Strawberry Picking!

When I was a little girl, my Mama (my mom's mom) used to load a carful of us up every summer and take us to the Strawberry Patch.  I remember eating my weight in strawberries and running through the patch, coming home with red stained clothing.  As much as Liam loves Strawberries, I wanted him to experience this as part of his childhood too.  When I asked Josh when the last time he picked strawberries was, and he said never, I felt like his life was missing something.  He said he didn't really like strawberries, and I told him it was because he's never picked them himself.  Strawberries you pick out of the field are SOOOO much sweeter than strawberries you buy at the grocery store.  They are smaller and juicier and sweeter and they don't have that giant white hollow core. He didn't believe me, but was willing to help me pick anyway. 

I found a patch about 5 minutes form our house that had an "all you can eat" policy.  We loaded up the kids one night after dinner and filled up a box (when we pulled up they tried to give us 4 boxes...I said we would only need one, since we had a 2 and a 4 year old with us).  We only stayed for about a half hour, but our box was full and so were our bellies- even Josh's, because he discovered that I was indeed right about fresh strawberries.  When we went home, we ate some more before putting the kids to bed.  Last night I used the last of our box to make freezer jam- yum!  Looks like we need to head back in the next week or so before the season is over!  

Sharing a Room

Baby Declan is due in just over 3 months.  We debated which kids would share a room, and Liam and London were the winners...they were both VERY excited about it too!  With Liam being only 4, and a little clumsey, we didn't want to put him on a top bunk just yet, so I found this alternative, which offered a lot of storage too.  The beds here were inspired by pottery barn, only the pottery barn version was over $1,200.  So we found these plans and built them ourselves.  The beds were SUPER easy to build, and the corner unit wasn't much harder- it has hidden storage with a hatch at the top in addition to the shelves.   We wanted to get them moved in together several months before the baby comes, so that they would be used it it and I wouldn't be getting up with all 3 kids in the middle of the night.

So far, the middle of the night hasn't been an issue, but it took them 2 hours and 5 visits from us to quiet down and go to sleep the first night.  The second night went a little better taking only 1 hour and 2 visits.  I'm hoping it continues to get better as they get more and more used to it!  In the meantime, at least they are having fun! 

Road Trip!!!

Josh recently had a Friday-Tuesday off...his last vacation of his year...his year begins July 1st, so I suppose we don't have to wait too long before he has some more time off, but still.  Anyway, we wanted to get away without spending a lot of time in the car (which is no fun with a 2 and 4 year old) or too many nights in a hotel (also, no fun with a 2 and 4 year old).  We have heard wonderful things about the zoo in Columbus, OH, and that is only about 3 hours from our home.  So we packed up the kids on Friday morning and headed out!  We didn't get to Columbus until lunch time on Friday, so we ate lunch and then headed to COSI, the science center, which has recently been ranked #1.  We all had a blast! It was free for us, since we are members of the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum, which made the whole thing even more enjoyable :)  They had tons of awesome exhibits that the kids really enjoyed, and the water table was a big hit- we spent nearly an hour there. London somehow managed to get soaked, despite the raincoat they provided- it's a gift.  They dried her clothes for her though, which was really nice!  The photos below are small, as they were taken with my cell phone, but we were just too busy to worry about the camera!  

Even Josh had fun at the water table!

                                                             London was on a mission. 

Liam just kept squirting the boats with the water guns

After COSI, we headed to Pizzaria Uno's one of our favorite pizza places.  The closest one is an hour and a half from our house, so it's always a treat to be able to have dinner there.  Next we headed to the hotel for a swim.  When we were in Cleveland for Tough Mudder Weekend, Liam was afraid of the water and wouldn't get in.  This time he had a blast and said he wanted to "Swim like a fish" all night.  We ended up bribing them  going for ice cream after we got out of the pool at the ice cream place right next to our hotel.  By the time we got back it was 9pm and we were all so tired we went to sleep!  

