Carson is officially crawling! After a few weeks of wobbling on his knees and a few little tumbles, he decided it was time. And boy, did he take off! He's a fast little guy and we're constantly chasing him around. His favorite thing to do now is pull himself up on the furniture. He gets so excited when he makes it across the room to capture his favortite toy, or to hug his doggy. He'll take a break to give us a smile and make sure we're watching him. My mission this weekend is to baby-proof the house!

We're getting in the "spirit" of Halloween.

Thanks for the cute shirt Grandma Jolene - it's a perfect fit!

Every year our neighborhood has a Halloween party for all of the kids. Grandma Kathy and our friends Andrea, Chad, and Kyle (the cute little bear) joined us. They served everyone pizza and cake and had the classic games- apple bobbing, pumpkin carving, and costume and pumpkin-seed-spitting contests. The boys are a little young to enjoy the festivities, but they were mesmerized by all of the cute little princesses and witches running around!

Morning sunshine

Wake up Mom and Dad - It's time to play!!!

See this smile?

That's because I just found out that my Grandpa and Grandma Groll are coming to spend my 1st Christmas with me and my mom and dad!!! I can't wait 'till they get here-we're going to have such a fun week :)

Pumpkin Farm Petting Zoo

Another beautiful fall day in West Michigan!
We ventured north in search of pumpkins and found ourselves at Lewis Farms, a huge Farmer's Market with a pumpkin farm, petting zoo, apple orchards, and tons of activities for children and families. We didn't anticipate the huge crowd and therefore had a bit of a hike from where we parked the car, so we weren't able to pick up pumpkins.
But that's okay- we had a great day and came home with a little sun on our cheeks, some great pictures of our little pumpkin, a chunk of warm homemade fudge and some fresh apple cider. I love fall!

Happy Saturday!

I love to play peek-a-boo in the bedding while my mommy does the laundry!
If you look real close you can see my little bottom tooth in the first picture :)

Carson and Grandpa

Playing with Grandpa Tom.

Snuggling and getting ready to watch the final debate!

We took a road trip this weekend to Paw-Paw to join in the 1st Birthday celebration of Canyon Keller-our friend's Utah and Anna's son. It was a gorgeous fall day, sunny skies in the low 80's-perfect for an outdoor party. We enjoyed the beautiful day as well as catching up with our good friends. Canyon is a cool little dude. Carson and Canyon will be racing each other down the ski hills in a couple of years. With their helmets on, of course.

Update on the boys- Carson is feeling much better and his first tooth just came in this past week! One little tooth on the bottom so far. Ryan goes in Tuesday for an MRI on his back. Hopefully it's nothing major and he'll recover quickly.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Our "Margarita Monday" happy hour plans may have changed to takeout, wine and a movie in the den, but that's okay, we'll still find a way to toast to Ryan's 29th year. Happy birthday to you Ryan- my sweet, loving, husband. I'm so lucky to have you, and Carson is too. There's a reason why "da da" was his first (and so far, only) word. You are such an amazing father and it fills my heart to see you two together. It's been such an exciting journey with you so far, and I can't wait to see where the future brings us!

Pictures taken just before we took off to our pediatrician appt. a couple of hours ago. Can't you tell he's feeling crummy? Even with bronchiotitis and a double ear infection he's a happy little munchkin. Well, not so much at midnight, 3a.m., and 5a.m. this morning when he was screaming in pain and we took turns rocking him back to sleep. But once he found out mom and dad took the day off to be with him today, he cheered right up. I almost canceled his appt. because he was so happy this morning, thankfully I didn't. Once we figure out how the heck we're going to secure the inhaler/mask contraption to the wiggle worm long enough for it to be effective, he should be on his way back to his healthy little self.

Now Ryan, after a week of me nagging him, is off to see his doctor. He took "a little spill" when he was mountain biking off trail last weekend and the pain has been pretty severe this week. He's not the type to got to the doctor (he wasn't even sure who his doctor is, if that tells you anything) so for him to go in it has to be pretty bad. When he almost fell down the stairs because his back and legs gave out, I forced him to make the call. Hopefully it's nothing too serious and can be cured with a little rest -a word that is not in his vocabulary-but hopefully hearing it from the doc will make him slow down and heal.

Oh, did I mention that it's Ryan's birthday today?! More to come on that...

"Splish-Splash I LOVE taking a bath!"

Dream, Baby, Dream

"Sleep, Baby, sleep,

Dream, Baby, dream,

Dance in the starlight,

Swing from a moonbeam.

Imagine the things

You'll grow up to be,

Create your own world

In still reverie.

Play on the playgrounds

You're meant to explore,

Sail all your sailboats

To faraway shores.

The future is yours, Baby,

To have and to hold,

Take hold of your fancies;

Be strong and be bold!

Sleep, Baby, Sleep,

Swing from a moonbeam,

Tomorrow's your future,

So Dream, Baby, Dream"

-S. Farral