Cake, cousins... and a little Sumo wrestling

We traveled to Wisconsin this past weekend to celebrate the wedding of Mike's cousin Amber and her husband Rusty. We had a great time with the family and got to get a few pics of the three newest members of the family.

Isaiah (born August 21, 2009), William (born May 5, 2009), and Ezekiel (born August 12, 2009)


Lindsay (Mike's cousin) and her son, Isaiah





At the celebration, Amber and Rusty had a bounce house and Sumo wrestling contests for the family to enjoy. Here are a few pics of the kids in the bounce house...



Of course, Mike and I had to get into the Sumo suits and throw our weight around a little to battle it out. He won every time, in part because I was laughing so hard I couldn't concentrate on developing a strategy to win. :) That, and he has a few pounds on me. Enjoy!

Happy 5th Anniversary!!

Mike and I celebrated five years of marriage on August 20th. We were able to go out together and have a relaxing dinner at The Melting Pot while Aunt Jackie and Uncle Neil babysat. It was awesome to get to spend some time together just the two of us and reflect on five wonderful years together. Mike was recently going through some paperwork and found his highlighted copy of our vows that we made to each other...
"In the presence of our Lord and Savior, our family and our dearest friends, I (Michael Thomas) promise to take you (Kristen Leigh) in faith, honesty and love to be my wedded wife (husband); to share with you God's plan for our lives together united in Christ. With God's strength, I promise to forever be your faithful partner in life, loving you without reservation. I promise to support you through sorrow and joy, caring for you through sickness and health, encouraging you to achieve all your goals and growing with you in mind and spirit. I submit myself to you as your husband (wife), keeping a household focused on the grace and love we have received from our Heavenly Father. I give myself to you on this blessed day, asking that you be no other than yourself, loving what I know of you, trusting what I do not yet know, in all the ways that life may find us."
I look forward to many more exciting and joyous years together! (I love you!)

Three months old!

Will holding hands with Sydney Steiner (born three days apart!)




Aunt Jackie and Will

I feel like I constantly repeat myself... but I just can't believe how fast the time seems to go! He is three months old and we are loving every bit of him. Will smiles a ton and laughs mostly at any movement that you do while holding him. He is holding his head up well and has finally lost most of the "rat tail" that he had from birth. :) Will is constantly trying to sit up (he will have some serious abdominal muscles for all the work that he has put into to trying to sit up himself) and really loves all the walks that we take after dinner... he just can't seem to get enough of being outside. We have traveled to Wisconsin once over the last month, and look forward to getting back there again in September for Mike's ten year class reunion (Has it really been 10 YEARS!!???) Going back to work has been a good change... I am really liking working part-time and feel like it is a good thing to be back. I feel like I appreciate my time home more and treasure the moments we get to have as a family. Our babysitter is awesome and we feel so blessed to have her watching Will when I need to sleep... Will seems to like going there and we look forward to having the kids as playmates as they grow up together.

Our other boy

Not too sure if he wants to look...

Just for fun!

A new view...

We put Will in his seat for the first time today... he has been trying to sit up constantly, and is holding his head up really well, so we decided to try it. He likes seeing the world from a new viewpoint!

12 weeks already!

I can't believe how fast the time has gone! Will is growing too quickly, and getting more interactive every day. He has started to laugh whenever we bounce him up and down and smiles a ton! He has slept through the night now for about 3-4 weeks, and we are working on figuring out some type of a routine for the day time. He LOVES trying to sit up, and will try to take your fingers to pull himself up every chance he gets! I return back to work this week, which is going to be an adjustment for everyone... I was telling Mike today that I feel like I am busy already without work! :) Although I'm sure I will have a hard time going back to work, I am so thankful that I have been able to have this time with my little man and have enjoyed being a stay-at-home mom. Here are a few pics from the last few weeks...

Wildwood Crest, NJ (July 24-July 31)

Will and I took a vacation with the Hoogstra family in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey. I grew up going down the shore every summer, and was thrilled to spend some time with my extended family and introduce Will to his great grandparents, great aunts and uncles and cousins. We drove through the night there and back with the help of Aunt Jackie, and was able to spend about five days with the whole family. I put Will's feet in the Atlantic Ocean and we hung out on the beach with the family under the canopy. We had a great time in New Jersey, but we were happy to come back home to see Mike! Here are a few pics from vacation...