The Letter Box

Miles got the Letter Box at preschool this week!  And boy was he EXCITED!!

Every kid at his school gets a week to take this little suitcase home with a different letter of the week. Being a letter/word/book enthusiast Miles couldn't wait until he got the letter box last year and he had to wait until the very last week of school to get a turn.  So imagine his delight when he got to take it home so soon! He was so cute when I picked him up from school and he had it in his hand with the biggest smile on his face. Right when we got home he had to fill it up with things starting with the letter "H", which he did all on his own. 

Harold the Helicopter makes it in the box, along with hat, helmet, handprints, heart and Hamm the pig. I had to stop him at 6 items (as they only want 3-4). He could have went on and on and on. He seriously loves his letters.

Mr. Banana Face

Miles and Evie have this little beat up baby book that we got out of a Little Free Library, that has a picture of a face made out of fruit, mainly a banana.  Miles is obsessed with it lately so I started making these...

I mean look at how happy it makes him.  

He will eat these little fruit faces up so quickly. His sister on the other hand always wants one but never finishes them. Usually it is Miles who is not the best eater. I guess this is a big deal to me because I have NEVER made a fun face or any sort of picture out of food in the 4+ years that I have been a parent. I guess the little extra effort does make them want to eat the food on their plates!

Saturday Mornings at the Home Depot

We recently discovered that the first Saturday of every month the Home Depot has a free little workshop for kids.  I took both the kids myself for the first time in October where they made little wooden airplanes that they got to hammer and paint themselves. They loved it, so we went again as a family this time for the first Saturday in November to build little wooden boats. They get their own little apron with their name on it and a pin for each project they make. It's fun to watch them enjoy making something with a little help from mom and dad. We will definitely be going again in December.

Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween is really such a fun holiday now that we have kids. They get so excited to dress up and go trick or treating. Last year we discovered that our street was the trick or treat jackpot. Everyone goes above and beyond to decorate and hand out candy to the little trick or treaters. We also discovered that the head brew master for Surly beer lives on our street just a few blocks up and hands out a special Surly home brew as a treat for the adults. Their house is completely decked out with lights and smoke machines and the lady dresses up as a witch with a huge cauldron filled with treats for the kids. It's our new trick or treating destination, even if it means letting the kids eat some candy on the way!

We started out the day with Miles' preschool Halloween program. The kids got to bring their costumes to school which they wore for their little performance. They sang all their fall and Halloween songs for us. It was adorable as usual, and this year a little more pleasant for Tim and I, as Evie actually sat and behaved while the kids sang.

Chosen to be a little pumpkin for the 5 Little Pumpkins Song

Having fun with Daddy at school!

Happy Halloween!

Leaf Piles

This year

Last year

Wow what a difference a year makes when you have little kids. Last year at this time Evie wasn't walking yet, she just scooted around on her butt while Miles jumped in the leaf piles that I was raking up. This year they were both jumping together and running and raking and having a blast. 

Linden Hills Hay Day

Our neighborhood continues to win us over. There are always little events in the 'village' of Linden Hills. Yesterday was the annual Hay Day Halloween event, where families bring their little kids all dressed up in their Halloween costumes for some trick or treating and festive fun. The shops of Linden Hills really take part and hand out treats and/or have projects for the kids to do. We made witch wands at Heartfelt and brunched at Tilia one of our favorite restaurants. It was the very first time Tim and I have braved going out to brunch with the kids. They did great. I see another brunch in our future!

Our little Spider Man.

Evie peeking out of the tree at Heartfelt

           

First ever family brunch at Tilia.

Happy kids = happy parents.

My Baby Can TALK!!!

So little baby Miles who is now a full blown TODDLER can finally speak a handful of words. He is 18 months and his vocabulary now includes in this order: dog, duck, mama, dada, Oscar, apple, bubble, car, socks, shirt, shoes, ball, and cracker. It is very exciting as we were getting just a tad nervous of his lack of recognizable words. He babbles constantly but nothing was making sense to us, until one morning right before his 18 month birthday that he started spitting them out. It is by far the most exciting milestone that he has hit.

Miles Harold

Baby Miles Harold is finally here. He arrived Tuesday 4/21 at 8:59 in the evening. After 26 hours of labor the little (or should I say big) guy came into this world weighing in at 9lbs 5ozs and 22.5" long. No wonder my belly was so gigantic!

Labor was a little different than I imagined. My due date came and went on Sunday 4/19. I went to work on Monday feeling as if I would be pregnant forever. The day went on and I was feeling a lot of pressure in my belly and a bit nauseous but nothing major. I went to see Brian to get acupuncture after work and then decided to head to the gym to walk the treadmill. While on the treadmill I began to have mild contractions and walked through them. They got a bit stronger after 20 minutes so I decided to head home a little after 7pm. I was having more contractions that night and overall just felt 'yucky'. I talked to my Mom and my friend Cortney on the phone thinking in the back of my mind that I would probably be having a baby very soon. I tried to sleep on and off, and decided to time my contractions. They were randomly spaced about 7 -12 minutes apart. I remember complaining to Tim that I couldn't get comfortable while trying to sleep.

At 3am I woke up for my usual bathroom trip and my water broke, right on the toilet (very convienent). After that labor was pretty intense. Tim began to time my contractions, they were very confusing to us. They were about 2-4 minutes in length and about 5 minutes apart, giving me little time for rest breaks. We called our midwife at 5am and decided to take a shower, it didn't help, but made labor even more intense. I found myself laying on the floor unable to really move they were so strong. Tim got everything ready and we headed to the hospital at 7am. We met Kathrine (our midwife) there and she confirmed my water had indeed broke and I was in labor...we were having a baby! Unfortunately, I was barely dilated, and the reason my contractions were so painfully long was because of the baby's position....he was presenting posterior and nice and crooked. We had learned about this in our childbirth class and I knew we were in for a very long and hard labor. We labored at the hospital all day and I began requesting drugs to take the pain away, but Tim and Kathrine knew my drug free birth plan was important to me so they helped me into the tub and got me plenty of tasty orange sherbert. That helped a lot and before we knew it I was fully dilated and ready to push.

I pushed for a good 2 hours and baby Miles wouldn't budge. My uterus finally decided to quit and contractions stopped. There was no way to push the baby out on my own so I got hooked up to Pitocin which started my contractions back up. After almost another 3 hours of pushing baby Miles was finally born. He was placed on my belly and was so warm and big and was screaming his little head off. Our birth story was a little different than planned, but all went well and we are now home and happy, adjusting to our new life with Miles. It is amazing bringing a baby into this world. Nothing you can really plan for, no matter how many books you read, or classes you take. Tim was Super Coach and we had an amazing birth team. Our midwife and nurses were so great, I couldn't have asked for a better experience.