Molly's 22 Months Old

This picture really says it all. . .  22 Months has brought out the most independent little girl yet!  She absolutely refused to sit in her green rocking chair for this month's picture.  Here's what happened when I tried to over ride her....

Yeah, she was not having it.  So we compromised on her little "rock rock".  As much as it drives me batty this picture isn't like the other 21, it's also just fine since it's real life! 

What fun this age is!  Molly continues to learn new words and phrases all the time.  She chatters constantly, and she's absolutely crazy about "Eddie", Ellie.  Ellie asked her mom the other day, "why Mohee call me Eddie?"  :-)

Other than "Eddie", Molly is crazy about her "Yahee" and "CiCi".  Every time she sees Tim's phone, she picks it up and says, "I wan tak CiCi."  Anytime pulls up in the driveway, Molly goes bananas and screams, "yahee!!" at the top of her lungs!

Molly is still a super picky eater, but she does love milk and "appul jush".  I think the child would eat "muffies" every single morning if I let her.  Muffins have taken the place of nutri-grain bars as her go-to each morning.

Molly gets so excited when she spots trucks, busses, and bikes on the road.  It's been fun this month watching her become so much more aware of what goes on around our car when we're on the road.

Bubbles and "b balls" are two of Molly's very favorites right now.  We easily have 8 balls in this house at the moment of all sizes from small balls to a basketball.  All of them are "b balls".  And she'll let you blow bubbles until you're light headed.  She loves it!  We blow tons of bubbles each afternoon when we're "ot side", which she loves.  Molly enjoys every minute of being "ot side" where we "run", "jup", "fwing" look for "cat piyahs" and feed the "duck ducks". 

Yep, this is such a fun age.  I say it all the time, but it just gets better and better!  Lovin' it!!!



Easter

Easter was a busy time for us this year.  Yet another sign Molly's growing up! 
We had a fun picnic with friends where the kids played, ate lunch, and heard the Resurrection story. Molly and Ellie both loved the swings!

Saturday we went to our church's egg hunt.  It's a huge production!  It was our first time going, and we were totally blown away.  Molly's age up through preschoolers hunted eggs on the softball field.  Molly was clueless at first, a little overwhelmed at times, but she hung in there with help from her Daddy and grabbed a few eggs!

Sunday morning we went to church, then we had my family over for lunch.  We were all decked out in our Sunday best!

After lunch, Molly napped while we watched the Masters, then we headed over to a wedding shower for a little while.  We made it home in time to watch the end of the Masters (Go, Bubba!!), and we tucked a tired little Molly into bed for the night.  It was really the perfect weekend! 

He is Risen!

He is Risen Indeed!









Molly ~ 21 Months Old

Molly is 21 months old today!  Before we turn around good, we'll be celebrating her second birthday.  And I simply cannot believe it.

Every day brings something new with Molly.  She's consistently talking in 3 (sometimes 4) word sentences, and she's getting more and more independent by the minute.  Oh help us!?!?  **I completely forgot to include my favorite thing Molly is saying now!  Whenever you give her something, she says, "taint chu"!  LOVE it!**

Molly loves to watch "Bah-nee at Zoo" these days.  That movie tops "Bible" (God Made Me) and "Baby" (Praise Baby) as her favorite.  She also loves to go to her Lovie's house and watch "E-mo Babies" (Elmo). 

Molly also loves to be outside, and we know anytime we're outdoors playing, it'll be a struggle to get her back inside.  She simply loves to be out there!  Between wagon rides, playing "ball" with Belle, looking for fish in the lake and "fwinging", she keeps us hopping outdoors. 

Ellie is definitely Molly's best friend.  They have the best time together, and I still believe there is nothing greater than for our home to be filled with squeals and laughter of those two girls.  Up until this last week, I had never heard Molly tell Ellie "no".  Any time Ellie recommends they do anything, Molly always agrees.  If Molly doesn't want to do what Ellie suggests, Molly simply ignores her.  Just in the last few days have I heard Molly actually tell Ellie "No!"  and Ellie didn't know what to do!  Too funny!

Molly still sucks her two middle fingers pretty much all the time.  She also sticks her pointer finger of her other hand in her ear.  This drives my mom nuts.  Momma told Molly the other day, "I don't like when you stick your finger in your ear, Molly.  It worries Lovie."  Molly is getting over yet another ear infection, so when she fiddles with her ear, it worries all of us.  Molly turned to Mom and said, "It not hurtin'."  :) 

Our favorite time of day is the evening after Tim gets home from work.  Molly gets so excited to see her Daddy!  She'll lay on the floor and say, "tiddle me, dadee" asking Tim to tickle her.  She has the heartiest belly laugh when he "tiddles" her!  Pure joy!

