Miles and Nate have practiced a little here and there….
Mount up!
It’s official! Miles is a 2-wheeler…
…even though the turns still need a little practice. If only we had more space!
Congratulations, Miles Buddy! We’re super proud of you!
Nate: Miles, you're weak if you don't finish your beans
Miles: I'm not weak, I'm a girlie man
Nate: Yes, yes.... you...are.. buddy
Miles: I mean, NO!! I'm a ladies man!
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Nate: Miles, I'm making you a fantasy football team, what do you want to name it?
Miles: Bulls
Nate: The Bulls play basketball. This is a football team
Miles: So! Bulls, Dad. I don't care. The Bulls are my team.
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Kelly: Miles, I missed you a lot today. I wish I could take you to work with me. You could help me do my work.
Miles: You mean, look in your spidy-scope and watch the germs?
Kelly: Yup. Would you like to look at germs with me through the microscope?
Miles: Yeah, but I don't have a spidy-scope.
Kelly: That's ok. I can share.
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Miles: Hey dad, it stinks in here! <sniff, sniff> It's you. Dad, you stink. <sniff, sniff>
Nate: What?
Miles: Yeah, you stink like the stinky packers!
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Miles: Dad, let's play some football. You go down there (end of the hallway) and be Hester. I'm going to be the kicker on the Bulls that's a packer even though I don't like the packers.
Kelly and Nate: What??!? (so confused)
Miles: You know, dad. The packer guy that is a kicker for my team, the Bulls.
Kelly and Nate: Oh!
Nate: You're Mason Crosby. The kicker on your fantasy team. OK, lets play.
(after playing a while.....)
Miles: Dad, can we fix my Bulls team? I don't want any stinky packers on the Bulls anymore .I need to find a new kicker.
Nate: OK. We need to see if someone will trade you. Who do you think will want your kicker? Maybe Laura?
Miles: Yeah... Give him to her. Ha Ha Ha! <insert maniacal laugh and sinister palm rubbing here>
Posted in: Things my kid says
Miles is 4 years old today, and no one is more excited that him.
I still cannot believe he’s 4. We waited so long to meet him and have been soaking in every moment since. He’s changing, growing, learning, and loving something new everyday.
The first few months
October 2009 – year 1
October 2010 – year 2
October 2011 – year 3
October 2012- today – year 4
Today, little man, you are 4 years old!
You’ve not only mastered reciting your alphabet, you can write most of the letters beautifully. You’ve found that you enjoy an academic challenge. You’re quest to be the best has finally extended beyond athletics!
Speaking of athletics, some things NEVER change! You can spend hours in an open grass lot running bases, fielding grounders, playing football or kicking a soccer ball. You’ve even proven yourself a talented skateboarder. Your father cannot get enough bonding through sports! Nothing melts his heart more than your love of “vintage” players: Michael Jordan, Scotty Pippen, and Jose Canseco. Re-enacting the weekend’s greatest plays seen on Sports Center or watching a full 9 inning baseball game are regular occurrences at our house.
This past year, you’ve camped a lot, attended a Bulls game, Cyclone Game, Cubs game, and an A’s game. You’re always telling your dad to work really hard so that we can buy the next set of tickets.
You’re a master baker, a great helper with chores, and a great singer. Your favorite songs to sing are Justin Bieber’s Baby, One Direction’s Beautiful, Selena Gomez’s LoveSong, and Carly Rae Jepsen’s Call Me Maybe. I’m still not sure where you heard most of these songs!
You’ve become quite the gentleman and are adaptable to most situations. You play well with adults, boys your own age, babies and the ladies. You understand your strength and know that different people play differently. You love to be “in-charge” of things too….
You want to be taller and faster than everyone. This has made you a bit of a health nut. You will reject your dad’s offers for ice cream after dinner because you think it will make you slow. You love to compare your height and arm length with us to prove how much you are growing!
Miles, I love watching you grow, even though my heart wants to keep you little forever.
Happy 4th birthday, buddy!
