can we rest now?

Here's the quick (yet still exhausting) rundown of our weekend:

1. Friday afternoon: making new friends at the playground. And being silly for mommy.

2. Friday evening: Our favorite pizza out with our neighbors, Beth and Dan. Beth and Dan are having a boy in about a month, so we're excited for new playmates there too. They got some good practice keeping Miles entertained and playing trains at the dinner table.

3. Saturday morning: zoo trip! Since my membership expires this week, thought we'd squeeze in one last free trip. I didn't realize the opening time had changed, so we had to wait to get in. But it was a gorgeous fall morning and Miles loved running around to all the different animal sites. He was really into the ducks and elephants this time. Oh and there's a really fantastic new habitat for the red pandas - you can see them up close and personal!

4. Saturday afternoon: EVAN'S HERE! Uncle Shay and Aunt Elizabeth came for the game and brought Evan to play with Miles. They put in a full weekend's worth in one afternoon... sandbox play, trains, drawing, blueberry pancakes for dinner, bath time and of course, monkeys jumping on the bed. Ah, to be 5 and 2 again! Miles was sad to see Evan go, but hopefully it won't be too long until they can play again.... maybe with Hurricane Kate next time!!!

It's TOY TIME!!

We're back and all better, finally. After bouncing back from two days of lethargy (the mack truck cold?) Miles was in great spirits but still had a persistent cough. Nothing a little homemade sorbet couldn't improve!

Now he's off and running like never before. He's chock-full of cute phrases that I need to make notes of. Wouldn't want to forget these gems. The best (and most common) is "It's TOY time." Variants of this are "Not bath time," "Not nap time," "Not night-night time," well, you get the idea. It's ALWAYS toy time!

He's also big-time into daddy, especially when he gets home from the office. The afternoon ritual is for us to meet him on the driveway for a spin up and down the street. Miles is much more interested in the gadgets - wipers, blinkers, windows, radio - but do NOT deny the kid his drive time. Yesterday I was "powdering my nose" while he was in his room. All of a sudden I hear "Prob-by DADDEEEEEeeeeee" and feet racing down the hall. I followed as fast as I could and rounded the corner to see kitchen door wide open. Laundry door wide open. Exit to garage wide open. Garage empty. No Miles. OH MY GOD. After a slight panic I realized he was already in Wayne's car and on his way for a drive. I must keep that exit door dead bolted, that little booger is too fast for me!

Speaking of toy time, I got a new toy too. I didn't go all the way to SLR (yet) but did make a big step up. This one has a massive zoom and lots of advanced automatic features. And it gives me the option of doing some manual settings, so I'll have to start studying so I can wow you with some great Miles (and baby!) shots.

The wish list starts now

Still camera-less, so this is from a few weeks ago. But I had to share this funny story from our sick days.

Since he was so lethargic the first day or so, we watched some Thomas the Train OnDemand. Of course there is only one show listed, but he could watch it over and over and over. He was so miserable those first days, we'd snuggle in the chair and he'd lie on me to watch.

So now that he's feeling much better, he still wants to watch those shows. "Miles watch Thomas, Percy, Car-bell. Tee-vee," he says. I tried to explain that we watched those when he wasn't feeling well, but now he can go tell his own stories with those trains that he has in his room. To which he responds (with glistening eyes), "GOR-DON! Ann-ieeee, Henry!" Those would be the trains he does NOT own.
See mom, how can I make up stories, I don't have all the players!

"Mies sit on hay. Ride Trak-tor."

That is the oft repeated quote of the happiest boy in the world since Saturday when we joined our Mom & Tots group for a little hayride and pumpkin pickin'. Oh, he knew it would be fun when he saw all his buddies jumping around in a big pit of corn kernels - I'm amazed he didn't have them stuffed all in his shoes! But then he noticed the three orange tractors hooked up for the hayrides and it was all over.

While he wanted to ride the actual tractor, he was fine climbing in the wagon full of hay to be pulled by the tractor. Our driver was one of my former co-workers, so after we stopped we went up for a closer look at the cool ride. Miles could have cared less about the field of pumpkins nearby.


Finally we enticed him out to gather a gourd... he grabbed the first one and started heading back to the tractor! So we found his friends and they distracted him for, oh, 5 minutes. It was really cute how the kids gathered the "kid sized" pumpkins. But Wayne found a nice, big, round one that is now by our front door waiting to be carved. Actually we haven't carved a pumpkin in... maybe ever! So this could be a first. I think Miles will like it, but we'll get a spare pumpkin just in case the sight of us hacking away at pumpkin flesh is too much.

