The Millet Family

M is for..

2012-01-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

And once again we're back with the letter M! This week we played Roll a Mouse,

pin the Mustache on the Man (while sporting their own mustaches),

read Curious George, did a Maze, sorted out M&Ms (the kids favorites),

made a M out of Marshmallows, played 'Hide the Monkey' and some other Monkey counting games.

Whew.

You get all that? I'm just excited for another few weeks off...

I'm sure they will hate this post one day

2012-01-23T12:10:00.000-08:00

But really, what else are Moms for?

Ring the Dinner Bell

2012-01-17T11:46:00.000-08:00

Last night Peter and Travis got back from running errands around 5:30pm -- which also happens to be our usual dinner time. I guess he's pretty set in his schedule since he ran in the door and immediately yelled to me: "Momma, did you eat dinner already?"

I told him no. By that point he had rounded the corner, moving towards the table, when he pulls up short and clearly perplexed, demands "Well, why isn't the table set?"

I promise I'm not raising a misogynist. Just a constantly hungry boy.

Hiking Switzer Falls

2012-01-01T21:31:00.000-08:00

One of the joys of living in California is enjoying the fabulous weather all year long.

Seriously.

The forecast for New Years Eve was a sunny 70 degrees so we decided to go hiking up Switzer Falls with some of Trav's co-workers.

Here we are at the outset of the hike -- me and my handsome boys.

It was a bit chilly starting off but by the time we got going we were down to t-shirts. Man I love Cali.

And even though it was almost a five mile hike, Peter went most of the way on his own.

But all that hard work was rewarded with this beautiful view.

And then we made it to the falls itself. Which were just so pretty.

Trav even went for a little dip in the pool below.

It was a bit nippy.

And check out this pretty view from the top of the falls.

Benji even fell asleep on the way back.

What a perfect way to get ready for the new year.

Happy New Year to you all!

Christmas at the LA Temple

2011-12-30T21:01:00.000-08:00

Last Monday night we drove down to the LA Temple to check out the lights. While not as spectacular as the ones on Temple Square, they were still beautiful and we had a great time walking the pretty grounds.

Once again, we slipped Benji into the Maggie Simpson snowsuit.

That kid is too cute.

Peter was in heaven running around checking out all the different lights and chasing Daddy across the front lawn.

Benji trying to eat the fake icicles. Yum!

Our eternal family.

Christmas in Utah, Christmas in California

2011-12-25T22:36:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!!

We have spent a wonderful December full of comings and goings and lots of visiting. Here's a few highlights from the Millet household.

Peter and I made many, many sugar cookies one afternoon.

I'm not sure why he's holding an apple here too -- maybe to show that yes, we did eat something healthy this month too.

Benji has been feeling good enough that we took him outside a few times on walks.

Of course, we had to put him in the Maggie Simpson snowsuit. He continually cracks us up.

Peter probably visited Santa about 8 times this month. So don't be surprised that we didn't buy the over-priced pics of him sitting on Santa's lap at the mall.

The week before Christmas we spent in Utah with my family and had a great time. We went to the Dinosaur museum with all the cousins.

Peter's cousin, Carter (age 8), is the catalyst behind Peter's newly found Lego obsession. What follows is the result of Travis playing Lego's for a solid week and Carter pretending that his Lego's came to life.

And then we went to my brother David's skating party.

Peter LOVED this. He's been asking to go roller skating lately (I don't know how he knows what this is, but he did!) and so we jumped at the chance to hang out with David and my Mom while my Dad kept Benji.

At first we got him skates but after he struggled for a while with those, we traded them in for this three-wheeled scooter. At one point Peter said to me: "Momma, let's talk. Those roller skates were pretty good. But this scooter is much better."

We then had the Lee family Christmas party and opened presents. It was crazyness with seven little excited kids running around but lots of fun too.

Benji also started crawling in his very own little inch-worm shimmy thing this week. He's not really going very far but he sure is excited to get there. You just can't keep that kid down.

By the time we got home the night before Christmas Eve, we were beat.

But not too tired for Christmas morning!

Peter was so excited! This year he got his first Lego set and a 'red shiny fire engine.' Both of which he has been asking for for months.

And yes, that lovely purple machine is a Dyson vacuum for yours truly. Our new house is 90% tile and wood floors and I la-la-LOVE this new guy!

Benji was most excited about all the boxes and paper being thrown around.

Travis and I both had the kids help us make gifts for each other this year and while Peter helped make me a pretty jewelry box, he put together this 'print' from Benji.

And what are those three prints you ask? Well, just read the accompanying poem and find out...

"I'm just a baby now, but just wait and see

Before you know it, I'll shoot up like a weed.

I'm giving this gift so you'll have to remember

What a small boy I was this December.

One hand and one footprint I'm leaving for you

So that you can keep track of just how I grew.

And the one in the middle that looks like an inkblot

Is one that I made in a petite baby squat.

It was just because I thought it was funny.

That I left you an imprint of my wee baby bummy.

I just want you to know Mom, I love you immensely

Signed with love, your little boy Benji."

I wasn't quite sure whether to laugh or cry on this one.

I think I did both.

And lastly, the boys in their Christmas morning church finery (and one of Benji as a Christmas ninja).

Merry Christmas!

The one about the Christmas Tree

2011-12-09T21:05:00.001-08:00

This past week our dear friend Amber came out to visit us and we had a ball. She is soo very good to put up with our crazy. Needless to say, we loved having her here. On Saturday, she was able to witness the 8th Annual Millet Christmas Tree Selection. I tell you, it's a process. Travis is slightly particular about which tree we end up with. All I can say is -- Amber was a trooper. But once again my man came through and picked out a beauty. Although I did forget to take pictures while we were decorating, we did get to take a few family shots afterwards.

(Amber'll probably kill me for posting this one, but I love her face here!)

Behold, the Noble Fir

Oh how excited Peter is for Christmas. He's the first to run and play Christmas music every day and wants to know when Christmas Eve is all day long. We finally made a count-down chain to help him since he'd wake up every day and tell us: "Today is Christmas Momma!" and wound up very sad when we corrected him.

Benji adores his older brother. Seriously Peter could do anything and Benji would sit there and laugh hysterically at him.

And no, Benji isn't standing yet but he sitting on his own and is *this close* to crawling.

Even heart surgery couldn't keep that kid down.

Coming soon to a Christmas card near you...

J is for...

2011-12-09T20:54:00.001-08:00

Preschool was once again at our house. It feels like forever since I've taught (which it has been since my nice friends have covered for me with all of Benji's surgery stuff).

Day one was great, it was just Bryce and Peter and we learned about Jellyfish, made Jewelry (necklaces and bracelets out of cereal - which was all eaten within a few minutes), and sorted Jellybeans.

Day two I had all four boys again and we had a great time. Crazy, but great. We read The Polar Express, made our our Jingle Bells, painted a Jingle bells with watercolor (which Peter LOVED -- that kid was so precise with his painting, Trav asked me that night if I had helped him), and played Jumping Jelly beans. Good times.

I just love being able to celebrate Christmas all month long...

Canned Biscuit Doughnuts

2011-11-19T09:05:00.001-08:00

So I'm just gonna post this real quick cause I HAVE to share this awesome discovery.

I love doughnuts. Love, love, love.

Problem is, I only ever want them at like 10 o'clock at night when all the fresh made ones have gone stale and by that point I really don't want to wait another 3 hours for home-made dough to rise.

But I recently discovered a trick for making homemade doughnuts that I just know is going to change my life (and probably make it even harder for me to lose that baby weight). Using this recipe, we cut out doughnuts from regular old canned buttermilk biscuits, fried them in 350 degree oil and then finally covered them in cinnamon sugar and boy howdy were they ever delicious. Light, fluffy, and the best yet - nice and piping hot in just a matter of minutes.

In fact, this is all that is left of the ones we made this morning:

I think we just discovered a new Millet family tradition.

A whole lotta catch-up

2011-11-07T14:14:00.000-08:00

So I'm gonna play a little catch-up here seeing as though things have been a little busy lately. Benji is happily home and physically doing great. The surgery was a success and it's like he has a whole new heart. Hopefully this will mean he'll start gaining some weight soon :) Sadly, Benji has struggled a bit with sleeping post-surgery. He's always been a bit of a mama's boy but that has increased by about 100%. After getting home he refused to sleep in his own bed and all he wanted was to be held, mostly only by me. The poor kid simply cried & cried those first few days. After losing most of my sanity after several very sleepless nights, we went back to the doctor and was told that he was in perfect health -- just suffering from severe separation anxiety and a form of PTSD. And that there ins't much we could do about it for the next few weeks besides baby him & give him lots of love. So back into the trenches we went with my saintly mom here to offer breaks as Benji would let us. The last few days have been getting much better, however, he still won't sleep in his bed for more than a hour at a time but he will take a couple naps in his carseat throughout the day and will go at least a few hours at a time each night.

Did I mention he also cut his first tooth the day we came home from the hospital?

Yup. Joy.

So, we aren't moving too fast but things are slowly starting to look up.

****

To give a better idea of what life has been like at the Millet house the past couple weeks, let me illustrate this morning's conversation with Peter:

So I'm sleeping on the couch with Benji because he was doing his I'm-going-to-wake-up-every-hour-throughout-the-night routine and when that happens I usually wind up on the couch around 4am cause it's just easier to co-sleep with him. Anyways, I'm trying to enjoy a few more minutes of blissful sleep when all the sudden I hear the very, very soft ringing of a bell. When I look down, Peter is sitting on the floor next to the couch with a bell and when he sees me looking at him says, "Hi Mommy. I'm ringing the bell because it's time to get up. Can you wake up now?" No Peter. I don't want to get up now, but I will.

****

First up on the recap is Halloween.

Pre-surgery we went to Lombardi Ranch with my mom and a couple of friends and had a great time.

We rode the train

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater.

Peter drove the old fashioned Paddy Wagon

And, of course, picked out pumpkins.

Then for the big day itself, Peter went as The Boy Who Lived. He was so dang cute.

Trav took him to our new ward trunk-or-treat and they had a great time.

Benji & I stayed home with my mom but we did manage to get a photo of him in his Frankenstein shirt.

Looking pretty good a mere 5 days after surgery, no?

Then my sister and her cute daughter Paige came out and helped me figure out how to get Benji to sleep.

Benji loves his Aunt Tracie.

And his cousin Paige.

But most of all he loves his big brother.

And then Benji turned 6 months old last Sunday.

So cute, so happy (usually) and a mighty 11lbs 5oz & 26" long with 1.5 teeth and one wicked pirate scar down his chest.

We love ya kid.

Now just let us get some sleep.

Home

2011-10-28T14:31:00.000-07:00

You have no idea how happy were are to finally have our little man back home.

He flew through his hospital stay and we were able to bring him home yesterday.

Many thanks to everyone for all your prayers, meals, well-wishes, and help with Peter.

Our House!!

2011-10-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

Finally, finally, finally -- we FINALLY bought a house! Yay! And although it happened to come at a particularly crazy time (two weeks before Benji's surgery! Yikes!) we are so very glad to finally be moved in and enjoying our new digs. Especially since it has everything we were looking for in a house for the past two years -- 4 bedrooms, 1 acre of land, an extra detached 2 car garage (which Trav has dubbed his Laboratory), and a wonderfully large kitchen for me.

This is a very poor picture of the front of the house at sunset, but it gives you the general idea.

Part of the huge back yard - Trav already has all sorts of wild plans for this space.

My kitchen

*sigh*

It's my new happy place.

And our family out front last Sunday before church.

And is that a cat I see? Yep. Along with our purty new house, we happened to inherit a cat. Now, most of you know Trav's policy on pets (you have to be able to eat them once you get tired of them - hence the chickens) and my aversion to cats in general but this little lady stole our hearts. Mostly Peter's heart actually.

It hung around for about a week before we finally all felt sorry for her and started to feed her. Then Peter named her 'Foxy.' We still don't let her come inside (try as she might) but we sorta like having such a sweet, pretty little kitty following us around all the time.

