Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Last Post of '08

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures).

2008 sure did seem to fly by, especially the last few weeks. We have quite a few pictures for you to see revolving around Christmas. Jake had an awesome time opening gifts on Christmas Eve, but by the time Christmas Day rolled around, it proved to be a bit too much for him. Add to that a new medication for a cough, and we had a pretty fussy little boy.

Jake was happy that he got the "blue present" that he asked Santa for. He also loves all his new Mickey stuff as well. His Mickey swag now includes stuffed animals, shirts, pajamas, a robe, socks, toys, and underwear! Luckily, my prediction that he would be sick of Mickey before Christmas arrived did NOT come true.

We all enjoyed spending time with both our families for Christmas like we luckily get to do every year. With where Christmas fell, this year, we also got to add in a party for Maiya's second birthday. If you add her mom's birthday coming up the following week, she's probably going to think you get to open presents every week from now on!

We hope that everyone has a safe and happy New Year and we hope to see you back at the Annex in '09!


Saturday, December 06, 2008

It's Beginning To Look A Lot...

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Over the past week, we've been able to get the house decorated for Christmas and really get into the holiday spirit.

Last Friday, we got the tree setup while Jake was asleep. That let us surprise him, and then also open our ornaments the following day to get those hung.

We spent the rest of the weekend getting all the other stuff put out along with getting the outside lights run. We also had to spend quite a bit of time reminding Jake how much he liked the animatronic decorations (Frosty, Rudolph, Santa Homer) and convincing him that he doesn't need to be scared of them. Halloween really did a number on him this year! But, just a week later, he can't walk past Santa Homer without punching the button and hoping for Homer's version of Jingle Bells. He still calls Rudolph "that boy" which is what he called the witch that popped out of the pumpkin at Halloween and then the pilgrim statues over Thanksgiving at Meme's house. I don't think it's a term of endearment in his book!

Michele spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen baking cookies. Jake really likes to help out with mixing batter, decorating, and, of course, eating them.

The snow has finally started to hit Livonia. Mark said he had much more snow this week just in Northville, and I know our folks have had a good share already up in Fenton and Grand Blanc.

Unfortunately, that means we'll likely NOT be making the trip over for Helena's Baptism. Michele already has several plans with the girls in line for the next few weeks, so I'm sure she'll make up for it. We are all getting over some minor colds any way, so it might be nice to have a day to kick back and relax.

Jake realized we hadn't watched any football tonight on the way home from Church, so I'll have to find a game for him to watch while the Lions are blacked out again.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Thanksgiving Feasts

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures).

We got to celebrate Thanksgiving twice this year. We started off the weekend before, when Jen and Bret hosted a dinner at their house. Adam, Erica, and Haven joined in along with Harlen, Jessi, Isabelle, and Helena. Steve, Melissa, and Jack had to miss out, unfortunately, as their family had come down with colds. We fried a turkey which turned out pretty good, and nothing exploded, so we deemed that event a success. The kids all seemed to have a good time playing with each other... at least when they weren't upset because someone was "sharing" their toys.

Then, before heading up to Grand Blanc to MPnA's house for Thanksgiving dinner, we headed out to the Detroit parade for the first time. Michele's mom picked up Alison on her way down on Wednesday night and we all spent the night in Livonia. Then, Thursday morning, we all got up early to head downtown. It was pretty cold, but the wind wasn't blowing much so it didn't seem that bad. We all had a lot of fun. After the parade, we headed north where all of the Anderson side of the family got together to watch the football games and have a delicious meal.

We hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving celebrations as much as we did. We have a lot to be thankful for.

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Reunited

(Please click on the picture to see more photos.)

It was really hard to type that title without feeling a little sappy.

Tonight, we got to test out our new web cam as we talked to the Pruss family. Neither Michele or I had done much, if any, video chatting since back when she went to Korea. The technology has come a long way, and I'm sure having an Internet connection that is 100 times faster helps a lot too.

Jake just recently seems to, finally, understand that Elle lives in a new house, so it was really great to see all of them again and be able to show Jake her new home. Jake and Elle both got a kick out of waving and screaching at each other. We even got to see Zack walking like he was practically a toddler himself. It sounds like things are going very well for them down in St. Louis. We can't wait to find a time to get down to visit them in person.


Sunday, November 16, 2008

Fall One Weekend... Winter the Next

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

You've got to love Michigan weather. A week ago, I got in nine holes of golf. Tonight, Michele and Jake made a snowman.

Here are few photos from the course of about a week showing a fun fall afternoon, followed by a rainy evening, and then a snowy day.

To think we were all in swimsuits yesterday. Granted, we were swimming and playing at the Rec Center. Jake got to ride down the water slide for the first time, and he LOVED it. Out of the blue, last week, he started asking to go swimming. He seemed to remember a lot of the techniques that he learned during swim classes.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

We have a blog?

