Our little COWGIRL!

We have been blessed with several rounds of clothing from my best friend Dani Lee. As I was separating the clothes into boxes to put away until we need them, Mili decided to "help" Mommy. The pictures above are the results of Mili "helping" Mommy. She says, "Mommy, Mimi help?" as she takes out these boots to put on.

She is too cute in her pull-up and boots. We had a little crying moment when bedtime came. She wanted to keep them on. We finally convinced her that it would not be too comfy to wear those to bed and told her she could wear them as soon as she woke up tomorrow morning.

Mili is doing remarkable with going to the potty recently (between her trips and my trips to the restroom, we could camp out there all day). We are using those stickers like crazy (see previous post).

For those of you that don't know, Mili has a texture problem when it comes to food. Everything has to be cut up in bite size pieces and if it has any density to it she will not eat it. Tonight she ate some chocolate covered raisins (cut up very tiny). She moved them around in her mouth and then says, "yum, good". We are hoping this is going to be a stepping stone to the next level of food for her. We are so frustrated trying to find things that she will eat (we have tried every character cookie or cracker but still no dry or hard foods are going in her mouth). If she ever gags on it then she will remember it forever and never wants it back in her mouth again. Even though she has this texture issue she eats very health so I should not complain. She eats spinach, green beans, broccoli, baked potatoes, fruit, and yogurt to name a few. Some parents of toddlers would love for them to eat any one of those things.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as we did her wearing those cute boots around. Don't you just want to pinch those legs (I do, but not hard...smile). They won't have baby fat on them forever so I must while, I can.

Love to ALL!!

31 week dr appointment

Today I had my 31 week dr visit. Everything looks good. Sadie's heartbeat was 140 (or so we think). She was moving so much that the dr had to hold on to her bottom and squeeze in order to get a reading at all. I think she moves more that Mili did (if that is possible). I hope the reason for so much movement in the last couple of days is because she is trying to get into birthing position. If so, then I will be making more trips to the restroom due to a head bouncing on the bladder.

My blood pressure was 110/80. The nurse said that is good but I get a little nervous when the bottom number starts to go up (my bp was 107 on the bottom with Mili which require an induction).

I have been having pain in my cervix area (maybe TMI for some of you but it is normal pregnancy talk) and having several rounds of braxstin hicks(sp?) lately. After telling my dr about this she decided to check me for dilation today. She said I am a finger tip dilated and my cervix is soft. It is not uncommon for someone who has already had a vaginal delivery so I have nothing to worry about. I am hoping because I am already soft that things will progress quite quickly after labor starts (of course, not too fast to get Mili dropped off and get to the hospital and not before 37 weeks). I don't want much, huh.

For those of you that could care less about pregnancy talk, I am sorry to bore you. Thanks for hanging in there until the end of this post.

Hugs and Kisses

Thank God for stickers!!!

We have used stickers like we drink water around here recently. It seems to be the only thing that keeps Mili using the potty. It is a great idea except I have had a problem finding cheap stickers. She has covered three pages front and back and is working on her forth page.

I know this will sound super silly to some of you but.....I am praising God that I found a TON of stickers in my wrapping paper/bag boxes (we have been cleaning out ALL boxes to try to condense everything and take up less room for when Sadie arrives). I know that God cares about EVERYTHING in our lives and potty training is top on our list right now. So I am honestly saying Praise God I don't have to waste money on more stickers. I seriously think we could be completely potty trained by the time we run out of these stickers (Mili's favorite right now are Noah's ark....she is a child after Nanny's heart).

The other two pics are because Mili wanted me to take her picture (as if she is used to it or something). She is playing with my labor ball. She thinks it is fun because it is so big it knocks her over.

I have another doctor appointment on Friday. I am on two week visits now and I am 31 weeks. Sadie didn't really want Mommy to sleep last night. She will probably sleep all day now and wake me up again tonight. She reminds me a lot of another little girl I know, when she was in Mommy's belly. I am really not complaining since I love to feel her moving inside. I will miss that after she arrives.

