Baby Face

Play Time

Miller showing off some of her first smiles caught on camera while she plays in her playplace:



Lindsey and Suzanne came to town a few days ago to meet Miller. They brought everyone a surprise. Here's Wilson coloring on his new Cars dry erase board on the fridge (and pretending to be a little shy. . .)

Miller thinks Suzanne is pretty funny. This is her first smile caught on camera!:

Bath Time

Not so bad, but I'll hold on to this pacy, just in case
Ooooh, I'm not so sure about this!
GET ME OUT OF HERE!
Boy, am I glad I held on to my pacy! It's much better to be on dry land.

Daddy's Girl

Almost asleep, in one of my favorite spots
Out like a light
. . . later that night

A Sign of Spring from our Front Yard

Conversations with a Friend

I realize this is a lot of posts for one day, but I feel like Millie is finally not screaming all day long. So, we're enjoying her more and actually starting to get some good pictures of her. I guess it's a good thing I didn't have blog when Wilson was this age. I had more time on my hands and of course thought every one of the 1800 pictures taken of him were the cutest things ever put on film! You'd have never made it through all the posts!

Happy Valentines Day!

Raise your hand if you LOVE Valentines Day!

Smile real big if LOVE anything involving ice cream!



Miller and Matthew having a serious debate over the origins of the holiday. Matthew, being a typical male, is positive it was Hallmark that invented it. Miller assures him she's read all about it and there's more to it than that. Plus, she's three days older. So, she wins!

Nothing Sweeter Than a Sleeping Baby

Jumping in the Leaves!

Well, we've been here 3 months and Phil decided last weekend it was probably time to do some yard work. Wilson thoroughly enjoyed his dad's hard work.

Lessons on Love from a Three Year Old

Mom is extremely frustrated with her son's "quirks" and her daughter's inability to be left alone for more that 2 minutes and has been stomping around and short tempered. Mom has run away to her room to fold laundry, still frustrated with one small, blond headed boy. The blond head appears at the door. "Mom, do you need any help?" He puts away some folded laundry.

Mom is trying to finish the chores she desperately wants to get done while a little brunette is screaming in the background. Little man notices a bottle poured, but still sitting on the kitchen counter. "Mom, I'll just go feed Miller, okay?"

Mom's hormones and frustration have reduced her to tears, so she has yet again retreated to her room to gain composure. Three year old again appears at the door and asks a question to which mom gives a short answer. Three year old asks if mom is sick because her voice sounds funny. Mom says no that she's just sad. He ask why and she says she doesn't really know. "Mom can I come get in your bed and just pat you for a little while?"

Mom's trying to get out the door to Bible study and is taking the baby with her. The boys are staying home. The younger boy asks where Mom is going and she tells him, baby carrier in one hand, bag in the other. "Mom I'll get the door for you." He opens the back door and then scurries to the car ahead of her. "Now I'll just open Miller's door for you. Now, I'll just get your door for you."

Mom is trying to get dressed one morning and have maybe 5 minutes of privacy. For the ONE HUNDREDTH time she tells her son, "NO YOU CAN NOT COME IN HERE. I'll come out when I'm dressed and when I'm ready!" "Um, Mom?" "WHAT!!?" "Do you need anything?" "Hhhhhh, no. (unless you can replace my tired, cold heart with yours, Sweet Baby)."

Dad asks son if maybe he'd like to go to Walmart and look at the cars and maybe let Dad know which ones he likes best. That way if son ever needs a special treat Dad will know what to get. Son thinks this is a great idea, but then says, "know what Dad, I have lots of cars, maybe I'll pick one out for Mom instead."

There are many more, that have sadly escaped me before I could get them written down. Hopefully, I'll remember them and can add them later.

Happy Valentines Day, everyone- especially to the little boy who shows immeasurably more love to me than I ever do to him- thanks for the great lessons. I love you (and your daddy & sister, too!)!

Happy 1 month, Miller

It's a little dark, because as mentioned in the previous post, we were celebrating at 3 in the morning. I was actually trying to get her to sleep when I remembered she'd slept through most of the big day and I hadn't gotten a video of her (something we did on all of Wilson's month b'days). So, here it is. Happy One Month, Baby Girl!

Wild Kingdom

This video was taken in our backyard the morning after we had a hole cut in our house to remove the non-squirrel.

Apparently these five deer hung out in our front yard for awhile before running into the "woods" next to our house. I put "woods" in "quotes" because I think the entire area is fenced in on 3 sides (the 4th side being open to the street). These must be domestic deer that prefer the comfort of boundaries. Anyway, I missed the whole thing because I was still sleeping off the party Miller and I had at 3 am the morning of her 1 month birthday. You should've been there. We drank too much, threw up on ourselves, screamed at the top of our lungs. It was a lot like college parties, just no boys and we were in our jammies. Thank you to Phil & Wilson for the photos & video of the latest chapter in our adventures into the Wild Kingdom.

Squirrel Hunt, Part Deux

Well, you be the judge. After watching the above video, it would appear that we have another furry friend that has taken up residence with us. If your sound is loud enough, you can hear it scratching around in there. Our exterminator's best guess is that another squirrel came in and got stuck- "makin' too much noise for a mouse or a rat. So, you can leave it in there, it'll die, stink to high heavens for about a week. Then, just as the smell is startin' to get better, the flies'll come in . . . " What's plan B? He "knows a guy" that specializes in animal removal. He'll come cut a hole in the wall and get it out. That guy comes one morning, cuts a hole, and NOTHING is there. Not even "evidence" that something was there. We heard that scratching starting the night of the first "incident" and going off & on for about 2 more days! He asks if I know for sure that we had a squirrel the first time. I let him know the thing jumped at my head as I was videoing our dog trying to get it. He looks at me with just a dead pan face and says, "You still got that video?" I'm thinking maybe he can analyze it or something. I say I do. He then gets the biggest grin on his face and says, "You should send that in!" Okay, okay, thank you very much. There goes $150 and a morning shower that I'll never see again. All for the ghost of squirrel.

PS- this is taking place in our dining room. We are still in the process of removing wall paper and pink & purple paint, so I haven't really put anything where it goes. That's why the dog is scampering around an obstacle course of framed artwork, silver platters, and other nick knacks.

"What's that Noise, Mamma?,"

Wilson asked as I was climbing into bed with him one night with sleeping Miller on my chest. "That's just Miller snoring," I said.

"You mean like Big Daddy and Paw?"

"Yep, just like Big Daddy and Paw."

Good Night, From Miller

Miller is all tucked in, in her brother's bouncy seat, gown, and Flipper Slippers hopefully until her next feeding at 11. (The paci, lovey, and (I hope) the diaper are all Millie originals). She has been quite the opposite of her usual self most of today. We went to the doctor this morning where he poked and prodded on her without a peep- if I so much as say a sweet baby word to her she usually screams at me. Fortunately he believed me that she is usually quite difficult and she is being treated for reflux. I'm almost glad Wilson had it because I knew what I was looking at much sooner and was able to list some of the more minor symptoms before we got to full blown projectile spitting up. He gave her a once a day melt away tab (what grown up meds for such a little one!) and she is sucking away at half a teaspoon of Mylanta 3 times a day (I couldn't remember how much we gave Wilson, so I'd only been dipping her paci in it maybe once or twice a day and loading her up on Mylicon in between just for general principle). It also had not affected her weight, she's up to a little over 9 pounds. She then slept for most of the evening in her car seat (which she usually pitches a complete fit about being in) and has been hanging out here for quite awhile after her evening bottle. (Okay, no sooner had I typed that, than she started crying. Honestly, how do they do that!?) Anyway, as I was saying . . . she just let me rock her for a few minutes and is out, in her cradle. Sweet dreams everyone.

Editing

Just FYI I've had some time to settle from "the incident" and I've done a little editing and commenting. If you'd like a few more details on the rest of the day please revisit Plenty of Crazy to Go Around.

Jack's Chimney Sweeping 101

If you're just tuning in today, you'll need to read the post below so you'll know of Jack's new level of personal success in using his God given terrier skills of annoying the stew out of something. After some careful thought, he's put together a chimney sweeping manual for all you do it yourselfers out there.

1. Take a step back and assess the situation
2. Go in for a closer look, you want to know what you're getting into
3. Don't be afraid to really get in there. Stretch up a little, you're going to have get your paws a little dirty
4. Always get a good look from all angles- you may have to jump around a little
5. Use all your senses, really put your snout into it- with a little practice you can smell out the problem
6. Don't let your mom see you, she'll make you take a bath if she catches you!

Plenty of Crazy to go Around

subtitle: "Mom, is Jack still in the fireplace?" and other common phrases heard in the Ethridge house.

Okay- while I was waiting for the original video to open, I went and shot another one of Jack. If I had not been so trigger happy with the off button, we could be on our way to a month long cruise courtesy of America's Funniest Home Videos, or least gotten $1000 and a "Here's Your Sign" award from Bill Engvall and Country Fried Videos. Please watch:

I think the new title should be "Our Audition for Next Vacation Movie". I know there's a lot left unsaid in the wedding vows and that there's a good bit that's understood that you'll put up with or take care of once you enter this covenant, especially if you choose to be a housewife with kids. In fact, we were recently talking with someone and commenting that things like "for better or worse" could be re-written as Hot Wheels all over the floor or not, soaked in bath water or dry. These are things rarely put into a wedding ceremony. However, I'm really sorry, but the above just isn't in the job description!! I was never warned that this is how an afternoon could begin. What you've just watched happened literally seconds ago. What you've just watched is our mildly insane dog "chimneying" a squirrel (I'd say treeing, but we're a little suburbian for that). He has been in there all morning jumping around acting like an idiot- I really figured the squirrel was long gone because I haven't heard it for hours. I had videoed a little of Jack's attempts at living up to his hunting heritage- he's a fox terrier after all- earlier since we hadn't had a "Jack" post in awhile. While that was being transferred to the computer, he got a little more animated, so I went to video again to see if I got anything funnier. So, I'm sitting on the floor videoing the dog trying to get a good shot of his now very black face. I hear a bit of commotion and then all H*** breaks loose. That small flash you see towards the end is the #$%* squirrel flying out of the chimney AT ME!! The inhalation you hear at the end is directly proportional to the scream that came out of me. Unfortunately I turned the camera off in my shock so you missed that and this: Jack comes flying out of the fireplace and proceeds to chase the rodent around our den and adjoining play room. I run up the stairs and instructed Wilson to stay on his stool in the kitchen where he's eating his lunch. The squirrel, with Jack in tow, goes over Wilson's full size camping tent that's set up in the playroom and then scales the vertical blinds before dashing out the back door that I finally had the presence of mind to open- not before the rabies ridden vermin brushed against my leg. IT TOUCHED ME!!! S&*^%) !! Jack then Houdini's his tail under the deck and out of the fence (now I know how he gets out) and chased it into the woods. I got him back in and Snots is now hanging out in the shower awaiting his fate for belly crawling in the mud under the fence. I continued running around screaming laughing so hard that I think Wilson thinks I've gone completely insane.

(I'm doing some editing now at about 8:00. Phil asked Wilson when he came home if we got the squirrel out of the house. He had no idea that was even going on. He said he just wanted me to quit screaming so I wouldn't wake up Miller. What concern for someone who insists on yelling right by her cradle 30 minutes into every nap she's ever taken! This also explains why he asked me why I moved his tent. I DID NOT move the tent- the dog and his assailant did a few laps in, around, and over the tent, dragging it with them. As this was all going on I was laughing so hard Wilson also thought I was upset. He kept asking, Mama are you sad? My favorite part of the video now is that in the background you can hear him saying "Mama, Mama, Hey Mama, know what Mama, know what Mama". Like it's completely normal that our dog is dancing around in the fireplace, he has something else much more interesting that he needs me to know about RIGHT NOW. I have to say, I really am due a Here's Your Sign. What did I honestly think was going to happen if I sat at the opening to a fireplace with a dog at the bottom of the chimney and a squirrel at the other end and my video camera in hand!?)

Well, Miller has just simultaneously pooped and thrown up (she's Uncle Eddy in our little reenactment), so it's on to the next great adventure into the unknown for me. Phil, cancel the exterminator and never mind on picking up a gun on the way home.

Oh, and if you're selling crazy, look elsewhere. We're all full up here.

Editor's note: spellcheck is broken right now, so, pick your way through this as best you can!

Dad's BIG Surprise

Phil has been working on painting the trim in our room. While he was painting today, Wilson came in and announced that he had a BIG SURPRISE for dad that he needed to come see.



Wilson had built Dad his very own tower all by himself. He's really enjoying working with blocks by himself these days! He wanted me to be sure and "get the car" when I was taking the top picture. I think that is one of the crucial parts of the structure.

Sibling Photo Shoot

Okay, let's see there was something in the class about supporting the head
Almost, in Wilson's defense, they never said anything about supporting the other end Don't worry, Miller. Wilson can smile enough for both of you There we go, close enough!

Oh look . . .

Millie's biography has been published:

Do You Know Me?

I got this in an email from my mother-in-law. I thought this would make a fun post.

YOU fill in the blanks about ME and send it back to ME (since this is a blog post & not an email, just leave it as a comment!)

1. Where did we meet?
2. Take a stab at my middle name?
3. Do I smoke?
4. Color of my eyes?
5. Do I have any siblings?
6. What's one of my favorite things to do?
7. What's my favorite type of music?
8. Am I shy or outgoing?
9. Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules?
10. Any special talents?
11. How many children do I have?
12. If you and I were stranded on a desert island,what is one thing that I would bring?

I can't wait to see the answers..

Week In Review

Mom's eye view: Part II

Granna & Big Daddy entertaining their favorite grandchildren.

Wilson had had a relaspe of the crud (he told me the after hours doctor told him he had crud in his eyes- so it IS the official diagnosis) and Miller had been the usual handful so we loaded them up and took them to the grandparents!! They both fell asleep on the way there. I offered to patch the hole in the wall if my parents would just let us drive the car through the house, into the den, and park it there until they woke up the next morning. I didn't get any takers.

It's how she rolls- sometimes . . .

Miller continues to amaze me with her ability to stay completely awake between feedings and need no nap. Equally astounding is her need to be held. Nearly at my wits end, I have purchased a sling. I get her in it happily about 2 out of every 3 times and when it works- it works. I look like the biggest granola crunching, tree hugging, fruitcake in the world, but the dishes get done and I don't have to lug the heavy carseat across parking lots with her screaming all the way into a store.

Nothing better than a bed full of sleeping babies.

Well, except for babies's beds filled with them sleeping in them instead of yours. Miller was sleeping until Phil put her down (again she must be held at all times). I was holding Wilson and Phil was holding Miller. He concluded this is why people have a third child- that way there'd be someone around to take pictures when both parents have their hands full doing something cute with the other kids. It was acutally pretty and not freezing all at the same time a couple of days ago. Wilson took his camping stove and a bucket of water out to his picnic table and cooked for hours. I wish I could have gotten close enough to video all the chatter, but that would, of course, messed him up and I wouldn't have gotten a word and he would have quit playing all together.

I can however suplement with the highlight story of the week. Sunday night Wilson wanted to pop some popcorn. While we were eating it, he asked if I knew any popcorn stories. I said that I didn't and asked if he did. He said that he did so I asked if he'd tell us. To my surprise he obliged:

"Once upon a time there was a little old lady who wanted to pop some popcorn for some children. So she did and she waited for them to come. And that's all."

One other cute Wilsonism from the week:

After school yesterday we went to Granna's for lunch. Big Daddy came home and took his usual before and after lunch naps. He was asleep when we were leaving. A few blocks out of their neighborhood, Wilson yawned and said, I need a nap like Big Daddy. I looked back, not 30 seconds later, and he was out. It's nice when the people in your children's lives can be such good role models.