Ice Days

We have definitely had some crazy weather since the hurricane. First we got snow in December, then again in January! It blew in on MLK Day in the evening and we heard school was cancelled the next day. The forecast looked pretty wacky for sure!

It snowed a bit but mostly it was just ice coming down. It made quite the little ice rink in our backyard, which was crazy.

The kids did venture out a little bit, for a few minutes at a time.

It's hard to tell but the ice was about an inch thick here! 

But mostly we stayed in. Tyler worked from home and we just played. Millie and Max went "camping" all around the house.

We cleaned out Max's closet and found a pair of yellow Crocs that he was given as a baby and never wore (as they were in his closet - out of sight, out of mind). They were a little small for Harvey but since he loves shoes he stomped around in them all day.

School ended up being cancelled on Wednesday too. 

It was a little warmer that day and we did make it outside for a walk around the block. The kids brought walking sticks and had fun trying to break up the ice.

Also getting the icicles off of Tyler's car. The doors were iced shut on the shady side of the car still! It was crazy. 

Ironically, our theme at preschool that week was cold weather. We made play snow on Thursday and the kids had so much fun. 

Little things

I wore a mask for a couple of days as a precaution. No way was I giving my kids strep!

And Max and I finally had our game.

I just felt so happy to be able to be with them. Honestly, December and January were rough with me being sick over and over again. Good health is such a blessing and I'm so thankful that in general I have a healthy body.

I'd better go knock on my neighbor's house and ask for a little of their gold.

Max insisted he didn't need help to get whatever game he was reaching for!

Andrew and Brittany came to Houston for their open house! I wish we could have seen them more but I was still recovering and Tyler was really busy. We had fun at their open house and this was the only picture I grabbed. Max was a trooper the whole night and conked out the last few minutes in Gigi's arms!

Grammy's sweet cousin JoAn gave Harvey this adorable blanket and it's the cutest, softest thing ever. Harvey always sleeps on it now! 

Millie had a fun playdate with her friend Olivia on MLK Day. We met at the park to pick Millie up and their friend Avery was there too. Three cute blondies.

An interesting way to ride through the store.

We were sad to lose President Monson and will miss him. It was amazing to watch the press conference (where I took this screenshot on Instagram haha) where they announced the new prophet, President Nelson, and his counselors, President Oaks and President Eyring. We love and sustain them.

Snuggling with my sweet and silly boys.

10 on 10: January 2018

1. I came down with strep on the 7th. Just checking out those lymph nodes after 2 days on antibiotics.

2. Tyler was able to take over everything on Sunday and Monday, but really needed to get back to work on Tuesday. I was so thankful my mom made herself available and took care of the kids so I wouldn't get them sick. She brought me food in bed, entertained the boys, and cleaned the places in my house I forget about (like the top of my washer and dryer). So thankful for her.

3. Watching my boys play from my bedroom window.

4. I stayed in bed, watched all 3 seasons of Fuller House, and finally finished Harvey's baby blanket. Yes he's over a year old.

5. Max was complaining of an earache off and on for a little while. My mom took him to the doctor and he definitely had an ear infection. Poor guy.

6. A funny thing from Max.

7 & 8. Monka brought two giant boxes and the kids had so much fun with them. They were airplanes and then cabins and then houses.

9 & 10. So thankful for Monka! She helped us out for two days until we could be sure I was no longer contagious. Couldn't have made it through that week without her.

Millie turns 6!

Our Millie girl had her golden birthday turning 6 on January 6th! We love her so much. The day started off her favorite way - with donuts.

She received some birthday money and asked for a trip to the dollar store to spend a little of it.

Here she is with her treasures (including a balloon that I got for her). A "gift" she requested from me was that I not do anything to her hair haha. She rocks the headband look anyway.

We made a cake and enjoyed licking the leftover batter from the bowl.

The weather was beautiful so we decided we'd better take advantage and go to the park. Tyler was working from home so it was good we left him in peace anyway! We ran into some friends there and had lots of fun.

Harvey was there too!

Millie had been thinking about her birthday dinner all day long and couldn't decide if she wanted to go to Wendy's or MOD Pizza. By the time it was dinner she wanted Wendy's but Tyler and I thought MOD sounded better, so we made two stops. We brought everything home and celebrated our cute girl.

Millie got a microphone for her birthday, as well as a cool art book that shows you how to draw lots of animals step by step. She loves both things. I've heard her a few times saying her prayers at night into the microphone! 

Some things about Millie at 6 years old:

- She is just the sweetest. Such a good big sister and genuinely enjoys her brothers. She was not a cuddly baby but is making up for it now, giving the best hugs and asking to snuggle with me or Tyler frequently.

- Millie still wants to be an artist, but also lately a paleontologist. Max's dinosaur love is rubbing off a little. She is super creative and goes to school several times a week with a picture or note or card that she made for someone. 

- She still loves doing gymnastics and is upside down a lot. She went through a solid cartwheel phase and is working on round-offs and her front walkover. 

- Millie has found several meals that she will give a thumbs up. Literally. This is her rating system. A straight up thumb means she loves it, a straight down thumb means it's "the worst thing ever." There is lots of in-between too. She is getting better all the time at trying new things.

- She is a daddy's girl lately and it's so sweet. She'll randomly say, "Isn't Dad just the best?" and write him notes telling him so. She is noticing how hard he works and appreciates that he provides for us. Throw in what a fun, sweet, and attentive dad he is and it's no wonder he's the favorite!

We love this girl so much and are so thankful she was our firstborn! She is a delight to have in our family and we can't wait to see what this year brings for her.

Beginning January

I'm finally catching up on this blog! Feels a little dusty. Hopefully I can remember the important things that have gone on the last couple of months.

We got home from Utah on New Year's Eve and spent a few days recovering. I was a little under the weather (which seemed to be a theme for me for all of December and January) and Tyler went right into the craziness of busy season. Usually it kind of ramps up gradually but he was on another client for January so it just was nuts right from the beginning for him. Millie didn't go back to school until January 8 so we enjoyed that week with her home. I made a list of 30 things I want to do before turning 30 (oh yeah, and turned 29!) and immediately started checking off the easy stuff haha. One of the first was to pay my library fines. The crazy long receipt made it look like a lot more money than it really was! But Max sure thought it was funny.

Millie drew me a nice picture for my birthday. We didn't do much celebrating of my birthday since I wasn't feeling great, but I had a visit from both our families and was shown so much love. Millie drew me a sweet picture too.

Max was also a little under the weather that week and slept a lot. One time he sat down to read a book with me and was out within 2 pages.

Millie enjoyed her break from school but was excited to go back. She has had a few times where she came home sad because of some things a girl in her class said to her. Sweet Millie made this girl a bracelet and drew her a picture in hopes that "she'd know I'm her friend." Broke my heart and made me proud all at once.

Millie and Max were super excited to take their own money to Sam's Club so they could buy their own slurpees and not have to share. It's the little things.