Happy Anniversary!

I want to take one more minute to wish my brother Matt and his wonderful wife Jess a very happy anniversary!!! I hope you guys have a great day!!! Much love coming your way! We miss you guys lots and lots!!!

Lots to do!!!

I just realized how much I have to do for our trip - YIKES!!! It is going to take me forever to get it all done. Sigh. I have lots to do around the house plus packing, cleaning the truck out, filling the truck with gas, running up to Canton to get another pack-n-play, laundry, store runs, showing the neighbor the things they will be taking care of and of course taking care of my little boys which involves the standard things plus a couple play dates. Wow, these are going to be a busy few days before we take off for Iowa. How on earth am I going to find time to sleep and eat?!?!?!? I guess a mother's work is never truly done! Well, with that said, I am off to begin my long list!

Return Policy

How come no one every fills you in on the return policy with kids????? If you can't return one how about an exchange? Is that fair? Hunter has really been a piece of work the last few days and I have a feeling this is just the beginning. Ugggg....I have been told many times that three is the new two - that does not give me much hope! I do love my little guy but man some days I would love to exchange him for a different model!!!! Any takers? He is a cute kid!

Actor

I am convinced that Hunter will become an Actor - there is no doubt in my mind! The amount of drama that my boy possesses is incredible!!! Actor for sure! He can have you rolling one minute and then convinced he is dying the next. It is amazing the number of mood swings he has each and every day. Perhaps it is just a phase, at least that is what I am told on a daily basis. Don't worry, it is just a phase and he will grow out of it. Man, if I had a dollar for every time I have heard that one I would be a rich woman!

First Big Roadtrip with Kids!!!

Well, next week we are taking our first major roadtrip with the boys! We are driving to Iowa for Hunter and Evan to see their Great Grand. We flew out there just over a year ago for Hunter to meet Grand and now it is time for Evan to meet this very special family member. I am so excited for this trip but terrified of the drive! Any advice? Yes, I know some of you instantly thought for us to invest in some earplugs - done! Any other tips? I am beginning to get things together this week for our drive. So, any ideas would be greatly appreciated! We already have a DVD player with lots of new and old favorite DVDs, some new toys, lots and lots of snacks and that is about it for right now. We do have stops mapped out for along the way for fun breaks. We are planning on stopping in Chicago to visit the aquarium which we really think Hunter will love! So, please, offer any sanity saving tips that you may have discovered on your own trips! Thanks!!!

Evan's 2 month check up.

Evan had his two month check up today (a little late due to a cold) and everything is great!!! He is 12 pounds 2 oz and is 23 1/2 inches! Growing like a weed!! He did get 5 different vaccines today (2 pokes and 1 oral) - poor kiddo. He is now sleeping well in his swing after a dose of Tylenol. His doctor also confirmed that he does have a lactose intolerance and a possibly protein intolerance. We will discuss that with his allergist on Sept 11th. Overall, it was a good appt and Evan goes back in mid October. I am hoping after our visit to the allergist next month that we can stay out of doctor offices until his regular scheduled appt and that goes for Hunter too!!!

Hamming it up!

Here is my little ham. I could not resist putting this up. Ok, to be fair I had to add a pic of E-Man too. I hope you are not getting tired of seeing pics of my boys. I am just a very proud Mommy and I love my boys to pieces!!!

New Additions!

Here are the new additions to my gardens in the backyard by our pool. I removed 5 rose bushes and added two Chinese Palms and two Tropicanas. I decided to place all 4 in pots so that we can continue to enjoy them during the winter in our florida room of our house. Bringing in the plants at the end of Autumn always adds a bit of Spring and Summer to the inside of our home for the long and dark Winter.

(I still have some weeding to do in the pics, sorry about that!)

Flowers

Here are some random shots of flowers and plants from my gardens. I have spent a lot of time in my gardens these last few days and have loved each and every minute! I just wish I had more free time to enjoy in them. Perhaps next year.

Monica

The Milan has an official name: Monica!!! Yes, we are strange people who name their cars and the name Monica just seemed to suit the Milan.

The Milan.

Christian got a new car yesterday!!! He is very happy with the car he decided on too. He got a Mercury Milan and loves it! The Neon had to go. It just kept ending up in the shop and was beginning to get on his nerves. So, after one last visit to the shop on Monday it met the end with the Schoenemans. Granted, it will be a great car for someone else just not us. So, it is time to say goodbye to Nate the Neon and hello to Meredith the Milan (name subject to change)!!!

The boys and their Nana!

Hunter blowing bubbles with his Nana. They do this almost every night and he has a great time each night!!! He loves spending time at his Nana's house!

Evan snuggling with his Nana. He will enjoy blowing bubbles with her in the future too!

More snuggle time with Nana for little E-Man.

Baptism Pics

The family of four on Evan's baptism day.

