Fall Fun

We spent this past Columbus Day weekend at Harper's Grammy Sue's house.  With the leaves turning red, orange, and yellow and the air festively chilly, it was a true fall weekend, and we had the chance to enjoy it with family and friends.  

Since Halloween is coming up in just a couple of weeks, we spent time in the pumpkin patch, picking out pumpkins that we will eventually carve into jack-o-lanterns.  Harper hasn't seen her Daddy in action yet, but he is quite the master pumpkin carver.  This Halloween will be Harper's first; so exciting!  We already have a costume for her, thanks to a hand-me-down from our good friend, Jen, whose daughter is a couple of years older than Harper.  She's going to be a ladybug, and I'm pretty sure that she will be the cutest lady bug I have ever seen.  

Harper really enjoyed rolling around in the dirt in the garden and getting her hands on the pumpkins.  She has started to pull up to a standing position, and she clearly enjoyed showing off her new skills.  It was a chilly weekend, but Grammy kept Harper warm with a new fleece poncho.  It was funny watching Harper trying to maneuver with a fluffy extra layer, but she managed.    

We also had the opportunity to show Harper the tree that we planted last year in memory of her big brother, Rex.  We buried his ashes when we planted the tree, and so it is a special place for our family.  Harper is still too little to understand, but it was touching for us to see our sweet, smiley baby crawling around Rex's tree, a bittersweet reminder of the little boy we lost and the little girl we have welcomed into our hearts.  We feel blessed to have a place that we can go to be together and to feel close to him.

Having been born in the fall, it wasn't surprising to see Harper totally in her element this weekend, all bundled up outside.  She even had her first drink of apple cider in her sippy cup and her first taste of mashed potatoes; maybe it goes without saying, but she loved both, of course.  Something tells me that she is going to really love Thanksgiving...