{My little guy is 1}

I don't think you ever grow and change as much as you do from birth to age 1. 

It is simply incredible that you go from this:

  

to this:

In one year's time.

Happy Birthday Miles!

I absolutely love age 1.  He's still my sweet, napping, babbling baby you can give a thousand kisses to a day.  And yet so full of personality.  Learning something new each day.  We all dote on him and adore him.  We love talking to him in our best baby talk as soon as he comes into the room or wakes up from a nap.  We love having a baby in the house! 

I re-watched the birth video I created back here.  And I'm in awe at how we have been blessed.  Our sweet little Miles is still such a miracle to me.  A healthy, happy, miracle. 

I never wished the newborn stage away.  Even through the sleepless nights and colic and acid reflux struggles.  It's such a precious time that seems to go by in an instant when you look back a year later.  I find myself staring at him in his crib, snuggling him closer, hanging onto nursing in the mornings while he's tucked into bed with us, and breathing in his baby smell.  I'm trying to stall the inevitable of him growing up into a toddler.  So for now, I am trying to soak in every ounce of baby left in him.   

1 Year Old Stats

Weight: 21 pounds 11 ounces (25%)

Height: 30.25 inches (60%)

Head: 18 inches (25%)

What I love about him right now:

1. He is such a talker! He babbles non-stop.  I love his consonant blends and general baby talk that feels almost like whole sentences of non-sense. 
2. His favorite word "uh-oh" gets spoken 3 dozen times a day.  Along with "da-da" (still no ma-ma) and "s'that"...which is his version of "what's that?" He says this all the time as we read stories, play with toys, or when he notices a new object like a ceiling fan or light.  He is so curious and excited about the simplest things.
3. He loves to point.  His little finger is about the cutest thing ever.  And he loves to clap and play patty cake too. 
4. He is SUCH a good sleeper.  He will still take 3+ hour nap and naps at least 2 times a day.  Goes to bed at 9pm and will sleep until 9am (with an early morning (6am-ish) time to nurse). He goes down without a fuss.  Loves his bed and snuggles his face into his favorite blankie. 
5. He is a binkie boy.  So glad he takes it so well because it comes in handy when he gets loud. 
6. He loves being outside. Our outside doors have a 'beep beep' when they open and Miles will dart for the door in hopes to escape if he hears someone coming or going. 
7. He loves little cars and trucks and will push them around the floor and is enjoying really playing with them now.  
8. He loves and knows all of us.  He especially loves Mom, Dad, and Carson.
9. He eats like a champ. Loves new foods and pounds more at meals than Rylan.  He eats an entire PPJ for lunch (crust included) plus fruit plus crackers plus milk.  The kid loves to eat.
10. He loves bath time...whether it is a shower or tub...he loves the water and is pretty hyper and excited about it!
11. He grew out of acid reflux around 11 months. It almost stopped overnight.  At his 9 month check up I was pulling my hair out with spit up all over the place.  And now, totally gone.  So grateful.
12. He took his first steps a few days after his birthday!  But he still prefers crawling. He is so fast!  He bear crawls on all fours keeping his knees off of our mostly-tile floors in the downstairs.  It's crazy to watch, but he has totally adapted to his surroundings. 

He makes me a little crazy:

1. Trying to change his diaper or clothes. He puts up the biggest fight anytime he needs a diaper change or to get clothes on and off.  I'm not a stranger to diaper changes, but Miles make it impossible for even a pro like me.  Often times I need one of the kids or Trevor to hold his arms or body in place because he will squirm with all this strength to resist holding still.
2. With his annoying scream.  It's the "I want something" scream.  It's rather ear piercing.  Not sure what to do about that.  We are working on some sign language and he understands and will sign "more" and "Please", but he still screams too.
3. Climbing the stairs.  He refuses to learn how to go down, so I am constantly worried about a tumble. 

We love this little guy to pieces.  And are still so much enjoying the baby stage that comes with him even though it means sacrifices here and there with schedules and activities.  It's so worth it. 

His 1 year old 'Very Hungry Caterpillar' party coming up next! 

{Spring Fair}

Carson had the unfortunate lucky opportunity to participate in the district science fair.  He was one of 15 winners from his school to move onto the district level.  It is one of those things that you almost wish they wouldn't win....because it was a 2 day commitment over the weekend.  Not to mention the prep time involved in preparing his presentation to the judges (working on maintaining eye contact, not using the word "um", actually know his experiment backwards and forwards, etc.).  He was stoked about it, so we all put on a happy-congratulations-you are awesome face! 

