Little Man Clothes and a Life Vest

Here is Soren in his little man clothes with Ryan, sporting their coordinating attire for church today.
Here are Keira and I also coordinating. I am sure we won't be able to keep this up too long, though.

Sleepy little man

After church, Keira thought her life vest was a good choice, even though she never wanted to wear it in the water
Soren all casual after church.

Beautiful Weather (for the most part) and 4 - Day Weeks

November always goes by really fast at Ford because they have so many company holidays. This week marked the first of the 4 days or less workweeks for Ryan. I think there is a 5 day week in there somewhere, but he had election day off this week, and has Veteran's day off next week. We love how Veteran's Day is observed in conjunction with the opening of deer hunting season (rifle). Thanksgiving is also shortening 2 workweeks due to our planned vacation to NYC.

We were also happy to have some unseasonably warm weather this week. I was looking at friends' blogs talking about the snow, and might had been jealous if we had typical dark, gray, and rainy days this week (think G&R November Rain), but we did not. We had several days in the 70s, and were able to enjoy a lot of time outside. The weather wasn't perfect, but it was still much nicer than it could have been.

Today was probably the most gloomy day of the week. I started back running (if you call it that recently) and wanted to review the weather before determining what time I should run today. Weather.com proved to be wrong as usual. It said it was not supposed to rain until the afternoon, so I went for a run in the morning, and it was freezing cold, and it sleeted on me about halfway into my run, so turning around wouldn't have helped at all. It was very windy, but I felt pretty hardcore for being out there. Then, it cleared up. It did continue to cool off, but Ryan was able to enjoy a 40 mile road bike ride with his friends, Kent and David, in the afternoon. It worked out for the best, though, because road biking doesn't work so well in the windy wet conditions. It can be done, but it is easier and safer to run instead, so I was glad I got my run in when I did. All three of our favorite football teams had wins today, so that was also good. Here are some cute pictures from today.

Keira with blue lips from working on her ring pop that she earned from eating a good amount of pasta and is shirtless because it (pasta) stains like crazy!

Friday was super busy for me. It was busier than some days before Soren was born! I actually left the house by 9am! Go me. Soren was the only one who had to leave the house still in his jammies, but hey, isn't that what most babies wear all the time at this age? I did coordinate them with his blanket, so it wasn't as if no thought went into his appearance. I finally made it to a presidency meeting, which was great to get back into the loop after about month off. Next, we met up with Linda/Nana at the Novi Library for storytime. It was funny, there were three strollers in the storytime room, all identical Graco Metrolites, including mine. I guess that was the popular stroller of 2006, since all the children in the class are two. Keira loves being up front.

After that, we (including Linda) hit 12Oaks to grab some lunch and do a bit of shopping. We didn't get out of there until close to 2pm, so Keira was pretty much done (overdone) and it was naptime. Once Ryan got home, we chilled for a bit and then went back out for dinner to Cheeburger Cheeburger, because I had been wanting a burger all week. What a busy day!

Thursday was more restful and warm outside. Keira spent the morning playing with Lizzie, so it was just Soren and I to relax. Since it has been getting dark so early, we did errands in the evening after it was too dark to play outside. Keira had a great time playing with the leaves in our front yard. I am glad Michelle (Lizzie's mom) suggested I get some shots of Keira, because she looked so cute and the flowers on her dress coordinated with the leaves.

Wednesday was a huge outdoor day for us. We had a major playdate at the Novi Sports Park. I had made tentative plans to get together with a few people, and then got an invitation to go with another group to the sports park, so we all just went there! We had a great time, and spent nearly 3 hours there! Keira was very happy to be able to play with Katie finally. She had been asking about her friend during the week. So cute!

Keira and Katie wouldn't slide down together. Getting them at the top was the best I could do.


Can you fit another child on that swing? Ashtin, Nolan, Katie, and Keira.
Keira swinging on the big girl swings. My pictures of Keira and Katie in the same shot didn't look so good, so here is just Keira.
Here is Soren, since he didn't get photographed at the sports park. I didn't want him to feel left out!

Then, if we had not had enough of the outdoors (which I don't know that we can), we headed back that direction once Ryan got home to hit Maybury, where I walked and Ryan rode. I am not quite ready to run with my stroller, nor is Soren. I think he needs another few weeks for his neck to get a bit stronger, even though he is in his car seat and very well supported. I also need a few weeks of running on my own first before pushing a 70lb stroller when you add in the weights of both kids, the carseat, and any extraneous belongings.Here is a shot of the leaves at Maybury. It is a bit dark.

Tuesday was election day, so Ryan had off work. He started the morning with a 32 mile road bike ride down Hines Drive with his friend David (Kent had to work). Then we tried to eat at 5 Guys Burgers, and got over there, and it wasn't open yet, so we headed to Chipotle instead since it was over there. Keira and Soren both conked out in the car on the way to vote, so we took turns waiting in the car while the other voted. I was able to go for a run in the afternoon because it was super nice out again! I made it just over 3 miles, my old regular training loop (1x), only stopping to obey traffic laws. Go me! It was hard but good at the same time.

