Mills & Syd

Mills & Syd

Monday, January 23, 2012

Field Trip

Yesterday, we took a little field trip to the recently opened Crystal Bridges Art Museum. It's a much-needed infusion of culture here in NWA.  Thank you, Alice Walton...it's a beautiful combination of art and architecture.  We can't wait to go back in the spring and walk the nature trails surrounding the museum.  Here's a fantastic article from Forbes regarding Ms. Walton's generous donation: http://www.forbes.com/sites/abigailesman/2011/11/14/how-alice-waltons-crystal-bridges-exposes-the-foolishness-o-occupy-wall-street/

the different wings of the museum surround bodies of crystal clear water
i loved this painting; calm kitty cat in the middle with hordes of wildlife going bananas around it
 
 this piece of art was made out of spools of thread; when you looked in the glass ball it, you could see that it was "After The Last Supper"
 hello? hello?!?!
 we were standing in front of a light installation; it was just four flourescent bulbs in different colors, but the artist had named it and everything ;)  i have a lot to learn about art.
 Norman Rockwell's "Rosie the Riveter"
 Pinocchio
 Jackson Pollock's "Reclining Woman"
 Andy Warhol's "Dolly Parton"
 we ate lunch at the museum restaurant and Millie was squealing loudly; people were staring
 done with the squealing and back to normal
It was a fun little family outing!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

The Many Faces of Milla

just woke up happy face
excited & in a good mood face 
crazy bedhead face
(note: this was taken on my iphone where you can turn the camera around to see what you look like while taking your pic; she finds it funny that she can see us, so i try to ham it up.  this is not my normal picture taking face.  BTW, did you check out her hair?!)
 overstimulated after a walk face
very angry, i'm done with this activity face
who's creeping on me? face
Yo Gabba Gabba face (Nickelodean Jr TV Show)
calm in the carrier face
 really...another picture? face
sad...why won't mommy pick me up? face (or possibly, i actually hate tax face)
 confused, who is that baby? face (also taken with iphone switched-around view)
 relief...ohhhh, i know who that baby is face

In other news:  Happy 8th Birthday, Beansie! 
Beansie loves to lay in Camilla's room where the sun shines in...
 Beansie also loves to give kisses
Milla's after puppy kisses face...she doesn't seem to mind them so much ;)


Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Open Sesame

Check out our big girl in her new high chair!  As always, she's keeping her trap wide open in anticipation of the next bite.  She's so silly...

 mmmm...avocado and apples
 nom nom nom

Saturday, January 7, 2012

6 Months Old

Happy Half-Birthday, Camilla!!
one-week old:
 one-month old:
 two-months old:
 three-months old:
 four-months old:
 five-months old:
six-months old:
she was all over the place for this photo shoot
 toes in the mouth
 i love this look on her face

Yesterday was Camilla's 6-month pediatrician appointment.  3 immunization shots + 1 flu shot = 1 very sad baby.  John and I agreed that she recovered quickly from the shots this time though.  See below the usual picture where she shows off her band-aids.  Stats: 16.5" head circumference (40th percentile), 26 inches long (60th percentile), weight of 15lbs, 9oz (50th percentile).  Her ranking has dropped quite a bit in each of the categories; Dr. Averitt says not to worry because breastfed babies tend to peak early.  She said the charts were based on formula-fed babies, so it won't really be an accurate measure until she's a toddler.  Good to know because I was a little worried about her not growing that much since her last appointment two months ago.  Dr. Averitt is happy with her growth and the many milestones Millie has reached by this point.  In fact, Dr. Averitt called her precocious when Millie freaked about a stranger touching her.  She said it was a little early to be having stranger issues.  We already knew she's advanced though. :)


Dear sweet baby Camilla,

This has probably been my favorite month, so far!  It has been such a fun month full of several "firsts", and you've done so well taking it all in stride.  You're such a happy girl...always smiling and you let me cuddle you as much I want.  I'm not looking forward to the day when you want down and won't let me snuggle you.

This month you've started sitting up on your own, rolling over both ways, and eating fruits and veggies.  Oh, how you love to eat!  Thus far, you've had the following foods: avocado, sweet potatoes, apples, butternut squash, acorn squash, and pears.  The apples and pears are a little tart for your taste, so you make a funny face.  I think the sweet potatoes might be your favorite.  I thought you might have had a reaction to them at first with your face rash, but Dr. Averitt said it was probably just your skin reacting to having food and so much drool on it.  Thank goodness because you love those sweet potatoes!  I'm trying to make as much of your baby food as I can, but it is hard to find organic produce where we live (get on the ball Walmart!).  Therefore, I've had to mix in a few packages of organic baby foods as well.  I know these aren't bad for you, but I do believe that fresh is better.  We just got your high chair in this weekend, so I can't wait to see how you like it!


