ZooLights

Despite our colds, we did make it out one night before Christmas to the zoolights. The first night we drove out there it started raining and Nathaniel fell asleep in the car so we turned around and headed home. But the second night we drove out there, it was not too cold and not rainy so we were able to walk around and enjoy the displays. Fun!

Merry Christmas!

Wow! What a busy week. We were so thankful to be with family at this very special time of year. It was so fun to have Nathaniel this year too. He was very much in awe of the Christmas tree/lights and eventually figured out how to unwrap a gift!

We hosted Christmas Eve this year at our house. We ate way too much and enjoyed time with everyone. Nathaniel got a lot of really cool toys too.

One sick Momma

Well, I'm actually on the mend... otherwise I would still be laying in bed and not on the computer :-) I haven't really been hit as hard as the boys... but goodness it's hard to keep away from the cooties and still take care of everyone! How do you Mommas do it? Especially with more than one baby! I think of my sis-in-law and thier 5 kids. They must be sick for months at a time! This two week stretch has been so draining. I wanna get out and do something fun!!!! I've missed so many holiday parties and fun things due to the sickies. Hopefully they are going going gone for the rest of the year.... wait that's only two weeks. The nice thing about December is we have maxed out our deductible so going to the Dr. and getting prescriptions is FREE! Okay, back to bed I go....

2 Sick boys :-(

Nathaniel has been under the weather for a few days. He is doing better today. I think the last few days he has successfully got the snot factory up and running, and he has ooze coming out his eyes.... yuck. It's so sad to see him not feeling well. He is doing well all things considered and gives a smile every once in a while. Just not the usual kid we have around here :-( Lots of snuggles though. I've been letting him take his afternoon nap on me... I know I know, I'm spoiling him. It's just so sad to see him so stuffy and runny, and his cheeks are all red (maybe because I've been washing them so much). Poor little boy. Get better soon!

And then Ken came home from work today... and went straight to bed. Get your SuperMom cape on... no rest for the weary! Wait I can call Oma! When are you coming over tomorrow mom?

10 Months Old

Wow 10 Months! Can it be? We've survived almost a year of baby bootcamp! I've had a few relatives put in an order for another one... sheesh! I'm not a baby making machine! And after last night... maybe just one will suffice. Nathaniel was up all night :-( Maybe teething? Once he gets that worked up it's hard for him to remember why he is crying, just seems like the thing to do.
Anyway, Nathaniel is now crawling... which makes my day that much more exciting. He seems to be eating well... still nursing 4-5 times a day, but eats 8-10 ounces of pureed food too. He seems to be gaining weight and doing well though! He loves spending time with his daddy and can't wait for the "fun one" to come home. He says Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma. Although it would be nice to say he is calling for me I'm not sure it isn't just babbling. He can clap his hands and shake his head if we say either of those things. And if you say "Don't eat my nose" he dive bomb you, mouth wide open so get ready to move... quick! He is so much fun!

Christmas Ornament

We were lured into Picture People the other day... enticed by a coupon for a Free Baby's First Ornament. How cute is this!

On the move

Am I going to be able to keep up with this little man? He is definitely moving now and we are getting into things that require a stern "no touch Nathaniel, that's not for us". He loves climbing all over daddy in search for the remote. They both love to wrestle. Nathaniel gave Daddy a big sloppy kiss :-)

The best toy ever

An empty can of Pringles! Hours of Fun!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a nice time with my parents and my dad's side of the family. Nathaniel was especially thankful for the Aunts and Grandparents that wanted to hold him and entertain him.

Black Friday

The best part about Black Friday was hanging out with my mom. We used to go out every year, but the last few years we haven't had a chance to. Mom graciously drove to my side of town and stood in lines with me. I don't think I got any spectacular deals... but I did get a lot of stuff (at a decent price) crossed of my list :-) And like I said the best part about it was time with my mom. I love you mom!

9 Month Picture

Yikes! I realized I haven't posted Nathaniel's month picture and he is almost ready for his 10 month sitting! What a handsome boy he is!

Where have I been????

Honestly... I've been going coupon crazy and have been sucked into these websites which tell me where the deals are.... that and Nathaniel has been keeping me busy too :-) I can't figure out if he needs 2 naps or just 1 now. The last two days he has slept a good 2 to 2.5 hour nap in the middle of the day. Which is nice, but unexpected so I can't say I've much to show for all that time :-) Tomorrow I plan to rake the leaves :-) Anyway, I paid 66 cents for two packages of Philadelphia Cream cheese today... saving $4.57! What a steal! And I did find Nathaniel's Christmas present... a LeapFrog toy retail $22.... my price 49 cents!!!!! Plus I got my Christmas cards done for FREE! See one could easily get addicted to these websites! Nathaniel and I have also been out and about enjoying the beautiful weather... and showing up for Swim Aerobics/Zumba workout almost everyday.

