it must be time...

...to start exercising again. bel is quite the movie watcher these days and today she requested, "exercise movie? watch a exercise movie?" so i was like, "sure whatever, go pick a movie and i'll put it in" believe it or not she actually found my turbo jam video amid our messy movie collection, brought it to me and demanded that i put it on the big tv (which has been super tempermental lately). as luck would have it, it played (first dvd to play in months - of course) then she commanded, "exercise mommy" i stood there laughing for a while and then she gave me my hand weights (the kind that have finger holes and velcro to your hand) and said "use these". i laughed some more and did a halfhearted warm up while holding the weights, but she was not satisfied "no mommy - fingers in the holes - put em on, put em on". what a slave driver she is! i can take a hint - i'll start exercising... in 2 more weeks - till then i'll continue eating fresh baked cookies every night after 9.


today's baked good - banana bread. but as many of you know, in this house, most things are enjoyed as UNbaked goods. so tonight bel and i made banana bread - mmm we love the batter. forget double dipping, triple - nope, quadruple - passed that one too, we were both up to about 30 dips each - that's right ryan's on a rainy scout camp out so tonight's dinner was a scrumptious four course meal of grapefruit, brocolli, crackers & cheese and banana bread batter. don't worry we won't be sharing this loaf with the neighbors.


today... ryan finished the last of his finals for the semester. i'm such a proud little wifey
tomorrow... spring break begins and i am so excited that we get to play play play for 10 whole days as a happy family - it will be bliss, pure bliss.

today was a good day

we showered, cuddled, bel ate (and said the word) asparagus, jack ate (and did not say the word) milk, I ate lunch on the porch while bel threw the last of the melting snow at the house, bushes and her mother. we made cookies, ate cookies, went on a walk, webcammed with both grandparents and uncle gordo, sang songs, played with dad and read books - all with a minimum of senseless crying and tantrums - it was a good day.

jack...

...is growing. he has gained more than 2lbs in the last 4 weeks, which makes complete sense to me since i still get to hold him in my arms at least every 2 hours all night, every night.

he is so loud in his sleep - ryan and i have speculated what causes all his groaning, grunting, whining and squeaks... dreams, gas, potential sleep talker? we're not sure, but it won't be long before we move his bassinet out into the hall to avoid his night time serenades so we can sleep a little deeper.

he is a good sport about tummy time and is lifting his head up already, his cord raisin is gone (yay!), he hasn't loss his hair (yay!) and his poop is mustard yellow. since he's the second child, he spends a lot of time in his swing and chillin in the background, but we have caught a few of his priceless smiles.

gosh i love feet - especially his.

bel...

is 2! and i like to call her sassafrass. she likes to build snowmen...

and then decapitate them...

one little anecdote before i retire (i love this story)... bel had been watching the movie surf's up a lot (plus the occassional real surfing she watches with her dad) and the other day she pulled a book off the shelf, put it on the floor, got on her belly on top of it, paddling her arms and pushing with her feet a little - i was a little puzzled by this, till the next time i walked by she was standing on the book saying "i surf, i surf". i jumped at this opportunity to save the binding on all our books and do a little art project - behold bel's first surfboard...

she even knows how to hold it like a surfer!

after our creation was complete bel knocked on the study door to show off her new toy and her new skills to her daddy. i'm pretty sure he welled up at the prospect of his daughter being his future surfing companion. i have to admit, i well up just thinking about it. that was a good day too.

we have a lot of good days around here.

Please meet...

Jack Ryan Miller

(ryan and i have decided giving names to our kids is the hardest part about bringing them into this world. too bad they don't have an epidural for this part of the process - sheesh)

meeting baby brother

getting better acquainted

family of 4!!!bel making sure he has all his fingers, toes, ears and elbows and lets not forget that charming little "raisin button" (we've got to make sure bel doesn't try to eat that)
so happy he's here!

happy, healthy and oh so handsome

meet our mini man

arrived tuesday, february 9 @ 2:45pm

7 lbs 10 oz 22 in

as is customary for us, we'll have to get back to you on his name

check back later for more photos and details

happy little surprise

my honey really knows how to make me happy... since we are leaving town so early in December I've been coming to grips with not buying a tree this year, just as I was mourning the fact of succumbing to no tree for the first time in five years, Ryan came home with "flowers" for our anniversary... my flowers were a tree!! yahoo!!!

Speaking of anniversaries, Ryan and I celebrated 5 successful years of marriage this week - still crazy after all these years!

thanksgiving break & a lovely belated birthday

we had a fantastic thanksgiving break with Ryan's family - it was such a fun week to realx and recharge the batteries.

one day we went to this mini indoor water park - which totally rocked!

bel loved it and played for hours past her nap time without lunch and was happy as a clam - as were her parents - we all enjoyed the water slides and splashing around in the middle of winter - so fun!

the next day we went to the science center, which has all sorts of neato stuff...

a 5ft pin head wall - this is bel's handprint in mine a giant ribbon dancer suspended from the ceiling

bubbles

building rockets, with a little help from bel, mine was superior - what some might call a crooked top cone placement was really what created the extra lift to get to make it go farther, faster - thanks babycakes!

one of these electric ball things

of course her favorite things were free - the escalator and the lockers. (we had to drag her away crying)

where are bel & benton???

here's benton

oh no you don't cousin - here comes the diva

i didn't document my favorite part of the week, which was just sitting around chatting and playing games with everyone. I love it when we are all together in the same space just enjoying each other's company - it's what life is all about - thanks everyone!

This year Ryan's birthday landed on Thanksgiving - I feel bad that I hardly acknowledged this on his special day so tonight we had a little family celebration.

pretty cake (unfortunately it looks better than it tasted)

make a wish!

to celebrate - here are a few of my favorite things about my favorite friend...

-he wants to rasie chickens someday too

-he eats peanut butter with a fork straight from the jar

-he makes me smile and laugh when i don't want to but desperately need to

-he makes time for his girls everyday

-he's got a soft heart and a firm caboose

and oh how i love him so!

a little confused about...

...the seasons.
oh brother - apparently i just can't let go of summer or fall. don't worry i'll put away the flowers and the pumpkins this week - i promise.
Thanksgiving was simply delightful - stay tuned for the post