2012 Mills Christmas Card

Holly Jolly Stripes Christmas

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Birthdays from the last year

Birthdays, you ask?  Weren't those in December and July?  Yes, but like the tortoise taught us...better late than never!  I wanted to document everything so I won't forget details!

December 1, 2011 - Lauren turns 13!  Wow...I have a TEENAGER!
You would think Lauren would be "too old" for a theme party, but this is the one thing she looks forward to every year, more than what gift she wants!  She wanted an LSU cake, etc. and to keep the girls entertained, we decided to do a scavenger hunt around town...sort of like "Amazing Race".

Aunt Daffy was in town from Fort Worth, so her and Nana came along to help drive and chaperone.  Heath took Bailey and Liam out to Nana's house.  I made up clues and sorted them so that geographically, it made sense for the drivers.  They had to solve a lot of riddles along the way to figure out the locations, etc.  There were 8 girls in all.  They drew bandanas (red or black) out of a hat, which determined which team they were on.  They immediately tied them to their head and started acting like gangsters.
Jenn's car (RED bandanas):  Kacey, Gabby, Paige & Audrey
Nana's car (BLACK bandanas):  Lauren, Chandler, Aoife and Katie

Game:

• Puzzle solving - Solve riddles about Lauren (i.e., favorite restaurant, middle name, favorite color, favorite candy, dog's name, favorite animal, favorite sport) to find hidden words in the puzzle.  Red team finished first. 
• Gross eating - One team member had to eat an entire jar of baby food...it was the disgusting chunky ones too!  Paige rocked it out fast for the red team so we had a huge head start. Chandler took a while to choke hers down.

• Starbucks - Make a human pyramid in the courtyard and take a picture.  Add up the prices for every item on the menu.

• Convenience store - Buy an Icee and someone has to drink it as fast as she can.
• Balloon - Buy an inflated balloon at the dollar store.  The girl with the last name that comes first in the alphabet had to wear the balloon on her wrist the entire night.
• Cemetary - Take a picture with a tombstone that begins with "F" or "S".  You would think no big deal, but apparently they lock cemetaries at night.  I was prepared to say forget this step, but before I could even put the car in park, the girls jumped out and crawled under the iron fence!  This was at the cemetary in Lakeshore, right down the road from the State Police HQ.  But we escaped getting caught!
• Airport - Take a picture with Dallas flight info. sign and collect a rental car agency brochure.
• Mall - Sing an entire nursery rhyme loudly 3 times while standing in front of Chick-Fil-A in center court.  Then take a team picture at the photo booth and sign the back.
• Cheddar's restaurant - Have the hostess write the date they opened and sign a piece of paper.  This was an interesting stop for the black team because everyone in the restaurant had already seen the red team come in with red bandanas on their heads, so a group of guys asked them if they were doing some type of bloods and crips gang stuff.
• Tinseltown - Take a picture of the movie boards outside, as well as one of the arcade or concession stands.
• Hat - Find a place that gives out free hats, get hats and wear them the rest of the night.  One team member also had to put her hair in 3 ponytails, with one on top of her head.  Both teams chose Waffle House.  Red team, no problem.  Black team - Waffle House workers were agfrevated by this point and made them go to the other location.
• McDonald's - They had to go into a McDonald's and video themselves singing the old commercial to a manager:  "Big Mac, Filet of Fish, Quarter Pounder, French Fries, Icy Cokes, Thick Shakes, Sundaes and Apple Pies"
• Sonic playground - Climb to the top of the slide and take a group picture.
• The MAC - Walk around track once and have someone cross swing on the monkey bars.
• Wheelbarrow race - Do the wheelbarrow race across our front yard 4 times, with everyone taking a turn twice.
• Fire - Use wood and the paper from previous clues to build a fire in the fire pit.

I Love You, Mommy

November 11, 2011

We were on our way home from daycare, and Bailey was buckled in her car seat, “reading” the bunny rainbow book.  She started telling me all about rainbows and how pretty they were.  Halfway home, she looked up from her book and said “I Love You, Mommy,” and went straight back to reading her book.

Wow!  That moment took my breath away.  She has told me, “You’re so pretty, Mommy” a few times recently, but usually she only says “I Love You” after we tell her we love her.  Inside of that extremely active little body, Bailey has a very tender heart.  She is stubborn and stong-willed and loud.  She runs from us at bath (shower) time, then screams when it’s time to get out.  She sometimes stays awake in bed, talking and playing, for an hour or more before she finally falls asleep…or lately, she gets out of bed to get stacks and stacks of books to bring to bed with her.  Most of the time, she refuses to eat dinner or only eats a few bites.  The past few months have been rough at times with this little girl…she is struggling to find her independence, and we are struggling for control.  Through it all, I have moments when I truly question my sanity.

But at that moment in the car, all of the stress melted away and my heart swelled with joy.  I was reminded of why God made me a mother.  Little things like this happen each day with Lauren, Bailey, and Liam.  Sometimes it’s just hard to look past all of the daily craziness and actually notice them.

