Happy Halloween...again and again and again!

The Neighborhood Group at the Pumpkin Patch
Ben-Our Silly, Blue Monster

Ben and his best buddy Shrek

Mommy, Ben, and Daddy passing out candy

Ben and Maddy getting ready for Trick or Treating

Ben and Daddy with the Camels at the Zoo Boo in South Bend, IN

Ben, Max, Havanna, and Nevaeh getting ready for zoo boo

This year Ben got a ton of use out of his Halloween Costume. First, we went to Spicers Orchard with the Neighbors like we do every year...this year we had two new additions:Josie and Hayden. The kids had a blast and enjoyed the cider and donuts (the parents too!) After we were all full from donuts we let the kids go the the large playground, they are at such a fun age!

The second time Ben was able to wear his costume was when we were in Berrien Springs visiting some friends. The zoo in South Bend, Indiana was doing a Zoo Boo and we decided since it was such a beautiful day we should go. Ben got lots of good practice saying Trick or Treat and of course checking out all of the animals was a huge bonus too!

And finally, on Halloween , Ben was able to put his costume on one more time and walk around the neighborhood collecting enough candy to last us a year. He had so much fun and did a really great job...I had to remind him at every house to say Trick or Treat loud enough for the people to hear him...it was actually pretty cute because some times he would just yell it as loud as he could! He carried his pumpkin almost the whole way (at least until it got to heavy for him to lift it up for more candy) :) He is definitely to the age where I look forward to Halloween and seeing him all dressed up and acting like such a big kid!

2 Year Stats

Ben had his wellness checkup the day after his 2nd Birthday...he is still doing great! He was 38 inches tall (still off the charts) and weighed 30.0 lbs (he only gained about 1/2 lb since last visit at 18 months) which is finally showing us he might be tall and lean after all. For a while Greg and I were wondering where he was getting his stockiness from...both of us were bean poles as kids :) He talks pretty much none stop...his newest phrase is Mommy/Daddy watch this! Then he waits for the appropriate response....Wow! or Cool Buddy! If he doesn't get a response he continues to do it until he gets one. He loves Cider Mills...if you ask him if he wants to go he always says...Yeah...goats and donuts! Today he told me he wanted to go bye bye to see the goats and donuts...what a memory! He is doing okay with the transition to the toddler bed...some nights better then others but usually about 1 time a night one of us has to take him back to his own bed and wait for him to go back to sleep. I am hoping this will continue to get easier and soon he will stay in his own room the whole night!

It's been awhile!

Sorry for such the long delay between posts...this fall has just been absolutely crazy for us. Between all the birthdays, new babies, and weddings, I just feel like the weeks are flying by and I just haven't taken the time to sit down and update. A lot has happened since the last post:

• Emma's 4th Birthday Party





• Ben received his first haircut...just a trim so he didn't look like such a wild man (a little bitter sweet)





• Ben picked apples for the first time and even got to take a wagon/tractor ride





• Kailer turned 1





• Ben's Great-Grandma turned 90!!!





• Ben turned 2 and had 2 wonderful birthday parties





• Ben now sleeps in a toddler bed...he climbed out of the crib 2 times in a row (conveniently the same night the pediatrician asked if he had done that yet...crazy, huh?)





• The Guilds came up to Howell and stayed for a long weekend

We have been so busy lately but with a bunch of great things. This weekend Greg is in a wedding and then after that we should be some what relaxed for a while.

Emma and her Princess Castle Cake

All the Abbott Grandkids

The 1st haircut...he was such a good boy

Look how handsome!

After all the hard work of picking apples

Kailer digging in to her Birthday cake

Getting ready to blow out the candles

Opening birthday presents

Eating Shrek cupcakes at his 2nd Birthday Party

Trying to open the pinata

The 3 newest cousins on the Abbott side: Kendall, Sam, and Lila

Ben peeking out of the fort

Jeff and Greg took the boys to Castaway Cafe...the moms shopped :)

Andrew, Ben, and Michael

Ben and Andrew playing on the train

Babies, Babies, and More Babies!

The Happy Little FamilyLila Jane Loeffler
Opening her eyes to see her crazy family
Kendall Marlene Plate
Colton holding his little sister

The final little peanut that was due in Greg's family came today! (4 were due this summer within 3 months of each other). Kelly and James welcomed their sweet little Lila Jane at a little after noon, via csection. She weighed 7.7 and was 20 inches long. Both Kelly and Lila are doing great and we are so happy for them. Kelly and James deserve a little sleep after the last 48 hrs but they were still full of smiles :) We went to see them after dinner and Lila was awake the whole time...Ben was excited to see Lila and when we got to the hospital he was calling her name the whole way to the room. Next summer is going to be a lot busier at the lake with all of the new little ones around :) Yay!

On Wednesday, Ben and I drove down to see Greg's cousin Shannon, her new baby Kendall and her 2yr old Colton. Kendall was born on August 12 and is such a cutie. She has really chubby cheeks and the little hair she has is super light. She really seems to be a good baby...she already sleeps great and barely made a sound the whole time we were there. Ben had a great time playing with Colton. Colton had a ton of cool trains and cars for Ben to play with...a nice change of pace from all the girl stuff he is always around at his other friends houses :) Sorry about the pictures...they are from my cell phone...Greg and I have been really bad with the camera lately and I forgot it at home...I promise we will stop doing that :(

More Sam Pics!

