The McMillen Family

Waiting is for me the HARDEST part of anything really.  I don't want to wait for the dishes to wash, or the clothes to dry, or sit in traffic, or wait for a favorite holiday to arrive, or to hear God answer my prayers.  Yes, I know that took a crazy hard turn, but it's the real life moments that bring us into reality. We live in an instantaneous world. Where you don't even have to wait for the commercial to be over, because Netflix doesn't have commercials.  Anyone else grow up folding clothes in front of the tv, and run to put them away during the commercial so you didn't miss anything?  Now you can pause it, rewind it, skip commercials, have it instantly.  Don't get me wrong there are many instant things I enjoy and wouldn't trade.  I don't want to bring my water from a well outside, or hand wash my clothes, or hang them to dry, or wait for the hot water.  I am as spoiled as the rest of us. Which is why, I think, that being patient is so hard. We are...

Blogging is something that happens constantly in my mind. Is that just me or do all mom's carry a running list of their life in their mind at all times?  But there has been a gap in my blogging life as my kids grew up. It came increasingly more important for me to attend to their every need and leave the internet to survive without the wandering inside my mind.  Now, I feel I am in a new season of life.  My boys are not grown by any stretch, but can at least fix their own drink, find a snack in the drawer, and manage until the sun rises on Saturday morning without me. A new normal.  Sharing the thoughts in my mind now takes a new purpose. Originally it was to allow friends and family to enjoy the journey of our lives.  Now it is to walk alongside the wives and mothers who just need to know, "I AM NOT ALONE!" There will be moments of truth and #reallife talks. And moments of harsh realizations that sometimes, 'It is my fault, my own doings, that cause my stress...

1. Happy 1 month birthday to Henry! There will be pics, sorry not today. 2. I'm going to take this opportunity to tell you about my child. Since this is my blog, I can do that.  3. Elliot was sitting on the couch with me this morning and asked to hold Henry. So I propped them up and went to make some toast for Elliot and I. Henry started crying and Elliot says, "Mom, Henry needs a bottle. Can you fix him one, so I can feed him?" Absolutely, that is what I am talking about! Big brother knowing needs of the little one and then feeding him!  4. Elliot's imagination is, well I'm having trouble describing it with a word. Our couch cushions are often on the floor acting as boats that are keeping us from the sharks in the ocean. Almost anything can turn into a fishing pool, including his toy drill attached to his toy paint brush. His bicycle quickly changes from a fire truck to ambulance and then tractor. (all of which are required to wear helmets while they work!)  5. I...

What a difference 2 weeks can make! Elliot (age 2 and 1/2) and Henry (age-1 day) Boys are busy wearing their #Gameday shirts, while Bulldogs are busy becoming #1! Elliot and Henry (2 weeks old) Elliot is busy holding Henry while Henry is busy holding up his head. Elliot is busy riding his "firetruck"(engine blaring) while Henry is busy adapting to new sounds. Daddy is busy spoiling his boys! Look at the similarities in these pics!  Daddy and Henry                                          Daddy and Elliot   Elliot is busy being a Super Hero of a Big Brother, while Mom is catching up on her sleep!

Henry Hamilton McMillen will be joining us soon! I am currently 35 weeks and counting with a due date of October 10.  I hope you enjoyed playing our game.  It was fun making up the riddles, but then again I'm a little bit of a nerd!   I have a cute video of Elliot announcing baby Henry's name, but I am not finding an easy way of posting that anywhere!  I will work on that again, but my brain is continuing to sink into mommy pregnancy brain. I got the baby's carseat out the other day and Elliot wanted to sit in it.  He certainly looked like a big boy sitting in that car seat.  Then when I moved the straps down to where the baby will need it . . . there are no words to remind you of how small a newborn will be! Justin and Elliot watched a video of Elliot eating apple sauce for the first time at about 4 months old.  He is whining through most of the video.  This was Justin's remembering wake- up call of how babies communicate!  We are as r...

Thank you for playing along with our game I'm sure you're all ready to guess baby's name As of today the riddles are complete So send in your guesses through comments or tweets

This letter is important to You Not for me or I And You might ask me Why? This letter is important to You

School is all about the 3 of these Although calling them this will actually mislead They don't actually all start with this letter It's just a fun way to make them sound better.

When you sing your alphabet  But the letters you're not sure of yet This comes in the middle of the phrase 'El minnow pea'

This letter is important to ME Not so much to I or you My brother likes it very much too This letter is important to ME

The first letter of my name Can be found by rhyming just the same Change the first of these three words Cat, Sam, mouse, to words you've heard.

It's finally here! After months of deliberation, we have decided on a name for Baby Mc #2!  This time around we thought just giving the letters would be too easy, so each letter will be revealed one at a time through a riddle.  Things to keep in mind: 1) You may not ask questions 2) I won't answer your questions  3) Don't ruin it for others playing. If you figure something out, you may not want to comment online just in case others are still figuring it out.  4) Yes, we will share the name after you have had time to think. 5) Yes, I realize you have more important things to do than this!  I will start posting this Monday, September 1 and will post each day until all riddles have been shared.  This is a pic of our precious baby boy at 36 weeks! (Hand by his face just like his brother!)

