Dinner with friends

On Saturday evening we went over to the Rhoden's for dinner. Jay and Melissa are due with twins in just a couple weeks! The boy/girl twins are growing well but Melissa is on modified bed rest so can't really do much. Only one trip up/down the stairs per day. Even going to the bathroom takes alot of energy. Anyway, I made my mom's famous signature lasagna (Thanks Mom!) and we had a great dinner together. Millie did all of her tricks and was very entertaining. We wish the best of luck to Melissa and Jay in the coming weeks! We will keep you updated.



On Sunday evening, all the boys were off work so Navarro's had everyone over for dinner. Delicious food and great company. Jeevan is crawling all over the place and is quick too! He is a big boy and doing just great. The kids played very well together other than some hair & ear pulling, they had a good time. Meagan was there too. She is growing like a weed! Katie goes back to work on Wednesday. She is having a tough time, we all did. But Mike is going to watch Meagan for 2 weeks before she begins daycare. It will be a good adjustment.

Here are my favorite pictures from Sunday, to see all the pictures, click here.

Fun Friday

I came home from bootcamp this morning to watch Millie cramming an entire banana into her mouth...it was hilarious.








And my husband looked like this? Weird.






































And we dressed our daughter like this in honor of the 40th anniversary of Woodstock.

To see the rest of the pictures, click here.

No no no (video)

Birthday Wear

Although no presents were request, people were generous and gave Millie some cool gifts. In addition to a bubble maker, lots of new books, a barnyard toy, a spinning top and a kite, she got some OSU gear! She is all ready for the buckeye season with her two OSU onesies! Then our neighbors got her this adorable Paul Frank raincoat and hat. She was a lovely model. Excuse the mess in the background of the pictures. We were in the middle of opening all of her gifts. Click here to see all of the pictures.

















































We have been taking nightly wagon rides around the backyard. Millie stands at the door and points to the wagon and says "eh, eh". So we take her for a loop. Stopping at her swing for a ride. She looooooves that swing. Then back in the wagon to complete the circle. Then she will just play in the wagon until she is done. It's really funny. If time permits, we take the wagon to the streets!

Just wanted to update you all on Millie's progress. She is doing really well in her new Toddler class. I took her in for her first day and stayed for a bit. We sang songs and played with the other children. I watched as they all got their tiny hands washed at the tiny little sinks and then sat at their tiny chairs pulled up to their tiny table. They eat on divided plates. That day they had spaghetti, honeydew and mixed veggies. All the kids eat with their hands but are draped with long sleeved bibs. It was just so cute to see them all following directions and sitting so nice, eating the food.


Millie's newest thing is to shake her head no. It's hilarious. I will try and get you some video. She doesn't do it when she doesn't want something. I don't think she actually knows what it means but whenever we say the word "no" in conversation we will see her do it. Or if we shake our heads side to side, she will do it as well. It's so funny because she does it so powerfully that she kinda makes herself dizzy!


Earlier this week we went to visit Katie and Mike's baby Meagan. Katie goes back to work next week and she is feeling very weary about the change. But she will do great and so will Meagan! When Meagan was first born, I bought M & M matching dresses. We finally got a chance to do a little photo shoot. My favorite are their expressions in this blue dress picture. Hilarious!

Click here to see all the pictures.

Millie's 1st birthday party (for the third time)

So yes this was her third birthday party but you can't have enough 1st birthday parties! We invited all of our friends and neighbors over for a birthday bash and I think everyone had a great time. Mat spent the entire day smoking pork, chicken and grilling burgers. I spent my day decorating the ducky cake that turned out pretty good (if I must say). We both were exhausted by the end but a good time was had by all. Millie enjoyed herself and her little friends that came over. She dug into the cake like a champ. We had baby pools, cornhole, all of her toys were outside, etc. The wagon was brought out at the end and Millie loves it! She is always trying to climb in over the side. Now...if we could just figure out where to store it! Does anyone have a basement we can rent out?

I'll post my favorite pictures later but click here to see all the pictures.

Update to yseterday's post. I went to pick up Millie tonight from daycare and they informed me that a spot had just become open in the regular toddler room! So she starts on Monday!

Due to Mat and my crazy schedules we have missed many 1st birthday party's of Millie's friends. We are sad to miss them because it's so fun to watch them play at this age. But tonight we got to finally attend one. Tonight we went to Millie's friend Cole's birthday party. Cole went to Canterbury School and moved to All Saints where we are now. They aren't in the same classroom but we get to see him ever now and then. Anyway, we had a great time at the party. Millie danced and clapped for everyone. Hopefully the Bergantino's will have some pictures to share. Until then, enjoy our little one in her rocking chair!

Doctor and Toddler classroom

So yesterday Millie had her 1 year appointment with Dr. Sellers. She is growing well and right along with her curve. She still isn't 20 pounds yet so leaving her rear-facing in the car seat is a must. We are free to give her any foods that we want including fish, peanut butter, honey, etc. No sushi yet but hopefully she will like that as much as we do! Millie had three vaccinations and a lead test (negative result). She we quite interested in the lead test finger prick but then whaled in pain at the vaccinations. She recovered quickly when we offered her a wheat biscuit!

