Hush Ya'll!

Joshua is representing Brooklyn by wearing his t-shirt that his uncle Jason and aunt Alice gave him, Philadelphia by wearing his Phillies hat his uncle Harris gave him and the south by carrying his "Hush" paddle that we acquired from a golf tournament. He proceeded to chase Kevin, Jaime and me around the house with his paddle. What were we thinking lettting him play with it!

There's Nothing Like Play Time!

Joshua adding "big sticks" to his stick pile

Joshua riding his new bike that Santa brought him for Christmas

Joshua playing with his new shopping cart and food to go w/it (he's holding the glass of milk)

Christmas 2006

We hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and had a wonderful time with their friends and family.

What a Christmas we had! Joshua was really into Santa and the holiday spirit this year. We flew down to Florida Friday after Kevin got off of work. And we were totally stressed out given all the crap we had to take with us and we had last year's memory of the flight on our minds. To our pleasant surprise, Joshua was an angel. I think being a year older and having him sit in his car seat made a HUGE difference. Even after sitting on the runway for a 45 minute delay, he was still well behaved - how could he not be when he was alseep before we even reached our flying altitude. He slept both ways, and we were thrilled.

While our trip was short, it was packed with events. We got in late on Friday night and after some pizza and visiting with Grandma "Sue-Anne", Grandpa Jim, Bear the Dope (that's the dog), and TT, we finally retired sometime after 11. On Saturday we went to this play store/center where Joshua got to play with all of these really cool toys and dance with all of the other kids and staff. It's kind of like a combination of a Chucky Cheese w/o the food and a Gymboree w/o the gymnastics but add toys. We headed over to Betty and Nat's for a delicious cook out. Their grandchildren are 2.5 and 4 so all of the kids had a lot of fun and all of the adults stuffed their faces w/ hotdogs, cheeseburgers, chips and dip and the best sausage ever.

Christmas Eve started off by going to the park where Joshua had it out w/ a few ants. He didn't realize he wasn't standing in your ordinary pile of dirt. After a few bites, we all quickly realized what happened and poor Joshua had about 5 or 6 ant bites on his feet and legs. He asked if Bear could kiss his "piggies" to make his feet feel better. We headed down to McDonalds for lunch and playtime at the park since we couldn't find a Chucky Cheese. What a weird exp we had at M-c-P (aka a McDonalds w/ a park - we have to have code words now so we don't disappoint Joshua). At the height of lunch rush hour, the manager locked the doors and would not serve customers in the rest. but would via drive-thru. Odd. His explanation was, "the line was getting too long so we had to close." Wow!

What an eventful day! After our adventure, we headed to our Christmas Eve dinner. We were a little nervous since it's a fancy rest and dinner takes approx 2 hours. Joshua was an angel. He sat in his chair for about 50 mins before he wanted to go for a walk w/ Kevin to look at the boats. When the boys returned, he sat still for another hour. We were impressed. Maybe all the M&Ms I bribed him with helped - ha ha! The company was fabulous and the food was delicious. I even liked the fish Kevin ordered.

Santa came that night and the next morning seeing Joshua's face when he saw all the presents under the tree was priceless. His Grandma and Grandpa spoiled him rotten and made sure that this Christmas was a Christmas he'll never forget. After we opened our gifts, we headed over to GG and Great Grandpa Jim's to open more presents and have Christmas breakfast. Shortly after that, we headed to the airport and came home.

Top 5 most memorable moments:
1. Joshua's face when he saw all of the presents under the tree.
2. Joshua learning to say "Bear you big dope" from Grandpa Jim
3. Joshua telling Kevin that he had to go back inside and that only his Grandma "Sue-Anne" could come outside and play with him.
4. TT and Joshua baking cookies w/ Grandpa Jim supervising
5. The most tasty dinner at Betty and Nat's house - best sausage ever!

Uncle Harris stayed with us Monday and Tuesday while he's in town visiting. We had a nice dinner last night w/ Grandma Stephanie, Uncle Harris, Ann (Harris' girlfriend) and us. We went to a hibachi grill place where again, Joshua was well behaved. Now if we could just get him to eat table food, life would be great!!

Below are a few photos from our Christmas.

