Big News!

We had another big week at our house! It started last Tuesday, Groundhog Day, when we got almost all of winter's snow in one night. We went to bed with a clear driveway, and woke up to four foot drifts of snow. It was quite surreal.

Michael had to shovel us out of the house... really. The front door could not be opened unless we dug our way out. So we did. We dug, and hauled, and pushed, and piled snow all morning. Then we took a break for lunch. After we ate we were back at it... and five hours later we were done! (That is ten hours total of shoveling!!!) I am all for manual labor, fresh air, and reducing the use gasoline powered machines, but yikes, we spent our entire snow day WORKING - hard!

As Michael sat in a snow bank and admired the fruits of our labor.... we heard a distant rumbling... and watched in horror as the snowplow finally appeared on our street. It proceeded to plow in the end of the driveway with another three feet of snow. Uuugh, more work!

Miles was a great cheerleader as we shoveled. Though he may not really remember the blizzard of 2011, he has a photo to prove that the snow piles really were taller than he was!

We had to get the driveway clean because we were having a birthday party at our house! All of the Bradley Babies are officially one now, and the parents felt this was a perfect reason to get together and have a party!

I painted the windows again, and made cakes for the babies. (Yes, that is more apricot filling, and no I will not be adding cake decorating to my resume in this lifetime!)

We lined them up and Sarah brought little crowns for each baby. They stayed on just long enough for pictures ~ so cute! I must say I have entertained often through the years and this was the very first ever BYOHC party I have given (Bring Your Own High Chair :-).

A room full of very proud parents!

I thought that their little feet dangling and kicking in delight as they crammed cake into their mouths were just precious. SO here are their portraits, including feet.

And here is the group portrait. You may remember that we have been taking their photo with the map that Yia Yia Linda made throughout the year. The last time we managed to gather and get a picture was in October. This time they were all upright, and almost all walking. So we thought we would pen them in Miles' crib for the photo shoot. Well, there were mixed reviews. Sofia and Josie were all giggles, Miles seemed astounded that he had three girls in his bedroom, and sweet Chloe just was not having it!

We managed one shot (out of about 15) that was suitable for print. This after we wrangled away the toy hammer, that looked entirely too real, that Chloe was wielding! I am sure that one of them will always be in extreme discontent with this tradition that we have started. Any bets for next time?

When we gathered on Saturday Sofia and Josie were champion walkers. Sofia even seems confident with the "toddler run", and therefore her parents are also practicing their sprinting skills. Chloe and Miles were both taking "small trips" about five or six steps in length. Chloe seems to prefer climbing, a skill that she alone has mastered!

So on Sunday as we cleaned up the house and reminisced about all the fun we had I mentioned to Miles that he could start to walk any time he wanted now. The next day I heard Michael call from downstairs, "He's walking! Ten steps at least - all the way across the room!" That was it. Maybe watching his friends make it look so easy gave him that last little bump of confidence he needed. Who knows, but we officially have a walking/ toddling baby in our house.

So - almost 14 months later, this "new - new" chapter of parenting has begun. I am learning that as soon as you get used to something as a parent, it changes. This time I felt like we were anticipating the change though and it is especially exciting. Miles seems really proud of his new accomplishment and he is having fun cruising all around. It amazed me how fast it happened, and now there is no going back. It has only been five days so I am not quite accustomed to seeing him upright yet. He will let go of a chair and walk over to me and my heart just leaps out of my chest every time! (Wonder when that will stop?) It is hard to explain the strange pride you feel when your child accomplishes something new. All he is doing is walking, but to me it is as if the clouds have parted and a huge ray of sunshine explodes in my heart each time he takes a step! I guess that must be what love is.