Miles Alexander, 4 months!

My baby boy is getting so big! 4 months old already, and doing so many new things! He's constantly babbling, reaching for things, and watching his big brother more and more each day. He's been rolling over quite a bit now too. He still is yet to sleep in his crib, but we're not even going to work on that one until he's healthy again. (And because he's a total Mama's boy!) So onto some pictures of my handsome little man!

Striking a pose for Mommy!

mmm, yummy hand!
You're so funny mommy!

Sweet angel

Boo at the Zoo

Boo at the Zoo would be what I'd call a well planned disaster. We met up with our favorite family, The Puchmeyers, at McDonalds for a fast dinner first. The kids were having a great time running around in the play land...but we packed them up anyway and headed to the zoo! I am pretty sure it took us a good 20 minutes after parking before we even started walking towards the zoo, lol. By the time we got all the kids in costume, the strollers ready to go, and looked for Lucy's missing binky, it had been a bit. Of course, I had to get a shot of my little Tigger and Pooh before the fun began!

Miles, AKA Pooh Bear

Notice in all the chaos the stickers are still on the ears, lol
Mommy and Tigger...finally moving!!

And then we got into to zoo...getting ready to take pictures of the kids with some of the animals and characters...and my camera lens broke!! To top it off, Callista's camera was almost out of batteries! And pretty much the whole time, one of our four children was crying/unhappy. It's easy to laugh about it now, as we were all just one giant hot mess! Callista did get a picture of our little "Poohs" together, and Tigger and Minnie before her camera died. I stole these from her. (Thanks Callista, love ya!!) Oh, and Miles and Lucy having the same costume was a complete coincidence!

This was as good as it got with Bella and Eli, lol!

A "daddyism"

Nader was left alone with the boys while I ran some errands. Now Miles is a fussy baby, and he tends to be extra fussy when he's alone with Daddy. Today was no exception. The key to getting Miles to go to sleep, whether it be for a nap or for bedtime, is to swaddle him, and swaddle him tight! Let's just say daddy tried:

Nader's version on how to swaddle

How a swaddled Miles looks when
mommy does it!

Much better! No body parts sticking out!

Now as if that wasn't enough of a "daddyism" right there, Nader pulled another one last night. I was out with a girlfriend and Nader put the boys to bed. I usually put pjs out for the boys, but forgot to last night. When Eli woke up, I was in histerics. He was wearing his dirty tee shirt from the day before, and Miles sweat pants, which clearly didn't fit Eli even as shorts. Nader's response? "I thought they were a little tight!" Gotta love it!

*Disclaimer: There is nothing bad about a daddyism, as I am happy my husband even does these things! I just find them rather cute/funny!

Tub time!

Miles LOVES taking a bath! He giggles, and kicks and splashes the whole time! Looks like he's going to be a water baby like his brother!

All clean!

My Boys!

The three boys were so sweet this morning, it just had to be captured on camera!!

Notice the scratches on Eli's nose and cheek area. Those were from diving off the couch and the nose pieces of his glasses sliding down his face. Good times! Between Miles being sick, and Eli being...well, Eli, I've had to reschedule pictures 4 times now!

I need a wife...

and I'm not joking! I have an amazing husband who is very helpful around the house, and he's a great daddy too...but I still need a wife, or at least someone to hold Miles throughout the day, lol! We're on week 6 of being sick, and this makes Miles more clingy than ever. Pertussis is such a horrible illness, because even after you're not contagious, the symptoms can go on for months! Miles and I both sound less than wonderful, and I have not had more than 2 hours of sleep at a time since the beginning! (Thank goodness Nader and Eli have been spared, but they both had a cold during this maddening sick time in the Salem household.

I have a lot of catching up to do, as Eli just celebrated his 2nd birthday, and Miles just turned 4 months...I just have to find the time to do it. (Read: both children asleep or not needing my attention!)

And a little clarification on this whole "need a wife" thing. "I" need a wife. This would be for my use only, as we're not going all "Big Love" in this house. I could just say I need an extra pair of hands, but any hands won't do. A wife knows what to do with her hands, and better yet, a wife with experience as a mother would be ideal. Maybe when I have a hands free minute, I'll quickly update here, and then scour Craig's list! ;) Until those few minutes arrive, (or a wife magically appears) stay tuned!!

So as it may seem that I've fallen off the face of the blogging earth...I'm still here! Just prepare yourself for a major blog rush in the next couple days!

This makes me smile :)

Took a quick video of Eli loving on his brother. He HAS to sit with his arm around Miles...and now he does the same with me for that matter. It's actually pretty cute. Anyway, ignore my hoarse voice and horrid cough...I'm still getting over being sick, as is Miles. Watch the whole thing...the ending just melts my heart!

