Our dad turns 30!!!!

Jamie might not be so excited that I am sharing this with everyone, but he turned 30 on August 26th. On his actual birthday we had a nice day at home with a big breakfast, nice dinner, cake, time with the kids.


Then, on Labor Day weekend we had a surprise party for Jamie in Detroit. He went golfing with his uncles and cousins while the rest of the family came over to his uncle Rob's and aunt Tina's. Jamie said that he suspected something was going on when his uncles did not want to play 27 holes because they thought they should get back to Rob's house for a BBQ. Jamie was thinking "WHAT? My uncles never turn down more golf...what is going on?" He was so happy to see everyone! It was a great turn out and the weather could not have been better! Thanks to everyone for their help in planning, preparing for the party! It was a great success!

Celeski's, Jen and Cory visit

Jamie's uncle Jim, aunt Flo and cousin Sarah came down to visit. Sarah has started her Junior year at Indiana University and they came down to help her move in. It works out nicely that we are only an hour north of Bloomington so that they can stay with us when they come down.


Our friends Jen and Cory from the Detroit area were in town because Cory's family is from Indiana. We were happy that they got to meet the twins.

Playdate

K & K are already making friends! My friend Toni hosted a "playdate". It is nice to get out and see some of the girls! K & K have two other friends (Luke in yellow - 7 months, Laine in the middle - 4 months) right around their age. There was also a house full of toddlers who had a lot of fun with puzzles and Play-Doh.



K & K settled in for an afternoon nap in the midst of the noise and activity.

Sleeping Together

Kendall and Kaleb are adorable when they sleep together. I sometimes get tears in my eyes when I go to check on them because I cannot believe how blessed Jamie and I are! They are sleeping pretty well. On average they will go down around 8:30, wake up at 3:30ish for a feeding, then up at about 7:30 for the morning. Kendall had a couple of weeks where she was waking up numerous times during the night and would starting talking and moving around - not crying, just very active. I would worry that she was going to wake Kaleb up. Sometimes we would just put her pacifier back in, other times I would feed her. We tried separating them for the past 5 nights and she seems to be back on her normal schedule (waking once for feeding). Kaleb continues to be a really good sleeper. I don't know if that was just a weird time that she was going through, or if she is sleeping better because she has the whole crib to herself....I am really torn as to whether or not we should put up the second crib and separating them for good. They are still napping together in the same crib, but we may decide to have them sleep in separate cribs at night. I am so sad to do this because look at the way they sleep when they are together!

When they fall asleep at night, they hold hands in the middle of the crib!


They usually move a little bit during the night - this is how I found them one morning!


K & K taking a nap in our bed. They love to snuggle! They usually nap in their crib, but one morning I brought them into our room and they fell back to sleep!

Indiana State Fair

Jamie and I took the twins to the Indiana State Fair with the Brady's (Ryan, Molly and Norah). Norah had fun in the Pioneer Village where they had different stations set up (pick apples, plant seeds, ride tractor, milk cows) to promote the farming industry. She had a great time!

Our family vacation to Crystal Falls

We had a wonderful trip to Crystal Falls. The kids and I were there for 1 week without Jamie, then he joined us for the second week. As you can see from all of the pictures, we had a busy and fun time! It took me a little while to get all of the pictures out here (thanks for your patience). After 3 weeks of vacation (going between 2 different locations at Houghton Lake and 2 different locations in Crystal Falls), the only thing I forgot behind was the cord to connect the camera to the computer! Not bad! However, we couldn't get any of the pictures off of our camera until the end of last week. Enjoy!

Kendall Rolls Over!

Kendall rolled over for the first time on Aug. 3 and continues to roll over from her front to back both directions! She is a very happy and social baby, talking a lot and is very interested in watching her little brother. She is strong with her head, neck and back control. She is absolutely beautiful, but doesn't seem to want to let the camera capture her smiles. She is very smiley, but becomes more serious when the camera is in her face... Last week she weighed 11 lbs, 10 oz.

Kaleb's big smiles

Kaleb is doing very well - he is a very happy baby and not shy with the camera! He is very active and strong with his head, neck and back control. He is starting to become as vocal as his sister (I was starting to think he was going to let her do all of the talking - ha!) and doing better with tummy time and holding his head up. As of last week he weighed 12 lbs, 2 oz! Big boy!

What a social life already

Many of my friends were in town and came out to the cottage for an afternoon of fun in the sun. We are all spread out (Colorado, Detroit, Indy, Marquette and Crystal Falls) and in different phases of our lives (some with kids, some pregnant), but when we get together it is just like old times! There is nothing like a good group of girlfriends!


Crystal Falls was celebrating the Humungous Fungus festival, so the twins got to go to their first parade. For those curious about the humungous fungus see http://www.crystalfalls.org/humongou.htm



The Hetricks also came out to the cottage for a visit

Bath time on the deck

Auntie Sarah gave K & K baths on the deck outside! As you can see they really enjoyed it!

Spending time with family

Auntie Sarah sure knows how to take care of us both!

Mom isn't too bad at it either!

Uncle Dan and Jessie enjoyed time with K & K

Chillin' out

This is the life!

Even the adults got some relaxing time on the water! Sometimes it feels as if time stands still when we are spending time at our "little slice of heaven"!


We had a screened in tent set up so that we could keep them outside, but in the shade and bug free. They played in their swings, kicked on a blanket and even got to eat and take a couple of naps in the tent. Here they are relaxing with daddy looking out at the water.

Pontoon Boat Ride

It was a beautiful evening for a pontoon boat ride. Reece even got to come along!





Grandpa and Grandma fed them their bottles on the boat. I am still nursing all feedings but 1 bottle a day with some premie formula in it.

Walking in the water

They liked to feel the sand between their toes!

Beach Bums

Their great-grandma Puzza would have been very proud of how much Kendall and Kaleb enjoyed the water. Grandma Puzza had all of us grandkids swimming at a very early age! One of my sister's favorite memories is eating breakfast on the dock and then grandma letting us go swimming in our pajamas to "wash them"! Hopefully this is a tradition that Grandma Margie will continue!

Floating is the way to go!

The hardest part about having K & K down by the water was the ability to keep them shaded. We solved that problem by putting them on a floatee and using a big golf umbrella for shade. They loved the way it moved with the waves.

Reece

Reece spent 5 or 6 weeks with my parents in Crystal Falls. She sure got a work out leaping off of the dock, swimming and playing fetch everyday!

First Campfire

First Campfire

Cousin Wendy

Cousin Brita

Cousin Ann, Cousin April and Aunt Kathy

Cousin Amy gets married

My cousin Amy married Will DeGraw on August 4th at the cottage "under the pines". It was a beautiful wedding and a VERY fun reception. The weather was perfect - cool enough for the men to be comfortable, yet warm enough for the women in dresses. Grandma Puzza was sure smiling down at all of us that day!


The Haile, Heron and Surface families with the bride and groom

Will holding Kaleb, Amy holding Kendall

Tie Dye Twins!

My aunt Marcia and uncle Jim bought these tie dye outfits at the Hiawatha Music Festival in Marquette, MI. You are never too young for tie dye!!!

Meeting great-great aunt Margarette

My great aunt Margarette is in the medicare. She was very happy to see the babies! Margarette had a trailer next to our family cottage and she was a major part of my childhood memories at the cottage. She was the one to teach me how to tie my shoes!