Privacy- VERY SCARY!

You might see this note floating all over the Internet.

"Please ..... take action now people - ATTN EVERYONE: There's a site called Spokeo.com, it's an online phonebook that has pictures that you have posted on Facebook, phone number,credit score, profession, home value, income , # of children, profession, and age. Search for your name. Remove yourself by clicking the Privacy button on the bottom right...of their website and follow instructions. (Please Re-Post)"

I normally just ignore the the "re-post" notes b/c I feel more than half the time they are untrue. Well, the point of this one is privacy for you and your family... which definitely interest me. So I checked it out... and I was shocked to see that it was TRUE!!!! I just wanted to post this here so you could be aware of this information that is posted online and the extent of it as well. I was blown away when I read all the information they had posted on there. It's ridiculous, scary, and very PRIVATE. I immediately removed my info by following the step in the quotes and it took it down immediately. I just wanted you to be aware of this. I understand it's probably not a big deal to some but to most I think it will be. And me... well, I may not seem like a private person, but I am (more than you probably know).

What worries me more is that on this site you can PAY to find out even more information!!! Seriously!!! Is this even legal? I'm still in shock. It also worries me to think what other sites are out there that might be doing the exact same things. Not cool!!!

Just sayin'...if you try to find me...I'm no longer there! Thank goodness :)

9 months

Today, our Mills went for his 9 month check up. All was great and Dr. O thinks he will be walking very soon. Our little man's ears looked good, and Dr. Owen showed me where his top two central incisors are trying to erupt. For the past 2 days, he has had a little trouble with his tummy *explosive diapers :( and Dr. Owen strongly believes that his teeth are the culprit. So, we've been giving him a little bit of pedialyte. For the past two mornings, I've had to strip the sheets and carry our boy staight to the bath tub. He seems to be feeling fine, just a little messy.

Mills was 28.5" long and weighed 19lbs.12oz. I asked why the difference in weight since last Tuesday, since Erik told me that he weighed 20lbs. 4oz. and he told me that they weighed him with his clothes on. I told Erik this, and he then informed me that Mills had a "full diaper" too. So, that explains it. The fact that his belly has been upset for the past two days doesn't help the fact either. Nevertheless, he is doing well and right on track. Its hard to believe that at his next well baby visit he will be a year old. I told Dr. Owen that we would see him then, and hopefully not before ;)

"Now wait lady! Let me do it myself!"

My First Mother's Day

I know it is uncommon for me to be a day behind on posting, but after yesterday, I was so exhausted and had NO energy left last night.

I woke up early yesterday morning, at 6 o'clock to be exact. I could not go back to sleep so decided to go ahead and get myself up and start the day with a cup of coffee as I packed Mills' bag for church. I think I was just excited about it being my first mother's day! I was able to get myself showered and ready, so there would be no reason for being late for church. For those of you who know me well, being late is not something I am in favor of-ha! I was able to get all morning tasks completed before Mills woke at 8:00!! In the past nine months, that is the latest our little guy has ever slept. I was thrilled. What a nice Mother's Day present!!

After church, we headed to the CC for a quick Mother's Day lunch with Nana and Gammy, and and the rest of the bunch, then headed home for nap time, but Mills decided that he did not want to take a nap. I was so exhausted and wanted a nap so badly. Why is it that when I can take a nap, I have other things to do, but when I want to and can take a nap, Mills decides that he would rather not go to sleep, but play instead, so played we did.

Last night, we had our usual Mother's Day dinner at Mama & Daddy B's house and had a great time watching Mills and Lainey play. Of course, they both tired out and Mills was O-U-T before we even left.

This year, my first Mother's Day, had to be the most special day for me since our Mills was born in August. It by far, ranked highest on my list and meant more to me than any birthday I've ever celebrated. To me, Mother's Day is an honor, a day that I can celebrate being the mother to what I consider God's most precious gift to me, my sweet Mills. When I look at him, I see a perfect little being, created by God for us. He is a miracle, and to this day, I still can't believe that he is ours. Yesterday, when I looked at him, I felt no less than proud to be his mommy, and the thoughts of it being my first Mother's Day, put a smile on my face and joy in my ♥! Now, I know how my mom must have felt on her first mother's day with me. I guess I just really never knew. I always knew how honored I was to have my mama, but never thought about how proud she must have been to be my mom. What a great day!

