Miller's Newest Cousin

We're thrilled to announce that we're at cousin count number 5 with the lovely addition of Miss Merideth Lynn Roberts. She was born last Wednesday, June 3rd. What a joy to finally meet this sweet smelling bundle of pink in Knoxville this weekend. Oh the joys of newborns. You forget just how tiny brand new babies feel in your arms, especially when I'm hauling this > 30lbs. wiggly sack of sugar around on my hip. She's just perfect, from her tiny chirp sounds all the way down to her 10 piggy toes. And, we're especially excited to be an aunt and uncle again.



Talk about melting her daddy's heart. You can already tell she has him wrapped around her little finger. God is so rich in his blessings to Laurel and Chad.

I'm sure you're wondering how we got our little man to sit still and smile. There's nothing like chocolate raisins in Papa's hand to do the trick. We resort to little treats when that perfect shot is needed:)

Miller enjoyed his time at Omi and Papa's. We ventured over to their clubhouse on Saturday for a morning swim. After enjoying so much splashing and water gun fun, it was off to test drive Omi's new stroller around the neighborhood. Miller enjoyed exploring Omi and Papa's magical backyard which included examining smooth rocks and throwing them over the fence, sitting on the stone bench with Omi, walking on their trail, and making a new friend.


Ah yes, the new friend. Miller became the host to a friendly tick. Luckily, Landon discovered it while drying Miller's hair. We dug it out of its cozy home before it latched on for good! Thank goodness for an early bath time.
What a relaxing weekend for our family. We left hoping that not too much time will pass before we visit our second Tennessee home again.

Lazy Days of Summer

I thought I would dedicate a post to what's been going on around our house this second week of summer. It's been nice to get that extra half an hour of sleep each morning. Although, we still like to get up and at em each day! Miller and I are both morning people. Here's how we've been seizing the day.

We've been sounding out letters with Scrabble Cheese-Its. Aren't these cool? If I can just get this hungry little man to not eat the words I try to spell and show him. He gets a big kick out of seeing his name written out with his favorite snack.
Miller loves to play and sing "Ring Around the Rosey". He tugs on my shirt and requests our fun little game daily. His favorite part is falling down. Our little jokester thinks it's just so funny when I fall down with him. He also loves entertaining me with "knock, knock" jokes. Although, he can only say, "knock, knock...who's there?"
Miller's been tending to our front door planters. He loves to use his yellow shark watering can to water the flowers each afternoon. We're working on getting all of the shark's sprinkling power into the flowers instead of watching it splash on the sidewalk. I feel so spoiled to have both the men in my life outside doing yard work.

Another afternoon joy is waiting for the mailman to deliver the mail right after lunch. Miller listens intently for the mail truck to approach our house. As soon as he hears the truck he says, "Do ya hear it?" "the mail truck". A daily joy for Miller is getting to open up the mailbox, retrieve the mail, and put the red flag back down.
We've been enjoying pool and park playdates galore. Miller thinks that the pool filters on the sides of the pool are "seashells". I guess the round plastic circular drain covers look sort of like a sand dollars. He likes to kneel down, put his face against the cover peek inside and say "bugs are swimmin in there". His eyes are strangely drawn to all the seashells, but if you get too close to them in the water he says, "no,momma....scarey!" Here are a few photos of our morning park playdate at a local park. Miller loved exploring the park with Caden, Noah & big sister, Gracie.


These boys enjoyed sliding, climbing and chasing eachother. A big highlight was collecting and examining Roley Polys with sticks. We're loving the simple joys of summer!

For Sale

As of yesterday, we're officially on the market! I couldn't have predicted what a bitter sweet feeling it was to watch our realtor put her enormous red sign in our yard. Landon and I commented that there was just a twinge of sadness putting our house on the bidding block. After processing such a big step, Landon went to the garage to take out the trash and saw how crowded it was & quickly remembered just why we are moving. We need more space.
We love this house! It symbolizes the start of our family. There are lots of special memories within these four walls. It's the house that we purchased together several months before our wedding. Landon was the bachelor on the block for awhile, waiting for me to join him in our new home. It's the house that we hosted many outdoor dinner parties during our newlywed stage of life. It's the house that we brought Miller home to as a newborn. We watched him crawl for the first time in the living room, and take some of his first steps between the furniture. If only the walls could talk about all of the warm memories that we've experienced together in our first house.
So, here we are patiently waiting for an offer. My summer days will be filled with keeping everything spick and span. This is no easy task with a busy toddler! We're in no big hurry, just content with all the days we have left in our starter home in the Glen.

Picnic Pals

Well, here we are on day 3 of our summer break. Meaning that instead of entertaining Miller from noon until bedtime, we are playing from sun up to sun down. It truly is a gift, mothering this little boy of mine, and getting to enjoy the full day with him in the summer. Miller's adjusting to our new schedule by offering me suggestions of what we can do each day after breakfast. Yesterday, he stood at the door and said, "pool?, park?, sand table?, Grandmama's? all in one excited breath. This new freedom of having our mornings together is really throwing him for a loop since he's so used to being on the go in the mornings.
So today after breakfast, I briefed him on the day's agenda. I feel like I'm a travel agent filling him in on the itenerary. Miller was super excited when he learned that he would be going over to Jack's house for a picnic.

