THAT mom....

So, I'm officially super embarrassed! I'm THAT mom!!! I was quite a bit later leaving work today. When I arrived at the center, there were only 3 kids left!! It was soo sad seeing Miles all mopey before he recognized me walking down the hall! I would have to imagine it's much like being the last kid picked to join a team. I know he's young, but I'm really hoping he's not emotionally scarred. I'm sooo sorry buddy!!

Who can leave behind this beautiful face?!



By the way, the above picture is Miles getting a little mischievous while Nate and I attempted to rearrange the living room/guest room/ dining room furniture-yes- that is the title of just one, multifunctional room!

Miles perked up quickly when Nate and I took him outside to play a little this evening. The super speedy roadster enjoyed the extra fresh air!!

He rode his truck around the lot....



He splashed in all the puddles....






He picked a bunch of "flowers"



And.... He posed for some cheesy pictures!

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A Day at the Beach

This past weekend, my sister, Sarah, came out to visit.  She arrived Friday evening and stayed through Monday evening.  We really enjoyed her company.

Friday was just sitting back and catching up a bit. Saturday was a big trip to Long Beach Park on Long Island.  If traffic hadn't been an issue at all, we should have arrived in about 45 minutes.  However, due to the lack of intuition from our GPS and a few missed turns, we arrived in about 80 minutes instead.  The beach was well worth the wait.

The temperature was about 93 degrees, the cool ocean breeze was perfect, the crashing waves were beautiful, the sand was white, and the sun was high! 

Sarah was super excited to spend a day right next to the Atlantic Ocean!

Miles was slathered up with SPF 50, sand toys in hand, and ready to play the afternoon away!  He'd been waiting his whole life to have a day like today.

Aunt Sarah showed Miles the full capability of his new toys!  Thanks, Aunt Sarah!

After a few hours in the sun and an Italian Ice break with dad, I was getting a little nervous that the sun was a little much for Miles.  We stepped up his  protective apparel a little...

Nate got paranoid that he might have been out in the sun a little too long too.  He applied some of Miles' SPF and donned a shirt.  Sadly, too little, too late :(

Nate was CRISPY... miserably crispy!  Apparently, 'real' men don't wear sunscreen.  (update: 4 days later, Nate is STILL pretty miserable)  Poor Guy.....

Sunday was FATHER'S DAY!!!!

     Miles woke up his dad with a card he picked out all by himself, from the floor level card shelves at Target.  It was one of those 'sound' cards featuring Optimus Prime's note to his father mentioning how the universe needs more dad's like Nate!  I would have to say that I completely agree!!!

    We spent much of the day tooling around Manhattan to show Sarah around and to enjoy one of Nate's favorite cities.  Temps hit high 90's, the breeze disappeared, and the humidity sky rocketed.

    We started at Battery Park and enjoyed the Statue of Liberty from the coast.  We wondered through Times Square - ate at Hard Rock, toured the M&M store, and a couple others. We hiked up to NBC/Rockefeller center, FAO Schwartz, Apple Store, and Central Park.

By then, the heat had gotten to us, and Nate was at his wits end with the burn.  We headed back to White Plains so that Nate and Miles could bond (aka cool off) in the pool at our complex.  Meanwhile, Sarah and I stopped at Target to get more aloe-based burn relief, ordered sushi, and picked up a Coldstone ice cream cake.

     Miles and I would have loved to make Nate his special dessert, but the NYC activity put a damper on that thought.  It was an even trade off, considering how much Nate usually enjoys a day in the city. 

    

Thanks, Nathan, for being such an incredible father to Miles.  He's still a little young to know just how lucky he is, but I couldn't have picked a better man to help raise him with me.  We love you!

     On Monday, Miles and I had to go to work/school.  I'm quickly running out of time off.  When Sarah was finally able to get in contact with her co-workers - in-transit to NYC- we found out that she wasn't going to officially meet up with them until Monday evening.  We missed out on a whole day with Sarah.  I think she secretly enjoyed the chance to sleep in a little.... After dinner, we put her on a train to Grand Central in order to start the next segment of her Eastward trip - the athletic training conference in Philly!

