Our Happily Ever After

Diapers

2012-02-13T01:03:00.000-07:00

That's right, Milo is diaper free! I only have one bum to diaper. HOORAY!!!!! 21 months old and out of diapers. Milo has not worn a diaper since Monday morning 9am. He's pretty cute in his undies. The smallest ones are still pretty baggy on him. I love that I can really squish his tush :)

I got Milo a seat for the potty just after he turned one. I wanted him to be familiar with the potty to make things easier when it came time. Around 15 months he pooped in the potty for the first time. a couple times a month after that he would make it in the potty, but only number 2. I have been paying attention to how full his diaper was in the mornings, but he had never woken up dry, which is one sign that they are ready. about two weeks ago, he told me he needed to go potty, he sat on his seat and he peed! It was then that I knew he was ready. He still hadn't woken up dry, but his diapers weren't very full either, I figured it would come with training.

Day One
9am when Milo woke up, I got him excited about not wearing a diaper. He's not super happy when he wakes up, but this cheered him right up. we took off the diaper, put on the big boy underwear and went and sat on the potty. I laid out blankets all over the living room, which he thought was pretty fun. We sat around, watched mickey and dumbo and I asked "do you need to go potty" no less than 7 billion times.... with no luck. He peed on the blankets, on the carpet, on the tile, he even took a laundry basket under the table and peed in it! Everywhere but the potty. It was slightly frustrating, but I was expecting it. Nap time came and I put out a few blankets on his bed and left him in his underwear. To my surprise he woke up an hour and a half later completely dry. He told me he needed to go potty several times, but would get on his seat and let toots go. That night before bed, after I had tried all day, he peed in the potty for daddy. Led him in the bathroom by the hand and he did it. It was pretty exciting for every one.

Day Two
730am he woke up completely dry once again! I was shocked. I was expecting him to wake up wet and poopy, but he did so good! He even peed in the potty first thing. Then a few hours later while I was making breakfast, he was playing in the cupboard and he peed in there. Sat him back on the potty for a bit but nothing. then later he was standing on the blanket in the living room, stepped off and let it rip. He had a few successes, including pooping and another dry nap.

By the end of the day I could understand why people give up. It's hard, but I had to keep reminding myself that learning to recognize, stop and start everything takes time and he is still so little.

In this picture, it had been like 4 hours since he had peed, but he didn't want to stop watching Dumbo to go potty, so we brought Dumbo to the potty... and it worked :)

Day Three
5am he woke up to pee then again at 730 to poop, so another dry night! Today was full of ups and downs. Just about every time he needed to pee, he would pee a little and stop it then we would run to finish in the potty. We went through lots of underwear, but overall it was a success. He was able to notice he was going, stop it, then pretty quickly finish the job in the toilet.

Day Four
What an amazing day. We went through several pairs of underwear, but he always finished the job in the potty. A few times he even told me he needed to go without being asked.

Every day gets better and better. Today, Sunday, we even made a trip to Salt Lake to a farewell, then back to Cedar hills for dinner. He stayed dry all day. Not even a little drip in his (new mickey mouse) underwear. Most of the day I forgot to ask him if he needed to go, he would just tell me and then actually go.

I am so so so so so proud of my little boy. At 21 months, not even 2 years old, he is potty trained. what an amazing thing. We still have a ways to go, but he is getting better every day, and with practice, he will become perfect (oh wait, he already is). Love that kid so much.

Brothers

2012-01-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

I started this post back in the beginning of September. Logan was 3 months, Milo was 16 months.
Milo loves his baby brother. Logan loves his big brother. Logan will just sit and stare and smile while he watches Milo play. I can tell he wants to play with him. Milo has always loved his brother.

He likes to hold him for a few seconds at a time, then pushes him away when he's done. Lately he's been asking (pwees? with arms out) to hold him more often.

He's starting to notice that he can make logan smile, and i'll catch him in Logan's face "hhiiiiieeee!" He also tries to be where ever Logan is. He'll climb in the swing, bouncer or play mat and get right up next to him. Since he's only 16 months, he doesn't really understand how to be soft, so I really have to watch him and keep Logan above his reach.

The other day Milo went in the mud room, grabbed the car seat, dragged it into the living room in front of the swing, then tried to pull Logan out.

If Milo has food, he'll try to share with Logan. The other day I caught him trying to feed him chips.

In the car, I have their car seats right next to each other. When Logan starts crying, Milo will reach over and hold his hand. He is so gentle and it usually calms Logan down. Melts my heart!

Logan and Milo are only about 7 pounds apart, and are really just about the same size, so it's really funny to watch him try to pick up Logan

Since then, a lot has changed and stayed the same. They love each other and want to play with each other. Milo will just lay next to him and watch his shows while holding logans hand.

He is always aware of what Logan is doing and makes sure he gets some of whatever he has, food, toys, drinks.

Milo hears Logan wake up way before I do. Like just now he started talking about Logan, I told him he was asleep and then I heard Logan cry.

They are still close in size. Logan is around 18 pounds, Milo is around 22/23. Logan is bigger around than Milo.

Now that Logan is bigger, Milo can play more with Logan. I still have to watch, but Milo likes to sit on logan and play with his arms. Logan loves it.

We all like to play patt a cake, sing itsy bitsy spider and do piggies with our toes. Milo loves it all, but isn't satisfied until Logan does it all too.

The Logster

2012-01-15T10:41:00.002-07:00

Logan is 7 months old. He is my buddy. We do everything together. He loves me best. Ok, he loves his daddy and brother too :). He is a happy, social little guy. He doesn't like to be left out of anything. If possible he needs to be in on everything.

He gives some pretty great kisses. They are very aggressive. He grabs me with both hands as tight as he can and goes in for the big, open mouthed, slobbery kiss. If he's especially happy his head shakes back and forth while slimming up my face and neck. Oh how I love it

He is still my little chunky monkey. Chunky compared to Milo. Milo never had chunky squishy thighs, cheeks, an extra chin or even a slightly squishy belly. Logan is in the 50%tile range for most of his stats. He's an average baby, but compared to the first, he's chunky and squishy.

He loves to talk and is getting more sounds in. He growls at things that he wants and are out of his reach. and people. They usually growl back which makes his day

He is excellent at going to sleep. when he's tired, I just wrap him up tight, kiss his squishy cheeks, pop the plug in and lay him in his crib. that's it. No training, he's just done that since birth. It's amazing. Staying asleep... is a different story. he is usually up every 2-5 hours. when his teeth are making their way up it's more like every 45 to 90 minutes. I'm pretty exhausted a lot of the time. He takes three 1 - 1.5 hour naps. I get him and Milo to nap at the same time so if I need I can nap too, or just have some time to myself.

He is pro at rolling. He doesn't roll to get around, I think it's more out of boredom or to reach a toy. so far no rolling across the room. Milo never did. He is pretty close to scooting though. He can spin round and round in circles. Tank really likes him and will plop down practically on him to get close. When I'm not looking, Logan will roll (just one roll) to get closer to tank and will either suck on his ears or grab at his face (lips, tongue, eyes) and tank just takes it.

He still isn't great at sitting up yet. He can, but he would rather be standing. Or, he'll get really excited and throw himself back.

He still loves to eat. He loves anything with fruit. He HATED carrots. wouldn't even bring his tongue in his mouth. sweet potatoes were ok. For the most part I give him the veggies mixed with fruit so he will actually eat them.

He LOVES his big brother. he watches him play all day and loves it when Milo comes to play with him. He wants so badly to follow him around and do what he does. I love it when they play and laugh together. it's seriously the best thing ever.

He likes to be held. He's not much of a cuddler, but he is happiest sitting on your lap.

Still no teeth. every few weeks he will have all the signs of teething, except for the bumps and swelling on his gums. it's so sad. You can tell he's so miserable and wants so bad to be happy, but he just can't hold back the tears sometimes.

It took him a little bit, but he loves doing tricks with his daddy. He loves to show off and he has the biggest, gummy open mouth smile while performing.

not sure what's going on with this picture. weird angle? weird timing? whatever it is it's hilarious

Oh how I love his great big smile. He smiles with his whole face and body. His hair is getting longer but it still sticks up and out. Adam says we need to cut it, but I love it and don't want to.

He is such a great little boy and the perfect addition to our family. I can't believe he is already 7 months old!!

Mr. Smarty Pants

2012-01-14T12:02:00.000-07:00

**disclaimer, this is a (long) list of how awesome my kid is. If you're sick of lists of awesomeness, tough, it's more for me than you anyway ;) If you want to know how awesome my kid is, read on and feel free to tell me how great he is :)

Milo is probably, hands down, the smartest kid ever. He seriously amazes me the things he says and does and remembers.

His recent favorite book is But No Elephants. He will request it when I ask if he wants to read a book. Yesterday he picked it up and started reading it to himself. It went something like this "awint, no! no no awint! no! no no no!"

Lately he asks himself and other the questions we ask him all the time. Like this morning while watching the intro to Mickey "ah dat? es dao! ah dat? es dessy!" (who's that? it's donald! who's that? it's daisy!) and so on with all the characters.

He does the same with colors, but it's less understandable to just about anyone. He points at stuff and says something like "eh couwa? es lello!" He knows most of his colors without any help. He is better at picking out the color I ask, but a lot of the time he can also correctly tell you what color something is. Most things start out as yellow. I think it's his favorite word to say.

He has started counting things, sort of... he'll point to things "doo, dwee, fis, nine" (2,3,5,9). I think Mickey is to blame for getting us started on colors and numbers. When Mickey and gang are doing colors, so is he, when they do numbers, he counts too.

He puts together little sentences. "I gotchoo!" "mom! look! a ball!" "mamma, i sawy" "i got it!" "there it is"

when he gets hurt he says sorry. it's so cute and sweet and you can't help but hug and kiss him. with a sad face, holding his head "mamma, i sawy. head bump"

He talks like crazy. "mom" and "watch" are said close to 300 million times a day. usually together.

I think I'm going to start potty training him in the next few weeks. He can tell me when he needs to go (usually has gone) number one and number two. He has made it a several times over the past few months.

He is the best big brother. He is so protective and helpful with him. he can always find me a passi, a blanket, his socks, shoes or a toy. when we're with other kids and someone takes a toy that is logans, not even always away from logan, milo will take it away from the kid and give it back to logan. If kids get to close to his brother, he makes sure to get them to back off. We're working on sharing, but for being only 20 months, I think he does a pretty good job. If I reason with him he'll give a toy back that he took, or will play with the kid with his toy. usually...

He bosses his dog around more than ever. They are best friends. They play all day every day. They love each other. Tank is still a puppy so I get pretty frustrated with him, especially since he won't listen to me unless I yell at him. When I'm telling tank to go potty, if I have to tell him multiple times, Milo will come to me with a look of "I guess I'll get him to do it since you can't", stick his head out the door and yell "pawEe! tank! pawEe! PAWEEEEE!" or when I tell tank to lay down it's almost always followed with "lay lom!" from my little helper. He's bossy to tank, but he is also very sweet and playful with him.

He legitimately helps me unload the dishwasher now. It takes a lot longer than if I did it myself, but he does help. He hands me all the silverware, one piece at a time. he can put away his plates, bowls and cups. He hands me all the dishes from the dishwasher and if I skip a time saying thank you, he'll say it for me.

He is so polite. Half the time I don't even have to tell him to say thank you (dee doop). The other day someone opened the door for us and he thanked them before even I could. He is (usually) quick to say sorry, especially when he is the one hurt. Today he started saying you're welcome. After he asked nicely (pwees) to watch mickey, he said "ececome" (you're welcome).

he has some Melissa & Doug puzzles that he loves to do. At first he would put the pieces on the right spot, but it was usually upside down or crooked. Yesterday he started twisting the pieces until they fit in the space.

He knows all of his animal sounds, and a lot by sight.

