Pretty Fall

Pumpkin Patch #1

This October we made no fewer than four trips to three different pumpkin patches. Here was our first one. It was a gorgeous day, and they had the best selection of pumpkins. Myla loved it. And I love this picture of her.

Luke took a little snooze; riding in style.

Myla picking out her pumpkin and driving the tractor.

Big cheesin'.


Myla on the ride home, with her very own pumpkin.

Jonny and Maria visit

On Halloween weekend, Matthew's brother Jonathan and his girlfriend Maria came to visit us. Myla was thrilled to have both of them here, and Luke got to meet them for the first time. They also bravely took on babysitting for both kids so we could go to a Halloween party Saturday night--thanks guys! Maria is a NICU nurse so we knew they were in very capable hands.

Here are some great photos from their trip. In the first one, Myla and her "Uncle Jonny" put on just about every winter accessory we own. Which is a lot.

Ice Cream with Pop

One of Myla's favorite things to do with Pop is make--and eat--homemade ice cream. Here are some shots from our last batch of the summer.

My Gang

Some goofy pics from when Luke was about a month old.

2 Months

Luke had his two month appointment today, and Dr. Sanders confirmed what we strongly suspected--Luke is a big boy! At 15 lb., 8 oz. and 25.5 inches, he's over the 95th percentile in weight and height. And most importantly, he's healthy.

Here are the pictures from his two month photo shoot. Love those smiles!

Jennifer & Matt Visit

Around the end of September, Matthew's sister Jennifer and her husband Matt came to visit us and meet Luke. They have visited us before, but this time Matthew's parents kept their daughters so they could visit us solo. And while we love seeing Anna and Megan, it was really nice to have some time with a higher adult-to-kid ratio! Jennifer posted some great pictures of their visit on their blog, and here are a couple I took. Thanks Matt and Jennifer for making the trip, we all had a great time!

UNICEF Thank you!

Halloween is over, and while there are still a few UNICEF donations rolling in, it looks like we've blown our goal out of the water! At last count the total was about $357. We have been so impressed with the generosity of our family, friends, and coworkers that we have decided to match the donations to make it count even more. So that brings Myla and Luke's contribution to over $700--click here to see the amazing amount of good this can do!

As a thank-you to all our benefactors, we will be having a 10-day posting marathon, starting today! We'll begin with trick-or-treating photos and then look back at some of the other fun things we did in October.

First, here are Myla and Luke in their costumes again. Every time we asked Myla what she wanted to be for Halloween, she said "Christmas." So we made it happen! You can't tell in the photo but the lights really worked and the costume had bells and ornaments on it. Myla had a blast wearing it. Luke went with the theme as an adorable Christmas present.



Here we are trick-or-treating. At one point I suggested we call it quits, but she wanted "more houses!"



Our trick-or-treating was based out Nick and Anna's house for the third year in a row. Here, Nick gives Luke his first official trick-or-treating candy. Anna, Kimber, and Jill hand out candy to the masses.



Luke slept through most of trick-or-treating. He only woke up when his costume started having technical difficulties. So cute!

Trick or Treat for UNICEF!

Myla and Luke will be trick-or-treating for UNICEF this year! Neither kid needs tons of candy and many of you won't see them on Halloween, so this project is a great alternative that helps out kids around the world. Our goal this year is $67.79, which will buy 10,000 water-purifying tablets that make water safe for kids to drink. We aren't asking for much, just hoping for lots of small donations--so please log in to give even just a dollar or two. Just $1.16 can buy a packet of high-energy biscuits to feed kids in emergency situations!

To donate, click on this link. We really appreciate your help, as do kids around the world!

Falling Out of Bed

Thought I would do a short post to report that Myla fell out of her bed last night for the first time. It's quite startling to be woken up at 5:30 am by a really loud thud followed by your daughter crying. Kasey immediately said, "Myla fell out of bed" which I thought was pretty amazing because I was in quite a haze and couldn't tell what I heard or if I was dreaming.

I went in to find Myla crying on the floor. In typical fashion, she recovered pretty quickly and went back to sleep after I read her a of couple books. No doubt she was scared to death and I'm sure it didn't feel very good to hit the hardwood floors. Here's hoping it's a one-time event and not something that we have to try to prevent!

Of course there are no pictures, though I was really hoping that we had a monitor that was recording her while she slept so that I could see what happened.