All Grown Up!

Last night, I called Millie to come sit down for dinner. John and Scottie were already sitting down talking about their day and Ruthie was in her chair being pleasant as always. Millie had been helping me in the kitchen, but quietly stepped away to go upstairs for something. After calling her again to the table she said, "Just a minute". When she finally came downstairs, I told her to sit down in her chair because it was time to eat. Her eyes got really big as she said, "Oh no Mom, I can't eat. The food will ruin my lipstick!" She was serious too. Apparently she had been putting my makeup on while she was upstairs. John and I just looked at each other, smiled, and shared the same "just wait until she is 16" glance. It just reminded me that all too soon, she will be a young woman with her own grown up personality. Millie already talks and acts like a little adult. Soon, she will start caring about grown up things more than playing with her dolls, dressing up, reading stories with me, and just being a little girl. Sometimes I want to just hold her tightly so that she will never grow up. Other times I am ready to sell her to the highest bidder......or ANY bidder for that matter. ;) There is just something surreal about watching your first child grow up. And although I know that watching all of my children grow up will bring it's ups and downs, being a Mom is still the BEST job in the whole world!

We are so excited for Easter!!! Millie is really excited about the Easter Bunny and hunting for Easter eggs. Since she is older now and understands more, it will be fun to help her understand, aside from all the eggs and candy, WHY Easter is truly special. What a wonderful time to think about the Savior and all that He did for us. Happy Easter!!!!

Te amo Juan

John está en el avión en su camino hacia México. Voy a perderlo mucho. Después de diez días, estaré feliz de tenerlo en casa. Divertirse John!!!!!

Silly Millie!

So John and Scottie have a nightly ritual where they call each other funny names before going to bed. Millie has picked up on it too and thinks that it is so funny and has begun to chime in with them. It is really quite funny to listen too, however, Millie has started to say the funny names outside of the house. To Millie, everyone is her friend so there are no boundaries.

Today at the store, a cute old couple came behind us as we were checking out. Of course the sweet little old woman started talking with Millie and telling her how cute she was. Millie responded with, "Thanks, ya punk!". I couldn't tell if the old woman had understood what she said or not but just in case, I quickly explained that Millie likes to be silly. The old woman asked Millie about Ruth and if she was her baby sister. She than asked Millie what her name was. Without missing a beat, Millie began singing our version of the Babcock name song:

"M. I. L. L. I. E.......spells Millie, Millie Guymon".

The old couple both smiled and thought it was so cute. Millie was acting nice and sweet, so I wanted to hurry and finish before she started being silly again. After what seemed like an eternity, my groceries were processed, bagged and I had finished paying. As I pushed my cart away, I breathed a sigh of relief thinking that we were in the clear. However, I was wrong. After I took only a few steps, the old woman waved and said, "Bye Millie". Millie quickly turned, waved and said, "Bye ya old goose!".

So Proud!

We have been teaching Millie about testimonies. We have been explaining to her what a testimony is and the kinds of things you can share in a testimony. Because yesterday was fast Sunday, Millie noticed that all of her friends (the single adults in the ward) were getting up and bearing their testimony. She asked me if she could go up and share hers. I was a little hesitant because we had only been teaching her about them for 2 weeks and only being 2 1/2 years old, I didn't know what she would say. I also didn't want her to get up and be silly or shy and then not want to do it. I want her to share her testimony whenever she wants to, so I didn't want to tell her no. After getting John's attention on the stand and silently mouthing my predicament, he mouthed back that if she wanted to, let her get up. So, when there was a break in the line of students getting up to share their testimony, we hurried up to the front and sat in the chair waiting for our turn. When it was our turn to get up I whispered to Millie another reminder to be brave and reverent because a testimony wasn't silly. We got to the pulpit, I handed Ruth to John, I picked up Millie so that she could speak into the microphone, and then I held my breath. To my shear amazement and joy....this is what I heard:

"I'd like to bear my testimony. I know the Church is true. I love Jesus. I know Jesus loves me. I love the Book of Mormon. I love my Mommy and my Daddy and my baby Roofie. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

We were so proud of her! The room was silent as the sweet words came out of her mouth. John said that he almost teared up because it was so special. She is growing up so fast. I can already see that any day now, I am going to wake up and find that she is already a young woman. Until then, I need to make sure I enjoy the everyday moments.

Best Dream Ever!!!!

Millie had a late nap Saturday. Not only was it late, but it was long. Like, almost 4 hours long. Millie has always been a champion napper, but sometimes we have to wake her up so that she will go to sleep at night. When we realized that her nap was reaching the 4 hour mark, John went into her room to wake her up. I could hear them talking for a while and then they came out. John had the following conversation with Millie:

John: Wake up Millie

Millie: Hi, Daddy.

John: You slept for a long time. What did you dream about?

Millie: Jesus.

John: Oh, you did? What did you do with Jesus?

Millie: We played hide and seek. Jesus tickled me and He was funny.

John: Did you have fun playing with Jesus?

Millie: Yes. Jesus is my friend. He loves me.

I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like the best dream ever! I have no doubt that Millie, and all children everywhere, still have a really close relationship with Jesus. I am grateful that He loves little children so much. His love for them leads me to believe that He also has a sense of humor. At least I hope so. Why, do you ask? Because that night while Millie was saying her bedtime prayer, she said; "Please bless Daddy poop, Mommy poop, and Roofie poop".

Potty trained before three....good job Millie!

MILLIE IS COMPLETELY POTTY TRAINED!!!!!!!! It's about time. I was hoping to have her potty trained by 2, but now she is 2 1/2. I have been trying to get her potty trained for almost a year. Was I faithfully diligent in trying to potty train her every day over the last year.....no. So I certainly am partially responsible for how long it has taken. I had just tried everything I could think of and it didn't seem to work. I even made it super comfortable for her on the toilet and let her play games. Still.....nothing. So you could say I mentally gave up and was not going to push it anymore. However, about four weeks ago, after a trip to Grandma and Grandpa Goodell's, I decided that it was time to put on my game face and put more effort into getting her potty trained. Well, after hours of sitting by her while she sat on the potty, asking her every 5 minutes if she had to go, finding her hiding under the table after going in her panties, rushing her to the toilet, and countless underwear scrubbing sessions in the bathroom sink, it finally just made sense to her. I am so proud of her!!! We don't even have any accidents during the night. (knock on wood) She wakes up every morning and tells me she has to go potty. She even holds it when we are out of the house shopping, at Church, or just driving around, until I can get her to a bathroom. She is so proud of herself when she goes in her potty. She calls it her "potty train". Way to go Millie!!!! You really are a BIG GIRL now!

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