Party pics

Juice box in hand, flowers around my neck, enjoying being 1...yummmmmm........cake.

Check-up

Miles weighs 22 lb,11 oz, which puts him in the 55%. And, he is in the 95% for height (I'll have to look at his height later, I can't remember right now!). So, he's tall and lean! :)
We talked about his diarrhea (such a change of conversation from the normal constipation talk we have) when I tried the milk last week and he gave me some suggestions. I am going to see what the GI doctor says also (have to call him again today - I still have not heard from him) and go from there. We also talked about the fact that Miles is not talking very much. We both feel that it is because of all the ear infections he has had and are going to watch him, but give him more time. He did suggest asking his ENT to do a hearing test at his next follow-up in 6 more weeks (or so).
So, good check-up. Miles got 4 shots plus a toe prick for blood. He was in such a great mood, until the shots, of course. But he rebounded well and has not had a fever this time around.
Today is the last day of MDO for the normal school year. The boys will go on Thursdays in June and July. And, August is ALL mommy-time, ALL day. We are going to have to find some activities to fill our days. I am thinking one day will be swim for Mason (at Emler), one day swim for Miles (at the Y), one day at the library (Mason has a summer reading list for his K3 class -- WHAT????), one day to play outside and one flexible day. Any other suggestions from more experienced moms?
Gotta run get the boys ready. Have a great Thursday!

Miles is 1

Miles turned 1 on Monday. We had a very fun day and Miles TORE into his cake. I'll post pics soon, they are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO funny. He had to go straight to the bath and his clothes had to soak for several hours to get the food coloring out of them. When he turned 1, Mason refused to touch his cake. Miles made up for the lack of "fun" by eating his entire cake (not just a cupcake, it was a #1, about the size of 2 cupcake!!), all the icing that was not on his face, arms, neck, ears, etc, and that was all after a huge lunch (an entire hotdog, grapes, goldfish, maybe something else - I don't remember now). He is going to be 30 lbs at his weigh-in today!!!

Monday was so much fun. Tuesday it hit me - Miles is not a baby anymore, but a toddler. It was so much harder (emotionally) than when Mason turned 1. With Mason I was just relived to have made it through the first year and I didn't damage him too badly! :) Mason's first year felt like it was so long. Miles' first year flew by.
We have not decided if we are going to have a 3rd baby. Two is good -- we are not outnumbered. We can each spend one-on-one time with each boy and not be so split with our time and energies. A table for 4 at a restaurant is easy. A table for 5 is harder. We love to travel and cannot wait until the boys are old enough to take on trips. A third baby will prolong that and make it more expensive, cumbersome.
But.
I am the third child in my family. I cannot help but think what if my parents stopped after 2 boys because it was easier, more convenient, less expensive (much less expensive in my case!!). I want the best for my boys. I want to be able to give them things and experiences that others do not have. I want them to learn about other cultures by experiencing them. I want them to go to great schools and participate in whatever activities they want to. I don't want to have to say no because we don't have the resources (financial or time).
But.
I just don't have the feeling that our family is complete.
We have a 3 bedroom house. I have no office, no space of my own, no real place to decorate, spread out, call my own. All of the common areas (except the living room, that is for mommy and daddy only!!!) and all 3 bedrooms (yes, even the master) have toys in them. When Miles turns 2, we plan to bunk the boys in Mason's room. We will have a free room for toys, office, scrapbook stuff, a chair to sit and read in. Selfishly, I hate to give up that idea, that space, that freedom from toys all over the house.
But..........still working though all of this.
More later from Miles' 1-year well baby check-up.

Here we go again......

Had Miles in for his runny nose and it is just allergies/a cold. No biggie. As a preview to next week's well-baby check-up, he weighed 22lbs, 13 oz. Such a chunk! To compare, at one year, Mason was 24lb 3 oz. So, he will weigh less than that, but we'll see how his height measures up.

