Since the day Cade was born he and Jared (my sister's son) have been inseparable. They are 3 months apart and are like brothers. Nicki babysat Cade when I went back to work, so she is like a second mom to Cade. Jared and Cade act like brothers in every sense, they play with each other, they fight with each other, and they love each other. Here are a couple of pics of them during the past 3 years: Cade: 1 1/2 months, Jared: 4 months Jared: 10 months, Cade: 7 months Jared: 1 year, Cade 10 months
They loved watching TV. Still do!
Both: about 1 1/2 years old Playing in the dog cage. They could play in this for hours! Cade: 2 1/2 years, Jared: 3 years Superboys! I just took this on Saturday. They both love Superman.
We are lucky to have so many wonderful cousins in our family!!
1. Burger King girl 2. Pizza maker at Golfland 3. YMCA camp counselor 4. Educator
4 Places to go for a weekend getaway: 1. Utah 2. Flagstaff 3. California 4. Utah (as you can see we are big travellers)
Movies I Can Watch Over & Over: 1. Notting Hill 2. Top Gun 3. Harry Potter (any of them) 4. Clueless (c'mon, you know you love it...)
My Guilty Pleasures: 1. Baking cookies just to eat the cookie dough 2. Apron Night 3. Shopping for kids clothes (especially little girl clothes) 4. Blogging
Places I Have Lived: 1. Flagstaff, AZ 2. Key West, FL 3. Ft. Lauderdale, FL 4. Mesa, AZ
What were most likely the first things you thought of when you saw your significant other for the first time? 1. "Oh, our new district leader. I better introduce myself." 2. "Okay, he's pretty quiet." 3. "I like his freckles." 4. I was a missionary. Really I didn't think anything too interesting. I had no idea he would be "the one."
Places I have Been on Vacation: 1. Cozumel, Mexico 2. California 3. Utah 4. Oregon
Favorite Foods 1. Mexican (I'm craving some restaurant chips and salsa right now.) 2. Watermelon 3. Avocado (on crackers, in soups, on sandwiches, by itself, in guacamole - anyway you slice it 4. Potatoes
If in a "jam" with your spouse, what tactics do you use to get out of the doghouse? 1. Put on my sweet voice and try to reason 2. Give him space...then jump on his lap and try to make him smile 3. Really give him space 4. Give in and apologize for the stupid thing I said or did
Our awesome neighbors, the Picketts, had a 4th of July BBQ for a bunch of friends in the ward. It was so much fun! We ate, swam, played water volleyball, laughed, chatted...all the fun stuff. Thanks Picketts for a great time!
Beka Pickett & Landon (Did I get the right twin?!)
Myla was kissing on Ty Blake the whole night. Being one of the only girls that age, she sure has her pick of the handsome little men...Braden and Landon and Ty.
Although cute little Julia Starks will certainly give Myla a run for her money!
Daddy is oh so much fun!
Stacey Reed & her cutie son Jace--they are probably watching the killer game of volleyball going on.
Jason Buchanan tossing James in the air. James is quite the little fish! I was impressed at how he was just swimming around in his little floaties, having a great time. Maybe James needs to give Cade his swimming lessons next year. Heath Reed, Danny Pickett, and Kevin playing water volleyball--all the wives sitting on the edge of the pool "magically" seemed to get pretty wet with the hubbies playing volleyball.
Aren't they the cutest ladies around? Stephanie, Rachel & Ty, Maren & Braden, Jill, Beka & Landon.
My sweet Cade. He was a little more comfortable with the water. He especially like to jump in.
Hi all, this is Kevin and I thought I'd offer a list of things I learned while on our recent vacation (see Christie's post below for full details). Hopefully you can learn from my experiences so you and your fellow vacationers don't have to learn the hard way.
Don't forget to bring an ample supply of headache medicine - you will invariably need it.
Driving during the day is no better than driving at night when you are travelling with toddlers.
