Snakes and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Honey Bears and Bees

2010-11-26T20:21:00.000-08:00

While walking in the grocery store recently this conversation transpired between Kevin and Grady:

Grady: "Where do they make the honey at the store?"

Kevin: "Grady, they don't make honey at the store. Bees make it in their hive."

Grady: "Why is there a bear on the bottle?"

Kevin: "Because bears like honey and steal it from the hives."

Grady: "So then the bears sell it to the store?"

Fall Harvest--bring on the Pumpkin Patch!

2010-10-31T15:07:00.000-07:00

Trash Talk

2010-08-19T21:20:00.000-07:00

Grady and Kevin have been shooting hoops in the backyard every evening this week. Grady is getting really good and he knows it. Kevin has been trying to work with him on being a good sport-no gloating if we win, no angry outbursts if we lose-you get the idea.

While shooting around the other night Kevin was giving Grady a hard time and egging him on by saying "I don't know if you can make that shot," or "Nah, you can't make that!"

Grady laughs, turns, makes the shot with ease, then looks at Kev and says, "Apology accepted."

Camping Crazies

2010-07-26T10:44:00.000-07:00

This year for our annual family camping trip (which we take in June --therefore, this is a little behind), we had rain. Yes, rain. Who could believe that, in what seems to be the rainiest summer ever! Anyway, we had rain. More rain than usual. It rained every day except one, forcing the kids to find alternate things to do (under shelter) aside from riding bikes, playing tag, digging holes, etc.

On our last day, as we were packing the gear, the rain really started to pour. I mean POUR! The kids were eventually holed up in the car watching a DVD while we loaded everything. But before Grady found refuge in the car he was getting pretty frustrated with the weather. Apparently his frustration was building and building because amidst the wiping down of muddy tarps and tents and folding of gear I heard this:

"Why rain? Why? Just take us off the list! Please, God, just take us off the list!"

I looked over to see Grady staring at the Heavens, hands stretched shouting to God that he would like to be removed from his rain list.

I seconded the motion.

SLip N sLiDE fun

2010-07-26T10:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, even dad joined in the fun.

Summer, Summer, Summertime

2010-07-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

Finally! Some Sun comes our way. Thank you, Lord for shining down on us!

The Trouble with Lying

2010-06-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

Grady has been successfully keeping his undies dry at night on a pretty consistent basis. However, once in a while he has occasional slip-ups. Like yesterday morning. I woke up to find my child lying in a puddle of his own urine. While I was taking the sheets to the laundry, Grady, who thought I was going to be angry with him for peeing the bed, said this to me:

"Mom, I didn't do that, you know."

"oh, really? Who did?"

"I don't know. But it wasn't me. Someone came in my room last night and peed on me."

Needless to say he had a lengthy time out lecture about lying.

Grady's Questions

2010-05-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

Grady has been asking some pretty great questions lately. Today, I got this (my favorite so far):

"Mom, how did you meet the perfect man?"

and

"How will I meet the perfect girl?"

I love him.

These Boys (sigh), So cute.

2010-04-22T14:30:00.001-07:00

Who Needs Toys . . . When you can be a homemade Robot.

2010-04-22T14:26:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you tell your 4 year old to "go in the other room and play."

Curiousity

2010-04-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

"Mom, why did Jesus make girls with boobies to give milk to babies?"

Oy.

Make Way for Jesus

2010-03-23T08:04:00.000-07:00

Since Easter is approaching we have been doing our family devotions on events leading up to the crucifixion. The other night we talked about Palm Sunday. In Grady's Bible there is a picture of Jesus riding the donkey and everyone laying their palms --and their coats-- on the ground to make a pathway for Him.

When we are done reading our story we always sit and talk and ask Grady questions:

"Grady, why do you think they were laying their coats on the ground?"

"I don't know. They probably didn't want to hang them up."

The Jobs We Do

2010-03-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Driving home from preschool yesterday we had this conversation:

"Mom, Daddy needs to work in my classroom."

"No, honey, Daddy has to go to work. He has a job."

"Yeah. His job is to go to work and make us money so we can live."

"That's right."

"And your job is to work in my classroom. And Asher's job is to pee and poop in his diapers and suck on his pacifier."

