Week 42

 

And they're off :)

Micah jumps in

And Jonathan goes after him :)

All David wanted to do was climb on Mommy

Jonathan (left)- 21.6 pounds

David (right)- 20.3 pounds

 

I am happy to report that we have two happy little boys in our midst again!  And it is wonderful!!!  They are so much happier these days and just seem to be loving life.  Both now have 6 teeth- 4 on top, 2 on the bottom.  Hopefully we'll have a little break from teething for a while.  They are crawling around like crazy, getting into everything they are not supposed to have, and trying to pull themselves up on things such as the trash can and the end table that tips over easily. :) 

We had a great rest of our staycation.  Thursday we went to my grandparents' house.  They live on a small lake and Micah loved getting to ride on a "wow boat."  Friday I got to have a mall date with just me and Micah.  We had so much fun. 

He got to ride on the "horsey"

I realized why Steve usually goes on this with him, I'm not such a fan of going around and around and around and around... :) 

We had so much fun together.  I realized it's important for Steve and I to spend time one-on-one with Micah and the twins too as they grow up. 

I'm pretty sure Micah's favorite part of the mall was the kid level sink in the family restroom.  He washed his hands 4 times! 

On Saturday we went for a bike ride with Steve's parents.  Halfway through the ride we end up at an Arnies for lunch :)  This was the twins first time getting to sit in a high chair at a restaurant.  They quite enjoyed it

Micah was pretty excited to move up to a booster seat instead of a high chair

Loving being at the table

They did eventually think they needed to get out.  I mean, Grandpa and Grandma were just sitting there :)

The best part of Arnies is you get a free cupcake.  Micah was very excited about that

He ate the whole thing all by himself

 

Back in their trailers all ready to go

 

Must be comfy in there

Then Sunday we went to church in the morning at the CRC Conference Grounds and then headed down to the beach to eat lunch and hang out

 

Micah is a big fan of eating bye bye  I'm afraid he is going to be very disappointed next week when we don't go to church at the lake and eat by the water :) 

 

He loved playing in the sand...

And running on the sand

Grandpa and Grandma joined us for lunch.  David and Jonathan were just fine with that :)

The water was 66 degrees but that didn't bother Micah one bit 

They did this over and over and over.

 

Then Monday we ventured out to Famous Daves.  We figured first off, it's Monday so it won't be busy and secondly, it was a little more 9 month old friendly then a restaurant like Olive Garden :) 

Other than that, we've just been hanging around having fun together.

 

Can't believe it's week 42 which means only 10 more weeks till they turn 1!  Yikes! :)  

Fun Food Friday- Spinach Dip- Gluten Free

My sister found this recipe back when she was in Foods class in high school and it has been a family favorite ever since.  It's super easy to make and you can make it ahead of time and just bake it when you need it.  And it's naturally gluten free as long as you make sure the ingredients you use are gluten free.  The key one to check is the Alfredo sauce.  Classico brand is gluten free so you can just go with that one.  And most tortilla chips are gluten free, so there you go, a great appetizer that all can enjoy!  The original recipe calls for artichokes as well, but neither Steve nor I really enjoy the artichokes and they're not cheap, so we just do without but if you're a fan, go ahead and add them in.

 

Ingredients: Frozen Chopped Spinach, Jar of Alfredo Sauce, Shredded Parmesan Cheese, Cream Cheese, Mozzarella Cheese,  Garlic Powder

In a mixer bowl add 8 ounces of softened cream cheese

 

Add jar of Alfredo sauce

Slowly cream together

Add 8 ounces (2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese...

1 cups shredded parmesan cheese...

and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix together till all combined

Pat the spinach down with a paper towel to get all the moisture out

Sprinkle in about 10 ounces of spinach. 

Warning, the spinach is very cold so your hands might start hurting so I recommend working fast :)

Mix together

Put in a greased baking dish.

Cover with foil.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 30-45 minutes or until all the cheese is melted.  You will want to stir half way through.  Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes.  You can also cook it in the crock pot.  When I do that I cook it on low for about 2 minutes

And there you go, deliciously yummy Spinach Dip.  I usually serve it with chips but I have also served it in a big bread bowl with bread chunks which is quite delicious as well.

