Update on the Boys

I didn't blog in September, I took very few pictures, and I barely took any video...I have been setting up/decorating our home like a mad woman; working/shopping at the fall consignment sale here in town; changing our address; and figuring out our new insurance/ finding new doctors and dentists for all. It makes me tired just thinking about it...

The other day, I started feeling a little bit sad that I haven't kept up with the boys "records" like I used to. I don't want to forget, but our lives have been so crazy! So here you go, an update for the record books with a few cell phone pictures mixed in (sorry about quality...it's all I have for this post:) this is what I can remember at the time!

MILES

This little cowboy will be 17 mos old tomorrow! I can't believe how fast time flies. He keeps us going strong. He runs/climbs from the time he wakes up to the time he collapses in his crib out if exhaustion. He loves his brother so so so much! He has to be doing exactly what Carter is doing at all times - no exceptions. The other day I had Miles at home by himself, and I found him calmly playing on his own the way I remember Carter playing at his age. It made me realize that he is not as different from Carter as I thought...he is just never free to play by himself. Ahhh the life of the 2nd child! What a precious little boy he is!!!

"Hey mom! Want to take my picture?"

First real haircut!

Post haircut trip to Wendy's! His 2 food loves: ketchup and white cheese dip :)

A real cowboy! Love it!

I told you he is a climber... he loves the coffee table!

Some bullet points:

• @ 15 mos: 31.5" tall and weighs 25lbs. 7oz. 

• The rest of his teeth (molars and canines) came in over the past 3 mos...no fun, but glad it's over!

• He sleeps great! About 8pm to 7-8am. 

• Wakes up super happy!

• Starting to really try to say words...some of the common ones are haa (hot and or hi), mama, dada, nana, bubba (probably my favorite:), muh (milk), nie nie (night night), duh (dog), and more I am sure. He is talking more and more every day

• We dropped his morning nap over the past month. He now takes one long afternoon nap, and we have more time in the mornings for outings.

• LOVES Carter! He tries to touch him at all times...drives Carter a little crazy! 

• Favorite toy is Mr. Potatohead - he could play with it for a long time!

• Getting good at playing in our playhouse! He can go up the stairs and down the flat slide on his own, and he is super proud of it! 

• Loves to throw balls for Fischer

• Loves to knock daddy down while wrestling... over and over and over
• Really likes books and reading - although for only a few seconds at a time. Loves to sit down with a stack of books and turn pages and point and grunt say the words :) 

• Favorite activity...climbing. Climbs on Carter's bed and jumps...Climbs on my bed and throws all my pillows off.

• Discipline: testing boundaries / strong-willed / starting to throw mini-tantrums

"Funny" story: While trying to get ready to go on a walk = hat and tennis shoes, the boys were playing...after some quiet (never good) Carter came running in my room saying "Miles put poop on me!" Sure enough...Miles had gotten into his diaper and wiped some on Carter (luckily nowhere else)... After cleaning that up, I ran to get my socks while they were playing in the living room...when I got back, M was sitting on the kitchen table in a pile of frosted flakes he had poured out for himself! Goodness, they keep me on my toes!!

CARTER

Big policeman brother is 3 years 2 mos old now and he keeps us busy and laughing! Consistent discipline has been huge with him recently. I have been trying really hard to start having Carter memorize some Bible verses to go along with my discipline. The ones we have worked on the most are "children obey your parents" (he adds "and your family") and "be kind and compassionate to one another" (he adds "and Miles")!  When he gets a spanking (which is multiple times most days at this point) he will many times say "I forgive you, mommy" when it's over. Glad he doesn't hold it against me! :) He is a loving big brother and really enjoys M on most days. We have what are known as "Don't look at me Miles" Days as well. That phrase pretty much says it all as far as those days go... Carter is such a fun 3 year old boy. He is loving living near his grandparents! We are spoiled and loving it - living so close now.

First arcade game!

Petting a rabbit at Sandy's Stables.

"Miles, you sit in the little chair because you're a baby. I'll sit in the big chair because I'm a big boy."

Great climbing trees in our driveway! Terrible pic...sorry!

Daddy and Granddaddy took C to his first high school football game. He came back saying "Bulldogs in the house!" (Not something either adult he was with cheered while there) Ha! He is a sponge.

Here are some bullets: 

• @ 3 years: 40" tall and weighs 39lbs. 3oz

• Wakes up at exactly 6:45 am almost every day. Like. Clockwork.

• He is so smart! He has great spacial reasoning. He dropped 3 toys on the floor and looked at them and said "look daddy, a triangle!" 

