Zoo

It's finally zoo weather, yay! Char loves the zoo.

Yes, she is petting a plastic zebra, I'm not sure she knew it was plastic. Oh well. It's almost Christmas and I have no classes for the first time in a looonnngg time. I won't know what to do with all my free time....scratch that, I never have free time. I love December.

November

I like my hubby, just a little. He must love me a lot because he lets me stay in bed in the morning and cuddle with Ben while he takes my dogs out. If you knew how much he dislikes those dogs you would know how much that means to me. If that isn't proof enough, he also leaves me a veggie smoothie in the fridge for my breakfast. I love being taken care of.

Anyway, we are finally home from our month long stay in Utah. It's good to be home, but boy I miss my parents. Charlotte had her second birthday while in Utah. We had a little party and sang to her, twice. (per her request.)

We got snow! Charlotte loved it. It was all she talked about for days.

I couldn't resist putting in this picture. Ben is the cutest! I am smitten with him.

That's it for now.

It's Cold Outside

Dear Dustin, we miss you! These pictures are for you.
Ben will be one month old tomorrow! Time is flying already. He is such a good little baby. He is happy as long as he's cuddled up next to mommy. He's a little spoiled.

Charlotte loves Grandma's trampoline. From the moment she gets up in the morning she asks to go outside. However, it's in the 30's each morning, so I like to stay in. Grandpa builds us a fire everyday and we spend our mornings trying to stay warm.

We went for a walk the other day and it started snowing on us. It didn't stick to the ground, but I hope we get some good snow for Char to play in before we go home.

Here's Grandma and Charlotte. She loves her Grandma and get's really sad when she goes to work in the morning.

And finally, here's my little cow trick or treating at Great-Grandma's house. For the next few days she called all her candy tricks or treats.

Meet Ben

Dear Blog, meet Benjamin. Ben is sweet and smells good. Ben makes Mommy happy.

Meet Scratch, he isn't new. He is just can't believe we brought home another sticky, hair pulling baby.

Meet Charlotte, the baby. She used to be a big girl until Ben showed up. Now she is a baby, just ask her.

Oh, little Ben! How cute are you? The cutest!

Happy Mommy. (slightly scary, not yet put back together after her hospital stay) Don't mind me.

Farm Animals

We went to the zoo this morning because it's the first day in a long time that hasn't been very hot. What I failed to account for was the increased humidity. I sweated, alot. Charlotte is finally starting to enjoy the animals. She is really into Old MacDonald right now. She sings the song, all day. So we went and checked out all the farm animals, and she petted the horse and mooed at the cows. I can't wait for fall.

All grown up? Not quite yet!

Who's big girl is this? Sara and Charlotte left for Utah last Tuesday morning. To be honest, I had been secretly waiting for a little Dustin time. I thought I would enjoy all of the free time and the freedom to do what I wanted, when I wanted to do it. I was kind of in a bachelor haze for most of the day on Tuesday as I had all of these plans to have fun and relax. As Tuesday night was coming to a close I realized just how much I already missed my family. 7:00 pm rolled around and Charlotte was nowhere to be found for night, night. This is a well kept secret, but lil CharChar prefers to have her daddy put her down for naps and bedtime. What I didn't know is that I too had come to depend on putting Charlotte to sleep as a way of bonding with my little sweetheart. Then 9:00 pm came and went and there was no one to snuggle with. (yes we go to bed at 9. What's the big deal?)

Sara sent this picture to me of Charlotte in her new dress (thank you aunt Cyndi). Over the last six days it seems that Charlotte has grown up so much. She has shared some new animals sounds with me over Skype and has started saying nono when she perceives that someone will say it to her.

I can't wait to see my girls. Only a few days left...

A Tale of a Whale

I sort of feel like a whale today, and everyday lately. Here I am at 23 weeks and I have almost gained as much as I did in my entire pregnancy with Charlotte....seriously. All I can do is laugh. I asked Dustin tonight if he was into bigger women. He just smiled. I think he kind of likes me with a little junk in my trunk. Maybe this isn't so bad after all. I'll chalk it up to retaining water, even though I never retain water :) Life is fun. We had a yummy Father's Day dinner yesterday and Charlotte behaved herself for most of the day. What more can we ask for? We have been swimming a lot lately, because there isn't much else to do in this weather. Charlotte is part fish, or maybe part lobster. She turns red even in the shade. She can thank her daddy for that. I would leave you with a picture, but I don't have any. My parents came and stayed with us for several days and I didn't even get my camera out. I'm getting lazy about things like that.

Dress-Up

Oh my goodness, how cute is this girl? My heart aches when I see pictures like this that make her look so old! Where did my little baby go? Grandma Judy just finished playing dress up with her, she even has a wand.

Memorial Day, early edition.