Disclaimer 1: I don't have 101! Please feel free to contribute to the list. Disclaimer 2: Don't analyze the title too much, I reworded about 10 times.  Your mowing peacefully in your yard, when you realize you are humming the theme song "Thomas the Train" to yourself. You volunteered to mow rather than corral your 2 year old in the house. You and your husband have discussed why Daniel Tiger wears pants to bed but not to school. You emailed your husband to tell him Daniel Tiger was going to be a big brother because you were so excited about the timeliness of this new season!  Your toddler doesn't like Daniel Tiger now that he has become a big brother.  Your child(ren) have much nicer bedroom furniture  everything than you. You really don't remember what life was like before they were born. You can name more trains than just "Thomas" You try to name the trains in the puzzle before your toddler. You were excited the first day you picked y...

If you are confused by the title, read previous post. Day 3 : The question today is what about the timer.  Is it still necessary or not?  So, we went with not. Wake Up - Dry Pull Up!  No timer.  After about an hour and a half, we take a restroom break.  The next one I leave up to him.  I am vacuuming and he is playing with Ty.  He runs to the bathroom and shuts the door!  Unfortunately he was rolling all of the toilet paper off the roll, but he did need to go (That COUNTS!)  Lunch, Break, Nap, Break, Trip to Town.  Yes we are brave.  No problems! Day 3 is a success!  No timer, but lots of reminding and several forced trips!  On the plus side, he only asked for candy once. Day 4 : Today has been fairly smooth, no timer is still working fine.  We are both learning how this works.  One accident early, one stopping to tell me he needed to go!  Its nap time again, so we will see how the day ends.  The qu...

Goals for the summer: 1) Get Elliot out of diapers 2) Convince him to sleep in his bed My precious new momma friend Meg, is doing awesome with her sweet new baby Jaxon! She read the book, made a plan, and is sticking with it! She is amazing! Check out her blog link to the side!  Congrats to Meg and Hunter on sweet baby Jaxon! We are so happy for you! Welcome to motherhood!  I did not read any books before Elliot came along, except for the one that tells about their growth during pregnancy! (Very short chapters, once a week) We rocked, fed, cried, and slept in no particular order. I expect their will be more to this story come October! We did not follow the rules from birthing class.  So it's not surprising that I didn't read a book or make much of plan for this chapter of our life either!  I did read several blogs and some magazine articles. I took a few tips from those and decided to go for it! This is the first week of summer that I have had free and am determined ...

My brother and his precious family are adopting! Brooks and Brandy are accepting a call from The Lord to adopt a new member into their family.  They are working through the paper work and awaiting a precious toddler from China.  I have attached a link called 'The Hamilton's Adoption' to my blogging buddies.  This is a link to their page that shares a little about their family and how you can help them! They are selling t-shirts. You will also find a link on their page to order coffee which also aids in the adoption process! Thanks for your help and share with others! The t-shirts are super cute. I know they would also covet your prayers as they work through this process! 

It was a weekend to remember.  Not because we went on an expensive vacation or out to eat at a luxurious restaurant.  But it was just us doing just family things.  If someone had offered to follow us around to capture every moment, it would have been amazing!  Justin's birthday was Friday, and he believes if you are having a birthday, it should be celebrated! He took off work Friday and planned a #daddyday with Elliot.  We went on a small shopping spree the night before and come home with this. Along with all the fixings for smoking a boston butt. Which leads to Friday morning. I left for school with one boy in the bed and the other preparing a boston butt.  This is the first pic of the day.  Justin has been working for several .... Well since we bought the grill, to regulate grill temps.  My boys taking a 'selfie' with Elliot's best 'cheese' face. Then he got serious with the camera. We got into an icy cold pool for a few minutes after school and...

I realized last Saturday morning as I was cleaning house (or kind of cleaning house), that I was blogging in my head. After 2 years have past, I had one brief moment where I thought, 'that might be fun again.'  As a busy mom of a toddler and a baby on the way, we will see just exactly how long this will last. Elliot is 2, full of energy, and keeps us busy! He, like any little boy, loves to be outside, work on the lawn mower, spread dirt all over his face as he works to find only the weeds in the garden and not the onions! He never misses a moment to say 'cheese' Enjoys stickers and 'writing' in his book. Is always playing cowboy. He says, "I a cowboy. I John Wayne!" His dad couldn't be happier! He is basically just adorable!  (You should know he is at his Grandma's house as I'm typing this blog and not having to fight for my iPad!) Lastly, if you're a mom and haven't been to see the movie ...

Father's day was the best! Dad loved his present which included this sweet picture Elliot made for him! Elliot is growing too fast! The fact that he is now 4 months old should have been a good clue that the 0-3 month clothes won't fit anymore! Thanks to Meg and Grandma, Elliot did not go without clothes! Here is a picture of Elliot in the cute outfit Meg got for him! Elliot started cereal on Thursday evening! You can tell from the picture how he 'loved' it! This was a fun time! He is getting better! We started homemade applesauce today! But nothing is as good as the bottle. Dad and Elliot spent the day together Saturday! I think it went something like this!  

Last you heard we were headed to Florida with a 3 month old and a broke hand on momma! Here are some house pics I promised.   The brick is almost finished on the front, but I don’t have that picture yet. Beautiful Staircase! Brick Island, kitchen, dining room master bedroom Front porch – Blog points to anyone who comments on why we painted the ceiling blue!! And of course pics of sweet Elliot! Daddy puts me to sleep! Dad and I were watching the race at Mr. Chad and Mrs. Ashley’s house! These are my toes!  I can also pull off my socks! (Since there was some “drama” during his 3month b’day, this pic will have to do!) “ I was laughing at my crazy family and sitting up like a big boy!” I got my stitches out on Wednesday.  I am in the splint for another month.   When I go back in July, they will x-ray it and I will start therapy.  I can pretty well manage most things with one hand.  Elliot picks his head up well ...