Fun Times

Our family enjoyed a Saturday of "fun times" this weekend. First on the agenda was our Sunday School Social in Bridgemill. Scott and Emily hosted us for a backyard BBQ. Miller was in awe of the trampoline,sand table, jumpy castle, popcorn and icy machine. It was a toddler's dream come true. On the way, he kept telling us, "Go to party" "Go to party". He loved playing with Caden, Jake and his big boy friend Garrison. If I knew that the sand table was going to be such a hit, I would have brought along a change of clothes. Everyone was laughing when Miller decided to dump a cup of sand all over his newly trimmed head!! What am I going to do with my messy monkey?


Miller jumped his little heart out on the enclosed trampoline. It was protected to the nines with padding and netting. They didn't have all the safety accessories when I was a kid! His hair was sticking up in all directions from the static. Off he went, back and forth between the jumpy castle and the trampoline. He couldn't decide which one he liked better.

We wrapped up the evening at Maddie's Princess themed 4th birthday party right across the street. Miller has a little crush on Maddie. He pretend calls her on his cell phone during the week. To Miller's surprise Cinderella's Jumpy Castle was awaiting him for more bouncy fun. Maddie looked as cute as can be in her princess dress running all over the backyard. After an hour, Miller showed signs that he was all tuckered out. It was off to the bath & OH MY...a sand surprise greeted me in Miller's diaper and in every fold of his arms&legs. The bath tub was left nice and gritty. I guess that's a good sign of a "fun times" Saturday!

Terrific Twos

Miller's done some growing up since my last developmental post at 21 months. He's entered the wonderful world of the terrific two's!!

His little vocabulary is growing by stringing together 3-4 word sentences. Of course, either the subject is left out or the verb is in the wrong tense. Toddler talk can be very amusing. It seems like the word, "NO" with a adamant head shake is becoming the answer to most questions that you ask our independent two year old. I swear this happened on the weekend he turned two. He definitely has his mind made up about most things. I've switched most questions to statements. Instead of, " Are you hungry?" I say..."Time to eat...let's have lunch"

Miller is adding to his repertoire of songs that he belts out at any given time: The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Old McDonald, Jesus Loves Me, I Love You, You Love Me (Barney), Happy Birthday anthem, ABC song, and Ho Ho Ho Hosanna. He chants the "Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar rhyme from one of our favorite books.

His favorite things: Lightening McQueen, Thomas the Train, Cookie & Elmo, The Little People characters and movies, Monster trucks, Matchbox Cars, blocks, puzzles, I Spy books where he has to hunt for a missing object, any activity involving running outside.

Hidden Talents: Miller loves finding shapes and 3D shapes all around him. He surprised Grandmama and mommy at the beach when he pointed to the headrest on her bed and said, "black cylinder". He's mastered capital letters, shapes, colors & identifying numbers to 9. We're working on the counting thing! We can get to 13 with no problem, but beyond that is a stretch. He's beginning to memorize some of the pages from our favorite books. When he spots the picture he'll repeat a key phrase or sentence from the page.
That's our two year old boy in a nutshell. We're loving this stage with our little man!

Easter Sunday

Miller was surprised to see a Thomas the Train Easter basket on Sunday morning. We were on our way out to church when he spotted his goodies. Immediately he grabbed Harvey and said, "Open, open!" It was straight to play on the train table before he was interrupted to go to nursery. He loved seeing all his pals dressed in their Easter best at church. I just love that he has friends to learn about Jesus with each week. We made sure we told Miller how proud we were of his Easter coloring and sticker craft! It's always a surprise to see his latest creation when we pick him up.




This afternoon we joined Grandmama and Poppy along with family friends for an Easter dinner at their home. Miller loved getting a "Little People" video and book from the Easter Bunny at Grandmama and Poppy's house. We capped off the evening with a coconut bunny cake. My very own creation with instructions from my friend Terra. We hope you had a very blessed Easter with your family celebrating our Risen Saviour!

Egg Hunting

Miller had a blast hunting for easter eggs today at our annual neighborhood hunt. And, guess who made a star appearance? You guessed it....the Easter Bunny. Miller couldn't get enough of his cottontailed friend. He kept petting the bunnies fur and giving him high fives.






Last year, Miller was sitting and crawling to the eggs but for the most part we did all the hunting work. What a difference a year makes! As soon as the fence opened for the 0-3 year old age range, there was no hippity hoppity, he bolted right into the backyard to pick out just the perfect eggs for his empty basket. The adults got into the hunt with a fun competition to find the "golden egg". The golden egg, almost like the golden ticket from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, held a Target gift card inside. Krissy, the hostess, stuffed 500 eggs for the hunt! Each child could find 20 eggs. Let's just say we didn't come close. As soon as Miller spotted the slide, the hunt was all over.

