27 pictures later....

We may have a Christmas card photo...here are the outtakes!
This past Sunday was George's Christmas party for the Army. We decided since the kids were all dressed up to take photos...

Santa stopped by to visit the kids. In line Lilly had rehearsed what she was going to tell him. Once she got to take her turn..this is what happened...I see a Ralphie in her future.

Lilly explaining to bubby how to get things done

Our big Angel.

My personal favorite. If you look really closely you notice he is trying to "sneak" the bell away from his sister.

Lilly then decided that a round of Jingle Bells was in order.

November

Unfortunately I have not been good about taking pictures of the kids so far. Between bulding a house, switching to a different Sylvan (with a promotion to go with it), and trying to stay on top of everything else we have all been very busy!

George is still refusing to crawl as he finds that he can roll and scoot around the room just fine. He is teething like crazy, but still no teeth. He however is really enjoying his new found love...bread.

The house is coming along really well. George works just a few miles away so he has been able to go everyday after work to take pictures. We now have windows, electrical outlets and a roof (they are shingling today and tomorrow). We are so excited to see the progress and Lilly loves to stop by the new house.

She even got to stand in her new room this weekend. Things look so small when they are only framed in, but it is really taking shape!

So much to update....so little space

Here's a rundown of our whirlwind fall so far...we began the 8 week process of building our house the first of September so we should have been moving in by now. By the Grace of God we had complications at our last lot and had to choose a different subdivision. We LOVE our new lot and went from 1/4 acre to .84 acres!!! They started construction last week and here we are today (they will begin framing tomorrow)

Here was the photo at the beginning of the week.

The kids had a great Halloween. After a party at daycare on Friday where Yoda stole the show in the infant room, the kids got to go trick-or-treating with their cousins in Lowell.
The week after that George came down with a double ear infection and is now on day 2 of his second antibiotic. Lilly came down that same week with pneumoni and is on day 7 of her 10 day treatment. Lilly is doing MUCH better and is nearly back to her own self. Bubby is still feeling pretty miserable, but is hopefully on the mend.

Pumpkin Carving

We found a GREAT cider mill near us and had a blast picking out our pumpkins from the approx. 4 acre pumpkin patch!! (sorry, the pictures are loaded in opposite order)


Lilly showing off the first of two pumpkins. This one has a bat carved in it.

Baby George's face after holding and then tasting some of the insides of the pumpkin!

Brother laughing at sister who is encouraging him to hold but not eat the pumpkin insides (she really looks out for him:)

Lilly beginning to scoop out the pumpkin. This is a far improvement from last year when she wouldn't even touch the pumpkin at all. This year she would not touch the insides of the large pumpkin, but dove right into the small one!

Lilly carefully watching daddy do the big pumpkin, not so sure about joining in.

Settling In

We are all beginning to settle into temporary apartment living for the time being.
Our closing on hour Belleville house got delayed and we are shooting for Oct 9th. We have moved into our apartment and the kids transitioned flawlessly. They LOVE the new daycare and I am loving the staff that I am working with at Sylvan!

George loves being able to sit for longer periods of time now as he can choose his own toys from his toybox!

Paper is the most exciting toy right now which makes it easy to take him to a restaurant because he will spend the entire time tearing up napkins (and trying to sneak some for a snack).

George just began eating puffs yesterday and loves this new chewing idea. We knew he was ready when he began "chewing" with us when we were eating.

End of Summer Fun

We have so many updates to share. We are closing on our house here in Belleville on the 30th of September. We will be moving into an apartment for a few months in Grand Ledge while our house is being built in Dewitt. The builders are estimating a mid-December closing for the house in Dewitt. I just got a job offer this week with the Sylvan in Lansing, so I will be starting on the 28th there! Many exciting changes to come in the next few weeks..including brother and sister sharing a room for a few months!


This week we got to visit Sandi, Jeff, and Miles in Chicago. Lilly and George both loved seeing the zoo and spending time with their friend Miles.

Miles got to take Lilly on her first carousel ride. She loved it and told daddy that she liked that it went up and down.

Holding brother on the sea turtle (yes, mommy is crazy and let her hold him all by herself, but Sandi was waiting in the wings to swoop him up as soon as we were done with the pictures).

Lilly and Miles pretending to be animals. They have a whole wall of these cut outs...how fun!

We all loved our visit so much and for the first time EVER Lilly slept until 9 this morning..now if only she could convice her brother not to get up at 5:30 still!

Camping

Lilly LOVED camping! Here she is "fishing" with daddy. I'm not sure it can properly be called fishing as she would throw her line into the water and immediately reel it in, but had a blast doing it.

The best part of camping for Lilly was definately the fire, sticks, and frogs. She loved being able to sit in her own chair.

Daddy was told some great campfire stories in the process.

Lilly also got to play with glow sticks and even brought a couple of them home with her (not glowing anymore of course).

All in all the "rustic" camping went well. All three nights Lilly asked to go to bed around 9pm, so both kids were asleep in the tent which was great. They even slept in two of the mornings until 7:)