He knows all his body parts. hair, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, tongue, belly, fingers, hands, bum, legs, feet, toes

he has started to be a good little eater. His favorite foods are definitely hot dogs (dotdog) waffles (aha) and milk (moak), but he'll eat just about anything. He is kind of particular though. If he doesn't feel like eating it, he won't, so I usually go through his options and let him pick.

He is in nursery now. We're still warming up to it. He is a big mamma's boy, so Adam drops him off, but he almost always starts crying and clinging to him before they are even through the door. Sometimes Adam stays with him and practices going and coming back, to show him that we will, in fact, come back for him. In the end, it usually takes a few minutes of crying before he forgets and wants to play with the toys and kids. His little girlfriend Rylee is in there, so it makes things a tiny bit easier for him. He walks around the whole time saying her name "lylee". When i go pick him up he is always happy and playing and having fun.

The past month he has been sleeping through the night. hallelujah! It was pretty tough on me there for a bit. When Logan was first born, Milo would get up 1-3 times a night and Logan was up every hour. Even if Adam went in with Milo, it still woke me up, and half the time I had to wake up adam. Logan started getting better at sleeping, but it was still hard. when Milo was 6 months we let him cry it out and he slept through the night off and on till he was about a year, then it stopped and it was hit and miss until about thanksgiving. Now I am happy to say he sleeps in his own bed all night until 8 or 9. praise the heavens above.

He is such a smart, sweet, cuddly, caring, fun, obedient little boy. I seriously don't know how we lucked out with him. love that kid past mud mars

Christmas Cards!

2011-11-09T11:39:00.001-07:00

CHRISTMAS IS COMING! CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

No, I haven't forgotten about Thanksgiving. I have kid/baby hand turkeys on my walls, and Thanksgiving decorations up. However, it's not too late to start thinking ahead. Getting as much ready as you can so you can really enjoy the Holiday with your family instead of being stressed out and doing everything last minute.

Well, I can help in the Christmas Card department! For a limited time, I am selling Christmas Card designs starting at $5! You can take them and print them where ever you want OR you can save some more money and send them to all your friends and family via email!

Please, tell your friends! Tell your family! Tell everyone! This is a great deal, you can't miss out!

To order, go to my Etsy shop. The Miner Details

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T20:30:00.000-06:00

Halloween was a success! I thought it was going to be a dud. Adam is sick, I didn't want to take the kids trick or treating alone, no one in the neighborhood was even home, Logan's costume smelled like spit up plus Milo wouldn't even wear the costume I spent hours making for him. We were just sitting around handing out candy to the trick or treaters that did come around. I noticed their bags and buckets were decently filled early on, so I decided to get my sorry bum off the couch, dress up the kids and go out any way. Who cares if Milo didn't want to wear all of his costume, every kid needs to go trick or treating! So I put them both in the stroller and off we went.

Milo did SO good. I was so impressed with him. He caught on to the trick or treat idea pretty quick. He would knock on the door, show his great big smile, say "Hi! Tee teeeet!" then before leaving "denks!(thanks) buh bye!". He was every ones favorite, I just know it. Logan just hung out in the stroller and did so good too.

In the three rows of townhomes (just our ward) there were only about 9-12 people home and handing out candy, but it was just the right amount for us, and it sure made me happy to take my boys out. When we got home we parked Milo in front of Shrek Halloween with a sucker and he's been one happy camper.

Halloween morning my mom and I took the kids to Gardner Village. The drive up was no fun, but once we were up there we had fun. We didn't go in many shops, but we let Milo run around and look at the witches. His favorite were the ducks at the pond :)

one of Logan smiling

Milo is yelling at the ducks "NNNNNNO!"

he loves his brother :)

"deese!" (cheese)

my cute, happy baby cow

Crying

2011-10-12T15:57:00.001-06:00

Aren't these the cutest crying kids you've ever seen

4 Months

2011-10-12T12:56:00.000-06:00

I can't believe he's only and already 4 months old. He is such a big boy and so much fun. He smiles and laughs all the time and just loves getting as much attention as he can get. He loves his big brother and always watches him and smiles; you can tell he really wants to be able to play with him. Milo also loves his baby brother and is very protective of him. Logan is just such a sweet little boy.

We took him to the doctor yesterday and he had to get shots. He wasn't very happy about getting pricked with the needle, but once I nursed him he was fine and even happy. That evening his legs bothered him quite a bit, it was so sad and I couldn't give him any more tylenol. Today he is back to his happy smiley self :)

Here are his stats
weight: 14.84 lbs 50.16%tile
length: 25 inches 54.27%tile
head: 16.3 inches 26.7%tile

Compared to the rest of the boys his age he is average, but compared to his big brother he is a chunk :)

The doctor said his head is looking flatter than he would like, but not flat enough for a helmet. yet. If next visit it's any worse then he'll probably recommend a helmet. Then he put Logan on his tummy. Now, I haven't done a ton of tummy time with him. I didn't with Milo either. He has, and always has had, a strong neck. He sits in his bumbo lots and plays in his baby entertainment center lots, so I haven't been too worried. Plus, when I put him on his tummy he just kind of looks silly, gets really frustrated and just over all doesn't do tummy time right... see?

so the doctor put him on his tummy and he buried his face into the table and kicked and pushed with his legs, pushing his face further into the table. So that combined with the flattening head, he said Logan needs LOTS of tummy time. Like, 20 times a day. As much as I can keep him on his tummy. Well apparently Logan is a good listener like his brother. That night we put him on his tummy and he was pro. Held his head up nice and high, looked around, grabbed at his toys, he even pushed himself up and straitened his arms. No fussing for a long time. It was like he does it all the time. Such a good boy :)

Yesterday we gave him solid food for the first time. I gave him rice and apples cereal. He LOVED it. Once he figured out he had to open his mouth to get the food, I couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough. I started with only a little bit, just in case he didn't like it, so when I went to get some more, he got SO mad. He was snorting and shaking his head trying to get me to feed him faster. When he finished all of it, I tried to nurse him to top off his tummy, but that just made him mad, he wanted more cereal. silly boy!

Since birth, he has always wanted to sit up. If you sit him up he wants to sit up more. Lay him down and he pulls his head up and tries his very hardest to sit up. Today, I sat him up and he stayed! He's still wobbly, and if he gets too excited he'll throw himself backwards or fall to the side, but he's doing pretty dang good for being able to sit like this is at 4 months!

Overall, he's a great little kid. Full of smiles and giggles, chill, ok to be on his own but loves to be held loved and cuddled. Now if only he would sleep more than 2-3 hours at a time at night...

Logan - almost 3 months

2011-09-09T01:57:00.000-06:00

My baby is getting so big. He is almost 3 months now, and you guys don't even really know him. Poor Logan. Being a mom to 2 {fantastic} kids is hard, tiring and makes for a very busy life.

Logan is a little chunker. He has thighs you can't help but squeeze. He has an ever present second chin that just rests on his chest.

He has the cutest stick strait, fuzzy, stand up, blond hair. It's getting longer, but doesn't lay down on his head. ohmygoodness it's so cute!! (I hear it's just like his daddy's was)

Like his big brother, he almost never spits up, unless you don't burp him and then shake him up... but who wouldn't after that.

For the first 2 months he was a little fussy. He's getting much better, and we're all starting to understand each other a little better. Don't get me wrong, he's a great baby. Milo almost NEVER cried, so it just took some getting used to, having a baby that actually CRIED when he was hungry or needed a diaper changed, instead of whimper.

This kid loves his food. like his brother, he's a very fast eater, like 10 minutes tops. UNlike his brother, he needs to eat often. up until about a week or 2 ago, he needed to eat every HOUR. day AND night. I was a milk cow. I tried getting him to eat more, but it just wasn't happening. He's starting to be able to go 2 and sometimes 3 hours between feeding.

He's getting better at sleeping. Not as good as a lot of my friends babies, but REALLY good for him. Like I said, he was eating every hour day and night. Now, for the most part he'll sleep stretches that last anywhere from 2 to 4 hours. Every once in a while he'll sleep more, like the other night he slept a 5.5 hour stretch. It was pretty awesome.

He is such a happy little dude, with great big, open mouthed, full gummed, full face smiles.

He's a talker. He likes to talk to me during his meals through out the day. He'll stop eating and just look up and, I like to think, thanks me for the wonderful meal. He loves to talk to people though and completely lights up when you pay attention to him.

He giggles. It's such a sweet little giggle and I love it. He's been trying so hard for weeks to do it, and in the past couple days he has been able to get a few out. I recorded it yesterday. Oh my goodness. It's so cute.

He does NOT give warning when his mood changes. He will be talking, smiling and even giggling at you and BAM he's crying. he's suddenly starving and needs food NOW. or, he's now tired and wants to be put to sleep.

He's not a super cuddly baby (like milo IS). he likes to be in his swing or on his play mat, or pretty much anywhere, but on his own. He's starting to like to be held more often, and I love it. It does help me to be able to get more stuff done/take care of a 16 month old.

He loves to be outside and will instantly calm down once you take him out.

He LOVES his big brother. He will just sit and stare and smile at Milo while Milo plays. It's pretty sweet.

Milo looked (looks) so much like Adam. I didn't think a baby could look more like his dad. and then came Logan. He looks JUST LIKE Adam as a baby, and now!! I have a picture of Adam at 3 months with a great big smile that looks like it could be Logan. I'll work on getting it scanned and posted as proof. in case you don't believe me ;)

This little boy is such a perfect addition to our family. He is just so cute and squishy and kissable and sweet. mmm he is delicious. and I love him.

Milo - 16 Months

2011-09-09T01:08:00.000-06:00

My baby boy is no longer a baby. He is a great big little big boy. He is smart beyond his year and such a sweet little boy. I am amazed and so grateful every single day for this little person.

He is a little guy. He just recently broke 20 pounds. I believe right now he's 20.5 MAYBE 20.75 pounds. At 15 months he was in the 3.97%tile for weight. He is tall though. He can reach stuff of the table and counters and is just tall enough to hit his head on everything, though he somehow manages to barely miss the corners.

He loves to run and jump. His jump is probably the cutest thing you have ever seen. He bends down really low then stands up fast and lifts a leg. He does it over and over and over again.

He loves trucks, cars and airplanes. He can point out a plane in the sky before I even hear it. He also points out ever single truck while driving. "kuck! kuck!"

He LOVES to play with balls and would do it all day long, well, he usually does! He will carry around a stick of some sort (usually a spatula), throw the ball then chase it and hit it. He thinks he's playing baseball. He has also discovered that he can play catch with himself if he throws the ball up the stairs.

He LOVES his dog. They play and play and play. That deserves an entire post of its own though.

He loves his cat too, but I'm not sure how two way the love is. Camper complains the entire time Milo plays and loves on her, but she doesn't leave or move more than 6 inches and almost never ever swats at him (she's declawed)

He is such a good helper. Both sarcastically and seriously. It's slow, but he helps me load and unload the dishwasher, and does a good job for the most part. He throws away diapers and trash for me. He puts his toys away when I ask him to.

He loves his baby brother. More on that coming soon.

He is not a picky eater, but he doesn't eat very much when he does eat. He still doesn't really like fruit, but will eat almost any vegetable. I can almost always get him to drink though. which leads to lots of full diapers.

He's still in size 3 diapers. His bladder is probably ready for size 4, but 3's are still big on him

He is a good talker. I read online that the average 16 month old has 7+ words that they use on a regular basis. milo has almost 50. They aren't all completely understandable, but he knows what he's saying and I know what he's saying, he's trying to say it and he knows (mostly) what the word he's saying means. Some days he adds multiple words. He will attempt to repeat just about anything you want him to say. I'm not including the just repeated words. These are words he uses on his own, or when reminded.

in no particular order:
Me. yuck. candy. thanks. mail. ready. ssshhh. cheese (both food and taking pictures). hot. teeth. stairs. ball. bee. owie. amen. grandpa. Milo. Hi. Hey. Hello. bye. there he is. don't. stuck. why. what. truck. car. uh oh. keys. juice. hungry. outside. doggy. tank. no. go. watch. catch. that. this. more. Please. Logan. Mommy. Daddy. Goodnight. bite. Up. Help.

