Sharing the love

So it turns out this Christmas deal and all the presents does have to do with birthdays...just not mine. I'm not really sure how it works yet- everyone gets presents for someone else's birthday- a guy named Jesus (he must be Hispanic??;-) - but I'm not complaining, he's awfully nice to share his birthday with us. I will have to get to know him better before next Christmas to celebrate properly.

I very much enjoyed the special time with my family and all the giving and receiving that was going on around me! As much as I enjoyed all the attention at my house, it was fun to share the love a little and let everyone else open some gifts too!

This really is a pretty good day...even the boys got presents!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

Twas the night before Christmas and we had yet another day of presents! Since we planned to head to Mia and Bucca's house pretty early Christmas morning, Zara thought it would be a good idea to open my gifts the night before. One of the things that my Zara got me was a touch and feel version of a story called the Night Before Christmas. Now, I am not sure yet what this Christmas thing is, but mommy and daddy read me the book while I drank my bottle. Afterward we all went upstairs together to put me to bed...and I mean all of us...it wasn't just mommy and daddy, my brothers came too. This Christmas thing sure must be special...I guess I'll find out in the morning.

Visiting!!!

Back to the 7 month celebration- despite the fact that we spent my actual birthday driving, for my 7 month celebration I got to visit with all the people I love so much and rarely see! I got to see my Aunts...

My Great-Grammy and my Grand-Mimi (click on the picture of Daddy, Grammy and me- I thought it would be funny to bite Daddy's finger at the exact same time Mommy took the picture- apparently my teeth are sharp? I had no idea ;-)...

My Zara and my Mia...

any lots of other people that I love but didn't get pictures with like my Bucca, my Aunt Quinny and Uncle Dave, my other Great-Grandma (Grandpa's picture is coming...) all my Great Aunts and Uncles my many cousins: Berlyn, Olivia, Digby, Kylah, Julia, Claire, Will, Alex, James, Gabe, Isiah, Sylvia, Elijah and many many more! If you have pictures of me with you and you want us to share them, please just e-mail them to my mommy and she will be glad to post them (ashlyomiller@gmail.com)!

The trip north

I am starting to get suspicious of this big 7 month celebration...it seems that those gifts may very well have been a bribe because the very next night mommy and daddy put me to bed in my car seat and when I woke up we were in Tennessee! This of course meant that we had some 15 remaining hours in the car before we finally unloaded in Gettysburg, PA. They promised the trip would be worth it and it was! Every second!

This is an ornament that my Grand-Mimi gave my mom and Zara when they drove all the way from California to Pennsylvania with my mom when she was a baby. She too went cross country- backward- in the back of a pick-up truck!

So I guess my mom earned the inscription of her name and the year (1980) on the bottom of this Christmas ornament, and I have now earned mine. Texas might not be quite as far as California but 1500 miles in 25 hours straight for a 7 months old is a pretty big feat. Needless to say, my name and the year 2007 are now also inscribed on the bottom of this ornament...who wants to be next?

7 months old!

So...apparently the 7 month birthday is the BIG ONE!! Here I was waiting around for a year (although, granted, I wasn't exactly sure how many months that was) and all of a sudden I had just days and days of opening presents!

We started the festivities at our house in Houston a few days early...I believe it was the 19th of December. Mom and Dad said something about practicing opening gifts to make sure I was ready for "the big day". Really! To think I would have any qualms about pulling paper and bows off boxes...it truly makes me question their intelligence...

What could it be? I tell you...I even got through the paper and I wasn't sure what this was. No matter, though, ask any 7 month old and she'll tell ya- the real gift is in the wrapping!

So it turns out that the big package was full of way cool bright soft shapes that I can climb on and stack and knock over and make forts out of and all sorts of stuff. They are just as big as I am which makes them super fun!

I also got a singing duck which you can see in that last photo...although you can also see that there was some confusion about exactly whose duck it was...

Tooths

I finally figured out why them call them tooths...apparently it's because they come in too at a time!! Both my bottom middle teeth have broken through the gums over the last few weeks and I can now officially bite...hard...