The next morning, we went to the zoo.  It has also recently been ranked number one, and it was easy to see why!  Jack Hannah is the curator, and they also have an aquarium with manatees and sharks and some other fun fish.  There is an area of the zoo where kids can pet some of the animals, but not your usual sheep and pigs...Liam got to touch a hedgehog, a hissing cockroach and a baby alligator.  London loved touching the snakes and turtles, and they both got to touch the flamingos.  Again, the zoo was half price for us, since we are members of the Detroit zoo, which made it even more fun for us :)  If you are ever in the Columbus area, you HAVE to go to the zoo.  They also have rides, as they bought out a Six Flags park and you can ride as many as you like for $8.  We didn't have time that day, but next time it would definately be fun.  There is also a waterpark attached, but it wasn't open for the season yet.  

 These were the "flying foxes"...bats with a 6 ft. wing span, and one of Liam's favorite exhibits!

 Here is the back of Liam's head and London's dimpled elbow touching the flamingo.

 They thought it was really cool that this dog lived with the Cheetah and wrestled it...they were raised together. Apparently the dog helps the Cheetah establish trust with the handlers- the cheetahs were part of a show later.

Just to give you an idea of how close you can get to a LOT of the animals there, this was a black footed penguin.  This photo was taken with NO ZOOM on my camera.  London kept trying to touch him, and I kept having to grab her hands, because they will bite. 

Big Girl Bed!

London has been in her new "Big Girl Bed" for about a week now.  She's done great!  The first two nights, she didn't get up at all, and the third night (which was Liam's worst night too- what is it with that 3rd night??), she only got up twice.  Hasn't been up since.  Every night when we leave her room, she says "Don't get up!" as a reminder to herself.  So far, it's working.

I built her bed myself- well, Josh cut the wood in advance with plans to built it himself, but then he was on call, and then he was sick, so I just did it.  Then I painted it too.  I will post a photo when the entire project is complete- the entire project consists of her bed, Liam's bed (which is now complete as well!- I also built that one and cut some of the wood for that one myself too!), and a corner unit that will separate them- Josh and I will hopefully get that part done in the next week or so! 

Josh is one Tough Mudder!

A few weeks ago (Ok, so it's almost been a month now!), we went to Ohio with some friends so that Josh and two guys from our lifegroup could run a crazy race called the Tough Mudder.  When he first told me that they were going to run it, I thought he was joking.  It's a 12 mile course with 27 obstacles, including jumping into ice water (literally), getting shocked by live wires as you crawl through tunnels, and wading through chest-deep mud on uneven ground.  Yeah. Sounds like a blast.  I thought he was joking until he began re-arranging his work schedule  (NOT an easy feat!) to make it happen. And then they signed up, and paid money, and at that point I knew he was serious. 

We loaded up the kids and drove to the Cleveland area where we stayed at the same hotel with our friends (Andy is is number 45934 and John is number 48185).  It was a super fun weekend, with the exception of the race time!  We (being the wives) decided not to go to the race, because it was raining and the high was only 56.  We had 8 children between the three of us, and the oldest was 5, so to sit outside for 6 hours in a mud pit would have been less than fun.  It turns out, so was trying to entertain said children in a hotel with very few toys or things to do.  BUT, when the guys returned from the race with only minor bumps and bruises, we took the kids swimming and went to the Cleveland Zoo the next day.  It was quite an experience for all involved, but I'm glad we did it, and Josh can now say that he is truely a tough mudder.

It's a....

Boy! We found out on Tuesday that we are expecting our second little boy! We are very excited, and I think that it might help London avoid some "Middle Child" issues :) This way, Liam is special because he's the oldest, and London is Special because she's the Girl, and baby Declan is special because he's the baby. We plan on naming him Declan Garbriel. I know, I know, it doesn't start with an L but we didn't agree on any L names and I don't think naming him something that begins with the letter "D" will scar him for life. He'll be okay.

oops!