Little Brother. . . getting bigger

2010-02-04T19:02:00.001-08:00

Marriage

2010-02-04T18:48:00.000-08:00

"Mom, I'm having a hard time deciding who to marry."

"Really? Who are you thinking of marrying?"

"Mia and Madeleine. They are on my list."

"Well, Grady, you have a while to decide so I wouldn't worry too much about it."

>>>>> 10 minutes later<<<<<<

"Mom, I've decide who to marry."

"Who?"

"Madeleine. And I will even put on my tuxedo."

Giggles

2009-12-15T09:21:00.000-08:00

This was the best gift I could have gotten for my 30th birthday this year! Asher giggles for the first time.
My apologies for the video. I had to hold it off to the side so he wouldn't be distracted.

Super Powers

2009-10-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

Let it be known that Grady has declared himself capable of "saving the day!"

"Mommy, you know what my super power is? Rhyming."

Yep. That's right the super-human power to rhyme.

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-21T18:25:00.001-07:00

Grady picked out his pumpkin today at Craven Farms, his first field trip with his preschool class.

Big Brother

2009-10-21T18:24:00.001-07:00

Grady's First Day of Preschool

2009-09-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

Grady started school on Sept. 14th at Cedar Cross Co-op Preschool. He loves Teacher Lesa and is meeting some new friends. We are very excited to see what this year has in store for him.

Grady-isms

2009-09-22T16:31:00.001-07:00

Two days ago, my mom had to put her dog, Diva, to sleep.

Kevin told him that Grandma's dog was sick and died, but that she went to live with Jesus in Heaven.

Grandma came over the next day and Grady said:

"Grandma, is Diva living in your heart?"

"No, Grady, Diva is with Jesus."

"I know. Jesus lives in your heart. Is Diva there too?"

. . . . . . . . . .

My friend, Laura (whom Grady uses her full name, Laura Wolford, whenever addressing her) came to visit a couple of days ago.

Grady: "Laura Wolford, what kind of car do you drive?"

Laura: "I drive a Saturn. What kind of car do you drive?"

Grady (without hesitation): "A taxi."

Laura: "Oh. What kind of taxi?"

Grady (again, without hesitation): "An alien taxi."

Feeding Time

2009-09-22T16:29:00.001-07:00

While visiting the grandchildren the other day, Kevin's mom was cradling new baby, Asher, in her arms. When Asher began to fuss Grady had the solution:

"Uh, Gramma. I think he's hungry. I think you should open up your shirt and let him suck on your nipples."

Welcome to the World!

2009-09-18T08:05:00.000-07:00

Introducing Asher Daniel Milliken. Born to us on Sept. 11, 2009. Weighing in at 7 lbs., 15oz.

The story goes like this.

Began induction process at 5:45 (in the morning, ugh). They said I actually began labor at 7:04 am. Doctor broke my water at 9:00am ish. Then the really bad pain began. That's when I called in the drugs.

Let me just inject one thought here. For those of you women who have done this process naturally, I applaud you. I give you a standing "O". But, I not going to lie, I don't see why anyone would want to endure the pain if they don't have to. Let's be honest, my threshold for pain, not the highest.

So, anyway, now come the anesthesiologists to relieve me of the excruciating pain. And what do they do, put me in more pain (well, eventually). The doctor/intern messed up twice before the third one "took". That's right folks, three holes in my spine. Do you know what that means? Well, the odds of getting a spinal headache when they mess up once is 50%. Now my odds are like 100%!

Finally the epidural kicks in and I am feeling pretty good. It's now about 10:15 am. At this point the nurse says I am about 6 cm dialated and Kevin assumes he can check out for a while because our previous experience with Grady was a slow process. I hear him snoring from the other side of the room and wish that I could be doing the same thing, having only slept about 3 hours the previous night.

I start to relax and close my eyes. Then the nurse says she thinks I might be close because the baby's heart rate is dipping when I am contracting. She checks and I am 9.75 cm dialated. It's now 10:45am.

"Kev, Wake up! You're going to miss it!" I shout.

11:00am doc shows up and it's time to start pushing. Now, I will not go in to detail here, for obvious reasons, but I will just say this. The experience this time around was so much better than the first time.

11:24 am after having only pushed for 20 minutes, Asher Daniel joins our world.

