MI renaissance festival

Ah, and here it is. Our second year (and probably last) attending the Renaissance Festival! We found out after last year that there was a fairy house building competition and all entries got two tickets to the festival. Of course Adam, being who he is, dove into planning an extravagent fairy house, while I, being who I am, drooled at the thought of saving 40 bucks! So, what ensued was a great time together in planning and building the house and saving money! Of course it was also lots of fun looking for our house once we got to the festival. But, now that our family is growing, I'm beginning to realize that the festival may be a bit too risque for a family outing. Oh well. We shall see.

Apple Charlie's

Better late than never in posting this, right? We cannot forget the first time our little Colette went to Apple Charlie's! This year was a huge bumper crop of apples. Last year was one of the worst, this year was the second largest in like a hundred years or something. So, as always, we had to go apple picking. We picked a weekend when Micah and Suzanne were visiting and all headed out to the orchard. You got to see the animals, help us pick apples, we got our cider and donuts (but no cinnamon sugar b/c they were out due to the large crowds), fed the fishies and ducks, and danced to the oldies band. It was a good day.

Half a year old!

Oh my goodness my precious girl! Tomorrow you will be six months old! I just cannot believe it. You have grown so much over the past several months. Your physical growth has actually slowed a lot and you're turning into quite the petite little thing, but everything else is progressing beautifully. You are so ready to be a big sister. You sit up, roll over both ways, eat bananas, sweet potatoes, prunes and oatmeal, you laugh and talk and smile, you focus so deeply on the little details around you, you love to jump and bounce, you are just such a whole person unto yourself and it is incredible to see. As you grow older, it has been interesting to watch your personality grow and develop. While you are pretty happy most of the time, you have been becoming a little whiner as of late! Sometimes even when you're sleeping, your dad and I can hear you whining. You love people though-whether I take you to mass, to the mall, grocery shopping, or to a friend's house, you flirt with everyone in sight, dying for attention! Fr. James Mangan, a friend of ours, is very astute in picking out people's temperaments and he is pretty sure you are a melancholic. We are so excited to continue to see the revelation of all that you are! I wanted to post these pictures from when you turned three months too, to show you the change.

Snaggletooth

Yes, this is the name by which the Everts family calls their sweet Ava. However, yesterday on the solemnity of Christ the King, Colette entered the realm of the snaggletooths. She has a tooth! I noticed about a week and a half ago that she had a pointy little dagger of a tooth in the back of her mouth. I could feel the point, but was unable to see it, leaving me with little proof that my daughter was one in a million by having a molar be her first tooth! However, now there is proof of a tooth, just not in that spot. Yesterday at mass I put my finger in her tiny mouth and felt a poke! Right there in the front on the bottom left is a tooth! It is barely there, but it is there! Visible like the white cap on a wave. I can't believe our little girl is getting so big. In two weeks she will be half a year old! It never ceases to amaze me when I consider the depth, breadth, length, involvement and intricasies of the universe and all it contains, that something as seemingly insignificant as a tooth can mean so much, but it does.

Baby Bish #2

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday. As my brother Micah stated while on our birthday phone call yesterday: "Welcome to the streak of non-discript birthday." I agreed with this. I am married, have a child, honestly are birthdays all that important? I realized this morning that yes, they are. While they may not seem important as you pass from one measly twenty-something to another, they are important when they begin. Nine months before that birthday takes places there is obsessive speculation on when it will be...one's due date, late, early, and every day counts! While it seems that just yesterday I was doing such a thing in regards to Colette's day of birth, I find myself doing it once again. Yes, here on the day after my birthday, it has been revealed to me that there is a little life growing inside of me. Am I surprised? That would be putting it mildly. But to say I'm overwhelmed with joy- that barely scratches the surface. It is incredible to realize that I will probably only ever be pregnant a few times in my entire life, and yet the Lord has given me the precious gift of having two of my pregnancies so close together. Am I afraid? When I focus too much on myself and my own weakness I am, yes. I am afraid that I don't have enough love for both of you. I am afraid I do not have enough patience. But when I focus on the God who gave my children breath, I do not fear. He will multiply my love. He will increase my patience. I need only trust. For the past few months Adam has said: "I'm ready for another baby, I'm just not ready to have you pregnant again!" Well, God willing this will be a smooth pregnancy. I pray that I will cherish every moment of having you inside of me. As soon as you leave me and enter the world, I can never have you so close again. I love you so dearly. Know that you are so wanted. Know that you are so loved. WE NEED YOU. YOU. You complete our little family. Thank you for existing. Love, Mom

Family rosary and shadows

Colette was in bed by nine tonight and dad and I snuggled together to pray a rosary in the month of the rosary. We're working hard to develop daily family rosary as a habit in time for the kids to see it as the norm. We made it through two decades before Colette decided she wanted to join. We got out the wooden children's rosary that her God-father had given her as a baptism gift and she held it for the first time. So beautiful, that moment, realizing it marked the beginning of her relationship with Our Lady. Colette, I pray that you embrace her as your true Mother and use her as a means to grow closer to her Son. As we sat on the couch praying, Colette turned and discovered something for the first time-her shadow. There it was, a little gray head, bobbing next to her on the couch. Entranced by it, she spent the next several minutes of the rosary cooing and blowing bubbles at her shadow-head and my hand. Sorry Lord, looks like she is already struggling with distraction in prayer!

1/3 of a year old.

This past Saturday we celebrated Colette Therese's 4 month birthday. Grandma Bishop flew in for the weekend and joined in on the celebration. The past two weeks, Colette has not been sleeping well-we think due to teething. One of the only ways to get her to sleep is to bring her into bed with mom and dad. Since the bed is a "full" size, we have minimal room to move. Especially since Colette takes over the whole thing! We awoke Saturday morning with our precious daughter between us. No matter how little she sleeps during the night, and how frustrated we get with her, I fall in love with her all over again in the morning. Waking up in bed with her is my favorite thing. Such a happy girl. Dad and I were playing with her when we both realized that it was her special day! She received extra hugs and kisses because of it. To "celebrate her day" we took her to Erwin Orchards for the first time to get cider and donuts and then picked up a pizza and took it to Island Lake State Park for a late lunch by the water. It was a perfect fall day and such a pleasant time with her. She is getting so big, amazing us daily with her constant growth. She hailed in her fourth month with her first roll over! She rolled from her back to her stomach-proof once more that we have a gifted child! She had been trying to roll over the whole day but would only rock back and forth before giving up. I was leaving her alone on a blanket while I made dinner. This time alone provided her with the focus she needed! Dad got home and five minutes later she performed in front of both of us her first roll over! She was very surprised when she did! On top of rolling over, she has also learned to intertwine her fingers, which is a wonder to behold. She sits gazing at her entwined hands for minutes at a time. She laughs when daddy "snores" and when we tickle her belly with our faces. She smiles at just about everything. She is very vocal-yelling so the whole world knows she is here. We know you're here baby girl. We're so glad you are.