Sunday, May 29, 2011

6 months

It is as if the day Miles turned 6 months he changed. He became and even better baby. He can nap better, sit up better, move around on the floor better, stands better (with a little help), hand eye coordination grew 10 fold, laughs more, and even cut a tooth last night! People say that at 6 months, babies seem to change and cross those milestones that parents have had an extreme eagerness for them to cross (especially the sleep one).




Miles is such a joyful baby. He practically jumps out of his Baby Einstein Jumper while clasping his hands together and letting a squeal out of his smile that is grinning from ear to ear upon hearing his name or a funny new sound. By the way, it's amazing what you can get him to laugh at. Just make up a new sound and you'll have him laughing for 10 minutes.



Miles is doing this rolling-back-and-forth move to get to his toys so I can tell he is starting to make the connection that things are at certain distances and he needs to move around to get to them. I'm impatiently awaiting those first coordinated moves between his hands and knees when he crawls for the first time. It could be soon. It could happen over night like his tooth did!

Check out how big Miles is now!


Saturday, May 28, 2011

Listening to My Instinct

I knew I should have listened to myself. It happened twice today (actually more than that, but these ones are significant enough to report) and I don't want to find out if it'll happen a third. I enjoyed a lemon drop last night in a martini glass that we got as a wedding gift, cleaned it, set it on the counter to dry and planned to put it away in the morning. Well, today goes by and I hadn't put the glass away but nevertheless kept telling myself I should or it'll get knocked over and broken. 

We were busy grocery shopping and doing yard work and enjoying the beautiful sunshine that putting glasses away found a home on the back burner. Now, it's not one of those stout martini glasses that can be knocked around a bit. No no. These are almost as tall as a fifth of Tanquarey Dry Gin (the one with the cool green bottle) and oh-so-delicate. I'm even afraid to use a sponge to clean them so I use my hand instead. So, we get home from grocery shopping, Pat goes outside to test out his squeaky new weed-whacker/ edger, and I go to town on Julie and Julia inspired Bruschetta. Miles gets antsy so I pick him up and try to finish putting the olive oil on the tomatoes. As I set the oil down, too close to the martini glass, my hand pulls away knocking the glass off the counter in a full tumble to the floor. With a shattered crash broken glass literally flies into the air above the countertop in an I-told-you-so way that makes me cringe when I replay it in my head. Yeah, it's just a glass but I should have listened to myself and put it away this morning. Now if we have a couple of friends over I can only serve three people with martini glasses and one has to use a regular glass. Boo hoo.

R.I.P Martini Glass

And then it got worse. We've needed our knives sharpened for some time and so I took it upon myself to watch some how-to videos online about how to properly sharpen a knife. Yeah, you can guess where this one's going. After carefully sharpening the knife I HAD to test it out on a slice of lime that was already thin enough. The knife barely breaks the skin of the lime so I work a little harder to finish the cut. Oh, I finished the cut alright, right into my finger! I actually didn't even finish slicing the lime, the knife is still sitting halfway through it. I'm too annoyed to clean it up. And my finger still hurts. I should have listened to my intuition about all of the above: sharpening a knife when I'm tired, testing it out on a thin slice of lime (that citrus stings!), and not stopping when it could hardly pierce the skin of the lime, obviously the knife was still too dull.


































Things like this have happened all day. Next time I'll listen to that voice because it's so not worth a broken glass and a cut finger. I think I should go to bed now and not find out if there will be another lesson to be learned. Hmm, maybe that is one in itself. Okay, off to bed I go. Night!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

- 2 4 -

Another year older and I still feel 19. I've heard the term "the body grows older but the mind stays young" all too often and now as I look back over the past few years I can see how true that statement has become. Even though I keep getting older I still feel like I just finished my first year of college.

I don't think of myself in the terms of "married with children" even though that is my life. I guess I've always looked up to this age and saw other people married with children and thought I'd never get there. But I'm here and glad I'm here. I'm glad I can be a part of this group. It's truly fantastic and I can't wait to add more years to my marriage and more children to our family.

And I know. I KNOW I'm still young. Truth is, I am starting to see life and how fast it goes. Heck, it's already been 6 years since I graduated high school. That seems like a lot to me.

The other day I was thinking about how many things have changed in 2 years. If I had known 2 years ago what everything would be like right now I would not have believed myself. My, how a year makes a difference. I kind of wonder why people don't make resolutions on their birthdays instead of New Year's Eve. I think the resolution might last longer. 'I will make my 24th year awesome by ____' instead of resolving to do something for the year and then forgetting about it 2 months later. Not that a person wouldn't forget about their birthday resolution 2 months later, but maybe it could be a gift to themselves. It seems easier to say 'by the time I'm 25, next year, I want to be better at this or that.' I've never thought in those terms with a New Year's resolution. So, I guess I should test it out this year and see how it goes...


































For my 24th birthday I resolve to read more than watch TV and by the time I'm 25, next year, I will have fallen in love with reading and pick up a book before turning on the TV.

I love celebrating with family.

Thank you God for creating me in your image and likeness. Thank you for choosing me for my parents.
Thank you mom and dad for giving me life, for sacrificing certain things to bear me, and devoting your lives to teaching and raising me. Without my life I could not have met Patrick and given life to Miles.
























PS Romeo does bug the birds...



Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Easter

Here are the pictures from my family's Easter. The quality isn't that great on the slideshow so if you click the link below, you can view them in better resolution from the website.


Monday, May 16, 2011

Mother's Day


Super cheeks. Super chin. Super Mother's Day.

Birthday Cake, mmm ice cream.


Little Fish


Visiting Friends

A couple weekends ago Patrick, Miles and I visited our wonderful friends, Miles' godparents, Tuan and Sara. We all had a blast catching up, laughing, and enjoying each others company. Patrick and Tuan golfed while Sara, Miles and I went to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and the mall.

Sara is about 16 weeks pregnant now and it was fun to talk about all things baby. It is hard for me to remember being 16 weeks pregnant. I kept telling myself 'this time last year...' And now I have this super chunk that laughs at the simplest things. Wow, now I can't help but think 'this time next year...' It's truly astonishing how quickly time goes by especially if I don't stop and really enjoy the moment I'm in. Visiting friends has always helped me do this. Patrick and I both agree that if we ever have to move farther away from our families that we would be okay because it might mean moving closer to Tuan and Sara.  



 They feel like an extension of our family.





Perhaps it is in God's plan for us all to live closer together someday.


Friday, May 13, 2011

Happiness is...

... baby goosebumps. They're so tiny!

... a clean shower.

... a morning walk.

... putting socks and slippers on cold feet.

... spending time with good friends.

... an agenda free day.

... hearing Miles' beautiful laugh.

... simplicity.