A day with Meg & Kate

Miller was thrilled when I told him that he would be playing with his friend Meg and her baby sister Kate today. He kept repeating, "Go see Meg!" We watched the girls today while Heather was off to visit her recovering dad. Juggling three kiddos brought me back to my babysitting days. I conquered the world of five kids at a time way back when, so I knew this couldn't be too hard. And, the Dahlby girls? They're a cinch to take care of. Meg is Miss Independent, showing me the ropes of her momma's kitchen. And, then there's adorable Kate. This baby is the smiliest, easiest little love there is!!



Meg chose the Lightening McQueen placemat for Miller to eat on while she enjoyed Tinker Bell from under her plate. Aren't they cute?



After playing outside, inside, upstairs and downstairs,all three kiddos napped at the same time.... What a fun day!

Spring Break Getaway

We're back and refreshed from a fabulous getaway to sunny Florida. Seagrove, Florida was a quaint little beach just a mile away from Seaside & Watercolor. It's been fun over the past two years to explore other places that the Gulf has to offer other than the heart of Destin. Destin has been a long time favorite of our family, so it was nice to be just a hop skip and a jump from all of our favorite restaurants. We were thankful to be on a quieter beach, away from the hub bub of college Spring Breakers. Does that make me sound 30?

We loaded up the car on Friday night in anticipation for a very early morning drive on Saturday. The forcast looked as if Saturday may be our best day to hit the beach, so we didn't want to miss out on the glorious weather. I must say that this road trip was made A LOT easier with Miller's new DVD player. "Wipey Clean" aka Lightening McQueen from the movie Cars entertained Miller for the majority of the trip. Of course, he had to hold his very own model of the "Wipey Clean" car in his hand. With brief intermissions of the Thomas the Train DVD, we were happy parents to know that our boy was entertained without my good ole stand by bag-o-tricks.

We were pleasantly surprised that the cooler mornings turned into 70 degrees & sunny afternoons to enjoy the heated pool and surf. Our little fish kept requesting from the condo's balcony, "Go Swimmin", "Beach!" Miller gave Landon a run for his money up and down the shore. He never stands still. Our social butterfly made sure to walk up and greet different girls, sunbathers, and surfers on the beach. Poor Landon. If Miller wasn't running in the sand, he was exploring the dunes that said, "Keep Off!"

We did enjoy the toddler sized playscape and fenced in grassy area next to the pool so Miller could enjoy playing in the coolness of the morning. We couldn't let go of Miller's hand outside of the fenced area. Our little go- go takes off running in a split second if I don't hang on to him. Another mom at the pool commented, "you've got to watch that one!" I mean, I can barely get my cover up off before he's dragging me into the pool! Can you train an active boy to stand next to you while you're washing off your sandy feet? I sure hope so.

Miller had a big time in the pool dunking his head under water and playing with all of his water toys. He laughed and splashed the whole time. I just love hearing his full out belly giggles. Landon and I enjoyed throwing him back and forth. He even showed off his blowing bubbles under water skills and climbing out of the pool tricks from last summer.


Some favorite trip memories included eating dinner at one of my favorites: The Red Bar, introducing Miller to the adorable town of Seaside...the grassy area in the middle of town had Miller's name all over it. Poppy enjoyed flying Miller's new Elmo kite. I think the men had more fun with that kite than Miller did. We introduced Poppy and Grandmama to Baytowne Wharf, an outdoor shopping and dining area on the bay. At the wharf, we got to see kids participating in a remote controlled boat race. Next year, he'll be old enough to participate. Miller's favorite part was running and swinging on the wharf's playscape and exploring the golf carts. We also enjoyed watching the sunset over the pier.

Goodbye quaint beach. Here's to more fun times next year!

Shopping, Folding, Ironing, Packing

That pretty much sums up this week in our house. We're headed out this weekend for a fun week in Seagrove, Florida. It's a busy time of year for us with Miller's birthday, Spring Break and then Easter all back to back. Between a doctor's appointment for Miller, a hair appointment, a fun night out delivering & eating a meal with new parents last night, I've barely surfaced to breathe! And, I'm trying to squeeze in a last minute nail appointment, but it will be a miracle if that ever happens. Dirty laundry is looking at me from the top of the hamper as I type!
I've been out on errands for two weeks straight looking for either birthday party or beach odds and ends. Miller can't wear his shorts from last season, so it gets a little crazy shopping for new swim suits, and shorts. On a frustrating note, I've driven to 5 different stores looking for swim shoes for Miller. Either, the small section of Speedo shoes is picked over or they tell me to wait a few weeks! One way or the other, we'll find something to protect Miller's feet.
And, now the dilemma is whether we'll depart Saturday morning or Sunday morning. We'll let weather.com decide that one in the next 24 hours or so. So much to do, so much to remember. I'll be happy when we're all packed up and on the road.
Sorry, for two posts without pictures. We'll have lots to share when we return.