March, Matching, and Mayhem

I was shocked myself when I sat down to write that I haven't posted since February.  March was such a crazy, emotional time for us and so much has changed in our lives!  The biggest change that I am sure you are all aware of is, We are moving to Chicago!  I know some of you read that with joy, and some with sadness...but I couldn't be prouder of my husband and excited for the next chapter in our lives.  I told Bryan the other day, that the minutes before we found out where he had matched were some of the most surreal I have ever experienced.  Luckily, we both believe that God has a Divine plan and we had both diligently prayed for that moment.  We immediately put the wheels in motion for our move...put the house on the market, starting scouring the internet for housing in Chicago, and reluctantly told our family and friends in the area.  Also, we have celebrated with our Chicago family and made an impromptu trip to find housing.  As of today, we have accepted an offer on our house and also signed a year lease in Oak Park, Illinois.  Bryan graduates May 25th and we are headed North, "Ya'll".

In the meantime, Miles has made some big changes himself!  He is such a little man now.  He started a new Mother's Day Out at Nichols Hills Methodist Church on Mondays and Fridays.  He does so great, I love walking in on him interacting with the other kids and being so obedient to his teachers.  He still isn't crazy about me leaving him in the morning but they tell me he does great all day.  He even naps in a room full of other toddlers on nap mats.  I have no idea how they do it!? Here is Miles on his first day of "school."

We spent Easter here in Oklahoma and my parents came for the weekend.  Miles was fighting a virus so the day didn't go exactly as planned due to a sleepless night, but Miles still enjoyed having his first chocolate egg, hunting for Easter eggs, and playing on his Sit-n-spin the Easter bunny left him.  We enjoyed a take out BBQ lunch and my Aunt and Uncle Armellini came down from Tulsa and enjoyed the beautiful day with  us.

We also had some Easter fun with our play group visiting the Easter Bunny.  We are going to definitely miss these guys!!

So as you can see above, Miles is a little trickster and has the silliest personality!  He is talking so well now and saying short sentences.  Most of those sentences start with "More" such as 'more goldfish', 'more park', or 'more mac-n-cheese'.  He loves playing outdoors, reading books, and shooting hoops.  He is also in a climbing phase and almost always has a bump on his head!  As hard a this toddler phase is, we are enjoying our little trouble maker and thank God for him every day.  

We are looking forward to our move but enjoying our time here in Oklahoma while we can.  I am sad to leave some of the most amazing people I have ever known, but know they will be part of our lives forever.  To my friends, my family, my coworkers, and my patients I hope you know how much I love you and will miss every one of you! Just take one look at this monster and you'll be on the first plane to Chi-town!  And to our Chicago clan...watch out here he comes!! xoxo

My Valentines

The past two months have been the least hectic and calm since Miles joined us in the world. Well...hectic in the sense that we have been at home most of the time and Bryan has had a wonderful schedule.  On the other hand, and as I am sure you mommies are nodding your heads, 18 months old is an active age!  Miles is into everything and wants to explore the world!  He is talking, learning, running, climbing, and making us work!  As many of you saw on face book, I feel like raising a toddler is like trying to bathe and dress a wild boar, then make it sit calmly in a highchair or shopping cart and mind its manners.  And to add to that image, make it sit pretty for a picture, which is what I did for Valentine's Day.  The card turned out beautifully...

But it wasn't easy...

Although there were some really cute moments...

We spent the actual day of Valentines taking Miles to Gymboree, eating at Chick-fila, and enjoying our family!  The next night, Bryan and I got to spend some time together thanks to our wonderful nanny Whitney! Miles had a sleep over at "Whits" house and I am sure enjoyed every minute!  Meanwhile, Bryan and I took a 'road trip' down to Norman and had a nice night together!

On the way home from Norman we ran into snowflakes, which made two times this month OKC has seen snow!  The first time came earlier that week.  Miles and I quickly got our snowsuits on and attempted a snow man.  Miles had more interest in knocking it down, but we had fun!

\

During the day, Miles is still staying at home with us three days and with Whit two days.  We are working with him on learning ABCs, colors, shapes, and putting words together.  He knows a handful of letters and can tell us what words start with those letters, ie S for snake, D for duck, M for Miles.  We have been working hard on colors and he is getting pretty good at red, blue, orange, and green. Animals and their sounds are still fun for him and he loves all things tractors, trains, and cars.  My favorite new skill is Miles signing and saying "I love you."  He still points to himself when he says 'you', but its still the cutest thing I have ever seen!  Below is the scene I walked into when Miles and I made a rainy day fort.  

He marked out the "except mommy" and felt it was a boys only kind of place...

