Apple Orchard

A couple of weeks ago we took our first family visit to pick apples at MacQueen's Apple Orchard. Avery loved picking tomatoes off the vine in our garden this summer and would often call them "apples" (close enough), so we knew this experience would be right up her alley. What a great time! The smallest amount of apples we had the option of picking was a half bushel. Wow, that's a lot of apples. Avery has been eating apples with almost every meal. We've been enjoying homemade apple pie, apple dumplings, and applesauce. I think I'm done with apples until we return next year, but what a fun day it was! (Please don't mind Avery's crazy hair. She got a haircut shortly after this and is looking cuter than ever!)

26.2x3= A trip to Stow!

The next adventure for Avery and I while Erich was in Honduras was a visit to Stow. As always, Avery loved visiting with Nana, Papa, and Aunt Nikki, but this trip was extra special because Uncle Evan, Aunt Passa, and cousin Cara were visiting from Houston. They flew in from Texas specifically so that Evan, Nikki, and Uncle Jerry (Avery's great uncle) could achieve their goal of running the Akron Marathon together. Although they don't see each other often, Avery and Cara took to one another right away and became best buds (with the occasional fight thrown in. Sharing is hard). We had a great time being spectators at the race and are so proud of all three of our runners! It was a great visit and once again, we were only sad that Erich had to miss out on the fun. We know he was exactly where God needed him to be.

At the race, the girls started out sitting comfortably in their strollers

Then they got a little restless and occupied themselves with books, stickers, and stamps

Then they got really restless and started climbing like monkeys

Cara checking out her Daddy's medal after the race.

Congrats Uncle Jerry, Nikki, and Evan! They all came in within about 6 minutes of each other and had a great time.

A Stow visit wouldn't be complete without a Nikki cake. I can't get over her talent!

The girls had a great time playing in the bath. Not the best picture of Avery, but the only one I could crop appropriately for public viewing :)

As always, we had a great visit with our Piland family and were especially grateful to spend time with Evan, Passa, and Cara. We can't wait to see them again at Christmas!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...

This is completely random and way out of the chronological order of the other blog posts, but Erich has been asking me to post it for quite some time now and I keep forgetting. Maybe we have a twisted sense of humor and I apologize if you don't find this photo funny at all, but we crack up every time we look at it. Here's the story... several months ago (May?) Avery and I were visiting the zoo with our friends Lindsey and Grace. Avery got bucked by a goat in the petting zoo. I saw it happen... in a split second she got bucked, fell to the ground, looked at me like "what on earth just happened", and then stood right back up and started chasing after another goat to pet. She seriously wasn't affected by it at all. I checked her out when we got home and I was shocked that she didn't have a scratch or a bruise on her because it looked like she got hit really hard. So anyway, when it happened I said, "Lindsey! Did you just see that?? Avery just got rammed by a goat!". Lindsey replied that she had been busy taking a photo of Grace and had missed the whole thing. I completely forgot about it and we went on with our day. That night, Lindsey emails me this photo...

Look closely. You can click on the photo to enlarge it.

It's only funny because nobody got hurt!

Birthday Bash

Erich recently spent 10 days in Honduras on a mission trip through our church. He has agreed to take over the blogging reigns and write a post about his experience soon. We are so proud of him for stepping out of his comfort zone and serving the people of La Ceiba, but we sure did miss him while he was gone! To pass the time while he was away Avery and I traveled to Marysville and Stow to visit all of her grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. Our first stop was Marysville and we were excited to be able to participate in my Dad's 60th birthday celebration. He decided that for his birthday gift he wanted to get all of his family under one roof and treat us all to dinner. It seems a little backwards that he wanted to take us out to eat for HIS birthday, but we can't complain! Sadly, Erich had to miss out because of his trip, but Mom and Dad were sweet enough to take us out to dinner on a recent visit to Perrysburg to make up for it. (That means Avery and I got to double dip!) Thanks Mom and Dad! It was so fun to watch Avery playing with her cousins. Mom and Dad rented a room at the restaurant so the kids would be free to roam and mom put together a basket full of toys and activities to occupy them while we were waiting for the food. Genius mom! It was a wonderful night complete with a tornado warning and the world's best cream puffs. Happy Birthday Dad, and thanks for a great night!

Avery and Grandma (and Karly peaking in there)

coloring and clutching a new doll makes for a very happy girl

The kids enjoying the activity table

Uncle Paul and Uncle Travis corralling kids

Spencer, Katie, and Karly thought it was hilarious to cover me with rubber spiders. Sophia and I weren't so sure.

Pretty sisters and cutie Sophia

Our best attempt at a photo of all the cousins. Avery was less than cooperative.

Happy Birthday Dad. I would get all sappy and talk about how much we love and appreciate you, but I could never do it justice. There just aren't words. All I can say is, thank you.

Snapshots of Summer (part 2)

A collection of random cute moments from the last few months that I don't want to forget...

