The Great North Country

Every time we drive away from what we think is the ideal place to live and raise a family we want to turn around and begin job and house hunting. If only it were that easy we would be packing up right now and moving up to Traverse City. We love the atmosphere of the town, woods galore, the convenience of every store one could desire set in a gorgeous Up North setting. Of course for me the topping on the sundae, my parents being there. Oh, how wonderful it would be to drop the kiddos off for a few hours once a week! Those who live close to family have no idea how lucky they are when it comes to help with children and breaks from children that family allow.

Leaving is hard for me and I know Tom feels the same, for we both have a great Love for Traverse City. Needless to write, we had a absolutely wonderful time this past weekend. The weather was horrific, cold and rainy, but you can't control the weather so we rolled with it.

Tom and I finally were able to spend a few hours of much needed alone time on Saturday. We went to lunch then to the store to purchase some warmer clothes for the kids. On the recommendation of Alex we had a delicious lunch at a local restaurant. It was just the break we both needed. During our time away Max slept all but 10 mins and so did Violette. In reality they had it very easy! Noelle spent a majority of our time away drawing tattoos on Uncle Alex!

Saturday afternoon Granma and Noelle headed out to the woods and built a small fort and play. Tom, Max, and I joined them a bit later. The kids loved searching for acorns and playing with sticks, and balancing on the felled trees, something we don't have around here. We took a quick trip to Burger King play place for a change of scenery. Parks were out of the question with the continuous rain, so we figured a play place was the next best thing. Granma, Daddy, and Uncle Alex all had sore knees from crawling through the unforgiving small tubes. The kids had a good time though!

Sunday the sun decided to make an appearance and we were outside most of the time until we left around 2pm. The girls were sporting matching outfits and I even attempted to get a picture with the kids and Grandma and Granpa. Everyone was a bit crabby due to lack of sleep, but it was worth a try. Before the long drive home we headed out for a long tiring walk in the woods. Uncle was able to find a small gardener snake and the kids kind of liked it! Noelle shrieked and hid but wanted to see it. She would try and touch it then jump back and scream. Max copied Noelle and screamed as well, but he was more interested in it.

Our next voyage up will be without Uncle Alex who is moving out this weekend. He is heading up to Soo for a few months to play hockey. I know my parent will miss him greatly, but whenever we visit we also will miss him. Noelle and Uncle Alex have a special bond and she will have a hard time not seeing him for a long while.


It was another fantastic journey to the North! We hope to do it again soon.

Sitting and Cupcakes

Here is Noelle and Violette. I think they look very similar, they are definitely sisters!

Violette has finally mastered sitting completely on her own. She can do if for a long time and eventually she topples over, when she gets bored or one of her siblings push her over. As seen in the above picture, we dug out the exersaucer and Violette loves it. Well, she loves it as long as someone is right beside her paying her much attention. As previously posted, she is not a laid back child and needs a ton of attention to be centered on her or she is not happy!

Sunday Noelle wanted to make cupcakes, and what Noelle wants she usually gets. I put some icing in a bowl and let them go to town frosting their own cupcake. It was messy, but very fun for all.

Stuff....

Tired, tired, tired. That is what I have been feeling these days. Max is going through, um, something. He has been getting up multiple times during the night, screaming and throwing major tantrums for some reason. He claims, "back hurt, teeth hurt, neck hurt, legs hurt", everything is causes him pain as he cries out. I'm thinking that either growing pains (I have no idea if that is even something a 19 month old feels) and his last four teeth coming in are causing him the agony. Whatever it is he is up from midnight until about 5am almost every night this week. Nothing calms him down. It fits right in with his very difficult personality.

Because Max is extremely loud during the night and early in the morning, Noelle has been getting less sleep. She does not nap on a normal day, but has been begging me to nap. One day this week I let her lay on the couch, expecting her to stay in that position for a short while, but she fell asleep. I talked on the phone right next to her, played with Violette and did some chores. Thinking this would wake her up. She was just too tired and slept right through everything. She is precious while sleeping!

We have been trying to get Violette to take a bottle to allow us a little more freedom. She wants nothing to do with it. She can't figure out how to suck on the nipple and just screams her little head off. It goes right along with her hatred for a pacifier, the foreign objects have nothing on Mama!
We made a quick trip to Cabela's this week for something different. Max loved the aquarium, shrieking with delight at the fish. He is such an independent little man, wanting nothing to do with the stroller. Left to walk on his own he has no care of where we are. He wanders off not caring where we are. Noelle, being a very attentive big sister, yells out, "Get back here Max" and "Mommy you better get your son!". She gets very worried about him to the point of tears starting to flow.


