He's an Otter!

Warning: seriously sappy post!

For Miles's nightly routine, I sing reverent primary songs and rock him for 10 to 15 minutes before laying him down. I caught myself tonight continuing to rock him after I'd finished all his songs and began reminiscing about how fast he's growing up. I think what got me all sappy was his swim class. He was evaluated today, and they're moving him up to the Otter class which means I no longer am needed. He no longer needs me to sooth him when his face goes under or be right beside him to praise him as he rolls into a float. He's been in the parent/tot class for the last year and has done amazing. He'll be 2 in just 2 weeks, and they think he's ready . . . well, what if I'm not ready to let him go?! Now don't get me wrong, I'm a proud mother of this great swimmer and there are many things I am so happy that he is accomplishing on his own: he can now climb into the car and pull himself into his carseat (saves my aching back), and he's pooing in the toilet (more often than not), and he asks me if I want a kiss before he leaves the room (I love that!). So it is bittersweet to watch him learn and grow so quickly. He snuggled in close tonight not moving or making a sound as I continued to rock and rock until I knew he was asleep by his little twitches. Goodnight my little boy. . .

Friday at the Zoo

It's Friday, and it's in the 70's, so what do you do with a little boy?!? You have to head to the zoo, of course! We love the zoo for the open walk-ways, the trains, the tractors to play on, the water to run through - oh yeah, and the animals :) Miles had a blast with his cousins and his friend Caleb while I enjoyed getting some exercise chasing after them and socializing with some friends. Fabulous Friday!

I am noticing Luke's Aussie influence more in the way Miles is talking and phrasing his sentences (yes, he talks in sentences!). Some examples: Miles says, "ready, steady, go!" when most Americans say, "ready, set, go!" He says, "pardon me" instead of "excuse me." My favorite is "motorbike" instead of "motorcycle".When he says "car" or "water" the "r" is very soft and sounds more like "cah" or "watah". I love these subtle differences and the wonderful influence Luke has:)

Rugging It

I was happy to document Miles enjoying my rug - great investment :) Usually his bikes, trucks, and toys end up stashed at the end of each day near the back door where he likes to look out at the pool or watch the dog. Well, the last few days, our new rug has become his new play mat. Yes, that is a pink "piggy" he's got hold of. His cousin left it at our house about a year ago, and he's slept with it nearly every night since. We bought him the elephant in hopes of replacing the pink toy, but he's not letting either of them go now :) He refers to them as one toy with the name "piggyphant". Oh the bunny rabbit cake pan . . . he loves to cuddle cute things; apparently it doesn't matter if they're really soft or not. He pulls the rabbit out of the pan drawer ever few days and walks around kissing it and "ooing" and "awing" it. I love our sweet little boy. He keeps us laughing!

Great Saturday

So, Saturday began for me at 7 o'clock - I'd gotten lazy and didn't go for a jog so I was still sleeping when Miles woke. Luke wasn't working, so he went and got our son up and brought him back into our bed for a little snuggle. THEN, Luke made Miles and himself breakfast and played with him and let me go back to sleep till 8! I know! A great start to a Saturday. Luke asked me what I wanted to do for the day, and I confessed that I was dying to find a rug for our front entryway - I'd been looking for several months for just the right colors and size. He let me take my time getting ready not rushing me or anything, and we went out. He tended to Miles while I enjoyed myself talking to the salesmen and was able to look at hundreds of rugs and finally found the one I thought would work best. I'm so happy! I know it's a little risky to go so light in the front entry with all the traffic, but I'm so glad to finally have a barrier there so I don't have to sweep my hallway every time someone walks down it - my tile shows every piece of dust! Yeah! I love it!

My great day didn't end there! Luke had our Valentine's night planned and we went to see the Stars on Ice. My mom and I use to watch the figure skating so I've really been looking forward to this. I was worried Luke might get a little bored by the dancing figure skaters, but it was a great show and he enjoyed himself as much as I did. We were freezing in the arena, but still bought ice cream to eat while we watched and it gave us even more reason to cuddle close to each other :) We were both in "awe" of Sasha Cohen's flexibility - ouch! And Todd Eldredge kept us laughing while we were amazed by John Zimmerman's strength as he threw his partner Kyoko Ina over his head and caught her on the other side - yikes! If you haven't ever been, I'd definitely recommend it. The music was fantastic and we were entertained the entire evening. Thanks for a great day Honey!

