Little Ballerina

Look at our little ballerina girl. She loves wearing her new tutu. She likes to swoosh it all around by shaking her little booty and twirling. I L-O-V-E it on her. I was supposed to wait until her second birthday to give it to her, but when it came in the mail over the weekend I couldn't resist. How could I wait until June?! I got the tutu at this cute Etsy shop called Zoe's Couture Boutique.

Annuale (Once a Year Period)

My Lion King

Lately Cade has been obsessed with The Lion King. He loves watching it and loves acting out the lion fighting scenes...especially the ones at the end in slow motion. He even gets teary when the dad lion dies. Tonight in the bathtub he asked Kevin to make his hair into Simba when the shampoo was in it. He wouldn't let Kevin wash out the shampoo unless Kevin promised to make him into Simba after.

This is Simba...all done up with hairspray and gel.
And then he asked me to take a picture of Nala (aka Myla).

Goodbye Dear Friend

It's time to lay the DP addiction to rest. It's a sad day, but it's very, very necessary. Join me in a moment of silence.

Caution: Doting Ahead

Please just let me take a moment and dote on my children. Maybe it's because I actually got a full night's sleep last night (thank you Unisom) but today I have just been so in love with my kids. Don't get me wrong, I always love my kids to pieces, but do you ever have those days where you want to cuddle and kiss them all day long? So let me tell you a bit about what they have been up to.

Myla: This little girl is potty training herself. I've been so focused on getting Cade trained that it never even occured to me Myla would be ready...until she ripped off her diaper, high-tailed it to the bathroom, went pee pee on the potty, dumped it into the toilet, flushed the toilet, then raised her hands in the air and shouted, "I did it!"

Now before you think it's a fluke you should know that she does it all the time now. If we are home she will only go in the potty. It's crazy! I feel so lucky!! Hopefully it will last. Knock on wood. Cross my fingers. Throw salt over my shoulder. Wish on a star. Whatever it is I have to do. :)

Because I had no plans to potty train Myla we had no underwear for her...so she wore Cade's the first day. She didn't mind.

But once she got her own girlie underwear she was ecstatic! I just love little kids in their underwear. Sorry for the graphic pics. :)

Myla has also been talking up a storm. We are having a lot less of the tantrums because she is able to tell us what she wants...most of the time. She is so much fun and is adored by all, especially Cade!

So what's Cade up to? Well let me tell you, this big boy is finally almost completely potty trained! He made it through church and preschool and playtime at the mall today without any accidents. He told me when he needed to go, we rushed to find the nearest bathroom, he went and we got on with our day. Whew!! Let me tell you, after 8 months of off-and-on potty training I am most grateful to almost have it over. (Sorry about all the potty talk. It's a pretty exciting topic around the McMillan house...probably not to ya'll though.)

Cade is also doing so well in his new primary class and loves his Sunbeam teacher "Mister Harding" (or Sister Harding as the rest of us call her). He looks forward to going every week, especially since we promise him his BFF James will be there (no pressure Maren).

Cade loves coloring, doing puzzles, going to preschool, playing with trains and cars, and pushing Myla around in the doll stroller. Yes, it's probably a safety hazard, and yes, there is a sticker on the stroller that says it's not for human use...but it makes them happy and there have been no injuries yet. If you've seen our house you know there isn't much room to get injured.

Myla and Cade at the top of the slide.

Going down head first...the favorite way to go!

My budding photographer Cade took this of Mommy and Myla.

A Day at the Zoo

Monday was a beautiful day in our AZ neighborhood so some friends and I decided to take a trip out to the Phoenix Zoo. We had so much fun!

Here is a shot of all the kiddos perched precariously on a rock. The things kids have to do to please their mothers...it's a hard knock life.
Myla and Cade checking out the monkeys.
Myla has recently fallen in love with hats.
Cade loves his Mr. Conductor hat too!

Meet the Cullens

Okay all you Twilight fans, here is some news on the Twilight movie they have started filming. Below are pictures of the vampire family--Edward, of course, being in the front. So, what do you think? Do they fit the image you have in your head of the family?

