She is officially out of my closet and in the crib in the girls room!!

And she is done with the bottle! She still doesn’t love sippies but when she’s hungry enough she does drink and she loves straws and cups so….

The little Millie is 20 months old and her life is about to be flipped upside down when new baby gets here…. We are so trying to teach her to obey and at least “respond a little bit” when we tell her “NO”, or “NOOOO!!!” The girl just does her thing and ignores me and I really need her to be soft to this new baby. It kills us because she understands everything… ie, I can ask her to go get a sippy and put it on the counter and wait for me. She does that. but if I tell her “no, don’t do that.” She completely ignores it. ( I know, lots of 1 year old’s are in this same boat.)

she BEGS to go ‘side, outside’ all day. I need a fence so that she can be queen of the backyard and I can sit and relax and not yell and chase her out of the neighbors yards.

there is something so cute about a short legged 1 year old riding a wiggle bike. I love watching her ride and get rides from everyone else.

Isn’t this how you play sorry??

once again she just plops herself where she shouldn’t be and refuses to listen or respond to us.

MIllie and Ray have a love/hate thing these days. Millie loves on him so much but she also pushes his buttons and torments him.

Part of my nesting/last month of pregnancy is always loving on these other babies. I always want to pause time and appreciate the system and routine that we have come to know and love. There’s that easiness of knowing these kids and what to expect and knowing that the unknown is just around the corner makes me want to pause time… These two babies will be all grown up next month when the new baby comes. I feel for them, BUT all of the kids have survived and lived to tell about it. Our older kids are all asking for more siblings still so it must be a part of life that they can adjust to and learn to love just like Ben and I do.

lets go on a walk

figuring out shadows

come jump with me!

playing marbles

put a circle on the carpet and the kids play for days

still trying to roller skate!

she ran a whole lap – just trying to stay ahead of mom

you following me? I’m not coming back

under the blankets with brother

That is our Silly and Head Strong Millie! She is full of energy and loves her independence. She has also been giving big hugs lately and even teasing Ray by giving him head hugs when he doesn’t want them. She is getting fast on the Wiggle Bikes and is her happiest when she is just being one of the big kids. She loves her aunts and uncles… whenever Brady comes home she follows him around, She likes to go find “Chelle” and play at her house, If I drop the kids off at Amanda or Jamie’s she screams and screams to go with. She also loves attention from her daddy and gives him the cutest good bye’s every morning: she is usually at the breakfast table and anticipates him leaving and tells him goodbye even before he has everything ready. She also loves when Dad showers cause he cranks up the shower music and she dances outside his door. This weeks drama is that she bit through all of her bottles and I won’y buy her anymore… so she is missing the baba and we are trying to find a sippy that she “likes”. She has been using a cup a lot more also which is great.

Millie has been sick since we got back from California!

The first 4 days she was Feverish and grumpy. Then she got Snotty and coughing. I kept thinking she was getting better but then she would have another fever. By the weekend she was no longer grumpy, just Lethargic and started laboring to breath. So On Sunday the 11th I got worried and took her to instacare.
I’m sure I waited too long but… It was a wait it out illness and I was trying to wait it out. But her oxygen levels were low and her body seemed like it was using all of its resources to breath and none to fight the virus. They gave her an oxygen treatment and antibiotic for an ear ache and then sent us to check in at the hospital since her levels were still too low.
SO.. after oxygen for 24 hours she started looking better and her levels stayed up on their own! She was still grumpy and coughing and sleepy after 2 days at the hospital but ready for her own bed and family. She had successfully pushed away every Dr and nurse. And HATED being hooked to the oxygen and heart rate machines. We got to bring her home Tuesday afternoon and she seemed delighted to see her siblings and her chair at the table. She was still wimpy and had to relearn how to walk and was a major grump but none of that mattered because we were in our house with our beds.

That night Raymond and Rose started throwing up! And then Thursday and Friday Millie started throwing up. We are still dealing with diarrhea but I feel like we are finally going to get over the sickness and back to real life. Today makes 2 full weeks of sickness. 2 constant weeks! But we finally got some smiles from our sweet Millie.

We have truly missed our Sit on your face, Stand on the table, Climb on the fireplace, Dance to the music and break everyone’s toys little sweetheart!… We have missed her big laugh and smile. I’m still waiting for my old Millie to be 100% but so happy that she is getting better. Goodbye RSV/Bronchiolitis with an ear infection on top, and Don’t come back!

We had so much support from family and friends! THANK YOU EVERYONE.

Pictures from before the hospital and then at the hospital…

not happy

I did enjoy my snuggle time – MIllie is usually good for a quick hug and then off to play… She and I took a lot of naps together.

Millie did not like this Jail Crib!

I had the nurses move the regular bed over close to the oxygen and that was much better for all of us.

once she pulled the oxygen tubes off and the nurses stopped checking on her she slept like a rock.

And then we came home to recover and throw up a little…

Megan braved the sick house and did some projects with the non sick kids!

Two barfers!

Cali drew a picture of us – she missed us. All the kids were EXCITED when we came home.

Millie threw up so bad I had to put the whole crib in the bath.

“I don’t trust any of you anymore.”

my sweet almost healthy babies 🙂

some old pictures, just for fun:

And Some now pictures cause she has gotten so big:

On October 12th Millie (13 months old) started taking a couple of steps and pushing the shopping carts all over the house – and now she can walk! It’s fun watching her toddle and fall and try again. She does best if she is holding something in her hands. She is always on the go exploring and walking and squatting and practicing. And crawling if she really wants to get there fast. I don’t have any great pictures of her in action but here’s some proof:

She still has the best giggle and does it often. She likes to give high fives and is all over the slide that we have in the house. She is starting to become a daddy’s girl! She will choose dad over mom and she will wave good bye to me when dad picks her up. Love this Millie Marie!

At her 1 year check up she weighed in at 19 pounds 10 ounces.