We had a blast, Sarah!  Thanks for coming to visit!

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Posted in: Kelly,Miles,Nathan,sarah

Another Haircut!

My little man is one SWEATY kid!!

Though his wedding look was cute, it was not a 'comfortable' look for this hot, humid New England Summer.

Here's a before picture....

Now, we're back to the classic butch.  He's still the same cute toddler, just a little less sweaty!

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Posted in: Miles

Guitar Hero again.. and again.. and again!

Miles is a creature of habit. He has a great memory and wants to repeat activities that he enjoys often and in a particular manner.

Miles loves when Nate gets out his guitar... the real guitar. Now, every night when we get home from work/daycare, he NEEDS Nate to sit on the couch with him to play guitar. A few days ago, he was crawling around trying to get Nate's real guitar out and stumbled upon the guitar hero controllers for the PS2. Miles remembered that these guitars work with the TV from a few months ago.

He pointed and grunted his way to a proper jam session with dad. He wanted the strap over his neck and his fathers neck. Nate tried to strum a little to get Miles to be 'ok' without the PS2 involvement. No such luck. Miles pushed buttons on the TV until it turned on, all while pointing and grunting at Nate to get the game console set up.

Rock It Video!

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Posted in: Miles

Wrestling with Dad

There's not really much to narrate.. Miles LOVES having his dad home so that they can do 'boy' activities.  Cooper thoughts were always very similar.  If you want to cuddle, hang out with mom. If you want to play, dad does a much better job!

Game Over Already....and I won!!

I'm tired now!  Time to sit back and relax!

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Posted in: Miles,Nathan

Potty Time!

When we returned from our trip to Iowa, we decided to head to Target to get Miles his very own potty chair!  Our intent wasn't to start training right away, but we wanted him to get used to it.  We wanted an object to talk about in order to mentally prepare him for his first very important mission - should he choose to accept it!

Needless to say, Miles didn't allow this event to go as I had extensively envisioned in my mind.  We returned home from the store, and Miles wanted his pants and diaper removed immediately.  He sat on the chair just like he was supposed to and kept telling us to "Shhh!" so that we could hear the sounds of a "big boy."  I began to think this was going to be a whole lot easier that I had anticipated.  Miles was going to train himself!!

Miles ate some goldfish, drank a lot of apple juice, watched some Backyardigans, and pulled off/replaced the boy-guard a couple dozen times.  A half hour later, Miles started to squirm!  Yeah... this was sooo easy! 
Just then he stood up, ran to the bathroom, pulled out the bathroom scale, stepped up, leaned foward against the wall, and peed right on the wall and tile floor.  Where did that come from?!  Why leave the potty when you've got to go?  And, why strike THAT pose when its time to go?

I knew it!  By thinking Miles was going to train himself, I jinxed myself!  How do I convince Miles he needs to pee in his new 'toy' chair?!  Back to my original plan....  Up the potty talk before actually beginning the official training period!  Wish us luck!  I'm sure that we'll need it!

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Posted in: Miles

And I now pronouce you.....

........Mr. and Mrs. Russell and Kelly Banwarth !!

I still cannot believe my baby brother is married!  And better yet, married to his perfect complement!
Kelly is beautiful, creative, sweet, and.... quiet (at least when I'm around - however, that could be my fault!)

Russ and Kelly went to high school together, but didn't date until just after Nate and my wedding more than 5.5 years ago! One of them is exotic and elegant while the other is suave and earthy.  One of them is scientific and nerdy, while the other is creative and crafty. I'll let you guess who is who....  But, they both love family, children, nature, and each other.  They are better people when they are together!

Pre-wedded Bliss...

The Wedding

Here we are grabbing breakfast the La Guardia Airport!  We traveled to IOWA for the festivites.

Miles' thought bubble, "Do you think Aunt Kelly will let me wear these for the pictures?!"

