a tisket a tasket..

there’s Miles in a basket…

Miles’ photo shoot

When my sweet friend Bekah asked what Miles might want for his birthday, I interjected a slightly selfish request and asked if she might take some pictures of him. She has a nice camera, a good eye, and – bonus – loves my kids. She truly captured my little man. Thank you Bekah!!!

These are just a few…and it was ha-ard to narrow it down:

And, these little curls on the back of his head…well, they’re just a personal obsession of mine:

The Force is strong with this one

Yesterday our friend Ollie celebrated his fifth birthday. The theme of the party was Star Wars and Ollie’s dad, a graphic designer, put together these pictures.

We believe Lucy’s planet must have just been destroyed by a Death Star

Miles Turns One!

Yesterday was Miles’ first birthday. I totally miss the tiny, orange-tinted, freckled, smushy-faced baby that first stole my heart (explanation: orange-tinted because he had jaundice, and “freckled” because he had tiny burst blood vessels all over his face from his rapid delivery), but my not-so-little one-year-old with his boundless energy, his perfect combination of cuddly and playful, his muscle-it-out approach to any obstacle, and his knack for charming his way out of any potential conflict (I’m going to have a real hard time enforcing discipline with a straight face with this guy)…well, I’m just head over heels for him. About the only thing I don’t enjoy about Miles is his staunch conviction that 45 minutes constitutes a “long” nap…buddy, we’ll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

We had a party with about 35 of Miles’ closest friends last night. As Miles’ Uncle Andrew commented, “It was a great chance for Miles to reconnect with old friends”. It was supposed to be a cookout, but, surprise surprise, the wind was strong enough to blow some of the babies away, so we had to move the party inside. It was SO fun, but I do believe Miles is what some call an extroverted introvert. I kept losing him only to find him in the one place not invaded by tons of people: Lucy’s room, under a table, at the front desk. He wasn’t upset, he just needed a little P&Q.

In the morning Jacob set up a little tribute to Miles on the actual spot of his arrival: donuts for the students. I realized I never posted a picture of where Miles was born, so here are a few to commemorate his memorable arrival last year. It was funny to overhear a few students remembering their account of his arrival. I heard one guy say, “I went home for the weekend but my roommate called me at 5:00am and was like, ‘dude, you will not believe what just happened.’”

I think, as evidenced in the picture below, that Miles still has some rough flashbacks when he revisits this spot.

But, nothing so traumatic that a few donuts can’t make better.

Be still my beating heart…

You notice a little cotton picking hand in the bottom corner of this picture. Silly me for thinking it would be safe to put chips out early.

The above is my attempt to get Miles to “pose” for the classic baby-eating-cake picture. I think it is safe to insert here “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.” Miles shuts down on us around 6:30pm and is ready for bed, this picture was taken at 7:30p…so, like midnight for him.

Below is video of singing happy birthday, “Miles” blowing out the candle, and his initiation into cake.

Miles’ Game

Miles is really into pointing, which makes it easier for us to figure out what he wants. But I think he likes the reaction, because he’s made a bit of a game out of it. He points emphatically to something with a face like this

or, eyes wide and focused, he points like this

or, the most attention grabber, he points like this

Then when you turn your head to look, he starts to giggle and busts out a face like this

At the Park

From the time Lucy woke up this morning she wanted to go to the park. I love a girl with a plan. So to the park we went.

Miles’ initial reaction to the swing was a rare, but perfect balance of fear and glee:

Then he put on his best bruiser face. He really is a bruiser, in the very best sense of that word…”muscle it out” is his current life motto.

I’m not gonna lie, this next picture gives me a bit of a chill. I think it is a mixture of that darling yet mischievous face combined with the written message below.

Here’s a few other favorites:

I love this picture, especially that long thin bit of drool. As Lucy would say, “Momma, he’s drippin!”

A few of Miss Lucy:

Of the above picture, all I have to say is, what happened to my baby! She looks like such a little girl now. What a cutie.

Miles is a nonstop mover. And now we think he is beginning to venture into the world of dance, perhaps influenced by his sister’s passion for dance and her interpretation of every clothing article with the slightest ruffle as a ballerina dress. I am so thankful, though, that no matter how down or tired I might feel, just watching Miles’ move around is enough to make me smile and usually laugh.

Spring Break

We just arrived back from a week at the Drake’s cottage at Smith Mountain Lake. It was a beautiful week and, since it wasn’t quite warm enough to swim (although, I finally gave in to Lucy’s persistence and got in with her for a few minutes), we did a lot of things in the surrounding area we’ve wanted to do for years. We went hiking a few times and something I hope we have the opportunity to do much more in the future.

Our first expedition was to Smith Mountain Lake state park. At first everyone was super enthused…

But the enthusiasm eventually gave way…

Our next expedition was to the Peak’s of Otter state park along the Blue Ridge Parkway. This one at least kept Lucy’s interest the whole time, but Miles cashed out about 20 minutes into our hike.

We appreciate Lucy’s caution when crossing a bridge…not exactly expecting the same from Miles once he is released into the wild…

It seems we have an aspiring photographer on our hands. We asked Lucy if she could take a picture of us, and, after a few tries and us quickly dodging to try to stand where we thought she was aiming, we got some good ones.

 

 

Shower for Dee

My friend Sara and I just threw a little wedding co-ed shower for Dee and Lucas. I love doing anything crafty with Sara because she has the midas touch for creative projects. Anything she does is adorable. Of course, I totally forgot to take pictures during the shower, but here’s a few of the decor and an amazing rendition of “happy birthday” for Lucas, who’s birthday happened to fall on the same day as the shower. He may never want to hang out with us again. Sorry Dee.

Our friend B$ kindly offered to host. Here’s his dog, Leo. A one hundred pound lab who thinks he’s a lap dog. Sweet Sara didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise.

And, a happy birthday Lucas is sure to not forget:

The Kaki Fairy

Kaki really is like our own fairy grandmother (see, what I did there? Pretty punny, huh?). She flits in on her carriage (aka, the Hoosier Shuttle), and “POOF!” the house is clean, the kids are clean, there’s food on the table, and sanity in our home. Thank you Kaki. She even has her own fairy uniform. And a fairy-in-training.