MeeMaw and Papa with Evan and Hunter.

Evan with his Godparents, Erin and Marius.

The Schoeneman's with Father George - he baptised both boys, Hunter in 2007 and Evan in 2009.

Hunterese

Well, Hunter is talking up a storm these days! He is a regular little sponge and repeats virtaully anything and everything you say. So, of course, we really need to watch what we let slip out of our mouths now! We have tagged his language "Hunterese". Read on and you will understand!

"Daddy's vroom no dick" translates to "Daddy's car music".
"Yucky truck" translates to "garbage truck".
"Puppy Cock" translates to "puppy dog".
"Puppy Cock Tit" translates to "puppy dog sit".

These are just a few of the phrases he has - cute! Most of his language is very understandable with a slight New York accent. I have no idea where the accent comes from. All I know is that I did the same thing when I was his age. I will keep the funny phrases coming as he throws them out at me!

Evan's Baptism

Evan was baptised today and it was 100% perfect! Although it was super hot we all had a great time and made wonderful use of the pool. We had Evan baptised at Grace Church - the same place and Deacon that baptised Hunter. We had lots of loved ones and close friends with us as we took this important step in our lives and Evan's life too. Evan slept through about half of the ceremony and then was wide awake and pretty happy during his actual baptism. It was adorable to see his reaction as the water was poured on the top of his head! After the ceremony we all headed back to our house for a BBQ. We had lots of yummy food and great conversations. The kids all played and the adults even joined in on the pool fun! It was great!

A special thank you to everyone who was able to make it today. It would not have been the same without any of you here with us! We are so lucky to have family like all of you. Yes, some are friends but we consider you family too! We love you all!

A special thank you to Aunt Erin and Uncle Marius from E-Man for standing up for him as his Godparents! We could not have picked a better set for our son! We love you guys!

My Sweet Boys!

These pictures need no words. They speak for themselves. My boys are so sweet and cute!

Lightning Bug Encounter!

Hunter discovered lightning bugs the other night and LOVES them to pieces! He had a blast running around the yard catching them! It sure was a sight to see! He even wanted to bring some inside to go to bed with him. I had to explain that we could not do this because the lightning bugs' parents would miss them very much. He seemed to get the point and we were able to go to bed bug free - thank goodness!

Zoo Pictures

The above picture is from after our trip. Hunter was tuckered out big time! He fell asleep before we even left the parking lot!
Hunter and his Daddy watching the fountain.

Hunter and his Daddy looking at the monkeys.
Tigers

Giraffes

Hunter and his Mommy inside the bird exhibit.

Hunter climbing a fence that he should not have been on according to many signs!

We have lots of more pictures but I could not possible add them all to this post. We have tons of pictures from the butterfly exhibit. This was by far Hunter's favorite part of the entire zoo trip. He now looks for butterflies everywhere we go! It really is cute to see. I am so glad he enjoyed his trip to the Detroit Zoo! I cannot wait to take him to the Todelo Zoo later this month!

The Detroit Zoo

Hunter has his first trip to the Detroit Zoo last Friday and had a blast! Evan stayed the day with my mom since we wanted Friday to be a special day for Hunter. Special it was! It was great to see Hunter's face light up as he discovered the zoo and all the animals in it! We started in the butterfly house and stayed there for quite some time. Hunter LOVES butterflies and was in heaven with them flying all around him and landing all over the place. The giggles coming from Hunter were music to my ears and his smiles were amazing and bright enough to light up any room! From there we went to the penquins and he loved that exhibit too! Christian was holding him up on the rails so he could see better and he loved every second of it. I am not sure who had more fun there, us or him! After these two exhibits we just wondered around the zoo and stopped throughout it to see the animals. Hunter spent some time in his stroller as well as running around. He was such a joy! Not one meltdown the entire day! At the end of our adventure we stopped at the gift shop and he picked out a stuffed penguin for himself and a little polar bear for Evan. It was so cute to see him trying to decide what to get and take home. He decided all on his own too! Once we hit the truck he was out like a light all the way back to my mom's house. We stayed there for a bit and had dinner and then headed for home. We got home around dusk and the lightning bugs were coming out. Hunter had never seen these before and he had a great time running around and catching them! We even put two into a container adn he brought them in the house at bath time and really wanted to take them to bed with him. I told them that their parents would really miss them if they stayed here. So, we let them go so that they could go home for the night. Overall, Friday was an awesome day and we are really looking forward to taking Hunter to the Toledo Zoo later this month.

I will post some pics once I upload them to the computer.

Go Evan!!!

Evan actually slept through the night!!!! He has been a great sleeper at night since birth but last night took the cake! He went to bed for the night at about 9 and did not get up again until almost 5:30!!!! AWESOME!!! I know it will not last forever but we will take what we can get! Hunter will agree since he is still sleeping and has been since just after 9 last night too!