Hooray for 28!

So as of this morning, I’m finally 28 years old! It’s an even year so its bound to be a good year, right!?

The day started with Miles wanting formula (sippy) around 5 am… Lucky for me, he went back to bed until about 6:15 am. While I got ready for the day, Nate played with and changed Miles. I opened a few fabulous gifts from Nathan (secretly a great shopper), shared a blueberry waffle with Miles, and shuffled my stuff to head out the door.

Meanwhile, Miles played with my cell phone, playing the music and dancing with his elbows (see previous blog for a visual). When the music stopped, Miles lost his temper and shot a beautiful right hook right into Cooper’s water dish. How disappointing! I would have snapped a photo, but my concern was directed towards the phone instead of the blog at that instant. Nathan retrieved the cellular device and shook out as much water as possible. Over the course of the day, the phone dried out and is now working at about 90%. Good enough for me!

Work was ok, but I ended up leaving early as Miles was having stomach/teeth issues. Though it was not the ideal ‘leaving’ situation, I had been trying to think of a reason to leave a little early. I was actually able to play with Miles for an extra 2 hours. That’s what I needed!!

When Nate came home, he swept Miles and I off to a great dinner at the Cheesecake factory. Miles’ moodiness kicked in. Nate and I took turns pacing in the hallway with him and eating our dinners. While Nate was pacing, I was able to talk to the businessmen next to me. I ended up explaining how Nate just wanted to take me out for a decent dinner on my birthday, but Miles apparently wanted us to celebrate his presence instead.

Finally, Miles fell asleep on Nate’s shoulder allowing Nathan to sit with me to enjoy the last few minutes of my birthday meal. The business guys showed off their iphones to Nathan (bad idea!!) and then secretly paid part of our bill. At the very least, it was great to see that decent people visit New York !!

When we got home, we put Miles to bed and then had a lovely cake that Nate picked up on his way home. Didn’t Nate do a fantastic job? It was really good!

Ohh.. take a look at Nate’s find!! The cake is sitting on the new addition to our kitchen. It was in the free-for-haul pile on the dock. It was in GREAT shape. We may just have to keep it…. :)

Thanks, Nathan, for a lovely birthday!!

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Posted in: Kelly,Miles,Nathan

Cell Phone Fun

Miles dancing - well, its just the beginning.
Word from daycare said that he was stomping his feet to a little JayZ this afternoon. That could be hilarious.
I'll keep ya posted as this skills develop.
In the video, Miles is rocking out (arms only) to one of my cell phone rings.

The next video is also of my Miles with my cell phone. As the phone goes through a couple of the rings, he recognizes one of them right away.

That ring only sounds off when daddy calls!

Ahh.. Kids! I love them!

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Posted in: Miles,Video

Bumped head pictures

As promised, here are couple pictures of Miles' newest head injury...

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Posted in: head injury,Miles

USPS package in the office...

Oh yay!! It's fun to see our apartment proudly displayed on the mailroom flat screen. We have a USPS package?! Really! Nate and I both looked at each other and swore we didn't order anything...

I went over to tower 1 and spoke with the concierge to package. Hmm... an ornately wrapped package from Garfield St. Ames, Iowa. Whoo hoo! What did we get from Tim and Carrie?!

I gave the package to Nate- only because his name was listed first. He tried to open the package. After 2 minutes of watching Nate struggle ( which is an eternity when opening a gift), I took the package away and broke through the layers of packing tape and engineering paper to see a conglomerate of boxes with more packing tape! Ha ha! I love the Klinge's!!

Again, utilizing my knife/scissor skills, I busted into the package to reveal its bountiful contents!
Thanks, Tim and Carrie! We love 24!! Season 7 completes our collection.

Miles loved the song singing, sound effect slinging, ball popping helicopter. Need proof?! see below :)~

Thanks bunches, Uncle Timmy and Auntie Carrie!!

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Posted in: Miles,package,Video

11 Months old...

So... on Friday, Miles was 11 months old! He's growing up way too fast.  I'm really missing baby Miles, but little boy Miles is such a blast !! Friday was a tough day for the little guy... at least he got some super fly shoes!!

 Miles had lots of playing to at daycare all day.  When I went pick him up, he lost his balance while 'sprinting' to see me and fell into the mini-table. His mouth bled a bit - nothing a little cherry juicy juice could heal :)

Once we got to White Plains, we stopped at Target to get a few things - dog food, Miles sized-clothes, and what I hope will be the last container of formula!   We parked our car valet style at our complex so that we could use the hotel style cart thinger to help get our stuff up to our apartment. Miles loves to ride the cart.  However, while waiting for the elevator to return the cart, Miles decided to climb down and walk.  It should be noted that Miles had previously taken off his shoes  by himself and the floor outside the elevators is something polished. You guessed it! Sadly, Miles only walked really fast on the slippery floor in socks a few steps before the clocked his head on the ground. He has a great bruise to show for it. YES-I know - he's got another bruise. (pictures of the injury to come)  I'm such an absent minded mom.

