Happy Halloween!

Even with her first ever sickness-- the typical cold consisting of a runny nose, watery eyes, frequent sneezing--Corinne still managed to enjoy her first Halloween! Isn't she cute?!! Little C. makes such a sweet flower.

Our Beautiful Blossom

Here are a few pictures of Corinne in various stages of getting ready for her first Halloween! It's a good thing we went to HallZOOween last weekend, so we had already done a trial run with her cute flower costume.

10 Months

Corinne turned 10 months old yesterday! The past month has been a fun one for sure. She has perfected crawling, cruising, standing up & getting back down, and kneeling all in such a short time and with incredible confidence, speed (!) and accuracy. Did I mention she can crawl up the STEPS now, too?!! Corinne's lone tooth is coming in now so that you can actually see it (though the one next to it seems to have stalled for some reason). And it's so amazing to witness Corinne's self awareness grow each and every day as she explores new places and takes new risks. As we near the holidays we have so much to look forward to...including a 1st birthday party to begin planning. It's hard to believe that it's right around the corner! Happy 10 months, Little C.

Latest stats (as of two weeks ago at the doctor):
weight: 17 lbs. 6 oz. (25th percentile)
length: 28 1/4 in (50th percentile)

Love-Hate Relationship

'Hate' may be a little strong...but the truth is, the last 10 months have been rough on Lilly, our cat. She has most definitely been dethroned from her place of greatness in our family. Mine and Brett's devotion to her has...well...waned (to put it nicely). At times it has probably seemed non-existant to our once beloved cat. But, such is life. Corinne has stolen the show and she is the one we dote on and give our attention to these days. (And can you blame us? Just look at her!) However, Corinne LOVES Lilly! She crawls excitedly after her at break-neck speed and many times Lilly runs away just when Corinne arrives. Perhaps that is because Corinne tries to eat Lilly. Yes, Corinne falls right onto the cat and opens her mouth wide for a taste of our furry friend, Lilly. Or, Corinne opts to pull Lilly's hair. So I am working on the meaning of "petting" versus "pulling". I model it, we practice it together, Corinne tries it...and she sometimes gets it right. (See, I'm putting my teaching degree to good use! Model, practice, reinforce...) At any rate, Lilly is a wonderful source of joy, laughter, and endless smiles for Corinne. I hope that one day Lilly will love Corinne, too. For now it's a bit of a tenuous relationship!

Welcome to the World

On Monday, October 20th, 2008 Rachel Elizabeth Schatz was born to Tim (Brett's younger brother) and his wife, Sarah! Corinne has another cousin close in age, which will be so fun in the years to come! We don't have any pictures to post (yet) but we did get to visit the proud parents last evening, and both Brett and I took a trip down memory lane while we held little Rachel. She is tiny and cute, weighing in at 7lbs 5 oz and 20 inches long! Welcome, Rachel. You are loved by so many already!

Small Spaces and Interesting Places

Corinne has been exploring new places around the house of late, namely the stairs and the small (read: tiny) half bath off of the kitchen. She also seems to like "reading" underneath the coffee table--she can sit all the way up without hitting her head. Corinne is hard to keep up with these days and leaving the room for just a minute gives her enough time to head for the wine rack, Lilly's food dish, the floor lamp (which fell over on her the other day -- but don't worry it didn't seem to phase her and she was completely unharmed!) and any number of other seemingly innocent corners around the house. Lately I am learning to think like a 10 month old, keeping busy cleaning and disinfecting everything that is low enough for her to get her hands on and/or pull up on. For instance, today I was lying on the floor in the kitchen cleaning the bottom of the refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, door frames, and more. This is only the beginning of Corinne's endless explorations and I love it. She is SO much fun!

Searching for Pumpkins

Today we visited a pumpkin farm as our kickoff to the fall! We met some friends there and enjoyed a funnel cake and cider while we chose this year's pumpkins. Later we did a little shopping in a cute little store that offered everything from fresh-picked apples to licorice to candles and wreaths. We skipped the hayride, but perhaps we can still fit one in some other day. Here are some of my favorite pictures from the afternoon. And thanks to Aunt Laura for the warm fleece jacket Corinne wore--it was perfect for a breezy day. Who knew she would ever fit into it?!

Below are Corinne's friends, Luke and Adam. She seems a little troubled by the fact that they are both looking to her for entertainment:) Actually, she's just playing hard-to-get, I think. No really, it was fun to get the three of them together again! All three are so sweet!

Dinner Out

Brett was able to get home early from work on Friday, so we went out for dinner to one of our favorite restaurants on HP square, Indigo. We enjoyed sitting outside and watching Corinne watch all the people. She had a ball watching the dog at a nearby table and she also charmed quite a few people sitting around us. Life is so much fun with Little C! She even knows to smile for the camera now:)

On the Move

Corinne is crawling lots more quickly these days. She's made it all the way into the dining room, the kitchen, and into the dining room from the sun room! She hasn't attempted any steps yet, so I have a little more time before gates need to go up! She has also mastered the wood floors, which are a little slippery for a novice crawler.
I bought some really cute shoes for Corinne now that 1) she is on the go and 2) colder weather is approaching. However, it is more common than not for her to only be wearing one shoe as she loves to pull them off and eat them. (Yes, I did say eat them.) You see, those first two teeth are still not all the way through although it's been 3 or 4 weeks now since I first caught a glimpse of them right below the surface of her gums. She has to be the slowest, latest bloomer on the planet in that category. So back to the shoes...perhaps that is why she is trying to eat them?

Special Friends, Great Celebrations

These are some good, no make that GREAT, friends of mine. It's crazy to be at the point in your life where you can say you've been friends for close to 20 years (!) but that is precisely the case with these girlfriends. I love them dearly! Pictured here are (L to R): Kris (pregnant with her 3rd baby girl), me, Susan (newlywed for just a short time longer), and Calley (also expecting another little girl). Another dear friend not pictured here is Amy, who is also part of this special group. We all grew up together at the same church, and these friendships have remained constant even through junior high, high school, college, marriage, kids, and busy, busy lives. Amazingly, we have all settled down here with our families, too. It is so fun to celebrate with one another through all of life's best moments and milestones, and equally precious to pray each other through the difficult times. Here we are at the Speckled Bird Cafe celebrating with Calley in anticipation of Chandler baby girl #3!