Halloween Party

Kaylie and I went to a Halloween party with some of Mark's family last weekend. It was a lot of fun. I dressed Kaylie up in her giraffe costume (which she picked out at Babies R Us all by herself). :) She was a cutie, and seemed to have fun crawling around everywhere. Halloween should be fun tomorrow.

Walking around with Aunt Kimberly (a.k.a. Construction Worker)

The cute couple (construction worker and road)

Brent, Ranell, & Justin (they won the best overall costume at the party)

SYTYCD New Stage

I have been soo excited for the new season of SYTYCD, and have just had the chance to catch up on Monday and Tuesday night's performances. Does anyone else feel a little disappointed after this week's performances?? It wasn't quite as exciting as I was hoping it would be, and I think it was because of the new stage. It just seemed like the stage was too big and the lights were too distracting. It was hard to focus on the dancer's faces, and hard to feel the connection and story of each dance. I wish they would go back to the old stage. Maybe I just need to re-watch the show...but I'm worried I may not be as into this season. Sad, especially since this is my favorite show. :(

First Steps!

In my last post, I mentioned that Kaylie could stand, but would fall when she tried to take a step. That all changed tonight! I got some good footage of her FIRST STEPS. I think she's going to be walking in no time!

Kaylie Update

Over the last few weeks, Kaylie has started to stand on her own, and she is getting pretty good at it now. She also loves to walk around the house with someone holding onto her hands.  She tries to take a step on her own, but quickly falls down...not there yet.  But I'm sure it will come soon.  Here are some recent pics of my Kaylie babe.  :)

No hands!

Fun in the sink

Cutie pie in her favorite chair

Fun at the Fair

Today, Kaylie and I got to go to a county fair for free!  The apartment complex that my friend Amy lives at pays for each resident (and a guest - which was me!) to go to the fair, as well as a $5 food voucher for each person to pay for lunch.  I was so happy that Amy invited us because the fair was awesome!  There were hayrides, fire engine rides, a corn maze, bounce house, pumpkin patch, apple picking, petting zoo...just a ton of stuff to do and see.  It was huge, and the scenery was great.  Plus, it was a BEAUTIFUL day (which was so nice because it has been rainy and cold the last few days in a row).  Thanks again, Amy!!  We're already looking forward to next year!! hehehe :)

Kaylie and I on a hay ride

Kaylie and Lucy (Amy's daughter)

Beautiful fall trees

Hehehe ... gotta love the dog at the back of the fire engine ride

Me, Kaylie, Amy, Nate (Amy's hubby), and Lucy (Amy's daughter)

Giving the kids a ride while going through the corn maze

Fun with apples :)

Congrats Bob!

  

I got the best phone call yesterday from my brother, Bob.  He told me that he popped the question to his girlfriend, Stacey, on Sunday, and he is now officially engaged to be married!  Wahoo!  I am so excited for him, and can't wait to hear all the details (when, where, etc.).  Congrats, Bob!

What I’ve Been Up To…

Since Mark has started back at school, I have had a lot of time to spend with just Kaylie and myself. I unfortunately don’t get to see Mark much, but we’ve been keeping ourselves busy so we don’t go crazy. Here are a few of the fun things we’ve been up to here in Ann Arbor:

1 – Dinner Group

I love our dinner group! We heard about this idea from a few 2^nd year MBA wives, and so a few of us 1^st year MBA wives decided to give it a try. We all noticed pretty quickly that it is hard to motivate yourself to cook dinner when your husband isn’t home to eat it with you. And it can get depressing just eating by yourself all the time when you do make food. With the dinner group though, you have people to cook for, and you have people to see in those evening hours when your husband is still at school. Here is how it works…There are 3 of us in our group right now (we’re looking for a 4^th), and we each cook one day a week. My friend Abby cooks on Monday, I cook on Tuesday, and my friend Sarah cooks on Wednesday. When I cook on Tuesday, I make enough food for my family and the other 2 (which isn’t too bad – basically doubling a recipe). And then Abby and Sarah come by my house to pick it up. (We usually stay and chat with each other for a while too, and let the kids play for a little bit.) On Monday and Wednesday, I get to go to each of their houses and pick up the food they made. It is awesome! I feel like I am trick-or-treating each week, but I get real food! I love it! And it gives you something to look forward to in the evening, which is a big plus! AND, you don’t have to cook/clean up dishes as much during the week, which I’m happy about. J

2 – Volleyball Night

Every Wednesday night (after the kiddies are asleep), a group of girls from church get together and play Volleyball. It is so much fun! A lot of people come out and play, and it’s cool because everyone plays pretty good. Most of the girls played in high school, and a few of them are REALLY good, so it makes everyone try to play better and get good games going. (I never played in high school, but it has been fun learning new things, and just practicing to get better.) We play until about 11pm, and we are all so tired and sore the next day. But it is worth it! J

3 – Morning Out

Another fun thing that we do through church is called Morning Out. Every Wednesday morning (and sometimes additional days in the week), there is a designated spot that moms and all the kids meet up at to play and hang out. When we first moved here and it was still warm outside, we would meet at different parks each week. Now that it is getting colder, the spot varies…sometimes we meet at someone’s house, other times at the mall play area, or at the library. But it’s nice to have a play date set up each week where we can go and have fun, and know there will be fun people to hang out with.

4 – Library Playgroup

There is a library close to my apartment, and there are playgroups available for kids 0-2 years old at different times during the day and evening. Kaylie and I go to a playgroup every Thursday night, along with a friend who has a 7-month old boy. The playgroup consists of singing time (which Kaylie loves – she loves to shake all the bells and watch the teacher singing), and play time (which Kaylie also loves – there is a little pool filled with balls that she likes to play with). It’s a fun evening outing, and we look forward to it every week.

We’ve been trying to keep ourselves busy, and are grateful that they are a lot of people in the same boat so we have friends to hang out with. I hope all of you are keeping busy and having fun too!