Lily Adele - 4 months

Our little Lily girl is 4 months old.  She is a happy little baby who loves her big sisters attention and cuddling with mommy and daddy.  At her recent well child check, she was 15.6 lbs - 90th percentile.  Gotta love the chunky babies!!!

                            

Happy 30th Birthday Phil.....a little late

Phil's 30th Birthday was actually a few weeks ago......  he had a game in Detroit on the night of his birthday, but was home on Saturday night for a little family celebration.  Prior to that, we were able to get out with some great friends for a late night snack at one of our favorite local restaurants, The Union!!!  So, to celebrate his birthday, Grace and I made a double layer chocolate cake complete with a "30" candle.  Grace of course just loved singing to Daddy, blowing out the candle and indulging in the birthday treats :)  Notice.....birthday cake would NOT be complete without a freshly brewed Starbucks latte....PERFECT!

A work in progress

Right now I have no idea what I'm doing to our blog - I want to change it up a bit since I've had the same ole thing for a while now.   I'm just experimenting with a few things right now but can't work on it long enough to figure out exactly how all these little gadgets work.  So, here's a random pic of Lily as I experiment with trying to get it just the way I want it.

Happy 4th Birthday Grace

My "big" girl turned 4 today!  She brings such happiness, joy and energy to our lives.  I love her enthusiasm, curiosity and humor.  We had a great day on Sunday celebrating with our friends and family.  What a BEAUTIFUL day it was for a birthday party.  The kids even got to play outside in the 70 degree weather - that probably won't happen very often :)  Thanks to all who made it special and a BIG thanks to Ams for all the help with getting things ready - love ya!  Here's a little trip down memory lane.

More Fall Fun

This was a BEAUTIFUL weekend in W. Michigan!!  We took advantage of the weather and my last weekend on maternity leave to hang out around town and spend time together as a family.  On Saturday we went to a super cute little pumpkin patch just west of town.  What a neat place!!  They had a free corn maze, tons of pumpkins (u pick or picked) and plenty of spots for the perfect photo opp :)

We LOVE Fall

I, like many of you, consider Fall to be my favorite season. What's NOT to love about Fall?....other than raking leaves of course!! It's a time to turn the AC off and let the fresh air in, visit the apple orchard for apples, cider and doughnuts, take nice evening walks, have campfires, wear sweatshirts, watch the color change, get some great photos, burn yummy candles (my current favorite is "Leaves" from Bath and Body), trick-or-treating, candy corn, pumpkin anything, hot cocoa, Grace's birthday, Phil's birthday, Thanksgiving....I could go on and on.  So, without further adieu, here are some photos that we've captured doing some of our favorite fall "things" over the last few weeks.

Not necessarily a "fall" thing, but how could I leave out my precious little Lily who is now 9 weeks old. She doesn't get to participate in many of the "Fall things" with the exception of being photographed regularly :)

Farmer day at Grace's preschool

Our August Happenings

We went to Chicago for a long weekend in mid-August. Phil had a week of vacation so we packed up and headed out for the adventure of Chicago with all 3 girls.  Our wonderful friends Scott and Stacey met up with us for the last 2 days of our trip.  We stayed in Downers Grove, IL and took the train into the city one day to go to the Children's Museum on Navy Pier (of course Phil and Grace went on the ferris wheel while Anna, Lily and I stayed grounded :))  The other days we hung out at the pool and went to Schaumburg for a little shopping.  We had a great time and survived.  We figure going back will only get easier from here on out right? :)

This is Grace and her buddy Brayden who is the son of my friend Allison who lives in Hudsonville.  They visited us shortly after we returned from Chicago to meet Lily, deliver a delicious meal and to share the great news that their family is growing with a baby expected to arrive in April (congrats again Parm family!!).

Last week some very special friends, the Rochos, came to visit all the way from Las Vegas.  They were in Michigan for 2 weeks and we were so delighted to spend the day with them.  This is the first time we have met their newest little one, Isaiah, who is 11 weeks old.  The girls had fun playing and Dustin and Phil even managed to fit 9 holes in!!  Thanks Rochos for a wonderful visit!!  We look forward to seeing you again - whenever that may be :)

Grace and Trinity

Trinity was so excited to see her daddy doing all kinds of crazy little stunts in our backyard.  They don't have our kind of outdoor space in Las Vegas - housing lots are quite tight there :)  

Isaiah Cyrus - such a happy and laid back dude

Lily Adele

Lily Adele made her arrival into our lives Monday, July 26 (sharing a birthday with her "Uncle" Scott) @ 8:48 am weighing 8 lbs 7 oz and measuring 19.5". She is a timely little peanut in more ways than one. First, as many of you know, Phil had been traveling for the month of July on recruiting trips.  His most recent travel had him away for about 5 days. He arrived back home on Sunday evening at 11 pm just in time for me to go into labor and to head to the hospital around 2:30 am. Second, she's born ON her due date, which then gives all three of my girls birthdays on the 26th of their months. Labor and delivery was all in all good with no major problems or glitches. We're so grateful to be the parents of three beautiful and healthy little girls.

1 week old today

Jottings

Although I haven't made any new posts since May, I've still been catching some photo opportunities.  We've been spending a lot of time outside with all of the beautiful weather we've had.  Grace and Anna really enjoy playing in the backyard particularly if I fill up the pool and bring out the bubbles and popsicles! :)  Now that baby #3 is just around the corner, we took the opportunity this past Friday to take the girls to the Binder Park Zoo figuring that time is running out for those kind of occasions (at least for a little while).  They had a good time and we couldn't have asked for better weather.

Clearwater Beach, Florida

Phil, myself and the girls were in Clearwater Beach, Florida last week for our Spring vacation.  We had a great time and beautiful weather.  Here are just a few of my favorite photos from the week.  We're so thankful that we were able to get away and spend time together.  

Anna LOVED the ocean!

We found a few very nice parks that the girls enjoyed

Grace is sitting on a stool at a WONDERFUL ice cream shop that we found in a nearby city....we actually ended up there 3 times :):):)

We went on a dolphin cruise and were able to see dolphins in their natural habitat in the Gulf of Mexico. The captain of the boat let the kids drive and Grace loved the opportunity!