Yep, life is good.  We are blown away with how blessed we are.  Tim and I were just talking about that this weekend.  God continues to bless our socks off, and we're overwhelmed with gratitude that He has entrusted Molly to us!

Molly Miller ~ 20 Months Old

Molly is now 20 months old!  Goodness gracious, where is the time going?  I just about cannot take it.  But, it's so much fun.  Molly is a total blast these days, and we love every minute!

Every day seems to bring new things in Molly's life.  She is always saying new words and phrases, running faster day by day, and continues to blow us away with her sweet, sweet love.

Molly's also very interested lately in the potty, which we are embracing for sure.  Not much in the way of success yet, but we keep on celebrating her interest for now! 

Tim and I went to Snowshoe, WV to ski for a few days earlier this week, and Molly stayed with her CiCi and Big Daddy (Tim's parents).  She was good and rotten when we returned, I promise you that.  But I think it's safe to say they all three had a great time together.  Molly surely rules the roost at their house, much to the dismay of Gizmo, their dog.  Big Daddy and Molly have games they play together that just make my heart smile.  She climbs up into his chair, sits in his lap and he bounces her all around while she giggles her little heart out.  When he walked into the door from work, Molly just ran straight into his arms and bear hugged him.  Pure love for sure!  We're so thankful for all three of Molly's grandparents and their love.  She's crazy about all of them!

Yep, life with Molly is great!  And we love every minute of it!

I am THAT Mom

I'm the Mom who. . . 


. . . sends Tim multiple texts throughout the day telling him funny little things Molly's done.

. . . talks Tim's ears off when he gets home telling him all the other things Molly did during the day that I didn't text him about.  And sometimes most of the time, I'll tell him a story I've texted him already.  Because it was so cute.

. . .  got a big ole lump in my throat when we passed by Chick fil a today and Molly went CRAZY over the cow who was standing at the road waving!

. . . also honked the horn at the cow like a loon simply so he'd wave directly at my baby girl.

. . . never feels like the house is clean.

. . . often wishes I could go scoop Molly up from her crib no more than 20 minutes after bed time because I already miss her. That. Much.

. . . has my first pinterest recipe in the oven as I type.  Cannot wait to try it!

. . . has another pinterest recipe on tap for tomorrow night! 

. . . gushes "she's a blessing!" and "we are crazy about her!" to strangers who comment on how precious Molly is.

. . . is sure I hit the jackpot when I married Tim.

. . . loves watching Molly talk to Belle, give Belle water, and boss Belle around.

. . . would swing for hours upon hours with Molly, if she'd sit in her swing longer than, oh, 3 minutes at a time.

. . . loves watching Molly slide down a slide.  Her expression tells you she's terrified, but she goes down the slide over and over.

. . . whose husband tripped over a baby doll stroller at 2am in our bathroom.  Neither of us noticed it was in there before we went to bed.  Thankfully, he sees it as a blessing just like I do.  As a side note, he also showered with a smile face balloon looming over his head.  Bless his heart.

. . . took a picture of the tiny bit of success we had in the potty last week.  And sent it to Tim, my mom and my sister. God bless them each and every one. 

. . . is so thankful to be on this parenting journey with so many amazing friends.

. . .  smiles every time I pass through the play room and see toys upon toys scattered across the floor.

. . . livin' the life and love every single minute of it!

Fishin' Fun

A very dear friend got onto me this weekend for my lack of posting (Hey, Ashlie!  Love you!), and she is exactly right!  I've let life happen and I've not documented it well.  BOO.  This weekend was chock full of great fun and memories! 

Ellie and her Daddy did not let the yucky, dreary, rainy weather stop them from coming over for some fishing fun.  Molly got right in the middle of the mix, too, and they had a great time fishing together.

Ellie is quite the serious fisherman.  Patient?  Not at all.  After less than twenty minutes, she was huffing and puffing and saying, "dis hahd wuk, B."

Molly wanted to "do it", too, so she got a quick lesson from her second favorite man, Uncle Brian!

Fishing soon became a team effort for the girls, and they loved every second of it!

And, as with any fishing story, they almost caught a big one, but he got away. 

True Story.

There's always next time.

