Overdue Birthday Update

So June is close to being over and I still need to post a Bethany Birthday update. So here it goes:

Keeping up with my tradition of making birthday cakes, I made Bethany a Tinkerbell Cake. At first I attempted a Tangled Cake--with the tower and all. Yeah. That didn't work out for me. So when Bethany saw the pile of cake that was once a tower...she said, "That's ok Mama. You can make a Tinkerbell Cake instead." 

She got a kick out of eating Tinkerbell's head!

Then it was present time.  Which in our house is apparently universal present time and all person under the age of 12 get to open the presents.

And...apparently all persons gets to have equal opportunity to play with the said presents...

Even Daddies...

The kids even got these awesome couches/bed from their Grandma.  What a great gift idea. They love having their own seats.

This was the first year Bethany was able to have her own Birthday Party with her friends.  We decided to go with the classic venue of Chuck E. Cheese. Which, of course, brought back fond memories for Cory, as he used to be Chuck E. back in the day. 

The kiddos has a blast!

Even Owen had a couple friends there to play with!

Gorgeous Dancing Girl

Today is Bethany's 4th birthday.  She is been looking forward to her birthday since last August. Seriously. This girl has been waiting 10 long months just for one day to celebrate her!  I think it will be worth the wait!

Here are some gorgeous picture of our lil' 4 year old at her dance recital on Sunday. 
She has one great personality!

Dancing "Show Biz Kids" with her class.

Doing "A Ballet Lesson".  She's so graceful!

Twirling and Twirling!

Strike a Pose!

Birthday Eve!

Today is marks the Eve of Owen's Birthday.  While he is starting to understand the excitement of his birthday...Bethany and I are super excited to celebrate his date with him.  (Cory is excited, of course...but we totally out do him!)

We are super proud of our lil' man.  He is putting more and more words together. Sometimes it is hard to get what he is saying, but if you can use the context of the situation, usually it makes sense.

He impresses me often.  The other day he grabs some lil' crafty shapes and starts sorting the lil' suckers. Who would've thought of that. What a smart booger he is!

See...all the little squares go in a nice little row.

Owen also has transitioned into his big boy toddler bed.  Big boy toddler bed. Could that be an oxymoron. Perhaps...but I am not the one that teaches Comm Arts...so I don't care so much.   He did great switching.  When Cory was putting together the bed Owen kept going, "WOOOAH! Night-Night! WOOOAH!"  He was even trying to assist in the construction a tad bit.

It is hard to believe two years has come since we have introduced our second lil' baby in our family.  He is such a blessing. Before he was born, I didn't understand how we could possibly love the second child as much as that first one.  But man...this lil' guy has a strong place in our hearts.  We are so immensely blessed to have Owen in our lives.  He is such a great lil' guy...Target tantrums and all!

Easter :::2011:::

Easter 2011 has come and gone. Overall, I would say it was a great success.

We are working extra hard for the kids to realize Easter is more than just bunnies, eggs and treats.  We want the kids to know the true purpose of Easter--the death and resurrection of Jesus. Yeah. Try explaining that to a three-year-old {Sorry--but we don't even bother trying w/ the 1-year-old}.  I think Bethany gets it. I mean..as much as a three-year-old can. She can tell us the story & it isn't regurgitation. She can actually have a conversation and ask questions about: sin, why we sin, does God sin, how does God feel when we sin, why Jesus had to die, and the meaning behind resurrection.  The part that kinda throws a wrench in the whole deal is the bunny and its blasted eggs. Yeah...she thinks the eggs are waiting for us in heaven. Ah..whatever works.

We did get the kiddos small lil' baskets and filled them up with a few goodies. We didn't emphasize the Bunny or anything...just that we are celebrating today and you happened to get goodies too, you know just in case eternal salvation wasn't good enough--now you have bubbles and jammies to take with you!

  We hid eggs in side the house after church.  The kids had a blast searching and searching for the eggs.

Bethany zipped through the house like an old pro at this game. She found tons of eggs.

Owen need a bit more guidance, as he would walk by an egg completely two or three times without realizing it.