The judging happened to be on a weekend when Trevor was busy with the Scouts at church, so I had to actually hire a babysitter for the other 3 kids so I could head down to the Puyallup fair grounds for the district science fair. He had to be there for 3 hours sitting in front of his display.  He became great friends with the neighboring kids and really enjoyed it.  He got an honorable mention award the next day.  Super proud of him!  He did great.

The district science fair is on the Puyallup fair grounds and is during the Spring fair.  The big state fair is in the fall, but they open the grounds in the Spring for a few days.  It is less crowded in the spring and parking is free.  I've never been a big fan of the Puyallup fair (I know...gasp!  people from around here have been going since they were kids, but it just seems over priced, dingy, with incredibly poor customer service...I swear some of the ride operators were actually on something!)  The kids begged to go.  And since Carson I got in for free and Trevor finished up with the Scouts early, we rounded up a few extra discount tickets and headed to the money-suck fair grounds on a sunny Saturday. 

When you compare it to Disneyland, you are in for a big let down.  But the kids don't seem to notice that they didn't quite fit in with most of the fair goers who don't see a need for basic clothing, have large and in charge tattoos, dislike bras, and will spend their life savings to win a life size stuffed bear...but hey, we actually had a good time. (Ok, so it is not THAT bad, but close). 

We split up, and I took the bigger kids and Trevor took the little boys to conquer a few rides.
 

And then we visited the animal exhibits which I would have liked to spend more time at, but the kids were getting tired and ornery by then.  But it was hard to pull Rylan away from this donkey. He loves animals and has no fear. 

And of course fair food is fantastic. I got my fav, a caramel apple.  Ry loved his ice cream cone and became a complete sticky disaster. 

And the 'Slushie Station' was a hit as was the fresh cotton candy.  Yum!

All in all, fun day.  We love the sun in the spring time, so it was the perfect year to hit the fair.   

But, I figure we are good for a few years now. 

{Pinewood Derby 2012}

Carson's last year for pinewood derby.  Really?  3 short years in cub scouts is coming to an end extremely fast. 

Trev and Carson rocked it out.  Our neighbor has an incredible wood shop in his basement, and he was so sweet to let them borrow and use whatever they needed.  Trevor spent some long hours perfecting the car (with a a little help from a mostly uninterested Carson).  I was in charge of helping him paint.  But after a total spray paint debacle,  we sanded it down and started again at 10pm the night before. I sent Carson to bed and pulled out whatever scrapbooking stuff I could still find (I haven't 'scrapbooked' in years) and managed a decent looking car by the wee hours of the morning.  #10 for being 10 years old! 

The boys made these stands the month prior and got to keep them to display their cars in their room. 

Carson spying me with the camera from across the room.

Here are a few of the sisters supporting their brothers. I think they secretly like it more than the cub scouts. 

Line 'em up!

And then, in traditional fashion, we have the worst luck during the Pinewood Derby.  Remember last year how he got mistakenly was left out of the finals bracket?  Well, this year, there was major problems with the track.  I think rain and a wet track had something to do with it, but the seams in the track were not flush causing cars to bounce off of the track. 

Most of the time they would let the boys re-run the race if a car flipped out of the lane.  They did this on several occasions, giving the boys at least 2 chances to have a successful run down the track. Carson won his first heat with no problems on the track, but on the second heat when he was in the 'bad' lane, it bounced out of the lane and finished last.  But on this race they didn't re-run it! He was devastated. My heart just sank, because I knew he had a fast car.  He finished first in the 3rd and final heat, but it wasn't enough with the loss in the second heat to put him in the finals.  And they were not timed races, so nothing could be done. 

He put on his best good sportsmanship face. We all did.  And cheered on the cars as they raced in the finals and crowned a winner.  And then after it was over, they let the boys race their cars for fun.  At this point they ran Carson's car against the winner and second and third place winners. He beat both 2nd and 3rd place and lost by a hair to the winner.  It was a bummer for sure because in the end, he had a second place car, but it was too late. 

Of course we weren't going to make a fuss about how it ended up.  Sometimes things just don't go your way. That's life. But as a mom, I just felt so badly because the same thing happened last year.  And Carson and Trev had worked extra hard this year making a great car.  Trevor and I had the hope that it would boost his sometimes struggling self-esteem.  But it wasn't meant to be, and it was okay. 

There were some tears when we got home, and it just breaks your heart.  But I'm hopeful he'll come out of it stronger and realize there are bigger things to 'win' in life than a Pinewood Derby.  And maybe those kids who won really needed it right now.  We are blessed in many ways and we counted our blessings that night during prayers. 

And then I left this out for him the next morning and got a big smile in return.  I think he is going to be ok. 

