Out and About

Here are a variety of photos of activities the last couple of weeks. 

We decided to add bubble bath to the kiddie pool. It was pretty exciting for a little while.

And later we tried the sprinkler under the trampoline. And yes, we let Charlie run loose in his underwear.

And Saturdays, Charlie is always eager to help Daddy with yard work.

We finally made it back to the Children's museum!

And one day, I decided that if Charlie was going to take a good nap, I would have to wear him out by letting him run through the forest. So that is what we did.

And those are some of our "end of Summer" adventures.

5 months

This is a little late so now I'm confusing his 4 month milestones with 5 month milestones so I'm just going to throw some info out there

In the last month (and a half) Miles has traveled to two new states, become a master flirt with his dimples, met his future wife, cut his first tooth and his second will be in any minute, his eyes officially look hazelish, he moved into his own room, he occasionally takes a good nap, he still sleeps through the night, and he loves to hold and suck on everything within arms reach. As of late he has wanted to be constantly in our arms and entertained. He doesn't last long playing on his own. We are working hard at getting him to nap consistently but boy is it exhausting. In the meantime...my house is getting pretty messy...oh well, they're only young once right? 

These photos were taken on September 5th when he was officially 5 months. 

The Crinkle nose!

He found some grass and tried to taste it.

Another little tidbit of info is that 99% of Miles' milk is breast milk. This is a huge milestone because it was when Charlie turned 5 months that I officially stopped pumping and switched over to formula. I still need to pump once a day, to keep my supply up, which is usually in the evening before I go to bed and I give Miles that bottle the following day before he goes to bed, I'm wondering if that is why he has been sleeping so well during the night. I give him formula when my supply is low or when he is home with Max or my mom is watching him and I haven't pumped enough. He does well with formula as well but I just feel so accomplished that he is breastfeeding after all the hard work I went through with Charlie and in Miles' early weeks (months)
And one more tidbit. Miles is getting teeth way earlier than Charlie. I think Charlie was around 9 months when he got his first tooth. It is kinds of a bummer that my nursing child is the early teether but oh well.

Prineville

After being home from Utah for two days we decided to keep the summer fun coming while we could. Brent and Lisa had invited us to stay at their house over labor day weekend. We were somewhat hesitant at first only because Charlie was having such a rough time near the end of our Utah trip but we decided to do it anyway. Lisa shows us some of the best hospitality I've ever seen, I have a few lessons to learn from her. 

Anyway, Saturday morning Max got some things done on the property which he was pretty excited about after being gone for a week. This is also the day that we were eating lunch with the elders and Charlie climbed up into my arms at the table and fell asleep. That is definitely not normal for him. Max thought he was faking at first but then we noticed he was snoring. Poor kid was so exhausted. 

Anyway, he took a nap on the couch as we finished getting ready to head to Prineville. When we were ready we tried to transfer him to the car without waking him but that didn't work, luckily he was happy when he woke up. 

Also, Max had just pulled out the staples from Charlie's head. 

We drove for a little bit, then Max decided he didn't want to fall asleep at the wheel and we switched drivers, he usually only needs about 20 mintues these days before deciding that he shouldn't drive. I drove the rest of the way through a whole lot of rain. 

Anyway, we eventually arrived and got to play outside for awhile before an amazing dinner was prepared. We had fish and Douglas (Brent's deer, which tasted way better than ours, or I just don't know how to cook it.) corn, roasted onions, mushrooms, zuchinni, and potatoes. It was delicious. After dinner we got the boys all ready for bed and then went to bed shortly after. 

The next morning we got up and were presented with a delicious breakfast of Puff Pancakes and fruit.  We then went to an hour of church. When we got back we, got ready to visit some lava beds at a National Park near Bend. 

When we got there, Lisa put together some amazing lunches...Amazing!

We enjoyed our food then went off exploring.

The lava rocks were pretty impressive, and Charlie loves to run!

Charlie really likes to hold people's hands. Whenever Max or I tried to hold his hand, he ignored us and went to hold August's hand.

 After walking around all that lava rock we got to drive up to the top of the volcano and look into the crater and walk the entire rim.

Charlie then forced Auntie Lisa to carry him. He must have been getting tired from all his running.

Miles was having a good time!

Speaking of eruptions...

The view was amazing!

I love how in most pictures he is doing this strut with the baby carrier on. I sure find it attractive!

After our walk around the crater we decided to head back. We took a quick nursing break so Miles would settle down then made it back in time to cook our dinner on the fire. We roasted hot dogs and made chili dogs.

We then pulled out our new Doughy maker and cooked up some doughies so our cousins could experience the deliciousness. When it got dark, the boys ended up scooting around on skateboards, Charlie tried to stand on the skateboard a couple of times and it terrified me...I don't want that kid to get anymore staples.

Miles got lots of time with Auntie Lisa too. My arms always get a good break when Lisa is around and it is greatly appreciated.

We stayed up too late then put the boys to bed. We stayed up for a little longer visiting with Brent and Lisa but it wasn't long before we called it a night. 

Charlie had another rough night sleeping, but he slept fine once he was in our bed...I didn't sleep great though. 

The next morning was more of a relaxed morning with sausage and egg sandwiches for breakfast. He hung around the house and played some guitar hero. 

Then we went to Castle Park and played for awhile and had a yummy picnic. Charlie got his second bee sting of his life but seemed pretty unphased. I fed Miles while everyone else played at the park then we loaded up the car and drove home. It was an excellent weekend and we are so lucky to have such wonderful family members that take us in for a long weekend and show us a good time!