on the move

I messed up the background/layout of my blog, can't seem to figure out how to get it back. I'll work on that...

I've got two babies on the move now! It is certainly making things interesting... For awhile now Logan has been able to push himself a few inches with his toes to reach a toy, but he hasn't really gone anywhere. I think we can say that yesterday he technically started scooting. Caleb scoots around no problem and is Mr. Curious - he's got to check everything out. It'll be interesting to see if Logan likes to explore as much once he's getting around better, or if there's a personality difference there.

brotherly love

Logan really loves Caleb.

happy

This evening I had a photo session so Mike stayed home with the boys.  When I got home Mike was holding onto Logan and he didn't see me right away, but when he did he got all excited and reached for me.  Melt my heart!!

lightning mcqueen

I caught some lightning last night!  I've tried (and I use that term loosely) a few times to capture a lightning photo, and usually by the time I get my camera out there's no more to be had.  Thanks to Mike I got this shot.  Last night as the storm was rolling through I was watching all the lightning strikes thinking they looked pretty cool and wouldn't it be neat to get a photo.  But, I'd kinda figured I'd go through the effort of getting set up and not end up with anything, so I was leaning towards being lazy and not even trying.  Mike encouraged me to do it and I'm glad I did!  I know it's not a jaw-dropping photo, but I was just excited to actually capture the lightning and get a halfway decent shot.

The boys didn't seem bothered at all by the storm!  At one point the power went out and then there was a very loud thunder clap that I thought would wake them up, but they were fine.

Caleb is scooting around like crazy.  Almost crawling, but not quite.  Logan is almost scooting - he'll be reaching for a toy and if it's just out of reach he'll push off a little with his toes so he can reach it, but he's not really going anywhere yet.  They both jibber-jabber alot, Logan especially likes to shout.  They were laughing at each other this morning and it was so cute. 

later

Let's see...how can I procrastinate from what I should be doing?...The blog needs to be kept up to date, right??

Friday afternoon my mom came and folded a bunch of laundry for me - it was wonderful!  The laundry and some other chores have been getting harder to accomplish, so it was great to have some help.  And, last week was one of the more challenging weeks I've had since the boys were born, so it was a nice encouragement.

We were so thankful that on Saturday Mike was able to just work a couple hours real early and then be free for the day.  We had alot going on.  We went up to his brother and sister-in-law's cottage where we had a little time for fun, then we headed over to another cottage on another lake for a get together with a group from church.  There the boys went on their first boat ride!  And, believe it or not, I do not have a photo of the event.  I know, it seems like I'm constantly snapping photos and I don't have one to document their first boat ride - I'm terrible!  For those of you that know Mike well - there was a Corn Hole tourney and yes, Mike won it.  :)

Sunday afternoon was a birthday party for my nephew - he turned 4 already!  So grown up.  And my mom is so proud, he loves to read!  The first presents he opened were books and we took a break from present opening so he could have one read to him, and then he actually had to be 'forced' to open the rest of his presents instead of continuing to read - crazy kid!

If the birthday boy wasn't wearing a party hat, why did everyone else have to??

The boys weren't real thrilled about it.

toot

Listen close and you'll hear a little something.  Just to be clear, it's Logan, not me.  And like a true boy, he smiles after he does it.

boot scootin' boogie

pacifiers

Something I forgot to post about before - I think we're pretty much done with pacifiers!  We didn't really even try, it just sorta happened. 

I think it was a couple weeks ago that I decided not to put a pacifier in their cribs anymore just to see how it would go - this wasn't a serious "We're done with pacifiers from here on out".  They did fine without them, and there have even been a few times now when they've been upset, I've tried to give them a pacifier, and they don't want it!  I'm finding we're just not using them around the house either.  I do keep one with each car seat (and probably will for awhile - don't want to be unprepared in public!) but it doesn't get used much.

Let's hope they don't become thumb suckers.

sigh

It's been a challenging week.  Caleb now has a tooth popping out too, so I hope teething is the only reason why I've been dealing with two cranky babies this week.  Of course this coincides with Mike working longer days, so I'm exhausted!

But, I'm not going to sit here and complain.  :)  I'm thankful I have two healthy babies, I'm thankful Mike has a job he enjoys, I'm thankful to be a stay-at-home-mom, and I'm thankful that Mike has a job where we can visit him so he can see the boys a little more than just a short time in the evenings.

Mike's packing shed started running last week.  Celery, celery, celery.  He was quite busy today, so I just put the boys in the stroller and we watched him work for awhile.  Even though he wasn't really able to stop and visit, he enjoyed just having the boys around.  I was even able to help a little.  :)

Caleb is really scooting around today.  I guess you could call it an army crawl.  Logan has scooted a little bit, he tends to push himself back more.  They both are very proficient at spinning around when on their tummies.  Still can't leave them sitting up - they'll do good for quite awhile then tip over.  I've been having fun watching them play with their toys now.  They actually play with purpose and it's neat to see.

