Happy Halloween!

This Halloween our darling Ella was a chicken:) We had a fun day "trick or treating" to her Grandmas and Grandpas and visiting her friends. I was a little nervous she wouldn't like wearing her costume but honestly I think she just thought she was wearing a coat with a hood so she didn't mind a bit and the best part was it kept her super warm on such a frigid day! She is such a cute little chicken - I could just eat her up! (no pun intended:)

We went to visit our Grandma Essenburg who was in the hospital recovering from having shoulder surgery with Betsy, Jake, and Caterpillar Lily:) Hope you feel better soon Grandma!
Great Grandpa Essenburg spoiled Ella by "treating" her to some vegetable chips/sticks instead of giving her Halloween candy - it was really sweet and of course Ella loved them!

Grandpa and Grandma Koning with Ella and Lily at their house
Ella laughing at Auntie Kylee who was modeling part of her "cloudy with a chance of rain" Halloween costume:)

Ella stopping by our neighbors to wish her buddy Grah a Happy Halloween! Gotta love the cute boy next door:)
Ella with Grandpa and Grandma Rotman at their house

At night we went to the Heukers for a Halloween party. Here are the 3 little wild animals that attended:) Ella, Layla (monkey) and Jonathan (giraffe)
Here are the 3 little kiddos appearing to pass out the Halloween candy to the trick-or-treaters. (After this picture Ella proceeded to try and eat 4 mini candy bars with the wrapper still on them - she is more of an indian giver apparently).
Can't miss a photo opportunity to show off my three prego friends - Julie, Lindsey & Mere

(Julie & Lindsey due in March, Mere due in February) Can't wait to meet the little honeys!

Sad on Saturday, Sick on Sunday

We should have realized that our Saturday wasn't going to be a good day when we had an Open House in the afternoon and no one showed up. We have spent a couple of weeks getting the all the odds and ends fixed in the house and every nook and cranny cleaned so that it was primed for any interested buyers... so it was pretty disappointing that no one came to see it. However, we are bound and determined to stay optimistic! It only takes one special person, right?

The day went from sad to worse when Ella woke us up screaming at midnight. We rushed in to see what was wrong and she proceeded to throw up all over Brad and her crib and the carpet. The night went on in similar fashion until about 5:30. It was a rough night...I'll spare you the details but lets just say we had about 5 loads of laundry to do, no sheets or blankets left in either of our rooms, and I woke up soaked in her pee. Poor Ella ended up sleeping in just a diaper b/c of the constant mess and her diaper must have come off while she was cuddled up next to me. It was incredibly rough to see her so sick and feel so helpless to stop it...it was every bit as horrible as I had imagined. Thankfully Brad and I have not gotten sick so far and Lord willing we will have a healthy house for a while.

The irony of it all was that we were out for dinner Saturday night with the Lucas' and we were discussing how awful it would be to have our children throw up and that maybe our kids wouldn't get sick this season. In addition, later that night Brad and I said that although the open house was a bust at least the house was in perfectly clean condition...not such the case last night/this morning:) Just goes to show how little control one has in life:)

One sweet moment from today that made everything seem better:)

OPEN HOUSE (SATURDAY 2PM-4PM)

That's right - I'm taking a break from some last minute picking up here to mention that we've got an open house tomorrow from 2pm - 4pm. If you know anyone who might be remotely interested tell them to stop by and take a quick look!

One Year Appt.

Today Ella had her 1 year appt at the pediatrician. All went well.. besides having some "poopy problems" to discuss... she is as healthy as can be! She really likes our doctor and it was so cute, before the doctor left she was sitting in front of the computer typing and Ella walked up to her and gently patted her on the back and was jabbering away at her:) She weighed in at 23lbs 12oz (80th percentile) and her height is 31.75in (off the charts yet) and her head came in normal at 46.7cm. The poor thing had to have had like 6-7 shots today so it was a little rough. I don't think there is a worst thing to do as a mom than to hold down their child while someone else inflicts pain on them. Protecting our child against sickness is very important...but it is just so awful when you know they are hurting. She calmed down shortly after and apparently it wasn't too sore later b/c I found her on the floor slowly pulling the bandaids off (and putting them in her mouth to chew them - so gross!) One year of good health down...hopefully many more to go!

Pumpkins at Post Family Farm

On Saturday we went to Post Family Farm with Betsy, Jake and Lily. We wanted the girls to experience the joys of fall with going out to pick some pumpkins together. The farm was really cool with tons of things to do for kids but we stuck to the things that our girls could enjoy like watching the animals, eating warm pumpkin donuts & cider, and going out on a hayride to pick pumpkins. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our autumn morning together.

Here is Jake, Betsy, Lily, Brad, and Ella looking at the goats - it was crazy to see the goats up this high - they would climb these planks to get to the top and then wait for people to give them treats on a pulley system - it was super cool!Ella was not afraid of the goats at all - she liked to pet them and get up really close. Despite the odd expression, she really was having a lot of fun:)
Uncle Jake, Lily, Aunt Betsy & Ella on the hayride - loving all the quality time with them:)

The Koning/Wiersema clan Ella helping Mommy & Daddy pick out just the right pumpkins...
and that meant getting up close and personal to make sure we got the right ones:)
What a gorgeous family!Our little fam What cute cousins!

Weekend Update...

Friday night we had the third and final Birthday party for Ella. We had the Koning family over for pizza & cupcakes. She enjoyed the pizza, presents, cupcake/ice cream and generally being the center of attention. She got a animal puzzle from Betsy & Jake, a "mini Macie" dog from Great Grandpa Koning, an outfit and train from Great Grandpa/ma Essenburg, a dog book from Kylee, and a farm book and car garage from Grandpa and Grandma Koning. It was a fun evening and although 3 parties total seemed excessive earlier on, it was a lot of fun celebrating this milestone over and again.

On Saturday we got to babysit our nephew, Kolter, for a couple of hours. It was so nice having some good quality time with just him. He was such a sweetheart and played so good with Ella!

He brought along his own guitar to jam with Uncle Brad;)

This toy shoots air out when you push a button and they thought it was hilarious to stand above it and put their face right into the air...they were cracking each other up.

They spent about 20 minutes just watching Brad mow the lawn

You just can't deny how much they look alike in the picture (at least from behind)

I just thought this picture was cute of them having a snack together.

At night we went to homecoming at Calvin College with the Geurinks and Lucas' and attempted to go to the dinner they were having at night. In my mind this was our "5 year reunion" but when we arrived, this was not quite the case. There were people there but not that many and to top it off they said that they were at capacity and so we couldn't even eat there (we hadn't registered b/c the week before we saw that only 3 other people had signed up and thought it would be no big deal if we just showed up:). Basically, I think we were the only couples that represented our class there:) So, our evening didn't really turn out as expected, but we got to see the new fieldhouse and walk a bit on the campus and had dinner together in GR. Although we didn't do much of reuniting with our class of 2004, we did enjoy each other's company like always!

Home FOR SALE!

That's right - we are hoping to move! Our home is officially on the market. If you know anyone who might be interested please let them know. They can contact our agent Jim Thrower by e-mail at jet@visserrealestate.com for more information. Below are just a few key items - the home is in EXCELLENT condition and move-in ready! If you have any other questions Jim can answer them, or if you know us you can just ask :)

4 bedrooms
2 full baths
open concept
walkout, finished lower level
2-1/2 stall garage, very spacious
central air
underground sprinkling

Asking $154,900