Bigger is always better? Still?

Before we even get into this one, Blayne and I would like to draw your attention to a previous post, albeit from another blog...http://211oak.blogspot.com/2007/03/bigger-is-always-better.html

The pictures don't lie, folks, we are officially the wife and daughter of a man never satisfied. Our current adventure: fish.

It all started with Ian's friend Craig and his infamous list (interestingly enough, the same place he found that palm tree). You see, these koi are quite expensive and Ian found them at a great deal...but as are all great deals are, it came with a catch (again, like the palm tree)- all or nothing. Well, that didn't seem too bad, after all we have a nice size pond with very few fish, so why not?

Well, this soon became an all day adventure when he saw the size of these babies- some are in excess of 18 inches. All of a sudden he needed a bigger net to move them, more coolers to transport them, a better system to keep air and bubbles in the coolers for the trip back home...and amazingly, in all this upgrading, needing a bigger pond never crossed his mind.

So, long story short, he got them all home safely (although not uneventfully- apparently one jumper survived almost 30 minutes as a fish out of water) and as usual, it made for an exciting afternoon.

Alas, here they are home at last, although not for long because they are simply too many and too big to survive in our pond. But for the time being they seem happy enough in there new home swimming...ur...turning around.

Oh, Christmas Tree

We know what you're thinking...this doesn't look like Christmas tree hunting!

What happened to the good ole northern tradition of tramping through the snow for hours to pick the perfect tree, only to forfeit a glove to mark it, wait another long while (now with no glove, mind you) until someone retrieves the saw to cut it down, and after you have expended all your energy cutting down the tree, drag it back to the car at which point you realize is much farther than you remember?

Yeah, well, as fun as that sounds, it turns out there is a southern tradition as well. Down here you are expected to fight your way through palm trees and perennials in your t-shirts, then point to the tree you want while a kind young man carries it to the car for you.

Truth be told, we do miss the old fashioned way of this particular holiday tradition, but for the time being we are going to sit back, relax and enjoy the service.

Baby in a cage...

I don't know quite what happened...I had the world at my finger-and-feet-tips, total freedom rolling from here to there and then- in the blink of an eye- I was in a cage (although, based on the pictures I don't seem to mind)!!! However, have faith young friends, I am determined to undo it!

Feliz cumplemedioano

"Feliz cumpleanos" means Happy Birthday..."anos" literally means years, so "meses" literally means months and "medio ano" means half a year, so the title here means more or less "Happy Half Birthday!"

For those of you who don't know, my parents are trying to raise me bilingual, so that is where all this spanglish comes from...in any case...happy six months to me!!!

At six months I am just amazing! I am learning to sit up on my own and showing the precursors to crawling. I amuse myself to no end- to the point that even when I see a picture of myself I laugh and carry on. I love me...but can you blame me?

A typically day in the life of Blayne at 6 months is: wake up @ 6:30am, eat, play, nap about 9am til about 11am or 12pm- eat, play, nap @ 2pm til about 3pm, eat, play, play, play til about 7:45pm, then bath, bottle and bed. Sleep until 6:30 am (if momma's lucky) and repeat!

My favorite toys: anything that is not for me...remote controls, cell phones, etc. I don't know why momma bothers to come home with silly baby versions of this stuff...I want the real thing- a material girl in the making.

I am just starting to get into everything, drawers, cabinets, all the things my parents thought I wouldn't do for a long time and loving it! I guess there will be some seriuos blayne-proofing to do in the near future...the easy days of staying in one place are over!

When enough is enough

Most new parents wonder- "How will I know when it's too much- when enough is enough? If she has had enough to eat? If she napped long enough?" And the textbook response from veteran parents and doctors alike is simply- "Don't worry- your baby will tell you when she's had enough."

Of course, you still struggle through sleepless nights, cranky afternoons, bottles she refuses to drink and naps she refuses to take when you know that it's exactly what she needs- and eventually you think "What are these people talking about? How will she ever tell me what she wants when she doesn't know what she needs?"

