Happy Ocotober!

We are working on a couple of baby teeth. They are not coming easily. Poor Abigail has been having lots more crabby time, lots less napping and is about to pull her poor little ear half off her head. We hope those teeth get in soon!

The only thing that is keeping us sane is playing in the bathtub. We've been letting Abby have a lot of extra baths this week. She usually only gets a Wednesday scrub and a Sunday scrub, but so far she's had two baths this week already. It doesn't help that she smeared prunes all over her head since she didn't feel that great during dinner last night. Poor kid.

Abby is getting really good at sitting up and now takes her baths sitting up instead of laying down. This is a great thing because it makes it a lot easier to get her rinsed off without giving her a mouthful of soapy water. And it makes it easier to clean under her little chin, which is impossible if she is laying down. After the water park she is really into swimming, so the bathtub is the perfect place to practice her new skill.

It is going to rain here again today. Hopefully one of these days it will dry out enough so we can take Miss Abigail to the park and get some pictures of the pretty fall leaves. Otherwise our pictures may go straight from beachy summer to snowy winter. That may just be the most realistic view of the weather up here. Hope you all have a wonderful October!!!

More Boyne Fun

Abby and Aunt Emily checking out the old sled in the lobby.



















When you fall asleep in the carrier, you may get a mark on your head.









Family photo in front of the bear (Nate and Courtnie already used the bear's backside for their photo).

















Wearing our Michigan shirts for the football game! Go Blue!



















Eating taco chips with Grandma Mary is fun :-)










Wearing a birthday princess crown for Emily's birthday. We didn't have enough for Aunt Hannah to wear one too.







Playing in the pool at Avalanche Bay! Lots of splashing going on.


















First trip down a water slide with mom. Dad took her on her second trip the next day.













Watching Michigan beat Wisconsin with Grandpa Scott.

Boyne Water Baby

We are back from Boyne and we had a great time! Abby had lots of fun with her Grandma and Grandpa and really liked playing with her Aunt Hannah and Aunt Emily. She also had fun with Uncle Nate and Aunt-to-be Courtnie. We all had lots of good times in the pool and in the hotel suite. Abby did lots and lots of splashing in the pool all three days and even played until she was asleep in my arms in the pool on Sunday. She was one tired girl last night.


Abby got to do lots of new things this weekend. We let her play in the fountains in the kids pool, ride down a waterslide, and cruise in the lazy river ride. She really had a great time in the water, especially in the kids pool. She is quite an inquisitive girl and was checking the whole place out. She did a lot of splashing too.


We also were able to ride to the top of the ski hills on the chair lift. We rode up Friday night to have dinner at the little restaurant on the top of the hill. It was a beautiful view. In a few weeks it is going to be even better with all the fall colors. We rode up again Saturday afternoon so we could hike around on top of the ski hills and check out some of the slopes. Abby was very good on the chair lift, which is good because being 20 something feet above the ground with only a small safety bar is a little nervewracking. It is a good thing we had the carrier to strap her in with.

We hope Emily had as much fun on her 13th birthday weekend as we did! And... Michigan even beat Wisconsin in football. We were really excited about that too. Go Blue!

Going to Boyne

Abby is super happy about going to Boyne. And we mean super happy. First we have to go get her passport application turned in at the post office and then drop Maize off at the dog kennel. After that we are on our way to find Grandma Mary in Gaylord while we wait for Grandpa Scott to get done at his conference. Then it is off for water parking, birthday partying, game playing fun!

Have a happy weekend, we'll be back late Sunday evening, probably with lots and lots of pictures!

Dog Party!

Another thing we love about fall is getting to wear cool hats. Yesterday Abby got to try out her basset hound hat. And since she was wearing a hound dog hat, she and Maize decided to have a hound dog party on the couch. It involved lots of petting, licking, and cuddling. We are lucky to have a dog who is very good with little people - even if she is not so good at other things like going to the bathroom outside.

Abby had a good time with her babysitter last night and was even asleep when we got home. It was amazing! She really likes Kitty, so it makes leaving her with a babysitter very low stress. And it always helps when you come home to a kid in clean diapers and sleeping. Even the dog was sleeping when we got back. We may have to take a date more often.

