Sitting Up

Molly is getting pretty good at sitting up on her own these days. She's a little wobbly and still topples over quite a bit, but she really thinks she's a big girl when she is sitting up by herself:


She also finally discovered her feet! She was laying on the changing table with her feet in the air and had kind of an "ah-ha" moment when she noticed them for the first time. Now she sees them and is pretty enthralled!

Family Tradition

The Miller family has a tradition of making their own pork sausages with a stuffer that has been passed down for generations. The time had come for the pigs we raised this summer to get butchered. Therefore, it was also time to make sausages. So, this is what they did 2 weekends ago. They have a special blend of spices that they have mixed in with the sausage while it is ground and then they run the bulk sausage through the stuffer. After this, the sausages are smoked. Luke & his dad with the stuffer:

Here are the hams, all seasoned up, waiting to get smoked:


And that, that's bacon:
Yum! We just tried the first of the bacon last weekend and it was delicious!

Just Saying Hello:

Only 13 more days until Molly's big first trip to Montana!

Walkin'

I still find it hard to believe that it's the first week in November and Molly and I are still able to go on our afternoon walks without freezing. Yesterday it was cool and windy, but for the most part I haven't had to wear more than a sweatshirt. I tend to bundle Molly a little too much, I think, but I don't want her to get cold.


Kelly likes to lead the way. I'm so thankful that we live somewhere that we can just leave from our house and not have to worry about traffic or leashes or anything really. Can you see the gigantic dinosaur bone in Kelly's mouth? She almost always starts off the walk with this in her mouth, drops it, and then picks it up on the way back. Seriously, I have no idea where she got this bone but she is very proud of it.


I ordered Molly this adorable hat from Etsy:


It's a little too big, but it's just the start of winter & I didn't want her to grow out of it before spring. She loves it (actually I have no idea, but it will keep her warm anyhow, and I love it)! Let's hope this long fall continues and Molly, Kelly & I can keep on taking our afternoon strolls!

Cow Sale

A couple weekends ago we took a trip down to Bland, Missouri to go to one of Luke's customer's Bull & Cow Sale. Luke had done the nutrition work for all the yearling bulls that the Gerloff's were selling and he was curious to see how they would do. We are also culling out some of our late calving cows this year so we thought it might be a good opportunity to purchase some replacements. Molly was a good baby and did really well in the stroller for the most part. She enjoyed all the "sounds" of the auction and walking around looking at cattle.

Well, it turns out we did buy a heifer & a cow to add to our herd. This meant that we had to wait in this line to load out:Needless to say, we got a little bored waiting in line and Luke decided to teach Molly how to drive:

Don't worry, we were not moving at this time:

The bulls sold pretty well and they were really happy with the way they looked, so I think they were pleased with Luke's work. Our new replacements have settled in and are enjoying their new home.

Food!

Molly's 5 month birthday was on Halloween: she's now 17 lbs and 25 inches long! Everyone keeps teasing us about having a fat baby, but I think she's just too cute. I looked in Luke's baby book and when he was 5 months old he actually weighed 18 lbs--so ha!

The pediatrician gave us the okay to start Molly on cereal once she turned 5 months old, so yesterday we gave her some rice cereal mixed with milk. I wasn't expecting her to really like it, but she LOVED it and ate a whole serving.




She even licked the side of the high chair tray where some had dripped:

We really had a good time feeding her as it is always fun to see her learn and try new things. After 2 weeks on the rice cereal, we can start her on other foods--then the adventure will really begin.