On my mind

We've been busy.   No, seriously busy.  We got home yesterday after being away two days shy of three weeks.  Adoption conference, family reunion, BBQ's, picnics, shopping, family-seeing, friends-seeing, 3000+ miles in the car...we are exhausted!  And in the midst of it all Miles hit the three month mark!

I promise once we're unpacked, the fridge is re-stocked and the laundry is done I'll update...cause I've got some awesome stuff to share.  

But for now...it seems all I can think about is Halloween.  If you've been my friend for any length of time you know of my love (read: obsession) with Halloween.  While in Utah I picked up these beauties:

Goughlishly fabulous salt & pepper shakers.  

 Creepy set of magnetic spiders (I'm going to trail these on our fridge...a la Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets...'follow the spiders')

Since this year will be our last Halloween in the states and there is no Halloween in Italy (insert SERIOUSLY sad face here.  Although there is Carnival in February...it's not the same) we've decided to go out with a bang.  I've already written up menu ideas and new crafty ideas.  Oh...and I've got THE. BEST. COSTUME. idea for our family.  Can't wait to show you!!

So if you're near us...let this serve as official notice...you'll wanna be at our place for the Halloween bash!

Clarification

It appears as though a previous post of mine may have ruffled a feather or two.  I didn't mean for my Lucky post to say that Miles is better than any other child or that I am the perfect mother, who is obviously better than you, evidenced by my perfect child.  I was just expressing joy over my sweet little butter-ball smiley baby.  

Our days aren't all shiny, happy and giggle-filled (although there are more giggles than tears, for which I will always be grateful).  I have been pooped on and peed on and spit-up on and snotted on and cried on and had my hair/glasses/earrings/clothing/necklace/nose/eyeballs pulled.  Motherhood is honestly just about what I expected...I knew it wouldn't be rosy 100% of the time.  But can I tell you a secret?  Even in those moments...you know the ones...where it's 5pm and you realize that all you've done all day is feed/change/entertain/repeat this little meatball.  No shower, no meals, no house cleaning, no laundry...nothing that would be considered regular adult behavior.  You smell like stale formula and baby wipes and you're wearing the same clothes you went to bed in the previous night.  Even in those moments I am happy.  I promise.   Because you know what all that poop/pee/spit-up means??  We have a baby in our house.  We waited way too long for this experience to be upset over a little poop and tears.

To all my busy friends

Back when I was working, one day at lunch a bunch of the girls were talking in our lunchroom about how most women don't wash their hair every day.  The boys in the room were disgusted at the topic and pushed to know more.  We made sure to explain that it doesn't mean we don't SHOWER every day...we just don't wash our hair.  I throw my hair up in a bun, cover it with a hot pink shower cap and then it stays dry.  

Now let me just say now that if you are a lucky woman who can shampoo your hair everyday and have it not end up dry and damaged...you may as well stop reading now.  

Seriously.  I might punch you.

My hair is long and pretty (I feel confidant saying this...strangers tell me all the time) and it didn't get that way by carelessness.  All that blow drying and flat ironing is very hard on it...not to mention time consuming...so I try to pamper it when I can and if that means only washing it 3 times a week, I'll do it.  But the problem is I have oily hair...so day 2 is gross...and day 3??  Let's just say it ain't pretty.  My hair ends up in a slicked back ponytail, doused in hairspray.  

I've tried dry shampoos, baby powder, dryer sheets...every at-home remedy I could find...yet I still looked like a rag muffin.  Until now.  A month or so ago I found this at Target:

Suave Dry Shampoo

It was cheap...less than $4.  I thought for that cheap it was worth a try.  Previously, my dry shampoo experience had been bad.  It makes my hair look matted and heavy, or it left a white dust all over my head.  Not this one.  It leaves my hair de-oiled, light and full of volume.  I've even started using it on day 1...just to add volume. Another bonus??  It doesn't stink.  It smells kinda like grapefruit.  Mmmm...

So my busy friends.  Do yourselves a favor and shuffle on down to your nearest Target (or if you feel like mingling with the animal kingdom...go to Walmart) and pick up a bottle of it.  You will not regret it. 

Lucky

This sweet little angel is so good to us.  