(Please click here for September photos or here for October photos.)

You know the saying, "time flies leaving little time for blogging". Or something like that.

In the last month (or so) since I posted, the following things have happened.

Lots of friends had babies. Craig and Kari added Aubrey to their clan. Harlan and Jessi welcomed Helena. And, Dana and Mike popped out (more Dana than Mike) Aaron.

People celebrated birthdays. Colin turned 5. I turned 30. Pete (Grandpa) turned more than 30.

Friends and families got knocked up (Jake's term... not mine). Mark and Kelly found out they should be having a little girl in March. Heather and Ryan found out they'll be having their first in April. Oh yeah... and we got to visit with Heather since she was in town while her sister had her second child. It was really nice catching up with her and seeing her niece, Sydney, again.

Michigan State finally beat Michigan at the Big House. Go State!

Jason and Jo completed their move to St. Louis. Jo and Michele are still connected by the miles of tears they shed.

Jake got to pick out a pumpkin, help carve it, and go trick-or-treating (over the span of a month or more). Jake walked around saying, "Trick or treat." Which he would then follow up by telling our neighbors that were giving him candy that he got "enough" at his school party! With Halloween falling on such a nice evening, he stayed up and helped us hand out candy. When he got bored, the M&M's and Whoppers (he REALLY liked those) helped fuel him as he ran around the yard and wove his way through the ornamental grasses.

This was also his last week in the Toddler's room at day care. Starting next week he'll be moving up to the transitional preschool room. He's going to be joining a few friends that he started with, and one girl, Grace, is moving up at the same time. Unfortunately, they are leaving his best friend, Lincoln, behind until he's old enough, in December. Everyone is concerned about how that split up is going to work out. When dropping Jake off one morning, I overheard Lincoln trying to convince Ms. Erica that he is a "big boy" over and over!

Hopefully we'll have some movies up shortly. I'll also try to make sure to put up a post or two before Christmas, but after this last span, I better not promise anything!

Monday, September 22, 2008

HVSH Reunion

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

We had a very interesting weekend. Last week, Oberon sniffed out a litter of kittens that were left in our yard. Over the next few days, the mom moved 4 of the 5 kittens. Michele took it upon herself to find the fifth one a good home. After a quick checkup at the vet, she found out that the kitten was only a few weeks old. Her parents agreed to watch the kitten until Tiff's Mom could take it in. Jake got pretty attached over the weekend and wasn't too happy to leave it at GnGT's, but it seems like he's mostly forgotten about it already.

After dropping the kitten off on Sunday, we headed to Walled Lake for Huron Valley's bi-annual open house. The CCN had a great booth again, and Jake got a bunch of little goodies including a Mickey Mouse backpack. We also got to see a lot of the nurses that helped to take care of Jake and Michele during their stay. We were a little worried based on the time and Jake's nap, but the snacks really helped out. Jake was yawning while we were signing in, but then an ice cream bar, a cookie, and a rice krispie treat later, and you couldn't even tell he missed his nap. Then again, a few hours after that we had a whining, tired kid on our hands!

We also have a few more videos to share.

In this video, Jake was playing with a football in the kitchen.


In this video, Jake shows off his ability to spin some puzzle pieces.


Lastly, we get to see Jake practicing his ABC's.


Saturday, September 13, 2008

Movies Galore

Jake said something that cracked us up this morning. After kneeling at the dining room table to play with playdoh, he got down and we could tell his legs were asleep. He paused holding onto the chair, and then, when he walked to the kitchen, he said, "Jake legs go boing boing."

Michele definitely got more use out of the video mode on our camera this summer. Here are all the videos that have been queued up waiting for "post processing". I hope you enjoy!

While Jason and Jo had some people looking at their house, Michele offered to watch Obie for a while. Jake felt it was his duty to keep him entertained.




Sorry about this, but there's a little more Elmo. We thought the end was pretty funny. Keep in mind that this was taken shortly after our trip to Shelby on Lake Michigan.




Here's Jake singing along to a CD with Baa Baa Black Sheep. Mommy changes who the bags are for, thus his confusion at that part of the song!



Michele captured this video of Jake reading his Goodnight Pooh book. While looking at it on the computer, Jake fell in love with it, and we had to capture his reaction to watching himself.



Lastly, we have a short clip of Jake being rewarded for using the potty after taking his bath. He even started trying and actually using the potty at daycare! I think we are a long ways from getting out of diapers, but it's nice seeing him make progress.



Friday, September 12, 2008

Timber!!!

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

After losing one of the three trees on the side of our house to a storm, a while back, the city agreed that the other two should be taken down. We got excited in the early spring when they were tagged because we thought they'd be coming down soon. As the summer wore on, we were beginning to think maybe someone thought that the blue spray paint was just a nice decoration.

