Crawling!!

Today was a BIG day for Miles!  He has been trying soooo hard to crawl for about the last 2-3 weeks, getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth, usually ending by smashing his face into the floor.  Well, today he finally did it!  Wouldn't it be sweet to say that he was motivated to crawl by wanting to get to his momma?  Why, yes, yes it would be sweet to say that, but Momma is chopped liver when Greta is around.  Yup, Miles took off crawling today trying desperately to get to stupid Greta.  Greta's not actually all that stupid, though, as she was long gone by the time the poor little guy got to where he was going.  He repeated his new trick a couple of more times throughout the day, but hasn't decided to upgrade to using crawling as his primary mode of transportation just yet...

(Yes, I'm working on getting a video.  I'm a sucky mom and I couldn't find the camera battery charger and the battery was dead.  So.  No video.  BUT, I found it!  So, video tomorrow, hopefully.)

In other Miles news, he is working on two more teeth, a top and a bottom.  Also, he does not appear to care for green beans so much, but he is a BIG fan of shortcake and fresh whipped cream.  He was not a very happy camper when I cut him off after he inhaled half of a shortcake and a tablespoon of whipped cream in record time.  Finally, we will be going to his 9 month check-up tomorrow.  I'm interested to see how much he's grown!

My dad and Grandpa Al came down today to finish up a few jobs around here, build some shelves in the basement, and take a bunch of tools home.  We now have trim around our kitchen peninsula and in our master bathroom, and the basement shelves look awesome (and all my school bins have already found a nice home on them...)! 

Today was also a big day for me.  I successfully cooked my first whole chicken.  Yes, I know, sad that it took me 'til 29 years of age to cook a whole chicken, but there you have it.  I made beer can chicken, roasted vegetables, zucchini chips, some of my newly canned green beans, and homemade strawberry shortcake for lunch today since we had visitors.  All three of them told me it was good, so I guess I can call it successful.  :)

Happy Mother's Day to me!

I waited patiently for a whole week and my Mother's Day present finally arrived!  My very own, brand-new Vatanai Chartres 4.5 m woven wrap!! 

I found my first wrap on Craigslist in January and got hooked on wrapping, but that one was a more inexpensive wrap and made of gauze so it really dug into my shoulders.  I had been wanting a higher quality wrap for a long time, but was having a hard time justifying spending the money on it.  When Bill said I could trade in my Mother's Day massage and pedicure for a wrap instead, I jumped online and ordered before he changed his mind!  :-)

Now that I've got this one, I've already decided that I want another, shorter woven to do some other types of carries that don't require as much fabric.  Bill just rolls his eyes, mutters about me being crazy under his breath, and says I'd better sell the gauze one before I even think about buying another.  Alright by me!

It is just SO handy to be able to throw Miles up on my back and get things done, especially when he's being a bit of a cling-on like recently.  He's happy because he's up high enough where he can see over my shoulder and I'm happy because he's not fussing at me and he's on my back and out of my way, as opposed to being in a front carrier where I have to work around him.  Of course, you can also do front carries and hip carries with a wrap, too.  I LOVE it!  :)

*     *     *     *     *

Abbie and Josie were very kind and hosted us for a playdate today.  Miles and Josie are only 3 days apart and they are just so cute together!  Plus, it is awesome to have a grown-up mommy friend to talk to during the day!  :-)  Abbie set the kiddos up with some colored yogurt painting and they had a blast!  They also definitely had a bath when they were done!

*Josie was totally loving eating the yogurt as much as painting with it!* 

*Miles wasn't entirely sure about it.*

*Um, my feet are a little messy, Momma.*



After the yogurt fun, they were so funny because Miles kept rolling onto his back and then rolling back to his tummy and every time he would pop his head back up, Josie would just crack up!

Miles and Josie Cuteness!

*     *     *     *     *

Miles had some broccoli for supper tonight and he thoroughly enjoyed it.  Can you tell?  :-)

*     *     *     *     *

On the docket this weekend?  Finishing unpacking once and for all.  Bill is about to have a nervous breakdown because everything is not put away yet.  He did a lot of work in the garage last night and this morning so now we can fit a car in there!  He also got up early this morning and cleaned and vacuumed both cars, then when he got home today he cleaned and swept the laundry/storage room in the basement.  He is on a mission and I think it is in my best interest to go along on the mission, too...  So if you need me this weekend, I will be sorting through the small mountain of boxes that we have yet to unpack.  Wish me luck!

