First Haircut

As you've probably read over the past few monthly updates, Micah has been well overdue for a haircut.     A few times in the past month, Micah's hair has been in a ponytail when we've picked him up from daycare. We've been putting it off for several reasons - most notably we love his curls. Secondly, we knew that it wasn't going to be pleasant experience for Micah nor the person who would be cutting his hair. As a side-note, Micah hates having his fingernails/toenails clipped and I usually do it when he's asleep. Only within the past few months has he allowed us to brush his teeth without having to hold him down.You can image what he would be like with someone trying to cut his hair...

For his first haircut, we wanted to take him to someone that we knew. We were in luck, as a good friend of the Raadt family cuts hair. Even better, is that she has a son who is only a few months older than Micah, so she was well aware of cutting kids hair AND she volunteered to cut it in her home. Thank you Mary! Armed with snacks and toys, Micah survived his first haircut last Saturday morning.

Before (Thanksgiving day). His bangs were so long and kept getting into his eyes.

During - he only allowed a few snips of the scissors. Mary worked quickly and did a great job.

Post haircut lunch with "Poppa", Grandma and Uncle Augie at McDonalds.

The Chamberlain's Visit

Last weekend, my good friend Jackie and her family made the trek to Winona for a short visit. It's hard to believe that the last time that we saw them was in April, right around the time that I found out I was pregnant. Jackie and Ryan have two boys - Sam, 3 and Oliver who will also be 2 in January. Our boys had a great time playing together for the afternoon, and we enjoyed catching up with both of them. If only we lived closer....

Another failed attempt at a group picture!

Such cuties, and good pals too.

Jackie and I (and a few of the paint samples that were on the living room wall of our new house)

A Baby Shower, House, and Pregnancy Updates

Last weekend, I enjoyed a quick trip up the the cities to throw a baby shower, along with 2 other college friends, for our good friend Kristen, who is due in early January. Kristen and I met our junior year in college and she has been one of my closest friends since then. It is nothing short of pure coincidence that our due dates are roughly 4 days apart. She and her husband, Mike, are also waiting to find out the gender of their baby.

New favorite cake is from Blooming Grounds in Winona

After the shower, it was great to sit around and hang out with our college friends. While everyone else was drinking yummy wine and/or cherry rum and cokes Kristen and I enjoyed an Odouls. Thank you to Anna's husband, Chris, for running to the liquor store and buying some for us.

I stayed over in the cities on Saturday night, but was back home in Winona by 9:30 the next morning to finish cleaning the house for an open house. Yes, our house still remains on the market. Up until last week, we consistently seemed to have 1 or more showings/week on the house, but have only had 1 offer up until this point. It can be frustrating at times, but we keep reminding ourselves that "God's timing is perfect". We trust that someone will eventually love our house as much as we've loved it. Having 2 houses is less than ideal, but we're making it work by cutting back in other areas of our life.

In the meantime, we've been doing some work on the new house - eventual blog pictures will be posted. So far, we've had the popcorn ceilings taken down on the main level and orange peel put up. It looks much better! The drywall company has to come back this week to make a few touch-ups in the living room, laundry room and our bedroom. New light fixtures have been purchased, and Kyle and his parents were able to put up several of them. Unfortunately, the ceiling fans that we are replacing have been a bigger challenge to put up, and an electrician will need to put them up. Additionally, an electrician needs to come out and hook up our new dryer. The current dryer hook up is gas. My goal is to finish the above listed projects, paint the main floor (with exception of the new baby's room) and clean the carpets all within the next 4 weeks.

Pregnancy-wise, things are going well. I am 32 weeks along, but am measuring about a week ahead of schedule. The baby is sounding great, my blood sugar/weight gain/glucose, etc, etc are all looking good. At my doctor's appointment last week, my OB and I further discussed a C-section versus a VBAC. Given the current size of the baby, and my previous labor experience, and numerous other risks associated with a VBAC, he strongly recommended a C-section. I can officially say that I have peace about my decision. On December 28th (or before) we will meet the newest member of the Raadt family. December 28th is a Friday, and if things go as planned, I would be discharged on Monday. Kyle is off the entire first week of January. When I had Micah, I went into the hospital on a Monday and wasn't discharged until Saturday. I only 1 day at home with Kyle before he had to return to work. I again need to keep reminding myself that God's timing is perfect and anything is possible between now and December 28th.

Halloween Festivies

Micah had a great 2nd Halloween! Although he's still pretty young to fully appreciate trick or treating, the activities associated with Halloween are still super fun for him.

A few weekends ago, we hit up a local pumpkin patch to get pumpkins. We were slightly pressed for time, as we had a wedding to attend later that afternoon in Rochester, so we weren't able to go out into the field with a cart to pick our own pumpkin. The pumpkin patch itself has a bunch of pre-picked pumpkins, and Micah quickly found one that he liked.

Micah's $9.00 pumpkin choice - it's huge and could only be lifted by Daddy.

The pumpkin patch also had tractors to drive and goats to feed. Micah enjoyed each....

Of course Brutus had to come, and a pumpkin was purchased in his honor.

A few days later, our tradition of painting the pumpkin was carried out. Last year we did the same thing, except Micah wasn't mobile at that time. This year, we got paint on the dishwasher, cupboards, and of course on Mom and baby sister/brother.

Halloween itself was a perfect day! I was off of work that day, but had a bunch of errands to run in La Crosse. Micah attended daycare in the morning where they had a Halloween party. I picked him up shortly after lunch, and we stopped by my work where an employee Halloween party was going on. One of the best parts of Halloween was that Kyle got off of work early - something that has only happened a handful of times. We all (Brutus included) went trick or treating in our new neighborhood with our friends the Kelleys. Micah is probably a year away from getting into trick or treating. We went to approximately 10 houses where he let a neighbor's dog out, picked another's tomatoes and eventually dumped his candy out in the middle of the street. After that, we told our friends to go on, while we decided to go back to our new house and pass out candy.

Our little puppy dog