Holiday's

I hope everyone had a merry CHRISTmas! Our little tribes holiday has been quite lovely &, although not as busy as most, all the activity has kept me away from the computer. Here is a little family update since my last post...

Mike & I were able to attend a holiday party at Kyle Ray & Lindsay's thanks to my Mom coming into town & staying with Miles. It was so nice to go out just the two of us & mingle with some old Cal Poly friends. I wish I would have taken more pics (I always say that!), but it was great catching up with Vic Greco (his lady Sara is quite a catch!), Spencer Hamm & Ron & Annie Thorn. We were able to meet more great people that live close by to us & hopefully we will be able to get together in the future. Lindsay did a wonderful job as hostess & the food was delicious & plentiful! Thanks so much for a great night!

Family photo by the tree. Me with make-up on - oooh!

Kyle & his fiance Lindsay

Kyle & Lindsay's adorable dog Belle - what a face!

Christmas eve was a wonderful rainy day spent at home with Miles. My Mom was here in the morning, which always makes for good company. I spent the entire day baking or cooking in my kitchen. Bonding time for me & the new house ;) I have to say, my cookies turned out awesome (that is not always the case for me! Just ask my Mom!) & the roasted chicken with red/gold potatoes, carrots, & onions will definately be a Chavis family staple from now on. It was so good I couldn't stop patting myself on the back ;) I am just really learning how to cook, so this was a proud moment for me. Miles had fun playing while I cooked & he is getting so good about hanging by himself without mommy sitting right next to him. Thank goodness! That evening I went to a service at One Life Church in Lincoln. They had special songs by the kids & a candle lighting ceremony which was very nice. Everyone was extremely welcoming & Pastor Troy is a recent "Lincoln-ite" himself from the OC.

Mike made Christmas day extra special by surprising us with more presents under the tree than we had expected. He was so thoughtful & got me a bunch of cold weather gear for our new NorCal climate. Mike & I surprised eachother with the gifts we got for Miles, which was really fun. The kid made out like a bandit & got tons of great toys. Now, I just have to figure out where to put them all! My house is starting to look like Toy R Us exploded! We tried to let Miles join in the fun of unwrapping gifts, but after he tried to eat the paper & almost choked (scaring me half to death), we decided that he could watch us unwrap his gifts from the safety of his exer-saucer (which is a baby carnival on crack - but he loves it! Great gift for mommy & babe) We had a wonderful morning together as a family & I just felt happy all over. Ah, Christmas.

Our lovely little tree

Miles eating paper

A beanie that demanded I throw a peace sign up the minute I put it on my head. Hmm...

My parents joined us at our house early in the afternoon. It was another day of cooking for me & I had a lot of fun reciprocating as a hostess after years of being a guest. I must have been on a cooking roll or something because everything turned out so yummy. STuffed mushrooms, hot onion dip, honey ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans, salad, bread, pie - all so yummy. It was an absolute wonderful day celebrating the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ.

The spread & some crazy guy ;)

The fam at our ghetto little table (Did the job, though!). New one should be arriving any day! Thanks Mom & Dad!

Miles kicking it with Uncle Billy & Grandpa

The next morning Mike was back to work & my Mom, Miles & I were off to the Bay Area to be with family. I LOVE my family & always cherish the moments we get to see eachother. My cousins & I (9 in total) are all around the same age & are now all having babies! There are 4 new cousins 2 and under and 2 more on the way come March. It was amazing to see how much the older girls (Darian 12 & Lu 10) had changed since I last saw them in August. I swear Darian grew a foot & Lu is looking more & more like her Mama. Little Bentley (9 mo.) is crawling every where & already taking several steps on his own! Get ready Stacy! Lily was as darling as ever, sporting upside down sunglasses & purse. She is so much like her mama, Christina. Who, BTW, looks great at 6 months preggers with little Luke. Erinn was there with her daughter Kaia. Kaia was a little tired from all the travelling that day - they were catching up with Erinn's hubby's relatives (he is overseas - please say a prayer for all our troops & Mike Blaz who spent the holidays away from family & loved ones). Kaia was still full of personality, though! We spent the evening chasing after babies, chatting away & playing pictionary (so fun because my family is CRAZY - in a great way!). It was a wonderful day/night! Only a few pics because I ended up taking more video than still shots.

Andrea & Miles

Lily-kins

Nonni (Auntie Carol), Miles & Lily

Before heading home we vistited with my Mom's best friend Lynelle & her daughter Lacey. Lacey & I grew up together & she had her son Brayden just 2 weeks before Miles was born. It was our first time meeting Brayden & I am so glad that we got the opportunity on this visit. Brayden is super adorable (looks just like Lace as a baby!) & is crawling everywhere! Can't take your eyes off him! Miles started army crawling a few days before Christmas, but he is still pretty slow. I am happy he is finding out how to move, but in no hurry for him to get the hang of full on creeping. I see how much work that is for mommy & daddy! I am savoring my last moments of being able to put him in one place & walk away for a minute knowing I will return & he will be in the same place I put him. I know my days are numbered though. Time to get out the baby gates!

Brayden & Grandma Vanilla (Lynelle)

Miles & Brayden - so cute!

It was a great holiday & I loved being busyfor the sake of family time! It is nice to be chill'n back at home, introducing Miles to his new toys & playing. I hope you all have a happy new year! 2009, oh my!

Internet, Finally!

Sooo, we finally got our internet connected! Woo-hoo! It has been forever since I have gotten to post & there has been so much going on to post about ;) Because I am so exhausted from all the stuff that has been going on, this posting will be brief (& without pictures, because I am too pooped to download any - tomorrow possibly?).

