All Smiles

Miles officially smiled this morning for the first time, intentionally, and it was the cutest thing ever.  I think it's safe to say that he has my smile.  Once he started smiling, he couldn't stop.  I took almost 50 pictures in a 10 minute period because he just kept smiling!  

My boys

Just some pictures of the boys from this past week.  

Put Your Hands Up!

Sleep Tight- Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite!

Rocking & Rolling!

Too Cool For School!

Too Sweet For Words

Every night before Gavin goes to bed we read a book to him and he gets to "read" one to us.  He loves this part of his bedtime routine and always waits in anticipation for whatever book we give him.  His favorites are ones that have lots of animals in them or ones that the words are read like a jingle/or a song (think of "Who Stole the Cookie from the Cookie Jar?")

So, last night when we told Gavin it was time for Miles to go to bed, he went and got a book and asked if he could read it to Miles.  Beyond words, precious!  Gavin is taking his job as big brother very seriously and is already trying to teach Miles everything he knows!  

  

The "Real" First Day

Here are pictures from Gavin's first real day of play school.  He spent all morning at the school and loved it.  Momma loved it, too!  I was able to get laundry done, go to the grocery store, organize some things around the house, and more.   Gavin was so excited to wear his back pack and helped pack his snacks for the day.  He practically ran all the way to school, he was so excited.  Besides getting to play with Thomas the Train choo- choo's, his favorite part of the day was getting to ride on the "bus" to come home.  The teachers drop the kids off in our compound's van at the end of their day. 

Of course Miles was apart of Gavin's first day of school, too.  He was awake to eat breakfast with us and for the first time, he got to ride in my new baby wrap.  He loved it and it was wonderful for me to not have to push a stroller to the other side of our compound.  Not to mention, Gavin generally wants to push and it takes much longer to get places when that happens.  It had also been raining off and on and I was worried I would get stuck out there with a huge stroller and a wet baby.  This way, in the wrap, I could keep Miles covered with an umbrella and wouldn't have a soaking wet stroller to deal with.   He loved riding in the wrap and fell asleep within minutes of being put in it.  

 

Incase you're interested..... my wrap is called a Snuggy Baby Wrap.  I bought it so I could keep my hands free to tend to Gavin whenever I needed to.  Plus, places in Saudi aren't very stroller compatible so I knew I needed something to take Miles around in, other then carrying his car seat carrier everywhere.  I'm so glad I got it.  It is so easy and comfortable for me to wear.   I found it on etsy at this store, or here's the website you can order from too. 

We have a One Month Old

Miles turned one month old on Tuesday and we can't believe how fast time has gone by.  We feel like so much has happened since he was born and he's just growing up so fast, already.  I love how tiny he is and seeing him in his footed pajama's after his baths.  Just precious.

Miles has been an awesome and easy baby.  Now that we are passed the nursing and we know exactly how much food he's getting with the formula, he has become an even happier baby.  He's growing and gaining weight and is on track for what a one month old should be.  I took him to the doctor for his one month check up and he weighs 9lbs 5 oz.  The doctor was very pleased with his weight gain and said we made the right decision to stop nursing and give him what he needs.  Miles sleeps great and rarely ever fusses when we put him down for the night.  Right now, he's still waking up for one feeding in the middle of the night. 

During the day, he is very pleasant!  He eats every 3 hours and tends to alternate every other feeding cycle as to whether or not he will sleep or stay awake after eating.  He's pretty predictable about what what he wants.  If he's crying, it's generally because he has a wet diaper.  He can't stand wet diapers, which is so different for us to experience.  Gavin never cared about wet or dirty diapers.  Miles, on the other hand, would prefer us to change him every hour, even if his diaper isn't full.  He takes a pacifier, but when we give it to him, he acts like he can't stand the taste of it.  He makes some pretty cute faces with it.   

We're loving having him here and already don't remember life without him.  Enjoy the pictures. 

       

                   

Carnival Cake

I was asked by my neighbor and another lady on our compound to make a birthday cake for their 4 kids Carnival themed birthday party.  I have a really hard time saying no to people and the fact that Miles was  just born and my mom was here didn't seem to change that.  I ended up working on the cake for two weeks to make sure that I only had to spend a few hours at a time working on it.  This was a really fun cake to make and I loved how the colors came out so bright.  I made the cake to match their plates, cups, and decorations.  

                   

One more Update...

This is Gavin playing with toys at our compounds play school.  

Brooks and I decided last night that we were ready and willing to take advantage of the play school and let Gavin participate.  There are 5 boys who live on the compound all under the age of 4 and as of last week 4 of the 5 were enrolled in the play school, Gavin being number 5.  Now that my mom is gone, I've been thinking a lot about how to adjust to having and managing 2 kids on my own.  I've also realized that Gavin is at a place where I think he's bored of just being at the house.  We don't have options of places to go or events to participate in like we would if we were back home- such as Little Gym, Mother's Day Out, YMCA, etc.  So, we figured this would be great for Gavin to hang out with kids his age, have some time away from me, and get to be in a new environment daily.  

Today, I brought him to the play school to see how things were run, watch him interact, ask questions, meet the ladies, etc.  Gavin immediately hid behind me when we walked in the door and wouldn't budge for the first 10 minutes.  I quickly realized I needed to help motivate him so I sat down on the floor and told him I was here to stay-- and I did.  I sat for 30 minutes and he eventually got up and started playing. It was interesting because in the beginning, he played by himself, hence why he's in the above picture alone.  Now, he knows all the boys that were there and plays with them often, so I was shocked that he didn't want to hang out with them right when he saw them.  After a while, he was right there with the boys, laughing and goofing off.  I actually was able to slip away for 45 minutes and Gavin did fine.  He was excited to see me when I showed up, but told me he wanted to go to "school" tomorrow.  Fine by me!  I'm excited for him to get this chance and am looking forward to having some time for me, for the first time since we moved in August.  It will also allow me time to focus on Miles, too.