SPRING fever!

I left Ellie in her crib and Luke was playing with some of her toys....when I came back in Luke was IN the crib with her toys! Ellie is not for sure what is going on...She's a trooper. :)

Luke at his swim lessons! We are SO proud of him. We signed him up for the 3-4 years old class because I was really trying to avoid going in the water with him. They allowed him to sign up but said we would have to see how it goes. Just after 7 classes Lukey passed the class and is now onto Junior Step 2! These are the benchmarks he passed to move on:

- No tears in swim class for 3 consecutive classes

- Independent barbell kicking

- 10 second breath control in underwater dip

- Sea otter- back float 5 seconds (assisted)

- Octupus- front float 5 seconds (assisted)

- Pulling paddle 5 ft. (unassisted)

- Climb out "elbow, elbow, tummy, knee" (assisted)

- Jump, turn, swim to wall (assisted)

- Rollover front to back (assisted)

- Rollover back to front (assisted)

...and the biggy.... Superman glide 5 ft! This is swimming underwater for 5 ft. all by himself!

The cutest Easter bunny around hanging out with Grandma!

Watch the superman glide for yourself! He did it...he did it...he did it!

ABC's.. love when his eyes cross to look at the microphone :)

This is one of my FAVs! This is Ellie eating with her favorite nanny Jacque. SO sweet.

Family from near and far!

Little Miss Piggy is loving her baby food! She is up to at least 2 feedings a day and at each feeding she finishes 3 different containers! For breakfast she loves her Oatmeal, yogurt, and fruit and for her 2nd meal (around 3 pm) she eats a mac and cheese/veggies, a veggie, and a fruit! When we all sit down to dinner she is at the table with us in her high chair and so sometimes times she wants to eat again. :) With all of this baby food her milk feedings are down to about 3 a day, early morning, noon, and before bed. 

We had a special visit from Grandma Cooley! She came up from Florida to see us for the weekend and we we had a great time!

Luke is LOVING his swim lessons and open swim night is a pretty good time too! Friday nights sure look different now, but different in a good way. :) 

Ellie's first time in the pool! She was a hit with eveybody!

Ben was able to take the kids mid-week to Grandpa and Grandma Uitti's house for Grandma's 40th birthday AND they were able to visit with our relatives from the UP! Grandpa George and Aunt Pam were stopping by on their annual trip down to Florida.

Grandpa George meeting Ellie for the first time and Lukey in his "Little Yooper" sweatshirt. Grandpa is now 92 and doing great!

A beautiful family!

Happy birthday Grandma! I think there are 40 candles on that cake?! ;)

There are 90 years that seperate these 2 guys. 9 decades of life!!! And yet they still both enjoy a late night snack of ice cream cake.

"I'm so cute, and I know it!" Ellie is still just the sweetest little girl. She is ALWAYS smiling and gives the most scrumtious hugs and open-mouthed kisses.

More BIG news in the Morin household: NO more baby bath tub. It is packed away down stairs (along with the baby swing and Bumbo). Luke was so excited to take his first bath with his sister. :)

Luke has been the biggest ham these days...anything for a laugh from this guy!

It is SO hard to believe that my little sunshine is 7 months old! She is grabbing at everything (hence, the pic above) and will reach so far in front of her that she'll tip over forwards. She will look kinda stunned, like what just happened, and then will roll to find the next thing to grab. :)

Enjoy the movies!

Snow Days

 Ellie at her 6 month check up!

Here are her stats:

Height: 25 3/4 inches (50-75%)

Weight: 16 lbs. 8 oz. (50-75%)

Head Circumference: 17 1/8 inches (75-90%)!

My little peanut...isn't so little anymore.

Ellie is doing great and her check-up with Dr. Antone went well with only 1 poke on each chunky thigh. Ellie is eating 2 solid meals a day now. She eats rice cereal and bananas at her 9:30ish feeding and oatmeal and squash at her afternoon feeding...meaning she has dropped those 2 bottles of milk during her day! She loves to giggle, smile, blow raspberries, talk to us (aka: grunting), sit up, watch Luke play, and chew on anything in sight. Dr. Antone said that she is not teething yet though...Luke got his first tooth at 4 months! However, this is just fine with me. :)  

 Dad took Lukey to his Saturday morning project at Home Depot! Luke came home with a Valentine box to keep his Valentine cards in. :)

Luke started swim lessons this week! He was such a trooper and did great! He was in a class with his teacher Miss Sarah and 3 other friends. One of his friends, Sydney, her mom and I gave birth to our babies the same day at Beaumont and had a scheduled c-section an hour after mine! (small world) Luke's class was in the last row and Miss Sarah took turns with each kid practicing paddling, blowing bubbles, kicking out to a small platform, feeling comfortable standing in the water, practicing pulling themselves out of the water, and floating on their back. The only thing that Luke wasn't ready to try yet was going under the water...maybe next time. Luke was with his class as the 3 of us watched him in a seperate room that had a glass wall facing the pool. It was fun to watch him in a " class setting". We are all getting ready for Florida in just a few months!

Luke's "headband" was cracking us up!   

 Three weeks in a row of having snow days...don't mind if I do! Today, Luke made lunch for Ben and I. Below is the spread he made :)

 Just as cute and happy as can be...