A little over a week ago we moved into our new home (yay!) with the help of my bro & the Laney family. Moving sucks but as moves go, this went really well considering all the great help we had. Amber was the mover of the day & went above & beyond when she strapped little Mason to her back monkey style & hauled boxes up & down our stairs like a pro. Even 2 year old Abby helped out with the little stuff ("Hillary heres a mat you lay on in the sun! It's from Mike"). We ended an exhausting day with some grub from our new favorite pizza place in town (the name ? I forget! Mike orders it.) The next day we had breakfast at the Laney home & then went to a Christmas tree farm to try to cut down our own tree. That was unsuccessful because there were no trees! It was a cool place to check out, though, & it really solidified for Mike & I that we weren't in Kansas any more (Kansas being the OC; it was freezing at that tree farm!).

Since we moved in, we have been busy little bees, unpacking & staying up late while our favorite night owl handy man Brian Laney assists us in doing the things we are clueless about (re-lighting a water heater pilot, installing a ceiling fan, hooking up a washer/dryer, etc.) Honestly, we would be in bad shape if it weren't for the Laney's & I can't say enough how grateful I am for their friendship, kindness & help. I just LOVE that they are our neighbors! We had a hectic week of unpacking, grocery shopping, laundry, ugh...I am tired thinking about it all!

The best part of our first week, though, was that Mike surprised me with our first Christmas tree for Miles's first Christmas in our first house! I finally finished decorating it a week after he brought it home & I am happy every time I see it. I love my husband. He does the most thoughtful things sometimes. I guess I'll keep him ;)

Our first non-moving weekend was packed with visitors. We hosted our first "dinner" on Friday night. We don't have a kitchen table (Mike gave ours to the Goodwill in Lake Forest, but that's another story that I will not share because it will make me very mad & make me want to not keep my husband) so we sat on boxes at our ghetto card table. It worked, though. It felt great to cook in our new kitchen & each time I do the house feels more & more like our "home". Jamie Rose was our first house guest on Saturday night & Mike hung with Brian while we had a girl's night in the new pad. Ambie cooked a killer Italian dinner (Chicken Kalamata, mmm) & we drank lots of yummy wine & chatted until we lost our voices. Jamie couldn't get a word in because Amber & I couldn't shut-up since we were free of babies & mommy-stuff! It was long overdue time together & I hope we get the chance to have nights like that often now that we are all close by each other again. Sunday morning was breakfast at the Laney's & a visit from miss Breanne Gutterman (formerly Anderson) & her new little guy, Max (3.5 months). It was so good to see her & the babe, and crazy to see how much our lives have changed in just over 2 years. We are a long way from nights at The Bear! Sunday night Kyle Ray & his fiance Lindsay came by for a visit. It was so good to see the RZA & finally meet the lady that won his heart. I really hope that we get to see lots of them - Lindsay is awesome & Kyle is a lucky man (but I can see he knows that!).

This week, I am so tired that I am just kicking back a bit more. I went kind of crazy with unpacking because I am type-A like that, but now, I think I can hide the boxes that are left in unused rooms & let myself rest a bit. It is crazy cold here (Mike has to defrost his windshield in the morning & I wrapped our pipes last night so they wouldn't freeze!) & the chilly weather puts me in hibernation mode. I took two naps with Miles today! So lovely.

BTW, Miles is doing GREAT! He loves his new home & is as happy as ever. There are lots of older people in Lincoln & they can't get enought of the little guy when we are out running errands. He just hams it up for them too. So cute! He has 3 cute new teeth & now has 5 total! I can't believe it! His new top chompers are a funny but adorable addition to his big smile. He & I are totally in love right now, so my next post will proably be all about my boy.

I wrote more than I thought! This blogging is addictive! Hope everyone is have a happy holiday season! So happy to have my internet back so I can connect with you all again ;)

We are in like Flint!

I won't type another novella, but just wanted to share the exciting news that escrow has closed & we are officially home owners! I am so pumped! We get to do the final walk through tomorrow & then the keys are ours! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Big smiles here.

2 Crazy Days

The past 2 days were nutty. I am typing this & I should be going to bed. But, I have to wait until at least 9:30 to pump (ugh, how much I loathe pumping is a whole blog posting in itself), so I am typing this post to pass the time & decompress from the past two physically & emotionally exhausting days.

We are getting so close to moving into our new house that if I close my eyes I can practically feel the key in my hand as I turn the lock on the front door. I start to actually get giddy just thinking of how giddy I am going to feel as Mike & I cross the threshold of our new home with a box in our arms. Friday is supposed to be the big day if all goes as it is supposed to with the closing of our loan. Our "docs" were supposed to be returned from the lender on Friday...then Monday...then Tuesday morning FOR SURE (you get the idea?). Our mortgage broker & my cousin Chrissy were working their butts off to get them back asap, but all the nagging in the world couldn't seem to get the lender to move a little faster (must have still been under the intoxication of triptophan from turkey leftovers or something - grrr). We had to get the docs to the escrow company before we could do all the final signing away of our lives. And, the signing had to take place at the escrow company, which is in Sac, by Wednesday at the latest if we were to have any sort of chance of closing by Dec.5 as the contract from the seller stipulates. Add the stress of this time constraint to the "mommy stress" I was feeling based on the fact that Miles had to come along for all of this & you could say that I was kind of unwound. Why did I have "mommy stress" from having to bring our precious angel to our signing in Sac, you ponder? Well, Miles is a wonderful baby (as you have all read about) but the kid is not a fan of the car. If he does sleep in the car, he screams for 30 minutes before doing so. And I mean, screams. Sacramento is 1.5 hours away from my parents house in Chico. I have NEVER driven by myself with Miles for that long. Needless to say, I was dreading our little road trip.

