SO PROUD! :)

Things are going well here @ the Millsaps house. Abby's getting accustomed to her big girl bed :) She knows not to come out of her room at night once we've put her to bed. Last night it took her about 30 minutes to call asleep, yesterdays nap was 15 minutes, todays nap, we'll see :) We also transitioned Christian into his own room yesterday. He didn't like his big boy crib :( He cried and cried, we went in a lot to calm him down and hold him. Abby was even saying "it's ok baby". So sweet! He's in there napping right now, doing great :)

This morning, Christian was up at 5- sad in his room so by the time I got him back to sleep at 6-, I was exhausted! Plus, we were up late watching Pirates 3 ;) Abby woke up at 8- and came running in, in a great mood and said "Mommy up"! haha It was funny having her come tell me to get up outta bed! Sweet moments! She was surprised too that Christian wasn't in our room!

I had to blog about my great day yesterday though. Abby was such a sweetheart. We got her haircut at the mall and I told her if she was a good girl she could have cookies. Well, we bought 6 mini-chocolate chip cookies then swung by Robby's office to say hello. When I gave her a cookie, she asked "one more for Daddy"? The look in her face and the way she said that meant that she wouldn't eat that cookie unless there was one for daddy. That was such a selfless act, wanting daddy to have one since she'd already had one :) Ah, melted my heart! (BTW, we're not eating desserts these days, New Years Resolutions!!!!! We're both 6 pounds thinner, believe it or not! Amazing how much weight we lose when I cook! ha!)

Christian is 3 months old today. This is my all time FAVORITE age of babies! He's so much more alert, on a schedule, sleeping through the night! Everything is exciting to him! He loves sisters kisses too :) He's reaching for toys and able to hit and grab at things now too. His hand/eye coordination skills are really starting to show! So impressive!

Life is so good. God is good :) Robby has been awesome this week too helping me get everything done around here, furniture moved, tree put away. He even took my truck in for an oil change (I also had a light out) so that I wouldn't have to take the kids and entertain them while we waited :)

I thought I'd post this cute picture of the kids today! Now that Abby has her own TV, I posed some pics with her and Christian :)

On a spiritual note...

Our Pastors wife spoke yesterday at Bible study and I wanted to share some of the points that stuck with me :)

First, how we're called to obey the law of the land even down to the littlest rules. How we need to set an example for our children and for people around us. This means, obeying traffic laws which are there for our safety. Bringing the trash cans in on time, not taking candy and drinks into the movies when it says "NO OUTSIDE FOOD". Obeying the Home Owners association laws. Putting our grocery carts back in the holders when we're done instead of abandoning them in the parking lot! (I'm especially guilty of that one since I have both kids in the cart, I just leave it wherever I parked!) This will help teach our children to respect authority, ultimately God is the authority in our lives and if we don't obey the laws, why would our children? We need to not disregard the authorities in our life. That means, our bosses, our government and our Pastors. We submit ourselves to authorities for "the Lord's sake". Honoring the laws honors and gives glory to Him :) We don't want our children to think that God's rules are too restrictive and reject Him. We do not want to be the reason our kids deny Christ.

Romans 13:1-2 Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

Another authority over us is our spouses. Recognizing that God put Robby as the head of our household and learning to submit to and obey what he says. This has always been tough for me, I always have comebacks or an opinion to share. Bear with me, I'm working on it! A great book I'm reading (slowly) which I recommend, "The Excellent Wife". Someday I'll grab my book and do a post on all I've been learning from it!

Carlynn also spoke on what would our society be like if we did not have laws? Laws are in place to commend those who do right and punish those who do wrong. We would be in danger if we lived in a lawless society.

Thankfully, the small sacrifices God asks of us in this age are miniscule compared to Christians who lived before us. We're not stoned in the streets or cruicified for preaching Gods word. Daniel 6:4-5 shows a great example of how others should view us. "The commissioners and satraps began trying to find a ground of accusation against Daniel in regard to government affairs; but they could find no ground of accusation or evidence of corruption, inasmuch as he was faithful, and no negligence or corruption was to be found in him. Then these men said, "We shall not find any ground of accusation against this Daniel unless we find it against him with regard to the law of his God. Reading this passage, if we do the right thing, if we keep the rules, others will only be able to slander us for doing the right thing and obeying the rules! we want to make sure we're a good example too, to our neighbors, in line at the grocery store, driving on the roads. People are watching :)

Another good point. How often do we take advantage of the grace God has given us? Do we continue to sin, knowing He's forgiven us anyway? James 4:17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin. This great verse found in Romans 6:1-2 says What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Another verse, Hebrews 10:26 For it we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.

The choices we make daily, are they going to help or hinder others? Heaven or Hell is in the balance! We do live forever, it's our choice where we will spend eternity.

Favorite moments of the holiday season

This year, Robby and I invested in a manger scene for our front yard. We thought, it'd be great for our neighbors to see, plus, we didn't put my Grandpa's hand crafted manger out this year so the kids wouldn't destroy it! Well, every day, multiple times a day, Abby loved to see the manger scene. In the morning, afternoon and night time, she'd look out the window to see if the wind had blown Mary, Joseph and Jesus over. We'd go get the mail and she'd have to run over and give these life size statues kisses and say hello. When we'd leave the driveway, Abby'd wave and excitedly say "bye Jesus!"

It was exciting to see Abby learn about Jesus this year. We'd read her the story of Jesus being born in a manger, Mary riding a donkey, there was no room in the inn, angels shouting glory in the highest! We'd fish reading and she'd say "again, read again please".

