Porcupine Mountains

Over Father's Day weekend, Todd, Jordan, Stuart and several of Stu's high school and college buddies headed off to the Upper Peninsula for a long weekend in the Porcupine Mountains. It was a long drive, but worth it, as the park was beautiful and the weather was gorgeous. This was a pre-bachelor party celebration for Stuart--a great way to kick off the summer and fall's wedding festivities!

D-A-D

Todd was driving back from the Upper Peninsula on his first Father's Day, so we celebrated on Monday. For his gift I borrowed an idea from a parenting message board that I frequent. My dad used his really nice camera to photograph Nathan holding a wooden D and a wooden A, and then I used those photos to create a framed "DAD" and also had them made into a travel mug. I think Todd liked them! We celebrated by spending some nice time together relaxing as a family, and then after Nathan went to bed Todd and I had a mountain of food from Shawarma King for dinner!

Father and son

The three photos that comprised Todd's father's day gifts:

Some of the "D" finalists that didn't win, but are still pretty darn cute!

Sunday Brunch

Since Nathan wasn't informed of the time zone change, he was up bright and early Sunday morning! One of my favorite things about the weekends is that I get to just bring Nathan into bed with me, where I get to breastfeed him and snuggle, and it's not a big deal if we both doze off again for a little while. It's pure snuggly heaven!!

After we were all up, Nancy finally got to feed Nathan (I think she's been counting down the hours since the day he was born!). Nathan showed off his eating from a spoon skills, and I think they both had fun. Then we put Nathan in his stroller and walked a few blocks to find a place to have brunch. We decided to try out Feast, which Erin and Stu had been curious about for awhile. That way all three of us were trying something new. It was SO yummy! They have a great outdoor patio, so we sat and enjoyed the sunshine. Let me just say that this restaurant is aptly named; we all had quite the breakfast feast! After stuffing ourselves silly, we wandered through a few of the really cute boutiques that line the streets in Bucktown.

The ride home went pretty well. We didn't get stopped in traffic for nearly as long as we did on the way into town. About an hour from home, Nathan woke up from a nap crying. We got off at the next exit, as it was time for him to eat, and we discovered that he had a MONSTER of a diaper blowout!! There was poop everywhere! Poor little guy--he and his carseat were both covered in it, and he was so unhappy. Luckily Nancy and I were able to divide and conquer--I took the baby and she took the seat--and we were able to clean it up pretty well considering that we were armed only with napkins and baby wipes. After all that drama and some food, Nathan was exhausted and slept the rest of the way home! Needless to say, I spent yesterday evening on a sterilization mission, washing the kid, myself, the carseat, the straps, the toys and the clothes. Whew! :)

Nancy feeding Nathan his sweet potatoes while Nathan, in typical fashion, hams it up for the camera.

We tried a high chair for the first time, but Nathan is too much of a peanut and not quite good enough at sitting for it to work, so he sat on my lap instead.


Nancy and Erin on the patio at Feast.

Me and my sweet boy

My delightful breakfast--Challah French toast with peaches and blueberries. I must add that I ate this breakfast left-handed while breastfeeding Nathan. It is amazing how I'm able to multi-task now! :)

Aunt Erin and Nathan--I love this pic!

Sunny Saturday in Chicago

As soon as I got home from the race on Saturday morning, Nathan, Nancy and I got in the car and headed West to Chicago to spend some time with Erin. Aside from getting stuck in traffic for awhile once we got into the city, the ride went very smoothly. Nathan is a road trip champion--such a good boy in the car! He took a long nap, we stopped for a little bit so I could feed him, and then he spent the rest of the trip dozing or playing with his toys.

Once we got to Chicago, Erin, Nathan and I went to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Harry Potter exhibit! It was so much fun to see all of the costumes and props that they used in the movies (we got to sit in Hagrid's chair!) and I am so lucky not only to be gaining a sister, but one who is equally infatuated with the Harry Potter series! Nancy was not at all interested in the exhibit, since it is for the HP loyal and she hasn't read the books or seen the movies. So she headed off to Nordstrom to look for dresses to wear to Stu and Erin's wedding festivities. We met her there after the exhibit to help her narrow down her choices. She's going to look beautiful!

By that point it was getting very close to Nathan's bedtime, so we headed back to the apartment, where we spent a really lovely and relaxing evening. Nathan slept like a champ, and we girls enjoyed some delicious pizza from Piece and some crisp and refreshing Kung Fu Girl reisling. Erin and Stu's cat, James Madison kept a very close eye on Nathan; he wasn't quite sure what to make of this miniature human who was getting so much attention in his house!

Nathan's first trip to a museum!

Erin and James Madison (btw, I absolutely love that Erin has a cat named after a president!)

Three tasty, chilled and large glasses of Kung Fu Girl wine. YUM

James keeping a close eye on Nathan playing in the crib


Soon-to-be sisters!

Nathan playing with Grandma and laying on Lambykins, who he fell in love with while shopping on Saturday. As soon as he saw him, Nathan's eyes got really big, he gave a big wiggle, reached out with both hands, grabbed Lamby by both ears and stuffed him into his mouth! SO cute!! Grandma was sweet enough to get Lambykins for Nathan. I have a feeling he could become a fixture on our adventures. :)

10K victory!!

Saturday morning Hillary and I ran the Kalamazoo Klassic 10K race, and we kicked some serious booty! We had trained well for the distance and terrain, the weather was pretty ideal--68 degrees, cloudy and windy, Hillary and I both came with our game faces on and a positive attitude, and there was an incredibly supportive group of spectators and volunteers all along the course cheering us on. Talk about great energy! We felt good the entire run; just when our energy started to dip, Suzanne and Ellie were there to give us high fives and cheer us on, which kicked us back into gear. We cut an amazing 7 minutes off of our practice run time and, looking back, probably could have chosen to push ourselves even harder and had a faster time. All in all, it was a great accomplishment, and we surpassed our goal by a long shot. I was on a runner's high for the rest of the day!

