11 Months

We can hardly believe that our little girl is 11 months old. It is amazing how quickly the time has gone!!!!

What is she doing....

• Talking non-stop (I think she got that from me!!!)
• Loves to sing to commericals and her videos
• Took 3 steps by herself and loves to walk all around the furniture
• Has master crawling the correct way
• Loves to read
• Has 7 teeth (3 on top & 4 on the bottom)
• Loves to follow Boomer (or JJ-my parent's dog) and just giggles at them
• Loves to crawl into places she shouldn't be
• Loves fruit! (any food for that matter...she is a VanderZwaag!!!!!)
• Can say bye, hi, mama, Boomer, dada (we think she can say a few more words but they aren't completely clear yet-clear enough to understand)
• Loves to be tickled & loves to giggle!
• Loves to dance
• Makes super funny faces and can imitate Napolean Dynamite (not on command)
• Loves to stuck on straws and gets mad if she doesn't have one
• Loves riding Sandy (the horse at Meijer! The only item at Meijer's that hasn't changed in price!!!!!)
• Gives kisses (they are wet!!! So watch out!)

We are so thankful for such a happy, healthy and content little girl. She is truly a blessing in our life. We can't wait to see how much more she learns in the coming months & years!!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there but especially to Neal, Dad B & V. We are thankful for all of you. Thanks for raising Neal & I up to be the people we are today. Enjoy your day!

Detroit Tigers

Yesterday morning we headed to Detroit to catch a Tiger's game. A few months ago Neal called me and said that Kent had extra tickets to the game. I got to decide since it was my birthday (yep, the big 27!) Anyway, we headed to Detroit yesterday and watched a great game. It was tied going into the bottom of the ninth. Maggs just flied out (a deep ball-looked like it was going to be out!) Miguel Cabrera got up and hit a walk off home run (this is the third walk off homer I have seen!) Morgan did awesome on the way down (even with DVD player issues) and at the game. So many people commented on how good of a baby she was (Neal & I are truly blessed!) We couldn't have asked for better weather....78, breezy and we were under the canopy-so we had shade!!
After walking around the stadium for a while we decided to head to our hotel (or should I say motel!) Neal & I decided that we would just spend the night in Howell (since it was my birthday and our anniversary is coming up). So we found a motel that we thought wouldn't be too bad and it had a pool. Let's just say, I didn't undo the bed in fear of what could be in there. Morgan and I slept in the one bed and Neal slept on the other.

Once we got to the motel we decided to go swimming. The pool was outside and pretty interesting. It was clean (no green stuff growing) but there were lots of bugs floating. (YUCK!!) There were two other kids in the pool with us. Morgan enjoyed laughing at the boy. However, she wasn't too sure of the water. It might have been a little cold at first. She did get use to it but she still wasn't that impressed. After we got out of the pool everyone showered. Not that I felt clean afterwards but it was nice to feel not so dirty. This was the first time Morgan took a bath in a tub (we don't have a tub on the main floor). This too took some getting use to but she quickly figured out it wasn't too bad. This morning we packed up quickly and thought we would get a bit to eat (free breakfast at the motel!) As you can tell by the last picture of Morgan...it wasn't that great!


The trip was a fun one...lots of memories...I'm just glad Morgan won't remember any of them!!! :)

What a weekend!

Our weekend started with blueberry pancakes. As you can tell, Morgan really enjoyed them (all over the face & in the hair!!!) I know she would have enjoyed them more if they were Hemme blueberries but we'll have to wait another month for those.

In the afternoon we had two open houses to attend. My cousin Laura's and the daughter of a guy that coaches with Neal. After that we headed out to Diamond Springs (that's way out there!!) to visit Neal's cousin Jodi & Luke and their almost 1 year old Jackson (don't cry Jodi..we'll make it through!!) We ate hot dogs off the grill. After we ate we decided to head over to Sandy Pines for ice-cream before it rained. We got there and ordered and it started to sprinkle. We quickly ate and made it back to their house. That's when it started to really storm!!! Jackson & Morgan played for a little bit before Jackson had to go to bed. Sorry about the picture...what do you expect when you have two little ones that like to move!!! Thanks Jackson for sharing your cool toys...hope we can play again soon! We waited a little bit until it "calmed" down and headed home.

What a drive (lots of water, trees & wind)...Neal thought we would be fine (and we were...thank that Lord) but we came home to no power! Nice...when I called they said it would be back by 9pm Sunday and then I called again and they said 4pm Monday. With that news we pack our bags and headed to my parents! They had power & air...two things I decided I can't live without!!! We stopped for breakfast at Perkins and then Megan called saying that there was power...so we headed back home!
Later on Megan came over for a shower and that is when more storms came through! Neal & Eddie decided to watch it come in. It was pretty cool...I will have to confess (I'm usually freaking out when there is bad weather...and being outside is not on my list of places to be in a storm!!!)



After all the excitement Morgan & I decided to take a nap!!! Hope these stormy weekends don't happen to often!!!!

Tag...I'm it!

Thanks to Robyn, I have been tagged to tell 5 random things about myself. This is difficult and I have been trying to figure out what to say...so here we go....

1. Neal & I met in Saugatuck. He also made me walk up the hill by myself at 3:30 in the morning (I still remind him of this!) We also got engaged in the Hardware store parking lot (which isn't the hardware anymore!)

2. I love hearing Morgan laugh! I can be in the worse mood when I pick her up and it quickly changes when I see her! She has been such a blessing to me! I can't imagine life without her! It is amazing how you can instantly fall in love with someone!

3. I live in a cow pasture (well, it use to be) now I just have cow fence all around me. I also have chased cows out of my front yard. However, I've never been cow tipping (it isn't safe for them...wait...maybe I should!!!!) I have plenty of cow stories I could share!!! :)

4. I live farther away from my parents then when I went to college! This was really hard at first however, now I'm over there frequently because Morgan is in Hamilton everyday!

5. I have chocolate lab because Neal was given a choice....a baby or a puppy. He chose a puppy...I think a baby would have been easier however, My life wouldn't be the same...Boomer is such a blessing (that's what Neal thinks anyway!!!)

Well, that wasn't too bad...I tag Lindsey, Allison, Keelie, Dana & Jodi!!!

Congrats!!!!

We are so excited that Neal's brother Eddie is getting married. As you can tell from the clip....so is Morgan!!!! (sorry...she wasn't dressed yet!!!) They plan on getting married in April!!!

Congrats guys! We are so excited!!!!!

How cute is that!!!!!!!!!

Morgan is so proud of her Uncle Eddie & excited to officially call Megan aunt!!!!

Look who has hair!!!

Finally, I have been trying for weeks to put a ponytail in Morgan's hair!!! This is probably what her hair is always going to look like...in a pony! I can't do much...maybe I'll have to take lessons on how to do hair!!!