Fall Fun!

Lots of pictures from our fall festivities in this post! We went to the apple orchard and enjoyed a trackor pulled wagon ride and ate yummy donuts and cider.

We also enjoyed a trip up to Flint to the Huckleberry Railroad and Village. We joined our friends Goeffrey and Carrie and their daughter Madalyn. We went trick or treating in the village and had fun on a halloween themed steam engine train ride. Below are some pictures of us at the Village: Above: Family picture time - Julia is Mickey Mouse and Amelia is a Hot Pepper if you can't tell via the picture.

Below: Me and Amelia on the train.

Above: Julia and Madalyn

Below: Julia wouldn't ride on the carosel (wouldn't blame her, it must have been the worlds fastest merry-go-round. But she did get excited to ride this ride. She rode on this and a small train all by herself. She never let go of the sides and was prett serious, but afterward said she liked it.

Below: Julia drew on her small pumpkin and helped Dad cut out the larger one. Here you see her beautiful art work. It is a picture of a person, with eyebrows, eyes, mouth, chin (the colored spot between the arms), arms, legs and feet - no body.

Below: This was taken at Grandma and Grandpa L.'s farm. Grandma decorated a hay bale for the grandkids to enjoy.

Julia's 3rd Birthday

Our beautiful little Julia is growing up so fast! She celebrated her 3rd birthday in August. We celebrated at both Grandparents houses, spent her actual birthday on the road back to MI, then opened our presents for her once home. It was great to again be able to celebrate with our families. Grandma L. made a yummy homemade cake for Julia and I decided after hours and hours spent creating Julia's Elmo cake for her 2nd birthday that I was buying one this year. Julia wanted a little cake (about 1 in. by 1 in.) and chose Nemo. After all, we were just at the Shedd aquarium and saw Nemo. She didn't get her tiny cake but got a Nemo cake made out of cupcakes - close enough. ;)

Here's a cute, random story ... Cousin Jacob had left a birthday message on our phone on Julia's birthday, I replayed it for her just a couple of weeks ago (about 2 months after her actual birthday) before deleting it and apparently I confused poor little Julia. She thought she had another birthday and was now 4. The next morning she told daddy she was 4, when Jeff told her she wasn't 4 yet, she came running into the bathroom crying (as I was in the shower) saying, "Daddy told me I'm not 4." We explained the situation, and she is now back to knowing she is still 3 and won't be turning four for a while. It's so fascinating to see how her little mind rationalizes and relates to things. She remembers everything and understands so much more than I'd expect her to, but time is such a tough thing to conceptualize.

The first few pictures of of birthday celebrations at Grandma/pa L's. The last pictures are taken at Grandma/pa S's.

Below: Playing with her new train and Nemo when we got home.

Amelia's Baptism Aug. 14, 2010

Amelia was baptised on Sat., Aug. 14, 2010. We had a wonderful day. Her Godparents are Tobin and Karen, Tammy, and Michelle. We spent the day and evening visiting with family and friends. Amelia did great during church, not a peep and didn't cry during the pouring of the water either.

Pfann Family Reunion 2010

Julia, Amelia and I attended our Pfann Family Reunion. Growing up, the Pfann family would host an annual reunion, but it has been over 10 years since the last one. This August the family rented a YMCA camp near Detroit Lakes. It was a great location with a beach, cabins, and rec area. All of my mom's siblings were able to attend, as well as quite a few of my cousins and their families. Amelia was the youngest attending (at 5 weeks), but not the youngest cousin (cousin Ashlyn is one day younger). It was a great weekend; we had excellent weather and a great time visiting.

Julia 'latched on' to Natalie a teenage daughter of my cousin Gary. Everywhere Natalie went, Julia was sure to follow. At first Natalie enjoyed her little friend, but by Sunday, I'm sure she was ready to go home. It's now 3 months later, and Julia still wants to see "Matalie from the beach" and she has been a recent addition to our bedtime "What are you thankful for list."

We look forward to our next reunion in two years. Below are a few pictures from the weekend.

Above: Beach and swim area.

Below: Squirt gun fun!

Below: The next two pictures are of Julia and her best bud Natalie.

Above: Most of my aunts and uncles and spouses.

Above: Most of the cousins that were there for the weekend

Below: Julia playing with her 3rd cousins

Above: Couldn't pass up this onsie for Amelia.

Below: Amelia with Auntie Michelle.

Trip to Minnesota

I took advantage of the extra time off from work and we went to MN for two and a half weeks. We met Grandma and Grandpa S. in Chicago, and visited the Shedd Aquarium. Then Jeff headed back to MI to work and the rest of us piled in Grandma and Grandpa's car to head on to MN. While in MN we visited friends and family. It was the first time Grandma and Grandpa L. had met Amelia. We went to the Pfann family reunion, celebrated Amelia's baptism, and Julia's 3rd birthday. (Dad came for baptism and the birthday parties.) Here are a few pictures of our adventures. (I'll do separate posts of the reunion, baptism and birthday.)

The next few pics are from Chicago and the Shedd Aquarium.

Visiting with Grandma and Grandpa L. We went over to Aunt Karen's brother's house to visit their animals.

This is just a picture of Julia playing with Amelia.

We were excited to meet Nick, Megan and Terry's little guy born 10 days before Amelia.

Amelia's 1st Trip - Racing with Daddy

Amelia's first trip was to the race track. Probably not the usual first trip for an infant. Prior to our trip, at 2 weeks old daddy went to WI to test Jamie's race car. Yep, that's right, at just two weeks old - I agree with what you all are thinking, Jeff owes me one for being such a brave mama and tolerant wife.

The next week (3 weeks old) came the Joliet race, and I wasn't going to stay home again, so the whole family packed up and went to the track. Thankfully Grandma and Grandpa S. also met us there. The car didn't do well. In fact, Grandma never even got to see it go, and Grandpa saw just one pass before the engine was completely recked. It was a hot weekend and Amelia and I spent much of our time in the motorhome. Thankfully we had also gotten a hotel room. Of course, Julia loved the track and cars as always.

Poor little Amelia's ear muffs were so big for her, that it looked like they were squishing her. She wasn't very fond of them either. Here are a few pictures of us watching the races in the stands. (That's all the pictures we got of the weekend.)

Water Fun

Julia began to really enjoy playing in the water this summer. We never got out on the boat this summer, we still made some time to splash around. She splashed and swam around in a couple hotel pools, went to the outdoor pool, swam at the beach, and finally even ran around in the splash park a bit (usually she'll just watch.) She's very excited to take swimming lessons this winter.

Above: Swimming in the pool was lots of fun! She kept trying to push Dad away to swim by herself. The second time we went we had the arm floaties along with the belly one, and it was finally enough floatation devises to keep her afloat and she could paddle around by herself a bit.

Below: At the lake at our family reunion.

Above: Sprinkler fun!

Below: Julia's in blue with Dad standing with crossed arms behind her.

Fingers and Toes - So Precious

I love babies' little fingers and toes, they are just so precious and tiny. I could just eat them up!

Above and Below Pictures: Amelia's fingers and toes the day she was born.

Below: Those precious little feet at two weeks. Doesn't this just make you want to tickle them?