Overall, it was a great Easter.  It seemed a little busy...but really all holidays seems a bit too busy now-a-days.  We have started to think outside the box in terms of holidays and busyness. With a lot of holidays it seems like we have so much on our plate: with things to do, places to go, traditions to follow, food to make, obligations to uphold...BUT we are thinking about toning down our holiday busyness and make sure we are focusing our attention on the true purpose of the holidays. Not worrying about all the running, cooking, prepping and whatnots that holidays typically bring. Then our kids can see the true purpose of whatever holiday we are celebrating and not fixate on the next item on our agenda. And as a secret-hidden bonus...we will be able to relax and enjoy the time with our family.

Oh...by the way...I owe you a huge apology. I managed not to get pictures of the awesome "Thank You Jesus" cookie cake that Bethany and I made.  This was the first year in ages I didn't make a bunny cake....but since I was failing to see the connection between the cross and a bunny; Bethany and I decided to change our focus.  Not only does this cookie cake taste amazing...but Bethany did a fantastic job of drawing three cross on it for us.  And Bethany's explanation of the crosses is one of the best explanations I've heard in a long time....  "One cross is for God {of course meaning Jesus} & two for the bad guys that did bad things.  God doesn't sin...just us.  God was born before us and He is good."

hehehe...Isn't she something...

there are times

There are times where motherhood is rather stressful. Having to work all day just to come home to clean, cook, discipline, and love. Don't even get me started on the impossibility to find times for the husband and myself. There are times where you run and run throughout the entire weekend and you are.just.worn.out!

But then you take a day off of work to help celebrate Valentine's Day at the 3 year old's preschool.   All those late night and exhausting days seemed to be worth it.  I mean...look at the outfit she puts together. Isn't see scrumptious!

But before preschool...it is time for McD's.

 

At the party I watch Bethany totally comfortable with where she's at.

 It was so much fun for me to see her at her school & to help host her party.  They had ice cream sundaes, made necklaces, hit the pinata and exchanged cards. 

It was so rewarding to see her in her preschool with all her friends.  After seeing her in her school, I am so grateful that we chose that preschool a year ago. It is a perfect fit for Bethany.   I can't wait until when Owen gets his chance to attend her school in a short 1 and 1/2 years!

Today is...

Six months since Owen's surgery to correct his craniosynostosis (which just so happens to coincide with it has been 6 months since some of the single worst moments of my life). 

But I gotta say that today...

Owen's

looking

mighty

fine!

Christmas {2010}

The Milles Christmas in pictures {with brief captions}.

Decorating Jesus's birthday cake {with a few sprinkles}

Presents {waiting to be opened}

Using the long-desired telescope {to spy on the neighbors}

Being absolutely adorable {while sporting an ear infection}

Riding in the Cozy Coup {& opening presents, drinking milk and resting in the Coup as well}

Riding her bike {not sure how she became big enough}

We had a blessed, amazing Christmas.

Praise God for giving us his Only Son, who of which we celebrate this great day!

Mary...

One of my favorite Christmas songs is Mark Lowry's "Mary, Did You Know?"

With all the anticipation of Christmas and our own hard work in making sure that Christmas is really about the celebration of Jesus's birthday---and not a generous, jolly ol' elf...Bethany wanted to dress up to be Mary.  

She's a pretty adorable Mary, if I do say so myself.

Anyway, back to my original point. Have you heard that song.  I think being a mother it brings a totally different perspective to the whole Jesus's birthday thing.  I now think about Christmas through the Mommy Lens.  Do you have a Mommy lens? If not...all you do is think through it from Mary's perspective. 

 Sure she knew she was blessed with Son of God.  But my heart breaks when I think about the end of Jesus's life. Did Mary know about THAT from the get-go?  Did she realize just how miraculous and significant of an event was taking place & that her whole life has completely changed directions.  I know that I, for one, tend to underplay events in life & not truly realize their significance until time has passed and I am an outsider looking back. 

Then I wonder, how much did she anticipate the end of Jesus's life. Was she dwelling on it (like, ahem, I know some people might).  Did she cry for him? Did she worry for him? Did she lose sleep at night knowing the inevitable?

For being such a joyous and emotional event....just how much did Mary consider when she as she was holding the brand new baby Messiah?

 

I am grateful for Mary.  What a super strong woman....having been so young & yet so instrumental in the salvation of billions of people.

(btw...I am sure the REAL Mary never dragged her baby brother around by his arms...ahem...we certainly would never let this Mary do it either...)