I waited around the house all morning (& then all afternoon) on Tuesday to get the call that the docs were in & we had a scheduled time to sign by the end of the day. At 1:45, I was informed that the docs STILL weren't back - but (if I could swing it) I should start driving down to Sac (just in case the docs came back by 3:30 & we could sign at 4:00) because we needed to get these darn papers signed asap so things could stay on track for our Dec. 5 deadline. If the docs didn't come back by the end of Tuesday, we could sign early this morning (meaning Wednesday) & all would be good still. Thankfully, we were able to stay at Brian & Amber's house in Stink'n Lincoln if the morning signing was what we had to do (Lincoln is 20 minutes from Sac). Well, I could "swing it" so I ran around like a crazy lady & loaded up the car (I had to come back into the house 3x after locking the door & starting up the car because I remebered I forgot my wallet, then the directions & finally my christmas CD - hehe).

I was pleasantly surprised (& growing more nervous by the minute) when I hit Oroville (20 miles) & Miles was happy as a clam chewing on his carseat strap. By the time I made it to Marysville (60 miles) & Miles was still totally chilling, I felt like either GOD was cutting me a big break or Miles had taken a huge poop (which he often does while sitting in his carseat - go figure) & was totally happy revelling in the new relief that had overcome his little body. Some small whining began in Whetland (70 miles) but 20 repetitions of "Itsy Bitsy Spider", 10 "skida-marinky-dinky-dinks" & at least 20 verses of "Down by the Bay" later we made it to Brian & Amber's house without more than a small whimper. Whew. I was soooo happy. And, yes, Miles had made a HUGE poop (& I am sure GOD cut me a break along the way as well). I finally got the call from our MB that the docs had not come in (stupid turkey eating lenders!) but was guarenteed that they would be back by the morning. I was too tired to be really p-o'd at the lenders, I trusted my MB & was feeling way too happy about the AWESOME car ride & the fact that I got to have a slumber party with the Laney Family. So, it was all good.

Brian & Amber have Abby (2.5) & Mason (6 mo.). Miles is seriously 2x Mason's size & it is hilarious to sit them next to eachother. I think Mason is in the 11% for height/weight & moosey is in the 85th. Amber couldn't get enough of Miles's chunker thighs & I couldn't get enough of holding Mason, who was sooo light & easy on my back. Miles couldn't get enough of Abby. Every time she would talk, he would start flapping his arms & legs in overwhelming excitment. Then he would laugh & bury his head in my shoulder. It was so flipp'n adorable. I couldn't even give him a bottle with her in the room because he was too excited.

Amber made an amazing dinner of chicken enchiladas (thanks Julia Child!). We sat on the couch chatting, drinking some wine & listening to Mike serenade Abby with the mini-guitar & made up songs to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon" before getting all the babes down for the night. Amber & I went out to our house later that night & spied in all the windows with a flashlight. So excited! I love that Brian & Amber are only going to be 5 minutes away. Love it.

Miles had a rough night sleeping (boo). Brian & Amber have lots of really cool electronic stuff with little neon lights. Miles woke up & then wouldn't go back to sleep because he was so enthralled by these little lights in every room. After 2 hours of trying tons of different ways to get him to go to sleep, he finally went down for good in Mason's crib (Mase ended up in Mommy & Daddy's bed earlier). I learned that my kid is a very picky sleeper (just like me). Not good.

We got word that the docs were finally back & ready to be signed early this morning (Woo-hoo!). I loaded up the car & by the time I hit Roseville (7 miles) I had a screamer. And, itsy bitsy nothing was cutting it this time. Miles yelled for 30 minutes until Daddy unloaded him from the car, fresh with giant alligator tears (I hate that). Signing docs took forever because I wanted everything explained to me (thanks Clay!), but Miles did really good through it all & napped on Mike's shoulder for 45 minutes while we signed our name about 1,000 times.

Then a ton of other stuff happened (bank wiring woes, running into Bre, meeting Sarah, seeing Michael Cook), but this posting is WAY too long to go into any more details of all that. Are you still reading this? I need to pump!

To finish my looong tale off, the docs got signed, the money got to where it needed to be, Miles screamed the whole way home (the whole way home) & we still are praying that all will go according to plan & Friday will be the big day. Please, please, please.

Oh, & Mike wants me to give a shout out to Kyle "the RZA" Ray...I need to go to bed.

Blogger S.O.S.!

So, if you have been reading my blog, you have noticed that I have already changed my blog layout about 4 times. I am just not satisfied with the aesthetics of the page & I don't have the handy computer skills to be satisfied. Mike tried to help me find blog templates, but I got frustrated with looking through fairies & vampire-esque layouts. Not what I had in mind.

So, here I admit my lack of blogger finesse & ask all you bloggers who have fancy layouts to, HELP! Where do I go to find great blog templates? How do I put pictures amongst the text of my posting & not just to the right, left, center or above? I have tried moving my pics around & it seems I am just not allowed :( Boo.

Thanks for any help. Please explain the "how to's"as if you were talking to someone from the 17th century that has never before seen a computer ;) Then, hopefully, I will get it.

Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. From all the texts & emails that have gone around, I think it is safe to say that we were all thankful for our delicious Thanksgiving feast (amongst many, many other things)! Our little family spent the day relaxing at my parent's house with my parents & brother. My Mom was up by 6 a.m. to start the Turkey & stuffing. It was great to have the early morning company because Miles has been waking up at 5:45 & turkey day was no exception! As the morning went by & the turkey was getting done much faster than my Mom predicted, she vowed never again to wake up that early & start cooking! So, instead of a thanksgiving dinner, we had thanksgiving lunch at 1:30 - no less delicious, of course. And, since we were so stuffed from our lunch time feast, pie was for dinner. My Mom & I baked a pumpkin & pecan pie this year instead of buying of them, which was a first for us. They turned out delicious & were so much easier than I thought they would be to bake!

