good-bye october

Our family went for a little jog this morning. We parked near the Botanical Gardens, and after we were done with our morning workout we decided to walk through the gardens. I am so glad that we did because it was absolutely beautiful. It was peaceful, the leaves were all sorts of colors and it was the perfect fall morning. Our little stroll turned into an impromptu fall photo shoot with the little man. Too bad I didn't have a cuter outfit on- oh well that is life.

Prepare for picture overload

 

 "ooo- a leaf!"

 

 "i think i'll try it!"

 "papa bear there for the save!" 

 he LOVED playing with the leaves!

 evidence of his excitement playing with the leaves. too much kicking!

boys will be boys :)

After our little stroll and photo shoot, we headed to Starbucks and picked up some warm, fall drinks. Dinner is in the crockpot, pumpkin muffins are in the oven and baby is down for a nap. What a wonderful day. 

Good-bye October. Hello November!

Fall Project

Although I have many 'boards' on Pinterest, I only use a few of them: food, kid's crafts and back when I was teaching: lesson plans I found on there. Oh- it was also helpful with giving me ideas of Zach's nursery. One area where I have not dipped my toes is Home Decoration or DIY projects. Well folks, that has changed! I have officially completed my first crafty project for the home.

Lace Burlap Table Runner

I actually don't remember pinning this table runner, but while I was browsing some of my boards a month or so ago, I came across this pin and stopped to ponder it for a minute. I thought it would be so cute to make the table runner as the backdrop for a fall table centerpiece. I envisioned the table runner with little white pumpkins and white flowers in cute little vases going down the middle of the table.

To be quite honest, I had no desire to decorate for fall this year. The house is still on the market and my husband is still looking for a new job. With all the unclear plans in the air, I didn't feel like decorating, only to have to pack it up in a week or two. All of my decorations are also packed away. Well, since we are still here I thought I would give into my artsy-fall itch and make my vision come to life.

My mom, sister and I (and Zach) went apple picking again the other day and we stopped off at some more fall stands. My mom mentioned that she wanted to get a white pumpkin and I figured if I was going to do this whole table scape, I better do it now because pumpkins will be disappearing soon. I bought three mini white pumpkins and decided to go for it. I made a trip to Jo-Ann Fabrics and bought the burlap, lace and liquid stitch glue.

The table runner was super easy to make:

Materials:

• Burlap- you can buy it by the yard at Jo-Ann Fabrics. Michaels also had some pre-cut and packaged. I went with the by the yard because it was cheaper and you can control how much you buy.
• Lace ribbon of your choice
• Liquid Stitch
• Scissors 

Directions: 

• Cut burlap to desired length and width. Our table is a little over six feet long and I wanted the runner to hang over the edges a bit so my runner is 7 ft. long and 15 inches wide. 
• Apply liquid stitch to the edges of the burlap and glue the lace down.  [I thought liquid stitch would be a lot faster, cleaner and more sturdy than a glue gun. I also don't know how to 'actually' sew!] The liquid stitch does dry clear- when it is first applied it is white.
• After it is done drying- go back and snip any lose ends to clean it up.

See- easy peasy. And here is the end result with pumpkins and flowers!

I love it and I am so happy that I decided to make it. I also love that this table runner can serve as a blank canvas on any table in any season. You can add some evergreen branches, berries and candles for Christmastime, or some fresh spring flowers for a dash of color in Spring!

Six Months!

It is so hard to believe that our sweet little, bouncy boy is six months old. Half a year old. Six months of learning how to be parents. Six months of smiles. Six months of giggles. Six months of enjoying this most precious gift from the Lord. Zach is such a blessing. Sometimes I can't wait until he wakes up in the morning, just so I can see him and talk to him. But then I remember that he likes to wake up at 4:30 in the morning. Just kidding, little buddy. I am happy to see you at all times of the day :) Zach just keeps growing and growing, as it should be. He is the most. active. baby. ever. And that is not my own opinion. Everyone who sees him and spends time with him says the same thing. My parents (who raised 9 kids) said that none of us were as active as he is. His activity has grown from simply kicking, and moving all fours at once, to now being able to roll across the floor. He can get from point A to point B in a matter of seconds. He is also learning how to sit up on his own. He is still very social and talks and smiles at everyone. No stranger danger here. Although with new people, he does stare at them for a bit before cracking a smile right away. This month was pretty mellow in terms of the things that he did, until we decided to road trip up to Ohio with Nana, Grandpa and Aunt Jen- so once again, we had another busy month-including his first sickness. 

Here are the exciting things he has been up to this past month!

• Went apple picking for the first time! Mom dressed me in my cute little overalls and we headed to the apple orchard. My favorite part was grabbing onto the branches and the leaves. My love for grabbing leaves continues. 

