144-411

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 460 (The one where he gets flowers)

2012-02-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

We are all feeling a lot better over here finally. We finally made it out of the house and ran to the store this morning and when we got home there were beautiful flowers at our door from our neighborly neighbor Stephanie! We seriously have the sweetest neighbors.

Yesteryear 2/13

2012-02-13T10:20:00.000-08:00

February 13, 2011:

February 13, 2012:

Things That Make Me Happy

2012-02-10T18:38:00.001-08:00

Right now, it’s hard for me to always see the bright side of every day life when I am feeling like crap and we’ve been cooped up in our house for over a week (except for that hour we were at Urgent Care last weekend). So I’ve decided to get myself in a positive and grateful mood again by doing this post and reminding myself that I still have it pretty good. Instead of allowing myself to be frustrated with all things that come with being sick (like the inevitable Kleenex that ends up in your laundry no matter how many times you check the pockets), I’ve decided to list all the things that make me happy at the moment:

Mylo took his first nap yesterday that lasted more than 20 minutes since he’s been sick (going on almost two weeks now!) He slept for 2 hours and woke up in the best mood, further proof that he’s feeling better. He was super sweet and complimentary, saying things like, “Mommy! It’s good to see you! Your sweater is awesome!” (I know, I know. Feel free to stop reading this post right now after that insane amount of cuteness right there. Your sweater is awesome??? Come on!)
ugliest Potato Head making contests

my Mom sent us the sweetest Valentines Day gifts, including Mrs. Fields cookies (those were all for me, right Mom?), and for Mylo- some books, a coloring book, some new adorable clothes, a purple Ugly Doll, and some play-doh. Seriously the best mom and grandma ever.

my sweet hubby stopped and bought me Kleenex with aloe (the soft kind!) last night on his way home from work after seeing how red and raw and rashy my face is from blowing my nose every five seconds.

my next door neighbor dropped off two extra ripe bananas yesterday because she knows I like to bake and thought I could use them. So I turned around and made a couple of loaves of banana bread and brought one back over to her. Booyah! Neighborly neighbors FTW!!!
speaking of friendly and neighborly people, a friend dropped off food for our sick family the other night after hearing that we weren’t feeling well. I mean, she just brought it over without asking like a little food angel. Dinner, juice, tea, and some homeopathic wellness medicine for Mylo. Where ARE we? Who does that? Oh yeah, people in the midwest do that. Right on.

Mylo dancing
Mylo’s hugs (which he has been VERY generous with lately).
the way Mylo likes to vacuum with me when I vacuum. He on his play vacuum and me on the “Big Dada Vacuum”. Also, the way my dog chases my cats around while we vacuum is hilarious and makes us giggle.
my Trader Joes lavender bar soap that I picked up the last time we went to Indianapolis. I am really into bar soaps right now. It smells sooooo good (if only I could actually smell things right now).

listening to Ariel gargle his salt water to the tune of Mary Had A Little Lamb while Mylo watches in amazement
boogie wipes (for Mylo) since they are so much nicer to his poor little nose

Valentines Day M&M’s (they are my favorite for some reason) which I will be putting into some Cocoa Krispie Treats very soon

Mylo talking to his baby brother inside my tummy (“Hi brother! What are you doing?”)
the way Mylo reminds me of Joey from Friends when I try to teach him the proper way to pronounce words that he says wrong

and of course, this little dude’s face, each and every day

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 459 (The one where he plays pig with a boo-boo)

2012-02-10T11:26:00.000-08:00

Yesteryear 2/9

2012-02-09T10:29:00.000-08:00

February 6-9, 2011:

February 9, 2012:

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 458 (The one where he plays monster trucks)

2012-02-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

I have the sickness now (mostly in my sinuses) so I haven't been really wanting to take pictures or videos lately, but managed to get some today.

Still sick

2012-02-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

No one here is feeling any better (in fact now I'm feeling worse, ugh). Ariel took a sick day from work and we all spent the day resting and sneezing and blowing our raw, red noses. I did try making Mylo some "hot Jello" and he LOVED it, just like I did as a kid.

Then we all snuggled on the couch and watched Ice Age (it was the first time we had all seen it). And by all I mean ALL of us. Ariel had Itty Bitty on his lap, Squishy on his butt, Mylo next to Squishy, and me next to Mylo for the entire film. Mylo put his hand on my belly and felt his baby bro move for the first time too (he was kicking during the entire movie!) It was very sweet.

We also read lots of books including these Mylo favorites: Hug and Ten Friendly Fish.

And this is Mylo's newest favorite youtube addiction (there are a BUNCH of "Morphs" and he loves them all.

Hot Jello?

