Not Much Going On

I am grateful to say that not much is going on right now. We've had an eventful couple of weeks, and we're ready for a couple days of down time. After taking Ashlyn's binky, Nick slipped on the ice and thought he'd maybe broken his hand. It took getting X-rays to make sure it wasn't. Then, this past weekend Ashlyn, Emma, and finally Nick all came down with a nasty stomach bug that kept them throwing up all night. It's rather ironic. Just last week I told Emma's preschool teacher that she had only thrown up once and that was on a car trip and that Ashlyn never had. We certainly have made up for that now. Poor kids. But, we're on the mend, and there's nothing that will make you appreciate healthy kids like spending nights up with them while they're feeling crummy.

We've had a pretty good day today. The kids just wanted to stay home and play together in Emma's tent and a fort we made. For some reason we needed to have a tent and a fort right next to each other, but they've had fun. I love watching them play together. One of my favorite Ashlyn phrases this week has been "sit by you?" She loves it when we sit by her or especially when she can sit next to Emma. They love each other so much. They are such intense little people, and when they decide to show how much they like each other, they hug, play, and laugh together. I love those moments.

Right now, Emma is in her room pretending with her Disney princesses (best purchases ever), and Ashlyn is singing "Twinkle, twinkle little star" to her baby because she said she's crying. Sometimes they do drive me crazy, and then they turn right around and do the cutest things. I absolutely love them. They are good at reminding me what's truly important.

Kid crazy

Wow. I thought I was going to lose it today. For some reason, since taking away Ashlyn's binky, she thinks she requires less sleep than me. After attempting to let her cry it out for a nap for a good hour and a half, rather than completely lose it, I just pulled her out of her crib, fixed my first flat tire ever on my jogging stroller, and left the house. Oh, I am so grateful for fresh air (and especially for Nick's willingness for talking a near-tears-Tonya through fixing a flat over the phone). Emma took a bucket along and picked up random rocks for her new collection. Ashlyn fell asleep almost as soon as we left the house, so she and I are both mentally stable now. Oh, I hope this trasition doesn't take too much longer or I'm going to go crazy!

What's really bizarre is that I babysat four kids this morning from 7:30 to 11:30. Including my own, that was six kids between the ages of 14 months and 4. I thought it was going to be crazy, but they did very well together. However, it was still exhausting and I needed a break during nap time, not heart-rending sobs from my little one. Sigh. One thing I've learned from parenting though is that most frustrating things with kids are stages - they don't last forever.

Oh, binky. We do miss you.

Bye-Bye Binky Blues

I love binkies, pacifiers, babas, whatever you want to call them. My babies both loved them dearly and were able to sooth themselves with them. They worked like magic in the middle of the night or for a sick child. They were often the only way we made it through even half of a sacrament meeting. However, on nights like tonight when the binky is no longer the option, I somewhat question how much good they really do.

My poor Ashlyn cries so hard when she cries that anyone listening to her hurts to hear her. Oh, and I love her dearly. But no way of taking away the binky will be painless, I guess. The result is the same - no binky. She has calmed down for tonight, so I'm hoping we'll survive. But Daddy is also giving her a late night snack of crackers, too. (Her bedtime is usually 8:00.) Last night she cried really hard, but then slept all night and didn't wake up until 7:30. I'm really hoping for a replay without the really hard crying part. I'm guessing it won't happen, though, so I'm heading to bed soon.

Oh, good-bye binkies. You have been such dear friends. We will miss you.

Millar Family Pictures

Over New Years my entire family was together, including my sister and her family from Alabama (we miss you, Alisa), so we had our pictures taken by a great photographer in Idaho who gives you the negatives. Now that we finally have a recent picture of us, I may get around to sending out Valentine Cards as opposed to Christmas Cards (he he he).

Grandparents with 14 grandkids.
My entire family. It sure has grown from the 5 siblings I grew up with. Crazy enough, I love every single one of these people and wish they all lived closer.

Happy Holidays!

We had so much fun this Christmas. We had great fun with family here at home, in Wyoming, and in Ashton at the Shootout Barn. The renovated barn held my entire family with room to spare. We had so much fun all together. I couldn't decide which pictures to include, so I made a slide show. We love you all and hope 2009 in finding you well.

Teaching

I'm still here. Things have just been crazy. I've been trying to post Christmas stuff, but for some reason blogger doesn't like me. Hopefully I'll get it all figured out tomorrow. I'll admit it's a large post full of pictures.

The reason for this post though is that ISU asked me to teach next semester. The class starts Monday, so I'm now trying to get ready to teach two courses beginning next week. Fortunately, the class for ISU is one I've taught before and used the same textbook. Another plus is that it's an evening class, so Nick can watch the girls. The only downsides are late-night driving (it's in Idaho Falls) and I have to be in Idaho Falls on Tuesdays for the ITEC class as well. That's more time on winter roads than I'd like, but I want to keep my foot in the door.

Well, that's my news. Life will be a bit busier for the next few months, but I think it will be good. Whenever I look back over the college education part of my life, I think God intended me to teach. I'm so grateful because, well, I love it.