Miles was mystified by the whole Thanksgiving experience. He sat at the table, chewing on his frozen apple slice while staring at everyone shoving their faces with food with the cutest expression of total bewliderment. He was a great table guest, until nap time hit & then he was totally over the performance of chewing & chomping that had originally been so entertaining.

It turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day & everyone got to do exactly what they wanted to do after we finished eating. I snuck out to the "casita" & took a 2 hour nap (heavenly!), Mike & Uncle Bill E. watched the Sons of Anarchy finale and Grandma & Grandpa took Miles for a walk after he woke up from his nap. It was awesome.

So now I have been eating leftovers since Thursday. Turkey was great on day 1 but by day 3 I am kind of over it. What I am not over, though, are the Ruth Chris "clog your arteries but can pass as something sort of healthy" sweet potatoes we made this year. Soooo tremendous. You must try them if you have not yet. Just google the recipe ;)

Just having a "bowl"!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend everyone! I forgot to post this on Wednesday...

There are times as a new Mom where I want to go buy every Baby Einstein DVD & developmental toy on the market. This usually occurs around the time that I get my pediatric therapy catalogues or a new Parents magazine in the mail. And then a day like yesterday occurs. I sit my 7 month old son down who has wanted nothing more than to be held by Mommy all day long. I give him a metal bowl. I get 30 minutes of unitterupted Mommy time while he bangs & swats away at this amazing invention.

As I think on this & reflect a bit, I have to admit that Miles's favorite toys (that provide at least an hour of enjoyment at a time) are, & have been, tupperware lids, bowls, spoons, straws & washcloths! I hope I remember this as I stare at all the sparkling new toys in the aisle at Target in these weeks leading up to Christmas, tempted to fill my cart with more toys than our family room can handle!

Family Pictures

This weekend was the first in a long time where the Chavis family didn't have travel plans or visitors. Of course, a weekend without anything planned, never stays that way for long & I thought it would be the perfect time to get some family pictures taken. I had originally wanted to have them done through a swanky Chico photographer who takes gorgeous pictures of children, but our post-house-buying budget just didn't allow for the swanky prices. So, off to Sears we went! And, surprisingly, the photos turned out really great! I wish I had some to post on the blog so you all could see, but sadly I don't. (And, if you couldn't already tell by the amount of bells & whistles on my blog, I am not computer savvy enough to figure out how to get the pictures on here from the Sears website). Miles loved playing peek-a-boo with the photographer's assistant & we got some great smiley shots as a result. The first pics of the session were of him in his santa suit & hat. He looked absolutely precious (& hilarious!) but we couldn't get a great shot because he was so enamoured with the garland props & sleigh reigns! He is such a funny baby & I have to smile just thinking of his little photo shoot. Once I get the pics come December, I will do my best to get them on this blog somehow...

We also cruised around Chico as a threesome a lot this weekend, which was a lot of fun. We spent some time in Barnes & Noble where Miles decided to host "Spit-Up Palooza 2008". Ugh, Mike & I are human burp cloths somedays. It is not fun having a spit up prone babe. I feel so bad for Miles, but he really doesn't seem to mind it. He will be laughing & then just release the yuck without being phased. We also spent some time playing outside in the warm November weather we are having here in Chico & that was my favorite part of the weekend by far. We layed out a blanket & just let Miles rip at the grass & play while Mike & I enjoyed the warm sun on our backs.

Chico also had it's annual Downtown Christmas preview last night. I hadn't been in years & I likely won't be going back for that long! I hate to have to say that, but it was so crowded that it was not even fun. I pictured an evening strolling in & out of the cute down town shops while sipping hot cocao & smiling at people who were admiring Miles in his little Santa pajamas & hat. Instead, we went into one store that was packed with people, found a sneaky way to get out asap after standing in one place for 10 minutes, & went home hot cocao-less. I didn't even hear one christmas carol either! Bah-humbug. I did get to visit a bit with the Weiss family at the preview, so that was definately a plus for the night. Otherwise, thumbs down Chico. Sorry to have to say it. Lots of room for improvement next year ;)

I hate to end on such a negative note, so...I will just say today has been a fabulous day. Happy Thanksgiving week all!

Miles - 6 months

It's hard to believe that in just 2 days, my little baby will be 7 months old! People told me time would go by fast & I can't say how right they were about that. Miles changed so much in this last month & each day gets better & better with him. I think he is thriving on all the interaction with family and although Mommy & Daddy are super excited to move into our new house in a couple weeks, I have a feeling that Miles would not be so excited if he were aware of what was going on. I know he is really going to miss morning songs from Grandma Kisses, afternoon visits from Uncle Bill E. & laying on Grandpa's chest to explore his shirt pocket full of treasures.


This month, Miles really found his voice & began to get "mobile". His more frequent vocalizations started with screeches & cave-man like yells/grunts that were experimentations of his vocal capabilities. The sounds have evolved into sweet "ga-gu-ya-bu" babblings he makes to himself, to me or a favorite toy in conversation. As of 2 days ago, he consistently says "Mama" (as witnessed by Daddy, Grandma & Uncle Bill E. - I thought I was crazy when I first heard it!). When I am away from him, he will say "mama, mama" & look around for me until I enter the room or turn & look at him; then I am rewarded with a big Miles Alexander ear to ear smile. Hopefully, "Dada" will be coming out of those little pipes very soon!

