Trick or Treat!

If that hat isn't the most adorable thing you've ever seen... I'm not sure what is. You can purchase it and others like it from my lovely sister-in-law here. We had a great time walking around my parents' neighborhood and Miriam did so well saying, "trick or treat!" and "thank-you!" We also had her "roar" every once and awhile. What a perfect late fall evening for trick-or-treats!

20 weeks! and... it's a GIRL!

I decided I needed to update our latest news with Baby #2. We were able to get an ultrasound appointment at the local tech college yesterday as students practiced measurements on the ultrasound. And, we were able to find out we're having a baby girl! We were both pretty surprised because we were thinking she was a boy. This pregnancy has just been so different that I assumed it meant boy! We are SO excited to have another girl, though... and especially to re-use the MANY MANY clothes Miriam had. Hopefully we can put some pictures up soon. We will be having another ultrasound appointment in three weeks, so we should get some pictures then, too. Miriam is very excited for her baby sister!

Apple Orchard time

We have enjoyed taking a few trips to the orchards around here the past couple of weeks. We went first toward the beginning of October when the weather was still warm and great to be outside. The next time, we had planned to meet some other couples from our church... but it was the day we ended up getting snow! Needless to say, it was quite frigid. We still did manage to make it out to pick a peck of Honeycrisp (which we're still eating -and they are delicious). We ended up leaving shortly after we all got done picking and spent the next hour at the Playland at McDonald's. The kids enjoyed playing together and the parents enjoyed chatting and staying warm. Here are some pictures from our recent orchard outings (it's probably not too hard to figure out what the weather was like on the different trips):

"All By Yourself."

This has become Miriam's favorite phrase as of late. And, of course, yourself means myself. We're still working on those pronouns. The things Miriam insists on doing by herself include: climbing into her car seat, walking anywhere from point a to b (no more of us holding her for any reason), putting the potty seat onto the potty, getting toys out, going to her seat at the table, and the list goes on... There are times when we have both become frustrated at this new-found independence (seeing as we could accomplish the task in at least half the time), but it is so neat to see her discover that she is her own person that can do things "all by yourself."