2012-02-05T15:46:00.000-08:00

When we were sick as kids, my mom used to give us hot Jello water. Has anyone ever heard of this before? I'm not really sure where she got the idea from, but I remember we LOVED it and it would feel so good and soothing on our sore throats. It was sweet and a fun treat when you're not feeling well. I'm sure there's way too much sugar in it for it to really be good for you, but I'm wondering if this is some kind of remedy or why we did this. I'm also kind of considering giving it to Mylo to ease his throat pain when he coughs really hard (he always cries in pain and I just give him honey which is also very sugary).
To make "hot Jello", I believe you simply just boil water and add the Jello. Then, once it's cooled to a drinkable temp (but still hot), you sip it with a spoon. At least, that's how we did it.

An Urgent Care Kind of Weekend

2012-02-05T09:48:00.000-08:00

So, yeah. This "not so bad cold" took a major turn for the worse last night. Mylo was coughing so bad he was choking and gasping for air and couldn't breathe and I think he may have even turned purple at one point. That's when I said screw the honey we've been trying to use as a natural cough syrup because that shit ain't working and I sent Ariel to Walgreens in his pajamas to get some real cough medicine. We aren't supposed to use real cough or cold medicine on kids younger than 4 years old nowadays, so we have been trying to get by with using honey and a cool mist humidifier and natural remedies that just weren't working anymore. Mylo wasn't able to sleep at all through all that coughing which was bad enough, but when he couldn't breathe I really started to panic. So we bought some cough medicine that was safe for 4 year olds and gave him a half dose of that. And it worked beautifully and he was able to breathe better and sleep better until 5 am when he woke with his highest fever yet. That's when I decided that I couldn't wait another day for the pediatrician's office to open and we were all going to go to Urgent Care this morning as soon as they opened at 8am. Luckily, it turned out to not be pneumonia or bronchitis or something terrible, just a virus as I had suspected all along. But at least now we know. Ariel was able to be seen as well for his sore throat and was also diagnosed with a virus. So now both my boys are sick and I'm sort of holding it together and I went to the store and gathered lots of stuff for sick people to eat and drink and hopefully this will all be over soon.

Yesterday included staying in our pj's all day, drinking tea, making homemade blueberry scones, watching Rio, fingerpainting, doing puzzles, playing roll the ball back and forth inside, and watching the first 20 minutes of Dumbo before Ariel and I deemed it too depressing to finish and we deleted it from our dvr.

He still manages to look so cute, even while sick:

Tea and scones, mmm!

Rolling the ball:

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 457 (The one where he wants spaghetti)

2012-02-03T17:52:00.001-08:00

Sweet and Sour Spaghetti

2012-02-03T17:51:00.000-08:00

Even though this little cold Mylo has isn't too terrible, it has definitely left him feeling and acting miserably. He goes from being ridiculously sweet one minute to being inconsolable about every little thing the next. Mostly it's that last thing. He hardly uses normal words anymore, he just demands things that he wants with a sobbing whine that I can hardly understand. And if I try to distract him with something else, he will just continue crying about the next thing. It's so sad to see your little one so clearly upset and not feeling well and not have anything you can really do to help them. Ariel and I are both starting to feel it come on as well (that's what a sick child coughing IN YOUR MOUTH will do to you). Ugh.

On a brighter note, he has also been extra sweet and cuddly this past week. The other morning when he woke up, he told me I had so many pretty things. "Mama, you have pretty arms. You have pretty hands. You have pretty hair. You have pretty eyes. You have pretty cheeks. (etc)" I swear, I have no idea where he comes up with this stuff, but it is so heartmeltingly sweet that it makes all the incessant crying seem forgettable. And then he will refuse to nap and everything sucks again. And then he will say out of the blue, "I love you so much, Mommy!" And the world is right again. Then he will cough the saddest, phlegmiest cough and my heart will break from sadness to hear him suffer like that. And then he will ask if we can have an impromptu spaghetti snack date on the patio outside and my heart will explode with glee.

This afternoon while we were playing outside in the backyard, he decided that he must eat a snack in the gazebo and it must be spaghetti and it must be now. I jumped at the chance to have him eat something since his appetite has been suffering right along through this whole cold too. So I made us spaghetti and we ate it outside and it was so much fun. Like we made each other laugh so hard spaghetti came out our noses. Or maybe that was just snot. Same diff.

"I want spaghetti, Mom!"

"And I want to eat it in HERE!"

"And I want it NOW (please)!"

He even asked for a wipe to clean himself up when he was done, just like a proper little gentleman. Heehee.