It is going to be chilly next week, so we will be having lots more hat parties. We still have quite a few cool hats to try out. Happy Thursday! Steve has tomorrow off so we can play until late tonight and Abby loves playing with her dad.

Unsupported Sitting

Last night we had another one of those fun baby milestones. Abby finally sat unsupported for more than 5 seconds. She even managed to lean down to grab a toy and sit back up. She is getting so big. So now Abby can sit up by herself, but we still make her use her boppy pillow for support most of the time.

We have been having fun lately playing with our new farm animal toys. Abby now has a POA pony, two hampshire pigs, and two boer goats. We have lots of fun playing farm and Abby has even more fun eating the farm animals. She is so funny when we play - either she is super happy or is totally serious. There is no in between with this girl. She is so much fun.

Tomorrow we are going to pack our bags to go to Boyne with Grandma Mary and Grandpa Scott. It is going to be super fun!

Testy Tuesday

Abby is in one of her special moods today. She doesn't want to take a nap - thanks mostly to Maize who woke her up right after I got her to sleep. I tried to get her to nap and even laid down with her, but it was mostly crying and playing with her feet interrupted with sort bursts of sleeping. Since she is in rare form and I have some remnants of food poisoning or some other illness we are quite a pair. Luckily she is enjoying her exersaucer on her own and is relatively happy for now. We will see how this works out tonight when Steve gets home and Abby's not had a good nap. I think she is getting very close to having teeth come in because she is getting much harder to get relaxed and sleeping.

Over the weekend we got to take Abby into the pool at Weber's Inn where we were staying. She hated the pool at Grandma & Grandpa Hodges house, but it was probably the temperature and not the water. She loved swimming at the hotel. Of course it was typical Abby - straight faced and not looking to excited - but the splashing and 45 minutes in the pool without a whine were a good sign for her trip to Boyne this weekend to waterpark with Grandma Mary, Grandpa Scott, and Aunties Hannah, Emily and almost Aunt Courtnie and Uncle Nate. If we could have only had Uncle Dan, Aunt Mel, Uncle Glenn and Jack along too it would have been a perfect family retreat. We'll have fun just the same but we miss those guys!

Tomorrow night Abby is going to have her babysitter Kitty come over and spend the evening with her so Steve and I can go on a real date and to a meeting at church so that we can become official members of the church we have been attending. Considering Abby's recent seperation anxiety I am keeping my fingers crossed that Kitty won't be pulling out her hair by the time we get home.

We're Back - For Now

We made it back from Grandma Lorraine and Grandpa Harley's house and our visit to Ann Arbor. We had a great time catching up with all our family and friends. We also got to do some shopping, which is Abigail's favorite activity. She really enjoys looking at all the lights, racks, and other fancy, shiny, new things. And since we had shopping on our agenda, Abby got to pick out some new things for this winter and for next summer. We got everything that was on our list, so it was mission accomplished all around.

Abby really had a good time at Grandma and Grandpa's house. We got to play with Grandma and Grandpa and also Grandpa Scott. Grandma Lorraine taught Abby how to roll from her back to her stomach, so now Abby can roll each way. It was a great time.

We also got to see all our old Ann Arbor friends and meet 4 new friends. Abby got to hang out with baby Paige at the pool (and her big sister Ava and also Lachan and Jade). She also met Sarah, Luke, and Tatum. It was really nice to get to see so many new babies! Now Abby and I are getting things back in order since we brought lots and lots of bags in that hadn't been here before. Have a happy Monday!

Outfits that Grandma Mary Should Not Buy

Because we already bought these cute little duds for this winter and next summer :-)

Ready to Rumble

Abby's bags are all packed (except the one for her food) and she is ready to ride off into the sunset when her dad gets home from work. She is so ready she's been practicing riding on Little Brown, her pony.

Now we just have to drop Maize off at the hound dog Hilton (aka the borders). I'm sure Maize will be the only family member who does not enjoy this little vacation. Back on Sunday - catch you all up then :-)