Sunday, September 26, 2010

a conversation while swimming

friday, while floating in our new innertube, i sigh and say: "i could stay right here for a week!"

toby replies: "you can't do that!" me: "why not?" toby: "you have lots of important things to do."

me: "oh yeah? like what?" toby: "well, you have to eat breakfast, and eat lunch, and dinner,

and you have to do lots and lots of laundry. and you have to take care of miller."


5 things i glean from this exchange:



1- he knows i'm important to our family

2- he thinks meals are very important. we knew this, as he eats literally all the time

3- he understands that i do a lot of laundry. he often says how boring it is to sort his little basket of laundry, therefore, "gets" that i do boring things for our family well-being

4- he loves his baby brother enough to want me around to take good care of him

5- he recognizes that miller needs me (and hopefully, he does too!)

Friday, September 24, 2010

matthew was there too.....

sunday was an interesting day. we all woke up very late, after such
a fun night at the wedding. specifically, we woke up at 745,
our normal time would be 7. i headed downstairs and matthew
brought miller down to me for his breakfast feeding.
as we sat together on the sofa, i said to matthew (at now, 755)
"let's go to the 830 service at church."
he said, "what?! really? we'd have to leave in like 10 minutes."
to which i replied, "yeah....well....we like to leave 20-30 minutes before
it starts, but we could make it if we leave by 815. i think we can do it.
you go jump in the shower, and i'll get the boys and myself done.
we can try, and if we don't make it, we just wait to go later."
(a big bonus of a multi-service church. and mind you,
i would never have suggested this if i hadn't had my
shower right before the wedding the night before!)
well, we pulled out of the garage at 813! as we drove,
toby pipes up and says, "mommy, i didn't eat breakfast."
snap! i easily skip breakfast all the time, not so easy for the littles.
i had finished miller, but didn't grab anything for toby.
matthew says "the commons?" (our on site coffee shop/cafe at evbc)
i say, "that'd be really yummy, but takes too long on sunday morning.
there's a mickey d's on ray at az ave, we'll run through there."
"ok, hope we still make it."
pull out of mcdonald's at 825. up az ave, turn on elliot, pull into
the parking lot at 830 on the nose! we made it, kind of- just have
to drop off the boys and get to the community center.
matthew takes tobes, i take mills, we meet outside, and only missed
1 song. what an exciting 45 minutes!! of course, the service was great,
and we headed home for a much more laid back sunday.
the morning finished, and lunchtime came and went. the house was
very quiet most of the day. then late sunday afternoon,
we wanted to get out of the house.
my parents? church. jim and sandi? not home.
so we decided to hit our old favorite place from just a short couple
years back, the train park, up in scottsdale. from the age of 2-5
with toby, we were here a lot. the last couple years has been a random
summer visit or christmas. it was a dreamy afternoon and
evening- although a little toasty still.
picnic, train ride, carousel, train again, ice cream, home.
time for baths and bed, and kisses on the head.
nigh-nigh...

Lisa and Mark's wedding

we had a great time celebrating a special day with a wonderful friend.
we know this union is truly blessed!
toby took this great picture

my sweet boys



dancing with "medium"



family pic

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

girls weekend in oc!! with bob!!!

a long drive, followed by a not-so-long rehearsal in this gorgeous facility

post concert gathering...

just a day at the beach- newport, to be exact
amazing time away with incredible friends!!!

Monday, September 20, 2010

miller's birthday party!!

we started his special day in the best way, free doughnuts!

the usual suspects.....we had to wait for jim and sandi coming straight from the airport-thanks for making it after a long flight, sandi!


cake!

fun new toys, clothes, and big boy food!

deja vu- episode 1

same shirt, similar face, etc.....


Friday, September 17, 2010

2 very cute things. or, my neck smells very good.

two very cute and sweet things miller does.
there's a point while eating, when he feels "done" with the high chair.
we, however, feel he needs to eat a little more,
and don't take him out right away. so, he campaigns a bit harder.
he holds his arms straight out in front of himself, and quietly groans.
uuhhh, uuhhh, uuhhh. uuhhh uuhhh uuhhh.
matthew very cleverly noticed that when he does this,
miller resembles a mini-frankenstein! add in the natural
larger-than-their-body-headedness that babies have going on and
it's even funnier. i roared with laughter as miller kept doing it,
and we all realized he has nailed this first theatrical role!
last week, i found a baby shirt just miller's size with a tiny frankenstein
on it that says "daddy's little monster"-perfection!
the other thing is, miller really loves his mommy, and my neck.
when i pick him up, especially after sleeping, he loves to nuzzle deeply
into my neck- breathing through the small spaces where his nose and mouth can
squeeze air in while he is buried into my skin. with one arm wound
tightly around the front of my neck in a snuggly hug.
more perfect, pure love could not be shown in any better way.
my little sweetheart.

Monday, September 13, 2010

my mother-in-law sandi

it was her birthday on saturday. i couldn't post my birthday wishes for her, because i didn't have the computer with the pictures. i was lamenting that i didn't think to write the post before i left and save it as draft for posting on the day. alas, here it is now:
sandi is a lovely, generous, and Godly woman.
i am blessed beyond measure to have her in my life,
and even more blessed that my boys get to call her grandma.
she has a most tender and loving heart, and loves
to serve the ones she loves. she's very fun to lunch
and shop with, but will show no mercy when it
comes to her card playing skills!!
happy birthday, sandi!

Thursday, September 9, 2010

miller is 1!!!!!!!

last september 9th, we met our little treasure, miller dylan coates.
here are some pics from that day.......

peaceful



tiny

perfect

loved

since then, we have gotten to know him so well. he is genuinely happy and joyful.
he is a little needy- he likes to be held. a lot. he crawls very fast, and likes to stand up now.
he likes to climb the stairs, and thinks toby is hilarious.
he is a distracted nurser, but can polish off a whole banana likity split.
he stands and yells out to the backyard through the glass door,
and wil chase a ball endlessly til he catches it.
he sits up and does this funny little spinning thing, around and around.
he is an amazing blessing to our lives.

adoration
happy
sweet

beautiful

fun!

Monday, September 6, 2010

pirates and flashbacks

on saturday night, matthew and i went to see a show. not just any show, pirates of penzance. not just any cast, but several former college friends. not just any theater, but the theater at grand canyon university, where we met! it was an amazing show. we knew it would be. we knew our friends scott and michael would be great- and great together. it made me happy to see them share a stage together again after 12 years. we also got to see several other friends that came to see them as well. matthew and i felt a strange sense of deja vu sitting in that theater. we thought we were gonna be getting notes. or have to strike the stage after the show. here's us with our friends..... welcome back, arts program and ethington theater. it's been a long 6 years!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

my friend anne

it's her birthday today! she's one of my very favorite people.
she's really nice to me, and is just generally really cool.
a great mom, wife, singer, and friend. plus, she throws down
some mean old school hip hop to the car radio.
happy birthday, anne!