Last bottles

The girls officially drank their last bottles today. We ran out of formula, so I decided to go ahead and switch them over to whole milk. They drank it right down. Tonight I am going to pack up all the bottles, and reclaim my counter top that has been covered by enormous cans of formula and ten bottles for the last year! It is a little bitter sweet. It means my babies really are growing up. As soon as I get a little sad about that, I just remember how many times I have had to make bottles, give them, and wash them...then I am glad to see them gone! The girls use to take a bottle every two to three hours- just think of how many per day that is...yikes!!

Mesmerized

Like I mentioned before, our DVD player was worth every extra penny we paid for our minivan! Here are the girls on our way home from vacation. We popped Dora in, and they wouldn't take their eyes off of it! Don't worry, I wasn't driving when I took the pictures :)

Aunt Judy's

Cousin Jeff playing with the girls.
I think Lena is sticking her tongue out at him...how rude!
Maddie's new silly grin and scrunched up nose.
Hi, Lena! Close up!
Chris and M and L with his Aunt Judy
Lena loved her glasses!
Madeline

We stopped at Chris's Aunt Judy and Uncle Jim's house on our way home from Burt Lake. It is just about half way, so we stopped and visited with them for a few hours. The girls were crawling around and getting into everything...they loved it! We don't get to see Judy and her family very often, so it was great to catch up. We tried to get some shots of the girls with her, but they didn't want to cooperate. I posted the best ones!

Such a big week

From

Click on the image to watch the video. The girls' sleep schedule was thrown a bit off last week. This was our last full day in Michigan, and the later nights and shorter naps were starting to catch up to Maddie!

Up North

Max coming in from a quick swim.
Dad and Lena goofing around.
Chris with the girls, his mom, and his great aunt Elmira.

Auntie and L and M.

Auntie and Lena. The girls really enjoyed meeting Auntie. They gave her tons of smiles and laughs all week.

Max going for his first voluntary swim :)

Grandma letting Maddie play in the water.

Gma and Maddie, Uncle Jim and Lena

Auntie watching Max while the rest of us went for a swim.

Family shot.

Dad and his girls.

Lena splashing around.

Chris's Uncle Jim was camping about an hour and a half away from where we were staying, so we took a day trip to see him and his family. We went swimming and cooked out while we were there. They had warmer water there, so this was the first time the kids were in a lake. They loved it!

M and L liked the boat rides we went on. They immediately relaxed when the boat started moving, and they were usually asleep before we got back home.

Lena posing for the camera!

Mom and Maddie. I absolutely loved taking the girls on the boat. Since they are always on the move now, they don't like to cuddle too much. They would let us hold and cuddle them on the rides (typical mom thing to say, I imagine).

Dad tossing Maddie in the air.

Dad and Lena- Mackinac Bridge

Mom, grandma, and the girls

The girls watching Dora- their new love! We used our DVD player for the first time on our trip- well worth the extra money we payed for the van! We needed to buy a few minutes one morning in the house, so we popped Dora in. It literally only bought us a few minutes, however, it got us a cute picture :)

House on Burt Lake

Grandma in the kitchen.
All the girls (Jen, Lena, Auntie, Maddie, and Sue)
Sue and I enjoying the fire one evening.

A view from the dock.

Max was in heaven on the lake- running in the yard, chasing sticks, swimming, etc.

This past week we took our first family vacation, and we headed up to Northern Michigan to Chris' family's house on Burt Lake. It was so relaxing! We have decided to make it a tradition to spend time up there each summer. The house was built by Chris's great grandparents in the 1950's. The family has pretty much left it the way it was when they lived there. It is really cool- lots of antique furniture, old tools, pretty dishes, and many other interesting pieces from years ago. These are just a few of the pictures we took of the house and the surrounding property. It was beautiful.

Thought this day would never come...

M and L have started holding their own sippy cups- not today, but somewhat recently. It is so nice to just hand it over and let them do their thing (no spill cups, of course). I just have to lay them down to get them going.
Maddie goofing around at dinner. This is the new look she gives all the time- crinkled up nose, how cute!
Lena, a mess after dinner.
Madeline

Lena tends to play with her food quite a bit. She puts it in her mouth, pulls it back out, throws it in the floor, feeds it to Max, etc. As you can see, her face and tray have lots of leftovers!

PS- We are headed to Northern Michigan for vacation tomorrow, so probably no updates until next Thursday or Friday. I promise lots of pictures when I return!

4th of July

Hey guys, we are ready to go to the parade!
The parade is just beginning. My parents and my sister came to visit over the long holiday weekend. It was so great to see them (and to have all that extra help with the girls)! We went to the New Albany Fourth of July parade and then to the fireworks that night. I got lots of good pictures of the girls, but I didn't even get one with my dad...sorry, Grandpa! Next time!

Me and my sis.

Lena fell asleep about half way through the parade. Getting ready to leave. Daddy carried Lena...

...and Grandma carried Maddie.

Headed home with two sleepy girls.