Sidney gets to know Wisconsin and all its greatness!

It is important to introduce every person to Wisconsin. First, to it's fine New Glarus beer and second to their cheese curds.  As you can see, Sidney has developed a taste for both.

 Next it seemed clear that a dip in the beautiful, clear dutch Hollow Lake was an essential part of Sidney's experience.  He seemed very interested in it the first day, but the second day he fell asleep in the lake. I guess the thrill didn't last.

Last, a trip to Wisconsin is not complete without the over stimulation of hundreds of cousins around to keep one entertained the entire time.  All of the cousins were so happy to see Sid.  Mitchell tried scooping him up out of his bouncy seat.  Elaina made up a song to encourage him to roll over ("roll, baby, roll" times infinity.)  Sidney did roll over twice this weekend, once for Grandma Sue and once for Grandpa Mike.  Sadly, Jeremy was in another room for each and has yet to see him repeat the feat.

Other highlights included: Riding on Marvin the Mule and going down to the dock to watch everyone fish.  He was too small for swim diapers and life jackets, so the pool and a ride on the pontoon boat will have to wait for next summer.  He also can't eat solid food, so s'mores are also on next year's agenda!

Enjoying some outside time (before the heatwave)

We have had a very laid back summer with Sidney joining us.  Jeremy and I have spent a lot of time strolling the neighborhood and going to parks.  We went to George Wyth State park this week for a walk on the bike trail with baby and dog and then for a little picnic. I made these this great spinach salad to go with our sandwiches, only to realize that I forgot to pack forks- Ha! needless to say,we still had a fun time and it has been a very nice relaxing summer being at home with my wonderful husband and precious baby. 

 Happy Summer!

Guess who's three months old...?

That's right- Sidney is three months old.  In this short time, Sidney has collected a myriad of nicknames.  Here are a few:
Sidney Bean
Love Nugget
Sweet Potato
Little Peanut
and
Sir Craps-a-lot

He weighed in on June 27th at 10 lbs 8 oz. and 23 and 1/2 inches long.  He is in the 10th percentile of height and weight right now but growing faster every day.  He can hold his head up well and smiles all the time.  We are looking forward to the day Sidney rolls over. 

Today we had a little photo shoot to capture this special day.  Here's a little taste of our fun today!

Happy Birthday America

We had a great day traveling to the Big Red Barn to see Rachel, Sean, Riley, and Jack on the 4th of July.  We had a yummy lunch and everyone got to meet Sidney.  The kids got a chance to feed Sidney and still had time to get a game of frisbee in before we had to head off to Coralville to see Jeremy's folks.

 We spent the afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Anna. Coralville held a carnival so we took some time to stroll over to it after relaxing on the porch.  After a great dinner, we headed home to tuck our sweet little guy in before the fireworks started. Sidney showed off his patriotism as you can see below!

a Stylish visit

Steph and Kyle came from Portland for their annual visit!  We were so happy to get to have them to ourselves for several days.  They were able to meet Sidney (luckily) after his little colic spell ended!  We had a wonderful time catching up, playing with the baby, watching the new True Blood, taking lots of walks, cooking good meals, touring downtown Cedar Falls, karaoke, ping pong, and air hockey were a must,  and we even got a sitter to go to a movie!  It was a great few days.... here are some photos to share!

 Steph + Kyle = Style

Who's laughing at who? Sidney enjoyed all of Steph's crazy faces!

 J and I made a crazy purchase while in downtown Cedar Falls for Sid. We just couldn't resist this fabulous wooden spaceship ( with aliens, space men, moon-lander, and more!)

 We needed to end the time together with a delicious cupcake from Scratch Bakery! 

We miss you guys already!

summer visitors

Jeremy and I have been enjoying being home this summer with Sidney.  We take walks every day, read books, play with his new toys, and go to garage sales looking for fun new things for Sid. He is growing so fast and changing all the time.  Today was his two month appointment.  Sidney now weighs 10.8 lbs, and is 23 & 1/4 " long.  He smiles all the time and is starting to hold his toys on his own.  He has slept through the night several times, but I still get up nervous that he doesn't wake up!
We have had lots of friends and family come to meet and visit us.Tomorrow we are going to take Sidney to the lake for the first time. This is the longest drive we have taken with him so far.
Here are a few pictures of some of our fun!  Happy summer everyone!

 Enjoying cupcakes form Scratch Bakery with Ben and Cinda and Henry

 Ben holding Sid

 Sophie and Marissa help out by feeding Sidney

The Good girls come to visit Sid!

Family Shower

My mom and my sister Christy held a wonderful shower for Sidney on May 14th.  We had a tasty brunch which I was able to enjoy because Sidney sacked out!  He missed all the great gifts but woke in time for us to sing and have cake!  We were so happy to introduce baby Sid to our fabulous families. Thanks so much for the gifts, we so appreciated them all!

The cake....

