Unbelievable!

Tuesday evening Mike and I witnessed a big moment in Miles' life. Mike suspected he was going poo-poo in his diaper so asked him about it. Miles confirmed that indeed he was and Mike asked him if he wanted to go sit on his potty. Miles enthusiastically replied "yeah!" After sitting there a few moments he told us he was all done and had indeed gone poo-poo and pee-pee in the potty! We were all very excited and were clapping and hugging him. Way to go buddy!

We are taking a laid back approach to potty training since Miles is still so young and we're going through a period of transition. If he wants to sit on the potty - more power to him!
Everyday this little man brings us so much joy - he's awesome. Friday morning we made a rare exception to our "no TV before age 2" rule and watched part of the royal wedding. Miles was really into it - waving at Kate and William, squealing at the planes flying over the couple and making horse noises when he saw the parade of people walking towards the palace.


Wednesday morning, first thing in morning, I go into this little spitfires' room and he immediately scoots out of bed and goes right for the play-Doh saying "open Play-Doh please." No good morning mommy - he must have had the fun Doh on his mind all night. He then quickly moved on to demanding a "breakfast bar" which he happily waved in the air and then gobbled up. Before I left for work he was commanding"sit daddy." The little boy knows what he wants!

These two little bestie cousins got together for an impromptu play date. It's so fun watching them - they do less parallel play and interact with one another much more (besides trying to snatch each others toys). Can two boys be any cuter?

Our wait for baby continues. A couple of weeks ago my doctor said the baby could come at anytime. So I take this literally meaning the baby will be here soon! At my appointment Wednesday the quote from my doctor was "anything can push you into labor at this point." I'm further dilated and looking huge! So every moment I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for labor to get the show on the road. Friday morning I was finally showing signs of labor and after a call to the doctor's office we headed to the hospital to see if this was the real thing. Unfortunately, it wasn't and we were sent home after 2 hours. Going through a dry run - bags packed in the car, Miles with my parents - it was a little disappointing to have to go home without our baby girl. Baby girl - we're waiting for you!

To look on the bright side with no baby yet I got to kick off the official garage sale season with the Jonathan Festival of Garage Sales. Even though it was raining my mom, sister and I definitely did some power-garage saling. We bought so much that the SUV was full and we had to call in reinforcements - my dad to pick-up the rest of our purchases. I love deals and now have 2 kids to shop for - fun, fun!

Celebrations

I felt lucky and honored to host with Rachel a baby shower for our sister-in-law, Janelle, this weekend. We had a lovely time celebrating with our families the upcoming birth of "Matt Jr." Janelle and I have matching baby bumps!

Poor Miles has been sick since Thursday. Friday morning I took him to the doctor and he tested negative for strep and his ears remain clear. It's just a nasty virus and sore throat. He's had a few rough days with no appetite. Today he finally ate a little and even sat in his high chair which he has been refusing to do since he hasn't wanted to eat. His fever broke Friday night and he's on the mend.

We celebrated a quick, early Easter with my siblings on Saturday after the shower. Miles is thoroughly loved - he received Easter baskets from both sets of grandparents and his aunts and uncles. Sunday morning we gave Miles his Easter basket. Our little bunny loved the little puppy and truck book the best (no surprise here - he loves what he loves!).
We had breakfast and went to church with my parents.

Since Miles is sick we didn't make the usual rounds to celebrate Easter with both sides of my family. Instead we took it easy at home this afternoon - Miles had a good nap and we went to the park.

A few Miles-isms:

• Singing Twinkle, Twinkle, The ABCs, Humpty Dumpty and Eee-I-Eee-I-O. His little voice will just randomly ring out when the singing mood strikes him and he sings on key!
• Miles likes company - when he's sitting on the floor playing or eating a snack he's always commanding us to "mommy sit daddy sit."
• Today he exclaimed Happy Easter, greeted people with "hi" at the park and blows kisses when saying goodbye to us and his grandparents.
  

Before and After

Someone is being an extra helpful boy when mommy is trying to cook.

For some reason I was trying to hold off on getting my and Miles' hair cut until closer to the baby's arrival. I guess I knew I wouldn't have time to do these things once little girl is here. Well, I now realize I waited way too long with Miles. As you can see - his little ears are barely visible! Saturday morning, after much chaos here (more on that later) we went to Kids Hair for Miles' 5th haircut! He still hates them and cries in terror throughout but he comes out looking like a...

totally cool kid!

