Thursday, April 24, 2008

My First Pigtails!

Hello, Family and Friends!

How are you doing? I'm good. And I can actually tell you that... it's one of my many new phrases! I know I won't turn two for another few weeks, but I think I'm four.

Well, as you know, we spent last week at Gamma Penny's house. I got to "gogaside" (that's "go outside"... it comes from "we're gonna go outside"... I've just abbreviated it!) a lot because the weather was a bit warmer... it was a lot of fun. I played "I gitchew" (I'll get you) on the back porch with Mommy. I love to be caught and tickled!


Mommy thought this was a great photo... you can really see my eyelashes. Mommy says they are really long, but I can't see them so I'll just have to trust her! By the way, if you didn't know, on a lot of these pictures, if you click on them you can get a larger format so you can see detail better. You just need to click the Back button on your browser when you're done and it'll bring you back to the blog.



Tighe, Carlee, Uncle Rod and Aunt Peggy came over and brought me this totally awesome kitchen set that used to be theirs... it talks and makes sounds and has about a million accessories... toasters, blenders, a coffee maker, and lots of plates, cups and utensils. I absolutely love it!

Courtney, Maegan and Aunt Debbie came over, too. They brought cookies!

I love chalk! Look at what a good artist I'm becoming! He he he... Mommy helped a little!

Here are Gamma and Bennett on the couch just relaxing.

Drumroll, please........ Mommy put my hair in my first pigtails! Look at what a big girl I am!!

Here I am dancing in my pigtails to the Heffalumps and Woozles song on "Winnie Ka Pooh"

Now I'm helping Gamma make potato salad! That bowl is almost as big as I am!

Gaa sure does love to hold Ben... she is so good at putting him to sleep! And she sings so nice, just like she used to sing to me!

WARNING! Upcoming nudity! I'm a pantsless pianist!

Gamma reading to us by the window...

On Tuesday, we went to Fredrick Meijer Gardens to see the Butterflies in Bloom. We were supposed to go with my friend Hailey and her mom Alison, but her mom wasn't feeling well (hope you're feeling better now, Alison!). Luckily, Daddy got home early so we went with him! Here's a picture of a very pretty butterfly. They are very hard to photograph!

Daddy and I are looking for more butterflies!


Look at the pretty flowers!

So I grabbed this girls hand and asked her to take me for a walk... before Mommy caught me and told me not to grab strangers' hands... then we found out that her name is Molly, too! (Only spelled different than mine!)

I made another friend... this is Kendall. She thought I was neat and smiled at me a lot. She's just a baby though (that's what I called her, even though she's only 5 months younger than me!)

Let me just tell you how I felt about sitting still for a photo with Mommy and Bennett...


Outside in the gardens, I got to pet a bear!

Bennett was trying to rest.... and suck on his thumb.


LOOK! More water! I didn't want to stay out of it!

Remember how I felt about having my picture taken with Mommy? Yeah, my feelings haven't changed! But it sure was fun to see the pretty butterflies, sculptures and flowers! Hopefully we'll go again soon, since we have a membership and all...

Just a picture of me looking pretty in pink...


And a very sweet smile from Ben to round out the bunch!


We hope everyone is enjoying the warm weather... it's supposed to get rainy and cold this weekend... I hope it's nice for our March for Babies on Saturday morning! We sure are looking forward to the walk! Thank you to everyone who has donated... as of right now we are $60 away from our goal of $500! I'll post pics of the walk early next week.

See you then!
Love, mollee

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Bennett's First Trip to the Cabin

Hi again!

This weekend we went to my mom's family's cabin to celebrate my Uncle Don's and Aunt Steph's birthdays (last year when we did this, it was Uncle Wow's graduation weekend.) Anyway, we had so much fun! Bennett got to meet Uncle Adam for the first time!


And we all got to meet Uncle Adam and Aunt Steph's new dog, Woody. He's wonderful! He's a 3-year-old Yellow Lab/Vizsla mix, and not only is he handsome, he's very well behaved! Mom didn't take any pictures of him, but Aunt Steph did, especially since he's her first baby!

Uncle Will and Aunt Holly were there, too. They sure are fun to play with!


Hmm... looks like Bennett has a crush on Aunt Holly! Well, Hunter did or a long time, too!


Gramma came to visit us on Saturday morning. She's a baby hog, but that's okay!


Here we are, drinking beers and playing Euchre... you know, typical cabin stuff! Uncle Bill came to meet his new grand-puppy and wish his daughter a happy birthday.

Hunter and I played under the table. Can you tell I think he's pretty cool?

Grampa Dave and Miss Jan came by Saturday night, but I was already in bed. I don't know why Ben got to stay up late and party...

Monday we went back to Manistee to visit Gamma Penny. We brought my stroller so we could go for walks. But I like just walking around the house doing wheelies!

