4 months

And now it's time to celebrate Miles' fourth month! We sure love our little Miles and our little Miles sure loves attention. With Max as his daddy, I guess I can't be too surprised. 

Some of Miles' newer accomplishments include lifting his head up higher during tummy-time...

Rolling onto his stomach...HE started rolling onto his back at 6 weeks but I don't know if I ever documented that. 

He loves sucking on his toes

He likes to whine and cry when he's not getting attention but as soon as you focus on him, he flashes that award winning smile!

He has improved on his short car rides. Improved meaning he screams less...or maybe I have just been driving less...I sure hope this lasts until next week for our trip to Utah. 

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And just for fun, here is a picture of Charlie at 4 months. 

And here is Miles at 4 months.

As you can tell Charlie is chubbier, and has a pumpkin shaped head, whereas Miles has a pineapple head.

Miles had his 4 month appointment today and he is still a little guy. 13.8 pounds (13th percentile) and 24.4 inches tall (13th percentile)  When Charlie was this age he was in the 60th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight. It is weird having such a small baby after Charlie was so massive but I think I will just enjoy it. He is healthy and steadily growing and has plenty of dirty diapers to signify that he's eating enough. We assume the difference is because Charlie had  mostly formula and Miles has mostly breast milk. My breast milk just must not be that fatty. (I wish it was though, I need it to take more baby weight off) Miles is still sturdy like his big brother!

Oh the spit that comes out of this kid's face!

We sure love our little Miles! I keep thinking he's older than four months because it feels like he's been part of our family for much longer.

Surprise Date

On Tuesday (two weeks ago) Max sent me a text during the day telling me that I should do my hair and send him a picture text. For various reasons, I had not planned on showering that day and had a to-do list of things I wanted to get done just in case Miles didn't demand my undivided attention. (something he's been getting pretty good at) Anyway, he was pretty persistent that I at least take a shower so I figured something was up and I tried to get the shower done and my hair brushed. (And the baby once again is demanding my attention...To be Continued!) 

I wasn't able to get anything too fancy done but I did get my hair dried. I felt like that was an accomplishment. I told him that I hope there was a good reason for this because I had to let a lot of housework go. (I'm such a brat) then he replied with some romantic answer on how I always deserve to feel beautiful.!

(Just so you know, I usually shower and wear clothes, I haven't given up on myself) 

This next part of the story I didn't know until later but I think I will put it here to keep true to order of events. 

On Max's way home from work he called my mom who he had secretly set up a babysitting date with and she was going to come over to our house. About a week earlier she had rescheduled with Max for the next day (Wednesday) but Max, in his busy-ness had forgotten to write it down. He had to do some quick thinking since we weren't able to go on the surprise date that he had planned until the next day. He came home and everything was normal. He made sure to spend extra time admiring me and helped me with the housework that I got behind with. He said that since we were dressed up we should go try some family pictures in the yard.  I jokingly told him that I thought he was going to whisk me away on some date because he was so persistent about me feeling presentable. haha. 

By the time we got outside it was getting a bit dark but we spent a couple minutes taking pictures then went inside to put the boys to bed. 

Charlie posing by his pumpkins!

So the next day, when Max could actually carry out his plan. He never sent me a text to shower. Haha! He actually knew I had a scheduled workout for that day so he safely assumed I would get my shower done. I didn't know anything was out of the ordinary until I received an e-mail that Max had attempted to buy something through my Groupon account. It was an order for facials but didn't go through so I wasn't sure what to think about that. 

A couple minutes before 5pm Max text me that he was on his way home. Max never leaves that early so I was pretty excited., I was on the deck with the boys when he got home. A few minutes after he got home my mom showed up on our deck. Max asked if I had fed the baby recently , I said no, so he told me I should probably feed him and get ready to go. I went quick and pulled out some random food that my mom could feed Charlie. Max was taking me on a surprise getaway. 