I looked at Bailey in the rearview mirror and was taken back for a moment at just how big she is getting.  She used to look so small in her car seat…her feet just barely reached the edge.  Now her blonde hair (and big bow J) are peeking out over the top and her legs are long enough to kick the back of the front seat.  The little baby coos she used to make have been replaced with her talking to her many beloved stuffed animals and singing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” to us.  Lauren has made me realize just how fast my babies grow up, and how in the blink of an eye they are out of their car seats and begging you to please drop them as far away from the front door of the school as possible.  This realization makes me cherish these sweet “I Love You, Mommy” moments even more.

Bailey-ism's

As I was telling Bailey goodnight tonight, she said her favorite line she's been using lately, "Mommy, you're my best friend!"  And she added, "And Daddy's my best friend, and Lala.  And Baby Liam."  (I had to ask her about Baby Liam before she added his name).  She also randomly added, "And you have a happy, beautiful flower Mother's Day."  (I have no idea about thiat one).

 
This prompted me to take some time to type up all of the funny things she says on a daily basis.  I have been writing them all down for a few months so I wouldn't forget them.

• At the Mardi Gras parade, it was so cold that I was shaking all over.

          Bailey:  "Why are you shaking, Mommy?"
          Me:  "Because it is so cold."
          Bailey:  "No one's that cold."

• "Be strong & brave & powerful & fierce & ferocious."  She has said this while riding in the car, on the golf cart, and on her bike.  I'm guessing it's from a book or movie she's seen at school??

• "Hey!  Hey!  Let me tell you."

• "I not talking to you, (name of other person who answered her).  I'm talking to (name of person she was talking to)."

• "I just want a Skittle fuweez" (please)

• "We're not at home yet."

• "Where are we going today?" (she asks this every single day)

• "You can do something if you want to."

• I was feeding Liam a bottle while I was waiting on Lauren's soccer practice to end.

               Bailey:  "What is that?"
               Me:  "Baby milk.  It's different from your milk."
               Bailey:  "Oh, OK.  He's having a picnic.  Cookies, egg salad, a bottle, ham and rice, apples and rice!"

• There was a purple Skittle on the floorboard of my car.  I don't know how she spotted it on the black carpet, all the way back in her car seat, but she did and said, "Oooooh!  Is that a Skittle, Mommy?"

• Playing with Liam on the living room floor, she said, "Your're a cutie, yes you are!"

• Bailey:  "What's that?"
  Me:  "A football"

          Bailey:  "A football?  Oh.  Hey football.  You can come with me today."

• She now stops occassionally and checks herself out in the full-length mirror!

• Climbing into Nana's lap -

          Nana:  "Ouch!"
          Bailey:  "Oh, sorry, Nana.  I didn't mean to hurt you!"

• We all know how Bailey LOVES going to the doctor's office, right?  Well, the last time I took her, she was running & skipping into the office singing, "Doctor!  Doctor!  Yay!"

• "We don't eat our poo poo or tee tee.  No, we'll get sick and have to go to the doctor."

• She heard Heath disarming the security system one morning:

           Bailey:  "Oh no!  Daddy's leaving me!
           Me:  "No, he's just throwing away a diaper."
          Bailey:  "Oh.  He's just throwing away a poopy diaper?  That's crazy."

• As Lala was leaving to go to her Daddy's house one day, Bailey said, "Bye Lala!  It's your birthday in 3 minutes!"

• "I say uh uh" (instead of no)

• She will tell me to turn off the blow dryer if she is watching TV in our room so she can hear what's on TV.

• Bailey:  "I want to watch Shrek."

          Me (very tired of watching Shrek over & over):  "Do you want to watch Jake & The Neverland Pirates?"
          Bailey:  "No, I said Shrek!"
          I reluctantly turned on Shrek.
          Bailey:  "There we go!"

• "You know better."

• "Bye!  I'll see you 'morrow!" (tomorrow)

• She can sing "Red Solo Cup" as well as every word from the song from a Care Bears movie.

• She will put her finger over your mouth and say, "Don't say another word."

• "I told you."

• After she spilled her cereal on the table, "I can still eat it."

• Bailey:  "How do you spell Mickey?"
  Me:  "M-i-c-k-e-y."

          Bailey:  "Ok, that works."

• "You need to be sweet, ok?"

• "Calm down."

• As a construction truck drove by while we were walking in the neighborhood, she said, "Wait!  Don't get us!"  After it passed by, she said, "Thank you!"

• She overheard me talking to Heath about something I read about kids and asked, "What you talkin' about kids, Mommy?"

• When a Disney World commercial came on TV:  "Look, it's Disney World!  It's so far away!"

• She loves to ride her stick pony (or now her little brother's back) and say, "Giddy up!  Ride 'em cowboy!"

• "What's going on?"

• "I didn't mean it."

• And I saved my favorite for last.  After telling Bailey months ago that we were going to the beach:

          Bailey:  "We going to the beach today?"
          Heath:  "No, we're going swimming."
          Bailey (holds her palm up in the air as she walks out the door):  "Mommy, talk to Daddy about the swimming thing."