I’m not sure why it happened, or to be honest, even what “IT” is… but as I drove home from work yesterday, I decided something’s gotta change.

My mind is open.

Nothing spurred this on.  I had a great day at work, a giggling baby in the backseat, and a relaxing evening planned with my boys.

But, instead, I spent the night on the computer, researching.

I’m not a spontaneous person.  I calculate, plan, dwell on, (maybe even agonize over), each and every decision in life.

At least that’s who I used to be.

Lately though, I’ve been getting these strong, restless urges that I jump on quicker than I can blink. And, yesterday, out of the blue, a newfound, yet overwhelming, need to create something has hit me again.

I don’t know what that means or what it will look like, but I’ll be damned if I don’t figure it out soon. 🙂

photo credit: Heidiclaire.blogspot.com

In the meantime, we’d really appreciate your votes. 🙂 Click on the brown box below. THANKS!

Ian and I are arguing on the phone while he is driving home from work.  He walks in the door with a glass jar and says:  “I brought home a spider.”

Me: “YAY!! What kind? Let me see!”

Ian: (cracking up) “You are such a science teacher.”

😉

I seriously think I have the best job in the world.  My students are awesome.  Their questions, comments, and conversations are so innocent, inquisitive and naive- not to mention- HILARIOUS.  Today in the science lab, a first grader raised his hand, and in the most serious tone, asked, “Mrs. Mielke, is Mother Nature REAL?”  After doing my best at explaining that Mother Nature isn’t a real PERSON, but instead just a personification of nature (yeah, yeah- YOU try to do better with six year olds), another student chimed in and said- “Yeah, it’s like a BELIEF- just like Jewish people believe in one God and Christians believe in LOTS of Gods!”

Hehehe… Now, even I am confused. 🙂

I love them. 🙂

Grae got this great toy car from Aunt Jacque for Christmas and I’ve been re-introducing it every couple weeks since then.  In December, he was still too young to show any interest, and 3 weeks ago, it scared him so much he cried.  I tried to run it by him again tonight and he is completely smitten with it!  This is really the first time he’s delighted in a toy and its just too cute not to share.

Thanks, Jacque! 🙂 🙂

I’ve had a lot of emails asking how big my chunky monkey is these days…

He’s HUGE. 🙂 He is bigger (taller and heavier) than almost all of the babies in the baby room… and, NO… he still can’t roll over.  But, he’s getting closer! It will be any day now.

At his 4 month well baby check up, Graeson weighed 18 pounds, 2 ounces- which places him in the 95%.  He was 26.5 inches tall- 90%- and his head circumference was 41.5 cm (28%)… Apparently he has a small head… we all know he didn’t get that from Daddy or Mommy! 🙂

🙂 Thanks for asking about my little Boo.

Oh, AND he sucked his little piggy toes today for the first time… Who knew something like that would make me so proud?! 😉

XO

My newest discovery:

Green Machine!

RJ has decided that he is quite a picky eater.  Every night for dinner he requests “ravioli from the can, not the cooked stuff” and he wants it straight from the can. Not even warmed up in the microwave.  Yuck. When he is asked to eat one or two pieces of broccoli or one bite of salad, he will sit at the dinner table for over an hour trying to wait us out.  I’ve even tried bribes… “RJ, if you eat one little piece of broccoli, you will get a piece of cake!”  One hour later, he had nibbled off the tips of the broccoli, but left the stems!  Needless to say, he didn’t get his piece of cake.

A couple weeks ago, however, we went to Costco and got a sample of a green veggie smoothie and we all loved it- INCLUDING RJ!  We bought two jugs of it and RJ has been DRINKING his veggies since. 🙂 YAY!

The slogan of this DELICIOUS juice is: “Looks weird, Tastes amazing.”  And it is exactly that.  Y’all have to try it! 🙂

It tastes like a fruit smoothie, but in addition to the banana, mango, and apples and pineapple, it also contains broccoli, parsley, wheat grass, and even blue green algae!

Maybe someday I’ll try juicing at home and making my own veggie smoothies, but for now, this is an awesome alternative and it makes me feel a little better when the little guy chooses to eat everything but the green stuff on his dinner plate. 🙂

Votes are always appreciated 🙂 

It has been crazy around here lately… and unfortunately, the blog has been a little neglected.  I had the day off of work today, so finally I have a second to write a little bit. Spending the day at home alone with Baby Grae makes me miss my maternity leave even more. I love having him all to myself and being able to give him my undivided attention.

He’s going to be 4 months old tomorrow!  I cannot believe it.  Last night my emotions got the best of me, and, as my sweet boy slept in my arms, I bawled and bawled because he is growing up too fast.  Ian thinks I am crazy (he’s probably right) as he is so excited for Grae to get a little older so he can teach him things.  I wish there was a rewind, pause, or slow motion button- I haven’t gotten my fill of newborn baby boys yet.  Maybe its time for more? 😉

On another note, some things fell through with RJ’s family, so it looks like we get to keep him longer than DFACS intended.  He’s learning fast and is such a great fit into our family.  I’m dreading the day when DFACS tells us he has to leave us.  We celebrated his 5th birthday over the weekend and took him to Chuck E. Cheese.  It’s all he has been talking about for days.  🙂

My summer vacation countdown has started: 42 days of school left until I get to spend morning, noon and night with my baby! 🙂 Gahhh! We are going to have so much fun!

So, it is kind of a big day for TheMielkeWay!

Exactly one year ago, on March 8, 2011, time stood still.  It was one of the happiest moments of our lives, and a day that we will never forget.  It was the day we found out we were expecting our first precious miracle.  I can’t even fathom our lives without Grae, so it is impossible to think that only one year ago we didn’t even know he existed.

In addition to it being TheMielkeWay’s first anniversary, our blog also reached 31,000 all-time views from 60 different countries!!  I know that’s not too impressive for many of you bloggers out there, but to me, its a giant, crazy number.

🙂 Thank you so much for reading all my rambles.

Andrea