Happy Halloween! (a little late!)

Last weekend we headed to Iowa to see Mark's grandparents. We went to Indy on Thursday night since Mark had a conference there on Friday and then left from Indy Friday afternoon. We stopped once we got into Indy and put on Grace's Halloween costume so she could "trick-or-treat" and Grandma and Grandpa Williams' house.



We arrived in Sac City late Friday night and headed over to the grandparents' house Saturday morning. We had a great day visiting with the grandparents and with Aunt Janet and Uncle Steve who were also in town. Before dinner we once again put Grace's costume on and went to visit some of Grandma's neighbors/friends. Needless to say Grace was a huge hit in her peacock costume.

I missed the moment before this picture but it was one of my favorite! Grace was sitting on Mark's lap and kept reaching over and pulling grandpa's shirt. When he would look at her, she would act shy. It was priceless!

We turned Grace's car seat around for the trip. She loved facing forward and seeing where we were headed. We loved turning around and seeing this happy face!

Unfortunately, our trip didn't end well. I woke up early Sunday morning with a stomach bug. It hit Mark half an hour later. We left as soon as Grace got up and took turns making the long drive back. Whatever it was, i was a bad bug as neither of us felt 100% until Wednesday. Grace did well on the drive back considering neither of us were very energetic to play with her. Unfortunately about 1/2 an hour from home she got sick. We're not sure if it was the same bug or car sickness but let's just say that we were quite the sight on the side of the road with Mark changing Grace on a towel, me getting sick from trying to clean up her car seat, and Daisy loose running around the car. We're hoping that our trip out there over Thanksgiving goes more smoothly than this trip :)

One of those days...

Have you ever had one of those days? You know, one of those days when the dinner you had been thinking about all day doesn't turn out? Or you bring home a crabby baby because she didn't take an afternoon nap? Or perhaps you go to pick up the baby and find out she bit another baby?!?! Or maybe you feel rushed because of evening meetings? Or down because you aren't as far as you had hoped to be on your projects? That had summed up our week...until today.

Today turned out to be one of those amazing days--one of those days when everything just went right. One of those days when you get projects crossed off your to-do list, when your baby is happy and giggly all night and then goes to bed without crying, when your husband runs to the supermarket to get ice cream and is gone for 45 minutes because he decided to go to the ice cream shop that has your favorite ice cream but they were out so he drove across town to the other one to surprise you. You know, one of those days when you can't help but pause and say, "Life is good! I am blessed!"

Here are pics of our good day...

Time to clean out a pumpkin!

Dinner time--working on self-feeding with utensils

The aftermath!
**Note--we usually do bibs but Grace has started refusing to wear them. So instead, we are going to invest in stock of Oxy Clean Max Stain Remover**

Checking out the pumpkin that Daddy carved while Grace got cleaned up

Thank goodness it was one of THOSE days!

Weekend in Indy

This past weekend we went to Indy for the weekend. We had so much fun! Friday night we took Grace to another of Mark's favorite pizza places--Some Guy's. We went back to Mark's parents house (they were out of town) and had a dance party with Grace. I haven't laughed that hard in a while!

Saturday morning Grace and I went and visited Baby James Garrison who was born to our friends Sarah and Andy on October 14th. He is precious! Grace was really cute with him-- she kept patting his head.

Saturday evening a babysitter came over for Grace and Mark and I went out to celebrate our friend, Ryan Gall's 30th birthday. The next day we relaxed before going home--as you can see, the whole family was worn out from the weekend fun...

She loves meal time!

For the most part Grace loves her meals. She does best at breakfast and lunch (sometimes dinner is rough if she's over-tired!). She's eating just about everything we eat now which makes it really fun at breakfast and dinner to all sit at the table together. At daycare she's having the school lunches which I personally find adorable :) In the photos above she's enjoying ravioli and cut up grapes out of her special suctioned bowls--they stick right to the high chair tray which makes it so easy for her to self-feed! The only problem we have is that she loves to share her food...with Daisy! I'm worried that the vet is going to put Daisy on a diet because of all the extra treats she's been getting!

Pumpkin patch

Last night we took Grace to pick out her pumpkin. We planned to go to a pumpkin patch out in the country so we drove the 20 minutes out there only to find that it's only open on Saturdays and Sundays. So back to Lafayette we went and to the pumpkin patch that Mark and I have used since we moved here. It's at the Methodist Church and all the proceeds go to the local YWCA's program to prevent domestic violence. It's a fun place and goes to a good cause--I like it! And more importantly--Grace loved it!

"This one looks good!"

"Hmmm...let me see if it's just right"

"Silly daddy, that's too small!"

"Yep, this is the one!"

Grace's shirt says "Grandma's Little Pumpkin" (courtesy of Grandma Applebee)

Sweet Baby Girl

Daddy's Birthday!

Sunday was Mark's birthday. We celebrated by joining his family at Trader's Point Creamery in Indianapolis for Octoberfest. It was a great day to be outside, enjoy the colors, and have some German fare.




We finished the day with a nice dinner at home complete with birthday cake. I can't wait until Grace can join me in the singing of Happy Birthday (and I'm sure Mark can't either!).