Me and my little love

Mom (Nana), Me & Mills

Lainey and Mills rocking with Gammy. Mills was wanting Lainey's fingers...to CHEW on!

Mills and his Nana swinging

No obstacle is too great or can keep Mills from going where he wants to go, even Aunt Whitney's leg!

Mimi June, Mills, and Gammy

Round 2

ding ding ding!

Another ear infection visited Mills this week. Bless his heart! This one was definitely worse than the last one he had a couple of weeks ago. We're not exactly sure that the previous antibiotic cleared it the first one or not, so here we go again. We think that he could possibly be teething again as well, so things have been a little rough around here since Saturday. I've NEVER seen him drool like he has been this week. Seriously! We usually go through about 2 or 3 bibs a day, but only due to his meals. Now, he is soaking himself so bad that I am seriously thinking about making a trip to "wally-world" for some cheap "around the house" bibs. At his visit to Dr. O, our Mills weighed a whopping 20lbs. 4 oz. Whew!! No wonder I'm getting so strong! He's a growing healthy boy. Well, almost...if we can clear up this ear infection, anyway.

This picture was taken the day that we started noticing the "excess" drool...yikes!

Oh the Place's You'll Go....

no pun intended!

I regret that I have not posted Mills' milestones by month. It was something that I had intended on doing, but honestly, I forgot about it. Each month I had planned on posting a picture of him and listing the many accomplishments that he has reached. Well, I guess its not to late for it, even though he is 8½ months old. I can still do that right? If I don't do it now, by nine months, I'll forget...again, and I hope to turn this blog into a scrapbook at the end of each year.

Mills Oliver,
Today, you are exactly 8½ months old. You are growing so quickly, and as a matter of fact, I think you've changed more in the past month than you have your entire life. Here's what you're up to...

1. You are crawling everywhere, and boy, you are FAST! We even had to stop you from going up the stairs yesterday. Daddy watched you go to the third step and then decided that it was time to get you down. So, in lieu of that, your mommy will be shopping for an additional baby gate tomorrow.

2. You are pulling up on everything, and are even trying to climb up on the couch. You even try standing up in the middle of the floor without something to pull up on, but to no avail, you fall to your bottom and try again. You are steadily learning to walk along the coffee table and couch, so we have put padding around the sharp corners to save your precious little head.

3. You are sleeping from 7:30pm-6:30am, and most of the time I have to wake you up to leave for Mimi June's. All I can say is THANK YOU! I love to sleep too, ya know! ;)

4. You are now using a sippy cup pretty well. You finally figured out that if you turn your cup up, you can actually get something out of it without help from mommy or daddy.

5. You have learned what "no" means, and so far, you are minding pretty good. I caught you heading for your daddy's guitar this weekend, and watched you sit beside it, very still, and you did not touch it after I told you "no." That was very good of you! But you then headed for the springy door stop, pulled the rubber stopper off, and about gave me a heart-attack. Tomorrow, I will be super gluing all of them on and finishing putting covers in all of the electrical outlets tomorrow as well.

6. You now have two teeth, and this weekend we started you on Stage 3 foods. At first, you didn't like them, and tried to gag when a solid piece of carrot touched your tongue. I panicked a little, and was a little bit afraid that you would never eat table food. Tonight, you ate every bit of your supper with no fussing; carrots and ALL! I then gave you some sweet potato puffs, and you loved them. You actually hit your mouth tonight instead palming them and dropping them in your lap. I have learned one thing...puffs stick to EVERYTHING, but I am now at ease and am really relieved that eventually you will be eating steak and baked potato.

7. You FINALLY said you're first "word." Although we don't think you know what you're saying, "da-da" is what we are hearing. Actually every morning we are waking up to you sitting in your crib saying, "dad-dy....dad-dy." It is so adorable, and melts our hearts.

Everyday is a new adventure and we look forward to watching you grow and grow. You are our precious miracle and we love you!