• He has a great imagination too! Kevin had a camp chair and 2 moving boxes in the back yard. Carter put the boxes on either side of the chair and said "look daddy, an airplane!" He later told me it was just a "tend" plane (pretend).

• We have had to talk seriously about safety. He told me he was going to push his button and fly like Buzz Lightyear off our back porch (about 20ft high)!!! Not. Kidding. 

• Obsessed with Jake and the Neverland Pirates!!! Got a pirate ship and plays pirates a lot...

• He loves to "dress up" right now. I got a bunch of hats at the sale for him to use...policeman and cowboy are our favorites...gonna be a pirate for Halloween...saving that costume for the end of the month...

• Loves climbing the trees in our driveway.

• Started really learning how to catch the ball and play catch with daddy.

• Can hit the ball when Daddy pitches it to him!!!!
• Daddy reads Carter a book or two before bedtime everynight, then mommy sings him some songs.
• Favorite bedtime songs are "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus (there's just something about that name...)" and "Amazing Grace" After singing "Amazing Grace to Carter the first time one night, he asked me what amazing grace was. I explained to him that it was God's amazing grace that sent Jesus to die for us to save us from our sins and live in our hearts. He replied "yes mommy, and dinosaurs live in my heart too." :) Now when I sing it, he really listens to the story. The other night I was in the middle of "I once was lost but now I'm found..." and he said "Mommy, did she lose something?" So we talked a little about being lost and then finding Jesus. I highly recommend singing the old hymns to your toddlers. They will like them, and I can't imagine a sweeter way to share the gospel with my son.

These are our boys and we love them both with all our hearts!!! Here's a picture just for smiles: 

Miles liked the bike ride more than he let on in this picture!

Happy Fall Y'all! 

12 Months Old

Dear Miles, 

Here I am writing your 12 Month letter, and you're already 14 months - oops!!!! I guess it should have a different title...Time has been flying lately. Faster than usual. Not long after your 1st Birthday, your daddy was offered a job in Auburn, AL. We decided to take the job and move our family back "home." I'm so excited you will now get to grow up living near both sets of your grandparens! Since then, everything has been crazy. We did VBS for a week, sold our home, packed our home, said goodbye to friends, and we've been living at Nana and Papa J's house for a little less than a month now. I am just now feeling settled enough to start blogging again. Soon, we will be moving to our new home here in Opelika, and I will be too busy to blog again :) I wanted to write your last letter before I forget everything.

Let me first say that you are an absolute precious baby boy (yes, you're still my baby)! You are PACKED FULL of life! You try to keep up with all of us in all that we do, and you do a pretty good job! You especially have to keep up with Carter - it's tiring being your referee but the two of you are adorable playing and romping around together! Some of my favorite moments are when you cuddle up to me and lay your head on my shoulder (after you wake up & when you meet stranger). It doesn't happen often, but it warms my heart every time.

Here's you at your 1st Birthday: 

Here's a picture of you and your brother (2 years 10 months):

On a regular basis, Carter will say "Come on Miles, let's doe play." I also hear "No, Miles, Noooooooooooo" on a regular basis :) You guys stick together. At all times - good, bad, or ugly.

Here are some of the things we did the past few months: 

• You got a water table for your 1st Birthday. We have enjoyed playing with it. We will miss this backyard! 

• We went to Bamie's college graduation in Dayton, TN. 

• We went on a hike on Mother's Day and enjoyed time as a family. You couldn't stay awake on the hike back to the car! 

• We had a playdate at Big Spring Park and fed the ducks/geese/fish...you fed yourself.

• We attended our Sunday School class going away party in Huntsville. You and your friend Tyler loved sitting in the pink jeep. I don't think either of you cared a bit that it was pink :)

• You and your brother LOVE riding around in the John Deere Gator at grandmama and granddaddy's house. You are always the passenger, but I have a feeling you'll be driving soon!

• We celebrated the 4th of July, and you even got to hold your first sparkler - with LOTS of help!

Here are some things you are doing now: 

• At 1 year, you weigh 22 lbs. 12 oz. (50th) and you were 30 1/2 in. long (75th).
• You weaned very well. You went down to 2 feedings a day, and then daddy took me on a weekend getaway for my 30th birthday. You stayed with grandmama and were totally weaned to whole milk when we got home! You still take a bottle with warmed whole milk about 2-3 times a day. I'm not going to take that away from you at this point since our lives have had a lot of changes recently.
• You do not eat any babyfood anymore. You eat everything we eat. 
• At 13 months, you decided you were going to use a spoon and fork, and you're not too bad at it! You pretty much won't let us feed you anymore, but you get frustrated that you can't feed yourself :) 
• At 14 months, you decided you didn't want to sit at a high chair. You now sit in a booster seat like a big boy. 
• You're drinking from a big boy sippy cup now (at 14 months).
• You have 8 teeth (4 on top, 4 on bottom).
• You sleep about 12-13 hours every night.
• You take two naps a day. You are not even close to dropping a morning nap!
• You took your first connected steps on the day of your first birthday party (May 4th)! You started getting pretty good at connected steps just before we moved to Opelika. You are now (as of the first week in July) an all out walker! You try your hardest to keep up with Carter.
• You like your bouncy zebra toy you got for your first birthday. 
• You love to slide! 

