Halloween 2013

Uncle Richard made his annual Halloween visit, this time with his new fiancee, Lauren!  It was my first time meeting Lauren and I already feel like she's part of the family.  Their wedding season this spring is going to be a fantastic celebration.  Miriam really took to her, and she remembered Richard, clinging to his neck when she saw him, refusing to let him go.

Miriam was a lady bug for Halloween, I was a butterfly, and Jason (in theory) a bumblebee, although I don't think Jason's costume ever made it on.  We took her trick or treating to a few houses early on, but she was fast asleep before the real crowds came out.

Friday night we went out for happy hour at Pay n Take:

Sitting break with Auntie Lauren:

Dinner at Criollo:

Picked up some treats at Sweet Shoppe and walked through First Friday festivities.

*Beyond* tired and heading to the car.  She was asleep as we pulled out of the parking lot, and went straight to bed without her bath, complete with chocolate on the face, and avocado on her tights.  She was a MESS the next morning, Jason said she looked like she had a baby hangover.    Miriam is so much fun to take out, and she has so much fun getting to see new places and people.  I'm continually impressed by her good behavior and sweet interactions with folks.

On Saturday Jason and Richard built our stone fireplace, and it looks AMAZING.  If you saw the before shot of the bright gold fireplace cover, bathroom tile, and a beech wood mantle you'd be as impressed as I am with our DIY...such an improvement!

Miriam supervised their work from her highchair, eating pb & j, and wearing her new tiger outfit (gift from Auntie Lauren & Uncle Richard!)

Our last photo before they headed down the mountain to catch their plane.  Richard and I may have cried a little; saying goodbye is never easy.  Fortunately, we get to see them again very soon at Thanksgiving, so at least we have that to look forward to!

Pumpkins for my Pumpkin

Warner's Nursery Fall Festival was this weekend.  We picked pumpkins, checked out the petting "zoo" (totally blown away by the mini horse), and walked the hay maze.

We love fall around here.  Last weekend we went to Dunkin' Donuts for pumpkin donuts.  It's right off campus, so there are always tons of college kids for Miriam to flirt with; she loved it!

Miriam and I go to the library story time on Thursday mornings.  Miriam hugs, kisses other babies, "helps" Miss. Marsha with her supplies (read: pulls down felt pumpkins, steals books, digs for stuffed cow), leads the crowd in group clapping, and likes the marching and bouncing parts.  She's my sweet, free spirited, loving leading lady.  She owns the room. 

Outside story time room is a play room with toys and books.  This was her reaction last week when we arrived, she remembered where we were and how much she loved it!

She makes trips to campus with me too.  Here she is "playing with" (destroying) a co-worker's halloween decorations.  Everyone loves seeing her and is so gracious when I stop by for what we call "walk and talk" meetings; Miriam participates from the BOB.

Mid - Itsy Bitsy Spider; still her favorite.

She stayed up WAY past her bedtime for this weekend's Clemson game.  The game got too stressful for her though so my friend's 13 yo daughter put on Elmo for her; much better.

Oh, and we officially have a walker on our hands.  Although she took her first steps at 13 mo, she really hit her stride last week, just shy of 15 mo.  And today, she started running...things are going to get even more interesting around here.

From last week: a peek into my day.  Following Miriam around, picking up her path of destruction.

Too funny not to share: Miriam pushes Maddie around in her chair.

Oktoberfest

Jason and I never turn down a good festival.  Food, Beer, Live music...yes please.  Miriam is showing promising signs of carrying on this Hemmer tradition.  We went to Flagstaff's Oktoberfest today and it was a blast!  

Miriam liked walking through the crowds, mingling with other babies, dancing, smiling and giggling.  She made lots of friends of all ages, and at one point, in true Miriam form, walked daddy up to the front of the stage to check out the polka players up close and personal.  The polka player told her (and the other 1,000 people in attendance) it was never too early to become a fan of polka.  Too cute.

Family shot at the end of the evening.  It was quickly cooling (Miriam was thrilled with the hat as you can see) and Jason was scarfing down another bratwurst before we hit the road.  Not out best, but it'll do!

I saved the best for last.  A little bit of walking, a little bit of dancing, and a whole lot of cuteness. (click the link for a video!)

September

September always seems to really fly.  School is solidly back in session, last vacations / outings / warm days of the summer, and transitioning into my favorite season: fall / football (yes, football is a season in our house). Unfortunately, Miriam and Jason came down with colds, a consequence of all this school / late summer / early fall fun. Cutting 2 teeth & battling the sniffles, Miriam was pretty fussy most of the week; although, she's a pretty decent patient...not sure I can say the same for her daddy ;) 

Here she is snuggling up on the couch with me chowing her daily banana.  One of her nicknames is Monkey not only for her love of climbing up, on, in things, but also because she'll down at least one banana a day. Loves them.