Tuesday I gave Miles a little bit of milk, since we can start that at 1 year. Yesterday while I was at the store, I picked up some whole milk and gave him 6-8 oz (throughout the day). He had terrible diarrhea yesterday and it continues into today. This is strange on so many levels, not the least of which just a week ago, I had to double his laxative medicine because he was so constipated. So, either his runny nose is acutally a viral infection that is now working through his GI system. OR..... we are battling a milk allergy/intolerance. Like the title says, here we go again. I was thinking that I would call the GI doctor today if it continued, but I decided to cut off the milk (and the laxative) and see if his system settles. He has eaten very little today. I will call the doctor tomorrow and see what he thinks. Anyone reading this have any suggestions or thoughts? I will gladly take them. I hate that this might be starting again....!!!

Floor and laundry

We are having tile installed in our laundry room and an adjacent half bath. Eric and our neighbor, David, tore out the toilet, cabinet and sink from the bath so that they can have new tile put under them. It was a little bit of a surprise to me, but the toilet and sink were pink and the countertop was browns, oranges and pinks. Not really my taste. But, it was very 1950s chic! :) So, the bathroom will be out of order for a few more weeks, probably.
It took me over a week and trips to many, many stores to find tile to match the kitchen. I finally did and it should be delivered to the store later today. So, I realized this morning that my laundry room will also be out of order for the next 3 days or so. Looking around, I have huge piles of laundry needing to be done and Mason has no shorts clean that fit. Thus, today is laundry day. It has to get finished today or it will not be clean until the weekend. That's a way to keep me motivated on laundry. I normally stretch it out over several days if possible because I do not like laundry.
Miles has a nasty cough this morning and a yucky runny nose, so we called the peds office and they want to see him this afternoon. So, the boys are down for naps early. I have to go shower (finally) and get all our stuff ready to go to the doctor. I will post the results from the doctor later today.

What a weekend -- so weird!

We had a busy, busy weekend! Two birthday parties -- our nephew Kaleb is 9 and he had a bowling party. Mason got to bowl and did great with it! He was so cute in the little shoes! :) Although, he was in a size 11 shoe and our niece Maddie, who is 6, was in a size 12 shoe. CRAZY!! Maybe I should say he was so cute in the BIG shoes! Our friend's little boy turned 1 on Sunday, so they had a (very cold water) swmming party. Very fun for everyone though. Saturday night, we hosted a bridal shower for my cousin's son (does that make him a second cousin???).
Eric and a neighbor tore out the toilet, sink, and cabinet from a half bath off our laundry area. We are getting new tile this week in there and the laundry room. So, we will replace the toilet and put in a pedestal sink after the tile is installed.
I also did a little work on Miles' first year scrapbook last night. Whew! Busy Busy!!!
While at the bowling alley on Saturday afternoon, I ran into a friend from Jr. High and high school. We have not seen each other since graduation - it was so bizarre that we were both in the same place at the same time. It was fun to talk and catch up on a little bit of life. Then, Sunday I had a new friend on facebook -- another friend from jr high and high school. Actually, we met in elementary school, but he is a year older than I am, so we became better friends while in band together in jr high. It is so fun reconnecting with old friends -- people that knew me before kids, before marriage, when I was a "Johnson", when I was young and naive! :)
Well, I get to go pick up the boys soon and hear all about their day at "school". Only 2 more days left of this semester.... I'm so sad!!! But, they will go on Thursdays in June and July. August will be an interesting (and very long) month.......!

All done & more

I have recently started using sign language with Miles. We did it with Mason and it really helped bridge the communication gap until he was able to say words like more, please, thank you, all done, etc. A few days ago, Miles started signing and saying "all done" when he was through eating, his cup was empty or something was finished. Today, he was eating yogurt for breakfast and I had put down the yogurt to help Mason with his breakfast. Miles started signing "more" (or at least his best effort at it). When I gave him another bite and told him good job for using his words or signs, he started clapping. He was so happy that his sign got the response that he wanted. I am also happy, my sweet boy!!!!

