So here are some things that have been going on in our lives the past few months.
In March for Will's spring break, we took a trip with my mom to San Clemente, CA. It's in southern Orange County. We had a great time and we had our first family trip to Disneyland! Unfortunately it was insanely crowded. That just means we'll have to go back when it isn't as bad.
 |
| San Clemente March11 |
In June, Will graduated from Pre-K at Grace Adventures Preschool.
 |
| Will's Pre-K Graduation |
Also in June, Miles moved out of his crib and into a big boy bed. I hadn't painted any since we moved into our house, so I figured him switching from baby to big kid furniture was as good a time as any. His room at our old house was painted with stripes which was a complete PITA but looked awesome. I somehow convinced myself stripes would be a good idea again. Ugh. It looks fantastic, but I was kicking myself as I was up at midnight one night still taping off the damn stripes. He loves his room, though, and that's all that matters.
 |
| Miles' Big Boy Bed |
Later in June we headed to California again, this time to San Francisco and Cayucos. John was competing in the Alcatraz Shark Swim, where participants swim from Alcatraz across the San Francisco Bay to the city. He did amazing, I was so proud of him! His brother and our niece and two nephews were there to cheer with us for him at the finish line too! After a few days in San Fran (we cut our stay there short by a day) we headed south to the gorgeous Central Coast town of Cayucos. We'd been there when I was pregnant with Miles and really enjoyed it. This time John's whole family was going to be there with us, too. The boys had a blast with their cousins and grandparents. John and I even got to sneak away to go winetasting in nearby Paso Robles one afternoon! Ah the benefits of vacationing with family! We had a great time and may just make it an annual tradition.
 |
| SF and Cayucos |
In July my cousin Kim and her husband Chris came to visit with their new baby girl Harper. She was born in May and the first girl baby in our family! Well, first girl since my cousin was born in 1980. ;) Will was pretty upset when Harper was born and he found out he had a girl cousin, but as soon as he met her he was so excited. He loved getting to hold her and got a little upset when anyone else wanted to. She's such a sweet baby--we're all excited for when they're back at Christmas!
 |
| Baby Harper comes to visit! |
One morning over the summer I arrived home from running with my best friend to be greeted at the front door by Miles, with his face covered in brown. First thing out of my mouth was, "Is that chocolate or poop?!" Not an entirely crazy question because he was naked from the waist down. Thankfully (?) it was chocolate. John was still sleeping, and the boys had decided they were hungry for breakfast. They had come downstairs so Will could make them breakfast. What better thing to have than chocolate milk, right? Later that day, it got a little too quiet upstairs while the boys were up there playing, so we went to investigate...and discovered them playing with my makeup in our bathroom. Never a dull moment at our house, I tell you!
 |
| Mischevious Boys |
In August, Will started kindergarten. He was pretty apprehensive because we discovered on "meet the teacher" night that his two best friends were in the other kinder class, and the only kids he knew in his class were a girl from his swim lessons over the summer and a girl from Sunday school. He struggled with getting adjusted the first week (it's all day from 9:00 to 4:00...one day he told me, "Mom, I just don't like things that last from 9:00 to 4:00), but now he's doing really well and really loves school.
 |
| Will's First Day of Kindergarten |
For Labor Day weekend, my mom and I headed to CA again (this was the year of the CA trip) so I could run in the Disneyland Half Marathon with my best friend Jen. John had made plans to go to Dallas for the LSU season opener way before I decided to run this race, so he couldn't be there. Friday morning when we were supposed to be leaving, I woke up with a sore throat. A quick trip to the Walgreens clinic confirmed what I was pretty sure of already--strep throat. We made the trip anyway, with me figuring I would run what I could and walk what I couldn't run for the race. Plus I've had strep throat often enough to know that by Day 3 of the antibiotics I'm usually feeling a lot better. If you want a more detailed rundown of the race, check out my fitness blog post about it. We spent Saturday of the weekend at the beach. Sunday morning was the race, then we had brunch on the Queen Mary (incidentally, that's where John proposed to me) and went to the Long Beach Aquarium. It was a fun weekend and I learned that I love running half marathons. Who'd have ever thought?!
 |
| Labor Day California Trip |
Halloween was kind of a sad event at our house this year because Will was sick. He had pink eye and a fever--both of which ended up lasting a week! He had to stay home while my mom and I took Miles trick-or-treating. My mom and I got candy for Will, but it wasn't the same.
 |
| Halloween 2011 |
And finally, last weekend we celebrated Miles' third birthday! I can't believe my baby is three already. We had a great weekend, and my brother came down to celebrate with us. Miles was so excited for his birthday this year. His party is going to be next weekend. He has three friends who all have birthdays within two weeks of his, so we moms decided to have one big combined birthday party for the four of them instead of forcing all the same people to attend four different parties.
 |
| Miles' 3rd Birthday Weekend |
So, there's a brief photo recap of what we've been up to over the last several months. Now if I can just remember to update here more often, it will be a whole lot easier!
