September - last minutes before Baby #5

September...still fat feet, still waiting for the surprise of Baby #5 to be revealed. A greater urgency to enjoy all the things before the season of "Newborn" begins again. We spend our Labor Day weekends in Canada celebrating the birthday buddies - Uncle Joe and Catherine.

On the way home, we stopped at the lake house for one more dip in the water before the warmth of summer is gone. We went extra crazy and grabbed some ice cream Drumsticks at Mejier for a treat!

Mommy finished the Advent calendar for the Bols. This seems to be how she "nests" before a baby arrives.

It was an extra pretty September. All the best sunrises and sunsets, the sun hit the front door window just right so that we ate breakfast covered in rainbows, park-time after school, zoo-time whenever we could, and Simon had plenty of lovely mornings to wear out the battery of his little lawn mower.

We supported the dental industry. Simon had his first teeth cleaning. And Vivian got her facemask. She has to wear it 10-13 hours a day; while sleeping, but not while at school which was a huge relief for her! She managed the whole thing really well! It was a tough orthodontic road for this girl with the underbite. But she braved all the expander turning (out and in for 6 weeks!) and the facemask wearing really well. Within a week, she was able to maneuver the rubberbands and facemask on her own!

 We took the kids to a kids' flight festival at the county airport near our house. Simon and Felicity got to play in bounce houses, see inside the hospital's helicopter, and sit in an airplane.

Miriam and Vivian took an actual flight!

And as the clock wound down on this pregnancy, we celebrated Tim's birthday, 

 snuck in a few more Waffle Cone Wednesdays at TCBY,

 and enjoyed our parish's picnic.

Tim got to take Vivian on a field trip, one of his favorite parenting duties.

We wrapped up the month with the county fair! Each girl got to show off their hard work on 4-H projects. Miriam sent her Beekeeping and Foods (peanut butter cookies!) projects to the State Fair, so this was a big year for her!

 Felicity sewed a pillow for Mini 4-H.

 And after weeks of "practice", Vivian submitted her yummy No Bake Cookies.

And it wouldn't be Fair Week without donuts and a few rides!

Baby's due date, September 29th, Tim's birthday, came and went. And we continued to wait patiently.