Weekend, Mother's Day and Mason-ism

We had a crazy busy weekend. First, our niece, Maddie, turned 6!!! WOW!! Seems like a few months ago that she was born. So, we hada very fun time at her Bouncehouse party. Miles loved the slides and jumping in the houses. He tried to go down the really big slide several times before Mommy was ready. Mason had a great time also, but was a little slower to enjoy it. By the end, he had fun going down the slides also, but only with Mommy, Daddy or Papa! Friday night and Saturday, Eric and I painted our laundry room and an adjacent half bath that have been severely neglected since we moved into this house 4 years ago. They had ugly pinkish-peach paint that makes me hate laundry even more than I already do. So, it is a nice white color now. But, we didn't drape the (really, really ugly) linoleum, so we are hoping to get the tile from the kitchen extended into the two areas before Miles' birthday party in 2 weeks. Yeah, nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh? Well, after visiting 5 stores yesterday, I cannot find anyone that has the tile in stock. Apparently it is very popular. We'll see what happens.

Mother's Day was spent at church, cleaning up from the painting and putting away everything from the laundry room, napping (me, Miles and Mason.... daddy went on a run!), and dinner out. Very nice. Eric and I are going to do a joint Mother's Day-Father's Day gift of a patio set for our beautiful newly completed patio! :) We hope to also get that before the party. Miles' party is turning out to be very expensive! :)

Mason brought me one of his little figures - I think it is a driver of one of his diggers. He said that the man has a mosquito bite. I asked him where and he pointed to the man's chest. The man has a little whisp of chest hair (painted on) sticking out the top of his shirt. I thought it was really funny that Mason thought is was a "squito bite". I tried to explain, but he just looked at me and said "oh". You'll understand soon enough buddy! :)

Tonight we have a "New Student Information Meeting" at Mason's new preschool. I am excited but also a little sad. My baby is growing up. He'll be leaving the MDO he has been in for 3 years. Miles will attend a new MDO program in the fall also so that they will be in school the same days (Mason - MWF and Miles MW). So, I am sad about that. Mason will be leaving some of his best friends (Dylan Jo and Delia especially) as they will be going to different schools in the Fall. I'm just really sad to be closing this chapter of all our lives. But, I know he will make some awesome new friends and so will I. I won't lose my old friendships, I couldn't get through the week without Keely!!! So, we're off in a few minutes to start that journey..... I'll post an update on how it goes.

What a week!

I know that it has been a week since I last updated. Sorry! We have had quite a week. Miles is walking EVERYWHERE now and let's just say that 2 fully mobile, active little boys in the house is BUSY!!! Miles gets into everything -- so much more than Mason did. He loves to open, close, open, close, open, close......doors. All doors. Cabinet doors, pantry doors, bedroom doors, bathroom doors. Sometimes he is inside a room, closes a door and then screams to be let out. He digs in cabinets and pulls everything out. He pulls all the DVDs out multiple times a day. Whew!! So much more cleaning/putting away for mommy these days.
Mason is doing great. He is still learning to share his toys. My quandry is should I suddenly deem all toys as "our toys" and Miles gets to play with anything, as does Mason? Should there be a few toys that belong to each boy? I don't know what to do. I think I am going to have to move the train table from Mason's room into the den (I hate the idea of the den as play room, but for now, it may have to happen) as it causes the most fights/screaming.
Better run. I'll post some pics from the weekend soon!

Cute pics and video

Just wanted to post a video of Miles walking....sorry it is sideways. I don't know how to turn it!

Miles with his ear plugs in -- I am too afraid to put him in the big bathtub yet, so he bathes in the sink again. He seems to enjoy it and it is much easier on mommy's back! :)

Music

I love music. I always have music on - in the house, the car. Sometimes, I even let the boys pick the music! :) So, it is only natural to me to add a few of my favorite songs to my blog. Enjoy!!