Uncle AJ goes to prom

Uncle AJ wanted a picture in his prom tux with his "favorite girl," and that's a direct quote. How could we refuse? So we got to hang out with him the day of his prom. Lucky boys don't have to spend forever getting ready, so we walked to the park and played for a while. 

Then it was time for pictures! Uncle AJ looked just like James Bond.

She was the self-appointed  prom group mascot

Mother's Day/Mom's birthday

We got to be in Lufkin to celebrate Mother's Day this year. My mom's 50th birthday also happened to fall on Mother's Day, so it was a double-the-fun celebration!! We ate a yummy breakfast and went to church and ate a yummy lunch and a yummy dessert. My kind of Mother's Day- it was full of good food! Tyler and I also got to talk to his brothers serving missions- on a video chat! It was so fun to see them and they loved seeing/meeting Millie. We can't wait to see them in person.

Playing MarbleWorks with Grandma

She loved it!!

 I'm so grateful for all the mothers in my life. Tyler and I were talking on our way home from Lufkin about life and family and how grateful we are to have such wonderful families. It's just so amazing and inspired that Heavenly Father gave us families to go through life with! What would we do without each other? We love our families.

One of my favorite memories with my mom was kind of an ongoing one growing up. Each of the kids (once we were old enough) were assigned a night to cook dinner and to do the dishes afterwards. I always chose Thursdays, because that's when ER was on TV! I would take as long as possible to do the dishes so I could watch it all with my mom. We would watch ER and the 10:00 news together. Those were some great one-on-one times with my mom! I'm so glad she is my mom and Millie's grandma.

I'm so grateful to be a mom myself! It's the best job in the world and I wouldn't have it any other way. I was telling Tyler that sometimes it's just a lot of pressure to have these little people rely on you so completely! I hope that years down the road my kids will look back on their childhood with fond memories and feelings. Lucky for me, I have great examples to follow in my mom, sisters, mother-in-law, grandparents, aunts, cousins, and friends. Happy Mother's Day to you all!

26

Tyler turned 26 this weekend!! Since we went to Lufkin on his birthday, we started celebrating the week before. We went to the Woodlands with Tyler's parents! We ate at Jerry Built Homegrown Burgers (Very important side note: if you ever visit Houston, you HAVE to go there. It's just a must. I don't eat as much meat these days as I used to, but I would go there anytime. That's how good it is) and walked around Market Street for a little while.

Tyler teased that we should frame this picture for my nightstand. Still considering it.

I held back long enough to take a picture

We also enjoyed Blue Bell ice cream cookie sandwiches

Even Millie was excited!

Jealous of the kids who got to play in the water

Her first trip to Charming Charlie

I guess she was still hungry

On Tyler's actual birthday, we ate cinnamon rolls (one of his favorite treats) for breakfast and he opened a present from us- a basketball and pump! Even though Millie stole it right away, he's really excited to play more.

Blurry, but I love his smile

 Then we packed up the car and drove to Lufkin! We dipped our feet in the pool and visited before driving to Longview. In Longview we ate dinner at Chili's (bad service and, consequently, a free meal) and went to their Stake Talent Show, which Sarah performed in. It was the weirdest talent show ever, I can't even explain it. You just had to be there to appreciate it. To give you a taste: creepy Pink Panther suit, Phantom of the Opera, and a traditional Chinese flower dance performed by not one Chinese person. But Sarah did awesome! And we were glad to be there. We ate Blue Bell ice cream when we got home, which makes every birthday a great one.

Tyler and I were holding hands in the car, and Millie reached over and stuck her little hand in too. She is so sweet!

Always wants to wear Daddy's "at"

Coloring at Chili's

She was fascinated by Grandpa eating chips and salsa

Learning the chicken dance from Aunt Sarah 

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

I love Tyler so much and am so grateful he was born. Those are both huge understatements, but they'll have to do. I'm so excited to celebrate many more birthdays with my man! 

Wednesdays with Grammy {and Gigi and Millie}

We are so lucky to live close to Grammy! Millie and I get to have fun with her and Gigi on Wednesdays. Not every Wednesday, but every one that we can! Sometimes we go to the Woodlands, sometimes Grammy comes here. Either way, we always have a great time. Our outings usually include lunch and errands or shopping. Any excuse we need to get together!

They have a great indoor playground at the Woodlands Mall, which Millie loved playing on a few weeks ago.

Riding the carousel in the mall. Millie loved it!

An old picture, not on a Wednesday. But it has all 4 of us in it!

I feel really lucky to have married into a family that I truly love and get along with! I hope Millie sees someday how loved she is by her extended family and how special it is that she knows her great-grandma. We have so much fun together and I'm glad we live close to them.

Lately around here

I feel like I'm losing some of my blogging mojo. Whatever that means. Here's what we're up to:

Millie: She tried french toast the other day!! Progress. She's still a stinker when it comes to eating. I'm trying to just accept it and let her be a baby and continue eating baby food if she really wants to! Millie has quite an attitude these days. She'll have full on, lay-on-the-ground-and-kick-and-scream tantrums and I'm learning how to deal with that. I'm surely not the best at it, but we're learning together. She is climbing everything these days and it's not uncommon to find her on top of the coffee table or kitchen table! Millie gives me a few heart attacks a day. Along with all her toddler challenges, she is so sweet. She tries to copy what we say and she asks for two naps a day when she's tired. She still loves being outside, and I'm sure she would prefer to have a mom who just sits on the bench and reads at the park instead of a hovering helicopter mom, which is what I am. At least until she's a little older. Millie is afraid of anything that makes a loud noise, which means she runs to me and lays her head on my shoulder until it stops. I'll take my snuggles however I can get 'em!

Tyler: He's just a rockstar. It's amazing, all that he does. I feel really lucky to be the woman by his side. Work is still pretty busy for him, but after this week it should really slow down and he'll have normal hours. I feel like I'm always saying that, but really- this time it's true! We're looking forward to some days off with him this summer. Tyler's birthday is coming up, which I think I'm more excited about than he is! He is a great dad to Millie and the best husband I've ever had. (Ha!) 

Me: Life is pretty busy these days. Our ward has a big Young Women camp fundraiser coming up, and there's been a lot of time spent preparing and planning for that. I'm still running 3x/week with two women in the ward, and that's been great! It's amazing how much fun I have getting up that early in the morning and running, both of which are normally pretty hard for me. I had a goal this month to finish 2 books, and it's going to be tough! Other things always seem to get in the way of reading. I'm still having fun with the etsy shop- definitely learning some things, especially about what not to do.

Life is good! And now, some pictures.

Reeeeally into stickers right now

Helping water the plants

Letting Daddy lick her chocolatey fingers

Crepe night=success! But only because they were chocolate crepes, of course

She tries to put on every pair of pants she comes across

Millie and I had a rough night on the couch- Tyler tossed and turned about it, from the looks of the bed the next morning!

Pre-bedtime play

Oops!

Very independent at the park