Getting Settled

People keep asking if we are settled in our new home.....

  Boxes are still in the hall way, nothing is on the walls, TVs are not mounted,

and the iron and printer cords still haven't been found. 

 Yesterday someone asked again if we were settled in, so I asked

"what does that even mean?"

She said "if your kitchen is up and running-- you are settled"

Oh- well in that case... 

YES.  

YES we are!

(before)

(after)

Home Improvement:

When we bought the house I wasn't crazy about the granite. 

The kitchen was too orange and red for me.

So we laid out paint swatches on the counter top to match the grays and browns in the granite in hopes we could pull out those colors rather than the red. 

Changing the paint color and painting the cupboards have done wonders!

The Farm House

We have moved!

That is right, we actually moved.

But before I start blogging about our new house and the adventure that is ahead I need to blog about the farm house.

For the last 6 months we have been renting a tiny above the garage/shop apartment from some friends. 

It was in the middle of nowhere and they lived on 2.5 acres.

They have horses and chickens and the most glorious garden you have ever seen.

Everyday we'd go get fresh eggs, feed the horses carrots and apples and pick fresh produce.

Below are a few pictures to summarize the last 6 months of our lives. 

Miles walking down the hill with his adorable farm boots on, holding eggs. 

Pretending to drive the tracker.

Magnus LOVED the land.

He may or may not have loved a chicken too much....

There was a massive sand pile that was intended for the horse corrals....

But until that happened we had a big sand box for 4 months.

Cutie boy holding the carrots for the horses.

As soon as we were done feeding the horses he'd point to the chicken coop and want to go say hello.

he'd say "hello chickens...bawk bawk bawk"

Then of course we'd have to go inside to say hello and feed them too.

Miles has a friend who called our apartment the FARM HOUSE.

It has stuck and thats what we refer to it as.

Miles refers to it as the Gazebo house (there was a gazebo too)

We are very excited to be in our house now but do miss the fresh produce and eggs.

We miss our friends whose boys would come out and play with miles everyday.

Oh farm house you were quite the place that taught me its okay to get dirty!

"that man" who became a daddy...

It had been a very long day the night that we brought Miles home from the hospital. 

Romney and I hadn't eaten all day.

Literally, ALL DAY.

Romney dropped Miles and I off, got us settled, and he went back out to get dinner for us.

When Romney left, Miles started to wake up and began to cry.

I walked over to pick him up and out of my mouth came:
"don't be sad baby, THAT MAN is coming back."

I referred to Romney as "THAT MAN" for several of days...

It was such a whirlwind of emotions, and complete chaos the first 2.5 weeks that Romney and I had never been alone with Miles.

Not once.

No lie!

I remember finally being alone with Miles, just the three of us... on week 3.

I was laying on the bed looking down on the floor where Romney was sitting against the bed holding our baby.

We sat quietly, just starring at him.

In that exact moment

THAT MAN became a DADDY.

 

Romney is a daddy that has a soft heart for his boy.

He is a daddy that always has a shadow.

He is a daddy that plays.

He is a daddy who doesn't get frustrated...

 even when a 2 year old is in need of a nap and wont keep his shoes on

while looking at carpet in a hole in the wall carpet store

He is a daddy that will catch his boy over and over. 

He is a daddy that teaches. 

He is a daddy that can multitask...

 (like teach my preschool kids fire safety and entertain a baby)

He is a daddy that will play catch anywhere.

He is a daddy that will play hide and seek 100 times in a row.

He is a daddy that encourages creativity.

He is a daddy who gives shoulder rides.

He is a daddy that tickles.

He is a daddy that offers to mow the lawn with his baby so mom can have a break inside.

He is a daddy that tells his boy he loves him everyday!

Happy Fathers Day Romney!

You are such a great daddy to Miles.

It is so fun to watch you boys play, run around and hang out together.

Miles adores you and I can't think of a better example for him to follow!

 

A Mothers Love

Happy Mothers Day.

I had to wait to become a mother. 

For a very long time.

But, like my mom says

GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT...

I was told many times "until you are a mother, you will not understand"

...and now, I understand

 A MOTHERS LOVE.

A mothers love is unconditional. 

A mothers love brings something out of you that you didn't know even existed. 

A mothers love never runs dry-- even on a very L O N G day of a whiny two year old.

A mothers love cannot be described in any written language.

But I can describe what makes a mother.