Since we've moved to the desert, our house came with another little added something. Last week Travis and I killed our first rattlesnake.

Well, Travis chopped off it's head with a shovel while I held it down with a 8 foot pole in between bouts of terror. Frankly I'm still traumatized. I really, really don't like snakes.

I think Travis however felt pretty dang manly.

He even saved the snake body to have a 'rattlesnake avoidance class' with Peter.

There you have it - give us a few more weeks to get settled in and I'll share more pictures of all the painting, re-carpeting and random projects we're working on.

Our Benji Boy

2011-10-02T21:27:00.000-07:00

Our blue-eyed boy is doing pretty good lately all things considered. You just couldn't ask for a happier baby - or a more active one. He can already push himself all the way up on his arms and rolls both ways exceedingly fast. Most recently he's begun pushing his little bum up in the air and trying to scoot himself forward like he wants to crawl. Goodness, whatever happened to my newborn?!

We did visit with the cardiac surgeon last week and Benji's heart surgery has been scheduled for the end of the month. Much as we are dreading this step, it's becoming more and more obvious that Benji needs to have his heart fixed. The doctors recently found another hole in his heart and many of his other symptoms are becoming more pronounced.

Obviously your continued prayers on behalf of our little man in the coming weeks would be greatly appreciated.

Brought to you by the letter D

2011-10-02T21:09:00.000-07:00

I taught preschool again at our house this week, focusing on the letter D. I don't know if I've finally figured out how much to prepare for these guys or if D is just a fun letter because things went much smoother this week.

On the first day, Peter and Dublin Dug for Dinosaurs in the Dirt. Boy howdy did they ever love this. I think they would have spent the entire time in these boxes if I'd have let them. Actually, I let them play in these for a loooong time. Peter still won't let me empty them out in fact.

They also made these hilarious Dinosaur hats and ran around making different dinosaur sounds for ages.

We put together a giant Dinosaur puzzle, and sorted little dinosaurs by color and type and created patterns. Dinosaur Day was a complete success!

On the second day, we did all things '5 Little Ducks.' We sang, took our Ducks swimming in a bucket and made Duck 'footprints' outside. We played Duck, Duck, Goose and then built towers with some Dominoes, went on a Dandelion hunt and finally made our own Dandelions too.

My favorite discovery for that day: Bingo markers. The boys LOVED putting dots in each circle and in general just drawing with them. We also used them in a Dice/number recognition game which worked out really well. I'm going to have to incorporate these bad boys in the future because they loved them.

And now another week off to look forward to. Just in time for moving day!!

Peter's Bunny Build-Up Approach to Eating

2011-09-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

Do you have a child that often just won't eat?

We've got one of those too.

We've tried various methods including jokes, bribery, consequences...everything. But what seems to work the best is what Travis dubs as The Bunny Build-Up Approach. This method works almost without fail.

And being an Engineer, he turned it into a handy-dandy flow chart for easy reference. You're welcome.

The Walrus Breakfast

2011-09-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

So Travis made breakfast sandwiches this morning featuring these awesome little eggmen.

His words on presenting his creation?

"goo goo g'joob"

wait for it...

4 Months of Giggles

2011-09-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

My little man is 4 months old now unbelievably. He has to be one of the happiest babies ever. So chill and content as long as he's in the same room as his crazy brother and parents. Benji's been rolling over for about a month now and scoots around pretty good too - if we stick him on a blanket and he'll have rolled or scooted off within a matter of seconds. Always ready to be off. I think he's going to be a typical younger brother in that respect.

Benji also thinks he can already sit up (which you can see here that he's only leaning slightly against the couch). But usually he just ends up doing a face-plant.

As for Benji's heart problems, things have not been going as we would have liked. At his 4 month appointment he weighed only 10 lbs 6 oz (which was a pound less than the two weeks before). So his cardiologist put him on yet another medicine and when we went back on Monday he was back up to 11 lbs. Unfortunately, he still isn't growing at the rate he needs to be able to outgrow the hole in his heart. So now our next step is surgery. It's not something we are going into lightly but we just want our little man to be able to breathe easier and grow like he should. Frankly we want to get this fixed before flu season hits because even a small cold could put him in the hospital with his current lung/heart difficulties. We'll be meeting with a cardiac surgeon in the next couple of weeks to determine the date of the procedure. To say we're a little nervous would be an understatement but we really just want our little boy healthy.

Preschool!

2011-09-08T09:31:00.000-07:00

If you can believe it, my little man started preschool this past week. I can't believe we are to this stage already. My friends Emily and Brittany and I are doing a rotating co-op thing twice a week and this first week was my turn. For some reason I managed to have it at our house the week Travis was out of town (!!) but thankfully we survived. Three three year-old boys can get pretty silly.

Peter and his friend Dublin on the first morning modeling their backpacks. They were so excited.

We are doing a letter a week - so naturally first up was A. On the first day we made paper airplanes, an airplane hanger (or mobile - I think I'm too clever), and followed directions from arrows.

The second day we painted apples (using apples), tried different flavors of apples, applesauce and juice, went on an ant hunt, and practiced following directions from arrows again (they LOVED this game).

I had a great time with the kids but am really looking forward to have a couple of mornings with just me and Benji every few weeks!

Silly Boys

2011-08-31T05:59:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of odd shots of the boys for your Wednesday morning viewing pleasure.

Benji likes to hang out in his bumbo.

Peter likes to 'decorate' Benji while he hangs out in the bumbo.

What do you do when you've got to carry your sword but aren't wearing pants with a proper holster? Or pants at all for that matter.
Spiderman underwear does the job nicely.

AV Fair

2011-08-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to the Antelope Valley County Fair. We had a fantastic time even though it was scorching this past weekend. Here are some of Peter's favorite things.

Tell you the truth, I was quite impressed with this petting zoo. Besides the usual pigs, donkeys, sheep, goats, they had a couple of KANGAROOS, and even some baby deer. Petey kept trying to hold onto this one's tail for some reason.

Next Peter spent quite a while cleaning up the animal stalls and roping some bulls. He was pretty focused on both tasks.

Every year Pete's favorite part of the fair is this kids water pumping station. We probably could have stayed there all night long and he would have been just fine. In fact, I seem to remember a bit of a tantrum when it was time to move along.

(As for Petey's clothes, I know what you're thinking. Guess who dressed him that day?)

Benji did pretty good considering how hot it was - he sacked out a hour or so in and was pretty contented to just hang out in the stroller.

That's not to say, he wasn't a bit nervous for his big brother's big debut in Mutton Busting.

And here's the family - just after the fireworks, which Benji sat through just fine. The kid didn't even cry once! Amazing. Also notice Peter giving his patented stink-eye face. That kid has quite the little personality these days I tell ya.

Mutton Bustin'

2011-08-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

Perhaps the most important part of this years' county fair attendance included Peter's foray into the world of Mutton Busting. Yes, we are one of those parents. Peter prepped for this occasion by watching numerous YouTube videos and getting rides from Daddy. I tell you, he was ready.

Here's our little man (he's in the tie-dye shirt) in the lineup of fear - awaiting his turn.

I tell you tempers were high and the adrenaline was pumping fast back here...mostly from the parents.

And here's our champion rider all decked out in his gear. Happy as can be. Little did he know...

Although Petey made the age limit this year (3 years) he was still a little skinny by the WRO standards and thus wasn't able to do a full hang-on-for-dear-life-ride. But don't tell him that because he loved every moment of his 1.5 second ride. You would have thought he'd just been crowned Rodeo Queen or something. Next year I'm sure he'll dominate.

And lastly, here's the ride that will live in our minds forever. At least until next year.

Let's just pack it all into one weekend

2011-08-21T16:22:00.000-07:00

So with the new baby and all, we Millet's haven't really gotten out much this summer. But this past weekend we seemed to make up for this by planning a crazy whirlwind weekend which included going camping and the beach. Friday night we joined Travis' co-workers up Tehachapi Mountain and then drove down Saturday afternoon to meet our Utah friend Amber at Venice beach. Sunday we collapsed.

I was a bit nervous to take my baby who seldom sleeps for more than 2.5 hour stretches at night but I figured no one really sleeps while camping anyways so why not!

Peter however was beyond thrilled to go camping. He'd been talking about it all week.

Here's Peter and Saida (a co-workers daughter) playing us some music while we had breakfast.

The happy family. A little sleep-deprived, but happy.

And no, that isn't our tent - we've outgrown our two-man tent - we've upgraded to a 6-person monstrosity which was awesome.

Peter has been begging us all summer to go to the beach. I really haven't wanted to deal with a newborn + sand + sun but some friends loaned us their umbrella so that made this trip easier. Peter had a ball though. He loved digging in the sand and going in the water with Daddy. He even got a nice mouthful of saltwater which he discovered doesn't taste quite the same as pool-water.

Surprisingly, Benji did really good too. Mostly he hung out on the blanket, in the shade, just giggling away. It was a wonderful weekend, but man, are we ever glad to be home (and for Sunday naps).

Apollo Park Outing

2011-08-06T09:29:00.000-07:00

This past week I took the boys to Apollo Park. It's one of our favorite places to go because it is huge, has TREES (which is pretty rare out here in the desert), a playground and a large duck pond. Plus to get to it, you get to go down the Musical Road (it plays the Lone Ranger Theme song) which is Peter's favorite. I haven't ventured out much with Benji in tow just because it has been so hot but we left pretty early in the morning and had a great time.

Peter feeding the ducks

This fella was Peter's favorite. Once Petey saw its' feathers all fluffed up like this I think he laughed hysterically for like 10 minutes.

My cute man. There is a large walking trail that loops around the park and not 5 minutes after we started off, Pete took a dive and scraped up his knees and elbows. But he was a champ and soldiered on soon afterwards.

This my friends is MY newest friend. For my birthday I bought myself this lovely tandem stroller. Being a sit-n-stand, it makes it so much easier to be able to strap my crazy toddler in instead of trying to chase him down all the time. Plus, it's super light and I can put the car seat in the front or the back depending on where I want Peter to sit.

Benji hanging out in the shade. He was so good the entire trip.

After wandering around for a while, our good friend Emily and her kids met us at the playground but of course I forgot to take pictures then. We were just having too good of a time!

Benjamin's Blessing

2011-07-28T12:21:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday we had lots of family in town for Benji's baby blessing. Trav's dad and his wife LeeAnn came out as well as all of my family except for my brother David (who was greatly missed). Needless to say, it was a fun-filled and crazy weekend. Travis gave Benji an excellent blessing -- most notably he mentioned that Benji would be very interested in the way the world works and seek for knowledge about it -- which I take to mean we have another future engineer on our hands ;) Well, at least we know how to keep them entertained!

Here we are on Sunday with Golden and LeeAnn

And if you can believe it, here's the entire Lee family (minus David)!

It's amazing we even got one picture with all the grandkids semi-behaving.

My mom with Benji in his cute blessing outfit.

Since Benji is a particular shade of pasty white, we quickly figured out we didn't want to put him in pale clothes for the blessing for fear of them turning him into a ghost baby. (We did however wrap him in the same white blanket Peter had for his blessing.) In the end we went with this great bright lime green outfit. I think he looks like a doll.

In other news, we were finally able to get Benji's heart murmur that his pediatrician found at his 2 month check-up looked at. After meeting with a truly wonderful pediatric cardiologist, it looks like Benji has a medium-sized Ventricular Septal Defect which is basically a hole in the dividing wall that separates the lower two chambers of his heart. This can be a serious condition which could eventually require surgery, but our doctor was pretty optimistic about Benji's outlook since he has been steadily gaining weight, eats well and has good color. We'll just be watching him for the next few months pretty closely for any signs of struggle.

In the meantime, we'd greatly appreciate all your prayers for our sweet little man.

