Day 1 of the UP Vacation 2008

We left our house around 9 am, stopped at the bridge for our traditional photos by Lake Huron and then it was off again. Sadly, Luke is a very poor traveller so I fear this may stop me from driving the distance to Colorado to see our long lost buddies who live there now! (Sorry Nick and Ellie...and William..I guess I had better lose my final pounds in order to get out west to see you!) The big kids did well, loved the bridge, loved the water and of course were off the wall excited once we had the camper all set up!

Luke's Bathtub..camping style!

This was some (or all) of the original Rottier childrens bathtub. I am not sure if it was just Katie's or if some of the boys used it too, but Anna and Jake had several baths in this during our earlier camping adventures and now Luke is enjoying it too!

Whasss up????

Luke put on Jakey's visor that he made at VBS and just chilled out at the table playing with his new cars. I thought it was cute so had to share!

The Free Fair

Friday night we met Grandma and Grandpa Rottier at the Ionia Free Fair. The kids love seeing all the animals and activities that were going on. They especially loved feeding any animals they were allowed to and posing as pigs!!!

Matching Shirts

Grandma G. bought the kids these cute matching shirts and I have been trying to get a cute photo of all 3 kids together in the shirts...well today was the day. (I guess) There was no cooperation from the boys, but at least it was cute photos of the "new do" for Anna. P.S. we have her ponytail of hair in a baggie and are going to send it to a donation center. Anna wants another little girl who is sick to have pretty hair too!

It's a done deal...short hair is in!!

Well, there you have it. Anna has been begging for short hair for 6 months. I don't even know how much we had cut...probably close to 9 inches. It's short! (shorter than I wanted, but you have to make it cute and all). O.K. so I think it is really cute, but I really loved the long hair....sigh. I was told by friends at work that I should pick my battles and this was a small thing to make a fuss over. When she came home she told her daddy and Jake that she is now growing it out because she doesn't want short hair...huh? We shall see, I figured it out and it will take 18 months to grow it to where it was just an hour ago. My little girly, all grown up :)

One of Our Favorite Things....

We like to go on bike rides, so, today I decided to bring the camera to catch the fun in action. Mike likes to make Luke laugh by riding through the weeds (it works!) We usually weave our way through the neighborhood and ride in the church parking lot near by. Well, as you see in the last photo....there is a curb real close to the trailer Luke is in...well in my excitement to get a photo...I missed that fact and crashed! It was an ugly site (good thing I had the camera). Anna's comment was priceless. As she is laughing (and still riding) she says, "Mommy needs baby wheel". That sums it up! Not injuries, just some bruises...sigh....

Luke's Well-Check Update

Luke had his 2 year appointment today. No shots, so that was a relief for Luke!!! He is above the charts on height and weight. He weighed in at a hefty 38 pounds on the button and 37.5 inches tall! Talk about a big and tall man! The doctor wasn't concerned, however...he did say if he gained another 10 pounds between now and his three year check that we should start talking about a diet for him!!! I already have all the kids on skim milk, so now I am forcing myself to feed them only healthy food...by the way...Jake will probably waste away to nothing. So, in short, if you have any healthy, kid friendly food ideas email them my way as Anna and Jake will probably be the ones to lose the weight with this trial!

The Before Photos...

This is the day AnnaJoy has been waiting for...the beginning of our next project (her bathroom). The Rottier clan will be over today and tomorrow to help us get this into full swing, of course it will be a few weeks/months before it is completed from head to toe, Anna did pick out her own decor: purples and pinks butterflies and flowers and we are doing "iced celery" walls...compliments of (or should I say copying) Uncle Stevie. Last night was the final night of swim lessons and I am happy to report that both Anna and Jake jumped off the blocks and the diving board! They both have to repeat the levels that they are in (for endurance reasons) but we are proud of them! Luke has to get a year older so he can move to the next level, that baby class was BORING for him, so he is in limbo until he is older! On another side note, Luke is doing an awesome job in his big boy bed! He naps super well and sleeps all night...o.k. so he is waking up at 6:30 am, but that will change eventually, right?

The Birthday Cake!

When we got home from Lowell it was time for naps...I am, again, happy to report that after a bit of coaxing, Luke did indeed take a 2 1/2 hour nap! When he woke up it was time for dinner then off to swim lessons! When we got home, daddy frosted the cake I made just before lessons and (for probably the 10th time today) we sang happy birthday to Luke. He even blew his candle out!!

A Visit to VBS for Luke!

We went to VBS to drop off somethings for Grandpa R. and Luke decided to ride the dinosaur. (it is a dino themed VBS!) He loved it! Luke and I also went and spent the morning with Grandpa Grover (and danced to some Carlos Santana music...Luke loves it!) By the end of our visit Luke as saying "Dude" pretty well! P.S. Thanks for the bike Grandpa and Grandma G.

6:39am Wake Up Call!

I am happy (and relieved) to report that Luke slept all night long...it was a small (very small) challenge to get him to agree to stay in bed, but once he realized it was o.k. he passed out and never made a peep until this morning at 6:39 when he woke up and came out of his room on his own for the first time!

Changing of the Guard

A final look at the crib as we know it...




The finished product...

Well, there was no talking Luke (or daddy) out of the change once we had all of the items necessary for the "big change over". Here it is complete with Pottery Barn Kids Jurassic Bedding...my baby is all grown up :-(

The End of Our Baby Era...

These photos are actually from Sunday, Luke was helping his daddy make bread (and was loving it!) Today is the last day I will ever have a one year old..sigh...don't get me wrong I am not itching for anymore little rascals...just sad that they grow too fast. (And for Luke I take that literally!) The older kids have been going to VBS in Alto at Grandma and Grandpa Rottier's church, so Luke is on day 2 of being the only child for half a day...he doesn't like it! I tried to go to the gym the morning and he cried (hard) for 10 minutes (actually 20) and I had to go get him...so we spend the late morning getting the final pieces for his big boy room...yes he gets his big bed faster than any of my other children. I guess that is how it goes with the more you have, the sooner they grow up! We have no plans for tomorrow except maybe making a cake and swim lessons in the evening, so it will be a very "boring" 2 year birthday!

I love your smiles!!!

These are the smiles I was talking about "trying to capture" when I did his little photo shoot at the park! I just can't get him to do this when he is all dressed up cute and being posed....sigh! I do love his smiles though!

Pool Party!

Our cousins, Madi and Matthew, came to play today and we had a blast as you can see. By the way, Matthew is 7 months OLDER than Luke, and Luke easily outweighs him by probably 10 pounds and maybe a couple inches in the height department at least as well!!!

Swimming Lessons Week 1

On your mark, get set...

In we go!!

So, what I have learned from this week at swim lessons is that Luke (who hated water before the start of this week) now has no fear of it at all! He jumps in freely, and doesn't like me holding him at all! Anna, is still timid and nervous about jumping in (she is in level 2) and Jake (who is the youngest in his group) also has no fear of jumping in and will swim unaided (well aside from all the floatation support). Sorry about the blurry photos, but they are funny to see in order of getting ready and jumping! Thanks to daddy for doing such a good job at taking photos for us!