18 years together

I forgot to mention yesterday that Brian and I have shared 18 years of our lives together. September 4th is our "dating" anniversary. I say that with quotes because we were not old enough to date. It was called "going together" way back then. We have come a long way in our relationship.

Our natural birthing experience was probably when I realized we could endure anything in our relationship. It really showed me how compatible we are. Brian knew exactly what I needed when I needed it and we had almost no verbal communication during hard labor (he is a fantastic coach). He kept me very calm through the whole process (being calm is the key to a successful natural childbirth). He knew how important it was to me and we did it together. We were awarded an adorable prize out of the adventure too.

Our move to Maryland is probably the second most stressful thing that we have endured together. This was a true test because we would have to rely solely on each other for everything. Even though we have always spent our free time together and especially did after we had Mili as a family, I was still scared to be here with no family or friends. We have grown much closer together since we moved away from everyone and everything we have ever known.

Enough about us love birds. Just wanted you to know we have been together more than half of our lives. I am not sure my sister, Erin, remembers much of her life before Brian started coming around (but who would want to remember life without Brian, I don't).

Park Play

What a great day. Don't even know where to start. The weather was terrific today. In the 70's. We journeyed off to the park this morning. This park experience was different from any other because Mili is now walking. When she is let loose she can run wild if we are not careful (I was thankful for the wood chips, they slowed her down....actually putting her down at least once). As you can see from the pictures, Mili enjoyed swinging, more swinging, sliding and just exploring. We also took a short walk. In one of the swing pictures Mili is signing more (her favorite sign in the whole world.....if a little is good, more must be better.....right). She absolutely loves the feeling of air going through her hair. If you look closely at one of the swing pictures you will see Mili's first battle scars on her face. One of the little girls took a claw at her face at church Sunday. Those things happen when you get the munchgins together. Mili took it like a trooper but I am surprised she didn't try to bite her.

In one of the pictures you will see Mili and I standing in the fort before going into the slide. I only did that one time. After getting halfway up I found out that the rest of the way was a tunnel up to the slide. If you have never tried to push, pull, and stoop to get a 25 lb kid that doesn't know what you want her to do, through a tunnel it is very difficult. After all that work she didn't like the slide that much anyway (my back is thankful that that was a one time event).

After fun at the park, we were on our way in search of some shoes for Mili. She is growing so fast that I can't keep up with her sizes. We didn't buy any today but got a good idea of how much they cost and what we need to get her. She is quite picky about what goes on her foot. I will post some pictures tomorrow or soon that show Mili dressing up with shoes and all.

We ended our perfect day with a walk around the complex. We have gone for a walk after dinner they last couple of days. With the weather being so fantastic, we hate to let it pass by without enjoying it.

I am going to bed now. Hope you enjoy the snapshots of the park today.
Love to all!!

Quality Time

For those of you that have been watching the news. No worries, Ernesto did not show it's ugly face to badly here. We had rain all day Friday and the trees were waving at us due to the major winds but it was nothing like we expected here. We expected some flooding but Ernesto only dropped about 2-3 inches on us then went about its way. Today was down right cool. We had to wear jackets out (first I had to buy one for Mili). I didn't expect cool enough weather for a jacket in early September (never in Arkansas). "We are not in Arkansas anymore".


We have enjoyed some family time in the last couple of days. Brian made a surprise arrival home at 5:00 PM on Friday afternoon. Mili and I are much happier people when Brian is home. We had an eventful evening trying to get Mili to bed. We were so frustrated when she finally went to sleep (after 2 hours of off and on crying). Today we had no problems at naptime or bedtime. It must have been teething again. It finally stopped raining enough for our family walk. We walked the complex. Mili was screaming at the dogs and some of the owners who were walking their dogs were nice enough to stop and let Mili look at them for a while. I challenged Brian to some sprints up the hill. He was pushing Mili and I would take off running and Brian would chase me with the stroller and Mili laughed so hard she got the hiccups. She got the pattern down before long and was telling me when I should run. We both got our heart rates up playing this game with Mili (it is amazing what we will do for our kids to get a laugh). I am sure it really was funny for anyone watching. Mili and I are looking forward to also having Brian home on Monday as well. We love having family days.