Peter & Benji Pics

2011-07-16T14:50:00.001-07:00

Last week I took Peter and Benjamin to get their pictures taken. Unfortunately, it didn't go quite as well as I would have liked. Benji was just not happy period, Peter was bored and done after 3 shots and the photographer had no idea what she was doing with children. She actually looked at me after the second pose (with only 1 or 2 shots per pose) and asked if we were all done. Sheesh. Oh well, they are still cute boys and these are the ones I liked the best out of the bunch.

Two Months and a little

2011-07-15T13:44:00.000-07:00

Benji is now 2 months old if you can believe it. At his last appointment he was 9 lbs and 4 oz and 23.5" long. He's got lots of blond hair growing all over his cute little head and the sweetest blue eyes. He is also our happy little man and always has a smile (especially when you tickle his belly).

Peter is liking his new brother now more that Benji smiles and interacts with us. I just love watching him bring Benji toys or sing songs for him when he cries.

And this has got to be my favorite - Benji all wrapped up in a monkey towel after a bath.

Celebrate your Independence by Overeating and Blowing Something Up!

2011-07-03T17:10:00.000-07:00

We hope yours is filled with lots of water and laughter.

At least he comes by it honestly

2011-06-30T12:17:00.000-07:00

I love how ticklish little Benji is. He is the happiest little fella and is extremely ticklish on his belly. Love it.

Lake Tahoe

2011-06-22T17:03:00.000-07:00

Life has been moving along here at Casa Millet. Benji is now 6 weeks old and getting chubbier by the day. And cuter. Peter is slowly adjusting to no longer being the only attraction in town and has proved himself to be a supreme big brother by helping me with his diaper changes and trying to calm Benji down when he's fussy.

Um, can I be any more handsome?

I don't think so.

This past weekend we proved how crazy we are by taking a weekend trip to Lake Tahoe for Travis' dad's wedding. It was beautiful and we had a wonderful time (I'd never been before) even if it was a little crazy. Especially since all the Millet's shacked up in a big house - 6 kids under the age of 3 in one house can be a little trying for anyone I think. Fun but noisy.

As tradition dictates, Trav made this incredible quilt for Golden and LeeAnn. I think it turned out beautiful. My man is so creative.

And here we are at the wedding. Surprisingly, we actually got a shot of all four of us looking semi human. Two mintues after this picture was taken Peter reverted into full tantrum mode (we have pictures of that too) but at least he's sitting still here.

By the way, don't you love their little matching ties? While Trav's mom Deb was here, she helped me make them and I think they are the cutest things ever.

During Golden and LeeAnn's ceremony overlooking the lake. It sure was purty.

Lake Tahoe itself. We took a boat tour all around Emerald Bay (pictured below) and it was gorgeous. I really, really want to go back again. Soon, hopefully - but maybe once Benji's a little older.

It's Official.

2011-06-10T17:17:00.000-07:00

I have the cutest little boys ever.

Don't you agree?

And here's just one more, cause who doesn't love a sleeping baby?

On our own

2011-05-26T10:54:00.000-07:00

Well, after having visitors for over two weeks to help out with Benjamin and Peter - we are now officially on our own! Which is a little daunting, I assure you. But we're working on it. Petey is handling the decreased amount of attention okay - we just need to get Benji sleeping more consistently at night so I can be a more interactive mom during the day.

Our last guest was my dad - Petey had a wonderful time being thrown around by 'Silly Grandpa'

We took Benjamin to his 2 week checkup a few days ago and the doctor confirmed what we already knew: he is a little piglet. Benji not only has passed his birth weight, he's already 6lbs 13oz. Quite the little chunker.

But really, ever so cute.

Anyone else just love watching their babies sleep in these curled up positions?

Pete and Benji just hanging out. We are still working on Peter not loving Benji to death.

But he sure does enjoy helping Daddy feed the baby.

And yep, I even make an occasional appearance with Benjamin.

Lastly, this is entirely non-baby related, but I must share my most recent cooking acquisition. I specially requested this cake pan for Mother's Day (which was spent in the hospital - so I figure I get to pick out my own present) and Travis more than came through. Behold the stoneware bundt pan from Pampered Chef!

Of course the first thing I had to make was my all time favorite dessert: angel food cake (12 egg whites!) which was superb and divine and entirely consumed within 24 hours.

Mainly by me.

Don't judge - I'm nursing.

The First Week

2011-05-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

We've officially been home with Benjamin for over a week now and things are going great. I really don't want to jinx us, but Benji has been a great little baby so far. Mostly he just eats and sleeps. And poops. Sometimes I even have a hard time waking him up for the eating part, but we're working on that.

Probably it's been so easy because we've had so much help. Trav took all last week off work and my mom was wonderful enough to come and take care of Petey while we were still in the hospital and she stayed for a whole week afterwards too. Thanks Mom!

Yesterday she pulled a switcheroo with Travis' mom and now we have the other grandma in town all this week. Yay for family!

This past week, we celebrated Travis' 29th Birthday, which was pretty low key, but he didn't seem to mind. Probably because I made him my super delicious chocolate-coconut creme cake.

Petey also spent some quality time in the pool since it was pretty warm for a few days. Only problem is, this is how the kid likes to go swimming. I'm sure our neighbors love getting an eyeful.

And then we gave Benjamin his first bath...which he absolutely hated. Of course. But I loved it! Mainly because I got to use my new Puj Tub that my dear friends Amber, Katie, & Angela gave me. It snaps together so you can set it right in your bathroom sink and then pops open to hang up flat to dry. Love, love it.

It's been a busy first week, but we are loving having Benji home with us. Peter is starting to warm up too and constantly asks to hold him or will bring me the pacifier whenever he hears his brother crying. It's too cute.

Millet Boy - New 2011 Model Revealed

2011-05-09T21:24:00.000-07:00

Introducing...

Benjamin Golden Millet

May 7, 2011 - 1:39 am

6lbs 2oz

19.5"

And for those of you who like a little story with your pictures...

This was Michelle Friday morning.

Miserable and 40 weeks pregnant exactly.

Even though I hadn't gone into labor yet, my kind doctor had pity on me and had told me earlier in the week to plan on heading to the hospital Friday night as long as I was already having contractions.

Contractions?

Oh, you mean those things I've been having since I was 5 months along? Got 'em.

So after a family dinner and a nice walk to get me really going, Trav and I headed off to the hospital.

Me: determined to have a baby, Trav: pretty sure we'd be sent home.

Luckily, they weren't really busy and after spending some time in triage, my doctor had them admit me and we headed to a room to get started on pitocin around 9:30pm. Since Peter had also been an induction, we were pretty certain it would take some time to get things going and that we wouldn't be having the baby anytime before 5 or 6am. Not so much this time.

After hanging out for a while, my water broke around midnight and all the sudden my contractions were coming 1-2 minutes apart and I was quickly begging for an epidural. Cause I tell you those bad boys hurt. After the epidural I was only at 5cm, but things were going really fast and within 30 minutes I had gone to 10cm and they had me start pushing.

Needless to say, the epidural didn't really have all that much time to take effect properly.

After some very, very difficult pushing (I am a wuss), I was basically ready to beg for a break when the doctor looked at me and said "We need to have this baby now!" That pronouncement was sufficiently dire for me to put a little more effort into things and within a few more minutes out came Mr. Benjamin at 1:39am.

Turns out the cord was wrapped around his neck which had been causing his heart-rate to drop during each contraction.

So it took basically one hour and 30 minutes from my water breaking to delivery. I find that pretty dang speedy.

Benjamin was tiny, but perfect and needless to say Travis and I were in love.

I bet after seeing these pictures you will be too.

If you remember, Travis marked Peter with a pi symbol at birth to make sure we came home with the right little man. We didn't want Benji to feel left out, so he made sure to get a beta symbol on right away.

Michelle and Benji after delivery. Can we say sleep deprived?

My two boys.

Daddy and the little man

Peter is the best big brother. I don't think he was too thrilled about the fact that Benjamin was a baby instead of a big friend to play with but he's quickly learned how to love him.

"All By Mine Self"

2011-05-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

Pete's hair is getting a little long which usually equates to some pretty terrific bed-head every day. This morning as I was wetting it down to try to tame the beast, he demanded to be able to do it himself.

The results (no help from mom, remember):

The Shark is back folks.

Picnic with Friends

2011-05-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it was such a beautiful day, Peter and I decided to have a picnic snack time in the backyard. What I didn't realize was that Peter had also invited several guests to the party already. All four of these animals sleep with Peter every night and he was very particular about having them share his popcorn.

Their names are: Peanut (the blue dog), Edwin "Poop" Millet (sock monkey), Snuffy (the mammoth) and Frappuccino (the brown & white dog).

At one point I asked: "Peter, are you having fun with all your babies?"

And his instant reply: "No Mama! They are not babies. They are mine animals. Say it Mommy! Say it!"

And would not be satisfied until I said: "Sorry, Peter. I meant your 'animals' not 'babies'."

I guess I was thinking too much like a girl who remembers having tea parties with her baby dolls.

Here is Pete introducing his friends:

Happy Easter

2011-04-27T13:56:00.000-07:00

For Easter this past weekend, we decided to take Peter to a 'Breakfast with the Bunny' at Mulligans on Saturday (mainly cause Trav has been begging to go play putt-putt for months now). But heavens! It was a mad house there. Trav and Peter rode the go-carts and did the egg hunt while I waited in line for over an hour for breakfast. I have no idea why I did that while 9 months pregnant (less than 2 weeks now!). My hips hated me the rest of the day. But afterwards we played a speedy game of putt-putt in which Peter decided he likes throwing the ball more than hitting it.

Trav and Peter did enjoy playing some arcade games too..

As for Easter itself, we had a pretty chill day. Trav didn't realize his meetings before church had been cancelled so when he got back before church we did a mini egg hunt for Peter in the back yard. Which was pretty hilarious since with only one kid the motivation to get out there and find the eggs isn't quite as high.

Notice the Cars backpack. This was basically the extent of Pete's Easter basket but he loves it. Also, all my shots of the egg hunt were of Peter from behind. He was not wanting to look at the camera.

The excited little man with all his loot. Still in pjs with bedhead. I love it.

Peter and I in our Easter finery -- and showing off our baby bellies. Of course we didn't take a family picture cause we're slackers like that, but know that Travis looked particularly handsome too.

California Science Center

2011-04-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

Last week, my brother Jono and his family came down from Utah to spend their spring break at Disneyland. So on Friday, Travis, Peter and I went down to meet them in LA to go to the California Science Center. Which was totally free and a really a great museum. The kids had a fantastic time running around checking out all the exhibits while I spent most of the time searching for any available seating.

Lesson learned: walking does not induce labor for me, my friends. It simply threatens to make my hips pop out of joint. Sliiightly painful.

We did try to get a picture of all four kids together, but quickly discovered it was just not gonna happen. This shot is probably the best of the bunch. Personally, I think it's hilarious.

Spencer, Cami, Brookie, and Peter

Although we did snap this one of Peter hanging out by the fountains which is pretty dang cute.

Seven Year Itch

2011-04-04T17:32:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, Travis and I celebrated our SEVENTH anniversary.

Crazy.

One of Trav's co-workers has a cabin up in Mammoth, CA (a great ski resort town like Park City, UT) and graciously offered to let us use it for the weekend. It couldn't have come at a better time. We've never been away from Peter together overnight and since we have another wild little man coming in about a month (5 weeks and counting folks), we decided to leave Pete with our good friends Josh and Becca (thank you, thank you!) and head out for a romantic weekend sans kids.

Even though we're currently enjoying sunny shorts and t-shirt weather at home, Mammoth still had mountains of snow - it was so incredibly gorgeous.

Travis soon learned however that vacationing with a highly pregnant woman is somewhat different.

Mainly we spent the entire weekend ether eating...

or sleeping.

But we did take time to see the sights. On Saturday we took the gondola up to the top of the ski resort and checked out the slopes. No skiing for us but still it was a beautiful day.

