Gingerbread Party

Every year my kids get to have a very fun party to make Gingerbread Houses with their Miller cousins. They absolutely love it! What could be more fun than cousins, candy, and decorating? As you can see, the houses turned out really cute too.

Santa Bwing Buzz Wightyear

Steven and Elise were so excited to go see Santa this year, and Steven kept saying "Santa bwing you Buzz Wightyear." He was so excited about it that I didn't worry too much about him being scared of Santa, but I was a little worried about Cameron. When it came down to it though, Steven was not too sure if he and Santa could be friends. He refused to look him in the eye. When I walked over and set him down next to him he didn't cry, but he looked the complete opposite direction of Santa and refused to smile. He just kept a very serious look on his face. It was as if in his mind if he didn't look at him he wasn't really there. Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas and without looking at him or smiling he said, "Santa bwing you Buzz Wightyear." Luckily one of the elves was able to catch his attention and make him laugh at something for one picture, but notice he is still looking away from Santa a bit. Elise told Santa she wanted a rocking horse, but his elves must have been busy because he couldn't quite get that one done. She was happy that he brought her a new butterfly desk and princess art set instead though. Cameron was a champ and smiled away at Santa. He thought he was pretty funny.

An Eventful Month for a Little One

It has been an eventful month for Cameron. There was the obvious excitement of his first Christmas, his first visit with Santa, his first Rose Parade, and all the other fun holiday festivities. However, on top of that he got his first tooth, he started sitting on his own, he started saying da da and ba ba, he began holding his own bottle, and he has become fairly mobile. And on top of that I'm pretty sure that he is the cutest little 7 month old around. Just so you don't think that I am too biased I might also mention that he has started thinking that the best place to sleep at night is right on top of his mom. I am definitely NOT a fan of that first, but sometimes when you need sleep you just gotta do what you gotta do. Here are some pictures of the cute little guy that I took a few weeks ago.

Chub

I can't get enough of this happy little guy's chubby legs. I just love them!

"Elise" Navidad

Elise's school had their Christmas program earlier this week, and she was definitely the star of the Kindergarten program. The entire Kindergarten sang a song all about her, "Elise" Navidad. If you don't believe me then just ask Elise and she will tell you all about it. I have actually since convinced her that they were not singing Elise Navidad, but that"Feliz Navidad" is Spanish for Merry Christmas. Maybe I should have let her go on thinking it was a song all about her though. I thought it was kind of cute that way.

Dear Santa...

Last week the kids wrote their annual letters to Santa. They throw them in the fire where the pieces fly away to the North Pole and Santa puts them back together. So, we of course had to take pictures of the letters for memories sake.
Elise's letter (notice she is very chatty even in letters. Chris kept saying, "Alright Elise, enough chit chat, lets cut to the chase. What do you want?":

Steven's letter:

Cameron's letter (for some reason I couldn't get these pictures to face the right direction. Oh well!)

Sleepy Boy!

Cameron has this little jumper chair that hangs in the doorway and he just loves it. The other day I put him in it while I was making dinner and when I turned around he had fallen asleep in it. What's a tired boy to do?

Thanksgiving Day Zoo Trip

For Thanksgiving this year Chris' side of the family was all in Utah and my side of the family decided to do Thanksgiving on Friday instead of Thursday. So, for the first time since we have been married we found ourselves with no scheduled place to be on actual Thanksgiving Day. We decided to take the kids to the zoo and come home and do dinner afterwards, and it turned out to be a fun day. The zoo wasn't too crowded and the kids loved it. I don't have one picture of Steven looking at the camera because he wouldn't look away from the animals. He was seriously fascinated! Cameron rode around in the stroller for hours happy as a clam. He was so quiet I kept thinking he must for sure be asleep,but everytime I looked at him he was awake and just hanging out. It was really a lot of fun!

Thanksgiving Program

The Kindergarteners at Elise's school put on a fun Thanksgiving program. Doesn't Elise make a cute pilgrim?

