3 Months

Our little guy has hit his 3 month mark. Here's what's going on in his world....

Hands, hands, hands. They are his favorite things and can keep busy for a long time moving them, watching them, and sticking them in his mouth. Because he is so into his hands he....

Drools, drools, drools. We are in bib mode. He is constantly making bubbles and leaving a little drool trail wherever he goes. His favorite spot to leave his mark is on mom's shoulders.

Smiles are happening more and more which makes the days go by much better. We even get a laugh or two. Overall he seems to be a happier baby (thank goodness!).

He stays busy talking to himself a lot. So fun to hear.

He's getting really good at holding onto things.

Really doesn't like tummy time.

The biggest milestone this month (drum roll please....) he is now sleeping in his crib! Not only is he sleeping in his crib, but we made a break through this week where he will only cry for a few minutes and then settle in to sleep. Pat on the backs to mom and dad for sticking to the "crying out" phase. It about tortured mom! 

In less than two weeks we will be taking our first family vacation, airplane ride and all. Wish us luck!

First night in his big boy bed

March Madness

March Madness has hit our house in full swing. This is basically a daily scene in our house. Nick assures me that Miles is learning all about basketball and not just rotting in front of the TV, I have my doubts :)

 

GO PURDUE!

Family Time

When Nonno passed away it was obviously a very sad time, but there was one good thing that came out of it, my family from California got to meet Miles. I wasn't sure when we were going to be able to get out there for a meeting, so this was great. My Aunt, Uncle, and cousins got to spend some time with Miles and loved on him so much.

Meeting Great Auntie Glor for the first time

The cousins

Grandkids with Nonna (see, in my family I'm considered tall :)

Fun with Dale

There was even snow for them to play with!

Right after the funeral Nick, Miles, and I piled into the car and drove to Cedar Rapids where we were going to help Nick's grandma pack up to move to South Bend. Miles was meeting many family members for the first time that trip as well. Thank you Joyce for having us and all your family at your house to meet the Murdock side, and thanks to all the Robes who helped out with Miles. Had fun spending time with everyone. (There were more aunts, uncles, and cousins that he met, but I don't have pictures. Sorry, mom was tired :)

Great Aunt Mary

Great Uncle Matt

Great Uncle Tim

Story Time!

Great Uncle Joel

Everyone was not only there to help with the move, but to also say goodbye to Great Gram's house. I obviously have not has as many memories there as everyone else, but the ones I do have were great. We will miss our trips to Iowa but we are really glad that Great Gram lives a lot closer now :)

Great Gram's house

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Blast from the past

I was at my Nonna's house the other day and we were looking for something in one of her dressers and we came across something from my childhood. One thing about my Nonna is that she saves a lot of stuff, no really, A LOT of stuff. In this dresser she had one of my bathing suites from when I was a kid, my baby blanket, my teething ring, and this necklace.....

 

 

I know this doesn't look like much and may look a little strange, but I use to play with this for hours. I would pretend so many different things with all the little charms. Nonna said I would stay busy all day with that thing. The funny thing was that I had completely forgotten about this necklace that use to go everywhere with me, but as soon as I saw it I totally remembered wearing it, playing with it, and even which one was my favorite charm (the roller skate in case you were wondering). Makes me think, what else have I forgotten all about? We all just need a little memory trigger sometimes. So the lesson here is, go through some of your drawers sometime and see if you can find something that instantly brings back memories :)

Sweet Nonno

 

Just about two weeks ago my sweet Nonno (grandpa) passed away. He was a quiet man that kept to himself a lot, but when he smiled, he lit up the whole room. He battled cancer, aggressive chemo and radiation which then caused kidney failure resulting in him becoming a dialysis patient for the past twelve years. Add a fractured leg and rehab into that mix, the man went through a lot. Throughout all of his treatments and obstacles, when asked how he was doing, he would always answer with (insert cute Italian accent here) "I'm ok" with a big smile. As a matter of fact, these are the last words I remember him saying to me :) He was known to all the doctors, nurses, and therapists as the man who never complains. Not sure how he did it, but he was a real trooper. A quality to really be admired. My Nonna (grandmother) was a wonderful caregiver to him and did anything and everything to keep him in good health.

Nonno was born in Sicily and became a shoemaker by trade. He met my grandmother and shortly after they were married, he came with her to America. At one point he owned a shoe repair shop near Chicago and some of my favorite memories with him are when he would take me to his shop and he would let me play with the cash register and sewing machines in back. He was also a BIG fan of pasta and when I would eat at their house for dinner, he would always grate this mountain of cheese on top of my pasta. I would then sit there and watch him devour a bowl of pasta in minutes. Another fun memory I have is when I was little, an ice cream truck use to come by their house a lot and I knew I could always convince Nonno to supply me with the funds to get a treat. I would hear the truck coming and run into the house to find him. He would come with me to the truck and let me pick out my ice cream.

I was very lucky to have spent a lot of time with him while I was growing up and was so glad that he got to meet Miles and celebrate Christmas and his birthday with him. My Nonna just keeps saying how special it was that Nick and I were able to make him a great grandfather.

Sweet Nonno, you will be missed terribly.

A tender moment between Nonna and Nonno during his final days

Miles and Nonno at Christmas

Out celebrating Nonno's 83rd birthday

Special Visitors

Last weekend we were so lucky to have our good friends Jenny and James come into town to visit and meet Mr. Miles all the way from El Paso. It was so nice to see both of them. Mr. James is getting SO big and is so incredibly active that it was a real eye opener to us as to what the future holds. Let's just say we have a lot of baby proofing to do! Thanks for coming to visit friends, can't wait to see you again.

And just like that, James was done and we were left with a blurry mess:)

This weekend we had a lovely Purdue BTBoB get together where Miles and I got to spend some time with many of his "Aunties". We had a good time and it was wonderful to catch up with all of them.