• You are a climber. You climb up onto chairs, couches, tables, benches, beds, and you try to jump off. Luckily, I have been there to catch you most of the big jumps. I don't think you fear anything.
• You can shake your head "no" now (@ 14 mos)
• You can say mama, but you REFUSE to do it! Now (@14 mos.) you shake your head no when I ask you to say mama. You will say dada and run to the door. You love your daddy. You give him more snuggles than anyone else (Grandmama is next on that list). You say Nana, and Nana is pretty proud of that :) 
• You like to pretend to shoot guns. Yes, you live in a majority-boy household. You make  the funniest little high-pitched lip sound when you are "shooting." Your brother and daddy taught you this. 
• Your favorite toy is ANYTHING your brother is still playing with! 

Here is your typical schedule...

8:00am - Wake up / Breakfast & Milk / Play

10:00 - 11:30am - Naptime (you drink the rest of your breakfast milk before going down)

11:30am - Play

12:30pm - Lunch & Milk 

1:30 pm - Naptime (you drink the rest of your lunch milk before going down)

3:30 - 4:00pm - Wake and Play / Snack

6:00pm - Dinner & Milk

7:30-8pm - Bathtime (on bath nights) / Milk / Bed

REPEAT...

I can't believe I've written you an entire year of letters already. Like I tell you on a regular basis, "God made you so special, and he has a special plan for your life." Always remember that. I cannot wait for you to start talking more and more and get to see how your language and life develops over the next year. I will update the blog as I can. We are going to have a lot going on this Fall! I'm pretty excited :)

I Love You,

Mommy

PS. This is what your brother did when he was 1 year  old. 

Miles's First Birthday

We celebrated Miles's first birthday on May 4, 2013. We had a few church friends and family over for a Dump Truck Party! It turned out to be a cold, rainy day, but that didn't stop us from having a wonderful time with friends and family. Miles even took his first real steps that morning in preparation for the party - such a big one-year-old boy! I love first birthday parties - I love all parties, but especially the first! To me, it's a celebration that we all made it through the first year (can I get an Amen?!?!). Here are some pictures from that day...

We were able to use the banners from when Carter turned one, and I made Miles his own hat and 12 month picture banner. We gave bubbles, fruit snacks, and sidewalk chalk to our guests.

We decorated the table with dump truck themed food, and used diaper boxes and sheets to add some height/interest to the table. I bought some cardstock and went to town printing things out...pretty much if it is dump truck party themed and made of paper, I designed and printed it from Powerpoint :) 

The food - yummo! Yes, I scrubbed and scrubbed those dump trucks and foil lined them...then they went right back outside :)

It was such a fun time with friends and family. Of course, big brother Carter more than willing to help Miles open his presents.

I always forget how slowly (my kids) smash cake experiences start out, but they certainly get the hang of it :) Again, big brother was more than willing to help out! 

Thankful for loving and supportive grandparents who not only kept Carter and Miles the week before the party, but then traveled all the way here to celebrate with us!!!

On his "real" birthday, we had a family pizza night and he opened his presents from us - a water table and a big huge ball :) He also smashed cupcake all in his mommy's face! Love that boy :)

Happy Birthday, Miles! 

We love you.

One Year!

Miles turned one year old yesterday! He's such a joy to us. 

Thank you, Lord for blessing our family with this precious boy!

Happy First Birthday, Miles! We love you!

11 Months Old

Dear Miles, 

Here I am writing your 11 Month letter. I cannot believe you are already 11 months old! You're almost 1...where has the time gone? This has not been an easy year for me - adjusting to being a mommy to 2 children has been a difficult transition, but here we are...almost a year later. I cannot thank you enough for what you've taught me as a mommy/person/Christian. You are precious to me. More precious than you will ever know. You have such a passion for life. You go after everything with your whole heart. I can already tell that you're going to be a lot like me. You have got to be one of the cutest lil' guys on the planet. You have a huge grin, and you're one of the wiggliest worms I've ever seen - you want to be on the go at all times.