Mili's room and the living room is a mess due to the "cleaning frenzy", so I guess I should get off here and get back to work.

Love to ALL!!!

A Surprise Shower for Sadie Beth!!!

Our small group gave us a shower and it was wonderful. We had fruit and veggies (my favorite) and some other snack foods. The cake was huge and very tasty. Hope you can see all Sadie's goodies in the photos above.

We got several sleepers (much needed), several outfits (cute as a button), books, pacifiers, a bear, soft blankie (feels like butter), burp cloths, wash cloths, wall plaque (has my favorite poem on it), gift card, scrapbooking stuff, and a candle for mommy (smile).

Oh, and I almost forgot......
I had to add on the first photo of the diaper bag. It is unisex for Brian. He didn't want to carry a girly bag (Mili's was green gingham with hot pink feathers around the top, her name was also embroidered in hot pink).

I thought something might be up because I had checked the registry at Target and it had some things fulfilled on it. I thought it was odd but didn't think that much about it.

Hope you all enjoy the photos. I just wanted to share what Sadie got at her shower.

PS There is a picture of Sadie (mommy) at 30 weeks below. Scroll down past the venting blog.

Love ya and Good Nite!

A Big Fat VENT!!!

Some of the ladies at church had told me about FREE movies offered in the summer time at this movie theater down the road. These are movies that have run earlier and I think all of them are already out on DVD. Anyway, I thought it would be good to take Mili. Today was Curious George and Mili LOVES Curious George.

This morning we took Brian to work and made sure we arrived early enough to get a ticket (only enough tickets for the amount of seats). I also knew that Mili and I both would need to visit the restroom before we got settled. We went in and got our tickets (no problems). Sadie wanted some popcorn (her nick name before we knew she was a girl...lol) so we stood in line and bought a SMALL popcorn and a SMALL drink. The total came to $10. That is NOT a typo. It was $10. I was in a state of shock. Anyway, we moved on to get back in line to go to the theater for Curious George. At this time I have popcorn in one hand and drink in the other and motioning with my head for Mili to come on and follow Mommy. I get to the guy taking the tickets and he said, "I'm sorry mam we don't allow outside food or drink in the theater." I said, Okay. He said, "I need you to pour out what is in that cup" (talking about Mili's sippy cup). I argued with the guy about it and then he said you can talk with my manager. I said, "Where is he?". By this time I am steaming. For those of you that don't know. Mili does not drink anything except MILK. We have tried every kind of juice and water but nothing compares to her milk, I guess. I argued with the manager for a couple of minutes. I said, "I just spent $10 at your concession stand and you are going to tell me that I can't take in my daughters only way of having a drink. He said, "We have water" (for sell, I am sure it was $5 too). I said, "She doesn't drink water." He tried to tell me that rules are rules and I let him know that I was going into the movie after spending $10. He then proceeded to ask me if I had other food in my bag for Mili. I told him I did not and he finally let me go in (which was the truth).

I plan on writing a letter. That is totally crazy not to let a sippy cup into the theater. I have never heard of such. I was steaming by the time we got in and sat down.

Mili enjoyed the show. A few times she said, "Scare Me". It was only when it got really loud. She sat in my lap the whole time and then cried when we left because she wanted more Curious George.

I will go again, but I will not buy from the concession again. I will not give them one penny of my money if they are going to treat me that way.

I understand that they are trying to make their money from the concession but, COME ON, a sippy cup with MILK in it (which they don't even sell at the concession). Frustrating, very frustrating.

Thanks for listening!!!

30 WEEKS YIPPEE!!!

Well here I am and all my glory at 30 weeks pregnant. I get a little crazy when I know I only have 10 more weeks left. That may sound like a lot but to me it is very little time to get all I need to get done.

