January and Feburary Snapshots

Its been a long time since I (Jeanette) have written anything on the blog.  So I thought I would update you all with pictures. 

On February 7th we celebrated Michael's 30th birthday.  We had a small dinner party at our house with some of Michael's closest friends here in the area. 

For Michael's Birthday I made him a Cheese cake.  Yes, don't count the candles because I did not have 30 on hand to put on the cake.  Ooops.  

We also got the chance to visit our friends Danny and Marci and meet their new little addtion Juliette in Janurary.  Juliette was named in part after me!  They live in Coos Bay, which is south central on the Oregon Coast, so we got to say a little hello to the ocean!!

Our little Maia loves the sand.  She can't keep her hands off of it when we are on the beach. 

Its so fun to have close friends having kiddos too!

Michael had requested Ginya's homemade potato doughnuts for his birthday.  Since we were overwhelmed with sweet things already on that day, Valentines Day seemed like a better day for doughnuts.  I was able to get that recipe and while Michael was working the morning shift Maia and I were hastily making doughnuts for him to come home to!!!  They were so good and the recipe made quite a large batch, so we were able to deliver some Valentines love to the Leighs and Huffmans. 

Although sometimes life seems busy, there are always those sweet times of cuddling.  Since our daughter is

a go getter these moments of her falling asleep on my lap are extra precious and should be cherished!

We also got snow in Portland!!!  Yes compared to many of you who live in much more snowier places, this was not much and it was gone just as fast as it came.  I decided to head over to Laurelhurst Park to capture some photos of the snow before it melted.  While I was there, there were many children (since even the forecast of snow causes school to cancel) sledding down the little hills in the park.  Yes we love our snow when we get it.

We even bundled up Maia in her snow outfit and let her play outside in our backyard for a little bit.  She had a blast with this cold, wet snow. 

Well, that's a snapshot of the Miller's adventures in the past few months.  We have had other adventures, but they will have to wait for another post! 

Cookie Monster

Today Maia and I were playing in the living room, and I got up for a minute and went in the kitchen.  I grabbed a bite of magic cookie bar, and made sure I had finished eating it before going back to Maia.  Then I sat down with her and continued playing.  She however smelled it on my breath, got up, walked to directly below where the cookies were, came back, asked me to pick her up, had me walk to them, on the way asked me to open my mouth as she inspected it to see if I was eating any, then asked for a cookie. 

(The only part left is the non-coconut part that we made for Clint and Merodie)

I gave her a bit, but that girl would always want more no matter how much you gave her.  So I told her all done and that we weren't having any more cookies.  She insisted for quite awhile, and finally realized that I wasn't going to get her anymore.  At that point she left me, went into the kitchen, grabbed the step ladder where it was folded up and wedged in between the oven and cupboard, and dragged it all the way out.  She then tried and tried to unfold it and set it up, but to no success.  Poor girl got pretty frustrated that she couldn't get that stool to do what she wanted to do. 

(The chocolate smears on her face are actually from later in the day when mom brought home some more cookies from a baby shower.  That girl sure loves her cookies!)

     In fact, that's been a theme lately.  Maia has developed a frustrated sound she makes when she just can't do what she wants to do.  We'll hear it when she's trying and trying to take mommy's tank top off after finally getting it on, or when she wants to stack her blocks 14 high and they keep tumbling at 13, or when she is trying and trying to put Bear in the stroller but it is tipped forward too much and he keeps falling out.  She's slowly learning to come get us and ask for help, although she hasn't quite learned to say 'help' yet.  Our little girl seems so busy all day long!

For Grandma Tita

 

Maia is sure a chatterbox!  She especially loves to talk in the mornings.  Here's a video of her chattering away.  Unfortunately once I got the video camera out, Meko walked in, and Maia was so interested in seeing her that she chats a little less in the video than she did prior to when I pressed play. 

The next videos are of Maia doing her chores.  I thought Grandma Tita would get a kick out of it, because she and Maia work so hard doing the same things.  This first one was already posted on facebook, so this is for all you non-facebook people. 

This next video is the second half of her chores.  A warning to everyone else-- it's 6 minutes long and nothing changes.  I only post it here so Grandma Tita can see it, the rest of you, don't keep watching expecting something spectacular to happen right at the end-- you'll be disappointed!

Maia opening her gift from Grandma Tita (and Grandpa Everett).

And finally, a video of what happened right after she opened her present from Grandma Tita.  The horse wasn't put together yet, but the music worked!  Maia really wanted to dance to it, but first she had to get it to play a longer song than just the 'neigh.' 

