*a new bed*

~kaden is in love with his Big Boy Bed! He loves getting cozy and reading stories under the covers...yay for more cuddly time!



~and here he is pretending to be Snow White and asking me what I would like to eat ( he uses the guardrail as his kitchen). In this same conversation, he let me know he knew all the 7 dwarfs...dopey, grumpy, sneezy and gassy. Smart boy...there SHOULD be gassy dwarf!



Most random outing ever. Kaden loves these statues that he calls "those big guys" that are posed dancing in front of the Performing Arts Center. Chad thought it would be the ultimate thrill to hang out underneath the guys, rather than just seeing them in a drive by. Kaden loved it and continuously chatted about "the guys" all day. We also made a pit stop at the Big Blue Bear, since it had been a while. Nothing like spending a day galavanting around town checking out all the giant ceramic sculptures!


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The snow has all melted and we had a crazy yard full of leaves to rake before the next snow comes along! Kaden was lovin *helping*.






~having a picnic with daddy in the backyard.

*a snowy day*

~a first glimpse at the crazy snowfall.

Fall was slightly interrupted this year by a crazy little snowstorm that dropped 10 inches of snow overnight. Literally, the day before it was 80 degrees, bright and sunny and the leaves have never been more gorgeous, and then BAM...winter wonderland! I so wanted to stay home and be cozy with a cup of hot cocoa and watch the snow with nugget, but instead I went to work, and Daddy decided to stay home and do just that. Boooooooo! I checked in with them throughout the day and they were having a blast playing hard in the snow. I am not sure how I lived without snow for ten years, there is really nothing like that first snowfall. It completely warms your soul, makes you feel cozy thoughts and it is just makes everything so bright and beautiful. If you are one of those people that don't feel quite like this about snow, Colorado might be the place for you. Because all of this white stuff practically disappeared today. I love the sound of the sun melting it to pieces, it just sounds like he is on a crazy mission to get the job done. I love it all.


~the beautiful fall trees all droopy from all the snow.




~a "shovel ride".


~kaden posing by his pumpkin creations. 24 hours later...the snow is all gone!

*quirky*

Every child has their quirks. After years of working with little ones, I have come to know this to be not only true, but what makes each of them so amazingly unique and beautiful in their own way. Kaden has many of these quirky quirks, and there is one in particular that has thrown me for a loop. His objection to ponytails. Nope, I have not attempted to put his own hair into a ponytail, it is an objection to mine being up in anyway shape or form.

Ever since the little man can remember, I have had short hair. He never knew that mama once had long hair and rocked the ponytail on a daily basis. Now he has complete FITS if i so much as put my hair up to wash my face or clean around the house. He begs me "PEAS mama put your hair down", and will continuously become more and more upset and emotional if I do not follow his directives. With #2 coming into town, I have decided to grow my hair once again, so that I can rock the ponytail and make my life a helluva lot easier with low hair maintenance. I have been preparing kaden by practice runs with my mini ponytail. It has been emotionally exhausting for both of us! We spent a day at the zoo last week with his little girlfriend and my mommy friend who is also a child therapist. I told her about his ponytail aversion, and the look on her face made me feel that this is all stranger than I would like to think. We did some ponytail conditioning with him with her little girl's hair, and he had no problem with it. My friend played with my hair and pulled it back and he completely lost it.

The fate of my hair is up in the air with this little quirk of his. Am I being ridiculous letting my almost three year old have power over my hair. Any ideas or suggestions are welcome!

As quirky as he may be, he sure is one dancin machine! Here he is rockin out to his favorite, Old Dan Tucker (music by daddy).

guess what????

Baby Miller the SECOND edition will be making a grand entrance into the world on April 3, 2012!!! We could not be more overjoyed!!!!!!!!!!!!





Wishing you all happy, healthy, and dreamed filled days to come.
love, light and peace,
The Millers!

