Mommy Daughter Bonding Time

Michael and I were having this discussion last night about Emmy getting "the shaft" because not only is she our middle child, she is also our least demanding child. She is so sweet and content to just go with the flow and play whatever Easton wants or do whatever is needing to be done for Cohen at the time. I have been wanting to get some special time with just her and today I got that chance. Grammy J came over and hung out with the boys so that I could take Emmy to her first mommy-daughter pedicure. It was so much fun! (Apart from the scary Korean, or was it Chinese?? lady who kept talking really loudly in a foreign language, pausing only to shout "HOLD STILL. HOLD STILL. YOU HOLD STILL." at Emmy. Seriously lady? She's TWO!) Here are some pictures from our day. If anyone is wanting to do a mommy-daughter pedicure, they have the perfect set-up at Serenity Nails in Jenks. They have fun little chairs that have private DVD players so they can watch a movie while they get their pedicure.

Picture Practice - Part 2

Emmy Grace wasn't cooperating with our picture practice session this morning...surprise, surprise. However, she woke up from her nap in a much better mood so here is Part 2 of our Picture Practice session featuring Emmy

Picture Practice

I was practicing with my camera this morning and here are some pictures I took of the kids.

Those eyes are looking bluer everyday. PLEASE...let him get his daddy's blue eyes!!!

That little curl right around her face absolutely melts my heart.

Just Call Me Luke.

My son is obsessed with Star Wars. I think in order to truly grasp what that means, we need to consider the definition of obsessed: "To have the mind excessively preoccupied with a single emotion or topic." That pretty much sums it up, people. His mind is excessively preoccupied with STAR WARS. He wakes up (at 6 am, I might add) thinking about Star Wars and incessantly asking when he can either play the Star Wars game on the Wii and/or watch a Star Wars episode. Of course, the answer is always "NO" since those are special privileges that are only allowed at very specific times. Still, that will not dissuade him from asking EVERY morning without fail, even when he knows what the answer will be. He eats, sleeps, and breathes Star Wars throughout the day. Even when his light saber is taken away and put in time out for violence against his sister (who is also known as "Darth Vader") or the dog (also known as "Darth Maul" or whichever evil villian Easton has forced him to be), that will not keep him from playing Star Wars. In the event that his light saber is taken away, he has a variety of household objects that can double as a light saber (i.e. a flashlight, spoon, Glade plug-ins, and if all else fails...."the invisible light saber"). At night, he puts his light saber and other coveted Star Wars items right by his bed on his nightstand so he can get them the second he wakes up and of course, come downstairs to begin trying to persuade me to let him play Star Wars wii or watch a Star Wars. Recently, he has taken the obsession to an all new level. We are now not allowed to call him by his real name. He will only be answering to Luke Skywalker. This is how the conversation went:
Me: Easton, I need you to get dressed and get your shoes on so that we can go.
Easton: Ignoring me, no response....no response....
Me: Easton, you need to obey me.
Easton: WHY do you keep calling me that mom?!?!
Me: Keep calling you what?
Easton: Why do you keep calling me Easton? My name is Luke Skywalker. You can call me Luke.

So....if you see my son and he doesn't asnwer you. Try calling him Luke. Luke Skywalker, that is.

I had to include these pictures as well. Super hero obsession began when Easton was two. Then it was Buzz Lightyear. He wore this vinyl Buzz Lightyear costume pretty much everyday...even if it was 100 degrees outside and he was about to pass out from a heat stroke. He ran around shooting his gun and shouting, "To my BOOTY....AND BEYOND!" (Because he couldn't say "To INFINITY and beyond."

More Buzz Lightyear pictures. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the Transformers obsession stage...that was age three. Who knows what super hero obsession age 5 will bring....only time will tell!