He was rolling back-tummy-back pretty early on, but in this past month he discovered how to use this skill to make his way around the room. He is also really trying to figure out crawling right now and will frantically move his legs back & forth while beached on his tummy or work tirelessly to get his knees under his butt to propel himself forward with a mighty push. He was never a baby that liked standing much, but this past month he has loved it. I put him at the couch or chair & he just holds on, standing all by himself with me there for a "spot", & bangs away in pure joy. Can you tell I am so proud!

In his 6th month he experienced his first Halloween & dressed up as a baby dino for the occasion. Mommy & Daddy missed the actual event, but we had a special dress up celebration a couple days later! He has discovered grass, balloons, flowers & squirrels. He has fallen in LOVE with shiny's (any shiny object!). His favorite book is "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?" & he cracks up when I make all the different sounds - especially "buzz" & "hoo-hoo". In fact, a guarenteed way to get a good laugh out of our baby man is to surprise him (peek-a-boo, etc.) or really build up in anticipation before going in for eskimo kisses or raspberries on his tummy/cheeks.

In the last month, Miles graduated to a big boy carseat (my moose outweighs the safety guidelines for his infant carrier!) & started eating big boy food (which means he started producing big boy poops that go right to the outside trash!) He hasn't shown too much opposition to any of the foods I have given him, but by far his favorite is butternut squash & his least favorite is asparagus. He eats his food in his Stokke tripp trapp chair, which has been so awesome for me because he will sit in it & play forever! Typically, he still loves to be carried around all day long, so this chair has been a blessing to all of our aching backs!

And...as of the last 3 nights, he is sleeping through to 6 a.m. & no longer wanting to be fed at 4 or 5 a.m.. This is awesome because it means Mike can see him before he leaves for work, but a bit of a bummer for me because I now get up at 6 instead of 7:30. Totally worth it, though, because I know it makes Mike's day!

I really can't believe he is going to be 7 months old, but I know Mike & I are both looking foarward to all the great stuff that Miles will bust out with this next month. So far, he has really been an amazing baby & I only pray that he continues on this way ;)

Home Inspection

Today Michael & I had the home inspection done for our soon be new home! It was so exciting to get to be in our house again & I have been looking forward to this day since the last time I was in the house. If we didn't live 70 miles away from the house right now, I would probably drive by everyday & have picnics with Miles in the backyard! Walking through the house again, I had so much fun picturing how we could lay out our furniture & day dreaming about all the stuff I could buy to make our house perfect (don't worry honey, I don't have any shopping sprees on the calander just yet!). The home inspection went great & the inspector told us that he thinks we got a real "find". That made me feel so good to hear since this is the BIGGEST purchase of our lives!!! Nice to know we aren't throwing down all our savings to move into a lemon.

It is hard to believe that we will be moving in just 2.5 weeks. The time will go so fast with Thanksgiving next week (yeah, it is next week; crazy, huh?). Sadly, we won't be coming down to the OC at Christmas time as we had originally thought we might. I can't say too much about this because it makes me so sad. Even though I am so excited about all that is happening for us in our new location, I miss our friends & family terribly. I have teared up so many times in the last week from just hearing the voices of Amy, Shannon & our sweet little Morgan over the phone. I try to look on the positive side of things when I feel these rushes of sad emotions, and think of how wonderful it will be to have Christmas in our very own house! My Mom brought it to my attention that having Christmas at our house means cooking Christmas dinner for the fam, though, & prime rib was suggested. What? Does Trader Joes have a frozen version of that? Because if they don't, I could be in BIG trouble...

Good Morning Mommy!

I am sitting here, ready to blog away & my sweet angel is just having a ball screaming his little head off as he dismantles his sea toy. He is napped, fed & happy. I cherish these moments! When I heard him making some noise in his crib before he officially "called" for me after his nap & spied on him for a few moments before going in to get a big after nap smile. I was amazed to see him stretching in an attempt to reach the turtles on his mobile (got them a few times!) & then trying to crawl in his crib! He got his legs under his butt & was supporting himself on his elbows before giving a good push & propelling himself forward. I feel so proud at his new skill, but if this means crawling is coming soon, I am sure in for it!

We had a great start to our morning because Miles slept through the entire night! He has always been a good sleeper, but he goes to bed so early & wakes up between 4:30 & 5:00 to nurse & then go back to bed for awhile. I have had 2 tough nights of crying to stretch out the wake up time & today he went all the way until 6:10! It was awesome, he went to bed at 6:30 & woke up at 6:10!!! Let's see if it sticks tonight or if I am in for a little more crying before it becomes the norm. (Bummer - happy boy time ended - he wants me to watch him play!)

Today has been good. Miles & I went to a Mom's group at Grace Community church this morning. It was so nice to interact with some mommies & the focus of the group being on how we talk to one another was especially well timed for me. My communication hasn't been at it's best & most patient/understanding throughout all the changes in the past couple months & today was a good reminder of how GOD intends for us to interact with eachother. Being able to follow through with what was discussed today will be a challenge for me but I am definately up for it!

It is time to take my moose for a walk now. daddy is coming home again tonight (yay!) & tomorrow we have our home inspection. I am so excited go see our house again!!!

Family Weekend

Another week begins & we get another day closer to moving into our new house! The big day is going to be on or before December 5th, which means we will have Miles's first CHRISTmas in our new house. I can't wait to put up a tree & just relax at night staring at the lights & letting my mind wander. Christmas time is the best...

