Kasha-Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument Hike

This hike was A-MAZING and so kid friendly! The tent rock shaped formations are the products of volcanic eruptions that occurred 6 to 7 million years ago. Then over time eroded away from water and wind. Truly a spectacular site.

What would have taken us 30 minutes to hike took us 2.5 hours instead. Miles took us on many detours. We picked up a million and two rocks, sat on 500 other rocks, jumped off of 2,000 boulders and sat down in the middle of the trail to watch beetles and scratch in the dirt with sticks.

I loved the narrow trails-- especially with a wandering toddler. It helped keep him on track.

I love the picture below. It depicts pretty much how the entire hike went-- Miles was constantly pushing me forward so he could hang back and take his dandy ole' time.

This tree with it's exposed roots made a perfect hide out for Miles.

Such a perfect hike on a perfect day.

Random Happenings

Tandem scootin' with his girlfriend Hadley.

"Binky Skiing"

Trying rice cereal for the first time. Yuck!

Santaphobia?

In the line it was all fun and games and giggles until the time came to actually sit on Santa's knee.

I'm sure every household in America has a picture like this. Not sure what it is that scares children so much. Maybe it's:

Pogonophobia-- fear of beards

Androphobia-- fear of men

Eryptophobia-- fear of the color red

Photoaugiliaphobia-- fear of glaring lights

Whatever it was Miles was TERRIFIED of the jolly old man.

Snuggle Buggle

Until Graham joined our family, Tim and me felt gypped in the snuggle department. Miles has never sat still enough to cuddle-- even to this day he won't.

Graham, on the other hand, can't get enough snuggles. He will cuddle anyone who will let him. He loves to nuzzle into your neck and burrow into your shoulder. He also gives the best open mouth slobber kisses on your cheeks.

I'm trying to cherish every moment I can because I know a day will come when he won't snuggle anymore. I just hope that day isn't for a long time.

Christmas PJs

There is nothing cuter than matching Christmas pajamas. Scratch that. There IS something cuter-- watching my two boys interact with one another-- that is definitely cuter!

I love how Graham can not get enough of his older brother. You can tell he wants to just tag a long everywhere he goes. And, by the sounds of it you would think Miles tells the best jokes-- he's always got Graham giggling. Just love these two.

Crappy Day! (literally)

READER BEWARE: do not read if you are easily offended or have a strong gag reflex to disgusting stories.

Yesterday was a phenomenon. I never knew there could be so much poop catastrophes. It started out with me kicking some of Gus's poop down our dark hallway as I stumbled to Miles bedroom at 4am to give him some medicine for his cough. Then in the early morning as I was poop scoopin' our patio Gus decided to lay a fresh one right next to my foot. He failed to mention it to me and I stepped into it with my BARE feet. Gross AND disgusting (and remarkable, right Teisha?) you say? Well it gets worse. So as I stumble to the tub to wash off my feet Gus decides to finish his poop job in the house. So now I'm trying to wash my fecal infested feet off, all the while trying to watch my children and keep Miles from playing in Gus's new poop in our house. FAIL. Of course Miles has to pick up some of his poop because I asked him not to and bring it to me in the bathroom. Okay so now we're cleaning off Miles' hands, my feet, bleaching the tub, and shampooing our carpets with pet cleaner. I can't stand the thought of my kids crawling around on the floor where Gus has done his deed.

So you can imagine my relief as I put both my boys down in the afternoon for their nap. I needed a break to breath and to further disinfect the kids' bathroom with lysol wipes. Well, that didn't last long. Miles woke up from his nap earlier than normal (like an hour and half earlier) so I decided to just let him have some quiet time in his room by himself so I could gather myself and recharge my batteries for the evening. WRONG IDEA! I should have known better. As I went to get Miles in his bedroom after his "quiet time" I was immediately killed over with the stench that waffed through the door. Then as I looked even closer at him I noticed dark brown stuff everywhere. At first I was thinking he went to bed with chocolate, but NO it was poop. POOP EVERYWHERE! In his hand, under his fingernails, all over his body, in his mouth & hair, all over the bed and sheets. I didn't know he could produce so much. The next hour is a big smeary blurr (pun intended). I raced him into the tub once again, thoroughly rinsed him off and then jumped in the shower myself and rinsed me off. All the while Graham is still sleeping. Then I decided to lock Miles in the playroom while I picked up his bedroom. At this point I about tossed my cookies. I almost didn't want to use our washing machine to clean up his bedding. What if our washer is never as clean again? After a few loads of crap coated blankets and running the washer with nothing but water and bleach I felt much better.

I was sure my stink-bug (pun intended again) child was going to wake up this morning with a bout of e. coli or giardia, but he seems unphased. I, however, am scarred for life. This "crappy" day will go down in the books as "the day of the poop". I know "sh*t happens", but really did it have to happen so much yesterday?

I will spare you pictures of the real thing, but it looked a bit like this.

Catchin' Up (sort of)

After spending almost a month and a half in Utah, we're happy to be back home in our routine. While in Utah, Miles learned the ever annoying skill of climbing out of his pack-n-play so he spent most nights sleeping in a closet (I know it sounds neglectful, but we knew he would be safe and sleep in there-- AND-- he LOVED it-- weird kid!). Graham discovered the possibilities that awaited him by playing while sitting up right. Mom learned that she needs sleep and her husband to function. Tim learned that he missed us terribly while he was in Albuquerque without us and jumped aboard an earlier flight to be with us.

I know it's been a while since posting and I will eventually catch up with our many adventures over the last month, but until then I leave you with my child "sleep skiing".

Sleep skiing = not a good combo!