You're so so curious.  Much of your time is spent absorbing your surroundings.  When we go grocery shopping, you ride in the Ergo carrier and love to look around.  When we go for walks, you now ride facing front in the stroller (or dad wears the baby bjorn carrier facing out), which is much more interesting to you.  You're so quiet on these outings because you are so busy taking it all in, which in turn ends up wearing you out.  You take such great naps after any sort of outing.  You generally have no problem going to sleep for either naps or bedtime.  However, you never stay in your own bed for the entire night; you sleep so well in our bed with us.  You love the human contact and constantly reach out to touch us in bed or when you're getting your diaper changed...it's so sweet.


You definitely recognize mom and dad.  When one of us comes in the room, you'll give us a smile.  You smile a million times a day, but you are much more stingy with those laughs!  We can get you to laugh a little if we tickle you in the right spot though.  Here's a video: http://youtu.be/OtAKHLaGaL4

You're finally getting into reading a bit now.  You really like Goodnight Gorilla and Moo Baa La La La.  Goodnight Moon, Baby Faces, and If I Were a Kitten are some other favorites of the moment.  You still love your pacifier, standing up on our laps, the jumperoo, and watching/touching the pets.  You're generally unflappable.  It doesn't seem to bother you when you fall over from a sitting position; you just wait for one of us to sit you back up.  However, I did find out this week, since I've been battling a cold, that you don't like when mommy sneezes.  You also still don't like the car seat and tummy time, thus, no signs yet of crawling.

You're the best baby.  We laugh at you daily and kiss your sweet chubby cheeks constantly.  As the new year rolled over and your half-birthday was upon us, I know I can speak for both of us when I say we are so grateful you are in our lives.  We love you to the moon and back, Millie Bear, and we're so glad you're ours!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Happy New Year 2012!

It was so nice to have a long weekend at home with my two favorite people.  We had plans to do stuff, but then we ended up just staying home and lounging around for most of the weekend.  It was lovely.  We did, however, meet up for dinner with Heath, Amanda, and Cayden on New Year's Eve.  It was great!  The babies were so good, and we had a nice meal with wine AND dessert.  After some champagne at Amanda and Heath's house, we headed home around 10:30; somehow, John and I stayed up until midnight (just barely), smooched and went to bed.


We spent a lot of time this weekend playing with all of Milla's new toys.  She's really been enjoying this V-Tech sit-to-stand learning walker that Papa and Tricia got her for Christmas.  She doesn't stand up at it yet, but it will really come in handy when she's learning how to walk.  In the meantime, she's happy to sit and play with it.  Also, notice here that she's making her new face where she purses her lips; we think it has to do with teething.  The drool has been unbelievable lately.



still loving those toes in her mouth


her hair sort of morphs into a mohawk every now and then...


We got to see Cayden 3 times last week!  He and Amanda came over to walk with us on Friday.  I can't wait until summer when Amanda is off and they can play with us much more often!


Weekends are all about daddy...he changes almost all the diapers, feeds Millie her cereal, fruits & veggies, and generally entertains her.  We love it. :)  His effort has certainly paid off because she is very comfortable with dad, smiles when he gets home, and loves her morning play time with him. 


We spent some time this weekend watching the college football bowl games.  Our Cowboys won!



Goodbye 2011...it brought us our sweet little Camilla and much happiness to our household.  Hello 2012...it's hard to believe Millie will be 6 months old on Friday!





Sunday, January 1, 2012

Go Pokes!

Oklahoma State is both John and I's alma mater.  Naturally, we are going to pressure Millie into being a cowboy fan until she chooses which college she will attend (which seems light years away).  This football season, our pokes had a great run and ended up as the number 3 team in the nation.  As the Fiesta Bowl approaches, we like to show a little cowboy pride around here.  Millie's still working on "getting her guns up"...until that time, we'll settle for this cuteness.  (Note: these pictures were taken the first week of December before she mastered sitting up)




Thanks to Jeremy and Anne for the super cute pistol pete bloomers.  Ride Em Cowboy!!