Opening Day

Mirra's first Opening Day! She doesn't care but I'm excited. We will likely take the kids to Cincinatti this summer to watch them play.

The begining of the Cardinals' season means spring to me. I am also excited because the Cards seem to make the playoffs every year we don't have a baby. That bodes well for the team this year;) We have lost some big talent this year (I'm talking about guys with multiple Golden Gloves) so I am very curious to see how that affects the team. Salutes to Edmonds, Rolen, and Eckstein. Thanks for everything!

Go Redbirds!!!

Stinkerbell

That is Mirra's new nickname. She is so cute when she grins up at you but she has a whole lot of attitude for someone so small. If you sit her down and walk away she gets mad. If Drew has a treat and she doesn't, she gets mad. If she can't move how she wants to move, she gets mad. She has entered the phase where she rolls over everytime you try to put a new diaper on her. She always find the one thing she shouldn't have and tries to eat it. The little diva won't hold her own bottle and she hates when we try to manipulate her hands (like to show her how to nicely pet the cat or how to show a sign). Stinker + cutie-patootie= Stinkerbell.

I watched Drew take a toy away from her the other day and told her that she would have to start sticking up for herself. The next day she crawled up to Drew and took the last bite of his cereal bar out of his hand and shoved it in her mouth. She did the same thing to him tonight. Our little girl is really starting to assert her personality.

Ahhh, Saturday

I put Mirra down for her morning nap and proceeded to the basement to start laundry. Andy steps out the front door to ward off some birds that are trying to build a nest in our roof. As the door closes he hears "click". Drew had just locked him out. It's 30-something degrees and Andy is wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Andy asks Drew to open the door. "It's not working" Drew keeps saying while trying the knob. Then Andy starts knocking on the door to try to get my attention. Drew says "Hello?". This goes on for several minutes. Finally Andy walks around and opens the garage door to get in the house. As he walks in he hears Mirra screaming in her crib about her dirty diaper.

I had the washer running and couldn't hear any of this.

Now we are off to hose down Drew's carseat one more time and give the car another scrub. Happy Saturday!

The Boogie Man

Drew is feeling good today. No lasting effects from last night.

Why Parents Drink

My dad sent me a forward today with this title: why parents drink. The timing could not be more perfect.

Many of you who know Drew also know that the kid is very active. He actually NEEDS to be active to pay attention and to keep undesirable behavior to a minimum. Winter is often challenging. We finally have some decent weather and we all get sick. Very little effort has been put forth to keep Drew active for the past week and a half and so the poor kid is about to jump out of his skin.

Tonight we are all feeling better so Anita and I drive the kids to get some dinner and then to this indoor playplace with inflatable bounce house and climbing wall and slides. Drew is running around and having fun but starts getting a bit overheated and coughing. I get him a bottle of water and cut the visit short. On the way out the door Mirra vomits on my shoe. I am thankful that most of it landed on my shoe and that no one else will have to clean it up. No biggie.

We get in the car and head for home. One minute from the play place (and 20 minutes from home) Drew heaves all over his 1/3 of the the backseat. (Somewhere my dad is reading this and laughing his ass off saying "paybacks are hell"). Fortunately Mirra was not in the line of fire. I'm stuck at a red light and can't pull over right away. Anita hands Drew a wipe for his face and the odor almost does her in. I finally pull over and start wiping up all this mess (gagging the whole time). Most his clothes go in the trunk. Fortunately I had a spare pair of pants for him. I managed to get it cleaned up as best I could. The kid is a trooper. I don't think I could have handled the drive home the way he did.

Here is the kicker: when we pass the Wendy's where we ate dinner, Drew starts saying "Get chicken. French fries." Heck no pal, have some crackers.

I really just wanted to get Drew some exercise....The best laid plans of mice and men....

Now the kids are in bed, the clothes are in the washer, the car is airing out, and I am finshing a beer. I think I have earned it tonight.

More Easter Pictures

This one is Mirra getting schooled on Hannah Montana by cousin Ashley.

New Sign

While in Peoria Mirra signed 'Eat' to let us know that she wanted the cracker in her dad's hand. She did it twice, with witnesses, so I don't think it was a fluke.

Drew has just asked to draw eggs. Not today buddy.

We are still trying to kick this bug. It has taken on a new life for Drew and I and I am so ready to be rid of it.

I am starting the wheels turning for planning Mirra's first birthday. I am thinking of a fairy or carousel theme. I just need to do some online research for decorations and come up with a plan for the cake. If I can find fairy figurines that I like instead of making them from fondant that would save me hours. Who am I kidding? I don't have hours for the cake. I don't know. We will see. Ideas anyone?