On the bright side, Miles popped out tooth #10. He now has both top molars!
oh yeah... I will also take this opportunity to mention that Miles has mastered signing "all done"
Its been a few weeks that he's be able to do it off and on, but he does it all the time now - when he's done eating, ready to get out of the bath, and halfway home from work/daycare and he wants out of his car seat. The last one is usually accompanied by a bit of a tantrum that can (thankfully) be soothed with teddy grahms or goldfish crackers...

So... do you think boys are easier to raise than girls?  Boys bouce really well (see above) but girls seem so much more mild mannered....

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Posted in: Miles

New Shoes for Big Foot!

Sadly, Miles has already out grown his super sweet black Converse All-star High tops! they've become is tradmark. Never fear! Nathan picked out a ridiculously adorable replacement pair.  The should arrive today!

Happy 11 months, Little Man!

Oh... by the way, Miles cut his first molar last night (Sept 24). After 2 months of bruising, one tooth (#9) finally broke through... 3 more to go!

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Posted in: Miles,shoes

Terror Alert in NYC

CBS Channel 2 NY News Clip

Terror alert article

The NY news is stressing the heightened terror alert. People’s bags are being searched in stadiums and other large social places. Mass transit locations are also thought to be a target for potential terror attack. 

I was always concerned about terror alerts while living in Iowa, but these threats seem so much more real now that we are in NY and Nate is a daily user of mass transit. Everyday, Nate takes the metro north trains into the city and the beeline buses from the train station to school. I’m a little relieved that he usually doesn’t get into grand central. He exits the train one stop prior to entering grand central.

I know I’m probably stressing a lot over something that will hopefully never happen. I’m guilty of watching too much 24 – leaving me with an overactive imagination for what could be happening behind the scenes to stop potential terrorist actions. There’s always a few hundred innocents that lose their lives in order to save the masses.  Oh.. please don’t let my Nathan be one of the hundreds lost…

On the lighter side, the president on 24 would have never been on the David Letterman show in the middle of dissolving a terror plot. Obama’s media tour is a good sign that nothing’s actively going on, right? 

Ahh…. Relax!  Time to try and get some sleep.  Hope that Nate makes it home safe tonight!

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Posted in: Nathan

Cool Nights

Tonight's playtime was cut a little short tonight. On the way home from work, Miles and I stopped at the multi-level Walmart of White Plains to find a some new, warmer PJ's.

While in the baby section, a lady approached me and wanted to know how old Miles was. She was floored at how well he could walk and wanted to know what kind of food he eats and if he still gets formula. The lady's son was 5 days younger than Miles. She still hadn't let him try table foods and he had just started crawling. She talked like she was going to try introducing table food soon. By this time, Miles had picked up baby food (plastic containers)  from low shelves, walked down he isle and was toddling around the racks of baby clothes. He was moving soo fast! I had to of looked like that mom that can't control her kid in public....

When we got home, we took Cooper out to do his thing. Miles played with Fred the terrier and met 2 month old Vincent. His parents were parking near the dog lot and were about to get a tour of a couple apartments in our buidling. The dad was fascinated by Miles and said that he was looking forward to his new son becoming so active. Nate was the same way when we first brought Miles home. If you asked him now, Nate would probably tell you that he misses Baby Miles, but is having a blast with little boy Miles. Don't wish the baby away... They grow up soooo fast!! Enjoy th cuddling while you can!

Once inside, I took off Miles' boots and socks and sent him off to wrestle with Cooper while I unpacked the diaper bag. Muffled grunting caused me to glance down to the floor. Miles was crawling around with one of his (dirty) socks in his mouth, "barking" as he followed Cooper around. It was super adorable.

I rounded up a few things to feed Miles, placed him in his fancy high chair, and watched him feed himself.  He's a generous little man.  Miles would take a bite if his veggie stick, hold it out to allow Cooper to take a bite, and then finish up the veggie stick himself.  Miles was sneaky about it. After being corrected to not feed the dog, Miles would grunt at me and look to his left while holding the food out to the right. When Miles noticed that I saw what he was doing, he would slowly draw the hand holding his dinner back in just long enough to repeat the grunt.  Miles loves his puppy!!

Now... time for bath. I filled the bathtub with water and bubbles while Miles unloaded the cabinet.  I stripped Miles all of the way down to his all-natural body suit just in time for him to hear Cooper bark at people outside our apartment door. Miles took off in a naked baby sprint to see what his little buddy wanted. Ahh... Miles and Cooper!  I've really got my hands full.

