Random September Pics

Here are a few random pics I took in September.

Whatever Daddy is reading must be really boring!

Daddy and his girls being silly.

The girls watching tv at Grandpa Brian's.

I used the Amazon.com giftcard I won in a recipe contest to buy Eva this cool chair. She loves it.

What a cutie.

Lena insisted I take her picture as well.

I watched Eva roll over last night, back to tummy. She used to hate being on her tummy, but now that she can get up on her elbows and look around, she doesn't mind it as much. In fact, a minute or so after I took this picture, she rolled back over onto her back and then started crying.

We spent the weekend in Indiana last weekend, but the only picture I took was of the girls at Grandpa Brian's house. I just didn't feel like taking any pictures. We spent Friday evening with Hilary, Scott, and Noah. On Saturday evening we had dinner with Grandpa Brian. On Sunday we worshiped at St. Peters and Lena got to go to their school's carnival. Then that afternoon and evening, Aunt Amy and Uncle Frank watched the girls while Jim and I had a date night to celebrate his birthday. We did some shopping, saw a movie, and had an awesome dinner at Olive Garden. It was really nice.

Jim's birthday was on Wednesday. I made him a special birthday breakfast, Apple Bacon Pancakes with Cider Syrup. And we had lunch at the place in Hastings that gives you a free meal on your birthday. That evening, he had a Divine Service at church and I went to the Taste of Home Cooking School. It was fun. And I won a door prize: a Pampered Chef gift bag! Neat!

Hard to believe September is over. Seems like it went really quickly! The leaves are starting to change here. We are hoping to take a day trip up north a little bit sometime to see the pretty colors.

Just Another Morning in the Roemke House

So we hit a milestone of sorts last night. It was the first night the girls slept in the same room together. Eva has been sleeping in the bassinet in our room until now. I had known for a while that she was ready to move into Lena's room, but I kind of liked having her close to me. But last night, I just decided to try it. Eva goes to bed much later than Lena, so Lena was dead asleep when I took Eva in. She didn't even stir.

Eva did really well sleeping in there. It wasn't her first time sleeping in the crib; she takes her morning naps in there after Lena has gotten up for the day. So that probably made the transition easier.

Eva sure does seem to move around in her sleep a lot. Once during the night I heard her fussing and went in there to find her turned 180° and her legs sticking out through the crib rails. Then this is how I found her this morning when I went to feed her:

What a silly little baby.

Stretching in her sleep.

Lena woke up at 6 when Jim got up for work and I put her back into bed and then went back to bed myself. A few minutes later, I heard Eva start to fuss and then Lena talking to her. I'm not sure what she said to her, but I definitely heard Lena saying Eva's name. I think it was something like, "It's okay, Eva." She's such a good big sister. Eva went back to sleep.

Lena wore her first nightgown last night. She has several sets of SpongeBob jammies, in two piece sets, but I recently found a SpongeBob nightgown at a Goodwill. She loved it, of course.

This is how Lena spends her mornings. Nightgown hiked up, diaper askew, wearing Daddy's sock as a leg warmer, drinking milk, and watching Cat in the Hat. This picture cracks me up because it represents classic Lena!

I told her to pose so I could take a picture of her in her cute nightgown. This is also classic Lena!

Night at the Museum

Our friends, the Krenzes, told us that Thursday nights are "family nights" at the Grand Rapids Children's Museum. That means that admission is $1.50 instead of the usual $6.50. So we met them there Thursday night and had fun watching the girls play together. In the past, Madelyn (3 weeks older than Lena), has been a bit overwhelmed by Lena's exuberance, and has shied away from her, but this time she gave Lena a great big hug as soon as we walked in! They played together very nicely.

Lena and Maddie in the "rocks".

Sarah holding Eva.

That's a lot of Lenas!

And lots of Evas.

Lena wearing the beekeeper's hat.

She loved the mailbox.

There is a Curious George theme right now. She's trying to keep The Man With The Yellow Hat in place.

Lena and her pal George.

Maddie and Lena doing something with wheels.

Riding the horsey.

Planting the garden.

There is a yellow VW Bug in the entryway. Lena spent a lot of time just sitting in it, even when it was full of kids she didn't know.

Playing in the sandbox with Maddie.

The museum was lots of fun until it was time to go. Jim had an appointment that evening, so we didn't get there until about an hour before they closed. So Lena was just getting into the swing of things when we told her it was time to leave. She threw a major tantrum, screaming and kicking her legs while lying on the floor. That was fun! I think it will be better if we allow more time next time so she feels like she has seen all there is to see before we leave.

Thanks to the Krenzes for letting us know about this and for going with us!

A Visit from the Atwoods and Corneliuses

On Monday we drove to Auburn because we had family in town. My Aunt Connie and Uncle Chuck brought my grandparents from Missouri over to Indiana to meet the Junebugs. We had not seen them in over two years; when Lena was the same age that Eva is now: 3 months old. They offered to drive up here to see us, but we had no problem driving down there so that they wouldn't have to do that.

Aunt Connie with Eva. I love it when Eva poses like that!

Chuck holding Eva.

Eva meets her Great-Grandma Doris.

Aunt Connie got Lena some cake with pink icing at dinner.

Eva with her Aunt Hil.

Jim and Noah.

On Tuesday morning, Mom, Aunt Connie, Grandma, my girls and I all met on the square in Auburn to see some sculptures they have on display right now. It was a beautiful day for a walk.

Lena being goofy (as usual).

Grandma being questioned by the police.

Lena insisted on sitting on every bench we passed by.

Eva fell asleep on me as we were walking around.

Lena about to get hammered. ;)

Connie and her fix-it man.

We spent the afternoon at Grandma Sheryl's house. Here Lena is telling Cody to sit.

Noah in his cousins shirt. (It was a gift from Scott's cousins, but his other cousins love him too!)

Four generations.

Our growing family.

All of us except Scott and Dad.

My adorable grandparents.

My wonderful Uncle Chuck (aka Uncle Chunk) and Aunt Connie.

Noah showing off his chubby cheeks.

Lena watching the teeny tiny butterflies.

Eva and Noah checking each other out.

Hanging out at dinner.

Noah and his lion buddy.

Noah fell asleep at a restaurant for the first time that night at dinner.

Speaking of firsts, Eva rolled over for the first time at Hilary's house on Tuesday right before we left for dinner. She did it back to front, like Lena did. I knew that Lena rolled over about the same age, and today I got out her first year calendar and looked it up. Lena first rolled over at 3 months and 13 days; and Eva did it at 3 months and 11 days. So far I have seen many similarities in these two sisters.

Eva also chose Tuesday to start putting her feet in her mouth (1 day earlier than Lena did it).

Almost got it.

Mmmm, toes!

We had so much fun seeing Connie and Chuck and Grandma and Grandpa again. It had been too long. We are very thankful to Connie and Chuck for planning this trip and driving Grandma and Grandpa all the way from Iowa. We are going to try to plan a trip to Missouri next summer.