Thursday, October 19, 2006

A few pictures from the past couple of weeks!Joel has a little swingset-ish sort of thing that Grandma Louise got for him. He's not wild about the swing, but loveslovesloves the rest of it! We have spent a lot of time on this outside recently.

Joel playing in the leaf pile this weekend. Actually, he was happily playing next to the Sycamore tree. We decided to put him in the leaves for a photo op. He was okay with it, but not terribly thrilled. It was a "why are you putting me in here?" type of moment. Neil and I enjoyed it, though...

More of the swingset. It's lots of fun to climb up on! Underneath Joel's elbow in this picture is a red steering wheel. Now THAT is a blast.

Pumpkin patch! We went to The Pumpkin Peddler in BG 2 weeks ago. We got 2 carving pumpkins and 2 pie pumpkins. So far, we roasted seeds from one of the pie pumpkins and I made a pumpkin cheesecake. I am going to be making soup today, I think.

A good time was had by all at the pumpkin patch.

I made a homemade batch of granola this morning. Oh, my goodness, it is delicious! I made it with rolled oats, cornmeal, Red River cereal, sesame seeds, and bulgur wheat. It was baked just a *little* too long (perfect, in my opinion, though!), and then I put in some raisins and almonds. Why in the world did I do such a thing? I got a new cookbook yesterday from Georgettes. It's marvelous. It has inspired me to do a bunch of things! I started marking all the recipes I would like to make, and Neil alerted me to the fact that I was wasting post-its by putting them on practically every page.... So, if you're hungry, my house will be a good place to be for a while! (As long as you don't mind being a guinea pig...)

Joel's first plane ride is on Saturday! We're going to visit my parents in Atlanta for a week. I'm really looking forward to the change of scenery for a little while. I'm not sure how Joel will fly. The pediatrician (who we love, by the way!!!) said that he may just sleep, and that I should nurse him on the way up and down. That would be neat, but I've never witnessed Joel sleeping (or nursing) when there's new things and people to look at. We'll see!

Joel is loudly alerting me that his nap is now over.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Monday night (tomorrow!!!) come to our house around 6:30 or 7:00 - we are hosting an Inside-Out Party! October 16th marks 9 months that Joel has been on the Earth. We are commemorating that day, as he has now been Outside as long as he was Inside. A very auspicious day!

We will be doing all manner of things one may not do when one has a baby on the Inside: drinking wine (for those of age...), caffeinated coffee (for all ages), having soft cheese & deli meat, playing DDR, and anything else I can think of before then that is feasible (if only it were Cedar Point season...). Stop by for a couple of hours of fun! (If you yourself have one on the Inside, there will be alternative beverages as well. Fun things, like milk and water. I think we also have some tomato juice, if you're really into craziness!)

See you Monday eve!

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Highlights from the past couple of weeks:

This is what happens if you turn your back on your 8 month old while putting away dishes... (he was having a great time!)


This was the first time I gave Joel both the spoon AND the bowl. There were still peaches in the bowl. (Well, there were before this picture was taken...)


We have been to two different apple orchards so far this year. This picture is at Erie Orchards - this is my favorite picture, but Joel's favorite part was the peach-picking. This past Sunday we went to MacQueens. There were no peaches there, so Joel had a significantly less enjoyable time. (He didn't come home orange, though!)

We had fun the other night with finger paint. I feel like I belong to the Parent Club now - I have a painting by my kid on the refrigerator! I was afraid that, since we put him in his high chair for this, that Joel would think that the paint was actually very colorful food. He didn't, though - he was very serious about his art. After this, Neil took him straight up to the bath (we had stripped him down to his diaper prior to giving him access to the paint) and I cleaned up everything and threw this towel into the wash. (Yay for Crayola's washable line!)


Neil was able to come to Joel's swimming class last week, so I stayed out of the water and observed. Fun was had by all. Joel is beginning to understand and enjoy the class. It's neat to see him not give the "I thought you loved me" look after we go under water.

It's been eventful, yet not really around here lately. Just life, really. Joel and I go on walks, meet up with people, make squash and avocadoes and other food he likes, read books, talk about numbers, chase each other around, and make faces at each other. Neil comes home and we do more of that. It's peaceful.

Baby story time starts in two weeks at the library. We'll be out of town for the first one, and then we'll start going to that. Joel and I are jetting out to Atlanta in two weeks for a weeklong visit. Joel's 9 month doctor appointment (!) is in a week and a half. Hopefully we'll get to a pumpkin patch soon, too.

Three cheers for autumn!