M is for Mess

Lately, Miles has been a MESS in SO many different ways!

On Monday morning, I gave him a bath earlier than usual, although I knew I was taking a risk. I should have followed my instincts and given him a bath after her went #2 in his diaper. Then I would have avoided #2 in the tub and on the bathroom rug Later in the day a customer came in and so I had to take Miles away from his beloved "Tarzan" with me into the office. He threw a fit and eventually found his way back to the living room while I was with the customer (I had left the door open on accident) When I realized it was too quiet, I excused myself to check on him and saw that he had found the bowl of jello we were sharing. I guess I didn't put it up high enough. Yay for carpet cleaners.


On Wednesday I was baking bread and had the tub of flour out. I thought the lid was tight enough to keep him from getting into it. I was wrong. Luckily I caught him soon enough to avoid total disaster. When I fed him lunch later in the day, he had noodles and sauce. He's big into feeding himself these days and needless to say, it's time I invested in a big plastic bib! Why don't I have one of those yet?



The biggest mess of all is that he's in the middle of a major schedule change and teething. Richie and I are on the brink of going nuts. How do you handle this? I'm afraid he's transitioning into only 1 nap per day, but I'll take any nap time over the 30 minute cat naps and being ornery throughout the day. Help!

This Valentine's day was low key as usual. I had to work on Friday and Saturday, so I made a special lunch on Saturday to celebrate; complete with all the trimmings of a 5 star restaurant!
Menu:
Steamed veggies
fettucine alfredo
filet mignon
french bread with evoo and balsamic vinegar dipping sauce
and cream puffs!

Then I realized that I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen this Valentine's day trying out new things and thought I'd give you a review to save you some time if you're debating between cooking projects.
*The heart jello thing that I posted a while back....not as amazing as I was hoping. It looked cool, but just tasted like plain jello
*Sugar Cookies- I finally got the perfect combo of sugar cookie and frosting recipes. If you'd like them, just let me know.
*Dipped Oreo Suckers- way harder than they deserve to be. Every time I put the stick in, the cookie would break, then I couldn't dip it. I ended up just laying them on the sheet and drizzling chocolate over them, then freezing them until I gave them out.

*Cream Puffs- Awesome! Way easier than I was thinking and taste SO good!
*French Bread- I'm sure there are better recipes out there, so if there is a really easy and tasty one, please let me know. This was my first time making french bread, but it actually turned out pretty dang good and wasn't as time consuming as I was betting it would be. But definitely a recipe only for special occasions since it does take you some time.


This is Miles helping me make the cream puffs! He wanted to lick the beater ( who wouldn't?) and then flicked some on his face by accident, so I had to snap a picture!

Oh what do you do in the winter-time?

In a recent post, I asked you what you did in the winter with kids Miles' age. I got a few good suggestions and thought I'd share them and some others we've come up with!

*building forts
*blowing bubbles
*putting drops of food coloring into water
*dancing to music
*blowing up a balloon and then letting it go (he loves this one)
*"helping" mommy with chores
*going to other people's houses to get a change of scenery. He especially likes going to the Christensen's ever Sunday and playing with the ferrets! Kissing the ferrets Miles? Yuck!


And then there's all the normal stuff like bath time and watching baby videos and trying to get him to hold still long enough to read to him. But maybe those few ideas will help out.

Since this is unofficially Valentine's week, I made a heart pizza last night for dinner, complete with heart shaped pepperoni! Since I'll be working on Saturday night, Richie and I are celebrating whenever we get the chance!

I know I'm biased, but....

this is one cute kid! I really think he learns something new every day. Just in the last week he picked up the signs for "eat", "milk" and "hat". He also says the sounds for a choo-choo train (doo doo!) and a monkey! Since he's one now, he can drink cow's milk. We started him on whole milk on Friday, and he's already almost gone through a whole gallon! He loves it!!

You may not believe me, but Miles thinks this is hilarious! We do too!


Miles' alter-ego...Letters boy! They are supposed to stick to the sides of the bathtub, but Richie likes to stick them on Miles.