And then the sweetest thing ever happened. Tonight after dinner, Mylo noticed my "motherhood" ring. It's the ring Ariel got me for mother's day that has both Mylo's birthstone and Milla's birthstone in it (with room to add more stones). He asked me what it was and I told him that the green stone was Milla's and the orange stone was his. And then he asked me where Milla was. He has never ever asked me about her before, even though both Ariel and I have spoken to him about her and shown him her picture countless times. I told him she lives up in the sky. He asked if she was an airplane. I explained that she lives up in the clouds in a place called Heaven. Then he said he wanted to see her, so I brought her picture over to show him. He stared at it for the longest time, as if it was the first time he had seen it. He kept asking questions about her, like what she was holding (a teddy bear) and what was that boo boo on her arm (her peeling skin). It was the ultimate sweetest and saddest moment yet.

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 456 (The one where he eats kiwi and wants to dust me)

2012-02-03T10:41:00.001-08:00

Yesteryear 2/3

2012-02-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

February 3, 2011:

What a difference a year makes! Today it is supposed to be sunny and get up to the low 50's. Last year on this day we were buried in snow!!!

February 3, 2012:

Illness Update

2012-02-02T15:38:00.001-08:00

The symptoms started a few days ago with just a runny/stuffy nose and sneezing (not unlike allergy symptoms). Then came the cough (yesterday). Today brought the low grade fever (combined with all previously listed symptoms). I hope we are almost out of the woods with this thing and that I don't get the full-blown version of it too.
At least he still seems to be mostly in a good mood.

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 455 (The one where he plays with the RC Thomas)

2012-02-02T15:38:00.000-08:00

Spontaneous Park Picnic

2012-02-01T11:46:00.001-08:00

Today the weather is gorgeous! Ariel forgot his cell phone at home and asked if we’d bring it down to him and join him for an early lunch/picnic at the park. It was so nice to be outside and soak up some fresh air and sunshine without being freezing cold. Hopefully it was good for our little sickie to get outside and it won’t make him feel worse!

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 454 (The one where he plays in the sandbox)

2012-02-01T11:38:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 453 (The one where he eats a sandwich and plays cars)

2012-02-01T11:36:00.001-08:00

Not feeling well...

2012-02-01T11:36:00.000-08:00

Mylo has been showing cold symptoms for the past few days so we've been trying to just take it easy around here.

This was him a few days ago. Those of you who know my son know that this is completely out of the norm for him. He actually asked for me to tuck him in with his special blanket and pillows that Graddie made him and told me to LEAVE HIS ROOM so that he could go to sleep. He absolutely never does that! He has never done that. Ever. For the record, he didn't go to sleep and popped up calling for me at the top of the stairs not 5 minutes later. But still. He was still tired after his nap and that is what he did. He really must not be feeling well! ;)

Even Squishy wanted to be wrapped up in blankets this morning:

Drinking some tea is good for colds:

And Mylo has started taking Flintstones vitamins now too!

The weather was too too nice today for us not to go outside. We played in the sandbox for a while this morning and later had a spontaneous picnic at the park with Ariel for lunch.

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 452 (The one where he plays Crying Ice Cream Truck)

2012-01-29T17:40:00.001-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 451 (The one where he plays keyboard with Dad)

2012-01-29T17:40:00.000-08:00

Yesteryear 1/29

2012-01-29T17:38:00.000-08:00

January 29, 2011:

January 29, 2012:

Down Dog

2012-01-28T09:58:00.001-08:00

I told Mylo to go into Down Dog today and he immediately went into this (while saying, "Woof! Woof!")

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 450 (The one where he eats blueberries on the stairs)

2012-01-28T09:58:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 449 (The one where he dances and eats animal crackers)

2012-01-28T09:57:00.000-08:00

Yesteryear 1/28

2012-01-28T09:51:00.000-08:00

January 28, 2011:

January 28, 2012:

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 448 (The one where he picks up the tracks)

2012-01-26T14:01:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 447 (The one where he throws the tracks)

2012-01-26T14:00:00.000-08:00

Lilly Made the Paper!

2012-01-26T11:19:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! My good friend and favorite chef Lilly from Lilly's Table made the paper! Check out the article that features her and one of her soup recipes at the Arizona Daily Star! Congratulations, Lil! I'm so proud of you!

Mylo's Favorite Question

2012-01-25T17:41:00.000-08:00

I'm sure it will soon become every toddler's favorite question: why? But as of right now, his favorite question is, "What are you doing?" He asks it no less that 350 times a day, often immediately following a response to the very same question. I will literally be sitting down on the stool next to Mylo who will be sitting on the toilet going poop, and he will ask me, "What are you doing, Mama?" And I'll say, "I'm waiting for you to go poop." To which he'll reply, "What are you doing, Mama?" I'm not sure if it's like a game or if he just doesn't understand what he's really asking or what. He will ask this 15 or so times while I sit there, literally doing the same thing. Well, buddy, I can tell you one thing I'm NOT doing: shaving my legs! Luckily it's winter and I only wear pants and Ariel doesn't really mind because shaving your legs while you're pregnant is a BITCH.