So.. as far as the PJ's are concerned - I was looking for a pair that were warmer than the ones we already had. Walmart was all out of the fuzzy footie PJ's in Miles' size, so I settled for long sleeve and pants separates.  I bought them in 18M size knowing they'd fit a little tight.  I'll get to Target over the weekend to check out their stock of winter PJ's.  Our evenings have been dipping into the upper 40's and lower 50's. Where did the summer go?

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Posted in: Miles

Week 2, Bears vs. Steelers

After last week, we were sure that we wouldn’t be able to see another game on network TV for the rest of the season.  Fortunately, we were so wrong. The bears played the steelers, so the game was actually televised.  Yeah for us!
Nate decided to sideline his sunday night studio plans so that we could actually watch the game together. The boys flaunted their testosterone in blue and orange…
So.. its halftime and the score is 7-7.  Please play well for the 2nd half  BEARS! We NEED this win…



Sharing some chips and salsa!!  Nate let Miles try the Hot Salsa... Miles looked a little worried. We let Miles have a whole glass of 1% milk.  Miles likes milk!

Update:  BEARS WIN !!!  17 to 14

Robbie Gould way over qualified for a life of just construction! What a kick!

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Posted in: Bears,Miles,Nathan

Comments

Alright... we've gotten several "complaints" these last few months that the comment section of this blog never works. I thought that I fixed it a while back, but I was wrong.  Computers are soooo not my thing....

Anyway, I spent some time in the help topics this afternoon and think that I finally have this thing working...  Key word is think....   Go ahead - comment away, if you can.

Thanks for your patience!

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Fantastic Family Day

Today’s weather warranted some outside time, 70 degrees and sunny! We decided to pack a cooler, a picnic basket, and the whole family into the car to head 40 minutes Northwest to Bear Mountain State Park in upstate New York.

We ate a quiet little lunch on top of a huge flat rock. We had ham and cheese sandwiches, yogurt, blueberry muffins and cheese puffs! Miles walked all over the place, chewed on a few sticks, attempted puddle jumping, and chased after Cooper.  Miles is turning into quite the little outdoorsman!!  I can’t wait to take him camping. He was enthralled with his first picnicking adventure!!  He was a super happy little man all day – well - until it was time to leave!!

After lunch, we put Miles into the carrier, hiked up to the tower at the peak and saw one of the most incredible views. There were rolling hills of trees – the green leaves were just starting to change to their warmer fall color. In the distance, you could see the faint outline of the city.  It was nuts!!  I haven’t been able to see such a distance since I was in Iowa. The Eastern landscape just doesn’t allow for a broad view. We couldn’t help but ask someone to take our family picture.  I would love to upload the pictures from the day for you all to see, but that’s another story. You will have to facebook Nate for the details.

After the tower trek, we returned to the car and got the jogger stoller.  We hiked for a very long time along the scenic curves of the state park…. 4 hours later, we called it a day and headed back to White Plains!

The day was fantastic and all of my boys were tired from the activity and exhausted from fresh air overload. We made some great memories on Bear Mountain today :) Don't worry, the location of today’s adventure was saved in the GPS. This is sure to be a repeat Saturday!  Personally, I hope the trees still look as great! Early fall/later summer is proving to be super beautiful out here!

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Posted in: Kelly,Miles,Nathan

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is Nate’s first 29th Birthday!  What a glorious day!  It’s nice to wake up knowing you have something fun that you get to spend all day celebrating.

Miles woke up in a great mood, piled on Nate, and gave his dad a small gift to start the day off right (that’s making a long story short) .

After we got home from CT, Miles and I finished up Nate’s cake – What a catastrophe! (see pictures later) So much for the mocha roll cake :(

Miles ate his dinner while I started the prep for Nate’s special dinner. Miles made a huge mess of himself.

Dirty, dirty!

Needless to say, Miles’ clothes needed to be removed promptly! He wanted to play with his Daddy! Dad walked in the door and the 2 of them wasted no time before they started wrestling!

After dad-time and bathtime (for Miles), Nate opened his gifts. Sadly most of them are still stuck in the mail… Grr!!

Miles finally fell asleep and I started in on Nate’s special dinner.  To get to a man’s heart and make him feel really loved, you’ve got to feed them something great, right?

I made one of Nate’s fav’s! Sesame seed encrusted Tuna steak (medium rare), roasted asparagus with a shallot and garlic infused olive oil, a fancy salad, and a great red wine. I forgot the bread! What was I thinking. Luckily, Nate’s heart of gold has already forgiven me!