I have been feeling pretty good. A little nauseous in the mornings but other than that I am doing pretty good. Tasks that are normally not difficult are becoming impossible. For example, bathing Mili, holding Mili so she doesn't fall in the potty, shaving my legs (Brian will be doing that for me soon, sorry if that is TMI), picking up things, carrying Mili (doing very little of that, but have to pick her up to put her in her crib), and anything that I have to stay in the same position for very long.

Sadie is starting to get fired up in-nere. The other day I felt an arm or leg move across my belly. It is an amazing feeling. Mili loves to feel Sadie move. She comes up to me and says, "Sadie moving, mommy". If I tell her no not right now, she then says, "Wake up Sadie" and she shakes my belly with both of her hands (she got that from Brian).

We have been trying to get Mili ready for the transition. She asks daily, "Sadie born?". The other day we told her that she would go and visit Bonnie (her babysitter) and then she would be able to go to the hospital after that and then see Sadie. She said "OK, Bonnie house, moan Mommy, Let's go, oh yeah, yeah". (OH, how I wish it was that easy to have a baby....lol).

I am definitely "nesting". I have been tearing Mili's room apart trying to rearrange things and get the stuff down that we need at the beginning of this event. We have hopefully rearranged the closet for both Mili and Sadie's clothes to fit nicely. I am also getting rid of a lot of junk that we don't use and probably never will.

Hope all is well with your families. Love to ALL!!

The BLESSINGS are pouring in!!!

I just wanted to share how God has blessed our family recently. We have some friends of ours that are moving to Spain (he is a Navy doctor, who just finished up his residency and she is the stay-at-home mom that we had bible study at her house). She is leaving to go visit her parents and sister (who is expecting her first baby at the first of July) Wednesday morning. Anyway, we will miss them greatly but in the move we have acquired a few blessings. They gave us a crib, a five-point harness car seat (Mili's was fine to use accept it is a three-point which means it has to go over the head, a hassle, and not as safe as the five-point) and a step stool seat for Mili to sit at the table like a big girl (now I don't have to lift her into her booster seat to eat each time....whoooo....hoooooo).

All of the above is enough to be very thankful for but then at church on Sunday another friend (who is also moving) asked if we needed a double stroller. It has one thing that can be fixed easily and then it is ready to use. She said she didn't use it a lot and looks almost new. She will be bringing it to the church for us in the next month or so as she gets things ready for her big move.

Mili decided she would sit in Sadie's seat today. I thought it was a cute picture to share. Mili is getting ready for Sadie to be here. She wants to know why she is not here yet since all of her stuff is arriving.

Since we have no idea if we will have a shower or anything here, this has been a tremendous help. We are blessed to have good friends here. I am thankful for God's protection and provision. It is all so awesome to me.

If you have not read the next post yet, please don't leave it out. It is an important one.

Love to all!!!

Brian is the BEST Daddy!

Since it is Father's Day, I wanted to let all of you know that the man that I am married to is the BEST father EVER. I love watching Mili and Brian together. It blesses my heart every time I see them interact. Brian is so gentle with our Mili Bear but yet he can be stern when he needs to show her who is boss.

As you all know, Mili has been potty training for about a month and a half now. She is doing remarkable and pee peed in the the public, big potty four times today as we went to the Library and to Wal-Mart today. She has been having only one accident a day for the past week now (poopey is another story, but it will happen on it's own time). Anyway, I say all this to say that Brian has been so supportive of Mili's progress. She wants to call him on the phone when he is at work and she pee pee's on the potty. He makes such a big deal of it and when he is at home or in the store like today when she pee pee's in the potty then he always ask for a high five (something Brian started after he helped her put her stickers on her chart when I was gone to a meeting). Now she wants a high five from me when I finish her sticker chart after each time she uses the potty successfully.

