franz's first birthday: the party.

The weekend before Franz turned one, we had family and a few friends up at my parents' house to celebrate his first year! I ran with the fall decor my mom already had in her house, and Franz's love for pumpkins, and decided on a fall pumpkin theme. Plus, it was the perfect excuse to make all the fall desserts I had been wanting to make without having to eat all of it. ;)

We also made a little video of the little video clips we recorded of him during his first year to show. It's my favorite, and everyone kept asking if I was pregnant, because we sneakily broke the news last year to our families with a slideshow. (No, I'm not pregnant.)

Franz was not interested in opening his presents or eating the cake, no matter how hard we tried. So we opened his presents and ate his cake for him. It was so nice having people who love him celebrate his life with us!

witch fest.

Two weekends ago, to kick off the start of October, we took Franz to see all the witches at Gardner Village. We stopped by the cafe for some lunch, and then the Chocolate Covered Wagon for a few chocolates and the best salt water taffy I've ever eaten before making our rounds through the village. We showed him pumpkins, witches, and stuffed animals, but the thing that caught his attention the most was the little Halloween village displayed in one of the shops there, filled with ghosts and witches and little old buildings. And I've gotta admit, it was incredible! A part of me wanted to live there.

This was just what I needed to get into the Halloween spirit. Since then, I've been thinking up Halloween treats to make, planning trips to the pumpkin patch and a Halloween cruise (this weekend!), and getting ready to make our costumes. And just in the last few days, the leaves in our neighborhood have started changing, and I couldn't be more excited! I love the fall.

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finally november.

I celebrated a lot of things today, the first being that it's finally November, the month my little babe will be born. I've been waiting for so long for this month to get here, but it also seems like it crept up on us too quickly. I'll become a mother this month. I'll get to meet my baby. So happy November 1st!

The second was my very last day of work, ever. I will not be going back. I've decided to stay home with my little babe to raise it, and that made me surprisingly nervous today. I had thoughts of What will I do all day? and How will we make it on one income? I've made it my goal to get out of the house at least once every day for the next, I dunno, ten years? I plan on keeping busy and making friends. As far as the one income question goes, we'll be okay. We've got a budget set up, and we'll do well. But my last day of work. I'll miss those people there. My co-workers decorated my desk with balloons and streamers, and brought five kinds of desserts to share! Not to mention that we all went out to lunch where I wanted to go. I will genuinely miss it there, but plan on visiting a few times after the baby comes!

And lastly, these leaves, you guys. The trees just in my complex are so stunning. The last few days, I've come home at the right moment where the sun makes them look golden! So today, in honor of November, I took out my camera and took a few pictures of them, because I know they'll be gone so fast, and that winter will take over  (it's supposed to snow on Monday, for crying out loud!). I wanted to remember fall just a little longer. 

So cheers to November, my baby's birth month!

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