Fun Times with the Lanes

AJ...not sure what to think, but glad to be out of the car!

Juj...ready to play

Rach doing a pose

Bradley playing with dinosaurs in the sand...his favorite thing to do!!

opening up some great presents!

Juj swimming with the swim dog

Rachel jumping in and showing off her swimming skills

Pop and Rach

(reminds me of myself with dad!)

Rachel trying to get Bradley to play

Daddy and his little waterbug

Alex' preferred position

Bradley enjoying his float and water gun

the extent of Trent's pool activities--

don't he and Pop look pretty comfy?!

5 of the 8 Duke grandchildren!

Such sweet, precious kids!

We had a great weekend visiting with our precious cousins! Friday night was a blast at Nana and Pop's...eating a yummy meal of grilled chicken and salads. The kids (literally) ran circles around the upstairs. Rach and Bradley discovered the laundry chute and decided it would be a good idea to put all of Nana's Christmas stuffed animals down it. Juju didn't participate, but did report the incident to Nana. I'm sure it was all Rachel's idea and Bradley just followed her lead. :) Better get a lock on that thing, nana, or else either Rachel or Bradley is liable to be the next ones to go down it. :) Bradley was a shadow behind whatever Rachel and Julia wanted to do. Alex was an observer and very interested in seeing what everyone was doing, but mostly wanting to be with his mommy and his nana. Trent was a little quiet angel...only asking to nurse when he was hungry. Even more special was that Aunt Wendy, Uncle Matt, Juj and Alex brought birthday presents for Rachel and Bradley. The kids were ecstatic with the cool gifts they got. Bradley wouldn't put his dinosaurs down for days! Rachel's already made 4 bracelets with her new kit. Saturday, we all spent the morning swimming at Gege and Papa's. That was a blast! All the kids enjoyed it. The girls always have a blast playing and swimming together. Alex enjoyed the tanning ledge and just walking around outside the pool. Bradley enjoyed his float and eating snacks at the table. Trent enjoyed sleeping on the chaise lounge with Pop. Nana and Pop brought all kinds of deli meat for sandwiches plus chips and salads...it was delicious!!! After that, Nana and Pop went home to rest while the rest of us went back to our house so the kids could play. Rach and Juj had so much fun playing together all afternoon. We ended the night with some pitiful Little Caesar's Pizza and a bath. We all had such a great time and are so thankful for the Lanes! What a precious family...we love them so much!!!

Milligan Kid Update

Well, all 3 kids are doing great! We haven't had a very adventurous summer, but it's been very busy! The kids are all growing up and just getting sweeter and sweeter (for the most part) every day! Here's the low-down:

Rachel thinks she can do EVERYthing since she's 5. She doesn't want or need anyone's help at all. She's still extremely crazy about Trent and wants to hug, kiss, hold and talk to him as much as possible. She's still very sweet, very loving, very helpful and an absolute doll...full of interesting, sometimes deep questions for me and Nick. She's also still annoyed with Bradley alot of times and likes to pick and choose when she wants him as a playmate. She's also SO excited about starting Kindergarten and the many things she'll get to do there. She can't wait to meet her teacher and see her friends. I know this is going to be a HUGE adjustment for both/all of us, so we won't get into that in this post. We're just trying to make sure we are 100% positive when we talk about her new school and everything that goes along with it. We just want our precious little angel to have a WONDERFUL experience!!

Bradley thinks EVERYthing that his big sister does is awesome. He copies her every word and action. (Part of the annoyance factor that bothers Rachel, I think.) He has started saying, "hi cutie" when he sees Trent...just like his sister. His latest thing is to ask, "how come?" constantly and with a shrug of his shoulders every time. He'll ask "how come" and we'll give a perfectly understandable answer and Bradley will ask it again and again and again. Rachel told him the other day that she was tired of him asking her that. It's really cute when he starts, but it's hard to satisfy him enough so that he'll stop saying it, so I usually have to start ignoring his "how come's?" He's also doing much better on the potty. He still has at least 2 pee-pee accidents per day, but has improved quite a bit. He'll go pee pee and poo poo on the potty and he LOVES his underwear with all the exciting characters on it. So, we're getting there. He's absolutely a lovable, sweet, sensitive, precious child, who's funny and still adjusting to his role of big brother. AND, I cannot believe that he's almost 3!!!!!!!!! We can't wait to celebrate his big day!!

Trent is 3 and a half months and is now rolling over from his back to his stomach! He doesn't do it all the time, but he can do it! He's an absolutely un-fussy, un-demanding, sweet, laid-back, patient little baby. He goes with the flow and has to wait around alot, but just give the sweetest little grins when his needs are finally met. He's a good napper, a good nurser and a good sport with his "in-your-face" siblings. He's a precious little angel and we're so thankful to have him and watch how he changes and grows every day!!

I sure do love my 3 little babies and am sooooooooooooo thankful that God blessed me with them!!

Happy 4th!

Rach & Carter

the tie-dyed crew


Lauren & Bradley

We had a great 4th celebration with friends and family! We enjoyed the famous Milligan ribs along with a couple of butts (the pork kind) and a whole lot of fabulous sides! The kids swam, had water balloon fights and everyoe got to wear their new tie-dyed shirts. Sweet Sophia made each kid a special tie-dyed shirt...they were all so cute and creative! The weather was perfect and we all really had a blast!

Happy 4th of July!!!

Me and the kids

Just a picture that I liked. I love my kids and I'm so thankful that I'm their mommy!!

