Videos of Miles

I took a few videos of Miles today while we were just hanging out at home. Enjoy a bit of Miles' singing and reading =)

Reading:


Singing:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you all had a great Valentine's day!

Hartford Whalers Hockey Game

It's funny.. we've been living in Connecticut for almost a year and we haven't really checked out the city of Hartford that much. We've had a few meals out in Hartford (and Tim & I got a date night out one night - when my parents were in town) and I've done bikram yoga a few times there, but that's pretty much it. On Saturday, we decided to go to a Hartford Whalers hockey game. Seems like a nice local thing to do =) It was mine and Miles' first hockey game. It was a lot of fun. 

At first, I was worried about how Miles would be (he's been very hyper and squirmy these days) but he did great during the entire time we were watching the game. He cheered, danced, and paid attention to the action. He had a lot of fun. It was so cute to hear him say "hockey!", "wow!!", and "whoa!" =) and to see him clap his hands over his head. The family in the row in front of us had fun watching Miles =)  

Hopefully we can do this again - it was a great time.

Here is a little video of Miles' dancing at the hockey game:
 

Happy Birthday Papa!

Yesterday was Tim's 29th birthday! Last year in his twenties =) Miles and I made a special cake for him on Friday. Miles wanted to have some right away but I told him he had to wait until Papa's birthday. hehe Miles greeted Tim with "Happy day, Papa" on his birthday =) That was cute.

For Tim's birthday, I made him a special breakfast of crepes with nutella, strawberry, banana, & whipped cream. Later on, we went shopping for him and had a quick lunch at a French bakery in West Hartford. It was fun to hang out, though, I wanted to get home quickly because I invited a couple of our friends from New York for a surprise gettogether with Tim. =) They arrived at our house before we  got home from West Hartford, so the "surrprise!!" moment just happened in the driveway. hehe It was cute; they brought him a cupcake with a candle on it. =) Tim was pretty surprised with it all. We surprised him with his birthday cake later on. He really liked it and thought it was awesome. =) We all went out for pizza for his birthday dinner at our favorite pizza place. Miles had so much fun hanging out with Tita Pretty (Melissa) and Tito Eric. He showed them his airplane, Monkey, Boo, and Puppy. =) 

Today, I made them all Baked Eggs (mine and Tim's new favorite dish!) for breakfast before heading to church. Melissa & Eric loved it.  It was nice to go to church all together, but Miles is so squirmy nowadays. It's getting more and more exhausting trying to keep him in our arms or to stay with us and not run off. (We had to stand today because it was pretty full in church) After church, we went to West Hartford again, to eat some empanadas for lunch. Yummy ymmy. =) It was a relaxing day, hanging out at home with Melissa & Eric before they headed back to the City. We're so glad they came over to celebrate =) Tim loved his birthday full of yummy food and great friends.

Happy Birthday, Papa! We love you.

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.