Summer fun photos...

Bugs find Brody just as sweet as I do... too bad that don't agree with him. Here he is with a mosquito bite on his right eye. Remember this one from last summer?


This is the closest beach to our house. It's Beulah Beach on Crystal Lake. When I was growing up, the closest lake was Lake Lansing and it was frequently closed due to e-coli. These boys of mine sure have it good... lucky dogs!
It even has playground equipment, which Brody preferred to the beach.
We've hung out a few times on Grandma & Grandpa's new boat. The water has been so warm this year! Ahhhhh, summer! Here is Brody who tolerates his life jacket really well this year.
Noah and Jacob are great little swimmers:
Brody likes to supervise. And drop things in the water.
Oh, and you can always count on Brody taking a long nap on the way back to the dock.
While I was feeding Austin, Jacob came and told me that Brody drew a "map of Michigan" on the wall. Notice his drawings behind them. Thank you Magic Eraser!
Austin hanging out:
Jacob down at the parents beach. It's crazy how much the beach changes each year. Last year there were quite a few plants and weeds on the beach but a sandy bottom in the lake. This year, the plants/weeds are mostly cleared from the beach but the water is a little rocky.
The boys taking a stroll down at Grandma's beach:
Brody likes to "Bull-Doze" with his head.
Aaaaaaaand this is the end result:
Roxy acting wild in the grass:
Austin on the beach - can you see his tooth? He has 2 on the bottom now!
The boys love taking bike rides. Jacob is doing great at riding his own, but he needs a bigger bike.
Saturday a few girls from a message board that I belong to were in town so Jacob and I met them for some bowling (forgot the camera). After bowling I switched out kids and took Brody and Austin to Sarah's cabin to play. Here is a group shot of all the kiddos:
You gotta be quick with Brody or else you will end up with a photo like this:
While the younger boys and I visited at Sarah's cabin, Jacob and Aaron went fishing. Jacob caught this 18" small mouth bass all by himself. He even picked out his own bait, the only thing Aaron did was net the smallie!
I think Aaron was hiding in this photo because he was embarrassed his son has already out-fished him at the age of 4. Yes, that much larger fish on the right was Jacobs.
Also note Jacob's shirt... Martin got a top ten finish this week! Woot, Woot!! Martin and Sherry fly in on Sunday to visit for another couple of days. We are hoping for an awesome finish and no rain delays in this Sunday's race so that Jacob and I can greet them at the airport and check out their plane again.

Pictures from Jacob's Spring Soccer

The entire team: (Also known as the picture I say "Sweet! My kid wasn't the one grabbing his penis!")


And my little soccer stud...

He said he enjoyed it so much he wants to do it again, so Fall session here we come! I'm officially a soccer mom ;)

Goodreads

Once I had kids I thought that I didn't have time to read anymore, but I've realized that if I just cut into my late night trashy tv time, I do have time to read! So I have found a renewed interest in reading and one thing I'm loving is Goodreads.com. It's a website full of book reviews where you can keep track of what books you've read, what you would like to read and see your friends lists too. It's also made my visits to the library less overwhelming. I browse books I want to read at home on the computer and then when I'm ready to go to the library I just print out my "To Read" list off of Goodreads and it makes finding my next books a breeze. Check it out here and if you do sign up (it's free), add me as a friend danielleswitzer@gmail.com!

Recent Conversations...

The day we were leaving for our 4th of July weekend at the Holiday Inn:

Aaron: Did you pack for me, too?

Me: No. I already packed for four people and figured that was enough. (Followed up with an ever so faint a**hole)

*****

Last weekend in Grandma's pool:

Me: Jacob, how did you hurt your lip?

Jacob, with a recent red cut on his bottom lip: Oh, this? I hurt it in Florida... you know, in that mean cat pool?

(Referring to the "Kiddie" pool that he cut his lip in nearly three months ago)

*****

Two days ago while getting ready to head to the beach:

Me: Who tooted?

Silence.

Me: Jacob? Did you toot or was that Austin?

Aaron, with a very guilty grin: Man do I love living in a house with three other boys.

*****

A couple of weeks ago, just before bedtime:

Jacob: Mom, these are my nuts. They hold my pee.

Me: Ahh, thanks for letting me know. And who told you they were called nuts?!?!

Jacob: I learned it all by myself.

Me: Fabulous.

*****

And one more...

At bedtime, when Jacob would not. go. to. bed.

Me: Jacob! If you do not get in bed and be quiet right now I am going to take your fish away!

Jacob: What about the snail?

My little peanut: 6 month well child recap

Last week Wednesday we took Austin in for his six month well child visit. My biggest baby is becoming a tiny little guy, here are the numbers:

Austin's 6 month stats:

Height: 25 3/4" - 25%

Weight: 15lbs 11oz - 15%

Head: 44cm - 50%

The good news is his head is growing at an even pace. The bad news - the rest of him is not! The pediatrician said that he is not concerned for a few reasons including the fact that he hasn't been sick, his potty habits are normal, he seems satisfied and full after a feeding, his brothers started tapering off during their first year as well (although they started thinning out around 9 months, not 4). I think he gave me a few more reasons not to worry, but I forget what they are. So I'm trying not to worry and trying to appreciate the good things about having a little guy. For one, he is much easier to haul around. Which is great, because he really likes to be held all. the. time. Also, he is my last baby so it's nice to actually have a baby for the whole 12 months, unlike Brody who tried his best to look and act like a toddler at a month old instead of a tiny infant. Speaking of Brody, here is how the other two looked at 6 months:

Brody's 6 month stats:

Height: 27.25" - 90%

Weight: 19lbs 10oz - 90%

Head: 18.25" - 90%

Jacob's 6 month stats:

Height: 26.5"

Weight: 17lbs 8oz

The rest of the appointment went well. He received his rotavirus oral vaccination, which he hated, and three shots. He complained during the shots, but never shed any real tears! Which is great because one of the shots was a tetanus and that one causes a lot of discomfort for adults, let alone babies! We are still struggling with Austin's eczema, but aquaphor seems to be our best friend. Oh, and my little guy is cutting his bottom two teeth! Thank goodness, finally a reason for all the drooling :)

Austin's Likes and Dislikes at 6 months:

Likes:

Left thumb.

