For Aunt Kati

Brett's sister, Kati, is a very talented quilter / crafter / creative person. I believe I have posted a link to her blog here before, but it's been a while so here it is again for those who want some inspiration or just like looking at pretty things. In any case, that's not really the reason for this post.

A week or so ago, Adie was learning about the letter "Q" at preschool. They made a quilt in class by attaching little squares of fabric onto some construction paper. She liked her little quilt but, once she got home, she decided she needed to embellish it further (this girl could do crafts all day long - she really got the wrong mom for that). She started cutting up her quilt and adding other pieces of paper to it and making it a whole new quilt. I told her she was becoming like her aunt Kati. So, Kati, this piece of art is dedicated to you.

For the Grandparents

I am stealing my friend's blog title. She does a regular "For the Grandmas" post. I don't know how regular this will be, but this one is going to be very long and mostly pictures of things the kids have been doing since, well, about February. You know me, I am just not really great at putting up consistent posts. It just happens when the mood strikes and time is on my side. So, I imagine most people will skim or skip this post, but I am sure the grandparents and great-grandparents of these two will be tickled to see every single picture so I am putting them all in anyway. I don't feel like bothering with collages either, so seriously, this thing will be long. Enjoy!


Making Bed Slides
I did this as a kid but I never taught her about it. I guess kids think alike. Adie started it doing everyday during quiet time. I thought it was great the first time, but after watching her jump on the mattress as it bowed beneath her I decided we should make it a very limited activity. I got some great video of her jumping and rolling down though.



Backyard Work and Fun
The backyard continues to be worked on slowly but surely. We always think this weekend will be the last one, but it never is. Chase is always a willing helper, much to Brett's chagrin when he does things like spill purple pipe primer all over our patio pavers :) Adie mostly prefers to play in the sandbox. Best. Toy. Ever. Even if it means lots of sand in hair and lots of sweeping.


Visiting the Butterfly Garden
Adie's preschool went to the Tucson Botanical Gardens where they have a butterfly exhibit that you can enter and have all sorts of butterflies fly around and land on you. Chase and I tagged along. Chase is now somewhat obsessed with butterflies. He gets very excited when he sees any picture of one and loves them in person. He even got excited when he saw someone's butterfly tattoo at the store yesterday. He also really enjoyed the fish pond there. Adie liked it too, but I think she liked being with her friends even more. She has loved preschool this year.


Feeding the Ostriches
Ostriches, you say? You better believe it! There is an ostrich farm about an hour from our home where you can go and feed them. I don't recommend trying to touch them though. They are not nice birds so we just dropped our food pellets in a tray and let them get it on the other end. This farm is actually so cute though. They also have goats, deer, donkeys and even lorikeets you can feed. We went with a few of our friends and it was a really fun morning. I didn't realize my point and shoot camera was on the wrong setting most of the time though so a lot of my pictures are really blown out :( That isn't supposed to happen with a point and shoot, right? That's why I prefer them. I don't want to deal with settings, just want to take the pictures. Oh well, we still got a few good ones.




Preschool adventures and sleeping in boxes
I mentioned above that Adie loves preschool. A few weeks ago they had storybook day where the kids got to dress up as one of their favorite storybook characters. I gave Adie a few options, like Sister Bear (she loves the Berenstain Bears), Pinkalicious or Winnie the Pooh. Thankfully, she chose Winnie the Pooh, which was a really easy costume. It's what Chase wore for Halloween. We had read the original chapter book of Winnie the Pooh a couple of months ago and we both enjoyed it. I'd only ever seen the movie and never read the original book. Super cute. Also, apparently going to preschool just wears her right out because the other photo below here is of Adie completely asleep with her head in a Build-a-Bear box. She fell out of her bed and her head landed in the box which was next to her bed on the floor. It didn't even wake her up at all.