Molly ~ 19 Months Old

Molly is . . . GULP . . .  19 months old today! Yep, I'm having a hard time with this.  Molly's just growing up soooo fast!

This picture pretty much sums up this age for Molly. 

The orange bow.  Goodness knows. . . I tried and tried and tried to get her to wear her red bow.  You know, because it matched and all.  BUT NO.  Molly insisted she wear her orange one!?!?!  If ever a 19 month old has had an independent streak, it is Molly Miller.  I'm telling you that is the truth!

Also, her fingers in her mouth.  She does this just about all the time.  While I know it'll be a tough, tough thing to break, I also know there will come a day I'd give anything to see her doing it for just another minute more.  So, for her 19 month picture, we're being real.  Mismatched bow, fingers in the mouth and all.

Lastly, Molly's vocabulary literally grows by the day.  She has new words all the time she is using, and we just love hearing her talk!  She often says, "I got it" and "I see you", and this morning, she said, "atch bi-bul, k?"  Watch Bible, K?  Bible is what she calls her God Made Me video. 

To say we're loving life with Molly is a gross understatement.  She is the joy of our lives, and we are so very thankful for her!

Molly ~ 18 Months Old

EIGHTEEN MONTHS? 

A year and a half old?

Are you serious?

Goodness, Molly is growing sooooo fast.  And it's soooo fun!  This month was again full of fun and exciting things.  Molly continues to increase her vocabulary.  She says lots of two word phrases and a few three word phrases, such as "I get it" and "I see you". 

She's a bit of a show-off when she realizes she has a crowd.  When we went for her well check last week, she turned on the charm with her doctor!  She was running in circles, giggling and chattering away to Dr. Jason!  Again last night with my Memommie, she showed off all her new tricks and laughed and laughed!

Molly also decided in the last two weeks she doesn't need to sit in her chair at the table; rather, she sits in a regular chair with no booster.  I couldn't figure out why she suddenly decided to do this.  Then, it dawned on me that her class at MMO had moved to a new room with chairs and tables rather than the table with build in chairs.  I'm sure since she's learning to sit in a chair like a big girl at church she is convinced she can do it here.  It's quite funny watching her eat as she can't really see her food, but she reaches as high as she can!  And she's eating, so we're not going to complain!

Molly's surely a Daddy's girl, too.  We watch him leave every morning, and usually within about twenty minutes she's standing at the window asking for "dah-dee".  She'll "call" him on her phone numerous times during the day.  And late in the afternoon she'll start standing at the window every few minutes searching for him. 

Still a great sleeper, Molly loves her night time routine.  As a family, we take her into her bedroom and say our night time prayers.  Should I get too long winded, she'll cut me off mid-prayer with a hearty "ah-meen"!

Life continues to get better and better with Molly.  I say it all the time, and I'll say it again:  each day is better than the day before, and I always think my heart can't take more joy.  But it gets better and better!  Thankful beyond measure for Molly Miller!

Happy 18 Months, precious one!  Your Mommy and Daddy love you beyond measure!

Molly ~ 17 Months Old

Molly is 17 months old!  Time seems to be just flying by!  Again, this month was so much fun!  It seems day by day Molly learns new things.  She talks up a storm, and oftentimes we have no idea what she's saying.  But she definitely knows what she's saying! 

Molly loves loves loves to play with Ellie Grace!  She also plays really well by herself.  She loves animals, calling the "duck ducks" everytime we walk outside. 

A daddy's girl through and through, Molly has really learned to turn her Daddy's heart to mush!  Just this morning she realized he was heading to work, and she lifted her arms asking him to hold her, laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped her other hand around his neck.  She absolutely loves him and is convinced he's the best man on the planet!  I must say I agree!

Life continues to be a complete dream, and we are so very thankful to be Molly's parents!

Cooking with Ellie

Ellie and I had a little fun in the kitchen this morning.  We made some fun Halloween treats, and Ellie loved every second of being the cook!

She watched as each ingredient was poured into the big mixing bowl....

And she was super serious about watching the mixer do it's thing....

Aunt B may or may not have shown her the best part of cooking. I think her chocolate batter mustache gives it away...

Sweet Ellie was so proud of her work set out on the cookie sheet...

Yep, she definitely learned the best part of cooking is enjoying a little batter....

And then, we got to roll the cookies in sprinkles!  "Fun, Hay-o-ween Spinkles" according to the chef!

There was one little turkey who was Not. At. All. excited about our cooking fun....