Fun at the Farm

On this crisp fall day, we headed out to Mapleside Farm with Grammy. We were bummed my antibiotics hadn't kicked in, and Miles was still feeling under the weather yesterday, so we missed out on the Rockin' R Ranch with the Puch's! We'll venture out there next weekend though! Eli had a blast at Mapleside, and would have stayed in the treehouse and played on the slide all day if we'd let him! There are lots of pics, so beware!

This slide was very fast! Eli flew off at the end of it, lol!

Under the treehouse

Climbing back out of the tunnel

Checking out the giant tires

Grammy taught him to stuff himself in there...

It took him a minute to get out!

Miles...enjoying nap time in the crisp fall air!

Taking a break after a fall...nothing beats fresh kettle corn and apple cider!

Now, here is a picture of Eli on the way back to Grammy's. First, notice the red area on his chin. That was from falling at the treehouse at Mapleside. We then went to Red Wagon to get some end of the season goodies for Ghea. No injuries occurred there. Grammy needed to go to Marc's, so we tagged along. While shopping, Eli wanted to hold a car that Grammy was going to buy him. Harmless right? Not so much. Apparently Eli had the packaging of the car in his mouth, and I don't know how it happened but it made his lip bleed, lol. Grammy must have took off to fast in the cart! ;) That made for a fun tantrum! At least I had Miles and I could walk away from it, lol! That's where the dried tear just below Eli's left eye comes into play, as well as the matted eyelashes. Then there's the drool and the crooked glasses, and all we can blame that on is sheer exhaustion from spending the day with Grammy! (He tripped on the stairs at Grammy's house too! The boy was a hot mess, but still in a great mood!)

Eli and his battle wounds

You can almost read his thoughts...

Miles was looking extra cute after his bath tonight, so I wanted to take a few shots of him in his Cookie Monster towel! By the time I got the camera (2.2 seconds later) Eli was already nearing Miles to snuggle up to him! As you can tell by the look on Miles' face, he was preparing to brace himself, lol!

Eli loves his brother to pieces! Miles on the other hand looks terrified!

(He loves his big brother too...Eli can just be a bit over powering at times!)

Happy Birthday Grammy!!

We went over to Grammy's to celebrate her birthday! Eli of course had to spend lots of time rolling around in the dirt and playing with his best buddy Augi!

The showdown!

Having a blast running with Augi....

(That is until Eli found the ONLY pile of dog doo doo and fell in it! Yuck!)


Since Grammy gave me tea lites as my candles, and Matt got used candles, it was time for payback! A candle for every year she has been alive...and one to grow on! Eli was there to help put out all that fire! We also had to disable the smoke alarms before the singing began, lol!


Notice all the smoke! I was kind enough to put a couple trick candles in there...and they worked REALLY well!

Grammy and Miles

Happy Birthday Grammy!! You are the most amazing mother, grammy, "Demi Moore," daughter, sister, and of course my best friend! We all love you...even though you're wearing a highway 420 shirt!

Eli's new glasses!

Eli got his new glasses today! Nader was out of town, so I was on my own trying to get Eli to wear them. I decided since it was Grammy's actual birthday, we'd go visit her! After many attempts, and all sorts of bribery, this was the result:

Then, Grammy was drinking her coffee. Eli wanted it soooo bad, and just said "coffee, coffee" over and over again. Yes, my not even 2 year old had a little coffee! (ducks and hides) Hey, it was a couple sips, and totally watered down, lol! But look...it got his glasses on!!!!!!!

Who knew? The trick to getting him to keep his glasses on was a couple sips of his beloved coffee! He's been great with them ever since!!

Doesn't my little man look adorable in his new specs? He can see now! It breaks my heart knowing that he couldn't see well before. He notices so much detail now! I'm just so glad Nader and I were persistent and didn't listen to the first two doctors that told us nothing was wrong!

*DISCLAIMER: Eli constantly asks for coffee now, so instead, he gets a little chocolate milk warmed up. So when we're at the next family gathering and Eli comes up to any one of you with that ever convincing adorable face and says, "coffee, coffee?" don't fall for it!!

Birthday party fun!

Today we went to the park to celebrate our friend Parker's 5th birthday! It ended up being a perfect day, and Eli has a blast running around, looking at all the Star Wars themed items, and of course eating cake!

Weeeeeee!

Mr. Serious

The birthday boy...trying to lick R2D2's head!

Happy Birthday Parker!!

Miles, Daddy, and Darth Vader

Mommy, Eli and Darth

Miles Alexander, 3 months!

Where has the time gone? My baby is already 3 months old!! Eeeek! We love you Miles Alexander! You are such a joy in our lives, and for such a little man, you already have a BIG personality!!

A brother's bond...

Melts a mother's heart! Fresh out of the tub and in their jammies, Eli needed to hold his brother while watching his favorite show, "The Backyardigans." Miles didn't seem to mind!

*tear*

Eli is such a great big brother!!