Miles'tones, birthdays, and fall oh my!!!

Okay, okay, I know, I know...it has been far too long since I posted any news about the family.  However, as the saying goes, no news is good news.  Things are well here, we have been busy.  It has taken a little while to get back into the swing of things, with school starting up for me and Dylan working a lot of overtime it seems crazy that October is almost over!

In my last post I told you about the end of our summer, and at the very end of the summer was, of course, Miles' first birthday!  We had a great time, we had a little get together at my parents house, everyone was so generous and Miles was such a trooper.  We planned his party for after his nap so we didn't have to worry about a tired Miles.  It worked out so well, he clapped after every present, and do you believe he sat in the chair the entire time we unwrapped his presents!

It is hard to believe it has already been a year!!!

 This is the little scooter Dylan and I got for Miles for his birthday.  It is still a little big for him, but I think he is going to love it in no time!

The cupcake adventure went slowly, Miles isn't really into "trying new foods" once he took a little lick off of my finger it was all over!

Our baby definitely has a sweet tooth!

Miles was the lucky recipient of a Barnes and Noble gift certificate as well as a little money and I went a little crazy at the store and scored some major books, which by the way he LOVES to read!

Miles and Dylan enjoy doing their homework together.

Did I mention how much Miles LOVES ravioli?  Does everyone have a picture of themselves looking like this?

We took a little family photo, not bad for using the timer, right?

Then Miles had a little photo shoot out in the yard, doesn't he look like he is channeling his inner model?

Need I say anything at all...

Turning into the best of friends....

He is really workin' it....

So as you noticed from the last couple pics, Miles has a little Nike running suit that he got from his grandpa Dean.  It was the first day he was able to wear the whole ensemble, my mom and I had to hem all of his pants, his size 12 month legs aren't long enough for the 18 month belly he has....awww.  Anyway, Jamie got a good one of him at my folk's house, I mean really, do you think he is trying?

Okay, then there is the hat I got him, it is a little big and yes there are mittens stuck to the side, but it is seriously cute, although he doesn't look to thrilled about it...

This picture is just to cute to leave out of the blog....  He loves to help me do laundry and I just couldn't resist putting him in the dryer, he did not want to come out though...

Here is a little video clip of Miles and his current shenanigans.  if you have the time I think it would probably bring a smile to your face, it is about 2 minutes or so.  The last part of the video is Miles walking around with Bronson's ball, (yes I said walking...he is walking now and our world is turned upside down) Miles loves to walk around and get Bronson to chase him.  It is really cute!  Enjoy!  Hope all is well with you!!! Take care!!!!

Jenny xxoo

The End of Summer

It is hard to believe the summer is over and school is back in session!  Because we were so busy and there is so much to share I am basically going to do this in photos with some captions, please enjoy!

Unfortunately, we had to say good-bye to the baby whisperer.  Meme just has a way with Miles, which makes him putty in her hands...

We were able to enjoy a concert in the park....

We got to hang out with Uncle Laughton and Aunt Libby for a day....

Miles was also able to spend sometime with Megan....

And Great Aunt Martha.....

Miles is quite the active man, he craves things to climb on.....

We went to the park.......

Miles got to hang out with his cousin Caden a bunch.....

We tried hard to beat the heat....

We went to the Champlain Valley Fair and spent lots of time looking at the animals....

Small and large.....this is Crocket, he is a 3100 pound ox...a beautiful beast!

And, because we know people Miles got to sit on him!  It was wonderful!

We were able to meet up with our little Miss Ella, and it was a joyous reunion...hard to believe they are both going to be 1 in less than a week!

We went to a wedding and Miles got to meet his cousin Marley...what  a doll!

We went to a birthday party for Ava, she turned 2!

Miles went in the "jumpy house" with aunt Jamie, he LOVED it!

And, did I mention how much Miles likes to climb?

So proud.....

And, down he goes........

And if you havn't seen enough photos here are some more to leave you with...hope all is well with all of you!!!!  Take care and check back sort of soon!  A big birthday coming up to share with you all!

Jenny xxoo

Busy, Busy, Busy...

