinkle & Snow

Jocelyn and Me at her baby sprinkle

Barrett asleep on the quad

Yesterday I met up with Monica and Erica to head down to Royal Oak to attend my sister, Jocelyn's baby sprinkle (baby number two, so not a shower...just a sprinkle..heehee). The weather was horrible (good job Monica who drove there and back), but we managed to get there in no time. It was a fantastic afternoon of chatting and laughing. I had a great time with some ladies. It's always fun to just have some girl time. Jocelyn seems ready to go and I think she's feeling like she is in the hoem stretch now. I just can't believe that she is going to have a baby boy so soon! I can't wait! The drive home was worse then the drive there, but we just took our time and enjoying the company. I think it took us about 3 hours to get home, but it didn't feel like it because I was having such a good time. :) Monica and Erica stayed at my house for a little while and we played Taboo (with Ben). It was a fun way to end the night.

Today Ben decided to take Barrett outside to play in the snow and go for a quad ride. About 30 minutes (maybe) of being outside Ben came inside to tell me to grab the camera. I walk outside and I saw Barrett on the quad fast asleep! He was zonked out. Too funny. :)

Barrett & the Weasel

More Christmas Festivities

The boys waiting to go sledding

Barrett and his helmet

Barrett had to try the helmet on right away!

Spitzley X-mas and Hanging out with Smiths

Last Sunday was our Christmas with Ben's immediate family. It was a nice day, yet with two sick babies and a sick husband it was not as ideal as one would hope for. One of the big presents of the night was Barrett's new snowmobile helmet (for his kitty cat sled). He loved it immediately and had us put it right on him (check out the pics when you get a chance).

Today the sun was shining and Ben was feeling better so he invited Sue over (she was watching Louie and Elizabeth for the day) to take Barrett and Louie sledding. They boys had a great time outside. I must say, it was hilarious watching Barrett walk around in his large helmet! He waddled somewhat, but he just loved the helmet! There are some great pictures of this also, just click the bottom picture above. After sledding the boys came in and we all played around the house for a bit. It was a fun afternoon!

We finally got the chance to all get together this afternoon for some catch up. It was great visiting with the ladies!

I wasn't feeling so good (either were the girls) and we all feel asleep together on the couch. Love the cuddle time, though.

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas in Saginaw. I forgot my camera for that mornings festivities at my dads. I'll have to get some from Erica. It was a great day, though. A bit of a scary ride home, but we managed to get home safely and now we are home trying to get over this bug that keeps going around our home.

Weekend @ Grandma's

Last weekend was the annual christmas weekend @ Grandma Lewis' home. We didn't go up until Saturday this year, because Barrett had been feeling pretty ill. We had a great time with the family. We opened presents, played Zuma, played Euchre, and played Cranium (yes, a lot of playing...gotta love it!). The next day was interesting because it had snowed even more (I think we have a total of 10-15 inches now). The ride home was treacherous, but we managed to get home safely. Barrett is still ill, but hopefully he'll be better soon for more christmas festivities. On a side note, Lauren is now crawling, too! She just went for it last week and has been nonstop since. It's definitely crazy having two crawlers in the house now. :)

my cubs

Lauren

Raina

Barrett (when he was 5 months old)

Girls @ 8 Months!

Antlers on Lauren

Reindeer Raina

The girls are now 8 months old!!! Whoa! They are so busy these days that Ben and I can hardly keep things in order! Throw a toddler into the mix and we've got chaos! :)

Raina's stats:
::Has 4 teeth on top and 3 on bottom.
::Can crawl by pulling her body forward, but has started to crawl on her hands and knees recently too
::Wiggles and kicks ALL the time...changing table, when you pick her up...whenever!
::Sucks her two middle fingers (prefers the right hand)
::Loves to play with the computer
::Swats at food/bottles when she is definitely done eating
::Loves to feed herself and will sometimes just make a mess to run her fingers through the food
::Prefers sleeping on her belly (she wakes up with a red nose from rubbing her face in the matress too much
::Eats well throughout the day (three solid meals with bottles in between)
::Sleeps from about 8:30 pm to 6:30 am
::Takes two naps a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon
::Takes a little while to get her to smile, but when she does she lights up the room!