The feeling was different this time. With Grady, I was overwhelmed by the volume of love I had for him because I had been literally waiting my whole life to be a mom. With Asher, I felt more relief that I was no longer pregnant. Later that day, when I was in the room alone with Asher, all of my fears that I wouldn't be able to love him as much as I love Grady had disappeared. He is this tiny little person who needs me and I need him just as much.

Now that he is here, we can't imagine life without him. Grady is the best big brother, constantly helping. He loves to give Asher kisses and tells him what he is doing all of the time. I am already amazed at how much Asher responds to Grady. Every time he hears Grady's voice he is wide eyed and looking around.

So begins our journey as a family of FOUR!!

Mario Kart

2009-09-07T19:17:00.000-07:00

Grady has taken to playing Mario Kart (Wii) these days. A couple of weeks ago I was explaining to him the difference between "Manual" and "Automatic" when we pick our cars to race.

Tonight he said this to me:

"Mom, you don't want to be MAN-ual. You want to be GIRL-ual, because you're a girl."

Swimming

2009-08-26T14:26:00.000-07:00

Grady is learning to swim with this awesome floaty suit this summer. He is really independent in the water now and loves to jump in by himself.

Working Men

2009-08-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Grady went to work with Kevin. If you know Kevin and his job, you know there is a lot of driving involved. Grady tends to get a little restless in the car sometimes.

While driving over a bridge Grady says, "Well, this'll cheer me up."

Kevin says, "What? Why?"

Grady: "Because I am really bored."

Heat Wave

2009-08-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

Last night when Kevin put Grady to bed he was wearing only his underpants because it was at least 80 degrees in his room. I went to check on him a couple hours later and found him fully clothed (shirt, sweat pants, and socks) with three layers of blankets on himself. I was confused thinking that Kevin had put him in bed this way on such a hot day. When I inquired about it, Kevin said he had only put him in the pull up with a sheet over him. So Grady had decided he was cold I guess.

And, again, today for nap, Grady goes to bed with only underpants on and this is how he woke up, socks and slippers.

Under Construction

2009-06-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

We are currently undergoing some changes to our blog. Please stay tuned as it will prove to be worth your while.

February

2009-02-27T10:11:00.000-08:00

Well, a lot and nothing is happening at the same time. We are proud to be having a new addition to the family in September. Nikki is pregnant and feeling all the effects. Lots of throwing up and sleeping. Grady is growing and exploring new things all the time. He will be celebrating his 3rd birthday in March. I am working away and looking forward to some nicer weather so I can get outdoors and do some camping and fishing.

Sorry I don't have any good new pics!

Kevin

Grady on "Being a Big Brother"

2009-01-22T12:49:00.000-08:00

Sledding on Christmas

2008-12-29T19:16:00.000-08:00

Grady's Dance Moves

2008-12-28T12:07:00.000-08:00

End of November and December Update!

2008-12-11T20:58:00.000-08:00

Well, its been a bit since the last post! I know you all are dying for more news from the Milliken front. Lots of busyness lately. We celebrated Nikki's 29th birthday on the 23rd with a (requested) "White Trash" themed party. Hence the pictures of the bad outfits and mullets. Then Nikki celebrated with her girlfriends by going to the "New Kids On The Block" reunion tour in Tacoma the next night. She had a great time. Then there was Turkey day with the Tuson's. What fun! And now we are on to Christmas! Grady is very excited and learning all of the traditions. He finally met Santa and made sure to ask if Santa got his letter. Then we had our tree cutting ceremony and put up all of the decorations. As an extra bonus we were able to be with friends for a Ginger Bread House competition. Grady learned that he could eat the candy instead of putting on his house. HAHAH! Drool! So, have fun, enjoy the season! Happy Birthday Jesus!

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles

2008-08-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, while we were all sitting on the back patio to escape the oven-like climate in our house, I realized something that I thought should be shared with all those who will hear. My realization is this: Bubbles are very soothing to the soul. Grady loves to blow bubbles (see pictures), as well as chase them and pop them. But I, Nikki, the guest blogger to this site think there is something very therapeutic about blowing bubbles. Trying to make the biggest one you can and seeing how long it will last, or seeing how many you can get out of one dip into the soapy canister. Maybe it takes me back to my childhood or maybe I am just a simpleton, but whatever it is I feel better after a good bubble blowing sesh!