Fases' 50th Wedding Anniversary

Last weekend, we all traveled up to the U.P. (upper peninsula of Michigan for those of you who aren't in the know of the lingo:) ) for Eric's grandparents' 50th wedding anniversary party. We had a wonderful time getting away for a few days. The boys had a fantastic time experiencing a bunch of "firsts."


Eric had to work last Thursday and got home at 1:30 in the morning. Instead of going to bed for a couple of hours, we decided to leave when he got home. It was the best decision! It's a 7-8 hour drive and the boys slept most of the way. By the time we got there, the rest of the family who was already up there was just finishing breakfast.

Here the boys are in the cabin. They loved the rocking horse and little rocking chair.

The boys got tons of lawn mower rides. Here, they were still getting ready for the big party but saw Grandpa and coerced him to give them a ride (hence the lack of pants).

Eric's dad partying it up a little too much (he he!). There was a wardrobe change shortly after this picture was taken :).

Brandt hanging out with his second cousin, Carson.

A picture of all four generations of Fases.

Grandma and Granpa Fase at their party. Isn't this picture too cute!

A family pic with the happy couple.

The boys drinking gatorade like big boys.

The next day after the party, we all went to church with Grandma and Grandpa in Gladstone, MI. There is a wonderful park on the beach we took the boys to after the service. It was the boys' first beach experience. Carter sat in the water the whole time. He loved it! Brandt, on the other hand, would walk down to the water and immediately turn around and walk back up the beach. He continued to repeat this until he finally touched the water. By the time we were ready to leave, he was finally having fun and splashing the water.

We had such a great time in Michigan. It was so much fun to experience everything with the boys. Hope we can go back up soon!

Grandpa's Mini-me and Brandt's new skill

Carter loves his grandpa. This might be an understatement. he gets so excited when Eric's dad comes home from work. He loves grandpa's shoulders rides, but more than anything, he loves going on "tractor" (seated lawnmower) rides. One day, Eric's dad was working outside and hauling tree branches. Carter was watching his grandpa for the longest time before we took him outside to for a tractor ride. This little man loooooves his grandpa!

Brandt has learned how to open doors. He loves his new skill, but this changes so much for us. We really have to be careful now of where he can go!

Lincoln Park Zoo

Last weekend, we took the boys to Lincoln Park Zoo. It's a fairly small zoo located right off Lake Shore Drive in downtown Chicago. It was perfect for the boys' first zoo experience; it wasn't too big so if we got tired we could leave AND it was FREE (well, besides the ridiculous parking fee). It was a hot day, but with the cool lake breeze, it was just perfect.

Many of the exhibits were too far away or too high for the boys to see without us getting them out of the stroller. The highlight of the day were the seagulls the boys saw in a grassy area. Being the prego I am, I missed this highlight as I need my umpteenth potty break.

Here are some pics from our day:

The boys watching the puma

The puma
A family pic! We should make a point to take more of these. We just always forget.

Hmm...I forgot what these were

The boys looking at an ape. It was huge!

The ape.

The beautiful Chicago skyline from the zoo

Other Miscellaneous Things

The boys got Pillow Pets from their Aunt Cara for their birthday. These things are a huge hit. Mostly, the boys like to tackle them, but are now using them as pillows in their cribs. On this day, I had them sit on their pillows and put on a Baby Einstein. It didn't last very long, but it made for a cute picture!

The boys had their first popsicle. At first, they really didn't get it, but soon started devouring them.

Earlier this week, we celebrated Eric's dad's birthday. Here's the boys playing with Grandma Groen. I made this cheesecake for the dinner that night. It was Barefoot Contessa's recipe. I HIGHLY recommend it. It was a very light cheesecake and it didn't crack when I baked it!

The boys are finding areas in the house where they like to hide. Here, Brandt was hiding under a side table in the family room. I put blanket over it to make it more like a fort and he loved it!

Big Brother T-shirts

When we told Eric's parents we were going to have another baby, we got these t-shirts for the boys that say "Big Brother" on them and we had the boys wear them when we skyped to share the news.

At the time, the boys were wearing 12 month clothes but the smallest size the store had was 24 months. Yeah, that made me feel really great when I was buying them...my children weren't even old enough to wear the "big brother" t-shirts when we had another on the way!

Anyway, they were wearing them one day before we moved and I took some pics. Looking at these pics makes me really miss our house :'(

Cute butts!

Really late posting of the boys' birthday

I've been so bad at posting lately! Here are a few pics of the little party we had for the boys.

Their cake. They had a "Baby Einstein" themed party

Beginning to get into the cake

Getting messy!

The boys got this car for their birthday. It was the perfect toy for twins. We had one boy sitting on the car and the other push him around. It was so funny! The boys loved it.

What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet?"

~Romeo and Juliet

This quote has been playing in mind ever since we found out we're having a girl. For some reason, we are having the toughest time deciding on a name. We used to love the name Emma, but in the past few years everyone has named their daughter Emma. I don't know why we mind so much, but we don't want our little girl to have a name where she's going to have 15 other "Emma's" to share it with.

We also have a slight problem. Well, it's not really a problem so much as an expectation we unknowingly made for our family's names. You see, the letters in our names go: B,C,D, and then E. We did not intentionally do this; we just really like Brandt and Carter and we are already Darcy and Eric. So there you go...now people think Baby Girl Groen needs to have a name that starts with an "A." We're not really putting too much weight into the name needing to begin with an "A," but it does create a slight fear of disappointment in those wishing for the ABCDE Groens.

We also have this problem: as Eric puts it, I like floofy names. And it's true. I like them pretty. I wouldn't pick a modern name. I pick names that sound pretty with they're spoken and when they are written. Written with lots of curly cues and loop de loops. Names that sound like little Girl Groen needs to wear bows and ruffles and petticoats everyday. Eric does not. We have the hardest time even finding a name that we both think is okay. And okay just will not do. Ugh.

So the search for Baby Girl Groen's name continues. She needs a name and at this rate, we're going to be the couple at the hospital they won't let leave because they haven't named their child.

I ask that if you have any name suggestions, please let me know. I mean ANY suggestions. I like floofy, Eric likes simple. So really anything will be taken into consideration!