Trip to Guthrie to meet Piper

One of my bestfriends from graduate school, Shanna Gann, had a precious baby girl almost 6 weeks ago. Unfortunately, due to our vacation, sick kids, and prolonged family visits at Shanna's house, I was just able to make it up to meet this precious baby girl. Of course I couldn't resist getting my camera out and snapping a few pictures of this beautiful baby and her beautiful mother! Love you Shanna....you are an incredible mother and I can't wait to watch Piper grow into the amazing young woman that God intends her to be! By the way...I can't believe that just a year ago I was heading down to Lake Texoma with the girls for your wedding and here you are just one year later holding your beautiful baby girl. Isn't it amazing what blessings the past year have brought you?!?! Congratulations to you and Tyler!

A Day in the Life of: A Trip to Target & Lunch at Panera

**Disclaimer....don't read if you have a weak stomach.

Today we went to Target which was an uneventful trip for the most part, especially compared to how our last trip went (see previous post). However, at the end of our trip Easton decided that he needed to talk to the "man" who was checking us out. Here's how the conversation went:

E: (speaking very loudly....really it was more of a yell now that I think about it) "MOM...I am going to tell that MAN (pointing to the elderly WOMAN with a very short haircut who was checking us out) about the birthday party we are going to tonight.
Me: (whispering as quietly as possible) Easton, that is NOT a man. It is definitely a woman.
E: (again talking very loudly so the 2 people in front of me and 2 people behind me could most definitely hear along with the people in the rows beside us, I'm sure) "NOOO! That's not a woman, mom. That's a MAN!" Now he begins speaking to the actual woman because we have moved up in line. "SIR!! SIR!! Did you hear me? We get to go to a birthday party tonight!"
Me: Choosing to ignore him at this point and act like he's not my kid while he continues to speak to the "SIR" for the next 5 minutes.
Me: Thinking to myself, "Looks like it's going to be an AWESOME day!" Let's head to Panera to meet some friends!

We get to Panera and get in line to order our food. Of course Cohen starts freaking out while we are in line so I attempt to get a bottle fixed for him while simultaneously ordering our food and keeping Easton and Emmy from running all over the restaurant. We get our food, sit down, and begin to eat. Our friends join us. About 20 minutes or so into the lunch, I began to smell a foul odor. Call it denial or just plan stupidity, but I kept thinking, "Man, somebody's kid is definitely dirty." Another 5 minutes goes by....still smelling the foul odor. I look down and see that Cohen has a strange puke green tint to the bottom of his shoes. What is that about? I look down and then see a blob of oatmeal-consistency green poop covering his legs, shoes, clothes, and car seat. I jump up, take a deep breath, and start to deal....give Easton and Emmy the talking to about staying in their seats, ask my friends if anyone has an extra onesie, and head to the bathroom. Let's just summarize this next party by saying the next 10 minutes were spent in the bathroom cleaning up the most disgusting blow-out diaper I have ever seen in my life. I finally get it taken care of and head back out to hang with the friends.

We sit and start enjoying some conversation again and once again, the foul odor reappears. Again, denial.
Me: "I think I smell someone again. Kenna, is Owen dirty?"
Kenna: "No, I don't think so. I just checked him."
Me: "Hmmm...well I swore I smelled something (again, denial)."
Five more minutes goes by and I am definitely smelling something again. Maybe I better check Emmy. She asked to wear her big girl panties today...SURELY she wouldn't go poop in her panties. I lift up her dress and don't need to get any further than that before I see the culprit. A massive amount of diarrhea cascading out the front, the back, everywhere. WHY?!?! WHY did I agree to let her wear her panties to the restaurant. Let's summarize the next 15 minutes by saying this: cleaning up diarrhea out of panties in the Panera bathroom is the most disgusting thing I've ever had to do. Oh, and just a little word to the wise to anyone out there in the Tulsa area...I wouldn't go in the handicapped stall in the Panera at 71st & 169 today if I were you. It definitely needs to be sanitized!