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 446 (The one where he tries to fix his toy)

2012-01-25T11:26:00.000-08:00

Ariel and Mylo picked this toy out the other day at Kohl's (we were there exchanging a Christmas gift that was the wrong size). It is very confusing and has only one action and in hindsight we never should have bought it.

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 445 (The one where he runs around the house)

2012-01-25T11:24:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we shared an ice cream at Sams Club. He had to burn off that sugar high somehow!

Play, Destroy, and Rebuild

2012-01-25T11:22:00.000-08:00

This is what happened when I ran upstairs to make our lunch yesterday:

He had just as much fun destroying it as he did rebuilding it and then playing with it again. I'm sure this isn't the last time. And I'm sure these photos are making my mom, dad, and sister sick after they spent an entire day putting this train table together for Mylo's birthday!

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 444 (The one where he drinks a green monster)

2012-01-24T10:57:00.000-08:00

Mylo loves drinking "green monsters" (smoothies made with spinach). I have recently swapped out the frozen cantaloupe for frozen peaches due to the cantaloupe scare we had a while back. I make them differently each time, but the gist is usually the same. Today's had vanilla almond milk, plain greek yogurt, a little honey, spinach, half a banana, and some frozen peaches. He was so funny drinking it and kept saying, "Thank you Mommy! It's so yum! It's so good! I love it! It's delicious!"

Mylo's 26 Months!

2012-01-23T05:55:00.002-08:00

Mylo is 33 1/2 inches tall (more than half my height! yikes!) and 26 pounds. He is sensitive and always concerned with me being happy. He is still a mama's boy, and gets mad at me when he wakes up in the night and I'm not in bed with him. He can open doors now, and will come into my & Ariel's room and say in an angery voice, "Mom! It's bed time! Come now!" and will point towards his room. It's too sweet for me to not go, plus he will just cry and wake up even more if I don't. I realize this will all have to end once the new baby comes, so I'm soaking up as much snuggle time with him now that I can. It is both a wonderful and a terrifying feeling to be needed so much, all at the same time. He is still very intense and passionate about everything. He knows no decibel level other that screaming it seems at times. His most favorite things in the world right now are Oswald the octopus, spraying the snow with colored water, and watching videos of trains on youtube.

He poured out almost all of his bath soap the other night while Ariel was giving him a bath. When he realized that he shouldn't have done this, he got very upset about it and cried and cried, "I very bad! I poured all the soap out on my tum-tum!" And Ariel and I had to spend that night and days following reassuring him that he wasn't bad and that it's ok, we can just go buy new soap. He is so very sensitive.

He is learning the concept of AND. He lives very much in the moment and doesn't comprehend doing something in the future or doing more than one thing at one time. I asked him if he wanted to go to Starbucks for a scone and he got all excited. When I mentioned we could get hot chocolates too, he said no- that he wanted a scone. Then I tried to teach him "AND" and said, "But you can get hot chocolate AND a scone." Then something clicked in his sweet and adorable little brain and he kept repeating it. "Hot chocolate AND a scone! Hot chocolate AND a scone!" He was very excited when he realized that he could have both at the same time. I have to remind myself that I can't reveal too much about our day at one time. For instance, if he's playing at his train table, I can't offer him some blueberries, even if I know he's hungry, because he'll tell me that he's playing choo-choo right now! How dare I suggest something else or that we do something later, in the future. He is very much in the now and it keeps me in check of trying to live the same way. Stop looking ahead and enjoy this moment NOW!

He says the cutest and funniest things all the time. When I suggest we do something that he approves of, he will now say, "Oh, good idea, Mom!" Thanks, buddy. :) He calls boogers "ants in his nose". I have no idea how he came up with that one!

He is smart enough to make up his own lyrics to a melody that he likes. This sort of blew my mind when he did it the other day. He really likes this song from this youtube video and when we were in the car the other day (on our way to get those scones at Starbucks!) he started singing, "Thank you, Mama! Toot! Toot!" to the melody of the song in the video. All on his own. It was kind of amazing.

He knows all of his uppercase alphabet letters, but I am trying to teach him the lowercase ones now. He still measures everything with "Big Dada", "Mama", and "Baby", so naturally the letters are all either "Big Dada" or "Baby"-sized. When we got to the lowercase letter "e" the other day, he said, "Oh! Baby e is so cute and tiny!" Hahahahahahahahahaha, amirite????

