What's New:

As you can tell from our recent posts, we've been busy with guests at our house, trips to Milwaukee, and all sorts of other fun activities. I've been trying to appreciate and enjoy every last minute of my maternity leave...of which I only have about 2.5 weeks left. At the beginning it seemed like such a long time to be off work (I took 13 weeks this time) but I can't tell you how incredibly fast time flies. It's amazing that Mia is over 10 weeks old and June is basically upon us. But, instead of worrying about all that work piling up on my desk somewhere, the kids and I plan to slow down, plan more fun activities and enjoy these weeks together.


Latest updates for Mia:
She is now sleeping upstairs in her own crib at night and for some naps. The first two nights were torture...not much sleeping was going on, but last night was exceptionally wonderful! I put her to bed around 11pm and she slept until 7am! She also smiles all the time (especially for Daddy) and it is incredibly adorable. I forgot how cute those huge, gummy smiles can be. She also holds her head up pretty well, she can sit unassisted in the "bebe pod" seat (see picture below), and she is starting to talk more with her cute little oohhs and ahhs. Most people say she looks just like her brother did, but I sometimes see flashes of my baby pictures when I see her.















Latest updates for Carter:
He continues to astonish us at how smart he is. Grandma and Grandpa Baldwin got him a United States of America puzzle for Christmas and he can now do the whole thing - naming each state and where it goes. He also learned to maneuver his jeep like he has been driving for years. He speeds around the yard, around obstacles, and parks it perfectly in the garage. His interest in tools has only grown - he can work Dave's drill, hammer, screwdriver and other tools really well, and constantly asks to watch Dave when he is working on projects. He can also climb up the rungs on his play equipment without worrying me that he's going to fall and he loves to leap off things (his bed, the couch, his stools in the bathroom). Much to Dave's excitement Carter now loves to watch hockey with him. We hear a lot of "go Wings" around this house lately (in fact, I think I'm hearing it as we speak). Dave tells me we're going to get Carter on skates sometime this summer...he says all the great hockey players start around 2 or 3 years old. We'll see...I still think he would love gymnastics more.

New Cousin Claire!

For Memorial Weekend we took a trip to Milwaukee to meet our new cousin/niece, Claire, and see the rest of the family, Lee, Bob, and Elsa. The trip there took about 7 hours, mainly due to heavy traffic and frequent potty requests by Carter, but we finally arrived Friday afternoon ready to relax and play.

Here is Carter in the car, trying out his new DVD player...which, as you guessed it, played the movie "Cars" non-stop. Thank goodness for headphones (or, as Carter called them "phone-heads").



We couldn't wait to see Claire in person, she was born on April 22nd and is the cutest thing! She is such a good baby, she slept and ate well while we were there and seems to be adjusting great to her new family. Mia enjoyed hanging out with another baby and we envisioned future visits where the two of them will be the best of friends and have so much fun together, just like their older siblings.


Mia and Claire relaxing on the couch together:


The whole gang...it was tricky trying to get everyone to smile and not fall over at the same time! As you can see, this wasn't Claire's favorite photo shoot.

The weather wasn't fabulous (typical Michigan / Wisconsin Memorial weekend) so after breakfast on Saturday, we took the kids to a play area in the mall instead of braving the fairly chilly/windy outdoors. They, of course, didn't care where we went - they just loved playing together.

The rest of the weekend was equally fun. We even let Carter and Elsa sleep in the same room together, Carter's first official sleep-over, and they did pretty well. We told them they had to stay in their respective beds and go to sleep, a fact Elsa repeated to Carter after we left the room (it was hilarious listening to them over the monitor when they didn't realize we could hear them). I think they were both so tired from playing, they had an easier time falling asleep.

We had a great trip and really enjoyed meeting little Claire. She is adorable and we can't wait to see everyone again sometime this summer!

The Motor Home Visit

Dave's Uncle Kenny and Aunt Carol came to visit us for a few weeks in the beginning of May. They came up from Indiana in their motor home to visit us and the rest of Dave's family here in Michigan. They were the best guests anyone could ask for! Kenny is a master electrician and he helped Dave get all the electrical things done in our barn to get it ready to be Dave's workshop. Plus, Kenny was the one who gave Dave all of his wonderful wood working machines and equipment that will go in this work shop once it's done. Things Dave can't wait to put to good use. The two of them worked hard on shaping up the barn and it's now ready for Dave to start some of the endless projects we have around here!

Carol was a huge help to us as well. She worked non-stop on our yard - cleaning up areas I thought were hopeless areas, doomed to forever look like overgrown weedy messes. Dave's mom also helped us a ton - she actually took vacation time from her job to hang out with us and help with our yard work!

We want to send a HUGE thank you to Kenny and Carol. We really appreciate all their help and enjoyed having them stay with us. We will miss them, especially Carter, he became very attached to them while they were here. He loved hanging out with Kenny and helping with projects Kenny had around the motor home. Kenny would let him monkey with all the buttons and gadgets - a favorite pass time for Carter. Every time we go outside now that they are gone Carter asks, "Where are Kenny and Carol?"

Here are some pictures from their visit:




Grandma Webb, Carter, Mia, and Aunt Carol

Kenny and Carter - honking the horn and pretending to drive

Learning how to wash the wheels