Millie tidbits

-We are working on obedience in our house. I'm hearing the word NO a lot these days! So I taught her to say, "Okay Mommy!"I don't know why, but her little voice saying those two words melts us. Tyler tried to get her to say, "Okay Daddy!" but once she had Mommy on the end of that, it was hard for her brain to change it. So we'll work on that. We'll also work on actually doing the thing Mommy says, but at least we have her agreeing verbally.

-Millie's memory has always been great. On our last visit to Lufkin, we saw my mom and Sarah perform in "Women at the Well." They wore scarves around their heads as part of their costume, and I guess it stuck in Millie's mind. The other day (several days after coming home), Millie took the scarf that was around my neck, put it on her head, and said, "Monka, Sa, and me sing? Aaahhh!" It was hilarious. 

I know, it's blurry!

-Millie's eating habits are still an issue. In fact, it's even getting worse, as she's now refusing a lot of baby foods! She is learning what other foods are though, even though she won't like them. If I pull salsa out of the fridge, she'll say, "Mmm, salsa!" And when I offer her some, she says, "No no no no no." Same with cheese or pizza or tacos or rice- those are the ones she's picked up on so far. The other day she watched Daddy eat his taco salad with a lot of intensity, but would not dare touch it herself.

-She still loves music. We listen to a CD with some of her nursery songs in the car, so she is getting them down really well. She'll shout the title (or her version of it) within 2-3 notes of the intro- someday she'll be a pro at "Name That Tune." She also requests certain songs as we drive, so I've now memorized their track numbers to keep up. One day we heard the song Try by Pink on the radio, and Millie loved it! She asked me to play it again, which was a bummer because you can't control the radio. She loves the chorus. We sometimes play it for her and she dances and sings along. She also loves this version of the "cup song" and requests it by yelling, "CUPS!" Aunt Sarah sings this for her every time they see each other.

-I posted this on Instagram already, but oh well. Millie is aware there's a "baby in Mommy's tummy," but I don't think she's aware that every time Millie sits on my lap or leans on my belly, baby kicks her! It's hilarious to me. Baby also kicks at the waistband on my pants or on my arm if it's across my stomach. Baby is very territorial. I can't wait to see Millie as a big sister!

House tour: Kitchen

Another favorite room in the house! I love the island and the amount of cabinet space we have. I took a bunch of pictures so the layout would be clear, so I hope it is!

I spy Millie's Halloween candy!

This last picture is for honesty purposes. Lest the record shows that my kitchen is always clean, allow me to show you the little counter that is never clean. Seriously. It's just that place that, no matter what, is cluttered with things that have no other place! 

A quick Lufkin visit

Millie and I went to Lufkin over the weekend to see my family. Grandpa, Grandma Joyce, Aunt Sharon, and Aunt Rachel all came down from Utah, so we had to crash the party! What a party it was. We had so much fun having them down in our neck of the woods. Tyler had lots of work to do, so we went without him. We're so thankful for such a hard-working Daddy.

We arrived late Saturday morning. Mom and Sarah performed in "Women at the Well" with some ladies in their ward that afternoon at Dad's facility. I loved hearing them sing, and it's always entertaining to visit Southland (the facility).

We spent the afternoon/evening playing. Mom and Sarah had another performance that night but I didn't dare take Millie again, since she had missed her nap. Once they got home, we busted out the Blue Bell and Bananagrams. I won 3/5 times, which is a new record for me! Dad, the usual winner, checked my crosswords very closely. 

Millie collected lots of "shicks" over this trip

I even collected a few for a little project

She kept saying, "I frow it" as she tossed them into the pit

Indecision

Sunday involved church, naps, yummy dinner of ribs and potatoes, another performance for Mom and Sarah, apple pie and ice cream, and Mexican Train.

Sharing a room with your child usually means sharing a bed too, which means Mommy doesn't sleep

Millie was pretty darn hilarious that night

Monday we packed up and prepared to leave. Before we left though we had to take them to downtown Lufkin and an antique shop! When in Lufkin, do as the Lufkinites do.

Rachel taking a picture of Mom's favorite neighbor

Cool mural on the side of a drugstore downtown 

Millie loved Aunt "Ray-ray." She actually called her Sharon for most of the trip- didn't figure it out until Sunday night, of course. She called Sharon Monka. Can't blame her- Sharon and my mom look a lot alike!

We said goodbye to the Utahns since they had to drive up to Dallas to catch their flight. Mom and I walked to Confections, a cute little bakery. We walked a lot further than we needed to- passed right by it and wandered unintentionally. Oh well, the cookies were so worth it!

She avoided saying goodbye and asked to go to "Hawtah" (Utah)

After one of the biggest meltdowns in Millie history, we said goodbye and headed home. The drive ended up taking double the normal amount of time, thanks to an accident (not ours, thankfully), construction, and then rush-hour traffic. No harm done though- we made it home in one piece. We were pretty darn happy to be reunited with Daddy!

She was out before we even got off their street

Also, for memory purposes, here are a few pictures of Mom and Dad's house!

The back, featuring the two porches- my favorite things about the house

Not sure why I stopped taking pics, but oh well. 

Halloween 2013

I can't believe it's already almost November! It still feels like we're all the way back here where Millie was just a wee babe and we were just moving in this house. But tonight watching her walk confidently next to Daddy, saying "teetateet" and "tey too" she showed me just how far we've come this year!

We woke up to rain this morning. In fact, it woke me up around 4am. Thanks for that. Millie and I watched the rain and even ventured out into it a little bit.

Also, our Halloween mantel:

Sarah's birthday is today! She made a deal with Mom a while ago that if she made first chair at her regional choir competition she would get to skip school on her birthday and come shopping in Houston. Of course, she made first chair! So they ventured down despite the rain and we had a fun few hours with them. Happy birthday, Sass!

Gummy bears kept her quiet while Sarah tried things on

She said, "Me! Another one, another one, another one!" 

A happy birthday indeed. Let's just say our childhoods have been very different

Poor Millie only got to sleep for a half hour, thanks to my having to stop at the grocery store on the way home. She was such a trooper though.

We went to our neighbor's house with a few other neighbor families for dinner and pumpkin painting. Millie loved seeing Isabella, who is a couple of months older than her, as well as Jared and Ethan since she sees them frequently and knows them.

That's one sincere smile!

Then it was {finally} time for trick-or-treating! We waited for Daddy to get home from work so he could take her while I passed out candy. While we waited, Millie learned (and was upset by learning) that there's a whole bowl of candy for other kids, not her. She kept grabbing pieces and putting them into her bucket!

Millie fell and scraped her elbow and knee pretty good, which I didn't know about (the scrapes) until I sprayed her with mosquito repellant. Bad move, Mom! I felt awful but she got over it quickly. Once Daddy got home they hit the road!

Millie came back with a bucket full of candy- so heavy that Daddy had to carry it. So we jumped in the car and headed over to Ivy Trail and then to see Gigi and Poppy! 

Delilah was so sweet and kept giving Millie loves

After visiting with Gigi and Poppy (and being spoiled with even more candy!) we came home and got our little soccer player to bed. We're all exhausted. I guess that means the day was a success!