Tulips

Miles had been eyeing the pretty, red tulips I've had

sitting in the middle of the kitchen table for the last couple of days.

So I gave in to let him touch and it made for some great pictures.

He was so happy to be so close to the flowers and said "tank you Mommy" over and over. Half an hour after I laid him down for his nap today and all was quiet and I was certain he was off in dreamland, he started calling out "Mommy, poopoo potty, yeah! YEAH!" Sure enough, he had to go . . . Love it!

Road Trip

I'm going to be completely honest; I hate road trips. We don't drive; we always fly, always. We haven't taken a road trip since Miles was 4 months old, and I'm still haunted by the memory of that 4 hour drive that took us nearly 8 (mostly because of his infant acid reflux). So the thought of driving any distance over 2 hours makes me cringe, makes me cranky, and makes me sick to my stomach. This time we didn't have a choice though. The whole purpose of the trip was so my brother could hook us up with a new navigation/dvd/rear camera/handsfree system in my car for a great deal, so . . . we had to drive . . . all the way . . . to ID . . . and back.
We made it! And it really wasn't so bad, ok, not so bad at all. Miles was amazing, like always. As long as we were singing, reading books, playing with cars, figuring out puzzles, sticking stickers, or eating treats he was all smiles :) Even my motion sickness stayed at bay as long as I was popping dramamine every 3 or 4 hours. There were only about 2 hours of blizzardy roads to pass through and the rest was smooth sailing (and we were really "sailing" with Luke in the driver's seat). Yeah! It was all worth it to get my great sound system - thank you Richard :)

It's always great to see my family and Miles always has a blast with my brothers especially the 10 year old twins. They entertained Miles for hours in their room and on their bonk-beds. The only thing he didn't seem interested in was playing outside in the snow. This picture was taken at our home when we first tried the snowsuit on him . . . No way was he going to put it on and go out into the freezing cold to play :) I tried over, and over again to persuade him about how fun it would be, but he wasn't having any of it. What have we done to him?!? Oh well, maybe next time. Thanks to my friend Chellie for letting us borrow her snow gear :)

I took so many pictures of him sleeping in the carseat, but this one is my favorite. He took better (longer) naps in the car than he's ever taken at home. He's too big for port-a-cribs but still not old enough to sleep in a bed without plenty of "edge" protection. This is him snoozing in our make-shift hotel crib :)

It's good to be home.

Tuckered Out

Yes, he's a precious little angel. I turned around in the car to take this picture. Super Bowl Sunday was a crazy day for us - Yeah Giants! We spent the afternoon and evening at Nathan's (my older brother's) house. Miles was so happy and rambunctious all day and there was no way he was going to miss out on all the fun to take a nap. Surprisingly, he was all smiles and giggles for the entire evening, but once he got into his comfy carseat for the ride home, he crashed before we were even 5 minutes out :) He had been saying "windy, windy" over and over again b/c we had just explained why it was cold outside . . . Then Luke and I realized he'd gone quiet and completely crashed out - love it! At 22 months old he is the light of our lives! . . . he just needs a sibling to share the spotlight with ;)

Australia Day

Saturday was Australia Day and our friends' daughter's one year birthday party.

Happy Birthday Lillian!!

You can't have Australia Day without pasties! Lara made them, and they were delish! She went all out for the day with pink everything: balloons, candies, cupcakes, pinata, bubbles and even a pin the bow on Lillian game! I love that! Of course our family had to dress for the Aussie occasion :) We were loving the great weather with the sun on our faces. Lillian and Miles played in her new wagon and Miles was especially pleased to play with the new ball she got even though it was pink. It's not often we let him indulge in cupcakes and candy, but I had to give in for the amazing treats Lara made. Oh Happy Day!

Oatmeal on a Tuesday

I'm your typical health conscious mother, so I have to report on some success . . . I've found the perfect combination of toppings to get Miles to eat oatmeal - yeah! Strawberries chopped very small so as not to be spit out, a handful of crushed pecans, and either a few raisins or blueberries is his special mixture. No laughing! - I'm really proud of this accomplishment. It's worth the gooey, sticky, too early in the morning mess to know he's getting his nutrients :)

A beautiful day + a hill to run down + Dad = PURE JOY!

