We were lucky enough to have a couple warm days this week which was great since Miles absolutely loves to be outside. He could spend an entire day just wandering around the yard and exploring nature. I'm gald he got to enjoy a few active days outside because now he has a cold and has been more of a couch potato lately.




A friend recently made a ballpit from a cheap inflatable pool and since I had an inflatable pool collecting dust in my garage I figured it would be an extra cheap project to copy. I bought 100 balls from TRU which seemed like a lot, but was just a drop in the bucket in our pool. Miles really liked it though and it was so sad seeing him in an empty ballpit so yesterday we went and bought more balls. We went to a different TRU that only sold bags of 250 balls and I let Casey convince me that we needed 2 bags. So, 600 balls and $70.00 later we have a ballpit. We probably could have gotten away with only one extra bag of 250, but now we have a full ballpit which I guess is more fun. I swear our pool didn't seem that big, but I guess I should have done more planning. Anyway, it was still cheaper than the ready made ballpits and Miles likes it so thanks for the idea Christina! Public ballpits have got to be the germiest things ever so this homemade ballpit is the only way Miles would have ever experienced the joy of being submerged in little plastic balls. I have a feeling I will be finding balls all over my house from now on. Ha!

Valentine's Day

We opted to celebrate on Sunday since Casey was working on Saturday. We started our morning with homemade strawberry pancakes sprinkled with powdered sugar hearts which were delicious. Miles really loves strawberries so he gobbled his all up. In fact he was chowing down before I could even snap a picture.


We exchanged valentines and Miles accidentally colored on the rug with red crayon while he was "writing" in his card to daddy (a Tigger card he chose himself). Thank goodness for washable crayons! Miles really likes musical cards so we listened to "Let the Good Times Roll" from his musical valentine for most of the morning. Apparently those musical cards have a pretty good battery life.


As a result of a meltdown he had at Walgreens the day before we are the proud owners of a cheesy talking dog that says, "I ruff you, woof woof." Between the singing card and the talking dog, we had quite a noisy morning. That afternoon we dropped Miles off at Nonnie's house while Casey and I had a date. We saw Slumdog Millionaire which was fabulous and enjoyed lunch at our favorite Mexican restaurant. When we got home we spent some quality family time playing together. It's rare that Miles has both mom and dad all to himself. We had dinner with grandma and grandpa where I heard Miles say grandpa for the first time (sounds like "gaw caw"). All in all it was a great day. I've never been that into holidays, but I'm having fun starting some new traditions with Miles. I think the strawberry pancakes are going to be on our v-day list from now on.

Shout Out

I just had to give a shout out to the best laundry soap on the planet, Charlie's Soap. Miles had a bit of tummy trouble this week so we had some extra special diapers to launder. Casey wanted to throw them away, but cloth diapers aren't cheap so I insisted we keep them. I'll admit that I didn't really know what to do with them so I just chucked them in the washer with a hope and a prayer. When the laundry was done I could not tell which were which. All of my diapers were gleaming white and fresh as could be. Here's the kicker, Charlie's Soap is hypoallergenic and environmentally friendly. I don't know how it works, but it does! It seemed kind of expensive at first, but that was before I realized how long a box will last you (only 1 TBSP per load). My mom and I went in together on a 5 gallon bucket because it was cheaper in bulk and I may be deeding my left over laundry detergent in my will because my bucket is never ending. Anyhow, it's such a great product that I thought even those who don't cloth diaper might want to check it out: www.charliesoap.com.

Toddler Treasures

A co-worker of mine suggested getting Miles a backpack in which he can keep all his treasures. I looked at Disney, but their ratio of boy to girl merchandise is way out of whack and I was unsuccessful. Why is it that every store on the earth has maybe 2 small aisles of boy stuff within a sea of pink and lace? That's a topic for another post. Anyhow, my co-worker, Sheila, gave me a little backpack for Miles. What kind of treasures does a toddler keep in his pack you might wonder. Well, wonder no more.

It changes from day to day, but today he is carrying:
A Little People lion, a plastic Pluto, a purple tea cup, a monster head from his bristle block set, and Toodie from Yo Gabba Gabba.



You can never control what your child will become attached to. Miles' baby came second hand and is a leftover from when grandma did home daycare. It has been chewed on by grandma's dog leaving it with no clothes and stuffing that's protruding out of one leg. Yes, we have bought other dolls (manly dolls with yellow clothes), but Miles prefers this one and he has rejected any clothing we try to put on it. This doll accompanied us to Disney. There we were with Miles and the scraggliest, saddest looking doll on the planet. I honestly think it's kind of sweet. Reminds me of the Velveteen Rabbit which is one of my favorite children's books.



Miles delights in being nude. He literally gets giddy and giggly with nude excitement. He loves to run off sans cloths right as you are getting him out of the tub. For a few minutes he is in naked heaven. Eventually I decide that my chances of an undiapered pee are getting too great and I round him up for dressing which he hates. Watching the pure joy he gets from those moments of freedom is my treasure.

The Vacation is Over

We had an absolutely fabulous time in Disney World and I was sad to have to come home. Miles really enjoyed himself and it was nice to have some family time. We had a little rain towards the end of our trip, but what's a trip to Florida without a little rain? We were really lucky because the majority of our week was warm and sunny. In fact we stopped in a gift shop to buy some cooler clothes the same day we got word from home that OKC was experiencing lots of snow and ice. We missed the first real snow of the season in OKC, but we had so much fun soaking up the Florida sun. Miles really enjoyed all the parades and musical shows. He danced to the music and entertained everyone around us. He also had a great time swimming and playing in the fountains. I can already tell that he will be spending a majority of the upcoming summer in the pool. Now it's back to getting caught up on the laundry and house chores, not to mention the work that will be waiting for me Monday morning. We're going to have to start planning our 2010 trip so I can have something to look forward to. I've posted a few of my favorite pics, but of course there are tons more at our photo link to the right.