I see how Brian disciplines Mili and then later makes sure she knows that he still loves her. Today I saw Brian get on to Mili and she looked up at him and signed "sorry". It melted his heart because we normally make Mili do that after she gets in trouble but she did it without us prompting her. She has a special relationship with Brian (I don't think Mili will be too jealous of ME with Sadie but I do think it will be a different story with sharing her DADDY'S time). At night Mili wants to sit with Daddy before she goes to bed. That is a nightly ritual. She also wants Daddy to tuck her in (that includes kisses and hugs, putting her in bed, kissing and hugging her baby she sleeps with, and covering up baby and Mili, making sure no toes are showing).

Today we were out a lot and had lots of shopping to do at Wal-Mart and Brian kept her occupied by playing games with her while she was in the cart. He also took her to the playground today and spent time with her doing puzzles at the Library today. At home today he played in the floor with her and she loved it. She said, "FUN DADDY, FUN".

Every morning when Brian leaves for work, Mili says,"hugs daddy, and kisses". Sometimes Brian has to hug and kiss two or three times before he gets out of the house. He never complains about doing that, in fact, I think he secretly LIKES it.

Brian is very good about helping me with Mili. The other day he gave me a break by bathing Mili (so my big belly self didn't have to bend over the tub). He feeds her often and tries to let me go out of the house and have some time to myself (even if it is just to buy groceries).

Brian and Mili have little things that they do together. The newest thing is he would lift up her arm and say, "Is there something under there?" Then he would tickle her under her arm. She laughs until she gets the hiccups (inherited from her Daddy, I don't know anyone else who gets the hiccups from laughing). Today she said while lifting her arm up and looking under it, "Daddy sumpin' unner-nere?" Then she just waited on Brian to tickle her. This was one of the games they played during our trip to get groceries today.

At church each Wednesday night (I teach middle school class) Brian takes Mili to class and many times picks her up from class. Right now Brian also knows it is very hard for me to maneuver Mili on my lap (since there is not much of one) so he holds her in public places and takes care of her more than most Daddy's I see. Brian also straps Mili into her car seat every time we are together in the car.

Brian is always concerned for me and the baby when I am pregnant. He wants to make sure I am drinking enough water and that everything is okay. Today as we walked to the Library he said he didn't like for me to walk on the sidewalk closest to the cars. After we got home from Mili playing on the playground and walking to the Library, Brian said, "You should probably put your feet up and relax for a while." He was cleaning up the kitchen when he said that.

All these things may seem small to some of you but they are HUGE in my world. It helps me so much to know that I have a man that loves me and loves Mili (and Sadie) enough to do anything for us. He is the BEST Daddy EVER!! I am so glad God chose Brian for me (and Mili and Sadie).

Brian, YOU ROCK!!!! You ARE the BEST Daddy EVER (and husband...smile)!!!! I am so glad you are the Father of my children. I couldn't be more blessed!!!! I LOVE you SUPERMAN!!!! Hope YOUR day is GREAT!!!

Great Day Outside

 

Mili and I went for a walk this morning. The temperatures are fantastic this week (in the 70's and cooler than that in the mornings early). We just walked around our apartment complex and then went to the playground on campus. Mili loves the new playground we have.

As you can see there are some pictures of Mili "coloring" on the sidewalk. She loves her some sidewalk chalk, which she calls "colors outside". When she wants to use the sidewalk chalk she says, "color outside, yeah". She thinks if she says "YEAH" at the end or "K" at the end of her sentence with an affirmative head shake then we will automatically do what she wants to do. She is learning already to "try" to manipulate mommy and daddy and whoever else will listen (teachers at church, babysitters, etc.).

While we were on the playground I started feeling a bit out of my comfort zone. There were three other kids and their parents on the playground (all of which spoke different languages). They all spoke a little English but not fluently (very common in this area). Anyway, I was standing there and all of a sudden I felt like an outcast in my own country. Weird huh! They all talked to their children in their native language (Russian, Vietnamese, Spanish). Later they all left and then another family came and I am not sure where they were from but they also spoke in their native tongue. I love for Mili to be exposed to all different cultures and I love learning about new cultures but I have to be able to communicate with them in order to do so. Mili had no problem being friendly (like always).