I truly don't know where the summer has gone.  We have been so busy, I can barely keep track of the days anymore!  So, in the last couple weeks we have celebrated my 31st birthday, gone for hikes, family get-togethers and more (look for the "more" in my next post).  We had a nice dinner at my parents house and after dinner, of course was cake.  Mom and Meme made an ice cream cake with layers of pound cake and blueberry ice cream with cool whip and fresh blueberries on top.  It was VERY yummy.  Apparently, it's a version of a cake Meme used to make for my Uncle Frank.  I know I'll attempt to make it myself a some point!

The next weekend Dylan, Miles, Bronson, and I went for a hike up Mount Philo.  We had a nice hike, although it was extremely hot and humid...we were all so sweaty.  Miles got to ride in his hiker pack which he enjoyed!

After hanging out at the top for a bottle and some water we headed back down and Miles fell asleep, I couldn't resist taking a picture!

Miles became a "big boy" with his first hair cut!  I know it doesn't seem like he has a whole lot of hair, but some of it was so long it was growing over his ears, and not in a nice way.  He did pretty well, I was very proud of him, only a couple of moments I was worried about his ear getting cut off!  

He looked instantly older after all was said and done... I'm still hoping for some curls!  At the end of July Debbi came in to town for a couple days with her friend Connie and Connie's children Jo and Fritz.  We had a very nice visit.  We went out for a nice meal at the Shanty and then headed down to the water front for an after dinner walk.  It was such a beautiful night.

Mom and Debbi,

Grampy and Miles, 

The whole dang family!

It was sad to say good-bye, but it is good to think that she will probably be back for Christmas again!

Check back again soon!  I have some great videos to post soon!!!!!  

Miles enjoying some blueberry pancakes! 

Hope all is well!  Much love to you all!

Jenny xxoo

Fun in Fort Collins..

In mid-July we went on our first family vacation, luckily it didn't look like anything the Griswold's participated in!  We went out to Colorado to visit our good friends Vinnie and Melissa.  We were a little nervous about the flight out there, we had a long stretch on the plane, 4 hours and 15 minutes.  Thankfully Miles slept for about 2 hours and we made good time out there so it went very well!  Miles started to get a little antsy toward the end, but lets be honest, who doesn't get a little antsy after sitting for more than 4 hours!

Miles adjusted very well to the time change, it was rather seamless.  We did so much out there, so I will share some of the highlights with you.

On one of our first days there we toured downtown Fort Collins, a little bit Burlington-like, great shops, yummy food, and lots of people watching.  We then visited one of the many micro breweries in Fort Collins.  This one is the O'Dell Brewing Company.  We got a sample of all the beers they make, yummy!

On Friday we headed to the mountains.  Vin and Melissa found a cabin in Winter Park, CO for us to rent for the weekend.  Our tour guides brought us through Rocky Mountain National Park....so pretty!!!!  Unfortunately, I was a bit affected by the altitude.  I was still able to appreciate the beauty though!  We got stuck in some construction traffic for about half an hour, which was okay, not a bad place to get stuck.

Vinnie ordered us up some elk and we were lucky enough to see a herd.

After a four hour, tummy upsetting, beautiful drive we arrived at our destination....

Bear Claw Cabin, a nice little cabin on a mountain side it had everything we needed....I can imagine it would be really great to stay in the winter as well!

We had a very nice relaxing time in Winter Park, went for a nice walk in the center of town and later went out to dinner.  After dinner there was a concert in the park we enjoyed for a little while.  We had to take advantage of a photo op!!!

Sadly, we did have to leave winter park, but we still had a couple days left in Fort Collins.  We went on a nice hike in the Poudre Canyon.  We had a great time hiking, such a beautiful day!!!!  Sophie had a great time too!!!

There were a number of water crossings that I didn't even attempt to rock hop, however, Dylan with is super agility and baby on board did a great job!

We miss these guys so much!  Thanks for showing us such a great time guys!!!  We love you!!!!

Unfortunately, like any vacation it had to come to an end.  We did have a great time, and can't wait to go back for another visit someday!  

Here are some other choice photos of from our vacation....  Hope all is well!

Jenny xxoo