Holland Tulip Time

This weekend was perfect!!!!!! Anthony and I got away for Friday night just the two of us. Anthony's Aunt and Mom graciously watched the kids for us so we could enjoy a night away. This is the first night away we have had together just the two of us since before Eli. Both of us had a night just ourselves but never together no kids.

Earlier in the week I had made mention that I needed to get over to Holland, Mi to see the tulips as I knew they were fading fast due to our crazy weather. That was when Anthony decided we would just go us and celebrate my birthday. Holland is an old Dutch town and they celebrate tulips every year with a festival in May. Unfortunately it looks as if the tulips will not be blooming for the festival this year which I believe is a first due to the fact they started blooming the end of March. There are farms with literally just acres of tulips. It is absolutely beautiful! Thankfully we made it work that we were able to leave and go and see plus just enjoy some time together.

I had a massage on Friday and then we finished packing and left. It was a nice start to a relaxing weekend. We got into Holland about 4:30 and believe it or not we got lost. Mind you we had been there before. Anthony worked there for about a month last year, and the real kicker..............We had a smart phone, tablet, and Kindle Fire we could have used to get directions. First, smartphone is new to me. Seriously like a little over a week. I am lost on half of it! I need to get better but have been busy. Second, I don't think we really cared much. Third we decided we wanted an adventure!

Finally we figured out where we were going. We decided to look at the tulips on Friday as we knew Saturday it was supposed to rain a lot. We ended up heading to the Windmill Island. We had wanted to visit it the last time we had been to Holland which was Spring of 2008. We made it an hour before the park was to close. It was just enough time to take a tour and enjoy some tulips.

This windmill is an actual windmill from The Netherlands.  It is still working and they use it to make flour that they sell in their store on the grounds. It was brought over after WW2. We took the tour and actually it was very interesting. Here are some inside pictures. It was really hard to photograph due to all the stairs and other things in it but it was very interesting to visit.

This is an actual millstone. It was brought up in our tour when the Bible talks about putting a millstone around your neck. Luke 17:2 "It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones." Seeing this stone brought a lot of thoughts. Firs it was huge!! I just can't imagine. Children are precious to the Lord.

View of Tulip Fields from inside top window.......

View from Observation Deck................

Part of the windmill that was hit by bullets in WW2. It was used as a lookout for the Allies.

Then we went outside to look at the tulips. Like previously stated, they were not that great. Even the late blooming ones were on their last legs!

All in all it was still great and the tulips were beautiful! We then drove about 30 miles to our Bed and Breakfast. We love staying in B&Bs. They are nice and I just love the atmosphere. We got to stay in the turret section of the B&B.

This was the view laying in the bed looking up.

It was a beautiful relaxing room including a fireplace.

We went to dinner downtown in a little Italian resturant. We shared a pizza. It was ok but not great. Then we took a trip to find cheesecake or something. We never found either but ended up with Dairy Queen ice cream. I didn't even finish mine. By this time it was late and we realized the B&B was right down from the beach. We both would have loved a late night walk. Unfortunately between the traveling and walking already my poor feet and legs were so swollen. We headed back to our room and just relaxed.

I love my kids but we realized how nice it was not to be on a schedule and go for a late night meal. It was also nice to just come home from our date, kick our shoes off, and relax. We didn't have to get kids to bed etc. It was so needed. We missed the kids  a lot!!

Saturday we enjoyed breakfast in the sunroom at the B&B

It was raining but it was great to just sit, relax, eat, and watch the rain. We made plans for the day which included a museum and finding something for the kids. Sadly the museum ended up being closed. So we headed back to Holland to do some antique shopping. I found some great photography props I should have bought but didn't end up getting a thing!! I will probably kick myself later but oh well. This was a cool old wood car. It was a kids toy but electric.

I would have loved it but it was $600. We found some little wooden shoes for the kids and then made our way home. We did stop for lunch. The kids were so excited to see us. We missed them but am so glad we took the time to get away. It was so worth it and exactly what Anthony and I both needed.

This week's Embrace the Camera is of Anthony and I. So glad we could enjoy a night together and away.

30 Weeks

I have finally hit the home stretch! It is hard to believe I am 30 weeks. Last week I was over it all. Today I am not comfortable but realize I have little time left and know this is probably the last time I will be pregnant. I am tired but still have some energy. This is the best I have felt with any of the kids at this point. I am hoping that means no blood pressure problems. I also have gained the least amount of weight with him. I do have some swelling but I am not complaining as it has been worse.

