Daddy & Millie time

JKK puts Millie to bed every night.  Sometimes, we hang out in her room for winddown before bedtime.  Millie really loves this nap mat...I bought it for her Mother's Day Out, but it turns out she won't need it until next year.  So for now, she loves to flop around on it in her room.  And she really loves it if you get down on it too for a little pillow talk. ;)

2 (sad) things

1) I forgot to share my awesome bonding moment with Mills a week or two ago: so I'm holding her (she's facing me), and I'm singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow (I cannot quite hit those notes, but I give it a good shot).  Then she sticks her fingers in my mouth while I'm singing.  This isn't weird...she does this a lot.  She's been very interested in mouths and noses and ears lately.  Anyhoo, so I'm singing around her fingers and thinking "something smells strange"...and then I notice some brown stuff around her mouth.  Yep.  Yessireebob.  Apparently, her hands had been in her dirty diaper.  puke-o-rama.  Thankfully, JKK was home...I dropped the kid and ran to the bathroom to wash my mouth out and dry heave.  sick. out.

2) Friday night, JKK and I were watching a movie after Mills went to bed.  She rarely wakes up right after we put her down, but in the middle of the movie, she starts wailing.  So I look at the video monitor and she's still laying down but crying really hard.  Should I go up there or let her try to go back to sleep?  [Background...in the past month, we've had some frequent nighttime wakings, which I think have been due to teething.  Well, it started getting more and more frequent, so about 2 weeks ago, I decided to just let her cry herself back to sleep in the middle of the night.  It worked great and she has been going right back to sleep, and now she hardly wakes up in the night at all.  I guess we just needed to break the habit.]  Back to Friday night...this is strange that she would wake up so early around 9pm...but even stranger that she's still laying down, so I go up there...and oh my poor girl has her arm stuck in between the crib slats at a weird angle.  Awwwwww, poor Mills.  It is weird instances like this that make me so afraid of the cry-it-out method. 

Weekend Update

Mills got a carrier for her baby...she really loves that baby lately.  She hugs her and gives her kisses....awwwww....

 

 skinny jeans.  oh my goodness...so cute, right?!

 

This fall weather has been perfect!  Saturday, we met Heather and Tatum at the playground.  Mills is too young to really play with other kids yet, but I am excited about this friendship in the future.  She needs some girlfriends.  I love our playtime with BFF Cayden, but a gal needs some girls in her life too.  ;)

Tatum LOVES the swings...that's pretty much all she wanted to do.  Look how happy she is...

Millie is happy with the swings for a bit, but she would rather run around exploring and chasing dogs.

future gal pals

One minute after taking this pic, Mills did a head-first flip over that bar.  yikes!

 new booties for the cold floors in the morning

I decided now that we have a kid, we should decorate for holidays.  I've put up a few Halloween decorations, which is a pretty big step for us.  We aren't really the holiday decoration type, which is strange for me considering how much I loved it as a kid.  I begged my parents every year to decorate for Halloween...and you know what, they did it!  I don't think they really wanted to, but they did it for me.  They were pretty awesome about stuff like that.  I remember this paper skeleton with moving joints that we hung on our front door...and those huge pumpkin bags filled with leaves for the lawn.  You guys...we didn't even have a tree in our yard, but somehow my dad found leaves to fill those huge bags!  :)

check out this rad zulily find...a KISS shirt! 

 star child <3

JKK hung up the growth chart in the sunroom, and Millie was upset that I didn't let her have the marker.  Sigh...these tantrums are getting more frequent by the day...

We had the most amazing fall weather today...oh, by the way, HAPPY FALL EQUINOX!  Autumn (& the season of those creepy grasshoppers that invade our walking trail) is officially here!

 

 We spent a lot of time outside today, which made us all very happy.  Such a good day...

 eating also makes her very happy ;)  She is the best eater ever.  Most of the time...

JKK also hung up our new pics on the Millie shrine wall in our entryway...I love how it's growing and changing, just like Mills.  Too cheesy?! :)  eeeek, sorry...

 

 

A Visit from Nana

Last weekend, JKK went to Vegas for his annual guy trip.  He was gone from Friday to Tuesday, which felt like a lifetime.  Thankfully, my mom came to visit and spend some quality time with us girls!  Millie had the best time with Nana!

We had a cold front come in Friday, so this was the first time Millie has had on socks since she's been walking.  She couldn't get enough of them...kept checking them out and touching them.   

Nana gave Millie this bouncy toy called Benny the Bull; Millie loved it!  It is the perfect size for her little legs to still touch the ground so she can bounce up and down.

 Video of Millie riding Benny the Bull

 Look what we found in the mall! 

 waving hi (can't tell because it's blurry)

 honk honk

 perfect size for her ;)

Mills enjoyed Benny throughout the weekend...although, she needs help getting on and off each time, which is starting to frustrate her.

Out shopping in the rain...it rained most of the weekend, so we didn't get to do a lot outdoors

We did manage to get in a daily afternoon walk with Beansie...we had to brave the rain one day and Millie thought it was funny.

Millie's saying "Ewwww, beets!"...her first time eating beets didn't go so well.  A few made it in, but most made their way back out.  After two days of beets, she now has a face rash, so I guess we can cool it with the beets...they are super messy anyway. ;)

 Nana came up with all sorts of interesting activities and games ;)

While mom was here, I put her to work making this super cute t-shirt romper!  Of course, I found the idea on pinterest and being ignorant of all things sewing, I thought it looked easy.  It is made from an adult t-shirt and just needs snaps added...I didn't realize it would be a little more in depth than that.  Plus, working with jersey knit is a tad harder than stiff cotton.  Sorry mom.  She stepped up to the challenge though and produced a very professional looking romper that fits Mills perfectly!

Mills has started handing me stuff she finds outside; it's like a little treasure hunt every day in our front yard.

 Love how proud she looks here with her squinty face!

Usually, she hands me a rock and then takes it right back to stuff it in her mouth.  She knows she isn't supposed to do this, which is why she immediately takes off running. ;)  Our girl is so silly...

Thanks mom/Nana for coming to see us! <3

Currently

We have tile in the sunroom!  It was finished earlier this week, and we love how it turned out!  Millie has really enjoyed playing out there these past 2 days; I guess she missed it.

 vroooommm

"If You're Happy and You Know It" is getting a second wind around here...Mills stomps her feet with the second verse now.

 We got to go to the playground several days this week, as well.  Mills likes to stay busy!

She climbs everything now.  We had moved her pink chair inside while the tile was being installed, and she's figured out how to use it to climb on to the couch.  This is now her favorite thing...up down up down.  I swear, I don't let her stand on the couch like this (unless I need to take a picture)...I make her sit down immediately.  Video of our climbing beast

I took her for her second haircut this week.  I know she doesn't have a ton of hair, but surprisingly, this haircut really made a difference.  It looks much less stringy and more bobbish now. ;)

 She did not know what to think of this hair dryer action...

We've been working on body part identification, so I'll need to get some video soon.  Nose, ears, eyes, hands, feet, teeth, tongue...she's getting pretty good at pointing them out (when she feels like it).

This weekend marks Buddy Love's 15th birthday!  Holy moly...it feels like he has been a part of my life forever.  He's had some health issues these past few months, but I'm hoping it's just a bump in the road and he'll be seeing another 15 years with us. ;) 

Millie demonstrating a chokehold

 Awwww, Happy Birthday Buddha Bear, you surly old man...