Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Today was costume day at school. The costumes had to be homemade. Miles went as Fix It Felix from Wreck It Ralph. He loved it.

TV

We love some TV in our family, and we don't mind admitting it.  Darrin & I only have a few shows that we watch together.  My favorite shows are The Good Wife, Parenthood, House Hunters, the Bachelor, the Amazing Race (which we even sent an audition tape to one time), Big Brother, and Shark Tank.  Thankfully they aren't all in season at the same time.

I don't let Miles watch TV 24/7 but he would if he could.  I read a blog today & a mom was talking about her son watching Mr. Rogers on YouTube.  What a great idea!  I LOVED Mr. Rogers as a kid.  The trolley was my favorite part.  Turns out, that was Darrin's favorite part too.

As soon as it started, Miles said, "I don't like this."  Well, Mr. Rogers was singing and changing into his sweater and tennis shoes, so I could understand why he said that.  I begged him to give it a chance....and he did...for another minute.  He kept saying that he didn't like it.  I finally changed it back to Mickey Mouse and he was happy again.  Mr. Rogers just can't compete with Mickey Mouse, Jake & the Neverland Pirates, Doc McStuffins, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which are all of his favorites. 

Overhead In Our House Today

Miles finished his bowl of snacks while laying in his bed watching TV...
M:  "HEY....hey guys....GUYS....SOMEONE...(yelling from the back of the house)....I need someone to put something in this bowl."
He totally rules our house.  In case you are wondering, Darrin filled his bowl for him.

I was making random comments while watching the Bachelor...
D:  "You do know that you aren't dating him, right?"
J:  "It's drama.  I like it.  We don't have drama, which is good, but I like this drama."

As I was walking in the door from the gym...
D:  "How was your workout?"
J:  "Good, but I felt like I was sweating mesquite."
We had mesquite grilled chicken for dinner & that's all I could smell while I was running. My apologies to fellow gym members.

Sitting on the couch watching TV...
D:  "Tiger Woods won the tournament this weekend."
{silence}
D:  "Just in case you were wondering."
J:  "I was dying to know."
D:  "Smarty pants."

We refer to private parts around here as your "business"...
D: (talking to me about a vendor at work) "He wants our business."
M: "He wants your business?" (confused)
This lead to a conversation about how sometimes words can mean different things....and then a later conversation about the new term "private parts".

Just now...
J:  "Are you asleep?"
{silence}
Guess it's time for bed. 

Saturday Fun

My mom came to visit on Thursday night.  She did several projects around the house for us...thanks Mom!  This morning we enjoyed some downtime while playing with Miles. 

Darrin's parents came to visit and brought Miles a fun treat.  I meant to take a picture and forgot :(  I must get more pictures of Granny, Pa, and Marmee on this blog!  Thank you Granny & Pa for Miles' surprise. 

I went grocery shopping before my mom had to go home today.  I'm used to having a huge pantry and a slightly bigger frig & freezer.  This is the biggest adjustment in the rental.  I only grocery shop every two weeks, so I bought a ton of groceries and now I don't know where to put them.  Miles & I cleared a little cabinet space by making cupcakes.  We were only doing what we had to do, right?

Here's my little chip & dale baker.  I'm sure Darrin will not approve.  When Miles and I are left home to fend for ourselves, these things happen...

 

I kept asking him not to make this weird smile, but he kept right on...

I guess he felt like his Fix It Felix tool belt was more appropriate...

I've been up since 5:30am....yuck!  Miles hasn't had a nap, so I really counting on him falling asleep early, without a fight.  Wishful thinking?  I really hope not.  The TV and couch are calling my name. 

Wordless Wednesday

Bieber Fever

Miles has Bieber fever.  He wants to watch his "Baby" video all the time. He sings & dances too. Miles & I had a little dance party in the kitchen tonight. His moves were of the break dancing genre, while mine were more club moves :) 

When the song is over, he usually always says, "Mom, I really like Justin Bieber."

The Big Plane

Darrin had to recruit in Chicago this past weekend.  As he was traveling home yesterday, I mentioned to Miles that Daddy was flying on a big plane to get home.  He thought that was amazing, so I told Darrin to send a picture of the plane.  Miles said, "WOW!" and then kissed the phone.

We were sitting in the living room when I saw Darrin pull into the drive way.  I said, "Guess who's home?"  Miles jumped up to run to the door and said, "I want to see the big plane."  Thankfully he was happy to see Daddy even though the plane wasn't in our driveway.

My Little Homebody

Miles and I spent the day together at home.  Other than a few things I wanted to accomplish around the house, we had no plans.  We started our morning with "big" pancakes.  That's what we call pancakes you actually make, as opposed to the mini frozen pancakes that he's been obsessed with for months. 

Then, the games began.  I think we played with every toy, game, or craft that we own.  I would do something around the house and then play with him for a while.  This managed to keep both of us happy.  I did all the laundry, changed the sheets, unpacked and organized a few remaining things from the move, did some ironing, painted my nails, read my SS lesson, and balanced the checkbook...just to name a few things.

Here's what Miles accomplished today.  Played UNO Moo...

Played Sequence...

Played with Playdoh...

Tried to dodge my pictures...

Played with his castle...

Made a tent...

....and played with letter magnets on the fridge...