Avery showing off her "princess poncho" that she loves so much. Originally handmade by Aunt Shannon for cousin Karly and then lovingly handed down to us (along with many other clothes. Thanks Aunt Shannon!)

Proud to show off her belly button any chance she gets. She also loves to show off mommy's belly button, especially in public. It's not pretty and it's somewhat difficult to find... I'd like to apologize to the general public at this time.

One of the things we love most about our new home is it's location. We are situated in a beautiful neighborhood with less than a five minute walk to the ymca (where we spend time several days a week), the elementary school that Avery will attend, and a beautiful park with a very impressive playgroud. We have walked to the park almost daily when the weather has been nice and Avery now feels as if she owns the place... often telling the other kids what they can and can't do and what pieces of equipment are HERS... especially the slides. We've been working hard on manners!

After an energetic morning, Avery fell asleep in her highchair at lunch time. You can't see it, but she still has her last bite of food clutched in her hand. We keep attributing it to a growth spurt, but Avery has been sleeping a ton for the past couple months. She usually sleeps 12-14 hours at night and then for 2 or 3 hours in the afternoon. I love to sleep, so she might take after her momma.

Riding the Toledo Zoo carrousel with her friend Grace. Forget the animals, the carrousel has become Avery's favorite zoo attraction (the gorillas and the elephants are a close second).

Ready to work in the garden with Daddy. Thanks to our friend Ethel for her very own gardening gloves and tools!

Avery's first boat ride. She was a little nervous at first but within a few minutes was loving everything about it. Such a fun experience.

channeling her inner Ralphie with her hooded pink bunny towel (please tell me you've seen "A Christmas Story"). I love this picture of Avery and Daddy.

On the nights that Erich is home from work before she goes to bed, Avery and Daddy have a routine of giving eachother "night night kisses" through the slats of the stair railing as she climbs her way up to the bedroom. I love this face. She gives the best kisses.

Home sweet home

When Erich and I decided to "test the waters" and put our house on the market in the late spring/early summer, we didn't exactly know what to expect. We weren't under any pressure to sell and move, we just knew that interest rates were low and now was as good a time as any to see what would happen. Well, we were a little shocked when we had an accepted offer before the for sale sign even went in the yard. The very first person to come through our home is the one who ended up buying it. Within 10 days we went from "no harm in trying, let's just see if there's any interest" to "holy cow we just sold our house and have nowhere to go". The next month was kind of a blur. There was the stress of endless paperwork, the anticipation of waiting to hear that our buyer's loan got approved (that's a story for another time), and the excitement of going through houses. After much searching, we stepped foot into a house that felt like home. We could picture raising our family there. It was... us. After the roller coaster ride of offers and counter offers and negotiating and "oh wait, did our buyer's loan get approved yet?" and "oh wait, you mean appliances aren't included?", etc, it all worked out. It was almost exactly 6 weeks from the day we put our house up for sale to the day we were sleeping under a new roof. We were overwhelmed during the entire whirlwind experience by how clearly God was showing himself to us. We felt His guidance, His provision, and His protection on our family. This was a major financial decision and looking back over our summer, we are amazed at all of the ways God provided for us. We know that our value is not in our "stuff" and that in the end, the size of our house, the quality of our countertops, and the height of our ceilings don't matter at all. But we are grateful for the home God has put us in and we will do our best to honor Him with it. Even after being here for a few months, Erich and I will still look at each other often and say, "Can you believe we're allowed to live here?".

There is a part of my heart that will always stay at 226 East 3rd. I met my future husband for the first time in that living room. I went from visiting my boyfriend's house to living in my home. It's where we brought our baby home from the hospital and it's the nursery where I rocked her night after night. It was the perfect house for Erich as a single man, the perfect house for us newlyweds, and the perfect house for our small family. Even though we knew it was time to go, that didn't make it easy to leave. But thankfully, after a week or so in the new house we felt right at home. We're still working out the kinks, unpacking the last boxes, and trying to decide where to hang the pictures, but make no mistake... it's home. And it's perfect.

Saying goodbye to 226...

and hello to 1810

Moving day! We were blessed to have the help of friends and family. Thanks guys!

Erich did a great job driving the huge moving truck. Here he is on his way to take all of our belongings to our new home (thankfully, only about 2 miles away)

While my mom and I were unpacking the kitchen Avery kept coming in and out to "help". A little while later we walked into the living room and found her lining everything up on the fireplace. She was very proud that she helped unpack!

the kitchen

our favorite part of the house... the finished basement

The first time I walked into Avery's new room I cried. The walls were painted the same color as her old nursery, so it was familiar, but it was also more than twice the size. Her room at the old house was truthfully more of a large closet than a bedroom. It worked great for our newborn baby, but there was definitely no space for her to do anything besides sleep in that room. We feel so blessed that our new house has room for us to grow our family and space for Avery to grow from a baby to a girl. She's still a little young, but with a bedroom big enough to house toys and with plenty of floor space, I look forward to the day she can play in her room and have a space of her own.