When he sees Logan or Daddy sleeping, he sticks his finger up his nose and says "ssshhhh"

He knows where his eyes, nose, tongue, teeth and belly/belly button are.

He can tell you what a fish, dog, cat and cow say. Sometimes a bee.

He loves to dance.

When he sees something that I have told him is hot, curling iron/straightener/stove/oven/iron etc., he puts his hands up, backs away and says "hot! hot!!" When I pull his food out of the microwave, he says "hot hot!" and blows on his food

When he sees something I have told him is "ouchie" or "owie" like my sewing machine, pins, scissors, knives, he says "owie". today he pointed at the scab on his knee and said owie. Or the other day he pinched his finger and came running to me and said "owie" and made me kiss it better.

He can blow his nose!!! Such a beautiful day. This morning he sneezed and some snot came out. He said "uh oh!" and ran to me and blew his nose at me.

He sleeps all through the night in his own big boy bunk bed. Praise the heavens.

When going to bed I'll say "time for prayers" and he'll sit up and fold his arms and stay quiet till I say amen, then he gets a big smile on his face and says "men"

In the morning when he's done with his breakfast shake, he sits on my lap and just hugs and cuddles me. He is such a snuggley little boy. When I lay down with him at bed or nap time, he rubs my arm and holds me close. Makes it hard for me to not to fall asleep.

This kid is truly amazing and smart and wonderful. Words cannot describe this little person I have been blessed with.

Sneak Peak

2011-09-08T09:00:00.000-06:00

New posts coming soon about the boys. Until then, here is some brotherly love.

Adam and I were cleaning out the tent after a camping trip and turned around when we heard a strange noise. Milo did this completely on his own. And Logan loved it.

THIS is what summer is all about

2011-09-07T15:47:00.000-06:00

playing outside. with the hose. and your dog.

guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

How it went: second edition

2011-07-30T12:28:00.000-06:00

**I typed this up for.ev.er. ago. I wanted to put pictures with it. I can't find my camera cord. Therefore, pictures will come later. this needs to be posted**

As I said before, I was done being pregnant for the last two months of my pregnancy. I prayed and prayed he would come early, or that my water would break. Of course I would have endured to the end, no matter how long, to make sure my baby was healthy.

I am loved and everything started to end when I was 37 weeks and 3 days. Praise the heavens above.

Adams family was having a family reunion in Midway from the 10th to the 14th. His entire family was going to be in town, so I was hoping to have the baby on the 13th so everyone could meet him, but I wouldn't interrupt the whole thing. Baby had other plans.

It all started bright and early Saturday morning, before I was even awake. Adam had left to start running the Utah Valley Half Marathon at 4:30a.m. (more on that later, he did awesome, fyi). Around 5a.m. I woke up thinking I was dreaming I was having contractions. My stomach hurt a little, but I thought it was part left over dream and part sleeping on a bed I wasn't used to and went back to sleep. I continued to "dream" about having contractions. I had to get up 6 to get myself and Milo ready to watch Adam cross the finish line. My stomach was still burning when I got up, so I tried to pay attention to see if they were really contractions, or if it was just a dream. I downloaded a contraction counter on my phone. Sure enough, every 5-10 minutes the "burning" returned. I didn't say anything to anyone, and just continued getting ready and left with my sister in law to hurry to the finish line. I didn't want to ruin the reunion with a false alarm, so I decided I wouldn't tell anyone. Well, I told Molly, since we had a longish car ride together and she was bound to notice something was up. On the hour drive, I had 10 contractions.

When we got to Provo, we had to run to try and beat Adam to the finish line. So picture this, pregnant (tiny) sister in law, pregnant, contracting me, carrying Milo and running down University Avenue. It was awesome. My mom and brother met up with us at the finish line to watch Adam, so I told her, but told her he (baby) wasn't going to make an appearance for at least another day or two. I know second babies typically come faster than first, but Milo took 27 hours, 21 of which I spent at home, so even if it was shorter, I thought it would be at least another day or two.

We found Adam and I told him I didn't want to ruin the reunion, but my contractions had started. I told him he cold decide who and when to tell people. He decided right then was a good time. I continued to time my contractions, but knew it was going to be a while before we had to go to the hospital even though they were getting longer and stronger.

When we got back, I tried to take a nap. That didn't happen. I started to realize that in the near future, I would be going to the hospital, so I jumped in the shower. When I was in labor with Milo, a bath/shower slowed things down. Not this time. My contractions jumped from every 5 minutes to every 2-3 minutes. When Adam found out, he went and talked to his mom and sisters and everyone agreed that it was time to go, especially since we had a 45 minute drive ahead of us. So I quickly finished getting ready and we took off.

We left Milo in Midway, where he was surrounded by his grandparents, and lots of aunts, uncles and fun cousins. He didn't even really notice or care that we were gone, there were too many kids to play with!

Knowing they wouldn't let me eat in the hospital, I made Adam stop and get me a burger. When we got to labor/delivery, I tried to play it cool. I went to the counter and said very calmly to the nurse "hi, I'd like to have a baby today". She looked at me and the look on her face said that she thought I was a dumb first time mom that thinks that because I want the baby out, I can just show up. With that look on her face, she asked if I was having contractions or any other signs of labor. I told her my contractions were 2-5 minutes apart and lasting over a minute. Of course the entire contraction I had at the desk was while she had her back to me getting papers for me to sign. Then when she was taking us to my room, I had another contraction and this time she seemed a bit annoyed that I was going so slow.

They got me all hooked up, checked me and told me they had to watch me for an hour to make sure I was progressing. After an hour, like last time, I progressed about half a centimeter. Doc said it wasn't enough and that I could wait another hour. We tried to tell them that I don't dilate very fast, but that didn't seem to matter. After another hour, I still hadn't progressed as much as they wanted me to. It didn't seem to matter that my contractions didn't seem to stop, and that even if they wanted to send me home, I wouldn't be able to make it to the car.

At this point, I about lost it. They gave me a shot of Morphine with some anti nausea meds. I just wanted an epidural. I was in so much pain, and it wasn't stopping, and the Morphine didn't take away much, if any of the pain, and the anti nausea meds made me SO tired. It made everything so much more miserable. I could barley keep my eyes open, but I hurt so bad, but I was so excited to get this baby out of me, but I couldn't see strait, but but but... I tried not to take it out on the nurses, Adam or my mom. I knew it wasn't (directly) their fault that I was in pain, that the doc had to ok me to stay. Because I didn't want to be mean, I was pretty funny. Naughty words came out of my mouth. I banged on the table. I cracked jokes that I told everyone not to laugh at, (which made everything even funnier) because it would then make me laugh which made me hurt more.

When that (hellish) hour was over, my contractions weren't ending, just spiking. I was moaning and groaning and not stopping, it just hurt so much! So when the nurse came back in, she said she wasn't even going to call the doc, she was just going to admit me (plus I was at a 3). hallelujah! any new person that came into the room I asked if they were the magic doctor. I was SO happy when the "magic doctor" (anesthesiologist) came in. I told him he was magic, and that he was my best friend. Instant relief. I got to sleep a bit. Once I got the epidural, my body started dilating faster and in just a couple hours I made it up to an 8. Around 7:30 p.m. they broke my water and about 8:15 I was fully dilated. They told me the doctor was on his way and to let them know when I felt ready to push.

About 8:35 p.m. I was ready to push. At this point, my contractions went from being 2 minutes apart to 5 minutes apart. That made it kind of awkward. I would have a contraction and push 2 or 3 times, then we all just sat around, with my legs in the air, just hanging out, waiting for my next contraction. I ended up pushing 6-8 times total and my baby boy was here.

He was perfect. They showed him to me, then cleaned him off a little bit, then Adam brought him back to me for skin to skin. It was amazing. He was beautiful. He was perfect. And he looked like his brother. We have been in love with him ever since.

Welcome to the world Logan Grey Miner

ok fine, here is a picture of him when he was 1 week old.

he is now 7 weeks with fabulous chunks all over. pictures coming soon.

Introducing

2011-06-21T23:14:00.000-06:00

Logan Grey Miner

June 11, 2011

6 pounds 14 ounces

19 inches long

So sleepy

2011-06-08T11:45:00.001-06:00

Milo doesn't usually fall asleep in odd places, but he sure is cute when he does sleep

On our way home from a baby shower we threw for my friend, with his balloon

He slept for an hour in his bed, then crashed like this on the couch for another hour

This one, is my favorite. He was in the middle of eating lunch. You can see spaghetti-o on his face. He took a bit, started to take another, changed his mind and laid down on my leg and went right to sleep.

Negative Nelly

2011-06-07T16:45:00.000-06:00

This is me at 37 weeks. This was 37 weeks last time/year. At my doctor appointment today, there was no progress from last week, so I'm still 1cm and 70% effaced, she did "rough me up" a bit to hopefully speed things up a bit. (nothing has come of it yet)

The past couple of days I have been feeling nauseous, almost more than the beginning, there's lots of pinching and pains in my stomach, braxton hicks are becoming more frequent and stronger. All of these things should mean that the end is near. I have been through this whole pregnant thing before and recently, but I still find myself pretty sure that it will in fact, never end. That I will be uncomfortable and large forever.

I am finding that this last month or so of being pregnant I am becoming quite the negative nelly. But really, can you blame me? in 24 months I will have been pregnant for all but 6 months. SIX. SIX.
Other than my year and a half of being pregnant, I really shouldn't complain. I still have it pretty dang easy compared to some of you ladies.

This time around I am more uncomfortable. My back hurts 98% of the time. He feels SO low, my stomach and insides are super pinchy, and my underbelly (yes, underbelly :}) burns if I stand/walk/do anything for too long. when I attempt to roll over in bed I swear I can feel his head rub across my back bones. the doc said he still has room to drop more. awesome right? Heartburn and I have a nightly date, haven't missed a single day in quite a while. My emotions are in full swing. Poor Adam. Poor my mom. Poor anyone who spends time with me. I'm afraid I'm not very nice. People say other wise, but I don't feel like I'm being super nice. at all.

When I get emotional, I LOVE to drown my sorrows/emotions in lots and lots of sugar and junk. pepsi, popcicles, ice cream, brownies, pepsi, cupcakes, chocolate milk, milk and cookies, pepsi, milk shakes, french fries, chips, chips and dip, more pepsi, etc. unfortunately for me, diabetics aren't really allowed to eat that kind of stuff, like, at all. that's right, they're pretty sure I was stricken with the gestational diabetes. my glucose numbers were elevated higher than they like to see, so I get to cut back (pretty drastically for me) on the junk food and prick my finger 4 times a day. gestational diabetes means that my body still produces enough insulin, but my pregnant hormones don't let my body use any of it. If I don't keep my sugar levels under control, it increases my chances of getting type 2 diabetes (in the next 2 years), and for my baby to be large at birth, increases his chances to have childhood obesity and diabetes himself. I can already tell you I love this little baby SO much, just by what I don't put in my mouth and the smaller portions I take for myself. You can bet your bottom dollar though, that as soon as the dumb hormone producing, insulin blocking placenta is out of my body, I will drink a pepsi, eat a large fry from taco amigo and eat anything else loaded with sugar and packed with carbs. BUT, hopefully, I will have learned a little bit and will have absorbed enough knowledge of how to eat healthier so that I can get back to (below) my pre pregnancy weight and stay healthier. Just by being on this new diet, I have lost 2 pounds. Baby is still packing on the pounds, so it's all coming off me, hooray!!

Adam is really good to me though, especially as I get more uncomfortable. He puts milo to bed, takes me out to eat more often than we should. the other night we were eating cookies and milk. I took 4 cookies and told him to hide the rest from me, especially since I should only eat 3. when I "wasn't looking" he tossed one more in my lap and "made me" eat it. or the other day I was feeling particularly blue, and just wanted 10 otter pops, and would even settle for taco amigo/sonic ice, but couldn't have one and didn't have the other. So he went and put some ice in the blender and put water and mio in it to make the next best thing to crushed ice and/or popcicles. He's such a wonderful man and I'm lucky to have him, sorry I don't show it enough honey!