For our last night and a special anniversary treat, we made reservations at a fancy-pants restaurant at Tamarack Lodge complete with a talented French chef. The restaurant only seated about 15 people so it was very cozy and the food... oh my, the food was fantastic. We seriously ate for over two hours and enjoyed every single bite.

We had such a wonderful time, but by Sunday morning I was ready to come back to our sweet little man (who did awesome at our friends house by the way).

I sure do love this man.

Gotta Start 'Em Early

2011-03-29T19:26:00.000-07:00

Our kids have no hope whatsoever.

The funny part? I'm not sure just who was more intrigued by the magazine: father or son.

My farmer boys

2011-03-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

As he is sometimes prone to be, Travis kept acting all cryptic on Saturday saying he and Pete needed to go to the store to buy a 'surprise' for Peter. Well, aside from my instant fear (please, please don't bring home any more animals!), I've learned it's just better to let him do his thing cause it usually results in something fabulous for the little man. This time was no exception.

The boys returned home with 4 large hay bales and proceeded to play outside for the next couple of hours even though it was freezing outside. Travis is convinced keeping this type of stuff around is eventually going to turn Peter into a 'man' - mostly because it forces him to do stunts like this:

I think they both had a great time making railroad tracks, a barn, and who knows what all else despite Petey's many resulting bumps, bruises and itchy skin.

Travis' main explaination on why hay bales? "Because every fun memory I have as a kid revolved around bales of hay."

Well, alrighty then.

He's trying to kill me, I just know it

2011-03-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

We've been enjoying the sunshine the last few days - but Peter about sent me into labor yesterday when I found him outside like this.

His explanation? "I just wanted to see the cars Mama."

(our back wall looks right over the street - complete with a huge 30-40 foot drop to the ground)

And that's not even to mention his new-found skill of being able to open the fence gate by standing on the handlebars of his four wheeler because he "wants to go for a walk."
Our gate has a lock now.

I just don't know how I'm gonna cope with two of these little crazy men running around soon...

A quick little Utah trip

2011-03-14T13:34:00.000-07:00

After months of prodding by my sister, Peter and I finally took a quick trip to Utah last week. Yes. I took this crazy little man on a plane, by myself, while 8 months pregnant. I promise I'm not completely insane. Just really missing my family.

Petey did really well on the flight - probably because it was only 1.5 hours long and he got to watch Cars. Frankly he was in heaven since we flew out of Long Beach where you still are able to go outside and walk up the stairs to the plane. This little man loves his airplanes.

Against all my protests, my cute sister Tracie and SIL Kristi threw me a baby shower the first night. Of course, I loved it and it was so nice to be able to see so many family and friends all at once. Plus, Tracie really knows how to throw a party. The food people, was stellar. Which is quite important to a pregnant woman you know.

I also had Tracie do my hair before the shower mainly because I had decided to become a blonde again. I think the cut and color turned out wonderful even though my crazy pregnancy hormones turned my hair a nice bright strawberry blonde the first go-round. The end result however, I am a big fan of.

Me with some of the cute baby loot.

My mom, Tracie, Kristi and I. It was so nice to spend so much time with all of them - we even took an evening to go to the BYU Dancesport competition together. Which was fabulous as always. Travis' comment? "I'm just glad I didn't have to go." I'm pretty sure all of our husbands felt the same way, hon.

Some of my wonderful book friends made it to the shower too! This is Holly (who used to work with me) and Angie (who runs one of the best book blogs around) here with me. I'm was so pleased they both could make it. I seriously buy so many books on their recommendations alone.

My only sadness was that I didn't get a good picture of all my friends from Provo - Angela, Amber, and Katie - even though we enjoyed a yummy Magleby's breakfast together one morning. Those girls kept me sane all through Trav's masters program and still remain some of my very best friends.

It was a fantastic trip tho although I was very, very glad to come home. Thanks again to all my great family for showing me such a wonderful time!

Pirate boy

2011-02-11T15:16:00.000-08:00

Peter came from playing outside today and said:

"Mama, mine eye hurts! I need a band-aid."

Well, I didn't know what to do, so I just stuck it underneath his eye but then he promptly took it off and stuck it a little bit higher. Like this.

And said: "Arrrg! I'm a pirate!"

I'm a Mormon

2011-02-07T14:33:00.000-08:00

My sister called me this morning to let me know that they finally got her and her husband's 'I'm a Mormon' profile and video up on Mormon.org.

It's a great video - one that just makes me so proud to call Rob and Tracie family.

Party Time = Crazy Time

2011-01-30T18:33:00.000-08:00

For the first time, we decided to throw Peter an actual birthday party for all his little friends this year. This happened mainly because we don't have any family around and we wanted to do something for the little guy. We decided to throw a farm themed party because Petey's been asking for things like a donkey, a camel, a tiger and this is the closest I could get to that.

This is what the house looked like before all the kidlets arrived. Although to be honest this picture was taken after I cleaned up the 5-gallon bucket of flour I had spilled on the kitchen floor half-an-hour before guests arrived. Gah. What a mess.

In a moment of sheer brilliance, Trav and I decided to build a barn for the party out of cardboard boxes. This was probably one of our better party ideas. The kids climbed in and out all night long and we had some toy cows and pigs they could throw in through the little hay loft window. Also - see those cute little barn gift bags on the mantel? Thank goodness for Target's dollar spot this month, I found those and all these cool farm toys that made up the majority of the goody-bag treasures for the party.

As they were arriving we had all the kids make animal ear hats. Here's the entire crew with their creations. Petey looks pretty pleased to have all his friends around, doesn't he?

After playing a few farm-themed games, it was time to open presents. Sheer pandemonium I tell you. But I tell you that the boy made out like a bandit! His little friend's mommies sure exactly what he likes: Cars, Toy Story, and farm stuff. Probably the favorites were a Cars umbrella (which he loves - especially since it rained today and he got to use it) and a Uno Moo game. Also, notice the elusive shot of Michelle large with child. I am feeling every day of my 6 months lately.

Then we gathered the kids for cake and ice cream. I don't know what I was thinking but I made the cake myself - which involved a bit of drama since I was still frosting and decorating it 10 minutes before all the guests arrived. Eek! But I think it turned out cute. Petey wanted white cake and Trav wanted chocolate so we had a layer of each. Although we still have plenty of left-overs, so if you'd like a slice, stop on by.

The kids all seemed to enjoy my efforts.

We had a wonderful time, but man, were we ever beat afterwards! I'm pretty sure we won't be doing another party like this for a few years but it sure was fun to throw something big for Peter before this next baby arrives. Happy Birthday Peter!!

Stupid Easy Fantastically Good Peasant Bread

2011-01-28T12:53:00.000-08:00

So this post is basically for Katie who commented on the post about my fancy new dutch oven and said to share what I made. Oh boy, Katie - you may be sorry you asked...

First off, I made clam chowder on Sunday but since that isn't terribly unique or exciting (but still excellent) I thought I'd share the next dish I have been very, very, very excited to make. Stupid Easy Fantastically Good Peasant Bread. I've literally had this recipe just sitting in my binder for over a year and a half, ever since we lived in Ohio and a friend made it for me. I just knew it'd be one of the first things I had to try once I got my own dutch oven.

Frankly I don't have the best track record in the bread-making division, but as the title suggests, the recipe is so easy, even I could not mess it up. I didn't take a ton of pics but the main idea is you make the dough (which is NOT KNEADED), let it sit all day and then after kneading it about 10 times into a nice ball shape plop it into your preheated dutch oven and bake. So really, it took me about 10 minutes of prep time in the morning and then another 10 minutes an hour before dinner.

Like I said, stupid easy.

Here's the dough in the hot dutch oven ready to go in the oven.

And here's the yummy, delish, crunchy-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside, fresh bread straight out of the oven. Heaven. And you would not believe how good it smells.

And of course, here's a piece slathered with butter and served with a bowl of chili. I cannot believe this turned out PERFECT on my very first try. That does not happen often my friends. I told Travis we might be making this every day from now on. Which would not be a bad thing.

So for those of you who might want to try it yourselves, here's the recipe:
Stupid Easy Fantastically Good Peasant Bread
3 cups (15 ounces) unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast (cheat and add a little more yeast if you are in a hurry)
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (7 ounces) water, at room temperature or a little bit warmer
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons lager beer (3 ounces) (can use water)
1 tablespoon white vinegar (this gives a slight sourdough flavor, substitute 1 tablespoon water if you prefer)

Put flour, yeast, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Dump in water, beer, and vinegar. Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until a shaggy ball forms. I usually end up mixing with my hand to make sure all the flour is mixed with the liquid. No need to knead. Really. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rest for about 4 to 8 hours, or more, on the countertop. Sometimes I mix the dough just before bed and bake mid-morning the next day. If you need more time before you are ready to bake the bread punch the dough down and let rise again. And again, if you need.

Place a sheet of parchment paper over a medium mixing bowl. Spray parchment with cooking spray. Dump dough onto a lightly floured counter top and gently knead about 10 turns. Shape dough into a ball and transfer to prepared parchment paper. The dough and paper will sink into the bowl Cover bowl lightly with plastic wrap and let rise about 1 hour.

Place a 6-qt enameled cast iron dutch oven with a tight fitting lid into the oven and preheat to 500 degrees while dough rises, at least 30 minutes.

Reduce oven heat to 425 degrees. Dust top of loaf with flour and using your sharpest knife, make 3 slashes over top of loaf. Remove super hot lid from top of pot. Using parchment paper as a sling, lift dough out of bowl and gently place into preheated pot, paper and all. The parchment paper will stick up all around the sides. Don't worry, just put the lid on as tightly as possible and bake for 30 minutes. NO PEEKING. Remove lid and continue baking for 5 to 10 minutes more until loaf is a deep golden brown. Dump loaf out of pan, place onto cooling rack, remove and discard toasted parchment paper, and let loaf cool for at least 45 minutes before cutting. If bottom of loaf is too dark reduce the oven temperature by 5 or 10 degrees and/or reduce baking time next time.

Happy Baking!

My little man turns 3

2011-01-26T13:19:00.000-08:00

Can you believe that our little man turned THREE yesterday?

Me either.

Sometimes I still think of him as a newborn:

Then I remember when he turned one:

But more often than not, I remember him as a two year old:

It seems like this past year has flown by and we suddenly seem to have a little boy instead of a toddler on our hands.

A little boy that still loves trains.

He was the happiest man ever when we finally went for train ride when Grandpa came to town after Christmas.

More and more, he's a little boy that makes us laugh with all the crazy things he says and does.

Since we are having a party for all his little friends on Saturday, we kept last night pretty low key with just the three of us.We had dinner, opened presents and had planned to go get ice cream afterwards but every time we asked Peter if he wanted to go, he said "No. I want to stay and play wif my toys."

So we had cookies out of the pantry and played with his new farm set until bedtime.

Happy Birthday Petey! We love you so much.

Merry Christmas to me

2011-01-22T11:10:00.000-08:00

Today I got to go pick up this beauty.

I've seriously wanted one of these bad boys for ages and this Christmas my fabulous Mom and Dad picked out this fancy blue coated dutch-oven for me. Thank you! Thank you!

I can't wait to make all kinds of stews, roasts, chilies, and even breads.
Yum.
Now I just need to decide what I'm going to make first...

Mini Me

2011-01-18T15:57:00.000-08:00

Little boys and their Daddies... and trucks.

Petey loves to follow Travis around and do whatever the heck he happens to be doing. Anything really. But he especially loves to help Daddy 'fix' the cars. Every time Trav changes the oil you can be sure Petey will be out in the garage too with his own little tool box ready to help out. When I found them both crowded up in the engine on Saturday I knew this would be a keeper.

Bunk Beds!

2011-01-12T13:16:00.000-08:00

Last night we finally bought bunk beds for Peter. The kid is in heaven. We've been talking up his 'big boy bed' for a few weeks now hoping he'd be able to make the transition from toddler bed to full size bed easy. Especially with the new baby coming, we didn't want him to feel like the new kid on the block had stolen his bed.