Enjoy watching these clips of our snow day!



Ringing in the New Year! 2013 is off to a GREAT start!

Kicking off 2013 my wonderful hubby surprised me with a night out as a part of my Christmas gift! Auntie Janae was in town and so she watched the kiddos and off we went. We bopped around downtown Rochester and ended at the Royal Park Hotel (where we stayed on our honeymoon night) for our 5 course (yummy!) meal. There were 3 different dinning rooms with different atmosphere feels. Our room had a guy who sounded like Frank Sinatra who sang 40's and 50's music...we loved it! We danced on the dance floor and by the end of the night people would just stand up next to their booth to dance. We felt like a million bucks enjoying the evening together. :)

In our booth, facing the fireplace, all dressed up for the countdown.

New Year's Day we all enjoyed yet another yummy meal at Bravo!

Lukey just loves Ellie. My favorite phrase right now is when Luke will hug and snuggle Ellie and say, "This is MY sister," and he puts the emphasis on the MY...just like a proud older bro would. He also loves to push her in the swing and when I ask him to slow it down  he'll say, " Don't worry Ellie, I catch you."

Ellie is finally rolling over! Our peanut may be the most laid back, whatever, go with the flow babe around. Stick her pretty much anywhere and she'll make it work. SO rolling over took a little while because she was just fine laying wherever. BUT she's done it, still not a big fan...she can take it or leave it...but at least she can.

We had a GREAT time at Frankenmuth with Grandpa and Grandma Uitti!!! We spent the day eating chicken dinner, watching Luke's large eyes in the candy shop, walking around town, and seeing the lights at Bronner's. It was a perfect day with our loving family!

Grandma always has such special surprises for the kids!

I think Ben is actually a real Gnomie.

The moment captured below was one of my favorites of the day. During dinner we had to make a few bathroom runs. This entailed walking downstairs and passing the bright, cheery candy shop each time. Everytime Luke's eyes would get so big and he would start jumping up and down with excitement. We explained that after dinner we could go to the shop. So needless to say, right after dinner Luke was bouncing off the walls to get downstairs. He was so careful to look at all of his options knowing that he could pick out one treat of his choice. However, once he saw the large lollipops sticking out of the treee in the corner, it was a done deal. Luke asked his Dad if he could have it. Ben showed Luke the smaller version of a lollipop but Luke said, " Dad that's for you! (in such a a sweet voice) and this is Lukey's (holding up the biggest one they had)." That was it. He was so excited that he attracted a semi circle of spectators watch him take his first bite... they're next to the camera so you can't see it. One lady took a picture with her phone which is a little weird and creepy, but seriously the amount of joy and excitement going through this kid's body was just to precious and endearing.  

Such a cute pic of the Grandparents with their Grandkids!

* Note: There was no point in trying to get the lollipop out of Luke's mouth...

Move over Bob the Builder and Thomas the Train because Mickey is the new hottest thing in the Morin household right now! Luke exclaims, " Mick is my best friend." Yes, Mickey even has a nickname in our house. Luke LOVES the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and knows all the moves in the Hot Dog dance. When we feed Ellie her cereal, Luke feeds Mickey his cereal. When I get Ellie up from nap, Lukey gets Mickey up from his nap...you get the idea. Mickey is a best bud however, Luke has had to put him in a few timeouts and if he gets up to early then Luke reminds him that the timeout has to start all over.
Just 2 pals reading together. :)

Ellie and her piggies are cracking us up! She is chomping at everything in sight and that includes her pudgy, little toes and feet. If there is nothing else to slobber and chew on then she's perfectly happy sticking her foot in.

She has also mastered the art of grabbing onto things with of course, the purpose of yanking it to her mouth. In the last few days she has really surprised me! I was burping her on my lap and she just reached over and grabbed the tissue right off the side table! And yesterday at her 6 month check-up she kept tearing off the table butcher paper and trying to escape my reach so she could put it in her mouth!

What does a family of 4 do when they wake up with NO heat or electricity on a blistery January morning...
We wore layers, winter hats, and cuddled in front of the fire...

We also built a fort in front of the fire to keep cozy and warm...

We went out to breakfast, went grocery shopping, and church. When we got home it was still out! We took naps in front of the fire and then out to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and then walked around Somerset Mall. Our kids were such troopers and still so happy the entire day...even when our thermostat read 52 degrees! When we got home from the mall at 8:30 pm, our heat and electricity was on! Luke went all through the house and checked each light to see if it would turn on. He would raise his fist in the air and say, " Good job power guys!" His excitement grew with each light switch. So sweet and I have to tell you I was just excited as him if not more... " Good job power guys!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Showing off our shades...don't let the sunshine outside fool you, it was freezing!

Brian, Molly, and baby Ben came over for a weekend visit! We had so much fun cuddling and playing with Ben...he is just so darn cute! It was pretty cool to have our 2 families together. We went from the 4 of us friends to 7 people. :)

Ellie and Ben chumming it up.

Ellie is a half-year old...what?!?! I can't believe our princess is 6 months. She is the sweetest little person in the whole world. She gives everyone the warmest smile so beware: she will melt your heart.

The pictures below just ooze the joy coming from these two angels.