Hello, Everyone (i.e. Chelsea). Thanks for checking in for October’s installment of “poorly written descriptions of things we do on the weekends.”
After thinking about it for 20 seconds, here’s how I decided to organize the headlines for the month:
- Lena’s baptism
- Photo session
- Halloween party
- Grandpa Stiles birthday visit
Lena found Jesus!
75% of the grandparents returned for another round of baby-luvin to see Lena get baptized at our new church.
The service itself was quite nice. The minister (Gayla) spoke about what it means to raise Lena in the church, and how much she is loved, both by the congregation and by God / World. After Gayla spoke, she carried Lena down the aisle while everyone sang to her. We had seen baptisms before in our church, but it was special to experience it with our own baby.
Lena was a champ through the whole process. She only slightly flinched when the water was splashed on her face.
The weekend overall was also a success. Lena is clearly more mature now, and we are able to enjoy ourselves more because of it. Like, we can actually take her places. WOW.
We went to Lenexa Chili Cookoff on Saturday, which is just down the street from us. There were nearly 200 competitors, all giving out free samples. SOME even had chicken wings (but not nearly enough…it should just be a chicken wing competition).
It’s events like this that remind me how proud I am to live in this town.
Otherwise, we spent a lot of time talking and playing with Lena. Chelsea’s parents brought their dog, Checotah, and Lena LOVED her. At first, I don’t think she knew what to think of her, but she got so excited when Checotah came near. Lena grabbed on to her hair and got super excited. It was fun to watch.
It was a good weekend. It felt wholesome, if that makes sense. I’m beginning to realize why people value family so much.
Photo sesh
My dad gave us a photo session with professional photographer for Lena’s 6 month birthday. We chose Weston Red Barn Farm as the venue for the photos because we hadn’t been there since we got married, and we had wanted to take Lena there at some point during the fall.
We had a lot of fun! Lena was in a good mood after a short nap on the way there, and the weather was ideally autumnal. Melissa, the photographer, was great at interacting with Lena and had a good eye for identifying photo locations and positions. (She made us wish we had used her for our wedding…)
After the photos, we went into downtown Weston for lunch. We settled on O’Malley’s Pub (which I am certain I had never been to, but Chelsea thought I had). It turned out to be a good choice because it felt very Irish, and we appreciated the nostalgia. It was Lena’s first experience in a sit down restaurant, and she did quite well (for a 6 month old baby).
A spooky celebration
My employer hosted a Halloween party for young kids. I have gotten the emails every year inviting me to it, but they make it very clear not to come unless you have kids 12 years old or younger, so I’ve never been to one before now.
We dressed Lena up as an astronaut!
I was quite surprised by the level of effort that they put into it.
- Outdoor event tents
- Bounce houses and bouncy obstacle course
- Magician, cartoonists, and professional photographer
I think it’s mostly designed for kids in the 4-6 year old range, so Lena didn’t really understand what was going on this year. But, I think we will return next year and she will have a lot more fun then.
MORE GRANDPARENT TIME????????
Yes.
My dad came up this month too for his birthday weekend. It had been a few months since he had seen Lena, so I know he really enjoyed it.
My gift to him for his birthday was an afternoon out at the symphony because they were playing Brahms Symphony No. 4, which we both really like. They also played an organ symphony (not the organ symphony), and I was interested in hearing the organ (with my hearing organs).
It’s always fun to do classical music-themed things with my dad because that is something that we can connect on. He knows a lot of specific information about composers and music history, so it’s nice to talk about that.
Real talk
When Lena was first born, I looked forward to her being older so that she could interact with us more. Now she is interacting with us, and it’s even more fun than I thought it would be.
I feel selfish for feeling this, but a part of me doesn’t want her to grow up. I like that she smiles when she notices Chelsea or me walk in the room. Or that she is so easy to entertain just by spinning her in a circle.
I know that one day she won’t be as excited by her parents, and that makes me sad.