Emmett, Rosalie, Esme, Edward, Carlisle, Alice, Jasper

Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, Edward, Emmett

Wordless Wednesday

Flashback Friday

Guess who is coming back?

Yes, I was a NKOTB freak. In fact, I had this exact poster hanging up in my room, and still have it (along with all of my other NKOTB memorabilia) in a big box in storage. Why can't I part with all of it? Well, I think it may have something to do with the fact that every single penny I earned went to the teeny-bopper magazines where I poured over "facts" about the New Kids and cut out pics to put in my own photo album; or to the buttons and t-shirts and videos and cassettes. It may also have something to do with nostalgia. My friends and I had sleepovers where we would watch the video over and over...and over again. Of course we had all the adolescent squealing and arguing over who was the cutest.

Who was my favorite?
Jon. I thought I was destined to marry him.
And this is him today, almost 40. Not bad.

I'm curious, will there be all the dancing and hip thrusting and singing of the bubblegum pop music? These guys are pushing 40. It'll be interesting to see what this reunion is all about.

www.nkotb.com

Vote Today!

This presidential election has weighed heavily on my mind. Maybe it's because I'm getting older and (hopefully) more mature and concerned with our country's welfare. Maybe it's because I am raising children and worry for their future, which is affected by the decisions our leaders make now. Maybe it's because this seems to me to be one of the toughest and most important presidential elections Americans have faced--at least in my short 12 years of voting experience. Whatever the reason, I am grateful that I have the privilege to go to the voting booth and put my 2 cents in on who I think should be the next President of the United States.

Tag!

A friend of mine was tagged with this little ditty, so I thought I'd man up and take the challenge. Will you?

Rules

1. Rules of the game are posted at the beginning of post.
2. The player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves
3. At the end of the post the players then tags 6 other bloggers, and posts their names.

(Rule #3 seems to be a bit more of a suggestion rather than a hard fast rule, a guideline really. But failure to obey rules 1 & 2 will give you green toenails and a really nasty overbite along with thick patches of hair growing out of inconvenient places - it's not pretty.)

Fact/habit #1: Jewelry frightens me. No seriously. I can't stand to touch it (with the exception of my own wedding band and my wife's ring, so long as it is on her finger). If I'm cleaning off the nightstand and need to put my wife's earrings away or something, I'll scoop them onto a sheet of paper using another sheet of paper so I don't have to touch them. And even then it still makes me quiver. I'd rather deal with a cockroach.

Fact/habit #2: I like Lego. (Note the lack of a plural - this is the correct way to reference those fun plastic bricks.) I wish I had rooms full of the toys! I wish I could build them for a living! I wish I lived near Legoland or any other Lego headquarters! I wish I wasn't such a child.

Fact/habit #3: I don't like school. I never did, despite the fact I did okay. My interests tend to change much faster than a semester lasts so I always end up taking classes I no longer care about. And as a result, I have spent over 5 years in college and I only have a single Associate's Degree.

Fact/habit #4: I am the most picky shoe shopper ever. It once took me over a year and a half to get a new pair of shoes. My shoes tend to last for about one and a half to two years before they even make it to the "work shoes" pile. That being said, buying a pair of shoes is a big committment, and I want to make sure my feet are entirely happy. Besides, if your feet are uncomfortable or improperly supported, there's a good chance you are straining the rest of your body to make up the difference, and that's not something I want to do. That and I have duck feet. Really really wide feet. And they're hairy, like a hobbit. So very, very hairy.

Fact/habit #5: My computer chair is an excersize ball. It makes less noise than our real computer chair and it forces me to actually sit up and use my back muscles for what they were intended - holding my back straight. And it helps keep me awake because if you begin to fall asleep you fall over. Maybe I should get one for work...

Fact/habit #6: I have the best wife ever. She puts up with me, which pretty much qualifies her for the Celestial Kingdom right there - I wouldn't choose to put up with me if I had the choice. She's smart and funny, and full of charity. She's temperate and patient, kind and loving. She's my best friend and all I could ever hope for.

So there you have it. 6 things about me you probably didn't know and probably didn't want to know. I just really wanted to avoid the whole green toenail thing - my feet have enough issues. :-)

If you dare, tag you're it!