9 Months Old

Teeth #5, 6, & 7 are now present! Nathaniel is becoming more and more mobile. Today at the Doctors office he was slowly moving in circles on the table. He is totally into grabbing anything he can get his hands on! We were happy to hear that no shots were necessary today and actually elected the H1N1 vaccination while we were there. I feel like we've been all over the map on what to do about this vaccination, so it's nice to finally have it done and over with. He is still rather small for his age, but has been eating much better the last few weeks. And his smile is still worth all the sleepless nights :0)

Boo!

Tonight we went to an Halloween Party at Ken's work. They turned the cafeteria into a little carnival for employee's kids to come and enjoy. There was a cake walk, fishing, putt-putt golfing, etc. Obviously Nathaniel wasn't able to thoroughly enjoy it but he had fun... till Ken took him to the scary maze outside. They had people jump out of the bushes and scare the kids... my poor little guy didn't like that one bit and dad came back with a crying baby... sheesh! What did you think was going to happen dad? Nothing a CapriSun package couldn't fix.

Splish Splash

Thank you Aunt Laurie for hours of entertainment at bath time! It's funny to watch Nathaniel bounce around to the music.

Trip to Montana

Girls night out

At the wedding

A trip into Yellowstone

All bundled up

Go Huskies

Nathaniel will be off to college before I know it. He looks excited about University of Washington where daddy went!

8 Month Picture

First trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Nathaniel seemed somewhat intrigued by the pumpkins but more by the hay he could put in his mouth :-)

The laundry basket

Who would have thought a simple household item could be so funny! This went on for at least half an hour!

Gymboree Class

I found a coupon for 2 weeks free at Gymboree so we thought we would check it out. Nathaniel has been having lots of fun with it. He loves the bubbles and is learning how to crawl up and down ramps.

Going after the blocks

How does he know to wait till I'm done with the tower before knocking it down? Endless hours of fun :-)

The remote control

Nathaniel has been 'thinking' about crawling and moving but just needed a little incentive so we've been putting the remote in his path just a few steps ahead. Guess what... where there is a will there is a way! He will also go for the phone too! Is he going to be an electronics guy?

My frog will be a prince someday

We had a little Halloween Party for the Moms and Babies on Saturday. It was a lot of fun, these kids are soo stinkin cute! Almost all of them were an animal of some sort... from ponies, to monkeys, to giraffes, to a skunk! My little froggie was the one who stole my heart. I should have dressed up as the princess who kisses the frog and turns him into a HANDSOME PRINCE!

More pictures of Nathaniel

Still loves his toes!


Eating is fun!

Giving up on the sleep training for now

I'm tired and the extinction method doesn't seem to be working :-( Probably because I'm not doing it 100%. We've been letting him "cry it out" in the middle of the night for 4 nights now. Each time he has cried for 2 hours and then I decide well he is probably hungry now so I'll get up and feed him. I think I will try again at 9months, but for now it's easier to wake up once at 2:30 and put him back to sleep than wake up at and listen to him cry for 2+ hours. Anyone want to convince me otherwise? I'm open to suggestions :-)

Friends from the past

A friend from high school was in town this week. Friday night we met up for dinner. It was a bit of a challenge finding the right restaraunt but once we did we had a lot of fun to getting together and hearing what everyone has been up to. I found a picture from our 10 year reunion in 2005. And following is a picture from Friday night 14 years since graduation. My how time flies!

2005


2009

8 Months Old

It's fun to think about what we were doing 1 year ago. Most of you found out we were going to have Nathaniel one year ago when we were on our home leave from Israel. It's hard to believe he is 8 months old already. He really is a sweet little boy, despite our grumpy days. He's been learning to eat solid foods. Squash and carrots seem to be a big hit. He also loves his toys and interested in everything around him. He is such a precious gift to us. We love him!

Mr Grumpy Pants

This little boy is refusing naps :-( Uggh. We are on a week now of extreme crying anytime I put him in his crib for a nap. The only positive I see here is that he is going down for bed at night really well since he is soooo tired. I know they say babies go through phases and just when you figure it out they will switch it on you. Well, it's true... and until you experience it you don't realize how well you were doing. What a TURKEY! For a while there he was doing a 2 hour nap in the morning and 2 hour nap in the afternoon. I guess I got used to it. Now he won't sleep (unless we are in the car... and I can't drive to the beach every day to make sure he gets a long nap!) and won't play with his toys on his own. I know you guys don't believe me... when he sees anyone else he is all smiles and happy. It's just with mom that he needs me to hold him every moment and for my sanity I do.

