milwaukee reunion

we just returned from a mini-vacation in milwaukee with our good friends - the maios (matt, sarah, & genevieve), harms' (scott, anna, & ethan), and bansemars (shawn & melissa). just to catch some of you up, these are buddies and their wives whom kyle went to college with at milwaukee school of engineering [MSOE]. we were thrilled to meet little genevieve gabriella maio in person. she is adorable and has the world's cutest (& chubbiest) cheeks! it was fun to sit and hold a newborn...it just made kyle and me realize how quickly miles has grown. the harms' little guy ethan is on the move and such a brave baby boy! he cruises around the furniture like no other and is not afraid to make a risky move and reach for the ottoman that is a foot away. ethan is just ten months old...I'm pretty sure he'll be walking in no time at all! we sat around and were in awe of what a year will do. last year we were just the eight of us...and now there are three babies...one on each floor of the maio's house! it was such fun to see everyone and we wish we could get together more often. it is difficult because we are all spread out, but it makes us appreciate our time together. miles was a dream passenger on both the trip there and back. he is an angel in the car...we sure are lucky! here are a bunch of pictures...enjoy!!

sarah, genevieve, and matt
ethan, scott, and anna
kyle giving matt a lesson in swaddling 101miles checking out ethanthe stare down
happy halloween boys!
melissa and miles
ethan borrowed miles' hat for some adorable halloween shots
little miss genevieve and her post bath curly do!
pajama party
miles was longing for his jumperoo, but settled for a ride in genevieve's swing
birthday boys
it was scott's bday on sunday and shawn's bday on monday
genevieve and me

OH WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES!!!
april 2007
october 2008

BEWARE: picture overload!!

here are some recent photos I thought you might enjoy!

ready to go!

slingin' it with mommy

miles really likes the bumbo now that he's starting to sit...it comes in handy for puppy watching too!

ok...enough...get me out of here!!

very curious about the leaves
so smiley

kisses

gimme the can uncle clayt!

our little burrito

mommy's matching boys!

keeping a watchful eye on the neighborhood

still fascinated by his hands - he does this OFTEN and has been for about two months - we wonder what he's going to do with those precious hands someday...

our little jumping bean

five months old

where has the time gone? our little monkey is already five months old! we have truly been blessed with an amazingly laid back and happy baby. miles loves to eat, sleep, and play. he is rarely fussy and has really taken a particular liking to jumping in the jumperoo. he is almost sitting independently and is showing the very early signs of wanting to crawl. he lifts his little bum in the air when he's on his tummy and digs his toes into the ground. yikes!! we decided that the little man definitely takes after his daddy when it comes to sleeping...he goes to bed around 7pm, wakes for a feeding between 5 and 6am and then goes back to sleep until about 8am! WOW!!! I'm sure it won't last long...but for now we are enjoying it :) here are the most recent "monthly photos" - hope you enjoy them!

a cousin...woo hoo!!

miles is so happy to announce that he is getting a cousin! beth and seth are expecting their first baby next june. needless to say we are THRILLED and can't wait to meet the newest member of the family!!

welcome to our CRAZY family!

we are so happy to announce that blair is officially going to become a "becker"!! my little brother brian proposed this weekend after a year of dating. they were on a mini-vacation to the black hills to see mount rushmore and crazy horse. brian had actually cooked up a big scavenger hunt to surprise her today (tuesday) in her hometown of watertown, SD. however, blair...ever the hard worker...had to work late. so...the original plan was scratched and he managed to do just as well if not better! you see it was snowing at the base of mount rushmore and it made for some GORGEOUS pictures and such a romantic setting! they will be coming to visit all of us this weekend...can't wait to see the bling in person. welcome to the family blair!!

dilemma

miles' first dilemma...
(I apologize for the typo in the video...oops!)

jumperoo!

miles has decided that his new "favorite" toy is the jumperoo. he absolutely goes to town in that thing! it's like he figured out he can make it move and make it super loud...a winning combination. here are some shots of him thoroughly enjoying himself.

babies r us exploded in our living room

daddy raising it to level three...this baby is TALL!

miles miles miles

this post is primarily for my mom and sisters (beth & nykkole). they are currently up in vancouver attending the 7th annual north american conference on shaken baby syndrome [click here for more info or here to follow nykkole's blog]. they are in "miles withdrawal" and have requested some new pictures...here you go!

miles has really mastered "grasping" and now tears this ball right off the bar!

snuggled up for a rare nap in the swing one cold morning

happy baby! looking "handsome" of course and much like the day he came home from the hospital...click here

snoozing

giggling with daddy...such a happy little baby

mommy and miles

big blue eyes and such an intense look...definitely checking something out...so curious!

demolition

the demo of the basement is finished. kyle has been working hard to clear everything out of there. we had someone come to give us a bid on the sheet rock portion of the renovation. needless to say - it would cost us six times more than materials alone. ha - kyle will now be doing the entire bathroom project on his own. not as though he is incapable. we all saw his handiwork in the other bathroom and know it will be done well! so now we will get to live with even more dust in the house. when we decided to do a bunch of work before miles was born, I swore we wouldn't be doing any home renovations for a long time. what I should've said was that we wouldn't be doing any VOLUNTARY home renovations for a long time. this project was forced. argh.

what the basement looks like today...sigh