Approaching the 3 mile mark and feeling great!

Home stretch! The finish line is in sight and we're excited about it.


Crossing the finish line

Two great friends, very happy, proud and sweaty!

Visit from Stephanie, Nick and Andrew

On Wednesday evening, Stephanie, Nick and Andrew came into town. They haven't been to Kalamazoo in a long time, so they stopped by K's campus to check out the new Hicks Center and library, and then they came over to our house to meet Nathan! Nathan was napping when they arrived, but he eventually woke up in time to show off his new flirting skills.

I was amazed at how much Andrew has grown! I still think of him as a little guy, but he is a confident, friendly and funny 12-year-old; time flies!! He was absolutely wonderful with Nathan; so gentle with him and genuinely interested in interacting with him. Nathan thought Andrew was awesome--he loves those big kids!

After hanging out all together, Nick and Andrew headed off for boys' dinner at the Union, Todd put Nathan to bed, and Stephanie and I went out for sushi. It was so great to have some one-on-one time with Steph. She is such a good friend, and we are both awful at keeping in touch with each other, so it was really reassuring how easily we fell back into having great conversations. Now that I am a mom, it has added such an amazing element to my relationship with my friends who are also mothers. I have an entirely new appreciation for them as mothers, as women and as people. So cool!

The Miller-VanDerSchie clan meets Nathan

Andrew and Nathan


Nathan wearing Andrew's sweet new headphones--he wasn't sure what to think about them!

Six months old!

Yesterday was Nathan's half birthday--six months old!! It absolutely blows my mind that it has been half a year since he entered our lives and we became parents. In some ways it seems to have gone by in a flash, and in other ways it is hard to imagine a time when he wasn't such an integral part of our lives.

It seems like Nathan is picking up new skills every single day, and his personality is developing in leaps and bounds. This month he became very good at grabbing things and stuffing them in his mouth. He especially loves different fabric textures, so if you're holding him you need to be fully prepared to have his small chubby hand grab a fistful of your shirt and put it in his mouth! Nathan has also noticed his feet in the last week--just in the last few days he has finally figured out how to get them into his mouth by himself, and thinks they are very delicious. This is so cute I can hardly stand it!! However, it does make diaper changes a little more challenging. :)

The other big milestone is that last week we started feeding Nathan solid food! He is getting pretty darn good with eating off of the spoon, and he thinks that sweet potatoes are really yummy. Hopefully we have a good eater on our hands!

Here are some pictures and a video of his latest accomplishments:

Tasty toes!



Yum... sweet potatoes!



Getting some good belly laughs!

6 month appointment

Nathan had his 6 month well baby visit today. We saw Dr. Nagler, who we hadn't seen since right after Nathan got out of the hospital from his jaundice treatment. She was happy to see him looking significantly less yellow than the last time she saw him. :) Dr. Nagler was really happy with the way that Nathan is growing and developing; he is right on track and incredibly healthy! He had to get another round of immunizations. Poor kid, he just turns bright red and screams when he gets his shots. :( They make him really sleepy, so he took a few good naps today.

Here are his latest stats:

Weight: 15lb, 8 3/4 oz (25th percentile)
Height: 25 1/2 inches (10-25th percentile)
Head Circumference: 17 1/4" (50th percentile)


This afternoon I had a bunch of online computer training to do, so I did it on my home computer so that I could keep an eye on post-immunization Nathan. When he wasn't napping, he kept me company while I worked.

Sunny Sunday Hike

Sunday was an absolutely gorgeous day, and Dan had the great idea to go on a family hike out at the K College arboretum. Dan, Nancy, Jordan, Todd, Nathan, the dogs and I all headed out into the woods. Nathan took a long nap in his carrier, the dogs ran around like crazy, and the rest of us enjoyed the beautiful day. Deuce wore himself out completely, but Zeke was hardly even panting--what different doggies they are!

The "Magestic Pines" section of the trail--my favorite!


Nancy and I. Check out Nancy's sassy new 'do and the top of sleeping Nathan's head!


Pretty vista

Babies R Us Adventure

On Saturday Nathan and I traveled to Lansing to go on a baby registry adventure with Annalee! She is 23 weeks pregnant with a little boy, currently known as Mumford! Todd and I are super excited that Dan and Annalee's son is going to be so close in age to Nathan--we already have visions of their adventures together up in Northport!

Janelle and her two daughters Mia (6) and Morgan (1) joined us for the excursion, which was great because I hadn't seen her since my baby shower! We hung out at the Appledorns' house for awhile and got to admire the newly reorganized house, with Mumford's room empty and ready for all his cute baby stuff!

We then headed over to Babies R Us, got the registry gun, and went to town!! I forgot how totally overwhelming the registry process is; it is times like these that living in America, and the overabundance of STUFF that comes with our capitalist market starts to seem like not such a great idea. I think that Janelle and I were able to help Annalee narrow down the options though, and we got a lot accomplished!

After several hours of analyzing baby stuff, we needed to eat! Dan met us at Red Robin, and we had a delicious dinner and great conversation. I am so incredibly excited to see Dan and Annalee become parents. Mumford is a lucky boy!

Annalee is a gorgeous pregnant lady!


Uncle Dan and Nathan


Janelle and Morgan

Mia and Morgan in their adorable matching outfits. Morgan has just learned to walk, and wasn't to interested in sitting still on Mia's lap! :)

The whole registry team ready to hit the road!

Morgan and Mia totally cashed out in the car--what cuties!