I am going for now. Need some sleep before I serve tomorrow at church. I am excited about meeting all the students I will be teaching on Wednesday nights. I am also helping out in the Sunday morning class for a short time and it will give me some time to get to know the students better. It is very important that I get to know them and they get to know me (that is the only way trust can be formed).

Love to all.....take care!

Purse Queen

Thanks to my friend, Moniqueca, Mili is a purse queen. Moniqueca bought her the pink purse in the picture, before she was even born. The black purse and hat were a Christmas present. Mili has just recently started putting things in the purses and taking them out (only about 100 times a day). She is also carrying the purses around as she plays. She is becoming such a girly girl.

The way she is growing is just amazing. She is running all over the place and wants to carry on a conversion (half in sign language and half "talking"). I have no idea what she is saying most of the time but whatever it is she is very serious about it. Her signs have become more intense. She will sign something how she thinks it should be signed. For example, she messes up her hair with her hand when she wants me to turn on the fan (she loves the fan to blow her hair). That is obviously not the sign for fan but it is for her and I understand it. Her sign for movie, music, and book are all the same but she has started pointing to whatever she is signing, which helps me to figure it out. Mili is a music freak. I wish I could show you all a video of her signing guitar. It is so sweet and it melts her daddy's butter and, of course, he jumps up ready to play the guitar when she signs it. When we play music (Brian playing the guitar or playing a CD) Mili dances and when it stops she whines and signs more or music.

I am aware that with all the pictures I post that not everyone wants to see that many pictures of Mili but you all hang in there because grandparents want as many pictures as possible. So sorry to those of you who don't care to see that many pictures of our Mili Bear.

With today being one year from the time Katrina swept through the gulf, I have really thanked God for many things. For my life and my family, for a place to live and lay my head, for a steady income, and for many luxuries that others don't have. After seeing the pictures and clips from last year, I was reminded of how old Mili was when this all happened and how emotional I was when they showed the newborn babies that needed milk and food. I would watch it on the television and rock Mili and cry for those parents and how helpless they must feel. Again my church in Arkansas surprised me with the outpouring of clothes, baby supplies, tolietries, and toys for the kids. I can't remember how many truck loads we took but it was a great number considering our little church of about 50 members. I am thankful for my church here, but I will say it again and again, that Holly Springs is the biggest giving church that most people will ever see. Brian and I could search and search in MD and never find a Holly Springs (love you guys).

It is getting late and we plan to take a walk with Brian early in the morning so I am going to bed.

Love....Hugs.....Kisses to all!

Craft Time

Sorry it has been so long since you guys have heard from me. I have been very busy (working, taking care of a very active toddler, and getting my teaching series ready for the month of September). I am so excited about teaching the middle school students on Wednesday nights. I wouldn't have been so busy if I would have just taken some lessons from a book but NO Alice has to always make things difficult. I thought I had to make up the lessons and then find verses to go with them and get object lessons and games for each one. Some of the books that are out with games, crafts and a bible lesson are not what I am looking for in order to hold the students attention so I do feel like I need to adjust everything to fit with the group of kids that I will be teaching. Enough about me.

The picture above shows what Mili and I have been doing. We made a noise maker out of a toilet paper roll, paper, and stickers. If you look closely, you might be able to see that the stickers are from a visa or master card application. You know the ones where you pick out what your card will have on it (hey, they were free.....what can I say). Mili loved her noise maker for a whole two days. She kept putting it in her mouth and it finally tore. Mili has been coloring the last couple of days. I bought her some crayons and she goes crazy with them. We have to be careful where she is coloring. I printed off some free color sheets from the internet. She has colored....Joseph and the coat of many colors, Daniel and the lion's den, and Jonah and the big fish. She will be coloring in the lines by next week.

I am pooped...I was up til 12:30 last night (or this morning) and Mili was up by 6:30 this morning. I am telling you this to tell you Good Night.

Hugs and Kisses to all!