This weekend we are heading up to Traverse City. Unable to go on the cruise, I have not seen my family since May, so it will be great spending some time with them. Tom and I are planning on going out to lunch on Saturday, some much needed alone time that we are both looking forward to very much! Have a great week!

5th Annual Off Shore Boat Races

The first weekend in August (I'm a little behind with my blogging) we attended the Offshore Boat Races in St. Clair. This was our fifth year in a row we have gone. The first time I was almost five months pregnant with Noelle!

The races are fun to watch, but even more of a treat for us all is spending time with family and friends. My Grandparents have a condo right on the river and the view is beautiful. Not to mention the mountains and mountains of great food and conversation with old family friends. We look forward to the races every year.

We did not bring the children's bathing suits because, well to be honest I was lazy. They, of course, ended up in the water, throwing rocks in and playing in the sand. Max loved being close to the boats as they were racing. He tried to mimic the loud sound and it was pretty funny how it resembled growling!

The races started late, due to freighter traffic the children kept busy before the start. Noelle latched on to my cousin Allison, who was a favorite in Alaska, and a few other younger girls that were around, playing hide-n-seek and other games. Max walked around seeking things out that he could get into. He loved being able to climb up to where the buffet of food was and taking bites out of everything, then putting them back. I do believe his favorite was dipping carrots, chips, and vegetables and then licking/sucking off the dip and putting the it back. I tried to get them all out, but I have a feeling a few people ate an assortment of food with a tad bit of Max slobber on them!

By the time we left the children were tuckered out and quickly fell asleep in the car (Noelle decided to take a picture of her siblings when they were awake). We look forward to next year's races. How could you not love tons and tons of food, fast boats, gorgeous waters, and friends/family galore?

Max and Violette

During my week without Tom and Noelle, Max and Violette had their 4 month and 18 month well baby visits. It was a pretty stressful visit.

Max was, well Max. He kept opening the door and running out of the examination room. Picture me, with Violette only in a diaper, chasing a little boy around the office, he too was only dressed in a diaper. He would laugh and say, "catch me Mommy!" as he ran around. The doctor was very surprised as his ability to open the door and talk so well. She has a son the same age and he just started walking and does not talk yet. When it was time to get his shots it required three nurses, two to administer the shots (which is normal) and an extra nurse to help me hold him down. That little Dude would wiggle and squirm so much that we barely could contain him. Violette sat in her car seat squealing with delight at the drama going on around her and sweat beaded from my forehead!

Max weighed in at 24 lbs. 1 oz. and is 35 inches tall. His weight falls in the 25th percentile and his height in the 97th percentile. Violette weighed 14 lbs. 10 oz. and is 23 inches tall. Her weight falls in the 75th percentile and her height in the 10th percentile.

Everyone is healthy and thriving. Luckily Max's next visit will be when he turns 2 and he will not have to have shots! Violette goes in again at six months.

Max is by for our most difficult child. He continues to talk extremely well and challenges me at every turn. I love that there is never a dull moment with him around and he can not be left alone or he finds some way to get into something that I thought was safe and out of reach. His energy amazes us and his ability to turn anything into a weapon makes us laugh as we shield ourselves. Cars, balls, tools, all "boy" things are his favorites. He has no fear and can throw a tantrum to rival me at the same age. His personality reminds us of me. It is his way or watch out as he throws his little body on the ground kicking, screaming, and hitting at feverish pitches. The Terrible Twos have set in way too early with this one. I'm not used to tantrums of this magnitude, as Noelle can't even compare!

Violette, our little chubby princess, is making headway in the personality department. She is not laid back at all. She wants to be held and given much attention. I can't put her down and count on her to entertain herself and be content for any time. If she can't see or hear me then she is not happy. Max and Noelle can hold her attention for short periods then she cries out and immediately stops when I pick her up or focus all my attention on her. She can roll, but only does so when I force her to be by herself for awhile. She is very loud, which is too be expected with two older and very loud siblings around, and demands her fair share of the spot light. Being the third she has to be seen and heard just like the other two. She sleeps remarkably well as we have moved her into Noelle's room. Her giggles and smiles light up the room. Noelle and Max love to find new ways to make her laugh.

All three keep me very busy during the day but continue to bring me endless joy.