We are appreciating every precious moment we spend with this little monster...I mean little guy!  Also, I never forget that we are only one month away from finding out where we are headed this summer for Bryan's residency.  We finalized our rank list this week and will know March 15th what our future holds.  We love all of you and can't wait to share this exciting news! 

xoxo

Holidays!

It seems as if I am always just one step behind where I want to be lately. But I didn't want to forget all the fun we had over Christmas and also wanted to share some great pics.  We had a fun and travel filled holiday season!  I always try really, really hard not to let the holidays get me stressed and tired because I want to enjoy the time with friends and family.  I would say that there was a little stress, and we were a little tired, but we definitely enjoyed it!

We decided kind of last minute to fly to Chicago this year instead of drive.  Miles did well in the past on the plane and it would be soooo much faster!  As we watched the weather slowly move a snow storm to Chicago we questioned this decision, but we made it there just in time.  As we got off our plane there were lines of people having to reschedule their flights due to weather.  We were so thankful!  And Miles got to play in the snow!!  Here are some pics of Miles sledding in the front yard.  He was in heaven!

Jack and Jean had decided to make some renovations to their home the week before we came and they were just finishing up the day we arrived.  They provided us with a hotel room for Miles (and mommy) to nap while the carpet was installed.  It actually worked out perfectly and Miles had so much room to run since all of the furniture hadn't been moved back in.  We were so glad to be with our family and Miles loved playing with his Grandma, Poppy, and uncles Bob and Bernie!

I am not saying that we brought the stomach bug to Chicago, but I am saying we 'might' have brought the stomach bug to Chicago.  We had been sick the day before we traveled but we both chalked it up to some fish I made the night before.  Well...one by one Bernie, Jean, and Jack went down with a 24 hour bug.  Miles never got sick thank goodness, and everyone is alive to laugh about it now.

While we were in Chicago we were able to attend the Smith family Christmas at Uncle Sam's and Aunt Patty's.  Miles got to meet his new cousin Zach and we had fun catching up with the family  Miles stayed up 4 hours past his bedtime (nothing to do with the cookie Joan is feeding him below I am sure), but he stayed a pretty happy camper and got some fun new toys.

 Gigi and her two grand babies!

For a Christmas gift Jack and Jean watched Miles and booked us a hotel in downtown Chicago on The Magnificent Mile.  Bryan and I took the train into the city and had a blast! We visited the German Kris Kringle market downtown and saw the famous tree.  We shopped,ate, drank, and slept. It was glorious!

Harry Caray's

Back in McHenry, we had so much fun watching Miles play with all of his toys on Christmas morning! As you can see he got about every sport item imaginable: baseball glove, basketball hoop, skateboard and  of course all the Chicago team gear to match.  Jean was the lucky one to have the bug on Christmas eve so putting together toys was up to the boys while Chloe and I did some stellar wrapping.   Here is one picture below of how things got put together.  I joked with Jean about how different her boys are: Bryan of course wants to read the directions, Bobby wanted to 'just do it', and Bernie wanted to figured it out as they went, backwards, and artfully I am sure.  It was enjoyable and as you can see Chloe and I just stood back, laughed, and watched.

We flew home on Friday after Christmas, spent the night in OKC and hit the road again for Clarksville. Unfortunately the Gresham Christmas was cancelled due to ice so we missed a lot of Arkansas relatives, but did enjoy a weekend with my parents, sister, and her boyfriend Andrew.  We had decided to do a Mexican fiesta to take a break from the traditional holiday foods and it was yummy!  It may be a new family tradition!

Miles enjoyed another great Christmas filled with presents and even got his first bike!

On the way home from Clarksville (still traveling...) we stopped in Tulsa and visited my Uncle Toby and Aunt Sylvia.  My cousin Jessica and her family were there and Miles enjoyed running circles around their home.  You never realize how many breakables people have until you have a toddler!

Although we were a bit tired and weary from traveling, we are both so thankful we had the time to see everyone this year.  We know Bryan's schedule may get hectic in the next years so we made sure to do what we could this year.  Where will we be next Christmas? We will know March 15th!!!!!

Although it is long past, I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays as much as we did.  We are truly blessed with wonderful family and friends!
xoxo

Happy New Year!

I got a new camera for Christmas (yeah!!) and it spurred me to go through some of our old photos and try to organize them.  So a few hours later, one teary eyed mom, and a couple thousand baby pictures, I realized that time has gone way too fast!  I can't believe that Miles is so grown up!  With that said, I thought I'd share some of my favorite photos from the last year.  Of course we have always thought our baby was the most beautiful and amazing human ever made! But here is our proof...lol.  Enjoy!

January

February

March

April

May

June-August

September

October

November

December

I could go on and on, but I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our year and how much Miles has grown!  We look forward to an exciting 2013 filled with excitement and change!  Love you all!

xoxo