Halloween with Grandma and Grandpa

Jason's parents came over tonight to help with the Halloween happenings. Of course, we got Hannah dressed up in her outfit again and even got JJ in his costume!



Grandma came dressed for the evening.


Hannah liked Grandpa's glasses.


Waiting for the big night to begin.

Is she getting ready??

I noticed Hannah doing the little rock this afternoon. Hmm... we may need to get moving on a baby gate!

All dressed up

Hannah wore her first velvet dress to church last week. I just had to get a few pics!



She had to get a taste-test of her new Mary Janes :-)


I thought I'd throw in a picture of her on her new quilt as well. She seemed very intrigued by all of the faces of her!

Halloween Party

We attended Hannah's first ever Halloween party last night. My online mom group had a get-together at Chuck E. Cheese. There seemed to be about 40 parents and kids. Some of the dads even joined us, including Jason! This was Jason's first GRBaby event, and I think he had a good time.

It was so much fun to see all of the babies and toddlers dressed up in their Halloween costumes.

A friend of mine from work gave us a costume earlier this fall, and I've been so excited to finally have her wear it! What an adorable little ladybug, if I do say so myself!

Of course, it just wouldn't be a visit to Chuck E. Cheese without going on some rides. Hannah got to get behind the wheel on her own for the first time :-)

At the end of the evening, we had one happy bug!

One more update

I forgot to post our biggest update - Hannah is going to have a cousin in the spring!! My brother Todd and his wife Courtney are expecting this May. We are totally excited for them. We can't wait to have another baby in the family. Plus, our good friends Brian and Sara are expecting a little one in May, along with another couple of friends of ours (not sure if they're "public" yet). Looks like Hannah is going to have to show all of these kids the ropes :-) We are so happy for all of them!

Weight update

I took Hannah for her second flu shot and weight check this morning. She is now up to 13 lbs. She's still not quite on the growth chart for her age, but definitely making progress. We'll be taking her back again next month to make sure she's staying on track. Thanks again for all of your encouraging words.

Quick weekend

We made a quick trip to Frankenmuth last weekend. It was an absolutely perfect fall weekend. I think we caught about the end of the peak fall colors. It was simply a beautiful ride there and back.

Our very special friends, Julie and Penny, came over shortly after we got there with a gift. I was totally shocked to unwrap a stunning quilt with different pictures of Hannah from the blog!! It is absolutely gorgeous! Definitely one of the most special gifts I've ever received. I know that we will cherish it for many, many years.



"Grandma" Julie showing Hannah her new quilt


"Auntie" Penny gets her turn, too :-)



Surprisingly, Jason and I managed to sneak away for a little while Hannah was down for her nap. We took JJ up to a couple of the parks in town to run and sniff. It was such a nice day to wander around and enjoy the colors.





Since we don't have any big trees in our yard, we get to skip out on the raking. However, Grandma and Grandpa have lots of trees, so Grandpa raked up a pile for Hannah to play in. Although there wasn't much playing going on, I think she did get a kick out of us trying to get her to smile :-)

Play time with Morgan and Conner

Hannah is turning into Miss Social lately. This morning, we went over to her friends Conner and Morgan's house. Morgan is only a couple of weeks older than Hannah, so it's fun to watch these two girls grow!

Morgan's such a little cutie!

Conner is such a big boy. He even offered to share his cheese with Hannah. She passed due to her lack of teeth :-)

7 Months

I just got used to saying Hannah was 6 months old, and here we are already at 7 months. This is such a fun age! It seems that this month she's experienced so many changes:

• We have now fully switched from breastfeeding to formula. I was a bit sad about this, but we made it 6 months. I consider that quite an accomplishment, especially working part-time :-)
• She is regularly eating solids. Sweet potatoes seem to be a favorite so far, but we've yet to really start with fruits. We'll see if she has a sweet tooth!
• She seems to be jabbering with more consenants and vowels, closer to forming actual words. She's turning into quite a chatterbox.
• She is going to have more playmates this spring :-)
• She loves slapping her hands on anything - the table, floor, Mumma and Daddy.
• She's becoming quite the pro at sitting up on her own.
• She finds brother JJ quite funny.
• She gets a huge smile on her face when Daddy comes home from work.