Mom thought Bennett looked really cute in his ducky sleeper. He's so much more interactive now... he started smiling last week and making happy sounds a few days later. He even smiles at me just 'cause he loves me!

Ben says, "Hey, everyone! I have facial expressions now! I can ham it up for the camera!"

Gamma and I went outside to play on Tuesday and it was a little chilly, but look how cool I am!

Gamma is laying in my lap, and I'm playing with her hair and patting her shoulder.

Tuesday was Aunt Amy's birthday so I got to hand out with Chloe and Haylee!!

Wednesday Bennett got a bath. He's got a little more head control now and Mommy propped him up. He still loves his baths! Mommy is calling him her little Buddha Baby.

Bennett has figured out how to make sounds from this bouncy seat by kicking his feet... it makes him happy!

I tried pulling Bennett around in my "chair", but he wasn't a fan of it.

I put lots a stickers all over my legs, and Mom wanted a picture of it to remind me how funny I looked in case I ever want a tattoo... whatever that is!

Ben is asleep on Gamma's shoulder. Can you think of a better place to sleep? Me, either!

Well, that's all that is new here. We are all doing well and have been having lots of fun with family. I can't believe we've had Bennett more that two months now. I still love being a big sister, and Mommy says I'm such a good helper. Anyway, I will talk to you all again soon. Hope you doing well!

Love, Mollee

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

We Miss You and Love You, Bapa!

Hey, Everyone!


I know it's been far too long since I've blogged, but as most of you know, my Bapa went to heaven on March 19th. (I realize now that I've been misspelling it as Bupa for most of my life... Gamma Penny showed me how to spell it right!) So there are lots of photos following of me and Bennett and all the people we've seen over the last month.

Well, Bennett's a great sleeper, but usually only when he's being held. Mommy says he's a cuddlebug-suckyface. He loves to eat and be held. So we were thrilled when we found he liked to nap in his bouncy seat!

We went to the mall to play at the treehouse with Foxx and Kate and Aunt Missy. At first I was a little scared to go down the slide by myself, so Foxx helped me! He's so sweet!
Eventually I got braver and went down by myself... I loved going down backwards! Later, Aunt Missy took us on the carousel. It was a lot of fun!
We went and met the Easter Bunny. I hope you'll forgive Mommy for not getting pictures of me taken with The Bunny, but she said it was a little too expensive. Instead, we got bunny ears and I made a little bunny face for the camera!
Mommy got a little kick out of what a big girl I'm getting to be. Here I am with my case full of crayons and markers, coloring and having a big-girl snack.
Since Bennett's awake more often now, he needs things to do. He likes to watch me play, but now I can teach him how to play on his own. I'm showing him how to make Elvis the duck jingle on the playmat.
Mommy bought an ottoman so that Daddy can put his feet up, and the coolest thing about it is that we can store things in it. I think I'm the coolest thing that can go in it, but I don't stay in it very long...
When Ben turned 4 weeks old, he went to the doctor. When I saw Dr. Salhadar, I cried! He was so nice and got me a little toy, but I still didn't like him and wouldn't let Mommy put me down. Anyway, he weighed in at 9 pounds, 6 ounces! That's two and a half pounds more than when he was born! They said he looked great and was growing well. The next day, Mommy took us up to Gaylord. We had a lot of fun. Friday night, Hunter and I hung out with Uncle Will and watched Pablo (that's The Backyardigans) on Gramma's bed before we went to sleep.
Saturday we went to the St. Patrick's Day parade downtown. It was really cold, but we got a lot of candy!
After the parade, we went to the Community Center to listen to the Middle School Band play Irish tunes. Here's Bennett with Gramma.
Mommy thought this was funny... Hunter fell asleep on his hand for his nap! He's not happy about it!

Bennett sure isn't sleeping on his hand. But we thought he looked cute!


I love my Uncle Don. He's awesome and so much fun!

This is Miss Jan, my Grampa's girlfriend. We went to her house for dinner on Saturday.


Here's Grampa Dave with his second grandson.


Later we went to Aunt Bess and Uncle Don's house (for those of you who don't know, I had shortened Aunt Mary Beth's name to Aunt Beth and now it sounds more like Besh.)


Well, Monday was St. Patrick's Day, and instead of going home, we went to Manistee because Bapa was in the hospital. Mommy, Ben and I all had a cold, so we didn't visit a whole lot the first few days we were there. But Wednesday morning, Uncle Richie and Aunt Pat came over and sat with Bennett because Mommy and I had to go to the hospital. Here's a picture of Ben with Uncle Richie.

Just before we got to the hospital, they intubated Bapa, and put him on a ventilator because he couldn't breathe. About 45 minutes later, his heart stopped beating and he went to heaven to be with Jesus. Later that day, we had a lot of visitors. We were glad Aunt Jean was around a lot, too. She is great to cuddle with!

