Sewing Fun!

I finally finished Elise's Tinkerbell costume and I think it turned out very cute. For many years I have thought that I could definitely NOT sew because of a few projects that went askew when I was about 12. Let's just say I have since learned that when making a bag you should turn it inside out before sewing it, and that napkins are supposed to turn out square instead of as some unidetifiable shape (yes, these were both young women's projects). The costume did end up a little too long through the waist so I had to have my mom help me fix it, but we were able to save it. It just looks so cute on her. I told my mom that it is cute enough that if it weren't for the tuille around the skirt I might put it on her for church! I'm debating whether to put silver ric rac around the neck and arm holes still. I love ric rac, but I can't decide if that would make it look cheesy or cheap. Any opinions out there? She has some very cute wings and slippers to wear with it for Halloween, I will have to post pics. I had so much fun doing this that I have already started my next project...Christmas Jammies for both of my kids.

A Little Miracle

It is funny how you don't ever think of sleep as being a miracle until you are a mom. Last night Steven, who is almost one, slept through the night for the first time. I can't even believe it! It was definitely a miracle! I woke up feeling so refreshed! No runs to his bedroom to stick his pacifier in his mouth countless times, no rocking him to try to get him back to sleep, no finally giving up and giving in and letting him come into my bed just so I can get a little rest, only to have him smother me and kick me all night long in return. It was beautiful... at least seven hours of pure uninterrupted sleep for me. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he will do a repeat tonight. Anyone reading this can keep their fingers crossed for me as well. Maybe there will be a third little Miller baby somewhere down the line after all.

Drama Queen!

This morning, Chris had to work, and I had a meeting at the house at 9am, which is Steven's usual nap time. So, as Chris was rushing to get out the door, I was rushing to get Steven down for a nap before people arrived for the meeting. Elise asked me for a glass of milk, and I told her I was going upstairs to put Steven down for a nap, and I would get her a glass of milk when I came back downstairs. I went upstairs to rock Steven and Chris left for work. I could hear her laying downstairs in the hall singing in a loud whiny voice, "Everybody's left me, Nobody will take me anywhere, Nobody will get me anything!" repeated over and over. I really can't do it justice by writing it down. I wish I had a hidden camera because it was so hillarious the way she was carrying on and on like she was so picked on, and she was just talking and singing to herself having a pity party. What a drama girl! We may be in for some trouble during the teen years!

Yikes, it's hot out there!

Yikes, it's hot out there! Maybe I'll just climb inside the freezer to cool off!



Our freezer hasn't been working great, so I decided to empty it out and move everything to the basement freezer so that I could defrost it. While the door was left open, Steven kept trying to climb inside. Also, there was a pan at the base of the freezer to catch water from the melting ice. Every time I turned around he was either sitting in this pan of freezing cold water, or splashing in it. It was a hot day, so I guess a boys gotta do what he's gotta do to keep cool!

Can you say trouble? He is already trying to escape out the back door, and likes to hang out there all the time now. Here are a few photos of him trying to escape.

A Really Bad Idea

On Saturday evening, I got in my car and it wouldn't start. I was 99% sure it was a bad battery, so I asked Chris to take it out so I could take it to an auto parts store and get a new one. Saturday came and went, as did Sunday, and he never quite got around to that battery. So, on Monday morning I was slightly annoyed, and I decided that I am not dumb, and removing a car battery couldn't be that difficult, so I was just going to do it myself. I popped my hood, fished around in the garage for the tools I thought I would need, and I got as far as removing two pieces of hardware (I think they are called nuts??? not too sure). Anyway, at that point I realized I had no idea what I was doing, and I was no where near being able to get the battery out, so I thought I would just close the hood and wait for Chris to come home. However, I soon realized that I had no idea even how to get the hood closed, so up it sat in our driveway for a couple of hours. Eventually I got annoyed enough that I called triple A (This is probably what I should have done in the first place. ) A guy came out to fix it, and when he looked at it the first thing he did was pick up the two nuts I removed and said, "Why did you take these off?" I responded in the only way I could, "I don't know, obviously because I had no idea what I was doing." How embarassing! He just shook his head, put them back on, and replaced my battery. So, in the end I spent about an extra$50 to have a battery installed that my husband could have done himself, which I was a little bugged about, but maybe next time he'll get around to it a little sooner. And I have learned my lesson to not even try touching anything under the hood of my car. I guess I 'm not as smart as I thought I was. If you want a good laugh, here is a picture of my car with the hood up as it sat for two hours. If you want an even better laugh, picture me with some tool in my hand that I have no idea what it is called unscrewing some piece of hardware that I also have no idea what it is called for absolutely no reason at all :-). Oh well, lesson learned.