We get back out to our friends and decide we better pack up and head home before anyone else has a chance to poop. Plus, Easton is now in "Star-Wars mode" and has almost knocked down at least 10 people who have tried to walk past us because he is pretending to be Luke Skywalker and slash people down with his pretend light saber.

We load up and head home. As I am unloading Cohen and Emmy from the car, I hear this:
"MOM!!!! JAKE (our dog) GOT A POOPY DIAPER AND ATE IT AND IT IS ALL OVER THE HOUSE!!!"

Seriously?!?! Ok people...at this point you just have to laugh. What else can you do? So the theme of my day: Cleaning up crap. Another lovely day in the life of a stay-at-home mom.

These boots are made for walkin'

Easton and Emmy found cowboy boots in Easton's closet and put them on. They were so cute, I had to take some pictures of them wearing their boots. They walked around ALL night wearing them and playing together. Also, I took a photography class from my dear friend Holly (check out her blog) and have been practicing with my camera. Hopefully you will notice that my pictures are getting better and better the more I practice! I am hoping to take another class soon.

Cohen's 3 Month Pictures

My friend Cheri, check out her website, took Cohen's 3 months pictures for us. Yes, they are a month late since he is already 4 months old now, but they still give a good idea of what the little guy is looking like now. He is absolutely precious. Definitely a little handful but I am cherishing every minute. I find myself very emotional at times. It is amazing how much he has already grown in 4 months . It is bittersweet....I want him to grow up and begin to experience this world but I also want him to stay my little baby forever. I never remember feeling this emotional about the other two "growing up" because I guess I always knew we would have more babies. With Cohen, I know there is a possibility that he could be my last (still undecided since I know everyone is wondering). I look at this picture and it makes me want to cry....the way he is gripping onto my hands for support as he stands. God has given me the most amazing opportunity to hold this little boy's hands as he walks through life. I pray that he will give me the strength to teach him to be a young man of integrity...strong yet sensitive, courageous yet compassionate, proud yet humble. I also pray that when the day comes for me to let go of his hands and allow him to walk on his own out into this world, that I will be able to let go and trust God to take care of him. Until them, I am holding onto those little hands with all my might and cherishing every moment of this little boy's life. He always clasps his little hands like this. Emerson did it too when she was little. Not sure what it is about but I think it's pretty cute.

Tummy time...not the biggest fan but he is getting better. He pretty much rolls straight onto his back anytime you put him on his tummy so he might not be crawling for quite sometime....yes, I am totally fine with that. Funny how with the first kid you want them to do everything early and with the third you are like, "PLEASE GOD, let him not crawl or walk until he's two or something." (ok so I'm exaggerating slightly but I am definitely ok with him being later on everything than Easton was.)

Sweet smile...

This is one of my favorite's....look at that sweet little face!

He loves to have someone hold his hands and let him stand up. He is so strong already...early walker like his brother perhaps??? Again, let's hope not.

I am REALLY hoping this is the one that keeps his daddy's blue eyess!
Yes, I am trouble and I know it! Can't you tell by my little smirk.

On Accident-Purpose???

There seems to be some confusion in my house about what an accident is. Of course this all began with the eldest child who suddenly realized that he could claim that anything he did was an "accident" in an effort to try to get out of being punished. For example....

Easton hitting his sister repeatedly and definitely on purpose with the light saber.
Me: Easton you are losing your Star Wars Wii privileges for the day for hitting your sister with the light saber.
Easton: Oh, that was just an accident.
Me: Really Easton??? Because I'm pretty sure that I saw you hitting your sister and noone was there forcing you to do it.
Easton: OK, well maybe it was just on accident-purpose.

Seriously?!?!?! What exactly does "that was just on accident-purpose" mean? Clearly this is some grey area that has been discovered by my four year-old that is somewhere in between it being on purpose and being on accident. Maybe the boy is a genius. I am considering trying this one out on Michael and seeing how it works for me.

Michael: So I was looking at the account today and saw you've already spent $300 at Target this month.
Me: Oh honey, that was just on "accident-purpose"!!!

