My 32nd Birthday!

My beautiful cake!!!

I am so blessed to have such precious children and a wonderful husband who made my birthday so special! The kids gave me cards that they signed and some delicious Lindt chocolate (my favorite!). Nick gave me a sweet card and the 4th book in the Twilight series. I was so excited about getting this book!! The kid's excitement was precious and contagious. Bradley would yell something close to "Happy Birthday!" Rachel couldn't control her excitement and opened my cards for me. And, this was all the night before my actual birthday. On my birthday, Deborah was kind enough to make me some yummy chicken-n-dumplins with gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. The meal was soooooo good and perfect for our crazy, rainy, tornado weather. The sweetest part was the sign on the door before I walked into the Milligan's house, the "hiding" kids in the dining room waiting to jump out and yell, "SURPRISE!", the cake that Gege let the kids make all by themselves and their uncontainable excitement about everything. Rachel had arranged some flowers in a vase, she had hung pink streamers on every lamp and low surface in the den and even had a special birthday balloon tied to my birthday chair. My day was so special and made me realize just how blessed I have been in my 32 years!!!!

Clever Children

My kids are really good at trying to change the subject or get the "heat" off them when they do something they shouldn't. I thought these examples were too funny not to share.

Bradley is already well-practiced in his "honk mommy's nose" technique when I say something to him very sternly. He doesn't do that with Nick, though. But, if me or Nick is getting onto Bradley and talking sternly (or raising our voices) to him, he likes to look at us and say, "huh?" And, it's not just a simple, "huh?" It's a long, drawn out, "huuuuuh?" which is really quite funny and we have a really hard time not laughing when he does it. But, we try to cover our smiles and giggles so Bradley doesn't think he can "huh" his way out of every disciplinary situation.

Also, yesterday we were sitting on the couch and Bradley wanted to watch something on tv. I had put on Dora for him, because I thought that was what he wanted. Turns out, it wasn't the "right" Dora. I tried a different episode...again, I was wrong. So, I told him this was what we were watching. He got mad and hit my leg. (Of course, this was a light hit, but still, the intention was very clear.) I said, "do not hit!" He then gently tapped my leg...again, his intention was to hit and be mad. I said, "do not hit mommy or you are going to your room!" He started laughing as loudly and obnoxiously as he could. I ignored him and he got right in my face and kept laughing. So, I stood up, plopped his butt on the couch as forcefully and impressionably as I could and walked out of the room. Then, Bradley started crying. He thought it was great as long as I stood there and took whatever he was dishing out, but when I left, it hurt his feelings. Go figure! So, I let him cry for a couple of minutes and then walked back in the den and he said, "ma?" He kept looking at me and wanting to make eye contact with me to see if everything was okay or not. I looked at him and smiled and he sat with me, very nicely and we watched Dora. Little stinker!


AND...
Also, last night Rachel decided that she didn't want to use her bedrails on her bed anymore. We told her that was fine if she wanted to try sleeping without them. So, I read her a story and then left her room. About 5 minutes later, she came out of her room and said one of her dolls fell off the bed. So, Nick took her back to bed and suggested that we put up one of her bed rails. She said, she wanted them down. We told her to stay in the middle of her bed. About 10 minutes later, she comes out again and says she "can NOT sleep". I said, maybe we should put the rails back up and try again another night. I said, "maybe it's just too different for tonight." She said that she wanted them down. Nick told her that if she got up again, he was going to put up both her bedrails, then he took her back to bed again and she let him put up One of her bedrails. He was about to leave and said, "are you sure you don't want both bedrails back up?" She said, in a tearful voice, "I think I want them both back up." So, Nick put them both back up and left her again. About 5 minutes later, she came back out again. This time she said, "I was wondering what would happen if I came out now that my bedrails are back up?" Little smartie had figured out that she had already gotten the "consequence" of coming back out since her rails were both up. Nick told her, "you don't want to know...now GO TO BED and don't get up again." She didn't get up again. I thought the whole process was funny, but I also didn't get up at all...it was Nick who took her back to bed every time! What a great husband and patient daddy!

Rachel's School Valentine Party

Rachel's other Valentine outfit (from Target) that she wore Monday
Love those spongerollers!

Daddy couldn't get over how cute Rachel looked with rollers.

Samantha and Rachel

Rachel is making a craft at the party.

Me and Rach

Laura, Hannah, Hayla, Mimi K and Rachel

(It was a fluke that Mimi K looks like she's scooting away from Rachel,

she was about to get up when I happened to snap the picture.)

