We started off our month going to Lake Lemon with the Fredericks, the Foulkes (minus Rosie), and Lawton. In our pre-children years, this used to be a lake where we would all gather to enjoy the summer, drink too much beer and cause too much noise until the next morning. This trip was just as enjoyable, but different with 2 infants and 3 kids running around. The weather was great and we spent the entire afternoon on the boat and in the water. Nick and Kimmey have a baby girl 6 wks younger than Allison and we all had a good laugh because Allison and Piper had on the identical bathing suit!
For the last 10 days of the month, I was in France to work on a computer project. I was anxious to leave, but did my best to focus on work and try to enjoy some of the sites while in Paris. When I was able to call home or Skype, it sounded like Deb was able to do a great job with Allison. It was difficult to call or Skype much since I was 6 hours ahead of them. Deb’s parents came for the weekend I was gone and that was a needed break for Deb. They spent lots of time together, but Deb and her mom went shopping on Saturday while Randy watched Allison. They also headed over to Tom and Tracy’s for a quick visit after church on Saturday.
I know Randy and Anna enjoyed the visit, but I also felt much better knowing that Deb had some help over the weekend since I was gone for so long. She had some visitors on the weekday evenings (my mom, Beth and Tracy to name a few), but giving her a breather over the weekend was very much appreciated. 
Now, about that trip to France… I usually come home from these trips and if we are really busy, I can at least say the evenings were fun because we were located in a great area. Or if we aren’t that busy on these international trips, then we have time to make the trip into the city we are located. This trip was a lot more business than some of my previous travels, but it was a learning experience and I was as productive as I could be with their limited previous training and translation issues. The town we were located in is directly underneath a flight path to the airport, so sleeping was difficult with planes flying in and out until midnight and starting again at 5AM. We did make it into Paris twice, and enjoyed some great food and saw the major tourist spots (Arc de Triomphe, Eiffel Tower and The Louvre).
Allison is doing great. She appears to have had a little cold/congestion for the last weeks or so, but it doesn’t appear to bother her and is usually in a smiley mood. Naps are something that are hard to figure out, because she doesn’t have a consistent schedule at daycare, but on the weekends, we usually can get 2 decent naps and one short one by leaving her alone in her crib and letting her talk herself to sleep. Daycare has so many lights and noise going on, it is hard for her to nap. She gets some sleep, but it just isn’t on a consistent schedule. We are going to start working with her on some rice cereal, so that experiment starts this afternoon! We will see how it goes, work in some other foods and start working toward bigger and fewer meals. This milestone will allow for Deb to get some more free-time hopefully!
A few more items from this month:
• We went and saw a few houses during September. Nothing stuck out at us, and we believe we will have more choices in the late winter/early spring.
• We went to dinner with the Andersons & Watkins as a “thank you” for all of the toys and clothes we were given from the Watkins in early September.
• I am playing flag football…again. I think I counted and this is my 20th season (2 times a year since 2002). This could be the end…as I really enjoy lazy Sundays and my schedule doesn’t permit for me to play more than half the games anyway. 
First bow in Allison's hair.....
Allison's first time prop sitting....
Skyping with Nana and Granddad
GO BOILERS!!!
Mommy bought Allison a new hat for next month's vacation to Florida
Allison's first time in the Bumbo seat
(doesn't she look thrilled!?!)
