Of course we dressed Alex up for Halloween and it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that he was a monkey:
Happy Halloween!
Wade’s latest project is putting a new floor down in part of the basement. We got a kick out of watching Alex explore:
Happy Birthday Katrina!
Playing with Dad in the shop.
I hate to tell Wade that Alex finds soccer boring.
Growing up everyone in my family always chose a favorite tree as the leaves were changing. It’s a little hard to do that being in different cities, but the internet helps. Here is my favorite fall tree in Milwaukee.
I love overalls on little boys.
As I was getting Alex dressed this morning, I remembered buying these overalls while I was pregnant and thinking he could wear them for Valentine’s Day. Obviously that won’t happen, but I do like the overalls. Alex is now into funny faces – although I’m not sure he realizes what he is doing:
Best buddies.
Alex never used rolling to get across the room. He has been getting up on all fours and scooting backwards for a while now. A couple of days ago he figured out how to move and now crosses entire rooms. He has an inchworm type movement that I find hilarious. He is also very good at getting stuck in funny places:
Madison seems to think Alex is much too active now. She was trying to slow him down:
Alex gets into the strangest positions.
The bathroom is officially completed – construction wise. I still need to buy towels and mats. Wade surprised me with a built-in cabinet when I got home from Kentucky, but it took me a few days to get it painted. The shower door was also installed while I was gone.
Tonight Wade made the doorjamb and we are done!!!
Today we decided on a short road trip – to Apple Holler. I loved all of the activities they have for kids, but Alex was still a little too young for most of them. He did love the goats:
We looked at the pumpkins but decided not to buy one. We still have several at home that need carving:
Alex loved the hayride:
Everyone keeps asking us how much Alex weighs and how long he is. Who knew we could find the answer to both at the pumpkin patch?
Pumpkin patch.
Pumpkin carving!
Wade and I had a lot of fun getting ready for our pumpkin carving party. Finally the house was clean, the food was cooked, the pumpkins were out, and the fire was lit. We even let Alex play with the pumpkins before anyone arrived:
Today was a little crazy. Alex decided he wanted a nap about 9 am. This would normally be fine, but we have to leave for swim class at 9:25. I let him sleep as long as I could and took him to the YMCA in his pajamas. I got him into his bathing suit and we had an awesome swim class. Alex kept putting his face in the water. We finally decided if he wasn’t bothered then it was fine. As we were heading back into the locker room I realized I had forgotten to bring Alex clothes. He wore his pajamas back home. I finally got him dressed and loved the little shoes. (Alex loved the shoe laces.)
Tonight we had dinner out with the Young Couples group. Everyone was in attendance, which is always fun. Nate helped us keep Alex entertained and Amy played with Emelia:
Not so sure about the lemon.
As many of you know, I love dishes. I came by it honestly – from my Mom. Wade mostly just shakes his head and tolerates the plates for every season and in every color. However, he doesn’t really promote new dishes in the house. He might or might not know about my latest additions – Halloween plates. I found these at a local grocery store and bought four – two black and two orange. Now I wish I had bought eight, but they are no longer selling them. If anyone knows where to get them or has seen them somewhere please let me know. (They are made by Tag.)
Baby shoes are so cute.
I think Wade missed his boy while we were gone:
Daddy missed his boy.
Today started much too early. We had to leave Mom’s house by 5:30 am for our train in Carbondale. Alex slept in the car and I got a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit to make it bearable. Overall Alex did great on the train. He only napped 30 minutes at a time, but he took quite a few of them. People were wonderful offering to help with my luggage or playing with Alex as the miles flew by. I don’t think we would make the trip every week, but we’ll take the train again.
Happy Birthday AG!
Riding the train back to Milwaukee.
Although none of our family lives nearby, we are lucky to have all the great grandparents in my hometown. The morning started with a visit to see Grandma:
Alex entertained Grandma with his attempts to crawl – my favorite is the push-up looking pose:
One of Alex’s favorite positions.
Checking out the toys in Mom’s purse during family brunch.