Quick Utah trip
We made a fast trip to Utah. Brett had some business to take care of and my dad had just had a hip replacement surgery, so we decided to run up there quick to give him some company while he recovered. We didn't tell anyone but family since it was a shorter trip. We did try to visit with as much family as possible but I am just horrible about taking photos and then our camera battery died (didn't bring the charger) a few days in so I didn't take many photos. However, the kids got lots of grandparents time in and got to see some of their cousins and aunts and uncles who live in Utah which is always a treat for all of us, but probably most especially Adie. She is very sentimental about family. The whole ride home (14 hours or so) she would suddenly burst into tears and tell us how much she misses her family and wants to move Utah. Um, maybe someday, maybe....
2 Days of Easter egg hunts
And now we're current...our friends invited us over yesterday for an Easter egg hunt in their backyard. The kids had so much fun we decided to do a repeat today. Yesterday, Chase wasn't sure what was going on and I had to help him look for the eggs. Today, he knew what he was doing, but he didn't want to collect any eggs before opening them because he knew what he'd find inside. I had to coax him to continue but, in the end, I think all the kids were satisfied with the loot. I loved doing it a week before Easter. Next weekend is crazy busy so it was nice to have a more laid back time to let the kids enjoy such a fun little tradition.


There you have it. I think that's somewhere near 40 pictures. We've done other things as well and kept ourselves busy, which should continue until baby #3 is born, at which point I am making few plans until I get my feet under me again. Hopefully, I can be a little more current and not have to subject anyone to this much scrolling again. Good times are always happening at the Millar residence. Here's hoping the next pics can be of our finished backyard!

P.S. The annoying date stamps appeared some time when the kids were playing with the camera. I wish I'd noticed that sooner, but what can you do?

Worth Reading Before Conference

This blog post, while a few years old, was the perfect thing for me to read just before conference. I hope you take a few minutes to check it out and read it too. I don't think you'll be disappointed. Happy Conference Weekend, y'all!

Jon Stewart on Libya

Would you all be shocked to know I do not support the US intervening in Libya? If you have read my political stances for any length of time you probably wouldn't be shocked. I think the Daily Show does a pretty good job of summing up why it is US foreign policy is so frustrating to me. This clip is extremely entertaining although extremely sad because we are talking about real people here, with real war going on. I still laughed out loud but felt kind of bad about it. Anyway, I think it's a worthwhile 7 minutes to recommend to you. I never want you to feel deprived of my political opinion, and The Daily Show can do it in a much more captivating way than I can.

The Daily Show
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Sunday afternoon in the park...

Some Practical Advice

No, I am not giving advice, just asking, in advance, because I know I'll need it. I got over 8 hours of sleep last night, and have actually had a lot of great sleep lately. Pregnancy just makes you tired, ya know, so it is 3 pm and I am crashing. I really wanted to take a nap this afternoon, but Adie never naps during the day anymore. She is 4 and often can take care of herself and not get into too much trouble, but she still tends to play in the bathroom far too often and find potions and lotions she shouldn't. I feel like I can't go rest because, if I do, that will be the day she does something really dangerous or destructive.

Now, I can deal with that all right now. If I don't get a nap, I'll just go to bed a little earlier tonight and probably will be a-okay tomorrow. However, when baby #3 arrives I know there will likely be months on end where I get 5 hours of sleep each night, after being awoken multiple times in between those meager hours. I feel like a train wreck during the newborn stage (anyone who's talked to me about babies for more than 2 minutes knows it's really not my favorite stage at all). I really envy those people who can deal so well with sleep deprivation. It really almost sends me over the edge every time. Thinking about it right now, when I am so groggy, just makes me depressed. I hate feeling like a crazy woman and sleep deprivation makes me feel that way, so out of control and wishing I could leave and come back when my baby sleeps through the night.

