BOSTON

What a FUN FUN trip we had back east!

We have every intention of returning again next summer.

My sister and her family have a darling summer colonial home that we got to adore for 10 days.

My parents were able to come too.

Were hoping next summer our brothers can make it.

We purposely picked a red eye flight hoping Miles would sleep.

He had his jammies on and drank his milk and YEP....the boy slept.

We, on the other hand were exhausted.

But, easier to be tired than deal with a 18 month old on a 5.5 hour flight!!

We started our trip going to a colonial village.

We tried on leather shoes, watched a pottery demo, listened to the fiddle,  we were fascinated by the water log saw, drank from the well and took this AWESOME photograph.

It makes me smile every time.

Miles slept at the foot of my bed and woke up every morning staring out the window saying...

"GGGUUUKKK" (goose/duck)

They have a chicken coop full of chickens and Miles could see them.  

He wanted to see them first thing.

The girls were so sweet to Miles!

They kept telling him that they have been training the chickens to be held so Miles could hold one.

Miles never did hold one. 

Just wanted to see them and maybe touch one every now and then.

The kids played in the "water park"

It was so peaceful to be outside all day.

They have over 20 acres to themselves.

It was lovely to crank up some tunes and not bother anyone. 

Honestly we were in our own little bubble.

One of my personal favorite stops was:
THE NORMAN ROCKWELL MUSEUM.

It was beautiful scenery and such fun artwork.

Auntie Ali was muggin on Miles

I loved all the artwork.

He had such an interesting story.

I love that Norman lived during his artwork prime.

He wasn't someone appreciated hundreds of years after he was gone.

We went on the swan boats.

Its a tourist thing...but a must.

This picture makes my heart smile.

Duck park.

Concord Bridge! (the shot heard around the world)

This was a cool monument.

The story is bravery and heroic.

On a very RAINY day we went to tour John Adams home.

We left Miles at home with Auntie Ali and his cousins so everyone would be happy.

It was fun to have a day with my parents and make memories with them.

This is John and Abigail Adams retirement home.

Some days we stayed home looking for bugs

 Avrie caught a grasshopper.

Miles loved climbing "UP UP UP" the rocks.

What is a Boston trip without a baseball game???

Fenway Park was pretty cool I must admit.  

We kept calling Alisons' family the PinkSox...(girl #4 on its way)

We bought t-shirts, hotdogs, and ice cream...

Miles would dance in between innings to the music that was blaring. 

He had ice cream all over his face, french fries in his hands and was totally interested in the foreigners behind us.

There are 2 things that I miss about this trip:

1.) Miles sitting in his tiny chair in the middle of the field by himself!

I cannot stop laughing at this.

2.) the colonial house.

I'm still giggling that my nieces made a handicap sign for my mom who just had two knee replacements. They put it on a door with a ramp so my mom didnt have to do the stairs.

Thee best!

It was such a fun vacation.

During this trip, I became a big fan of two people.

One being Paul Revere.

Two being Abigail Adams (john adams wife)

Next summer I'm sure I'll learn more and become big fans of new people.

Thanks Sister for being such a great host and loving our little family.

We cant wait for your baby girl to come and join the party.

18 Months

I thought time flew by before...

Nope.

In a blink of an eye Miles is a 1 1/2 years old.

There are some things that he does that are SO BIG BOY and some things that are SO BABY.

The joys of being 18 months I guess.

He cracks us up daily.

He has the deepest dimple and the softest voice.

He is such a mamas boy!...(no really, take it to the extreme level)

He is pretty quiet in new situations and has the clinging thing down.

He has all his molars in and is currently working on all the incisors...(no fun)

He LOVES peas, watermelon and Cheese.

When he hears music he clicks his tongue and sways back and forth. (he's quite the dancer)

He likes to take the fork and spoon away from us and feed himself.

He likes playing with balls, cars and dinosaurs.

He loves pushing his popper around.

He loves to wear our shoes around the house.
He runs.
He tries to jump all the time. (it's adorable)

He is constantly poking at our eyes and says "eye".

He naps once a day and sleeps great at night, sleeping in til 7:30-8:00am.

He has started to get CRAZY in the bath...were talking cannon balls and crocodile rolling.

He loves cuddling his blankets with his "mina" (bunny) at nap/bed time.

He really likes going down slides.(I love when he yells " MOMMY!...wheeee.")

He has just over 30 words that he can say.

Some of my favorites are:

mommy, woof (dog), cracko (cracker), wawa (water), Chi (cheese), 

Nay New (thank you), PEEE (please), up, chew (shoe), Ow-I (outside), Caw (car), 
Ahhh-D (all done), appica (popsicle)

  

 We had to get rid of the high chair because Miles was starting to stand up...

so we got a new little seat with a better buckle. He loves opening and closing the tray.

He loves being OW-I. 

He goes to the back door and says it often.  

He enjoys being pulled in the wagon, and playing with his popper.

We fill up the wagon with veggies from the garden and Miles tags along for the ride.

This is his "cheeeesssseeee" smile.

Under the tree you can see a tiny Miles pulling his popper.

He walks around the trike track poppin away.