There is a picture of Mili's new shoes. She is so proud of these shoes and I am just glad that we are rid of the socks for awhile. Every time we went to the store I would try to try sandals on her feet and she would screem. I decided that it was not worth it and had almost given up when we had tried Crocs on her at the Halmark shop one day (I am not paying $25 for shoes she will probably only wear for one season). I tried to find her some off-brand everywhere we went (no luck). We were at Wal-Mart yesterday and decided to look again. I found a black pair and thought I could dress them up with some big flowers. Mili says, "flowers in-nere" (she must have been born in Arkansas with that twang). She wants to wear the shoes with "flowers in-nere" to bed at night.

We had a great time outside today and plan to do it more this week since the weather will be so good. We will probably walk to the library one day.

I will update more on Sadie and maybe have a picture of my preggo belly after my appointment on Friday. Sadie may be more active than Mili was, if that is possible (some of you remember seeing my belly dance when Mili was in-nere).

Love to ALL!!

Perspective!!!

My day, yesterday, was ONE OF THOSE days. The day started out with taking Brian to work. Then I needed to go to the bank. I arrived at the bank about 5 minutes before it opened and noticed that I didn't have a pen to do my transaction. So I waited on them to open and asked for a pen. I was outta there quickly. Then I went to Target to pick up a few things we needed. While in Target I got myself breakfast and Mili cried and whined the whole time I was eating because she wanted my milk in the bottle instead of her milk in her cup. It was an "enjoyable" breakfast (hey, but thank God I even got breakfast at all).

We left from Target and went to Kohl's. I had a shirt to return there. I took Mili in and there were no carts with the seat in front for a child so I had to walk her all the way back to the customer service desk for my refund. On the way out of the store she decided that she would try to get loose from me twice. I called her down with a very stern voice and she stopped but she would not stop pulling against me when I had her hand.

Then we went to Bed Bath and Beyond for a wedding gift. I was going to let Mili take in a new toy she got at Target to keep her busy while I shopped. She was not happy with the way I did things so she through a fit in parking lot before we were to go into the store. Because of her episode I made her leave it in the car. We get into the store and get the gift registry (which by the way only had a few things left that we could afford). We got to the back of the store and Mili needed to go potty. I am frantically looking for the restrooms and had to stop and ask someone (of course, at the front of the store). Running back up to the front of the store now for the potty (Mili went in the potty like a big girl). Then she reminded me that we needed new stickers or a sucker for pee peeing in the big potty. We then went searching for a sucker. Found just the right one and then went on with our shopping extravaganza. I could not find anything that was on the list, on the shelves. I kept this one little guy running downstairs to check all the different things. Ended up after a lot of waiting on him to go back and forth I finally ended up with a serving platter that was about $15 more than what the price was on the list. They gave it to me for the list price and I had a 20% off coupon (fine by me). During all the waiting Mili says her legs hurt. I lifted her up and noticed that the seat was leaving these awful red marks on the back of her legs (almost cutting her). I moved her to the big part of the basket and that was a chore to keep her seated. After paying for the gift we had to wait another 10 minutes or so for gift wrapping (which was free and at this point I didn't have the energy to wrap it).

Upon leaving the store I noticed that there were no cart keepers. So that meant if I didn't want to leave Mili in the car way down the parking lot I had to take her and all the stuff out of the basket and get to the car in one piece. Mili didn't want to hold my hand so when we got the car I let go of her hand long enough to TRY to put the bags in the car so I could put her in. I told her to stay right there and don't move and she kept moving into the other parking space that was empty beside me. During my struggle with her to keep her safe, I still had not been able to get the gift in the car. Next thing I know, someone is pulling into the parking space next to us and looking at me, waiting for me to move. I was so frustrated by this time I wanted to cry. I took Mili by the hand and went to the other side of the car to put in the gift and then back around to the other side to put Mili in. She is now crying and carrying on and I am DONE. That is my saying, "I AM DONE!!!" Mili is learning that means that mommy is no longer doing this (whatever it might be).

