Big Red...

TRACTOR!!!

We went up to the lake cabin again, and this time Grandma Sara had something special planned for Miles. She got out her big red, noisy tractor (Miles has a Spot book called The Noisy Tractor, I believe). He had sat on the tractor before, but I'm not sure he's ever ridden on it. Grandma inherited the tractor from her parents. I believe it was around most, if not all, of her childhood. She even has a picture of herself at about Miles' age with the tractor. I think it has been spiffed up a bit in recent years.

After Grandma turned it on, Miles was a little skeptical. It was a little noisy for him! But, with Grandma holding on tight and a quick driving lesson, he gradually eased into the idea of taking it for a spin.

So, take it for a spin, they did!

Miles was an expert helper when it came to steering the non-power-steering tractor.

They went round and round the couldesac several times.

And Miles had a blast...

Driving the Big Red Tractor.

Baby Moira and her gift

A few posts ago, I mentioned that my sister was waiting on a very special arrival. Well, shortly after my post, her arrival "arrived". Baby Moira Eileen, my newest niece, was born at 0811 on 8.12.09, weighing in at 8# 13oz! She is adorable, and we cannot wait to meet her.



While she was finishing cooking, I was working on a project for her, well, more so her Mommy (my sister). I've convinced myself, and accepted the fact that, I will have all boys. So, the fact that she had a girl is exciting to me! Another girl I get to do girly things for (I have another niece who is almost 8 months old!). Clothes are so boring and routine, so I decided to do something a little different and made my sister a scrapbook for her little girl's first year. My sister has an 19month old son, so I figured she'd be pretty busy and not have time do make one herself. I should have taken the pages out of the protectors to get better pictures, but you get the idea.



Here is the front cover, waiting for a picture of little Moira (I chose blue so the whole thing wasn't over-the-top girly).



This is the intro page, also waiting for a pic of little Moira (well, they all are...). The circle is for her first initial (which I didn't know until she was born).



The block for all her stats.

This page is to document my sister's pregnancy. The pink box inside the green box (where the picture goes) is the "directions" for the page.

It's A Girl!!! for ultrasound pictures (again the pink block with writing is "directions" for the page).

New Arrival: hospital pictures and journaling block. The green is a little pocket for her hospital bands.

Home from the hospital.

Family page (for pics of grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles).

One month old

Two months old (October)

Three months old (November)

4 Months old (December/Christmas).

Timeline for months 5, 6, 7, and 8.

Nine months, (May/Mother's day)

10 months (June/Father's day)

11 months (July, should have done red, white and blue, but I guess it ended up pink, white and blue...)

"Summer Fun" The S in the upper left corner says summer fun around it. The page will be a little less busy with a large picture in the yellow frame!

First Birthday!!!

So, that is it. The gift I made for the arrival of my sister's baby girl. I love how it turned out and really hope that they enjoy it for years to come!

Hanging on a Wednesday afternoon

Ben updating his iTunes library...




Me, hanging out on the bed...





Miles, resting, and watching...


"Minnie", which is his name for all Disney mouse characters.

Bubbles, Boats, and Bandages

We had a busy, fun-filled day yesterday! We went to "the lake" to visit with Ben's family. His cousin Wendy, Aunt Marta, and his cousin's kids Olivia and Cedric (and Olivia's friend Sarah) were in town from the west side of the state. We started the day getting up around 1030 (Miles got up around 730 and watched "Minnie").

Miles and I got ready while Ben went to an appointment.



Miles post bath in my "star" bathrobe and his "bear" towel.

When Ben got home, around 1:30, we hit the road, stopping at McDonald's for lunch and Starbucks for some fuel, ahem, I mean coffee. We arrived at the lake around 4pm due to our several stops and a construction delay. After arriving, we got changed into our swim attire, and headed down to the beach for some water fun.

He LOVES throwing rocks in the water and watching them splash. He entertained himself like this for quite a while.

Then we headed into the water. Don't mind me and my pasty legs and swimwear...

Miles wasn't too sure about it. He kept tyring to climb up me. I brought him in to the point of us being chest deep. We'll have to try a pool sometime and see if he likes that better! I thought he'd like floating in the water...

Then Wendy and Cedric went out in a kayak.

Notice Wendy NOT paddling? Cedric is paddling with his hands from his "seat" in the storage compartment!

Miles wanted to join in the boating fun, and began "dig-dig-dig"ing in the sand/water with and ore.

After a while, he decided that wasn't enough, he wanted to go out in the boat too!

So, we let him climb in. But, again, this wasn't satisfying enough, and he wanted to go into the water. So I took him out a little ways.

He loved it, but kept trying to put his hands in the water, which tipped the boat. I didn't let him tip out, but some day he's gonna have to learn that you can't stand and reach out of kayaks...

We headed back up to the cabin after some swimming and got ready for dinner. Miles wanted to play with bubbles while Ben grilled burgers, brauts and salmon.

He made a big mess, but did a pretty good job blowing bubbles, especially since the bottle says "4+" for age! He ate a lot of bubbles and cleaned the chair :)

We ate dinner, played around, and headed home around 8:30. He went straight to bed after the 90min drive and slept until 11:45 this morning!

Oh, and the bandages...notice all the band aides he has on his arms??? He has a new obsession with them...