What We're Thankful For...

Where to begin? A daughter who is more than we could ever imagine...skilled and caring nurses, midwives, physicians, and support staff...loving family, friends, church members and coworkers who have gone out of their way to give support and show their love...the all-encompassing Grace of God...and all those little things He has blessed us with in between. We truly have much to be thankful for.

Sorry the updates have been a bit late...we've had technical difficulties with the photos. We hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving!

2-Month Checkup

Paige had her 2-month checkup on Monday...still so hard to believe that she's that "old". She tipped the scales at 12 lbs, 5.5 oz, and measured 21 inches long...this put her at the 90th percentile for weight, but only 25th percentile for height! But in Dr. Henderson's words, "she doesn't look like the Michelin man that these numbers suggest"! She does have the chubby thighs that nurses love for giving shots...and she got several (oh to be a baby...when thunder thighs are a good thing)! That was not fun to watch (nor fun for her to receive), but she got over it pretty quick. Everything else is still looking great, so we continue to have a happy, healthy baby! Here's a small sample of her jibberish...unfortunately it didn't last long, as you will see when I realize it's time to stop recording...we'll keep working on getting a better clip. The "ah-goo" that Matt says to her is what she usually does, along with a smile, of course :)

Hanging Out With the Big Kids: First Weekend Trip

It became clear to us about a week ago that Paige and I would need to go with Matt on the Fall Retreat for our church's senior high youth group, so I could help chaperone. Our retreats are held at a beautiful (and large) log cabin in the woods, on a private lake near Big Rapids, owned by a family in our church. Being there is almost heaven (insert John Denver music here).

Paige was great the entire weekend, and everyone seemed to not mind her being there--she's so good-natured that we weren't too worried, especially since she doesn't make much noise at night. Some of the kids had fun holding her (after hand-washing, of course), and were entertained by her funny faces and noises.

Paige was even dressed in celebration of Opening Day, courtesy of Grandpa Buning! Yes, Matt missed the start of deer season, but we're planning to go up to McBain most of Thanksgiving week...keep your fingers crossed for venison jerky and summer sausage!

Baby's First Boo

Paige's first "witching season" started with a super-cute jack-o-lantern made by Grandpa Parrott, the professional pumpkin carver of the family, complete with her name and birthday!


We also went to Robinette's, a local orchard/winery/etc to get pumpkins for us to carve and check out the rest of the tourist-y fun. I think Paige is still a bit young for that part--she slept through the whole thing, as seen in the picture in front of the giant Robinette apple. As we were waiting in line to pay for our cider & pumpkin donuts, we ran into a couple from our childbirth class. It was nice to see another little one (theirs is 2 weeks younger, and was almost named Paige), and compare "war stories"!




No, Paige didn't go trick-or-treating (she's not much of a candy fan), or have a costume, but she did dress in the adorable outfits and accessories that she'd received. After all, she wanted to dress as a baby for Halloween...

Playing catch up

Yes, we're guilty as charged--we've had a number of complaints for not updating the blog, so I'll do my best to get Paige Pics out to the masses; these are from the past few weeks. That's what everyone really looks for anyway. Don't lie.

Time is flying by SO fast. Paige is now 7 weeks old, and nearly weighs 11 pounds! She's been healthy as a horse, and eating like one too. I already get teary-eyed by how fast she's growing (thinking about how she'll soon be sassing back at me and thinking I'm uncool, and wanting to shop at trendy-kid stores), and then Matt laughs at me. In addition to her frequent grunting, she coos and hums, and makes great big grins that are usually difficult to catch on camera. She's getting much better at holding her head up on her own, and loves putting things in her mouth--her fist, Daddy's finger if she's holding it, and she's very close to being able to replace her own pacifier when she spits it out.

Paige is a big fan of her stroller, swing, car rides, riding in Mommy's sling...so much that they all put her right to sleep. But she also loves watching the mobile on her swing and in her crib as she fights that ol' sandman.

Well, time to go take a walk in the beautiful autumn sunshine...hope everyone is enjoying the fall as much as we are!