Did I mention....

Did I forget to mention that Owen started crawling?

Well...he did. And sometimes shirtless.

Did I mention Owen often has a location in mind while he is crawling.

Well he does. Typically, his location of choice seems to be Mommy or Daddy for some cuddling. He crawls to us almost every time we are on the floor with him! When we aren't on the floor, he'll just politely let us know he wants us by producing a loud ear-piercing scream. But we certainly don't mind having him crawl to us...you know...if it will prevent my ears from bleeding!

Did I mention when he gets our laps he loves to arch his back to hang upside down. Well, he does!

When Zombies Attack...

It isn't everyday that your 2-year-old learns to sacrifice her toys to the zombies...but when she does learn, you'd best tape it!

Perspectives..

You probably see a baby stuck in a chair....
I see a boy that needs to hurry up and learn how to crawl forward so we don't have to keep rescuing him form his various predicaments!



You see a boy playing with a toy...

I see a boy playing with the same toy that his sister played with two years ago. Both of them love this toy!!!

You see a boy spitting up....

I see a boy spitting up for the 9897474857th time! Seriously....that is a lot of discolored clothes, hidden spots on the carpet and shouts from a 2-year-old that said, "Don't spit up on me...on rag only!"

You see a cute lil 8-month-old, blue-eyed, deer-in-the-headlights-looking, boy.

I see a boy who got a hair cut. But wouldn't quite sit still long enough to get it perfected...but it isn't too shabby, if I do say so myself. (which...being his mother, as well as his stylist...I'm a bit biased!)

You see two amazingly adorable kids with a gigantic mess!

I see Bethany's "Snowman" masterpiece that includes her new beanbag chair, 2 large blankets, her outfit for the day (which she refuses to put on until like lunch), and a dozen or so toys. Oh yeah...I also see two amazingly adorable kids as well!

See...it is just a matter of perspective. It is just the Milles Perspective is a little more fine-tuned! :o)

Who's the Boss?

When Mommy is away the kids and Daddy will play!

I go out one evening for a meeting. When I come home...

The


House

Is


A

Disaster!
There were toys in the living room, books in the dining room, empty baskets that once housed coloring books, rugs were over turned, toys were sitting in time-out, a pair of glasses rested on the top of the tent AND one empty toy box was setting amongst the chaos!

Things were a mess.

When talking to Bethany about what happened and who was going to clean it up...she certainly had a couple of opinions...

For the record, she did help clean it up after a short stint in time-out to motivate her! :o)

Dancing With the Owen!

Owen might break the Milles-mold and be our lil' dancing fool!

He loves him some music!

8 Months Old

8 months have come and gone since Owen joined our lil' family in May.

He is such a big boy now with scrumptious blue eyes!

He couldn't pass up the opportunity to fling his sign around. Good news is that he didn't try to eat his sign this month as he did last month. Perhaps, his taste buds are maturing a bit. Maybe I should try out the dreaded peas again!

Other than his maturing taste buds...Owen is becoming accidentally mobile. He still isn't quite moving with a purpose...he just gets places. You know...by accident.

For example, see him hiding...

Yup, somehow he has managed to back himself in between the love seat and the wall.

Being that he can't crawl forward yet...he continues to back that thing up! I, of course, couldn't resist the opportunity to snatch a couple of pictures of him.

It appears that Bethany couldn't let the Kodak Moment pass her by either.

One day soon *hopefully, not too soon* Owen will get a handle on the whole crawling forward thing. But until then, I will continue rescue him from the various places he has managed to squeeze himself into.

A Snowy If...

If you take your daughter out to play in the snow...

then she'll probably ask you for a carrot.

Now that she has the carrot, she'll want to build a snowman.

She'll need a green contraption to help with the building process.

After a few minute of building, she'll get distracted and decide to make it snow again & throw snow in the air.

Eventually she finishes the snowman and she'll want to pose with it and her neighbor.

But, she'll be more engrossed with the snow on her hands than the camera itself.

At the end, you'll probably want to take a picture of the snowman itself...you know...for memory's sake.

That is....if you take your daughter out to play in the snow.

Hanging Around

We had a lot of fun hanging around home the last week and a half.

Literally...we've been hanging around....