While working from home yesterday, I heard a bunch of trucks outside the house that turned out to be a tree removal company. I was able to snap a few pictures as they quickly and methodically removed the two large trees. Jo said she got some video of the larger tree coming down, so if I can get Jason to get that up on YouTube, I'll link over to that later. I didn't want to look like too much of a tool, so all of my shots of the action were taken through our dining room window.

Sadly, it looks like we'll now have a very unobstructed view later this year when the movers are busy packing up the Pruss family. Michele is also worried about the lack of shade in our backyard. I'm just happy that I don't have to worry during every gust of wind if another giant branch is going to come crashing down!

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Worst Blogging Month Yet

Looking back, it looks like this could be the worst month for blog posts. In my defense, we've been pretty busy. We've had birthday parties, camping, and all kinds of other things to cram in before the summer comes to a close.

Way back in July we were able to make it up to Alison's 7th birthday party. It had everything from a Hannah Montana cake to a ton of Webkinz to a pinata! Then, in August, I worked up in Grand Blanc one day while Pete and Teri watched Jake. That allowed me to go to lunch with Grandma who turned 80 on the 25th!

Speaking of celebrations, Michele and I also celebrated our 6th anniversary. As a gift to Michele, I arranged a couples package at a day spa. I won't lie... I was nervous going in considering I had never done anything like that before.. We had some hot rock, peppermint massages which were very cool. THEN, they split us up, and we both got facials as part of the package. Michele enjoyed hers, but I could have done without it. I could see us getting massages again in the future, but I'd never get the facial again. We were both very impressed with the spa, Indigo Salon in Canton. Afterward, we met up with Mark and Kelly at Church and then we all enjoyed a delicious dinner at Compari's in downtown Plymouth. Michele and I then capped off the night by finally whipping up the frozen hot chocolate mix that we bought back in New York at Serendipity 3.

This summer we also took two great camping trips. The first was to Harrisville State Park with Jeff, Marie, and Addy. It was great to get out with them again. It had been years since our last trip together! Addy has gotten so big since the last time I saw her. She's not quite old enough for Jake to really take much of an interest, but he did let her play with his toys. While up there, we also took a day trip to Alpena to see Anna, David, and Reid. They treated us to a delicious lunch and everyone got to catch up a bit. You can read Jeff's take on the trip on their blog if you look over on the right side of the page.

The second camping trip was our annual trip. Unfortunately, this year, the Wegienka crew wasn't able to make it. Kari was busy battling to keep a baby from popping out! On the bright side, Dan decided to give camping another try. Lynette booked them in the camper cabin at Port Crescent State Park. When we got there, we were able to switch to the site right next to them which allowed the kids to have a nice large area to play in. Hopefully we'll get the whole crew back together again next year!

Michele spent the last week (or so) really getting ready to get back to school. Her classroom is all setup and she's been getting stuff ready for the kids. GnGT helped out by watching Jake a few days. Meme was going to come down as well, but Michele wrapped up a bit early and saved her from having to make the trip.

In the photos you'll see some other pictures from trips Michele took to Kensington Park, the zoo, and even one photo from a quick trip the girls made to MSU for a little get together.

To see the photos left over from July, please click here. The photos from August can be found here.

Lastly, here's a little video.

This is a montage that I made of some clips we had from Shelby.


Thursday, July 24, 2008

Shelby 2008

(Please click on the photo to see an insane number of pictures.)

Last week was spent with the Trosko family in Shelby, MI. It was nice to get away from things and get to spend some time at the beach. The weather was much better for us this year, and the water was quite comfortable. I could go on and on, but they say a picture is worth a thousand words, and clicking on the photo above will get you 229,000 words (plus comments).

Overall, Jake and Colin got along great this year. Colin appreciated that Jake can talk and follow along with what he's doing. Jake liked that Colin had a lot of toys. Maiya liked that there was food, and that the boys would occasionally include her.

We are pretty sure that Jake gets his social tendencies from me. He doesn't seem to like to be in a small space with a lot of people (even 6 in a kitchen can seem like a lot). By the end of the week he was starting to get pretty fussy. When we got home, he was ecstatic to have a whole house to himself. It probably took 5 days to get there though, so maybe by next year, it won't even be an issue.

If our photos aren't enough for you, you can also click through to DLCnM and PnT.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Quick Photo Dump

I noticed we were actually putting a dent in our storage on the digital camera, so I figured a transfer was called for. This post also keeps me from hitting the one month mark between posts. I'm sure my Aunt Margie would never let me hear the end of it if that happened!

Please enjoy the photos from June and July. Michele and Jake are really enjoying their summer together. They've even gotten into somewhat of a routine of going for walks after dinner now. Jake loves just walking around the block and checking out dogs, pine cones, cars, slopes in the sidewalk...

