Male Bonding

Aaron, Mike, and Jake having some male bonding time on the boat.

Rach with the Cummifords

Here is Rachel with Aunt Leah, Shae, and Uncle Aaron.

Paige and Jake on the Boat

Here is Aaron and Leah's daughter Paige hanging out with Jake while we are docked at the beach. Paige is 7 months old and such a cutie. She thought Jake was pretty cute too. It will be great when they get older for them to play together.

Rachel Driving the Boat

Here is Rachel helping Dale (Aaron's dad) drive the boat. She was so excited and loved being out on the boat. Dale was a very good driver and even though I was nervous at first, he made me feel very safe out on the water.

Rachel and Shae on the Beach in Saugatuck

We traveled to Grand Rapids this past weekend to visit family and friends. We had a great visit. Grammy Lee took care of Rachel and Jake to give Mom and Dad a nice break. We went to Aunt Mary's surprise 60th birthday party and also saw Mike's grandma (great grandma to Rach and Jake).

We also spent the day visiting our friends Aaron and Leah and their family in Saugatuck. The day started out looking pretty nasty but the weather cleared and we were able to spend the day on the boat and beach.

This is a picture of Rachel and Shae making sand castles on the beach. Shae and Rachel play great together.

Mimi's Birthday

We not only took the trip down to Troy this past weekend to go to the zoo, but also to celebrate my mom's birthday. She got to spend some quality time with both her grandkids as shown in this picture. They both love her and Papa so much. Jake gives Mimi huge smiles when he sees her. My mom has been such a big help this summer. Thanks Mom, we love you!!!

Uncle Jeff Gets Baby Training

Jeff and Molly came out for the weekend to go to the zoo with us. When Jake was refusing his bottle, we let it sit in warm water for a while longer. It might have been luck, but for some reason Jake wouldn't take the bottle from Mom or Dad but then took it from Uncle Jeff. What a great uncle! Jeff did a great job feeding and burping Jake. And Molly helped to give Jake a bath. Jake rewarded her with some big grins... what a little flirt!

Dad and Jake

Here is Dad and his little guy. We went out to dinner for my mom's birthday to Papa Vino's and this picture is taken at the restaurant. Jake was refusing his bottle at first since it was not the right temperature (he has very specific tastes when it comes to his food :-). That is why he is making a crabby face in this picture. It is also related to the next post....

Mom and Rachel with the Big Bear

Here is Rachel and I posing in front of a polar bear statue at the zoo.

Trip to Zoo

This was Rachel and Jacob's first trip to the Detroit Zoo and also our first picture as a family. I can't believe it has taken this long to get a family picture but to get both kids awake and in a good mood is harder than you think sometimes. This is us posing in the underwater tunnel in the polar bear area. We didn't see the polar bears swimming (they were napping outside) but we did see quite a few large seals swimming in the water. Jake did so good at the zoo and Rachel had a GREAT time. She loved it and kept saying "more animals, more animals".

We're Best Friends

So since it has been so long since I last posted some pictures, I am trying to do a bunch at once. Here is a picture of my two babies together. Aren't they beautiful? Rachel always sits next to Jake and say's "we're best friends". We will see how long this lasts but right now it is very cute.

Chubby Guy

Well this picture shows that breastmilk I guess can do a body good! Jake is gaining weight and getting bigger every day. Some days I swear he gets bigger overnight! He is sitting up in Rachel's chair here. He is a pretty strong guy. For anyone who knows my dad, you can probably see why I have started calling him "little Nony". He does look somewhat like Mike, but there is definitely a lot of the Staniszewski side to him as well.

Christmas in July

Here is Rachel pretending it is winter in the middle of July. She put all these things on by herself (except for the coat which I helped her with). We made about a dozen pretend snowmen on this day too. Rachel gave them names like Pee and Ka. It was a pretty fun day.