I think there is some rule that the rehearsals have to be kind of tense and uncomfortable.  Oh well, practice is supposed to make perfect...

Miles didn't mind. Grandma brought snacks and Izzy shared Elmo!

To break the tension, Miles tried to send Uncle 'Oso' a message!

Finally, the moment I had been waiting for....  Russ's first glimpse of his almost-wife as she walked down the aisle!

The Whole party 

Kelly, with this ring......

Yeah!!  Mr and Mrs!

And Miles missed most of it!

Miles made up for missing the wedding with his crazy moves on the dance floor and hanging out with his buddy, Kayla, at the reception!

Congratulations, Russ and Kelly!

Have a blast in Mexico!

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Posted in: russ and kelly

Miles' School Pictures

Miles' daycare had school pictures just before we left for our Iowa wedding adventure.

Here are Miles' 19 month poses...  You guessed it - still no smiles from Miles

Enjoy!!

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Posted in: Miles

Apologies

My computer has spazzed out again, flashing the blue screen of death.
Please sit patiently for updates.
I'll try to squeeze in some time on Nate's laptop. :)

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Columbia Graduation Weekend!!!

This weekend was a huge weekend!!!  All of the sweat, tears, sleepless nights, and long commutes finally paid off. My brilliant, darling husband is an Architectural Master!!

Grandma and Grandpa Klinge even flew across half of the country to join in on the fun…  They arrived Sunday night, ate dinner with us, and snuggled up on the giant air mattress. On Monday, they helped us move Nate out of his studio one last time, browsed campus, and took a mini walking tour of White Plains.

Miles always has a great time hanging out in studio..

Paul enjoyed trying on Nate’s designs…

 

Then we walked through campus a little…

and browsed through Nate’s exhibit…

… while Miles climbed on someone else’s exhibit.

Tuesday morning, we packed up the whole group for graduation in Manhattan.

The graduation was outside on Columbia’s campus. This would have been a beautiful idea had we enjoyed 75 degree weather and sun. Instead, we got really soggy in 50 degree temps and constant rain.

Kathy was a champ – optimistic in the face of adversity!

Paul went on an adventure to find poncho’s, an extra umbrella, and hot chocolate.  We were glad to see him again!

 

We had a 2 hour wait for graduation to start…  By the time the festivities began, Miles had already given up.

After the large university commencement, we watched Nate walk to accept his actual degree during the Architecture graduation.

We were all super proud of him!

We tried to celebrate with the free lunch, but it was still super cold – the food and the weather!

We contemplated heading into Times Square to enjoy the city as much as possible while we were there, but quickly decided to venture back to the train station to head home and warm up instead.

We were super exhausted from the emotional, icy, wet day. Miles decided to give us all a little time to rest.  He voluntarily locked himself up. Thanks, Miles! We needed that!

 

Paul and Kathy brought gifts for the graduate, Miles, and me. A very unnecessary gesture that was much appreciated.  Then… we celebrated a little more with wine and a few new foods for Grandma and Grandpa: sushi, Pad Thai, and sesame chicken.  I understood their opinion of the dinner to be ‘interesting…’  I was soo proud of them for trying foods outside their comfort zone!

In a typical fashion, this big day ended with a story or 2.

On Wednesday, I headed back to work while Nate and Miles lead Grandma and Grandpa around the city. I wasn’t there, so I cannot comment of the details. We’ll let this photo montage narrate the adventure….

The train ride south.

Times Square

The M&M store

Lunch at Friday’s

the viewing deck @ Rockafeller Plaza

Winding down the night with a soothing bath!

We had a fantastic time celebrating Nate’s accomplishment and the arrival of our visitors.  They leave tomorrow afternoon, and we wish them safe travels. 

 

Wow…. Nate’s an Ivy League Graduate!!  That’s a phenomenological feat!  I love my distinguished, extraordinary husband!!

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Posted in: graduation,Kelly,Miles,Nathan