Monday, November 9, 2009

Family Visitors

This past weekend Ellasyn's Great Uncle and Aunt came to visit and meet and meet Ellasyn. Saturday evening we went to my parents house for dinner then spent the rest of the night catching up with each other, its always fun spending time with Uncle Chris and Aunt Sheree.


 Play time with Ellasyn


Big Smiles with Grandma!


More smiles for Grandpa!


Hanging with Uncle Eric


Tummy time with Diesel


Time to Eat

Sunday we meet at Greenfield Village for the day, we had lots of fun walking around the village, checking out the old homes and shops. Ellasyn too had a great time, most of which was spent sleeping.



Bundled up in my Stroller. Lets see some Sheep!



And the sheep wanted to see Ellasyn too!


I've had enough of my stroller! That way daddy!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Babies 1st Halloween

Here are some pictures Ellasyn before going to bed on Halloween.


When do I get to eat my candy?



Hey did you just see that Ghost!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Ellasyn's Halloween Photo Shoot

Couple weekends ago we visited some friends for me to shoot some skeet and Amanda to hang with the mommies and babies, well they had a mini fall themed photo studio set-up in their dining room for taking Halloween pictures of the little ones. We liked the idea so much we decided to try the same thing this past weekend, so Saturday while Amanda was feeding Ellasyn I headed to Michaels to get some fall/halloween themed decorations. I ended up with a couple mini bales of hay, a couple sections of fall leaf garland, some fake gords and pumpkins and finally a Mum. We wanted to set it up in our front yard in front of our Burning bush, it is bright red right now with the color change, but it kept raining on and off. We opted to use the dining room table. I arranged the mini hay bales to create a corner area that we could prop Ellasyn up in and then arranged the other decoration around her, even used our Pumpkin we got at the Cider Mill a couple weekends ago. I think the set-up turned out really good, and the pictures with Ellasyn even better! Take a look and let me know what you think!
Ellasyn Smiling in her "Daddy's Little Pumpkin" shirt

"Hey are you done yet?"

Ellasyn in her "My Mummy Loves Me" shirt

"Maybe you will get the hint I'm hungry!"

"Wait I got another idea!"

"I'm giving you the fist for putting me in this costume!"

"I'm a little Sweet Pea!"

"Maybe if I cover up in leaves you will stop taking pictures!"

"And I've had enough!"

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Lets Go Tigers!

Daddy i want the Tigers to WIN!!!!  Eat'em up Tigers, Eat'em up!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Anniversary, Vacation, Goofy Pajama's and Cider Mills

Busy is the word that best describes life right now, busy on the weekends, busy at work, and busy in the evenings, just busy. 9/17 marked Amanda and I's 4 year anniversary, what can I say its been the best 4 years of my life! We celebrated by going to the resturant of Amanda's choice.... Logan's Steak House. I got Amanda a beautiful Ruby and Diamond necklace, Rubies because its not only her favorite stone, but also because its Ellasyn's birthstone, and diamonds well because what girl doesnt like diamonds! Also got her a nice fall themed floral bouquet. Because we havent been on a "Vacation" together since our Honeymoon and because Amanda was going back to work on the 22nd I decided to setup a mini-vacation. I wanted to head north in hopes the colors would be changed (no such luck on the colors changing) and also be along the water. I chose Leland Michigan, its a neat little town with places for shopping and close to the Dunes and some nice lighthouses (learn more Here). I took a half day on Friday to allow plenty of time to drive the 5.5 hours there, good thing too because it ended up taking us almost 8.5 hours, this included several stops to change Ellasyn, a stop in West Branch (Damn Outlets) and a stop for dinner. Saturday Morning we awoke to a beautiful sunny morning. We had no plans for the day other then to walk around Historic Fish Town and check out the beach, and thats about all we did. We walked around the shops in Fish Town got lunch and the Cheese Shop, this was recommended by a friend of Amanda's and I must say Im happy we went there, they have the best sandwhiches made with pretzel bread. After lunch we walked around the shops in the downtown area, by this time Ellasyn was ready for a new diaper and some milk so we headed back to the room before heading to the beach. After the Milk Monster fed we were off to the beach. Once we staked out our piece of sand on the beach I took Ellasyn for her first dip into Lake Michigan! Ok, so maybe I just dipped her feet, but none the less it was her first time in 1 of our Great Lakes! The look on her face was priceless when her feet first touched the water. After her little dip she enjoyed some tummy time and a nap. After the beace we got ready for Dinner, we ate at a really nice resturant across from our hotel, The Cove I believe, it was pretty good, aside from the mass amount of fruit flies everywhere... After dinner we got ice cream then headed back to the beach for the sunset. It was such an enjoyable day spending time with my wife and daughter. Sunday we had to head home, when I left Leland I headed north up to Leelenau State Park to check out the Grand Traverse Light House, we took a tour of the old Light House Facility and walked out to the rocky shoreline, it was another beautiful sunny day so it was nice to just hangout on the shore and take it all in. Leaving there I followed the shoreline down around to TC where we stopped for Lunch and Fudge. Then we embarked on the trip home. It was a great mini-vacation and Im already looking forward to our next, it definately wont be another 4 years!