*fall fever*

What is it about Fall? This year, I feel completely intoxicated by all things pumpkin, the changing leaves and majestic Aspen trees, and all things Halloween. I just want to bake all things pumpkin and apple and savor every moment. I made an amazing apple butter last week, and this week I want to tackle pumpkin butter. It is supposed to snow this weekend so I need to enjoy this short lived fall FAST!

Kaden is also ridiculously excited about the season and has narrowed down his Halloween costumes to Snow White (has been in the running since he could say those words), Elephant, a "baby" pig, Mickey Mouse, Dopey, Monkey (he has an adorable Monkey costume thanks to Mamaw and Papaw...were pullin for the Monkey), a pirate, or a "girl". He is fascinated by all things girls. I really want him to be a mini Dwight Schrute (see below), but I have a feeling that will NOT be in the final three.




~rockin out at the Pumpkin Harvest Fest with Kaden and Julia.



~Kaden's first hayride with our friends Lindsay and Julia. Julia is the cutest!













~the road to our camping spot this past weekend.....to be continued!

*AM dance festivities*

~treat every morning like a solid gold dance party...complete with Chad's amazing acid washed denim jammies. *swoon*

*bullies*

~kaden with his owwie still *rockin on*

Poor little kaden got a little roughed up this week by some bullies. For the record, I do not actually believe these two and three year olds are actually "bullies", and I understand how impulsive and the low frustration tolerance that goes hand in hand with being a toddler. Although I know better and understand their intentions, my first instinct was to give these little bullies the stink eye.

The first was a huge scratch that he got on his face when some little girl (apparently with very long well manicured nails) wanted the toy he was playing with at daycare. I freaked out a little when I got home from work and first saw him, but Chad convinced me that his daycare teacher was super apologetic and said that she had spoken with the girl's mother. The second incident happened at the mall with both Chad and I there a few feet from him. I saw this little boy hitting his mama while she was texting (of course she didn't once put down the damn cell) and she continued to scream at him "go play". He was in a little tunnel in the play area at the mall, and although I didn't see exactly what happened, kaden said the boy smacked him in his face and threw him on the ground. Kaden was HOWLING and screaming "he got me".

At this point, I am wondering out loud how other mamas would handle this. In the past, I have felt that it is not my place to discipline other people's children. That being said, if a child is being overly aggressive, and no one is really supervising that child, I think somehow they need to be held accountable for their actions. I made the decision to go over to this boy's mama (still texting)and let her know what happened. She shared with me that he was autistic and he is nonverbal, and went right back to texting. Having experience working with children with autism, I quickly apologized to her and just focused on talking to kaden to calm him down.

I haven't stopped thinking about how I would handle this next time....and I know there will be a next time. Kaden is not the little guy that hits others at the park, he is the intuitive little people watcher that is probably gonna get bullied for being such a sweet and sensitive soul at some point. Or maybe not. He is a pretty cool little dude.








~jamfest.



Linky Love!

Loving this super duper adorable Fall Bucket List printable from Loves of Life. Just click on the blog and you can print one for yourself!

I'm feeling giddy about Halloween this year, and I'm feeling extra crafty. Loving all these cute Halloween ideas!

I stumbled upon this blog this week and it is my newest blog crush. Passive Aggressive Notes. Definitely worth a drive by...it is hilarious!

I have been quite lazy this summer with regards to cooking, and it has been TOO hot out to turn on the oven! I needed some inspiration to get back into it, and I tried out two new recipes this week that were incredible and I have to share with you!

The first I made in my beloved slow cooker. It was this Brown Sugar and Balsamic glazed Pork Loin from the blog C&C Marriage factory. Worth a look with that super cute blog name! This was soooooo yummy and so easy, I will definitely be making this again soon!

The second didn't *sound* very yummy to me, but I am always looking for ways to get us all to eat more sweet potatoes, so I decided to give it a try. Please make this! You won't be sorry! These are Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos from the Cassie Craves blog. I find myself always perusing her blog when in need of new things to try...her site is definitely worth a visit! These were SO tasty and may be my new favorite way to make tacos!