'Autumn' in Black River Falls

(The dreadful pun above is dedicated to the pun master (and my father) Brule Buselmeier. Enjoy ;-)

We are enjoying this beautiful rainy fall morning...at home! It's miraculous. The last few weeks have flown by with the student ministry year beginning and all that comes with it. I (Autumn) also started a few part time jobs (thirty-one consultant, substitute teaching and occasionally babysitting for a friend). Juggling ministry, work and parenting has proved to be a huge area where we need to be trusting the Lord to guide us in how to set appropriate boundaries and priorities. There is always so much to learn in every season. Praise the Lord for His council and the wisdom He promises if we only ask.

Since I rarely have time to blog anymore, consider this Afton's first fall / five month blog post :-) September was a fun milestone for us- we found out last September that we were pregnant. It's hard to believe that was a year ago and now we sit here with a lovely little girl who is growing and changing every day. People laugh at me when I marvel at how "big" she is. They look at my little 40th percentile baby and say "she's tiny!" I look at her and say "how did THAT come out of ME!" She is learning to roll over now, which makes naps and sleeping more difficult for our previous sleeping champion because she rolls over and often can't figure out how to roll back onto her back. We must have trained her to know that sleeping on her tummy is a no- no just by putting her on her back every time we place her in her crib. She is quickly turning into a side sleeper...it's just a matter of not accidentally tipping over once she gets there in which case she often ends up screaming and usually in a panic somehow ends up with her foot caught between the crib slats. After such trauma, she takes awhile to settle back down so bedtime lately has become quite the ordeal. Here is a picture of what I usually find when all is well during nap time (minus the fact that her foot is caught in the crib- which eventually woke her up).

She doesn't usually sleep naked by the way, but being the dog days of summer we've been trying not to run the air conditioner. Who knew October would still feel like summer! It's a beautiful thing. We've also switched back to cloth diapers now that we are staying put for awhile and not planning to travel much. Thanks to my sweet sister in law Rachel, we have been able to add to our meager supply and I know feel very confident in my cloth diapering routine. (Note to any potentially sitters- we keep a supply of disposables on hand just for you :-) 

Speaking of traveling, this past weekend I had the lovely opportunity to visit my home town after a few months. Black River Falls in the Fall is one of my favorite things so throughout our marriage I usually plan a trip alone during a weekend I know John will be away. This year it happened to coincide with a Parkview Church event called "Fall Field Day- an outreach to outdoors men in our area that involves a silent auction, wild game feed archery and trap shooting. In the past I would come home from college for this event to nurse my ego from years past of being called "Annie Oakley by a number of my dad's friends. Apparently I'm not as good behind a bow as I am behind a shot gun ;-)

My dear friend Kayla, who traveled with me, was a natural :-)

Kayla, fascinated with my country upbringing, continued to ask me questions such as:

 "Do you know how to milk a cow?" 

"No" 

"Well where do you go for milk?" 

 "Into town." 

She tried to get me to say that as many times as she could. 

Afton enjoyed her time as well. It was delightful to watch her discover apples while we picked from the tree that my dad and I planted in our yard 15 years ago.

Thankful for a lovely time in Black River. I didn't want to leave. A pie making day is in my future with lots of apples waiting in my kitchen from home!

Grandpa Arlin's Birthday

Fall began with a celebration of Afton's Grandpa Arlin's birthday. Last year during this time, we told the Anderson family that we were expecting! This year, grandpa Arlin shared the birthday attention with his youngest granddaughter, who is frequently stealing the show these days.

Afton's First Summer (Months 2 through 4)

Month 2

July 4th weekend Afton took her first trip to Wisconsin for a Kodes family reunion at Autumn's parents home in Black River Falls. It was a wonderful time and even as little as she was- she did a wonderful job. She met many relatives and was passed around a lot giving mommy and daddy a fun little break. During July Afton also started sleeping through the night- unfortunately for her daddy, it happened to be when he was gone on a missions trip with 30 students who did not get to sleep through the night. He texted me intending to brag about getting 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I was delighted to inform him that I'd had 8. She now sleeps 10 hours at night folks. PRAISE. THE. LORD. That is the only reason I am sane enough to write anything down.

Other fun things she/we learned this month:
How to hold a toy in her hand (she)
How adorable she looks in a swimming suit (we)
How to release and let her go to the nursery (we)

Month 3

August held many adventures for the Anderson family. It began with a trip to Door County, Wisconsin to see Autumn's side of the family and ended with the annual trip to Hayden Lake in Danbury, MN to John's family cabins. Afton is SUCH a good traveler! Good thing since our legacy kind of has to do with traveling and we just can't seem to stay put (John and Autumn got to know each other while on tour with a worship band in college and LOVE traveling (doesn't matter where!) As long as she was fed and changed she happily entertained herself until nap time. What a trooper...

Our trip was filled with many wonderfully welcomed stops to see friends made on John's internship in Mequan, WI, friends from college in Appleton, WI and friends from our previous church in Kiel, Wisconsin. It was fun to reconnect with our eastern Wisconsinites!

We enjoyed many wonderful dates together while in Door County taking full advantage as parents of the first grand baby. My (Autumn's) parents and grandparents were delighted to spend some time with Afton and have some fun grandparents/grandaughter adventures of their own. We went Kayaking, hiking and mini golfing and were able to explore some of our favorite places from a summer spent there while dating- including the place he proposed! :-)

August ended with a trip over Labor Day weekend to Hayden Lake where Afton completed her first overnight camping trip :-) She loved watching the campfire and slept great that night all bundled up! We are so proud (and thankful) that she did so well. We also took her hiking AND she went swimming for the first time! Annd by swimming I mean we held her in the water- she loves it. Bath time is STILL her favorite activity. If it wasn't an obvious invasion  of her privacy and a complete internet/parent no-no I would be delighted to show you videos of how excited she gets, but I'm betting its not nearly as awesome to everyone else as it is to us. We're first time parents ok? Everything she does is the coolest/funniest/cutest thing :-) 

Unfortunately, pictures only do her so much justice, but we're sure you'll get the idea.

