You Know You're Going Through Michigan Withdrawals When . . .

You Know You're Going Through Michigan Withdrawals When You . . .

1) Tear up when you meet someone from OHIO and you are filled with the urge to hug them just because they are from the state NEXT to Michigan. And I'm a TRUE BLUE University of Michigan Wolverine and I still wanted to hug someone from OHIO!!!

2) See a guy wearing a Michigan Hoodie and you turn your car around to get another look and then you almost stop the car just to talk to another Michigander. (This was Matt's experience in California :)

Mowing the Lawn - Now a two man job :)

It has been fun to watch Noah work so hard to mimic his dad. He pretends to go to work, he carries his tools around and "fixes" things, and even insists that Ellie and I call him "Dad" or "Daddy" on some days. If we call him "Noah" he'll say "You mean 'Daddy'" and then waits for you to correctly address him before he will hear anything you have to say :) At least I'm lucky to have an incredible man for Noah to look up to. . .

Big Sister Ellie

Ellie's unconditional love for her little sister really amazes me. Rowena cries, fusses, pulls hair, and takes up time with Mommy and yet Ellie still adores her and can't seem to get enough of her. From the day Rowena was born Ellie has loved Rowena and hasn't even shown flashes of jealousy for this new girl in our life. I thought that the novelty was going to wear off and that Ellie would lose interest in this little baby that couldn't do more than flash her smiles, but I was wrong. The moment Rowena starts to fuss Ellie is there to give her her binkie, make a toy dance or sing Rowena a song while bouncing her. Rowena's first smiles and "coos" have all been for Ellie and almost every morning they have a long "coo"ing session on my bed.

Ellie has become such a big help with Rowena that even though it calls for a little more muscle we've actually moved Rowena's car seat to the very back of our mini van to be with Ellie. Yes, I did say MINIVAN and all those who knock minivans can zip it because my Toyota Sienna ROCKS!! And by the way, you CAN be cool and drive a minivan at the same time!!! :)

ANYWAY, back to Ellie and Rowena in the van. The other day in the car Matt and I had to work to hold back our laughter because when Rowena started crying Ellie automatically began to rock Row's car seat and make the "shh-shh-shh" sound. What made this so funny is that Ellie did all that while continuing to feed herself fries AND watch a show on the DVD player. In fact, she never took her eyes off the show during the whole thing. It was like second nature to this little 5 year old girl to be taking care of this newborn! And even though it took a bit before Rowena calmed down, Ellie never complained or said a peep. She just patiently rocked the car seat and softly "shh"ed until Rowena fell back asleep.

This girl is amazing and I could never do this without her!!

To All You House Wives. . .

This is being posted for all you women out there that feel like you can't stay on top of your house. If your husband ever complains about the house being dirty or if you ever feel bad about the state of your kitchen, just pay a visit to this blog and realize that you really are doing a great job. At least your house doesn't look like this. . . . . and yes, these are pictures of my actual house. I came home from church one day and had to laugh and take pictures or else I would have cried and locked myself in a closet!

Hale/Herring/Wagaman BBQ

It was finally time to start documenting something of our time in Michigan. For 5 years we lived, worked and played with the most incredible people and very rarely did we ever think of taking any pictures of it. This dawned on me as our time started to draw to a close and I began to panic with my camera. Here are some snapshots of some of the best people in Michigan . . .

The REAL "Men on the Block" - John Herring, Donny Hale, & MattMy children's other mother, Aileen Hale -

Ellie enjoying Aileen's spoiling with all the snow cones she can handle. . .

Our "camp fire" in the Hales' backyard

Caleb Hale. . .

John Herring and Rowena

We gave our ping pong table to the Hales and then Jacob Herring and Matt worked to teach them how to play "Around the World" . . . it was pretty hilarious. By the way, JACOB you will never beat me . . . just wanted to post that somewhere for the world to know :)

I love seeing McKenzie laugh in the corner of this picture . . .John Herring made his famous steaks and coconut shrimp - this man knows how to cook!

And the party didn't stop until midnight . . .

PS Liz - sorry I didn't post the picture of us -- it turned out rather awful ha ha!