We celebrated my birthday on September 30th. I’m still not really happy about it. I’m not a fan of odd numbers, so 31 just isn’t sitting right. I spent my whole life looking forward to 30, so 31 is rather depressing. If only I could skip to 32 and hang out there for a couple years instead……
The boys made the birthday a lot of fun. I love feeling like a princess!
We got up early, opened a few presents
Nate took Miles shopping… All on his own, he picked out candy corn pumpkins, orange fingernail polish, glitter fingernail polish, a red pillar candle and some white dish cloths. What a thoughtful little guy!! Really knows how to melt my heart :)
Nate went above and beyond to get me a travel, heat-resistant wrap for my hair straighter, as well as my very first garmin! It’s the forerunner 10 and I LOVE IT!
After church, they made me a fancy breakfast with pancakes, bacon, OJ, and flowers. Nate and Miles have mastered pancakes and orange juice! Luckily, Titus was visiting! He’s a bacon guru!! Thanks guys! Can you believe that the flowers still look great 2 weeks later! Here they are:
Afterwards, we practiced 2 wheel biking!
He’s soooo close!
Our evening ended properly!
Thanks, boys! You’ve succeeded again! I love you all so much, even when you point that camera at me when I’m not looking.
On September 15th, Nate had a birthday! 32 welcomed him warmly…
We had a cozy little party at home on the 13th since we had plans to be out of town for the 15th.
Miles has a blast planning the party. To begin, the presents!
Miles has been obsessed with Spiderman lately. He’s even started referring to his dad as the Hulk. Miles wears his Spiderman costume everyday after school. 
Dad needs a hulk costume. We couldn’t find one that would fit dad, so he settled on a set of hulk fists. BUT…. he only wanted dad to have the fists if he could get cool Spiderman stuff too. I had to explain to him that this was DAD’s birthday, not Miles’ birthday. After that, he no longer wanted to get the fists. Sop… here’s the pile-o-love! 
He finally settled on this for Nate’s “big” gift: 
Lots of living room basketball in the dark now… 
Miles also picked out silly putty, baseball cards, and a box of fruit roll ups. It should be noted that the putty and cards are currently in Miles’ room. Also, Miles ate all but 1 one the fruit roll ups. I guess we need to teach the spirit of giving a little better. 
We did get Nate a couple practical gifts as well; a laptop stand thing and a bright orange watch!
We also had cake… this year made to Miles’ specification. I asked what kind of cake his dad would like. He answered with “Dad loves baseball. He wants a baseball cake!” Ask and ye shall receive…
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On Nate’s actual birthday, we travelled to Ames, Iowa for a Cyclone football game and a tailgating with coworkers. This was Miles’ first real football game . Catching up was incredible, but I failed to photo document any of that. I did, however, capture a couple pics of Miles and Cy with my phone. 
We all had a blast!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATHAN (aka DAD) !!! We love you!
(see orange birthday watch below)
Congrats, ISU on your 37-3 win over Western Illinois University!
So… On September 4, Nate and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. How you ask?
Well, by attending a wedding, of course!
Nate and I flew, childless, to Buffalo, NY for the extra, extra wedding of one Mr. and Mrs. Baer. After spending more waking hours with his architecture buddies than his own wife for the first 3 years of our marriage, it was a no brainer that we’d attend. In fact, Nate was one of two best men!
On the Eastern coast of Lake Eerie, it really was a beautiful place to get married!
We did take a little time to be romantic-ish… we took a few hours before the wedding ceremony to drive up to Niagra Falls!
You know being away from Miles made us me miss him a ton! My parents kept sending up photo updates of his adventures. I texted them back a picture and a big “miss you!!”
Miles’ response was, “Grandma, how did you get my mom and dad in your phone?”
Ah….all vacations come to an end. We had a great time, but Nate still went above and beyond to show me just how special I am to him.
First, a lunch date at the super fancy Signature room (the 95th floor of the Hancock tower!!) Here’s the cloudy view…. can you find the ferris wheel on Navy Pier?
He also brought home flowers…. but not just any flowers! The flowers from the bouquet’s at our wedding. He really is a lot more romantic than hopeless. Don’t let his rough facade fool you!
Love you, Sweet Baby!
Kelly