We were home for the 4th, so we spent it with the Pruss family. Jake had so much fun playing in Elle's kiddie pool. He's really getting fearless around the water which is, of course, a blessing and a curse. We'll see whether the vastness of Lake Michigan intimidates him or not.

While he was jump/flopping away over, and over, and over, of course when I want to video, it instantly becomes the last one. So, I made the most of it!



Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Firefox 3 - Get It Now!

Download Day

I try not to post too much tech stuff on this blog so that I don't bore everyone, but this is something that's actually pretty cool. Firefox is an Internet Browser similar to Internet Explorer. With the release of their 3rd version, they are trying to set a Guinness World Record for most downloads. To be part of the "magic" just make sure you download it before 2:16 PM on 6/18/2008. Then, even if you go back to IE, you can at least say you were part of the (probable) world record!

I have used Firefox since it came out, and it's always had a few features here or there that I liked better than IE. With FF3, however, there are a lot of improvements, and you will likely notice a much faster web browsing experience.

All you have to do, to try it out, is click on that picture up there, or this link here. It's a pretty quick download, and you'll be off and running in no time. If you already use an older version of Firefox, then this should be a no-brainer!

If you decide to try this out for the first time, be sure to post a comment back to let everyone know what you think. Hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Father's Day '08 (and more)

(Please click on the photo for more pictures.)

On Saturday, we headed up to Flint so Michele and I could be Baileigh's Godparents at her baptism at St. Pius. Baileigh was an angel during the ceremony and actually smiled when the priest poured the water on her head. After the Baptism, Russ and Jen had everyone over to their new house in Swartz Creek for dinner. Jake had a blast chasing the girls around in the basement.

Sunday found us at PnT's slip. We had a great picnic with MPnA and DLCnM. MnK also joined in while Dan and I had the two little ones back at the house for a nap. During that time, everyone else got to spend some time on the pontoon boat and swimming over by The Moose.

On Monday, a lot of the teachers got together again at the spray park with the little ones. Michele said Jake had a great time playing with the other kids. He also loved playing with all the different water toys and didn't mind getting splashed at all.

Today, Jake had his first "2's on the Move" class at the Rec Center. He got to hit a ball off a tee, play on a scooter, and walk on a balance beam among other things. Michele was very proud of how well he waited for his turn and shared with the other kids. She gives his teachers at The Learning Tree most of the credit for that! He'll have to miss a class while we are in Shelby, but he's still got 5 more ahead of him. I'm hoping to work from home one of the days so I can see him in action.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Babysitting!

(Please click on the photo for more pictures.)

While Jason and Jo took Zach up to a going away party for her sister, Michele, Jake, and I got to hang out with Elle. The kids play really well together and had a blast playing with blocks and then watching Dora. Jake was very bummed when it was bedtime and Michele had to take Elle back across the street to get her settled in. There are a few pictures if you follow the link above. Most show them having a good time, but they also serve as proof that she was in one piece when she left here!

Along with the photos, we had a few videos queued up.

This video shows Jake singing a song when his playtime outside was cut short by a storm. We just finally found out what he might have been singing from his daycare teacher, but no one is sure where the "ding dong" comes from.


This video shows Jake playing with an RC car I got awhile ago. We usually share the controller so he can make it go forward, but I steer. This time, as is usual now, he wanted to do everything all by himself. It took a lot to get him to try to steer it and make it go forward. Most of the time, he only wanted to make it go straight into an obstacle or a road, then he'd send me off to chase it down.


This is a little clip of Jake and Elle playing with Michele. They are both very good at talking now, but it's still funny to hear them speaking in sentences.


Monday, June 02, 2008

Race for the Cure

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Jen rallied some of the girls together to participate in the Race for the Cure in Detroit this weekend. Due to some sickness and a pregnancy, Michele and Jen were joined only by Michele's mom and sister for the walk. Tiff was able to fly in later, however, and Melissa and Jessi each drove over as well after the race.

After playing outside with the kids (Jake, Jack, and quite a bit with Elle), the girls (minus the two old ladies - do either of them read this? I guess I'll find out) went out to a late showing of Sex and the City. They also took the opportunity to get all dolled up and had a great time.

After everyone had taken off on Sunday, Michele got a few pictures of Jake playing around inside.

Saturday, May 31, 2008

Memorial Day... and more

(Please click on the photo for more pictures.)

The summer is really getting into full swing. It seems like we have something coming up every weekend, and we don't even have that many weddings this year!

Any way, enjoy all of the photos, and the two videos below. The first is Jake showing off how Mommy taught him to sign "I love you" and the second was my attempt at capturing one of the Red Bull Air Racers downtown during their practice round.





Sunday, May 11, 2008

Michele is How Old?!?

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

It's hard to believe, but that beautiful young lady in the picture above turned the big Three-Oh today!

