Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone. I am so sorry for not updating the blog in forever. I have received numerous emails and phone calls about the lack of updates. I apologize as I had no idea we have such wonderfully loyal readers.

The superstition says that how one spends New Year's Eve determines what they'll do in the coming year. So, I spent a little time New Year's Eve, yesterday and this morning updating the blog hoping that I will update more in the New Year.

I have made five new posts after this one - in reverse chronological order. Hopefully, these will catch you up on all things Miloch.

Here's wishing you a fantastic 2009. Thanks for all your love and friendship. I do apologize for not updating often, and I will try to do better. We hope to see all of you this year. Happy New Year!

Christmas

We have had a FANTASTIC Christmas. Just before Christmas, we went to ICE at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine. ICE is a huge exhibit of ice sculptures at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center. It is about a 25 minute drive for us, and we had a great time. It's about 9 degrees inside the ICE tent, and we were all required to wear a parka that the hotel provided. It was really cold, but the ice sculptures were really unbelievable. My parents and Maggie's Great Aunt Jill joined us, and we met my Uncle and cousin for dinner afterward. It was a really fun day Unfortunately, Maggie would not sit on the ice Santa, but she did go in the ice gingerbread house with her Great Aunt Jill.

The Gaylord Texan is gorgeous and is really neat walking around. They have a riverwalk which is pretty much an exact replica of the San Antonio Riverwalk The scenery is fantastic, the people are great, but I wouldn't recommend eating there. We just had a snack, but it wasn't all that great. Maybe the other restaurants are much better - they have a ton of them inside. The resort is also across the street from the Great Wolf Lodge - we may have enjoy that waterpark in the Spring.

Christmas Eve, Matt and I helped Santa get Maggie's toys ready for display. It went surprisingly fast, but we were pretty tired afterward. Santa left Maggie a water table, a toddler sized four-wheeler which does not exceed 2 mph, a Doodle Pro, some stacking puzzles, and some stacking blocks. Maggie really did not enjoy opening her presents - she much preferred playing with each gift for awhile before she would consider opening another present. It was cute and a little frustrating at the same time. After she opened presents and we had breakfast, we headed to my parents for Christmas Day. Maggie had even more presents to open and all of her gifts from everyone have been a big hit. Her favorites so far seem to be her water table (it was 73 yesterday so she was able to use it), her Doodle Pro, her Hokey Pokey Elmo, her toy laptops, her table and chairs, and all of her puzzles. She is having too much fun playing with everything.

One of the highlights of her visit to her Nana and Grandpa's farm was the two baby calves Grandpa had in the pen. Here are a few photos of her and the big "dogs." She refuses to say "cow" and will even correct us when we tell her that cows are not dogs. We'll say "Maggie, that's a cow." And she will reply "No, No. Dog". This happens daily.

Just after Christmas, our very good friends from Chicago visited, and it was so nice to see them. Maggie had a fun time playing with the toys they brought for her, and Angus was in heaven with all the attention he received.

As I type this, we are awaiting my parents arrival for New Year's Eve. We're planning a very low key meal and a relaxing evening. Tomorrow, our Aunts and Uncles and cousin will join us for a traditional New Year's Day meal - Texas style - fried chicken, black-eyed peas, cornbread, and football.

We hope all of you have had a great holiday season.

December

December started out a little rough in the Miloch household. We all either caught the stomach flu or had a touch of food poisoning. We're not quite sure which, but regardless of the culprit, we were miserable for a few days.

Despite frequent comments about "Santa", Maggie never warmed up to the jolly fellow. She met Santa twice, and was having none of it. Here is the second attempt to get her to "talk" to Santa.

Our cousin Molly graduated from college, and we very much enjoyed attending her graduation party. We thought Maggie would never sit still and behave through her graduation ceremony, so we headed home after the party. It turned out we were right given that we've heard many stories of other family members having a difficult time behaving during the 2.5 hour ceremony. We are really excited for Molly and are confident that she'll get into the grad school of her choice.

That same weekend, we hosted all of the Sutton side of the family. This was such a fun day with everyone. Maggie met her cousin Haylee. Haylee is just about 3.5 weeks younger than Maggie. They hit it off and played really well together.

I was fortunate to have finished the semester in time for Maggie's school Christmas party. Several new toddlers enrolled so it was fun to meet the new toddlers in the class. Santa visited their party, and left us with a room full of screaming toddlers. Apparently, none of the little ones in Maggie's class cares for the big guy. We're lucky that Maggie has a great teacher and that her classmates are all so fun.

Here are a few of Maggie's December highlights

• She grew out of two pairs of shoes (which I assumed she'd be able to wear in the Spring)


• She began to frequently say the word "no." I am not sure she understands what it means because most of the conversations go like this. Kim or Matt "Do you want your milk?"; Maggie "no" as she grabs the milk and begins to drink


• She often refuses her sippy cup in favor of a cup and a straw.