See? I told you these last few weeks/days I've become quite the negative person. but don't let that fool you, I don't feel like I'm depressed, or that I'll never do this again. I know this will end and pregnant tired will go away and be replaced with (much better) new mom tired. I love being pregnant and I love bringing sweet little babies to this world for me to kiss and cuddle.

cxcccccccccvccccccccccccccv zc vs
and that ^ is Milo telling me it's his turn to play.

One Year Old

2011-05-31T17:39:00.000-06:00

Milo is now 13 months old. I'm so behind. These pictures were taken 2 days after he turned one. He's such a {cute} big boy.

At 1 year he weighed 19 pounds, which puts him in the 4.97%tile

At 13 months:

He has 9 teeth. 4 on top, 3 on bottom and 2 molars

He loves pretty much all food. He's not a huge fan of fresh fruit (too tart?), but he LOVES his vegitables

He says lots of words. Dad, Da and Daddy. Mom and Ma. Hi, hey, tank, cat, more, that, this, again, weeeeeee, no, and others that I can't think of

He doesn't really know what "no" means. So when he goes for daddy's phone, the lap top, daddy's glasses, the remote, or something he knows we don't want him to have, he says "nooooooo" and then goes for it. it's pretty cute

He loves his cat and dog. He follows them around the house, cuddles with them, feeds them treats, gives them kisses and sometimes sits on them. Both are really good with him and tolerate hair and tail pulling.

He likes to follow the dog around the house and "boss" him around. He bosses the cat around too. It's so funny

He is a full time walker

He will give courtesy laughs. It's a total fake laugh, but he can tell you think it's funny and that you want him to think it's funny, so he laughs.

When we watch any youtube type videos on the lap top, he runs up and immediately starts laughing

When I say "say hi to the baby" or "where is your baby" he will usually pat my belly and say "hey!"

Whiles he loves all kinds of food, he doesn't like to sit down and eat meals, there is far too much going on and to do, so he will eat till he's no longer starving then refuses to eat and runs off to play

He says hi and waves to every one when we go out. I think he thinks we're in a parade, and everyone is out to see him, so he waves to everyone

He loves to dance. Music comes on and he smiles real big, looks to make sure someone is watching and dances

He LOVES his daddy. When he hears the garage, he gets so excited and practically runs to the door

He is such a cuddley sweet little boy.

Sometimes he'll stop what he's doing, just to come give me a hug

He talks in his sleep

He loves to climb. on chairs, tables, couches, up on the window sill

If he can sit in a chair all by himself, he feels SO BIG

He can sit and push himself around on his zebra

He follows me around the house and empties out cupboards, making getting the house clean practically impossible.

He will NOT sit in a high chair when we go out. We have to get a booth so he can stand and "be big"

This little boy is SO much fun

and such a HUGE joy in our lives

We are seriously so blessed to have him

and we are so excited to make him a big brother {soon}

Happy {late} Birthday big boy

We love you so much

Birthday Balloons

2011-05-27T10:44:00.000-06:00

My big boy has turned 1. I need to (WILL) do a whole post on how awesome he is and his big day was. I don't have access to the pictures at the moment, so for now, here is a video of him and his balloons. Make sure the volume is up, he's pretty cute

Garbage

2011-05-27T10:40:00.000-06:00

Remember how I was training Milo to take his dirty diaper to the trash? Well the day has come!! He is a full time walker and very happily throws away his own diaper. Don't believe me? Want proof? Just want to see how cute he is? well here is a video

Rylee

2011-04-30T15:16:00.001-06:00

Milo has a girlfriend named Rylee. She is about a month and a half younger than him. He loves her.

He can't keep his lips off of her, this is when he was about 7 months and she was almost 5 months... I think...

He is such a gentleman and takes her for rides on his zebra (notice how proud he is in this first one, he's JUST LIKE his daddy and has to make sure we see how big he is)

Bookworm

2011-04-30T12:00:00.001-06:00

Milo is turning into quite the little bookworm. He loves his books. He loves when I read to him., even though he doesn't pay attention for more than 30 seconds at a time, and doesn't even really look at the pictures. When I lay down next to him to read him his book before bed, he starts giggling. It's so cute.

In the morning we'll hang out in his room for a while. He always goes to the table with the stack of books, pulls them all down then goes through and opens them all and points at the pictures. Sometimes he will bring me one to look at too.

Baby Steps

2011-04-29T21:16:00.000-06:00

My little baby is growing into a big boy. Every day I see a little less baby, and a lot more big boy.He has been standing for a while now, and has really good balance. He can stand for a few minutes at a time. He'll stand while playing with toys, or "putting on" stuff (sunglasses, hats, cords). He can even dance while standing on his own. Yesterday, we captured some of his first steps. He is so proud of himself. I caught him a few times today trying to take a step or two on his own. How can he be this big?!

My Little Helper

2011-04-26T21:33:00.000-06:00

Milo is SUCH a good helper, and SO smart. He listens in on our conversations and does what he can to help, like when he got rid of his pacifier and crib on his own, so I wouldn't have to worry about it later. One of the easiest ways to cheer him up or distract him when he's sad/frustrated/just wants to be held, is to find a way for him to help. He gets SO proud of himself when he is able to help and does something "so big".

When I'm trying to get dressed in the morning, and he does NOT want to be put down, I just put all of my clothes in his lap and he will hand them to me one at a time until I'm all dressed and can pick him up.

He "helps" me put my make up on. I have to sit him on the counter and let him "help". He will take my powder brush and put it on my face, and brush my hair. When we're brushing our teeth he loves to sit on the counter with his toothbrush and brush too.

When he helps me, sometimes it's more cute than help. Like when he helps me with the dishes. He has to sit on the dishwasher door and pull out the dishes. Or drive his cars on/in the dishwasher. SO much help.

When I'm doing laundry he "helps" me sort the laundry. As I make piles, he takes the clothes one at a time and moves them into his own piles. While I'm folding he goes to my folded piles and "puts on" (puts over his head) the different clothes. He really does help me with the some of the laundry process though. It's almost like he knows that when clothes get dropped while I'm switching from washer to dryer, that it's not too much fun for me to bend over and pick them up, so he picks them up and hands them to me (and feels SO proud). He opens and closes the washer and dryer doors for me, as well as the laundry doors. He will sit next to my clean clothes pile and hand me clothes one at a time to fold. And when I'm putting shirts on hangers, he likes to sit with the hangers in his lap and hand me a hanger one at a time.

I decided that it would be helpful that once the new baby is here (and he can walk), if Milo could throw away his own dirty diapers. So every time I finish changing him, I hand him the diaper, hold his hand and help him walk to the trash. He gets SO excited to throw it away. Now, once the diaper is all wrapped up, he squeels, grabs the diaper in his right hand and my hand with his left and practically runs to the trash. If ever I forget and start to go throw it away myself, he gets so upset until I let him throw it away.

Every night I feed him oatmeal before bed, and he helps with the whole process. He picks the oatmeal, opens the fridge, {if the milk is light enough he pulls it out of the fridge}, he holds the milk lid while I stir the oatmeal, he puts the lid back on the milk, opens and closes the microwave, holds the milk lid again while I pour him some milk, {if it's light enough, he carries the milk back to the fridge}, opens the fridge, puts the milk away, he holds his spoon until I get him in his high chair, then hands it to me so I can feed him.

He is so hard to take shopping now. He is no longer content to sit in the cart, big part or in the seat. he HAS to help and push. It is so cute and makes him so happy, but it is sooo uncomfortable. If possible, he now gets left behind ;)

If ever he has something that I don't want him to have, all I have to say is "give that to mom" and he hands it right to me. So obedient. We'll see how long that one lasts ;).

I can't believe my baby has become such a big boy!

And because I don't have any pictures relative to this post because my computer won't read my SD card and I can't find my camera cord, but no post is complete with out a picture of this big boy, here is Milo eating a fresh chocolate cookie.

FANTASTIC giveaway!!

2011-04-15T21:50:00.001-06:00

Have you seen these books?

Worldwide Ward, Mom's Best, Secret Recipes, Christmas Cookbooks

Have you visited the blog? If you have, then you know that they are having a FANTASTIC giveaway. There are 6 {SIX} different prizes to win! There isn't anything that you wouldn't want to have. Here, I'll show you.

The book Chocolate Never Faileth

A Pizza Stone and Cooling Rack

A Worldwide Ward Cookbook APRON

a Designer Card Making Kit

Lavender Gloves and Botanical Body Lotion

Roasting Pan, a set of 4 Prep Bowls by KitchenAid AND a copy of Secret Recipes cookbook!

So head over to {The Blog} and enter to win one of these fabulous prizes!!

Big Boy

2011-03-29T18:18:00.000-06:00

My baby boy is a big boy. He knows when something is for babies, and when it is for big boys. When he finds out he's doing something that babies do, he does everything he can to do what big boys do.

For example, he used to LOVE his passi. It's what got him to sleep at night, got us through longer car rides, helped him make it until his food was ready and overall just calmed him down when he needed it. It pacified him. Well, he must have overheard me talking about how we needed to get him off of it before the baby comes, because the next day, half way through the day, he gave it up. He realized that babies use pacifiers, he wasn't a baby, so it had to go. And he hasn't used it since. mommy has missed it a lot at times, but it has been more than 2 months with out it.

In January (I think?), Milo started sleeping 12 hours at night. It was wonderful. Sometimes we would put him down late so we cold sleep in. Then early February he got the flu, and sleeping through the night was put aside. a few days after he got of the flu, he got a cold and sleeping through the night got even farther from us. Once he was better, he continued to wake up a couple times at night and started waking up at 7 regardless of when we put him down. Going to bed became a pain and started to dread nap time. he would only sleep in the car or stroller.

Last week, we figured out what he was trying to tell us. Cribs are for babies and he was NOT a baby. So we put a futon mattress on the floor in the corner and PRESTO! nap time was a breeze, and they are never less than an hour. he wakes up from naps happy instead of cranky. The first couple nights he didn't know where he was and needed a little help going back to sleep, but he slept till 8 in the morning.

Then of course he got a cold and I ended up in his bed wth him most of the night because he would wake himself up sneezing his brains out, or coughing and irritating his sore throat. BUT now that he is better, he slept last night from 930 to 8 in his bed, without waking up. Then I nursed him for another hour and got another hour of sleep in.

My baby is no longer a baby. He is a big boy :)

6 months

2011-03-29T18:03:00.000-06:00

I am 6 months pregnant (and 1 day). 27 weeks. less than 3 months to go. I'm hoping he makes his grand entrance mid June wile all of adam's family is in town. So far everything is going well, like last time. I really do love being pregnant. Milo makes it a bit tougher, but he also makes time fly by. Heartburn kicked in a couple weeks earlier, but it's still not so bad that i'm chowing down on tums all the time. I am pretty dang tired a lot of the time, especially in the early afternoon and evening (milo's nap times :) ) when the "exhausted wall" smacks me in the face.

This is me 1 year ago today

This is me at 26 last time

I'm only 5 months late posting these, but I couldn't NOT post them. My good friend Nemiha of That's Me Photo took these for me when Milo turned 6 months. She did an excellent job and gave me tons! I tried to pick only a few, and I did pretty good, ha ha there's only like 60 or so... isn't he the cutest?!?! :)

Vegas

2011-02-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

We decided a couple weeks ago that we needed a break. We needed to get away from the cold, and Adam really needed a break from work. I got online and found a hotel in Vegas for $100 for 3 nights the following weekend. I booked it and we couldn't wait to get there.

Milo was so good in the car. We stopped a couple times for wiggle breaks, but still made it there in under 6 hours.

The weather was beyond perfect. I was bummed I didn't take flip flops, shorts and capris for any of us. I figured it would be warmer than home, but I didn't expect shorts weather.

This was probably the most productive vacation Adam and I have ever taken. We are completely content to just sit around the hotel the hotel, watch tv, sleep lots and go out for food and little else. Well, bring a 9 month old into the picture and that no longer happens. We left just about any chance we could, while still making sure we were back in time for his/our naps.

In the past, any time Milo sleeps in the same room as me, I get next to no sleep. He has always been so wiggly and grunts and groans all night, that I end up just waiting for him to wake up. He was an angel. I borrowed a pack and play from a neighbor and we put him in the bathroom area (like, 5 feet away from us). I hardly made a peep. He slept the whole night, he woke up early, but at least we made it through the night.

The time that was spent in our room, we had to get creative. Milo discovered the phone book and how easy the pages ripped out, and how easily he could rip them to shreds. I decided that the hotel wouldn't notice, considering it was stuck to the bottom of the night stand from not being moved in so long. He had a blast with it and it kept him entertained for 15 minutes at a time.

The first full day we were there, daddy found us a park to play at. It was FANTASTIC. It had a huge duck pond with hundreds of ducks, and geese and swans. We didn't have any bread to feed them, so they got to eat Milo's gerber apple puffs. They didn't seem to mind and Milo LOVED it. We even got him to say "duck". He loved just watching them, and even tried to reach for them. We loved it so much, we went back the next day. We again didn't bring any bread, but a nice man gave us half a loaf, that Milo tried to eat.

There was also a really cool park. Milo is still too young to enjoy it, but give him a couple years and I don't think we would have ever left it. He loved to swing on my lap and kick daddy. He wasn't too sure about the slides, but loved to watch all the other kids play.

We also walked a little bit on the strip to get lunch one day. Milo seemed to like it, and fell dead asleep on the walk back. We were pretty surprised to see that there wasn't so much almost nudity every where. Every other trip I've ever taken to vegas, there isn't any where to look because of the almost naked women, and even men. This time I saw a lot more Blue Man Group, David Copperfield, Reba and stuff like that.

Our trip was so much fun with just our little family. Who knew this tiny person would change our vacations for the better in so many ways.

Sick Baby

2011-02-25T23:24:00.000-07:00

What does a sick baby look like you ask? Sleepy, cranky, sad, inconsolable, exhausting are all good words to describe a sick baby.

This, however, is what MY sick baby looks like.

Our day started at 7a.m. when Milo woke up (early). I went in and found that he had been sleeping in his own throw up for who knows how long. It was dry and matted in his hair, and his room smelled completely awful. It was SO sad. Now, before you starting thinking how awful I am for letting him scream and cry in the middle of the night after throwing up until he fell back asleep, THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. The kid didn't make a peep till 7, and I slept pretty lightly last night.

I spent the morning with him trying to slowly get food of any sort to stay down. It only took a couple tries before I stopped trying solids at all and just stuck with milk from mommy, water and once in a while some apple juice. Poor kid.

He is seriously the best baby ever though. He was extra cuddly, and just laid with me for long periods of time. When we weren't cuddling, he was cruisin the house, playing with toys, climbing the stairs and being pretty dang close to his normal happy self. It made it hard to tell if he was still feeling sick or if he was feeling better. By noon he was starting to be able to keep food down, but he was very picky about what he would eat. But that's when he started "squirting" out the other end. Those were some fun diapers. He even "squirted" me in the middle of one change (add that to my 'official mom list').

Daddy came home from work early to help and comfort Milo. They got a nap in and some (calm) play time in. That kid sure loves his daddy. He went down easy and seemed to be feeling better. Our fingers are crossed that tomorrow is a better day. (and as usual, fingers are also crossed that he decides to sleep in. I can hope right?)

Cutest kid ever, right?

Oh ya...

2011-02-24T21:34:00.000-07:00

I get so busy with Milo, that I often forget that I'm pregnant. I am now 22 weeks (and 2 days), which means that we have known for 2 weeks and 1 day what kind of baby we're having. I am sorry for leaving (a few of you) you in the dark. Here are a couple pictures that we got from the ultrasound.

Just so you know what you're looking at, HIS little bum is on the right. HE moved HIS legs just as she took the picture, so it's a little harder to tell what you're looking at. But HE is very obviously a BOY

No profile picture this time, just a skeleton pic. But this is his cute little face

So far this pregnancy is very similar to the last one. I feel like i've popped out and am obviously pregnant, however, when I have Milo, I'm pretty sure some people just think I haven't lost my baby weight yet. I have started wearing my maternity pants because I love them so much. I could still wear my pre-preggy jeans with an elastic, but it's just not comfortable. I'm not sick and I'm not so tired (except for days when Milo decides to wake up early). Overall, this pregnancy is going by sooo much faster than the first, but we are so excited to meet this new little guy in June.

9 months in, 9 months out

2011-02-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

**warning, cuteness overload**

Yesterday my big boy turned 9 months old. How on earth has 9 months passed so quickly?! Being pregnant was FOR.EV.ER. Now he's just so big and funny and so so good. I'm not really sure what we did to deserve such a perfect little human in our lives. He has a doctors appointment next week, so we won't know until then his accurate weight and length and what not.

He is a little guy compared to a lot of other babies his age, and even younger ones. He is tall and skinny. He could fit into 3-6 month clothes, except he's too long, and he's been in 12 month pants for a few weeks now. He eats like a champ and will eat just about anything. He is MUCH more interested in the food we are eating than anything else we give him. Lucky for him, I usually let him eat what we eat. I am only nursing him before bed and when he wakes up, but everything in between is real big boy food. He won't eat baby food any more, it's too bland and not enough texture for him. He loves apple sauce, cottage cheese, yogurt, oatmeal, veggies (but usually not plain), crackers, all of his gerber snacks, and really, he's less picky than I am. He is a PRO at using his straw sippy cup, and drinks lots of apple juice with it. We taught him to say "more" in sign language a couple weeks ago, so now when he's eating his little hands will go together, letting us know he needs more, before he's even finished the bite in his mouth.

He loves to clap. If he hears it on tv his face lights up and he claps too. Sometimes he'll clap at his books, or I'll just look over to see him clapping. When he sees that I see him clapping, he gets so excited and gets a look on his face that says "look how big I am!" He also makes this face just about every time he pulls himself up. He gets so proud of himself.

He pulls himself up on anything and everything. When he started to crawl, it wasn't as tiring as I thought it would be. Him pulling himself up wears me out! And now that he can climb some stuff, it takes even more energy out of me. He's on the door of the dishwasher "helping" me with the dishes. He managed to climb out of his crib one night, and he goes up the stairs to catch his kitty.

He LOVES the cat and dog. He gets so excited when he sees them and drops whatever he is doing to try and catch the cat, and the dog goes to him. Camper isn't a huge fan of him, but she also isn't a huge fan of moving, so she ends up dealing with him loving on her for a few minutes. Milo does pretty good about staying away from her face. Tank on the other hand, loves Milo right back and is SO good with him. They play tug of war together and Tank doesn't pull hard or fight to get the rope, just sits and waits for Milo to put it in his mouth. Milo can even stick his hand in the dogs mouth to get the ball and Tank doesn't bite back or fight to get it.

I can't really say that Milo is talking yet, but he's getting better at communicating, I guess you would call it. He uses a lot of the same sounds for some stuff, but it's slightly different and it's always when he sees what he's "talking" about and sometimes he'll even point. He waves and says "hi!" or "hey!"and when we're leaving he waves and says "da! da da!" but you can tell he's trying to say "bye! bye bye". He will pick up the remote or a phone and put it to his ear and say "hey dah!" (hi dad). When he sees Tank he says "tah" or "daw". When Camper comes in he says "kah". Hey and Hi are his most common though, and it's usually when he's trying to get your attention. He's just so smart.

So smart in fact, that I'm pretty sure sometimes he hears the serious conversations we have and then tries to do what we want him to do. Example one. My mom and I were talking about how he still wasn't sleeping through the night. My mom told me that I started sleeping through the night around 9 months. That night, and every nice since (almost 2 weeks) he sleeps 11 to 12 hours a night.
Example two. Not even a week ago, Adam and I were talking about getting Milo off his binky before the new baby comes. Yesterday, he stopped taking his binky. He will chew on it, but won't suck on it and just spits it out immediately when I try to put it in his night. We are finishing the first full day with out it, and it was no sweat for me. Praise the heavens!

This post is getting long (it's more for me than you anyway, sorry), but I will summarize a little more on a few more of my favorite things.

*He gives raspberries. On my face, neck, arm and stomach, just like we do to him
*He has started tickling me. I'll look down and he'll be scratching my leg and waiting for a response, then I realize he's waiting for me to laugh, and when I do, he laughs with me. so cute
*He loves to play with doors. He just sits there for 15 minutes at a time swinging it back and forth. If he gets distracted by something else, as he's leaving the door, it will touch his back and remind him that it is more fun and he will continue swinging the door.
*When he finds the door stopper he thinks that's pretty fun for a while too.
*He can find any cord and be happy. He pulls it tight between his hands and puts it over his head. He does it twice and then it's wrapped around his neck. No worries, he doesn't get to play with them when i'm not right there.

*He LOVES his daddy. He is definitely a mommas boy, but lately he is loving his daddy extra. When Adam comes home Milo will try to get out of my lap and crawl to him.

*He has 3 ALMOST 4 teeth. 2 bottom, 1 top and the other top one is so close I can see the ridges.

*We have playhouse Disney playing most of the day. He doesn't pay much attention to it, but when the Hotdog song comes on on Mickey Mouse, he stops everything to dance and watch. He loves to dance whenever music comes on.
*He gives great big wet open mouthed kisses. Now that he has teeth he bites when he's done. When Adam and I kiss, he tries to kiss us too. ooh he's just too cute.

I could seriously (and sometimes do) go on and on and on about this little boy. He is so much fun and as tiring as he is, I miss him when he's not with me. It's just so hard to believe that Heavenly Father trusts to raise this perfect little boy.

Getting so big!!

2011-01-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

This week, actually it was mostly today, Milo has learned quite a bit! He is just too smart for his (or my) own good.

Today we got down clapping. There is no sound to it, but he has the motions down, and anytime there is clapping on TV he gets so excited and starts clapping.

We also started working on some sign language today. Today we worked on, and got pretty good at "more". It looks a lot like clapping, and sometimes he claps after he says/signs more. Sometimes he gets so excited that he can do it, that he just keeps signing it, even though he still has food in his mouth.

Earlier this week he mastered going from his belly to sitting up. The first few times it took a while to keep his balance and get up, but now he's knows he just has to go up on his toes and swing his leg over and he's up. smart little boy

When I put him down for his afternoon nap, he didn't want to at first and was crying in his crib. I let him for a few minutes before going in to check on him, knowing he has been working hard on pulling himself up to standing on the couches. When I walked in, there he was, holding on to and standing in the corner of his crib, yelling at me, letting me know that he didn't want to go to sleep. (he was out within the next 2 minutes)

And now some pictures, because blogs are boring with out them and you know you want to see how awesomely cute he is ;)

Milo and his puppy. They hate to be apart. While Milo plays with his toys, Tank must sit next to or on while he chews on his own toys. it's pretty cute. When Tank is in his kennel, Milo will crawl to it so he can play with his puppy. Milo is also very good at sharing his food with Tank and letting him clean off his hands. Or my favorite, when they are in the back of the car together, Tank will try to get in Milo's car seat, so they can stay close.

Milo rocks at playing guitar. He even knows how to hold it and what to do with his fingers. NO this was not posed, he did this on his own, a couple of times even.

8 Months Old

2011-01-05T22:12:00.000-07:00

We are the proud owners of an 8 month old baby. Yes, he has really been around that long, and yes, it has only been 8 months since I had him.

cutest kid ever right?

He is such a big boy. Here is his long list of awesomeness.