What a fun day of play in J's backyard. The moms spread out blankets in the shade to eat on while the kiddos played away. It's always a mystery to me why Miller won't lounge and eat. He sits for a split second to grab a bite to eat and then he's on his way. I guess eating is way overrated when there are toys and pals to interact with. He doesn't want to miss anything while he munches. So, I usually end up following him around with a fork to make sure he gets some lunch in him.



Caroline brought popsicles to share for the backyard gang to enjoy. This lured the kiddos together so we could capture a group shot. Aren't they cute? What was I thinking when I chose a red pop? It ended up all over Miller's gleaming white T and socks!! Hurray for Shout remover.Mission accomplished on day 3, 64 more sun up to sun down days to go!

Evening on the Square

 

The Marietta Square was our destination of choice on this beautiful Atlanta Saturday. We met up with Grandmama and Poppy at our favorite corner spot, The Marietta Pizza Kitchen. It was so nice to eat along the sidewalk and watch all the hustle & bustle of pedestrians and traffic. Motorcycles, trains, cars, and the music entertained us while we enjoyed our dinner. Miller always gives us the play by play like a little sports commentator on what he's observing, just in case we miss something in our adult conversation.

 

Little did we know that we were joining a pretty happening rock n' roll concert tonight. Everyone had their blankets and chairs inside the park to watch a live band sing some all time favorites. After dinner, we ventured over to Miller's favorite, the Choo Choo train playscape. He had a big time climbing and "conducting" the train. He just couldn't decide what to do with his engineer's hat. He wore it sideways, backwards, and down around his nose. It was on and off and back on and off. But, don't try to hold that hat for this conductor. Miller just had to wear it to fit the part. What a character!

 

To top it all off, we moseyed on over to Greenberg's Ice Cream Shoppe. Miller was enthralled by the old fashioned choo choo train that ran around the shop. We enjoyed our scoops while Miller's baby blues followed the moving train all around the parlor.

 

We're excited about summer around here. Looking forward to more fun filled family outings!

Lions, and Tigers & Panda Bears...Oh My!

We're so glad that the weather cooperated for our fun zoo playdate today. We joined Paula & Jack, Cristina, Sophia & Alexandra, and Allison & Caroline for a zoo trip on this Memorial Day. The last time we went to the zoo as a family, I was 4 months preggo with Miller. Landon's company has a family day at the zoo each year, so I huffed and puffed my way to each exhibit. As you can imagine, this official first trip was a highly anticipated event for our little monkey.




At first, Miller was frustrated that he couldn't touch the animals up close. He kept repeating "wanna see?" I had to hold onto him so he wouldn't escape through the fence. I think he assumes that lions at the zoo are like his sweet, domesticated kitty cat at home. And, boy did we ever witness a ferocious roar from the daddy lion. There's nothing like that booming sound to command a curious toddler's attention. This made Miller laugh right out loud. One thing's for sure, he wouldn't be laughing if he was up close to this cat.
A big highlight of the day was getting to choose a brush and enjoy the goats at the petting zoo. Finally, Miller could touch the wildlife! Although, goats aren't too wild. Miller commented that the goats were napping and we're very tired.




After viewing most of the exhibits, we wrapped up the day riding the zoo train around the park. Miller enjoyed the ride until after exiting the dark tunnel. I think the older kids excited screams were a little too much! All the way home this worn out boy was talking about the choo choo train tunnel. And, the first words uttered after his nap were, "wanna go on the train?" "under the tunnel?" What a fun day to share with our friends.

It's Tough Being Two

Ah...the Terrific Twos. That's the way we're living around here lately. Some say the year between the 2's and 3's can be the best of times and the worst of times. One minute, Miller is captivating, curious, happy, loving and affectionate. The very next second we have a pesky, cantankerous, tantrum thrower on our hands. Miller's been Mr. Independent from the start. He's got his mind made up about most things. My mom said that I was a very determined child. When you combine that with Landon's drama, wa-la, you've got Miller!!
Don't get me wrong, we still have the most wonderful fulfilling mother/son moments together like when Miller leans in for a kiss, or says "please mama". My heart still melts when he chooses to obey me or willingly shares with a buddy. I guess as moms we tend to focus on the daily challenges more than the hurray moments.
With lots of patience, firm limits, time outs, an occasional spanking combined with lots of reasoning (if there is such a thing with a two year old), I feel like we are making progress. My pride over getting looks or having "the most perfect, well behaved" child went out the window a while ago. I keep telling myself to have a sense of humor about the whole thing and to relax...this too shall pass. One thing's for sure, I'm reading books and internet sites for advice. It helps to have friends going through the same thing with their little ones. We're in this together!
I'm so thankful I only have one to keep up with. I would be the one having a melt down if I had a newborn in tow, trying to keep up with this terrific toddler.



Today we had one of the best of times, worst of times moments. We absolutely loved attending Grant's 3rd Birthday Party at a local kid's gym. Miller had a blast running between the trampoline, foam pit and ball pit. Oh what fun the parachute games were. Miller exhausted himself running between each event, happy as a lark. The meltdown happened when he didn't understand why he couldn't freely jump on the trampoline during an organized older kid's event. The stiffened body "apocalyptic throw down" (Kelly Ripa's term for her son's tantrums) occurred. We stepped out to regain our cool, but this sweaty overstimulated boy had, had enough. Needless to say, my firm limits, sent us packing. With consistency, I hope Miller learns not to mess with this momma! I'm in charge.