Happy As A Clam

I love this little guy. He has the most happy little temperament ever. The other day, I gave him my spoon and empty yogurt cup to play with and I'm not kidding, he fake ate air out of it for like an hour and a half. When he finds something he really likes, he plays and looks over at me for a smile every minute or so, then goes back to playing. Then he comes over and shows me, and we talk, and off he goes again on more adventures. I love being the reassuring mommy and that he likes me around! 

 He loves being held and carried around. Baby on my hip all day is just the very best thing. Also I'm getting some serious guns.

 He loves to walk and is always just SO proud of himself! We like walking out to the mailbox. He LOVES being outside and going on the swings.

 Again with the spoons, and the growling, and those 2 little teeth!

 And scooting his little train around. It is so cute that he's figuring out how to play and interact and be funny. I could sneak crawl and say boo ALL day.

We like to go shopping and wandering, and he loves sitting in his stroller (and then decides in a split second that he is done, so then I carry him around), and he loves standing in the cart. He smiles at EVERYONE. He does like to get a little bashful now, and hide his face in my neck. I will take him out every day for that one second if he'll keep it up!

When he wakes up, he likes to stand in his crib and sing little songs and talk about everything until I come get him. There's a mirror on the door that he can see me in, and I like to sneak around the corner and watch him until he spies me. And then he smiles HUGE and I hold him hostage in the rocking chair for at least 2 minutes. 

Love my happy little munch.

Bringin it Back

Remember once upon a time when my sister and I started a blog, and then we just dropped off the face of the Earth?

Well. Today I decided I'm bringing it back.

www.thegirlfriendletters.blogspot.com and this time, I'm sticking around.

So, you know, read it if you want, and no judgment. I need a place to write whatever the heck I feel like to whoever the heck feels like reading it.

Milo says hello from Target. AKA his second home. 

Walking!

The munch:

We officially have a walking Milo in the house! He is so tricky! I am so proud! Also this means lots and lots of climbing. He likes to pop right up on the couch with me. He is QUICK!

He also loves playing chase. There is clearly nothing funnier than your mom crawling around the room coming to get you. Playing tag with Milo is way more fun than it ever was in elementary school.

Milo is truly a child after my own heart. He loves marshmallows. Sweet tooth friends unite! For some reason I think it's really cute watching a tiny little boy eat tiny little marshmallows. Also I'm always really happy when I figure out something that he will actually eat (that is actually supposed to be eaten, because he has no qualms when it comes to eating things that aren't edible). Hopefully someday he will graduate past puffed sugar.

Milo is the king of squirming. IE cuddle moments happen very once in a blue moon, and diaper changes leave me feeling like I just left a boxing match and got beat by someone very tiny. Usually I put his diaper on with him standing or flipped over. I think we all know who is usually in control during diaper changes. I'll give you a hint, it's not me. However, I have discovered that if I let him stand on the changing table and turn the light switch on and off while I dress him, we can really get somewhere! Like in pants! And it's not precarious at all!

If you're ever hoping to win Milo's heart, give him a container of some type and some stuff to put in it. Regardless of if it fits or not. He will be entertained for days. If you want bonus points, be sure to include a cardboard box. Instant love.

Right now we're working on learning how to wave, blow kisses, and say "ball". Normally when I do any of the above, he just looks at me and laughs. So I'll keep you posted on that progress.

 He is such a good helper. Today we went out and ran some errands for work. He helped me take pictures and fell asleep on the way home. We work pretty hard :).

His other new favorite game is fake feeding me his milk. He thinks it's hilarious. And then I think he's hilarious for thinking it's hilarious. And before you know it, it's giggle fest 2014 and he gets out of eating again. Sneaky, sneaky. He also likes it when I eat his fingers during singing time. So that gets us nice and riled up right before bed. Worth it.

 This boy. Is so handsome and sweet and funny and happy. And I can't get enough of his little cheeks and toes. YUM.

Set Sail

With the USS Milo! Contrary to popular belief, we don't live at Target. But kind of. Anyway, today I had the brilliant idea to let him stand in the big part of the cart instead of trying to keep him from standing on the seat (tiny heart attacks for everyone!). You seriously would have thought he was at Disneyland the way he flashing his gums and two little teeth at everyone. He kills me!

Milo is so happy to be home, and we're glad to be back to our routine. He's so funny and happy and cheerful. And tricky! Newsflash: Little Mr. Footy Pajamas took 5 little steps today! My little munch is going to be walking around in no time! Guess what, I laughed until I cried. I promise you have NEVER seen a little boy so proud to march to Mommy!

 Lastly, I don't claim to be any kind of fashionista. I do, however, have a somewhat unhealthy love of clothing. And I found these green pants and this awesome polka dot dress recently, and I love them. I adore a good fancy day!

Mostly these pictures are for my sister's eyes only. But when I find something awesome, sometimes you just need to share the embarrassing mirror pictures love, you know? 

Fly Me To The Moon

We're back! We're back! From a fabulous week in Las Vegas!

It was SO fun, and we've loved this winter break. You always know it's been a good vacation when you're ready to get back to real life afterwards, which is where I'm at (disclaimer: my real life is really fun presently). 

Milo is such a little jumping bean. He loves climbing. He pulls himself up on the couch like it's no big deal. He crawls like a little champion. If he wants to get somewhere, he will make it happen. And he will growl the whole way.

