Best Bowler

Seriously.

On Monday, we had a Quicken Health Group team offsite at a bowling alley. Of all the crazy things (ever), I bowled a 185 - which meant that in all but 1 frame and my bonus frame, I scored a strike or a spare.

People kept asking me how often I bowl.... which is never... but they didn't believe me. The next highest bowler challenged me to a bowl-off, but I decided to "retire" at the top of my game.

Photos from the Holiday Train

I am still looking to get some of the videos downloaded, but here are some stills.

Miles Catch Up

I took some photos off the computer and am (finally) posting them up to Flickr.

Featuring Miles' 2 Teeth!!!

Crawling into (and out of) the bottom of the exersaucer

Showing Dad how well he can stand up!

Too many updates!

Ok, so work is still crazy. I have never been this busy in my entire life! Days are crazy hectic at the office, I just picked up 2 more projects with nothing removed. Evenings are crazy: Tim hosts engineers for dinner and work on a regular basis, I am jamming to needlepoint a stocking for Miles (won't have it done in time), I make Miles' food in the evenings, not to mention other household basics! It seems like blogging and keeping up to date on all that stuff has been de-prioritized for the time being!

Thanksgiving: (Yes, I know, 10 days ago!!!)
My folks came out this year for thanksgiving which was wonderful. I think we all agreed at the end of it, that it didn't really "feel" like thanksgiving normally does, but then, I am not sure what hosting thanksgiving with an infant actually feels like - so maybe it did!

I didn't make a whole turkey for the 5 of us, considering 1 of us (Miles) isn't quite there yet on his eating journey. I made a wonderful stuffed cornish game hen with a cream corn thing that was great - loved it!! I also made the requisite mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans and herb rolls. Yeah, I think there was enough food for the four of us!!


On Friday and Saturday (11/28 & 29), we prepped the house for Miles' Baptism. Aside from completely redoing our landscaping (seriously), we gave the house a full wash-down. When Sunday arrived, we were off to the church for the event. Miles was in the baptism gown I wore, along with his 2 cousins Mary and Owen. He was great! We have a video of the event which we will try and post. It was past his nap time, but when the minister told him that he looked very serious, he let loose one of his world class smiles much to the delight of the congregation. After he was baptized, Tim took (our slightly fussy guy) out of the sanctuary and Miles fell asleep in his arms. So wonderful.

We got home and had around 32 for brunch. After and hour or so, Miles excused himself for a nap, but he was really a joy and a well behaved little man.


On top of everything else in our lives, last week we started with a new nanny. It was a hard decision for us and the Barretts, but we ultimately believe it was the right one.

This past weekend, we really got into the holiday spirit. On Friday, Tim avoided the crowds and picked us up a tree. Much to my surprise, it was gigantic and had to be trimmed a couple of times before it would fit! It is a beautiful tree and has been smelling up our house wonderfully all weekend.

On Saturday, Tim accompanied a friend of ours to pick out his engagement ring for his girlfriend. They actually spent a 1/2 day on Friday as well, but as of 3:00 Saturday, a beautiful ring was in hand, and by 8:00 pm, they were engaged. (Congrats Brandon & Jen!!!!!)

Saturday night, the Reeths came over and we went to see the Caltrain Holiday train. They basically put 40k lights on a train and drive it down the peninsula. They have a flat car, and in certain stations, they stop, and a band and choir appears on the flat car to preform. Santa, Mrs Clause and the reindeer were there as well! It was a wonderful way to get into the holiday spirit. Certainly Miles didn't get it, but it was a wonderful new tradition and a great way for us to get into the holiday spirit.

On Sunday, we spent the better part of the morning stringing lights onto our Noble Fir. I think we probably put up more than 2500 into the tree, but it looks wonderful! After Miles woke up from his nap, we went back down to Burlingame Ave where they had the whole street blocked off for an "open house" and parade. It really is wonderful to be in such a great community. After the Reeths took off, Tim and I put on more christmas music and finished the tree and the garland over the mantel. Before we put Miles to bed, we took a stroll through the neighborhood to look at all the holiday lights. We found a really wonderful house in-progress and met the man behind it. We will be sure to visit it again soon, and take photos.

Besides from busy, we are really blessed in our lives and find ourselves glowing in our love of one another - sometimes its just hard to keep it in.

Why so quiet??!?!?

LIfe is super busy these days - sorry for the silence!

Miles is doing super (of course), he couldn't be more cute or more special (says the doting mom) and we just fall more and more in love with him on a daily basis. Tim and I literally spent about 30 minutes on the kitchen floor playing "Hide and seek" with him as I held him up and Tim hid behind my back and on the floor while Miles tried to find Dad's face. How wonderful that he interacts so much - it is so rewarding.