Mommy, Daddy is a distant second.

Being held.

His exersaucer.

Chewing on everything.

Laughing at his brothers.

Rolling over and sleeping on his tummy.

"Cirque De Soleil" - Keeping his core muscles amazingly tight while being hoisted playfully in the air. He has impeccable form and a promising future with the "Cirque De Soleil" company, should he ever be interested.

Swimming.

Dislikes:

Right thumb.

Baby food.

Gaining weight.

His itchy, scratchy skin.

Nearly everybody other than his immediate family. Separation anxiety and "stranger-danger" reflex are in full effect.

Fun with the Drelles Girls:

Here are all the kiddos - Berkley (16months), Cadence (2.5yrs), Austin (6 months), Jacob (4yrs) and Brody (2yrs). Notice Cadence wearing my shoes...

Here is what the crew looked like last year! Here are more pictures from their visit last year.


Austin took a short snooze:

The girls loved the baby:
Jacob and Cadence drying off:

Cherry Festival Pictures

Jacob practicing his golf swing at Kids Day/Cherry Fest:



Playing on the Merry Go Round:

Austin and Mom:
Aaron and Jacob hanging in my favorite nook in TC (how could you not love an alley way with a fountain located directly in between a great pizza spot and fudge/ice cream store?), waiting on our pizza!

How cute is this little guy?




The boys rinsing off the sand:
Brodeur getting dirty, pretty typical:
Austin taking it all in:
Jacob and Brody, very busy on the beach:
Brody:
The amazing Blue Angels from our hotel room:

Austin took a nap during the Blue Angels with his two best friends, Mr. Seahorse and Mr. Giraffe:

What has been going on, let's see...

Austin turned 6 months old on June 30th! Wow! I miss my floppy, snuggly little newborn already. He hasn't grown much lately (I'll have the stats tomorrow, after his 6 month well child visit), but he has been changing a lot! He rolls over a ton, which is cool except for when I find him on sleeping on his tummy. We tried some rice cereal on the 4th of July for the first time - he wasn't crazy about it. He loves the beach and swimming in the lake. Jacob can make him giggle like crazy in the car - it cracks us all up. He still sleeps pretty good most nights, including the last two nights we stayed at Holiday Inn for the holiday weekend. Still no teeth, but he is drooling a ton. His two favorite things remain the same: His mommy and his (left) thumb.

We didn't manage to take our trip to Illinois to visit Debby and family. We had some freak car trouble the night before we were scheduled to leave and while some of it seems to be managed, I didn't want to take any chances when driving through a big city. Yes, I've been living in the country too long. And I watch Nascar. Insert redneck joke here. I'm determined to get over there soon though, it's looking like it will be after Brady baby #2 makes his appearance though.

After I felt a little more confident in my vehicle, I did manage a trip to Grand Rapids to visit Shannon, Cadence and Berkley who are home from Arizona for 3 weeks. We hung out around Shannon's parents pool for the day and despite the weather reports, the day turned out perfect! Shannon and I had to stay on our toes most of the day to ensure all 5 children survived the day around a pool, so we had a lot of started conversations. Hopefully we will be able to finish them when Shannon and Joe come for an adults-only visit on Friday. Jacob was pretty funny while we were there, he was so concerned about Brody's safety around the pool. Although I'm not sure if I should be impressed that Jacob is so protective of his little brother or offended in his complete lack of confidence in my skills to keep Brody safe.

It's a busy time in Traverse City right now! Cherry Festival and the fourth of July. Typically we take in the festivities in style on the back of a 40foot Sea Ray. But somebody decided to go and sell their boat, so we decided to take everything in the next best way - we got a bay front room at the Holiday Inn. It worked out perfectly, we had great seats for the Air show on both Saturday and Sunday (and we checked out Friday's practice while having lunch in town, too!) which included the Blue Angels as well as the Fourth of July Fireworks. All without having to worry about parking and traffic or loud noises for a little baby. Brody wasn't too impressed with the Air Show (and slept through the fireworks), but Jacob was in awe! It was pretty cool to see the Blue Angels through the eyes of a 3.5 year old (Noah) and a 4 year old (Jacob). The boys LOVED it! The weather was crazy hot - in the 90's! It was so strange seeing everyone watching the fireworks still in their bathing suits... usually a summer night in northern Michigan involves a sweatshirt! My favorite part of the trip: taking a walk alone with Jacob 2hrs before the fireworks were to start. I turn around to make sure he is still with me and I realize he is very carefully trying to walk in my footprints in the sand. I love my little guy :) We checked out of our room on July 5th, which also happens to be our 7th wedding anniversary, did I mention this was the same hotel we met at 9 years ago? So funny to be back with our three kids.