We put Mary, Joseph and Jesus away today but I had to take a picture of them to help remember this special Christmas moment :)

Crazy few days

I'm taking a few minutes away from my non napped toddler to write a blog about what's been going on this week at the Millsaps :)

This past weekend, Robby and I took the kids up to Ikea to invest in a new "big girl bed" for Abby. That involved painting Christian's bedroom, disassembling Abby's crib for Christian's room, reassembling the crib, assembling the big girl bed and washing sheets for both bed and crib. We also moved out the entertainment cabinet from Christians room to put in the playroom so the kids can watch DVDs. We still have yet to put the TV and DVD player back and move Christian's dresser.

This has been quite a challenging week with Abby since we're trying to get her to sleep in her new bed. The first night (Sunday), we didn't have her nap in the afternoon and it took her 90 minutes before she fell asleep. The next day, she fell asleep at nap time in 30 minutes. Last night, she went to bed in 30 minutes, no complaint at all. Today........NO NAP! She stayed in her room for almost 2 HOURS and no nap. :( Hopefully it won't be this challenging tonight. It's been cute hearing her wake up in the morning though, she won't come out of her room until we say ok :) She just stands at her door and talks to me till I say, you can get up now :)

Christian will be 3 months old on the 10th. He's getting so big and so much more alert! He's still sleeping through the night (8:00pm to 6:00am) which I am SO thankful for. I have yet to transfer him into his own room. Robby says he's an easy roommate ;) Abby will be 2 on Saturday the 12th :)

It'll be nice to be back in a routine this week. Women's Bible Study resumes tomorrow and Thrive Thursday! For now it's back to watching Abby who's entertaining herself quietly in the playroom next to me. She loves to put her toys away in the new entertainment cabinet :)

Christmas photos :)

We're home! The Millsaps have been on an extended vacation! We visited my parents, sister Holly and brother Phil Christmas Eve and Christmas Day then came home that evening! I enjoyed all of my favorite homecooked meals, potato soup and sausage biscuits and gravy! Abby packed her toys in the cute new bags my sister Rose sent from Germany!

Wednesday, we washed clothes, cleaned house and packed our bags for a trip to Bakersfield. The kids were SO good! We left Thursday morning and came back home Sunday afternoon. We enjoyed visiting so much family over the holiday! Check out some of the pictures below :)

We're still adjusting to being back home after being gone so much! I'll catch up later :)

Hobbies anyone?

Robby and I had a big talk last night about Mommy getting some time off! My outlet these days is my kids. A Mothers work is never done. My job is not a 9:00 am to 5:00 pm job. Robby really saw how busy the day is when he had both kids on Monday! There are dishes to keep up with, 2 kids diapers and clothes to change, plus the general upkeep of the house to consider. What do Mom's do for a break? My kids won't always be home with me. I need to find some hobbies. I have girlfriends that run and swim, I have girlfriends that go to the gym. I have girlfriends that read. I'm looking for a hobby. Any suggestions? :) What do other Moms do?

This weekend, I get to go out for a Pamper Mom Day! Robby had purchased a spa gift certificate last year for Christmas and I haven't used it yet! I thought, OH, I'll use it after Abby's birthday. OH, I'll use it when we get back from Paris! OH, I'm pregnant, I'll use it once the baby arrives! Christian is now two months old and it's time to cash it in! Also, my savvy internet skills found a great bargain too where I can get a manicure, pedicure, haircut and 1 hour massage for the use of my gift certificate! Awesome :) Looking forward to Sunday! ;)

Sickness hits the Millsap house!

You'd think that since I haven't been out of the house in FOUR days that I would have found plenty of time to update my blog! Not so! Life has been a little crazy here at the Millsap household!

Saturday, we went to a really fun birthday party at the park! Notice the pic of Abby hitting the piniata! Saturday night, we toured "Candy Cane Lane", saw the lights and snow and visited Santa. Notice the pic of Abby crying on his lap!

Sunday morning, about 10 minutes before we left for church, Abby threw up, twice! I wasn't present at the time. Being Mom, I'm the last to get ready after everyone else is dressed and ready! I hear Robby saying "It's ok, it's ok" and I'm thinking, did she hit her brother, what's going on, why is he saying "it's ok"? I walked out of my room and found the answer to that question really quickly!

I stayed home with Ab's on Sunday. Notice the pic of her sad face. She asked me to take a picture of her. We've learned a new phrase here "throw up". I chased her around the house most of Sunday morning with a trash can in hand! Poor baby! Once she woke up from her nap Sunday afternoon, all she wanted was "Grammy soup". My Mom makes this awesome potato soup which makes everything in life all better :)

Monday morning, 6:30. The whole family is awake and Mom is now sick! Robby, who's behind on work stayed home and took care of both kids ALL day! This is no easy task! He was even able to get both kids to nap simultaneously AND took them to the mall for cookies! Great job Robby!

Tuesday, I still wasn't 100% but was able to entertain the kids all day using my good friend, TV. :) Also, since food didn't sound appealing whatsoever, I survived on plain cheerios till Robby made dinner that evening :) Mmm, chicken and fried rice! Nummy!

Wednesday morning, Robby and Abby have the sniffles. We'd been invited to a cookie making party but due to the sickness going around the Millsap house, I opted we should stay home! Abby napped for 3 1/2 hours today, catching up on lost sleep from the past few mornings. She woke up to a nice treat too! Since we weren't able to go make cookies, cookies came to us! My friend Chiara and Abby's best buddy Carter brought cookies by! She also got manger stickers and a blowup snowman ball! That was so sweet and totally made her day! See the photo of happy Abby holding her cookie plate!

Well, I need to get to bed! I'm off to a cookie exchange party tomorrow and just finished baking 3 dozen cookies! :)