While popping the popper he'll usually yell across the yard MOMMY, MOM, MOMMY....

and I validate what he is doing is thee coolest thing ever.

The boy cannot stay dry...ever.

He doesn't care if its 8:30am or 8:30pm.

He doesn't care if he's in his jammies or church clothes.

The kid LOVES wawa.

Every time the freezer gets opened he says "appica" (popsicle).

I could be pulling dinner out of the freezer, or getting ice for a drink but he doesn't seem to notice that. He just wants his appica.

I started blending up fruit and freezing the juice in popsicle molds and HE LOVES THEM!

He just has to eat them outside in a diaper...they are messy!

Miles love of books kills me.

It melts my heart.

He likes to look at books during diaper changes, road trips, and church.

Miles gets a hair cut once a month.

He has too, it's out of control.

Except now--- books and crackers aren't enough to keep him entertained...

but we figured out that SUCKERS work!

Now I pack water and dum dums for a good hair cut.

Miles loves to brush his teeth when we brush our teeth.

He likes to sit on the bathroom step and get ready with us.

Sometimes he even grabs our hair brush for quick grooming too.

He also likes to shut the bathroom door on us and play peek a boo.

He thinks its fun to close the door and quickly cries when he realizes that he cannot open it.

Silly boy.

 Happy 18 Months Little One

                                                             

Water Baby

Miles is 16 months and LOVES the water!

  EVERY TIME the back door opens Miles walks straight to the dogs water bowl and stands in it.

After he stomps in the dog water he dumps the water down his chest.

I literally have to run after him to stop this from happening daily.

 He loves when daddy sprays him with the hose and has discovered drinking from it is pretty cool too.

He doesn't mind water poured over his head either.

I have learned to put Miles in his swim shorts or "play clothes" anytime he goes out back because he will get wet!

Anytime he sees water in a cup, the sprinklers going, the shower dripping, a pool, or the gutter filled with water he yells

WAWA!

Bitter Sweet

I love teaching.

Better yet...I love teaching Pre School!

I remember telling Romney when we were dating that I wanted to teach pre school out of my home some day.

I kept pushing off the idea for years because I thought we'd be pregnant.

I let years go by allowing infertility take over my life.

I remember subbing for a fourth grade class one day thinking "why do I keep waiting"

So that day I started up my preschool.

So for the past few years I have been running a preschool out of my home.

Twice a week for 3 hours.

I love it.

It makes me happy.

I love watching the little ones progress.

Yes, it is like herding cats somedays.

But over all it is rewarding and fun!

 Miles hangs out with Daddy on my preschool days and the days daddy is at work he goes to our friends house.

It works out great and Miles is happy.

Now with all that said... I have decided that this is my last year teaching pre school.

I have been so wishy washy about my decision.

I go back and forth.

I would already have a full class for next year.

I have students parents who want to come back again.

But when I see my class picture getting photo bombed by my sweet boy

there is   N O T H I N G   to think about.

I  QUIT!

Disneyland Friends

Miles and I have been going to Disneyland once a week with our friends Jen and Porter.

It's been a fun outing for the babes and Jen and I.

Miles sleeps in the next day every time.

Super Sweet!!

Miles and Porter are little friends. 

We hope they stay buddies growing up.

Because they are darling together.

(melt my heart...they are waiting in line to ride the train)

Headed onto Winnie the Pooh

Jen is expecting another baby this summer and she just bought a double stroller. 

So we tried that bad boy out.

The boys kept looking at each other wondering what they were doing there.

Porter and I riding Little Mermaid while Jen stayed with Miles napping in the stroller.

It's a Small World is one of our favorites. 

I promise Miles likes it.

But by the end of the day or night...depending on when we go-

he is OUT.

We have had so much fun.

Miles likes to point out all the balloons.

He waves and says BYE BYE to all the trams, trains, and rides that we are NOT on.

It's adorable.

A New Button for the side bar....

We are very excited to share with our family and friends that we are going through the adoption process again.

Adoption has been such a great experience for our family.

We love Miles more than we could ever imagine.

We are anxious to add to our family and know our hearts are ready to love another just as much. 

 

 

Above is the link to our new Adoption Profile.

It's going to look darling on the sidebar until a new little one has joined our party.

Fire Night

Friday night was the Fire Departments award/recognition/promotion night.

We started out at the downtown fire station for goodies and greetings. 

It was darling to see all the little ones and see the men be daddies. 

After saying hello and shaking hands we walked across the street to the art center for the program.

Miles was loving the color guard with all the flags and hearing the bag pipes coming in behind the red white and blue. 

(that's my favorite part too)

Romney received his 5 year recognition. 

It was fun to see the same boys he was hired with up there. 

Miles was done after an hour and half and started to walk around and make new friends. 

He wouldnt budge a smile for them or talk to them, but would just go stand right by them. 

I love the fire wife life.

I never thought I'd marry a fireman. 

Ever.

Actually, I guess I really never thought of it.

I just assumed I'd marry a 9am-5pm guy.

Wrong.

But I love it.

I love the benefits of Romney being home so much. 

I love that I always feel safe.

and 

I love the bag pipes.