He first drove me to a close little building and we went into a salon. The ladies could tell I was confused and asked if this was a surprise. I told them yes and then they let me know that I was getting the works...a haircut...a brazilian...a facial. I must have looked more confused or scared, so they told me they were joking and that we were there for facials. I was kind of excited. I had never had a facial before. Max and I ended up being in different rooms. He had called them earlier to check if we could have our facials done together and they had told him yes but they must have interpreted that as "at the same time but in different rooms" It was all great though because I was still relaxing and not chasing around a busy 2 year old. It made me so happy that my amazing Manly husband felt completely comfortable and confident getting a facial. We enjoyed our thirty minute facials then left with glowing faces. I figured we were then on our way to dinner which Max had already told me was an Indian Restaurant that we had been wanting to go to together. He told me that there was another stop on the way and we pulled into the parking lot of a nail salon. We went inside and he told me we were getting pedicures! Haha! I was SOO excited. I've only had a pedicure one other time in my life and it was for my wedding, and over the last couple of weeks I was appalled by my toes but just couldn't take the time for the care that they needed. We got to sit in amazing massage chairs with our feet soaking in the jet tubs. 

My feet have never looked or felt better. She spent quite a bit of time on us so we really just got to relax and enjoy each others company. When we were all done there, we went on over to the Indian Restaurant. 

And I really didn't take many pictures. I've never really understood people taking pictures of their food in restaurants, I'm usually so excited that it has come that I just dive in. Everything was so delicious and I've been doing some research to see if I can recreate some of the recipes at home. It was such a thoughtful date that both Max and I enjoyed. He told me that when he was planning he had thought of a couple other activities that would have been more active but he opted for the pampering night because with his current back issues, it sounded really nice to him, But he also told me the main reason for this pampering night was to reward my turbo mom-ness. Even though he enjoyed being on the river for a week he really missed his family and knew that I worked really hard to keep the kids happy and healthy so he wanted to give me a relaxing night alone with him. I'm so grateful for this amazing husband that always gives 100% to our marriage and family. It makes raising these kids that much more enjoyable. After we were comfortably full of Indian food we called it a night and went home to relieve grandma of her duties. Charlie was in bed and Miles was about to fall asleep. 

We have realized that we have gone on dates more frequently since Miles has been born than we did before. (We just went on another date to my high school 10 year reunion on Saturday) Max pointed out that we need them more now with the two kiddos! I/m grateful for my mom and all the babysitting she does for us so we can continue to date!

The point is...surprise dates are hard and I applaud Max at all his hard work, even if there was a minor setback and change of date.

Grandma's 89th

A couple weeks ago (I'm really getting behind on my blogging) we got together with family to celebrate my Green Grandma's 89th birthday! We got together at Cook Park for a Barbecue. Some of my cousins even came into town that I usually only see on Christmas Eve, I was really excited to find out that James and Elizabeth and their kids came down as well. We ate lots of food, rode bikes, played games and played with balloons. I, of course, took a bunch of pictures. 

Sleeping cousins. Miles and Everett. 

Gwenevere brought her bike with freshly removed training wheels. Charlie was so excited to try this big kid bike and Gwenevere was happy to share.

Last time these girls came to visit, Gwenevere told me she had a bunch of new poses to try for me to take pictures of. It ended up being such a busy weekend with us car shopping and Miles' blessing day that we didn't get much time for pictures. So we were happy to take time for pictures during this visit.

She is such a beauty. 

Grandma got to hold some of her great grand babies.

I know it's bad but this was the first time she had met Miles. I had been meaning to get over to her house many times before then but I just didn't make it happen. I'm glad they finally got to meet.

And a happy 89th to this lovely lady! Marion Virginia Lovett Roemhildt

Charlie seemed to be really attached to Gwenevere...maybe because she had such a cool bike. He kept grabbing her hand and wanting to run on the trail with her.

Of course we got to spend time with this beautiful pudding-faced little lady!

I'm in love with her freckles.

Could cuter nieces exist?...I don't think so!

It was a wonderful celebration and I love when Charlie gets cousin time., He seems to really be growing closer to them even though we don't see them as much as we'd like. 

Stay tuned for upcoming blog posts that include a surprise pampering date, Miles turns 4 months, Charlie practices bike riding and so on.  Our upcoming adventures include a beach day, a Utah trip and lots more fun in the sun!

Deschutes 2014

I'm attempting to write a blog post for an event that I did not attend. I will see what I can do then I will have Max revise it. 