I haven't written too much about our new "home sweet home" but that does not mean I am not over the moon excited! I honestly became overcome with exhaustion once our offer was accepted & we got all that crazy/stressful loan stuff taken care of. I finally feel like I can relax a little & take in the moment. Mike & I have been fantasizing about all the fun things we want to do to make the house our very own. We are so happy that we found a great house in the neighborhood we really wanted. I am looking forward to sitting our our porch with Michael on weekends (We have a porch - love that!) & watching Miles cruise around on a Big Wheel or play with the tons of neighborhood kids. We are so excited to explore our new surroundings too; we are learning that there is so much cool & kid-friendly stuff to do in Placer County. And any of you that want to come visit, you are welcome! I am really looking forward to being a hostess & finally getting to use all that stuff we got as wedding gifts 2 years ago!

In the meantime we are chill'n in Chico & it has been insanely beautiful here. The weather is warm & the trees are to die for pretty. My cousin Christina & her daughter Lily came up this past weekend to enjoy the beautiful days with us. Lily is the cutest thing ever (& I am not just saying that because she is family!) She is by far one of the smartest 2 y/o I have ever met & just chatted us up all weekend. One of the cutest things was how she thanks mommy for wiping her bottom during a diaper change! I am for sure going to teach Miles to do that! Miles adored Lily & from the minute she walked in the door he was all smiles & laughs. Lily loved that she could make him crack up by saying "Boo!" & that was her thing with him all weekend long. She is going to be such a great big sister to little Luke come March!

We had a busy weekend, filled with dinner at Tres Hambres (Lily slept on the floor after she was done eating!), a trip to Lake Oroville to see the salmon/steelhead jumping the ladder on their way to spawn (sadly, most of the fish were done jumping), taking walks & shopping. Sunday was Michael's birthday (Happy Birthday Shout out honey - I love you & so glad you lived another wonderful year!!!) At Mike's request, we kept it low key & enjoyed some strawberry ice cream cake in celebration. In fact, I am enjoying it again right now. Mmmm. The dairy will get me later, but it is so good in this moment. Maybe in a few months from now, Michael will get a golf cart to cruise around our new hood in as a belated b-day gift from his loving wifey ;) In case you didn't know, Lincoln is electric golf-cart/car crazy! They have special street lanes for golf carts & golf cart parking at the stores - it is super cool & environmentally friendly! A golf cart is definately on our fantasy list!

A quick Miles Alexander update before I go. Uh, he is just the BEST! He is full of giggles lately & I am in heaven. Since yesterday he has been babbling up a storm which just makes my heart beam. I love hearing his little voice outside of grunting during tummy time (or doing a doody!), whines or full out wails of unhappiness (which are rare - I am blessed). His little ga-ga-ga's while smiling hugely & flashing white bits of 2 new bottom teeth are the inspiration of hallmark cards. It is amazing he has been so jovial too because this morning I noticed he is cutting 2 new top teeth - just in time to get them for Christmas - hahaha! I hope he has them in time for Christmas pictures too - how adorable would that be? I am going to miss his gummy smile of course, but I just have to laugh imagining how goofy & adorable he is going to look with 2 more chompers. Oooh, better not call them that - I am still nursing & that sends shivers down my spine.

Adieu!

Stopping to Smell the Roses

So, despite having found a house we love & getting an accepted offer, the chaos continues & has actually gone full throttle (or what I am thinking is full throttle - could it get worse? I am guessing the answer is "yes"!) The whole loan process has activated my ulcer & need for chocolate as a late night comfort to the stress I carry with me all day. I am vasilating between feelings of sheer exhiliration & nagging fear - which I think is normal for a first time home buyer, so I am just hanging on for the ride knowing that this will all be over & I will be putting the key in the door to my very own home before Santa can come down the chimney! Shannon can attest to the neurosis that came over me when we purchased our first car, & this purchase is MUCH bigger, so the neurosis is much more intense. Since Mike has been at work during the day & unable to go back & forth with different lenders & our agent, I have been the little business-woman, gathering al the information & then sharing it with Michael in the evenings so we can make decisions on how to proceed with things. It has been a great educational experience, but overall this is not something I have enjoyed doing. There is definately a reason I chose a career in healthcare - I am not fully capable of taking the personal aspect out of business & business should not be personal.

Yesterday was a gorgeous Chico day; sunny with a bit of fall briskness in the air. Miles & I took a moment to hang in my parents beautiful backyard. We watched the birds & squirrils play & cut a beautiful bouquet of fragrant yellow roses from one of my parents bushes. It felt so good to just get away from the phone & put aside any worries to enjoy the day that will never again return & my precious baby boy. He was so cute sitting in his big boy "strolly" with his beanie on watching me intently as I cut the roses off the bushes. He LOVES smelling the flowers & I have found that his favorite (just like Mom!) are gardenias. He hasn't quite got the hang of gently touching the flowers & goes to grab at them with his herculean grip (it really is amazing how strong baby hands can be!) I have to be careful because the minute the flower is in his hand he tries to put in right in his mouth. Cute, but very dangerous!

Speaking of the Moose, he has been exceptionally adorable the past few days. He unleashes the most adorable laughter that lights up his entire face when I anticipate tickling his tummy, giving him eskimo kisses or play peek-a-boo. He has started to try to "give mommy kisses" on request & grabs my neck while lunging at my face with an open drool covered mouth. It's the best. He is not crawling yet, but he is really thinking about it. I can watch his little brain trying to figure out how he is going to move his body to get to the TV changer mommy put out of reach. He is starting to figure out how his body is supposed to move while crawling when he is laying on his back. It is so cute; I will put him on his changing pad & he will just start moving his arms & legs back & forth like he is dancing up a storm (Let me bring to mind Lynelles's boyfriend as a visual for some of you) I can wait a few more weeks for this milestone, though. I am still enjoying being able to comfortably put him in one place & walk out of the room briefly. And, I can tell that once this kid moves, he is going to be into EVERYTHING a'la Mason Chavis style. Healthy curiousity, I know, but extra work for Mom. Today we move on from pureed aspargus to apples (how exciting, huh?) but I am super excited because I am so over aspargus smelling baby pee.