Feeding times have become more challenging and I'm in the middle of trying to decide how to proceed. 

hard work

The boys spent a little time at work with Mike yesterday.

I think we may be seeing a tooth in Logan's mouth soon!  I'm not sure I'm ready for that.  They've been chewing like crazy for months, but we're now seeing some other signs.  The past few days Logan has seemed to be a little extra cranky, his appetite has been down, he didn't want me to feel in his mouth the other day, today I saw his gum bleeding a little, and I'm pretty sure I felt a little something.  I think they're going to look funny with teeth!  :)

scootch

Caleb scootched forward a little bit!  Can't call it a crawl yet, but he's making progress.  We were all on the floor playing together and we put a few toys out of his reach and he scootched forward and got them.  I think we scared him with all our clapping and cheering.  :)

In the mean time, Logan rolled and pushed himself backwards towards the tv stand and pulled out a dvd - The Hunt for Red October - Mike was very pleased with his choice of movies.  So, for awhile I've casually looked for a different tv stand (one with doors so everything can be enclosed), I guess the search will become a little more urgent now.

Caleb seems to be stronger in the legs, and Logan in the upper body.  Caleb will get his knees up under him (as you saw in the previous post) but not be able to pick his head up at the same time.  Logan pushes up way more with his arms, but hasn't really got his knees up under him yet.

close

Caleb is so close to crawling.  Just today Logan is looking more and more like it won't be too long either.  Caleb can get his tummy off the floor, but hasn't figured out how to pick his head up at the same time.  He really wants to do it - he'll try so hard to reach for something.

holiday weekend

Let's see if I can remember everything we've done the last few days - it's been busy!

Friday night was actually a pretty relaxing night at home.  For those of you that know us well, you know Friday night is usually grocery night.  However, not knowing how the evening was going to go because Mike planned on helping my dad unload hay, I went Friday morning to get groceries.  I've got different strategies for how I handle getting groceries depending on where I go, when I go, and what I need to get.  If I only need to get a few things I'll leave both boys in their car seats and put them both in one cart.  If I need to get more and have to actually put things in the cart but it's busy in the store one will stay in their car seat in the cart, and I carry the other in the Baby Bjorn (thanks, E & LA!!).  And, if I need to be able to put things in the cart but it's not very busy I'll leave both boys in their car seats and put them each in their own cart.  It's usually not that hard to push two carts around, except when I did it this last time I had a not very good cart so it was a little more challenging.

Anyways, back to Friday night.  Mike got done on time with work, and then only had one load of hay to help with, so we had the rest of the evening to chill! 

Saturday morning my brother Eric, Mike, the boys, and I went for a run.  We had a nice run around Zeeland.  Eric and Mike did a few extra miles after running with me.

Saturday afternoon we headed up to Harold & Kara's cottage.  What a perfect day to be there!  It was hot enough to want to play in the water, but not hot enough to be miserable.  We had alot of fun with everyone there, and the boys did great!  They both stayed in the water awhile, although Logan did seem to enjoy it more than Caleb.  They also took great naps, which is so nice.

Sunday afternoon we went to Eric and Lea Anne's house for a cookout.  Eric set up a slip and slide (see videos in previous post) which we all had fun with.  Well, not everyone went down, but those who didn't had fun watching those who did.  :)  The boys played in the kiddie pool for awhile and seemed to really have fun.

This morning Mike went on a 14 mile run with my brothers.  Crazy!  They ran out to Lake Michigan.  My dad met them at a couple spots along the way for a water break.  It was pretty warm and humid first thing this morning, not my kind of weather to run in. 

This afternoon Mike stayed home with the boys while I gave a private photography lesson and after that I was able to go do some shopping by myself.  It was nice to have a break!  But, of course, by the time I was on my way home I was anxious to be back with my guys again.  :)

4th of July fun

Had a slip-slidin' good time at my brother's on the 4th of July.

6

This was us exactly six years ago!  My, how things have changed.  :)  If I had known what all would happen in the next six years I don't think I would have believed it.  Job changes, moving, doubling our family size, and lots of other events...  The Lord has been good to us and has certainly led us on an interesting adventure.

We went out to dinner as a family tonight to celebrate.  The boys are still pretty easy to take out, so I guess we'll enjoy doing that while we still can.  I imagine at some point it won't be quite so enjoyable (or affordable!).  The kind of hours Mike has been working he hasn't been able to see the boys much, so we didn't want to spend an evening separated as a family.

Tuesday night was a fun family event - the Zeeland Zoom 5k.  Mike, Mike, and Eric ran together, and I ran separate at my own pace.  :)  The guys did very well, finishing in just over 22 minutes, and I had a 5 minute improvement over my time in the Riverbank Run in May!  Mom and Dad, Emily, Lea Anne, Boden, Heidi, Caleb, and Logan were all there to cheer us on.  This race was a first for Zeeland, and I hope they keep it up (and I hope we're able to do it every year!).