Happy Birthday Grandpa Minnesota

close up of sawyer

He was cutting teeth, so not in the best of moods!

The army crawl

February 2011

Our toy spaceship.

"Sawyer do you want to go to the moon?"

"No mom, I do not need to take a nap!"

Sisterly love

Brotherly love

Lots of smiles

I sit really good now

On our way to Daycare Esther's Valentine's Day party

Silly face and a moment that we are not sucking our lip

Ella with her hair all curled for church.

February has been pretty uneventful for us. We have had lots of snow and are anticipating spring (but know it's a long way off). Sawyer had his 6 month appointment and is making all his goals. He is 17.2 lbs and is 27 inches. That makes him 50% for weight and 75% for height. When I look back at how big the twins were at this age, it looks like Sawyer is taller and about the same weight. As of today, we can see one of Sawyer's bottom teeth trying to pop through. He has a been a little irritable and now we know why! He continues to army crawl all over. He can sit up without any assist and also loves to take baths with his brother and sister. He splashes in the water and thinks he is big stuff. The kids are definitely ready for some more outdoors time. They have some pent up energy that often times drives their mom insane! Ella now refers to me as, "Mother," in a tone that a 15 year old girl would say. So occasionally I will refer to her as, "Daughter!" Hope everyone else is having a good winter.

Nathan and Ella love to help with feeding Sawyer. I doubt whether Sawyer likes them feeding him.

January has brought the snow

Daddy helping Nathan and Ella make an igloo.

Sawyer continues to enjoy the new thrill of food. Here he has just finished eating some sweet potatoes. yummy!

A friend from work loves to spoil the kids. Here they are opening some belated Christmas gifts from her.

Yeah......another toy that makes lots of noise.

Snow is fun around here. We have enjoyed finally having some snow around here. Not so much the cold that we had this past weekend, but hey that comes with it, right! Ella and Nathan have gone sledding and today they helped Tim make a igloo. It is good to get some of their energy out by going outside. Sawyer is gaining speed on the floor. If he sees a toy he wants, he can inch his way across the living room to get it. He is pretty fast too! I'm sure, he'll be crawling soon. He sits up for small periods of time, but if left unattended, he will fall over--hard! He still has lots of smiles and is a good baby. He is finding his voice and is heard all over the house.

The Blast Factory

Here we are at the "Blast Factory" celebrating someone's birthday from our church. They loved it. It had several different inflatabls set up. Ella and Nathan's favorite was the bounce slide.

While away the children will play

This is where I found Nathana and Ella while I tired to throw a load of laundry in.

Sawyer"s first adventure in a Johhhy Jump Up

Christmas exerpt from Ella

Ella's rendition of Jingle Bells (sorry about it not being right side up)

Beckering Christmas in Minneapolis

Sawyer's first cereal.

Grandpa reading to the grand kids

Ella "scooter and makeup" need I say more!

Breanna posing with her new makeover

Did I just have my 3rd Birthday or my 13th!

Cousin fun with play makeup

Nathan and daddy admiring his new scooter

The grand kids patiently waiting to open presents

Sawyer checking out his new toy

I think I'd rather have the wrapping paper!

New tractor!

Opening up Christmas presents on their Birthday!

Well the holiday festivities have finally come to an end. We enjoyed a wonderful time in Minneapolis over the New Year and now are trying to get back to normal here in Michigan. The kids had a great time playing with their "Minnesota" cousins and grandparents. Ella was a little sad that Hershey (my parent's dog) was not there and Nathan did ask Uncle Dan where his tractor was! We had a big slumber party at Dan and Laura's the first couple of nights and ended at Darin and Tricia's before we left. The grownups even got a night out. Mike and Allison Meidema (friends of Dan and Laura and my old neighbor) took all 9 children, along with their 3 children! They are daring. Thanks again Mike and Allison! We went out to a nice Chinese restaurant and of course ate way too much, (but hey when your not feeding your children, you tend to be able to eat more for yourself)! The kids have had fun playing with their Christmas toys and ask everyday if they can go back to Minnesota. Sawyer has had some firsts. He started some cereal yesterday. He is rolling all over and starts to lunge or wiggle his way towards toys. He can sit up for awhile if propped up correctly and is quick to grab anything that comes in his reach! We pray you all have a wonderful start to your New Year!

Stuive Christmas and Ella and Nathan's Birthday celebration

The "Dinosuar" cake

The "Butterfly"cake

They got cash registers for their birthdays

Natha, Ella, and Connor all share a birthday.

Birthday hugs

Last Saturday, we celebrated the Stuive 2010 Christmas at Todd and Kathy's house. We had a blast. We ate good food and had fun opening presents. Ella and Nathan also got to celebrate their birthday a little early. They were pretty excited to see that Santa did come through in making "butterfly" and "dinosaur" cakes for their birthday. Luckily they took a nap that afternoon and Tim and I were able to get them frosted and decorated. We have to give credit to my sister-in-law Laura and friend Allison M. for giving us the ideas for the cakes. We were pretty proud of ourselves. So far the twins have enjoyed Christmas. Tomorrow they will be 3 years old. We are so grateful that God has given them to us. They are such happy and healthy children. Their brains are like sponges and it is amazing to see how much they comprehend at this age. We have made some big miles stones like potty training and saying our ABC's. We are excited to see what this year has in store for them. Have a wonderful Christmas.