Poor Molly pouted and cried the entire time we cooked!?!

Ellie, being the determined, dedicated, experienced chef that she is, was not deterred by little Molly's cries. She powered through, enjoying the fruits of her labor....

And here's the proud chef with her treats!

So, as Chef Ellie would say, "Happy Hay-o-ween, Y'all!"

Molly Miller ~ 16 Months Old

Oh what fun this age is!  Molly is 16 months old now, and she just seems to grow and learn every single day!  She is in constant motion and chatters all the time.  Her vocabulary grows by the minute, it seems.  And it's so much fun!

Lately Molly's favorite thing to do it jump onto our bellies and try to leap off.  Thankfully the first time she did it, Tim could see in her eyes she was about to jump and caught her.  She laughed and laughed, and she's tried to do it over and over again.  She loves our family play time each night, and she will just play her little heart out until it's bed time.

Molly is absolutely crazy about Ellie, too.  They squeal with delight when they see each other and bear hug as if it's been ages since they last saw each other!  I'm so thankful they get to grow up together and are so close.  What a blessing!

One quick story that's the epitome of our life right now.  The other night, Tim and I were headed up the stairs, and I said, "Watch out for the letter R."  It was as normal a statement as "please pick up those shoes."  One of Molly's magnets, the letter R, was on the step.  And I didn't want him to trip on it!  :)  Yep, you know you have a toddler in the house when you have to watch out for such things as the letter R!

Lovin' life, that's what we are doing!

Park Fun

I took the girls to the park in Jenn and Brian's neighborhood yesterday.  They absolutely love climbing all over everything and swinging.  It's so precious to watch them play together!

We played on the slide. . . 

We played on the swing. . .

We played peek-a-boo. . . 

And we played in a tree. . . 

And the girls were worn out by the time we left.  So worn out that Ellie had to stop and "rest a minute.  Hot, B" on our way home.  Mind you, her house is a stone's throw from the park.  Bless her dramatic little heart!

It's days like yesterday that I just don't want to end. That's the good stuff, for sure.

Molly ~ 15 Months Old

Wow!  What a month we had!  15 was so much fun!  Molly continues to walk all over the place, and she talks away!

Her vocabulary is growing by the hour it seems.  This last month, my favorite new word was "mama".  And she says it A LOT.  And it's AWESOME to hear every single time!  Usually she says it with such passion that you'd think she's about to tell you something absolutely ground breaking.  She loves shoes and loves watching her Daddy get dressed in the morning.  Recently she was standing by him while he put his shoes on, and she started calling, "mama!  mama!"  I rushed in and said, "what is it, baby?"  She pointed to Tim's shoes and said, "shooooooesshhh".  Precious!

Earlier this week, she figured out the stairs in our house, too.  I turned the corner and she was perched up on that first step proud as a peacock.  I didn't make too big of a deal out of it, but she made her way all the way to the top in a matter of minutes.  Uh Oh.  We have yet to figure out how to get down the stairs, so we'll be working on that, too.

She is more and more a Daddy's girl these days, too.  Just yesterday we had her 15 month check up, and she was so excited to see her Daddy there! She did not give two hoots her mama was in the room.  She was all about her Dada!

Speaking of her appointment, she weighs in at 20 pounds, 9 ounces (50th %ile) and is 30 inches long (95 %ile).  She was a complete ham for her doctor and loved every second of the attention. . .  and then the shots.  God love her little heart, when Nurse Brandy came in to give her shots, Molly was all smiles and jabbering away.  After the shots (5!  FIVE!), Molly was screaming and gave Brandy the Slocum Stare.  It's a look like none other where she makes sure you know she is M.A.D. at Y.O.U. 

What fun we have with Molly Miller!  I say it all the time, but each day is better than the day before!  Lovin' it!

As a Jay Bird!

I've said it before, but my favorite time of the day is early evening.  I love that time we have as a family of three, and Molly absolutely eats up the attention she gets from her Daddy.

We recently battled a pretty bad diaper rash, so after bathtime, we let her run around with nothing on in hopes of airing out the rash. 

And she played her little heart out!

Precious memories we never want to forget!

Mother's Morning Out

Molly started MMO this morning.  She'll be going twice a week from 9 - 12, and it's at our church.  Her teachers are Miss Becca and Mrs Candace, and I am sure she will have a great time!  I worked with Becca when I kept the nursery for a few years before I had Molly, so I was so excited to learn Molly was in her class!

