a walk in the woods

The other evening John and I went to one of the county parks, and enjoyed an hour of walking through the trees. Early fall is a gorgeous time of year, still warm, but hinting at the crispness to come; still lush, but begin to fade into brown or -where it's been wet - triumph in glorious color.

Next time we walk that trail, though, we'll need to get there an hour or so earlier. It is getting dark earlier. :)

When we pulled out our Jenga game the other night (to celebrate its recent arrival from CA), somehow John and I managed to build a tower that was 32 stories tall ...

... and then it fell (odd how it always seems to happen on my turn).

View From Our New Home!

A Beautiful Sunset.

View From Our Dinning Room.

I know its been a little while since we lasted posted something, but when you move, are pregnant, have work, and you're still trying to fit in a little "life" here and there, posting a blog slides down the list pretty quick! But here we are! Our new home! Since our apartment faces west, we get to see the sunset every evening (something which neither of us realized we missed so much until we had it back!). As you can see in the picture, we have done a little painting around the place and Elizabeth has done a wonderful job decorating! The deep red is called "Royal Red," the yellow/tan is "Homestead Resort Pumpkin." We also painted the wall behind our bed "Dover gray" (adding a white lace curtain that drapes down behind the bed), and panted the ceiling in the "baby's" room "High Noon" (a blueish color). I will try to get pictures posted of these rooms in the coming days. As you can imagine, a dull white apartment is starting to feel a lot more like "home." It has been great to watch as Elizabeth has been "nesting" a lot more in preparation for the baby.

Which, by the way, since our last post, we have visited the doctor twice and everything is going wonderfully with the baby (and mother too)! In fact, it seems as if the baby is ahead of "normal growth charts" at this time (I think that just means he/she is very healthily and good looking like his/her mother!) Last Thursday, we went to have an ultrasound done - it was amazing to stand there and see OUR BABY!!!! HOW GREAT IS THAT!!!! The heart beating, those little hands moving all around....how special. (Elizabeth will be posting pictures on her blog shortly).

Well, I hope this satisfies some of the curiosity regarding the Smillie family in Cincinnati. God bless and thanks for all of your prayers.