Pumpkin Carving with Kate

 To many cute photos to post them all so there are lots more uploading to shutterfly right now but it was so much fun to see Abby and Austin, Cheryl, Kelly and Kate.  Kate is our pumpkin carving pro. Austin had a blast and liked eating pumpkin and I think he carved the biggest pumpkin Jason could find.  I can not wait till Monday night hopefully we get cute photos of everyone in costume.

 

Ok Really Adam is going to be Thing 2 and Kate is going to be the Cat in the Hat but hey we had to take some photos in costume.

 

Jacqueline's Pumpkin

 

Jacqueline's Funkin

Cute Halloween Outfit

 Grandma could not help but get you this cute little outfit.

I love Halloween

I am so sick of people at school telling me what a bad holiday Halloween is and wishing it would just be over.  I love Halloween.  As a kid we would get on our costumes and hop in the car with my Dad and Uncle Paul and they would take Kate, Kelly, Jarred, Abby and I to see all of the family.  First there was a trip to see Great Grandma Kate, she would have old peppermints for us and whatever she won at Bingo for the last month but she was always excited to see us.  And we tried hard to be excited about old bananas and other bingo prizes.  Then it was off to Grandma Audrey's, she would have the regular candy that got passed out to everybody but for us there was always special bags of candy and a hug for us.  Then it was to Grandma Jackie's.  No one loved Halloween more then Grandma Jackie.  She would get dressed up and have a caldron of dry ice that would smoke out on the front porch.  She had the best costumes and full size candy bars.  These are memories with the family I will cherish. I still remember the Bear costume my mom made me, and the year Kelly was a giant dice and struggled to fit in the car, I'll never forget Grandma's dancing pop can costume. I think that Halloween is like any other holiday, it is really about what you make it, and for our family that has always been a day for fun and a day for family.  I look forward to you carving a pumpkin with Kate on Saturday and Trick or Treating with the Family on Monday, and I hope that someday you look back on Halloween with some of the same fun family memories that I think of when I think of this holiday. So thinking of family just so you know for your first Halloween, Aunt Kate carved your Funkin (Grandpa Dann did the design), Oma Karie and I made your costume and your dads you two will match, but your costume is meant to go with Aunt Kate, She will be the Cat in the Hat and you guys are thing one and thing two,  I will add pictures after Halloween.

Jump Jackie Jump

 

Jacqueline's new favorite activity is bouncing.  Friday she bounced and bounced, gigged.  For some reason she would bounce and then everytime she turned and saw my dad she would stop and stare at him.  Then bounce bounce bounce again.  Kate fake coughed at her and she giggles then she would turn and bounce and look at mom or I and we would cough and she would giggle but every time she got to dad she would just stop and stare.  No matter what voice Grandpa tried to cough with he could not make you giggle.  And that made the rest of us laugh which made you giggle all the more.

 Other fun things from this weekend we went to SmashBuger with my whole family. Kate saw it on the Food Network.  It was good.  Grandma Jackie would have loved it. Afterwards we tried to take you to visit Sweetlands Candy in Grand Rapids, (Both sets of my grandparents loved Sweetlands,  my memories of it as a kid are a little foggy but seeing the candy counter and the old style roof on the back of the building brought back memories of both Grandma Jackie and Grandma Audrey.  (That must prove that my sweet tooth is genetic.) They were closed so no FudgeBerry for Grandpa but we will try again another day.  You have at least gotten to visit Jersey Junction in East GR, which always reminds me of shopping at Jacobson's Department store, a place visited with Grandma Audrey and Aunt Fran depending on the time of year.  I am sure the point of those trips was the clothes but I was always more excited about the ice cream.  It won't be too long now before you can try ice cream too.

 

One last picture you with your ball.  Getting so big so fast. 

