Fun Visit from our family in GA---LONG POST!

Hey! So, all the pictures are in the post below. But, I HAD to write about this amazing week we just had. Derek's wonderful family just left about an hour ago on their long trek back home to Georgia. And I am sad... I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun we had. We did everything we could possibly do in about 5 days in Austin. We ate at all the best places, we rode the train at Zilker, we rented a pontoon boat and speed boat and tube at Lake Travis. I cooked dinner for everyone twice. There was ice cream every night, whether it was at my house, Mighty Fine Burgers, or Shakes. We even had a special trip to Hey Cupcake. Yum! The kids played played and played some more. And we cannot forget about going to the pool and just having fun.
Here is who all came. Papa and Mrs. Elaine. Keith(Papa K), Lynn(Mama Lynn), and Lindsey(Aunt Lindsey). Darrell, Bonnie and their 4 kiddos(Laura Kate, Allie, Gracie, and John Marc). Keith, Lynn, and Lindsey stayed with us while the rest of the clan stayed in the RV and cabin that they rented(or whatever) right next to the RV. I am serious when I say I hardly saw Parker. He went to bed later than he has ever gone to bed and probably could have stayed up even later. He was spoiled and you could definitely tell. Micah was along for the ride and did great. He only got off schedule one day that made him fussy. Other than that, he was great and hardly made a peep.
Can I just saw how much I appreciate and love my in laws? When they come they pay for everything(them or Papa). We have tried to offer them money, but they will not accept. Keith mowed the lawn, swept out the garage, and dropped Derek's car off to get many things fixed. Lynn cleaned my house, washed dishes, and washed clothes practically the whole time she was here. On top of the fact that they played with the boys the whole time. AND they brought all of us treats from Georgia. They were great and I am so blessed, my boys are so blessed, and Derek knows he is blessed...it is his parents!! :)
Oh, I haven't talked about Derek much because of course last week was slow for the business but this week they were SLAMMED! They had 6 or 7 moves a day. Derek got a day off to play golf with his dad and darrell and was able to meet us for dinner some. Thanks to Square Cow for even letting him be off that much. Ha! He actually is leaving for a move to Utah today(22 hour drive). He will be gone for 5 days. :( But, guess what? Square Cow bought another truck!!! YAY!!!!

Thats all folks. Sorry so long!! But, I am sure someone will enjoy reading this. Or at least I will when I look back at it months from now. :)

We had a BLAST!

Aunt Bonnie and Micah. So sweet and GREAT picture!

Gracie and Micah.

This picture is a definition of everyone to me from this week. From left to right. Laura Kate(9yo) being so sweet talking and holding John Marc(5 1/2 mo). Audrey Grace(aka Gracie, 3yo) being so sweet holding Micah(6mo) AND chatting with Parker(2yo). She looks like she is crying, but I am pretty sure she wasn't. She has so much spunk. This little girl is awesome! Then Parker talking to Gracie...he loved all of them, but he talked about Gracie the most. Then Allie(7yo) watching and cheering Parker on as he said, who knows what. Probably "No". :)

Wish Parker was smiling in this picture, but I still LOVE this picture. I am going to frame it in my house.



Mama Lynn and Papa K with their grand babies.

Aunt Lindsey with Micah

Aunt Lindsey with Parker. He loves his Aunt Lindsey! But wouldn't smile for us...he just wanted to blow bubbles.

Micah all smiles


Parker blew sooooo many bubbles with Mama Lynn and Papa K. Wow! They ended up buying more at Randalls. These bubbles were the best bubbles I have ever seen. They were so thick and lasted forever. Ok, so when I mean forever. One blew into my house from outside and like an hour later it was still on my table! It hadn't even popped. Ha!

Parker talking with Papa while we searched for Derek's wallet.

Mrs. Elaine talking with Parker. Papa and Mrs. Elaine just recently got married!! Congrats to them!!

Uncle Darrell and Aunt Bonnie with John Marc on the train ride at Zilker Park. I love that Parker calls Darrell and Bonnie "Uncle" and "Aunt". It is just too cute!

Me and Micah. I didn't even know Micah was smiling. Precious!

Me and Laura Kate. How cute are her sun glasses?!

Mama Lynn and Papa K with Parker on the train ride.

Allie and Blake sat next to each other. Well, sorta...they had that "love, but do not sit next to me" kinda relationship going.

Micah and his finger...every time he eats he sticks this finger in his mouth. Never fails! EVERY TIME!

John Marc and his thumb. He was so stinkin' good ALL the time!

Kiddos enjoying some yummy ice cream outside on the back porch. Yum!

YAY!