Another house project

I haven't had time to blog these days... too busy around the house. We framed the windows on the backside of our house two weekends ago. What a project! Anytime we have to get the 30 foot ladder out you know we are serious. I probably should have taken a few pictures but having a little one around kept me pretty busy. This project was actually both cosmetic and necessary to re-seal the window from last December's leak. They actually look really nice now. We couldn't have done it without my Dad's expertise and willingness to climb on the roof :-)

This last weekend we decided to start an indoor project.... one Ken has been threatening to do for a few years. Replace the baseboards in our house. Sounds like a lame way to spend money if you ask me. We keep saying it will be the sabbatical project, but we keep deferring sabbatical. We actually found someone at our church who is out of work and highly skilled in this area so we hope to get the project done and help someone else out at the same time. The first thing we need to do is paint the inside of the house...living room, kitchen and hallway. After 2.5 hours at home depot on Friday evening we had all our supplies for the next couple of weeks. I know it sounds like a long time but by the time we picked up all the paint, primer, the baseboards, the doors (yes, a bit of scope creep in the project plan now includes replacing the doors too), all the little gadgets, and renting out the truck it was 2.5 hours. The paint we got was "Sparrow" which was a nice grey color. It has a little tint of blue and I keep calling it blue... but if you talk to Ken tell him it's GREY!

Anyway, after putting our little man down for the night we got started on painting and kept painting through the night... till Nathaniel's first wake up at 1am. I made Ken go in and check on him since he was up. Nathaniel didn't like that much and kept looking over his shoulder for mom like this was some mean trick we were playing on him. Eventually Nathaniel went back to sleep, woke up for at 4am feeding and was up bright and early at 6:30am! Saturday was a loooooong day. There were times I thought we wouldn't achieve our goal. But we did, completing the ceiling AND the living room. Yes, I said ceiling... who paints a ceiling? The Miles family. We had to take turns for most of the day since Nathaniel didn't want to play by himself or take any naps. He's been refusing naps for a week now, much to my dismay. House projects are much harder with a little munchkin! Just wait till he's old enough to hold a paint brush.... we will put him to work! Sunday we took the morning off for church but were back at the paint with a goal of finishing the kitchen and the hallway. Now all that is left is trim work... which is not my favorite. Monday night we painted the baseboards and next Tuesday we should be ready for Roy to come and start installation! It will be nice to have it all done. Now I wonder what we will do for Sabbatical next year?

Peanut Butter Granola Bars

I'm stealing this off my friend Karen's blog because they are really yummy and you all need to try it! I used peanuts instead of sunflower seeds and craisins instead of raisins. YUMMMMY!

1 C. Peanut Butter
1/3 C. Brown sugar, packed
1/2 C. Honey
1/3 C. Margarine
2 tsp. Vanilla
Cream together till smooth

3 C. Slow Cook Oats
1/2 C. Coconut
1/2 C. Sunflower seeds, no salted
1/2 C. raisins
1/4 C. ground flaxseed
1/2 C. almonds, sliced
1/2 C. chocolate chips

Add, and mix well. Press into a greases 9x13 pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350.

Enjoy!!! A great low sugar snack for kids and you!

Love those blocks

My little boy

This is what big sister would be like

Our friends (that we met in Israel who live in Portland also) came over on Sunday for a BBQ. Their daughter Laura is 6 years old. She loved talking to Nathaniel while he was in my belly in Israel. Now that she can see him she loves him even more! She played with Nathaniel all afternoon and read books to him. It was so funny to see her reading and Nathaniel reaching for the pages. It was a classic "annoying little brother" situation where Laura nicely would hand him a toy to distract him so she could continue reading. He would ditch the toy and she would keep reading while handing him another toy. It was extremely amusing :-) With neither of them having siblings, I think they could be good for each other.

Eating on the rooftop

We visited Aunt Bethany and Uncle Stevie this weekend and had dinner on the top of their building. It was a lot of fun... a little cold.... but a nice view, great food, and fun to be with family. Nathaniel enjoyed sunggling with Aunt Bethany too. Too bad I didn't get a picture of the view :-(

We are officially moving!

Nathaniel has been trying hard for the last several weeks to roll/scoot and I believe it's now official. Yesterday he was moving all over: front to back, back to front, sitting up and and lunging forward to his belly. Gone are the days of Nathaniel staying in one spot to play with his toys :-( Oh well, I must admit we were helping him get to this stage by putting toys just outside his reach and letting him see he could get it if he lunged forward. It's fun to watch him change and grow. What a big boy!

Aunt Wilma came to visit

This is my dad's Aunt Wilma (my Grandpa's sister) so that make a GreatGreat Aunt Wilma for Nathaniel. I think she is 94.

7 month picture

This looks like a school picture to me! I can't belive how big he is getting!

Eating his toes

Who needs toys when you have your toes?