Tim is crazy busy and finding that he is working well into the early hours of the morning. Needless to say, he is exhausted by the end of the week, and I just miss my husband!

I am pretty frantic myself. It seems like work is trying to put 2 weeks of meetings into 1 as next week is the holiday. Speaking of which...

NEXT WEEK IS THANKSGIVING!!!!

Good gracious, how did it get to be late November? I am in whirlwind with respect to timing these days. The weather hasn't helped set the Autumn tone either as last weekend was 80 degrees and feeling like summer. Everything seems to be going by so quickly and I wish I could slow it down. I hear that it continues to get faster and faster as life goes on. I guess you just need to stop an appreciate each day for what it is... and today, I am happy. In fact, I don't think I have ever been happier. Life is wonderful, we are all healthy (except for the occasional cold), I am in love with my husband, we have a spectacular little boy, and our house is our home. As we approach Thanksgiving, you need to stop and take stock. My stock is on the rise.

Rodeo doodie doodie do do

Miles prepares for the Longhorn World Rodeo Championship in just a few short weeks.

Giddy up little doggie!

8 months!!!

It's been a busy week, but our little 8 month old is still fabulous!! Can you believe it's been 8 months?!?! I can't!! It really does just get more and more fun every day. Here are some of his new 8 month 'Tones:

Object permanence:Miles is right on track for becoming more aware of his environment. If I am holding him, and Tim walks out of the room, he will watch him go, and wait for him to come back. If Tim is holding him and I am out of site but around the corner, her will leeeeeaaaaaaaan waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyy over to try and peek around the corner and find me. All this is wonderful, and suggestive that he has discovered "object permanence"! Except that it comes with a new bout of separation anxiety. Miles now gets really upset if we walk out of rooms while we are in his view. Apparently, this is totally normal, but very sad for him. He now realizes that when we aren't in his view, its not that we no longer exist, but that we just aren't there with him. We just need to teach him that even though we are gone, we always come back.

Signs: We are starting to use sign language with Miles for some basic things. Apparently, children can do sign language before they can figure out how to speak. We aren't going hog wild, but are starting to teach him "milk", "food/eat", "play", and "finished". We may work some more into the equation as we get more and more into it. This is only relevant to his 'Tones in that now he totally (and consistently) lights up when it is time for "milk" or to "eat". It really is as if he is beginning to understand us, and that is wonderful.

High fives: much on the same note as the above, Miles is learning High 5's. If Tim or I hold up one hand while holding Miles with the other and chant "high 5, high 5" to him, he will reach out with his hand to ours. I think he is getting the hang of it... and it's super cute.

Crawling: while Miles' hasn't figured out how to get around on all 4s yet, he is fully into the army crawl and amazingly finds his way into trouble. His favorite thing to do in the playroom is not to actually play with the toys, instead to crawl over to one of our red chairs, hold it by its legs, and move it. I tell him that he is very good at moving furniture... I think he likes that. All I do know, is that when Miles does figure out how to get moving faster - he is going to take off like a light!

Eating: Miles is a pretty good eater. He (of course) loves any fruit we introduce, but he is also getting into some veggies. Yesterday he had zucchini for the first time and it went down great! He loves peas, and will tolerate spinach if it is mixed into his peas - but I don't think he likes the texture. Speaking of which, I made him some greenbeans that didn't puree all the well and he just HATED them (think potatoes). He'll also eat anything orange: carrots, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash.

Milk & the Bottle: I am still nursing Miles, though it is on "alert" since he started growing teeth!!! I know I am not going to be doing this much longer, but am enjoying it while it's still here. Interestingly, I did it in the beginning because I felt it was the right thing to do, and other than some pain, we didn't have too hard of a time doing it. I then continued doing it becuae it was convenient - all I needed to pack was me and Miles could be fed. I now do it because it is dear to me. I am pumping daily at the office, and our freezer is full of milk. When I am not there, Miles can totally give himself his own bottle... provided he is reclining or lying down. I don't think he fully "gets" the notion that he has to fully tip the bottle backwards - maybe because he hasn't really needed gravity to feed while nursing.

Finger Foods: I've started to try and give him finger foods on his high chair tray while I make his meal. He has chased Cheerios all over the tray until they are on the ground. Occasionally he'll pick one up... but he has yet to put it in his own mouth... I swear, it's the only thing that I've ever seen in his hands that DIDN'T make it to his mouth... except the tiny chunks of bananas that I use the same way. Oh well, he'll get it soon enough

That's the big update. Needless to say, we just adore our little guy. He is getting increasingly more interactive, which is tremendously rewarding. I couldn't imagine life without him.