How is it October already?

I feel like I blinked and September was gone and we were half way through October already. We are all doing well around here and enjoying the Fall weather. I think our days of 80 degrees are finally over and we can look forward to some cooler temps. Anabelle has been on the move lately, with lots of stair climbing, scrambling around in a half kneeling position (I'll try to get some video-it's pretty funny. She looks like she in perpetual proposal pose *if you can picture that*) and almost walking. She stands on her own and has taken some steps but both John and I agree that she isn't technically walking yet. But she's about as close as you can get. We are ready!

I have a few pictures to share from some random things Anabelle and I have been up to.

Here she is wearing the adorable U of I dress that Becky got her! Looks super cute with leggings underneath. These are on our front steps.

Of course we have our U of I flag out!

Anabelle and I took a trip with friends Angela, Andrew, and Sophia to the Lincoln Park Zoo. I love this place; it is free and a nice place to just walk around. Of course we HAD to ride the carousel. Anabelle liked it.

The other day we were at the train station waiting to pick up Uncle Joe, and Anabelle was feeling antsy. So we got out of the car and spent some time exploring a nearby park. The leaves were beautiful and it was a perfect day.

Here is an example of the pirate/proposal pose, now just picture her scooting around like that super fast.

Some play time with Daddy before bed.

We are going to get pumpkins this Saturday so I should have some good pictures to post on Sunday of our trip. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Shopping at Schmid's

Climbing her way to the top

John taught Anabelle how to go up the stairs the other night. It literally took like 2 days of showing her and she had it down. Don't let this video fool you, she is much faster than this usually. And now whenever the mood strikes her she scrambles over to the stairs and right on up with NO FEAR! So glad we got those baby gates! I have been having trouble with the sound on my video camera, and so I have been sparse with my video posting. Sorry I am working on fixing the problem, and hoping I don't need a new camera.

Pt. Pleasant Beach, New Jersey

In late September Mom, Anabelle, and I had the opportunity to drive out to NJ to visit a friend. While we were there we had some time to visit the beach. Pt Pleasant Beach is about 3 miles from the house we lived in on Mantoloking Road. It is the beach I remember going to most often when we lived in Brick, NJ. It was a beautiful day for a trip to the beach. It was so nice to see the beach and walk along boardwalk again. Anabelle loved the ocean and laughed as her toes were dipped in the water. I really miss living near the beach.

Anabelle's 1st Birthday: Part 2

When I first started thinking about Anabelle's birthday party I was unsure of what kind of theme to have. I wanted it to be something that she enjoyed, something I knew she would like. Anabelle hasn't been exposed to a lot of TV yet, so she doesn't know who any cartoon characters are. Lots of birthday stuff in stores is Winnie the Pooh or Disney themed. While these are cute, Anabelle doesn't know what they are. So I was kinda stumped. Then John had a brilliant idea, "How about a Pinwheel themed party?" She had a toy pinwheel that she was obsessed with and played with frequently. I thought it was a perfect idea! So that was the inspiration for the party. Once I started googling party ideas and saw what other people had come up with I was on a roll. There are so many cute ideas out there and I have to say that a lot of my decorations were things that I saw on other people's websites. Some may think I went a little overboard, but I really had fun with it. And you only turn 1 once!

I also had a lot of help. Kari helped me make MANY, MANY pinwheels, she also made the awesome pinwheel cookies that were in the goody bags which I don't have a picture of =( Thank you Kari! My Mom helped me with setting up a large portion of the decor, including the cake table. Mom and Dad also took care of finding and buying the cupcakes which were so yummy! They also helped out a lot on the day of the party with getting ready and taking care of Anabelle. Thank you Mom and Dad! Marena flew in Friday night, she gave up a weekend with friends at her home town festival to be with us. She jumped right in and helped with so many things I can't list them all. She was like my shadow, doing all the little and big jobs that needed to be done in the moments leading up to a party and then helped with clean up after. When I thanked her, she said "that's what friends do." But I think she is wrong, not all friends would do as much as she does to help out and believe me, I do realize what a special friend I have in her. Thank you Marena!

We were blessed to have a lot of friends and family come out and celebrate Anabelle's birthday with us. We had a great time and I think Anabelle did too. She seemed to love the attention and having so many people she loved around. Happy 1st Birthday Anabelle!