Madeline's First Halloween

Madeline is a little young to appreciate Halloween, but that didn't stop us from taking her to Boo Bash in downtown Milford on Saturday night.  It was crazy crowded, and so we called it a day and went to the Mexican restaurant for dinner.  Margaritas are my kinda treat anyhow!

Pictures of our little lamb before we walked to Boo Bash

Arriving in downtown

Jon carved the scary pumpkin and I carved the adorable pumpkin with Maddy's hand prints for eyes!  Our pumpkins were so big and thick (from Eastern Market!) so we needed to scrape the insides for a while to make the pumpkins carve-able.  One of our little carving knives from the cheap Kroger carving kit broke, the other one did its job!

Yummy!  It has been a long time since we carved pumpkins.  Last year we were renovating and didn't have a kitchen.  We were rusty on cooking the pumpkin seeds and we were surprised how they dry out and cook rather fast.

And below is the cornbread muffins that accompanied our chili.  We had all the grandparents over for dinner on Halloween night.

We ended up taking Maddy to four houses just to say "Hi!" to our neighbors.  We did not take any candy, I figured it would look silly because she does not eat candy yet! 

Halloween is not one of my favorite holidays (there, I said it).  So, I was happy with how we celebrated it this year.  I figured Jon and I have at least another year or two before Miss Monkey demands crazy costumes, ridiculous decorations, mounds of candy and so on...



Picture of our friends over at our condo 5 years ago.  Oh how things have changed!

YUP, 9 MONTHS!

To celebrate Madeline's 9 month mark, we had a doctors appointment.  She hadn't been to the doctors since her 6 month checkup (yes, I too was surprised they trusted me to be on my own for 3 whole months).  I made the appointment for Dr. Bobal and was surprised went Dr. Bobal walked in.  I meant to make an appointment with Dr. Boil, and can't keep their names straight!  Just as well, Dr. Bobal was fantastic and we had a great visit. I should add, this was the first doctors visit that Maddy and I went to without anybody else joining us...just us two (I can handle it now!). The visit ended with a flue shot, poor thing.  Maddy had very little time to recover from her shot because her Aunt Bebe was in town and we had more celebrating to do that night!

Boy was it hard to get a 9 month photo.  Maddy is officially on the go, crawling and cruising everywhere.

Photo from when we got home from the doctors.  You can't see the baindaid on her right leg in this one and only photo she let me take.

Love this photo...

Here are her stats...

9 Months

Height:  28.3 in (78%)

Weight:  17 lb 8 oz (24%)

The Norm

Don't you just love "normal" days spent around the house?  We do! 

Here's "The Norm"...

Maddy searching for cheerios and puffs under the table.  We were thinking of getting a dog soon, but....

Madeline playing in her crib.  When I need to get things done in her bedroom, I throw her in the crib to play.  It works (at least for now)!

Me deciding  I NEED to refinish a dining room table...aka, Jon  having a new project that will/has taken him weeks.  Notice our supervisor in the background?  DIY...nah...DIJ (DO IT JON)...yes!!!  I can't wait to show before and after photos of our dining room.

More pie baking.  GiGi's birthday apple pie.  When you spend enough on a Zingermans class/recipe, you got to get your moneys worth.  Anyone sick of pies yet?  ME!

Little Monkey loves little quack (seen in photo).  It looks just like the character in her favorite book, Little Quack.  We read it over and over and over and over and over again.

Just another fall day (sorta)

This past week was absolutely gorgeous.  It has been sunny and in the 70s/80s for almost a week.  While it was odd we were having such cold days in September, it is even more odd that we are having such hot days in October.  We took advantage of the weather and spent much of the weekend outside.  For the first time since moving to our home, we literally drove across the street and spent sometime at Kensington. 

Here are some of my favorite fall shots...

This was the first of many more trips to come.  We plan on purchasing a year pass this upcoming calendar year. 

Oh, and of course I can't forget...
Let's go Tigers!

FYI, Maddy was wearing her tigers outfit that she had been wearing all weekend for our little impomptu photo session at Kensington.  I just threw a jean jacket over to look "fallish".  Jon was soooo proud that I did not get her all "done up"!

TGIF

I love how we spend our Friday nights. They are always special for some reason or another.  We celebrate the accomplishments of the work week, all while looking forward to the weekend ahead.  This is how we spent Friday night...

...we had our first fire of the season!  In addition, we celebrated Daddy returning from a week long vacation work trip.  Yes, it was just Maddy and I for a full week, including last weekend.  I DID IT...woot woot, hip hip hurray, toot toot, for she's a jolly good felloooooooooooow...I DID IT!  I took care of our little Maddy on my own.  (Like I said, TGIF!!!)

Welcome back, Daddy.  We missed you.

Look who's 8 months!

My little cupcake is 8 months!  Each month Madeline gets more and more fun to play with.  Her new thing is playing peek-a-boo (melts my heart!) and pulling herself up on everything.  She has done very well adjusting to having different people with her during the day when I'm at work.  With that said, she's very clingy with her mommy, and daddy comments on that constantly.  Maddy still isn't crazy about eating, and in fact often doesn't take a lick of lunch.  We just introduced her to cheerios, and that went surprisingly well. We try to introduce her to new tastes and textures as much as possible.  However, she just likes her Gerber organic banana raspberry oatmeal blend...and that's about it!

Peek-a-boo!!!

End of Summer Vacay

Here are some ways the family has been spending the last days of summer...as we all begin preparing for fall.

Soaking up the last of the summer sunshine

Baking and sharing pies after taking classes with Zingermans cooking school in Ann Arbor

Creating artwork for the kitchen hallway

And of course back to school shopping is a must...brown boots are a fall essential

Bye-bye summer!



I should mention today is labor day and we are home from a chilly (but always fun) weekend up north.  We have been inside all day baking pies and trying to stay warm.  Chili is currently on the stove and school starts tomorrow.  Fall is here?!?!