crisp

It's fall and I love this time of year. Every morning, Coranelle and I go out for a walk or a run in the crisp Autumn air. The leaves are all turning and I enjoy crunching over them with the stroller as we enjoy the bright blue skies and views of the snow-covered mountains. I love putting Coranelle in her new "Bundle Me" sleeping bag in her carseat and sliding on our hats and fleeces. Colorado is beautiful and I feel blessed to be living and raising a baby in such a beautiful place like Broomfield. In my former life in Estes Park, I grew up surrounded by pine trees. So, I didn't get the chance to see the leaves change on the trees in our own yard. Now I do and I love seasons. I have a huge trash can full of crispy leaves and raking them takes plenty of time, but it's worth it. I also really love the chance to bake pumpkin muffins and make chicken chili and homemade soups in the crockpot. I like snuggling up under the covers and sticking my cold feed under Ryan's legs so he can warm them up. I cannot wait to get some firewood and have some fires in the evenings, cuddled up with blankets and drinking hot cocoa. Yeah for fall!

Today, Ryan left to go down to Texas for a few days for a business trip. It is his first business trip and he is going on his own. I am proud of him. He is the only mechanical engineer working on this particular project, so he has lots of responsibility and is going down to meet with some clients. I am not super excited to spend the next two evenings alone, but at least it doesn't happen often. Typically, on Tuesday nights, Ryan takes Coranelle for an hour and a half while I go to the Rec Center to take a class. Since he won't be home tonight, he offered to take her last night so I could get away for a little bit. He's a great guy! It was fun to come home to them last night and see them cuddling in the Lazy Boy. What a sweet family! She's still stubborn about taking her evening nap, but we're down to 15-30 minutes of crying at night, instead of 3 hours a few months ago. We'll miss Ryan making Coranelle smile when he walks in the door at 5pm. She is typically nursing and completely gets distracted, choosing to smile at daddy and watch him over her feeding. Ryan always wraps her up at night in the middle of her last feeding and gives her back to me, all swaddled and ready to have her milk and go to sleep. Then, he diverts his attention to me, getting me ice cream or rubbing my sore neck. I am a lucky woman. We'll be lonely without him!

I went and got my flu shot yesterday. Our pediatrician told us we should get them to keep Coranelle healthy. I don't typically get them, but I am willing to do so if it helps her stay well and allows me to take care of her this winter. In other news, Coranelle is still enjoying her rice cereal. She does a great job eating it. This weekend, I think the addition to her diet stopped her up a bit. We got called out of church (again) because the nursery workers said she cried all the way through the service. They reported that she was super gassy. So, we stopped at the grocery store and got her some prune juice. I gave her a bit more than a teaspoon Saturday night. Sunday afternoon, that stuff KICKED IN! Whew! I had just finished feeding her cereal in her bumbo seat and she exploded out of her outfit like never before. I picked her up and she was messy all down her legs, all over her outfit and all over my shirt. I carried her out to the garage and squeaked, "Ryan, I have a bit of a situation. Can you help me?" He came in and put some paper towels down so we could strip her down and give her a quick bath. Then, he scrubbed our clothes and started laundry. Needless to say, Prune juice does the trick. Go easy on it if you decide to give it a try!

This past weekend, we continued prepping our house for painting. Unfortunately, the first set of colors we picked turned out to be peachy pink and, well, for lack of a better description- poop brown. Not at all what the samples looked like or what we wanted. Fortunately, Ryan only bought a little paint and tested it on the shed before painting the whole house. So, we started back at square one and now we have colors that we are really pleased with. Picking paint colors is a hard thing to do!

Last weekend, we also met Claire's newborn nephew. I forget how small these babies once were and holding this little guy felt so strange. Coranelle actually looked really big! It was fun to have this little guy fall asleep in my arms. Awww! Later in the weekend, we got to see Heidi's brother and sister-in-law. Just like Coranelle loves being with her Uncle Josh, she loved being held by Ryan's uncle Scott. Funny how she seems more comfortable with men than with women (unless it's mommy). Anybody have thoughts on why that is? I'm not loving that she freaks out when my girlfriends try to take her or when her grandmas or aunts try to hold her. Silly peanut. But, we love her! She's been allowing us to eat dinner occasionally without holding her. She'll hang out in her bumbo seat or the excersaucer and play while we can enjoy catching up with each other.

Today, before I head to Bruce and Heidi's for dinner, I am going to check out the new King Soopers near our house. I have never been, and while walking with Jenny and Adelaide this morning, Jenny mentioned how nice it is. I am looking forward to checking it out. Sounds really silly, but it will be a fun to take Coranelle. Jenny says it's like Whole Foods. I like having a little errand to run in the afternoons after Coranelle gets up and eats. It helps them to go by faster. Does that sound crazy? Sometimes they drag because there is only so much playing a 4 month old can do.

I hope all of you are doing well. Please continue to keep my dad in your thoughts and prayers. He has started chemo, radiation, and hormonal treatment and I just cannot imagine how exhausting it all much be- especially when raising a 3 year old. I wish there was more I could do from afar. It's no fun to feel helpless when a loved one is going through something so hard. Thanks for your prayers.