We spent the weekend up at our folks' to celebrate both Michele's birthday and Mother's Day. After swim class on Saturday, we headed up to Grand Blanc. We had dinner at Don Pablo's where Michele wanted to go primarily because she was craving a Margarita. The dinner was delicious, and Grandma, MPnA, MnK, and Melissa were all able to join us. After dinner, the guys retired to the basement to work/watch the Wings' game while Meme, Michele, and Kelly went and saw Made of Honor. Michele and Kelly both really liked the movie while my mom, a budding movie critic, was less than impressed. All wasn't lost, however, as she got to spend the evening with her daughters-in-law.

After Church, on Sunday, we spent the day at GnGT's house. We had a delicious ham dinner and there were plenty more gifts passed around. DLCnM were all there as well to help celebrate both events.

A few weekends ago, Michele took Jake up to GnGT's house for the afternoon where Jake got to play some with Maiya. There are some photos from that trip here. Also, here are TONS of pictures from the Anderson's vacation. While here, are the photos from the Trosko vacation. It looks like both families had great trips.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

April's Almost Gone...

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

So, I guess I should start off by apologizing for the long delay between posts. With the weather getting nicer we've been spending more time outside, and with work seeming crazier for both of us, time just seems to have been slipping by. I'm sure the Tiger's season and the Wings in the playoffs hasn't helped with anything either.

Grandma and Grandpa Trosko just got back from a trip to Puerto Rico. Besides a bout or two of sea sickness, it sounds like they had a good time. Meme, Papa, and Alison leave for Disney World tomorrow. I'm not the one to keep track of things like this, but Mark pointed out that at her age, Alison will have been to Disney twice before we got to go our one and only time. Speaking of Mark, he and Kelly are in Vegas this past week. Kelly had some business, and Mark just went to golf, hang out, and keep her company.

Congratulations are due to Jenny and Russ who gave Brook a baby sister. Baileigh was born on April 18 and was 8 pounds 1 ounce, and was just over 19 inches long. Michele and Jake got to see them the day after she was born with Meme, Alison, and Great Grandma. The whole family was doing well.

Jake has really started talking more lately. He's very polite right now and frequently thanks us for everything. We'll pull up to the park and he'll say "Thank you.... Daddy". Michele will give him his milk sippy and he'll say "Thank you... Mommy." His "thank you's" sound very similar to See You On the Moon which makes sense considering he's also singing along to quite a few more songs. It's made driving to and from day care a lot more fun.

This morning, Jake had his first Aqua Tots swimming lesson at the Livonia Rec Center. After letting the kids play around with cups in the water, they had us help them float on their stomach and back. Then, they pretended to have a birthday party. After singing "Happy Birthday", the kids blew bubbles into the water like blowing out birthday candles. Jake, however, thought he should suck the water in and then spit it out to make the bubbles. We'll need to work on that. Then, they would scoop up the cake and ice cream by paddling their arms. Lastly, they had them "run" to get more cake by kicking their legs. After teaching these steps, the kids got to pick out a float tool and then we practiced by chasing that around the lazy river. After returning the toys, we sang "The Wheels on the Bus" with motions in the water to go with all of that, and the first class was over. Jake did a lot better than we expected considering how independent he's been lately. He didn't mind listening to the teachers and letting us help him do what he was supposed to, so we were very happy. As an added bonus, Jason and Jo signed Elle up for the same class, so we get to swim with them as well.

To help make up for the long time between posts, I've got three videos to share besides all of the photos linked above.

Jake and Mommy singing "Hush Little Baby".


Jake climbing a rock wall at the park. Papa was more nervous about it than I was, in case you can't tell.'


Jake playing on the gate that blocks the stairs. He's still pretty good about closing it if we leave it open. Now he just has more fun with it.


Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Spring Break '08

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Last week was Spring Break for Michele's school so she spent the week with Jake. While I still had to go to work, they had fun playing with various other kids and breaking in some of Jake's new birthday stuff.

They capped off the week by meeting me at work on Friday for lunch.

If you follow the link above you'll find photos from Easter morning and then from various times over the break.

Also, on Monday, Jake had his 2-year checkup. He seems to be doing well. He wasn't sick (having just gotten over a second bout of pink eye) and he has grown enough that we don't have to be so worried about him packing on the pounds. He is up to 25 pounds and 33.5 inches.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

2 Year Party

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

While yesterday seemed to be Jake's lucky day, today balanced out and threw us a curve ball. Jake woke up this morning with an irritated eye. By the end of his nap, we were certain he had an infection (likely pink eye). Luckily, we still had drops left from last time, so we treated it all day, and by early evening it was hard to tell there was anything wrong at all. Still, we called and warned everyone with kids. The Pruss' came over in shifts, and Elle didn't get to visit at all since she's too young to realize she couldn't play with Jake like normal. The rest of the kids seemed to do a good job keeping their distance. We'll probably find out in a few days or so if anyone else caught it.

