Fall in S.D.

For those of you that haven't seen this photo yet, here it is. I like how it turned out. Even a full moon in the background! Thanks, Andrew for making me look good! :)

These photos were all taken out at a nature preserve we sometimes walk around  in as a family. We were attempting to capture a nice photo for Jan & Alan's Christmas frame/Levi's 2nd birthday photo shoot/pregnancy pics. I love these couple of Andrew and Levi.

Carrying around these 43+ extra pounds is hard work! :)

Can you say "Seen mama do this one too many times this pregnancy?!" Hahaha. So much for "Potty training".

This is proof that we can have a nice fall day. Notice Levi is in shorts and a tshirt.

Levi sporting his almost too small cowboy vest from Mimi. He is attending his friend's 2nd birthday party and needed something that would pass for "Farm".

Levi's 1st horse back ride at friend's birthday. I had to get on with him (not an easy task) because he didn't want to ride alone.

Here is a photo of Andrew and I at this year's Spirit of Dakota dinner. I was wearing the same outfit 2 years ago to the same banquet but looked much different. :)

Each year I fill several boxes for the Operation Christmas Child donation. This year I had a little buddy cheerfully helping me fill our 3 boxes. Hint if your family does this: buy throughout the year when things are on clearance; i.e. after school is back in session school supplies are SUPER cheap. I did this as a child of about 10-12 and received a little package back from the girl that got my box. It was SO meaningful!

Levi and Andrew raking the leaves together.

Levi helped Andrew smash the leaves in the can by jumping on them.

Paint & Extra Sneak Peak Cranbaby Photos

Whenever I used to eat breakfast I'd sit at the table and look out (and up) our kitchen window.  Unfortunately that meant I was staring at peeling paint on our front soffits and fascia.  So, in late August I decided it was time to scrape, sand, prime and paint the soffits and cedar siding.  The paint on the siding out front wasn't too bad, but it was in rough shape in the back.  Of course, I found one soffit that wasn't worth painting and had to be replaced.  Believe it or not: a pastor and a pregnant lady were able to replace this soffit standing on parallel extension ladders.  (For the record: I do not recommend letting pastors work on your home. Or pregnant women for that matter.)

Scraped soffit.

Scraped and sanded siding.

Luckily for me our house had cedar siding, so I got to use oil-based primer.  I just love the smell of mineral spirits in the morning.  (And so does Alissa.)  At this point in the project the neighborhood consensus was that our house had leprosy or some other contagious disease of Leviticus 14.  Thankfully we didn't have to have the house torn down and the stones taken "outside the city to an unclean place."  But I digress.

The finished product!  (I know.  Same color.  Disappointing.  What can we say?  We like blue! However, if you look closely you'll notice the front door is now burgundy.)  The kids at church were a little bummed our house ended up the same color it started, but they'll get over it.  Our next-door neighbors were a true godsend; they helped me do the final step (painting) in one full day, which was wonderful, because it's too cold to do much exterior painting here now.

This is something much more interesting.  Baby 2.0.  (Alissa got another ultrasound no charge because the hospital forgot to measure something they were supposed to.)  In the above picture you can see the baby yawning.  Nostrils on left.  Chin on right.  Open mouth in the middle.

Another excellent example of the Millage toes.  Thanks, Mom!

Profile.

We thank God for this little one and can't wait to meet him in January / February!