a not so happy birthday.

Sorry for the lack of posts, I have nothing to blame but cranky kids and a little bit of laziness (or a lot!)

Did I mention that today is my birthday?? Yep, that's right, today I reached the halfway point to fifty. (For anyone like me that can't do math without a calculator, that makes me 25!)

We spent the day running our usual Saturday errands, came home for naps while I finished up a very last minute birthday gift, and then went to Pump-It-Up for a birthday party for one of Millie's little friends. My husband got a phone call from his dad during the party, and he wasn't going to answer because it was so loud in the room, but he got a feeling that he should. Just a few minutes after cutting into the birthday cake, he came to me and told me that his sweet Grandma Millie had passed away. I know that she had been ready to leave this earthly world for quite a while, her husband passed away about 40 years ago, but it still breaks my heart to see that she is gone. Todd was so close to his grandmother, I've never seen anything quite like it. I've cried on so many occasions at the close relationship that the two of them share. She is such an amazingly wonderful woman that we even decided to name our first child after her.

Millie and Millie

October 21, 2007

June 16, 2008

I hate myself for not getting a picture of the two of them together during Grandma Millie's last visit in February after Anson was born. I was still exhausted from having a baby, and Little Millie was going through a no-sitting-for-pictures phase so I didn't want to put Grandma Millie through all the trouble. However, I did manage to get a picture of her with Anson.

She would always fight everyone over holding Anson. She'd say, "Let me have that baby!" I never expected to have so much help from an 86-year-old woman, but she definitely knew how to take care of things!

Grandma Millie was such a strong woman. After her husband died at a young age, she raised 6 girls by herself. She's such an example to me, and I love her so much. I have so many memories from the past 5 years that I've known her, like her obsession with butter, playing cards, and her never letting me forget that time she caught me clogging in the kitchen. I miss her so much already, but I know that she's happy. We love you Grandma Millie!

playing catch-up

i'm terrible at updating this blog lately, but here are the latest pictures!

millie loves to curl her hair! she's definitely a girly girl.

having fun at the family farm!

millie loves any excuse to wear her rain boots!

playing with uncle A.J.

we made flower jewelry, millie loved it!

millie's new sand toys

sand cookies anyone??

or maybe just a yummy ice cream cone!

don't forget the sprinkles!

anson's first time eating rice cereal!

i let millie get in on the action... i don't know what i was thinking, now she tries to steal the spoon from me every day!

anson's first time swinging

first swim of the year!! millie can swim laps around the pool with her life jacket all by herself!! i'm a proud momma.

anson chillin' in his froggy float

this is what millie does to entertain herself while i'm on the computer... i guess i won't leave my sewing supplies lying on the kitchen table anymore!

3d movie with braxton the day before they moved away. they had so much fun! except millie wouldn't keep her glasses on for long, so she watched most of the movie without them, which is SO blurry!

millie's potty chart! she's so excited about it, hopefully this will be our last case of diapers!! i guess we'll see...

anson sleeping in the jumperoo, too funny!

even more craftiness

i forgot these on my last post. a few weeks ago i made these crafty little quilted cards for mother's day. i thought it would be really fun to make one for my mother-in-law to match the pillows that she helped me make. i even made tiny little flowers for it (and burned my fingers in the process!)

for mother's day, we got my mom a hand-stamped necklace with all the grandkids' names from the vintage pearl, and got todd's mom the dainty eclectic initial necklace and had it delivered straight to her since we all know that it's impossible for me to ever get anything in the mail on time! i LOVE these necklaces, i'm waiting for my husband to get the hint that i want one. but once again, for it to actually get any use, i guess i need to wear something besides pajamas all day.

love it!

more sewing!

i still need to catch up with my regular posting, but i couldn't wait to show off my latest creations! we just moved millie into a twin size bed so that we could give her new bedding. before this, she insisted on using FOUR blankets with her toddler bed and wouldn't give any of them up, she was starting to get an awful heat rash on her back, so we thought something new would be the perfect distraction to take away a few blankets. it worked, and she loves her new big girl bed! we went to target and found a bed-in-a-bag on clearance for $27. millie wanted hot pink, but i wanted to try something new, so i was sneaky and switched it out. i'm loving turquoise and yellow lately, so i'm hoping to have those be the main colors and then add a little brown, green, and pink into the mix. i made this name pillow (the first of many pillows i hope to make) and i think it turned out pretty cute! i'm definitely not a sewing expert, and just so you know, it is REALLY hard to make something like this when you don't even have a ruler! i really need to invest in some new sewing supplies! anyway, here is the final product:

at first i was sad that millie's name was mostly a bunch of straight letters, i thought it would look really boring, but once i started to applique around all of those difficult curves on the "M" i was grateful that she had so many straight letters in her name! and i think it turned out pretty cute anyway!

i also made these quick reversible headbands. they were SO easy to make. i didn't follow the instructions because they seemed to make it so much more complicated than it had to be. i can see myself making LOTS of these headbands for upcoming birthdays for millie's little friends! and there's even an adult pattern too, so if i ever feel like getting all cutesy and dressed up (instead of wearing my pjs all day like normal) maybe i'll even make a few for myself!

now i just need to figure out what my next project is...

my sweet little family :)

♥ them!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Julie!

♥ Todd, Vickie, Millie & Anson

here's millie playing with her magnifying glass (or as she calls it, her pink glass). she loves searching the yard for bugs! but freaks out a little when she actually finds one...

i walked into the kitchen the other day and saw these cute little pictures hanging on the fridge from millie. she said, "i made some pictures for you so you be happy mommy!" she's so adorable!

it seems like just yesterday when anson could barely reach the floor with the very tips of his toes in his jumperoo,and now he can reach it completely flat-footed! my little baby boy is growing up too fast!

another day, another milestone

sometimes i get bored being a stay-at-home mom, but really, who could complain about spending all day with these sweet little children?? aren't they adorable?

in other news, anson rolled over from his back to tummy today. he already learned to go from tummy to back at about 1 1/2 month old, so now he can roll both directions. looks like he'll be rolling all over the house pretty soon, i guess i better work on getting this place baby-proof!