Look at our "feminine"Ella!

Mommy cut off our heads, but we are trying to wave, "Hello!"
Ella at the beach for a wedding
Nathan chilling with Dad... both are waiting for dinner to be served!
Family picture by Oval Beach in Saugatuck.
Tim's friend got married on the beach. It was a beautiful day and gorgeous wedding. It was so fun to be outside and be right by the water.

Nathan looking tired in the swing
Enjoying some time outside on the sheet
Nathan thinks this toy should be on his birthday and Christmas list

Ella likes the outdoors
I am exhausted!

Full of you know what!
Look at my hair after my bath!

Ella is in love with "froggy" which is technically Nathan's, but who cares right Ella!

Wow...the babies are 9 months old. They still continue to do new tricks and keep both their parents busy. They now can wave and clap their hands. They have not tried to take any steps on their own, but love to walk by furniture or walk with us holding their hands. Nathan continues to be our serious, curious, and quiet one when he is is public. Ella will give out more smiles and noises when by other people. Nathan is not too quiet when he is at home. Then both are grunting and making "momma and dadda" sounds all day. It is fun to see their differences. Nathan is our better sleeper at night. He lays down great and will sleep till 7-7:30am. Ella will sometimes cry before bed, will get up occasionally during the night, and likes to be an earlier riser. During the day though, Ella is my better napper and Nathan sometimes gets up after a half our or so and thinks he is done with his nap. Oh the joy of two.

Nathan and Ella playing after church

We are trying to come up with the best time to go to church. We can either go at 9am or 11am. Both are right in between their morning naps. We would prefer the earlier service because it is nice to get home on time. Nathan and Ella both slept in this am till about 7:30 (of course Ella got up at 6:30am and loved to sleep by us) and so we went to the early service. The nursery at Mars Hill Church has lots of babies, so you need to be on time if you want to get your child in. We actually made it on time and enjoyed a nice sermon, but of course 10 minutes before church ended, we see our number show up on the screen which means, "we have tried our best to comfort your child, but it has failed, so come and get him or her!!!!!!" I assumed it was Nathan, who has a harder time being without his mommy. Sure enough it was. A tired little crying boy. He had all smiles when he saw me. Both fell asleep on the way home and then got their second wind and this video shows it. Oh well....now it is 2pm and they are both back to sleep (hopefully for awhile).

Happy Birthday Grandma Beckering

Happy Birthday Grandma Beckering. Ella and Nathan wish they could give you hugs and kisses in person, but for now, they send all their love to you over the Internet. We are so blessed to have such wonderful parents and grandparents. We just wish some of them lived closer to us!We pray God blesses Grandma Beckering with many more Birthdays to come. We love you!!!

Fun on the couch!

Here is Nathan and Ella enjoying some fun on the couch. Their usual game is to try and touch or pull on the lamp shade. You can also see how good Ella is at pointing to things. They turn 9 months tomorrow. Wow...time is flying now.

Mommy's helpers

Tim is gone on an overnight camping trip with some guys so I have full access to a computer and the Internet, thus allowing me to blog all the more! Yeah....................... Here is Nathan and Ella helping me vacuum. Other little milestones include Ella being able to clap and point at things. I have been trying to get that on video too. Have a great weekend everyone. We have a wedding on Saturday. Tim's nephew Mitch and Kendra are going to watch the babies. Finally a night out alone.

Ella and the walker take II

Here is Ella taking her turn on the walker. Nathan gets in her way occ., but she handles it pretty well.

Nathan frustrations with the walker

Couple more videos of the famous toy walker. They spend quite a bit of time walking with it. Not to say that Nathan doesn't continue to be frustrated by it or Ella.

Bubbles and Bath

We tried out the sink for a bath and our parents think it is a good idea. First of all, we both fit on each side, second we are not able to stand up or crawl around like we try do in the big tub, and third, it is a lot easier on our parent's backs. I guess this is where we'll bathe till we get too big!