And as a bonus, here is a series of her opening her gift from Grandma Jo.

 

 

Dad was vacuuming in the living room, so two scared little ones who normally stay far away from one another found solace in the same spot exactly as far away from the living room as they could get. 

A Little Hawaiian Sun

We had the opportunity to escape Portland for a week and venture in the warm sun of Hawaii. We stayed with Tiffany Geiger and her family and enjoyed their hospitality. This biggest excitement on this trip was Maia's experience with warm ocean water and lots and lots of sand to play with. She was thrilled every time we went to the ocean. We had to watch her close because she would bee-line for the ocean. Our time was spent trying not to focus on things in Portland, but to enjoy family time. I feel like that was accomplished and we felt pretty refreshed when we returned. Here is just a recap of our trip.

Day 1.
We landed in Honolulu on Sunday October 31st in the mid morning. It was nice to have most of the day there. We had lunch and then headed over to Waikiki to walk around and say hello to the ocean. Maia was thrilled!!!

Our adventures started with Tiffany's mom's car breaking down on us while we were there. So some of our afternoon was spent figuring out a tow truck and all that sort of stuff.

Since it was Halloween we got to get Maia all dressed up in her ladybug costume and go to an event at Tiffany's church. The time zone change was quite a big deal and so at this point it was about 9:00pm our time which means usually Maia has been in bed for about 2 hours. So Halloween was not that fun for her. However, she did get to ride the pony and that was fun for her.

Maia conked out right after she got off that pony. It was a matter of seconds of her falling asleep as we were getting her in the Ergo. That was one exhausted little girl.
So since Maia was asleep Michael thought maybe he could try to use her costume to get a little candy. Hmmm...I don't know if that will work?

Day 2: We went to Lanikai, one of our favorite beaches. We just loved how gentle the waves were and how peaceful and unpopulated the beach was. Maia loved how yummy the sand tasted. It was an upward battle trying to keep the sand out of her mouth.

Tiffany and Maia playing in the ocean!

The water was so warm, Maia just loved running right to it. However, she was not a fan of getting in with us. She just loved being able to get her feet wet and then sit in the shallow water and play with the sand.

As always, Maia makes friends where ever she goes. I was holding her in the water when she was saying Dah dah (her word for dog) and panting as she was making her sound for a dog. And I was wondering why is she just saying that out of the blue and then sure enough right behind us was a dog on a boogie board and a the owner pulling him along. Good eyes Maia! So this is the dog and the owner.

Family in the ocean!

Day 3: On this day we spent some time at Pearl Harbor. We have not seen the monument and thought it was a good thing to see at least once while we are in Hawaii. So we hopped on the ferry and went out to the memorial for the Arizona. It was pretty sobering to think about all that took place the day that boat sank.

After Pearl Harbor we went to Leonards where we tasted the deliciousness of the Malasada - a Portuguese Doughnut. Delicious as most doughs that are fried and tossed with sugar.

Maia thought they were pretty delicious as well!

I think she was sad that the Malasada was all gone, or maybe it was just past her bedtime once again.

Day 4: It was a rainy day in Hawaii while in Portland the sun was shining and it was supposedly a beautiful day. Ironic? Well we decided that we would take a drive and head towards the North Shore and see the waves and eat some shrimp. It turned out to be a fun day. On the North Shore the rain was not coming down so much and it was actually pleasant to be out, so we sat on Sunset Beach and watched the waves and the surfers.

We also kept a close eye on our little girl because she was creeping down the sand dune and towards the roaring ocean.

The roaring ocean.

On our way to the North Shore we stopped and had garlic shrimp. Mmm...mmm...good!

Day 5: This was our last full day in Hawaii. We ended up spending some of the day at the beach Makapu'u with Tiffany.

After we dropped off Tiffany at school, we went to Waikiki and walked around and watched the Sunset. Good way to end our time in Hawaii. It was a great trip and we thoroughly and enjoyed every bit of. We are thankful for the opportunity to go and thankful for great friends to open their home for us to stay and their cars for us to use. We are certainly blessed!

Maia and Her Bear

Maia has a little bear that she just loves. It was given to her from her Grandma in South Dakota for Valentines Day and since then she has had an attachment towards the bear. Sometimes I think the bear's name is Hi There, since that is what the bear says when you push its foot and Maia tends to address it as such. Often theres a big smile on this girls face when she encounters her Hi There Bear. So one day I thought I would document her carrying around her special bear. Its been fun watching her play with dolls and stuffed animals and how she hugs them and takes care of them. What kindness and love that she portrays! So these are just a set of photos of Maia and her Bear.