We also had her introduction interview into her new toddler class. She has actually been in there for awhile but we haven't had time to talk with her teacher. The classroom is great and she is getting along really well with her classmates and teachers. They really emphasize routine, routine, routine in this classroom. Each day has a theme. Monday is "Messy Monday", where they usually do an art project. Today she played with play-doh. She is sleeping on a cot now and does great at it. Mat feeds her breakfast in the mornings then Millie gets lunch and a snack at school. She has a couple more Wednesday's of "Water Wednesdays" left this summer. It's where all the kids play with water toys in and out of the baby pools in their bathing suits. Tomorrow I am bringing popsicle for the class. A parent signs up every week to bring them in.

Millie will be in this toddler-back up room until a spot opens up in the regular toddler classroom. They all do the same thing so we don't mind that she is in the back up. They expect her to be in the new class around October.

I am still on overnights and will be until September. The babysitter Nicole is working out great. She is really flexible which has been so crucial to us and our wacky schedule. She is even coming to Millie's birthday party on Sunday so she can actually see her vertical! For those of you who don't know, Nicole comes after I put Millie to bed and before I leave for work so they have only got to hang out maybe one or two times in all! But the end of overnights is near and we can't wait! I think I am going to go to a 8-4 or a 9-5 Monday-Friday sked which will be really nice.

Tuesday

It's always sad to leave but today was my last day in Ohio. We got the girls dressed up in their Sunday best for one last photo shoot. Millie had been a bit of a grumpy pants all morning so we were not sure how it was going to go. As you can see in the following pictures, it was quite a workout for all of us. Some of the funniest ones are of Millie doing her meltdowns. Take a look if you have time. Some did turn out lovely.

Thanks to a fabulous business class upgrade from my parents, Millie and I cruised back into Atlanta in style. Millie had plenty of room to chat up the stewardesses and other passengers. Also she lots of room to walk around and ate plenty of her snacks.

Back on solid ground, Mat met a very different Millie. She has grown up so much! We headed for a reunion with her boyfriend Jeevan at E11. Yummy dinner and then it was off to work for me. I had a fabulous weekend with my family. And Millie had a wonderful week with Mom/Dad.

I have to thank both sets of Grandparents for taking the time off, and actually wanting to watch Millie for a week. Many grand-parents would shutter at the offer. But you all did so so great and I think the time spent was invaluable. Hopefully we can do this every summer!

Fun with teeth

Monday night, we got a little silly. We seriously couldn't stop laughing!
Click here for the pictures. Poor Millie wasn't awake to partake in the laughter.

And click here to remember the pictures of Court and Chloe doing the same thing a couple months ago! Hilarious as well!

Monday

Okay, the picture problem should be fixed. Please please let me know if that happens again! You can go back and see all the pictures now that you missed.

Get ready for some cute pictures to follow!! Dad had fun snapping away in Mom/Dad's amazing yard/garden. Great Grandma Norris came down to say goodbye to Millie. We all had alot of fun playing in the yard and watching Millie walk all over the place. Picking up ants. Picking up rocks. Trying to get into the "water element". Going up & down, up & down the patio steps. Pulling off Mom's flowers (sorry Mom). If you have time, flip through all the pictures. There are just too many to post. But here are my favorites. Click here to see the pictures.

Sunday

On Sunday, we all went to church. Even without Dad sitting with us (he was serving communion), we took up an entire pew! Millie was really well behaved until about the last 5 mins. She and a boy in the pew in front of her were passing his toy shovel back and forth. It was all fun and games until the little boy wanted it back and Millie didn't want to give it up! Crying ensued and we had to leave. But other than that, she did great.

After a family lunch at 4 Reasons, we laid around the house for a very lazy Sunday. I was still trying to catch up on sleep from my overnight shift. That evening, Mom/Dad made a lovely dinner for us out on the patio. See Millie's new bib? Mom made those because Ikea didn't have them anymore. They protect all of her cute clothing and are great to wash up after.

Sunday ended on a fabulous note. We went for a walk along Lancaster's paved walking/biking path. We did 3.5 miles and Chloe walked almost the entire way! The ladies (Courtney and Millie) rode in Kari's new side-by-side stroller. They got along swimmingly after a small tiff when Millie kept stealing Courtney's sunglasses off of her face. Big props to Grandpa D for running into Kroger to get us bug spray! We had a great day!

Here are pictures from the day but to see them all, click here. If you take the time to go through the pictures, there are some adorable ones at the end of the three ladies on the swing in front of Kari's house. We had a great time making them all laugh!

Saturday

On Saturday, I arrived in Ohio on an earlier flight than planned (gotta love stand-by). I scooped up Millie and headed to a friends baby shower. Debbie and the other girls there, I hadn't seen in years. But it was great to meet up with old friends. I didn't bring my camera but someone snapped a picture of us so I will post that when I get it.

Here are some random pictures I took, playing around with my camera, after returning from the party.



As always, you can leave a comment below by clicking on the "comment" button. Or you can reply to the email and I will get it. It's great to hear from you all!