Flag Football

It was a chilly evening, so Taylor and I bundled up to go watch daddy play flag football for a little while. Unfortunately, the game was forfeited (the other team only had 2 guys show up - bummer!!), but it was still fun to get outside for a little bit!

Taylor all bundled up and getting ready to go

Obviously she was done taking pictures and wanted to get going to the game! :-) Poor little girl...so sad...

Hanging out on the sidelines

With uncle Chris, Jon-o, and daddy before the game

This is the face of a little girl who has been boycotting her afternoon nap for the last two days

Little sweetie!!

an awesome 8 months...

...is an understatement!!

Alright Taylor, let's take a look at what you are like at 8 months old!

Taylor is:

* Wearing 9-18 month clothes, mostly 12 month sizes

* Eating "solid" foods 2-3 times a day, including pureed fruits and veggies (some fun combinations such as apple butternut squash, peach mango raspberry, carrot tomato, etc.), pureed organic meat (still seems sort of gross to me, but she likes it!), yogurt, oatmeal, and she has just started getting down the chewing motion, so we have started with some small pieces of toast and gerber puffs

* No teeth yet! :-)

* Going to bed around 7-7:30 (without a peep 99% of the time!), sleeping 9-10 hours straight, nursing, then sleeping another 1-2 hours, getting up around 7am

* Clapping regularly and waving sporadically

* Giggling

* Chattering with lots of ba-ba's, da-da's, ma-ma's, la-la's

* Splashing like crazy in the bathtub, this little girl is not afraid of the water - I think she would stay in until her whole body is a little prune! :-)

* Continuing to make movements towards crawling, but her progress is slow... this little girl is going to do things on her own time! She will launch from a sitting position onto her hands and knees, or hands and tummy, and then get stuck there

* Can stand fairly well with little support, and loves to pull herself onto mommy or daddy's legs or lap when we play on the floor with her

* Loves being read to from her little books

* Is getting better at riding in the car, fewer total meltdowns, which is nice for mommy and daddy!

* Plays very intently with her toys, making LOTS of noise when she is excited!

* Smiles great big smiles for people she recognizes, especially mommy when she gets picked up from daycare in the afternoon (along with some excited arm flapping) and daddy when he gets home from work

* Is doing really well at daycare, and they have such nice things to say about our little girl!

We have our 9 month appointment at the end of November, and it will be fun to see how much she has grown!

8 month pictures

Here is the little girl at 6 months, and now at 8 months

6 months

8 months

Helping out with laundry

Boxes are lots of fun!

Loving on her big monkey

Lots of smiles

Concentrating hard

Thumbs up! I like standing on my own!

Love this little face - those big blue eyes - full of wonder - the definition of innocence

Hanging out with the uncles....

Spending quality time with the uncles (and future aunt Liz :-)) on a Saturday...

Uncle Chris and Aunt Liz

Reading with Uncle Jon-o

Little hands...

Taylor getting her hand prints in clay today...can't wait to see the finished tile!

Charlevoix Apple Festival

 It was a BEAUTIFUL weekend!! 

 Ryan, Taylor, and I met up with my parents and uncle Scott for a perfect fall weekend up north! It was peak color in the northern lower peninsula and the color of the trees were amazing! We went to the Apple Festival in Charlevoix on Saturday, along with LOTS of other people! Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries, and I didn't get any pictures of the actual downtown, but just picture crowds of people, crates and crates of apples, lots of fresh veggies, fresh pies, food vendors, and an art festival, and you get an idea of what it was like. Ryan and I split a HUGE honey crisp apple (that we paid a dollar for :-)), and we split a really tasty apple cinnamon donut with my parents - it was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Ryan had his first pasty, too, which he really liked! Apples were bought, and applesauce was made that same night - yum!! There also may have been an apple pie purchased that was enjoyed by all (thanks, uncle scotty!).

Here are a few pictures of our weekend!!

The view from the cottage - you know summer is over when the dock is out! 

Taking a lunch break in Charlevoix

Ryan enjoying his pasty

Scott, mom and dad (sorry dad, I caught you chewing!!)

Walking along the pier

Uncle Scott had the pier to himself (leave it to Scotty to find a peaceful place to relax :-))

The boys watching football (and I was tracking my friend Andrew on my computer as he competed in the Hawaii Ironman triathlon)

Taking a bike ride with dad (we both ended up being warm enough to shed a layer once we got to the top of the driveway - it was so nice out!)

Taylor rocking with grandma mem

Headed out for our three mile walk

Loving the colors of the trees

View of Lake Charlevoix from the golf course

Outside, being sweet, with grandpa Randy