I think we have determined that Stella is a pretty good mix of both of us....which I love! When we see people, who aren't family and know both of us, they no doubt see my strawberry blond hair color on top of her head and say that she has Brian's lower facial features....mouth, smile, etc. Which is great because I like my hair color and LOVE Brian's smile!

We got s kitchen set the other weekend from one of my friends. We finally washed up all the different parts, and she discovered them as she was sitting in her Bumbo while we were eating lunch the other day. Brian claims that she has my personality....which he describes as impatient and has to have things now and not liking to be alone. But I told him that it looks like she is going to take after him a bit too....she couldn't get enough of the hamburger and steak!!!

Welcome to the Jungle!

Saturday Dupont Hospital hosted a very fun jungle themed event. They had crafts, snacks, movies, bands, and Mark's Ark. Mark's Ark is a guy who comes and brings exotic animals. We saw snakes, turtles, guinea pigs, trantulas, and much more. There were some brave little kids there willing to hold anything! We showed up around 10:00 for the nicu reunion.

Brian was such a proud daddy. He wanted to carry her around instead of having her ride in her stroller. I think he just loved having his little girlie girl in his arms and getting all those compliments about how cute she was!


We headed home for lunch and for the afternoon. Stella woke up with horrible diaper rash Saturday morning, so she had a lot of naked time Saturday. She didn't seem to mind one bit :)

That evening we got ready and headed back over to the hospital. We ate out at Bandido's and then enjoyed some live music as we listened to some bands perform. They also had a big screen up for the viewing of the movie Jumanji. People were gathering everywhere in their PJ's with bags of popcorn. Stella was great all evening and even way past her bedtime.

She was full of smiles and enjoyed the music and just rolling around on the blanket. We headed home around 9:00 and Stella was out almost before we even got out of the parking lot! What a great family day!

Homemade Jelly

I got motivated on Sunday....I really don't know where the energy came from because I was exhausted from the weekend....and decided to attempt homemade jelly. I got the idea when I told Brian that we could just make PB and J's for lunch and he said, "Do we have any of your mom's good jelly?" I said no. Which he responded he really didn't want to use the store kind. Oh brother. So that led me to give it a try and I think it turned out okay....only time will tell as they are sitting. I made one batch of strawberry-blueberry and decided to get really gutsy and made one batch of hot pepper jelly. I love hot pepper jelly, but have never made it. So far it looks really good and from what we tasted, it tastes good....but we'll see!

Lake Matteson

Yet another fun weekend at the lake. We are so fortunate to have siblings who open up their homes and cottages for us to visit! We headed north to Bronson, Michigan to enjoy the lake at Dustin and Emily's. We had so much fun! We ate and ate and ate....and did I already mention that we ate? Geesh....I seriously think we had enough food to last a week! We love to try new recipes and enjoy making appetizers. We had bonfires, played cornhole, took the boat out, and watched the little ones run around. It was a bit chilly and windy on Saturday so we were all a bit bundled up. But that didn't stop us from having fun at the lake! Stella sported her new sunglasses with her daddy. She didn't mind them one bit. I think she was happy she didn't have to squint anymore!!

Gotta Love Garage Sales

I love when I find new, easy entertainment at good deals! We hit a good garage sale for Stella today. We have to rotate toys so she doesn't get bored with the same ones!! Now she has some "new" ones!

Peek a Boo!

10 Things

This weekend we traveled to Indy to have some fun with my siblings. Lacey and Jerome had their home filled with all of us! It started off raining and storming, but luckily cleared up and our plans didn't get ruined! We got some boating time and ended up at the Indians game Saturday night.

10 Things about this Weekend

10. Waking up to thunderstorms and thinking "ugh...seriously"

9. The sunshine coming out!!

8. Eli repeatedly telling all the adults that we were too loud.

7. Carlie using Uncle Brian's trick and telling Lucy the blue pool chalk smelled like blueberries.....

6. Our last minute evening boat ride Friday night. Got to play some catch phrase and enjoy a few drinks :)

5. Caden peeing right off the boat in front of million dollar homes...oh, and one of them was having a nice pool party....

4. Dustin's pulled ab muscle

3. Jeff catching a shirt at the Indian's game in the first 2 minutes.....then realizing it was a Marathon shirt and suddenly might have become the favorite son-in-law!

2. The "Many Faces of Dustin"

1. Getting to spend time with everyone!! Thank you Adams' family for letting us all come down and crash! We might have to do that more often.....

Photo Shoot

LOL....well Brian and I had a very relaxing Sunday, so we decided to have a mini photo shoot with Stella after her nap. It was very quick...but very fun :) I can't believe how much her looks have changed within 4 months.

Stella with her book, a gift from Aunt Micki!

What a pretty girl!!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

So we celebrated my Grandma Ringger's 83rd (I think) birthday this weekend at Lake Wawasee. It was a lot of fun!

Stella got to hang out with her cousin's and meet lots of new people. This is my cousin's little boy, Halden...what a cutie!


This is Nora, Halden's sister...I hope Stella's hair is as cute as her's!


I found dad out on the deck with every single kid surrounding him...he is such a kid magnet! They love him!

Extended Weekend

I love holiday weekends! They are just so much fun. Brian had off work on Friday, so that added to the fun also! On Sunday, we headed to Lakeside Park and hung out for awhile. It was a perfect day for a walk and to throw down a blanket beside the lake and just relax.



Stella loves being outside and I think she could have just laid by the lake on her blanket forever.


After our park stroll, we stopped by Atz's Ice Cream to share a banana split...yum!