It has been a very long time since I posted, and I've heard about it from a few of you...sorry! Here is pregnant picture to make it up to you- 18 weeks with #3! You'll have to ignore the fact that my head is cut off...Liam is new at photography :)

Daddy Time!

Josh had a week of vacation, and we decided not to go anywhere. My parents came up for the first weekend to watch the kids while Josh and I went to Bay City and Frankenmuth/Birch Run for one night- we outlet shopped and had some R&R (including several meals out without kids!). Thanks Mom and Dad for watching them! It was a great way to refresh for the rest of the week!

We stayed home, and enjoyed time as a family. We went to the zoo, and Liam and Josh went "camping" in the living room, in a fort that they had built. They were going to camp outside, but we weren't sure Liam would last, and this way they could watch a movie together. It was so nice to have Josh home for the whole week! We even had nice weather that week! It was upper 70's to upper 80's that entire week with only one rainy day- that is UNHEARD of in Michigan in March. In fact, we went to the park this morning (a month later) and it was 39 outside...we had to move to playland at McDonalds to keep from freezing!

Camping- what a good sport to sleep on the floor just to amuse Liam!

London enjoying a bounce on Josh.

Polar Bear Exibit- the bears were out in the almost 90 degree weather, rather than in the cool water (???)

Polar Bear Exhibit again

Liam enjoying his grapes in the wagon

London LOVES the monkeys!

After a long, hot day!

Josh's First Pinterest Project

I HATED our dining room table. We bought a counter height table before we had kids, and let me tell you, counter height tables and kids do not mix well. My kids (and friends kids) were always climbing in and out of the chairs and falling off. The fact that we are expanding our family and our table only had 4 chairs was the perfect excuse I needed to go buy a new one. I was browsing around on pinterest one day, and came across plans for a farmhouse table that I loved. I showed Josh and said "Let's see you build this". I was kind of joking, but he got it in his head, and went for it (using the fact that he took woodshop in Jr. High as his qualification). I wasn't sure what to expect. Let's just say that I didn't list our current table on craigslist until after it was completed, but I have to say I am SOOOO impressed with my husband! He works a bazillion hours a week, and comes home and makes this amazing table with a bench for the kids to sit on. It turned out great!! I LOVE it, and we have gotten so many compliments from friends on it- who are even more impressed when I tell them that Josh made it. The photo below looks a little funny, because one of our dining chairs was missing- it was at the computer. By the time I realized it, the memory card was in the computer, and it was uploaded, and I am much too lazy to take another one ;)

Since this, he has built a bench similar to this one for my photographer friend Jeni to use as a photo prop, and a table that slides over the sofa cushions so we have a place to set our drinks when we watch TV. Next up is a new entertainment center- London ripped the door off of our old one- and then storage beds for the kids, who will share a room when the baby comes. Who knew he had this talent?!



Here is the work in progress...Liam was helping him :)

Happy Birthday Babies!

Since my last post, BOTH of my kids have celebrated a birthday. Liam is now 4, and London is the big 2. Since their birthdays are so close together, and I didn't know far enough in advance how I would feel at this point in the pregnancy, we had a joint party with a Cars 2/Elmo theme. We had a good turnout, despite missing a TON of guests due to a stomach virus. The kids had fun, and my mom was even able to make the long drive for the festivities. I can't believe it's been 4 years since Liam was born (or 2 since London came along!). In some ways it seems like the time is flying by, and in others it seems like we've been a little family forever.

Enjoying some birthday cake.

Opening Gifts

Liam's Cake

London's Cake

Baby!

Once again, my friend Jeni and her photography came in handy when we wanted to make this cute announcment. I saw the idea on Pinterest, and had to have it :) I love the shoes the kids chose to wear- they represent their personalities so well! So yes, we are having another baby! #3...maybe we're a little crazy, but we're pretty excited too! I'm due September 3rd, and we find out on April 17th if it's a boy or a girl- assuming baby cooperates as well as the other two did!