Three weeks ago Max left for a week long family rafting trip. I did not attend because I am not ready to leave Miles for a full week. Max is one of the main oarsmen so he is vital on these trips and he has been rafting every year for as long as he can remember (minus the two years serving his mission)

I don't like being apart from Max AT ALL but I do love to see him happy and get a much deserved break to do something he enjoys so much. ( I did have to remind myself of this multiple times while he was gone) I also really like reuniting with him when he comes home. I feel like it is a small version of the time I returned home from mission and seeing each other for the first time in 3 years.  

Anyway, the point of this post is to document Max's family rafting trip. I was impressed with how many pictures Max took but even then, most of these pictures come from Lisa who does an excellent job capturing every family event. 

They were able to go on the Deschutes river this year. I was somewhat excited because this is the closest river and Max usually ends up driving after rowing on the river all day and he has a hard time staying awake. Anyway, Their plan was to come back on Friday but just as I was saying my last goodbye to Max he mentioned they may be staying until Saturday...What?! Haha, I would have no way of knowing if they were staying until Saturday until I find out that he didn't show up at home on Friday. It's a little crazy being apart for a week with no contact. Anyway, I keep making this post about me and I wasn't even there...moving on.

By some miracle they got on the road earlier than usual and got to the river when it was still light out. There was time to set up and load the boats as much as possible before making dinner and setting up camp for the night.  

They were able to have a nice evening and sleep under the stars. The next morning they went to work packing up their gear and loading up the boats. 

He probably got a lot more sleep than usual since I wasn't there to wake him up at the crack of dawn. ( I never sleep well while camping)

Brayden rode on Max boast a bunch and so did Lisa and August

After the first day of going down the river they got to set up camp and stay in one place for awhile.

In camp therer were several hikes. One was to the jumping rock where they would jump off and then float down the river back to camp.

While they were on the river there were some wild fires nearby. It got pretty hazy and smokey each afternoon. I'm glad I didn't know this until after Max was home safe...I would have worried quite a bit. I guess it's comforting to know that there were a couple firefighters on the trip. 

They were protecting themselves from breathing the smoke.

August caught a fish which I can only assume was PRETTY EXCITING!

Our River Grandma! She turns 80 this month!

Another fun camp game is sand bowling!

Another hike on this river is going up to the flag. A large group went up. 

It can be a pretty strenuous hike and Grandma Annette made it!

Jeremy and Max helped Annette down the mountain because her knees were giving her quite a bit of trouble! But she made it!

More camp games. 

On Thursday evening a park ranger came to tell the family that the fires were getting close and they would need to evacuate the area as soon as possible. they quickly started packing up all their gear but decided it was too late to go on the river because it was nearly dark. The whole family slept on the bank and everyone spent a ton of time saturating the land around them. 

There was a helicopter that came really close to gather water in a bucket to help tame the fire. 

The whole family got a whole bunch closer all sleeping in the same area.

They were able to get on the river by 8am which is a rafting record.

They got to the take out by noon and proceeded with the huge amount of work of unloading everything and packing it up in the cars. 

I'm so glad that you got this picture Lisa! Teamwork at its finest.

After all the hard work was done they got to go to the Oasis restaurant for burgers and shakes which is always so appreciated after a week in the heat.

Then came my favorite part. Because they left so early Max got home by 8pm. I had no idea that we would be home so early or even that day. I knew that even if he did come home Friday, it would be pretty late. So I was pretty excited to see him pull up with flowers in hand as I was getting the boys ready for bed. I love being reunited with him and I loved hearing all the fun he had on the trip and seeing his tan and scruffy body was a bonus! He helped me finish getting the kids ready for bed and we enjoyed the rest of the evening together.

The next day there is always more work getting all the gear cleaned up and dried out so Max was gone a chunk of the day working on that.

It looks like they are all modeling here.

They went out to lunch so I loaded up the boys and we met them there. It was fun hearing all the rafting stories and made me a little sad that I didn't go this year. 

Oh, and I don't know why these pictures showed up down here but these are pretty impressive of all the rafts going through boxcar (right?)

Max's Boat

Brent and Mitch's boat...they flipped!

I think this is Uncle Max's boat. They got a little wet.

And that's it. Now I get to continue blogging about things I was actually present for!