Halloween 2012

Our little guy spent his first Halloween as a little monkey!  

Check out his pouty face in this pic:)

On another note- our house is sold and we closed on it this week!  We are renting back from the new owners until they sell their house- so no moving...yet!  Our new house should be getting started in the next few weeks!

Catching Up...again

It seems another month has gone by with no blog updates- so time to play catch up...again!  So, here are few things we have been up to in the last month...

The weekend after Labor Day we went on our first family camping trip to Ludington State Park.  We had a great time- just the three of us.  We hiked, biked, walked the beach and just spent time together.  My parents let us use their pop-up camper- unfortunately we will not be buying one of our own any time soon as Scott had no love for the take-down process:)

Miles started and stopped eating rice cereal- he did great eating it, but he stopped sleeping well.  Of course, it was a no-brainer to stop giving it to him so we could all get some sleep.  We are taking a break from the cereal for now.  Hopefully we will try again soon. He looks like such a big boy in his high chair!

It is not Fall without a visit to Crane's to pick apples and eat donuts!  Unfortunately the apples were pretty scarce this year...but we had a great time with the Sayers!

Last weekend we headed downtown GR with Katie, Andrew and Peyton for Artprize!  It was crazy busy since the exhibit "Lights in the Night" was taking place that evening.  We did not see as much as we wanted to since it was so busy...but we did see the winner- Elephants- which was impressive!  

"Lights in the Night" was awesome...we are so glad we went that evening despite the crowds.

Last week Miles turned 5 months old!  On the day he turned 5 months I found his first little tooth starting to poke through!  Stop growing up so fast little man!

On another note- just to keep everyone updated- our Ethiopia adoption wait time was extended...again. We are now being told the total wait time to get a referral is 25-29 months.  We are 15 months into the wait.  Hoping and praying this is the last increase in wait time...

4 months!

Miles turned 4 months old earlier this week!  Today we took him to his 4 month doctor's appointment.  We knew he was growing fast-our little guy is now a BIG guy.  He weighed in at 17.25 pounds and was 26 1/2 inches long- both 90th percentile!  He is happy & healthy and that is all that matters to us:)

He is loving his fingers and toes right now!

These little eyes follow us everywhere!

Baptism

A few weeks ago we had the privilege of baptizing Miles at our church!  It was such an awesome evening of celebrating Miles' life and our commitments to him.  Our church holds a separate service for child baptisms/dedications, so Miles and eight other children were baptized or dedicated that evening!  

Several of our family and friends were able to join us that night.  We shared food and laughs before the baptism service and Miles just took it all in...he was seriously perfect all night!  Grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends all came to celebrate our little guy- we are so blessed to have all of these people supporting our little family!

Our church asked us to write a letter to Miles for him to be able to read when he gets older- a letter that explains our commitments made to him that night to raise him in a Christ-centered home.  We were able to share our letter to Miles with our friends and family during the service.  It was a special moment to share this letter with the people who were praying, praying, praying for Miles even before he joined our family.   

Happenings

It has been over a month already since I last posted, so it is time for an update!  

Scott and I having been going up north for our anniversary for quite a few years, so this year we made it a family trip.  We made the trip to Traverse City for one night in mid July.  This was Miles' first night away from home- so we decided to just make it a one-night getaway to see if he would handle it alright.  He did great (except for some fussiness in the car)!  We really enjoyed our time away on our first family "trip".

Later in July our small group went tent camping at Poncho's Pond in Ludington- we opted for a hotel this year with baby Miles as our excuse:)  We had a great time hanging out with friends, cooking for each other and having campfires!  We are already looking forward to next year's camping adventure!

The campground rented this giant water slide for an afternoon.  The kids loved it- so did the big kids (even though they came away with a few injuries).

The boys talking strategy:)

12 out of the 13 kiddos in the group!

From Ludington we traveled straight to Baldwin to Big Star Lake where the Scott's family rents a cottage each year.  We always have a fun and relaxing vacation here!

Miles' first ride on the boat

Miles was such a good sport with his life jacket on!

Maybe in a few years bud!

a great spot for a nap!

Last week Miles turned 3 months!  He is growing so fast!  It is so fun to see him grow and develop- it seems like he is doing something new almost every day! He is such a smiley little guy right now-  especially in the morning.  He continues to do great sleeping at night- and he really likes to eat...and still has all of this black hair!