Yesterday I felt like Mother of the Year when I realized none of Molly's sandals fit her feet!  She never wears shoes, and I knew she'd need to wear shoes to MMO, so after naps we loaded up and ran to Dillard's for a quick shoe shopping trip.  Thank the good Lord Molly has adjusted beautifully to having shoes on her feet.  So far anyway.  Yesterday evening I put them on her, and she stopped playing one time, grabbed her foot and said, "Osh!" which means off.  I ignored her and she went right back to playing!  Thank goodness!

She was all dressed up and ready to go this morning!

Yep, shoes, bow and all!  I was so surprised, and I wondered how long they would last! Miss Becca told me the bow only came out once!  WOW!

I will readily admit my heart stopped for a second when I took this picture this morning.  I may have said outloud, "how in the world am I going to leave you for three whole hours today, Molly?"  She did just great at drop off and only cried for a few seconds.  Once I got out the door, she was playing with her new friends in no time!  What a blessing!

Ellie's also doing MMO this year, so we grabbed a few pictures of the girls after their day.  Ellie loves to "hep bebe wak."

Both girls had a great first day!  I think it's safe to say Molly was pooped!



Molly Miller ~ 14 Months Old

Molly is 14 months old!  This last month was full of fun and development!  Molly started walking a few weeks ago at the beach, and she has really taken off in the last week.  She walks everywhere, and has started walking while holding toys, too. 

Also in the last month, Molly's vocabulary has started to really explode!  Along with Dada, she's saying dog, ball, off, up, signing more, and shakes her head no at every question you ask her!  We've got to work on yes!  It's so much fun having her say a few words!  She jabbers A LOT, too!  We don't know what she's saying, but she points and her face fills with expression as she talks away.  It's too precious to us!

As for eating, she is still very very picky.  So picky that one day she may love a food and the next day spits it right out at you.  It's a constant struggle to get her to eat.  Some days I fret over the fact that she's hardly eaten anything, but my momma always reminds me she will eat when she's hungry.  Any of you have picky eaters?  I'd love to hear suggestions on healthy foods your kids enjoy. If it weren't for scrambled eggs, gold fish, cheerios and bread, we'd be in a total mess!?!?!

This week Molly will start going to the Mommy's Morning Out program at our church.  She'll go two days a week, and I'm sure she'll love it.  It's got to be a good sign that she cried when we left her room during orientation, right?  I know she will love playing with her friends and learning!  Me on the other hand?  I am not sure what I'm going to do with my two mornings a week?!?  I'm looking forward to going grocery shopping, cleaning the house and going to the gym alone.  But I'm also a bit sad about it!  I get pretty teary just talking about it right now.

Month 14 was a total blast, and we absolutely love every single second with our MM!

Molly Miller ~ 13 Months Old

Wow this last month has really flown by!  And it's been slap full of excitement!  Molly is so close to walking that it's scary.  She's cruising all around furniture, standing by herself for seconds at a time, and is trying her very best to climb the stairs.  I just know our world is about to be R-O-C-K-E-D!

And it's so much fun!  Molly loves playing with her ball, her train, teaset, and birthday cake.  She also loves loves loves her ladybug toy.  Most of these were birthday gifts, and she has the greatest time with them!  We've set up a play area with Molly's toy chest (that her Daddy and a dear friend made her) and toys, and it's right down the hall from her bedroom.  Now, everytime we walk out of her room, she points towards the play room and starts grunting.  She'd play in there all the time, I do believe!

Molly has also decided wearing my sunglasses is one of the funniest things in the world.  She gets to tickled when we put them on her face!

Another first this past month was a boat ride!  Molly was NOT a fan of the life vest, and since we were in a pontoon boat going s-l-o-w-l-y, we relented and let her just enjoy.  She obviously found the ride to be quite soothing and relaxing.

Month 13 was full of fun for Miss Molly for sure! We love you to pieces, precious one!





Molly's First Birthday Party

Molly's First Birthday Celebration was So! Much! Fun!  We had a ball!  So many of her friends were able to come, and we had tons of family here, too! 

There was lots of food!  All polka dots and stripes. . . 

There were lots of snuggles with the birthday girl. . . 

There were gifts and gifts and more gifts to be opened and explored. . . 

We sang to the birthday girl. . . 

Games were played and smiles were shared. . . 

And every single minute was so much fun!  So fun, in fact, it slap wore out the birthday girl herself!

Yep, it's safe to say fun was had by all! 

Happy Birthday, precious one!