He sits all by himself like a champ
He can get to his tummy from sitting without smashing his face
He scoots all over the place by getting up on his knees and then using different combinations of moving one knee forward, getting up on his toes and taking a step or two, moving his arms forward, and always ending with lunging forward to get to where he's going.
He LOVES to hold (anyones) fingers and walk all around, for as long as you are willing to walk with him. he would MUCH rather do that than anything else.
He eats everything. Anything. As much as he can stuff in. He gets all sorts of frustrated if I don't have the next bite ready by the time he has the first one in his mouth.
Still loves the tub. taken today. see his cute bottom teeth?

He has two bottom teeth and his top teeth are very close to coming through.
He got his first hair cut on the first.
He is happy ALL.THE.TIME. even when teething or hungry he's just a titch whiney but tolerable.
He continues to learn new tricks with his daddy.
He is pro at sucking from a straw. Santa brought him some straw sippy cups that are fantastic.
He loves his puppy Tank. and Tank loves Milo. They almost love each other too much. Milo pulls his fur, sking, ears, tail, pokes his eyes. Tank actually does really good and doesn't retaliate. But he loves to lick and nibble Milo. It's actually pretty cute.

playing tug of war together

He LOVES kids and babies. he gets so excited anytime there are kids around and if he can get close enough he kisses them and hugs them.
He likes to dance. Especially to the Hotdog dance. Or the songs on the guitar he got for christmas. He flaps his arms and gets so excited.
And I'm sure he is so excited that in 6 months he will be a a BIG BROTHER!!

This was taken on Halloween when we announced it to our families. We found out on my birthday :)

I am 15 weeks

Due June 28

They will be 14 months apart

New Tricks

2010-12-31T21:56:00.001-07:00

I know I know, I have been posting nothing but videos lately, but Adams phone is just that cool. It takes video in HD and he can put it right on youtube from it. It's so much easier than uploading pictures. But, I will work on the picture side of things.

Milo started scooting around two weeks ago and is getting better. He is starting to pull himself up and getting steadier with walking the couch. Adam and I were both there (with his phone ready) to witness his first scooting.

This trick is one Milo and his daddy mastered almost immediately. It especially scares the grandmas ;)

Merry Christmas

2010-12-31T21:49:00.001-07:00

"don't bother getting presents for Milo, he won't remember anyway"
"he'll like the wrapping paper and boxes more then the present"
"only get him things for Christmas that you would buy him anyway"

These are a few of the things I was told regarding getting Milo presents for Christmas. Just watch this video and tell me it wasn't completely worth getting him some toys :)

He had this reaction for every present he opened :)

This Christmas we were spoiled rotten by each other and family. Adam got me a beautiful bedroom set (8 drawer dresser, mirror and 2 night stands) and I got him a fireplace for our room. We also got a new tv for our room (one we can actually see) and a big picture of Christ. Our bedroom now feels like a little sanctuary.

Bath time

2010-12-11T22:32:00.000-07:00

I have SO MUCH I need to post about, but I haven't been able to get the pictures off my cameras for a while, but now they're off so hopefully I can get caught up... out of order.

Milo is now 7 months old and the cutest, funnest, funniest, happiest, sweetest, most cuddliest, smile-iest, goodest little boy (yes, little boy, not baby) ever. I will fill you all in on the details of his wonderfulness in another post. This post is dedicated to this little boys love of bath time.

He is getting really good at sitting up in the tub (yes, it's much different than sitting on any other surface). He used to slip easily, but now, he's a pro. He LOVES to splash and is very good at it. I tried to get some pictures of it, but he must know that cameras are for smiling at, because that is all I could get him to do. However, Adam has an awesome video camera on his phone, so we have been getting lots of footage of Milo, including his splashing skills.

I tried to sneak a candid picture of him splashing, and this is what I got

and here is a video of his splashing. isn't he just so cute?!

Thanksgiving

2010-12-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving this year was spent at my parents house. It was full of family, fun and food. Milo loved the whole day. He loved the attention, but he especially loved the food.

Adam was able to get some really cute video of him.

This is him drinking (like a pro) from a straw. He's been able to do this for a few weeks now.

This one is just cute. Grandpa always saves suckers to give Milo. watch the whole thing, about half way through he kind of takes charge to get what he wants ;)

Milo the Swimmer

2010-10-16T22:02:00.007-06:00

I'm sure Erin will be blogging about this soon enough, but this video couldn't wait. He was pretty nervous of the water at first, it didn't help that it was freezing! We were just about to take him out because his bottom lip was quivering. I decided to try one more thing. He literally laughed like this for 15 minutes... even harder at some times. We love him a lot.

Here is another one... I'm surprised he did so well despite being splashed in the face each time I came up.

Camping

2010-09-26T22:45:00.000-06:00

Adam, Milo, my little brother Sam and I went camping this past weekend. It was a short trip, but so much fun. We cooked steak, roasted marshmallows, hot dogs and starbursts and stayed up WAY past bedtime talking. Well, Sam and Adam did at least, I went to bed early. :)

Which is worse? forgetting the camera or bringing one that doesn't work? Good thing Adam's phone has a good camera on it.

Teaching baby early what the good stuff is :)

making dinner

Sam protected us the whole time with the machete

Feeding Milo by the amazing view

Adam said "look at mommy!" so he turned and smiled :)

We had lots of fun with silhouettes

Our little family

me and my baby

sam and the machete

Milo flying (see his wings ;) )

the next bunch are trying to see how high Milo could go.

so high Milo almost didn't make it in the picture

4(ish) months

2010-09-26T22:18:00.000-06:00

Milo went to his four month doctors appointment, almost 3 weeks ago now, but you all still deserve to know his stats and to see how cute he is.

14.09 lbs 29.68%tile
25.75 in long 76.61%tile
16.2in head 19.82%tile

these were taken when we got home from the doctor. such a good baby

at 4.5 months, he is the cutest, sweetest, happiest, funniest little boy ever.
he loves to play peek-a-boo, and as of the past few days, can play it on his own. he'll take a blanket and cover his face while we say "where's milo?!" then he pulls it down real fast as we say "there he is!!" and he smiles SO big. so cute :)
he is happy ALL the time. he will smile and laugh at anyone and everyone. he wimpers a little when he's hungry or tired, and cries if I don't feed him fast enough.
he loves food and is starting to prefer food on a spoon. we can't shovel the stuff in fast enough. if he's especially hungry, or loving the food, he gets mad when we have to take time to put more food on the spoon. so far he has tried and loved, bananas, peaches, peas, rice cereal with water/apple juice/any-other-kind-of-juice-we-have

he notices and wants and has to have whatever we have in our hands, which is usually a phone. no toy is good enough to take the place of what we have in our hands.
he LOVES his daddy. his face lights up and he can't contain his happiness when he sees his daddy.

you can see how big he feels and how proud he is when he does tricks with his daddy.

I sing "when daddy comes home" to him and do actions. a lot of the time he'll hug and kiss at the right times on his own. it's so cute.

This little boy is so stinking cute all the time and has such a fun little personality. we love him more every day.

and now, a picture over load, but he's cute, so you know it's not enough pics of him :)

he LOVES watermelon!! he'll sit and end up eating a whole slice if we let him

he had just been crying in this one, but got so happy when we gave him food

he usually tries to hold on to the container of food with one hand and the spoon/my finger with the other

Milo is so lucky to have such a fun daddy. Adam can make him happy and laugh no matter the situation. The two of them make mommy nervous, but they have SO MUCH FUN, and he never gets hurt, so I just sit back and have fun watching my boys play

he throws his head back when he laughs. so cute.

sleeping in the car.

Corn season is almost over, which is pretty sad for us. Most days I have this orange mug and he can't get enough of it. I usually have to hide it from him because if he sees it, he HAS to have it. He seems to know what it's for too. he'll pull the top of it to his mouth, then moves to a different side when nothing comes out

reach for it...

almost there...

hooray!!! he got it!!

My little helper

2010-08-30T21:08:00.000-06:00

I have been working some at the corn stands in north orem and pleasant grove. Milo has been coming with me and LOVING it! He is my little helper :)

He hangs out in the Watermelons sometimes

he pretends he's eating them

sleeps A LOT. he takes much better naps at the stand than he does at home. today he got in two, two hour naps in the six hours we were there.

This is how he sleeps when it's cold out

sometimes he falls asleep like this

he usually needs his soft blanket and a hand to the head to really fall asleep

But we get lots of smiles

lots of laughing

we play with toys

chew on hands and fingers

and every customer thinks he's just the cutest and such a good helper!

Sweet Tooth

2010-08-30T20:37:00.000-06:00

Ok, so he doesn't have even one tooth yet (but I think we may be slowly working on them...), so I guess you would say he has "sweet gums"? Grandpa Buxton is trying to become the favorite by bribing Milo with candy.

Here they are with a sucker my dad got from the bank, specifically for Milo

this one is my favorite. (we spiked his hair for church, isn't he just so stinkin cute?!)

Lovin' Grandpa for indulging his "sweet gums" :)

Minnie

2010-08-22T15:25:00.000-06:00

This is Minnie. She was diagnosed with diabetes about 5 months ago. We got her on insulin and she seemed to be doing better. Then she started getting urinary infections. We put her on antibiotics and thought she was better, until they came back. She started getting skinny again, she continued to need water all the time and was always hungry. She went to the litter box many times a day, sometimes she couldn't go because it was so painful. So we took her in for a second opinion. She had an infection in her bladder (one of the worst the doc had ever seen) and it had spread to her kidneys. The infection made it so the insulin wasn't working. She also physically could not drink enough water. She would need lots more tests and surgery and it would probably still come back. She couldn't take the stress of more tests and surgery. The drive alone stressed her out.

On Thursday, August 19, 2010, Our Minnie kitty went to kitty heaven. We miss her so much, but know that she is feeling better. She doesn't hurt any more. She's not hungry or thirsty. She's just happy.

These are the only pictures I could find of her, I think the rest are on a different hard drive that I need to find. But you can see pics of her here, here, here, here, avideo here and here

She always helped us finish our food. licked our plates clean, managed to get the last of the chocolate milk out of the bottom of the glass, cleaned out the pudding snack pack and yogurt containers, etc...

She loved q-tips, milk caps, the things that hold on the milk caps

she always sat on the counter and did the dishes with me/helped me clean the kitchen

She liked slept on my chest and tried to lick my ears

She liked to be where we were and would follow us around the house

She "helped" me with the laundry and would chase down and sock that i would pick up

she loved to go outside and eat the grass, but was always cautious as she left

over all, she was a really great cat, full of spunk and great personality. We really love her and miss her. Goodbye Minnie, till we meet again...

3 months

2010-08-04T19:05:00.000-06:00

Nope, not joking, Milo is already 3 months old! Well, 3 months and 1 day old. He is getting so big, so fast. He is such a good baby and so much fun!!

Everyone told us (Adam especially) that babies don't get fun for the dad until 3 months. So Adam eagerly waited up until 12:35a.m. (birth time), so that he would know when Milo "officially" became fun.

