Kicking off the Fall Season

We had a great September, and the best part of all was that there were no hospital visits! We don't take those months for granted.

In house news, our furniture for the den finally arrived! We love our new couch, ottoman, and tables! We didn't mind waiting a few extra weeks for them to be delivered based on the discounted price we got from Coleman Furniture.

We're definitely enjoying having a comfortable place to sit in that room. Otherwise, we have slowed down drastically on the house updates, but that was bound to happen when school started.

Hallie is pulling up everywhere and scooting sideways along tables and couches now.  She shows no interest in walking independently yet, which is fine with us.  She'll get there in her own time.

She was playing with the train table at Barnes and Noble

And I turned my back for a minute and she was emptying out the shelves! It's still her favorite pastime.

I've been reading books to Hallie regularly in the mornings while she drinks her first bottle of milk, and she has finally begun to show an interest in "reading" on her own. I'm very excited about it, and hope that she'll love books and reading as much as Emma and I do.

Emma has continued to do amazingly well after her last emergency kidney surgery. We are so grateful to God!  We have seen a new level of happiness in her that we think is due to the fact that she feels good every day.  She has been loving all the rain we've gotten recently, and always begs to jump in the puddles!

Grandpa and Grandma came to visit, and Emma and Grandpa's outfits happened to match. Twinsies!

Emma began her first swimming lessons this month at our local YMCA. We go every Saturday morning for a half hour.  When I told her that I had signed her up, she burst into tears because she was "too scared to go" and "didn't want to do it"(!!!!!!)  Then we got to the lesson and she absolutely loved it and was heartbroken when class was over. Heh! It's been a fun thing to look forward to each weekend.

She got a cut and lump on the forehead this month.  She was running through our hallway, tripped, and landed head first into a door frame.  It was a big deal at the time and I thought it would look much worse than it did.  Thank God she missed her eye!

We had lots of fun times with family and friends this month, too!

Dan's sister, Robin, and her girls, Naomi and Miriam, drove to Virginia Beach to play with us at the park one day.  The girls always have the best time together.

I took Emma to her classmate, Remy's, birthday party one Saturday.  It was at a giant indoor playground, which was a blast!

Remy's favorite characters are the Minions, and a real one came to visit during the party!

After Remy's party, Emma and I picked up Hallie and ran over to Hallie's friend, Eli's birthday party!  Hallie's babysitter, Lauren, has two sons, and her oldest was turning 3.  They had the cutest superhero-themed party in their backyard, complete with an obstacle course for the kids. Emma got a cape to wear (she is taking her superhero role very seriously) and Hallie got a mask (she is trying to eat it off her own face since I'm holding her hands down for the photo). 

Eli dressed as Spiderman during his party. He was "super" cute. :)

We had another fun-filled Saturday with our families at the Norfolk Zoo.  It was free museum day, and we were able to print enough free tickets for everyone to go.

My parents, Dan's parents, and Dan's brother, Tim's, family joined us. We had quite the crew!

The kids climbed on a rhinoceros statue for a photo shoot.

Some crazy kids (aka, Josiah and Emma) they kept behind bars with a "warning" sign.

Riding the train around the zoo

It was a slow train. Lots of opportunities for photos.

After the zoo, we went to Doumar's, an old fashioned drive-thru restaurant, for dinner and ice cream

The girls and I visited a farm (Bergey's Breadbasket) with Emma's friend Elisha and his mom, Jenna. They had a corn maze, a hay ride, a petting zoo, a toddler play area, a corn gun, a pumpkin patch, and a restaurant with killer breads and sandwiches for lunch.

Emma and Hallie with Elisha

Exploring the corn maze

Emma befriended the sweetest barn cat

And we took pictures in the pumpkin patch. Happy Fall!

Goodbye to Summer

I know that summer isn't technically over, but it sure feels like it once school is back in session.  We had a good August and made the most of spending time with family and friends last month.

We had special visitors from Texas! My mom's sister, Aunt Jane, and her brother and sister-in-law, Uncle Brian and Aunt Margaret came to Virginia to see our new homes. It was fun to spend time with them while they were here! 

Our friends, Dave and Cynthia, and their girls, Olivia and Kailey, discovered the coolest library.  Slover Library is in downtown Norfolk, and has the best kids center and programs I've seen in a long time.  We met them there one day and our kids had a blast playing and reading books.

Olivia and Emma exploring the toddler climbing area. They were technically too big to play there, but they were "helping Hallie learn to play."

Hallie needed some help. She wasn't quite ready to climb and crawl, and just sat wherever we put her with a "What do I do now?" expression on her face. 

But there was another section at the library that was full of toys, puzzles, a play kitchen, and baby dolls. This was much more Hallie's style!

