Summer stuff

Warning: pic overload. I haven't been able to find my camera cable to my small camera, so all my fun summer pics were trapped inside. :) Kevin found it for me last night and we're good to go. Here are just some pics of what we've been up to so far this summer.

Gavin is walking! I put this in because he went from crawling to walking in about a week's time. As soon as he turned one he was walking full-throttle. I'm trying to get him on video. He's such a cute little walker.Swimming with the cousins. We have really enjoyed playing in the water this summer. Last summer I had just had Gavin so our water time was really limited.
Rachel and Aunt Nicki. The big news here is that Nicki is pregnant! She's due around Thanksgiving. We are so excited for her and anxious to meet little Haws. She's not finding out what she's having...so exciting!

Cade

No suprise here that I've been sewing. My favorite right now are child aprons. I love this 'Lil Rockstar apron that someone ordered. Cute little model, eh?

We went to the zoo last month with some good friends. Yes, it was hot. No, we will not be going again this summer. :) But we had a great time!

Myla got a little kitchen for her birthday. She and Cade love cooking for us. :)

We've gone to the splash park several times this summer. These are pics from Myla's birthday party at the splash park.

Patiently waiting for food.

Kevin and Gav

Blowing out the candle on her cupcake.

Myla's birthday is really close to my mom's. Since we were leaving town we had a combined birthday dinner at Islands.

We met Kevin's family in St. George/Tuacahn last month. We had so much fun!! Kevin's dad brings his boat and wave runner and we make camp on the beach and hang out all day. The kids loved it. We had a very enjoyable time making sand castles with our uncles...

playing with sand toys...

playing in the water...

riding the "waves" with Daddy and Grandma...

exploring the new texture of sand...

soaking in the sun...

hanging out with our cousins...

more playing in the sand...

enjoying family we don't see very often...

wave running...

discovering with Grandpa...

spending time together!

Hope you are having a great summer so far!

Key Lime Cupcakes (and apron giveaway!)

Mmmmm...look good to you? That is a Graham cupcake, with Key Lime curd filling and lime whipped cream cheese frosting. It is delightful! Go to The Secret Stitch Club blog where I posted the recipe. I had fun making them, and more fun eating them. :) You can also enter to win this Key Lime apron! Perfect for baking (and eating) Key Lime cupcakes in. Hurry! Go enter! (I really hope one of you wins.)

Happy Father's Day!

I think the kids are more excited for Father's Day than Kevin is. It's because we took these great pictures (idea from Brassy Apple) to give as gifts to Dad and Grandpa the other day. They are so excited to give them to them.

DAD
Daddy's Shoes

We "Heart" Grandpa

Happy Father's Day to the wonderful fathers in my life! I am most grateful.

Our Sweet Girl

One of the great things about having two of my kids' birthdays within 5 days of each other is that I get to reflect on how wonderful and unique each of my children are. Myla turns 3 today! She has been eagerly anticipating this day for awhile. We have been counting down the days.

Myla. Where do I even begin with this girl? More than any of my children, she brings out the extreme emotions in me. One minute we'll be butting heads with her screaming her head off (and me wanting to pull my hair out) and the next we'll be cuddling on the couch with Myla giving me lovies and telling me she "lubs" me (and me wondering what I did to deserve her). That is Myla. What she does she does with her whole heart. And she inspires me to do the same. I know that stubborness and tenacity that she has will work for her good someday.

Myla and Cade are the best of friends. They share a room and many times, when they should be sleeping, I'll peek in and find them playing some imaginary game and giggling like crazy. As stubborn as Myla may be with me and Kevin, she is usually very giving and patient with Cade. Even though she may be younger than him, she still nurtures him and tries to make him happy. She does the same with Gavin. I love that sibling bond they have.

Sweet. Sassy. Smart. That's my girl.

Happy birthday Myla!

My Duty

So the kids are on a new movie kick: Mulan 2. They saw it on The Disney Channel one day and Myla talked about it non-stop. I got it from Netflix and we've had it about a month. We've watched it probably 40 times. You think I'm kidding.


Well, I've started realizing that we've watched a movie way too much when the kids start quoting the movie in their every day conversation. The basic message of the film is: My duty is to my heart. Basically Mulan and company have a mission to fulfill: to deliver the princesses to be married to men they don't know in another country in order to align the countries. Well, Mulan doesn't like it...or her heart doesn't like it. She (and the princesses) say several times throughout the movie that their duty is to their heart. It's a message that, while it sounds pretty, also presents problems. And this is one way how:

Yesterday Cade kept asking to go outside and play. It's a rule in our house that we don't play outside on Sundays and Kevin explained to Cade that Sunday is our reverent day. We can play outside every other day of the week. Cade responds, "Dad, my duty is to my heart and my heart tells me it's okay to play outside. I have to follow my heart." When Kevin told me this we busted up laughing. It was cute, and pretty clever.