And we're all kind of glad we have a break from Pinewood Derby for 5 years until Rylan is a cub scout.  It's definitely something so fun for dads to do with their sons.  They love it, they talk about it, and they always remember it.  I love watching that, but it is a tad stressful too. 

{Haircut, Cake, and Park}

In the interest of documenting....

Miles got his first hair cut in March.  His hair grows great on top, and not so well on the sides.

(Hopefully that continues his whole life!)

Before Shot

Man, those two teeth are the cutest things ever.

After. 

Such a sweet boy, am I right?!  Man, I love babies.  Can he please stay this little??

Next up, I made 2 cakes for the Cub Scout cake auction.  I don't consider myself much of a baker, but Pinterest came to the rescue.  These weren't actually too hard.  They are simple round, layered cakes (one was from scratch, the other a box mix).  But it's amazing what a little homemade frosting and oreos or candy will do.   (And an entire day in the kitchen).  I was so happy how they turned out because I've had my fair share of kitchen disasters.   

{Cookies and Creame Oreo Cake recipe here.}

The cake auction was a huge success and they earned more than they needed for all the boys to attend cub scout day camp in the fall. It was such a fun night!

We met up with my sister  (and my parents in town visiting) during spring break (on the one sunny day of the week!) at the Auburn park.  I love this park...there are so many unique toys to play on.  The kids loved this swing.  That Brynnie is so sweet.  (And another random friend in the back that joined in). 

{Easter 2012}

Man, I am usually so good at posting to my blog.  But I just haven't been feeling it lately.  I need to do it.  After all this is my main form of scrapbooking/family history.  I gave up cutesy papers and glue in 2002.  But I can't let it go because I fear the memories won't be captured anywhere but in a folder of pictures on my computer.  So I am trying to hang in there. 

I guess facebook and now instagram just seem easier. So I end up posting pictures on there and then often again on my blog.  Seems a little redundant.  But I guess I don't see myself printing out a book of my facebook statuses for posterity, so blogging will continue until something comes along that can accomplish my same goals of documenting our family journey. 

{BTW, are you on instagram yet?? I LOVE it. So happy they finally got an Android app). You can follow me on there. Username: rpettingill}

Okay Easter.  I love all the holidays with the kids.  So even though these pictures are the same ones as last year except everyone is a year older and we have a baby in the mix, it's the tradition I love.  And you better believe my kids really know our family traditions and wouldn't let me skip a thing.  I love how exciting it is for them year after year. 

First up. Dyeing eggs.

This little guy loves to point his cute finger.

We lucked out with another beautiful, sunny day for the neighborhood Easter egg hunt.

 This is Miles' first Easter. Remember, I was about ready to pop last year?

Typical Ry.  Overly exciting about everything!

Carson had already emptied out his eggs by the time we sat down to get a group shot.  The organizers of the even collect back all the plastic eggs.  Love that it means I don't need to store an additional 60 plastic eggs each year.

So fun to have Grandma Judy and Grandpa Chuck visit for the weekend too.  We made our traditional Easter cookies on Saturday night.  You follow a recipe that also has scripture references all about the Resurrection. 

And you seal them up (in the tomb) with tape. This was Rylan's favorite part, he could have taped all night.  In the morning the cookies are hollow (because the tomb was empty!).  We also watched this video on Saturday night.  So wonderfully done.  It was late and kind of torturous with Rylan, but I know all these teaching moments are adding up in the hearts of my littles.  I can't imagine them growing up without knowing that He is risen.  That our Savior died for all of us so that we might live again.  It's the greatest event of all time.  And the greatest gift I can give my children is to teach them their Savior knows and cares for them more than anything! 

The Easter bunny left trails to their baskets again this year. 

Can you tell Carson is grumpy?  He wasn't feeling well and headed back to bed just after I took this picture.  (Addy's socks in her hair = pretty hair for church).

Dressed up for church (minus Carson in bed, sick) 

This sweet picture of Ry just doesn't even look like him because he never looks this calm or sits this still or looks at the camera. 

 

This is the Rylan we know. 

And looking at it right now (while he's peacefully tucked in bed not destroying anything) makes me so glad he is this energetic, happy boy. 

Loved the springy flowers in my back yard!!  Makes the fall planting and spring yard work so worth it!

We had the warmest day of the year on Easter Sunday.  It was sunny and a perfect 70+ degrees.  I loved having church at 9am so that we also had time to enjoy the afternoon as a family. 

We soaked up the sun on a family walk and had Easter dinner on the deck. 

(Instagram photo)

And that's Easter in a ginormous nutshell. Picture overload, sorry.