Downtown Charleston

We were in Downtown Charleston over the weekend. We were ill-prepared for Millie to take a dip in the fountain so needless to say Millie was not so happy when her dip was short-lived. Poor Matt was getting too wet to let her dive right in. The bottom picture displays her sad tantrum afterwards.

The Citadel

At the Citadel, enjoying a walk on the grounds. Millie's running everywhere she goes now so the parade deck was the perfect place for her. I think she made it to the other end in less than a minute.

Visiting Laura and Josh in James Island

Our vacation continued as we traveled to James Island in our new mini-van, "Pearl." Here we are at Folly Beach after dinner at Taco Boy on Folly Beach. Millie got soaked and made friends with everyone on the shore. I got a couple of videos I'll post soon on youtube. Such a social butterfly, she is. I have a feeling we're going to have our hands full when she's a teenager. No fear and so talkative. Sounds like someone I know :)

Swimming at the Grandparents' House

Each June the residents get a week or two off to graduate the second years and promote the first years. We are officially half way through this thing. Yippee!

So, we decided to take advantage and visit with Matt's parents and sister in Columbia. The pool was a very comfortable 85+ degrees and the weather was perfect. Millie liked the pool but preferred to roam the backyard, follow the cat and climb the steps more than anything.

During one of our evenings, Matt and I got a date night. We had an hour to kill before our movie so we skipped over to Carmax to look at minivans. This inevitably started the series of events which led us to purchasing our Sienna, not from Carmax... but thanks for the test drive! It's funny to think that we might not have gotten a new car had it not been for the early arrival to the movies. But, really, I don't think we would have had a better time to do it. Millie wasn't with us and we didn't have another baby in tow which is what I was envisioning if we had waited until after our boy got here. I would not have been a happy camper and I know for sure we wouldn't have gotten the deal we did. Six hours of negotiation and a free lunch later, were were the proud owners of "Pearl."

Van Power!

"Brooke, Matt, you just found out you'll be a family of four! What are you going to do next?"

We're buying a new car! Here it is! Proud new owners of a 2006 Toyota Sienna. We've now joined the van bandwagon. We love it!

We're Professionals

Millie's 15 months old today!

Millie is 15 months old today, and the days go by faster and faster each month. It seems like just yesterday that we sold our Hanahan home and moved to Ft. Bragg, but it was exactly a year ago! Twelve months later, Millie is a new kid... no more baby :( Here's what Millie's been up to this month:
-first five freckles have shown through. I'm waiting for some spots to appear on her nose like Matt and I had when we were kids, but none yet.
-finally, has two teeth on top to make a total of four. one lateral and one central.
-dances and moves correctly to "If you're happy and you know it...". She learned that in her music class.
-her hair has gotten a lot longer and I'm not sure how to tame it.
-she's climbing on anything
-she's likes to un-velcro her shoes
-she can climb and sit on chairs her size
-she's learned to say words like "basketball" and "boo"
-she's signing so much more effectively now. The other day, I said thank you to someone and she signed it without me prompting her to do it. The parroting begins...
-She talks a lot in her own language.
-She knows and points to mostly all her body parts, recently she learned elbow and knee.
-We joined a book exchange and got a book in the mail called "Busy Baby: First 100 words." There's photos of animals and people in it. It's her new favorite book and she takes it to bed with her. Matt went in to get her Saturday morning and found her flipping through the pages in her crib.
She is still such a joy to be around. In Millie's 16th month she's got her cousin Andie's 5th birthday party and her Aunt Katie's wedding! Such a social calendar already!

Baby Boy Ultrasound at nearly 25 weeks

Our baby boy is growing so fast. I can't believe we're more than half way through this pregnancy. Keeping up with a pre-toddler makes time fly! I had another ultrasound last Thursday from the request of my OB who said they didn't get a good picture of his heart. I was glad to go back in to see our baby one more time (probably the last time before his birthday). The heart looked great as we knew it would- all four chambers, beating at 158 bpm. He was sleeping for the most part during my appointment so he had is legs curled up under him and hid his boy parts. Of course, there's no need to confirm his gender all over again.

I was determined to get a good profile of him this time... as you can see in three of the shots. And the other one is of the front of his face staring straight at the camera. Looks like this little one is going to have our chin. I had to remind myself these pictures are almost skeletal and that chin isn't quite filled out yet, luckily.

I've got my monthly OB appointment this afternoon. Yippee!

FL vacation Pt 2

I didn't take a lot of pictures at all on this trip for some reason. Hopefully, some family will send pictures they took, especially from the shower (Lauren and Leigh?).


Here are my Dad and Millie at Build-a-bear where each grandkid gets to go for his or her 3rd birthday. We were there for Erin to build her bear, err, Hello Kitty :)

Here's Aunt Lauren trying so hard to keep Millie happy before lunch.

The Tampa Airport has this great indoor playground. Millie learned to go "up" the slide and then eventually, down it.

FL Vacation Part 1

Millie and I took a trip to FL from May 28-June 3. We spent the first half of the trip with my mom and that family for my brother, Glenn's high school graduation and the second half with Dad and that family for my sister, Lauren's rockin' bridal shower which Leigh and I hosted. We did a fabulous job and I must say the food was stupendous! Millie was a great traveler and has jumped back into the swing of our routine already this morning. I on the other hand am feeling the drawbacks of sharing a seat with a 1 year old on my lap with limited leg space on the plane. But, that's nothing a little rest and relaxation at the pool this afternoon can't fix! Please check my youtube account soon for some funny videos of Millie on the plane ride and Millie saying her(my) new favorite word.

Millie busy with mommy's trash on the plane(be sure to watch that video).
Leigh and I at Glenn's graduation

Happy day for Mom and Glenn
Where we found Millie most days at my Mom's house at the bottom step. She liked the challenge of trying to climb over and seemed to be content going up and down the one step.
Millie and her new kitchen! Isn't that an awesome garage sale find courtesy of my YaYa?! And thanks to Leigh and her van, it made its way to our house this morning!