Sam sleeping so peacefully
He finally opened his eyes!
Time to eat :)Ben and Daddy meeting Sam for the first time
Proud Auntie holding Baby Sam

On Friday we made the trip to meet our little nephew! He is such a cutie...Jocelyn was still recovering from her C-section (the day before) and she was trying to take it easy. Both Kylah and Emma were at the hospital too but both of them were being stinkers for the camera so we didn't really get a good one of them with Sam, but we will make sure that we get one next time :) Sam slept pretty much the whole time we were there but he finally opened his eyes just before we were leaving so we were able to get some pretty good picutes of him! It is so fun to have a tiny baby around the family again...they grow up way too fast. P.S. Greg's cousin Shannon should be having her baby tomorrow (Tues.) she is being induced...Good Luck!

Samuel Douglas Abbott

Samuel Douglas Abbott was born this afternoon! We are so excited for Ben to have his first boy cousin...Sam weighed 7 lbs 4 oz and was 20 1/2 inches. His actual due date was not until Sept. 1 but as you can tell every thing seems to be okay. Both Jocelyn and Sam are doing great and we can not wait to get to meet him in person! I will post more pictures soon (this is just one that was sent from a camera phone) Congrats to Doug and Jocelyn :)

Muskegon Camping Trip

Ben and Maddy's Beach Kiss
Ben and Daddy in their sand castle
The 5 older kids posing for a picture

Muskegon Camping Trip

Two weekends ago we drove to the west side of the state to enjoy a little summertime camping (we look forward to this trip every year now with our neighbors). With 8 adults and 7 kids we didn't quite know what we were getting ourselves into but we ended up having a great time! The kids all really seemed to enjoying playing in the lake and helping Mike fish...they also got lots of good camping food (chips, hotdogs, smores, etc.) We slept through a thunderstorm Friday night and woke up to some rain, however by the time we came back from breakfast we were able to get dressed for the beach. It was pretty windy right on Lake Michigan, however as the day wore on it warmed up quite nicely. Sunday we decided we would stick around and enjoy all the sunshine we could and we somehow :) wound up at Duck Lake State Park...it was a little smaller and quieter and not facing the west, so the wind wasn't nearly as bad.

Ben is becoming quite the camper...he started in womb! He slept really well even during the storm! We finally upgraded to a larger tent to accommodate our family (last year we borrowed Doug and Joce's) and we really like it...Greg and I have even talked about trying to squeeze in another trip before the summer is over, we shall see :)

Happy 4th of July

Michael, Andrew, and Ben in their 4th shirts
Kylah, Emma, Ben, Cameron, and Michael on the fast boat
Kendal and Ben (doesn't Kendal look like a Charlie's Angel?)
Lindsey and Kailer (her 1st boat ride)
Ben playing trucks in the mud
Shannon (34 weeks), Kelly (30 weeks), & Jocelyn (32 weeks)

We had such a great time during the week of the fourth! We drove down to the lake the Wed. before the 4th and enjoyed a nice week at the lake. The Schmidts came for a visit on the 3rd and Kendal seemed to have a great time. She went on a wave runner ride with her Dad then went on a pontoon boat ride with the rest of us. Lindsey and Kailer came to visit the same day and Kailer got to go on her first boat ride...she wasn't to sure of it and decided she would rather be playing with some toys :)
On the actual day of the fourth Greg's cousin, Carmen, had a small outdoor wedding reception. The weather was beautiful and we all enjoyed just hanging out and having fun. All of Greg's cousins and their significant others, who were around that weekend even got to enjoy a night out at a restaurant together (kid free!) We had a great time and got a lot of great pics during the week!

Guilds Visit Howell

Ben and Andrew enjoying dinner together
Andrew showing Ben how to golf
Ben and Kendal happy after a trip to DQ
All 3 kids are ready to go home after ice cream

Jeff, Jess, and Andrew all came up to visit us during their week-long vacation to MI. Michael stayed at G'ma and Gpa's house with his cousin Cameron. It was a quick visit but it was nice to hang out before all of the commotion during the weekend. Ben and Andrew played really well together and Andrew even taught Ben a thing or two about golf (he uses a tee!) After dinner we took a bike ride up to DQ and let the kids run around...we brought Kendal with us too! We were glad they took the time to visit us and hang out since we only get to see them every six months or so. It was a short visit but we knew we would get to hang out a lot more once we headed down to the lake too.

Happy 2nd Birthday Maddy!

Maddy enjoying her Birthday treat!
Ben hanging out in the bouncy house
The 3 troublemakers at the top of the slide

A few weeks ago we celebrated Maddy's 2nd Birthday! The Kreiders had the party at their house and everyone had a great time...the weather was a little nerve racking however it never rained and it ended up being a perfect evening to hang out outside. The food was great, Jaclynn's brothers did a great job cooking the kabobs and all of the salads were wonderful. Since there are so many kids in Jaclynn and Jason's family they ordered a bouncy house again and this year Ben, Maddy, and Kendal even got to enjoy it. The kids had a great time and so did all of the adults. Maddy is such a fun little girl, we love spending time with her and watching her become a little person. She is so funny when you are explaining something to her because she nods her head and mumbles things back like she is reasoning with you :) She is such a joy to have around and we can't wait to celebrate many more birthdays together.