Even if your toddlers are well mannered in their car seats, don't forget to occasionally change their diapers - ewww... icky.
When travelling with sinus pressure, elevation changes involve a lot more than just popping your ears - you'll want to "pop" your whole head.
Air mattresses are not the quietest of things - they WILL wake up anyone else in the room when you roll into bed.
Twin sized blankets do not substitute for Queen sized.
Apply sunscreen evenly.
Even if you have never sunburnt in a certain spot, never understimate the sun's ability to get you there this time - see #7.
A sinus infection can ruin fun fast.
So can chest congestion.
So can a sprained knee.
When riding a water weenie (the 5 person inflatable pulled behind a boat), make sure everyone has their swimsuit drawstrings tied securely.
Never go to a musical with another man, even if he is your brother.
"My Fair Lady" is not a good substitute for "Rambo" on a guy's night out.
Talking in a british accent can become annoying to those around you, even if it is jolly good fun.
Just for good measure, read #7 again.
When playing "Chinese Firedrill" in the dark, avoid cattle guards - they are suprisingly effective on people too.
Band-aid's of all sizes are essential when on vacation.
It never hurts to have trained medical professional in the family.
Never underestimate your ability to enjoy so many things going "wrong" when you have your family there to help you through it, and help you laugh at it.
Thank you McMillan clan for the awesome vacation! It was a blast!
We had so much fun on our trip to St. George. It is a tradition in Kevin's dads side of the family to go to Tuacahn every year in St. George. Tuacahn is a beautiful outdoor amphitheatre where wonderful plays/musicals are performed. This year we watched Cinderella and My Fair Lady. They were good, but the highlight of the trip for us was going to the lake and playing in the water. It was so much fun to go on the boat, do the water weenie, go water tubing, and take the wave runner out. (What a wild ride was had on the wave runner. I'm a little bit of a wimp, I prefer to be a passenger--but Aubrey kicked butt on the wave runner. So much fun! Thanks for not throwing me off Aubs!) The kids loved playing in the water with their cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles. Everyone was so wonderful! We came home with a little sunburn and a lot of great memories.
Cade has become quite the little monkey, climbing EVERYWHERE! Everywhere I look he's climbing something...the table, the furniture, the entertainment center, the bookshelf, the baby gate (that's now useless!), and just today he climbed into Myla's crib. I know this may sound like it's no big deal and it usually isn't, but today I had a huge scare. I had put the kids down for their naps. They usually talk and play for a little while before they fall asleep. About 30 minutes later I heard an unusual cry come from Myla, one I had never heard before. It wasn't loud so I was tempted to just leave her alone, but felt like I should go. I rushed downstairs and Cade was in her crib, laying on top of her and her little face was smushed into the mattress. He wasn't trying to hurt her, he thought he was playing. Boy was I frantic. I pulled Cade out of her crib and threw him into his own bed, all the while shouting (sorry Beka if I disturbed you guys!). Poor Myla was just sobbing. Cade was crying (I really scared him with the shouting--I try not to yell). It was quite the scene. Cade doesn't mean to hurt Myla. He is a sweet, sweet brother. He loves her...gives her kisses and hugs, takes care of her when she falls down, shares his toys (for the most part). So this kind of thing doesn't scare me in the "Cade wants to kill his sister" sense, but it does concern me in the "Cade has no idea how much is too much" sense. How do I teach him that? Oh why didn't these kids come with a manual?! So, all my blogging friends, any wisdom to share? (These pics were taken last year at Kevin's brother's wedding. Kevin's mom got Cade and Aiden little tuxes. They were so cute in them. This is Cade playing outside the reception.)
Today Myla was a brave little girl and ventured out on her own. This afternoon while we were playing on the floor Myla stood up all by herself and took 2 steps! So when Daddy came home this evening we did some walking. When she takes a few steps she gets such a proud look on her face...she smiles really big and giggles. She loves doing and practices all by herself. Maybe this is why it is so hard to get her to sleep lately...she just wants to be walking!