Even with the messed up eye, Jake really seemed to enjoy his party. Besides my Grandma and Elle, everyone else that we could invite showed up. Once again, we were reminded of how small our house really is!

Jake got spoiled again with a lot of great gifts.

MPnA: Train, kitchen stuff, clothes

GnGT: Tricycle, bell

DLCnM: Maracas, book, clothes

MnK: kitchen stuff, basketball hoop

Pruss: Travel Aquadoodle

A few gifts deserve a bit of an explanation. Mark told Kelly to buy Jake something ultra girly for his kitchen after my photo comments about his kitchen set. What a great uncle and Godfather. Jason and Jo were so impressed with the Aquadoodle that we got Elle for Christmas that they told us back in December (maybe early January) that they wanted to get Jake one for his birthday so we didn't go out and get him one ourself. Lastly, Jake's cousins had a bit to do with his gifts this year. Maiya and Colin were used to test different toys at the store to see which would be the most fun. Alison picked out an outfit and sunglasses for Jake all on her own.

Thanks again to everyone that made it!

Jake Is Two!

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures).

Jake had a very lucky birthday this year. First, it was Mommy's first day of Spring Break so he got to spend all day with her. Second, he got his picture taken at a cool new studio by us called Portrait Innovations. This is the first time he's really enjoyed having them taken professionally, and it shows. Next, he got to go to Trader Joe's. Normally he's a good shopper, but he knows that he gets a balloon at the end of this trip, so it's even better. Then, after dinner, he got to open his gifts from us and play with them. To cap it off, he got to eat a cupcake with TONS of frosting.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Jake's First Crack at Easter Eggs

(Please click on the photo for more pictures.)

Today we colored some Easter eggs. Since we were out of town at this time last year, Jake didn't get a chance to partake in this tradition. To be fair, he still hasn't colored an egg yet, as he really just watched Mommy and Daddy do all the work this year. He thought it was fun picking the colors and watching us drop and then fish the eggs back out.

This seemed like a pretty good reward after he was excellent through the first 45 minutes of Church today... and then not so great during the second 45 minutes. Palm Sunday and toddlers don't mix so well!

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Photo Post


We had a lot of photos that I wanted to get uploaded and shared out. Most are from hanging around the house, but a few are from a trip up to GnGT that Michele and Jake took while I was watching MSU lose to UM at the Joe.

Here are the photos from the end of February, and here are some from over the weekend.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Happy Baby

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Jake seemed very happy to be home after our trip. We got to settle back into things by playing around the house, and visiting with the Pruss family.

The first few photos shows Jake playing with my boots after I got done cleaning off our driveway. The rest show him playing around the house and then having fun in the shower. Michele still gives him baths, but when Daddy is on duty, he loves taking a shower. Luckily, he didn't get too spoiled by the bubble baths with Alison!

This is my second post today, make sure to scroll down or click here to read about our Philly trip.

Philly Trip

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

WARNING: There are going to be a lot of links in this post. Remember to either open them in a new page/tab (CTRL + click or middle-click in most Windows-based browsers) or click your Back button to find your way back to this post to continue reading.

Jake just got done spending a few days with MPnA and GnGT while Michele and I took a short trip. (Hint, click on the names to see some of their photos).

You may recall that last year as we were waiting to depart for South Carolina, the person pulling the jetway away from the plane managed to clip the wing which caused us to miss a day down south. As compensation, we received free vouchers that had to be used within a year. Since we'd never been down to Philly to see Tiff and Francesco, we thought this would be a great opportunity. For some reason, the closest airport we could fly into to see them was La Guardia in New York. It's only about a two hour drive from there to their house, so we decided to go for it. We also decided that we'd leave Philly a day early to spend that time in NYC. Here's how our trip went.

SATURDAY, 2/9/2008
After flying out of Metro around 7:00 am, we landed in New York, and then slowly made our way down through New Jersey to Philadelphia and arrived at Tiff and Francesco's (TnF from now on) house around noon.

After spending the afternoon catching up, Michele and I headed to a nearby Church thinking that would give us all of Sunday to do whatever we wanted. We found a church called Our Lady of Perpetual Help. It was gorgeous inside, and packed with people. It's definitely the type of Chuch we would join if we lived in the area.

After that, TnF took us downtown to a place called Jones Restaurant. The atmosphere was very cool and the food was great. After that, we walked over to Lucky Strike. After finding out that there'd be a 3 hour wait (minimum) for a bowling lane, we decided to shoot some pool. TnF destroyed us winning every game.

Sunday, 2/10/2008
We headed downtown again Sunday afternoon to The Franklin Institute. The museum was a hands-on science museum with a lot of cool displays. Besides seeing many of Benjamin Franklin's many inventions, there was also a giant heart display and an Identity display that spoke about personalities related to genetics and environment. Tiff's favorite part seemed to be watching the dissection of a cow's eye. I enjoyed it as well, and was surprised that Michele made it through the whole thing.

