August

We have been busy.

And, little mister has been getting very busy himself too.  He has been getting into books and trying to eat them. Toilet paper and trash cans are no longer safe and he has learned to climb the stairs.  If I'm not quick, Gideon gets into the refrigerator before I can close it and starts dropping things onto the floor. 

mouth full of toilet paper

The king on his throne

sigh. why is toilet paper so fun?

emptying his pj drawer...and who needs clothes?

August 1st,  I went over to the farm and did corn with my mom and Lena. 

Gideon enjoyed the mess

60 pints

 During lunch one day, Gideon got so tired he laid his head down...

little stinker

 August 4th,  Nathan and I celebrated our anniversary.   I'm not good with anniversaries or birthdays or anything like that. And, while I knew it was coming up, it took facebook reminding me that morning that it was our anniversary.  And then,  Nathan came home from work to me with a massive migraine.  I took some Advil and slept for a few hours and thankfully it went away. My parents were kind enough to still watch Gideon, despite it being much later than first planned, and Nathan and I headed out to Biaggi's for supper. 

The 6th, we didn't have any evening plans. Matt and Lena texted us that they were on their way to join mom and dad and Bob and Jenny for the Peoria concert in the park.  We made a snap decision and packed up and headed over to join them. 

Gideon and Cadence playing

On the 5th, one of Nathan's friend's from school was in the area.  He and his wife have been living out of state for 3 (or 5?) years now, and Nathan hasn't seen them in just as long. They are now moving back to the area.  We met in Bloomington at a pizza place for supper.  

Our garden is over producing. We have more tomatoes and cucumbers than we know what to do with.

this is what we get every day

and our flowers are doing great!! :)

I had a whole drawer of my refrigerator filled with cucumbers, so I called up Audrey and asked if she'd want to help me make pickles.  She agreed to, and so she, Rebecca, Jessica, Karen, and Anna came for the day on the 7th.

two canners going

12 quarts and 9 pints of pickles :)

That evening, Nathan and I were in charge of the clothing packing for HarvestCall.  We invited the cousins to join us.

They came over after to eat and play games.

Trying out Captain Sonar

Gideon has been enjoying the cooler sunny days

such a cool dude

he loves pushing this around the house...

until it doesn't go the direction he wants it to, and then it's the end of the world.

 On the 8th,  a bunch of us went to Roy's lake for the afternoon. Gideon loved it.

"best day ever!"

He and jack played with toys in the shade for a while

such a cool place.

Gideon had his very belated 9 month appointment on the 9th.   

He is in the 40th percentile for height and the 50th for weight.  His growth chart does not follow a normal curve. hehe. He went from the 6th percentile to the 26th to now the 50th. :) 

I've been saying for months now "maybe he's teething" which he never was.  But, when the doctor looked in his mouth he said both top and bottom gums looked very swollen. Sure enough, when I got home I felt his gum and looked.  I could see two little lines on his bottom gum and feel one of them was almost through. 

Which explained his fever, diarrhea, and crankiness. 

Little chubby at the doctors

He is very protective of his mouth and I have yet to actually see if his tooth is through.  Every time he smiles, he sticks his tongue over his gums. Though, I've been able to feel that it's very, very close to being through if it isn't yet. 

We finally got Gideon a stuffed animal. :)

Little Mr. Fox

Gideon loves it when daddy plays the guitar.

playing under the table

"helping" with laundry...

On the 11th, Gideon and I went to visit Katherine and her new baby Brielle.  Katherine seems to be doing great and Brielle is adorable. Gideon was extremely hyper and was very excited to see Brielle. I, of course, forgot to take any pictures. 

On the 12th, Nathan and I went to the Peoria Riverfront Market to surprise whoever of his family were at their booth.  They were surprised and seemed happy about it. ;)  The market is pretty cool and has tons of variety. One of my high school classmates owns and runs a flower farm and has a booth there as well. 

That evening, we had the Schlipfs over.  Ed and Peggy are back in town and Nathan and I thought it was about time to have that side of the family over to our house.  

I made mocha mousse and coconut cream pie cups for dessert...they were really good :)

Gideon was bugging jack... hehe

:)

The 13th,  Nathan and I went over to Jeff and Chelby's with the other Bible Class teachers and spouses for the planning meeting.  It was a good evening, and hopefully this year I'll be able to be a bit more involved.

This Monday, the 14th, was rather quiet. Which I know, is probably a good thing, but still I'm ridiculous and get bored. 

Tuesday,  Gideon and I tagged along with my parents and uncle Ed to the Illinois State Fair. 

cool buildings and clydesdales lining up for a show

rows of horse barns

We watched a horse race

dip n dots

It was hot. But we had fun.  I got to try honey ice cream at the Illinois Bee Keepers booth and had a lemonade shake up and corn dog for lunch. :) yay fair food.  Gideon did impressively well. The fair had a few buildings with air conditioning and a kids area where I could feed him.  He enjoyed charming everyone who looked at him.  At one point he was scrunching his nose (his new trick) at a group of people and they all scrunched their noses back at him. He'd stare people down and smile at them until they'd smile back... he's such a stinker. 

We left the fair and headed to the Lincoln museum. It was much cooler there.

Gideon played with blocks in the kids area while my parents and Ed watched a few shows

Checking out the Lincoln family

The museum is really cool. The wax figures are so realistic.  One room you walk in to has a very realistic depiction of the slave market.  It's so lifelike it's horrifying.

Wednesday, we had another quiet recoup day at home.   Kacie came back from Mexico and was in church that night. We went over to Grandpa and Grandma's after church to hang out.

Gideon turned 10 months old!!!

scrunching his nose

more nose scrunching... lol

and then he looks so nice when he doesn't know I taking a picture :) 

such a stinker.

Thursday, Gideon and I met Kacie, Carli, and Kandace in Eureka. We went to Objects and Mika's.  Kandace had to go to work, but the rest of us met up with Clayton and Nathan for lunch. 

phew.  And, I think I'm finally up to date. :)

In Christ

~Michelle