Miles the Football Player

Miles got a football in his stocking from Santa. He was a big fan =) He was really good at throwing it on Christmas day. Enjoy the video! =)

New England Drive

We took a mini trip this past weekend through some New England states. We started Saturday morning and drove through Massachusetts to New Hampshire and Maine. It was our first time going to NH and Maine. It was pretty cool to just head out and drive out without any agenda. Tim & I did choose a couple of things we wanted to accomplish:
1. Tim eats lobster 
2. Grace sees a lighthouse
3. Miles stays happy =)

We stopped at a beach in New Hampshire and started our trip with some interestesting events. It was cold and windy and we wanted to get a picture of the beach. Walking to the border of the sidewalk and the beach, Tim stepped on some dog doo doo! And then, while Tim was taking care of that... Miles and I were standing on the top of the steps looking at the ocean. Then... a wave came! I turned around immediately and it got the back of me! (Thank God Miles stayed dry!!) I screamed (haha) and it scared Miles. He started to cry with concern. Poor baby =( It cracked me and Tim up. What a nice welcome, New Hampshire! =)
We enjoyed some amazing clam chowder and lobster (only Tim with the lobster) right after, so we were happy =) We found a restaurant while driving around that looked neat and it ended up being a great find!

We kept on driving and stopped at an outlet in Maine - bought a few things for our baby Miles. Miles fell asleep so we didn't stay too long and just drove on. Maine is so gorgeous. The houses are so cute. The drive felt so quiet and serene. We kept on driving until we figured out where we could stay a night. After searching on Yelp and calling a few places, we picked Kennebunkport Inn at Kennebunkport, Maine. This was also another great choice! Not technically a bed & breakfast, but their continental breakfast was so so good! The room was so cozy and comfy and the staff were all very nice. It is right in the town square, so it was easy for us to walk (in the snow!) to a restaurant for dinner. The snow was just falling during dinner, so it was nice to see a fresh layer on everything. So beautiful!

The next morning, we enjoyed our breakfast. Walked around the town square for a little bit more and then proceeded to drive in Maine some more. We drove to a coast as close we could. We saw more lighthouses and stopped at Portland for a late lunch before heading back home. We packed in a lot of driving and sightseeing in a short amount of time but it was just all perfect. We had a great time. Miles had so much fun looking at everything. He recognizes so much now. He knows when we're on a bridge. He loves spotting airplanes in the sky. He loved the water and the "yellowhouse" (lighthouses). And he sang a lot during the drive! =) We're very thankful that we have had the opportunity to travel a ton this year. Blessed. Happy New Year!     

Christmas Activities in a Nutshell

Hanging out with Santa + Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!
I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. We have been enjoying this Christmas season with Miles. He has loved everything about it - Santa, the lights, the Christmas tree, the snow. He's so fun at this age, it makes Christmas so precious.

On Sunday, we went took a little trip to New York City and spent the night there. We walked around the City and saw all of the decor and lights. We walked to the Rockefeller and saw the famous Christmas tree. There were soo many people. We walked around with Miles in an Ergo Baby carrier, which helped a ton. It kept him warm and cozy with me, and it helped us maneuver easier through the crowds. Miles was wowwing about everything from buses, the lights, the buildings, and airplanes. It was so adorable. He loves to take everything in. On Christmas Eve, we walked around the City some more. We went to the FAO Schwartz toy store and Miles got to play on The Big Piano. He loved that so much. We also went to the St. Patrick's Cathedral and decided to attend a mass. The church was so beautiful. It was nice to walk around in it before mass started.

Christmas morning was a lot of fun with Miles. He was wowwing and just in awe of seeing his presents under the tree. He instantly knew to open his presents, which was interesting. He loved his airplane a lot. He also loved his football and cell phone from Santa. This Christmas time is definitely my favorite and I'm a hundred percent sure it was because of Miles' reactions to everything. I am so grateful for him and for Tim. They are my world.

