A Pirate's Birthday for Me.....Aargh!

Chris was out of town and Millie was sick on my birthday, but that didn't stop me from having a fun day! I took Millie to her sitter's house (who, by the way, was very kind with birthday wishes and treats) before work and went home to work for the rest of the day. At 12:30, I heard some noise outside my door, and the doorbell rang. It was my friends, Erin and Karen, dressed as veteran (for Veterans Day, of course) pirates and holding extremely fattening fried fish. (I am making a confession that I like to eat at Long John Silvers, everyone.) They were good sports to subject themselves to LJS, even though they kind of hate it, and they looked so funny!

After I picked Millie up, another friend came to my house to watch her, so I could go to Young Womens and dinner with some friends. The young women were so cute...without being prompted by a leader or anything, they made me a big cardboard card that they had all written notes on and gave me a bag of Hershey Kisses. So impressed!

Thanks to all who helped make my birthday special!

I'm 9 Months Old!

This little princess is getting SO active. She has now entered the "must destroy" phase. She has already ripped pages out of books, and she loves to get in her diaper carrier and take them all over the room. She also loves crawling around while holding items in her hands, thus click-clacking around on the tile floors. She really likes closing doors, and she is becoming pretty strong-willed (especially at diaper changing time). I can already see us battling over what she's going to wear or what her curfew will be. Oh, well...for now she is a fun little lady (who doesn't like to lay down at all when she's not sleeping; hence, most of the blanket pics)!

Nana's Visit

Nana Hart came to visit, and we had so much fun, we forgot to take pictures...ummmm, so here are the only ones we really have. Nana was so great, and Millie loved hanging out with her. We ate lots of good food, did some shopping, went to Lubbock, and took care of a sick baby. Poor Millie had a double ear infection and tonsilitis. She didn't act THAT sick, though. Anyway, we had a great time with Nana and can't wait to see her again. Come back soon!

George W. Bush's Childhood Home

Buzzzzzzzzzz

We had a great Halloween this year. I spent most of it doing laundry and preparing for a work trip, but we were able to spend a couple of hours at the ward trunk or treat. Nana Hart was so great to help make the costumes, and we had a lot of fun with our little bumblebee. We hope you had a great Halloween, too!

A Short Relocation

Since Chris was forced to go out of town on business for an extended period of time, I was able to go to North Carolina for 3 whole weeks! It was awesome for so many reasons - kept me from being a single mother, was able to hang with the family, enjoyed real fall weather, attended my high school reunion, hung out with some old friends, just to name a few...Millie was a trooper. She did a great job on the airplane both ways and even got back on her sleeping schedule away from home. As always, I had a lot of great food, great times, and had a lot of fun. Makes me want to move closer to all the peeps...

Millie loves Aunt Stephie(She was so sick that night. Look at those red eyes!)

Millie loved climbing on Papa and having him give her kisses. He even taught her to wave.

We celebrated Papa's birthday while we were there.

Kylee and Papa at his birthday dinner

Kylee is SUCH a great cousin to Millie! They really love each other. Kylee was such a great help. She did whatever I asked (or before I asked) - diaper changing, feeding, clothing, holding. What a great niece!

Nana gave Millie a bath in the kitchen sink; it's tradition.

Millie loves to scrunch her nose and squint her eyes when she smiles.

Sometimes I was forced to let her crawl on the bathroom floor while I showered. Ick.

She found her toe during a bath. So cute.

She loved the dogs again this trip. She would yell to go see them. She tried so hard to get out of our arms, so she could go be with them. She touched their noses and petted them. She was not afraid at all!

She would even watch them when she was inside.

Random Cuteness

She and Gavin had a love/hate relationship. Gavin loved to give her kisses and pat her head, but sometimes he gave a little too much love. It was precious.

Collin is such a great cousin, too. He helped out so much and was so sweet to Millie.

We had to stop by Harrahs for some refreshing CocaColas - in honor of Chris. He claims the best Coke he's ever had came from this soda fountain.

She loves taking a bath. She especially loves trying to drink the water and eat the bubbles.

These three were all laying on their tummies on the floor, and we had to snap a pic.

Back in the Days of Shania Twain...

While I was in NC, I was able to attend my 10-year high school reunion. Has it really been that long? Apparently, it has. Anyway, I had a great time reconnecting with some old friends. It turns out we are just as silly now as we were then - just (a little) more mature, older, and have more kids. As always, I should have taken more pictures, but I did get a few; and, I'm including some from high school as a comparison. Props to the Class of 1999 Smoky Mountain Mustangs! Woot!

I'm 8 Months Old!

Millie is growing so fast. She has become quite adept at movement in the last month. We were in NC for three weeks and she mastered stair-climbing - up to 15 in one stretch. It took her about 15 minutes, but she did it without falling back at all. All of my siblings and my parents have staircases at their houses, so it is nice to be back in the land of ranch-style homes, where I don't have to worry as much about her falling down stairs. She has also started waving, which is very cute. Her Papa taught her how, and she basically holds up her arm and moves her wrist in circles - counter-clockwise. She even waved bye-bye to her Daddy when he tried to hold her after being away for 3 weeks. It was a sad experience; she cried for about 5 minutes and wouldn't let him hold her.

Her top front teeth broke through last week, which was a relief, because the poor girl had some major mouth pain. She has also recently learned to shake her head and thinks it's pretty cool, so she does it a lot. Luckily, she learned how to sit back down after pulling herself up a few weeks ago, so bed time is a much happier time! She is back to going to bed willingly and doesn't cry anymore. She rarely makes a peep after she goes to bed. I'm sure she will have future sleeping issues, but for now, all is well!

She loves all the food she has tried, with the exception of green beans. She will eat them, but she is not a huge fan. She LOVES peas. She is really starting to develop a personality and is becoming so interactive. What a cutie! She seems to be thinning out and getting taller. What do you think?

I'm Seven Months Old!

Millie is changing so fast and getting so big. She can now crawl and is pretty fast at it. She has also learned how to pull herself up to a standing position and how to sit back up after changing positions. We have discovered her standing up in her crib crying after not knowing how to get back down from standing up. I'm guessing she will be walking in the next month or two. How frustrating it must be to be learning so many new things but not knowing how to fully use them.

She says "mamama" and "dadada" when each of us is around, and we think she understands who is who. She used to be a great sleeper; we could lay her down in her crib for a nap or bedtime and she would roll over and fall asleep without a fuss. Now she yells when we start walking down the hall toward her room. She cries before every nap and bedtime, even though it is usually only for a minute or so. How did she go from being a good sleeper to a bad one? She still sleeps well at night though - about 10-11 hours straight.

She is also becoming more needy. She used to just play on her own for an hour or two without caring if anyone was around. Now she looks around a lot to make sure someone is in the room, if she is willing to play on her own at all. I hope it is just a phase, because it becomes taxing sometimes to not be able to do anything other than hold her all day (although I do like holding her)! She loves sucking on/playing with tags on toys/blankets/soft books. They are more fun than the toy itself sometimes.

She is now eating cereals. She likes rice cereal, oatmeal, and whole wheat cereal. She will start a veggie at the end of this week. She caught on quickly and loves to sit in her high chair and eat. As soon as we put her in her high chair, she starts banging her hands on it and grunting. Luckily, she doesn't try to put her hands on the spoon anymore when we put it in her mouth, and she likes when we play airplane with the spoon.

Here are some pics I took yesterday. She is really starting to change and look older.


I think she looks like my baby pictures in this one, except for the hair color (I am in the white/red dress). What do you think?


Pics from the last month: