10 Months Old

On September 24th Cora turned 10 months old!

She's standing on her own and taking a step or two...but only when it's her idea!  

Unfortunately learning to walk to dangerous business, I forgot how many bumps, bruises and stubbed toes there are at this stage.  She claps and waves and knows where her head is.  She loves food and playing in her brother's room.  She's a trooper when she misses her nap, she has a big gap between her top teeth just like her brother and she has curly hair in the back!  

I love you sweet Cora!

A Very Special Dress

We had been waiting for Cora to turn 9 months old for a while now.  Because that meant it was time for this very special picture!

  When my mom was 9 months old, in 1953, she had her picture taken in this little yellow dress...

...then when I was 9 months old in 1979, I had my picture taken in it...

 ...and then when Monica was 9 months old in 1992, she wore it... 

and when Cora was 9 months old, in September 2012, she posed it in too!

I absolutely love these pictures!  There were a few years there where Grammy wasn't sure if she still had this dress, but luckily she found it in the attic and it's still in perfect condition.  Now it has to wait until there is another 9 month old little girl in the family to be worn again!

Apple Picking in Julian

On September 19th, we made our annual trek to apple county get ourselves in the fall spirit (even though it was 90 degrees!) and pick apples and, of course, eat apple pie!  After two years of going to Oak Glen, we headed back to Julian this year.  We have decided we love Oak Glen for the apple picking, but love Julian for the quaint town, restaurants and options for yummy apple treats!

The drive to Julian is longer than Oak Glen, about two hours, but the kids did well and we arrived right at lunch time.

We grabbed a bite to eat in town...

...then drove to the apple orchard.  Raven Hill Apple Orchard is the only orchard open during the week and we've picked apples here several times.  

Cora loved picking apples!  The apples here are on the small side, so they fit perfectly in her hands.  Totally reminded me of this apple picking trip.  

Wes probably ate five or six apples while we were in the orchard!

After we filled our bags with apples, we headed back into town for a treat.  We went to the old soda fountain where Mike and Wes shared a 50/50 bar float and I had apple pie, of course!

We brought home an apple boysenberry pie for Grammy and a piece of  pumpkin apple pie (my all time favorite) for Mike and I to share.  Our thought was that we didn't want a whole pie in the house to eat by ourselves, but after we enjoyed our rather small piece we were kicking ourselves for driving all that way and not just buying the whole pie!  The calories would have been totally worth it.  Another fun apple picking trip, I so love this tradition with my family!

Time to Make Some Butterflies!

You might remember this post from Wesley's birthday back in July when he received a butterfly habitat from Auntie Caitlin and Uncle Ben.  Well, we finally ordered our caterpillars and were ready to make some butterflies!  They arrived on September 17th.

 I was expecting our live caterpillars to be left on our doorstep, but was surprised to find them scrunched into our small mailbox!  Good thing I checked the mail that day, I am notorious for only getting the mail once a week.  Love, this new picture face by the way!

 9/17

They come in a cup with all their food, and just like in the Very Hungry Caterpillar book, those things love to eat!

9/20

They ate themselves silly for three days and then climbed to the top of the cup to prepare to make their chrysalis.

 9/21

It didn't take them long to make them, a few caterpillars lagged behind but...

9/22

...by the next day they were all snug in their cocoons. 

 And now that they were all in the pupal stage, they were ready to be transferred to their habitat.

9/27

We have butterflies!! About 5 days later, our first butterfly emerged from it's cocoon!  On Thursday morning I noticed one of the chrysalis' looked a little different but they were all still in their cocoon's at 8:30.  I dropped Wes off at school then headed to Bible Study.  Grammy picked Wes up from school, but when Cora and I got home around 11:45 I noticed our first butterfly had been born.  When Wes and Grammy got there, he was so excited!  I didn't realize how fast they break free of their cocoons because I put Wes down for a nap and a few minutes later another butterfly was out.  If I had known, I would have let him stay up and watch, but Grammy and I were lucky and watched the whole thing!  The other butterflies either hatched at night or when we weren't watching but all six of our caterpillars turned into butterflies!

 Cora loved watching them too, we put flowers on the bottom of the cage and sprinkled them with sugar water each morning.

9/29

We enjoyed our butterflies for three days and then decided they should be set free to fly.  

Here's Wes letting them go free.

 I actually captured one of our butterflies flying away!  If you enlarge this photo like a million times,  inside that black circle you'll see a little orange and black spot that is one of our butterflies!  I was just snapping pictures, and was pleasantly surprised to see I caught one on film :)

 Here are the old cocoons.  And our butterfly experience didn't actually end here, because one of our butterflies was born with a misformed wing and couldn't fly.  We kept it and fed it in the habitat for a whole week, before it died.  It was a good life cycle lesson for Wes, though he's still too young to fully understand.  But we were able to have a discussion about why God makes things/people different and how we treat everyone with love because we are all God's creatures.  (But I do have to admit I was happy when that butterfly bit the dust!)  Thanks again Auntie Caitlin and Uncle Ben for the fun experience! We all loved it!

Cora's Dedication

On September 16th, Cora's life was dedicated to the Lord by Pastor Dave Rolf at Calvary Chapel Pacific Hills. 

 It was no surprise that she wasn't too keen on being handed off to Pastor Dave.  She's kind of a mama's girl and not a big fan of men...and not just men she doesn't know, she's finally warming up to Uncle Chris! 

 And never one let the spotlight pass him by, Wes decided to let the congregation know his shoe had fallen off and he needed it back on before we could leave the stage.

Luckily Pastor Dave was willing to help out!

 Afterward we all headed to Grammy's house for lunch and a little swimming.

 Grandpa Al, Cora and Grandma Susie

 Cora and Uncle Nathan and the special cow he and Auntie Madison gave her.

 Swimming fun!

We love you Cora girl and are so thankful to the Lord for giving you to us!  We pray God's hand on your life  and that you always know His amazing love for you.  We know God has wonderful things planned for your future!