As you can probably guess, our little man loves 'em. As soon as we got them all set up (okay, as soon as Trav got them set up with me offering encouragement along the way) he immediately climbed up the ladder and made himself right at home. Since we didn't get a mattress for the top bunk yet, we had him sleep on the bottom (thank goodness) but even then, I was scared silly he'd fall out of bed. Luckily, he went right to sleep and didn't fall out once. But that may be because of all the blankets and pillows I had piled up along the edge and on the floor. Sneaky me.

A funny side note: Peter is still calling the baby 'baby Petey.' In fact, he refuses to even consider other names. Whenever I suggest something he'll say, "No Mama! His name is Baby Petey!" very insistent-like. We think it's pretty funny and have even taken to calling him P2 or baby Petey too. Oh well, thankfully we have a few more months to come up with something. In the meantime, I always think of this hilarious song every time he calls him "baby Petey."

New Years Snow

2011-01-03T10:17:00.000-08:00

Well we must have had a blue moon as well as some cold weather last night cause we actually got SNOW here in Southern California last night. Worried that it'd be all gone before morning, we went outside at 6pm to play and make a snowman in the dark. Peter had a blast! He kept running around Sunday night saying "It's Christmas eve!" Which I guess makes sense because it always snows on Christmas Eve in every Christmas movie we've ever watched. This this morning he ran around saying "It's Christmas Day!" He continually cracks us up.

Our friendly snowman. Petey kept singing "Frosty the Snowman" all night. Too bad but it seems Frosty lost his balance sometime during the night and ended up in a heap.

We tried to rebuild him, but Petey just kept jumping on him and knocking it over every time I'd put him back together.

We got about 3 or 4 inches total last night but right now the sun is shining, so our winter wonderland might not last much past noon. Until then, we're enjoying the pretty snow.

The Little Man

2010-12-11T08:31:00.000-08:00

Lest you think we've forgotten about our silly little Petey, here are a couple of recent fun things I caught the boy doing.

It seems the little man loves oranges.

Especially when I cut them into triangles so he can give me big cheesers like this:

And a couple of days ago, I went to wake him up from his nap and this was the 'relaxed' pose I found him in:

He just looks like some care-free, young bachelor to me.

And yes, I really, really didn't want to wake him up.

I'm so crafty, I make PEOPLE!

2010-12-09T13:45:00.000-08:00

Well my friends, the title of this post really says it all. Travis, Petey and I are getting really excited to welcome the newest little Millet into our home come May 6 next year. Unlike with Petey, we've had to be patient for a very long time while walking a pretty uphill road - so we are now feeling extra blessed at the moment after watching the ultrasound (and seeing our healthy baby moving all around).

As for the baby -- well, even though Travis was convinced it was going to be a girl we found out it is going to be a BOY! Let's just say I am thrilled seeing as we already have everything we need and know what to do with boys. Maybe that's lazy, but I couldn't be more happy.

Lastly, I thought I'd share a conversation we had with Peter today. All throughout this pregnancy he's been telling me he thinks it's a baby sister, but this last week he changed his mind.

Me: "Peter, do you think there's a baby brother or a baby sister in mommy's tummy?"

Peter: "Baby broder."

Me: "Really? What should we name your baby brother?"

Peter: "Uh... Petey."

Me: "But your name is already Peter. What will we call the baby?"

Peter: "He will be little Petey and I will be big Petey."

Me: "Okay, that's not confusing at all."

Peter: "Then Mama will have a baby Petey and Daddy will have a baby Petey."

Travis: "Well, that makes sense to me."

Can't argue with that kind of logic.

Advent Calendars

2010-12-01T13:25:00.000-08:00

For some odd and unfathomable reason I decided to make my family Christmas presents this year. To be totally honest, I've done this many times in the past, and have always really enjoyed it, but this year I think I took on the most ambitious project of all: The advent calendar.

And I needed to make FOUR.

By December 1st.

Crazy.

I'm not sure why I decided to pick something so random or so time-consuming, but I did. I really had no clue how even to start, so I searched around a bit until I found this blog with some pretty good tutorials. But since no one really had any kind of post on how to make exactly what I wanted and in the interest of sharing with others what I learned along the way - I thought I'd post a mini-tutorial here.

First I started off with this beauty (via Land of Nod) as my insipration and kind of went from there:

First order of business was to cut the pockets. Instead of using all sorts of random colors I decided to just use traditional Christmas reds and greens (except for the calendar for my sister - because she decorates in blue and silver but I'll explain more later) and so I cut out 25 little 3"x3" squares of felt for each one. I ended up using 5 different colors - 3 greens and 2 reds - and just used those 8.5"x11" sheets of felt from JoAnns.

Next I had to come up with 25 Christmas themed pictures (harder than you think) for each pocket and then cut those out. Followed by their corresponding numbers 1-25. (It was a lot of cutting). Probably the hardest part was decided what should go where and in what color. It's pretty stressful trying to make sure you don't have 6 green squares in a row!

Then came the sewing.

And sewing.

And still more sewing.

Travis will attest to this. I spent literally every nap time and every evening (that I didn't simply crash) sewing up these bad boys since early October. I think Trav felt thoroughly ignored and neglected. Poor baby. Although I was able to finally watch the entire season of Firefly and the movie Serenity - both of which I thoroughly enjoyed.

For the hand-stitching parts, I bought some fun twisty embroidery thread from JoAnns which came with lots of wonderful colors. Since I don't know how to embroider, I used this basic stitch guide and sort of made up the rest as I went.

After all the sewing was done, I ironed on a square of fusible webbing to the back of each piece (just a little smaller than each pocket) so that the threads wouldn't catch each time you pulled the candy or papers out of the pockets. Sneaky me.

The next big step was sewing each individual pocket to the green felt backing. Travis was floored that I would actually choose to do this all by hand, but I figured since I already done so much by hand, using the machine would be a little like cheating. I might as well make the pockets look extra pretty too.

After sewing on each square individually with some fun green thread, I sewed (used the machine here kids) the large piece of green felt to a matching piece of red felt so all those stitches were hidden (I know it's the back, but I was worried about it). Lastly, I sewed together a layered brown felt roof and added that on top.

Whew.

The fruits of my labors. My hands are cramping just thinking about all the time I spent on these bad boys. But really, it wouldn't have been so bad if I had just been making ONE. Since I ended up doing four (one for my folks, each sibling, and one, of course, for us) I may have developed carpal tunnel in the process.

One of the four calendars I actually did in a silver/blue color scheme because my sister decorates for Christmas in all blues and silvers.Trav confessed that he liked this one better than ours, but oh well. He got a red and green one.

If your curious, here's how that one turned out. Even though I don't have a final picture - just image this all with the pockets sewn on with white thread and a grey roof (like the others).

some detail.

So there you have it. The reason I have not blogged, read much, and kept my house cleaning to a minimum over the past two months. I'm pretty excited over how they all turned out - I think the real reason I love making Christmas gifts is because you have all this time while you are actually putting the thing together to think about the person you are making them for. It's a nice way to keep your family in mind during the holidays - especially for me when mine all live so far away.

As a side note, because of all my preparations, I got into the Christmas spirit very, very early this year and have been singing Christmas songs to Petey since early November (which I usually NEVER do before Thanksgiving). I'm thinking it's not necessarily a bad thing ;)

Now I just need to come up with 25 activities for each pocket....

O Christmas Tree

2010-11-30T12:10:00.000-08:00

Yay! Yay! Yay!

Christmas is on it's way finally! Monday night we went out to track down the perfect Christmas tree (Trav is a bit particular when it comes to his firs) and spent a nice evening decorating it together. We cranked up the Christmas tunes, poured ourselves a couple of glasses of egg nog and got to work. Peter especially got really excited to set up the tree. All week he's been saying stuff like "Can we have a Christmas Eve?" or "Maybe Santa will say ho ho ho." Cracks us up. This year he also finally figured out how to help us put ornaments on the tree.

Except he didn't so much get the 'tree' part.

His favorite part to decorate was the strand of lights coming from the wall.

I think it looks good that way too pal.

And final product. Yep - the stockings were also Petey's addition. I guess he didn't much like them on the mantel.

Let the countdown begin!

"It's a Spaceship!"

2010-11-30T11:57:00.000-08:00

Oh the fun things that happen when Daddy comes home.

My favorite?

Peter's 'space helmet.'

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-02T15:20:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone got their fill of candy and pumpkins this past weekend - we sure did! Amazingly, we all dressed up this year - even Travis. He went as Bert the chimney sweep from Mary Poppins, Peter was a cowboy and I was Frauline Maria from The Sound of Music - complete with guitar and suitcase. So we sorta had our own Julie Andrews theme night -- Trav and I just got our movies mixed up. But we did have a blast getting our costumes together, although next year I think I just might have to pick one from this hilarious list.

Peter was the cutest cowboy ever. We even had little spurs to put on his boots (which are not actual cowboy boots - we didn't have those. he simply wore rain boots. close enough). He calls his hat a 'howdy hat' and his little pistol a 'shoot gun.' Love it.

Of course his favorite part of the evening was playing with his friend Dublin the dragon. When we first got to the party, Peter kept running around saying "where's the dragon mommy?" And I had no clue what he was talking about until I realized Dublin was the dragon. They chased each other around all night.

Getting the goods truck-or-treating

Happy Halloween!

I am Child of God

2010-10-29T11:14:00.000-07:00

Petey has been wandering around singing this song at the top of his lungs for a couple of weeks now and I finally was able to catch him on camera. Only he got a little distracted near the end, so I apologize if all his wanderings make you dizzy. We've been singing it before bedtime every night but had no idea he knew all three verses until he joined in one night. Melted our hearts.

Murray Family Farms

2010-10-23T21:33:00.000-07:00

Today we drove up near Bakersfield to spend the day at Murray Family Farms. They are currently holding their Octoberfest and had lots of fun things for the kiddos to enjoy. We've been talking this excursion up to Pete for several days so he was sufficiently excited to ride on tractors and pet some animals.

First up was a hay ride... pulled by a tractor. I think Petey about peed his pants he was so excited.

The tractor dropped us off at the pumpkin patch where we each got to select one. Trav and Petey (of course) may have taken the longest to select theirs. I tried to snap a picture of it but mainly Pete took so long picking out his cause he kept wandering around with bits of irrigation piping. Trust our little man to go for the tools/equpiment whenever possible.

Pete hanging out by some of this years larger models.

Then we stopped off at the petting zoo which Peter refused to leave. He thought the goats and this pig were hilarious and he loved wandering in and out of the animals little barn. We practically had to drag him away from it in the end.

And here we have my newest ~~frivolous~~ purchase. I've been looking for a fun pair of rainboots and finally settled on these crocs. Which I love. Just start calling me Debbie Reynolds. Except I still need the yellow slicker.

And the good looking family.

As a completely random side note, can you believe how big Petey is getting lately? As Trav and I were looking through all these photos, we just couldn't believe some of the faces he had pulled and just how big he looks. Not to mention that we are constantly amused (and amazed) by all the crazy things that come out of his mouth.

My baby is a baby no longer.

Excuse me while I go have a good cry...

A Wedding & a new arrival

2010-10-16T15:17:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we made the long trek back to Idaho for Travis' brother, Jon's, wedding. He married the wonderful Shelia - who the entire family loves - at a pretty golf course on Sunday afternoon. Jon also gained a little boy named Stewart, Shelia's 2 year old, too. We are so happy for the new family.

A view of the gorgeous golf course they were married at.

The new family: Jon, Shelia and Stewart

Basically the ONLY picture I got of Travis in his full tux. He was Jon's best man.

The little man wandering around before the wedding.

Peter chugging sparkling cider before the wedding toasts. Trav's toast was really quite funny actually. No surprise there :)

Do you think this means our kid will be a lush?