Nathan and Ella playing

Last time they got up from their nap, they just sat by each other and laughed and played. Of course those are the times when I don't have the camera handy. I still thought this was cute and thought my family back in Minnesota likes any kind of updated videos. Ella started pointing at things. So we have been trying to tell her what she is pointing at ....like that is Nathan, or that is Daddy. Who knows maybe she'll put two and two together.

We love messy faces

Here is an outfit that I wore when I was a baby!

My brother Darin wore this little outfit. It was a little short for Nathan!

Brotherly love..I don't think so!

As I was making dinner, I can hear giggling. I tried to get that on video, but I ended up getting Nathan showing his brotherly love to Ella by pulling her hair. Luckily, she was in a good mood and didn't cry. I am sure it will only get worse.

Ella is walking behind the toy walker

Here is Ella walking behind the toy walker. She is not quite as fast as Nathan, but does not get frustrated like Nathan, when she runs into a barrier. Amazing the little mile stones these guys are making!

Nathan mastering walking with a toy walker

Nathan has pretty much mastered the art of walking behind a toy walker. Although, as you can see in the video, he gets pretty frustrated when he runs into any obstacles. It is pretty funny to watch his frustration. Does this mean he will be walking on his own soon?

Ella learns the word "no"

Ella learned how to shake her head"no" last week. At first she would just shake her head no if we said the word, now she actually knows that if we say "no," she shouldn't be doing what she is doing. This doesn't mean she always obeys. but we are trying.

Some last shots of the end of summer fun

Nathan and Ella love to "rock a bye"
Nathan checking out a new hat

We washed her on "gentle cycle"

Falling asleep at lunch time

Can you say "cheesy smile" Ella

Nathan tuckered out from all this beach fun

yes Nathan is lying face down

They actually slept a good 40 minutes at the beach. They got quite a few ohhhs and ahhhhs from all the passer byers!

Ella loved to stand by the umbrella pole

Nathan had lots to say about the beach

Lots of people thought we were brave to take these two to the beach

Ella loves my tricks

This one is for my mom and dad. We had just talked to them about an hour before this on the web cam and the babies were starting to have "melt downs." Shortly after we ended the conversation with them, the babies took a short nap and now Ella is all smiles and giggles. Not for long though, she currently is crying at my legs as I try to finish this sentence.

Look at how we love paper

End of the summer fun

Ella is getting sleepy at Grand Haven State Park

Nathan would like ice cream to be one of the 5 food groups

We're all so tired

This picture melts my heart

Doing some picnicking at Tunnel Park...here we are with cousin Sam

Look what we do when mom isn't looking
We may be naughty, but we get away with it because we are adorable

My baby "Burrito"

Did someone say "ice cream?" Get me out of this stroller!

I am the most adorable baby "garbage disposal" you'll ever see

Boy that walk took a lot out of us mom

Another picture of our new play area

Nathan is ready to mow the lawns

"So Big Ella!!!"


Ella loves the goats

Wow...hard to believe we are into September already. What a beautiful summer we have had. The pictures above did not get into the right order as I was downloading them, but the captions underneath should help. Ella and Nathan are 8 months old. They continue to be active babies...always climbing by stuff and crawling everywhere. We did some fun things like going to the fair and walking the pier at Grand Haven. They each have teeth and we are finding out what it is like when they try use you as a teething ring!

Happy 30th Birthday Aunt Laura in Minnesota

Happy 30th Birthday

Aunt Laura!

We love you!

Happy Birthday to Aunt Kathy too, but we don't ask her age!

More snapshots

Ella and Nathan climb by anything
Ella so tired after a big afternoon of playing

Ella and Nathan playing in "neighbor Bennet's" swimming pool

A ride on the ottaman

Another way to get your kids involved in house cleaning

Here is Ella and Nathan helping Mom wash windows or a lesson in French kissing. You decide!