4 Marvelous Months With Mia!

"This is my, taking it all in face."

It's hard to believe that Mia is four months old today. Where did the time go? She's developing quite a personality. She is very laid back and easy going. Thankfully she loves to be entertained, because Olivia loves to entertain! They make quite the pair. She doesn't go to the doctors for another 2 weeks so I will post then her weight and height. Mia still is chewing all the time and rolls over constantly. Tonight Olivia, Mia and I walked downtown with Nana and Papa for "Fun Friday," in the Free Church Park. The Three Rivers German Band was playing, which Olivia loved to dance to last year. This year proved to be no different as you will see in a picture I posted. Mia enjoyed sitting and listening as well. She did want out of the stroller though as evident in the photo below. I just couldn't help myself from capturing her sad little face on the camera. Right after the photo I took her out of the stroller and she remained content the remainder of the night.

"This is my sad face."

Dancing away! Notice she is not wearing the ugly dress in any photos either Jennifer!

Olivia continues to be a wonderful big sister. She truly seems to love Mia more than I could have hoped, and doesn't seem jealous. I have been blessed, what more can I say?

Vada's Got the "Blue"s

Vada was so worn out last night after a visit from her new found friend, Blue. Blue is the son of Lesley Starkey, a fellow teacher. We've been meaning to get the dogs together for a play date for awhile and finally did. Blue even brought toys to share. They got along great, although I think Blue was in for more than he bargained for. The romped quite a bit in the backyard, and when it seemed they had worn each other out we took them inside. It must have been the AC that gave them a second wind because they were going crazy chasing and wrestling each other inside. Before I needed to invest in new furniture, we decided outside was probably best for them, although it was comical to watch them inside. Lesley's been making lots of homemade ice cream this summer and brought some of her strawberry flavor to share. It was delicious! Vada and Blue agreed, thanks to a generous Olivia! Now Vada is singing the Blues, until she can see her friend again.

Papa John just turned 67 yesterday! The girls and I had an enjoyable lunch with Jennifer and him at Applebees thanks to Aunt Jen. In the evening we all went over to Nana and Papa's house for dinner and cake, and to celebrate. Papa cooked us a terrific meal as always. Thanks and happy birthday Papa!

Six years we've been in this house with many projects started and some completed. My dear handy husband decided to start tackling one I've wanted done for awhile. We have an area upstairs with a window and about 8 X 10 feet that has been walled off to the rest of the room. We're (and when I say that, I pretty much mean Andy) are opening it up to the rest of the room and eventually are going to turn this side of the upstairs into our bedroom. We'll then move the girls into our old room. Then we'll all be on one floor, and the girls will have a huge room for all of their toys. Progress is being made! Thank goodness for a husband in the construction field.

Cupcakes Anyone?

Olivia is making a weird face here, but it's the only one I got with her looking at me.

We had our friends, Lauren and Piper, down for lunch and to decorate cupcakes with us. Olivia and Piper had fun frosting and putting sprinkles on the cupcakes. I think Olivia enjoyed decorating them, while Piper seemed to enjoy eating the frosting. The girls had a great time playing, while Lauren and I enjoyed some time chatting and looking at some of her gorgeous pictures from their recent trip to Ireland. She takes such beautiful photographs that I am often embarrassed to post my pictures, but then again it's the best I can do.

After cupcakes the girls enjoyed dressing each other up. Have you ever seen any prettier ladies?

I absolutely loved the look on Mia's face in this picture. She's so darn cute!

Photoshop.com Album

Name That Baby

I found a striking resemblance between these two photos. Do you think you can identify the baby in each picture?

The Return of Darth Vada

After our long weekend up North we picked up Vada from "It's a Dogs World" in Sturgis. They were great with her, and I highly recommend them to anyone looking for grooming or boarding. They bathed her and trimmed her toenails, which is a remarkable feat for anyone. They are within a short walking distance from us so we walked her home. On our journey home, we were convinced they gave us another dog because she was so calm and obedient. We thought that maybe she was coming over from "The Dark Side." As the days went on she became a bit more of her oldself, but has been a much more well behaved dog. Much less nipping and chewing, but still enough to get herself into trouble now and then. As evident in the photo above, Olivia is thrilled to have her back (most days).

Mia continues to be such a sweet and contented baby. She loves to smile, coo, and giggle all of the time. She spits up frequently, but we haven't had any puking in weeks! (Knocking on wood). She'll go to just about anyone and loves to be entertained. She's hit some more milestones. She is able to roll over completely both ways now, and does so frequently. The only time she really fusses is when she's hungry. I am currently taking a technology course this summer. It was only 3 1/2 days so I figured it was an easy wasy to get 3 more grad credits out of the way. Tuesday, July 14th was my first day and the girls went to Jackie's for the day, which Olivia was so excited for. I told Jackie I wouldn't be coming over at lunch because of the tight schedule of the class. By 11:00 I got a phone call during class letting me know Mia was having nothing to do with the bottle, and Jackie hoped I could sneak out at lunch. My instructors graciously let me sneak out to go feed her. We were covering how to make a blog at the time anyways, which we all know I can already do. By the end of the day she did take a bottle for Jackie. I guess we will have to practice up on that with her a bit more this summer. Sorry Jackie!