After the museum we grabbed our first official Cheese Steak from Geno's. We ordered ours "whiz, with" which meant they had cheeze whiz (instead of provolone like we'd usually get up here) and onions. We both thought they were very good.

After that, we headed back to Lucky Strike where we were able to get a lane after about 30 minutes. Michele and I both made up for the previous night. Michele even exceeded her own goals on both of the games. That was even after deciding she should do better in the second game!

Monday, 2/11/2008
On Monday, Francesco was back to work and Tiff decided to work from home. That left Michele and I alone to explore the city. When we went to the FI, we purchased a City Pass which gave us admittance to many of the other museums and attractions in the city. Tiff dropped us off at the train station near their house, and we rode the train into the city.

Within the course of about 6 hours and after about 3 miles walked, we were able to accomplish all of the following (MAP):
Then, after Francesco got home from work, we headed out to eat at their favorite Thai restaurant. Philly has very different liquor laws than Michigan, so much so that we were able to take a bottle of wine with us which they chilled and opened for us.

Tuesday, 2/12/2008
With both TnF at work, Michele and I hopped in the rental car and headed to New Jersey to see the Adventure Aquarium. Besides all the cool fish that we got to see, we also touched jelly fish, rays, and sharks! They also had a very cool Shark Tunnel which was the last exhibit that you'd pass through before leaving.

After leaving NJ and getting back to PA, we hit up Pat's (which is across the street from Geno's) for our third and final Cheese Steak, again Whiz, without. Anyone reading this, probably figured that this was my doing. On the contrary, Michele is the one that decided that we wouldn't be happy unless we hit the "Big Three", and decided we should go there for lunch. After eating at all three, we decided that Geno's was probably our favorite. Rick's was a larger sandwich, but a bit fattier than Geno's. This might have just been bad luck, but it's how the steak fell. Pat's was as lean or leaner than Geno's, but they put the cheese on last meaning it got all over the place.

To add a bit of relaxation into our trip, we then headed to a movie theater where we were 2 of 3 people in the 2:00 showing of Fools Gold. The movie was better than I expected, but definitely one that could be rented unless you need to see Matthew McConaughey shirtless on a BIG screen (I'm not sure if Michele blinked during the movie). On our way out of the theater, we found everything covered in ice! It was raining a bit when we went in, but by the time we got out, the parking lot looked like a winter wonderland. Impressively, most of the roads already showed signs of salting, and we made our way back to TnF's house without incident. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for their trip home from the city. Due to the conditions, it took them 2 hours to make it home where it would normally take between 20 and 30 minutes. Francesco still took the time to whip us up some dinner and we hung out in their house for the remainder of the night.

Now might be a good time to mention that their house is awesome! It's a two-story house with a stone front. They've done work to almost every room and the paint scheme they chose ended up all having a food in the name. They said it made it easier to choose between the 50 different shades of any given color. They are getting ready to remodel the kitchen, so Michele was able to give them plenty of nightmares about our experience and might have pushed them towards contracting the work out. They were great hosts, and we couldn't have had a better place to stay!

Wednesday, 2/13/2008
By Wednesday morning, the temps had already warmed up enough to melt away most of the mess from the day before. Unfortunately, it was still raining which really put a damper on our site-seeing plans for New York. We ended up taking our time getting out of Philly. After getting stuck on the New Jersey Turn Pike for about 45 minutes, we made it to our hotel in Manhattan about 30 minutes before check-in. After fighting the traffic (I hope to never drive in that city again), we were able to park in a nearby garage and get checked into the Roosevelt Hotel a bit early. We then embarked on our second whirl-wind tour which lasted about 9 hour and covered 8 miles (MAP):
  • We got hot dogs and papaya juice for lunch at Gray's Papaya which we had seen in Fools Rush In. The dogs and the drink were both delicious!
  • We then saw the Empire State Building, or at least the part we could see through the overcast day.
  • Next, we walked up to Times Square. This is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, and you have to experience it to understand. The combination of architecture, technology, people, and cars is so incredible.
  • From there, we walked around Rockefeller Center and visited the NBC store.
  • Next, we headed up and over to Serendipity 3 where we had some hot chocolate (Michele wasn't up for their famous frozen hot chocolate) and cheese cake. Again, this was from a movie, Serendipity.
  • Once we were full with our pre-dinner dessert, we walked to Central Park. We had hoped to ice skate there, but because of the rain, the rink was closed. We walked back by Rockefeller, but decided it was too pricey to skate there, and the ice really didn't seem to be in very good shape either.
  • After a quick stop at the hotel to freshen up, we headed to the Oyster Bar at Grand Central station. We had a delicious dinner with a bottle of wine that we both enjoyed.
  • At the suggestion of a friend, we headed back to Times Square to see it at night. As expected, it's even more amazing seeing all the bright lights against the dark sky.
Thursday, 2/14/2008
After one more quick jog over to Times Square so Michele could see them taping Good Morning America, we grabbed some dinner and got the car to head back to the airport. Getting out of the city was about as crazy as getting in, but at least it had stopped raining. It only took us about 2 hours to make it from downtown to La Guardia, which gave us about 5 hours to kill in the airport. Still, it was better to be bored in the airport than stressed out if we had stayed in the city longer and hit any more delays trying to cut it close.

