A shout out to Dad

A card Ryan gave us before he left for his business trip.
Playing with her cool new toy and Bruce and Heidi's!
We went to the pumpkin patch on Friday and got a pumpkin. I have never gone to a pumpkin patch before, so it was really fun!

Mom took this picture at Stefan's birthday celebration on Sunday. I thought it was adorable!!


I decided for my blog this week, I would post part of a letter I recently wrote to my dad. It's amazing how you look at your parents a little differently once you become one.

Dear Dad, I was talking with Rachael today about how we use memories and our own childhood to help us decide how we want to (and don't want to) raise our own kids in the future. I kept telling her about things we did with you and memories I had of times we spent together. I don't think I thank you enough for being such a good dad. I know you didn't get a chance to "raise" us full-time, but you left some incredible, lasting memories that I will always cherish. Thanks for reading to us from the folk tale book about Coyote, Quail, and Rabbit. I can still hear your voice reading us those stories over and over again before bed when we were at your house. I want to read with Coranelle before bed too. Thanks for coming in every night we were with you and tucking us in SO tight that we couldn't breathe and then kissing us good-night. I got so excited for that tucking in, even though I had to squirm out of it shortly after you left so that I could breathe. Thanks for making us special breakfasts in the mornings. We SO looked forward to those waffles, eggs, pancakes, huevos rancheros, and orange juice. What a great way to spend time with the family on the weekends! It was a treat! Thanks for getting Stefan remote control airplanes and helping him build them and fly them. It was fun to watch you guys out there doing that while I played with my dolls. Thanks for getting me a little gift to open when it was Stefan's birthday and Stefan a little gift when it was mine so that we still felt special. I totally want to do that with our kiddos. Thanks for taking us on adventures down the river and to the ocean. We have so many stories from those trips. It was fun from the shopping for food to getting stuck in my kayak on rocks and having to fight to get free. We loved having hot chocolate by the fire with you in the mornings while you had your 3 cups of coffee. And I will never forget sitting around the campfire with you, talking about everything in the world and laughing about the mischievous things you did as a kid. I cannot wait to sit around a campfire with our kids and tell stories and laugh under the stars. Thanks for coming out to cheer me on at Cross Country and Track meets in high school. I always had my best races when I knew you had come. I will never forget one swim meet in High School that you came to. I don't remember the event I swam or the time or place I got. I just remember you grabbing me, right after the race when I was sopping wet, hugging me and spinning me around in a circle, telling me how proud you were. I was on top of the world at that moment! It meant so much! When Coranelle is involved with sports, we'll make sure we are there for her and never too uptight to get wet and sweaty in order to congratulate her efforts- no matter what place or time or event it might be. Thanks for going to Spain with me and exploring the coast. What an adventure to cherish. It was a time when I was "finding myself" and was so great to have 2 weeks to talk to you, eat gelato and flan, enjoy fancy hotel rooms with bathtubs that overlooked the coast, and walk the beaches with you for hours. Thanks for telling me that I was beautiful on my wedding day... lots and lots of times. We will be sure to do the same when Coranelle gets married because I know just how much it means. Thanks for checking in with me a lot when we first had Coranelle. It was nice to have someone to vent to and who I knew could relate to the tough newborn stage we were going through.

Thanks for everything dad! Love you tons,
Kari
As for other news, Coranelle is doing well. She is rolling over tons. Saturday, she rolled 16 times in a row! It's fun to see. She made it a little difficult on Grams and PopPops Friday night when we went out to celebrate a friend's birthday. She fought her nap for a few hours and fussed a lot. Good thing Ryan's parents are so incredibly patient with her. We know it is a stage and won't last forever. Soon, they'll be watching her and she'll be running around, begging for treats and playing games. But until then, it makes it stressful for me to leave because I end up spending my evening worrying about whether or not Coranelle is driving her grandparents crazy. But, I know this will pass and it doesn't make us love her any less. Oh, and she still refuses to drink any formula, so Ryan battled with her for over an hour tonight to try to feed her while I was at the Rec Center. He has tons of patience, which I truly admire. We'll keep working on the bottle and the formula. Sigh.

This weekend, we also got a bunch of firewood and are very much looking forward to cuddling by the fire this winter. It was very cold here this weekend, so we had a fire all day Saturday and Sunday and enjoyed some quiet, family time.

Not much else to report. I need to nurse my adorable little peanut and put her to bed. Thanks for reading and have a great week!