This pregnancy has been VERY different so far. I was pretty sick the whole first trimester with Liam, and if you remember, London tried to kill me during the first trimester with her. I felt like I had a terrible stomach virus for 7 weeks straight. This pregnancy has been much more "normal". At least it's safe to say, the first trimester was normal. I had days where I was tired and had to fight off the nausea, but I never threw up, and it was so much more pleasant! The kids are excited, Liam says it's a boy, because he wants a brother, and London told me to let the baby out to walk on a recent zoo trip. My favorite was Liam's reaction when we told him there was a baby in my belly. He looked up at me with VERY wide eyes and said "You ATE a baby!".

My blue eyed boy and his favorite Mr. Bear.

Silly Girl!

Merry Christmas!

I know it's terrible, but I didn't take many pictures at Christmas time. We were so busy and having so much fun! Josh was working crazy hours around Christmas, so we wanted to spend the 4 days he had off together, and, well, I just forgot. So instead, I will just tell you that we had a wonderful Christmas. Our families both came up to visit. The photo that I have is of an advent that I made. Each little red and green envelope contains an activity for us to do for each of the 25 days of Christmas. Some were simple, like "Decorate Christmas Cookies" or "Watch a Christmas Movie and Eat Popcorn". Others required more planning, like "Drive through the Live Nativity Scene" and "Bake Cookies and deliver them to neighbors". Overall, it kept us busy, and was a lot of fun!

My friend Jeni took some photos for us in exchange for me making cakes for her boys birthdays. I love it when I can trade for something! Anyway, these photos were three of my favorites. There are so many more great ones, but they just take so long to upload :)

First Snow, and our trip home

We got to travel home for Thanksgiving last month. It was a great trip, despite the 12 hour drive to Josh's parents and then the 9 hour drive back home from my parent's house. We decided it would be smart to leave on Friday night, so that the kids would sleep most of the way, so we went to our church lifegroup as scheduled and ended up staying to visit until 11:00p.m. We loaded the kids in the car and drove all night. Liam slept the entire way, but London woke up at 1:15 and stayed awake until 5:30. Grrr. She didn't cry the whole time, I was just hoping she would get a good night's sleep! We spent a few days with Josh's parents and then went to my parent's house the day before Thanksgiving, stopping to vistit friends along the way. Josh's mom got food poisoning while we were there, so she spent a day in bed, and while we were at my mom's house, she got some sort of virus, so she also spent a day in bed...did we bring bad luck with us? Either way, none of us got it, and both moms are feeling better now!

If you'll notice in the photo below, there is now a VAN parked in our garage. My mom had payed hers off, and, rather than trading it in, she traded us for our car, which she will trade in a few months. THANK YOU MOM AND DAD! There is so much more space in the van, and if someone parks too close to you in the parking lot, you can still get your kids in the carseat. I love it!

Other than that, we've been sticking close to home. It snowed here last night, and it was the first accumulation we've had this year. Liam was SO excited when he woke up, but I knew it wouldn't last long, since it was supposed to be above freezing today. So we got all bundled up and went outside to build our first snowman of the year. Does London remind anyone else of the kid on the movie "A Christmas Story"? She could hardly move :) I do LOVE their snowsuits, which I got on end-of-the-season clearance racks for $5 each last year- keeps their clothes nice and dry, so you can just take them off and not have to change their clothes after coming inside.

More Cake!

Just wanted to share a cake that I made for a friend's little girl. She just turned 3, and had a cupcake/treat theme- she loves sweets! The cupcakes at the bottom are cookies that I made and decorated, the round candies between the two tiers are sixlets, and the dots all over the cake are candy dots. The ice cream cone on top is just a giant cake ball.

Sandbox Time!

This picture was taken a few weeks ago, and it was much warmer then :) It's now cold outside and rainy too, so we've spent a couple of days inside- boo! I am not ready for Michigan winter, but this picture still looks like fall. It also makes me happy because Liam is having so much fun he's sitting on his butt in the sand. He has to REALLY be enjoying himself to get sand all over him, because he hates to be dirty!