I know when we have #3 some things might be easier. Adie will be old enough to help and she can also play with Chase so hopefully he won't get into as much mischief as Adie did when Chase was born. I don't have as much anxiety overall because I've already done it 2 times. But...not getting sleep just really frustrates me. Adie won't be napping in the afternoon so those precious days I had when Chase was born, when both Adie and Chase napped at the same time, and I could sneak in some extra sleep won't happen. I know I could throw on a movie for Adie and go take a nap if the baby and Chase sleep at the same time, but I still just don't trust that Adie will be safe and stay out of trouble. I will probably be so sleep-deprived that if I can take a nap, it will be a pretty deep sleep and I wouldn't be able to hear those little noises that tell me when I should go check on Adie during her quiet time. She always manages to get into the most trouble during that time.

Anyway, for those of you with multiple children, or those whose children were spaced out so that afternoon naps no longer existed for your older children when a newborn came, how did you deal with sleep deprivation? How do you sneak in a little extra sleep during those rough newborn days? Maybe I can implement some things in our routine now to make it an easier transition once the baby arrives. Adie will be doing a joy school a couple of times a week for 2.5 hours in the morning, but that isn't when Chase naps, so it's not likely I'll have much of a reprieve from some other child awake all the time during the day. Any advice from experienced folk, or people who just have good ideas, experienced or not, would be much appreciated because "if ye are prepared ye shall not fear". Right now, I have some fear :)

Viva Las Vegas!

Brett and I just got back from a short, kidless (yes!) trip to Vegas to watch BYU play in the Mountain West Conference Tournament. It's kind of humorous to me that we've lived here in Southern AZ for almost 2.5 years and have already traveled to Vegas, specifically to Vegas not just through it, 3 times. We don't even really like the place that much! However, it does have basketball tournaments, cheap hotels and is half way between us and family and friends in UT so it is a natural place to go, I suppose.

Even though I don't love Vegas overall, we had such a wonderful time. We met up with some UT friends, the Squires, and attended 6 basketball games, walked the strip, ate out a lot and saw the Phantom of the Opera at the Venetian. We also attempted to sleep in, which only partially worked. However, I did get a couple of morning naps in. We haven't gone many places without our kids, well, we had never left Chase overnight, and had only done it a couple of times before with Adie, so this was kind of a treat, especially since in August our brood increases to 3 (I don't think I've mentioned that here before so there's the official blog announcement). It was nice to have a relaxed schedule and not have to worry about taking care of anyone but ourselves, but we are happy to be home with the kids. A big thanks goes out to our friends, the Hoenes, for taking our children so we could party.

We only took a small handful of pictures, but here's a few.

Shopping at H&M. The horses are for you, Kim!

There's Jimmer right after his amazing performance against New Mexico. For those of you who don't follow college basketball, he scored 52 points that night and they finally beat New Mexico this year. It was such a fun game to watch.

Brett and I after the New Mexico game. Although Brett doesn't look super happy there, I can guarantee you, he was about as happy as he ever gets at the end of that game.

My cousin, Daniel, was also down there to watch the cougars so we got to meet up for a few minutes, which was a lot of fun.

Our little group after the last game of the tournament. We saw so much good basketball. It was a blast! BYU lost to San Diego State, which was a bummer, but not completely unsurprising. BYU was tired and it's hard to beat that good of a team 3 times in one season. The only 2 losses SDSU had the whole season were to BYU, so I guess they were out to prove themselves.

Here we are just before seeing Phantom. I've never seen it before, not even the movie. I've been saving myself for the actual play. I loved the music, but I already knew I would. I can't say it's my favorite story though. I think I would be fine if I never saw it again, but I am glad I got the opportunity to go though.

Before Phantom, we went to Claim Jumper for dinner and were too stuffed to eat the motherload chocolate cake, so we saved it for after the show. Here we are eating in the car at midnight. Ah, to be young again!

It was a fun getaway. Brett and I don't have a whole lot of overlapping hobbies, but watching college football and basketball is something we both thoroughly enjoy and I love that we can get into it together.