Miles' Second Easter

We had a really nice Easter weekend. We started with a celebration at my parent's house.

Miles was big enough to hunt for eggs at Nonna and Paw Paw's this year.

He wandered the house and popped open the eggs to eat the treats inside.

Very insightfully my mom stuffed them with raisins - a healthy treat. I found out he really likes raisins ... he ate a lot... I only know because I saw the diaper that ensued. (Sorry ~ too descriptive?? :-)

The next morning we enjoyed the sunshine on the deck by playing with the bubbles he got in his Easter basket!

Miles loves to play hide-and-seek under the dining room chairs.

Then we got dressed up again and went to another Easter meal. This time at Yia Yia's house.

This year he sat on his Great Auntie Ei's lap, and he wanted to crack his own eggs!

(Just look at how much he has grown up in one year!!!)

He fell asleep on the ride home with his new rabbit in his arms. He loves this fuzzy bunny, and in fact it has become another of his new words. He says "rabbit" - but often I translate from "babbet." He is learning and growing so fast - it is unbelievable to watch!

Trip to Dallas

Wow - I think this is the longest I have ever gone without updating (and I have heard about it from some of you) so I do apologize! Honestly, this last month flew by at breakneck speed and I think we are all ready to slow things down and come up for air.

So ~ I will start at the very beginning... and since I have been stockpiling the posts full of pictures with no words for weeks now, I will finally fill them with words and let them date themselves. {It is actually almost mid-May as I type this.}

Back in April I left work and my family and headed off on an adventure.

Where are you going mama?

That was the quizzical look on Miles' face when I pulled out the suitcase. I was so excited to be going to Dallas to celebrate my cousins wedding, but I was a little worried... because I realized this would be the first time I was going away from Miles for more than one night! (We made the decision months before that Miles and Michael would stay here when I went, but I had no idea how hard it would be to leave until the day arrived.) Miles helped me pack, and then "my boys" delivered me to the airport.

Wow - what a party we had! The celebration went on for days, and it was so much fun to help this beautiful couple feel surrounded by love and laughter as they began this next chapter of their life together.

My proud mother helped to throw Chelsea a perfect bridesmaid's luncheon the day before the wedding. My sweet sisters-in-law joined us and it was so much fun to be together!

My grandmother continued the tradition and knit a wedding shawl for Chelsea.

Me with my cousin Sloane at the rehearsal dinner.

My dad and his only niece on her wedding day!

We spent a beautiful day together, getting our hair and makeup done, and getting all dressed up. I had such a wonderful day getting to know all of her amazing girlfriends.

(July 23, 2005) It reminded me of my wedding day.
Chelsea stood by me as my maid of honor on my wedding day, and it was so exciting to finally be there for her!

My Aunt Sally - the beautiful MOB - mother of the bride!

The time arrived - we boarded the bus and headed to the chapel to get our girl married!

The bride was gorgeous, the ceremony was perfect - including the most elegant version of the Lord's Prayer sung by my talented sister-in-law Sarah, the celebration went into the night, but the best part was the smiles on the faces of the newlyweds as they walked down the stairs together at the end of the night. I know it is hard to believe, but I did not take any pictures at the reception - so I do not have a pic of the bride & groom - I will have to wait to see the photographers. (Besides, I was having too much fun hanging out in the photo booth and gorging myself at the candy bar :-).

I did get a picture of my handsome brothers and their beautiful wives.

We truly celebrated for days while I was in Dallas and it was great to be surrounded by family, but oh did I miss my little man!! Luckily papa sent me pictures each day, so here - you can see how I got through our time apart.

Reading the paper.

Brushing!

Eating spaghetti.

Learning the alphabet.

Tree... (it sounds more like twee) so cute.

Playing with "Fia" - they have become great friends, he asks for her on days when he does not see her.

I survived my time away from my boys, and I even had a really great time, but I do not want to do it again any time soon!

Spring has Sprung

Just a quick post of some pictures enjoying the sunshine we have been experiencing. The temperatures are still cold, but I will take the sunshine whenever I can get it! I was so inspired by the spring like weather that I bought some sidewalk chalk... and Miles was slightly entertained by it. More of it ended up on him than the sidewalk, but it was fun!

Here is his fifteen month picture.

On March 19th we watched the "Super Full Moon" rise from our back deck. Michael held Miles who was pointing excitedly the whole time! He does that a lot lately to let us know what he thinks is interesting. We have also taught him some sign language, and just the few words in his vocabulary really seem to help him communicate. In addition to sign language, he is fluent with a few words: ball, bowl, Mama, hi, bye, and down. Otherwise we hear a lot of grunting and babbling, that we know mean something to him... so we just smile and try to figure it out!

The last great milestone this month was the completion of the bench! Michael has been working on this beautiful bench for a looooong time. In fact it was on our list of things to do before Miles arrived. Needless to say everything else got done, and Michael patiently worked on his project while taking on the new duties of being dad. Well - finally, the bench is complete. Miles help put the hinges on. This beautiful creation will be enjoyed for years to come, and probably become a proud family heirloom that we pass on. Miles - I think you are first in line to get it!

Promise of Spring

Although the landscape here still tells the story of winter, we are holding fast to the promise of spring.

This week, to wipe away our winter blahs, we headed indoors to the annual butterfly exhibit at the Frederick Meijer Gardens. In fact Miles made the trip twice this week. Because of our work schedules both Michael and I went on separate adventures with Miles to view the kaleidoscope of Lepidoptera on display. (Miles wouldn't tell us who he had the most fun with :-)

The tropical display of beautiful fluttering butterflies and blossoming flowers was certainly enough to remind us that the season of snowdrifts and grey skies cannot last forever.

When we stepped outside we found other, more discreet signs that the warm days of summer are in fact on their way. The goldfinches huddled in the trees near the feeders looked at us suspiciously. They seemed to suspect that we knew they were threatening to shed their dingy winter coats for their gilded summer glow.

The buds of this Red Maple (Acer rubrum) seemed to be swelling slightly. Here you can see that this damaged branch has a drop of sap forming. Proof that the (relatively) warm days and cool nights we've been experiencing are just right to "wake" the trees from their slumber. We hope that this season is better than last year, and the weather conditions will remain perfect for sap flow, so all our friends who are sugaring right now can take advantage of the gift of the Sugar Maple (Acer saccharum). In fact, we just ran out of our own stash of Michigan maple syrup this week, and we can't wait for this years batch to be boiled down!

So as the days grow longer, and we "march" our way towards the equinox on the 20th, we are taking a moment to try to remember the things we will miss about winter. (Yes, there might be one or two.) We will miss the blessing of sunshine when it breaks through the clouds bearing blue skies; making the world glow bright white after days of grey. We will miss the snowflakes, all of them, and even the piles and piles of them that take hours to shovel. We will miss watching the tracks of wildlife as they leave the tale of their whereabouts in the snow. (Hopefully the information we have gleaned will help us keep them out of our garden this summer!) We will definitely miss cuddling with the family by the fire in the evening.

Really, I think the thing I will miss the most though, is Miles dressed for an outing in his big green snowsuit that Nonna has taken to calling his "pickle outfit." I am afraid he will probably outgrow it before the snow flies again, so this might be the last photo of him in his green getup!

"Bye Bye" winter, and "Hello" (or "Haho" as Miles says) to the Robin we saw perched outside! Hooray!!! Spring is on the way!