  

Getting Ready for Christmas

Miles has been fascinated by Santa for quite some time now. First, it started with this Christmas tin full of dried mint from my mother in law. She gave it to us awhile ago and whenever I open the pantry, Miles always points to Santa on the tin and asks "Who's that??" And from then on, I always answered Santa. Now that the Christmas season is here, we see Santa everywhere and Miles points him out alll the time. =) He absolutely loves Santa. I gave him a Santa hat and he loves to put it on and say "Santa's hat" heh So adorable.

Last weekend, we got in the Christmas spirit by getting our Christmas tree. We went to a cut your own tree farm, so that was a neat experience. Tim did great cutting a tree for the first time. They also had reindeer at the farm. (I'll post pictures of that later) Miles was actually more interested in their Nativity Scene than the reindeer. We set up the tree days later.. we wanted it to dry a little in the garage since it has been sprinkling lately. Saturday night, we drove out to Massachusetts for this Bright Night thing. It's supposed to be an area you drive through and see all of the Christmas lights. Not going to lie, it was a let down. The wait to drive in was ridiculously long but since we were already out there, we might as well wait it out. For the wait and the fact that you still needed to pay to drive through it, Tim and I were both disappointed in the actual decoration. The decorations were pretty minimal and very dated. Nonetheless, Miles enjoyed it so that was good. 

We stopped at the gift shop to visit Santa. Like I've said, Miles loves Santa. Talks about him all the time. Points out anything related to Santa, even Christmas music (which is pretty interesting). Once we get to the gift shop, he sees Santa stuff and he says Santa! like usual. But once he actually saw Santa.. his eyes just got big and he was speechless and motionless. heh He was so star struck by Santa. At first, he just stood in front of Santa - not saying a word. He eventually kept saying Elmo to him once he sat on his lap. It was all too cute. Santa gave him a little coloring book which he held soo nicely once we were out of "Santa's house". The moment we left the gift shop, Miles instantly talked about Santa again! haha I want to remember that moment forever. We didn't feel like buying a picture this time.

 I took this shot of Miles this morning and just wanted to share it. He was being so cutesy. Silly goose. He makes my day!

Thanksgiving in Illinois

A little delayed on my Thanksgiving post.. but here it is!

We flew to Illinois to spend Thanksgiving with the Khoury side. All of the Khoury kids got to play with each other, which Miles absolutely loved. He had a lot of fun with everyone. We all got to hang out and have dinner at Kareem & Dina's place, went bowling with everyone (which was interesting with a 1 year old), and had many more meals together. Miles loved hugging and kissing his cousins. It was all very cute.

 

My friend Daisy also visited us while we were staying at Joseph & Katie's house, so it was really nice to see her again. This is my second friend that has visited us while we have been at their house! hehe Thanks for the hospitality, Katie & Joseph.

We also drove down to Lincoln and Bloomington, IL one day to visit some friends and family. We visited Tim's former coworkers for lunch and drove to Bloomington to have a family photo shoot (done by a great photographer, Jamie at Ember Mae Photography). It was a little weird driving around Bloomington, feels like so long ago but it also still felt like home. We also got to visit my 2 brothers. They were in town for work, so it was great timing!

It was a nice trip and Miles did so well through all of our traveling, like usual. Thank goodness! =) He was so curious at the airport and looked for Inay & Tatay when we saw airplanes, so sweet to see. We actually flew to and from Boston ... so once we left Illinois, we spent some time in Boston. We had a great dinner and dessert. We definitely want to go back to Boston and check it out more!

I'm very thankful to the Lord for my family and friends - for their kindness, their good health, their safety, and their happiness.

  

Counting & Singing Again

Here is a video of Miles counting and singing before heading to bed a couple of nights ago. We finally got to record him count in Arabic. Miles loves to sing and count every day. It cracks me up when we're just hanging out - he'll be counting & singing to himself while I do my own thing, working or cleaning up. Fun times. =) He is a very sweet & entertaining kid. Our little baby is growing up!

Time with Inay & Tatay and Drumming in NJ

My parents left out for California yesterday. We have had a great time with them here. Time went by so fast. Miles had so much fun with them. We all agreed that in the 2 week time span, Miles grew up and learned so much.