Easter

We hope you all had a nice Easter. Ours was good. We drove to Peoria Friday. We were all still feeling a bit rough. Andy joked that if we timed it right we could make music with the coughing.

We arrived to discover that my suitcase had not made it in the car. Andy's mom smiles at me and says "does that mean we get to go shopping?". Why yes, yes it does. So off we went to Kohl's.

Saturday we colored eggs with Cassidy (our great niece). Drew wrote his name on each one of his and dipped them in the colors. He also discovered that they were fun to break open and squish. Must be a boy thing. Most of the Miles family gathered at my mother-in-law's for pizza that night. Drew had a blast with Jade and his cousins, Cassidy, Ashley, and Trisha. Mirra made the rounds but seemed especially fond of Uncle Denny. I think the feeling is mutual.

Sunday we went to Denny and Barb's for a feast and the kids hunted eggs. It was nice to see Barb's family and Charissa and Dan (who we had missed the night before). After dinner we headed back home. Mirra had been staying awake at night and we thought we might have better luck getting her to sleep in her own bed. It worked. Two nights in a row and not a peep from her. Andy and I are both very happy about that.

Germ-A-Palooza

What a rough week. This flu virus has taken us all out one by one. We have learned that Drew is tougher than the rest of us. He still asks to go outside and play even with a fever. Andy and I opted not to get flu shots this year. I had already had the flu in September, what was the point, right? I don't think it would have mattered since the kids had theirs and they still got sick. Mirra was just pitiful!

Mirra discovered the stairs this week and was determined to master climbing up. Drew served as a climbing model and Mirra accomplished her goal. She is also already aware when Drew gets something that she doesn't and she voices her protest. If Drew gets a pop, she wants a bite of her own. If Drew gets a snack she wants a cracker. I can hear it now, her first sentence will be "that's not fair!". Sound familiar Mom?:) She is also crawling more quickly. I had a flashback to when Drew was crawling and I wanted to put a bell on him. The little booger was so fast I often lost him. Mirra is not as fast but she is sneaky and hides under tables and behind the recliner.

Thanks to Word World on PBS Drew has spelled his first words this week: box and cake. Mmmmmm....cake. Its a cool cartoon with characters made of the letters that spell them. Like the dog is made of the letters D, O and G. It seems kind of whacked but it's brilliant at the same time. How do people come up with this stuff?

Hope you all have a good Easter weekend. We will see you Peoriaites in a couple of days.

Garden Show

Here are some pics of Mirra crawling. I will try to post video, but I have not had the time to figure out how yet, so I leave you in suspense.

I went with my neighbor and friend, Debbie, to Indy's Garden & Patio Show today. Andy was going to keep the kids but got sick so we took them with us. They were really good and there was a lot for kids to see and do, which was cool. There was a Disney garden and Drew met Captian Jack (not that we have seen the movies) and Mirra met Cinderella and Snow White.

More Teething

What a wonderful couple of days! We have been outside as much as possible. Drew soaked through 3 changes of clothes today playing in the creek.

Mirra is pretty cranky right now. She is working on some more teeth. She is not her usual smiley self and is not sleeping well at all. I know she is miserable and feel so bad for her. Though it is more difficult to be empathetic at 3 a.m. when she has had us up for 3 hours.

She is starting to crawl pretty quickly. It won't be long before she is zipping around the house. We are really looking forward to this summer and having both the kids outside.

I thought this picture of Mirra was pretty funny. She was fighting naptime and just fell over in her crib and fell asleep.

2 for 1

Two posts in one day....lucky you. So this may be a fluke but Mirra may have shown her first sign today. She held her hand out and opened and closed her fingers twice. "Milk". I gave her milk and she was happy. We'll see if she can do it again, but how cool is that?

Run Dad!

Drew likes to say "Run Dad" or "Run Mom" and have us chase him in circles around the house. He loves it and now Mirra wants in on the action.

As soon as I posted this I noticed Drew running while eating an apple. I should win Mom Of The Year.

Our New "Niece"

Meet Bailey. She is Bee's new baby. She is about 8 weeks old and is a beagle/lab mix. Bee says she is sweet and a "firey" little thing. We are all curious to see how big she will grow to be.