I just want to take a moment and bask in the adorableness of my husband and kids. I think the picture below portrays just how adorable they are.
Kevin wanted to find a Supergirl shirt for Myla, but wasn't happy with anything he found. So what does he do? He makes his own of course! He got a pink shirt and pink shorts from Old Navy, designed the logo he wanted in Photoshop, and did an iron-on type thing on it. It turned out so cute! Today while Kevin was dressing Myla in her Supergirl outfit Cade said he wanted a Superman shirt. So Kevin made one for Cade today. Cade was so excited. It's all he talked about. I wanted to get a picture of the two of them, but all they wanted to do was lay down and stare at me. You can't see it but Myla has the little pink supergirl symbol on her shorts too. And then they just wanted to run away. So Kevin grabbed them and they had a little Superkid wrestling match! It looks like Myla's holding her own. But Cade loves it...he's just excited she is getting old enough to play with him. I love my family.
A couple of weeks ago when it wasn't blistering hot outside we went on a day trip to the zoo with our friends Maren, James and Paige. We had a great time!
Isn't this the sweetest picture?! Cade has really taken to Paige and Paige is such a good big "sister" to Cade. Instead of being pulled in the wagon, they wanted to pull it.
Myla LOVES Maren. Loves her! When Maren is holding Myla, I don't exist. It's pretty cute. James is such a sweet boy. He was more interested in playing with the cars in cool places than checking out the animals. But who can blame him? Cars are pretty cool. My monkey boy! At the zoo they have this fun tree house for the kids to play in. This is Paige on the top level of the house. Maren took this cute picture of Myla in one of the little chairs in the tree house.
Now that the weather is hot, I don't think we'll be making it to the zoo anytime soon. Thanks for going with us Paige, James and Maren! (And thanks for the pics.)
After two meetings of apron night I have finally finished my first apron! Yea! Don't look too closely, it's my first...which means it's far from perfect. Check out Jill's first apron...she did a great job!!
Kevin is the master of sound effects, voices, and accents and the kids love it! (My personal favorite is the Scottish accent he does.) He can sound like gorillas, dinosaurs, even Gollum from Lord of the Rings. You name it, he'll probably be able to do it. Cade loves to imitate him. At the dinner table the other day Cade and Kevin were making animal noises, so I decided to join in on the fun. So I made a sound that I thought sounded like a dinosaur. Apparently I didn't because Kevin just laughed at me and Cade said, "Shhhhh Mommy!" I guess making sound effects is an exclusive two person club here at the McMillan house.
PS See the ugly cabinets behind Kevin and Cade in the picture? I want to paint them...soon. Any cute ideas on colors? Right now the walls in the kitchen are white, but I am totally up for painting those too.
I couldn't let today pass without paying tribute to the amazing fathers in my life...my husband and my dad. If Kevin is in the room, Myla is in his arms...or trying to be. She is such a daddy's girl. It is quite sweet. She loves her daddy and he loves her. Kevin treats her like a little princess and loves to make her laugh and smile. He is very attentive to his children and helps out so much. Daddy is Cade's best friend and playmate. Kevin and Cade will spend hours putting the train tracks together, protecting it from Myla, and reassembling it when she does manage to destroy it. Cade also loves it when Daddy flies him around like Superman and plays cars with him. Cade loves Kevin so much. We always have a mini-party when he comes home from work...everyone is so excited! My Dad is quite possibly the best dad around (seen here with my nephew Connor). I am a Daddy's girl at heart. Growing up my dad knew me better than I knew myself. He always guided me and helped me. He let me make my own choices and supported me in all I did. He trusted me and loved me. He is such a hardworker and is such a great example to me. I love my dad and am so thankful for him.