No sleep

 Two nights ago you were an amazing sleeper, 7:30pm to 5am with out waking once but then last night was dreadful.  I finally gave up and slept on the floor in your room with you in the boppy beside me, because every time I walked away you would scream and wake your daddy who has to get up and go to work.  I am not sure if your teeth or your tummy were bothering you but we spent a large part of the night bouncing, patting, rocking and praying.  Normally bounce,pat, rock would put you to sleep and while bouncing you I would silently run through my prayer list, and before I made it through my list of names you would be asleep and I would be returning to bed.  My mom, your Grandma always feels like when she is awake in the middle of the night it is because someone needs prayer and God is telling her to pray, so when you were first born and keeping me up I started to do the same.  I am not sure who on our list needed prayer last night but you must have really wanted to pray because we made it through the list more then once.  It made me think of your Grandma and an old song.


Phillips Craig And Dean - Midnight oil
 Mama like to burn the midnight oil
Down on her knees in prayer
If you asked why she did it
She said she did it care she cared
Now Mama always talked to Jesus
When she knelt by her rocking chair
Oh, I'm glad my mama was willin'
To burn the midnight oil in prayer

Well prayers are said and we are having a better nap now then we did all night so I am going to end this post with a picture and go take a nap my self.

Eating and Getting Big

 

Eating Waffles Sunday Morning. 

Ok the truth is you really didn't eat the waffle you put it in your mouth and then spit out the big piece and drooled little waffle chunks all over your pjs and blanket.  But still cute.

 

Eating your burp cloth.  Not what I would choose to eat but it dose keep thing clean.

 

Yeah you are still drinking a ton of milk too. (36-40oz on an average day).  

Off topic but check out those cute shoe from Grandma Carol.

 

Licking Kate's Finger.  You will lick/eat anything that gets to near your mouth.

 

Eating the rattle ball.

 

Eating Peas.  I love the face you were making.  Too cute.

 

Apparently I was too slow getting the puffs out of the container, so you decided to just eat the container.

 

I thought you would maybe not be a crawler, you hate tummy time and love to stand so I sort of wondered if you would skip crawling and just go to walking some day but then today I put you down and to my surprise here you are on all fours. Not what I was expecting.  No, thank goodness you did not take off crawling I have not baby proofed everything yet and I am not ready for you to move from where I put you just yet.

 

You don't need to get any bigger, you can stay my little girl for a while longer. Please...

Playing with Austin

Sorry a blog post is sort of long over due.  It has been a busy week, buying Aunt Kelly's old car, raking leaves (with the wonderful weather Jacqueline and I have made it outside to rack leaves almost everyday, this week she is a big helper sitting in the boppy chewing on Sophie and overseeing my progress), making new flavors of baby food (pumpkin has been one of her favorites as is watermelon, green beans are just ok), beginning to Christmas shop, and too many other little things that keep taking up more time then I mean them too has kept me from writing.  But I had to post some pictures of you playing with Austin Abby and Aunt Cheryl today.  I am not sure who had more fun with the wagon, Austin, Jacqueline or Aunt Cheryl but it was a good time all around.

Boom goes the tower

I think we knocked over the tower over and over again for two hours.  But it made her laugh ever time.

6 Month Photos

 

Some 6 month accomplishments,  

1. You are sitting up on your own, 

(I have the boppy around you most the time because when you reach for things you get off balance and tend to end up crashing face first)

2.  You have not really said a first word 

but in you stings of babbling syllabubs the word HI has poped out 3 or 4 times.  

3. You are eating all kinds of real foods

(apples, bananas, oatmeal, prunes, pears, peaches, pumpkin, yogurt, potatoes, carrots, peas and sweet potato, just to name a few)

Happy Birthday Adam

Today was Adam's 30th birthday.  So we had a nice relaxing day at home.  

Yesterday Abby, Jason and Austin moved back to Grandville.  Which means hopefully Austin and Jacqueline will get to grow up playing with one another the same way my sisters and I grew up hanging out with Abby and Jarred.

This upcomming week will be a little crazy Oma will be going to Alaska to visit your new cousin Raylee (picture to the left) and so you will be spending some extra days with Grandma.  Hopefully Oma will have safe travels and a lot of fun seeing the new baby, and hopefully the Alaska weather will not be too bad while she is there.  I am a little jealous that see gets to meet Raylee already it will be November before we get to see her.