4th of July 2014

We celebrated the 4th of July with the Berger family in Grand Rapids.  Ryan and Melissa were able to join us for a long weekend.  It was great to spend time with them.  We water skied every day, went for boat rides, had a bon fire an roasted s'mores.  We watched fireworks from the boat, while the girls slept, thanks to my Mom who stayed back at the house.  It was a perfect holiday weekend.  The girls enjoy the park at the end of my parents street.  They went down the slide with a little help for the first time, and continued their love for swings!!!!  WEE!  They also enjoyed the Beltline Bar, as a GR tradition.  They didn't like the waves in the lake, or their feet in the grass... maybe next year.

Sam and I went on a date for ice cream, and a long sea do ride.

We were very appreciative of everyone's help taking care of the girls, and we enjoyed good family time.

 

S'mores, yum

 

 
My parents bought the girls a water table an they LOVE IT!

 

 

The girls playing with Melissa, and her fun present; stacking boxes

The girls playing with Grammy; learning the sounds that animals make with their puzzle

Beads for the 4th of July

8 months old

The girls are 8 months on September 22, and wow they are growing and changing every day.

The current schedule for feeding is 6am, 9am, 12:30, 4pm, 7pm and a dream feed at 10:30.  The girls get solids at lunch time.  Anna enjoys around 4oz at each feeding and Kathryn enjoys around 6oz at each feeding.

We took the girls to the doctor because they had a cold.  Anna weighs 12.95 pounds.... almost 13 pounds.  Kathryn weighs 18.85 pounds, almost 19 pounds.

They enjoying sitting up in their bumbo seats for long periods of time.  They also enjoy playing in their exercausers.  They bounce up and down and enjoy it when the toys light up and play songs.

They can roll over, but only do so strategically.  If Kathryn is playing on her stomach, which isn't her favorite position to play in, she figures out how to roll over onto her back.  However, because she prefers playing on her back instead of tummy time, she does not like to roll over onto her stomach.

Anna flips back and forth on her stomach, especially in her crib.  When she is fighting going to sleep she will roll over back and forth.

They have very strong legs, and when they lay on their backs they push themselves into a bridge position and can scoot on their back.  Sometimes they scoot in circles and sometimes they scoot up.

It is scary to start to think they may be mobile soon.

They enjoying playing with each other on the floor and they often try to trick each other into giving up their toy.  There is definitely a size difference but in these pictures, they are starting to look more like identical twins.

Baptism

We headed to Pentwater over Labor Day Weekend for some family time with the Morrison’s. We were able to spend lots of time with family in Pentwater.  We had a fancy dessert, Baked Alaska, hosted by Jane and Sam’s with the Gustafson crew.  It was so great to spend quality time with family.  Sam’s Cousin’s Bill and Kim and their son Will visited with us as well.  It was so great to see them! 

Mormor fed Kathryn solids

 

Aunt Mim loved to hold the girls

Dhara was very sweet and played with the girls

Grandpa laughed with Kathryn

Cousin Kim played with the girls

Papa holding Anna

Mormor holding Kathryn

We enjoyed walks to the beach and around town with the girls.  We dipped the girls feet into lake Michigan during one of our walks.  Hopefully next year, they will be swimming in Lake Michigan.  Sam and I were able to go down for one sunset. 

 

 

The best day of the weekend was Sunday, when we had Sam Sr baptize the girls.  The service was so special and intimate.  My parents drove up for the day, to be able to see their granddaughters baptized.  Jane, my parents, Sam and I along with the girls were all able to stand up front while Sam Sr baptized Anna and Kathryn.

Anna Lucile Morrison

 

Kathryn Elizabeth Morrison

The girls of course were happy and content during the service.  Kathryn reached up to grab Papa’s (Sam Sr’s) chin , while he was holding her.  It was so sweet.   We had a special coffee hour with the church after the service.  It was such a blessing to talk to some of the prayer warriors that have been praying for our girls from the very beginning.  It was special to share the girls baptism with the church.

 

 

After the service we had a wonderful lunch at Sam and Jane’s.  It was great to spend time with both grandparents and the girls all together under one roof, even if it was just for the day.  We feel blessed to be able to share the girls Baptism with so many family members, it made it so special for us to share this occasion with family.

 

 

Apple Orchard

Sunday September 16, it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon, so we ventured out to the apple orchard.  I pushed the girls around in the double stroller and Sam picked Apples for us.  We were on a mission for honey crisp apples, since they are the best!!  We were almost too late, but we did find a few tree’s in a faraway corner of the orchard to get our honey crisp apples.  It is always fun going to the orchard, especially when you have a very tall picker to reach the apples that are still left high on the trees.

We gave the girls apple baby food before we headed to the orchard.  While we were there, we have them apples to hold and subsequently try to lick and put in their mouth.  They enjoyed looking at all of the trees and being outside.

We picked up cider at the store along with our large bag of apples.  It was a fun family tradition to start with the girls.  Samuel and I have found memories of going to apple orchards a children and we hope the girls will enjoy it too.

 

Below is a cute picture of the girls in their colts Jersey's, go colts!

 

IU GAME

I am trying to get the girls to love IU and the Band from a very young age, so Sam and I decided to take the girls to their first IU Game.  We took them on September 15 to their first game in btown.  I made my traditional Egg Bake for the noon game.  We arrived in time to watch the band perform during their walk to the rock concert.  The girls loved looking around at all of the people and the band.  They were not startled by the drums or the band, so I am excited they may become future music lovers like their parents.

 

It was a little chilly so we set a blanket down in the back of the trunk of the van for the girls to play on and stay sheltered from the wind.  All of the excitement tired them out, and they took a quick nap before we went into the game.  Due to the girls nap we didn’t make it into the stadium until the second quarter.  Anna enjoyed watching all the action.  Kathryn was still a little sleepy and took a nap during most of the game.  We stayed for half time and watched the band perform.  Then due to timing of feedings, we left and headed back home.  The girls slept the entire way home.  They enjoyed their day down in Bloomington.  We enjoyed our first tailgate as a family.  Greta, Butch and Scott also tailgated with us along with a few of their friends.

 Anna enjoyed watching the action and Kathryn took a nap during the game. They had a great time and slept all the way home in the car.  What a great family tailgate!  GO HOOSIERS!