Not this one. As we were watching Last Comic Standing tonight (it's much funnier this season...so far) Cade decided to put on a little comedy show of his own. We've decided he is more of a physical comedian. He kept "tripping" over his car, falling over, and then busting up in hysterical laughter. No matter how many times he did it, it never lost it's humor. It was pretty funny. So we got two shows tonight. Look for this kid in the comedy clubs in about 20 years. And then he put on a face mask and became a "inja." We love it when he says ninja. He loves it that we love it...so he says it over and over again. This kid definitely responds to his audience!
Cade's vocabulary has skyrocketed the past couple of weeks and the funniest things have come out of his mouth. Tonight he was reaching across the table for something and I said, "Cade, I see your tummy." He said, "Yeah, Superman in there" as he lifted up his shirt and pointed to his tummy. Kevin and I got a kick out of it and repeated the conversation several times throughout the night.
About an hour later Cade and Kevin were playing with the trainset on the floor and Cade gets a ball, walks next to Kevin, throws the ball and then says, "Go get it goggie (doggie)" to Kevin. We were rolling on the floor laughing.
To Cade, everything is a train track...the seam on his shorts, the black lines in the swimming pool, the median in the road. Every conversation we have with Cade somehow ends up back to train tracks.
Cade makes us laugh. He's so innocent, but so stinkin' funny. When he says something funny that we laugh at he'll say, "Cade's funny." He loves pointing out when things or people are funny. He is so cute!
This is Cade with his mouth full of "bapple" juice. I think he thinks it's his life force or something the way he guzzles it down.
Myla turned one year old today. We just can't believe it's been a year. She is such a joy to be around and always has a ready smile and kiss. When she smiles her blue eyes just light up. Today she shared her birthday with Grandma Korrell, who turns 50! We had a little party in their honor.
The Birthday Girls The Clan Myla blowing out her candle (with a little help from Daddy!) She's thinking, "This is a trick! They aren't really going to let me have this whole cake...or are they?
This evening I was in a pretty foul mood as I began grocery shopping at 9:30pm...at Walmart, of all places. Every time I shop there I tell myself I'm never going to again, but for some reason I keep going back. Tonight, for example, a man looked me over and gave me a suggestive smile and wink everytime I passed him in the aisle, which coincidentally turned out to be almost every aisle. Weirdly, his two daughters and wife were shopping along with him. Then, in the check out line, a loud woman declared that she did not have more than 20 items and should be able to check out in the express lane. I, being curious and somewhat annoyed at the volume of her voice, glanced behind me to look at her cart. It was overflowing. So I turned around and she apparently did not like that I looked at her cart because for the next 15 minutes (that's how long it took the woman in front of me to price check her entire cart) she carried on in a very loud voice about the gringo woman who dissed her cart. I tell you this story because the entire trip to the grocery store would have been a disappointment had I not found this little treasure.
My heart did a little leap when I saw bottles of Vanilla Coke tucked snuggly on the shelf! I don't drink a lot pop, but I fell in love with this when it came out a few years ago and went into a period of serious mourning when Coke pulled it from the shelves and replaced it with a black cherry mocha grape caramel version. So I grabbed two bottles of it and just kept thinking, while the man made lewd gestures and the woman verbally assaulted me, about how in just a few minutes I would be sitting at home drinking my glass of Vanilla Coke. And that's what I'm doing right now.
One of the blogs I frequently read is Daring Young Mom. I don't know her, but I think she is hilarious and honest. I really, really liked her latest post. Read it if you get a chance.
Cade started swimming lessons last week. We are taking the Sea Toddlers class (it is a Mommy & Me class). Notice that the picture below is of an empty pool? That is because HE WON'T STAY IN! We'll have been there 10 minutes and already he is screaming...literally screaming!...to go home. I feel bad for the other moms there. I'm sure they are so annoyed with my screaming child. After today I'm thinking of becoming a swim class drop-out. But we only have 2 days to go, so we'll muscle through.