Halloween!

Who doesn't love Milk and Cookies?

Chicago!

Here is a photo of the kids on the train that I couldn't get to go to the bottom :) They all loved the train ride! When we left Iowa, a couple of girls and I said we would meet this spring in Chicago. One of them couldn't make it, but my friend Amanda and I ventured into the big city outnumbered by children 4-2. We stayed in an awesome Residence Inn (I highly recomment them if you're staying with friends or children!) in a two bedroom suite- so we were able to put the kids to bed at a decent time and visit in the living room of our suite. They also have full kitchens in the rooms, so mac and cheese for dinner for the kids it was! They offer full breakfast AND dinner included in your stay- we ate there one night but were not able to overcome the temptation of Five Guys Burgers and Fries across the street on the first night :) They also had a pool and hot tub, which we enjoyed one night with the kids. Now that I'm done advertising for Marriott, let me tell you about our trip :)

Amanda has two boys, Jack and Walker. Jack and Liam are very good friends and very close in age, and Walker stole my heart in Iowa...he's now two. The first night we just hung out in the hotel room and let the kids play- no rules except safety ones. They had a blast and we went to the pool before putting them to bed. So much fun. The next morning we were a little crazy and decided to take them to Downtown Chicago. Josh and I have done this with our kids before, but Josh was there and we each took one kid. Amanda and I had two kids and a double stroller each to manage. Crazy. We left the hotel to catch the Metra train and missed it, literally by two minutes, so we went to the mall playground until the next one came. We caught that one and managed to get on the train and seated, no thanks to a VERY grumpy conductor who was not very helpful at all. We walked from Union Station to the Field Museum, where we wanted to take the kids to see the dinosaurs. We made it to most of the pertinant parts of the museum before we decided to head home before we collapsed from exhaustion. We caught a bus (A very full bus with no seats and 4 children and two double strollers...just picture it!) We got to Union Station JUST in time to RUN to the next train and take it back to the car. This time, there were a lot of people willing to help us with our strollers and children, rather than just watching us. At the end of the train ride, I got up to get London, who had just spotted a seeing eye dog and was going to pet it. I grabbed her, and sat back down, only to realize that the seats fold up when you stand up. So here I was sitting on the floor of the train with a backpack on my back and London in my arms, and I can't get up because I'm so tired, and I'm laughing so hard. We decided that this was a good picture to represent our day :)

The following morning, we got up and let the kids play while we packed up to head home. The kids did GREAT in the car and I think they had a great time. It was SO good to see Amanda and her boys. We are planning to do it again in the spring, this time adding more moms and more kids, but THIS time, we learned our lesson. We are going to pick a suburb with a lot to offer and stay off of the public transportation with the children :)

Liam and Jack checking out the buttons at the museum: Amanda, exhausted on the museum bench:

All 4 kids in front of Sue, the T-Rex

Liam and London playing on a forest exhibit:

Liam, exhausted in the stoller on the way to the museum:

Daddy's Week Off

Josh had a week's vacation time a couple of weeks ago, and we decided to just stay home and do fun things around the house and city with the kids. We had So.Much.Fun! (after the short bout of stomach virus made it through both kids first!) I forgot the camera at most of our destinations, but here are a few things that we did:

Josh built this table out of an old cabinet that I picked up off of the side of the road. After he built it, he cut a hole in the center to place the bowl to hold chalk. I painted it with homemade chalkboard paint, and the kids LOVE it. This photo was taken in the garage, but it will be in the basement this winter. This photo was taken at Heritage park Petting Farm- the kids loved it. For some reason, when you tell Liam to smile now, he does this goofy cheese face:

Feeding the Donkey at the petting farm:

London feeding the donkey:

Liam saw this gorilla statue and said "Take my Picture!", but then when it came time to get close to it, it made him a little nervous! :)