Fall 2011

If there was one season that I missed while we were in Phoenix it was fall. Now, by fall I don't mean the rainy cold fall days I mean the sunny 65 degree days where the leaves are changing and it's nice enough to be outside all day and then cuddle up with a starbucks latte in front of the fireplace with a blanket and good book (haha....trying to think of the last time I did that!:) Anyways, I also realize that in MI with the coming of fall that also means that winter is just around the corner. And if there was one season I didn't miss while we were in Phoenix it was winter.

Anyways, enough rambling about the weather. Here are a few pics of Micah from the fun we've been having this fall.

Below are pics of the pumpkin patch in our neighborhood. They have a little spot where there is a train and tractor which of course Micah just loves. We have walked there several times for him to play and everytime we drive by he has to say hi to the train/tractor. We also went one time and picked out pumpkins. Micah thought it was fun to show his strength and try and load our wagon full of pumpkins. We carved them in the evening and gave Micah a paintbrush to paint his. We put them on the front porch and checked on them the next day. Of course the carved pumpkin had lots of bugs in it so now everytime Micah sees it he says "bug".

I wasn't necessarily planning on taking Micah trick-or-treating primarily b/c he really doesn't know the difference and I really am not a huge Halloween fan. However, my sisters were going and wanted to take Micah. So, last minute I ran the the local consignment shop and got the only costume that was somewhat boyish and in his size--a dog. He had a lot of fun going from house to house with McKenna and getting his treats. He was even good about saying thank you to everyone afterwards. He was awfully cute!!

St. Charles, IL

Corey and I decided to get a night away and we had a great time. Actually the previous weekend we had a conference for church so Micah stayed with my dad and Jamie and then when we went to St. Charles he stayed with Corey's parents (and his sister even came up from Chicago to hang out with the little guy). So, not only did we have a good time but Micah did as well. I originally wanted to do a real babymoon and go to Aruba (or somewhere like that) however that just wasn't quit in the budget this time around. So, we ended up heading to Chicago and staying in a little town about an hour west of the city called St. Charles. On our way down we stopped in a few suburbs and did some shopping/eating. That evening we arrived at our hotel and pretty much just checked it out/relaxed. Out time away was low-key...shopping, eating, hanging out. We stayed at an old hotel that has been restored it was a really cool place as you can see from the below pics. The room was modest (though I'm sure the penthouse with the rooftop hot tub overlooking the river was not!) but it was a great place with lots of character. The town was nice too....lots of great little local restaurants and shops. It is also right on the Fox River so during the on-seasoon you can rent bikes and do the big paddle boats down the river. We walked along the river and were thankful that we had chilly yet great weather. Corey and I were thankful for some extended time away (though we did of course miss Micah) and are already wondering when we will be able to do it again!!

(haha---had to end with this infamous pose!)

Micah's first haircut

So finally at almost 20 months Micah needed a haircut. He had been bald for so long that since he finally got some hair I wanted to wait for a haircut. However, it was starting to grow over his ears so it was time.

The before: (ok...this is slightly exaggerated as I don't normally put the hair over his ears but wanted you to see how long it actually was)

The haircut: He wasn't a big fan. However I let him play in the sink with bubbles (soap) so this kept him occupied for a few seconds.

The after: The finished product. Looks like such a big boy now.

Oh yeah and since I don't think I've posted any pictures of me pregnant this pregnancy (well that's b/c I haven't taken any :) here I am at 29 weeks. Some people tell me I look small and others say I look like I could have the baby any day. Guess I'll have to look back at pics when I was pregnant with Micah for comparison but I'd say I'm about the same size. I just had my 28 week appointment and all continues to go well and the baby appears to be healthy so for that we are thankful. Now I start going every 2 weeks....yikes that means she is gonna be here soon!

Jolly Orchards

We went to Jolly Orchards with several friends last weekend. I (of course) forgot my camera thankfully we have great friends who even took lots of pics of Micah. We had a great time and Micah had a blast too. It was freezing cold when we arrived in the morning (probably in the 40s) so we had to bust out some of the winter gear for the first time this year. We started by taking a hayride to pick apples. Micah, of course, LOVED the tractor but he actually enjoyed picking (and eating) the apples too. We also went into the kids play area where there were some toys/bouncies and you could feed the goats/ducks. There was a blow-up obstacle course that Micah wanted to do. I figured he was too young a there was a rope ladder they had to climb to start but we let him do it anyways. He surprised us by climbing right up the rope ladder and having a blast. He kept saying "more more" and probably did it a good five times. We ended the morning with fresh apple cider donuts which by the way were delicious. Micah passed out on the car ride home and then slept for another 3 hours once we got home. A pretty good day I'd say. We've been eating lots of apples and I have good intentions to make an apple pie and of course it wouldn't be fall without making caramel apples as well!! :)

Haha