Tomorrow, we head back to work and the kids head back to the sitters, where I am sure they are NOT allowed to hang on the pantry shelves. That is something a responsible person wouldn't allow, I definitely wouldn't condone such silliness in my house!!! (Just for the record, Owen was not left to dangle from the pantry shelf... Cory held him the entire time!)

Need Jesus?

Bethany needs Jesus!
At least that is what she was shouting at the top of her lungs while we were looking at Christmas lights around the adjacent neighborhood today!

She loves her some Jesus and kept on shouting, "I Need JESUS!"

Well, she's right. She does need Jesus.

But then again, don't we all?!?!

Tree-Huggers!

After we take one tree goes down, we put another tree in its place.

You know...

Just in case the kids need a get-a-way!

Their one-of-a-kind get-a-way includes a nice large doorway with leaf canopy, 2 shaded windows and 4 adorable leaves on the roof!

The floor is made of a lovely pink vinyl material which is perfect for rapidly swishing your legs back-n-forth on...which is totally in with the 7-month-olds!

So, if you need a lil' get-a-way that isn't too far from home...you know where to go!
There's always a happy face to greet you:o)

Baby it's Cold Outside!

Christmas 2009

Christmas 2009 was a huge success!

It all started with the arrival of the presents.

Santa was kind enough to take a picture of the finished product after he arrived. He even assembled Bethany's tree tent & hid presents inside of it.
Christmas was pretty standard...


Presents were opened.

Tents were entered...

Balls were hit...

and sent hoovering in the air...

Toys were taken over and claimed by the big sister...
and toys were explored for the first time...

...even a lil' Bling-Bling was donned.

Overall, we had a fantastic Christmas. We were blessed to have our family around us throughout the day. The kids are so lucky to have all their grandparents to spoil them to death and even a Great Grandpa!!! Bethany and Owen were showered with toys and clothes by all. And even more importantly, they (ok....Bethany) seemed really appreciative and into all the presents she was receiving. Owen, well, he really couldn't have cared less about the presents.

The best part of our Christmas is that Bethany learned that Christmas is Jesus's Birthday & we made Jesus an ice cream birthday cake!

This was the first year Bethany was able to anticipate the holiday. She more readily would state that Christmas was about Jesus's birthday over the fact that Santa was coming. A week or so before Christmas she was even caught singing,

"You better watch out. You better not cry.

You better not pout. I'm telling you why.

Jesus Christ is coming to town!"

Now...life can't get much sweeter than that!

You better watch out...

You better not cry.

You better not pout...

I'm telling you why!

Owen is almost crawling!!!!


The lil' stinker started off at the yellow blanket in the living room.

He made his way to the computer/toy room.

That face says it all....you better watch out I am becoming mobile!!!! Looks like it won't be long before Owen starts crawling for real. He is really getting a kick out of rocking back and forth on all fours! Perhaps we will have a crawling baby by New Years.

Then, we would, for sure, be doomed....2 mobile kids!

Winter is Here!*

Well it's official! (well, actually it's not scientifically official)

Winter is here! (you know...but not really here)

Wanna know how I know winter has arrived to the Milles household?


Well...it is all because Santas have been made! Complete with gloves on his legs and buttons in his beard.

And Gingerbread Trains have been assembled!

and decorated! Icing has even been licked off fingers, spoons and even the table!

The first snow has fallen...which results in the first snow suit having been purchased...along with cute green boats!

When Bethany first saw the snow this morning she said, "Look! Snow outside! Isn't it cute!"

Sicknesses have also finally confirmed the "start" of winter. Poor lil' guy is so wheezy and icky feeling! Look, you can totally see it in his eyes!

So that is how I know that Winter has started in our house!

*As a science teacher I have the academic responsibility to tell you that Winter starts during the Winter Solstice. The solstice is Dec. 21st this year. The solstice marks the 1 day of the year where there is the least amount of daytime, due to the Earth tilting away from the Sun!

Because She Asked...

Bethany asked me to take her picture.

So I did.

Why would I say no to something as adorable as these two....

Sibling Love!

Can you see it.

It is right there.

That is right. Look at those two. Their love for each other is so in your face & I love the fact that they love each other so much!

If you think these two are the most adorable things in this world and you want to see more of them...click this link. Abbie posted the final pictures of our photo shoot with her.

I promise...they won't disappoint you!