My parents were in town a couple weeks back. We had a great time just hanging out with them. It was really hard to say goodbye. Adam was back in school when they left, and Lennon was actually sleeping when they pulled out of the driveway so it was way too quiet and lonely the moment they left. Unfortunately, we won't see them until Christmas (which is only 4 months away) and Lennon will be a very active 9-month-old by then.
Lennon is 5 months old, which is hard to believe. He is grabbing at everything (and putting everything he gets his hands on in his mouth) and talking up a storm. We're having a blast.

At White Fence Farm:

He's teething...he is so close to breaking a tooth, his poor gums are hard and there is one bumpy spot that has to break loose one of these days!

4 Month Doctor Appointment

Lennon had his 4 month doctor appointment yesterday, which went really well. He got another set of vaccines, which he's been reacting pretty well to. He's a little fussy, but that may also be combined with his teething symptoms. I'm praying that tooth breaks through soon because he's so restless lately--even at night.

Here are his measurements from his appointment:
Weight: 15 pounds, 6 ounces which puts him in the 47th percentile
Length 24.5 inches which is the 21st percentile (he's obviously really short)
Head Circumference: 17.25 inches which is in the 80th percentile (his brain is just so big!!)

The total body percentile (weight for length) is 76%. Not too bad--I was expecting it to be in the 90s because everyone says he's so big. But I think he looks chunkier because of his head size and the fact that he's so short. But still more growing to do...just not too fast!!!

Wisconsin...Part 2

Some more pictures...

With Julie:

Great Grandma:

Brenna, helping with the teething situation:

Great Aunt Diane:Derrick:Lynn and the future pianist:Hanging out with Grandma in New Glarus:Grandpa, one of Lennon's favorite people!

New Glarus

My parents took us to New Glarus to visit the brewery. New Glarus is a cute, Swiss town of about 2,000 people. We had lunch and ate some great, authentic food. Then Adam, John and I headed off to the original brewery, which is still operational, for the beginning of the special "Hard Hat Tour." The owner and brewmaster, Dan, as well as the productions manager, led the tour. We then headed up the hill to their new, state of the art brewery. The tour lasted 3 hours and at the end we got to hang out with the brewmaster, drinking beer. My mom and Lennon enjoyed their time walking around the town, touring the historical village. We all had a great time!

Wisconsin...Part 1

The last stop! Visiting Wisconsin is always busy with family and friends. We spent a couple days with my Grandma Ackatz. On Saturday we had the family over for a BBQ and then on Sunday we had friends over for another BBQ. Lennon did pretty well with all of the activity. Unfortunately, he's starting to teethe pretty intensely so he's been a little fussier than normal.

We got to do some more vacation-y things as well. On Wednesday, we went to Milwaukee to spend the afternoon with my uncle Scott and got to tour the Lakefront brewery. And then on Friday, we went to New Glarus brewery.

With Great Grandma Ackatz:

Great Aunt Diane (right before Lennon spit up all over her...it's a sign of love!):Great Aunt Jenny:My cousin Tim stylin' him up a bit:Patti and Lennon:

Ohio

After DC we headed up to Columbus, Ohio to see some of my family there. We haven't been there in almost 2 years, so it was great to see everyone and just relax. We spent our time during the day with my Grandma and my cousin John Thomas and then the evenings were filled with more family. We had a great time! We're looking forward to going back after Christmas for a few days.

Grandma Martz with her great grandson!

John and Lennon:

4 generations:My cousin, Erin with Lennon:John Thomas, Aunt Carla and Lennon:Aunt Patty:

Washington DC

After Philly, we headed down to Washington DC to see our good friends, Chrisann and Mike and their 2 month old little girl, Olivia Grace. Since we haven't seen them in over a year, it was great to just hang out and catch up on life.

Beautiful Olivia Grace:

Not quite sure what he's supposed to do....

Philly

We haven't been posting pictures as much as I would have liked on our trip, but they'll keep coming. Right now we're in Wisconsin, the last leg of our trip. It's been a great time, but I'm definitely getting sick of living out of a suitcase!

Here are pictures from our time in Philadelphia to see Leah, Drew and baby Emery. While Leah was in labor, we stuck close by and just hung out around the hotel, thinking that baby would come. However, Leah was in labor for way longer than any of us were expecting (almost 48 hours!) so on day 2 of labor, we went to Valley Forge to try to distract ourselves a bit. But finally at 11:02 pm on July 15th, Emery Joseph Hood entered the world, weighing 9 pounds, 13 ounces and 22 inches long! The next afternoon, on our way back to the hotel from the hospital our car broke down. Hours later, after getting towed, we found out the alternator died. The mechanic doesn't keep Subaru alternators in stock (because they apparently never go out--we have 185K miles on our car and the mechanic thinks that this is the first replacement) so we had to push back our trip one day to wait for the repair, which worked out great because we were able to spend more time with Leah and Drew and our little nephew!

At Valley Forge:

Lennon and Grandpa in the hospital waiting area (Lennon couldn't go into the maternity ward):Drew, baby Emery, Adam and Lennon:Beautiful Emery:
Lennon and Grandpa, just chillin':Those long arms and legs:

We're enjoying our time in Albany. There's a lot of new things for Lennon to look at, which means he gets so exhausted but doesn't want to go to sleep--but I was expecting that to happen. Other than that--he's doing great and seems to be enjoying all the new people and attention!

With Brenda:

With Grandma Schafer:
Those cheeks....
Great Grandpa Miller, Grandpa Schafer and Daddy:
Great Grandma Miller:
Happy to be out of the car....
The last rest area as we were leaving Colorado: