Christmas 2007 - Part III

Lunch on Christmas Day was at my Uncle Johnnie and Aunt Connie's House. The highlight of the event... Bobby was home from Germany! He's in the Air Force and he is currently stationed at Ramstein AFB in Germany. He wasn't able to come home for Thanksgiving so we were all very excited to be able to spend Christmas with him.

Bobby, Uncle Mike, Aunt Karen and Brett

Brett, Me, & Bobby

The whole "Smoot" clan. Joel, Erin, Brandon, Chandler, Me, Riley, Grammy, & Squire

Grandmama really racks up at Christmas. All of her kids and grandkids buy for her. This was my cousin Lisa's gift to her. It's a frame with all 3 of Lisa's kid's Christmas pictures.

Lisa's daughter, Katy, and Chandler swapped names this year. Katy bought Chandler a Cinderella Princess doll. Chandler LOVED it and felt that Katy deserved a hug!

Katy doesn't do hugs!

Chandler bought Katy Moon Sand

Riley and Dad opening a gift

Giant Elmo! Riley loves it! Zachary, the youngest of Lisa's kids, got Riley a pair of Mickey mouse PJs. They have her name embroidered on them. They are SO cute! Grandmama bought Riley a cute 1-piece outfit that has a fairy princess teddy bear on the front.

Brett drew my name. I got nylon spatulas... just what I asked for! I also got a snowman coffee mug, some Bath & Body works lotion, and....

A CACTUS!
We draw names at Thanksgiving. Brett and I were discussing what we would be putting on our lists this year. I mentioned that I would like to have more greenery in my home, but something I can't kill. Somehow a cactus was suggested... I can't remember if I said it or Brett did, but I decided a cactus would be great. SO... after Brett drew my name he bought me a cactus and I LOVE IT! Aunt Karen tells me that Uncle Mike actually picked out this particular cactus, but the idea was Brett's. Great job Brett! I was completely surprised.... Great job Uncle Mike! I love that it has flowers on it!!!

I can't ever get enough of Aunt Karen's Cheesy Potatoes!!! Hot, Cold, Fresh, Leftover... It doesn't matter. I just LOVE them!!

Riley loves Dirt Cake!

I'm glad she likes it... especially since I made it!

Chandler giving us a concert on her violin.

This year there was a ping-pong game after lunch.

Brandon and Joel vs...

Uncle Mike and Bobby! I don't know who won, but based on the photo, my money is on Bobby and Uncle Mike!!


Meanwhile... Inside, Riley and Zachary were keeping us all entertained!

A box is all you need to keep a 9 month old and 13 month old happy!

A few days after Christmas we left Riley and Zachary with Grandmama and we headed out to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. It was really cute. Chandler loved it and can't wait to see it again! I think I'm going to have to explain the waiting period between movie releases and DVD releases.

When we got back from the movie Zachary and Brandon spent some time bonding! I think Brandon reminded him of his dad, Tony. They both keep their hair buzzed off and someone already asked that day if Brandon and Tony were brothers.

The next day we loaded everything back into the explorer and headed back to Cleveland...
I still have to unpack!

Christmas 2007 - Part II

Well, Part II of the Miles Family Christmas begins in Stockbridge, GA. We have been having our family Christmas at my Grandmother's house since my parents, Erin and I moved to Florida in 1992. 1992 is also the year that my Grandfather passed away so I'm glad we started spending Christmas with her that year... I would have hated to think that she would have been all alone on Christmas morning! I love being able to spend Christmas with my Grandmama! We are the only grandkids (and great grandkids) that get to spend the morning with her. The whole family gets together later in the day, but we get her all to ourselves on Christmas morning. She is my last living grandparent, so getting to spend Christmas with her this year seemed a little extra special.

My dad (Squire) reading the Christmas story (on Christmas eve) from Chandler's super cool 1st Christmas pop-up book. Before Chandler was born, every Christmas eve, as long as I can remember, my dad has read the Christmas story (from the Bible, not a pop-up book!). After Chandler was born it was a little more difficult. Since Chandler knows the whole story now, and LOVES to tell the story, I thought this would be a good year to start back with our family tradition.

Christmas morning. Aunt Erin and a sleepy faced Riley.

Chocolate candy in Riley's stocking!

A puzzle from Grammy and Squire.

Grammy gets a Pyrex 9x13 dish with a carrier from Erin and Joel. She has needed one of these since BEFORE they were making them. I remember MANY church functions when we would search the house for a cardboard box to carry her pipping hot broccoli casserole!! Great gift Erin! Wish I had thought of it!! :)

A rain coat from Grammy and Squire. She was SO excited about this gift. After she got it on she said, "Hey! What about the boots??" Sorry Chan! Maybe next year!

Riley "eating" a present

Big sis stepped in to help. Riley was a Christmas rookie. Chandler is a pro.

"Grammy! You shouldn't have!"

Cinderella Legos!
Chandler claimed those pretty quick... she was bathing with them by that evening! Riley didn't mind sharing.

Play-doh from Erin and Joel

Chandler got a violin from Grammy and Squire. Here is Riley checking it out. It was the "hot" gift this year. I think everyone took a turn trying it out!

Here's one of my gifts. I was SO excited about it. I had talked to my mom about getting one, but I had pretty much forgotten about it. A Canon Pixma MP470 Special Edition All-in-One Photo Printer! I LOVE IT! Thanks mom and dad!!! (You may also notice, in the background to the left, the world's largest scrapbook supply gift... that was a pretty big shocker too!)