He is so sweet and is becoming very generous with the compliments these days. He loves to stoke my cheek and tell me I have a very beautiful face. I mean, really! Have you ever heard anything sweeter than that before in your entire life??? I don't even know where he learned that! He tells me I have pretty eyes and pretty hair and says I love you and gives hugs and kisses unprompted all the time now. It makes even the hard, whiny, tantrumy moments bearable.

He loves to explore destroying and fixing. He likes to take his toy hammer and go to town banging on his train table, destroying the way the tracks are set up and then tries to set it all back up again by himself.

I love this age that he's at more and more and more. He never ceases to impress me or charm me each and every day. There are so many times throughout the day that I wish someone was videotaping that exact moment because he does too many cute and hilarious things all the time!

2012-01-23T05:55:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 443 (The one where he's 26 months)

2012-01-23T05:50:00.001-08:00

New Baby: 20 Weeks

2012-01-21T08:09:00.000-08:00

I managed to squeak this belly pic in on the very last day of being 20 weeks, maintaining my goal of posting monthly belly pics! Here it is, against my better judgement as I am wearing no make-up and haven't brushed my hair yet today.

Me and Mylo at 20 weeks pregnant with his brother:

Me pregnant with Mylo at 20 weeks:

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 442 (The one where he laughs at the ipad game)

2012-01-20T18:13:00.000-08:00

He talks on the phone now.

2012-01-20T18:12:00.000-08:00

Today Mylo talked with Dada for a long time on the phone today and I thought it was so cute that I grabbed the camera for his next couple of phone calls.

Mylo and JoePa on the phone:

Mylo and Graddie on the phone:

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 441 (The one where he tells me to get lost)

2012-01-20T12:47:00.000-08:00

Yesteryear 1/20

2012-01-20T12:45:00.000-08:00

January 20, 2011:

January 20, 2012:

Happy Birthday, Dylan!

2012-01-20T09:09:00.001-08:00

Wow, I can't believe she is one year old already! Our friends' (Dave & Barb) little girl Dylan (Jackson's sister) turns ONE today! Years go by so fast, even if the days don't always seem to. Happy birthday tu-tu you, Dylan! ;)

The Little Big Brother

2012-01-19T17:54:00.001-08:00

Mylo has been the sweetest little boy all day. I can’t wait for him to be a big brother and teach the newest Grossling how to be so sweet. My sweet boy getting down from his chair after waffles this morning:

Just before we headed out to the doctor:He was excited I think.

This is his smile-for-the-camera-fake smile:Here it is again:

That’s better:While I made dinner tonight, Mylo smuggled the oregano over to the corner and was eating it like a junkie:

He’s quite the Italian:Good stuff!We made homemade chocolate ice cream tonight. I swear that this ice cream maker will be the death of me. I’ve already gained almost all of my goal weight this pregnancy and I’m only half-way through. I blame this machine from my sister, seriously. The chocolate was super yum, but probably my least fav so far (peppermint and cinnamon are tied for current fav):Mylo likes watching the ice cream being made and the anticipation of it all better than the actual ice cream I think. He gets so excited watching it and jumps up and down saying, “I’m making ice cream! I’m going to eat it! It’s soooo yum!”

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 440 (The one where he sings and plays choo-choo train)

2012-01-19T17:44:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 439 (The one where he plays choo-choo on the stairs)

2012-01-19T17:43:00.000-08:00

Yesteryear 1/19

2012-01-19T17:39:00.000-08:00

January 19, 2011:

January 19, 2012:

Boy's Club

2012-01-19T10:20:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official! We're having another boy! We had our 20 week sonogram today and found out that it's a boy and he's perfect and healthy and everything looks great. Mylo didn't really understand what was going on (I don't think). It's hard for most people to see a baby on those ultrasound screens so I wasn't surprised that he didn't act all excited.

Mylo and Dada walking into the doctor's office this morning. We didn't even need to bring the backpack full of activities to keep Mylo entertained. All we needed (and used) was the ipad of course!

Doesn't he look thrilled?

Waiting for the doc (after the sono):

Mylo's Horsey

2012-01-17T17:49:00.000-08:00

The president of Ariel's company sent him home with a little gift for Mylo today:

Thanks, Dan!