The rest of the weekend was beautiful and uneventful, a perfect combination. But poor Miles woke up Monday with a bad cold. There was a little fever but it's gone now. It's mostly a cough and runny nose. And is he tired or what! He slept in about 1.5 hours both Mon & Tues, and has taken long naps too. Lets hope all that rest is working its healing magic.

And the last minor drama at our house started Saturday evening when we went to Boo! our neighbor. All of a sudden my camera started taking pictures like this. I thought I'd just hit a button, but no. Ever since then when I hit power the lens just opens and shuts several times, then it freezes. Argh! I'm starting to miss taking pictures!! Need...new...camera...now!!

She's halfway done!

Thanks so much for all the excitement after my last post. We're all pretty excited here, although Wayne did mention starting the wedding fund already. I guess he figures she'll get a full scholarship, so no need for a college fund, right? The sonogram went well, everything measured and looked as expected.

She was very cooperative in letting us know she's a she. And she was very feisty, bouncing all around and blocking our views at times. Hopefully those two characteristics don't follow too strongly into the teen years!

They turned on the "4D" system at the end to get this picture of her profile. I was kind of nervous when they did because the sonographer sat back and gave me this little talk about how strange and shocking they may look in "4D" at the stage, yadda-yadda, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Took a second to focus, but looks pretty much like a facial profile to me.

So now we face the next big hurdle in prenatal preparation: choosing a name. Hopefully we'll be a bit more decisive this time and know the name before we're checking out of the hospital (sorry, Miles). Although I am really glad we didn't go with out first choice and waited to meet him before deciding. I still like the name Mason, but he's just much more a Miles.

And then there's the other naming challenge: a new blog name!! Can't be just "More Miles" for much longer!

Speaking of the booger bear, he had a great time at YaYa & B's. In fact for 20 minutes after I picked him up he sobbed "Go back YaYa and B's" over and over. I distracted with my lovely singing voice and we made it home just fine. He didn't seem to care that we moved the crib out of his room while he was gone, so there's a big hurdle cleared.

So we spent the rest of the week catching up on stuff he missed, like driving the neighbor's tractor and eating out with daddy. Tonight we tried a new one - Stir Fry Cafe. He was convinced that sweet and sour chicken was the same as nuggets and sauce, and he totally loved the idea of eating with sticks. Awesome!!

{drumroll please...}

Over the river and through the woods...

Miles paid a long overdue visit to his only Great Grandpa this weekend. They'd never met and he he is already two! Miles had a big time running around the house, giving high fives and chowing on some KFC.

Since PaPa lives halfway between YaYa & B's and our house, YaYa & B made the trek too, but they got to leave with something special - Miles! That's right, Miles is on his very first away-from-home visit ("no mommy, no daddy" as he has said this weekend). He sounds like he's having a blast and probably won't want to come home when I go to get him tomorrow.

While we've of course missed the little booger bear, Daddy and I have had a fun & relaxing weekend ourselves. We got back from "the drop" just in time to see the fantastic, amazing (miraculous?) romp by Tennessee over Georgia. We watched the game at home then met some out-of-town friends downtown for a celebratory dinner.

On Sunday since our "alarm clock" was away, we got to sleep in a bit and enjoy the day. We did both clock some office time before heading out to out favorite Mexican dive - now smoke free! We dined with our neighbors who are expecting their first child in December, so it's not as if we were out for a big night of their yummy margaritas. But somehow we ended up closing the place down, as the staff subtly asked us to leave by blaring some Mötley Crüe.

Anyway, the big news of the week will be a cooperative baby (hopefully) letting us peek at the boy or girl parts tomorrow. So check back soon to see what we learn!

A Pirate's life for me

Pirate Davey turned 4 last week and Miles was more than happy to join in on the fun! We all gathered at Lu and Poppy's house with some other friends that we don't see often enough. It's been fun to watch all the kids grow over the years (meeting annually for this party - check Jen's blog for this year's group shot). This year we had 2.5 new babies joining us - including the half-baked one in my belly.

Speaking of the wee-one... according to the weekly newsletter I get, Noodle (our temporary pet name) is about the size of a small cucumber. I've started feeling the swimming about and am definitely out of regular clothes. Can't wait until next Tuesday when we can start using the gender appropriate pronouns!

Back to the party, Jen had some great pirate themed fun, including hats, scarves and eye patches. Wish I'd thought to video one-eyed Miles growling "Arrrgh." The big boys loved searching for buried treasure on the "beach" out back - a blow-up pool filled with sand and goodies. Miles found some gold doubloons and strings of pearls (Mardi Gras beads). He really loved the beads, wearing home several strands and a giant ring on his thumb!

Oh, have a new find to share with the moms out there.... Gymboree has opened its "Old Navy" version: Crazy 8. There are a few stores, but for most of us, I think it will be online shopping.