Happy Thanksgiving

We are enjoying the holiday from Chicago and we hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving day and is having a great weekend. Brian and I are so thankful for many things; our great families, wonderful friends, and especially our little girl who has transformed our lives. Kate by the way LOVED her first Thanksgiving meal. She had sweet potatoes, turkey, cranberries, mashed potatoes, and her favorite of the night - stuffing. We think she is the cutest turkey ever!

NY Helpers

This weekend Gammie and Pop Pop came for a little visit. We are having such an awesome time. Kate has warmed right up to them once again, and they have even taught her to clap on command. In St. Louis and Minnesota we used to take Wa and Linda to all the touristy places, but while in Michigan we seem to work them to the bone. We find tons of projects that need their assistance, and certainly appreciate all their help. I'm starting to feel a little guilty we haven't made it up north together yet, but maybe next time as the home improvement projects are getting a little smaller. It is such fun to have them, and we will certainly be sorry to see them go tomorrow.

Mommy's Helper

Kate loves to do everything and anything her Dad or I am doing. She loves to drink from our glasses like a big girl. If I'm washing dishes or cooking, she pulls on my leg to be picked up to "supervise". If I'm putting away dishes, she's there banging on the dishwasher. If I'm folding clothes, she's pulling them out of the dryer. If I'm putting away groceries, she's pulling them out. She is quite the cutie and makes all of these tasks much much more enjoyable, even if they now take a little longer.

Kate's 10 Month Pictures

Below you will find Kate's 10 month pictures. 10 Months! Yes 10 Months. It's truly hard to believe that I am the Mom of a 10 month old, but boy has it been fun. Kate is starting to stand unassisted for long periods of time, is cruising along the furniture, and can even take a few clumsy steps with only one hand being held. Walking may be around the corner, but we are certainly not encouraging it. She is busy enough already. Kate loves climbing it might be a result of Gymboree, but nonetheless we have to watch her ALL the time. She knows exactly where she is not suppossed to go and bolts for those spots everytime we turn our head. Kate has a great laugh and we get to enjoy it often. She is becoming much better at entertaining herself with her ever growing amount of toys. Kate is eating all table food now, and loves yogurt and cheese. She has been a pretty tough teether, but with the top ones finally cutting through things and sleeping have been much better. My favorite is that Kate gives wonderful kisses, hugs, and adorable pats on the back. We hope you enjoy her 10 Month Pictures below.

CLICK HERE for Kate's 10 Month Pictures!

Exciting News!

Katie is engaged! Ben proposed to my sister last night in the Signature Room, at the top of the John Hancock Building. She was very surprised. We are all very excited to add Ben to our family and to plan another wedding of course. Check out her blog for the whole story and some pictures.

CLICK HERE for Ben and Katie's Blog!

The Best $3 I have ever spent

Kate has really started to enjoy books. We have been reading to her consistently from birth, and she has always had her favorites, Peekaboo Baby and Where's Spot. Now Kate loves to grab the books, turn the pages, and look at the pictures. It is so cute and successfully entertains her for a few minutes.


Kate is also learning concepts like up and down, open and close, and in and out. These new concepts have resulted in a fascination with doors, as well as an affinity for emptying things; like a toy box or laundry basket of nicely folded clothes or a kitchen cupboard.

At a Mom-2-Mom sale I bought an extra play mat for Kate for our 2nd floor for $3. It turns into a little tunnel after they outgrow the mat part. The tunnel has been so worth it. Kate loves it! She is spatially fascinated by it, and I am so pleased with my $3 purchase. She cracks up anytime we play with it, as you can see in the video below.

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate Laughing in the Tunnel!

The Party Girl

Kate, Brian, and I made it back to Chicago two weekends ago for our cousin Tommy's baptism. It was a great ceremony and wonderful to all be together as a family. They had a party out at a banquet hall later that night and we all had such fun!



Kate was quite the party girl. She was dancing up a storm which you can see from the video below. I'm not really surprised that we ended up with a fun-loving kid, I think it's just the extent to which she is active and fun that was unexpected.

CLICK HERE for Video of Kate Dancing!

Trick or Treat

Friday was Kate's first Halloween and our first Halloween with child. It was probably the most fun Halloween of my life! The weather was just gorgeous and Kate had an absolute blast. We went to the wonderful home of a family from church. They had an amazing spread of food, a bonfire, and we went trick or treating in their neighborhood. Kate loved hanging out with the kids and all the action of the night. I swear she thinks she's at least 10 already. For Halloween here in Michigan a siren goes off at 6, and all the kids can start trick or treating (another goes off at 8 to end the festivities.) Many of the houses really go all out with decorations, and almost everyone sits in their driveway with a fire going, socializing, and handing out treats. Parents with kids go for a trick or treating stroll with adult beverages in hand. I mean almost everyone had a drink with them. It was a little bit of an odd site for a residential area, but yet very fun. It was kind of like a family tail-gate party if such a thing is possible. I think the neat part was everyone in the community out and visiting with each other. Brian and I really enjoyed the wonderful company for the night, and, of course, seeing our little girl so happy.