Speaking of climbing, this week Miriam discovered she could climb onto the chair in her room via its foot rest.  This let to all sorts of interesting poses and antics.  I call this one Downward Facing Baby; she's my little yogi.

Saturday we took Miriam to her first football game!  It's no Clemson / Patriots / Packers game, but Lumberjacks will do.  Miriam loved all the music and noise, and kept clapping and dancing along.

Keepin' you posted...

Looks like it's been about a month since my last update...oops!  Miriam is working on transitioning down to 1 nap, which means far fewer moments during the day for me to do much of anything except chase her little butt around.  Since last post we had our first steps!  She's still not convinced walking is better than crawling, but everyday she takes a few more, and then a few more.  It's amazing to watch her little world opening just a bit wider each time she takes a step.  No real pictures of that yet:(  I am never prepared when she takes off, and before I know it she's back on her bum again.

Miriam had a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Bailey.  A lot of play time, grilling, eating out, and Jason and I even got a date night!  Everyone loved their visit, and we were all a little sad when they had to go.  Madeline also adores my parents; we call my dad "tuna man" because he always feeds Maddie tuna.  Maddie knows this too because at about 5:00 am every morning she starts whining outside their bedroom door!

Over Jason's birthday we went to Ouray, CO. with some friends.  It's a little town tucked into the bottom of a canyon.  The drive in is called the "Million Dollar Highway" for the silver mining history, although the views are also worthy of the name. Taking a walk our first morning there with "Auntie" Jen:

Our friends brought their dog, Montana.  Miriam LOVES him.  He gave her licks every morning and they chased each other around.  At the end of the day when Montana was tired he would let Miriam crawl all over him, pull his ears, and "pet" him (more like aggressively slap).  All he asked for in return were a few baby biscuits and breakfast scraps...

Miriam "reading" to daddy about our hiking options:

Hiking Box Canon Falls.  Miriam loved the mist and loud roar from the falls.

We stayed in a condo about a mile from downtown and walked to get groceries, coffee, or dinner.  On this day we walked Miriam down in the BOB for breakfast.

After all that excitement, we've been laying low the past 2 weeks. Jason and I are both busy with some projects for work, and we are getting the house ready to transition into fall and winter.  Here Miriam is watching daddy do some yard work:

Laying low also means more time around the house for Miriam and I during the week.  Here Miriam is sitting in her chair and "reading" to her friends.  Books continue to be her favorite.  This week we are going to check out the story time for babies at our library; I'm suspecting my book worm will approve.

Of course, we also get out everyday to enjoy these last moments of summer.  Miriam and I keep up our daily walks, and last week we combined it with a play in the park.  Here she is enjoying the swing:

Lastly, Miriam's new thing is kissing.  She lays these wet, sloppy kisses on Jason and I that just melt us.  She thinks it's the most fun and will do it about 10 times in a row, or just leave her lips hanging on your lips for like 15 seconds.  Well, last Friday we took Miriam to visit with some friends at a local brewery tasting room, and she decided to try her new trick on our friends' 3 year old son.  He wasn't feeling the kissing though, and Miriam was totally rejected on her first kissing attempt!  Always the confident one though, she wasn't too fazed, and picked herself back up and got right back to dancing to the live music; we're going to have our hands full with this girl!!

Kitchen

I forgot a picture of the kitchen on my last post, probably because it's usually a total disaster.  The previous owners renovated the space, and while it's probably not what I would have chosen, I love it.  Jason and I really like cooking, and we all love eating, so we spend alooooot of time together in here. 

Case in point: lunch time with Elmo.

Enjoying the last few moments of Flagstaff summer. This picture is from Buffalo Park on our morning walk. Wild sunflowers are out and they are so beautiful.  Soaking up every moment outdoors before fall and then winter are back!  

Casa

We have been in the new house for 5 months, thought it about time to post a few pictures.  I snapped a few the other morning of the rooms that were semi-respectable.  So, here is the guest room.  Anyone want to come visit???

One of my favorite rooms in the house, Miriam's room:

Living room.  Looking from the middle of the house.

This is the middle of the house, looking from the front door.  There are big picture windows at the back and front of this room; it's always flooded with light.

Miriam's bathroom. 

A baby in the sink...

A few random shots of the week.  I promise I didn't pose this with my eyes shut, just happened to be blinking!  Miriam got a new owl towel for her birthday, she always gives me the sweetest hug when I wrap her up after her bath.

We took Madeline for her vet visit this week.  Doc says she looks amazing for 16; still got lots of life in her.  Miriam was in absolute heaven, dogs and cats everywhere.  In this shot we were waiting for our appointment, and Miriam was squealing.  She was so excited / thought it was hilarious that the cat was in the bag. 

One shot of the back yard, our favorite spot in the house right now.  Miriam is enjoying walking in the grass & watching the birds.