Cade much prefers to just watch the water. He is much happier this way. Unfortunately, you don't learn to swim by just looking at the water. I seriously don't know why he is terrified of his swimming lessons. He loves the pool and he loves water. But the thought of going under is terrifying to him. Saturday was a really busy day. The Webbs and the McMillans (us) decided to go to the Kids Faire at the Cardinals Stadium. It promised Barney, Princesses and indoor air conditioning. That was all we needed to sign up. So we trekked on out to Glendale and the line to get in was easily an hour long. And it was outside... in the sun...100 degrees...babies, toddlers, kids, grumpy parents (not a good mix). We stood in line for about 20 minutes then we decided to bag that idea and head for Amazing Jakes. We had a great time there!
Later on that night we went to a goodbye dinner for my cousin Crystal and her family (the Earls). Dan got a great job in Michigan. They left on Sunday. Good luck Earls! Sunday we celebrated James's birthday. He is an 28 years old. My big little brother. Breck and Emma had to help him blow out his candles he had so many!! Although life has been busy, we take time out for sweet kisses and hugs like the one I captured here. Myla was having a rough time and Cade gave her kisses to make it better. I love that my kids adore each other.
I tried to post the fabulous pictures of our Memorial Day BBQ with the Webbs (my brother and family). I kept getting an error message saying that I typed in the wrong address. I didn't type in anything...I just clicked "upload". Anyone else having this problem? Anyway...these pics were actually the first pictures I've with my new SLR camera that I got for mother's day! I've been too nervous to take it out of the house, because I was sure that my clutzy self would drop it or ruin it somehow. So I finally got up the nerve to take it out (it kind of sounds like I'm treating it like a newborn baby! well, I do call it my baby). Anyway, we had an awesome BBQ. James and Jamie prepared EVERYTHING on their new grill. We had grilled potato salad (this was actually our favorite part of the whole meal) steak and corn on the cob. They could start a husband/wife grilling/cooking show. It was awesome. The kids played in the pool and had a great time. Then after we played Wii for awhile. Good time had by all!
Myla loves walking around, with the assistance of our fingers or her little walker car. She won't hold still! She doesn't want to crawl, she wants to walk. And her little squawk (Kev and I call it the devil squawk) quickly convinces us to just give in and walk her around the house. I captured this happy face while taking the walker car out for her first spin. Can you see the joy on her face?! I'm thinking we will need to watch out for this one. We can't wait until she's walking on all her own...then maybe we can have our fingers (and our sanity) back!
Isn't it great how you can be transported back in time just by hearing a song? Sometimes I will hear a song that had great meaning to me at a certain time in my life and my mind and heart go back to that time. I feel the emotions, I smell the smells and I see myself back then. Here are a few songs that have become a part of my life soundtrack.
I Will Always Love You (Whitney Houston) When I hear this song I am taken back to my first New Years Eve party that I was able to go to by myself. I think I was about 13. This song kind of symbolizes my young freedom. My friends and I would sing it at the top of our lungs until our voices were hoarse and we could sing no more.
Groovy Kind of Love (Phil Collins) Ahhh, I remember the first time I really listened to this song. I was 12 years old and had just come home from a dance and I was in love and I thought it would last forever. This song was my anthem for my love (too bad he didn't know I was alive!).
One Week (Barenaked Ladies) The college days flood back to me full force when I hear this song. I remember loving the video. I remember my roommates and I listening to it over and over trying to get the words down. "Chickety China the Chinese chicken you have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin'... " What does that even mean?
Where Have All the Flowers Gone I heard this song for the first time when my brother sang it with his guitar. I remember listening to the lyrics and just feeling such a sadness for all the people whose lives have been affected by war. When will we ever learn?
Okay, there are so many that I could put and I don't want to bore you. These are just the songs that I've heard recently that have brought back memories for me.