Holy Angels is having their Summer VBS this week. "Son Rock Kids Camp" has proven to be a lot of fun for all involved. I'm a leader for the 3-5 year old group, which Olivia is in. Our group is the skunks. The kids are so adorable. Mia usually hangs out with us the majority of the time too. We rotate to various locations for songs and prayer, arts and crafts, story time, wilderness trail, snacks, and games. On our first night, we played a game called "What Time is it Mr. Skunk?" During this game I decided to sneak away to feed Mia. Just as I started to feed her I heard this screaming and crying. Right away out of the 20 students we had, I knew it was Olivia. I ran to see her and she had a mouth full of blood, and above her lip was all bloody. I passed off Mia and took Olivia so we could get her cleaned up and call Andy. I wasn't sure if she'd put her tooth through her lip, knocked any teeth loose, or what. I couldn't reach Andy, so Papa John came to her rescue and took her back to his house. Andy showed up about 5 minutes later. Thankfully, it wasn't too serious. It swelled up much worse than the photo below and scabbed over pretty bad, but it doesn't seem to be slowing her down any. Although, when we played the game again last night she chose to sit out. We had three more kids injured playing it last night, so I think it was a smart move on her part.

A Visit From The Johnson Family

Emma, Mia, Matt, and Olivia


After our trip up North for the 4th of July holiday we readied ourselves for our long drive back. My cousin Chris and his two children Matt and Emma had an even longer trip back to Virginia. We offered them to come and stay the night with us to break up their trip home. We are so excited they accepted our offer. A great time was had by all. Olivia really hit it off with Matt and Emma. On occasion Olivia and Emma would argue over toys, but that's what kids do at their age. Matt had fun loving on Mia. Olivia and Emma slept in sleeping bags in Olivia's room together. It was their first sleep over! They were so cute together. The adults enjoyed each others' company as well. It's scary how much Chris and Andy are alike.

My biggest kid, Andy with Emma and Matt. Andy had fun tickling the kids, but they loved it.

Chris with his two terrific children. I love how Emma's eyes are always looking somewhere.

Pictures from the 4th

Mike and Ruth (aka Sugar Momma) lounging outside of Judy and Jim's

Andy with Mia burried in her blanket, Uncle Jim, and JC relaxing on the porch of Judy and Jim's now permanent residence.

Adorable Lynsey making silly faces at me. She is such a sweet content baby girl with beautiful blue eyes and a head full of hair. She looks like her daddy.

Sparklers anyone?

North for the Fourth

A photo from the parade around the "Martini Cove" in East Tawas, MI. You can't quite see everyone in this photo, but Olivia and Emma are on my cousin Chris' lap, my cousin Andrew is driving, with his friend Jake and my cousin Matt on the back.


We headed up to Hillman last Thursday to stay with Uncle Jere Timm a few days. Andy and Jere went golfing and then up to Roger City to purchase some super thick cut bacon from Platz's. Andy can't get enough of the stuff. While they did their guy thing, Olivia, Mia, and I headed into Alpena. We met up with My dad and Patty at Uncle Dave's and Marvis' house. They have such a gorgeous house on a beautiful lot on the lake. We then went and saw my dad and Patty's house in Alpena (currently they are renting it out) and then went to the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center in Alpena. It's an awesome museum with information on shipwrecks of the Great Lakes. A very interactive museum that is fun for all ages. Next, we headed over to visit Aunt Julie and Uncle Dale. My cousin Jennifer, her husband Ken, son Christopher, and their Basset Hound, Sophie were also up visiting. Olivia loved on Sophie while I had a nice visit and was able to catch up with some family. After, the girls and I quickly made a stop at the cemetery to visit our lost loved ones, then headed back to Jere's. We had a great meal and enjoyed the hot tub. The next morning we drove down to East Tawas to meet up with some of the Doyle side of the family. Uncle Mike and Aunt Ruth, Aunt Judy and Uncle Jim, and Aunt Joan and Scott were all there at their respective cottages. It's so wonderful to have so many aunts and uncles all have places right by each other. My cousin Chris, whom I only met last year at my Uncle Patrick's funeral came with his two children, Matt and Emma from the Virginia Beach area. I'm so glad they came that far and were able to meet some more family and get to know us better. His children are wonderful and so polite. Chris' wife Amee is in the Navy and currently deployed serving our country so she was unable to be with us. We also got to spend time with my cousin Amy and her son Andrew, and my cousin JC and his wife Michele were up with their two daughters Leah, and 5 month old Lynsey. It was an enjoyable and relaxing time. We are blessed with wonderful family!

Emma with her blanky, and Olivia and Matt snuggling in the chair.

Matt, Olivia and Andrew hanging out in Uncle Jim's golf cart.

Below: Chris holding Mia, Matt, Olivia, Leah, and Emma

More pictures from the fourth to follow.