We also started a new game that I think will be good for both of us.  Our computer is now in the kitchen, which I love.  While I was working in the kitchen, he typed words.  He would tell me what word he wanted to spell and then I would give him the letters. They've been learning letters at school for a long time, but he still has trouble with them.  He loves to find them on the keyboard.  I also taught him how to use the backspace and enter buttons today.  

These are the words he chose to spell...

For dinner, I offered to take him out to eat.  I needed to go to Walmart for one thing.  I told him that we could go eat, run to Walmart quickly, and then we could stop by the yogurt shop on our way home.  He wanted none of it.  I asked if he just wanted me to cook something for him and he said yes, and then told me to "surprise him".  That's his favorite thing to say about a snack too.  I took the easy way out for dinner.  Grilled cheese, pretzels, and an orange....  

We still had to run to the store quickly for one thing, which he was not happy about at all.  The errand probably took 10 minutes round trip, but trying to get him ready to leave and in the car took at least 20 minutes of persuasion.  I'm sure many of you are thinking how ridiculous that is, but it's just life with our strong willed child.  You have to see it to appreciate it.

He was happy as could be once we were home.  He watched the Lorax...

...while I made a Pinterest project to help him with his letters.  He drives a car to the letter I tell him.  It turned out cute and he likes it.

We colored for a while and then called it a day.  

He also took a 3 hour nap somewhere in there.  He randomly told me twice today that he likes our new house.  After a long day at home, with lots of playtime with me, I think he went to bed a very happy little boy.

Dare I Speak Too Soon

I was determined to try to get Miles back in his own bed when we moved.  Moving seemed like a good time to make a change.  I started telling Miles a while ago that when we moved that he was going to start sleeping in his own bed.  As we would look at rental houses, he would find his room and say, "I'm going to sleep here and momma's going to sleep right next to me."  It was as if he was laying the groundwork for continuing to sleep in our bed.

I've talked to several people about how to get him to sleep in his own bed.  We've tried a lot of different things to no avail.  The one suggestion we haven't tried is putting a TV in his room.  Darrin was okay with it, but for some reason I just didn't want to.  Well....desperate times call for desperate measures.  The night before we moved, we all went to Walmart and bought a TV.  We talked it up with Miles and made a big deal while we were there.  The new TV was actually for our room b/c it's brand new and it's a smart TV, but he doesn't have to know that.  

This is his new room...

The view from his bed...

Each night, we tuck him in between 8-8:15pm and set the timer for an hour.  We've rehearsed with him repeatedly that when the TV turns off it's time for him to go to sleep.  And if he gets up, he's not allowed to watch it the next night.  I'm ecstatic to report that he has slept in his bed every night, all night.  He's even waited to get up until his clock turned green all but one morning....and that morning he stayed in his bed until 5:45am.  It's like a miracle. 

I think one of the main things in our favor is the fact that his room is right across the hall from our room.  Our last house wasn't big by any means, but he wasn't right next to us either.  This is the view from our room to his...

He used to tell us that he didn't like his room in the old house.  He said he didn't like the dinosaurs on the walls, which were decals.  We purposely didn't bring those with us.  He didn't even like to go in his room during the day if the lights weren't already on.  Maybe there really was something wrong with that room in his eyes.  He tends to be scared of basically everything.  Last night, he only got to watch one show b/c he kept getting up.  After his TV turned off he noticed the shadows on the ceiling and said that his room was too dark even though he sleeps with a lamp on.  I think the TV distracts him from being scared & hearing noises, and also gives him time to wind down. 

It's hard to say if it's b/c he's near our room, the dinosaur decals are gone, or the new TV, but whatever it is....I am very happy to have my bed back.  I also like having more time to myself at night.  We were spending until after 10pm on many nights just trying to get him to sleep.  That's a major reason I haven't blogged much lately.  I hoped I haven't jinxed anything...I just couldn't wait to share the good news :)

Wordless Wednesday

Moving Day

Saturday was moving day.  There was a 100% of rain and a flash flood warning for our area.  Thankfully the rain held off almost all day.  It drizzled a little but never interfered with the move.  After 4 & a half years, which is the longest we've lived anywhere, bye bye Dogwood Lane...

Hello to our new rental...

We have worked so hard this weekend, not to mention the weeks leading up to moving day.  We still have a few more things to do around here, but they aren't getting done tonight.  Miles has been parked in front of the TV for weeks while we've been packing & moving.  It's time for some games with him and TV for us.  Both are way overdue.  Thanks to everyone that helped us pack, haul furniture, hang TVs, clean, babysit, cook, and all the other stuff I can't think of right now b/c I'm so exhausted.  I'm going to enjoy my new house with the guys. 

Weekend Wrap Up

We are moving in 6 days, so our weekend consisted mostly of packing....and cleaning out....and packing....and hauling....and lifting....and packing.  To say that I am tired is the understatement of the year.  I
am completely exhausted. 

We did take a little bit of time on Saturday night to hang out with friends...

...and to celebrate this guy's birthday!  Happy Birthday Derrick, and thanks for having us over, Kimberly...

Tori, if you make faces like this, you will show up on the blog, even if I have nothing else to say about the picture...

We ate cake....some more than others.  Does Bro. Kylan looked guilty or what?

We played a fierce game of Pictionary.  The cute Power Ranger to my left is Miles....

The guys were very serious about it...

Which paid off I guess, b/c this somehow translated to Dirty Dancing???

That's all I've got.  It's 9:05pm and I am going to bed b/c I can't make myself do one more thing.  Good night all.  Not sure if I'll be back this week.  Have a good one.