Our flight back was without incident. We landed, collected our luggage, and headed up to GB to see our son (and MPnA as well).

In all, it was an excellent trip. We were glad to hear Jake had a lot of fun back in Michigan. We wouldn't have gotten to see nearly as much if he had been with us, and probably wouldn't have been able to go out much in New York at all with the weather. If TnF insist on staying away, maybe next time, when he's a bit older, we'll take him down with us for a Cheese Steak or two, or three!

Friday, February 08, 2008

First Chuck E Cheese Trip

(Please click here for a few January pictures, or on the photo for newer pictures.)

Last weekend, Anna and Reid came down from Alpena to visit with some family. While they were here, she planned a get together at Chuck E Cheese for several of the Salem teachers that had all been pregnant at the same time and their kids. There was a great turnout, and it was a lot of fun to see all the kids and how much they've grown. With the high ratio of girls to boys, Jake, Reid, and Owen are really going to have plenty of girlfriends to pick from!

Jake had a lot of fun running around and playing on the slide. He also got a kick out of feeding tokens into the games. He wasn't nearly as interested in the games as he was sticking the coins in the slot. He also had a lot of fun on their ferris wheel style ride.

Later that night, Jake got to start sleeping at MnK while we participated in a euchre tournament. I didn't do very well considering I was on the losing team for the first four matches. Michele, on the other hand, scored the most points out of the girls and won $80!

The following day we headed up to Grand Blanc where we went to church and got breakfast with GnGT. Then, we spent the afternoon with MPnA celebrating Papa's 55th birthday. We then got home in time to put Jake to bed and catch up on the first hour of the Super Bowl. Michele almost made it through the whole game this year, an she actually seemed almost as interested in the game as the commercials!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

"Cheese"

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

If you hear "cheese" in our house, it probably doesn't mean that our little one wants some dairy, but rather that he saw the camera on the counter.

Jake moved up this week from the Transitional Toddler room to the Toddler room at day care. Once again he's the little fish in the pond. Luckily some of the classmates that he's been going to day care with are also in this room so he knows at least a few of the other kids. The teacher, Miss Ericka, said he's doing well at making new friends too. In the new classroom, another big change is they are not strapped in to their chairs at lunch. I'm not sure if it's directly related to the new freedom, or not, but since moving up, he's had fruit ONLY for lunch each day. Eventually, we assume he's going to like to eat like his mom does. We're just really anxious for that day to arrive!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Lazy Weekend

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

With Jake just getting over another ear infection, we decided to just take it easy this past weekend. We did manage to get Jake out to get a hair cut. I thought his hair looked cute before, but he looks very handsome now. An employee at Trader Joe's commented that he looked "so grown up" and we're guessing it's all in the hair. Oddly enough, he didn't even get carded for wine there!

The rest of the time, it seemed like we were breaking him of his "anything goes while your sick" attitude. We had been feeding him in front of the TV, and letting him watch "shows" all day when he wasn't feeling well. Now that he's back to normal, he wanted to continue that. By Sunday night, we seemed to be pretty much back to normal.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Baby Fever

(Please click on the photo to see more pictures.)

Before anyone gets the wrong idea from the title, NO, we are not expecting. We have, however, been spending time around a lot of babies lately.

Before I get too far along, Happy New Year. We had a great New Years Eve with Mark and Kelly and MPnA at Mark and Kelly's house. We had a delicious meal followed by several heated rounds of "Catch Phrase" and "Taboo" which the girls were ultimately victorious in (*).

Aside from that, we made it over to the Royal Oak area to meet Jeff and Marie's new baby. Addy is adorable, especially when she's awake. She seemed to sleep for a lot of our visit, but it might have been a coping mechanism since Jake was really on a tear that night. It was good to catch up with them for a bit. I wish their house would sell so they could move closer. Maybe they'll have better luck when they put it up again in the spring.

We also got to meet our new neighbor this past weekend. Jason and Jo welcomed their new baby boy, Zach. He and Jo are both doing well. ZAP was born the day before Elle's birthday. Luckily she's not old enough to realize her little brother's arrival canceled her birthday party that was supposed to be that day! Meeting him really made us realize how big Addy had gotten. You can read about both Zach and Elle on the new Pruss blog here. The link on the right of our blog now points to their new site as well.