Cute shot from Tuesday! The photo at the top of the blog is also from Tuesday. Keira was looking pretty patriotic! We had to dig that dress out of the "done" pile because we didn't think it would be warm enough for it again while it still fit. She got it for her 1st birthday, so we have gotten a lot of wear out of it.

We didn't do much on Monday except enjoy the outdoors. Keira played with her stroller and chalk.

Next week will probably prove to be another busy week! I go to the Dr, get a makeover, and Ryan has Friday off so we will do family pictures. We also will probably have a few playdates in there somewhere too! I may do an extra post for tomorrow, because we have some more cute little man clothes for Soren. He is growing so fast that I need to make sure I get a shot of him in them before they get too small!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

I have felt like Halloween lasted the entire month! We watched the Great Pumpkin, World Word's Halloween Special, and read the Jerry Seinfeld Halloween book repeated this past week. We had our 3rd and 4th/final Halloween activities this week, as well as a Dr's visit for Soren's 1 month checkup.

Friday, on Halloween, we went trick or treating in downtown Northville. It is quite the event. We met up with Nana and Papa and started off at the Northville Fire Station where we got our almost weekly fix of Parmenter's cider and donuts for a small donation, and also ran into a few friends from church. After that, we headed into the area of Northville with the streets closed and people were everywhere. The weather was perfect- no coats required, and with the later time change, it was light for the beginning, but soon darkened. Keira was not too afraid, but was just very greedy. "KEIRA'S!" was what she shouted every time someone tried to help her hold her treat bag, and refused to let us empty it into Soren's bag to make it easier to carry. We finished up a little early, because she was getting tired, and she knew we were headed back to the car and screamed the whole way. Finally, once back at the car, the emergency sirens sounded to conclude the trick or treat period, and she realized that it was over. Soren did pretty well. He was awake for the beginning, and after a small snack, he got into costume and fell asleep until Keira started breaking down, so it was a good time to leave.


Earlier in the day, we finished up our pumpkin carving.

Keira thought the pumpkins were puzzles, and kept putting the spider body back into the pumpkin.

The huge spiderweb over near our neighbors' was blown down. Keira was looking for it.

It was such a nice day to be outside!

Unfortunately, our playtime outside was ended early when a SKUNK walked into our yard and came right up to the porch where Keira and I were standing. I was super afraid that we were going to be sprayed! Years ago, skunks had set up their home underneath our porch while we were in Toronto, and I got stuck outside our place and had to have Ryan let me in our back door because the skunk sprayed all over the front porch. I shouted for Ryan, and fortunately neither Keira or I scared/provoked the skunk, and it left (and did not want to live under our porch), but we decided it was time to head inside for a bit. We needed to get ready for Trick or Treating anyway.

On Wednesday, Soren had his 1 month check up, and he is HUGE! It is amazing, comparing him to Keira. I guess it is because he is a boy. He was 22.5inches tall, and 11lbs, 7oz, so he gained 4lbs since he was born. He was in the 82nd percentile for length and 89th for height. WOW! Keira was in the 50th percentile for several months before dropping down off the chart, so we are wondering if a similar thing will happen. Here are some shots of him on his 1 month birthday.

On Tuesday, we had our church Trunk or Treat and chili cook-off. We tried a new recipe for a white chili. Keira was pretty excited to get dressed up in her costume, but didn't want to wear it once there. She got to meet Super Why, a PBS character who was really her friend Alex from nursery. We forgot to tape the Super Why Halloween Special, so that will have to wait until next year. She thought Super Why was going to be at church today, too. Slash and Sarah Palin were also there. Sarah Palin was really a Romney, so it was a bit of tongue in cheek humor for her, since she would have preferred to see her uncle running for VP.

Keira was a super fan of candy, so it was appropriate for her to wear her "I Love Candy" pjs after the trunk or treat.

Another highlight from the week was the release of Guitar Hero World Tour, which I was able to find for the XBOX 360 at Costco at a great price. This was an item that Ryan and I had discussed as a Christmas present, but wanted to grab it up before they were unavailable closer to the holidays. We did open it, as it didn't make sense to have this huge box "hiding" in our small condo. It will just help us spread out our Christmas expenses. As you can see, Keira was pretty excited about it as well.

More cute photos from the week, including Soren sporting his "little man" clothes at church today.

Up for next week- Ryan has election day off, so hopefully we can have some fun together midweek. Keira has some play dates, and I will hopefully return to attending my presidency meetings!

Tagged by Jasmine

Ok, here are 6 random things about me:

1. I get cranky when I can't run and it is nice out or haven't been able to run in a while.
2. I can walk on the tops of my feet - like on the knuckles of my toes, if that makes sense. So can Keira.
3. I wish I had met Ryan sooner.
4. I prioritize doing my makeup over doing my hair anyday- I hate leaving the house without a minimum of mascara and eyeliner unless going on a run first thing in the morning, and even sometimes I put it on anyway (like for the Detroit Marathon). I also have not bought either in several years- I get enough of it free in the samples during bonus time! Oddly, I hardly ever wear lipstick, though.
5. I am really bad at keeping the house clean. There are just too many other things I would rather be doing!
6. I miss camping and climbing trips to the Red River Gorge. Maybe next year....

I tag Haley, Michelle L, Amber, Amanda, Minde, and Ellyn.