 

Spinach Dip

10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

Jar of Alfredo

8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese (2 cups)

1 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

 

Cream together cream cheese and alfredo sauce.  Add mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese and garlic powder and mix together.  Add spinach and mix together.  Place in a greased baking dish.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.  Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes.  You can also bake in a crockpot on low for 2 hours.

 

Week 41

Jonathan (left)- 21.2 pounds

David (right)- 19.6 pounds

 

These pictures depict our life right now, these boys are ALWAYS on the go!!!  Both have managed to get their way over to the step by the hallway to our garage and go down it, Jonathan gracefully (he's the army crawler so I think he just slithered down), David not so gracefully.  And they get into everything, all the time.  Did I mention they never stop moving! :)  David has figured out how to crawl like kids normally do, so he's the fast one, but Jonathan manages to get places pretty quick with his army crawl.  Never a dull moment over here.  Both boys have not had a fever since Thursday night, but they continue to be very fussy.  So not only do we have boys on the move, we have fussy boys on the move that can follow you wherever you go.  I don't know if it's because of teething, if it's still connected to the virus they had, if they're hungry because they still aren't eating that well, or a combination of all the above.  I'm very ready to have my happy boys back.  Amidst being sick Jonathan got his 5th tooth, another top one.  And both him and David are now working on their 6th tooth, their other top tooth. 

We had a really fun weekend.  Friends of ours from Iowa stayed with us Saturday night.  They have a 5 and 3 year old so it was really fun to watch Micah interact with them.  He loved having them here.  Some other friends of ours came over Saturday night too.  We hadn't all gotten together since the night before our wedding, so it was great to get to visit again.  And of course we can't all get together and not play a game and I just have to say, the girls dominated the guys in Cranium!  :) 

We're having a "staycation" this week.  We realized Steve had not taken vacation since last August, so we were ready for a week off, but the thought of going somewhere and having to pack everything up and figure out food was just way more work than sounded fun.  So we decided to just stay home and do things around here.  Steve and I did go to Detroit Tuesday and Wednesday (the reason this blog is a day late :)) to go to a Tigers game.  We had a great time and got to see an awesome game.  Steve's mom graciously took vacation time to stay home and watch our kids.  I told Steve it was funny that we took vacation to get away from our kids and his mom took vacation to watch our kids. :)   

So do you think this little guys is getting ready to stand up? :) 

After being cooped up for a couple days with sick kids we just had to get out so we decided to go to a bike trail.  I walked with the twins...

And Steve rollerbladed while pushing Micah in the bike trailer

One day Steve stayed home with the twins and I went with Micah and Steve's mom to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum.  That place is awesome!  Micah loved it.  Here is he shopping for groceries

Then he went to the kitchen and made some "nums"

And served them to Nana

He loves being in the kitchen and of course you must have an apron on if you are cooking

One of his favorite parts- the bubbles

They had this cool thing where you make a bubble around you.  Notice how there is no one else there.  We got there right at 9:30 when it opened and I think we were the first people there which was great.  By about 10:30 this place was packed with kids. 

It's a really interesting place because there are no instructions for how to do anything.  They want the kids to use their imaginations.  But this was one thing I could figure out, hats go on the head :)

Micah's other favorite part of the museum, the sand box

Steve and I on our way to Detroit.  It has become a tradition that whenever we have to drive somewhere I just make lunch for us and we eat it at a rest stop, so that's what we're doing here.

I love the show Cupcake Wars and there is a Cupcake shop in Detroit that won on that show.  We went there last year when we went to Detroit, so we had to stop again.  Seriously the best cupcake you'll ever have.  This year we got a chocolate peanut butter cupcake.  It literally tasted like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup

Steve enjoy the cupcake.  He did share it with me :)

At Comerica Park watching batting practice.

We were super excited when we found out Steven Strasburg would be pitching for the Nationals at the game we were going to.  I had to take a picture in case he is ever in the hall of fame :)

And if I'm trying to get a picture of someone in the hall of fame this is really the guy to take a picture of, Miguel Cabrera.  We had a fun time and it was the best kind of game to go to.  The Tigers won, we saw a grand slam, and it was done in 2 1/2 hours! 

 

Hopefully next week I'll be able to report that we have our happy boys back!