After today I've decided it's not so cute anymore. Now everytime we ask him to do something he doesn't want to do (ie. pick up toys, take his plate to the sink, have quiet time) he says that his duty is to his heart and his heart tells him no. I did not see this one coming.

So I've decided that my duty is to send Mulan 2 back to Netflix and put some stricter limits on TV time. And my heart is okay with that.

Birthday Boys

Gavin shares his birthday with his Uncle James, my younger brother. James turned the big 3-0 (ouch!) and Gavin turned the big 1! So we combined birthday parties and had a great time. I have to share these sweet pictures of the birthday boys together.

One Year Ago Today...

Gavin Webb McMillan was born. Where does the time go?? I just want to shout, "Stop! Wait! Slow down!" When I was a new mom I'd hear all the time, "Enjoy this time. It goes so fast." After awhile I started getting a little annoyed. The endless sleeplessness contributed to that. But I think I am finally now beginning to understand why the little old ladies say it every time I run into them in the produce section. It really does go so fast. I feel like this picture was taken just last week and I was holding a little 8 pound baby, struggling to nurse, battling two toddlers wanting to sit on my c-section incision while poking their little fingers into Gav's eyes, waking up every 3-4 hours a night to feed (wait, I still do that!: :)), nuzzling little tiny feet and kissing the sweet wrinkles on his forehead when he looked up at me (that is my most favorite newborn feature--those forehead wrinkles).


A year later I am struggling to hold his little body still while I change his diaper, battling two preschoolers who want to keep him out of their newly built train track, nuzzling a little pot belly and kissing his sweet, chubby cheeks. He is an extremely determined child. Just last week he wanted into the bath tub with Cade and Myla and so he tried to climb in. He kept at it for quite some time, and before I knew it he was in head first, sputtering up water, but with a huge grin on his face because he did it! He is walking now, although he doesn't like to walk to us. He'll stand up and when he thinks we aren't looking he'll practice taking steps. Last night he took 5 steps! He'll be walking in no time. I can already tell that Gavin will be one of those people who just doesn't quit.



Gavin is a picky eater. I feel like he's not getting enough nutrition because he won't eat anything! He reminds me of Cade too, eating on the run. He'll only eat a couple of bites at a time and then wants to move on. But he does love potatoes...that's how I know he's mine. Well, and I gave birth to him. :) He'll eat mashed potatoes, hash browns, baked potatoes...he loves them. He also loves music and he loves to roll the ball around the house. A ball will keep him occupied for a good half hour. He'll bat at it, chase it down, and bat at it again. He's gotten pretty fast.


Gavin has brought such joy into our home. His smile is contagious. Cade and Myla continue to dote over him. Cade has taken to carrying him around the house with him now. As long as Gavin stays out of his train tracks, Cade loves to play with him and wants him with him. Myla is a little mommy to him. She's always trying to feed him a bottle and tells me when he needs a diaper change. She talks to him in this high, squeaky baby voice. She loves her little brother. Gavin is becoming a little Daddy's boy. The second Kevin walks in the door, Gavin books it as fast as his little knees can carry him over to Kevin. And if Kevin doesn't pick him up right away he squawks until he does. We are grateful to have Gav in our family. We love him so much. I am continually striving to enjoy each day. It does go so fast. Happy birthday little man!!

Under Construction

Sorry for the lack of updates, etc. We have been busy getting our house ready to rent out (which we did!), then moving next door into three bedroom. I know, moving next door sounds so easy, right? Moving is moving. I'm just saying. :) Throw in 4 sick people and it's downright miserable. But when it's all over we'll have more room. Yay! But we we won't have the Picketts living next door. Booo! Well, they can run but they can't hide. :)

Silly Gavin...

pacifiers are for newborns! Gavin will be turning one year old next month and he just barely started sucking on pacifiers. We tried everything we could to get him to take one when he was a little baby, but he just wouldn't have it. Suddenly he wants one! So funny. Maybe it'll help him sleep better at night?? Gavin is getting ready to walk. He pulls himself up to couches, bathtubs, etc. and walks along them. However, he can't seem to hold onto the church pew. Yesterday he fell twice at church and bonked himself pretty good. See the bruise on his poor little forehead? He's got a matching one on the side of his head that you can't see in the pic. I felt like I deserved the "Bad mother of the year" award yesterday, letting him fall twice. Anyway, back to walking...he now pushes away and balances for several seconds. He's growing up so fast.