Jumping to the Tune of "Da-da"

For the past 4 months, I have been the terrible mother who lost the "charging cord" to our video camera. So, unfortunately we haven't done much videoing of Mills since Christmas. It broke my heart, but hey we finally found the thing and are back on track. Well, almost. One of Mills' favorite things to do is bounce in his jumperoo! Here he is bouncing and practicing his new favorite word.

Spring Flowers

Since, I am sitting here in doing absolutely nothing, while Mills takes a nap, and Joey snores, I thought I'd do a quick post. Thursday, I was finally able to get some annuals planted, before the crew comes and cleans my beds, does some trimming and mulching.

Last year, I only planted my vinca, which is a must, and didn't get around to the back flower beds. What usually took me fifteen minutes, took about 45, because I was pregnant, and crawling around, well, scooting anyway, on the concrete moving from one corner to the next. So, after that, when I looked at the back, I said, "forget this!" I love my vinca. It always does so well. Last year we had so much rain, that I think I may have watered it twice. Now that's my kind of "gardening."


This year I was able to get a few things planted out back as well. I have always planted lantana, petunias, and few other things. The lantana attracts tons of butterflies, so I am hopeful that we will get some for Mills to see.

Our vinca starts like this.

And ends up like this...

Lantana: I always do yellow. This year I thought I'd spice it up a bit!

Geraniums, I've NEVER done before. I've been told.."good luck with that."




Beautiful pink petunias

Happy Birthday to Us!

Today, I am another year older. Thirty-two to be exact. It seems that the older I get, the more I have to stop and think about my age when someone asks. Birthdays have always been a big deal in our family. There was always a cake and some sort of party, and a lot of time spent with family and friends, but the older we've gotten, the less we spend celebrating, but its okay, because the thrill of a huge party with tons of presents isn't important to me as being thankful for what I already have. What I am looking forward to, is passing the tradition down to Mills. I will get to re-live the birthday parties that I had as a child. It is going to be so much fun, and his 1st Birthday is only 3 and a half months away. Yes, I am already in the planning stages, and have the venue booked. You know me, I like to be on top of things, and don't like to be rushed.

Today, I share my birthday with my cousin, Kelley. That has always been a special thing to me. I was born on her 9th birthday, and as a child, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Oops! I guess that gave her age away didn't it. She's the older one! ha! A couple of years, we shared a cake. She had her side, and I had mine. I look forward to sharing many many more birthdays with her, so today, not only am I celebrating welcoming a "new number," I am wishing her the happiest of happy birthdays! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLEY! Love you!

circa 1981

Kelley (12 years old), Amy (3 yrs.), & Brandon (4 yrs.)

He said "Da-da"

Mills turned into a chatter box on Thursday. It started with "Da-da," of course. Now he won't stop! In one sentance he exlaimed, "Da-da-da-da-dy-ma-ma-me-pa-pa-na-na-na-na-ya-ya-*squeel!" So, we've almost got everyone covered!
Our days of being able to take him out to eat for dinner are dwindling. Instead of sitting quietly in his carseat. He insists on screaming to get down, squeeling, talking VERY loudly, and reaching for anyone and everyone that walks by our table. Last night, I think everyone at Marlos held him. He insisted on keeping all of the waitresses from working. What can I say? He's just a friendly baby, and I am thankful. I guess we'll have to take him earlier, or get a baby-sitter. hmmm.

The Search is On

Mills is about 3 lbs. shy of needing a "big boy" car seat, and at the rate he's going, it won't be long. I have been searching and doing A LOT of reviewing. I have talked to a few moms and gotten a ton of opinions, but just wanted see what my fellow blogger moms thoughts are as well, before making my final decision. We WILL get a Britax, and I am going to be EXTREMELY picky about what kind of car seat he is riding in, but my question is: For those of you who have Britax car seats, which one did you get, and why? When I think about the safety of my baby boy, the fear of a side impact collision scares me, even though he's in the middle, and I want to know what your thoughts are. Mills will be in this car seat for quite some time, until he's big enough to ride in mommy's built in booster seat. We will get a nicer one for my car, and will probably step down a bit for Erik's truck. Any opinions?

Britax Boulevard CS

Britax Advocate CS

Britax Marathon