During the 2 weeks, Miles slept in our room and each morning, after hanging out or sleeping in our bed, he would get up and go to the other room to wake up my parents. They loved the daily wake up call =) Miles would go in there calling out "Tatay!" =) It was adorable. He loved counting and singing many songs to them. He loved getting everyone to dance together. (And I mean everyone, no one could voluntarily pass on the opportunity to dance, Miles enforced it. haha) He has been singing the ABCs (of course), Itsy Bitsy Spider, and now Mary Had a Little Lamb. So cute to watch him walk around the house, just singing. =) He loves to count in the 3 languages he knows and his numbers are getting clearer.

Miles loved to hug and kiss Inay & Tatay. He loved to be around them. If most of us were in one room, he would go to the one person alone in a different room and take their hand to join everybody else. It was so fun to hang out with Miles with everyone. He loves his family. I'm excited to have another family get-together again. Miles' 2nd birthday? =) Now that Inay & Tatay have left, Tim & I can definitely tell Miles misses Inay & Tatay. He asked for Tatay when we got home. He sat at the bottom of the stairs and pointed up and asked "Tatay?". This morning, Miles was excited to go downstairs and asked for Tatay again. He figured since he didn't see them in his room like usual that they were probably already downstairs. =) It was so sad and sweet at the same time.

I'm so thankful that my family got to visit us here in Connecticut. I'm so grateful that the weather was good for us and for all of my family traveling. It really all worked out so nicely. I'm really grateful that my family in New Jersey did not get affected by the hurricane. It's so sad to see the news and hear of people still out of power and without water. I'm so thankful to the Lord that my family is safe and healthy.

 Also, enjoy this little video I took of Miles drumming at my cousin's house in New Jersey. He did really well! I'm very tempted to look for a mini drum set for him =)

Happy Halloween!

Our little Miles had a great Halloween this year! It was such a surreal sight to see Miles walking around with his pumpkin and actually getting candy with his older cousins. Time flies so quickly! Last year, he was our little hotdog. This year, he was our delicious burger!

We did a double duty of trick or treating this year. In the late afternoon, we went to a nearby outdoor mall that had a trick or treating event. There were soo many kids there even at the end. We were pretty late getting there, so it was pretty quick. Miles loved the speaker outside of Brookstone. He danced there for a little while. We couldn't get him to keep moving to other stores! He loves music so much.The kids had a lot of fun. I'm so glad my family came to visit..and Miles had his cousins Lily and Ian to play with during Halloween. After the mall, we went home to relax a bit.. and headed back out to a neighborhood. That was pretty cute. Lily & Ian pretended to not be scared of some Halloween decorations. haha "They're just decorations, Ian" - Lily Miles did great through it all. He had a great time. 

Halloween is also my dad's birthday. We celebrated his birthday today instead - with a special lunch made by me, and a delicious steak dinner made by Tim. We sang happy birthday complete with a birthday brownie tonight too. It has been a fun few days.

 

So cute & yummy!

  

Super Miles!

Miles got his second haircut yesterday. He did so well..the lady cutting his hair loved him. Miles sat in the little car seat so perfectly. He watched Elmo for a little bit and he was also interested in the hair cutting stuff. It was a lot of fun to watch him enjoy the whole experience!

Seems like time is going by so quickly. Halloween is right around the corner and hopefully the weather allows us to actually go trick or treating. (The forecast doesn't look promising though) I can't wait to take pictures of Miles in his costume.

Miles is becoming more and more toddler these days! He is so curious in everything. He copies so many things I do now. It's fun to ask him to say stuff and he would actually try =) I love watching him do something I actually asked him to do. Today, when he finished eating a banana, I asked him to throw away the peel in the garbage and he did it! It was so cute! This is such a fun age! He's actually pretty helpful with laundry too. When I'm sitting around folding clothes in the bedroom, he likes to take one or two pieces, walk over to the dresser, open it, and place the clothes inside the drawer. So helpful!

Happy Miles