We have also read/have been told that around 3 months they should start sleeping through the night (5-6 hours at a time). He has slept 5-6 stretches a few times, but last night, for the first time, he slept from midnight to 7a.m. in his crib, without any interruption! then he slept from 7-10. Such a good boy!! it was so nice! too bad we woke up at 4:30 and had to make sure he was ok before we could enjoy the next few hours.

he can hold his head up, has had a strong neck since he was born :)
roll over from tummy to back
smiles ALL the time
talks and coos ALL day
"laughs" every day
has giggled real, true, honest to goodness giggles a few times
he has been batting at toys in front of him for a few weeks
this week he can now grab toys. he has a hard time holding on to them sometimes, but he's getting better and can usually get the toy to his mouth
he LOVES soft blankets. When he's tired the put him right to sleep, when he's awake, they make him smile
He sleeps with his hands up on his head and/or face. Some times he has a look of "i've had such a hard day"
Today he started scooting backwards on his play mat. He was just so excited about the stuff above him, but he managed to move about a foot off the mat.
He loves to have his diaper changed.
He takes lots of cat naps through out the day
He has a hard time waking up on his own in the morning, but once he's awake, he's all smiles and LOVES to talk to daddy.
He is an excellent, fast and efficient eater. He can go at least 4 hours, sometimes longer
He likes to watch TV. If it's on, he finds a way to look at it (I'm trying to be careful with this one now)
When people talk, he'll sit and stare, as if he's listening and cares about what's going on
He loves to take baths and is starting to kick and splash a little
He tries to mimic us, with his tongue and eyebrows mostly
He only cries when he's hungry or tired. He fights sleep so hard!
he sucks, well, gnaws his thumb! it is SO cute! sometimes he'll chomp on both. he tries to get it/them as far back in his mouth as he can, so he always ends up gagging himself
He loves mommy and daddy :)

We love him more and more every day. We love being his parents and can't imagine life with out him

Milo Can Giggle

2010-07-31T20:07:00.003-06:00

It's pretty cool, he is laughing and giggling all of the time now. We caught the first good giggle on camera! He may just be ticklish. He is also loving "peekaboo" as of today.

Happy Fathers Day

2010-07-20T10:23:00.000-06:00

I'm well aware that Fathers Day was exactly one month ago. But Daddy still deserves a post, even though I'm slow.

Milo is so lucky to have such a fabulous, fun, caring, loving, helpful, priesthood holding, Daddy, and I'm lucky that the daddy to my baby is all of the above and so much more.

Milo loves his daddy so much. He(Milo) just sits and stares at him(daddy) until he gives him the attention he wants, then busts out a huge smile and tries to giggle.

Daddy is always willing to change a diaper, cuddle him when he's content, play with him when he's happy, and hold and rock him when he's sad.

Daddy is so excited for football season (what else is new ;) ), but especially this season, because his little boy will watch with him.

(when I took these last 2, they both were looking, then I said "keep watching tv" and they both went back to watching :) )

We love you daddy!!

Best Buddies

2010-07-18T22:37:00.001-06:00

Our next door neighbors have a cute little 21 month old boy named Bentley. Him and Milo are going to be the best of friends. He is so cute with Milo. He always comes up and says "Hah-eeeeee!", kisses him on the head, helps him get his passi back in his mouth, and once in a while he'll try to make him smile. This day, he wanted to give him hugs and lay down next to him. It was SO cute!

Aren't they both so stinkin cute?!

2 Months

2010-07-18T22:21:00.000-06:00

Where oh where has the time gone?! We have traded in our newborn in for a real baby. He is awake a lot more now and very alert. He notices things now. Like the lion on his bouncer. He will sit and stare at it, then bring his hand up and hits it, trying to bring it to his face. It's pretty cute.

He smiles ALL the time and is almost laughing. We have "conversations" all day long. We went to the doctor last week. The doc put him on his tummy to see how strong he is. He was impressed with how strong and steady he is. Then he said "oh, looks like he's close to rolling over" and then over he went! He's a little show off and rolled over his first time in front of the doctor. Doc also told us that Milo will reach most of his milestones ahead of schedule.

As of last thursday, he
weight 11.8 lbs 42 percentile
height 23.75in 75 percentile
head circ. 15.25in 18.71 percentile

Night time is getting better. He sleeps 4-5 hours at a time from about 9 till 9, sometimes 10 :)

He did really well sleeping through all the fireworks and their loud noises on the fourth.

His "plumbing" works very well and is fairly regular.

He is happy all the time and only cries/fusses when he needs something.

He loves to be outside.

He loves bath time.

He LOVES {his room}.

He also loves to have his diaper changed. He is a very gratifying little boy. He coos and smiles every time we change him. Makes it so we enjoy changing him, even daddy enjoys :)

He has gotten too big for almost half of his 0-3 clothes. He's getting too big!

Who knew that such a little person could bring so much joy and happiness?! We are so grateful for every minute we get to spend with this little guy, and are completely honored that Heavenly Father chose us to be his parents.

Milo's first photo shoot

2010-06-30T12:00:00.001-06:00

When Milo was 2 weeks old, we had his pictures taken by my very good friend Amanda Gregory. She did an EXCELLENT job. I couldn't pick just a few to post, so you'll just have to look at and love all of them.

This one is out of order because it is our favorite. Isn't he just so stinking cute?! He looks JUST like his daddy. I love it. He makes me so happy

How can you expect me to get anything done?!

2010-06-29T21:39:00.000-06:00

I am loooong over due for a blog update. I have 2 months worth of the cutest pictures of the cutest kid. But how can you expect me to get to it, when I have this cute kid to hold and kiss and cuddle that smiles back at me and is trying his hardest to laugh and giggle :)

He has super blond hair and a whole bunch of it in the back. But, Because it's so light, he just looks bald in pictures. Here he is sportin' a mohawk

He's getting SO good at smiling. Now we're working on laughing. he wants to SO bad, but can't quite get it out.

He has the double chin down, now we're working on a third :)

We love him SO much. He's learning more and more every day, getting more alert and I can tell, he loves mommy and daddy. they do NOT come any cuter, than this little boy. :D

4 weeks old, all growed up

2010-05-31T22:15:00.002-06:00

How it went

2010-05-29T16:26:00.000-06:00

I canNOT believe it's almost been 4 weeks. He's getting too big already. Here is what happened just before Milo made his entrance.

Wednesday, April 21: I went to the Doctor and he checked to see how I was progressing. I was hopeful considering I had Braxton-Hicks Contractions ALL the time. He checked me. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. 0% effaced. Not dilated in the slightest. He told us that usually you start to dilate about 2 weeks before you deliver. I went home and cried. I was going to be pregnant forever.

Wednesday, April 28: Went to the doctor again. My hopes were low that I would get any good news. I wasn't going to be let down again. Good thing too, still NO progress. at all. none. awesome. I guess I could be ok with being pregnant forever. Doctor told me I'd more than likely be late by at least a week. That I'd need to be induced and to plan on being induced on the 10th, a week after my due date.

Saturday, May 1: I went to a bridal shower for my sister in law. Every one asked when I was going to have a baby. I told them all with confidence that I was going to need to be induced on the 10th. Everyone agreed because it was my first. That night I started to feel some cramps that started in my back and came around my stomach. I was pretty sure they were contractions, but not completely sure. I started looking for a contraction tracker app on my itouch. at 9:30p.m., they started to become more regular and stronger, so I started to time them. I took a hot bath at midnight and managed to get about a (separated) hour of sleep. They kept getting more painful, so I went downstairs so that Adam could keep sleeping. I watched (i think) 3 episodes of law and order. I'm pretty sure I watched some other shows, maybe the news? but the contractions were too intense and close together to remember.

Sunday, May 2: 7a.m. Adam came down stairs to see how I was doing and how close my contractions were. They were averaging over a minute long and 3-5 minutes apart. So we put together the few things left that needed to be packed and headed to the hospital. I felt pretty confidant that I wasn't going to be sent home because they were so regular and strong. When we got to the hospital, they checked me and I was only dilated to a 1. I was fully effaced. They said they'd keep me for an hour and see how I progressed. So I chomped on ice and laid in bed and waited. After an hour, they checked me again. I was at a 1.5. Awesome. I needed to be at LEAST at a 2. so they said I could stay another hour and see how I progressed. So I chomped more ice and walked around the hospital. After an hour and a half, I was almost at a 2. So they gave me some morphine for the pain and told me to go home. After about 2 hours the morphine wore off, and 3 hours after that we headed back to the hospital. My contractions were about 2 minutes long and every minutes at most. At the hospital they checked me again, I was only at a 3. After another hour, I was STILL at a 3. It was a good thing we had a different nurse. The one from earlier would have sent me home, but this one could tell that I needed to stay. contractions were a minute apart and lasting at least 1 minute, if not longer. Once I was admitted, they injected pure heaven into my back (my very lovely epidural), broke my water and gave me pitocin. By now, it was about 7p.m. Now we just waited for it to be baby time. At 11p.m. I was fully dilated and ready to push. The nurse told me I would be pushing for 1-3 hours before baby would make his appearance. I pushed a few times and then we decide to "rest and descend" for an hour. At midnight, I started pushing again. After about 10 minutes, baby was ready to come out, so she told me to stop pushing and wait for the doctor to get there. Once he was there, I pushed for another 10 minutes. When he started crowning, the doctor took a travel size bottle of baby shampoo and shampood his head with half the bottle. After that, Milo came into the world, and changed ours forever.

An hour and half before he was born.

Happy Mother's Day Mommy

2010-05-10T20:39:00.000-06:00

Introducing

2010-05-03T09:56:00.003-06:00

Milo Scott Miner
Born May 3, 2010 (due date)
7 lbs 4 oz
20.5 inches long
12:35a.m.

he is perfect and we love him:)

39

2010-04-26T15:12:00.000-06:00

This is what 39 weeks pregnant looks like. 7 more days. only ONE MORE WEEK!!! It's hard to wrap my mind around the fact that by the end of next week, there will be (better be) a baby to hold and kiss and hug. At my doctor appointment last week they checked my progress, so far, closed for business. No progress. None. He said i'll probably go late, but probably only a day or 2, so not too bad. I have my next appointment Wednesday and we'll see what he says then. Maybe he will say i'll have a baby by the end of this week..... I can hope right ;)

39 weeks doesn't feel nearly as awful as I was expecting. Everyone told me the last month and especially weeks are the very worst. I don't really feel different than I have the past few months. My heartburn isn't too bad and isn't too often, sleeping has sucked for months, but I don't feel like it's gotten worse. Overall i'm still relatively comfortable, I'm just getting sick of being pregnant. I'm ready to be done with it. BUT, i'll let him stay in a bit longer, till he's ready to meet the world.

My mom has been a HUGE help. She comes over at least once a week to help me with laundry, cleaning and all the stuff that is below my knees. She helped me cook up a bunch of meals for the freezer and helped me get everything organized for when baby comes. I have the best mom :)

Adam has been so good to me through this whole pregnancy and I'm so grateful for him. He rubs my back, gets me popsicles and just about anything else I need. He walks slower with me and makes fun of me at a minimal level ;) He keeps me laughing and distracted, even with all of the school stuff he's had to do the last couple weeks. He lets me take naps when I need and never makes me feel guilty for getting so little done when I'm home all day. He cleans the kitchen and tries to pick up after both of us. He helps with the laundry. He took me on a date this last weekend and promised to keep taking me on dates. He has gone to every doctor appointment with me and couldn't be more excited to be a dad. Baby and I are so lucky to have him. I'm SO grateful that he is mine forever and ever. mmmm i love him :)

I miss my toes

2010-04-12T10:00:00.041-06:00

I miss my toes

I miss my tummy
I miss sleeping through the night (I won't be getting that back for a while, but I still miss it)
I miss laying on my back as long as I want
I miss laying on my stomach
I miss my clothes!! - shirts that fit AND were flattering, jeans, UNDERWEAR
I miss the days when switching from laying on my left side to my right was not a chore
I miss when the above didn't leave me winded
I miss being able to really get close to Adam

I miss the days when getting out of bed wasn't easier when adam gave me a shove
I miss not maneuvering like a fat person (Lani informed me of this one, even though I already knew it :) )
I miss piggy backs

I miss wrestling
I miss walking without feeling like it's a work out
I miss bending over
I miss my BRAIN
I miss the days of not crying every day, over stupid things that really don't need to be cried about
I miss my baby boy, that I have yet to even meet, but I miss him and I want to hold him and kiss him

While slightly annoying, I do enjoy taking nap(s) daily
Adam is going to paint my toe nails :)
As much as I want to meet my baby, I'm glad he's still growing and still doing well inside me. I also have had a very nice pregnancy. Everyone told me the last month is the worst, but it's only been the worst for me because this whole being pregnant thing is just getting old. I'm still fairly comfortable, heartburn only makes an appearance every other day or so and is easily managed. Nightly baths help take the weight of him off my back for a bit. I work from home now, so I'm able to rest when I need, snack when I feel like it and get stuff done in between.
However, he can feel free to make an appearance any day now. I am 37 weeks today, which means he is full term. So really son, any day now, we are willing and eager for you to make an appearance.

