Fun Weekend

The weather this past Friday and Saturday was really nice, so we were able to enjoy quite a bit of time outdoors, in addition to the Easter egg hunt.

 

Miles has learned the word underdog ("uh-dog") and now says it incessantly when he's being pushed on a swing. 

Brooke tried to ride her bike alone for about 2 seconds before deciding it was too much work. Not sure how much to push that skill if there's not a lot of interest there...

Miles enjoying some transportation-themed outdoor activity.

Brooke is all about the Easter egg hiding now. Unfortunately, she tends to "hide" them in clumps, out in the open.

Enjoying some of the spoils from the egg hunt - bubbles!

We also got to celebrate Aunt Jamie's birthday on Saturday night.

This was seriously the best shot I got of the two of them with Jamie.

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...And of course we woke up to snow on the ground this morning. But at least we got the taste of spring to keep us going!

Easter Egg Hunt

On Saturday, our friends Scott and Kristina and Scott's parents hosted an Easter egg hunt for all the little kids in our group. It was Brooke's first non-family organized egg hunt and she was excited. The night before, she told me, "I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep. I wish the Easter egg hunt was now!"

As Scott was going over the rules, she was jockeying for a prime position at the starting line and Miles was right there with her.

I wasn't sure if Miles was going to know what to do, but he caught on right away. He was even more excited when he realized there was candy in most of them.

Daddy and Grandpa Brian helping.

Brooke was excited to find the egg with her name on it - and even more excited that it was pink with purple polka dots!

The little guys (Miles especially) loved the sand table. I plan to fully get my money's worth out of that thing in our backyard this summer.

A little t-ball. Batting lefty, of course. She made some nice contact.

Oh, and look, I was there! This is the closest we got to a family shot. Love my photogenic kids.

It was a really fun time. Thanks again to the Wellers for hosting another great event!

Lately

The kids have been keeping us on our toes as we wait for #3 to arrive (due date is 4/13 and he/she seems to be in no hurry). Brooke got her stitches out on  Friday and Miles had his 2-year check-up (42% for weight, 84% for height). Then, Miles developed a cough over the weekend that led to me and the kids not going to church on Sunday. I had also forgotten to buy cinnamon rolls (our typical Sunday breakfast), so we headed to DD. Of course the kids picked the Peeps doughnut (Papa T would be proud) and got their sugar intake for the week. It was a fun treat.

Sunday night, Brooke decided to pull off her steri-strip and scab while trying to go to sleep. She did that again last night, too, so we're going back to keeping a band-aid over the wound. On Monday, we kept to ourselves again because Miles was still coughing and not sleeping well. We stopped by a playground on our way back from picking up butterfly bandages to replace the steri-strip that she'd pulled off. It is SO nice to be able to play outside again!

I've mentioned that she's into picking out her own clothes now, right?

Having a "picnic".

This is a selfie that Brooke and her buddy, Olivia (my friend, Joy's, daughter) took on a play date last week. Pretty cute!

Brooke wanted her hair like Anna and Elsa. The braids go in okay, but only last for about 20 minutes. Maybe if I braid them wet they'll stay better?

Jamie came over to say hi to the kids and Miles was especially sad to see her go. He stood at the window yelling, "Mamie! Mamie!" until she drove away, then he said, "Mamie, where are you?" after she'd driven away. I'd have gotten a video, but I was fixing B's braids...again.

Miles is enjoying "baseball" now that we're playing outside again. He was playing with Grandpa Brian and Grammie Deb on this afternoon. Matt informed them that our kids are going to grow up batting lefty. I say that with my genetics, they have enough going against them athletically and it's just mean to make it more difficult than it will inevitably be.

So, after 5 nights of Miles not sleeping well and sounding like he'd been smoking for his whole 2 years, I took him to the doctor yesterday and it turns out that he has an ear infection and a virus that's been exacerbated by a constriction of his respiratory muscles? After one dose of an antibiotic and inhaler, we had our first good night of sleep in a week last night. I feel horrible for not taking him in sooner, I'd just assumed that he'd kick the cold like Brooke and I did. Here he was at the park this morning, already feeling better. I'm trying to soak up every last minute of his being the baby in the family.

A Stitch (or 5) in Time...

As I mentioned, Sunday was Miles' birthday. We went to church that morning, but kept Brooke in the service with us as she'd caught my cold. We came home, had lunch, FaceTimed with Luke and Lexi, then headed to our cul-de-sac playground with Mike and Jane who'd come by to wish Miles "Happy Birthday."

I'll just fast-forward to the point when Mike came up to me and said, "Brooke fell. Matt ran back to the house with her. It looked like she was bleeding." I thought I should head back to the house to see if Matt needed help bandaging her up. As I approached the house, Matt came out with a blood-covered Brooke in his arms and said, "We need to take her somewhere. NOW." Thankfully, Mike and Jane offered to stay with Miles (HUGE lifesaver as this was also at nap time) and after a quick phone call, we decided to go to urgent care because it was closer than the hospital.

On the way to urgent care, I sat in back with Brooke and applied pressure to her wound. It was probably at least 3/4" in diameter and DEEP. Matt was playing chase with her and as she was running out of the playground area (it's recessed), she tripped on the wooden tie lining the playground and hit the edge of the sidewalk just right/wrong to burst open this wound. And as most people know, head wounds bleed. A lot. We were probably quite a sight rushing into urgent care with her face and arms (and Matt) covered in blood. Brooke had stopped crying by the time we were done with our paper work and after a short wait, we went to the back.