Cute Pics from yesterday and today

2012-01-17T14:16:00.001-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 438 (The one where he tells me I'm too big)

2012-01-17T14:14:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 437 (The one where he plays with his mini trains on his rug)

2012-01-17T14:13:00.002-08:00

Yesteryear 1/17

2012-01-17T14:04:00.000-08:00

January 17, 2011:

January 17, 2012:

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 436 (The one where he throws snowballs)

2012-01-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

Yesteryear 1/16

2012-01-16T08:59:00.000-08:00

January 16, 2011:

January 16, 2012:

Weekend Updates

2012-01-15T08:04:00.000-08:00

I'm now 20 weeks along and we find out the sex of our baby on Thursday!!! Baby is the length of a banana or the size of a small cantaloupe. I am feeling him/her move all the time now.

We've been trying to keep busy inside mostly since I am a huge wimp and the most I can last outside in the freezing cold is about 40 minutes.

We've had a lot of slippers, soup, hot chocolate, popcorn, watching youtube videos of trains going by, playing choo-choo's on the train table, cleaning/organizing/shredding old papers (thanks, Sally!), hot tea, waffles, playing with tools, spraying the snow different colors, coloring in coloring books, and sitting by the fire. Ariel and I even got a game of Farkle in last night while enjoying the last of the fire and I actually won (for the first time!!!)

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 435 (The one where he hammers loudly)

2012-01-15T07:57:00.000-08:00

Warning: Do not watch this video if you have a headache or are annoyed by loud banging sounds.

Yesteryear 1/15

2012-01-15T07:54:00.001-08:00

January 15, 2011:

January 15, 2012:

Cold and Snowy

2012-01-13T05:32:00.001-08:00

I knew it would come eventually. The cold and snow finally hit us yesterday and will continue all week it seems. I bundled us up to go play in the snow yesterday, but the wind and air was so cold that it was hurting our faces, so we didn’t stay out long. I filled some water squirt bottles with colored water and we went out to “paint” snow:I tried writing “Mylo” in the snow:He had fun.

Then we came in for some “milkshakes” (yogurt drink with whipped cream on top):

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 434 (The one where he sprays the tree)

2012-01-13T05:24:00.002-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 433 (The one where he sprays the snow)

2012-01-13T05:24:00.000-08:00

We filled some squirt bottles with colored water and went outside in the freezing (17 degrees) cold to spray some snow.

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 432 (The one where he does very focused painting)

2012-01-13T05:23:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 431 (The one where he wants to make hand prints)

2012-01-13T05:22:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 430 (The one where he does some finger painting)

2012-01-13T05:21:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 429 (The one where he plays with Daisy and the ice cream truck)

2012-01-13T05:20:00.001-08:00

Are you happy now?

2012-01-12T05:08:00.000-08:00

Mylo's sweet new thing is being concerned about me being happy. If I get a "boo-boo", he will come over and kiss it and then ask, "Happy, Mama?" If we are watching youtube videos of trains going by and my mouse gets stuck and I get frustrated, he looks worried, then waits to see my face soften when the mouse returns, and then he will ask, "You happy now, Mom?" It so very sweet and makes me feel like I've at least done something right over here. All I ever hope and pray for is that he is a sweet boy and so far he is.

Yesteryear 1/12

2012-01-12T04:49:00.000-08:00

January 12, 2011:

January 12, 2012:

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 428 (The one where he tells me to clean up)

2012-01-11T17:18:00.001-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 427 (The one where he gives me ice cream)

2012-01-11T17:17:00.002-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 426 (The one where he says potato)

2012-01-11T17:17:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 425 (The one where he cooks a pretzel)

2012-01-11T17:16:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 424 (The one where he watches the ice cream)

2012-01-10T19:24:00.000-08:00

We made homemade peppermint ice cream tonight with our new ice cream maker and it was so yum! I swear this thing has ruined me from regular old store bought ice cream from now on.

Yesteryear 1/10

2012-01-10T17:56:00.000-08:00

January 10, 2011:

January 10, 2012:

A Great Write-Up for my friend (and favorite chef!) Lilly and Lilly's Table

2012-01-09T10:52:00.000-08:00

My friend Lilly was written about on this blog and I couldn't agree more with their description of her and her food creations over at Lilly's Table . Here's what they had to say:

"Lucky for me, I have the most fantastically talented friend and neighbor, Lilly Alison Steirer the creator of Lilly’s Table – an online meal planning guide service that is bursting with wonderfully inspiring recipes using fresh and seasonal fare. Eating at Lilly’s house is like falling in love all over again, and again and again. You may have had a Caesar salad hundreds of times in your life but you’ve never had Lilly’s. Her whole approach to food just sends you into a double take zone. I can’t tell you the countless number of times I’ve fed Bing a dish he’s never had interest in only to watch his eyes do that “AYOOOOOOGA!” thing when coming upon Lilly’s version. Then I catch him shamefully sneaking seconds and thirds. That’s what I love about Lilly’s food; it just makes you think twice. Lilly’s table’s dishes range from the everyday comfort to the inspiringly exotic, but I think what amazes me the most is her understanding of keeping the integrity of whole and real foods in tact while still creating a newly imagined experience. She is able to do all this while still keeping recipes accessible to those without all the fancy equipment and to those that may not have advanced culinary knowhow. Lucky again for me; despite creating multiple course meals for friends and strangers every day of the week, I find myself in constant befuddlement as to what to cook for myself day in and day out. I was eager to create a spoil-myself meal-for-one with minimal complication and most importantly, minimal cleanup."

