~~Swimming~~

Here is his afro Aunt Jenni :)


Mason started swim lessons two weeks ago and he loves it! I was so proud of him as I watched him jump right into Andy's arms with no problem. I guess I was not sure what to expect for 2 year old lessons, but they played fun games like Red Light/Green Light, Hokey Pokey, and I Spy.
I am so glad that he likes the water. I originally signed him up because he liked to swim in the bathtub and I want him to be comfortable swimming in my parents lake this summer as we plan to spend a lot of time there!
Way to go Maso!

Balloon Fest

Last Weekend we went out to the Howell Balloon Festival to see the hot air balloons and the fireworks. As we were driving into Howell we saw a bunch of hot air balloons in the sky, Halle and Mason were amazed. Unfortunately we got there too late to actually see them launch. We had a couple hours until the fireworks started so we let the kids ride the rides. Halle and Mason had a blast as they ran from ride to ride. You would never have known it was past their bedtimes! They were the perfect riding partners! Halle would help Mason into his seat, buckle them in and then guide him in the right direction as the ride ended. Mason loved having her right beside him as it gave him more courage to do some things that I'm not sure he would have without her (i.e. ride in the first car on the alligator rollercoaster)! Thanks Halle :) Mason's favorite part of the evening was when Andy won him a giant white Tiger which he still LOVES! Maybe next year we will get there earlier to actually see the hot air balloons too!
PS-Mason did not like the fireworks so I guess it is a good thing we let him play first!!

Our New Van!!

I have been basically begging for a van for quite some time now even though I said I would NEVER drive a "mom-mobile" and used to make fun of my sister all the time (sorry Stacy!) After now having two kids and a double stroller to haul around everywhere, the Torrent was a bit tight on space leaving no room for groceries. After MUCH convincing, Andy finally agreed and I drove home our van last night! It is kinda pathetic how excited I am about it :)
Andy tried to convince me that we needed to stay within our budget and the station wagon above just needed a bit of work but would do the trick. JK.


Here is our new family wagon!!!
I'm not even going to tell Mason that it has a DVD player in it yet, otherwise we will have to watch his "show" every time we are in the car, even if it is a 1 mile trip! He is so good in the car and I don't want to ruin it! I will introduce him to it next month when we go to visit our friends Cat and Dwayne who just moved to Chicago. I'm so excited to go and excited that our new van will fit all of us and even our luggage!

BRAVE Little Man!!

The Hot Air Balloon Ride! Poor Halle was SO tired, I don't think she had as much fun as Mason.
Yes, I was lucky enough to ride the train as well since Mason was not tall enough to go without an adult! Once again he is the only one having a grand old time!
The Petting Farm at the Fair.
Cute Cousins!!


Stacy, Andy the kids and I stopped by the Hamburg fair tonight for a bit. We only had an hour and thought that would be plenty of time to let the kids ride a couple things. Mason had a great time seeing all of the animals and riding the rides! He shocked us! We did not think he would go on them, but just like the go-karts he blew us away and loved them! They also went on a cute Dragon ride which the dragons went high into the air. I had to laugh because I don't think Andy would have even braved that one! I think Mason is going to take after me with his newly found "love" of rides. We may have to go back on Saturday and spend more time since it proved to be worth our while :)

1 Month

Happy 1 Month Birthday Kailee :)
A lot can change in one month!!
She ...
*is staying awake more during the day
*is very inquisitive...loves looking around
*has already outgrown the newborn size diapers and a couple onsies are a bit tight
*likes her real bath-likes having her body submerged in the warm water-HATES being cold when she gets out!
*is sleeping a good 5-6 hour stretch at night then every 3-4 after that
*goes through diapers in record time
*just might wear every outfit twice due to the blowout diapers!
*absolutely hates being naked, she even gets nervous during diaper changes
*enjoys her swing
*likes being on her stomach (even sleeping on it-I know, I know-not good!)
*is SO cuddly
*is often called Kiki, Kailee-Bug, Kailers, Smelly girl (due to the nasty diapers) and even M&M (for mini Mason)

Mason is doing great with her! He is such an awesome big brother, he now even shares his favorite toys with her. He loves kissing her head or kissing his finger and then transferring it to her head which is super cute!

4 Weeks Old..already!

Someone is getting chunky and it is NOT Mason!!!
My favorite of Kailee's sleeping postions with her butt way up in the air!
She was DEFINITELY worth the wait :) (thanks for the shirt Ellie!)

It has already been 4 weeks since Kailee was born. Where has this last month gone??

LATE Night Out

Friday night Mason got to stay up WAY past his bedtime!!! We went Putt-Putt golfing and go karting with Marc, Sarah, Grammie and Grandpa. I really thought Mason would chicken out when it came to our turn to get into the go karts since he would not even get into a toddler Jeep a couple nights before but he didn't. He loved it and wanted to go again as soon as we got off! One of the highlights was that he got to ride in the "blue popcorn car"-it had the Pop Secret logo on the side!
After the go karts we headed over to the putt putt course. By this time it was already an hour past his bedtime but he loved golfing! I should have taken lessons from him, I would have ended with a much better score. He would walk up to the hole, put the ball a couple inches from it and then hit/guide the ball in with his putter. It was really cute. Kailee was carted from hole to hole, however sidewalks would have been helpful. Thankfully our double stroller is pretty easy to manuever! We all had such a great time. We are sad that Sarah and Marc are leaving to go back home already tomorrow :( The week flew by!

3 Weeks Old

OK, so I am a bit behind! Kailee was 3 weeks old on Sunday. We celebrated by hanging out at Sarah and Marc's baby shower! What a shock, Kailee slept the whole time while she was passed around from person to person. Mason had a great time playing with his cousins and his all time highlight-throwing ice over grammie and grandpa's fence after the coolers were emptied. I am surprised he did not have frost bite by the time he was done!
Congrats again Aunt Sarah and Uncle Marc, we are excited to meet baby "Luke" in September!!!

Nicknames

Growing up, I have had many nicknames but the two my family used the most were Seis and Shanny. Seis came from when I was little I could not say sister and would say seister so it stuck and from then on I have been Seis.
When my oldest niece Hannah was little she could not say Shanny, so she would just call me "E", and it stuck.
Well my twin nieces can not say Mason so he now answers to "Mayna" and they are now calling Kailee "Kiki".
So our family is now known by Turbo, E, Mayna and Kiki! Gotta love nicknames :)

Two Week Check Up

Kailee weighed in today at 8 pounds 9 ounces and is now 21 1/4 in long! She is growing like a weed. She got an A+ on everything else too! Her hematoma on her head is healing nicely and should be gone in another week or so.
Yay for a healthy baby!

2 Weeks Old!

I am a bit behind needless to say on the photos and posting! Now that we are all finally healthy, we have been able to adjust to having two kids. It is hard to believe that Kailee is already 2 weeks old. We are SO thankful that she continues to be a good eater and sleeper! Mason has adjusted really well. He is such a good helper and does not seem to have much jealousy :)
We will keep you posted on her two week check up tomorrow! It is still funny to think that tomorrow is her official due date!