Here was our view from our door.


Here is the view towards Lake Michigan.


Ellasyn ready for the day!


Yummy Sandwhich!


Sunning on the Beach


Lake Michigan Dip


Lake Michigan Sunset


Family Picture


So Amanda got some pink pajama's with green frogs on them a couple years ago, they are the goofiest pajamas, and I always make fun of her when she wears them.... Well her Mom found a similar pair for Ellasyn to wear! SO both wear their goofy pajamas together....



This past Sunday we decided to head to a Cider Mill, because all of October is shaping up to be busy! We have always gone to a place called 3 Cedars Farms, they have pumpkins, a hay ride, country store, apples, Cider and Doughnuts, and Corn Maze. The people that run it are very nice and its enjoyable to go there, so based on past experiences we went back, and it was a great time. We got lots of pics, took a hay ride, ate some doughnuts, drank some cider, picked some pumpkins, and just had fun spending the time with my parents and Ellasyn. We got a cute little pumpkin outfit from Amanda's mom that we thought would be the perfect outfit for the day, half way through we had a blow out hence the outfit change.

Family Pic


Daddy's Little Pumpkin


Mom's Little Girl


Trying for a cute pumpkin pictures but she wasnt having it!


Hay Ride


New Outfit. "Daddy I think my coat is too big!"


2nd attempt at Pumpkin pic



Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Ellasyn is Baptized!

Sunday we had Ellasyn Baptized, The Rev. at Amanda's church said it was the youngest baby she had ever Baptized. We wanted to get it done before Amanda went back to work. Ellasyn did a great job during church, she slept the whole time, only fussing for a few seconds when the water was plasced on her forehead. After church we all went back to Amanda's parent's house for a very nice brunch. Here are some pictures from the Baptism.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Happy Birthday!

Look whos getting older!
Ellasyn has been with us 1 month now, time sure has flown by! She's changing everyday, becoming more alert, staying awake and taking things in longer between naps and feedings. She is so fun to just watch, I could sit there all day and just watch her. For the most part she is sleeping through the nights now, and by "for the most part" I mean from like 3am til 9am.
This past weekend was a busy one. After work on Friday we headed up to Amanda's parents house to visit for the weekend. We took Ellasyn to see her Great Grandpa Friday night when we got to Bad Axe, he was so happy to see her before he left for Florida in the morning. Saturday was a relatively laid back day, we stayed in bed until 11am (she didnt go to sleep until 4am) then went and got Lunch with her dad, 2 different people at the resturant said "aww he's so cute".... She was wearing a pink shirt, pink hat and had a pink blanket covering her legs, are people blind? The rest of the day Ellasyn spent with Grandma and I spent getting schooled at Madden Football by Clark. Sunday we went to Church then Breakfast then drove back for a BBQ at a friends house. It was Ellasyns 1st BBQ!
Here are some pictures I took of Ellasyn over the weekend, my attempt to be good at photographer, I think I will leave her 1 month photos up to the professionals...

Saturday, August 8, 2009

1 week and 4 days old

So Ellasyn has been with us for just over a week and a half already. Here is what I have learned in that short period of time:
  • How to change a diaper
  • How to function on little to no sleep
  • How to heat up a bottle
  • How to dress a baby, getting arms in sleeves is no easy task
  • Doctors make you feel like a bad parent with all the questions they ask about feeding and diaper changes when your baby isnt gaining weight
  • To always remember the diaper bag... Opps!
  • Everyone tries to tell you how to raise your kid, or offers suggestions on what you should be doing, Annoying!
  • Ellasyn likes her car seat
  • Soothie pacifiers are like crack to a fussy kid.

Here are some pictures of Ellasyn not wrapped up like a burrito!