: 6 months :

happy 1/2 birthday little man

i can't believe you're already 6 months old. time has stood still at moments and flown by at others. you are such a HAPPY little boy. you still charm everyone with your sweet smile (hoping to get free coffee out of that at the store sometime). you love to watch your sister bounce around you and of course have already fallen in love with your puppy dog. not so sure he's up for another one crawling all over him, but as usual he's being a good sport. here's what you're up to these days...

napping 2 times a day

eating lots of veggies - orange ones!!

sleeping 12 hours

rolling everywhere - even in places we can't see you :)

laughing

grabbing at anything you can reach

sporting a mini mo most days - which has become your nickname from daddy

sitting up almost all on your own - still a little top heavy, but you're getting it.

you are still a cuddlier and have found your comfort - blankie

(had to dig out the summer jams during our crazy warm up last week, back to the fleece footy pjs )

each day you change more and more. you are a joy to parent, although we know that your smile may cause some trouble during the teenage years. we continue to pray that you would walk with Christ some day and that all the way you'll meet godly friends and men who will build into your life. you are truly a blessing "mini mo"

outside...finally

michigan spring is taking a long time to arrive, but we had a taste of it a week ago.

"i see you"

just chillin' in the swing

playing with daddy

running with tackle

time for a rest..playing outside is exhausting!

can't wait to play outside more...to bad a week later we had snow. that's michigan for you..

grammy's visit

over spring break we enjoyed a few days with just my mom. we had a great time, laughing, reading lots of stories, baking, dying easter eggs, playing, and visiting the sights in town.

grammy and her boy snuggling with his easter bunny

dying easter eggs together...beckett had to get in on the action

we visited the carousel and children's museum town as usual. this is one of elle's favorite things to do. while we were there grammy found a little musical carousel so of course she had to get it. elle LOVES it and likes to pick out which one is grammy, mommy, beckett and her.

baking muffins with grammy

reading "The Little Engine That Could" for probably the 10th time...it's become a favorite, but man is it a long story.

more pictures to come of the rest of our time with grammy

thank you grammy for coming to visit.

we love you!!

b*o*u*n*c*e

a great way to tire out a busy body 2 year old!

over spring break we played with the cousins at bounceland

obviously only got pictures of elle and blurry ones at that

a little busy trying to watch her and hold beckett at the same time

it's been years since i've been on these toys, actually can't remember when. elle wasn't a fan of the slides and i know why....they're a little scary! i could only handle going down twice and that was enough for me. i'll stick to the bounce house ones instead. speaking of bounce houses...we just became the owners of a trampoline thanks to our neighbors!!! we'll be bouncing all spring and summer long. come on over anytime and take a turn.

CHICAGO

we love chicago!!

especially when there is family and fun things to do with the kids

our trip was filled with lots of fun things, time with family and relaxing a bit

activity 1 - shedd's aquarium

some of the pictures are little blurry, but they show ell's excitement the BEST! she absolutely loved every part of it. beckett did great too, always a trooper and just takes it all in. it was so fun to see her face light up at everything she saw.

taking in all the fish and huge sea turtle

penguins - elle loved watching them swim in the water

loving the penguins

waiting for the dolphin show to start

the beluga whales & sea lion tricks...still waiting for the dolphins
loving the dolphins and her new "purple sparkly fish"
the "purple sparkly fish" she had to have! we let her pick any stuffed animal out and this is what she chose. she wouldn't let go of it all weekend. it now lays on her bedroom floor...oh well!

activity 2 - children's museum w/ aunt sue

what an awesome place to take kids. elle was the perfect age to take her. they had a fort building area filled with bed sheets, chairs, blankets, stools, ladders, anything and everything to make a fort. elle of coursed loved the water area, fire department, dinosaur bone digging, and the treehouse for toddlers. beckett again just along for the ride, maybe next year buddy.

water table

treehouse climbing
digging for bones - i think i found a BIG one, mom!
crazy mirrors like a bug's eye...how funny!

mr. beckett chilling as usual

activity 3 - hockey game for josh and hanging with family

unfortunately i didn't get a chance to snap a picture of josh and aunt sue heading the blackhawks game. they were sporting their fan wear and all. i stayed in with the kids and enjoyed a night of peace and quiet.

aunt sue surprised with cupcakes from "sprinkles" - delicious! i love cupcakes and love the creative side of decorating them. i've tossed around the idea of starting a cupcake business...more to come on that in the next post.

aunt mary and uncle dalius visited with us and the kids. it was so fun to see elle play with both of them. so how only snapped a photo of aunt mary and beckett.

snuggle time with aunt sue

thanks aunt sue for a fun weekend in the city

we love chicago & you!

movie night...scene 1, 2, 3

*family movie night*

scene 1

ellington too excited about the movie & popcorn to look

scene 2

i'm smiling mom, just take the picture and START the movie

scene 3

OK...I'm looking!

this girl makes me laugh

i'm a little behind in my blogging but had to share these recent photos. more to come of what we've been up to. a trip to chicago and playing with the cousins at bounce land. stay tuned