She was a trooper. The only time she got choked up was when they said she'd need stitches. We assured her that it'd be fine and tried to distract her. She was most worried about her dress ($5 from Old Navy) being ruined and having to stay at urgent care overnight. They numbed the wound by putting gauze soaked in some kind of numbing medicine in it (it was that deep). She was such a champ. She only moved to rub her nose and cough because of the cold she'd woken up with. While they were applying the stitches, she and Matt were making faces at each other. The nurse called her a "textbook perfect patient" for a child getting stitches. With her being a girl and this being in the middle of her forehead, we've obviously thought about the scarring. The urgent care doctor seemed very careful and thoughtful and used the finest stitch they had. According to Brooke's pediatrician, she did a great job sewing her up. We have to be very vigilant in protecting it from the sun and we're optimistic that it'll heal just fine. There are bigger problems to have. In the grand scheme, we're so lucky that this is the worst thing that we've had to deal with in 4 1/2 years. Feeling helpless while your child is in pain is a horrible feeling and my heart truly goes out to those who have to deal with things like that on a daily basis.

This picture was taken on our way out of dinner that night. I think she's going to be okay.

Miles is Two!

Our Little Sweet Boy turned two on Sunday. What can I say about this little guy at two years old?

 

His language is really starting to take off compared to where it was a few months ago. He's combining words pretty regularly. One of my favorite phrases that he uses is, "Mama, where are you?" He also says, "Me too" often (whenever anyone else is getting anything, basically). We taught him to say, "Two" and hold up two fingers whenever anyone asked him how old he was going to be, so now that's his standard answer for most questions, including, "What's your name?" Miles is not that hard a name to pronounce, so I cannot figure out why he refuses to try. "Num-e-num" is probably his most commonly used phrase, as he's always asking for food.

Speaking of food, I've created a monster by giving him juice in the morning. Apple juice is his favorite. He's not too picky with foods, but is much more of a snacker than a meal-eater. He actually really enjoys drinking water, too. Yogurt and cheese are two of his favorite relatively healthy foods. He's very thoughtful, especially when it comes to his sister. Almost anytime he's given something, he'll ask, "Brooke?" to make sure that she can have some if she wants it.

I mentioned this before, but he's not a fan of posing for pictures on anyone's terms but his own these days. We've definitely see his two-year-old will emerge a bit lately, including hitting us when he's frustrated. Brooke never did that and I attributed it to our parenting. Ha! He's usually good about listening and coming when we tell him, but every so often, we'll get the over-the-shoulder smirk as he runs the opposite direction. He's showing some interest in potty training, including sitting on the kiddie seat, but I've heard enough horror stories about potty training boys that I'm not going to push it.

He's really into books and always wants to bring one down in the morning with him. He's a clown and loves to make other people laugh, but can also be very shy, especially when strangers are looking at him. He's still pretty cuddly and quite the Mama's Boy, although he loves Dada and Brooke with all his heart. He's such a special little guy and we thank God that we can call him ours.

Thawing Out

Monday was the first day of spring break up here, and it was actually sunny and relatively warm, so we met Michelle and her boys that morning at the Arboretum. We've missed that place! It was a fun day, despite there being more snow left than I'd expected.

Kellen, showing Miles how to appropriately pose for pictures like a big boy. Miles is fairly anti-posing/smiling for pics these days.

The big kids, having more fun playing in the woods than on the equipment they have there.

Again, Kellen showing an Alley how posing is done. It's so funny that he's only 6 weeks older than Miles, but looks like he's almost Brooke's age!

Spring is coming. I can feel it. We'll have more of these outdoor pics soon!

Miles' 2nd, 2nd Birthday Party

Last Saturday, we had our celebration for Miles' 2nd birthday with family and a few of Miles' friends. After his experience with his birthday cake in St. Louis, he knew the drill for this cake and was ready to dive in as soon as we picked it up that afternoon. I joked that I should have told people just to get him snacks for gifts.

One of his gifts from us was a water table and I was hoping that it'd be warm enough for the kids to play with outside. Silly me. Instead, I set it up in the basement and Miles loved it. We took off his shirt for obvious reasons.

Miles, Cam and Kellen enjoying a beverage after playing hard.

Brooke is the only girl in this little group and I don't think she minds. It allows her to exercise her motherly/bossy instincts.

Singing "Happy Birthday."

Blowing out the candles. He did it himself!

What he'd been waiting for all day.

Then it was on to gifts. He was pretty excited about the "ball" wrapping paper.

Opening gifts. As usual, everyone was far too generous. He got lots of sports and transportation-themed gifts, with a little Bubble Guppies thrown in.

Having fun trying everything out.

His first golf lesson.

Brooke, practicing for her golf lessons that start this summer (seriously).

Here's Miles playing with Aunt Jamie before opening all the new toys.

And hanging with his best bud, Uncle Mike.

Here are the kids before the party started, "helping" me set up the balloons.

Brooke was pretty set on wearing her "poodle dress" that day. The fluffier the dress, the better for her these days.

Possibly one of our last pics as a family of four? It was a fun evening spent with family and friends and Miles is so lucky to have all of you!

(*Special thanks to Mike, Mackenzie and Debbie for the pics they took. I'm pretty sure we'd have little to no photographic record of the day if not for them.*)