• She has become a seriously picky eater - most often wanting only goldfish.


• She now says all of her classmates names as well as Nana, Grampa, Kelle (for her Aunt Kelle), Molly (for her cousin and Aunt); Jill (for her Great Aunt)


• She also now says words very clearly like "milk, more, nite nite, nap, blanket, dog, orange, ball, and airplane


• Every time she sees an airplane, she points and screams "airplane." She waves and walks around saying "airplane, bye, bye" Here is a photo.


• She has begun to really enjoy drawing.


• She has become very attached to her "da-da" and hates it when he leaves the room or walks away.

I think we're now caught up on December. I think this hits the high points. I hope you're enjoying the updates.

More to follow.

Halloween and November

This Fall has been really good to us. Here is a short recap of Halloween and November.

• Matt started his new job at the end of October. He works for a local school district which is the fifth largest in Texas, serving more than 55,000 students. He really loves his new job and he likes his co-workers. The best part of Matt's new job is that he gets all the teacher holidays so he has the week of Thanksgiving off, two weeks off during the holidays; he gets Spring Break; and a bunch of other days too. It will make for a great schedule to travel to Illinois, Indiana and around Texas.


• Maggie's Grandma and Grandpa Miloch visited from Chicago. She had a blast playing with them. It was a great visit.


• Maggie was a little cowgirl for Halloween. She had a pink cowboy hat, and she wore her first pair of cowgirl boots. She didn't much care for her hat or the candy. She consistently refused candy - clearly she does not get that from me or Matt. We took her to the firestation's Halloween and it was surprisingly not crowded. It was a fun outing. We also toured the neighborhood in her little red wagon and met many of our neighbors.



• Maggie's school Halloween party was tons of fun as you can see from the photos.

• November was a great month for us as well. I had a great 36th birthday, and we hosted Thanksgiving. Maggie and her Nana had a fun time at her school's Grandparents' Tea. Unfortunately, I forgot to put the memory card in the camera and don't have any photos.


• Thanksgiving was so much fun with my family, cousins, Aunts and Uncles. We had a fantastic day. We also met our good friends for lunch after Thanksgiving and are thrilled for their upcoming wedding in May.

Here are a few of the things Maggie began doing and saying in November.

• Hi ya'll


• Bye ya'll
• apple
• water
• dog - woo woo (for woof, woof)
• turkey
• outside
• She loves to be outside and to go outside and is constantly requesting to go "outside."
• Her favorite food became goldfish.
• She loves to ride her dog Angus.
• She will sit by herself, open a book, and pretend to read.
• She climbs, climbs, and climbs
• The remainder of her teeth (except for her incisors) came in
• She grew out of half her clothes (which I thought would last until summer)
• She regularly attempts to steal the remote control and when she is unsuccessful, she runs to the tv stand and begins to manually operate the DVR.

That about sums up Halloween and November. I think I remembered all the highlights.

Pumpkin Patches

This Fall in Texas was fantastic. It wasn't too cool, but we did have a few cool mornings. Maggie was still wearing shorts to school and once in a while, she would wear her little sweater jacket. Matt and I joked when I asked him "how are you liking being in Texas so far?" He says "It's Nov. 1st and I'm wearing shorts." Then, I said, "yes, it's great - but two years from now, we'll be saying, it's Nov. 1st and it's still 80 degrees." Things are great but definitely a little different. One big difference this year was what we hoped would be an annual trip to the pumpkin patch with Maggie. We went around mid October to what was advertised as a pumpkin patch. What it turned out to be was just a bunch of pumpkins. It wasn't quite like the pumpkin patches we were used to in Illinois and Indiana. Last year, we cut our pumpkin from the vine. This year we picked it from a stack among stacks.

Our main goal was to take a similar shot to this picture - the one we took of Maggie in Fall of 2007 when she was about 4 months old.

As you can see from the pictures, she was having none of that. She was far more content to run around. We finally snapped a few okay photos while she rode in the wagon with the pumpkins.

We did have a fun time though, and the pumpkin patch at her school was a bit better. They imported pumpkins and placed them around a field so it was a bit more like a patch, but not quite. Her class visited the patch the same day they had their hayride and trip to the haymaze, also at her school. Maggie ran around again, but finally did pick a pumpkin her size. Matt had finished his contract job the day before and didn't start his new job until Monday so he joined us for the festivities. We had such a fun time with Maggie, her teachers, and her classmates and their parents. It was a tad chilly that morning - around 60 degrees so everyone was bundled up pretty good.

Lions, Tigers, and Bears Oh My!

The second weekend in October, we ventured over to Fort Worth and the Fort Worth Zoo. Maggie's Godfather and his family gave her a trip to the zoo for her 1st birthday. Maggie had a fantastic time. Nana and Grandpa Tom visited that weekend, and we all had so much fun. I hadn't been to Fort Worth in about 8 years, and I have always really liked Fort Worth so it was nice to go.