• Celebrated Daddy's birthday! I got him Winnie the Pooh on Blu Ray so we can watch it together :)
• I love my bouncing Tigger. He sings and bounces and whenever he gets going, so do it. I like my legs and flail my arms all at the same time. 
• I love measuring spoons. My favorite thing to do with them is shake them and hear them jingle. Although my Aunt Jen taught be how to clank two spoons together on the 8 hour drive up to Ohio, and I now like to do that as well!
• I am definitely a mobile baby. I can roll over on both sides and can move across the room in a matter of seconds. I can also rotate my self around a full 360 degrees. 
• One of my favorite games to play is tug-a-war. Daddy will hold a blanket over me. I will grab it and we will tug back and forth. I move all of my legs and arms at the same time in excitement. 
• Went to a bunch of pumpkin patches and orchards with my Mommy and Nana. Mommy was trying to get some cute pictures of me with pumpkins. I was so interested in the stem of the pumpkin that I didn't even bother looking at the camera. 

• Then I decided to give the pumpkin a taste. I moved so fast that mommy didn't even have a chance to stop me. 

• Went hiking to the Art Loeb trail. We saw a bunch of leaves changing colors in the mountains. 

• Five people also commented how mommy and daddy were starting me young, in terms of hiking. 

• I still love being outside. 
• I have been having more difficulty sleeping through the night this month. I go to bed around 7:00, but then sometimes I wake up at 2:00. Sometimes I wake up at 4:00 or 4:30. I almost always wake up at 5:00/5:30 in the morning. Daddy says that I like to soar with the eagles. 
• I road-tripped up to Ohio again with my Mommy, Grandpa, Nana and Aunt Jen to see a bunch of my family. This is the second time I have been to Ohio. The first time was when I was only 2 1/2 weeks old for my Uncle Jon and Aunt Lacey's wedding. I did GREAT in the car ride!

• Got to spend time with my Aunts, Uncles and cousins!

 me & aunt kim!

 aunt tessa & kaitlin

 aunt sarah, noah, gabe & kaleb

uncle chris & kaitlin. 

uncle david & emma. 

• Watched my Uncle Ryan play football. 

• Had early morning weightlifting sessions with Uncle Ryan. 

• I got to see my Aunt Jessica and Aunt Stephanie play volleyball!

• I got to see my Gramma Linda :) It was the first time I got to see her since she moved.

• I went apple picking again.

• I met my 'Aunt' Rachel for the first time! She is one of mommy's best friends from college. We just happened to be in Ohio at the same time and were able to meet! 

• I got my first cold :( Being sick is no fun- for babies and for mommies. 
• Rang in my 1/2 birthday with my first fever, call to the doctor after hours and first time taking Tylenol. Happy 0.5 to me!
• Celebrated my first Thanktober: Thanksgiving in October!

• Had my first time to fight a dinosaur: thanks to my cousins, Noah, Gabe and Kaleb. They even gave me some dinosaurs to take home and play with when I'm older! 

• My hair is growing like crazy! It is still as fuzzy as can me. My doctor said that is defies gravity. It is probably also the number one thing people say about me when they first see me. 
• I love to sing. I melt Mommy's heart when she hears me singing along during worship at church. 
• I am starting to sit up unassisted- still a little wobbly but I'm almost there! 
• I have this weird thing where I kind of like being scared and will laugh. Sometimes I also do this laugh/cry. My mom says that it reminds her of my Uncle Jon.

Statistics:
Weight: 17 lbs. 2 oz. [40th percentile]
Height: 28 1/2 inches [98th percentile]
Nicknames: Zachy, babylove, Boo Boo, Zach Attack
Likes: Being outside, Jumperroo, Mirrors, measuring spoons, tags, Bouncy Tigger, singing, people changing voices, tug-a-war, books 
Dislikes: Being by myself, getting my nose wiped/cleaned out, being on my belly for long periods of time
Clothing: 6-12 months/ 9 months. Diapers: Size 3

Milestones:
Roll across the room: 10.3.13
 
6th Month Pictures:

A Note from Mom:
My sweet little Zachy-boy. You have been in our lives for half a year now. It has been such an exciting half a year. You have grown so much. You have the sweetest little personality. You are active and bouncy like your daddy, yet sweet and gentle. When you get picked up, you like to wrap your arms around my neck. You love to talk and sing, whether it is to yourself, to me or daddy or whenever you hear other people talking. You do, however, don't have a problem letting me know when you are lonely, bored or not happy. I LOVE having you in my life. I have gotten so used to having you around. While I was writing this post, you ran a little errand with your daddy and I felt so lonely not having you around. I know these next couple months are going to be filled with many exciting things and ways that you will continue to grow more and more. I love you, my sweet little boy :)