So I was a total space-head and forgot to get any family pictures of the three of us in our finery before the wedding and only remembered (of course) once Peter was beyond done for the day. He didn't get a nap that day and had already eaten multiple cupcakes and drank many cups of punch (and not much else) so he was a little punch-drunk himself.

Let's just say this picture is the best we got of the bunch.

Pete and I hanging out on the bridge after the ceremony.

On the way home we decide to go through Utah so we could see my family for a bit too. We ended up going to breakfast with my whole family - which was wonderful. Unfortunately, since we've been home Pete's come down with a bad case of diarrhea (like every 30 min for the past 2 days) and now has the worst diaper rash ever. Poor kid, he keeps wandering around, crying and saying "mine body hurts!"

Anybody know any good remedies for that?

************

On the way home, we stopped off in St. George and welcomed a long-awaited member to our family.

After searching around for the past two years for a used or second-hand, or heck, even a discounted Bosch mixer, we finally broke down and bought a brand-new model. It cost a pretty penny but Trav has always been pretty insistent that we go with the Bosch versus a Kitchenaid - he says they have a bigger motor and last years longer than any Kitchenaid. I say whatever - I just want something to mix dough so I don't have to. I had never used one of these bad boys previously but Trav's family has nothing but good things to say about them. Which I guess is pretty accurate since we've received several phone calls congratulating us on our new purchase since getting home ;). In fact, Trav's sister Michelle told us she still uses the one his mom was given on her wedding day(!). My MIL Deb tells me she this guy can handle a 6-loaf batch of bread easy and I cannot wait to try that out!

We opted to go with the food processor attachment and so far I've grated cheese, made soup and spaghetti sauce just in the past couple days. I haven't even had a chance to use the mixer itself but I'm really looking forward to making bread, pizza dough, pasta, flat bread - ANYTHING really.

We are in love.

The Wild Man

2010-09-18T08:23:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you that Peter has entered the crazy, wild boy stage lately and it's all I can do to keep up with the little man. Every time I turn around the kid is into something new and half the time I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Usually it's laughing, but not always.

First up -- Petey decided he needed a haircut the other day. Except he couldn't wait for me to do the honors, of course not. I got out of the shower a few days ago to discover that Peter had gotten out Trav's clippers, climbed on top of the sink and then proceeded to buzz a strip of hair right down the middle. *sigh* He now has a complete buzz cut.

This one actually happened a couple of weeks ago while my friend was keeping Pete so I could go get my license renewed (2 1/2 hours with an appointment - you have to love CA government processes). Peter fell and got a huge black eye at her house. It stayed for about a week and I had to explain to everyone that no, I don't beat my child.

For the next few days, anytime someone would ask him what happened he'd calmly say: "I fell and hurt mine eye at Dublin's house." That's my honest kid.

And here's a great one of the silly boy climbing on top of his car. Petey does this about once every day and I about had a heart-attack seeing him try to climb it on the cement. So I started trying to get him to push it onto the grass first. I figure a fall onto the grass would be a lot more manageable than a fall on cement would be. It's a compromise of sorts. Every time he does it now, he says: "we go on grass, so don't fall and smash mine head like a pancake." See, he's learning.

And of course, there is potty-training. We've been at it for a couple of weeks now and most of the time Petey is just so busy he always forgets to tell me he's got to go. So it's more of a training for me to remember to have him go regularly. Hopefully he'll figure it out on his own soon. Although I do love watching him run around in his little underwears.

I keep trying to figure it out where Petey comes up with all this crazy stuff, but then I come home to find his father doing something like this:

That's right. Trav bought a pair of police-grade handcuffs for added home security (don't ask) and has been teaching himself to open them with just a bobby pin a la Jason Bourne. As of last night, he can get them off in about 2 minutes if his hands are in front. He says now he just needs to figure out how to do it while his hands are behind his back. I just want to know what crime Trav's planning that he's anticipating needing to know this skill in advance.

These are my boys.

If Mommy talks about potty training one more time, I'm joining the Circus

2010-09-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

Petey's latest trick: Sword Swallower Extraordinaire.

(Peter --- Professional)

Skirty Flirty

2010-09-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, I finally got brave and used this tutorial to make this skirt -- which includes pockets! As basically a beginner sewer, I tend to way over-think every single step, but this one only took me about 2 hours.

I think the final product turned out real cute as I ended up wearing it to church today (at least it was real cute until Petey decided to throw up on it right before sacrament meeting, but that's another post). And now maybe I'll be brave enough to try something a little more difficult in the future.

And no, I'm not showing you the first skirt I made with this pattern. Are you thinking of a mumu crossed with a circus tent? Yeah, well that first attempt looks like those two got together and tried (unsuccessfully) to have kids.

The AV Fair

2010-08-22T21:44:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went to the Antelope Valley Fair and had a great time. Petey loved riding the ferris wheel, eating funnel cake, and checking out all the livestock. Trav and I loved watching the mutton busting (and are already counting down the days until Petey is 3 so he can compete) and the wild turkey races. We all got a kick out of the barn where all the bunnies and chickens were kept. Trav is convinced that we should enter our chickens next year. Our rooster is very purty. They also had several areas for families - one where Pete could pump water and rubber ducks in this gutter system.

Trav always enjoys these things as much as the kids

Dad showing Petey how to 'milk' a cow and occasionally shooting Mommy with the spray.

Petey liked the petting zoo, but not the petting part so much. He really didn't want to touch this baby goat, but we forced him to anyways. It'll put hair on his chest.

Words

2010-08-12T22:05:00.001-07:00

I found this amazing video online today and just had to share. Basically it's a take on the many varied definitions of a single word and how easily they can merge into other words. Can you spot how and when each word merges into the next?

Canada, eh!

2010-08-12T21:59:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we took a family vacation to Toronto. Trav was presenting a paper at some aeronautics conference there so it wasn't all fun and games for him - but me and Pete explored the city to it's fullest. We were lucky enough to meet up with some of our friends from last summer in Ohio who's hubby's were also there for the conference, so we palled around during the day while the boys did scholarly stuff. Frankly, I love Toronto. I could move there - except for the whole winter/snow thing. But seriously I love how clean and friendly it was, I'd love to take another trip there sometime.

Petey did pretty good on the flight there and back. On the trip home, me and Trav ended up on separate flights and as me and Pete were boarding the plane, he had to stop and make sure every single passenger on our flight knew that "mine daddy's on a spaceship." (emphasis on the space) Too funny.

Our first day we went to the Toronto Zoo with Rachelle, her kids Isaac and Ian, her MIL, and Rekha and her little man Nikil. We had a good time, but boy was it HOT so we sorta pushed the kids through the outdoor exhibits and then finally made it to the splash pad for a cool-down. We didn't know about it prior however, so Pete and Isaac both just ran around in their shorts but still enjoyed it plenty.

Isaac & Pete in a turtle egg. Check out how red-faced these two got.

Believe it or not, Petey was so scared of this seahorse. The look of distrust on his face here totally cracks me up. Even with me cajoling him, this is still as close as he would get to it.

Cooling off at the splash park and stealing Isaac's snacks

The next day we went here - Casa Loma. Loved the gardens.

Petey loved exploring all the various paths in the gardens.

And would you look at that? I acutally got the turkey to hold still and LOOK at the camera for once.

Ain't he cute?

We did a TON of walking throughout the city, Petey even got a blister from his new tennies! But every night we had to walk by these little statues of dogs/wolves/bunnies? so Petey could take a ride. And Travis too.

At the scenic hotel right after Trav finished presenting his paper. I think he's glad to be done.

Our last day, we took the ferry out to the Toronto Islands for a quick peak around. Mainly I just wanted a boat ride. And no, I didn't plan on color-coordinating our outfits, it just happened. Serendipitously.

On the boat ride back, we sat next to this British family on 'holiday' and if that little boy had had brown hair (and a family who didn't like him), I swear he'd have been Harry Potter. At one point he walked up to us after hearing me call Petey (imagine great English accent): "Is his name Peter? Can he talk yet? We're here only holiday, it's my baby sister's birthday today." (remember think really cute, really thick English accent - or just call me and I'll do it for you.) And then he proceeded to talk our ear off for the next 20 minutes. It was probably the highlight of our trip. And now Trav keeps asking me if the next baby we have can come out with a British accent.

Hanging out along the Harbourfront

Us at an outdoor concert at one of the many city parks. Isnt' this venue gorgeous? It was right on the waterfront and so fun. We seriously loved Toronto so much and now I'm already trying to figure out how to get us back there!

Score!

2010-08-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

My sister has this little piano that Petey loves to play with every time we go to her house.

Today I found it at Goodwill for $3.
Major Score!

My little maestro.

Venice Beach Trip

2010-08-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, we met up with our good friends Amber, Angela & Brian and their sweet baby girl Jane in Venice Beach (just south of Santa Monica) for what was the Best Vacation EVER. From it's inception it had been dubbed "the Vacation Wherein Nothing Will be Planned" we knew we were just gonna hang out, go to the beach, eat lots of food and sleep. And that's what we did. Literally. I'm sure (thanks to our combined culinary excellence) we probably consumed over 3,000 calories a day per person, but it was worth it. So much goodness involved. And here's the pictures to prove it.

After we picked up Amber from the airport, we made a quick detour down to Long Beach cause we had a couple of hours to kill. I love this area and come down here on the least excuse.

Brian and Travis showing off their stuff on the rope climb on Venice Beach.

The monkey Trav on the swinging rings

In the afternoons, it would get pretty windy and cold and Petey always wanted to run around with Trav's shirt on as a jacket. Hilarious.

Me holding the cute Baby Jane. Isn't she a doll?

At one point, Petey even let us bury him. It was pretty darn cute cause he thought it hilarious.

Mostly the little man ran around saying things like "Look, it's mine ocean/beach/sand box" He'd then proceed to lay down and roll around in the sand. He loved it.

The one and only picture (out of many) that all three of us look semi human. Amazing. We had so much fun! Thanks again Angela, Brian and Amber for making the trek out here! We ready to go again next year.

Elephant Eggs

2010-07-18T12:21:00.000-07:00

I don't know where I discovered this idea online, but I remember seeing how to make an Elephant Milk Carton Hat on somebody's crafty blog. Whoever it was, I'd like to go ahead and thank them right now cause this is Petey's new favorite thing.

Petey has been running around with this new 'elefint' hat on for a couple of weeks now - complete with random elephant trumpets. It's too funny. To make this spiffy hat I basically took an old milk jug and cut off the top (leaving the handle attached) and then cut 'ears' out of the sides, turned it upside down and drew eyes on as well. Instant fun.

Egg update:

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned one of our hens had started laying eggs about every other day - well, since then things have really taken off. She started laying about every day and then our other hen began laying these smallish brown ones as well!

We really appreciate our chickens going to the trouble of color-coordinating their eggs so we can easily tell which ones are the productive hens.

This picture shows the eggs we've collected over the past 4 days. Crazy. We're now getting about 1-2 FRESH eggs a day - that is unless Petey drops one on the way into the house cause he's so excited.

Beach Day!

2010-07-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

So this is sorta late, but over the 4th of July weekend, we went down to Zuma Beach in Mailbu with our friends the Martins to have a beach day. We had such a blast and Becca's sister took about 300 pictures - which are all amazing - and I wanted to share a few here.

aww... The Happy Family

The peaceful citizens of Sandopolis had no idea there world was about to come crashing down until Godzilla Peter made his devastating move.

Mostly Peter just ran around the beach, playing in the sand with his bff Lauryn (which he pronounces "Lo-R-wren"). The water was a bit cold and after Trav tried to take him in, he decided enough with that and stuck to the sand for the rest of the day. Which he loved. Of course.

I did love watching him run around saying "I so excited Mama!"

These two have so much fun together.

After we all had gotten sand stuck basically EVERYWHERE, the kids had tried to eat the bubbles (numerous times), and the tide started to come in harder, we decided to call it a day and go with the Martin's to their Grandparent's pool about 30 min away.