Memorial Day is starting out bright and early at the Miller household this year. 6:00 a.m. to be exact. How does Charlotte know when it's 6:00? This girl is an early riser, just like her mama. She is sitting here feeding herself some Rice Krispy's for breakfast. I'll take a picture....Done.
She is such a cheese for the camera lately. She busted her lip on the pew at church yesterday, that's the second time that's happened. She's starting to "talk" all the time, and get's really frusterated when I stare blankly. I'm sure those sounds are going to turn into sentences one of these days. We have a BBQ this afternoon that Dustin is so excited for. He really just wants the homemade ice cream, it's his favorite. Well, if you haven't heard the news we're adding a little man Miller to this family. Daddy couldn't be prouder that he made a boy. Boy oh boy, I hope this little guy is a little more mellow than our first, but we'll take him either way.

Dancing in the rain.

Yesterday it rained. I don't even remember the last time it rained here, and it's spring. I took Charlotte out to have a look. I don't think she knows what rain is. She was so excited that water was falling from the sky. What is it like to experience things for the first time? Everything must be so wonderful. I let her stand in it for a minute, then told her to come in. She politely declined. So here she is after several minutes of swirling around in the rain, in her jammies no less. It was so fun to watch. Then it was time for a warm bubble bath.

We are on hiatus from school for three more weeks! It's been so nice to work on other projects and get things done around the house.

p.s. I'm baking some bread today, a new recipe. If it's half as good as it smells I'll share the recipe it next time :)

My First Born...err...My Only Born

Charlotte gave me the best present a child can give this Mother's Day. A long nap. She slept the afternoon away, which she never does. It was delightful. Dustin and I laid in bed and watched the Laker's get swept, another nicety that doesn't happen everyday. My favorite thing about this day would have to be the candy bar all us women get in Sacrament meeting. That should really be an every week thing. Dustin made me an artichoke for dinner, hmm.....The jury is still out on artichokes. I love the hearts, but what about the rest? It's weird to eat the flesh off the leaves, I'm just saying. Now it's time for cookies with my two favorite people. It's good to be a mom. It's good to have a mom. Life is good.

Nothing Much Here

I have never seen a little person more interested in trees. She loves them, and collects bark and leaves and pine needles and brings them home. It's the cutest thing. Well, I think that everything she does is the cutest thing.

I have been sitting on the same spot on my coach for about a month, or so. I missed March completely, was it nice? Somehow it got hot outside, sigh... Last year I swore I would not endure one more Phoenix summer, but here I am, double sigh. This has been what's going on in my head.....what am I going to do with my crazy toddler all summer long?...I can only stand to swim so much. Now I'm done being negative, I don't really like to be negative all that much. On to better things. Charlotte looks like a fairy princess in her swimsuit. I can't get enough of her cute chicken legs. While Dustin was at the Priesthood session this last Saturday night, my friend and I took Char to the splash pad, she loved it! She is a social butterfly with other kids, but doesn't care much for adults. (pictured above) . Well, I guess that's it for this month, stay tuned for more riveting news....or probably more of the same uninteresting tidbits.

Valentines Day=Yummy Food

I'm sitting here watching the Biggest Loser, eating chocolates. I'm feeling pretty motivated....to make cookies, while chewing Extra sugar free gum (if you don't watch, that probably wasn't funny...my apologies). We don't have much to talk about lately, no great stories or anecdotes. Charlotte is turning into a little girl. She isn't much of a baby anymore, which I miss, but not so much. I love all the things she is learning. In church on Sunday we were sustaining people, and every time we raised our hand, Charlotte raised hers too. Now every time Dustin comes home, he tells her to raise her hand and she does, then she claps and laughs at herself. What a fun age. We have our first couple's 5K this Saturday. I'm excited to run with my hubs. Well, I guess I'll leave you with a cute picture of my babe. (Why do my pictures always go to the top, when I put them at the bottom?)

Markers and such

Out of all the things that Charlotte could play with, she just wants my markers. She likes to put then in the box and take them out of the box and scatter them about the house. She is too cute. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of busy. We got a new house for Christmas! It took all our energy and time over the last two weeks, but we are moved in, settled and happy. Dustin did so much work, fixing toilets, replacing fans, repairing electrical outlets. What a good guy. Now he is back to work today, probably wondering where his vacation went. Now, if only the sun could find it's way back to Arizona, then life would really be great.

The Beginning of Something Great

It's a new year. Bring on 2011! At the close of each year I love to reflect back on the previous year and remember all the good things that happened and how much I have been blessed. I also like to think about things that could have gone better and where I might improve. I think that most of the world does this. This year I just want to focus more on the good. Good friends, good family, good food, good life. I'm casting out the bad. Sometimes I get caught up in trying to please everyone. No more. I'm casting out the bad. I'm casting aside the people that don't truly have my best interest at heart. I'm going to focus on nourturing relationships that are priceless to me. My best friend and hubby, my little angel, my family and my dear sweet friends. I'm going to make sure that I never make a decision based on pride. I truly believe that if we all stopped worrying about what every one thinks of us and start worrying about how we treat each other, the world could heal itself. So, for 2011 I wish us all peace in our homes, love in our families and charity in our hearts. If I can accomplish any of these this year, I know I will have done something great.