Finally – a not so perfect ending to a great meal…  My Mocha cake roll was a total flop. Here’s the short story……

I made the cake and rolled it up to let it cool.  Apparently, I let it cool too long. When I unrolled the cake to add the filling, the roll just broke into pieces.  I put the filling in and tried to salvage it as much as possible.  I thought that it was going to be ok…  Then – I ‘frosted’ it with the cool whip stuff.  It kept melting – even while in the refrigerator. Sad, I know, but it tastes pretty good. Nate even had seconds….

The cake as a whole – a poor example of a ‘roll’, but it does have 2 and 9 candles…

a slice of the mocha roll – I really wanted the perfect spiral. Like McMahon, Kramer, McNown, Grossman, Orton, and Cutler – much practice was required before mastery and being considered one of the profession’s greats!!

 

All in all, I think that it was a mildly successful 29th send off!  I pledge to order the gifts months in advance (instead of weeks) and do several practice runs on the food/cake next year.  I CANNOT mess up the 30th 2nd anniversary of Nate’s 29th birthday! 

Oh – By the way – we have a quote of the week!

“Chicago is where quarterbacks go to die…” – Nathan

So sad, but so true:(

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Posted in: Kelly,Miles,Nathan,Video

Finally, Football season! Go Bears!

Miles got to stay up a little late tonight since the BEARS had their season opener. Kick-off was 8:30pm. Bedtime should have been 8… oh well! Who knows when the Bears will be on TV in NY again!

Miles was crazy with anticipation, Uncle Caleb style! He was all dressed up with the perfect attire so not to jinx the Bears’ performance…

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Posted in: Bears,Miles

Winter coat – City Style!

Before we moved, we bought Miles a winter coat.  With the way he’s been growing, I was getting a little worried that it wasn’t going to fit by the time the cold weather hit.  Time to try it on… Such a doll!

Looks like it’s going to work just fine!

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Posted in: Miles

Moving day…

On Saturday, we moved Nate back to studio for semester #2. While Nate did all of the heavy lifting up to the 7th floor of Avery Hall, Miles made himself at home.

Uh oh… you caught me!

Daddy, is this where you keep your pretzels?

Will somebody help me up onto this chair?

 

Gansta’ pampers shot…  All the cool kids ‘sag’ their jeans :)~

See ya dad – have a good day in studio today….

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Posted in: Columbia,Miles,Nathan

Nate got his first choice - again!!

Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers. This semester's tuition promises to be money well spent! Nate got his first choice for studio instructor again!!

Nate's studio assignments are given through a lottery type system.
Yeah for Joshua Prince-Ramus :)~

If Nate comes home crying and has thoughts of changing his career direction, then JPR has done his job! Nate will surely be a better architect because of it!

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Posted in: Columbia,Nathan

10.5 months and counting

So… it’s been nearly a year and we just now bought a high chair! I know, we’re a little behind! We thought that we could do without one (especially since our space is so limited), but as Miles is learning to feed himself foods like spaghetti, we’ve quickly realized a large tray with a rim would be very handy! The carpet under the ‘hook-on’ seat has seen better days.

Also, this weekend, Miles honed in on his walking skills. He’s turning corners like an erratic NASCAR driver. Like those drivers, there’s an occasional serious crash – lucky for us – this one didn’t result in stitches. However, the damages just about totaled Miles’ face.

I couldn’t get a good picture to pick up the detail, but there’s a perfectly straight, vertical, bruised line on Miles’ cheek from a corner of the wall. Just after Miles rounded his second corner, he lost control and tried to catch his balance using only his face… Boys have no fear! I look like such a bad mother!

Other than that – today was Miles’ first full day in the ‘big boy’ room at daycare. He did very well. Since his new room is all boys and one little girl, they’ve themed the room to be Snow White and the seven dwarfs. You guessed it– Little Milos is Dopey! I don’t think any other dwarf would have fit him so well! Ahh.. My little man is growing up.

Oh.. and today was Nate’s first day back for his 2nd semester at Columbia! Tomorrow is the lottery for studio assignments – we could really use your prayers to help Nate get his first choice. We’d love to acquire all of the networking power and education we can get out of this ivy league tuition!

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Posted in: Columbia,Miles,Nathan

Mr. Freeze is my buddy!

While in Iowa, Miles enjoyed a few new delicacies: grapes, steak, waffles, kiwi, and Mr. Freeze pops.

Grandma spoiled the little man! He not only got to try a Mr. Freeze, but he polished off two of them, back to back. In Grandma's defense, he was an upset teething baby AND it did calm him for quite a while! Miles ate an orange popsicle, and then a green (lime?) one. NASTY! Green tastes gross!

Bite #1, popsicle #1

Deep in thought - but I think he approves of the new tasty treat!

Bite #1, popsicle #2 - already a pro!

MMM... Cold!

Miles in Action

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Posted in: Miles,Video