Way to go, Lil!

Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes

2012-01-09T10:42:00.000-08:00

This morning Mylo asked for pancakes (which is rare due to his insane love of waffles), so I took the opportunity to make these: Oatmeal cookie pancakes! They are just as delicious as they sound and Mylo had fun helping me make them too. I adapted the recipe based on what I had on hand, which basically means that I used everything except the bananas and raisins (I have raisins, but chose not to use them). Mylo liked them so much that he did a little happy dance while eating them and then proclaimed, "These are sooooo YUM!" Nice.

Yesteryear 1/9

2012-01-09T10:35:00.000-08:00

January 9, 2011:

January 9, 2012:

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 423 (The one where he plays a shapes matching game on the ipad)

2012-01-08T16:21:00.000-08:00

Mylo's new favorite thing

2012-01-08T16:20:00.000-08:00

We've spent the majority of this weekend with Mylo on our laps, staring at our computer screens, watching endless footage of "HUGE Big Dada Choo-Choo's" on youtube. He likes to watch live footage of real trains going by. Steam engine trains (like Thomas). It is sort of the most boring thing (to me and Ariel) but Mylo absolutely loves it and shouts, "Here it comes!" and "Whoa! It's HUUUUGE!" "It's so BIG!" We have got to take this little guy to ride a big steam engine train in real life soon.

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 422 (The one where he plays choo-choo and tells me to go play ball outside)

2012-01-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

Yesteryear 1/7

2012-01-07T09:21:00.000-08:00

January 7, 2011:

January 7, 2012:

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 421 (The one where he plays go down the slide on my leg)

2012-01-06T18:21:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 420 (The one where he tells me I'm TALL!!!)

2012-01-06T18:20:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 419 (The one where he eats a pb&j)

2012-01-06T18:19:00.000-08:00

What winter?

2012-01-06T18:16:00.001-08:00

Today we were lucky enough to experience some fantastic warm and sunny weather. It got up to 58 degrees today and we were able to get outside and replenish our depleted vitamin D and serotonin levels. We started out the morning with Mylo doing one of his favorite activities- washing dishes: And his new favorite activity- watching the coffee brew:

Then we headed over to Sally’s house for a visit with Gabe and JoJo. We had so much fun playing in their backyard and soaking up the sunshine! Mylo’s nap was cut short because he fell asleep in the car on the way home, but that was ok since it was gorgeous out and I wanted to walk down to the park for some more fun in the sun while we still have it! Who knows when it will dump inches of snow on us again (I’m looking at you, February!) Here are some shots from the rest of our afternoon:

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 418 (The one where he plays ice cream truck)

2012-01-05T11:24:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, JoePa!

2012-01-05T10:24:00.001-08:00

Happy birthday to my dad today! You are officially one of Mylo's favorite people in the whole world (and one of his favorites to call on the phone!) and we love you very much!

Me and my dad:

JoePa and Mylo playing choo-choo's:

Dad on Mylo's birthday:

Helping Mylo with his tool bench (and creating a new generation of Home Depot-loving men):

Watching Shrek on the couch:

Playing T-Ball in the backyard:

Showing Mylo how to fish:

Worms. Eew.

Holding hands:

Fishing buddies:

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 417 (The one where he laughs at the turtle dude)

2012-01-04T10:26:00.000-08:00

Yesteryear 1/4

2012-01-04T10:21:00.001-08:00

January 4, 2011:

January 4, 2012:

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 416 (The one where he wipes down Squishy)

2012-01-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

More cleaning.

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 415 (The one where he cleans the floor)

2012-01-03T10:50:00.000-08:00

This is another one of Mylo's favorite hobbies: helping me clean! Whatever I'm doing, he wants to do too. I always wipe down under the cabinets after I vacuum, since our vacuum won't reach all the way around under them and I have to get the crumbs by hand. He saw me doing it today and thought it was THE COOLEST THING EVER and immediately demanded a "wipe" and started cleaning all the things.

