Halloween Fun

This year we worked the church "Fall Festival" and had a blast. Ryan and I worked the Skee-ball room, which in my opinion was one of the most fun games. We had several repeat contestants. (especially a batman who was determined to have a perfect game) Millie was dressed as Raggedy Ann. I figured this was the last year I could decided for her before she has an opinion. She had a great time playing games, dancing to the band's music and petting all the animals. And mom and dad have enjoyed eating her candy....

Show-Me State

So, this is a little delayed, but I must share our trip to Missouri. We have much-missed family up there, and my mom and Millie and I took a girls' trip a couple of weeks ago. We had a wonderful time seeing Mee-Maw (my mom's mom). She and Millie are two of a kind.



We also got to spend time with cousins. My cousin, Gena, who is basically my older sister, has two precious kiddos, Blair and Collin. Gena and I were able to have lunch and dinner just the two of us, which was quite a treat.



On our last night in Missouri, Millie, my mom and I went to Aunt Jenny's farm for dinner. What a blast--horses, donkeys, geese, etc. And some of the best food I've had in a while. We also were able to enjoy a hayride, which was Millie's highlight of the trip.




Thanks to all our family for making some great memories.

Puttin' on the Ritz

Ryan and I just returned from a dream-like vacation to Palm Beach. Now, I've never had a burning desire to go to Palm Beach, but we couldn't decided where to go, and John Mayer was having his last concert of his tour there Sunday night. So, the decision was made to celebrate our 5th anniversary in Florida. It turned out to be great timing--little did we know that virtually no one travels to Florida from August to October....hurricane season. The Lord kept us in sun the whole time with no weather issues and practically the whole hotel to ourselves. Speaking of the hotel, we were able to stay at the Ritz (ridiculous) because we used miles and flew very cheap. I would definitely recommend staying at one really nice hotel at some point in life--wow.

So, here are the shots we took the morning we left to keep us from missing little Miss to terribly much....



Here we are at the concert, breating in lots of second-hand pot....


Some beach/pool shots






And sad to fly home...


I'm counting the days until anniversary #10....

A Day in the Life

Millie really has it made, I've decided. She's fed, bathed, put down for a nice nap, and really just played with all day long. She has had mom and dad's full attention all her life, but all that is going to change come February. That's right...baby numero dos is on it's way! Right now, I am feeling a bit crummy, although it should be over soon. We are 12 weeks, 2 days along to be exact, and totally exhausted. Not sure if that's due to the fact that I'm pregnant or that I chase after a wild child all day. Man, she is fun, but I wonder if the next one will sit quietly and play with their toys....hmmm. Oh, but she is SO much fun!




No joke--This was first thing in the morning....priceless

Happy 4th!

This is a little delayed, but what a great fourth we had. We went to the Colliers' lakehouse for the weekend. The whole family was there, Smulands, grandparents, aunt/uncle, and "cousins". Millie took her first boat ride, and sadly there aren't any pictures of it. It was quite a sight with her little puffy life jacket, soaking in the wind and sun. She played her heart out, especially in the little pool we brought. Yea for the lake!
Fourth of July outfit #1

The girls

You have to be serious about sunscreen for MJ

Fun in the baby pool

Whoa!

All wet

Grandmother lovin'

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RYAN!!

Yesterday was my sweet husband's 27th birthday. I think we're still at the age where telling what birthday it is isn't embarassing. We had a big birthday breakfast together and then last night had the family over for dinner. Fun was had by all--Ryan got to use his new grill, and I tried homemade onion rings. The birthday boy was showered with gifts. Did I take any pictures of the event? No, I was too busy making onion rings. I would share "27" reasons I love my husband for his 27th birthday, but no one wants to read through a list of 27 things, so here are my top 5:

1. He loves the Lord more than he loves me.
2. He loves Millie and I.
3. He keeps me calm.
4. He is hillarious.
5. Even when it is his birthday, he is more concerned about everyone else.