Here's your 11 month picture: 

Here's you and your dog. 

Here's a picture of me, you and your brother (2 years 8 mos):

You and your brother are growing so close. You are by his side at all times. You don't even like to be strapped in to eat because that means you cannot get to where Carter is :) I love that about you. Carter likes to keep you informed of EVERYTHING. He has started to tell you things. He'll let out a huge (fake) burp and say "Heard that burp, Miles?" When we are riding in the car, I'll hear him say, "See that Jeep, Miles?" When we finish with a meal, he says, "Tum on Miles, let's doe play in playroom." He bosses you around and you do exactly whatever you want to which makes him very mad most of the time. Brothers. We are in full brother mode around here from sun up to sun down.

Here are some of the things we did this month: 

• You got to experience your first Easter. You got to see the Easter Bunny. You sat in his lap, but you weren't too sure about him. We died Easter Eggs. You got to hunt some Easter Eggs too. You ended up sick on Easter Sunday, so we decided to stay home from church, but we had a nice restful morning at home with family. You got to check out your first Easter Basket - it had all kinds of fun things in it.

• We went to Auburn to see Nana, Papa J, and your Aunt/Uncle/Cousins. It was Nana's 60th Birthday, so we all celebrated together! We had a fun weekend.

Yes, that finger ended up in the cake :)

Here are some things you are doing now: 

• You weigh 21 lbs. and I need to measure you.
• You nurse about 4 (sometimes 5) times a day. We start the weaning process this next month - here's hoping that goes well! 
• You are slowing down on baby food. You prefer meat (especially in casseroles/pastas mostly) and carbs. Your favorite foods are fried chicken, yogurt, and baked beans. It's really hard to get you to eat fruit or veggies. I try to sneak in some babyfood here and there still, but you do not like them anymore.

• You have 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom).
• You sleep about 10-11 hours every night. When you're not getting sick/sick/getting over being sick,  you sleep through the night until about 6:30 - 7am now. That is a blessing.
• You take two naps a day. When you get tired, you bite people.
• You are getting better with a sippy cup.
• You are cruising around everything - you can even cruise with one hand on things....maybe soon you'll let go and walk soon!
• You are a super fast crawler!
• You love your push and walk toy. Unfortunately, Carter does too - he steals it from you on a regular basis.
• You love to climb. You climb into the toy box, up your little slide, onto diaper boxes, up into Carters chair, on the hearth, and up the stairs. One problem with this is you cannot get down from any of these places without falling. You've gotten a few bumps and bruises along the way. 
• Your worst accident yet was falling and hitting your face on the rocking horse. Your teet cut your lip. I thought you would need stitches, but you didn't. You're a tough guy!
• You learned to throw a ball this past month and you LOVE IT! When you were sick during Easter, we couldn't get you to go to sleep one night. You cried and cried. We figured out that throwing a ball would soothe you, so we threw a ball back and forth late into the night that night...you didn't want to stop. 

• It's warmed up finally, but at first you HATED being outside. The feel of the concrete and grass totally freaked you out, and you screamed like somebody was trying to kill you when we put you down. Over the course of the month, you've figured out that it's not so bad. Your favorite activities now are swinging and sliding. You love going down the big slide at the playground (with an adult). You also like to sit in Carter's cozy coupe. Carter does not like you to sit in it. When you get in it, he automatically climbs on top...that's quite a site.
• You also discovered the joy of building towers with blocks and knocking them down. You could do this forever!
• You said "mama" this month!!!!!! We were on the phone with Grandmama the first time you said it. She claims that you were trying to say "Grandmama," but I know you were saying my name :) You are also saying "Dada" and "Nana" 
• Your favorite toy is ANYTHING your brother is playing with! 
• You know what "No" means, and you listen a lot of the time. 

Here is your typical schedule...

6:30am - Wake up / Nurse / Breakfast Babyfood (yogurt / dry cereal) then Play

8:45 - 9am - Naptime (1-2 hours)

11:00am - Nurse then Play

11:30 - Lunch (PBJ) when brother eats then play

1:00 pm - Naptime (2-3 hours)

4:00-5pm - Mealtime (Nurse & sometimes babyfood) then Waketime

6:00pm - "2nd Supper" when we eat :)

7:30-8pm - Bathtime (on bath nights) / Nurse / Bed

REPEAT...

My next letter will be written to you when you turn 1! Part of me feels like this year has flown by, and part of me feels as if I cannot remember our family without you in it. We all love you so much, Miles. Your Daddy, your brother, and me (your mommy) are so blessed to have you in our lives. 

Love,

Mommy

PS. This is what your brother did when he was 11 months old.