We love this little girl so much and are so blessed to her in our lives!

This is what we do...

...when we're home on Mumma's days off.

Play hard, sleep hard

I got out of work a bit early this afternoon, so Hannah and I spread a blanket out on the grass to enjoy the beautiful weather.

JJ enjoyed the afternoon, too!

After all of that fresh air, Hannah could no longer keep her eyes open...

...and she was out for the night!

Weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's

Since we haven't been over to Owosso in quite awhile, we decided it would be a great time to go over for a visit. What a gorgeous weekend for a drive! We drove both ways with the moon roof open, enjoying the beautiful fall colors. Of course, Grandma and Grandpa Davis were very excited to see Hannah. In fact, Grandma Davis even held Hannah all through church, including while she sang in the choir! After church, we went to breakfast with Jason's parents and Grandma and Grandpa Ocedek. All of the morning activity wore Hannah out, so after a quick catnap, we stopped by Jason's grandparents' house to visit for awhile longer before leaving for home.


Three generations


Hannah with Grandpa Ocedek


We finally got some outdoor pics of Hannah sitting on her own


What a big girl!

Little skipper

I finally agreed to take Hannah for her first boat ride. The weather was so beautiful, and I knew this is most likely the end of the boating season. Jason was so excited! He even got out of work a little early to make the most of the evening. We just took the boat over to Reed's Lake in East Grand Rapids for a couple of laps around the lake. Hannah didn't really seemed phased by it. She really didn't have much of a reaction either way, which I suppose is good. She could have screamed! I think if we'd gone one more time around, she would have been out.




Hannah's waiting for her ride


Daddy excited to take his little girl for a ride


A rare site - me in the boat.

It really is a pretty time of year for a boat ride. There was some beautiful color, particularly on one side of the lake.


Boating worked up our appetite, so we stopped for dinner at Rose's afteward. Hannah did great there as well. Overall, it was a perfect family night.

Perfect day for apples

After we got out of church this morning, the sunny, crisp fall day inspired us to make a trip to the orchard for the first time this season, making this Hannah's first trip ever to an orchard. We were excited to pick up some home baked goodies, but as is typical at Robinettes, the line was way too long, and we were way too impatient.



It wasn't all a loss. We did ended up picking up some cider and donuts, along with a couple of hot dogs and kettle corn. We also took Hannah on her first hayride.


Waiting in line for our ride


Here we go!

I don't think she paid much attention, but it was fun nonetheless. Hopefully we'll make it to some of the other orchards in the area later on this fall.

Happy Birthday, Claire

Our friend Claire turned one on Wednesday, so we were invited to celebrate with her and her friends and family at her big party last night. Claire did a great job of hosting and keeping her guests comfortable.

Her mom did a fabulous job with the pink cupcake theme.

Claire was such a little lady, delicately picking at her cupcake. We can only hope Hannah was paying attention :-)

We think Claire, her mom and dad all liked the personalized book that we got her.

Happy birthday, Claire! We wish you many blessings in the year ahead.

Play Date!

We met with some of our online mom and kid friends this morning to have a play date. It's a bit more fun for Hannah now that she's getting big enough to at least pay attention to her surroundings. Leslie hosted once again and of course did a fabulous of job, providing some great tasting fall treats (donuts, cider, muffins, etc.). We played for a couple of hours before taking off. I think she fell asleep before we got out of the driveway!

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, but Erin snapped a few and shared online:

Deciding which toy to play with next

Rainah couldn't give enough hugs to Maddie and Darby.

Hannah thought they were pretty cool, too!

As is typical these days, toys are for taste-testing

Sitting up!

Hannah has been really close to sitting up on her own for a few weeks now, but she just couldn't quite get the balance thing figured out. The last few days, though, she's finally catching on. I would now say that she's able to sit up on her own without any support for several seconds on her own. I'm sure with a little more practice, she'll be an old pro before we know it!

(Notice my feet on stand-by for a tumble)