He sleeps 10-12 hours a night STRAIGHT

His favorite activity?  Giggling

He eats great

He greets me every morning with a big toothless grin

He loves to snuggle

Winston makes him laugh

We feel so lucky to have him in our home.

Last minute vaycay

A few weeks ago we had a very powerful, albeit short, storm that knocked out power to 900,000 people in the Chicagoland area.  We were one of the unlucky 900,000 and after a day of hot temps and still no AC we decided to get the heck outta dodge.  We had always wanted to see the Nauvoo Pageant but had never been able to go...Nathan's July schedule is crazy busy.  And this year was no different...he worked something like 23 days straight, which is nuts.  Super, crazy, leave
-your-wife-at-home-with-the-new-baby-but-come-home-still-to-dirty-laundry-and-dishes nuts.  (I am not complaining...just stating an observation...it could be much harder...he could be deployed like his brother)  But his boss was great and compensated the guys for their hard work and gave them three days off...and they just happened to be the Tue-Thu that our power was off so the timing was perfect!
We packed our stuff, said good-bye to Winnie (we left our battery operated camping fans running for him...he was laying in front of them when we left), threw out the stuff we knew was bad from the freezer and hit the road. 
We were SO lucky with the weather.  Nauvoo is normally hot and muggy...like SERIOUSLY muggy.  But the massive storms that had just passed through (the same storms that had knocked our power out) left a few pleasant days in their wake.  We enjoyed every minute of our time there.  We saw the pageant, toured the town, basked in the beauty of the Temple, felt the spirit at Carthage, ate yummy fudge and caramel and chatted 11 hours in the car.  It was just what we needed.  It was a perfect first family vacation. 

Two months

Miles hit the two month mark last week...and yesterday he had his two month doctor visit.  (Insert sad face here for his poor little skinny thighs that had to get shots) 

11lbs 7oz

22.5" long

head 39.5cm

Over the past month he has grown so much...although I don't notice it unless I look back at old pictures and compare them to our current little guy.  He is still little...he's in the 25th percentile for height and weight.  He is just barely wearing his 0-3 month size clothes...and he swims in them.  But that's ok, he has so many it will be nice for him to be able to use them all.  I do wish his feet would get a little bigger though...he has SO many cute shoes that he can't fit into yet...and you can imagine how that pains me.  :)

So lets see...his latest bag of tricks now includes smiling, giggling and holding onto something placed in his hands.  He loves baths, so much so that he screams bloody murder when you take him out.  He has warmed up to the kiddie pool on the back patio, and loves going on walks in the stroller.  

His nicknames include: 

shark bait

squishy fish

smiley miley

monkey

squirt

Winston has finally started to warm up to our new addition.  I think he's finally realized that Miles is not a temporary resident so he may as well like him.  In fact, he has turned out to be quite protective and concerned...when Miles wakes up early in the morning and fusses, Winston jumps off the bed and trotts into Miles' room and lays on the rug in front of the crib.  

Happy Two-Month Birthday Smiley Miley!!

Happy Fluffy B-day!

Our sweet Winston celebrated his eighth birthday today...his preferred form of celebration included special canned food, a nap in the bay window, a trip outside to snack on the grass, an extended nap with momma and lots of scratches and loves.  

Isn't he the cutest kitty ever?  I can't imagine our lives without him...he is my baby.  He is full of personality and seems to know exactly what I'm thinking all the time.  The move to Italy will be a bit stressful on him, but I'm sure once he realizes that Italy also has birds to watch and windows to sit in and canned food to eat he'll be fine.  

Our Day in Court

In our state, when you adopt a child one of the first things you have to do is go to court and file your adoption petition.  Add to that some additional paperwork and three post-placement visits from your social worker and then it's legal and final.  The process usually takes 6 months, but due to our looming move to Italy we are filing a petition to finalize early...fingers crossed.

Yesterday we had our day in court.

Miles being served by the sheriff.

The funniest part is that Miles had to go to the Sherriff's office and be served copies of the paperwork.  They have to actually touch him with the filed motion...its cute plus he got a Junior Deputy badge.  

Us with our lawyer, the judge and cute little dramatic Miles.  :)