Dirt

2010-04-11T18:31:00.001-06:00

My mom got us this super cute vinyl saying for baby's room. I love it :)

His room is nearing completion, just need to add a few decorations.

I'd be ok if he wanted to come before I'm done though ;)

little minnie kittie

2010-03-29T13:49:00.002-06:00

The past couple of months, we have noticed significant weight loss in Minnie. At first, we thought she just didn't like the healthy dry food we were giving her. So I started buying the "less healthy" (and much cheaper) meow mix. Minnie loved it, but she was still losing weight.) So we started giving her 1-2 cans of wet food every day in hopes of plumping her up. (Camper on the other hand, was gaining, even though she ate half as much as Minnie After a few weeks, she was still little more than skin and bones. Any time we were in the kitchen, she would meow her brains out, begging for food, even if she had just finished a can of wet food. If scraps were left on the counter or in the sink, she would devour it as if she hadn't been fed in weeks and this may be her last chance at eating ever again. If you didn't actually SEE us feed her, you'd report us to the humane society for not feeding our cat. She would do the same with water. She could EASILY drink an entire big cup (at least 16 oz.? bigger?) of our biggest cup of water daily, PLUS she has a (pretty much) never ending supply of water.

We started reading up on what this could mean. She had every symptom of diabetes. Great. So Saturday, Adam took her to the vet. She was scared but was a real champ and did awesome. Results came back confirming she has diabetes. So for the past couple of months, her body hasn't been able to metabolize the food she eats. No nutrients were staying. We were throwing money down the litter box, and she was literally starving.

So now, twice a day, we have to give our poor kitty shots. She doesn't feel them and she has stopped begging for food. We think she's actually a little confused. She'll still have food in front of her and feel the need to keep eating, but just doesn't have the room, because for so long, she was constantly starving and wanting food.

Trying to get the band-aid off from getting her blood drawn

35

2010-03-29T13:12:00.006-06:00

35 Weeks

Please don't mind the craptacular quality of my phone camera

35.

35 weeks DONE

35 days TO GO.

we are going to be parents.

WE are going to be parents.

we are going to be PARENTS!

I have a tiny human under my skin. He is cute, and pink, and plumping up, and strong, with tiny fingers and toes and a tiny nose and a cute tiny bum. A tiny person that hiccups, and stretches, and opens and closes his eyes. He practices swallowing. His tiny little organs are all but done. If he came now (which we aren't allowing yet (which I wish we COULD allow right now)) He could breath on his own and would have no issues with living. He would just be even tinier than the full term tiny humans.

I will have a full term baby in my belly in 2 weeks. TWO WEEKS I could have a baby and he wouldn't be considered a premie. TWO WEEKS!

Next week we get to pre-register at the hospital. Next week I'm going to pack my bag, just in case he decides it's too crammed inside of me and makes an early break.

The past few days he's decided to change back to the early days and be nice to me again. I had heart burn radiating out my ears every night, cuddling was all but impossible, finding a comfortable spot sitting, standing or laying down hardly existed, and I have just been all around uncomfortable for the last month, but not the past few days. The past few days, spooning has been comfortable for a few shows in a row, NO HEART BURN!! (knock on wood), and I probably just figured out that the secret to being more comfortable is not eating till I'm so full I might explode.

We are ready* for him to come. We want him to come. We are SO excited to come. Adam asks daily when he will come out and when will he be ready. soon. so soon.

*we are as ready (mentally) as we can be. we are NOT so ready stuff wise. i.e. clothes for him to wear, something for him to ride in the car in, diapers tiny enough for his tiny newborn bum. Other than that, we're as ready as we'll ever be.

I (we) can't wait to meet this tiny person, and kiss his tiny face and hold him and love on him. 35 weeks down. 35 days to go.

Our family of 2.75

2010-02-26T20:26:00.009-07:00

Yesterday (yes, YESTERDAY) my good, long time (since like, 6th or 7th grade) friend, Emily Hammerstad took some maternity pictures for Adam and I. She did an AH-MAZE-ING job. I am in love with them all!! Thank you SO much Emily!!!

these next few are my absolute favorites. omg. :)

the Nursery!

2010-02-24T13:45:00.007-07:00

The nursery is almost done! There are just a few minor decoration details that need to be added, but it's close enough that baby could live in it and be happy :)

Before

Painted, no decorations

the (close to) final product! a HUGE thanks to my VERY talented mom who spent 3 solid days helping me sew everything. yes, everything in his room was hand made by my mom and I :)

The crib with the quilt, bumper pads and dust ruffle

(slightly cut off) pic of the curtain

VERY excited to use this ultra comfy chair during midnight feedings and long sleepless nights

up close of the animals on the wall. we used the same fabric for everything, so these match PERFECTLY with the quilt

close up of the quilt. You can't see the fine details in this. each piece was appliqued. it took hours. totally worth it :)

These little birds are all over the room. These 2 are on the back of the crib

The bumper pad

The valance with little birdies on top

My MIL gave us a mirror just after we got married. It fell off the wall and chipped a little. we were able to cover it with fabric and use it in baby's room. LOVE it

Proof that I actually helped

Minne loved to play with the birds. She was a true huntress

30 weeks

2010-02-24T13:27:00.006-07:00

I am still growing a baby under my skin. He is doing very well. He is getting bigger every day and running out of room for stretching, but he does it anyway. Monday marked 30 weeks, 10 weeks to go!

This is my little brother Sam. He was born at 30 weeks. I am 30 weeks :S! This is actually when he was 4 weeks old, 6 weeks before his due date. So tiny!!

Adam and Camper watching TV. I'm pretty sure there was a meow mix commercial on. Camper was very interested in it :)

Adam stopped paying attention to her and she rolled over and just stared at him.

Minnie's favorite place to sleep is on the bathmat, next to the tub, behind the shower curtain. The shower curtain got left open, so this is as much as she could be in her spot. She didn't know i could see her :) Minnie has also been helping me practice to be a mom. sometimes when I'm working on an announcement, she HAS to lay on my chest, face next to my face and if i try to do anything but pay attention to her, she head butts me in the face. When I try to make dinner, she'll sit at my feet and whine and paw at my legs. Eventually she just comes and sits on the counter and watches. It's pretty cute.

Taking down the lights

2010-02-24T13:16:00.003-07:00

Adam took down our Christmas lights the other day

and yes, he lived to tell about it

Oh how I love this man

2010-02-21T20:09:00.003-07:00

This morning while getting ready for church Adam turns to me and asks if his hair looked ok. he had all of it slicked forward. I laughed and said no, and went back to doing my own hair. a couple minutes later he asked again if his hair looked ok. this time the sides were slicked down and the middle was at a point in the middle of his forehead. i again laughed and said no. then he parted it on the side and asked for some hair spray. i told him he looked like a big nerd and to hurry up so we weren't late. I then went down stairs to get my coat and shoes. he came downstairs like this (in church clothes though)

I again told him (lovingly) he looked like a nerd. he said "well, what if I meet an apostle today" and we left for church.

Then tonight....

Adam: it's 8 o'clock

Erin: ..... yes it is.....

Adam: you told me to tell you when it was 8 o'clock

Erin: ... I did?

Adam: (slightly annoyed now) ya. you told me to tell you when it was 8

Erin: .... why?

Adam: I don't know! something about you wanting to get me ice cream or something like that.... do we have ice cream?

i love him :)

Greatest commercial Ever

2010-02-20T15:33:00.002-07:00

Adam and I watched this a few times and I laughed out loud. So funny :)

What's up doc

2010-01-21T20:23:00.003-07:00

we haven't been up to too much lately. we're both working and getting ready for a baby (only 14 weeks left)

camper LOVES our space heater. she could lay in front of it all day if we left it on. She also loves the camera and is full of poses. i tried to get a picture of her chillin in front of the heater, but she kept striking poses. silly kitty.
Minnie... is Minnie. She loves to hang out in the tub or sink after warm water was in it.

I tried to get a picture of my (ever growing) belly, but Minnie wanted to be in the picture too.

Baby bump. 25 weeks 3 days. I'm starting to get bigger faster lately. still feeling good. i'm not sick, tired, achey and i can sleep through the night. he kicks all the time. it is my FAVORITE to watch him when he's extra active, which is usually at night just before bed. in a couple more days the count down will get into the double digits. wahoo!!!

Adam has been busy with lots of stuff. last week he put in a counter top above the washer and dryer. I didn't get a before picture, but all it was was a closet with the washer and dryer. no shelves, no nothin. i had to position the laundry detergent just right so that the softener didn't fall off and break. he's so good and did such a good job :)

Adam recently got bumped up to be the Program director at the Telos Transition house. Basically, he's in charge of making the program rock. He is also taking 2 business pre req. classes online from UVU. plus, he has to put up with me and my nesting cravings :) he's so awesome :)

Half way done cooking...

2009-12-14T23:21:00.004-07:00

A BOY!!!

he is very healthy and growing just they way he should.

He weighs just about 1 pound.

He seems to be a titch short with a big belly :)

He was a little U/S shy, not so much with his boy parts, but more with his face. he didn't care too much to have his face looked at, so he kept his hands right up in his face the whole time.

We saw him move!! I feel him all the time, but I actually saw him move :)

We're so excited and May can't come fast enough.

LOVE this little foot :)

shawkinawe

2009-11-27T18:49:00.003-07:00

just for you Jana

This is me at 17 weeks and 4 days.

I am still working on getting out of the "is that weight you're gaining or a baby you're growing" phase. i'm getting closer, but not quite.

I haven't been sick for a few weeks now, not that I ever got all that sick.

4pm no longer feels like midnight. neither does 830. and really, neither does midnight. 1am is now my midnight. wahoo for not being so tired!!

I bought a bella band and LOVE it. I think i'll be able to use it instead of maternity pants for at least a few more months.

I own, thanks to my mom, 2 cute maternity shirts.

As of yesterday, November 26, Thanksgiving night, I have felt MOVEMENT!! it is so exciting!! i felt baby a few more times today. i love it. it's starting to fee a bit more real now.

I have now had 3 dreams that it is a boy.

we find out in 2 weeks, 2 days and 15 hours the flavor of our baby!!

What do you think we'll have? I'm pretty curious, so please, take the poll on the side of my blog :)

My Man

2009-11-27T18:21:00.004-07:00

I need to take a minute to brag about my man. I am so beyond lucky I get to be with him for all of eternity. I am so glad that he is my baby's daddy. I know he is going to be the very best dad. I love him so much.

This is just a few of the things he has done for me lately.

we have a patio in the back of our house, but the only access we have to it was a bunch of rocks. you couldn't walk barefoot on it and it sucked trying to pull a full dumpster across them. So Adam took a whole day and fixed our problem.

Before

clearing a spot for the path

Ta da! final product.

He did such a good job!! it took him all day, but it looks SO good!!

Then today, with some help from our neighbor, Adam beautified and Holiday-fied the outside of our house.

The lights are strait and easy to turn on and off. I am so proud and grateful to call him mine.

I haven't taken pictures (yet) but really need to, of what he did for me Wednesday. His sister and family were coming over to see our house, and the house looked much less than presentable. He didn't have work that day, but I only hoped for him to shove things around to look more decent before I got home from work. boy was I wrong!!! The dishes were clean and put away, our bedroom (worst room of the house) was CLEAN and vacuumed, the baby's room was straitened up and vacuumed, one of the two junk rooms was made into a usable spare bedroom. Our bathroom was clean, including the tub, mirrors and counter top. On top of all of that, he washed ALL of the laundry, then sat with me while I folded it, he even helped me fold it. I was so shocked and am SO grateful!!

I absolutely could not ask for a better husband and best friend. I am so lucky. I love you honey!!