Saturday, November 26, 2011

Cloth Diapers

Hey everyone, as you may know I am using cloth diapers with Miles (Aaron says he is just along for the ride). Many of you have asked me how it is going. Well my friend Lori has a blog WOM-MOM and she asked me to do a guest post on my cloth diaper experience. Check it out, Part 1 and Part 2.
Miles in his BumGenius cloth diaper.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Halloween...a little late

Well, I know it's a little late to post about Halloween, but since I didn't start the blog until after Halloween, I wanted to do a little catch up. And if any of you know Miles' Mom (me) very well, you know that I LOVE Halloween and Miles will be dressing up until he is old enough to resist. Which if he is anything like me will never happen.

So I usually have a party at our house every year. But this year we had visitors the week before Halloween and with the new baby, we thought it would be easier on us and pretty cool to share the fun if we asked a friend to host the party this year. Our friends Justine and Andrew hosted the party this year in their new townhouse. Which was AWESOME. They were great party hosts and they let me take over their place with all my crazy Halloween decorations.
The family all dressed up at the Halloween party

So we brought Miles to the party. I was the Wicked Witch of the West and Miles was my flying Monkey. I wrapped Aaron's face in gauze and he was the Invisible Man. It came out quite well IMO. Well, Miles was pretty uncomfortable in his costume so he didn't stay in it long. I think he was starting to get sick too, so that was probably the cause of his fussyness that night.
Greeting Trick-or-Treaters on Halloween


Well, Halloween was actually on a Monday this year and we had plans to go to a Willy Wonka themed kid party at the Lutheran Church with our buddy Mur-Man and his mom. But Miles and I weren't feeling well, our cold was really hitting us that day. So we just stayed in and handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. But, Mur-Man did come by and showed off his Monkey suit costume too.
Monkey Mur-Man and Miles

For the baby's first Halloween I was disappointed that I didn't get any great pictures of Miles in his costume the night of the party. I think it was mostly because of his mood. So I dressed him back up in his costume last week and took some good pictures.
Miles the flying monkey


Here is my confession. I don't prefer to buy costumes. I really get into Halloween and I love making my costumes. Well, this year I ended up buying my and Miles' costume. This is something I am not really proud of, but it was the easiest option for us this year. In the future, I plan to make our costumes. I love thinking back to when I was a kid and my Mom made all my Halloween costumes. I would love for Miles to have those same memories. Hope everyone had a fun Halloween.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Family's got the Funk

Well, this week we've got the funk! And not the good kind where we are jammin' with George Clinton. I mean the snotty nose, cough, congestion, sore throat type funk. It started with Aaron a few weeks ago. And as everyone with a family knows, it is only a matter of time until everyone gets sick. I started with a sore throat on Halloween. I knew I was in for it. I tried my best to keep it from Miles and was hoping that my breast milk would give him some antibodies to help fight of the cold. But alas the little guy got sick. It is tough seeing him coughing, I know it is uncomfortable for him. I could also hear the congestion in his chest when he breathed. So, I took Miles to the walk in clinic on Monday (we saw Dr. Muhs who delivered Miles) and they said to just wait it out and that I could give him some infant Tylenol to make him comfortable. They took an x-ray of his chest just to make sure he didn't have fluid in his lungs. That was ok, and they sent us on our way.
I love my Dad, but I hate it when he gets us sick.

Have you ever seen how they take a chest x-ray of an infant? It is a bit barbaric looking, but it doesn't hurt them. I found out it is called a "Pigg-o-stat". They sit the baby on this little seat that looks like a bicycle seat then enclose the baby in this clear plastic tube thing with his arms stretched above his head. They can then turn the baby on a swivel to get the angle they need for the x-ray. Miles was ok at first, then he started to wail, as any baby does when put in an uncomfortable and weird position. But we got trough it. I stayed with him and wore a led apron while they took the x-rays to try and comfort him.
Not Miles in this picture, but this is the devise they put him to take his chest x-ray

Aaron is over the sickness, but Miles and I are still working through it. The worst is over and now we are pretty much just dealing with the mucus breaking up and a lingering cough. We are hoping to feel closer to 100% by the weekend because Grandma and Grandpa Kross are coming for Thanksgiving!!! Grandpa Kross will be meeting Miles for the first time and we can't wait.
I gotta stay warm in my car seat when I'm sick so things don't get worse.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Christmas Gift Ideas

Can't wait for Santa!

Well, we are already getting requests for suggestions for Christmas gifts for Smiles. We don't really need much, but we know that there are lots of people out there who love us and want to give something to our little guy. One suggestion I would like to make is something from Tiny Tillia (http://www.tinytillia.com) by Avon. I created a registry on the site for some things that I thought were cute.
It's getting cold outside, I love my doggy hat!

Now, some explanation. A friend of mine, Melisa Bernard, recently became an Avon representative. She is a good friend who recently moved away from Jamestown and I miss her dearly. Melisa's husband has been battling colon cancer for several years now and he recently lost his job. Melisa started selling Avon to supplement their income and help with his chemo treatments. So I'd like to help her out and support her new business. So please if you are considering getting a gift for Smiles check out my Tiny Tillia registry. Also if want to buy some Avon stuff, go to Melisa's page and make her your Avon Rep.
Thanks so much.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Visitors

Well, there is nothing like having a baby to bring the visitors to town. In the past 3 months we have had lots of people come to town to meet Miles. First there was Grandma Kross (my mom). She arrived the day Miles was born. She was such a big help with taking care of the dogs, and helping with house work while all my attention was on baby. Next Grammie Julie came to visit 2 weeks after Miles arrived. She also helped with house work and watching baby at times when we needed her. These early visits were great, I just hope the Grandmothers didn't get too board. We really didn't do much besides sit around and try and keep Miles content and happy.
Grandma Kross with Miles, only a few hours old
Grammie Julie with Miles, about 2 weeks old

Next to visit was Grandpa Sam and Nanna Linda. They came baring gifts. One of which was a pedal push ATV type toy that Miles will eventually grow into.
Grandpa Sam and Miles, 5 weeks old

Nanna Linda and Miles, 5 weeks old

Some friends of mine from Florida sent us some cool Gator gear for Miles to wear on game day. Shortly after this visit Nanna Linda sent Miles some Husker gear. No one seems to want Miles to be a Gator fan.

Most recently (last week in October) Grandpa Sam came back to J-town for the annual duck hunting extravaganza. And he brought with him Uncle Luke and beautiful Aunt Brandi (Auntie B). They needed a crash course in parenting because they are expecting Miles' cousin in January. Well they got it, thanks Miles for breaking them in. Auntie B changed her first diaper and got really good at putting Miles to sleep.
Auntie B and Uncle Luke breaking out all the toys to play

Our photo shoot on the deck. The puppy dog hat is a gift from Auntie B and Uncle Luke.

We are excited to have more visitors over Thanksgiving. Grandma Kross is coming back to see how much Miles has grown. AND!! Grandpa Kross is coming to see Miles for the first time! We can't wait for him to meet his second grandson.

We love our visitors and welcome all our friends and family to come up and stay a while in ND. Choose your time of year wisely though. Grandma and Grandpa Kross from Florida may get a treat and see some snow when they get here. Whether they will be happy about that or not remains to be seen.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Why I'm here

Well, I decided to start a blog to keep everyone up to date on the newest addition to my life. My little guy Miles. I thought this would be an excellent way to chronicle his escapades and mark his milestones as he grows up. Plus, since we have lots of friends and family spread all over the country, I thought this would be a fun way to stay in touch with them.

So here it is, keeping track as we travel Miles Ahead in our lives.