We had been meaning to have play dates with some of Emma's school friends over the summer, but her surgery and recovery time threw a kink in that plan.  We did squeeze in one play date with her  friend, Elisha. Hallie wasn't quite pulling up at that time, but she was determined to eat some of that good-looking play doh. 

Elisha's mom, Jenna, distracted her with a bottle of milk

 And the 4-year-olds got to play in peace for a little while.

In house news, we made some big furniture purchases this month. We took outings to several furniture stores to look at couches, ottomans, and tables for our den.  Dan, Hallie, and Emma are doing their due diligence to test out this couch (which wasn't the one we chose, ultimately).  We narrowed it down to two couches and when we looked online for the dimensions, we stumbled across Coleman Furniture's web site (a mail-order only furniture company). Coleman carried one of the couches we were considering for hundreds of dollars less than at the store!  They also carried the ottoman and matching tables we wanted for less.  So we made out like bandits by trying out the furniture in-person and then paying a significantly lower price online.  Best of both worlds!  We have waited over a month for the furniture to be delivered, but it should arrive at our home very soon.

Emma had no infections following her surgery in July (thank you, God!), and she had a final procedure to remove the stent from her left ureter. Dan had to lead teacher training that day, so he couldn't come to the hospital.  But Emma was well-supported by Grandma and Grandpa Jester and Papa Campbell.  They were watching Paw Patrol with her in the waiting room before she was called back.

Once she got into her hospital PJs, she got to play in the toy room. That's always the highlight of her surgery and procedure days. The stent removal was quick (about 10-15 minutes), although she had to wake up from anesthesia afterwards. We are continuing to pray that she doesn't require any more surgeries in the future!

I took the girls to Dan's parents' house to visit them, and Dan's sister, Robin, and her girls, Naomi and Miriam. The traffic was backed up on the highway, so we took an alternate route through the country and rode a ferry to Williamsburg. 

It was Hallie's first boat ride.  Both the girls loved it and got a kick out of the seagulls that followed the ferry across the river, looking for bread from the commuters.

When we got to Grandpa and Grandma's house, the cousins enjoyed swimming together.

And Grandma had bought special water color books for them to paint after dinner.

 Speaking of special things with Grandma and Grandpa, they took our girls to Hunt Club Farm in Virginia Beach one day when they were babysitting.  Hallie got to go, too, but since she's too young to really participate, all the photos are of Emma. :)

Emma says "Moooooo"

There were goats to pet

Birds to feed

And ponies to ride!  They had bigger ponies, but Emma wasn't interested in a ride until she saw this one that was just her size. She had such a fun day!

Emma (and Dan) started their first day of school on August 23rd.

She is a Pre-K-4 student with a whole year under her belt at Stonebridge School! Such a big girl.

The party starts at our house when Dan and Emma come home from school.  He, Emma, and Hallie love to play while I fix dinner.  They were playing hide-and-seek one evening, and he found a tricky spot to hide. :)

Emma had to try it out, too, of course! We've got the best dad and husband in the world.

And that wraps up the summer.  Dan is back to his regular busy school schedule, and Emma is attending Pre-K four days a week.  Hallie and I spend my day off together on Tuesdays. We are volunteering to help in the church nursery for an hour each Tuesday while there is a Bible study in session. Well, I help, and Hallie crawls around trying to pull the other babies' hair and "get their noses." For some reason I don't think she has made any friends. On Fridays, I get Emma and Hallie at home, and so far, we've done something fun with friends and family each week. We miss summer, but we're back in the swing of things and enjoying that, too.

Happy First Birthday, Hallie!

We asked our good friend, Cynthia, to meet us at the park to take one-year-old photos of Hallie.  We wanted to capture how sweet and fun she is at this age!

Hallie lights up when her Daddy enters the room. He can always make her giggle and I have a feeling she is going to be a big Daddy's Girl.

However, when she's sleepy or hungry, she's still Mommy's girl! We will get to spend Tuesdays together this year while Dan and Emma are at school, and I'm looking forward to having special time with Hallie. 

Hallie is already determined to follow Emma everywhere! They love each other so much, and we pray that they will be best friends as they grow up together.

Birthday pictures aren't complete without a smash cake! Hallie was much more interested in the candle than she was the cake.

Her expression after she touched the sticky frosting with her fingers. She is such a girly-girl, just like her sister. Haha!

She finally made a little mess, but wasn't interested in even tasting the cake. We were laughing at her chewing on her candle, and she started laughing with us. She already has the cutest sense of humor!

Pretty as a picture!

Hallie, you have been a gift from God to our family this year.  It's been a challenging year in several ways, and you were the biggest highlight on our toughest days.  You learned to be flexible at an early age, and because we sometimes had to be away, you bonded with your grandparents in a way that warms our heart. You have the cutest, most contagious smile and laugh. We love you and can't imagine life without you! We pray that God will bless you throughout your life and that you will love Jesus with all your heart.