Ari is getting stronger and I notice harder kicks. They are still all over the place. I am not convinced he has turned but sometimes I think he may have. Either way he is kicking and growing so that is good.

No cravings at this point although lately I could eat a lot of ice cream. I know not the best but oh well. I also am really loving salads and hamburgers. Not from anywhere but made at home on the grill.

Here is my awful phone picture for this week. I will work in my silhoutte tomorrow. Only 10 more weeks give or take a couple!

Don't mind the little girl running through at the bottom.

26 years

Yesterday I turned 26. Birthdays use to be so exciting for me! I use to look forward to them with great anticipation. This year it snuck up on me. I think the combination of having a crazy week, being a mom now, and being pregnant made me not even think about it. It was a great day. I spent the day working on edits from my sessions from the weekend. My goal was to finish them by today which I did. I had a newborn to finish from Friday. I also had to get out several pictures to parents from the Great Cloth Diaper Change I attended and took official pictures for on Saturday. Needless to say I was exhausted from the busy weekend. It was enjoyable to just sit and edit.

This little red head was just precious and so much fun!

More of her session can be seen here.

This is the set up I had for the diaper change. It was crazy but fun getting all the babies pictures. These pictures are not my best work as they were done under gym lights but surprisingly they did not turn out too bad. This is my niece. She is a natural model and poses for pictures!

The rest of the day I spend hanging out with the kids and enjoying them. When Anthony got home we went to Chili's for dinner. Before hand we took a few pictures to remember my 26 birthday by. My wonderful 30 week pregnant belly and tired face. I know I will look back on these and just smile knowing they were the special times of our our life

We tried to get Eli to take a picture of Anthony and I. He tried so hard but nothing ever came out of them. Anthony I failed even with my phone but oh well. Eli trying to take the picture was pretty cute!

Dinner was great. The kids enjoyed coloring.

We enjoyed a Chocolate Molten Cake for my birthday cake.

It was a great night and a great birthday! My parents also sent me my favorite............Stargazer Lillies!

Friday I am getting a massage and then Anthony and I are heading over to Holland, Michigan for the night to enjoy the Tulip Festival. Although we might just site see and see the tulips.

Embracing Us!

Today we are doing our Embrace the Camera day. Its a lazy day here. I woke up and had awful morning sickness. I think I took my iron too quickly and didn't get enough food my stomach. The kids fell asleep early this morning! It has just been a weird day. We had some plans but they fell asleep so those were canceled.

So we have been playing legos, painting, playing babies, and enjoying each other. We took a few pictures together. Other than that the camera has sat on the desk. I needed a break to just enjoy them today. The next two days I will be taking a lot of pictures as I have a newborn shoot and taking keep sake photos for our local cloth diaper change! So it was nice to sit back and play. I do love to play and take pictures but today I wanted to just play and enjoy them. It was a nice break! So here we are embracing us,  messy hair, non matching outfits, tired eyes and all. Its us though! Its a lazy day and I love it!

Get your cameras out and embrace them with your kids, spouse, family, etc. Your family will thank you one day!

Weekend Recap

Very non exciting weekend for us!! I can't say I minded it at all. It was a nice and relaxing time. I was able to keep my feet up and enjoy just us!

Friday night we went to dinner with Anthony's sister as she left last night for boot camp. It was nice to catch up with her and wish her well and enjoy just her for a bit.




Saturday was a clean the house day along with just relaxing! We also went out that night with Anthony's entire family to tell his sister good bye. It was a great time! The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, laughing at the kids, reading, and watching movies. The kids are getting to that age where they both have toys neither wants the other to have so we had some interesting arguments over toys. They also love to tease each other! They both pick and while its so cute at times I worry how its going to end.








Lilliana pulled the unthinkable. Surprisingly she fit her little self in Jack's kennel. Eli did the same at one point only he was about 6 months younger!!!




Oh how they look so much alike! Too funny! So nothing very exciting at all.


I do have one request!!! If you have a facebook page or know somebody that does that would be willing to help me I would greatly appreciate it! I normally hate these myself, but I am doing a contest. I hired this photographer for newborn photos. She is giving away a free session. I would love to do maternity photos. So if you could like her page and then vote for our photo I would greatly appreciate it!!! The link is here http://bit.ly/IkgXhc. I will keep spamming until the contest is done on Friday! Thank goodness monday is over! I have a busy but fun week ahead with newborns and a cloth diaper change for guinness.