The zoo was great. It was about 75 degrees, and most of the zoo is shaded. We couldn't have asked for a better day. Maggie saw "dogs" everywhere, and she purchased her first ice cream cone and a t-shirt with her zoobucks. She was non-stop for about 3.5 hours and then she wound down pretty quick. She was asleep before we were out of the parking lot.

The zoo was featuring its "back in black" exhibit of penguins and its new lion cubs. Unfortunately, the lion cubs were sleeping so close to their mom that we couldn't see them. We'll go back though and see them soon.

Settling In

It's hard to believe it's almost October. Wow, how time flies. And, this week was really the first week that we think we've felt truly settled. Since I am behind, I will once again steal my friends' idea of bullets - but please enjoy the photos of Miss Maggie along the way.

• Thanks for all your calls and emails about the Hurricane Ike. We didn't get much of it here in North Dallas. The eye wall passed to our east and we got a steady wind and steady rain, but nothing severe. We were fortunate to be on the west side or "clean" side as they say. Houston and Galveston and parts of East Texas were literally hammered by Ike. Power is slowly returning but wow - what a mess. I think they still have signs on I-45 that say "Do Not Drive to Houston".



• Matt started a six week contract job on Monday. It's in Irving, and he's enjoying it. It takes him about 45 minutes with traffic to get to his job. Irving is the current - but soon to be former - home of Texas Stadium. We are hoping that Matt lands a permanent position soon, and he is currently waiting to hear back on an interview from last week.


• We had an Open House at Maggie's school last night. It was really fun. Maggie is in early toddler pre-school with five other toddlers right around her age. Their day consists of play time, art, music, reading, more playtime, two snacks, and a nap. Her teacher, Mrs. Lee, is fantastic.


• Since Maggie started school, I noticed (and Mrs. Lee confirmed) that Maggie wasn't eating her packed lunch. I asked Mrs. Lee and she confirmed this. I would get reports of Maggie snatching other kids' lunch. Mrs. Lee told me this week to try not cutting up Maggie's food as the other kids didn't have their food cut up. So, I sent her with a half sandwich the rest of the week and didn't cut her fruit. She's been eating like a champ. Apparently, she didn't like that her food was different and she preferred to share rather than eat her food in small bites.


• Maggie LOVES being outside. So much so that when we go inside, she gets real angry. Her favorite thing is to run around and say "buh buh" for "bye-bye". She will go to the doors and bang on them and say "ousigh" for outside. It's hilarious.


• She often grabs books at home and will flip through them as if she is reading them. This just cracks us up because clearly she can't read them, but she will point and touch as if she is.
• This weekend, we're off to my parents for a quick visit for Homecoming. It will be Maggie's first parade.

Hope all of ya'll are doing really well. Write, call, email, and visit us soon.

Lots to Report

Well, I am behind on blogging so I will use several of my friends' ideas to catch up. Some of my friends occassionally use bullets on their blogs so I will do that to catch up and will also include a few photos.

• Maggie started early toddler pre-school two weeks ago. She started the same day as classes started for me. The drop offs were rough but by Tuesday of this week, she was a pro. She actually waved "bu-bu" to me today as I left.


• She is doing well in school. She even has a friend there named Aengus - pronounced the same way as our dog Angus. They were fast friends.


• Maggie is walking like an old pro. She has practiced and forced others to hold her hand for almost 2 months now but right around the time she started school, she started walking on her own.


• We had some issues getting her to like her shoes. She would literally have a breakdown and shake when we put them on her. On her second day of school, Miss Monica put them on her and immediately took her outside to play with her classmates. Now, she really likes her shoes. She will often grab them and show them to us as well. It's hilarious.


• Some afternoons after school, Maggie joins me at "college". That is what I tell her "you're going to college with momma this afternoon". She'll come to my office for a bit, drink her milk, and have a snack. Then, she'll just walk around while I finish up for the day.


• Matt has had several interviews, and we're hoping he'll land a job real soon. He has another interview on Tuesday and we're totally crossing our fingers.

• I was bummed when the Olympics ended, but then I remembered that the US Open was starting the next day so my disappointment was short lived. I am now, however, bummed that the US Open ends soon.
• I am liking my new job very much.


• Maggie loves riding the carousel and the nearby mall. I posted some pictures. Don't mistake the look on her face - she often tries to shake the horses so they will move. She is a bit impatient for the carousel to start.


• Apparently, Maggie also likes climbing and sliding on the play toys and playground at school. They say she loves to go outside and to read and play with puzzles and books.

• They sing songs at school and she has learned a song about her hands. She will often show us her hands and babble. We don't understand what she is saying but are pretty sure she's trying to sing the song.

Okay - I'll update more later. Hope everyone is doing really well. Come visit soon.