Gotta go check in on the little one ;)

House!

So, we got an offer accepted on a house! We are super excited & a little overwhelmed at the same time! It is a lovely home in the neighborhood we wanted so that is fantastic! I am super exhausted right now from travelling to & from Lincoln and starting to look into loans - the major buzz-kill of the buying your first house high.

Need a brain break & a good night sleep. Thank you GOD for this wonderful blessing...

Nap Training - Again :(

Welcome to a new week! I tried to update the blog over the weekend using my new wireless internet connection that I was so proud to have instaled all by myself, but after typing an entire entry, my connection was lost & it took all my typing with it. So aggravating. Another lesson in why the "save" button exists.

It was a beautiful Fall weekend in Chico. We filled the days with cooking that warmed the house with smells of roast pheasant, stuffing & chocolate chip cookies, and a gorgeous walk through Bidwell Park where the leaves are changing the most amazing colors & the slightest breeze brings them raining down on you like snowflakes. I got to watch the online service at Compass Bible Church from the previous week (compassbiblechurch.org) which served as a much needed reminder of what my priorities should be; that had gotten away from a bit in all the hustle & bustle of the last few weeks. My plan is to watch Sunday's service today & begin my bible study. How awesome is technology! Mike & I didn't get our date night on Friday because we were too tired to stay up past 9:30, but we caught a movie in the "casita" together on Saturday & it was wonderful to have just a little time with only us to snuggle & chill. Aside from all this lovely stuff that filled up our 2 days, we busted out some chores, made another offer on a house & got serious about how we could cut out uneccesary expenses so that we could make our house a home once we finally get an offer accepted!

Today, Chico is gloomy & I feel I little that way myself because I realized that Miles has gotten his routine totally messed up since our move & I need to get things back on track for his well-being & mine. This means, enduring a bit of crying, which I hate but it is very effective. He was doing so great with naps, that he would just zone out for a minute within a certain window of time & I would whisk him off to his crib, give him a kiss & off to sleepy-sleepies he would go without a peep of protest. Now, though, he has gotten used to being held & cuddled until he is just asleep (help from grandparents is wonderful & difficult all at the same time...) so he doesn't like it when he has to do the soothing work himself now. I really wouldn't mind rocking him to sleep for 10 minutes or so, but he HATES to sit & rock (which means he likes to be held while I stand & bounce him) & he weighs close to 20 lb.s! He is really stubborn too, so I know I am in for a battle of wills over the next couple days & Mommy's will usually gives in first. I always talk myself out of letting him cry it out, thinking, "maybe his diapers wet" or "he's teething & in pain - this is just cruel". I can't really worry about until Wednesday, though, because tomorrow Grandma Kisses is with him all day while I head to Lincoln to look at more houses. I don't need to tell you about Grandma Kisses ability to listen to her only grandson cry - not gonna happen.

Oh, & I should mention, that going to the salon was a perfect cure for my case of the "mommies" last Friday. It was a totally relaxing & enjoyable experience until the 3rd hour when my stomach began to ingest itself & I got the shakes. I always forget to bring snack to these marathon hair appointments! Despite the massive shedding that I have been experiencing, I still have a plethora of hair that takes forever to foil, blow dry & cut. My hair is dark again & I dig it. I have a little momminess going on this morning, but I had to wake up 1 hour early because Miles woke up 1 hour earlier. It was a good thing because he got to see Daddy off to work, but bad because I was banking on that sleep. Coffee is a blessing on these days!

Hope you all get your week off to a good start!

Happy Birthday LoLa!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BONITA LAU-RITA METER MAID!!!

I am boycotting writing anything more because my computer just lost my entire post while I was PROOF READING! Whatever. Grrrrrrr.

Come Home to Mama!

So today started out good. I felt like I took all week to recover from the festivities in San Diego this past weekend, & today I woke up refreshed at 7:30 to lots of sunshine & big smiles from the monkey. All was good until about 9:00 when Miles puked on my neck, in my hair & all down my shirt. He proceeded to whine while I cleaned myself up, but a container of dental floss turned out to be the perfect distraction to whatever was bothering him. After the mess, I tried to do some chores while Miles sat in his high chair & threw every toy onto the floor within 10 seconds of me giving it to him. He has discovered how to play fetch with Mommy & it is his new favorite game. Then he became really upset & not even the deep squat bounce could calm him down. Eventually he fell alseep, ahhh. And I rewarded myslef with my first snack size kit-kat of the day. The nap lasted like 15 minutes. After he played & ate again he enjoyed sitting in his highchair, where he produced a new form of yuck that can only be attributed to the introduction of carrots yesterday. The little dude was still tired & kept rubbing his eyes, so down he went for nap #2. He has been napping peacefully now for over an hour. I finally got to take a shower & shaved my legs for the first time since Saturday. Really looking in the mirror, I was horrified by the "mommy-ness" that had gotten the better of me lately (hair unwashed for 3 days, overgrown eyebrows, chipped nail polish - you get the idea). I decided that I needed a major overhaul. I busted out the tweezer & plucked away while I called the receptionist at Dimensions Hair Salon & begged her to get me in asap. I have an appointment at 4:30 - so stoked. Perfect timing for me to get myself together too because Mike comes "home" tonight after a long week away at work in Sacramento - maybe there is a date night in our future! I am so happy it is the weekend because I have missed my love all week...OK, time for another kit-kat ;)

Blogg'n Out & Catch'n Up

Hello family & friends! Our lovely friend Amy Erwin told us about this great blog sight & urged us to start our own Chavis family blog to keep our loved ones up to date on our day to day lives. Now that we have moved to Northern California, it seems like there is no better time to begin this blog - so, here we go! I am hoping that this will help to keep us in touch with everyone we care so much about since emailing & calling each of you as often as we would like is impossible!