Luckily everyone got a chance to hold Sidney before the shower ended.  What a wonderful day!

xoxo Sidney, Wendy, and Jeremy

BABY BJORN

We received so many wonderful gifts for Sidney, I keep trying to make time to post some of our most unique ones but time seems to just slip away each day I am home with Sidney.  He is smiling all the time and has developed a liking for some interesting things.
Sidney loves:

1.) looking at himself in the mirror
2.) Having the vacuum cleaner run when he is fussy
3.) He actually cracks up when you whistle for him
4.) Windy days- he sticks out his tongue to feel the air
5.) And he loves to go for walks in the Baby Bjorn (thanks to the Lamms for that great gift!!!)


Here we are modeling it.....

The youngest and the oldest nephew in the family....

Last weekend, Sidney and I went to DeWitt for a party for my oldest nephew Caulin who joined the army and was heading off to Bootcamp.  It was so strange to see Caulin in his army uniform, he just doesn't seem old enough to be a soldier!  I will be thinking of him a lot this summer and hope he is ready for the workout he will receive!  I gave him a pile of self-addressed envelopes so I hope we all hear from him soon. 

Sidney is one month old!

I can't believe how different my life is in only one month!  Yesterday Sid was a month old and I was able to celebrate my first mother's day!  We had a great day together. Jeremy bought me a retractable clothesline AND installed it!  We took Sid to the garden center and bought some plants and seeds to begin our garden.  We spent the afternoon in the yard, Sidney hung out in the shade of a tree in the backyard where he was promptly pooped on by a squirrel- HA!

Sidney is amazing! He is growing very fast but still in his newborn outfits and diapers.  He gets fussy in the evening but is sleeping well at night. Last night I got 5 straight hours of sleep!!!! Sidney loves taking baths with Jeremy in the evenings.  He has the best facial expressions and keeps us laughing all the time with them.  Here are a few great pictures from our first month together!

My birthday!

What a great birthday!
We took Sidney to Panera for a bagel on Saturday before heading off to Waterloo's claim of having the "world's Largest Garage Sale."  We spent several hours and almost 20 bucks at it, returning home with great new treasures and cute clothes for Sid. 
We had our first babysitter on Saturday night so Jeremy and I could attend Roller Derby- Cedar Falls Vs. Cedar Rapids!  It was great fun, but Cedar Falls lost!  Since I was wearing my Cedar Rapids Roller Girls shirt, I admit I was not too disappointed! I had my first beer since August- it was great!!!
Four couples that attended Roller Derby with us came over afterward and we had cake and ice cream. Sarah had a birthday on the 4th of May so we got two cakes to celebrate! It was a great chance for everyone to meet Sidney (who cried almost the whole time we were gone!)
Sarah and Zak gave me this great birthday book!

Easter

We took our first overnight trip to DeWitt for Easter.  It was a fun-filled weekend for everyone.  Sidney had trouble adjusting to the volume of around 25 people together but on Sunday he was calm and enjoyed his day.  The Easter bunny brought him a great robot basket filled with toys, books, and argyle socks (just like daddy).  Sidney was able to meet all his new 11 cousins and aunts and uncles! 

Introducing Sidney Michael Miller-Prouty

Weighing in at 6 pounds 15.6 oz. and 19 and 3/4inches long,  Sidney was born on Friday April 8th at 2:29pm.  We checked into the hospital to be induced Friday at 7am.  I was given pitocin to start my labor and at 8:45 the doctor came in and broke my water. We were a little nervous because my water had a large amount of meconium in it.  The baby had already had a bowel movement which can be common when a baby is post-term.  Things started to speed up shortly after these interventions took place. I went from being dilated at a 3 at 7am to an 8 at noon.  Labor became very intense and difficult after that but Jeremy was the most supportive partner I could have asked for.When I was finally ready to deliver the baby but our doctor had not yet arrived!  The nurse asked me not to push, (as if I could stop at that point) luckily she came in then and 3 pushes later the baby arrived. They were able to suction the meconium out before it was swallowed and that may have had to do with the fact the umbilical cord was wrapped around baby's neck twice. The nurse later said that the cord being wrapped around probably helped prevent the baby from digesting the meconium.  Oddly that was comforting.
The baby arrived and I had to ask "is it a boy or a girl?"  No one had told me since they were so busy making sure he was healthy! "It's a boy!!!"  Jeremy stayed with the baby while the doctor finished with my needs and then we decided together just looking at this beautiful baby that Sidney was the pefect name.  Michael is Jeremy's middle name and a family name on my side of the family.  Grandpa Mike, Brian and Caulin all share this name as well.
He is a wonderful little boy, who is eating well, sleeping lots in the day (and not so much at night) and makes the most amazing faces.  I love to watch him after he eats when he is the active alert stage.  He will look around and smile a little, then gets cross-eyed a bit while he opens his mouth and makes funny little sounds. 
Today we took a walk outside with Dottie and later tonight we are going to give Sidney his first bath.  I am so excited to watch Sidney experience all these things for the first time.

Here are a few shots for you all to enjoy! I can't wait for you to meet baby Sid!!!