Olivia has been frightened to get her ears pierced, which I was completely content with, but daddy thought that pushing my fears onto her wasn't good. He told her she was old enough and could get her ears pierced if she wanted to. Of course Olivia pulled a complete 180 on me and decided then that she wanted her ears pierced that very day. I called my sister whose house we were headed up to for the night and she thought we should do it. Olivia's birthday is coming up so as an early gift I finally caved. So last night Olivia, Mia, and I went with Aunt Libby and the boys to the Lansing Mall. Olivia chose the "red diamonds." She was so brave, as I stood by and quivered in fear. My baby was getting her ears pierced after all. They did both at once and no tears were shed.
My big girl fighting back tears to be brave.
As soon as they put the mirror up for her to see, the look of fear went off her face and pure astonishment came over her. She can't stop checking herself out in the mirror.
2 weekends ago we had a nice visit from Keith and Sarah Morrisson, as well as Marc Terrell. Even more friends came in the evening for dinner and football. Needless to say, we had a house full, but it was great catching up. Keith and Sarah are expecting their first child in February. We are so excited for them! Keith is Olivia's Godfather, and it's been over 1 1/2 years since she last saw him, but as evident in the photo above, she quickly became reacquainted.
Last weekend, Andy, Mia, and I went for a quick trip back up north to look at property again. We checked out some new properties, although I think Andy and I both went with the intention of purchasing our favorite from last time. We are glad we looked some more. We found 10 acres nearby the other property we like for about 1/2 the price and it has electricity, a small shed, and small camper on it. Plus it's more easily accessible. Also, next to it is another 10 acres untouched listed at a dirt cheap price. Of course I forgot to take pictures of the property. Mia was excellent on our trip as always. You can see from the smile on her face in the photos how cheerful she was the entire trip. Thanks to Jere for putting up with us again. Olivia stayed home with Nana and Papa and had lots of fun at the Coldwater Apple Festival and our county fair. We were thrilled to hug her once again and hear that she was perfect for Nana and Papa.
On our drive home we debated what to do about the properties. We originally were going to buy both of the 10 acre parcels that are side by side, but decided we'll wait on the 2nd lot and see how finances work out a bit before taking that step. After putting in a lower offer we thought we'd have to play the back and forth game but we didn't. We just heard Thursday, that our offer was accepted!
In other big news, Mia ate her first food other than mommy's milk last night. We tried avocado with her, and let me tell you this girl was born to eat! No spitting it out, just a gaping mouth requesting more. She ate 1/4 of a whole avocado before she was done. She didn't even get that messy. This photo is as messy as she got. We'll have to decide what is next on the menu for her. Hopefully Mia will be as good of an eater as Olivia.
We spent our Labor Day weekend in the Alpena area looking for property. Andy wants it for hunting and recreation. I have just always wanted to be in Alpena, so this would be our little rustic get away. Hopefully, years down the road we could build a small little cabin. We found lots we liked and one we fell in love with. We didn't make any offers yet. We didn't want to be too impulsive and decided if waiting meant we lost something, then it wasn't meant to be. I'm sure we will be up there again in the near future to take some more looks at our favorites and maybe look at some new properties as well.
A view from the deck on our favorite property we saw while up north. The scenery was gorgeous on this 10 acre parcel. The land was very secluded, but yet very close to town (between the airport and Lake Winyah). There is a good size camper in fairly decent condition with a deck off of it, trails to walk or ride through, and the cheapest we property we looked at. We sadly realized it doesn't have electric, well, septic, and gas like we originally thought.
Our 2nd favorite property we looked at is on Long Rapids Rd., technically an Alpena address, but only five minutes from Hillman. This property has a slightly higher price tag, but also has 6 acres more. Plus it boasts a building, primitive as it may be, it has a concrete floor, with all the utilities available, which would be a huge price saver in the long run. The property was very pretty, but the location not as great. The trail was so overgrown we didn't get to walk through too much of the property either.
Olivia, with grey kitty sitting next to her, which she renamed Rosemary Rose, and Uncle Jere sitting outside enjoying the beautiful weather while dinner was grilling.
We stopped by Jared and Elizabeth's new home in Lansing on our way home Sunday. Here's a cute family photo of the entire crew outside their new home. They've been working hard and getting lots done. The rental side looks awesome and is almost done!
We had a delicious lunch of tacos and watermelon. Olivia was thrilled to see her cousins, and they were thrilled to see us because that meant it was time to eat!
A view of the entire duplex.
Mia still loves her hands, but her toes have become the favorite these days.