Pure Joy

I love this picture of Steven. He has a look of such joy on his face, and the cute gap between his teeth makes me laugh. This might be one to frame so I can look at it when he is being a stinker!

6 Months

Where has the time gone? I can't believe this little guy is 6 months already! He is such a sweet and happy baby. He has a very mellow personality. He definitley likes attention and likes to be held, and will talk and coo away to anyone in sight. Here are some facts about Cameron at six months:

1. He has been rolling over for several weeks now.

2. He likes to suck on his toes. It cracks me up!

3. He weighs over 20 pounds. His six month check up is still a week away so I don't have the exact stats, but at 5 1/2 months when I took him to the doctor he was just about 20 lbs exactly.

4. He is a very smiley little guy.

5. He can balance while sitting for very short periods of time so he can't be too far from sitting well by himself.

6. He is not a fan of naps. He often only naps twice a day for about 1/2 an hour each time. It's a good thing he is happy or this might really do me in!

7. He loves to sit in his exersaucer, and will sit in it for an hour or more (once again, this is a very good thing due to his lack of napping).

8. He has the best laugh ever. You just have to hear it, I can't describe it, but I love it!

9. He is VERY ticklish.

10. He is fascinated with his older siblings and loves to watch them.

I'm Kara Miller and I Approve This Message

I've decided that someday I am going to run for public office and my entire platform will be this: STOP DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME NOW!!!! I don't know anyone who really loves it, but when you have small children it is even worse. Cameron has been up at 3:30am two mornings in a row now, and Steven has been up at 4:30. Yep, I'm tired.

The Big Three

I can't believe it, but Steven had a birthday and turned three. Where has the time gone? Steven is great to have around because he always keeps things interesting. He has a lot of energy and we have fun trying to keep up with him. He loves to play outside, LOVES riding his scooter, and also loves picking flowers and watering the plants. He also is starting to take and interest in drawing and coloring, and he is very proud of his "art work." He is very affectionate, and has a definite "A list" of people to whom he is very loyal. He thinks the sun rises and sets over his big sister Elise.

Steven is also good at causing mischief and getting into trouble. We are hoping this is part of his terrible twos phase that he will be outgrowing soon. His talking and communication is constantly getting better, and he is learning that being able to communicate makes life much easier. He loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Dora the Explorer and Special Agent Oso, and he takes extreme personal offense to the whole concept of commercials. How dare they interrupt his programs! When Steven is happy he is very very happy, but when he is sad he is also very very sad. Happy Birthday Steven. We love you!

Initiative

It is kind of interesting to me how each of my kids are so very different. For example, if Elise wants something like crackers she asks for it. If I say yes she can have crackers but I don't get them for her she will sit there and wait until I do or ask me to get it for her. If I tell her she can get a cracker herself she'll tell me she's not sure where there are, she isn't sure if she can open the box, etc., etc., etc. If Steven wants a cracker he takes initiative and just gets one. He doesn't ask. He just pushes the chair over to the cupboard, climbs up on the counter, gets the box down, opens it and starts eating crackers. Funny how they are so different.

Yesterday Steven put a piece of cheese in his mouth and decided he didn't want it so he spit it on the floor. I told him in my most stern voice, "No! That is yucky! Pick it up and put it in the trash." He looked at me and walked around the corner. I was ready to chase him down and bring him back when he came back with the broom and dust pan in tow, ready to sweep up his cheese and put it in the trash. He had gotten into the cleaning closet and gotten both out by himself. Now that is initiative. He is one funny kid.

Halloween

We had sort of an animal theme for the kids costumes this year. And it cracked me up because when I was looking at the pictures today it struck me that each of our kids had an animal costume that sort of fit their personality.

Elise, the beautiful, colorful, vibrant and creative butterfly. In true puppy dog style, I couldn't get Steven to sit still long enough to snap a photo. He is full of energy and constantly on the go, but is also very loyal and affectionate to the ones he loves.

Besides the obvious "milk" reference, he is HUGE and solid like a cow. And have you ever seen the milk commercials that say "happy cows come from California"? Well, he is definitely a happy California cow.