13 mo old!

We all survived the plane ride to Cali and back. It was stressful b/c i care WAY too much about what people think--i know, fatal flaw.

So, Miles had party #2 there, saw Proegers and soon to be Eberts, took a bath:), went to the zoo, and got presents, ate all sorts of new foods and was a great traveler overall!

He started walking shortly after coming home to Texas and hasn't stopped since.

He got his one year round of shots and blood taken and has had an aversion to band aids ever since. He has also been sick off and on since then. But so are tons of people, so i guess it's a winter thing.

Miles has started chattering more and more. He is mimicking well! And singing! the boy loves to sing. My mom taught him this old song, "Ha, Ha, Hallelujah, Ho Ho Hosanna..."and he instantly picked it up and often starts bouncing up and down saying, Ha, Ha, Ha....:) It's so precious.

almost a year...

Miles LOVES ChiChi (Aunt) Rachie. They have a special connection. Her and her boyfriend, Merlin, were in town for a week at Thanksgiving, but now that they are gone, whenever he sees her picture he gets so excited:)

Somehow my last post at 10 months has quickly led to the one year birthday of little Miles! i love reading blogs, but I am not as great with my own...
Updates:
-Sunday he took a step without holding on to anything!
-yesterday he did it again....he starts at the coffee table and kinda lunges to some other horizontal surface...or person
-He has FOUR teeth up top!
-He LOVES dogs, and animals in general, but mostly dogs
-He laughs really loud and can really ham it up when he gets going...
-He weighed 21lbs at our appt last week
-He eats non stop

Monday will be our first plane flight with the munchkin. For all my experiences flying, I have no clue what to expect! He can be really social when he's so inclined, but can also be a real pill when he needs a nap. The kid likes to nap! Which is a blessing for me. So, I am praying for a smooth flight and stocking up on snacks and distractions...

Here are some pics from Mt. Bonnell etc...

5 reasons to not leave the house in princess pajama pants

1. you might see your next door neighbor (who just turned 96!) outside with his daughter, who you've wanted to meet...but don't want your first impression to involve princess pj pants.

2. you might realize that since you're out you could run by Ross and see if they have any of those shoes you've been wanting to get your son, but again you don't want to get caught up in shopping with house shoes and sweat pants on....

3. you might realize that the tasty treat you were out of the house getting isn't as easy to eat in the car as you thought ...thus spilling it on the princess pants

4. spilling said treat will cause you to have to do ANOTHER load of laundry when you get home-before you can slip comfortably back into bed in the cold fall weather.

5. you could have been photographed or caught on film in a yet- to- be famous Austin movie or photo--in SWEATS! without any intention of running or doing anything athletic, but in order to quickly consume a fattening treat:( [think George, on Seinfeld, guzzling a sundae:)

all these thoughts will cause you to realize that if you'd just worn jeans on your outing, it would have been more efficient and less stressful.

moral: never, ever, leave the house in sweatpants

TEN months!

So, Miley is ten months tomorrow. He has conquered many milestones in the past months. Grabbing small pieces of food (Cheerios, cheese, etc)

Cruising furniture

Pulling to standing

Saying "ba ba" and ('ma' a couple of times)!

Dropping the third nap

Weaning off the feeding I miss while at work (today is first day, so we'll see how it goes)

Kissing!

Crawling

Likes: [chewing on] shoes, eating cheerios, muffins, grilled cheese, pinto beans

Dislikes: diaper changes, staying up past bedtime, not being allowed to crawl around in public areas

In other news, Matt and I have been married 3 years!! We went out for a fancy schmancy dinner and walk around downtown. I am so very thankful for such a great, Godly and encouraging husband. He seriously helps me stay sane in this learning curve of parent hood:)

meal plan

Amazingly, the past three nights I've come up with a new-to-our-table dinner. Two were inspired by friends or blogs! yay. I am posting them here cause I know I won't loose the ideas this way. Unless the Internet stops working someday?!
meal # 1
Poblano enchilada casserole
Thinly slice 1 jalapeno and one poblano pepper. Spread over 9x13. Sprinkle a little cheese on top and then put two corn tortillas (broken into pieces) over the cheese. Spread and smear or somehow get some smashed avocado over those tortillas. Add a can of black beans (drained) or about a cup cooked beans. Another layer of tortillas. Finally add about 1/2lb of ground meat with taco seasoning. Cover with a few more tortillas. Then add a fistful of grated cheese and a 7oz can of verde salsa. Bake 20 min.
Add more pepper or mushroom and leave out meat if eaters are obliging (unlike my husband).

meal #2
Meatball and mushroom surprise
Cook some kind of small pasta shapes. Heat spaghetti sauce and add a few meatballs. Slice portabella mushroom and toss in sauce. Drain pasta, throw into sauce. Pour it all into a casserole dish. Sprinkle parmesan, mozzarella and breadcrumbs on top and bake 20min.

meal#3
Jalapeno-Tuscan soup and grilled cheese
http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/03/06/nourishing-frugal-recipes/

I basically made this soup, but cut it in half and added a whole jalapeno=spicy! Hopefully Matt will like it even though there is a shocking lack of meat! I just ate it with the grilled cheese she suggests, with mozzarella, spinach and some more of my portabella mushroom.

Friday I hope to make a quiche to use the rest of my spinach and mushrooms...

9 months

So, Miles turns 9 months next week! He is full on crawling, vocalizing, pulling himself to standing and other amazing things. We love him:)

Life with Miles

Triangle Farmers Market. I love these pictures Mandy took. It was his first 'sitting in grass' experience:)

Grandpa and Grandma visit!

about to swim!

"the days are long, but the years are short"-simplemom

Hm. I was on a blogging roll, but now I've lost steam. Miles is developing a lot! He's been sitting up on his own since the beginning of July. This is a huge step and very helpful cause i can put him down with a book and he's fine for 10 min! He's slowly disintegrating his board book collection by teething on every.single.book.

Likes: sweet potatoes, being tickled by daddy, bath time, cinnamon applesauce

dislikes: diaper changes, nap time, being in the hot car when running errands

still deciding: strangers-sometimes he smiles at complete strangers, but will cry when he sees old friends of ours? who knows...

sleep: mercifully, he's consistently sleeping through the night. I cannot emphasize enough how this has CHANGED my life. I feel like I am person again. After 7pm, I can go to the gym, take a long bath, clean, or whatever. I just felt so tense having to be 'on call' to nurse every three hours. Now, I hope and pray, it will be MUCH easier with baby Boudreau #2 cause I will really really know that the frequent nursing does END at some point (like everyone kept telling me, but i didn't really believe them). oh boy...:)

crafts/homemaking etc:

the baby food is coming along. I really only make a big batch once a month it seems, but then use bananas, avocado, applesauce daily to complete the frozen stuff that I have on hand.

crafts. I've been working on Miles' baby book for the past week but have been neglecting crafting in general. Really, I could work all year on Christmas gifts. I just really, really like making my own things and buying less. But, I still lack confidence in giving homemade things (mostly that involve a lot of sewing...). Rachel and I, for years, have had some major project every Christmas that we give to all our aunts and coworkers and such. I just started my vanilla, so maybe I'll have some to give away. I only did a half batch though, in case it doesn't work:)

OK, well that's my rambling update!