New Orleans - The Good

We started our trip out by having a drink at Evelyn's and then dinner at Maximo's, our favorite restaurant. I had the ravioli...unbelievable! You just can't imagine how pasta and cheese filling can melt in your mouth the way this does. Andy's scallops and fire roasted shrimp were excellent too. While we were there we found out that the restaurant had only opened the weekend before from "the storm". We found out it had changed ownership during that time also but still had the same chef. We found some good music (a lady seemingly influenced by Billie Holiday) on our walk back to Bourbon street but we were pathetically tired and made it an early night.

We began the next day by walking by the river and making our way to the French Market. It is being reconstructed and is only half full of vendors right now. We did a little shopping and found out from one of the vendors that the locals have adopted the fluer-d-lis as the symbol of New Orleans' rebirth.

As we walked back past Lafayette Square we took a carriage ride through the Quarter. We were pulled by a mule named Knucklehead (it is illegal to use horses). We saw where the Louisana Purchase was signed on the second floor of one of the buildings. We also learned that building owners can change the inside of any building in the Quarter however they like but any changes to the exterior must be approved and can only be painted one of 27 colors. We saw the place that Brad and Angelina bought. We also learned that the oldest apartment buildings still in use (1849 and 1850) flank Lafayette Square. We grabbed some gumbo at Evelyn's Place, our usual home base, then changed hotels. The hotel we moved to was on the corner of Bourbon and Canal and probably the nicest I've ever stayed in.

Then we headed up to the Garden District, walked our feet off and took the trolley back.

Saturday night we ate at Bayona's and saw the chef, Susan Spicer, in person. The food was good. I can tell you that sweetbreads are not really bread. It is like lightly breaded, very tender meat with sauce and a lot of flavor. I highly recommend it. We then hooked up with Andy's boss for a few cocktails. We found some music at patio bar. While we were hanging out a lady came in with a big black lab. Of course we asked to pet him. Rudy the dog was standing behind Andy for quite a while and then plopped down by his feet. The lady said that he had a long walk and wanted to rest. Andy told me later that the dog had a thorough sniff of his ass and decided that he would be fine to hang out with. Cracked me up! Turns out he is the dog of the lead singer/trumpet player in the band.

After that Andy's boss pulled us into this crazy loud bar with a band singing Bon Jovi sing-along crap. Andy and I were not NEARLY drunk enough to hang out there. I thought I would have to sedate Andy. He and 80s big hair bands just don't mix. But the boss was REALLY into the place. I go to the bathroom there and happen to look at the feet in the next stall. They were wearing strappy shoes and facing the wrong direction for a women's bathroom if you get my drift. They were the nicest looking feet in drag I have ever seen.

We ended the night with one last drink at Evelyn's. Busy day!

Sunday started with the jazz brunch at Palace Cafe' with live music. We ate obscene amounts and then went back to the Garden District. We started out at Audubon Park and then found the BIG houses. They were really amazing. The architechure was influenced from all over the globe. Each house had its own personality, embracing the neighborhood in which it dwelled and still offering privacy with courtyards within. Andy said it makes you believe in ghosts...if you had a house that nice you wouldn't want to leave it.

We took the trolley back to the Quarter and later caluclated that we had walked 12-15 miles in two days. Well, with all that walking we worked up an appetite (not really, we were still full from brunch)but we went to Mr. B's that night with a client/friend of Andy's and the boss man. Those of you who know me well would be proud. I ATE CRAWFISH IN THE SHELL! I needed instruction, but I managed and it was delicious. I am not ashamed to admit that I had to turn the little guys upside down on my plate because I couldn't handle the little black, beady eyes staring at me while I finished the rest of my meal. I'm still not ready for oysters or anything similar.

After that we had a drink with Andy's work folk at Pat O'Brian's and I stole him away. We went in search of live music again and started at Lafitte's Bar. We also found another band on the way back to the hotel.

It was a very relaxing trip with more food than a human should consume in such a short time.

I flew out the next morning and Andy started his trade show. My connection to O'Hare was delyaed and I now vow never to travel through there if I can help it. The kids seemed happy to see me but obviously had a great time at my parents'. Now we are all home and while we wouldn't trade our kids for anything but we would trade the hot dogs for Maximo's ANY DAY!

Good Luck Sam & Dave

Our friends from NC left for Thailand today to bring home their new daughter. After a "long and bumpy road" we wish them safe travel and a smooth transition.

And She's Off!!!...

Well, she did it. Mirra has started to crawl. She is also climbing up on everything in sight. At Grammy & Papa's house she would pull up on her toy box, which would occasionally fall over on her. Drew then takes it upon himself to put the toy box and his baby sister upright again.

I will fill you in on our New Orleans trip in the next post. Suffice it to say we had a great time.