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 414 (The one where he looks for Oswald in the spoon drawer)

2012-01-03T10:48:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 413 (The one where he looks for Oswald through my knees)

2012-01-03T10:47:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 412 (The one where he looks for Henry the penguin)

2012-01-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 411 (The one where he looks for Oswald with the microphone)

2012-01-03T10:34:00.000-08:00

This was another video from yesterday. I decided to post it since I've gotten so much positive feedback from yesterday's video.He loves this game. He hides Oswald, and then acts like he doesn't know where he is and makes his friends look for him.

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 410 (The one where he looks for Oswald)

2012-01-02T08:49:00.000-08:00

How we've started 2012

2012-01-02T08:48:00.001-08:00

Here we are on Day 2 of the new year. It has been rather cold out, so we're trying to keep busy inside.
I made a new flavor of ice cream, which is now reigning favorite: CINNAMON!!!
Yum.Mylo likes to take his Oswald friends for wagon rides around the house (thanks, Barb!):We make “caves” out of blankets on the couch:Mylo plays hide-n-seek with his Oswald friends. Oswald hides and the others have to find him.Where are you Oswald?We clean the oven using baking soda and water:
He’s a good helper!

And we watch Mylo’s new favorite movie- a documentary about sea turtles!
So far, so good!

2012-01-01T10:56:00.000-08:00

A Look Back at 2011

2011-12-31T05:38:00.001-08:00

January: Mylo got another medal at the Little Gym and continues to make potty training progress.

February: We were hit by the Snowpocalypse and Mylo told me he was tired for the first time ever.

March: We hung out with Steph and Baby Addie and spring brought us some much needed sunshine.

April: Mylo and I flew to Phoenix BY OURSELVES!!! while our house underwent The Great Flood of 2011. Mylo got his first professional haircut while in Phoenix and looked super cute for Brittany’s wedding. I also got to have a mini-reunion with my college girlfriends and Mylo dyed Easter eggs and went to the railroad park for the first time. Oh, and I turned 32 (almost forgot to mention that notveryimportantbecausewhocareshowoldyouareafteryouturn30 little tidbit). When we got home from Phoenix, we took Mylo to the zoo for the first time too! Exciting month!
And who could forget this precious little video:

May: Mylo slept for 6 hours straight, saw his first rainbow, and Ariel and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary.

June: We held a couple of garage sales with our friends, Mylo and I drove up to Chicago to visit with AuntGie, Mylo got his first big boy underpants, and we went to a gorgeous wedding on a farm. We also kicked summer off right with a trip to Sally’s pool! Graddie was back in town and we drove to Indy to check out the children’s museum. The farmer’s market brought us lots of fresh goodies, Mylo tried an Otter Pop, we made a make-shift pool out of our sandbox lid, and we tried a new sleeping arrangement.

July: We said sad goodbyes to our friends, our farmer’s market got WAFFLES (more waffles), we went blueberry picking for the first time, Mylo started practicing how to eat ice cream cones, we made homemade popsicles, we went garage saling, went on picnics, played in our backyard pool, took our first family bike ride, played at the public pool, and gave Squishy a bath.

August: We spent most mornings at the public pool and most afternoons eating cherry tomatoes straight from our garden and giving Squishy a pool bath. We attempted to make our own snow cones at home and ran around the splash pad at Hessel Park. Our baby girl Milla turned three. And we said goodbye to the greatest man I’ve ever known.

September: Mylo eats a plum and get his first balloon. Ariel survived crunch at work and we took our first ever family vacation (not including trips to Phoenix). We took some nature walks and our house got a little more beautiful.

October: We enjoyed the fall weather outside and played at parks (our nearby playground got a remodel!) Mylo’s Grandma and Grandpa came for a visit and we all went to the pumpkin patch. Mylo discovered new love for leaf piles, dandelions and hot chocolate. And, of course, trick-or-treating (times two!)

November: More playing in the leaves, Mylo successfully potty trained, and my mom wrote a book! Graddie, JoePa, and AuntGie came to town to celebrate Mylo’s second birthday and Thanksgiving with us.

December: We made did lots of baking (Christmas cookies, oatmeal cookies, and fun with red velvet). We took a mini weekend excursion to Indianapolis and spent a quiet family Christmas at home this year.

Wow! It’s weird how true it is- the days are long but the years are short…each day doesn’t seem that exciting around here, but when you look at it as a year on the whole- it appears we had quite a fun and busy year! And 2012 shows no signs of slowing down, with an active toddler and a new bundle of joy arriving in late spring/early summer! Happy New Years Eve everyone!

Yesteryear 12/31

2011-12-31T05:33:00.000-08:00

December 31, 2010:

December 31, 2011:

Two Minutes with Mylo: Episode 409 (The one where he's a robot doctor)

2011-12-30T16:31:00.000-08:00