Time for another haircut . . .

The thought of cutting Miles's beautiful blond locks is very sad to me, but after I've actually done it, I remember how great he looks with short hair. He's got the perfect round head and fantastic eyes :)

~I have to make note about the adoption fireside Luke and I attended last night. I struggle with patience in searching and finding our next birth mother and baby and I'm so glad for our connection with FSA to remind me of the bigger plan. My thoughts about the fireside are a little too personal and emotional to write on our blog, but email me if you'd like some incite into my world :) I took a week off jogging because of dealing with a migraine and feeling sick last week, so I was so energized this morning to be out in the fresh air and be alone with my thoughts. I was actually holding back tears at 6 in the morning thinking about our perfect baby Miles and how blessed we are to have him placed in our arms for safekeeping . . .

~I am so grateful for my wonderful husband. Seriously, he is perfect for me! I love what a fantastic father he is. Miles and I have our fun during the day, but as soon as Daddy is home, my playtime with him is over. I love that Miles is Daddy's boy and know how much Luke loves and needs that from his little man. Blah, blah, I'm an emotional wreck! Thanks for listening ;)

i love . . .

being a mom, mama, and mommy;
to hear my baby sing his abc's;
to hear him count "one, two, free, fur, fife, tin";
to watch him run back and forth down the hallway, on tiptoe;
to see his excitement when "daddy's home!";
that anytime i want something i have to catch him first;
that he needs a book read to him every 10 minutes;
that he changes the subject whenever he's been caught getting into mischief;
that he has to sit on my lap if i'm playing the piano;
that i can't talk on the phone without him talking louder;
to watch luke melt whenever his little boy gives him a smile;
that he loves bananas tho i can't hardly even stand the smell of them;
to agree with him that he really did see a backhoe or tractor or truck;
his big brown eyes and thick chubby feet;
that he says "bye-bye poopoo" as it gets flushed;
the look he gives me when he doesn't want me to know what he's been doing;
to smell him after his bath;
that most of his problems can be solved with a tickle, a hug, or a kiss;
that he doesn't want me to stop hugging him or singing to him and put him to bed;
that he will always be my baby and i will be his mom no matter how big he gets.

Richard's Wedding

My brother Richard married Jena on Saturday in the Idaho Falls temple. They are a beautiful couple! It was a very emotional wedding. And it was freezing! We stood in the snow in 25 degree weather for pictures. Jena looked fabulous and said she wasn't cold - ha! I loved being in the temple again with my family. Congratulations! I'm excited to get to know Jena better and love having another female addition to the family :)

Mexican Dance

Miles could not contain himself any longer at the dinner table one night in Puerto Vallarta. So I let him FREE! and then grabbed the camera ;)

Hint: Make sure your sound is on.

Cousin Taylor

Luke's sister Elise with her daughter Taylor came to visit us for a few days during their holiday stay in the States. Taylor didn't want much to do with Miles the first day because he was always in her face wanting kisses and hugs but by the 2nd day they were buddies. It had been a year since we'd seen them, so we were very happy they went out of their way to visit. We missed Don though! Elise's flight was delayed so they stayed an extra night, so of course Miles let Taylor borrow his truck pjs :)

Puerto Vallarta

We had an amazing 5 days in Mexico with Luke's parents. I went a little crazy, as usual, taking hundreds of pictures, and these are just a few of our favorites. We stayed at a fantastic all-inclusive resort set on the beach 10 miles from town. The weather was great, and we had fun in the pools but the ocean was a little too cold for us desert dwellers. We spent most of our time by the pool and enjoying the buffet with unlimited ice cream :) We took a day trip into Puerto Vallarta and haggled with the locals. Miles skipped and ran up and down the boardwalk. It was great to have Monica and David with us so Luke and I could enjoy our evenings out while they watched Miles - thank you Nana and Pop! One afternoon Luke and I painted our clay pots and were pleasantly suprised when we picked them up the next day after they had dried to find the the shop owner did his own touching up - the pots look great now! :) Luke, David, and I braved the Canopy Tours where we flew over a river racing across 15 different ziplines.