After all the errands, and all the crying, and two spankings later we go to pick up Brian for lunch. Mili took a 3 hour nap. When she does not get her sleep she is a grouch (don't know where she got that...smile).

We had plans last night to go to another church to watch the church baseball team play (three of the guys in our small group are on the team). Brian came home and we were ready to go. We planned to pick up dinner on the way. We get half way there and figure out that we left the directions at home. Between the two of us we thought we could remember enough to get there. We went to pick up our food and my drink was a diet soda, which I hate (good thing I am always prepared and brought a jug of water with us). We made a wrong turn but then turned around and made it to the ball field. During our drive to the field two cop cars passed us and when we arrived at the field they were there.

A little boy at the field had gotten into his mother's car and knocked it out of park. It went backwards down a hill, across a busy street, and then into a deep ditch. He was thrown out of the car (some people say the car door was never shut, regardless he was outside of the car when they found him).

Praise God that he only had a bruise on his knee. He was fine. The cop said to the mother, "Don't worry, he will never do it again." We were very thankful that he was safe. It really put my day in perspective. There are people at children's hospitals everywhere hoping they still have their children and I was upset and frustrated over little bitty things. I am thankful that Mili and Sadie are healthy and that we have a great family.

On a lighter note, Mili loved the playground at the church we went to for the game. We had a great time at the game and came home and crashed. Mili slept until 9:15 this morning. She is usually awake before 7:00 every morning, even if she goes to bed late. She must have played hard last night.

That is enough for ten blogs but just wanted to vent a bit and put things into perspective for everyone. Love to ALL!!

What a TREAT!

You are seeing Mili's face after she has pee peed in the potty. She gets a few licks on a sucker and you can see where most of it goes (not in her mouth). Daddy bought Mili this BLUE sucker to make sure she made a BIG mess for Mommy to clean up. These pictures are for you Daddy (thanks a bunch......smile). The last picture is of the RED sucker that Mommy bought Mili that washes off much easier....heehee.

Mili is doing better at getting on the potty in time but sometimes it takes 30 minutes for her to actually go. If I try to take her off the potty to try again later she cries, so I leave her on the potty. This procedure works fine at home because she has her little potty but when we are out in public it is not fun holding her up on the potty when I have a big belly to hold up as well. Mili did, however, pee pee in the big potty at Target the other day for the first time. WhooHoo!!! Mili's sticker chart is full on both sides and it will be in her scrapbook soon. We will have to start a new one tomorrow.

I am proud of her even though we know we are not even close to the end of this training thing. She is doing fairly good especially to have just turned the BIG 2.

I love me some MILI BEAR!!! and SADIE BETH!!!

HAPPY B-DAY Mili Bear!!!

Mili had a great day today. She enjoyed ripping into her presents and loved the Dora paper. She also loved getting the envelop from my mom and my sister Erin and Krystal. Her favorite gift was the baby doll stroller. She has friends who have one and she plays with them at their houses. We finally found one at a reasonable price and snatched it up. We had cupcakes instead of cake because Mili doesn't quite understand that they are the same so she won't eat cake but she will eat cupcakes. She ate the whole cupcake, but we stopped at ONE. We took Mili to the Pet Store this evening to look at all the animals. She loves watching the fish and the birds.

I can't believe my "baby" is 2 years old. It makes me happy but then again it makes me sad. She is learning so much and TALKING so much.

I hope the pictures are in some kind of order. If they are not then I apologize but am too tired to fix it. We have had a busy day. I had a shower/brunch this morning. We let Mili open her presents. We went to register for Sadie. We went to the pet store. Enough for me to do in one day and tomorrow is going to be busy as well. I am ready to go to bed but instead I will give Mili a bath and put her to bed.

Love to ALL!!!