Saturday afternoon we hung out with the Sievers. I love Miles' hair short - you can see every inch of his adorable little face now.

Corey and Miles love playing with the exact same "toy." Here the object of desire was a plant stand they both wanted to squeeze into at the same time.

This studious guy loves ripping the glasses off of mommy's head - which leaves me blind but doesn't he look smart?

So Wednesday after work I had my 36 week doctor's appointment. The two takeaway quotes from the doctor were "Well, Sarah, this baby is going to be your personal best" (referring to her size). And "I wouldn't be surprised if I got a call this week that you're having the baby." YIKES! Yes, this was my wake-up call to get things in a little more order at home. I'm so tired all of the time that I don't feel like we accomplished much but Mike assures me we did. The fridge and freezer have now been cleaned, the cars are cleaned inside and out, the bassinet is ready next to my side of the bed, Miles got his haircut and my hospital packing list is sitting out.

Maybe we would have accomplished more if it had not been total chaos in our home Saturday morning. Miles woke up at 6:30 am and I got him out of bed and like most mornings we let Ruby outside to go to the bathroom. All of a sudden she bolted where I couldn't see her. I called Mike to go outside and find her. After much calling Mike hears yelping and barking and sees her run out of the woods with a coyote chasing her. The coyote stopped the pursuit once it saw Mike and Ruby ran into the house. She was acting really weird for the next hour, Mike and I were trying to crank out our to-do list and Miles was being especially "sensitive" aka needing to be held and having mini meltdowns about everything. After speculating what the heck happened with Ruby in the woods we examined her to find she had been bitten by the coyote a couple of times and has a few patches of fur missing. Long story short we called our vet who verified that her rabies vaccine is current and called in a prescription for an antibiotic for her to the Chan Vet Clinic. Ruby's fine now and our weekend improved tremendously after the initial chaos of the morning.

That morning I found myself talking to my belly telling this little girl - stay inside for awhile - it's probably much more relaxing in there then out here! Ideally, I'd love to get through the next weekend without going into labor but I know how much control I have over these things - none!

Sunday

Our family has been busy lately preparing for the baby. This weekend our yard got completely cleaned up (thanks to Mike and my dad I no longer have to look out the window in disgust at the matted leaves and 1000 twigs scattered throughout the yard), I made two lasagna dishes for dinner with my parents and the Carlson family Saturday night (thanks mom for your help!) and we spent a lot of time outside - both sucking up boxelder bugs with the shop vac and taking walks. Today was a relaxing day for us - no plans, in our pjs until late, lots of low key time together and Mike and I just got done watching a documentary on the Foo Fighters (we're not totally old, uncool parents yet!). Just what the doctor ordered for this very pregnant mama. So, to continue the low-keyness of the day I'm opting not to write a huge narrative this week but will leave you with a few pictures of little big man in the tub.

Playtime!

We worked really hard on Saturday getting ready for baby. At my appointment this week (I'm 34 weeks along) everything checked out great. This little girl continues to have a strong heartbeat and is a mover and a shaker - my belly is constantly contorting into weird shapes. Since Saturday was a work day (cleaning, rearranging furniture, laundry, installing a permanent baby gate) we spent Sunday as a fun, family-of-three day. After a relaxing morning we explored Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America. We arrived before it opened so that Miles could run around without the crowds. He loved looking at all of the moving parts and bright colors. I diligently researched ahead of time what rides Miles could both go on and enjoy and chose 3. So, we were first in line for the little train ride. As soon as we sat down Miles started to cry and wanted nothing to do with the train. They stopped the ride early for us so we could get off. After one more attempt at riding in a little semi truck with Mike, this time Miles started crying before the truck even began to move, we spent the rest of the morning people and ride watching - which was much more suited to Miles' speed. Here's Miles being traumatized on his first amusement park ride.He had a much better time just watching all of the action.
After naps and lunch we went to the park. Who needs an expensive amusement park when you have a lovely toddler playground practically in your backyard? We almost had the place to ourselves and we all had a great time.

Is this the two-man luge or just Mike and Miles having way too much fun on the twisting slide?As the time for baby #2's arrival gets closer Mike and I have been reflecting on what a great family we have and our sweet boy, Miles. We've come so far with Miles that starting over with a newborn sometimes feels overwhelming but if we love Miles this much we're hoping our joy will be multiplied with this new little one.