Hope you all have a good week!

Looking for a car??

One of the new business tenants we have here at our business park and storage facility is called MV Autobuyers. They can find you almost any new or used car at an auction for a fraction of the price you'd pay if you bought it from a dealer. You don't even have to live here in the area, because they can find cars all over the country or have them shipped to you. I just thought I'd put a plug here for them, so if you're interested now or ever, just let me know, or you can go to their website at www.mvautobuyers.com, or call them at (208)346-3726

Miles turns uno!!!

Yes, it's true, we officially have a toddler in our home. All throughout yesterday, I just kept running through the events of exactly a year ago. "Okay, a year ago right now, my water broke." "Exactly a year ago, this instant, we were in the hospital" etc etc. I still can't quite get over how fast time seems to go. I always go check on Miles before I go to bed, but it was a tender moment to check on him last night and realize that almost a year ago exactly, I saw him for the first time!

We had some friends over to help celebrate (thank you for coming over) and had a really low key celebration. I made a lion cake because it was the first animal he recognized and could say the sound for. After I got finished with it, I wished I would have had a picture to look at or something, cause it didn't turn out like I wanted. But, truthfully, Miles could have cared less! He still didn't quite get the opening of presents, and really didn't get blowing out the candle, but he LOVED eating the cake and ice cream. He cried every time we took it away or someone else finished their helping. He is his mother's son.

A bit of this and a bit of that

Our Mac is officially fixed! It cost a pretty penny, but we're glad to have it back. We're still waiting on the lap top, but until then, I thought our blogging public was due for an update.

We went ice skating for FHE one Monday and had a blast! Richie got Miles so bundled up that he couldn't put his arms down. Randy from the "Christmas Story" anybody? Once he was all bundled, he fell down and couldn't even turn himself over. We laughed pretty hard. We went to the rink on campus and just brought the stroller and pushed him around in it. He did really well.



As some of you know, we've tried our fair share of money making ventures the past 6 months, and none of them have panned out quite like we expected. We kept feeling the pressure build, and in an answer to prayers, I got my old job back waiting tables at "Da Pineapple Grill", where I worked for the first year Richie and I were married. I only work a few nights a week and make pretty good money. So far, so good.

Miles and I get a little antsy being inside all day, and getting out to run errands just doesn't cut it anymore. So, I bundled him up the other day and we went out and 'played' in the snow. He face planted a few times, but was still a good sport. Miles is at the age where he doesn't just want to play with his toys all the time, but there's only so many activities that he understands and likes. So we build a lot of forts and blow lots of bubbles. Any suggestions for inside activities for a 1 year old?


Yikes, can you believe it?? A one year old!? On Saturday! He's a champ at walking these days and can get anywhere he wants. He still says "uh-oh" and "day do" (thank you) sometimes and "rahr" when he sees a lion. But recently he's mastered pointing, picking out dogs and saying "da", signing "all done", "more", "shoes", and "brush teeth". (Of which I think he's getting a bunch. Teeth, that is. He's extra cranky these days) Unfortunately, he's also learned to hit and throw tantrums where he grunts and tries to gag himself. ??? Where does this come from? But on the plus side, he's also learning to give soft kisses, and when you ask for one, he'll usually give you a bunch!

Busted Computer...s

Just wanted to let all the avid readers of our blog know that our computer is having some issues right now, so any truly interesting posts complete with pictures will be postponed until said computer is working correctly. In the meantime, I'll be posting boring stuff from the office computer here at the storage units. "Why not use your lap-top?" You may ask. I'll tell you why. It's broken too! It seems like when it rains, it pours. I just wish it would pour $100 bills instead of broken computers and broken cars.

As long as I'm here, I might as well pose a question that I've been giving a great deal of thought to lately, and I'd like to get some feedback from other people. The proposal is:

Home School? or Public School?

I was going to write my thoughts about it here, but I think I'll hold back so that I have the least amount of influence on your opinion. I know that we are at least 4 years away from school for Miles and other kids, but I'd like to have a plan in place. I would really love to get everyone's honest opinion. I think it will help me a great deal make this very important decision.