Other fun things she/we learned this month:

How easy cloth diapers are (we)

That Autumn can babysit 2 children this age and keep them alive- and have fun (we)

How to belly laugh (she) 

How to roll (she)

How to "inch worm" (she)

How to do rasberries/smacking noises with her mouth (she)

That she is teething (we)

That she is 14 lbs! (we)

Dear friends Lenay and Stuart! Stuart made Afton belly laugh for the first time!

This girls hair is out of control. 

The Rettlers- Dear friends and John's host parents while living in Mequon. 

3 Months!

Tummy Time!

Hayden Lake

Gramma face!

Month 4 

Happy 4 months to our sweet girl! ( Saturday, September 14th)

The Good Old Days

Today I visited someone with a "newborn" baby. So tiny and sweet...I may have had my first "I miss being pregnant or having a newborn" moment that everyone says you'll have while you swear you won't.

 I think I did. I heard sooo many times "Enjoy every stage because they grow so quickly..."While in my head I would say "You must have forgotten certain parts of this stage" , I did try my hardest to listen to the words of the older and wiser mothers. Now as I sit here, I think about how little she was two and half months ago and how *big (so relative) she is now.

 I keep looking at the most endearing picture of all the pictures I have. The one I snapped on my crappy cell phone moments after she was born as I sat there marveling.

Sweet baby girl, how you've grown.

What a joy and privilege to watch her grow. Today I watched her learn to grasp something in her fist. It only lasted a moment but as she realized she was making that rattle shake, she beamed with delight and so did I.

I realize also how much heart ache I'm in for as she grows. Having a baby makes you realize how fast life goes. But a breath...(Psalm 144:3-4). If two months goes this fast, I can't imagine how I'll feel when she is a year old. Can't she just be my baby for a while? That makes me think about how fast the last 5 years have gone. Will it really be that sudden that I'll turn around and have a five year old? If so, I understand why these women were so adamant.

I love NBC's show, The Office. John and I were office junkies as long as it was out. Homework breaks  consisted of me driving to his house to watch episodes of The Office. In our low times (the times where we were basically friendless, because we had just moved to a new place) we found ourselves referring to them as if they were friends we regularly spent time with.

Me: Hey John, remember when Jim played that joke on Dwight? That was so funny. 

As you can imagine, I shed a tear at the last episode. Maybe two. I wish I could say I hadn't. I once laughed at a friend who cried over a previous office episode, but there I was sobbing and blaming my hormones.

But seriously. Remember that time when Andy said,

"I wish someone would tell you you're in the good old days, when you're in the good old days"?

It stuck with me. There have been quite a few nights when I'm rocking Afton after she's fallen asleep and I realize I won't be able to hold her like this forever. A day is coming where changing her diaper and feeding her won't solve all of her problems and that breaks my heart. (Clearly a new area for me to learn about trusting God. More later on how much more there is to worry about  trust God with when you become a parent.) But right now, I will hold her and I will do my best to enjoy every moment of her babyhood.

I'm in the good old days and I am so happy to be here.

Two Months Old

Our beloved Afton was two months old this past Sunday. 

She truly gets cuter every day. I can't get over her and I can't believe she'll only continue to grow more beautiful. We pray that she will be like a tree planted by a river bank with her roots deep in truth and that she would constantly bear the fruit of the Spirit. 

Poor Johnny has been missing her this past week as he is on a missions trip. We are so supporting him in prayer as he felt led to plan and lead this trip over a year ago, but we miss him so much and he misses his baby!

Afton and I have been staying with my parents in Wisconsin and are enjoying a lot of the benefits of new, smitten grandparents and uncle who will do literally ANYTHING for baby time. 

I was able to go for a motorcycle ride with my dad,  go boating on the Mississippi AND the Black River and go out for brunch with a dear friend... ALONE! Such a privilege no one ever told me I'd so enjoy. For an introvert, suddenly having a human that never leaves your side is kind of a big deal. I LOVE IT, but, I really appreciate when someone I know, love and trust says "I'll take her!" and they mean it. :-) Once I actually LEAVE (yes, I'm that crazy mom that keeps coming back to tell them where this and that are and makes sure they have my number written in 12 places and on their head) it's so fun to come back to that sweet face. :-) 

Note: Missing her could take place after twenty minutes.... Sometimes at night I miss her...or when I'm driving in the car and she's in the back seat and I can't hold her. I literally can't get enough of this girl!) 

So, that said, poor Johnny.I'm sure her face has changed in a week and my back tells me that this cuddle bug who insists on snuggling most of the time (INSERT PLUG FOR THE BABY BJORN, THE MOBY AND THE SOON TO ARRIVE ERGO-ALL OF WHICH I LOVE FOR DIFFERENT REASONS) has grown in poundage for sure. She also, conveniently, began sleeping through the night when John left so this momma is actually sleeping better than her hubs, who is leading a 7 day missions trip with teenagers. :-)I'm still debating whether or not I should tell him. He keeps bragging about sleeping 6 hours with out interruption and I just can't bring myself to tell him I've slept 8.

But, she's awake now, God bless her, just as I sit down for coffee. 

It's ok. I missed her anyway. More later on how I feel about her growing up.