I couldn't wait to test it out. We pulled out some of Grandmama's old photos, scanned them in, and printed them out. It works great! Now I just have to find a place to put it!! :)

Here's Brandon's favorite gift. A mattock. It will be great in the yard and the garden this spring!!
Brandon observed that it could double as a weapon. My dad added that he was pretty sure you could drive the pick end all the way through a man's skull. I assured him that that made me feel MUCH better about Brandon using it! :)

After playing with all of our Christmas presents we loaded up into the car ONCE AGAIN, to head over to my Uncle Johnnie's house for lunch and MORE presents!

Christmas 2007 - Part I

Well the Miles family started celebrating Christmas on the 22nd this year. We packed up (I wish we had a picture of our explorer... it would have made you laugh! We were packed to the gills (as my dad would say) and even had the roof top carrier full of stuff) Saturday morning and hit the road with 1,000,000 of our closest friends. The traffic was ridiculous!!! Our normal 3.5 hour trip to Warner Robins took almost 5 hours!

We arrived in Warner Robins and Chandler immediately started asking, "can we open presents now??" After a quick sandwich, some fellowship, and a whiffle ball game Gran decided that Chandler had suffered enough and it was time to open presents!

Riley and Cousin Colten getting reacquainted after a little over a month.

Chandler's "Disney Princess" Christmas... there was much more than what you see here.



The music box was from Amanda. Chandler LOVES music boxes and always asks to play with Amanda's any time we are visiting... Great gift Amanda!!!

We gave Gran 5x7 photos of the girls that I had made the week before. They turned out GREAT!


Riley "opening" her presents. Notice she's not using her right arm. Anyone who knows much about Riley knows that she grabs EVERYTHING. Not so on Christmas....
She was extremely fussy ALL DAY! We fed her, changed her, put her down for a nap. Nothing helped. Finally about 9:00 that night Brandon said that he was pretty sure something was wrong with her arm. We would hold a toy near her right hand and she would reach across with her left hand to grab it. At 9:30 Gran told us about an Emergency Walk-In clinic that a man from their church owns. It was open until 10:00 so we bundled up Riley and hit the road.

She was diagnosed with "nursemaid's elbow". Basically at some point in the day someone must have pulled on her right arm and the elbow popped out of the socket... that would explain all of the fussiness and crying.

The doctor stretched our her arm, dug his thumb into the bend of her arm, and then bent it up quickly... we all heard the pop and the doctor said that was exactly what he was hoping to hear. Two minutes later Riley was happy as could be waving Brandon's keys all over the office with her right arm. It was AMAZING!

Cousin Colten

Sunday afternoon: Riley and Colten playing together with Riley's "pop-up" toy.

Sunday afternoon, taking it easy

On Sunday, Gran took Chandler to the park. They had a great time climbing, swinging and sliding. Even the cool weather cooperated!

Monday evening we loaded everything into the car (why does it always seem like you leave with more than you arrived with!?!?). Chandler was excited to get in the car and watch a movie... Thanks to Gran and Chief the girls each have their own DVD screen. That means Riley can actually watch the movie without having to strain to see what's playing in Chandler's lap!
Riley giggled and laughed all the way to Stockbridge, GA... the next stop on our Christmas Vacation!

A new month, a new update

9 months! I can't believe it has been 9 months.....
Part of me thinks, "Wow! Riley is already 9 months old!" the other part thinks, "Wow! Has she really only been a member of our family for 9 months?"

She had her 9 month check up yesterday. You may remember how the last doctor's visit went... ear infections and Chandler's surprise flu shot. NOT FUN! Yesterday wasn't as bad.
Riley is now 17lbs. 9oz. and 28" long. That makes her 30th percentile for weight and 70th for height.
Chandler was concerned about the potential for shots (not for herself... surprisingly, but for Riley). Riley did have her 3rd Hepatitis B shot and had to get a finger stick to check her hemoglobin levels. I HATE the finger stick. I remember when Chandler had that done. It is a terrible visit, 2nd only to the "4 shot" visit. They have to squeeze the blood out of that tiny little finger... enough blood to fill a little tube. It seems to take FOREVER!

This month has been FULL! If you have been keeping up with our blog you already know how busy we've been, but I'm sure there are some of you who haven't so here's the recap:
Cousin Colten's 1st birthday party, Thanksgiving with Gran and Chief (Brandon's parents), Brandon's 28th birthday (and the stomach flu!), Thanksgiving with Grammy and Squire (My parents), and the launch of my new business; Bows by the Miles - Custom Hair Bow Design.

We are looking forward to Christmas and getting to spend a few days with family before the end of 2007!

The 9 Month Photos!!

Same bear, same chair

The sideways mouth. She loves to make this face! We've got a picture like this from almost every month!

The sister shot.

Last Sunday we went to watch the kid's Christmas musical at the church. Chandler and I sat on the very front row... I've always made her sit in the back and she asked to sit up front this year. Before it all started I tried to get a few pictures. There was just too much going on!

Riley LOVED the poinsettias

Chandler's attempt at a "sweet smile"

Riley distracted by some thing more interesting than mom

Riley's tired face

Of course Chandler managed a great smile for her picture with JoJo! Maybe he can be in our next family photo? We get better results when he's around.