September Camping

We were able to squeeze in one last camping trip this fall. At the end of September, we packed up the pop-up, headed north to the thumb area of Michigan, and camped out for the weekend at Sleeper State Park in Caseville. JuJu and PaPa were even able to join us all the way from Rochester, NY! They stayed in a local motel that had themed rooms. I hear it was very interesting to say the least.









We had no idea that the campground was going to be celebrating Halloween. At first we thought it was very strange, but we soon became enchanted by it all. Every single camp site was filled with Halloween decorations. Every time Hannah passed the ghosts she had to push their belly buttons. :)












We loved all of the activities that they offered throughout the weekend! Hannah enjoyed the petting zoo, pony rides, and being carried by grandpa at the beach (someone is afraid of the sand). She also found a tree at our campsite that was just the right height for her to climb.







The campground also had a costume parade and trick-or-treating. We quickly discovered that Hannah's afraid of people dressed up in costumes, mostly the scary ones. Trick-or-treating will be interesting with her this year!

Apple Picking at Erwins

There is no better way to enjoy a fall day than to spend it with friends at an apple orchard! First, we went on tractor rides to the Empire and Gala apples.









Next, we taught the little ones how to twist the apples off of the branches (OK, so they did more pulling and dropping than twisting!).











We ate lots of bites of lots of apples along the way.











The girls enjoyed riding on the tractor bicycles and jumping on top of the hay bales yelling, "Apple picking, apple picking!."

September Update

A 2nd birthday wouldn't be complete without a Bosch drill from daddy. Now Hannah can help with the home repairs!











It's getting colder and colder outside so it's time for me to start reorganizing Hannah's closet and dresser for the fall. She found these boots in one of the clothing tubs and insisted on wearing them the entire day. She's ready for the snow!

















Thanks for the PJs Uncle Aaron and Aunt Lisa! Hannah asks to wear them all the time. She LOVES Elmo!

















P.S. In case any of you are wondering about Hannah's peanut allergy testing, it did come back positive for peanut allergies. We're going to visit a specialist towards the end of the month to see what life will be like living with these allergies. I don't think Hannah's are that severe, but we'll have to wait and see what the doctor determines.

I still can't believe my baby's TWO! I absolutely adore my little sweetheart!

Trick Questions

While I'm on my doctor tangent....how would you answer the following question?

"Does your child know when you are worried or sad?"

The doctor always runs through a list of questions such as, "Does your child still use a carseat?", "How much TV do you allow your child to watch?", and "How many words does your child know, approximately?." You know, the typical let's make sure this mom knows what she's doing kind of an interview. But this question was a surprise to me.

I answered "No" and quickly realized that was the wrong answer by the concerned look on the doctor's face. I mean, doesn't every good mom try to pretend like everything's OK when you're really feeling stressed out or worried or sad?

Once I (very quickly) realized that the doctor was checking to see if Hannah understands and reads emotions (probably screening for autism or something), I was able to correct myself. Phew! I added, "Well, she does know when I'm upset with her because she did something wrong. She's really good at reading emotions."

The doctor seemed satisfied and moved on to something else. Does anyone else feel like you're being interrogated when you take your child to their well-baby check-ups? I'd love for you to leave a comment about your experiences!

Hannah's Two!

Our little girl is already two! We visited the doctor yesterday to officially measure how big she's gotten. Here are her stats:

Height--34.25" (64th percentile)
Weight--25.4 lbs (32nd percentile)
Head Circumference--20" (99th percentile)

The first thing the doctor mentioned to me was her concern over Hannah's low weight. She said that she is borderline between being OK and wondering if something might be wrong with my baby!!! I knew that Hannah was super skinny, but didn't really think that there was much to be concerned about. I had seen pictures of Caleb at that age and they look almost identical (minus the curly hair :)).

Anyways, the doctor suggested I try to give Hannah more fatty foods, such as ranch dressing with her veggies and more cheese. I understand her concern and that she is doing her job, but am worried about teaching Hannah unhealthy eating habits. I don't want her to have to have ranch with her veggies when she's a teenager! Kids eat when they're hungry. I don't want to teach Hannah to eat when she's not.

My MIL happened to call this morning about coming to visit and I mentioned the doctor's concern to her. She said she was going to bring me pictures of when she was Hannah's age. Apparently, bean poles run in the family :) I am very appreciative of the reassurance. I will definitely take steps to try to get Hannah to increase her caloric intake, but I think I'll take the doctor's advice with a grain of salt (is that the right saying?).

Cupcakes for Hannah

One of Hannah's favorite words during her second year of life was "cupcake." The girl never turns down a savory piece of cake topped with frosting. So what better way to celebrate the last two years than to have a cupcake party!!

We were going to have the party at our house, but the weather was absolutely gorgeous and we thought it would be better to let a dozen or so little ones run around at a park rather than our small back yard. Smart move! The kids had so much fun!







Hannah enjoyed digging in the dirt and playing in the sand.














We kept the food pretty simple--hot dogs, Go-Gurt, SunChips, and watermelon. Hannah enjoyed her hot dog!


















After dinner, the kids got to decorate their very own cupcakes to take home with them. They had a lot of fun choosing which treats to top their cupcakes with.










































Hannah loved hearing everyone sing "Happy Birthday" to her. She started clapping at the end :)

















Thank you to mom and Lauren who helped sew the cupcakes onto these cute little party favor bags! I found a similar idea on a craft blog that I read and got the crazy idea to make some of my own. I got the bags 3/$1 at Michael's and then purchased felt of different colors and cut out the little pieces. I ran out of time to get all of the sewing done so my mom and sister helped me with them when they came to visit! Thank you! They were a big hit!