Joshua and Grandma Suzanne posing with the Nutcracker

Joshua at the park

Joshua and Great Grandpa Jim

Kevin, Grandpa Jim and Joshua

Grandpa Jim and Joshua checking out the ocean

Joshua helping open Uncle Harris' Christmas present

Happy New Year!!!

Milman Christmas Tradition

We decided to put up a Christmas tree for the first time this year. After debating back and forth wether or not to put one up, we decided to go ahead and do it as long as it's not a real one since both Fox and Nala still have their claws and I don't need anymore cat puke than we already have. Joshua is really into Christmas this year and LOVES to look at all the trees on display at various retail establishments and all of the lights around our neighborhood. He keeps asking us when Santa is coming to his house and this year there were no tears when we visited Santa.

We started a new tradition this year and had a tree trimming party. Stephanie and Jaime came over to help us trim our very first tree. Everybody had their special ornament to hang: Stephanie had a fancy shoe w/ a feather on it; Jaime a cosmo martini; Kevin a basketball net, ball and shoes; Joshua a puppy and I had a penguin and eskimo. As you can imagine, Joshua loved to hang ornaments and he wanted to hang ALL of them. We had to do a little rearranging so all the ornaments were not on the bottom. All in all, it was a huge success and a lot of fun!

Stephanie, Joshua and I getting the decorations out

Joshua hanging his second Santa of the evening

Joshua claiming his ornaments

Kevin topping the tree with our star

Baby Boy Milman

It's official, the baby is a boy! We had our 20 week appointment a week early today, 19 weeks, to make sure the baby is growing and developing properly. And he is! His heart, spine, organs, etc. look great. And all his fingers and toes do too, what a relief!

Baby Boy Milman #2

He looks super cute to me - ha ha, but of course I am biased. I don't think he looks like Joshua though and I think he's going to look more like his Dad than Joshua does. Below is a picture of Joshua around the same gestational age.

Joshua - 20 Weeks

What do you guys think? None the less, Kevin and I are so excited. And I keep thinking, "wow, me and my boys!" Since I ended up having the emergency c-section with Joshua, I'll go ahead and have a planned c-section with baby boy Milman too. They will schedule my c-section for 39 weeks and in the next month or two we'll nail down the date and time. I pray and hope that I'll make it to 39 weeks. I keep thinking I'm going to get sick again and stress myself out and make my blood pressure rise which then makes me think that I'm getting pre-eclampsia again. My OB says that the liklihood is small so I'm hoping she's right! Once I relax, the BP is back to normal - they call it white coat syndrome.

Joshua is going to be happy too since he keeps saying he wants the baby to be a boy. He says he wants a brother and calls the baby, "baby Jake" although Jake isn't a name we're considering, but Jacob is.

Camera Ham!

Joshua had his pictures taken at school the other day - one for his "class picture" and then a studio came in and waived the sitting fee and took "studio" pictues. I'm not going to show you guys too many b/c you'll never guess what Joshua is giving family as a Christmas present - ha ha! Anyway, here are a couple of the pictures for you guys to see how grown up he's getting.



His teachers loved these pictures. They think he looks like a little GQ, preppie boy. I love his smile in these pictures.


This is one of the studio pictures that we did not select. It's a cute close up of him but the others were a lot better.

We're spending Thanksgiving home this year. We rotate between home and Kevin's aunt's house with his Dad's side of the family. This year it will be a small gathering - Grandma Stephanie, Jaime, Kevin, Joshua and me. We'll miss Grandpa Ron and Uncle Harris who we sometimes get to see on Turkey Day too.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!

Thanksgiving Celebration

Joshua's teachers hosted a Thanksgiving dinner for the students and their families. Despite Joshua only eating 8 chocolate chip cookies for dinner, we all had a nice time and really enjoyed watching the boys play.

Tim, Joshua and Rowan chasing each other around the gymnasium. Once they caught up with one another, they would all fall to the ground and start the process again, taking turns with who was in front.

Tim and Joshua "growling" at the top of their lungs - all the parents and other kids were taking a good look at these two. They were doing it so loud and for so long, that both of their cheeks turned red.

The boys hamming it up for Ellen. Joshua looks like his Dad in this picture especially in a few of his old college day pictures where he was very intoxicated and got in by leaning in at the last minute.