Mothers are kind. Mothers weep. Mothers are strong. Mothers love. Mothers are selfless. Mothers want the very best for their child. And Mothers give.

Miles came to me from a girl who was kind, who wept, who was strong, who loved and wanted the very best for her child.  

 It is because of a mothers love that I am a mother.

Jumping with "ampa"

Last weekend grandma and grandpa were in town. 

(they came to help us move into our new house...but at the last minute problems have occurred from the seller)

Miles calls them "ahwah" and "ampa"...it's adorable.

The evening weather is perfect right now.

So of course there were lots of late nights with family.

But one night we just never got out of our chairs to go inside. 

Miles is totally loving trampolines right now. 

He smiles, squeals, and screams with joy.

My brother just so happens to have this piece of goodness in his backyard.

It melted my heart watching my son sitting with my dad- his ampa on the trampoline.

But once they started jumping...

that is what made my heart so happy.

I don't know who was having more fun...

Once they settled down with the sun they watched the "rocket" fly across the moon...

...and looked for stars....

Miles wont remember this moment when he is older. 

But I will.

It was sweet.

It was perfect.

It was what every grandson needs from a AMPA.

 Thank you dad for loving our boy the way you do.

Sea World

A couple Thursdays ago Romney and I were talking about fun things to do over the weekend. 

It was the beginning of his 4 days off at work.  

He said we should do something "cool" and that we should "plan something fun like take the train into LA or go to San Diego."

 So  I said "lets do it!"

I called one of my dearest friend Lacy who lives in San Diego and asked if we could crash her house in a few hours.

We packed up and headed down the 15.

The next morning we went to Sea World. 

Miles is at a great age for animals.

He loved it.

We started our morning off with the Shamu show.

I thought Miles would have gotten scared with the dolphins swimming in front of him.

Nope, he totally dug it.

"dolpin"

He loved looking at the baby sharks before going into the tunnel.

He was completely captivated with the shows.

Miles pronounces Penguins-"poogins"

And we saw lots of Poogins.

It was so fun for him to stand up in the big glass and watch the beautiful animals swim in the water. He never got bored watching.

My favorite moment was watching Miles and Romney make my favorite collectable....

the Penny Press.

Romney has been making me Penny Presses as a souvenir since we've been dating.

I love them!

I choose the one that will make me think of the day most.

I chose the Beluga Whale for this trip because Miles tugged on my heart strings watching them. 

I loved sitting next to him watching him discover the whales.

Seeing life through a 2 year old is pretty sweet. 

We ended up getting the year passes so we'll be returning very soon.

We have lots still to see.

"Mickey High Five"

Miles is loving Disneyland more and more each visit. 

 He loves wearing his Mickey Mouse shirt, going on rides, pointing out balloons, and waving to all the characters from AFAR!

One of his favorite rides is the CHEW CHEW TRAIN in Bugs Land.

 

He is finally tall enough to go on the Mater ride. I personally didn't love it. 

It whipped us around too fast and I had to hold on the Miles way too tight.

We love going to the Park with our friends.

Miles and Porter are so cute together.

They were completely entertained with the beads in Carsland.

They'd poke their heads out and shout

"hello!"

I don't know what is more cute....

the boys wearing the 3D glasses OR watching them try to grab the 3D objects coming out of the screen during the movie.

Miles goes nuts for the carousel. 

 He literally yells "my turn" while were waiting in line.

Now the moment we've all been waiting for....

Miles actually walked up to mickey. 

This is huge!

He usually waves from afar and panics when we get somewhat close to any character.

But this particular morning I was telling Miles we were going to Disneyland and we would see Mickey.

I asked him if he wanted to say "Hi" to him.

Miles said "Yes".

I suggusted that maybe he should give Mickey a high five....

The whole drive down he kept saying "Mickey High Five"...

The whole time at the park he kept saying "Mickey High Five"...

 Well we finally saw Mickey Mouse and he walked up to him....

I told Mickey that this was kinda a big deal and kinda scary for Miles.

Mickey was so great!

Mickey had Miles touch&kiss his nose, give him high five, and....

THEY HUGGED!!!!!!!

It was so sweet.

We walked away and Miles kept telling me 

"mickey high five"

"mickey (kiss sound) nose"

He was so happy!

I was happy for him!

The day Miles hugged Mickey Mouse was another milestone that melted my heart.