Then all of a sudden you have a moment like this- and your baby falls asleep in her high chair mid-swallow (of her favorite food) and you realize that as much as you thought what she needed was to finish her squash, what she apparently knew she needed was a nap ;-)

So I guess even though Blayne can't tell us everything just yet, we now have visual proof that she can at least tell us when enough is enough.

R&R

As you all now know- Mia, Bucca and Aunt Haley were in for the weekend, which meant we all got a little R&R (well, at least everyone except for Bucca...he is always such a good sport about letting us put him to work- thanks Bucca- we love you!)

I, of course, have been spending my days on a dirty construction site so Mia thought a little manicure would do me some good. She tried it knowing it would help my sharp little nails but not expecting much. The our surpise, however, I let her just file away...hey- why not? Every girl can use a little pampering.

Movie Star

Let's face it...we all knew this day was coming. I am now officially a movie star! Mia shot my very first motion picture. Now, I don't expect it to be a smash hit at the box office, but I think it is pretty decent for an opening act ;-)

(Make sure you have your volume turned up so you can hear me talk!)

Spittin' Image

A Miller alright, hard to say otherwise.

I am what my momma calls a "spittin' image" of my Bucca. I am not really sure what this "spittin image" is; the best I can figure is that I'm supposed to imagine spittin' at my grandpa... He seems so nice, but maybe this spittin' is some form of affection...I sure have a lot to learn in this crazy world...

In any case...some girls wouldn't be to proud to have everyone say they look like a 50 year old man (no offense Bucca)...but alas, momma thinks Aunt Quinny is a 'spittin' image' of Bucca too and if I can grow up to look like Aunt Quinny, I've got nothing to worry about (Daddy does, but I am good to go!)

Pajama Party

Mia, Bucca and Aunt Haley came to visit me this past weekend and we had a blast! Mom and I stayed up all night and then Mia and I had PJ parties in the morning ;-)

Bucca helped momma and daddy with some stuff around the house while Mia and my Aunt Haley acted as extra arms to hold and entertain me.

I tell ya, it is nice having lots of people around...I get a lot of attention and my little feet wouldn't have to touch the ground if I didn't want them to! Thanks for coming to visit me Mia, Bucca and Aunt Haley! I can't wait to see you and all the rest of my family at Christmas!

Two of a kind

I do just love my Mulligans! He is the best. He loves to play with me too. We have a lot in common Mulligan and I, we both like to keep our tongue out, we both have a lot of energy, and we both truly love the activity mat. Mommy just hopes that I will turn out to be a good bit smarter than my poor brother, but she has a lot of faith...after all, I can roll over.

Don't quit your day job

Some of you may not know that although momma is technically mine all day and therefore a full time stay at home mom, she has a few jobs on the side that she is doing to help earn her keep. She teaches Spanish after school a few days a week and babysits the others. Her latest undertaking is a much more profitable one where she is helping some people build their new home!

She and daddy opened Barrier Island Homes Inc. when they built our house and hoped that someday someone else would contract us to build a new home for them. Well, that day has come and we got started with construction just last Friday!

I have been a really good sport for the past few weeks as we've prepared for construction and therefore was promoted Assistant General Contractor. Of course, I'm embarrassed to say that the photographer caught me sleeping on the job, not good for business really, but hey, when you're a working woman you've got to get your nap in somehow!

P.S. Check out my day job @ www.barrierislandhomes.blogspot.com

After party

After a long evening of all that tricking and treating I hung out with my daddy and my uncle Bill on the porch waiting for other tricker treaters.

Check it out- even our house dressed up...like a pumpkin! You can't live in an orange house without a sense of humor...

Trick or Treat-

-smell my..beak!

I am a pink flamingo!-much more portable. You can catch me here in my golf-cart-seat (compliments of daddy- somehow the golf cart get-up seems to have escaped the blog until now...it is a pretty nifty contraption daddy rigged up for us) on my way to the pre-party! At the party I hung out with one of my "mommy's helpers" Calyn and of course, mommy.

We had lots of fun. Daddy went and stood guard at our house while mommy took me to just a few houses of friends to visit. I did grab a piece of candy at one house- my choice: skittles.