So, we start this new blog with an ending & a beginning...

To catch some of you up, our little family (Michael, me - Hillary, & Miles Alexander the Great) recently relocated to Northern California from our Southern California home in Mission Viejo. Even though we debated this big move for months, the actual move itself happened so fast & without much warning. Within a matter of 10 days of Mike finding out he had secured the job he wanted in Sacramento (way to go babe!) we packed up our condo & dumped our lives into my parents home in Chico (thanks Mom & Dad!). We plan to stay with my parents until we buy our 1st home in Lincoln, CA! So exciting! The 10 days leading up to our move were INSANE & on top of packing up way more stuff than I ever imagined we had, I got hit by a drunk driver (I am OK, Miles was not in the car - thank you LORD - & justice was served!) & had oral surgery requiring some drugs that kicked my butt for a full 48 hours. The move itself was a little rocky. I will say that I now know why people hire profesional movers despite the nasty expense. And I just have to give a HUGE thanks to the most AMAZING in-laws (Harlis & Lyn), family (Uncle Billy) & friends (John Parker, Brock & Alberto) who made it possible for us to move (& helped us solve our unforeseen moving dilemmas!). After too much chaos to even want to remember, we made it to Chico safely & the craziness has not stopped since.

I have to say that I love being around my family, especially since Miles thrives on all the love & attention (& I guess you could say Grandma Kisses & Grandpa do too!), but life in Chico is no small adjustment. Example: it rains here - a lot lately-, it is cold, lots of people have dreadlocks, lots of people ride bikes with baskets full of cans they salvaged from garbage cans, everyone seems to have a VERY BIG truck, people say "Hi" to you when you pass by, there are huge trees that have changing leaves, I have not seen one land rover anywhere, gas is cheaper, & I could go on. My parents have been very generous in letting us move into their home & it just so happened that they finished building a guest house in the backyard right before we moved up! How awesome is that? If it wasn't for Mike's gnarly commute, we might never move out! Haha!

Since we have been in Chico, our days have been filled with house hunting (so much more intense than I ever imagined!), caring for Miles & un-packing. Mike started his new job last week as a Senior Recruiter with TechniSource & aside from the temporary commute (a little under 2 hrs each way!) he is really happy with everything. Our friends (Michael, Amber, Brian & Kyle) have been letting Mike crash at their places so he can have a break from the drive every once in awhile; it is so wonderful to have such generous friends & we can't wait to return the favor once we are settled into a new home ;) I have been looking for houses on-line, talking with our real estate agent/mortgage brokers & faxing offers in between caring for Miles, doing laundry, cleaning & cooking. Searching for a home from a distant location is not easy but thankfully we have an awesome agent, Josh Blackwood with Here to Help Realty in Newcastle. And, my mom has been super helpful in our search since she is a closet real estate fanatic! The houses in Lincoln are all pretty new & we have been impressed by most of what we have seen. We have put several offers in on houses we would love to call home & with any luck one will get accepted. The market in Placer County is so booming that most houses have 4 or 5 offers that we have to compete with. We definately were not expecting that!

This past weekend, Mike & I got to take a little mini-vacay from all the nuttiness of our move & we travelled to San Diego for Amy & Alberto's wedding. It was my first full weekend away from the little man & I have to say I did much better being away from him than I thought I would. Although, I was sick with anticipation the entire drive home from the Sac airport - I just wanted to hold him so badly. MIz stayed with Grandma & had a fabulous time - he didn't even know I was gone! Our weekend in SD was busy but we had SOOOOOO much fun & San Diego was at it's best - clear skies & 80 degree temperatures. Ahhhh, why did we move again? Mike & I were both in the wedding party & had the best time getting to know Amy & Alberto's out of town friends & family. The rehersal dinner was on Halloween & we all dressed up for the event. Jay ,as Oscar the grouch, & Alberto Sr., as Tony Montano, definately got my vote for best costume. Mike was a sweaty gorilla (full gorilla suit & increased body temerature from shots of alcohol = stinky man in gorilla costume) & I was Wonder Woman. It was an awesome rehersal dinner that I will think of every time I hear the Jason Mraz sond Shann, Briggy & I played over & over again. As for the BIG day, I loved getting to be with Amy as she got ready. I was SO emotional as I observed the joy, peace & love that surrounded her. It really was a perfect wedding & Amy was one of the most beautiful brides I have ever seen. And, Alberto didn't look so bad himself ;) The newlyweds spent the entire evening together on the dance floor which I thought was a true testiment to their relationship. You could just see they had the best time! So, to our beloved friends - Congratulations! - & we are so jealous that you are chillax'n in Argentina as I type this! It was also wonderful to see our friends & family again since our move happened so fast. Being around everyone made me so OC-sick & I was again confronted with the fact that this move is so bittersweet. Oh, I am really going to miss everyone...:(

So, that is all for now! I will do my best to keep this thing updated at least weekly. And, please don't judge how well I will do with this blog by my use of Facebook or MySpace - I know, I suck. But, this will be different - just wait!