Happy Halloween!

Stephie had a great time dressing up as Brie the dog for her first Halloween!
Unfortunately, Brie wasn't as keen on the idea...A huge THANK YOU to Grandma Julie for making Stephie such an adorable costume!

Fall leaves

Stephie and Julia enjoyed perhaps one of the last warm days of the season with some time outside amidst the beautiful fall leaves.

China doll

Stephie enjoyed showing off her silky p.j.'s and cute panda backpack that Grandma Julie and Aunt Stephanie brought back for her from China.

Stephie the blogger

Stephie showed Grandma Julie how she updates the blog every day. She is an extremely advanced and computer-literate baby.

First snowflakes!

Stephie and Julia enjoyed watching the first flurries of the season today. Luckily they were toasty inside on the bay window. It's warming up again later this week; Halloween Friday is supposed to be 65 degrees and sunny which is great for the trick-or-treaters.

Pumpkin pals

Stephie was lucky enough today to hang out with Ella (also 7 months)......Ella's mommy Dawn...
...Ella's big sister Amanda (4 1/2 years)...
...as well as Grandma Julie, Grandpa John, Mark, Mommy, and Daddy for some pumpkin carving and a great dinner as well.


Grandma Julie's "Stephie" pumpkin took the prize!

Belly laughs

Stephie has a serious case of the giggles lately, especially when one of us grabs her and screams "BELLY BELLY BELLY BELLY!"

Stephie's stock market forecast

While this year started out standing strong... ...the economy has since taken a back seat...
..and the market has fallen flat!
Here's to getting back on our feet again soon!

Synchronized sitting

Stephie and Julia practiced their baby exercises in synch today: toys in the mouth...
Work those abs...reach for it...And sit up like big girls!

Stephie's stylin hat

Stephie wore the first of her homemade knit hats today. This one was made by Grandma Julie. The matching sweater is still a little big, but the hat keeps her big bald head nice and cozy!

On the move

Stephie has developed her own first version of crawling which consists of arching her back...pushing with her feet...
...and propelling herself along the floor (or in this case, on the changing table!) on her back.
It took her about 20 minutes, but yesterday she wound up all the way across the room from where Julia was playing! You go, Stephie!

How many monkeys does it take...

Stephie and Julia are both completely filling out their 12-month sized monkey sleepers. Big girls!

Morton Arboretum in the fall

It was a perfect fall day today, and we took advantage of the gorgeous weather by exploring the west side of the Morton Arboretum. The walking paths on that side of the park are much less crowded and covered by bark instead of pavement. They were no match for the Bumbleride Rocket, though!

Stephie's first trip to Muskego, WI

Stephie especially enjoyed lunch at Aunt Connie and Uncle Tim's house hanging out with her cousin Connor before we headed to the Elegant Farmer for some apple picking and excellent caramel apples. Yum!

7 months old today!

What a big girl Stephie is becoming!

This book is a hat!

Stephie loves her busy bee book...and especially likes to wear it on her head.

Standing up!

Stephie practiced some (very closely guarded!) standing this evening. She's particularly good at letting her knees give out without warning, but we had fun praticing.