Simple Parenting Mistake Solved

Parenting Mistake # 2,423,424.667:

 We put up all the Christmas decorations, the Christmas tree and sat on Santa's lap all on the same day with the 1 year old and the 3 year old (who still struggles w/ the concept of time...as indicated by the fact that every day in the past is considered yesterday).  The result of these activities: Bethany thought the next day was Christmas & when it turned out NOT to be Christmas, she thought the next day was Christmas. This went on for a few days until.....

Solution to Mistake #  2,423,424.667:

 Along with the wooden nativity scene advent calendar, I made a large and colorful paper-chain to count down the days until Christmas.  We started with 24 days left & after bath time Bethany gets to tear one piece off at a time.  She knows once she gets to rip the last one, the next day will be Jesus's birthday.  She loves getting to rip one off each day & counting the remaining links.

And sometimes, while she does that, Owen "gets" to eat some non-edible candle decorations, sigh.

Christmas is Coming!

It is official!  Christmas is coming and the proof is all over the Milles house!

 

The decorations and tree are in place.

Little girls and lil boys have sat on Santa's lap and placed their final gift requests.  They even got their pictures taken with Santa. But you won't find those picture on this blog post as I am too lazy to get up and scan them in the computer.

 Another sign of Christmas---Homers donned in holiday garb are being played...

make that...overplayed...

Christmas is surely on its way.  What a refreshing feeling to know that we are on the eve of December. Now, if we can figure out how to clearly communicate to Bethany when Christmas is...then we are all set. Everyday she is asking if today is Christmas...poor thing doesn't quite get the concept of three weeks. But I have something up my sleeve to rectify that problem!

I hope you are having a relaxing start to the holiday season.  If you can...make sure you keep the reason for the season in the fore-front of you minds.  After all, without Jesus ... there wouldn't be much of this Christmas stuff, now would there?!?!

how to....

Is your husband about to have his 32nd birthday? And you don't know how to celebrate it? Well, good thing we've been through that exact same situation.

Here are 13 steps telling you How to celebrate your Husband's 32nd birthday:

1) Find a crazy recipe to try out on the husband for his birthday cake.

2) Enlist the help of your favorite 3 year-old to cook this awesome cake. Also...since the cake has SIX layers, you may also have to beg and plead w/ your neighbors to obtain more cake pans. Then, once you got their cake pans, you'll probably need to be envious of how cool those pans are compared to yours. Man, why or why did we register for the cheap ones 7 years ago????

3) Make the cake.  While making the cake totally impress the three year old with your ability to make white cake suddenly appear different colors!!

4) Bake the said cakes.  Remembering that since you are putting less cake mix in each pan, that your must be extra careful not to burn the cakes.

5) Start decorating and icing the cake.  While ripping the foil of the icing container, be sure to spill half of the container of the ground--right in proximity of your 1 year old, that away it won't be too easy for your to clean up when you are competing against the never-satisfied-hunger of a 1 year old.  Then just about die of laughter when the three-year-old comments on its poop-like appearance! :O)

6)  Finish decorating the cake. But first, be sure to ask the 3 year old what her Daddy needs on top of his cake and try your darnedest to fulfill those wishes...then step back and be disappointed in admire your work.

7) Make the husband pose with the cake. Then put up with it when he says that it seems like a silly tradition. But make him pose with the cake anyway because that what you are supposed to do on your birthday dab-nab-it.

8) Attempted a three-quarters family photo...but fail because you can wheel the high chair close enough...but they are still pretty cute anyway.

9) Put all the candles on the cake you can find. Of course, you don't have 32 candles. That's a lot. No one has 32 candles at their house. But put on the 10 magic-reigniting candles that you can find.

Then watch as the husband and three-year-old attempt to blow them out over and over and over again. 

 10) Slice up the cake and hear the husband's surprise when it is rainbow. Then...make him pose with the cake a second time (hehehe)!

11) Feed the Bitty Baby Boy a slice of cake.  Then as you admire his smile think, "forget the cake...I could just gobble him up and all his glorious cuteness!"

12) Continue to watch the 1 year old as he finishes eating the cake and proceeds to rearrange the remnants from his plate to the tray and vice versa.  He is just too funny.

13) Finally, give the husband his birthday present that you weren't supposed to give him b/c you spent a lot of money on his Father's Day present. But you know...what's a birthday without a present.

So there you have it.  That is best way I can think of to celebrate the 32-year-old husband's birthday. Hope you find this helpful!