October 2014

Well, good grief! I haven't checked blogs in forever. I found a few minutes today, and realized I never posted my October pics! I've had this done for a long time, but as I look over it I'm realizing there are a few pics missing that I must have been trying to gather still, but oh well! It's too late to wait any longer! Gee wiz.

Our Fall has been fabulous so far! See below for some October highlights.

Sweet girl at her 4 month appt on Oct 1. Had to get a pic of  those leg rolls while she was pant-less!:)

Henry wants to include his sis in everything-put Annie in, Daddy! Just wait until she can sit up!

The first wknd in Oct we met the Bushes and Grandma in Gatlinburg. It was a stormy first night, and we woke up to a chilly day in the Smokies. Right out our porch was this beautiful view-complete with a rainbow!

The kids spent time in the hot tub right away!

We went to the strip for shopping and eating. We have this backdrop family pic from several years now. Had to get one this year, too!

Our little fam-I can't believe we have 2 kids sometimes!

Saturday we hiked to a waterfall. It was a chilly morning, but the brisk weather was invigorating. The had been to Gatlinburg back in Feb when I was 6 mo pregnant and had pneumonia and we made this hike then. Let me just say that it was MUCH easier this time!!

Annie got SO much attention on the hike from passersby because, well, just look at her!

She also wore this outfit around-what a happy little giraffe!

Henry is all about making "cozy nests", and he was very proud of the one he made out of the cabin's furniture. He wanted Annie to get in it with him, and she was happy to oblige!

The boys watched lots of football on Saturday while we girls went to the outlet mall. Henry loves his big cousin Camden!

The Bushes and Grandma went to the Dixie Stampede and Henry got to tag along. He had a blast! Here they are in front of the stables.

While they were there, Steven, Annie, and I went to one of our favorite pizza places on the strip. Annie and Daddy were decked out in TN gear-go Vols!

Henry is such a sweet little prayer and always closes his eyes and is so serious about it. Sometimes he says the prayer, sometimes he just listens while someone else prays, and sometimes he sings the prayer song (God our father, God our father...). Steven and I always nudge each other during prayer to look at him, because it is so cute. I always say we need to get a picture of it somehow, and this time Steven was on it! So sweet.

These are out of order, but before we went to Gburg we went by Grandpa and Peggy's to drop off Maggie. The kids got to visit for a few minutes.

Henry has been more into trains lately. They have a wooden track that he worked hard to put together while there.

Annie has cried several times lately when Grandpa tries to hold her-I keep telling her that is not the way to win over a friend!! This was better with her facing outward and playing with toys.

Next adventure? We fly to Iowa Oct 9-14 to see Steven's extended family!

Luckily we had Diana's help on the flight going. The kids did great overall. Henry had LOTS to keep him entertained, and Annie kept her same basic schedule.

When we arrived we went to the Hickory Park restaurant in Ames where Iowa State is located. Their mascot was out front!

The next morning we drove to Emmetsburg to see the rest of the family. Henry was pumped that Aunt Jeanette had TWO kitties outside at her house. They were good sports as he tried to hold them and run after them all over the place.

We met up with Luke and Lisa and their kids who we had seen in Nashville in July. Henry remembered them and was so excited to play with them. We went to dinner together and he was SUCH a show off. We also got to see Dennis and Sara and they met Annie for the first time.

It had been a year and a half since we had seen Grandma Hough, and she had certainly declined. Even though she did not wake up or know we were there, it was still wonderful to see her. I'm so glad we got pictures of the 2 kids with her.

When we were there last Easter, Kinsleigh and Henry, who are just one week apart, did this exact thing with Jeanette. She rode them around the nursing home in Grandma's walker:) They loved it, of course! Kinsleigh is Steven's cousin's little girl.

Grandma DeWitt is awesome to play with Henry and loved watching him work with their antique tractors and trucks. She would even get down on the ground and play with him. He was thrilled by this!

On Sunday we went to Laurel church. Annie got to meet Joyce (Grandma's sister) along with lots of other church folks.

We also went by to say hi to Richard (Grandma's brother) and Donna. They were happy to see the kids!

We had a wonderful visit there and really enjoyed getting to just relax and not have a stringent schedule. We were able to just enjoy each others' company.

Four generations are represented here!

The last night there, we went to Taylor's Made-Rite. It began in 1928 and is a "diner" type restaurant that sells "made-rites"-sort of like a hamburger but with crumbled beef, onion, and mustard on a bun. We also had to get milkshakes even though it was freezing and rainy out!

Annie's first time at Made-Rite!

That night Annie stayed up after Henry went to bed and Grandma DeWitt held her for a long time while Grandma was busy making her Halloween costume. She was a show-off and was happy to talk, coo, and kick her feet and move her arms (you can tell in the pic she's active!). Her main form of communication, though, was to blow bubbles and this kept her audience laughing. It was so cute!

Back on the home front...we had thought about going to a pumpkin patch, but decided against it due to cost and crowds. Henry had lots of fun just going to the little pumpkin patch by our house (where he goes to school once a wk).

I attempted some photos...look at that cute little pumpkin!

Ah, the sibling photo. Nearly impossible!:)

We also attended a costume party at some church friends' house. I snapped a picture beforehand of our wolf and lil red riding hood. They were awfully cute. Henry asked to wear his wolf costume all week, so he was a pro at putting it on himself and everything. He would say "It's so cozy!" and would howl at the moon while wearing it. :)

During the week, we went to our church's children's Fall Festival. I didn't do a good job of getting pictures, but wanted to document  that we went! It was at the Asbury barn and had lots of fun activities like hay rides, pumpkin painting, cupcake decorating, etc. Henry had a ball!

Sweet girl cuddling with Daddy after nap.

We broke out the exersaucer this month. She is a fan! She looks so little in it, though!

On Sunday 10/26 I went to my folks' house for the day. I had wanted to get pics of the kids in leaves this fall, but they just all seemed kind of drab around us. Mom and Dad had a great Maple with lots of red leaves to try it out in.

It was such a pretty day, we ate lunch outside! We got to see the whole family while there.

Manar had lots of porch swing time with Annie, of course. It is her favorite activity with the kids!

We missed Dad's actual birthday on the 16th, but we brought him a special card that couldn't be mailed anyway! He got a kick out of it and thought I was so clever to come up with something like that:) Shh...we won't tell him I just copied any one of a hundred Pinterest ideas!!

Back at home...here is the girl on a neighborhood walk. Happy and sweet!

While we were in Iowa, we shipped back a grill that Steven's grandpa had actually won and didn't want. We were about to purchase a new cheaper one anyway, and since this one was much nicer, it seemed economical to pay to have it sent to AL. When it arrived, we kept the huge boxes for Henry to play in. He had a ball and used his imagination for them to be all sorts of different things. I was able to snap this sweet pic of him hugging Maggie after he invited her in to his box:)

I'm having trouble adding captions to the 5 pics below, so I will write about them here. Mom came to visit on the 30th and we went to the Gardens. Henry was thrilled to show Manar around. She spent the night and helped me clean the house and visit with the kids the next day. On Friday, Halloween, we had the Busches and Potters over to eat dinner and trick-or-treat around the neighborhood. It was freezing, but we still had fun! Henry was cozy in his wolf outfit and was thrilled to ask for candy by howling, then would enthusiastically say thank you!! Annie was hunkered down in the stroller the whole night in her Red Riding Hood outfit. I put on my cape as well to match my girl for a photo op before heading out! Ethan was dressed as Batman, and the Busches came all decked out-Bennett as the man with the yellow hat, Clayton as a monkey, Ryan as a banana, and Robin as a zoo keeper. They are such good sports!

Annie-5 months!

Oh, how time flies. Our sweet girl is growing too quickly! Each phase is so sweet and so fun, though. We are loving getting to know Annie more each day. People always say she just seems so laid back and calm, and that has proven true thus far! She's generally happy to sit and watch or be held and observe what others are doing. She's had a few milestones this month and just seems so big overall. See below for a few details on this past month.

-Annie is getting so "talkative" and are finding her voice. It is so much fun to hear her squeal and coo. We have moments where we "communicate" and have a nice chat. She will make eye contact and just give it to me:)

-She flew in an airplane for the first time (Oct post coming soon)! She did great on the flight and got LOTS of attention. Everyone loves a baby I guess!

-She met all of her great grandparents for the first time on our Iowa trip along with many other family members. She was a hit!

-She started consistently sleeping through the night! I knew the day would come!:) In general, she sleeps from about 8pm to 5am, then wakes to eat and goes back to sleep again until around 8am. This varies a little, but this is her average routine. She takes a shorter morning nap and a big mid-day nap (1:00-4:30 or so).

-She rolled over for the first time! She rolls now from her tummy to her back. It seems like when she does it once she will do it a bunch of times, but sometimes I think she forgets altogether and will just stay on her tummy happily playing. She is content that way for a while still.

-She is reaching for everything now. She always has a fistful of my hair or is trying to get my hand in her mouth when I'm holding her. She reaches for the mail in my hands or whatever I've just gotten out of the fridge, etc. She also really manipulates her toys well and has had fun with her Oball and the like. She sits in the Bumbo on the table when we eat dinner and she stealthily reaches for whatever is on the table. She's grabbed chip bags, gotten her hand in sour cream, etc. :)

-She's enjoyed the exersaucer this month! We finally broke it out!

-She's loving bath time these days. She will have such a serious face as she splashes and feels for the water, then looks up at us and give the biggest smile-so proud-then will go back to her serious work again. She's also ticklish and will belly laugh when I get her ribs and kiss her neck. Her laughter is precious and reminds us of baby Hank.

-Speaking of, she has also been laughing at him when he plays little games with her like peek-a-boo. She is his biggest fan and will just stare at him and watch whatever he is doing. She smiles and smiles at her big bro.

There's more, but I must stop. We love you, sweet Annie! You are a joy.