Today was Rachel's Valentine Party at school. She wore her special heart dress that I found at Target and we rolled her hair with sponge rollers last night. This was Rachel's first "sponge rolling" experience. I couldn't wait to try it out on her since my mom rolled my hair a million times when I was growing up. Rachel loved it and couldn't wait to see her curly hair the next morning. Unfortunately, I didn't quite do enough rollers, or they might should be a smaller size and/or I might should put a little bit of hair spray or mousse in her fine, silky hair. All but 2 of the rollers fell out in her bed last night and she didn't have quite the curls that I had envisioned, but she did get a little bit of body and she LOVED it! We had a great time at the party and all the kids looked so cute in their heart shirts and outfits. Ironically, Rachel and another little girl, Samantha had on the exact same dress. Of course, they loved that they were wearing the same dress and were automatically "best friends" for the day. This is ironic because Samantha is NOT one of Rachel's favorite people. Of all the kids in her class, Rachel has complained the most about Samantha. According to Rachel, Samantha has taken her best friend, Kate, away from her numerous times and not allowed them to play together. I think that Samantha has a very dominant personality and so she sometimes clashes with Rachel, who is not a pushover, but also not a dominant type, either. Anyway, it was funny that they were best friends today simply because of their dresses. Bradley stayed with Gege so I could help the other moms and have some mother/daughter time with my sweet little girl.

A little bit of Cousin Time

A couple of weeks ago, I offered to watch Thomas and Heather for Erin and Tommy. Rachel was ecstatic that her cousins, Thomas and "Hedder" were coming over to play. She had decided that she would watch "Hedder" and that I could watch and play with the boys. Thankfully, Heather loved Rachel as much as Rachel loved her and let her pick her up and lead her around and play with her. Rachel was in "little mommy heaven." Thomas and Bradley played around each other...but not together...as they sometimes do. They were both content to do their own things and Bradley mostly just wanted to be with me. Anyway, I didn't take many pictures, but got just a couple that I wanted to share. Thankfully, Pop came over this day to help me with the kids. I was grateful since I hadn't really thought about how tired I might be or that I would be pregnant AND watching 4 kids aged 4, 3, 2 and 1! Even though they were all REALLY good, it was so nice having another pair of hands to help!

Rachel Jane Photography

Nick took this one of the silly kids!
Rachel took this one of her precious daddy

Rachel took this one of her sweet little bubby!

Rachel took this picture...her special bear

Rachel loves taking pictures. So, a few weeks ago, after Nick had snapped a few of the kids, she decided to take some. I thought they were cute and I love her subject matter. Some of her choices aren't what I would consider "picture-worthy" but isn't art in the eye of the beholder?!

Gotta love this spring tease!

This is so much fun!
Layin' in the grass and gettin' some rays!

We have really loved this recent spring-like weather! We've spent more time outdoors than we have in months and unfortunately, know it's not going to last. I'm sure February and March are going to have some more freezing, unpleasant days, so we're enjoying this nice weather while we can. We recently got a new charger for Rachel's Gator, so after re-charging it, the kids have found that it's like having a new toy! They haven't ridden it since May, when the last of the battery juice finally gave out. I don't think Bradley even remembers riding on it, so he is ecstatic while riding it and squeals lots. He also likes to say, (as they are driving off) "bye ma," "bye da". He usually says this about 10 times like he's going real far real fast. Honestly, the little gator is so slow, I can walk at a comfortable pace along side them with Rachel going at full speed. Thankfully, Rachel is the driver right now, and Bradley is very content being the passenger. It's so nice for Rachel that Bradley's not aware that he could probably drive on his own if he wanted to. Anyway, they've been putting the miles on the little gator and soakin' up some nice warm sunshine also!

Little Miss Grown Up

Right before Christmas, we got rid of a lot of toys that the kids don't play with. We gave them to Goodwill. I have not regretted it for one minute and the kids haven't missed them one bit. Among the things we gave away, was an old kid's grocery cart that constantly fell apart. Well, after Christmas, Rachel decided that she wanted to use some of her piggy bank money to buy a new one. So, we looked at a couple of stores and NO ONE had one that was sturdy and under $20. Rachel was such a good sport about not being able to find one and was so agreeable when I told her we would have to wait a few weeks for the stores to restock their toys. (I was so impressed with her patience and acceptance of waiting to get a toy!) Anyway, we didn't really talk about it for a few weeks and one day we went to a special toy store, Learning Express, that has alot of things that the average toy store doesn't carry. We were just looking around and Bradley was playing with a train table and Rachel was playing with a doll house. They didn't have any grocery carts either, so I asked Rachel if she wanted to spend her money on something else. She got really excited and said, "YES!" So, we looked around and she immediately went up to a Hello Kitty alarm clock that was $18. She wanted to buy that and thought it was the greatest thing she had ever seen. I was surprised that she wanted to buy an alarm clock and showed her all the other really cool things in the store she could get with her money. But, she insisted that she wanted the alarm clock. So, she bought it. We got home, put batteries in it and it has been a huge hit! She has read the numbers to me continually; "mom, it says: 1-2-3, what does that mean?" Me: "it's 1:23, hun." Rachel: "mom, it says, 1-2-4, what does that mean?" Me: "it's 1:24 now, Rachel." She just loves this clock. She insists that Nick or I set the alarm at night when she goes to bed. We always set it for 8am, so that she'll still wake up on her own and not too early with an alarm, since she's always up between 7 and 7:30. But, I can't tell you how much she has enjoyed this clock. I would have never thought that it would be so much fun. We've even taken it in the car and she'll read the numbers EVERY time the minute changes and ask what time it is. I think it's a little aggravating, but really cute that she's so interested in the time. Now she thinks it's really cool to spend her own money on something that she picks out. (I thought it was pretty cool, too!!)