October Craziness!

We had an extremely busy and fun-filled October this year.  Not only did we do lots of fun things together as a family, but my photography business really took off in October with all the beautiful fall colors this year.  It was a lot of fun.  I learned a lot.  And I’m even more excited to see where this adventure leads during the next year.  But I’ve also been enjoying a little down-time the last few weeks, too.  I had to put a lot of extra stuff aside since I was so busy with the business, so it has been nice to get back into those extra things (like making some Christmas gifts and working on some small projects around the house). 

Even though we did so many fun things, I realize now that I didn’t take that many pictures.  Since having Bristol, it’s tough to take as many pictures as I used to at family outings and functions. 

We had several playdates with a few of Carson’s preschool friends, which were always a lot of fun.  The kids always have so much fun playing together and I have really been enjoying getting to know a couple of the other mom’s a little better.  I just love making new friends!  J  Kevin and I have been getting to know the parents of one of Carson’s friends on Tuesday nights, too.  They’re also in the Life with God class with us.  We’ve been out for coffee (or in my case apple cider ;-P) with them a couple of times, too.  After the holidays, we’re hoping to have a chance to get together as families and do some fun things, too. 

Our nephew, Jonah, turned three at the beginning of October and had a really fun superhero birthday party.  Aunt Julie made all the kids who attended some superhero capes.  Even Bristol got one!  They were all so cute! 

We had some family photos taken by my friend, Stephanie, of Bellabu Photography in mid-October.  The kids were so cooperative and we got some really cute photos.  It was a lot of fun, too!  It was nice to be on the other end of the camera.  :)  We received over 40 images, but here are just a few of them.

We also hosted some of my dad’s family (the Moores) for a dinner in mid-October.  It had been a long time (over a year!) since we’d all been together, so it was long overdue.  We had a great low-key meal of goulash, salad, fruit, cornbread, homemade bread, and dairy-free cake for dessert.  It was so nice to see my cousins again and get the great-grandkids (Macie, Tyson, Carson, and Bristol) together (though I totally forgot to get a picture of the four of them!!). 

We took a trip to a local farm with our neighbors one chilly afternoon.  We went through a corn maze and took a hayride to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins.  It was a lot of fun!

We made time to play in the leaves quite a few times during the month!  Carson loves jumping into the big leaf piles.  Bristol wasn't too sure what to think about it, but she did enjoy them a little, too.  :) 

Uncle Dan celebrated his 30^th birthday on October 14^th.  We had plans for all of the Hollebooms to meet at PF Chang in Lansing for dinner to celebrate, but unfortunately, the flu got the best of some.  So the east-side Hollebooms all went to dinner at Lucky’s in Fenton so that Danny could have his delicious steak dinner.  It had been awhile since we had been out to eat, and the meal was great!  We’ve never had a bad meal at Lucky’s, though. 

In all my spare time J, I also organized an Odykirk family dinner on a random Wednesday evening.  We had family travel over 3 hours to make it – it was so great to see everyone!!  We ended up with quite a large group, spread out amongt a few large tables, and had a good time catching up with all the cousins and great-aunts.  The restaurant of choice by the majority ended up being Olive Garden… which is definitely not a dairy-free friendly restaurant, but I figured I could find something there to eat.  After talking with the waiter and manager, I was assured that the grilled salmon and vegetables could be made dairy-free.  So I went with it.  And Bristol ended up paying the price for it.  :-/  She had a rough bout with gas and spitting up, plus some poo issues.  And it was all finally confirmed at the pediatrician a few days later that she is, indeed, allergic to dairy.  Up until that point, we did not have official confirmation, but we do now.  So no more placing myself into compromising situations food-wise for her sake. 

Bristol’s 4-month check-up went very well.  Dr. Akrawi was happy with her weight gain – though he would have liked to see a tad bit more, but said she is doing much better than she was.  So we do not have to return for any weight checks any time soon!  She is in the 25^th% for height, and head circumference, and between the 10^th-25^th% for weight.  She’s still a little peanut, but she’s growing very well and surpassing all of her developmental milestones.  I’ll update more on Bristol’s development in a separate post. 

We went over to Aunt Sharon’s house for a family day and to watch the big MSU-UM college football game on October 20^th.  Unfortunately, MSU lost, but it was still a fun game and a fun day.  Carson, Mackenzey, and Brooklynn had so much fun playing together.  It had been quite a while since they’d seen one another, so they were all so excited!  Jorie finally found a house and it is only about 4 miles away from us, so hopefully we’ll be seeing lots more of Mackenzey and Brooklynn from now on! 

Our church hosted a Trunk-or-Treat a week before Halloween this year.  It ended up being an incredibly nice, mild day… absolutely perfect!  We took the kids dressed as Mickey and Minnie Mouse and enjoyed seeing lots of friends.  Everyone thought the kids looked adorable together and I’m sure there are so many random pictures of Bristol out there on facebook some where… so many random people stopped us and said they had to get a picture of her.  LOL! 

We spent the last weekend in October out in Grand Haven.  I had two photo sessions scheduled out there – a family shoot and a senior shoot – so we figured we’d make the most of it and spend the weekend out there.  We drove out on Friday night after work and we managed to do some fun stuff in between photo shoots.  We met up with our friend Rachel and her kids at the Imagination Station playground.  It’s a huge, awesome wooden playground.  Carson loved seeing Noelle (and Noah, Emery, and Avery, too!) and had so much fun!  Then Aunt Mary, Uncle Justin, Rebecca, and Abram came to visit us at the hotel that evening!  The kids had a blast playing together and then we all had dinner together at the hotel restaurant.  It was so nice to see them all and we are so glad they came to see us!!  We also spent some time swimming in the hotel pool and just relaxing and having fun.  It was a great weekend!

We closed out the month with Halloween!  Carson had a party at preschool in the morning.  I took the day off of work and took Bristol in to the party with me.  We got to see the kids parade through in their costumes, sing some songs, and eat some yummy treats.  Carson decided he wanted to be Cat in the Hat (his costume from last year) for his preschool party.  I guess Mickey Mouse just wasn’t cool enough.  ;-P 

We did not end up going trick-or-treating on Halloween.  The weather was really crummy – cold and drizzly.  Plus, Kevin got home late from work.  So we decided not to go over to Aunt Julie’s house like we normally do for trick-or-treating.  Instead, we enjoyed a night at home together.  We did some Halloween crafts and watched the Peanuts Halloween cartoon and had a really nice time.  J