Santa Jack

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Funny Faces

We are still without internet at the Casa Mills (hopefully by next Tuesday we'll be up and running!), but we wanted to post some pictures (via Panera Bread's Wi-Fi) of Jack's funny faces on Christmas Day

Merry Christmas...

...to all, and to all a Good Night

Settled...

...sort of :-) We haven't unpacked our camera yet, so here are some pictures of J-man taken a few weeks ago when he was hanging out with his buddy Oliver. See this post if you forgot :-)

And, because we didn't put up a tree this year, let's all enjoy this one :-)

Still unpacking....

We'll be back soon....

Tuesday Thank Yous!

This post is LONG overdue! I want to say a HUGE thank you to Heidi and Oliver (and Kevin) for taking care of J-man last week while I was in Cedar Rapids. We can't thank you enough for your help and we KNOW Jack had a great time! He was super talkative and happy every evening last week :) I think he misses you....and your trains. Let's play again SOON.



Thank you builder for hurrying up - it looks like we are moving this Friday :)

Mom Misses Her Boys!

I've been in Cedar Rapids since Wednesday for orientation with the law firm I've joined and I miss my boys! Can't wait to see you both on Friday night!

Where's my food?

I love this picture :-)

Let it snow....

...another snow day together. Jack told me he wanted to watch "White Christmas" this afternoon, but first, we had to try out our snow bibs in the fluffy white stuff :-)

Happy Birthday Mamma Bear!!!

Lindsey celebrates her 29th birthday today, which Daddy always likes to remind her is one more than him!

Happy Birthday Mamma Bear!!!

Oh yeah, and here are some pics of Jack at Thanksgiving. Kid already dresses better than me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Mills Family thought we would share a few things we are thankful for on the eve of Thanksgiving:

A healthy baby boy

Gainful employment

A good rate after the delay in the closing of our house

To be back in Iowa with our loving family and friends

Our wonderful families

Fabulous and yummy early birthday cake

Great friendship

Happy dog

The DVR at Nana and Grandpa Denny's

Warm home

God's love and grace

My new giraffe after losing my old one at the mall (this one was from Jack :-)

Formula (Jack, too!)

Pacifier (you guessed right!)

The health of our family and friends

And so much more.....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Anniversary, Nana and Grandpa Denny!

We love you and hope you had a wonderful 31st wedding anniversary!

From the Department of Awesomeness

If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity.
- Deuteronomy 25:11-12 (New International Version)

Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy, which is actually a collection of his sermons to Israel - I knew I liked that guy.

Anyway, I have been reading The Year of Living Biblically (One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible - as Literally as Possible) by AJ Jacobs. It is kind of out of the Bill Bryson meets Dave Barry mold of books. Needless to say, I am loving it. Right now, AJ is journeying through mainly Old Testament scripture, which as you would guess, provides the best writing material (like the above quote) for his writing. As a Christian in the modern world, I am very thankful for the New Testament. :)

Say What?

Well, Lindsey called our real estate agent today to set-up our inspection on the house, only it appears we are more ready to move into the house than the builders are to build it. So we will now be moving into our humble abode a week later than originally planned (on December 12, 2008). Sweet... They fed us some lines about Mid-America not running the gas out there yet, and without heat they can't texture the walls, paint, etc. (at least that was the story behind the delay this AFTERNOON). Though its pretty interesting that when Lindsey drove by the house this EVENING they were texturing the walls. My guess, our agent called the general contractor this afternoon, and he had a "whoa* shnikes" moment realizing that the house is suppose to be done asap. Anyway, we are dealing with it; there are much worse things in life than having your house delayed a week.

*I don't know if you noticed or not, but Lindsey had a "Whoa" post a week or so ago. We both thought that "whoa" was actually spelled "woah," but at alas the latter is not so.

In the TMI* department - Jack loves to be naked on his rug in his room (a kind of faux-shag carpet). When we get him ready for a bath, he does everything in his power to roll over to the rug and squirm around, all the while with a huge grin on his face. Don't know why, he just loves it.

*That's "Too Much Information" for our loyal readers** out there over the age of 30! :)
**Assuming we still have anybody checking in... We have not done the best of job updating as of late.

Ok, so I have a confession. Lindsey has this rule that when we read Jack his bedtime stories, we have to read at least 2 books. Its a faulty rule with faulty logic behind in that books come in all shapes, sizes, and LENGTH. For instance, the Cat in Hat is like 80 some pages long. It takes a while to get through, so think about 2 books of that length. I can read that much (it may take a while mind you), but Jack certainly cannot sit still long enough to not make it a very trying experience. I think we should read to him for like 10 mins (as that seems to be max time of concentration on the little man), but as you know, I do not make the rules :) So 2 books it is. I hate to confess this when Lindsey will know my secret, but due to superior intelligence, I have beaten the system. For my second book this evening, I read "Grover Goes to Bed"... all 4 pages (including illustrations) of it. It reads, in its entirety as follows: "Grover cannot go to bed without a hug from his mother. Grove cannot go to bed without his glass of water. Or his night light. Or his teddymonster*. Grover cannot go to bed without a hug from his mother." Yes, I have it memorized. How do you like them apples, Lindsey?!?

*Teddymonster always kills me. Good stuff.

Lazy Saturday

Football, food and fun with Nana and Grandpa Denny :)

One more milestone...

...I almost forgot! Jack graduated from his infant seat to a big boy car seat at 9 months, too!

(and, if you haven't noticed, we love these pajamas :-)

9 Months

Many big milestones passed as Jack turned 9 months old last Saturday:

3 new teeth on top have appeared (he now has a total of 5)

Started eating dairy and pasta

Started crawling and is on the move all over the place. Loves opening drawers and cabinet doors.

Adding to his sounds of da-da and ba-ba...he is now saying wow!

Started feeding himself finger foods!

We are excited to see all the changes during the holiday season. Should be fun :-)

Snow :-(

Sunny and high 60s on Tuesday, November 4th; flurries and 30 degree weather 3 days later. Crazy to see this as we head to bed:



Good news - I accepted a new job today! I'm excited about the opportunity and thankful to have been extended an offer so quickly! I'll start with the firm on January 5th. It definitely warmed my heart today knowing I'll get 2 more months at home (and one month in our new home) with little J-man :-) Happy weekend!

And early congrats to Nikki and Tad -- we're excited for your big day tomorrow!

One word for today...

Fall Leaves

House Progress

Jack's new room :)

One more...

...this cute little face may not only have given his Daddy the flu, but also Nana, Grandpa Denny, and Grandma Terri :) Please pray that Mommy can make it through all of this without catching the same bug! It's been a loooooooong weekend....

Itsy-Bitsy Spider