Super Student

I was going through my pics to upload a new apron to my etsy site (didja like that shameless plug?) and saw this one I took of Kevin with the kids a couple of weeks ago. I got a little sad because I miss Kevin. He is studying his diligent little heart out every second he gets. This has been a pretty intense semester for him and so we haven't seen as much of him between all of his different responsibilities. But the time we do spend with him is sweet. I had to get this shot of all the kids huddling around him. They sure love their daddy. Only two more weeks of this semester and then we get him for the whole summer!

And He's Up...

Gavin has been pulling himself up for weeks now. He follows the kids around the house and wants to play with them so bad. Cade and Myla are usually really good at involving him.
This is Gavin standing at the bathtub wanting so badly to be in there with Cade and Myla. I try to get him in but bathing three kids at one time is a challenge. I usually come out soaking wet.

Gav's little feet.

Yesterday I went downstairs and he was half way up them! He about gave me a heart attack. I didn't know he could climb the stairs. I am having a hard time keeping up with him!

Tiny Footsteps Preschool

My sister-in-law, Jamie, and her friend, Lisa, are opening a preschool for the 2009-2010 school year. We are so excited for her (and Myla is excited to start school there)! They are offering two classes:

Preschool (3 -4 year olds) - 2 days Mon./Wed. 9:00 a.m.-11:15 a.m. $60 a month

Pre-K (4-5 year olds) - 3 days Mon./Wed./Thurs. 12:00p.m.-2:00 p.m. $80 a month

Click on the button above for more information regarding their curriculum. They are registering now, so hurry before spaces fill!

That Kid!

I don't know if it's just because he's my third child, so I'm not paying as much attention, but this kid is growing up so fast! I can't even keep up with him anymore. He is one speedy fella. He just started pulling himself up to the couch and the toy box and the bath tub. Anywhere Cade and Myla are he wants to be. Usually they are so sweet to include him in their play. (The only time Cade has a problem is when Gavin destroys his train tracks and eats his trains.) He is eating regular food and won't even touch the baby food. The second Kevin comes in the door Gavin scoots his little body over to him as fast as he can. It melts my heart actually. This little boy is such a blessing in our lives. Here are some pics of him that I took today. I just can't get enough of his face!

This is one of my favorite things that he does...he kneels and plays with toys. I just love watching him.

And The Toilet Won

Personally, I think our toilet has had it out for Cade for awhile and it finally socked Cade a good-'un.
Let me tell you the story of how the toilet beat Cade....literally. Let me warn you, this is not a terribly exciting story. But I must document, for posterity's sake, what happens when YOU DON'T LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER! Okay, ahem, now that I've got that out of my system...

One night, while taking a bath, the kids drenched the floor. Again. Like they always do. Drenched. Soaked. Wetter than the Mississippi. They do this by taking turns getting out of the bathtub, then streaking through the house naked and running back to the bathtub full force. I think they get some kind of thrill out of it. Is this indicative of future events? Oh, I hope not. Anyway, after the, oh, HUNDRETH time of telling them to stay in the bathtub (I just want them good and clean, sheesh!) I finally grab Cade on his return streaking trip and tell him we are putting jammies on now. No more bathtub. He breaks free of my grasp and goes running into the swampy bathroom, when "Crack! Thump! Squeeeeeeeeeel!"

He slipped right into the toilet and got quite the little shiner. These pics aren't the greatest and they don't do the bruise justice. It swelled right up. Anyway, of course, I didn't want Cade to get hurt. I spend most of my day trying to prevent my kids from injuring themselves or each other, both physically and emotionally. It makes my heart very sad when my kids get hurt. But I will say this, Cade hasn't gone streaking since and it's been a couple of weeks since this happened. Life is all about learning, and sometimes we have to learn the hard way.

Father/Son Campout

A couple weekends ago Kevin took Cade on their first Father's and Son's campout with our ward. I sent the camera with Kevin with the firm instructions to take pics of all the fun. This was their very first one! It had to be documented. So, based on the pics that Kevin took (and from his own commentary about the weekend) this is pretty much what happened:

They drove. Both are happy and excited to go!Cade wee wee-ed on his first shrub. A momentous event for any boy I'm sure. Well, I'm not sure. Moving on...Cade slept. For like 14 hours. Kevin said he slept most of the time. He came home with a pretty bad fever. Poor kid.
Cade threw rocks in the river. Knowing how this kid loves throwing rocks into water, I'm sure this was his favorite part. If he had stayed awake to roast marshmallows, that might have been his favorite part.

Kevin drove home, while Cade slept...with juice and cookie in hand. That kid is talented. (I think Kevin is pretty talented too, taking that picture while driving. )

So that concludes the first Father/Son campout. They both came home sunburnt and tired and sick. But they were glad they went.

Not Quite June Cleaver giveaway

Not Quite June Cleaver is having a great giveaway for those of us who love fabric, spring, books, etc. Click on the image to take you there. I want that green fabric. I hear an apron calling me from the fabric.