Picture (Not So) Perfect!

Today Cameron and I went to get professional family pictures done for the first time since Miley has been in our family. I have been wanting to do this for a while now....I just kept putting it off for one reason or another. We figured as long as we were there we might as well get some pictures of Miley, now that she has reached the milestone of standing while holding onto something. We thought it would be no big deal...Miley is usually a ham for the camera. But we were in for a not so pleasant surprise!

Miley HATED it. She (fake) cried pretty much the whole time, and we really only got a couple of usable shots. As for the family pictures....I like the one we got, but they only took about two. I kind of wish they would have taken a FEW more! So here is the rundown of our photo session for you.

*Let me just add...the pictures below are ALL the pictures they gave us. You would think they could have taken just a few more, right??

Not loving the scary fluffy rainbow thing they keep poking at me!!

You guys think I am going to smile?? You've got another thing coming!

Looking slightly concerned....

All I want to do is stand-don't you guys know I am SOO over the sitting thing?? (one of the pictures we ended up getting!!)!

I guess I will give you guys this forced smile for all your effort....(another one of the shots we ended up getting).

I will smile for you....as long as you let me chew on my sunglasses.

Family photo 1 (out of only TWO that they took....this is the one we ended up getting).

Family photo 2

So there you go folks. Our very first attempt of professional family pictures. We may in the future just stick with the Clark Family Photographers (aka Cameron's dad or one of his many brothers) to take our pictures with all of their fancy equipment. Hey...at least Miley wouldn't be scared of them, right?

8 Months Old

So this happens every time Miley gets to be another month older, but 8 months sounds so old! I can't believe how fast the time is going (cliche, I know). There has been some stuff going on this past month, but here is the official rundown of what Miley is now doing.

• Miley has cut her first tooth! She has made it pretty difficult to take a picture, because she doesn't want anyone getting close to her mouth, but we will try to post a picture sometime in the near future This just happened yesterday, February 21, 2009-age 7 months, 4 weeks, and 2 days. Needless to say, she has not exactly been a happy camper the last couple of days.
  
• As you can see from past posts, Miley is now pulling herself up to standing (beginning February 11, 2009-age 7 months, 2 weeks and 6 days) on everything, including stairs, her car seat, and her crib.
• She has now enjoyed the fine food delicacies of rice cereal, oatmeal, bananas, peaches, applesauce, pears, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, and squash in the form of baby food. She has also eaten avocado, real banana, grapes, graham crackers, saltine crackers, and Gerber Puffs. She started out as picky eater, but not anymore! :)
• Her favorite things include bathtime, reading books (or actually, trying to eat the books), and trying to discover new things everywhere she can including on shelves, in closets, and anything on the floor-it is now all fair game. Anything new she finds also immediately finds its way into her mouth. She also loves it when her mom and dad play silly games with her, like chasing each other around the house and jumping out and surprising her.
• Miley has become a lot more fearful of things. She HATES anything loud. The vacuum, any toy that makes any kind of sound, etc. We have also discovered that she seems to be afraid of a lot of things bigger than her, such as a slide and a basketball. :) She also seems to be starting to have a little bit of separation anxiety...she immediately starts fussing or crying if we leave the room and frantically tries to start crawling after us.
  

Miley gets more fun all the time, and Cameron and I love this little girl more and more each day. She is a sweet girl, is full of energy, and has a killer smile and laugh. We love this stage, but can't wait to learn more about her in the future.

Just In Case You're Wondering....

...what that excited, high-pitched squeal actually sounds like (as mentioned in my previous post) here is a video of Miley doing it. Once again, she is super excited because she is standing on her car seat. Crazy girl. :)

Oh, and forgive me for sounding so dorky in the video. I really should learn to just not talk when I am recording something. :)

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Oh, What A Night...

Last night was quite eventful for our little family...well, maybe not super eventful. But kinda. :)

We put Miley down at 7:00 pm (her normal bedtime) and everything was fine. When Cameron and I went up to bed at around 10:00 (yes, we are getting old) Miley sort of woke up, so we each took a turn rocking her, and then put her down, thinking she would go right back to sleep.

Over the next half hour, or 45 minutes she kept whimpering. So we just left her, as we always do, thinking she would fall back asleep on her own.

The next thing I know, her whimpers turn into her high-pitched squeals (more like you would picture an old man to sound like than actual squeals...that's just the only way I know how to describe it). Now this noise only means a couple things...that she is super excited, or is having fun. Something along those lines. So, wondering what could be causing her all this excitement, I go to check on her to make sure she hasn't pulled herself up to standing in her crib. I peek in her room, and this is exactly what she has done! I just peeked in the door, but she was looking right at me, with this look of absolute pride and excitement on her face. So of course, I get Cameron, and we both have a good laugh. I really should have taken a picture or a video (just look at the pictures in my Lots of Love (and some other fun things...) blog, and you can get the idea). But all I was thinking about was crawling back into bed and going to sleep.

Then Cameron decides we better lower the crib. At 11:00 pm. I am so grateful my husband is good enough to do this, because this is the absolute last thing I want to at that time. I probably would have left it and just crossed my fingers for the night. :) So we proceed with pulling off the bumper, the mattress, the crib skirt and lower the crib so we don't have to worry about Miley all night.

At this point, Miley is really wound up, so I decide to feed her to calm her down and hopefully put her down for some real sleep.

AND.....SHE SLEPT THE REST OF THE NIGHT!! From 11:30 till about 7:20 this morning. I was ecstatic. Miley is still waking up once at night to eat, so I figured she would wake up around her normal time (1:00 or 2:00 am), but she slept the rest of the night! Maybe all the excitement wore her out....or maybe I should re-evaluate this eating schedule. :)

Not the most exciting post, but hey. It is February in Minnesota. Not a whole lot else going on these days. :)

Roam If You Want To

Here is just a short video of Miley crawling, and doing her new favorite thing....walking while holding onto our hands. Enjoy!

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Lots of Love (and some other fun things...)

Well, this is just one of those random catch-up posts, when there is a little bit of everything thrown in there...so bear with me.

Valentine's Day was fun this year....we spent the day just hanging out as a family, and then that night Cameron and I hit up the church dance, and then went bowling again with Don and Cindy. Not an on-bowling night for me, but fun, nonetheless. :)

Miley rocking her stunna shades on V-Day...

Cameron and I getting ready to go out for the V-Day festivities....

Miley has started to pull herself up on things.... unfortunately, we don't have too many things in our house that are the right size for her to practice on. But, she makes do and uses the bumper on her crib. These pictures are just a little deceiving....she can't quite do this yet, but it will be any day now I am pretty sure. She was halfway here, and Cameron just pulled her up for some pictures....and here is one of her being super smiley, just for good measure. :)

You can see where the bumper is pulled down...her hand-hold to pull herself up!

Finally, Miley has learned how to give kisses! Big, open-mouth kisses. It is pretty much the cutest thing. Cameron and I make sure to get a few of these every day now!

Cameron getting some loves from Miley....

Coming in for the kill....

Almost there....

Big Kiss!!!

I will try to post a video of Miley crawling soon....she is all over the place!!

In Honor of Valentine's Day...

How can anyone resist this little cutie's request to "BEE MINE"????