Fashionista strikes again!

I am a little concerned about my 3 year old's sense of style. This morning I told her that her favorite babysitter, Sarah, was coming over today. She went and grabbed her cowgirl hat, put her crocs on (on the wrong feet), and came back to tell me she was almost ready for Sarah, but she just needed lipstick. I told her no on the lipstick, and I tried to explain that Sarah wasn't coming for several hours. Not until after she got dressed and Dad got home from work and we had dinner. She was very offended by the getting dressed part, because she wanted to wear her "beautiful princess jammies" for Sarah, with lipstick. Sometimes the ideas this little girl gets in her head just crack me up.

Ummm...What was I thinking?

So, I have become an etsy fanatic. I love all the little handmade pretties for little girl's hair, and the darling handmade skirts and dresses. I have only actually purchased a couple of small items off of etsy (darn that budget!), but after browsing through etsy, I somehow got the inspiration to sew. One problem... I don't know how to sew, and the one or two attemps I made in Young Women's during my teenage years did not end so well. I have a friend who is a great seamstress, and she offered to help me learn how. She suggested that a halloween costume would be a good place to start because there are lots of patterns to choose from, and if it doesn't turn out perfect, oh well, it only gets worn once. So, she took me to the fabric store, we chose a cute tinkerbell pattern for Elise, and I bought all the stuff I would need. She made an appointment to come help me start sewing a whole week later, all I had to do was cut out the pattern before she came. So, on Tuesday, about an hour and a half before Crystal was coming over, I thought, hmmm, maybe I better whip out that pattern and get it cut out real quick before she gets here. Big mistake. I just finished cutting it out today, 4 whole days later. It has sixteen "petals" to cut out for the petal skirt, plus lots of other parts that, being a novice, I didn't count on. Whew! It only took me four days to find time to get it cut out. Any guesses on when I might finish sewing it? Maybe I should make it a bit large so if it's not done in time Elise can just wear it next year instead. Anyway, I'll have to post some pics when it is done. (That is, IF it gets done :-)). In the meantime here is a pic of one of the 16 petals I cut out for the skirt. Darn those petals!

My Little Daredevil!

I ran downstairs to the basement to do some laundry the other day, and when I came back up the stairs, I couldn't find Steven. I noticed that the gate by the back stairs was slightly open, so I ran to the stairs to find that he had managed to make it up 16 of the eighteen steps and was almost at the top. These steps are VERY steep, so this was a little scary for me. I have had to make sure to do a better job making sure the gates are not left open, but it is getting to the point where he can almost just move them or tip them over, so we might need to work out a new system soon.

Steven sitting behind the gate, which I now make sure is always closed:





Here are the stairs he climbed, but the photo cannot really do them justice. They are so steep, but they turn around a corner twice so it is impossible to photograph them entirely.

Little Mommy

Elise LOVES her babies. She holds them, rocks them, feeds them bottles, and changes their diapers. For her birthday she asked for a backpack, so when I found one that has a spot to hold her babies, I decided it would make a great present. She loves carrying her baby around in it. Just about everytime we leave the house, she packs the bag with everything you would need to take care of a baby, plus a few toys for herself, sticks in her baby, and off we go. It is very cute.

Fashionista Girl!