Naturally, we decided that a playground was a perfect present from Nana Hansen. He climbs up the ladder if he has socks on, the slide if not, and then proceeds to lick the edges of the platform and peek out the hole on the side.

 He also got some singing cars to add to his collection. He is basically in heaven dancing the days away, and my repertoire of car songs is rapidly expanding.

 Sad story of the day: Milo likes annoying things. For example, having things waved around in his face. Nothing funnier. So one day, I was (VERY GENTLY AND KINDLY) bouncing this (VERY SOFT) soccer ball off his little noggin. And he did not like it. And every time he saw his soccer ball for the next 3 days, he cowered in my lap in sheer terror. After putting it in hiding for a week, he forgot, now I only kind of feel like the worst mom on the planet. Phew! 

 Slobbery kisses all around.

 Ping pong night! Trevor's family is so fun. And so good at ping pong.

 Adventures of Milo at Target Exhibit 3627: we've moved on to standing. But don't worry, he was laying down drinking his milk by the end of the trip as per usual.

 Trevor and I had our first ever night away from Milo last week to celebrate our 4 year anniversary! We left him in the capable hands of Nana and stayed at the JW Marriott where we went on our Honeymoon. It was SO fun and can I tell you that there is also nothing better than your babe snuggling right up and falling asleep in your arms as soon as you get home to him??! It was a perfect date night out and coming home to Milo was like going to Disneyland.

Flying with Milo was so much greater than driving. Also intense because Brilliant #1 and Brilliant #2 aka Trevor and I decided that we would carry everything on and DO YOU KNOW HOW TERRIBLE I AM at packing in the first place? I'll give you a hint, really terrible. Lugging a massive jogging stroller, carseat, 2 huge carry ons that are SO not carry ons, 2 huge backpacks, a purse (also huge let's be honest), and a very wiggly 17 lb Milo= holy sore biceps. If that trip didn't make me buff, I don't know what will.

But have you ever seen a cuter little flying boy? I think not.

 The coolest part was when we landed in San Angelo and stared at our apartment for 30 minutes while we waited for the gate to clear out so we could get off the plane. I knew I should have just walked home.

 Other highlights of our trip:

- Shopping with Audrey and Whitney until we couldn't move

- Somehow scoring a guest pass to the gym Audrey goes to for every day we were there but one

- Partying with the in-laws

- Trying to sing Milo to sleep at 3 a.m. while he danced to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in my arms (so darling but WILL YOU GO TO SLEEP!)

- Hot tubbing

Miss them all already!

And now we're back! 

:)

275 Pictures

We are LOVING having Trevor home for a few weeks! It's been a perfect combination of being able to get tons done and getting absolutely nothing done at the same time.

Milo is officially 9 months!
He has the 2 cutest teeth you've ever seen
he has 3 distinct laughs (none of which are normal laughs)
he's ticklish on his thighs, under his chin, and on his feet
He's just breaking the 16 lb. barrier and is 26 inches long. This boy likes to hover around the 1-5 percentiles for height and weight. He is a little munch and WILL YOU PLEASE drink your milk child!!!
He loves blowing spit bubbles and when he blows his bubbles, he means business.

Waiting at the Doctor's office

He LOVES these chairs!

And unfortunately, after pulling one down on himself, they are back in the closet for the time being.

Climbing on mom

Just hanging

And getting attacked by mom

We met baby Hudson!

He is so darling.

Milo loves his new cousin

And all of his Wise cousins!

Madi and I were twins

And Milo just kills me.

Christmas!

And we are LOVING that Christmas in Texas means 50-60 degrees outside! Holler!

Life is Good, and So Are People

Today I'm really glad for good friends who can relate. It amazes me how unexpected these people can be- maybe it's someone who flies under the radar, or maybe you fly under the radar yourself, or maybe it's someone you thought you wouldn't get along with, or you thought they were way too cool for you, but somehow your paths cross in life and you know you were meant to know someone and have certain conversations with them that would help you along or make you a better person.

The older I get, the more I realize that everyone puts on a brave face, and most everyone is always going through "a thing". There's usually something weighing heavily on someone's mind, or they're working through something, or concerned about someone they love, or any/all of the above. And when 2 people realize that they have something like that in common, one of those "things" that you don't talk about aloud or let on to others, it's like an instant bond. And in that moment, you realize that you're not alone! Someone gets it! Someone else knows exactly how I feel! I'm not crazy! There's someone to talk to!

I don't mean to be cryptic here. I think everyone can relate to some degree on this feeling of relief when you can be open with someone about a really personal struggle. I think we all have more in common with a lot of people than we think we do. I know I tend not to have a filter sometimes, and I share way too much personal info with people who would rather not know. But, I also want to be approachable. I've had some really unexpected people come to me to talk about personal things, and I'm glad they feel they can trust me. And I'm sure I do the same to people often.

Life is so good, and sometimes it's hard. Sometimes we get in our own way. Sometimes we feel like nobody else gets our (in my case many)imperfections. But I think they do. And I think good friends and sometimes even good strangers are one of God's best ways of reminding us that he gets us. He puts people in our paths for a reason, and I'm glad for that. He knows what we need, and what we're going through at any given point in time.

So to anyone who has put up with my crazy, thank you :). And to anyone who will in the future, thank you in advance :). And to anyone who's dealing with some crazy of your own, don't worry, so is everyone else.