October Fest

Despite our not-so-fun start to the month, October ended up being filled with activities that we hope will be the beginning of many fun traditions.

Aunt Amanda's 26th Birthday Party

We had Mexican night, complete with Coronas, Latin music, and tacos! 

Biggest Balloon Ever

On Chef Duty

Andrew and Kristen

Andrew and Jack

The Birthday Cake

Blue Toothed Sisters

Fall Festival at Delaware Valley College's Farmers Market  

There was a huge pumpkin weigh off - the heaviest pumpkin was over 1,100 lbs!

Can you find our little pumpkin?

The Pumpkin Patch at None Such Farms

Mike and I had fun reminiscing about our trips to None Such as kids, and were in awe of what Pumpkin Fest has turned into... petting zoo, pony rides, live music, corn maze, food trucks, etc.  We can't wait to take Andrew back in a couple years!

Hiking at Penny Pack Park

Mike found a great place for hiking near us - Penny Pack Park. This led him to search Craigslist for a heavy duty jogging stroller so he could take Andrew "off roading". He found a B.O.B. for a great price, and with a good cleaning, it's as good as new.

We also carved our pumpkins.  Stay tuned for the finished product!

Not So Fun Start to the Month

We had a lot of not-so-fun things happen in the last couple weeks.  The first of which was my parents leaving for Florida.  We had grown accustomed to seeing them a few times a week and relying on them for grandparent duties.  Among those duties: carrying the car seat and other miscellaneous baby paraphernalia while I healed from delivery, soothing Andrew during fussy time and reassuring me during "new mom" moments, and babysitting both Andrew and I on Friday nights while Mike had his weekly brew night.  My mom joked that them leaving was harder on me then when I was a baby and she would leave me in the morning at daycare... but it's kinda the truth.  Something about becoming parents has made Mike and I both appreciate our own parents so much more... and realize how lucky we were to have them.  They will return in November (for a yet undisclosed amount of time), and in the meantime, we get frequent updates from the Villages and even did our very first video chat the other night! 

In the meantime, Amanda has taken over the role of babysitting Andrew and I on Friday nights.  Our first Friday night was spent having dinner with girlfriends and then a party at Phil's... Amanda definitely doesn't have the same influence my parents did... so this does not fall into the category of the not-so-fun things that have happened this month.  As a matter of fact, this is one of the more fun things!

The other thing that was not-so-fun about the start of this month... I returned to work.  I have to say, my situation is pretty ideal for someone returning to work after only 8 weeks.  Andrew comes with me to work 3 days a week and I work from home the other 2 days.  This allows me to continue nursing and gives me a chance to cuddle my baby during the day!  This is a "get moms back to work" program, so it will only run for me through November 4th.  The rest of November, Andrew will be watched by Mike on Mondays, Linda on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and my parents and myself (taking vacation days) the rest of the week. 

And finally, the last not-so-fun thing this month - As I'm writing this, Andrew is sleeping in front of me, every now and then frowning or crying out... no doubt dreaming of his traumatizing trip to the doctor today.  He received two shots and has not fully recovered yet... otherwise, he got a glowing report from the doctor.  His official two month stats are:
Weight - 13 lbs 2.5 oz
Height - 24"
Head Circumference - 41cm

Hopefully, all future reports this month are filled with fun, happy things only - and as I type that, Andrew smiles in his sleep (as he passes gas), reassuring me that there will be many happy times to come.

Andrew's Outings and Visits

Besides the countless trips to Babies'R'Us and Walmart, Andrew has been a very busy boy in the first two months of life.  Below are a few of the places we visited.

Lorimar State Park - 8/23/2011
Mike took me here to pass time while waiting for Andrew's arrival, so it only seemed right that we take him to visit once joining the outside world.

Before Andrew - 7/9/11

After Andrew 8/23/11

Proud Papa 8/23/11

Peddler's Village - 9/11/2011
We visited Grandma at her work and took a stroll around the Scarecrow Festival.  We each picked a scarecrow to have our picture taken with - can you guess why we picked each one?

Morris Arboretum - 9/14/2011

My parents took us to Morris Arboretum to pass time while waiting for Andrew's arrival (notice a theme here?). We had such a nice time, they decided to give us a membership to Morris Arboretum this year. This was our first visit with Andrew.

B.A. - 8/4/11

9/14/2011

The Tizer's House - 9/16/2011
Good friends of ours had a baby girl 3 weeks before Andrew was born. We had a lovely, quiet dinner at their house recently where we were shocked at how well behaved the babies were during dinner - their notoriously fussy time. We have lots of plans for these two in the future!

Peace Valley Lavender Farm - 9/22/11
We were fortunate to spend a lot of time during my maternity leave with my parents before they left for Florida.  We thought the Lavender Farm sounded like a good idea of something to do... but it ended up being pretty uneventful. 

Peace Valley Winery - Apple and grape picking! - 9/22/11
Driving a little further up the road from the lavender farm, we found wine tasting (eh), and grape and apple picking. Mike made delicious jam and I made yummy apple crisp!

Morris Arboretum - Fall Festival - 10/2/2011

Yesterday we headed over to our first Fall Festival at Morris Arboretum.  It was drizzly, but Andrew seemed to like this new weather experience.  Overall, the festival will be lots of fun when Andrew is older - they had pumpkin painting and scarecrow making, mulled cider and soup for sale.  We walked down "Scarecrow Alley" and voted for our favorites.