Wow! Long time, no post!

Ok, so it only been about a week and a half, but it has been a busy week and a half! 

We finished up moving over Memorial Day weekend, thanks to my parents and Dan! 

*High quality parenting here, folks.  Miles in his carseat, in the stroller, playing with a cat toy so that we can finish packing.*

We're still living in a little bit of chaos, but hopefully once Bill is done with school tomorrow we will be able to get a few more things done.

No after pictures yet because my camera battery died and the charger is lost somewhere in the carnage of the move.  This is pretty unfortunate because it is really darn hard to find a little 2" flattish, black square in random boxes full of stuff.  So, until we completely finish unpacking and unearth the charger, the pictures will just have to wait.

Since summer has arrived in full force we did manage to dig out Miles' new (totally the best $2 garage sale find EVER!) giraffe pool and let him have some swimming fun.  He really likes to lay on his belly in the water, but doesn't quite grasp the concept that he can't just lay his head down when he gets tired.  He's not so fond of the faceful of water that he gets when he does that...

Miles also started trying some more solid foods once we got moved to the new house.  We're not really doing the traditional purees route, but instead are mostly following an approach called Baby-Led Weaning.  Basically, following baby's cues and letting them feed themselves a variety of 'real' foods right from the start.  So far, Miles really loves cucumbers, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, apples, applesauce, bananas, and pears.  The bananas are a little tricky for him - they basically end up squished between his fingers, so I do help him by spooning some of them in.  He also likes to share bites of my oatmeal and cream of wheat, but he wasn't so sure about Greek yogurt.

 * "So, I've got a little oatmeal on my face.  So what?"*

Let's see.  What else?  Oh yes, Miles has officially graduated to his new, big kid carseat!  He only had about an inch left before he outgrew his bucket seat and he was just getting to darn heavy in that thing!

13 days old

7.5 months old

Man, why do I do things like that to myself?!  I seriously just sat and stared at those pictures for about 2 solid minutes trying to figure out when the heck my little, cute, squishy baby grew into this not-so-little, but still totally cute big guy who fills up that whole seat!

*Looking like a big guy in his new seat!*

I don't know if it's all the commotion of the move, or the heat, or if he's getting more teeth, or what, but Miles has been completely ornery the past few days.  Lucky for him, he intersperses the cranktasticness with moments of exceptional cuteness:

*Yes, our baby falls asleep clutching a hard, plastic water bottle, not a soft, snuggly stuffed animal like a normal child.*

*Modeling his totally adorable "designer" diaper.*

*Miles takes after his father and does the freaky sleeping with his eyes open thing.  Creeps me out.*

*Swinging at the park!*

Well, that's all for now, I think.  We get our first installment of our CSA (community supported agriculture) share tomorrow.  I'm excited to see what's in it!

The beginning...

Starting a blog is one of those things that has been on my to-do list since Miles was born.  Mostly for me to have a place to document him growing and changing, since I am abnormally (I think, anyway) worried about him growing up and me forgetting about all the sweet little baby things that he does.  But, I hope it will also be a way to keep all of our long distance family and friends in the loop and up to date.

So, I figured Mother's Day was as good a day as any to start my blogging "career"! 

It was (finally!) a gorgeous day here today.  My parents were down this weekend helping with the new house again, so Shauna, Jason, and Caitlin also came down and we all went out for a delicious Mother's Day brunch.  Afterward, Bill and Miles and I made a quick Menards run (we should just buy stock, I swear!).  Miles had fallen asleep by the time we got home and Bill has been running short on sleep between school and working on the house, so we enjoyed a family nap.  We went out for a long walk when Miles woke up, then back to the usual evening routine:  Bill went up to work on the new house and Miles and I stayed here and worked on laundry and tidying up the house.  I can't wait until the new place is ready and we can move in and relax this summer!!

Here's a couple of pictures of Miles delivering my Mother's Day card:



Happy Mother's Day, everyone!  :)