Petey likes swimming in pools, but usually only the ones where he can touch. So you could say I was very surprised when we put him in this floaty thing and he immediately took off, swimming all over the big pool.

My little man is growing up!

One more of the cheesers.

Your Daily Ration of Geek

2010-06-30T22:43:00.000-07:00

This is what Michelle says I sound like when I come home and tell her about my day at work. I'm told the engineer in the video did this completely improvised, no cue cards or script. I only wish I had those skills!

Eggs!

2010-06-29T16:21:00.000-07:00

Last night marked a momentous occasion. After 6 months of waiting, we got our very own, home-grown (...er...laid) EGG!

This one came from our Americana Hen - also known as an Easter Egger because they lay these pretty blue-green eggs. We're hoping she becomes a consistent layer.

Here's to fresh eggs!!

Long Beach Aquarium

2010-06-27T20:29:00.000-07:00

Saturday we decided to brave the traffic down to LA once more to go to the Aquarium of the Pacific down at Long Beach. It was a gorgeous day and we had such a great time seeing all the fishes and boats.

Me and Peter looking at one of the bigger tanks featuring a cartoonish looking Dorie. The entire time we were there, he'd run up to each new tank and say 'hi fishies.' or 'Hello there fishies.' Cracked us up every time.

Trav and Pete hanging out in a boat.

Petey screwing up his courage to touch the starfish in the tidepool.

Tiny baby Seahorses. They were only 4 weeks old and probably as big as my fingernail. So cute.

They also had a lorikeet exhibit - birds that will come up and drink nectar out of cup in your hand. Peter was fascinated by all the pretty birdies and so Trav of course was trying to pet one until he came over and said "It bit me." Really?

After the Aquarium, we took Petey for a ride on the carousel - which he loved - and then wandered around the docks.

Mustard! ('musrd mommy!')
Lunch Petey style

Then we hiked up to see the lighthouse and got a great view of the marina.
That's what the big shadow is from behind us.

Ahoy there mateys.

Father & Sons Campout

2010-06-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Trav took Petey on the Father & Sons Campout with our ward for the first time. Petey had a blast. Trav, maybe not so much. I think Petey was just so excited with the tent, sleeping bags, campfire, and having Daddy all to himself for entire evening. It was all a little too much for one little boy which resulted in the boys only getting about 4 or 5 hours of sleep.

But Petey was beside himself with excitement.

He loves flashlights.

Especially Trav's really expensive ones.

I think Trav and Petey both had a good time, (I know I enjoyed sleeping in on a Saturday morning. When was the last time that occurred?) but I'm betting Trav'll wait until I can come too before he attempts camping with a toddler again.

Potty Training books?

2010-06-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

So it's that time for us - we're getting ready to buckle down and begin potty training Peter. We think he's ready but I'm quite nervous about how it'll go so I was wondering if any of you know of any Potty Training books that you have found to be helpful.

You know what a geek I am and how I NEED to read a book to be able to figure anything out, so please, which ones do you recommend?

Sunday Best

2010-06-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post a picture of the turkey in his Father's Day Sunday best. Let me tell you this kid did not want to stand still for a photo. But I just love this outfit and thought he looked dang cute today.

recent Petey-isms:

[going in to wake up Trav for his Father's Day french toast breakfast]
Me: Petey go wake up Daddy and say "Happy Father's Day"
Petey: Happy Bir-Day [birthday] Daddy!

[while Trav was putting Petey to bed]
Petey: Mommy be right back
Dad: Yep
Petey: Mommy get a haircut [I just got a haircut yesterday - he noticed!]
Dad: Yep
Petey: It's cute.

[on our 14 hour drive back from Idaho last week, I taught him this one]
Me: [shaking hands] Nice to meet you Petey.
Petey: Pleasure all mine.

I-Di-Ho

2010-06-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we went to Idaho for Trav's 10 year high school reunion. Mine was actually the exact same weekend (just in different states) but we decided to go to his this year mostly because his class only has like 40 people and mine has around 700 and we figured it would be a lot more fun in a smaller setting. Of course, we forgot to take any pictures at the reunion itself, but we did manage to get quite a few at Grandpa's and Uncle Jon's house, where we stayed. Jon and his fiance Shelia were so nice to put us up for a few days and we ate some awesome food and had the best time playing around the farm.

For those of you that didn't know, Trav's dad and brother are beekeepers and also have quite the assortment of animals and tractors at their house. Petey was in heaven. Grandpa took him and his cousin Stewart for multiple rides on the forklift.

He helped feed the elk and saw the two new baby calves.

He drove the forklift (again) with Daddy.

Petey's help was needed quite often this weekend. I don't know how Jon gets anything done without him.

Check out this look of extreme concentration on Petey's face here.

And played with his cousin Stewart (or 'Sue-ert' as Petey says). These two are only about 6 months apart and look SO much alike. I've never really seen Petey play with another kid before (he usually just does the parallel play thing) but he and Stewart would jump on the bed together, dig dirt, tickle each other, play trains, and just in general follow each other around everywhere. It was hilarious.

Petey giving Stewart a hug - or choking him. It's a toss-up.

These two are so darn cute. Although if this past weekend is any indication, we should just be prepared for the insane amount of mischief they'll get into together in about 4 or 5 years.

Splish Splash

2010-06-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

We are loving that summer has finally arrived! After wearing jackets and long-sleeves for most of May, June has brought sun and warm weather. Finally! Here's Petey with his friends Lauryn and Bella hanging out in the pool. My kid is such a stud. Both girls spent most of the after pouring water on Petey's head and he didn't even hardly notice. It was pretty dang cute.

Sanity saver

2010-06-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

A while back I saw this great idea on a cooking blog for keeping kids entertained while cooking. She said her mom used to spread an old sheet out on the kitchen floor and then filled an empty gallon ice cream bucket with wheat kernels. The kids could dump out the wheat and 'cook' with the kernels without making a complete mess. She also suggested setting out some measuring spoons and cups for the kids to play with.When they are done, simply use the sheet to dump the wheat back into the bucket. Easy peasy.

We've been doing this for about a month now and Petey loves it. He will always ask to 'play wheat' and it will keep him occupied while I cook dinner. Very, very sneaky. When I ask him what he is making usually he'll say 'soup.'

I just keep the gallon bucket of wheat, the sheet and some old kitchen tools in a cupboard that he can easily get to and we are all set.

Best use I've found for all that wheat food storage yet.

False Alarm

2010-06-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

So last night Trav & I were hanging out after Petey went to bed and all the sudden we hear glass crashing and a loud thud coming from our front/dining room. First thing that crosses through both our minds is, oh no, we're being robbed. I promise we're not pessimistic*: remember, we've recently moved to a large, southern California city and have already been in a car wreck, so a burglary wouldn't be too much of a stretch.

Panic sets in and then we both spring up and multiple things happen in about 60 seconds: Trav starts to run to the spare bedroom to get the shotgun out of the safe but decides he doesn't want to leave me alone and so quickly turns around. I start to go for Petey's room but decide to run for my phone to call 911 first.

Then we both sort of realize nothing is really happening (and with hearts beating really fast) we peek around the corner and see that no, we are not being robbed. Whew. It just so happens that a large painting and frame with make quite the loud crash on wood floors. Not to mention a big mess. So luckily we didn't get robbed, we just got scared out of our minds by a piece of fine art.

*Although in my defense, I had been in the middle of reading The Outsiders and was in the mind-set of hoodlums and JDs and rumbles. Trav has no such excuse however.

New Bed!

2010-06-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

Please disregard the mismatching dresser/nightstand and laundry pile next to it, but this past week Trav and I bought a new bed! Yipee! A cherry wood sleigh bed actually. One we've been wanting for over 6 years now. I lurv it.

Catching up

2010-05-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

Whew!! Busy, busy. That is what the Millets have been lately. I haven't posted for sometime, so I thought I post some highlights of our last month or so..

Back in April, we traveled back to 'ole Provo for Trav's Masters graduation. I can't tell you how proud of that man I am. And happy to be done. Very happy. It was a really quick trip but we got to see most of Trav's and my family so that was wonderful.

After we got back, we decided that boonieville North Edwards was the place for us no longer and so picked up and moved down to the city (Lancaster). We Loooove our new house. It's mucho nicer than our previous one. It's about an hour away from where we were, but on the other side of the base and only 5 minutes from a grocery store. Much better. We miss all our old No. Edwards buddies, but since we're still in the same stake - we see them pretty often.

Trav celebrated his 28th Birthday!! Happy Birthday baby! We had some of his co-workers over for a 'surprise' party (meaning Trav didn't tell them it was his birthday until they got to our house. Surprise!) and enjoyed some good food.

Later Trav celebrated his manhood by chopping off the head of one of our roosters which crowed so much I thought I'd go out and strangle it myself. And just like they tell you, the dang thing jumped and flapped around for a good couple of minutes before giving up. I've even got a video if you are interested. And yes, we roasted him up for dinner. He was a little skinny, but very tasty. Just go ahead and call me pioneer woman.

My mom also came out for a visit and while here we visited the Poppy Reserve. The poppies only bloom once a year and it's quite beautiful. Petey had a grand time chasing the lizards and 'meetles' (beetles) and sniffing the pretty flowers.

This past weekend, we went hiking in Santa Clarita with Trav's co-workers again and had a great time. See that rock outcropping behind us? Yep, we climbed that. It was about 6 miles all total, but Petey was a champ and did great. We even found a hummingbirds nest with eggs the size of jellybeans along the way.

And then (of course) after a great day, we got into a pretty bad car wreck on the way home. I was driving during stop and go traffic and this idiot slammed into a woman behind us at like 50 mph (everyone else was dead stopped) and she in turn, hit us. It could have been much worse, no one was hurt, but the other two cars were totaled and ours isn't in the best shape either. We drove home okay, but yesterday it refused to start again so now we are just waiting for the insurance to go through so we can get it fixed. Sheesh. California drivers really are the worst!

Ring a Rosie

2010-05-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

I mentioned before that Petey loves to sing. All the time. He can sing all of Twinkle, Twinkle, the ABCs, most of the Winnie The Pooh song and lots others. But my favorite has to be Ring around the Rosie. Mostly because he spins like this while singing.

Wordy

2010-05-09T21:09:00.000-07:00

Life has been crazy busy with a move, a quick trip to Utah for Trav's graduation, and lots of company but of course we've recently switched our internet to a cable line so our internet is too slow to load up any pictures in the evening when everyone else and their brother is online. But since Petey has been being so dang chatty lately, I thought I'd share a few of his funnier moments:

~ He's started singing in what Trav describes as being stuck in an infinite loop. Or, for us normal folks he'll keep singing the same song over and over. And over. For example: "ABC....WXYZ Now I know my ABCDEFGH...." or "Twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are, up above the world so high, like a diamond in the sky, twinkle twinkle little star how I wonder what you are, up above the world so high..." It's like listening to the song that never ends all the time.

~ Instead of saying open it, he says "opal lit"

~ Since moving and leaving all his little friends behind, he'll periodically come ask me: "Friends? Lauryn, Carson? Go playgound?" My two-year old is already telling me he needs a social life. Sheesh.

~ Anything fun is followed up by the words "do gain" (do again) or "read gain" (read again)

I promise some good pics are forthcoming, I've just got to remember to post during the day...

Day 2 of the bedtime saga

2010-04-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Trav and I decided it's time to get rid of Petey's beloved sippy cup. He's always been a pretty good sleeper but mainly because of the sippy routine. But he's two now and always wants to chew on it while he sleeps - which I know is bad for his teeth so we decided to go cold turkey. I knew we were going to have some drama and Petey has sure lived up to the hype.

I put him down for a nap yesterday and of course, crying ensued. For about an hour. Then he finally quieted down and I figured (hoped actually) he had worn himself out and had finally drifted off. No such luck - about an hour later when I finally let him out of the room, this is what it looked like.