There is one last song that will always hold a very special place in my heart because it helped me through a very difficult time.
Fly (Celine Dion) I heard this song while I was going through my second miscarriage. My first miscarriage was at 8 weeks, and my second one was at 16 weeks. I had to deliver the second baby. It was a boy and we named him Samuel. We were able to hold him. He weighed 8 oz and was 6 inches long. He was so tiny! It was a bittersweet moment to hold him. It was a very hard time for both of us and I had a hard time dealing with it. I was angry and confused and scared. And I missed our little boy, even though I had never known him; I felt like a part of me was missing. Then I heard this song. I feel like it was a blessing from above that I found this song when I did because it was very healing for me. I was able to find some sort of peace when I listened to it. These were the words I wanted to say to the babies that I had lost. Even though life has gone on and we've healed and are happy and we have two beautiful children I don't think I'll ever forget that time...and in a way I don't want to. When I listen to this song I feel connected to Samuel again and like to imagine what he's doing now. If you get a chance, listen to the song...I think it's very powerful. Here are the lyrics:
This past week has been somewhat miserable in the McMillan household. Myla tried the tackle the stairs, but instead got a nice bump on her head; Cade has become a little impatient and demanding, adding "NOW" after every request (example: Go outside...NOW. Want apple juice...NOW); Kevin has to watch movies with the regular TV sound because our surround sound went out; and I have a pretty severe sunburn on my back (I even applied sunblock!!). But worst of all, our beloved air conditioner has been sick and the temperature in the house reached upwards of 92 degrees (I chose to wake up the kids from their nap and leave at that point and seek coolness elsewhere, so who knows how hot it really got!) The air that was coming out of it was cold, but it was just trickling out. We could barely feel it. My dear, industrious, intelligent husband wanted to fix it himself. We have been duped by A/C repair companies before. So Kevin collected knowledge from his friends and the internet and decided that it was dirty and needed to be cleaned. He got a coil cleaner from Home Depot and went to town. Here are some pics to show how difficult it was. The indoor part of the A/C unit is above the stairs leading to our room. He first had to take apart the indoor unit, which was a challenge in itself.
Here is Kev applying the cleaner. The fumes were really strong. Here is Kevin rinsing the cleaner off. He used a little sprayer at first, but then we ended dragging up the garden hose. He created quite a little contraption to collect the water to try to preserve our carpet. Look at all the ickiness that came out of the A/C. My job was to make sure the water got into the bucket.
So after 3 very late nights and many hours working on it, Kevin put it back together and turned it on this morning and it was blowing a lot better than before, but the air wasn't cold!! Ahhhh! We were so disappointed! So Kevin called a friend and his friend called a friend and they came to look at it. It turns out that our unit had no freon in it. We just had the unit serviced two months ago and the man said he topped the freon off, so it was supposed to be full. Anyway, they added the freon and the air turned immediately cold. Sweet, wonderful, blessed cold air. How grateful we are for our aged little A/C unit. It's about 20 years old and still kickin'! Thank you to Rob and Allen for helping us out!
Tonight life is back to paradise. Myla's bump is gone (but not her adventurous spirit) , my back is almost healed, Cade is...well, we are working on that, and Kevin is just happy to be watching a movie rather than propped precariously on a ladder trying to fix an A/C unit. Now we can enjoy our 3-day weekend! We hope you enjoy yours!
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Cade: 1 1/2 months, Jared: 4 months
Jared: 10 months, Cade: 7 months
Jared: 1 year, Cade 10 months.JPG)
Cade: 1 1/2 months, Jared: 4 months
Jared: 10 months, Cade: 7 months
Jared: 1 year, Cade 10 months
Both: about 1 1/2 years old Playing in the dog cage. They could play in this for hours!
Cade: 2 1/2 years, Jared: 3 years Superboys! I just took this on Saturday. They both love Superman.
Although cute little Julia Starks will certainly give Myla a run for her money!