After church, Alex and I joined Dad, Laura, and most of the family for Sunday Brunch. Alex was a big hit. Christy’s mother doesn’t speak English but she and Alex got along wonderfully:
Alex also had his first taste of citrus today. Dad decided to see what he would do with a lemon:
Faster Gram. Faster.
Today Alex did a lot of visiting. He played with his Gram and Aunt Lissy while I slept in:
Then we went to visit Laura and my Dad:
First haircut.
Alex wanted to start the day at 5 am, but I finally convinced him 8:30 was a much better time. We eventually got dressed and went out for a little shopping before meeting Aunt Beverly, Christina, and Addi for lunch at El Chico:
Then we came home for a family nap. When Alex and I woke up, Dabney was visiting with mom. Alex really wanted to taste Dabney’s Diet Coke:
The big news of the day – Alex had his first hair cut:
Happy Birthday Jenny!
Napping through his first train ride.
Today was Alex’s first train ride. We packed our bags and waited in line to board the train from Milwaukee to Chicago:
Alex slept for about 40 minutes of the hour trip to Chicago:
We had lunch in Chicago and then boarded the train for Carbondale. I was a little worried about the 5.5 hour ride, but Alex did great. We both took another nap:
Then we played, had dinner, and got ready for bed:
Ball pit in the bedroom!
Wade and I have always planned to adopt a child. My preference is an Asian country which leaves us with China, South Korea (for those of us in select states), Taiwan, and the Philippines. We had to wait till Alex was six months old before starting the process. We attended the required information session last week and had our first phone consultation with the adoption agency today. It turns out international adoption is very popular (surprise, surprise) and the wait time for youngest, healthiest children is quite long. When we went to the same meeting before getting pregnant most of the wait times were a little over a year. Now those wait times are over three years. As strongly as I feel about adopting, I also feel strongly about having children close in age. We have decided to add our names to the waiting list for South Korean adoptions in 2010. In March, South Korea will announce how many babies will be up for adoption. Two years ago it was 11; last year 10. We are number 10 on the current waiting list. If we won’t make the cut-off for the 2010 list then we will revaluate what we want to do. We are also considering a slightly older child (2-3 years), but we would need a lot more information before heading down that path.
To sum up: We have put our name on a list, but are basically waiting until February or March before making any decisions.
Mesmerized.
I didn’t leave the house once today. Alex and I spent most of the day playing. (Note the cute onesie made by Amy and the cute giraffe from Granny and Pop):
My little monkey.
Today we had to say goodbye to Granny and Pop. We made sure to get a picture before they left:
Then I had to hurry back from the airport to get ready for book club. Tonight I am hosting and leading the discussion on When Crickets Cry. I had a lot of fun preparing food and setting the table:
While we ate and talked, Alex was upstairs playing with Naomi. Now Alex is in bed and the house is quiet. Madison and I are getting settled on the couch for a movie.
Happily entertaining Granny and Pop.
Today was all about Alex (unlike other days). He had an audience while he ate:
Then he had constant playmates. Alex played with Pop:
Alex played with Wade:
Alex snuggled with Granny:
Pajama day!
Granny and Pop are visiting so we had a pajama day. Alex started the day his usual way:
Then he spent the rest of the day playing with his grandparents:
Granny is making Alex a Christmas outfit so we did a little measuring and trying on:
You want to feed me what?
I couldn’t find shelves for the laundry room that met my standards. I definitely couldn’t find a way to hold the ironing board that didn’t include a plastic shelf or hanging something over the door. Wade came to the rescue with custom shelves.
Lions, and tigers, and bears! Oh, my!
Fall weather means fun hats. (photograph courtesy of Wade)
We’ve been enjoying fall weather lately. That means fun hats for Alex:
At 8 months old, Alex is finally sleeping through the night. Last night he went to bed at 8 pm and slept till 7:45 am. I never quite got him out of his pajamas and in an hour he was ready for a nap:
My silly munchkin was awake for an hour after that nap before wanting another one – this one was 2.5 hours long. Then he was ready for some serious playing:
