Can you guess??

Looks like we're going to have to update the name of our blog!

Farm, Friends, and Fun

Early last week, Hannah and I met up with our friends Claire and Jacob and their mamas Jill and Sara at Schwailler's Country Basket. It was a nice break to get outside since it seems like we've been cooped up all month long.


Hannah wasn't hesitant at all to go right up and pet the goats all on her own.


After watching Claire master the tricycle, Hannah had to give it a try. Just a little bit too big to reach the pedals.



A nice place to rest (notice the dirt around her face!).


Claire and Hannah hot on the trail of the kitty through the pumpkin patch.

It's next to impossible to get 3 kids 2 and under to sit still, but somehow we managed. Hannah (19 months), Jacob (6 months), and Claire (24 months).

Of course, after all of our playing with the animals and in the pumpkin patch, we wrapped up the day by having donuts and hot cider. Mmm...perfect fall fun!

Family day

This weekend our calendar was actually open for a change, leaving us free to do whatever we pleased at any time. This is a rare treat for us, as we always seem to have something going. Don't get me wrong. We love hanging out with our friends and family and all of the activities we have going, but it's nice to have a little break now and then to relax, too.

After sleeping in until 9:00 on Saturday morning (another rare treat in our household!), we got up and had donuts that I picked up at the orchard the day before. We then played with Hannah and did a few small things around the house. After Hannah's nap we had enough of being in the house, so we headed to the Children's Museum downtown. Hannah had a ball! She's really now to the age where she can enjoy all of the activities. It was so much fun to watch her explore and run back and forth. Plus, it was a great way to wear her out :-)


One of Hannah's favorite activities was playing with the giant bubbles.


Here she's so busy chasing the little bubble that she doesn't even see the big bubble right above her head!


Having fun at one of Daddy's favorite activities - Legos! Future engineer???


Making a deposit at the drive-through bank. (No, Jason really wasn't bored but we were both pretty exhausted after chasing Hannah all over.)


It was great to let Hannah unload somebody ELSE's cupboard for a change in the kids' kitchen!

After the Children's Museum, we did a few errands and enjoyed a family dinner out to Red Lobster. Hannah got a real treat, as we ordered her popcorn shrimp. However, honestly, she really mostly ate a dinner of french fries. Since she's recently become a mad ketchup lover. She spent most of the meal dipping every bite of her fries in that red goodness. Totally made her night!

19 months old

Hannah is now 19 months old and turning into a big girl more and more every day. Here's what she's up to:

*She wears 18 month clothes and a size 4 diaper.

*2 molars are now pretty well in and 2 more are well on their way.

*She is copying more and more of what we say. Among the words that we can actually distinguish, she's started saying water (wawa), hot, bye Dad, and breakfast (almost anyway).

*She is a little cleaner, just like Daddy. Give her a towel or washcloth and she'll scrub anything in sight.

*She is quite a singer. She is often heard singing to her own tune quite loudly from the backseat.

*When we empty her dirty diapers into the toilet and flush, she will lift the lid and wave bye bye - note: this is not a practice we are encouraging, but it is pretty darn funny!

*She loves to stack things, most of all the cans in my cupboard (again, something I try to redirect her away from and toward her own toys instead)

*She has learned to push her toy car up to the couch in order to climb up on her own. She is quite a little monkey.

*She is running everywhere and loves to be chased. She's discovered that if she takes JJ's toys, he'll follow her. She thinks this is hilarious. I think poor JJ just finds it annoying, but he's a good sport.

She is such a joy to have in our lives and makes us laugh every day. We are truly blessed to have such a special daughter!

A little overdue

I knew that I was behind in my blogging, but I had no idea that I haven't blogged once the entire month of October. That tells you how crazy this month has been for us. To catch up, I'll just go through a run down of what we've been up to:


One of Hannah's favorite new activities is unloading drawers, boxes, baskets, etc. and sitting in them. I don't know how much longer she'll be able to get away with this before the slides on the kitchen drawers give out.


A couple of Fridays ago, I watched my girlfriend's little boy Jacob. What a cute, easy baby! Hannah absolutely adored him and couldn't give him enough hugs and kisses.


Last weekend we went to Frankenmuth to celebrate my mom's, grandma's, and grandpa's birthdays, which all fall in the month of October. We haven't been over there since the spring, so it was nice to get back. We took my mom out to the newly re-opened Frankenmuth Brewery on her actual birthday. Unfortunately, the food wasn't that great, but Hannah did like the bears just outside.


The same weekend that we were in Frankenmuth, our niece Kara got baptized. Our friend Julie made Kara's dress from Courtney's wedding dress. It was absolutely gorgeous!

My dad was has recently become a lay speaker at their church, so he had the privilege of taking part in Kara's baptism. He did a great job, tying in the commitment that Kara's mom made to Kara's dad while wearing that dress and the commitment that the church was now making to Kara to help raise her in the Christian family. It was really special.

Not too exciting I guess, but pretty much gets you up to speed. Hopefully I'll get back on top of my game with regular updates in the future.