Lauren's stats:
::Two teeth on bottom
::Loves to sit and bounce in the exersaucer
::Loves to eat and is a really good eater (opens her mouth really wide and makes hardly any mess)
::Is beginning to crawl, but still gets frustrated because it is difficult
::Can roll wherever she wants to go
::Love silky things
::Loves chewing on toys
::Is extremely flexible
::Loves to smile and coo
::Sleeps from about 8:30 pm to 6:30 am
::Take two naps a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon
::Loves to play peek-a-boo
::Loves attention and will sometimes cry when she thinks you've left the room
::Super adorable and fun to tickle!

Layla is here!!

My cousin Trevor and his wife, Kate, welcomed their daughter on December 1st (also my sister-in-laws birthday). Congrats to the new family!! We can't wait to meet her!

cute pics

All three in the tub!

Raina in the big tub

Lauren, too. She loves to curl her tongue like this!

Pretty Raina

Beautiful Lauren

Daddy tickling Raina

Barrett's wrestle eyes

Lauren sitting like a big girl

Raina can sit up, too!

The girls are growing up so fast

The girls stats @ 7 months:

Raina
~~Sucks her two middle fingers. Mostly her right hand, but is pretty ambidextrous
~~Loves to eat solids and even feeds herself sometimes
~~Rolls over all the time and can pretty much get to wherever she wants
~~Sometimes pulls herself up on all fours and rocks back and forth
~~Can sit unsupported
~~Just started taking baths in the big tub
~~Loves to jump in the exersaucer
~~Has two bottom front teeth, but upper right one is starting to make an appearance (she's been pretty fussy lately)
~~Naps two long times per day
~~Sleeps through the night (preferably on her tummy)
~~Thinks her brother is the funniest person alive!

Lauren
~~Smiles almost instantly
~~Rolls everywhere
~~Sits unsupported
~~Naps two long times per day
~~Sleeps though the night
~~No teeth
~~Coos all the time
~~Just started taking baths in the big tub
~~Love to eat... solids, formula, you name it
~~Pretty easy going baby until she's hungry :)
~~Loves everyone and we think she's pretty special too!

Barrett has been doing great, too. He loves his sisters. I often find him sitting next to them on the floor showing them his toys or "reading" them a book. It's too cute. Every time I try to get it on camera he jumps up to see what I am doing. Hopefully one of these times I'll be able to quietly get the shot without him noticing. Anyway, he is talking and talking all the time now. He can say so many words now. It's fun. He still naps once a day and this weekend I got some time to cuddle with him when it was nap time. He kept putting his arm around me. It was so nice since that doesn't happen so much anymore. He is so much fun to be around!!

Birthday Party

Friday night we headed off to O.E. to watch Portland play in their second playoff game. My step-brother was pulled up for the playoffs, so it was exciting to have the whole family there to watch the game. It was my dad's birthday, too, so we had even more reason to all be together and celebrate. Unfortunately Portland did not win, though. Saturday my dad wanted to get the family together for the day (since Friday was all about football). We all hung out at his house for the day and evening. It was so nice to be with family. :)

Kaylynn update

I just got an email from my friend Andrea and she said that her daughter is doing great. They were able to bring her home yesterday!! Earlier than expected! I haven't spoken with her yet, but I am so excited that everything seems to be going so well. Just thought I would pass along the good news!

Kaylynn Ann Simons

Last Sunday I went to Flint to visit my friend's new baby girl, Kaylynn. She was born 5 weeks early and needed to be taken to a larger hospital for support. We all prayed for her and now she is doing so much better. She was having a difficult time breathing so she was put on CPAP (one lung partially collapsed), but by the time we got there she was already off of that (and the lung corrected itself). She still needed oxygen and she was under a blue light for jaundice, but she looked great. She's adorable with lots of dark hair. She's even got her momma's long basketball fingers! Andrea and Gregor are doing great. They hope to have her home by this weekend. I unfortunately forgot to take pictures, but I will as soon as I get the chance.

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.