Labor Day Weekend at the Lake

Saturday of Labor Day weekend, our good friends the Leonards joined us up at my parents lake place in Muskegon.  We had a beautiful day with plenty of sunshine and blue sky.  It was great hanging out, getting sunburned, watching the kids fill every crevice of their body with sand, and later sitting by the campfire roasting marshmallows.  The kids are growing up so fast and playing really well together.  It's always fun to see them and we always have a great time!

Grant took this pic...way to go buddy!

Matt and Ben lounging between a game of pickle

Lesley and Carrie...the mommas

Taylor, Zach, and Grant at the sand castle

Burying Grant

Silly Taylor

Getting ready for marshmallows and the sunset

Big man Zach walking around

Zach and Molly

Grant and Molly

Sunburned and loving it!

Funny Guy

My little Grant, who actually isn't that little anymore, is a funny guy.  He is always saying things that crack me up.  He picks up on a lot of little things I say, and when it comes out of his mouth, it's hilarious.  I get a lot of "you've got to be kidding me" or "now hold on just one minute mom".  He mixes words up from time to time and when we correct him, we get..."well, that's what I meant..." with a shy smile.  But my favorite is when he tells me a joke.  This was the one from yesterday that I thought I should share with you.

"Why did the chicken cross the playground?"  Why I say. "To get to the other SLIDE!".  Boy did I laugh.  It was super cute.  What a comedian!

Happy 1st Birthday Molly!

Molly - 1 Day Old

Her mini-cake for her to dive into...didn't quite happen. She didn't care for getting messy.

"And what do you want me to do with this?"

She did like it after cutting it up...the bright pink frosting was a bit intimidating.

She loves her new learning chair.

I can't believe it, but yes, Molly is 1!!! Her birthday was on August 7th, and I really don't know where this past year went. Time is definitely moving faster. It really does seem like yesterday when she was born, and I was still getting over the shock of having a girl. Here's a little update from last month:

She can stand alone for a short while now, and has started to take a few steps, but usually only one or two. It will still be a while until she is walking I think.

She loves sneaking over to the steps and seeing how far she can get before mommy notices.

She loves to eat!

She has six teeth with the seventh coming in. Three on the bottom and four on top.

She likes to say Uh-Oh.

She has decided she can crawl on her hands and knees now, but still prefers the army crawl if she has somewhere to get fast.

She cruises along the walls now.

She can walk next to us if you are just holding one hand.

She likes to play peek-a-boo, but sometimes puts her hands over her ears instead of her eyes.

We have loved to watch you grow over the past year, and your personality is really starting to show now. I can't wait to hear your sweet voice learn new words and watch you learn how to walk, and run, and skip. And I know that you are going to be a great big sister!! Happy Birthday Molly Girl. We love you!

Like Father, Like Son

I had to get a picture of this...

Grant has been "helping" daddy mow the grass every since he was eighteen months old. He follows right behind Matt pretty much the whole way. Then he gets out his "weed wacker" and his "blower" (other toys) and mimics everything Matt does. It is very cute and I love it, especially because it gives me a bit of a break!

Beach Day

Last week Grant, Molly and I headed out to Holland to the beach with my friends Carrie and Jen and their kids. It was a crazy day with all of the kids, but we actually did have a moment or two to catch up while the babies napped. So fun to hang with my college girls again. Thanks so much to Jen's grandparents for letting us bombard your beach house. We had a nice time!

Taylor and Grant

Jen and Gavin

Carrie and Zach

Zach, Gavin and Molly (Gavin telling Molly to quit yer crying already...)

Buddies Taylor and Grant

Michigan's Adventure

A few weeks ago, we headed to Michigan's Adventure. It's only about 10 minutes from my parents cottage, so it works out nice for us to make the trip. It was supposed to be mostly sunny but turned into mostly cloudy and a bit chilly. The kids still had a fun time, and I was a bit bummed that I couldn't get on any of the rides.



Getting ready for the first ride of the day...The Frog Hopper

Hilarious watching Grant and Ryan's faces


Best Buds Grant and Ryan


The only ride I went on...the Ferris Wheel


Papa, Ryan, Matt and Grant




Daddy and Grant (we did leave Molly back with Nona)





Bumper Cars...didn't do so much bumping as the car would only go in reverse...HAHAHA



Go Karts...somehow picked the slowest car...everyone tried to pass them and Matt kept trying to block them...again HAHAHA


Grant's Fav


The Waterpark...a bit chilly

Little Fish

Molly has really taken to the water. At the MVP pool, she loves "swimming" in the very shallow end. She'll crawl and her back legs float up and she kicks. It's very cute. She has come a long way from Mommy and Me swim class where she dug her nails into my neck and screamed the entire time. :)

Concert in the Park

This past Tuesday, we went to the Concert in the Park in East Grand Rapids on Reeds Lake with Peter, Rachel, Sofia, and Stella. The kids had a great time dancing to music, playing in the park and eating popcorn. It was a chilly night, but fun. Can't wait for movies in the park coming in August!

Just keep swimming...

Grant has been taking swimming lessons every Monday and Thursday at the pool for four weeks now. He took them last year as well, and definitely has improved. He loves to swim to me and back to the wall...over and over and over again. He can swim only as far as he can hold his breath though. We are working on coming up for air! I think he swims pretty well for a four and half year old. We're so proud of him!

West Virginia Wedding

This past weekend, we packed up the kids and headed down to West Virginia for my cousin Nolan's wedding. This was our first family "road trip" and it went better than I expected actually. It took us about 9 hours. On the way down, my parents had Grant in the RV most of the way, so that was nice for us just to have Molly. My aunt and uncle's farm is beautiful and in the middle of no where. Since it was the Fourth of July, they also put on a great fireworks show for us the night before. The ceremony was gorgeous (and hot...thankfully, since it rained most of the day before), and we had a great time dancing the night away in the barn while the kids, including my brother's two girls, slept away in the RV parked nearby. It was so much fun and we're so glad we made the trip. Congrats Nolan and Alexis!

11 Months Old

Molly is 11 months old today. I can't believe we are one month away from the big First Birthday. She has really changed a lot in the last month. Just wanted to highlight a few things that she has picked up just in the last month...

• pulls up on everything and is cruising now and can hold on with just one hand and bend down to get something
• gives high fives but is better at low fives
• signs all done and more (a bit revised) and we're working on please and thank you
• can say or has said mama, dada, papa, baby (more like bebee), ball (baw), lala, whoa or wow, gaga (Grant I think)...I know she probably doesn't know she is saying anything, but she is getting a lot of new sounds down pat. She says ba for things that start with B, such as Bottle, Book, and so on. So just shake your head yes, and say sure Les...
• still loves to clap and "sing" with mommy
• loves to dance to music
• waves bye-bye
• starting to climb stairs
• eats almost anything you put in front of her including cut up fruit and veggies, deli meats, cheese, chicken, pasta, and so on.
• loves bathtime again
• is starting to walk with a walker
• sort of throws and rolls a ball

So since I'm not so good at keeping up on the baby book, this will have to do. We love you Molly girl!!