New Primary Class

The past year, Richie and I have been teaching the 12 year olds in our primary class. Everyone said what a handful they were and how it was going to be challenging. After the first week, Richie and I didn't see what the big deal was. They're 12, they like to talk and be social. That's how it is. Over the course of the year, Richie and I developed systems etc that helped reduce the natural symptoms of such an age and we loved teaching them! I think they mostly loved Miles, but it was hard to say goodbye.

They called us to a new age group. The 4 year olds!! There are only 3 (compared to our last class size of 8), but one child is particularity high strung because of a disorder her has. Everyone said what a handful they are and what a challenge it was going to be. After our first week, Richie and I don't see what the big deal is. They are 4, the wiggle, they don't understand some rules, and they get off subject. That's how it is.

Although it was different from our last class, it was fun to see how quickly I could change modes and get into "little kid" mode. I was immediately back in a student teaching mind-set, and thankfully, felt comfortable there. I'm so glad Richie's there with me and humors me when I tell the kids to "get your bubbles in your mouth" to go into the hall, (So they don't talk), among other silly things.

We decided we're going to have to start keeping a journal of all the silly things they say. At one point, this one little boy who struggles keeping still talked out while I was talking. I told him that from now on, we're all going to try and practice raising our hands before we talk. I started my sentence again, and he immediately interrupted me again with the same thing he was saying before...but his hand was raised. How do you get mad at that?

Holiday in Review

No matter how long of a break you get to be with your family, it never seems like long enough! Although it was nice to get back to our apartment and start getting into our routine again. We had about 10 days off and in that time we went to St. George for Christmas and Bluffdale for New Years. Such a great time. Rather than writing a whole lot about it, here's a bunch of pictures. They're worth a thousand words, right? Just so you know, not all of the captions line up with the correct picture. I trust you can figure it out.

Miles sharing with Great Grandma Crosby


Lining up youngest to oldest! Tradition!


Christmas morning! How many chins can you count on Miles?


Lunch with some old GBP members!


Miles' first sledding excursion!




Lunch with the old exec sisters!


Oh Tai Pan, how I love thee! I can't believe I'd never been to this store before!! I was in love only 10 steps in. My mom and I made this wreath! All Christmas decor was way cheap and I found the wreath at DI for one dollar!! Wahoo! I love bargains!


k...picture loading is malfunctioning right now... I'll add more pics later

Hallelujah!

What a funny looking word! "Hallelujah!" Maybe it's just cause I looked at it too long. This post is dedicated to the 8th wonder of the world: Miles' completed stocking, as of 1:35 AM last night.

Richie's siblings all have this style of stocking, and even made me one last year. Let me tell you, you may 'ooh' and 'aahh' over it, maybe call me and praise me with tears of admiration, but you will never understand what a pain in the neck these stockings are until you make one. Every stitch, every sequin, every tiny little piece....hand done. And while you may think this particular stocking is the greatest thing you've ever seen, just wait until you see the one Richie's mom made for him and the one his sister made for me. Holy Hannah!


I kept pushing myself to finish it last night saying "I'm so close!" and then an hour later, "I'm even closer now!!". Good thing I finished just as I was delusional enough to begin sewing the top of the stocking closed.

I also thought I'd post a few pictures of Christmas around our house this year since I will be taking all these down within a couple of weeks.




Here's our tree. Weirdest thing happened. Much to Miles' chagrin, after we got all done decorating it, it grew about a foot and a half!


Remember the "Thankful 4" tree? Maybe you didn't recognize it after it's incredible transformation by Clinton and Stacy. It's our Christmas card tree now and I think I like it even more this way than with the leaves.



I can't believe Christmas is this week. Time has been flying unusually fast the past couple of days and it's driving me nuts! I try so hard to plan in advance so that I don't feel stressed at Christmas time and I can just enjoy the spirit of the season. I have yet to experience such a result.