Books, toys and the dresser contents had been thrown everywhere. And look how pleased he is with himself. *sigh* That night he went right to sleep - probably due to not having a nap - but right now he is currently still banging around in his room when he should be sleeping. *double sigh* Now I'm thinking we should have waited to switch to a toddler bed. I sure do miss quiet nap times.

Any of you veteran moms out there with any good ideas on how to transition to naptime sans sippy?

The Domestic Goddess

2010-04-09T12:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the laxity in posting of late, but we have been extremely crazy a la casa Millet. Easter, our 6th anniversary and lots of other runnings around happening. But somehow in the past couple of weeks I've found time for some projects that I've had my eye on for quite some time. First up is my feeble attempt at making Easter PJs for Petey. I've been inspired by all the crafty things my college and blogging buddy Julie makes for her kids and figured I'd try it out too.

The turkey is still in his Thomas phase and when I found this fabric on clearance, I figured it was a sign. I used this online tutorial and only had to rip out seams 3 or 4 times. Not bad for a novice sans pattern. But the kid loves them so I also ended up making a pair of pj shorts out of Cars material - which he also loves - those turned out a bit better but of course I don't seem to have a photo of them.

Next came the strawberry jam. I know it seems a little early, but out here I found strawberries on sale for $0.69/lb(!!!) this past week and went a little crazy. I don't think I've EVER seen strawberries that cheap - it's one of the perks of living in CA I suppose. I bought maybe 15 pounds: turned some into freezer jam, froze cut up pieces for later use and the rest have been disappearing at an alarming rate into the belly of a little boy who can easily eat his own body weight in strawberries.

And lastly, I had to add this one per Trav's request. Let me present the final Mustache March results:

He had grown out a pretty full beard with all his co-workers and this is the Hook mustache he created for the last day of March. I'm just glad we are now back to smooth and clean every day.

The Boxcar Child

2010-03-26T12:24:00.001-07:00

This past weekend, we bought a gun safe (something Trav has been drooling over for years) and it came in this huge cardboard box that was just asking to be made into something exciting for Petey.

Rocket?

Boat?

Car?

In the end, Trav settled on a train - and made our little man the happiest fella around. He decorated it with chalk to look like Thomas and stuck a little chair inside so Petey could have something to sit on. Underneath is one of those roller boards you lie on to change the oil - adding instant wheels to our little FHE project. Petey still wants to play with it every chance he gets. I just don't know who had more fun with the entire project: Trav or Petey...

Hiking in Malibu

2010-03-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend we went hiking near Malibu with some of Trav's co-workers. They seem to know all the best places to go and this was no exception. It was a beautiful 3 mile hike that would have resulted in some lovely views of the ocean if not for the mountains of fog that rolled in over the coast. Petey was actually a pretty good little hiker- he enjoyed trying to catch lizards and picking all the wildflowers.

I love this photo of us. Don't be surprised if this picture shows up on your annual Millet Family Christmas card.

Afterwards, we went to this cozy Mexican restaurant in Malibu where we saw more trendy people in one place than I've ever come across before. We felt a little out of place being all sweaty and in our hiking gear - but the food was yummy!

And of course, we couldn't make a trip down to LA without making a stop at the beach. It was quite foggy on the shore and the waves crashing scared Petey a bit, but we had fun playing in the sand and wandering around in the surf. I'm already planning a trip back for when the weather gets a little warmer.

I love those little guys

2010-03-22T11:04:00.000-07:00

Petey has discovered the joy that is band-aids. He loves those little guys. A few days ago he insisted on having one on each hand and ended up wearing them all day until they finally fell off in the bath. It was hilarious - he looked like some kind of colorful boxer running around the house.

Would you look at that?

2010-03-16T14:45:00.000-07:00

Several years ago my parents gave us an antique dining room set which came with 4 rush bottom (woven) chairs. Over the years, the weave has started to sag and even break and I've cursed my inability to clean them well numerous times. Last week I had an epiphany of sorts. I always figured if I wanted to re-cover the chairs, I'd have to take them to a pro to be re-woven.

Duh.

I finally realized I could do it myself - with a little help from my resident engineer, of course. So off to the hardware and fabric stores I went. And last night for FHE, Trav and I recovered them - I'm quite pleased with the results.

Here's a chair with the woven part ripped off and the new bottom cut specially by Trav. To make them softy, we just cut out several pieces of foam from a mattress we've been using for camping and then stapled the fabric over top. Easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy.

And the finished product. Can you believe something I have been waiting years to do only cost about $20 and an hours worth of time? Love the DIY.

I love my chairs now. They are purty and comfy.

Happy Pi Day!

2010-03-14T23:05:00.000-07:00

today is 3/14, we celebrated Pi Day by making.... PASTA!!

oops. We totally forgot about making a pie, but I did make homemade pasta - by hand, no machine required! And oh boy, was it delicious. So good in fact, it wrinkled my brain. And it was stupid easy, all you need is a little elbow grease. And shrimp. It will be made again.

I have also been meaning to post more chicken pics for a while now, so here is Trav's new and improved chicken house with two of our fowl friends below getting a little exercise. Yes, we only have 3 of the original 11 but they are a good 3. It's a good thing we have a better track record with little boys than chickens...

And lastly, Travis in all his 'Moustache March' glory. He tells me he's growing it out the entire month but so far I am just getting scratched every time he wants a kiss. *sigh* I think he's been wanting to do this for quite some time after living under BYU's no facial hair policy for 6 years.

This is an artist's rendering of the projected outcome of Mustache March - if it turns out to be contagious.

Lazy mornings with Thomas and Friends

2010-03-09T14:23:00.000-08:00

What do you do when you are looking at a lazy morning and don't want to ~~start~~ finish up all those little projects that are giving you the stink eye?

Oh yes.

I know some of you actually tackle said projects, but around here we pull out the beloved train set that will effectually keep Petey busy for hours. I'm talking from 8 to 11am folks.

He was entertained and I was in heaven.

And seriously after taking so many pictures that my camera battery died, do you think I got even ONE shot of Petey looking up? No. Of course not. And don't be silly.

He was playing with the choo-choos.

Box 'o Veg

2010-03-06T20:52:00.000-08:00

Ever since we found out we would be moving to California, I have been looking forward to signing up for a locally grown produce subscription service. So as soon as we moved in, I started asking everyone if there was any such local service and then I finally stumbled upon one called Abundant Harvest. The best part about AHO is that it's a year round program since the CA growing season is so good - most places only run from May to October. We got our first produce box today and I couldn't have been more excited. Why? I'll give you a couple of reason (mainly cause I adore lists)...

It's like I'm getting a Christmas present every Saturday
The produce is locally grown
It's all organic baby
Everything is picked just a day or so before delivery, so food you get is fresh and IN SEASON

For some reason, I feel totally yuppie/hippy-ish admitting to this but I just can't wait to see what we get each week. Today our little box contained kiwis, artichokes, oranges, shallots, carrots, potatoes, chard, collard greens, pea tendrils, and parsley.

So, who's coming to dinner?

Hooray for being cheap!

2010-03-02T12:17:00.000-08:00

One of our fun new neighbors was getting rid of their old swing set and asked if we'd like to take it off their hands. Of course, we readily agreed and after a few liberal applications of duck tape, Petey was really to start living out there. He loves to play outside and we are just enjoying the nice weather while we can.

What a turkey.

Are you a smarty pants?

2010-02-21T14:11:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Trav directed me to a supremely fun website that for once doesn't make me feel like I'm simply wasting time on the internets. You can test your vocabulary, your knowledge of art, or even those rusty basic math skills (Trav's favorite) all while supporting a wonderful cause. It's called Free Rice and the premise is each time you answer a question correctly, Free Rice will donate 10 grains of rice to the World Food Programme to help end hunger. Nifty huh? You get to find out if you really are a smarty pants (it will tell you your skill level) while feeding hungry folks. Just be careful, every time you get a question wrong, they take away 10 grains of rice.*

* Just kidding :) That would be Trav's twisted sense of humor talking.

Boys. Dirt. Diggers.

2010-02-18T13:05:00.000-08:00

When I came home from the library the other night, I found this in our front yard:

Trav has been talking about making a giant sandcastle for weeks now and with the gorgeous weather we've been having lately, finally made good on his word. Petey is in love. All he wants to do is play in the sand morning, noon and night. When we are inside he constantly asks me to out "outside" and throws a nice little fit every time I say it's time to come in. I'm sure the neighbors get a kick out of that.

Petey's newest thing is to take a stick and poke it into the castle while saying "take that!" and then cracking up hysterically. I have no idea where he picked that up.

The Turkey with his assortment of diggers.

If you look closely there is actually a real back-hoe parked across the street (behind the tree). This causes no end of headache since Petey will periodically dash across the street to go "ride" on the digger. That kid gets faster every day I swear. I'm even starting to wonder if tractors and diggers will edge out the train fascination soon...

One can only hope.

Airplane drama

2010-02-05T07:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I joined the ranks of parents who seriously regret not bringing a change of clothes in their carry-on during a flight. Oh, I brought clothes for Petey of course. Just not for me.

We had taken off, Petey was doing great and the stewardess had just brought us our drinks. I tell you five minutes had not passed when the turkey somehow ended up knocking an entire cup of water on my lap. I'm talking knees to waist - completely soaked. Underwear included. It's a good thing I didn't order my usual coke or (heaven forbid) tomato juice. Luckily I was wearing light-weight pants and they ended up (mostly) drying before we landed but it was enough to convince me to start bringing a change of clothes for myself on a plane too.

And of course, flying with a toddler never fails to remind me of this fabulous Bill Cosby bit:

Symphony in Black and White: The Boy

2010-01-31T15:56:00.000-08:00

I had no idea Trav was such an artist when he picked up the dry-erase pens from Petey's new art easel.

And it's the little man to a T: the blankie, the milk (which he calls "mill-key"), the train clutched tightly in his left hand - he's even wearing an actual outfit. It's my boy. Too bad Petey ended up drawing all over it...

The Turkey Turns Two

2010-01-27T12:26:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it's been two years since we brought this little turkey home?

Everybody kept telling me the time would simply fly by, but man! Did it really have to go by so quickly?

For Petey's birthday, we went bowling with a couple of families from our ward that have kids around Petey's age. Trav was just very excited to show off his spiffy bowling shoes.
Only having gone bowling a couple of times, Petey caught on pretty quick. After watching everyone either cheer or be sad after their turn, he started jumping around going 'yay!!' or saying 'oh no' after each turn.
The kids who came: Darren, Lauren, Alaina, Milloy, & Peter
We've been spending a lot of time with Lauren and her mom lately and now Petey will wake up in the morning and say "Lauren?"
For his birthday, we got Petey an art easel since he loves his cousin Carter's so much. For some reason it reminds me of this picture.
At his two year checkup, he weighed 24 lbs 14 oz and was 33 inches tall. Still hanging onto the bottom side of the weight percentile, but he's pretty good. Since we've moved, this is the first time he's seen this new pediatrician and as we were getting ready to go she said: "wow, he sure is busy, isn't he?" Yup.
My little baby is growing up.

Offroading trip to Schmidt's tunnel

2010-01-21T12:55:00.000-08:00

For MLK day, we went with a few of Trav's co-workers on an offroading trip to see Schmidt's Tunnel. Basically it's a mine shaft some guy dug in which he never actually got anything out of. Unless you count a couple of tons of rock. But now it's a great tourist attraction because the tunnel runs right through a mountain and you walk it from end to end. Very cool. Here's us at the mouth - notice how low the entry is, it's like that most of the way.Us on the other side of the tunnel. Very cold, very windy, very rainy.
Notice how blue all the pics are? Yeah, that's because I was fiddling with my camera and accidentally took a bunch of pics on the 'cool' setting. Which I guess is pretty apt in my opinion.I'm sad because I didn't get any pictures inside these tunnels, but these are some really cool talc mines. You know, like talcum powder? Basically they were these giant holes that would go down about 50-100 feet that had this fine white powder everywhere. Very cool. Also very muddy during a rainstorm.