A couple of things

First of all, here's an important message for Hannah:



Cousin Hannah had tubes put in her ears today. Rumor has it she handled it all like a big girl - we're not surprised! We love you, Hannah. And we hope your ears feel better now.

Another item for the Otown news report - we kicked off the basement project today! Well actually, the guys finishing the basement kicked it off....we just took pictures and admired all of their hard work.

Here's the "before" shot:

And here is a "day 1" shot:


The two windows in the back (right side) each represent a room. A bathroom is going in across the hall. The closest (front right) slabs of wood represent where 2 sets of french doors will open into a large closet in the living room. We're going from a ton of storage space (i.e. the entire basement) to basically this closet and a little space under the stairs. We'll just deal with it when it comes time to move everything back down there...

In the mean time, yahoo!! Soon we'll have a BYOB party. Bring your own beer, bed, and/or baby to the basement. Or any combination.

A major MILEStone

He did it!! He REALLY did it!! Miles made a potty in the boy boy potty!! (In adult language - Miles peed in the toilet today!!)

Needless to say, we are very proud of Miles! He's pretty proud of himself too, as you can see in the photo. Until today, he has shown absolutely no interest in using the toilet. And that's okay - even though it would be super duper awesome to be done with diapers, we are fine with waiting until he's ready. We're cautiously optimistic that today was a sign that he's closer to being ready than he was yesterday...and that maybe tomorrow he'll be a little more ready...


Of course his teachers at daycare totally glorify the whole potty thing. After a "friend" (in adult language - "toddler") successfully goes to the bathroom in the toilet, the entire class sings a potty cheer. And the potty-going child gets a totally rad stamp anywhere he/she would like the stamp. We've seen stamps on foreheads, bellies, and thighs (among other places). Miles took a more conservative approach to the reward and asked to have it on his arm. If you look really really close, you can kind of see it.


Unfortunately the stamp washed off in the bathtub tonight, but Miles knows that if he goes potty in the boy boy potty again tomorrow....he can get another one! Stay tuned.

~ Happy Valentine's Day ~

Our V-day is off to a great start. We hope yours is, too!

After sleeping late (and by late I mean LATE!), we enjoyed a gourmet breakfast of heart-shaped toast with PB&J. Miles highly recommends it...actually, he recommends eating multiple heart-shaped toasts. With a side of strawberry yogurt, of course.

Now it's time to get our big red hearts beating by cleaning the house. Thanks Hannah for providing us with the tunes to rock out while we're sweeping and dusting!

He's Baaaaack!

Miles spent the weekend in St. Peter with his daddy, Grandpa Dave, Grandma Doreen, Uncle We-ill, and Anne (uncle We-ill's lady friend Anne, not Miles' mama Anne).

What did I do without the boys? So many things that I can't remember the details! It was a bit lonely at times, but the weekend went by quickly. I do remember cleaning out my closet. And I also remember spending a full day shopping in Rochester with two good friends. These two good friends happen to have a great sense for fashion...so I'm pretty sure I came home with less money in the bank account. But I don't really remember.

Time to go catch up on some playing - the matchbox cars started collecting dust this weekend.