Happy Father's Day! (a little late!)

Happy Father's Day to a wonderful man who I am so proud to call my husband and so thankful that my kids get to have him as their daddy!! I love you, Nick!

Also, Happy Father's Day to my sweet dad, who was always loving, always caring, always protective and a wonderful example of how a father should be with his children and a husband should be with his wife. I love you, dad!

Losin' it just a little

Anyone who knew me before I had kids has probably thought to themselves in the last 5 years that I have lost some sanity. I think I agree. Some days are just more overwhelming than I can handle. I love my kids and I love the fact that I get to stay home with them and see every little thing they do. But, sometimes they drive me BONKERS! Let's take a look at yesterday. We recently listed our house with a realtor and she was scheduled to come over yesterday at 4 to take pictures of the interior and exterior for her brochures and her website. I started cleaning/tidying as soon as we woke up yesterday morning. The kids were home and playing. Gege and Papa came over and brought some potted flowers for the front porch (per my request) to enhance the curb appeal. They offered to take the kids back to their house so I could finish cleaning. I was appreciative, but decided to keep them home. The kids weren't bad and didn't misbehave, they just acted like kids. They played in their rooms, in the den, in the kitchen, in our room and upstairs...and they pulled out toys in all of those places. I changed their sheets since I was making their bed and an hour later, Bradley peed on his sheets. The kids LOVE to play games in their bed and Bradley really loves to get cuddly in his bed with as many toys as he can fit, blankets, pillows, Bay and a juice. But, since we're doing the dreadful potty training (and failing miserably) he had on underwear. Well, he ended up peeing on his comforter and sheet. I was SO MAD! I yelled, and told him I was mad and did all the things you're NOT supposed to do when you're potty training. Then, as we're changing pants in the bathroom, I notice that the toilet needs to be flushed because it looks like there might be poo in it. Upon closer inspection, however, I notice that it's not poo, but a PLUM in the toilet. And, I know that 30 minutes earlier, Rachel had asked for one and had apparently decided that the toilet was a trashcan. Again, I yelled at her, MADE her put her precious little hand in the toilet and retrieve the plum and throw it in the trashcan. Then I told her to go wash her hands and sit on her bed. I was SO MAD again!!! And, while all this is going on, poor, sweet baby Trent has to wait for me to finish dealing with his siblings so that he can nurse. We were able to get everything cleaned and it looked great when the realtor showed up, but I was mighty tired. The kids and I ended up piling into the car and driving to Monroe to chick-fil-a. It was a nice break to just get into the car and leave.

That's pretty much our daily saga...wake up, nurse Trent, change diaper, fix juice and food for R&B, take B to potty, nurse Trent, change diaper, take B to potty, start laundry, try to fold laundry, answer phone, change diaper, take B to potty, nurse Trent, make lunch, answer phone, clean up lunch, change diaper, take B to potty, try to fold new pile of laundry that was added to unfinished previous pile, nurse Trent, take B to potty, try to entertain R&B, answer phone, think about something decent we could eat for dinner, take B to potty, etc....You get the idea. And, add in the 5 million poo and pee accidents that occur daily, so that adds cleaning the floor where it happened and changing the underwear again. THAT is why I go bonkers and am losin' it just a little.

I know...it won't last forever...
I will one day look back on these days and long for more time while my kids are young...
Kids grow up too fast...
But, sometimes I still feel overwhelmed (and blessed and loved and extremely privileged).

V-Day

Monday was V-Day in our house. Not lovey-dovey Valentine's Day, but "Vasectomy Day". :) My precious, tough, strong husband underwent the scariest man-surgery ever. And, let's just face it, Not every man has the "balls" to do it! hahaha! I couldn't resist. The surgery was scheduled for 11am, but this was really, show up at 11am and we'll make you wait for about an hour before we do anything. That's always awful when you're waiting for something that you're not entirely comfortable with in the first place, and the longer you sit around, the more anxious you get. Anyway, me, Trent and Nick went to the Urology Clinic where there are (I promise) about 40 chairs in the waiting room. And, almost every chair was occupied. It's kind of a sad place to be, because most of the men in there look extremely uncomfortable and most of them walk funny...so you can just imagine the pain they're in. I have to say, it certainly was nice NOT being the one poked, prodded and violated for a change. I'm not glad Nick had to go through it, but I sure was glad I didn't have to "bare all" for once. The surgery finally started at about 12:30 and the doctor was done about 10 minutes later. Nick was very pleased with the Urologist and how things went with the exception of inadequate numbing on one side of the vas and an excruciating pain when one vas was cut, but then the doctor corrected this with immediate numbing relief. He walked out of his room with a very slow, awkward gait and was about as laidback as I've EVER seen him. He had only what I can describe as a "stupid" grin on his face. He also kept saying very silly things that he normally doesn't say. Once we got in the car, he started giggling and couldn't stop. He did this most of the way to Publix to get his painpills. I couldn't stop laughing at how strange he was acting. This was definitely not my usual husband...this man was giggly, laidback and goofy. He was quite a hoot! I guess he was "high" from the valium they had given him pre-surgery. Anyway, we got him home as quickly as possible, ate some lunch, watched Gran Torino and rested. Deborah was kind enough to keep R&B for us, so we could relax. Nick's done great all week, improving every day, but definitely comes home from work each day VERY sore and ready to lay down. I have to say, I'm so thankful that Nick was willing to do this for us, for our family and we're so thankful to have the 3 precious children that we have. Our cup runneth over...and we don't need any more little Milligans. :)