Rankin Baby - 23 weeks

Well, we hit the 23 week mark with Baby Rankin. We went in this morning for our sonogram that showed us that we have a healthy baby growing exactly to the date! It was very exciting for all of us to see, we especially felt blessed when we watched the baby yawn. Technology is so amazing! All the vitals and development looked wonderful. Praise be to God! Ainsley is excited and anxiously awaiting when the baby will arrive.

From The Rankin Family

From The Rankin Family

We also would like to ask for your prayers though at this time. During the sonogram, they discovered that I have placenta previa. I've switched to a high-risk doctor and have had an appointment with him. He is a wonderful doctor and very reassuring. We'll be monitoring the situation every 4-6 weeks to see if the placenta migrates away from what Matthew refers to as "the exit hatch." If not, I'm looking at a C-section for this baby. We ask that everyone would pray that both mom and baby stay healthy, that we would be able to deliver naturally, and that the doctors would have wisdom in our management plan. Thank you in advance for your prayers, we'll keep you posted.

Old-Fashion Cider Donuts

Old-fashion cider donuts right out of the fryer our mom's favorite past-time from when she lived in Michigan. Now that it's fall, we definitely were ready to get a taste of these from our favorite old-fashion cider mill here in Missouri, Dunn's Cider MIll. It's not too far from Papa and Gigi's house, so Papa met us for some pre-lunch donuts.

It was neat to watch the donuts being made. I got to stand at the window and watch each one come out, get flipped, and then go up the conveyor belt. It was so fascinating. The ladies even let us pick out some of the ones that had just come out of the fryer!

From The Rankin Family

These donuts are finger-licking good!

From The Rankin Family

From The Rankin Family

I love the donuts coated with cinnamon and sugar. Actually, I love lots of things with cinnamon and sugar: toast, apples, donuts, cookies, and anything else I can convince mom to put it on! We'll be going back for sure at least once or twice this fall, mom, baby, and I ate almost 6 donuts! We should probably spread our our donut feasting.

The Apple Orchard

Mom's favorite time of year is the fall. There are a lot of outdoor activities she likes to do, and as she's told me about them, I get more and more excited. So, to officially welcome fall, we made our first trip to the apple orchard. We went to Weston Red Barn Farm in Weston, MO. They have all sorts of fun things and learning activities for kids to do. Weston Red Barn Farm will surely become a staple of our fall activities in the coming years.

This farm has animals, a corn maze, hay rides, and all sorts of things. They even have geese roaming free which really kind of scared me. Here I am by a hay horse and antique tractor. This was one of the few times I got close to the geese.

From The Rankin Family

At the farm, we picked apples. A lot of apples! Truthfully, mom did most of the picking. Apples are on trees really good and I'm not quite strong enough yet to twist them off. I fell down a few times trying to pull an apple off a tree. I became an official helper and put all of the apples in the basket. (Mom told me "gently" a few hundred times.)

From The Rankin Family

We also got to eat some of the apples while we were put there. They tasted so much better than what mom usually gets at the grocery store. I've been asking for a picked apple each day at lunch.

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Another highlight of the day was my caterpillar. I found it on our basket and despite my fear of flies and all other flying creatures, I loved this little guy. I carried him around for about half an hour before finding an appropriate home for him in the garden on a leaf.

From The Rankin Family

From The Rankin Family

Our trip is ending. Here I am at the end of the day. Picking apples is sure hard work and it was pretty hot outside.

From The Rankin Family

From The Rankin Family

I was really excited when I heard we had picked a bushel of apples! (Or perhaps it was the old-fashioned candy buttons I got.) We'll be going to a different orchard in a few weeks when their picking starts. This time though Dad is coming! I love mom a bushel and a peck.

From The Rankin Family