Fun Photos

Victory! Caught on film! I managed to get both kids 1) out of pajamas and into normal clothing, 2) fed and napped so that we had a bit of simultaneous awake/happy time together, and 3) outside into the back yard for some run-around play time. Thankfully I realized the rarity of the moment and took photos.* Here are lots and lots of them:

* Apologies for the short sleeves to my east coast family and friends who are right this minute digging out of the snow and ice. Please come join us in the warm SoCal sunshine!

Do You Like Cute Dogs?

You might remember these pups. Last time you saw them, they were dressed as the "Three Mutt-keteers" for Halloween 2007. These are Annie, Wylie and Marley, our neighbors in Washington, DC. Their very organized parents have entered them into a pet photo contest that would earn them $10,000 to donate to the charity of their choice. Would you mind taking a moment to vote for one of these cuties? (We'll have the chance to vote for Marley next week.)

Gymnastics

Every Monday morning Millie takes a great little gymnastics class at the Y. I am able to put Simon in their awesome childcare facility and have some good one-on-one time with my girl. It's not Christopher's favorite activity of ours (he fears this has put us on the path to spangly leotards and scary beam routines), but he patiently endures my crazy ideas! Last week he had the day off and was able to join Millie for the class. So fun!

Six Months

Wow that was fast. This little sweetheart is six months old. What a great kid. He is the calm to Millie's spaz; the mellow to her head-strong; and unfortunately, the sleep-challenged to her snooze-fest. His smile has brought me to tears...it's huge and seems to come just as my rope is about to run out. I love his laser focus on Millie and her antics. And he has recently discovered Casey (which has conveniently coincided with his eating real food). His eyes just get huge when he sees her headed towards him. He's babbling, responding to his name, loves going swimming with us at the Y, and is just an all around GREAT baby.

Whoohooo! Party in Millie's bed!

Look closely. I mean really study all that's going on in this photo.

This is how I found Millie when I went in to check on her halfway thru her nap. 1) She's got the very obvious blanket-as-hat situation; 2) I have no idea how it happened, but she is wearing her baby doll's pants. I mean, this girl can barely get her own pants on correctly!; and 3) In what must have been a valiant struggle, she's got baby's shirt on her right arm. Wow.

I thought it was so funny that I immediately got on the webcam with my parents and carried the laptop & camera in there so they could check it out! Obviously it woke her up (whoops), so we carried on the webchat for a while. Here she is, in all her silly glory, wearing her wings and sharing her pretend cheese slice with Yammy.

Sea World

Aunt Julie took Millie on her very first visit to Sea World last week. Whoa Nellie...she LOVED it! I suspected she would because there is a whole section of the park devoted to Elmo and his Sesame Street buds. Julie told me she was uncharacteristically fearless, jumping on all the rides and giving a great big hug to the big furry Elmo mascot. She loved the dolphins and whales and reported to me that penguins come from the arctic. The sparkle in her eyes in these pictures tells it all!

Simon Got Decorated

Simon was dedicated to the Lord last Sunday, December 29. It was touching to be able to do this at Canyon Springs...this was the first church Christopher and I attended together after we were married. We've been members since 2000 (except for our years at NCC in DC). We've known this church as newlyweds; we worked in the nursery for years, wondering if we'd ever have kids of our own; we've been invited into the homes and lives of so many families here. It was wonderful to introduce and dedicate our little boy with these friends.

All went smoothly during the dedication. However, Millie was mildly panicked when the pastor was holding Simon, hyperventilating a bit and whispering 'momma...get Si' over and over again. Cuuute. And each night during "Daddy Snuggles" (you know, that sweet time after books and prayers when Dad and daughter snuggle together and talk before she falls asleep), Christopher asks Millie what she did that day. Millie calls this "do-today", as in "Millie, what did you do today?" After Simon's dedication Christopher and Millie were doing do-today, and she told him that Simon got decorated! I just love her.