So, knowing that it is near impossible to really clean our house and prepare a large meal with a busy toddler on my heels, my mom and her friend Rebecca (known to Millie as Aunt B) took little MJ to the farmer's market downtown. Apparently, Millie had the time of her life, eating samples and playing with fruit. She was so distracted, she even wore a bow in her hair and didn't know it. We have to trick her in order for this to work.

Happy Father's Day!

Ryan and I had a great weekend in Arkansas. We stayed in Hot Springs Friday night at a Bed and Breakfast and then in Little Rock Saturday night. We ate good food, shopped a little, explored a little, and took part in the famous bath house experience. This bath house was built almost 100 years ago and used to be for therapy purposes. Now, people go there like it's a spa. First of all, I hate baths. After about 2 minutes, I'm hot and bored and want to get out. So, needless to say, the bath part of the bath house was not my favorite. But you then move on to a steam box (like a sauna, minus your head in steam), hot towels, needle shower, and then a massage. It was quite relaxing. Even though we had to get up at 6 in order to participate, it was well worth it.

After our weekend, we celebrated Father's Day with the Colliers and Smulands at Prestonwood Country Club. We swam and ate dinner and chased Miss Millie all around. She LOVES the water, and I so thankful for that. She had such a great time watching the big kids and helping open Father's Day presents. A fun time was had by all.

...And we're back!

I'm already behind with this blogging thing...
Lately, we have been finding things to do that include water and shade since it's pretty hot. This past weekend, Millie ran around in her church clothes, chasing Miles and smelling flowers. On Monday, we went to the most fun place ever. There is a "sprayground" near our house, which is basically a water playground. We met some friends there, and Millie just ran wild and had the time of her life. Of course, she also found all the trash around the park as well as the mud puddles.






We have recently discovered that Millie is outgrowing "baby" toys and needs toddler stuff to play with. She is into crawling on, pushing, and destroying anything she can. Yesterday, I bought her a baby stroller, and my goal is to go get one of those plastic house/fort things with a slide so she can crawl in and out, etc. Where are you supposed to put all of this stuff? Another new development--yesterday she put two words together for the first time. "Hi, baby", which turned into, "Hey baby". No, she was not talking to a boy--it was her doll.

Ryan and I are taking our first baby-free trip this weekend to Hot Springs and Little Rock for a wedding. It's a much needed mini-vacation.

Summertime...and the livin' is easy

Already, it's been 2 weeks since we started this thing. And I'm just now posting something again. If I could make a New Year's resolution at the end of May, mine would be that I will really try to update our blog regularly. With that said, I have no pictures from Mother's Day, although it was a day worth remembering. I had breakfast made for me, all poopy diapers changed for me (not mine, Millie's), and I was able to lay out and catch some rays. We had a great dinner and time with family, and Millie was mostly in a great mood. Our latest adventures this week include playing in the sprinklers (pictured below) and eating messy beans. Such are the exciting times of an almost-15-month old. She is really taking on a personality now, complete with saying "yeah" and "no" to give me an answer and "thank you" when I give her something. I can't believe what a little girl she is becoming.


On a side note, we had some of our best friends over for dinner on Saturday night. It was a fabulous time, right down to the Queso Explosion. Smart Leslie made some yummy cheese dip and set it on her fancy warmer on the buffet in the living room....well, crock pots outside of their little encasement thing don't really work well....cheese all over the place. What a dinner to remember. Simmons, Cristina, Greg.....dinner out next time??

We've conformed....

Yes, we have finally caught up to the rest of the world and become "bloggers". I(Leslie) had a play date with a few of my blogger friends today, and I was thoroughly convinced that I really needed to get with the program. So, here we are! Millie and I had a blast with our little friends, Ryann Lamb, Abby Latimer, and soon to be baby Barrett. Of course, after thinking all morning about how I needed to set out my camera, alas, I left it at home. The other prepared moms have assured me that pictures are on their way, so I'll post as soon as I have them. I was just so excited to blog that I had to post something.