Signed, Sealed and Delivered

The 6 month mark is very exciting in the adoption world.

It is the time when all can be finalized.

On July 26th, 2012 we went to court where we stood before a judge and made a promise that we 

would love and care for our child as if he were our own flesh and blood.

We promised that our child we receive the same rights and become our heir as if he were our flesh and blood.

 We signed our names willingly,

 and thrilled that this was almost done.

 Miles slept through the excitement,

 But literally woke up the second our family applauded when the judge announced
the
finalization of Miles adoption.

I whispered to Romney that it felt like we just got married.

One week later on our 9th wedding anniversary 

WE WERE SEALED IN THE TEMPLE.

Some family flew in, some family drove from far away places, and some live around the corner,

but all made a huge sacrifice to be a part of our special day.

It was the middle of the week, in the middle of the day.

We love our families and appreciate the love and support they have shown towards baby Miles.

 Miles was darling the whole day.

He blew raspberries and cooed at everyone.

 He was a trooper in the over 100degree weather.

 I loved celebrating our anniversary in the temple with our baby.

I love that we are all sealed together forever.

I love my little family.

 I didn't know my heart would ever feel this way.

  I didn't know the amount of love I could possibly have for a baby.

I didn't know that being a mother could change you.

and now I do 

and I am grateful.

6 months

Oh Miles. You little ham. 

He is such a joy.

He is a happy happy little guy.

His little personality is really starting to come out and he is getting to be so much fun.

He loves eating. 

Clearly.

He puts down (and wears) his rice cereal and is loving all the vegetables he gets daily.

Sometimes we forgo the bib because he wants to eat the bib more than the food.

His love for material in his mouth kills me.

Silly boy.

Look out, we sit up for L O N G periods of time now.

He is so captivated by his toys.

Miles finally decided he could roll over both directions.

I will put him under his jungle gym and when I turn around he is by the dog.

He's on the move folks.

He loves his music playing elephant on his car seat.

He always falls asleep with it in his hand and every bump we go over we get to listen to chirping crickets and some animal parade music.

He yells.

Oh buddy does he yell.

He makes the "AH" and "EH" sound all day.

When Miles coos he sounds like a flock of seagulls.

He grabs my hair now....lovely.

He is very entertained by my jewelry during church.

He thinks he's a big boy now and wants to drink out of our cups.

He lights up every time he sees himself in the mirror. 

He loves running water!

 He is starting to lean his head into our chests... kinda like he is hugging. 

He loves to be hugged and kissed. He smiles so big. I love it.

On occasion he will laugh so hard he will snort. RAD.

Miles you have been worth wait!

You are my favorite baby!

I love you.

Happy half birthday. 

5 Months

Miles Miles Miles.

I can not believe Miles is growing as fast as he is....and I'm not just talking about his weight.

but just in case you were wondering, Baby boy is over 18lbs. 

Anyway,  I still marvel at the speed babies develop.

Every week there is a new trick.

I love it.

He now sits in a high chair.

 

He eats rice cereal.

He wears it well too.

He discovered Magnus. 

Look out.
Miles grabs his coat and Magnus just takes it.

All the padding behind his head in the car seat have come out because he's just too big.

Miles shoves every piece of material in his mouth. Blankets, burp cloths, onesies, bibs, you name it and he loves it.

He is sitting up like a big boy. 

He has only fallen backwards once....therefore I have only had one heart attack.

We no longer sit in the baby tub....we have promoted to the big tubby.

He LOVES it. 

He is really into the faucet. He wants to touch it and see the water come out of it.

 

Miles can roll over from his back to belly and refused to roll from his belly to back.

He plays on his belly and doesn't protest during tummy time anymore.

While on his belly he can push himself up from his elbows to his hands. 

He just learned how to make raspberries....so adorable.

He loves being sung to every time he goes to sleep.

He is taking longer naps during the day, which I appreciate.

He started baby food and after the first bite of every serving he makes the Mmmmmm sound.

He loves bath time.

He has discovered how loud his voice can get.

He can be held on my hip. He grabs EVERYTHING! Toys, phones, our dinner plates.

He is trying so hard to put his pacifier back into his mouth on his own. 

Close....oh so close.

 He puts all his toys in his mouth.

While I'm feeding him a bottle he reaches up to touch my face.

Miles we sure love you.

You make us smile every day.

4 Months and 1 day

By golly Miles is 4 months and 1 day today.

I can NOT believe how much a baby develops in such a short time.

Miles is such a joy.

He has such a fun smile and the most beautiful eyes.

He has so many new tricks now that he is 4 months.

 He has found his toes!

I love this stage.

I can not wait for those toes to make it to his mouth.

Gross? 

No way....adorable.

 

 He can hold up his head real good for the swings.

I'm excited for summer days at the park.

 

Miles is really talented.

He can suck his thumb AND pacifier at the same time.

This is his newest trick.

Though cute, we take that thumb out of his mouth.

This big boy doesn't need the bathtub sling anymore.

He now kicks those chubby legs and loves to watch the bath water run.

The biggest trick of them all......

Miles sleeps through the night.

This started about 3 weeks ago.

He did it on his own.

We didn't do any training or have to do the whole "cry it out" thing- it just happened.