Hmmm....wonder how that will go over.

A Day in the Life Of: A Trip to Target

So quite often I get asked these two questions about the life of a stay-at-home mom:

1. What do you do all day? This question usually comes from people who do not yet have kids. I do not begrudge them for asking this question as I am sure I would have wondered the same thing myself at one point. I mean, how hard can it really be staying at home and taking care of kids all day, right???
2. What is it like having THREE kids? This question comes from my friends who DO have kids. Not that having three kids is really that many, but I guess most of my friends just had their first kid or maybe their second so they are curious about what it is like to have three.

In order to answer both questions, I have decided to start a new section on my blog entitled: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF. This section will be dedicated to showing what our life is like and how taking any ordinary daily task and adding three small kids to it, suddenly makes the task NOT so ordinary. Case in point: A Recent Trip to Target.

10:00 am - Arrive at Target. No "special carts" in the parking lot. For those of you who don't know...the special carts are the huge carts that are made for those of us who are actually crazy enough to take 3 kids to Target. These carts are twice as long as regular carts and are 10 times harder to maneuver. You will definitely hit people and numerous stationary objects while pushing the "special carts."
10:05 am - Get all three kids unloaded and start walking inside. Easton refuses to walk inside because he is boycotting the fact that we do not have a "special cart." I try the "walk and ignore" tactic. It does not work. I walk all the way back to get him and take hold of his hand to walk him in. He boycotts yet again because he wanted to hold my LEFT hand and not my right hand. I have to put Cohen down, get down on my knees and have a nice little chat with him about his attitude in the middle of the Target parking lot. Finally he decides to walk in the store.
10:10 am - We get in the store, get a "special cart," and get everyone strapped in. Praise God!
10:12 am - Thank goodness we find some friends who are also shopping and this entertains my kids while I pick out a couple of swimsuits to try on.
10:25 am - Get a key to the "Family Fitting Room." Get everyone unstrapped and unloaded into the family dressing room. Lock the door. Try on swimsuits.
**By the way....I would like to take this moment to slightly digress and give the people at Target a few suggestions: First of all, the likelihood that young mothers with young children will be trying on clothes in the "Family Fitting Room" is high. This means that these women have probably just gone through the rigors of pregnancy and childbirth. Therefore, it is completely unnecessary to have a room with 25 mirrors and high wattage fluorescent light bulbs that shine strategically down on the woman's body to show every little imperfection. Here's an idea...lose the light bulbs and get ONE mirror that focuses on making the mother look skinnier instead of fatter. Then, take the money you would have spent on the expensive light bulbs and mirrors and invest in some movies for the kids to watch while in the "Family Fitting Room." Take these suggestions and I promise you will sell more clothes!!!
10:30 am - Cohen freaks out and needs to eat. I sit down and start breastfeeding him.
10:35 am - While I am engaged in breastfeeding....Easton decides it will be fun to play "Indiana Jones" in the dressing room. This consists of climbing on top of a chair with a hanger in his hand. He then jumps off the chair and hooks the hanger on one of the clothes rods to swing across to the other side of the dressing room.
10:37 am - Emmy decides to try the "Indiana Jones" in the dressing room game which yields disastrous results.
10:38 am - I console Emmy while simultaneously breastfeeding Cohen.
10:45 am - Emmy is calmed down and Cohen is done eating.
10:47 am - Emmy poops. I change her diaper.
10:50 am - Cohen poops. I change his diaper.
10:55 am - Thank God! We are done with the "Family Fitting Room." I hand our number back to the poor high school-aged Target worker who will now decide to never have children thanks to me and my kids.
11:00 am - Go find our friends and continue shopping. They are allowing their kids to roam wild and free so I decide to let Easton out of his confines. He immediately sprints out of his seat like a race horse out of the gates and runs to the opposite end of the store screaming "Na-na-na-na-boo-boo. You can't catch me!!!"
11:02 am - Easton and Emmy get strapped back into the "special cart" after much protesting.
11:05 am - Protesting continues throughout checkout and all the way to the car.
11:10 am - Get loaded in the car and head to Subway to meet friends. But that would be yet another segment of "A Day in the Life Of"....