I was trying to get ready to go to the store one morning, and I told Elise we needed to get her dressed and put her shoes on. She came back about two minutes later with ONE dress up snow white shoe on, along with bunny ears and a host of other accessories, and said, "Mom, I'm dressed and I got my shoes on. I'm ready to go to the store." She really would have walked right out the door, no pants and all. Afterall, who needs pants when you've got bunny ears?

Steven's 9 month pictures

I just got Steven's 9 month pictures back. These are a few of my favorites I thought I would share.

Paint a Zoo

Elise got a "Paint a Zoo" set for her birthday. This is a girl who loves to paint. So, first thing this morning she was already begging to do her paints. So, we took off her jammies, threw on a big T-shirt, and headed outside. She of course chose to paint the giraffe, since monkeys and giraffes are her favorite animals. It was cute because she was so focused on her painting. It entertained her for a long time. The set actually came with 5 cute animals to paint, so we will have to do it again soon. I thought the finished product was quite cute.

A Very Happy Zoo Birthday!

Elise opening a present:
Elise, smiling just thinking about her cake she is about to eat. Elise, blowing out her candles.
Can you tell that she enjoys her chocolate?

Elise had a very fun third birthday. We went to the zoo, and it was very hot, but fun. She loved the giraffes and the monkeys. It was fun because there was a "baby" girl gorilla who was three years old, like Elise. She was trying to play with her Dad, who was sleeping. Elise kept saying, "That girl gorilla's daddy takes naps, just like my daddy." It was cute. She insisted on wearing her "zoo" dress to the zoo. It has cute little animals on it. However, I kept thinking her sweater that goes with it was all stretched out and it looked funny. As we were leaving the zoo, her mom (who may be losing her mind) noticed that she had put Elise's sweater on upside down so the neck was around her waist and her waist was around the neck! No wonder it looked funny! See if you can notice it in the pics. Anyway, we went home and opened presents and had cake. Elise LOVES chocolate, and so to her birthdays are all about the cake. By the time we got to her cake she had already wiped about half of the frosting off of it and eaten it. Gross! Oh well. Today she told me, "Mom, it is still my birthday a little bit, because I still have cake." Funny girl!

No, you are not imagining things. Thanks to her loopy mom, this girl's sweater is actually on upside down!

Elise and Steven watching a sea lion.

Elise with the giraffes, which was definitely one of her favorite zoo attractions.

Happy 3rd Birthday, Elise!!!

Happy 3rd birthday, Elise! I can't believe my little girl is three. It seems like not very long ago that she was just a tiny brand new baby. She is definitely growing up fast.

Elise on the day she was born:

Elise on her 1st birthday:

Elise at two:Elise on her third birthday! Wow, h0w she has changed.

Zoo Party Preparations

Elise's birthday is tomorrow, and the only thing she kept saying she wanted was a monkey birthday cake. I am not super creative and had no idea how to do that, so I found these cute zoo animal cake toppers with a monkey, and I thought I would just make a cake and put those on top. Then last minute, I found this really cute picture of monkey cupcakes on the internet, and I decided that was something I could do as well. So, I made the monkey cupcakes tonight, which I thought turned out super cute. Since I already had the cake toppers, I decided to do a cake as well. Besides, you always have to have an actual cake with candles for a birthday. My original plan was to put the cupcakes around the perimeter of the cake on the same plate, but when I went to put them on they just didn't quite fit. So, I ended up doing the two separate plates pictured and putting the monkey cake topper in the center of the cupcake plate instead of on the cake. Not quite what I planned for, but it works. I looked everywhere for zoo themed wrapping paper and couldn't find it, but I found these really cute little monkeys and elephants in the toy section that have velcro closing arms, so I put those on top of the packages to make them a little bit zoo-ish along with some fun stickers. I thought they turned out kind of fun as well, so I put a picture of them in. We are actually going to the zoo for her birthday tomorrow, so that should be fun with all of her zoo themed party stuff. I'll have to post how it all goes later.