My cousin and best friend, Stephanie, got engaged while I was in B'ham. I am SOOOO Happy for her! Eric and her dated for 6 years so we were waiting on this. I am so thankful to Eric who did it while I was in town. I think Steph said he thought about that, but if not or if so thank you Eric! Her ring is GORGEOUS! They are getting married in 3 short months. And surprisingly, so far, everything is falling into place. I will be very happy to return for the wedding festivities!!! YAY!!! I love you Steph and Eric!

Steph and Me

Eric and Steph

I can SWIM!

Parker has started swimming on his own. He now jumps off into the pool by himself and kicks his feet until he gets to one of us...and then we turn him around and he swims back. Or he jumps close enough in where he turns back to the ladder all by himself. He has no floaties...nothing...just his really fast little legs. We are still teaching him things, but I am so proud of him!!


This is what he does in the bath tub. He treats it like a pool and goes completely under. I tried to get a picture of it. It is so funny! He ALWAYS does it! Every time he has a bath.

This rarely happens but for some reason on this night Parker was not wanting to go to bed. When I walked into the room this is what I saw. Ha! It cracked me up!

Derek Allen Mills...LOVE him!

On July 5th my husband turned 26 years old. He is WONDERFUL in every way!! He works so hard, and is a great daddy. He is so sweet to me...always has been. I will have to say I got a great catch.
Derek has always wanted drums. So for his birthday this year he saved all his birthday money and bought him some electric drums. Why electric you ask? Because they can be plugged into headphones and no one else can hear them but him. I strongly encouraged Derek to get them because it is a hobby that he could have at home. He plays all the time and is already getting really good. I am amazed! It is the funniest thing. Parker plays guitar while Derek plays the drums to this song. It brought tears to my eyes the other day because it was just one of those moments that I will cherish forever. Micah was on the bed watching it all and just had his old man grin on his face. Oh yeah, I was the singer. Yay for me! Ha ha!
Happy LATE birthday Derek! I LOVE LOVE YOU!

Sweet Home Alabama

Two weeks ago the boys and I headed out to Birmingham, AL for a week trip. It was WONDERFUL! My great friends, Jessica and Evelyn, Meredith and her boys, Mary Ann and Beau, and my cousin, Stephanie all made time for me the whole week. It was so sweet of them and it made my trip great! My mom rode with us down there and my dad rode with us back to Austin. Those drives were not so fun for the boys or me. BUT it was well worth it. These are some pictures of my boys hangin out at their Mama Don and Papa's house. My parents are selling their house so I had to get the picture of them on the stairs and playing there because I am not sure when I will have that opportunity again. :( I probably gained 20 pounds because I ate at all my favorite places. Some of them twice!!! Anyways, I am happy to be home, but so glad we paid a visit to the ole ham!! :)

Ok, so if you think I am a bad mom because of this, oh well. My mom gave Micah his first tootsie roll pop while we were there and he loved it! He was sticky ALL over!! I took him straight to the bath. He obviously did NOT eat all of it, but he probably thought he could have if I would have let him. :)

Micah hangin with Papa on the floor.




Parker hanging out at Jessica's house with Evelyn. I wish I would have gotten more pictures of all my friends and their kids. UGH! I meant to, I just didn't think about it or have time for it.

Seriously?! My child looks ridiculous and could care less. He was having fun. Oh my Word!!

The stair picture. I was by myself so it is not great, but still I had to get it.

Parker was upset with me.

Photo shoot of Micah

I love these pictures of Micah!! All of them show the new things he has been doing lately. He will be 6 months old in 10 days. I feel like he is doing so many things at such an early age!! He is sitting up now really good. He still falls, but he no longer has to use his hands to hold himself up. It is so cute! He also gets on his hands and knees and tries to crawl. He can move his legs, but hasn't quite figured out how to move his hands too. Parker started crawling at 7 months. Micah is so good and laid back. He is not good with switching his schedule up, but other than that he is such a happy baby. He is now sleeping on his back and his hair is in HORRIBLE knots when I get him up. I don't even know what to do with it!! Anyways, enjoy a peek at my sweet sweet baby boy!





We love this grin. I don't know why, but he has started smiling like this all the time. It is the old man with no teeth smile and it cracks me up!

This is what Micah would look like if he was bald like the rest of the babies in this world. lol!

It has been forever...I know!!

Parker holding Harley... He kept saying "I wanna hold him". I was like, uhh...you mean her.

I am not proud of the way I look in this picture. However, my boys look cute. :)Micah was asleep during this pic.

I LOVE this picture!! Micah looks so cute! He is now eating baby food and loves it. Most of the time you cannot get it in him fast enough.

Brothers bonding time

Parker loves Micah and will look for him every time he walks in the room.

My mom took Parker and Gray out for a morning. She took them to Target to pick out what they wanted and then to Chick-fi-la, and home to bake cookies. Here Parker is with all the gear that my mom got him. There was more but he couldn't hold all of it. Thank you Mama Don!!

Oh the life of Parker Mills. :) A tootsie roll pop kicked back in the bathtub.