Happy Mother's Day....all year round.

So Easton thinks every day is Mother's Day. For the past 2 weeks, he has been telling me "Happy Mother's day!!!" about twenty times a day. At first I thought it was just a phase and it would stop, but now it is just getting more intense. He is now telling every random person that he sees "Happy Mother's Day." In fact, I don't think being a mother is even an actual requirement for him to tell you "Happy Mother's Day." He obviously doesn't quite understand the concept. It has gotten to the point where I am stressed out about going to the grocery store. What if he tells the 16 year old checkout girl "Happy Mother's Day" and she thinks he is saying she is pregnant so it offends her?!?! Or what if he tells the 90 year old Wal-Mart greeter "Happy Mother's Day" and she starts crying because she was never able to have children?!?! Or worse (I just thought of this one and now I am really freaked out)...what if he tells the 16 year old checkout BOY at Wal-Mart who has very long hair and looks like a girl "Happy Mother's Day"??? (I will not mention which Wal-Mart for privacy issues but this boy actually exists and we have already had a very embarrassing situation with said boy where my son was arguing with me right in front of him about whether he was a boy or a girl). As you can see, there are endless possibilities of where this whole "Happy Mother's Day" phase could go VERY wrong.

So, I was trying to figure out where all this started and this is what I came up with....I think it all started right after Father's Day. I made a really big deal out of Father's Day with the kids. We got up and made Michael a really special breakfast and then spent the day at his parent's house by the pool. That evening, we went over to my parent's house and celebrated with them by eating ice cream and dessert. The next morning Easton woke up and started pointing out to me and everyone else that we didn't have a Mother's Day. This is actually true....I spent Mother's Day in the Pediatric Urgent Care with Emmy and it was pretty much a downer of a day....no fun breakfasts, poolside cookouts, or ice cream parties. So what I am telling myself is that I have a super-sensitive little four year old who has decided he needs to make the lack of Mother's Day celebrating up to me by declaring every day Mother's Day. To be honest, I am kind of liking that idea! So...if you see my kid and he tells you "Happy Mother's Day".....just go with it. Even if you aren't a mom, just go with it (sorry 16 year old checkout girl and/or boy and 90 year old Wal-Mart greeter). I don't have the heart to tell him that everyday ISN'T Mother's Day and to be honest, I don't want to. After all, why can't everyday really be Mother's Day?!?! I propose that it can. At least in the Miller household.

P.S. - Could somebody please make sure that my husband gets the memo that everyday will now be Mother's Day?

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

We had a great 4th of July weekend! Our friend's Aaron and Natalie invited us to their parent's lake house on July 3rd. Notice there are no pictures of the kids with us. That would be because we got a babysitter for the entire day so that we could take an "adult-only" trip. We had SO much fun hanging out with friends and playing on the lake. Thanks Aaron and Natalie for the invite!

For the 4th, we went over to Michael's parent's house and hung out by the pool. The kids had so much fun playing with their cousin Aiden at Grammy J and D-Dad's house! Here are some pictures from our weekend....

Daniel, Michael, and Aaron at the lake - July 3rd.

The girls (me, Lauren, and Natalie) on the "floating island"...this is where we spent most of our time, of course!

The girls again...hanging out on the boat.

Michael was pretty worn out after the long day at the lake so he took a nap with his sweetheart the next day to catch up on sleep. Emmy calls this "nuggles with daddy." (aka "snuggles").

Michael and Cohen....I love this picture of my boys!

Michael's sister (Gina), Michael's dad, Cohen, and Aiden (our nephew) hanging out by the pool.

Family Pics 2009