Apple Picking

At the end of September, Hannah's preschool class visited Erwin's apple orchard. It was fun to see her interacting with her new buddies and I enjoyed getting to know the other moms. Three out of 8 of us are expecting babies between November and January!

Little Red Riding Hood

Our friends, the Houtmans, invited us to a play in Northville at the Historic Theatre downtown. We couldn't resist the invite and had so much fun watching Little Red Riding Hood. I thought Hannah might be afraid of the wolf but they made it very comical and she squealed with delight every time he entered the stage.































We topped off the afternoon with a scoop of ice cream. Thank you Nan and Ashlyn! We had so much fun!

Fall Camping

Our family looks forward to camping each fall. The temperatures are a little cooler, the leaves start changing colors, and the campgrounds are generally less busy. Unfortunately, both weekends we chose to camp this year resulted in pouring rain 90% of the time.

Don't be fooled by the picture below. This was taken at Hoffmaster State Park, about 2 hours before we had to leave on Sunday. It rained ALL day on Saturday. We were so bummed because this is one of our favorite campgrounds.

















We did, however, explore Muskegon a bit and ended up touring a LST ship that was almost identical to the one Caleb's grandpa served on. We also enjoyed excellent burgers at a local restaurant.

Our next fall camping trip was planned for the first weekend in October at Sleeper State Park. Again...rain, rain, and more rain. Thankfully, it cleared up for a few hours on Saturday night for the kids to go trick-or treating. Hannah didn't mind the wet, cold weather. She was all bundled up in this cozy monkey costume!

















She also got to take a pony ride which she loved! A few of the other campers really went all out on decorations this year. We thought it was a bit over the top and also very scary for the kids!

Swimming Lessons

Over the summer, I took Hannah to some toddler dance classes. Although she seemed to enjoy them, you could say that I was under-impressed with many different aspects of the program. I won't get in to it here, but let's just say we won't be going back.

So, even though Hannah's in preschool I still wanted to do something fun with her that daddy could enjoy, too. She loved swimming in the lakes this summer, but had never really been in a pool, so we decided that it would be beneficial for her to take some swimming lessons.

We heard about a program in Hartland at the high school (where I used to teach ESL) that has a gradual entry pool and warmer water (Brighton's is apparently freezing!). When we got there we were very impressed! It was like a little splash park but also had some deeper areas for the children to practice swimming basics.

Today they worked on blowing bubbles through their noses (not pretty considering Hannah has a mild cold), getting out of the pool on their own, jumping in to an adult, kicking, floating, making "angels" in the shallow part as well as walking and rolling like alligators. Hannah thoroughly enjoyed it (and I think daddy did, too!).

Hannah's HeadQuarters

We've finally put the finishing touches on Hannah's room. Here are some pictures of the results....












The bedding was a gift for Hannah's 2nd birthday from my mom. She found it at Marshall's. I'd been looking for green and purple bedding and this was just perfect. I found the lamp with the purple shade to match at Home Goods. The butterflies on the wall came from the Dollar Store.

















A friend from church painted this adorable tree for Hannah, complete with a squirrel peeking around the tree trunk.













The small table and chairs in the corner are from IKEA and the bookshelf under the window is from Target. I love how it maximizes that space that would normally be void. It's the perfect height for Hannah to reach bedtime stories. I'm so in love with this bookcase unit that I stacked two in the basement to use more vertical space down there. Part of what I love is that you can just change the basket colors to match your decor.


















I made these for Hannah last year. Found the frames at TJMaxx for dirt cheap on clearance and had the paper supplies around from my scrapbooking hobby.













The dresser and bedside table came from IKEA as well. We're actually very happy with the quality, especially for a child's room. The drawers hold a ton of clothing and slide very smoothly. The cross-stitched sampler was a gift from my mom when Hannah was born and you'll never guess where the purple light came from...IKEA. :)













Last, but not least, I found the bulletin board at Costco for $15 and covered it with fabric and ribbon from the clearance bins at JoAnn's. I just love the way it turned out and I think it adds a personal touch to Hannah's room. She loves to look at the pictures and cards from loved ones. The magnetic wire and flowers were a splurge from Carol Roeda Studio in Ann Arbor. Boy could I go crazy in that store! Very cute stuff.

How Can It Be?

Hannah's THREE!!!













Dear Hannah,

Daddy and I are so proud of the way you are growing up and becoming such a polite and sweet young lady! Your expanding vocabulary amazes us and you continually bring smiles to our faces.

It is so hard to believe that you are three already! As I go through your baby clothes to get ready for the arrival of your brother I can't even remember that you were ever that teeny tiny! You are growing up so fast and we are enjoying every moment we can with you.

This year has been filled with fun memories of camping trips, dance lessons, family visits, play dates, and just day-to-day activities. You have become quite fond of shopping and look forward to going on outings each day (even if it's just the grocery store where you get to ride the 1 cent pony).

You constantly receive comments on your blond curls and sweet little doll face, but I am most proud of your behavior. You have been a blessing to raise. Being a people-pleaser makes you very easy to discipline! Often a stern look is just enough to get you to correct whatever you may be doing wrong.

We love you so much, Hannah. We also give praises to the Lord for the blessing you have been in our lives. You will be such a wonderful big sister!

Love,
Mommy (and Daddy)
XOXOXO


















P.S. On your third birthday, we took you to Build-a-Bear where you made "Teddy." We also celebrated with a pizza from California Pizza Kitchen. We hope you had a fun day! You deserved it!

Preschool!

My baby's all grown up!



















I debated so long and hard about whether or not to send Hannah to preschool this year or not. She didn't need it and I love being home with her so I was fairly adamant about not sending her.

Then, I started thinking about my responsibilities with FaithQuest (program at church), the baby coming, and Hannah just being a little bored at home. Caleb and I decided that Hannah would probably love it (especially the socialization). And...she does!

She has already met several new little friends that she talks about and I'm starting to get to know the other mommies a little better. It will be nice to get to know some families in Brighton since most of our acquaintances are from a neighboring town where our church is. There are two other pregnant mommies so hopefully we can be of help to each other through the year, especially once the babies are born!

Although I do think about Hannah a lot while she's at preschool, it hasn't been difficult to adjust to the couple of hours I get to myself twice a week. Since Hannah stopped napping at age 2 I had forgotten how much one can accomplish with a little bit of kid-free time. Our house hasn't been this clean in at least a year, I have been able to work ahead just a bit on Faith Quest, and it's been much easier to just keep up with the clutter, dishes, laundry, etc.

I thought that I would struggle with guilt and cry a river the first few weeks, but the peace that I feel is wonderful. I trust the teachers that are caring for her and I love the fact that it is in a church so that everything Hannah is learning and experiencing right now is through a Christian worldview.

I feel that part of my job as a stay-at-home mom is keeping up with domestic responsibilities. In the back of my mind I always feel so guilty that the house isn't kept the way I feel it should be. These few hours have allowed me to gain a little control over this. I've even had time to organize the tupperware cabinet and clean out a closet!

I also feel like I'm able to be a better mommy when Hannah IS here because I can get all of the "chores" done when she isn't here instead of barking at her to give me a few minutes to switch the laundry or empty the dishwasher. I find that I can accomplish much more and more quickly during these few hours when she is at preschool so I actually feel like I have more QUALITY time with Hannah because I know I will have that time set aside to do "stuff" later.

Anyways, we definitely made the right decision. Hannah looks forward to preschool and has already had several experiences that I couldn't have provided with her, namely, the BubbleMan! LOL We're looking forward to visiting the apple orchard next week with our new friends!