Aunt Peggy loved to hold Ben, too! She, Uncle Rod, Tighe and Carlee brought cookies, crackers and dip, and were so supportive and helpful! Thank you!

Gaa held Bennett alot, too. Unfortunately, we gave her our cold. Sorry, Gaa! Hope you're feeling better now!

Aunt Amy had to go to her grandmother's funeral that day... we are so sorry that you lost your Grandma, Amy, and that Chloe and Haylee lost their Great-grandma. But we were glad that you came by to see us.

Janet (Gamma's nextdoor neighbor) gave me these awesome bunny ears for Easter. Thanks, Janet and Al! Theresa spent a lot of time with us, too.

Maegan and Courtney came by a few times and they were so much fun to play with! They are so good to me and Bennett!

Of course, Rick thought Bennett was cool. He did so much to help us out that week!

The five of us went to church on Easter morning. Needless to say, it was a group effort! I was so tired when we got home that I wouldn't sit still for a picture. By the way, see that totally darling dress I am wearing? Well, Aunt Missy sent that and a few other dresses for me to wear for Easter and the visitations and funeral (along with some other clothes she found for a great deal!) so that I could look nice for Bapa. Not only that, she took care of Faust and brought in our mail while we were gone. Mommy said she's an angel... I think so, too! Thanks, Aunt Missy!

Bennett's learning really early (and from the best) how to play Pinochle!

Here I am sitting on Uncle Denny's lap. He and Aunt Mary flew in from Arizona for the funeral.



Here are Chloe and Haylee with Mommy (and Bennett's under the blanket, eating as usual!)


Aunt Joanne came from Florida and stayed with us at Gamma's. It was wonderful to have her there and she was such a help holding Bennett and keeping an eye on me! Hopefully we'll see her again this summer!

And here is Aunt Kay. She and Aunt Marianna brought all sorts of food on Tuesday for between the visitations. They were so thoughtful to take such good care of Gamma (and us, too!)

Here's a picture of some of the Ozdych family. We terribly miss all those who aren't in this picture!


This is the sunset on the day of Bapa's funeral. We think he requested it just for us!


Uncle Rod sure enjoyed holding Ben and didn't want to put him down! I think he would have brought him home if Mommy would have let him!

Busia Belle came, too. Isn't she so pretty?

Aunt Pat finally had a chance to hold Bennett (she typically doesn't sit down for very long!). We thought this was a very nice picture of the two of them. We went over to Uncle Rod and Aunt Peggy's for a little late celebration of Carlee's birthday. She let me ride on her horsey and also I got to play with her and Tighe's Mr. Potato Head and Monsters, Inc. toys! Thanks for playing with me!


Bennett had to have a bath in the sink while we were there. He always loves his baths!

All that getting clean tuckered out Daddy and Ben!

Maegan might be starting a Mother's Helper Club until she's old enough to start a Babysitter's Club. She's really good with Bennett and was always great with me when I was a little bitty baby.

Courtney is really cool and fun, too! It's awesome having so many great older cousins!

Here we are with Gamma trying to relax after such a sad and busy week.

Bennett has more awake time every day. He very rarely cries unless he's poopy or hungry... which, come to think of it, is almost all the time. But he still doesn't cry that often!

Okay... fast-forward to this weekend. We didn't do anything terribly interesting this week, but then Gramma Jackie came down with our friends Meghan and Colleen, and Uncle Will and Aunt Holly came over... but apparently Mommy didn't take any pictures! Oh, and we went to Foxx's 4th Birthday party at Playworld on Saturday, but Mom forgot the camera. I bet there will be pictures on Foxx's blog soon, so you can check there if you want to!

Anyway, Sunday afternoon was sunny and warm, so we went to the park across the street. I climbed up the jungle gym and went down the slide all by myself!

Then Daddy and I climbed through the tunnel.Then Mommy pushed me on the swing. (She had Bennett in the baby carrier and he slept for a while!)
I went down the big slide and played on the ducky, horsey and turtle, too! After all that fresh air and sunshine, Daddy and Ben were tired.

Yesterday, I helped with Bennett. I love to hold him, although he doesn't always love to be held by me. Well, I know that was a lot to catch up on. Thanks for reading all the way through. We are so glad that the weather is getting nicer so that we can play outside. I've had about enough Elmo on TV... okay, that's not true, but Mommy has! We are looking forward to going to the cabin this weekend for Aunt Steph and Uncle Don's birthdays. And then we are going to Manistee again to stay with Gamma and help her out (for as much help as I am!) So I'll leave you with this beautiful sunset to say goodbye. We sure will miss Bapa, but we know he's with his big brother and sister and Jesus now, and can't wait to see him again someday! We love you, Bapa!

Love, Mollee