After day 3 of sleeping all night, he moved out of our room and into his own room to the crib.

 Miles goes to bed between 8-9pm and we wake him up around 11:00-11:30pm before we go to bed to eat.

Then he wakes up between 6:30-8:30am.

Its glorious.

He's still doesn't take long naps in the day....he's a cat napper.

Were working on that.

Look out he grabs things now!

He's getting better and pretty soon it'll be quicker. 

He likes to grab and play with those little links.

He LOVES grabbing any blanket, burp cloth or oneies and shove it in his mouth.

Miles is a spew factory.

This picture is pretty extreme and totally nasty but I had to post it.

It's normally not projectile BUT he spits up all the time.

We cant wait for rice cereal to see if that helps the problem.

 Oh the joys of reflux.

Miles loves playing on the play mat and likes talking to his animal friends.

He squeals, yells and babbles all day.

We've tried the exersaucer... he's not ready yet.

Soon.

Things are going good and he is discovering new things daily.

He loves walking round in the back yard and checking on our garden with us.

He loves going to get the mail.

He loves going on walks.

He loves watching Magnus run around out back.

He already loves being outside! 

Were super excited about that.

He is very interested in books and really likes looking at the pictures.

He enjoys talking to the cute baby he sees in the mirror.

He is doing so much better on his tummy. 

He no longer grunts with each head lift.

He still doesn't like it, but he is doing it....kinda

He hates getting buckled in his car seat. 

He just realized he can arch his back and protest. 

Not cool baby...not cool.

He is so darling.

We are having so much fun watching his personality come out.

Happy 4 Months chubbley bubbley!

   oh and Magnus.....he makes new discoveries every day too...

little green thumbs...

  Last weekend we planted our first garden. And by "we" I mean Romney and our friends.

Ethan and his boys came over to help him shovel, rake, dig and plant.  Miles and I sat under the umbrella and over saw the project. 

We have planted:

6 heads of lettuce

6 tomato plants

2 zucchini plants

2 jalapeno plants

1 bell pepper plant

1 green bean vine

1 cucumber plant

          and 

1 navel orange tree

no need to comment how good i look.

We are so excited for homemade salsa this summer...

Weeks to Months

I was told that once your baby hits 12 weeks you don't count by weeks anymore. 

You are to start counting by months.

Boo.

So to keep up with all the baby lingo...

Miles is 3 months!

 

Miles is 14 pounds

22.5 inches long

He has doubled is birth weight and has grown 3 inches!

Good job baby.

He is such a darling little one.

He is happy and with all his chubby rolls is healthy too.

These past few months have been awesome.

I have enjoyed holding him, soothing him, and singing to him.

I love rocking him in my chair while we stare at each other.

It makes my heart swell just typing that.

wow.

I'm so sensitive now.

geez.

I love our slow mornings around here.

Once Miles wakes up, I bring him into our bed where we "talk" and smile for an hour.

Then he goes back asleep.

He put himself on this little power nap schedule and I kinda like it.

I get to get ready for the day!

Everyday he is talking more, smiling more and on the brink of laughing.

He likes to be a part of the group and watch kids play.

He always moves that tongue...always!

He like so suck on all his fingers.

His cry is getting louder...OH MY.

Im pretty sure the whole neighborhood can hear when this boy is hungry.

He is starting to interact with his baby gym. 

He is focusing more on toys talking and swatting at them.

He loves baths.

He kicks those chubby legs and arms and splashes the water-its adorable.

He HATES tummy time!

HATES IT!

He grunts each time he lifts his head and it sounds like a serious work out session.

But he is getting better and stronger.

The bumbo seat is a wonder!

He hangs with me in the kitchen while I wash dishes.

and I think the bumbo is helping his neck muscles just as much as tummy time.

So if I don't do tummy time one day...I don't freak out.

Miles likes things over his face.

I don't like that. 

It makes me nervous.

 He just goes right to sleep when something so soft hits his cheeks.

Life is settling.

No solid routine yet.

The only thing I know is going to happen in a day is:

He will eat! 

Boy will never miss a meal!

He will nap one hour after being awake from the night,

he will get a bath at some point in the evening,

and he will get mauled with kisses.

That's about it.

Spring Break

Spring time is here!
The orange blossoms are in bloom.
The leaves are budding and everyone's yard is turning
spring green once again.

Over spring break we drove up to St. George to see my parents.
Magnus did awesome on our road trip but Miles wasn't feelin it!
That easy 5 hour drive was a 7.5 hour drive.
He just wanted to eat and be held!
He went through 3 outfits and two bibs.
Once we got him out of his car seat he was a happy happy boy.


Miles was entertained all weekend by my sweet nieces who were down from Chicago.
They literally were walking around him in circles.
He just smiled at them!

Besides running around miles all day, we headed up to snow canyon.
(isnt my sister pretty?)

I love that place!


It makes my soul smile every time!
( yes our dog wears tshirts on hot hikes...he lasts so much longer in the heat with them)

We packed up Romneys quad and took it up behind my parents house.
That thing is pretty fun!

We had a lovely Easter Sunday dinner and CANT wait to go back.

Who knew I would have such a crush on St. George?