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!