These kids play together every day and Tim and Joshua have a playdate outside of school at least once a month. They really are "friends" and when it was time to go they all gave each other a group hug.

Social Butterfly

We've been so busy the past couple of weekends! This weekend we had a birthday party for the twins - Jack and Dylan - who turned 2 on Saturday and then a playdate w/ Connor and then dinner on Sunday. We took the boys to the park, and the boys ran around the park and went down all the slides. They also seemed to really like the "choo-choo" train and the "people mover" that the parents moved back and forth by manually working the crank. We then went to dinner at a local BBQ place that was quite good. Of course Joshua didn't eat jack crap, but he was pretty well behaved for once.

Joshua and Connor enjoying a ride on the "people mover"

The Boys Getting Busy

It's been a busy weekend for the Milman boys. Saturday Kevin and Joshua played at the park with Harrison and Greg Weber and then everyone came back for lunch. Of course there is no cooking going on here - what combo meal would you like from Chick-fil-a? After Joshua's nap, which was an amazing 2 hours and 50 minutes long, we met up with Tim and his parents at Monkey Joe's. The boys were running around like they were high on caffeine and sugar or something - it's amazing how much energy they have. Poor Jon and Kevin had to go through the obstacle course a few times with the kids and I think they were exhausted by the end of the day. We decided to brave it and head to Mellow Mushroom for dinner with the Wrights.

After a 15 minute wait, we were finally seated. Knowing that our time was limited we all quickly ordered. The boys were actually very well behaved. And Joshua tried a Ritz p'nut butter cracker. We were so excited. He's been up for trying new things lately... we're anxiously waiting for the day when he tries pizza, steak, veggies, fruit, etc and actually likes it! We finally headed home and Joshua slept very well after all his playtime with his friends.

Sunday is a busy day for us too. The boys were very busy this morning doing yardwork. Joshua was a big help to his Daddy as they cleaned up our front yard.

Joshua helping his Daddy dig up plants in the front yard

Putting the dead plants in the trash bag

Say "cheese"!

TT came over and she and Joshua went to Target and then to McDonalds for playtime and lunch. Joshua actually at a McDonald's nugget and a few fries before going on the playground. I'm so excited that he's eating chicken from other fast food places besides Zaxby's. I know, how many mothers would be excited that their kid ate Mickey Ds... hey, I'll take what I can get! Later today, some friends are coming over for dinner. They have a 1-year old so hopefully Joshua will be nice... this is good training for him since we'll have a little one come late April 2007.

Trick or Treat!

Joshua had a blast this Halloween. Kevin and Joshua went trick or treating on our street and then made a pit stop at the neighbor's house who had a bonfire and refreshments for both adults and kids. After hanging out over there for a little while, the boys came on home and Joshua helped me pass out candy to the 100+ kids that came by our house up until 8:15 PM when we turned off our lights.

"Happy Ween!"

Joshua would give each kid a piece of candy and some even got 2 or 3. And as the kids were walking back to the side walk, he'd shout, "trick or treat, happy ween!" Sometimes, he even ran to the kid again and gave him / her another piece of candy. He surprisingly sampled a lot of his candy and wasn't a fan of Nerds, but he did like bottle caps, M&Ms and most of the chocolate. Next year he's going to be a pro!

Happy Halloween - Joshua's School Party

Joshua had his school Halloween party on Monday. Unfortunately, I was not able to attend because I was in Tallahassee for a couple of meetings. Luckily, Kevin, Jaime and Stephanie were all able to attend the festive event. And thank goodness Tim’s mom, Ellen, always has her camera with her so she can capture these awesome moments for us to share with everyone.

Joshua is a "doggy" this Halloween. He loves his costume and even likes to wear that head/hat part. Kevin eventually took off the head/hat since the boys were playing hard and it was getting a little warm in the classroom. As you can see from the pictures, all the kids had a great time, especially Joshua and his best buddy, Tim.

The kids playing in the gym. Joshua is all the way to the lower, right (back to us... you can see his little doggy tail).

The Doggy

Joshua, I mean the Doggy Getting Some Air!

The Boys Having a Blast!

Typical Tim and Joshua - fun, fun and more fun!

All Dressed Up Somewhere to Go!

Joshua is going to be the ring bearer in his Uncle Jason's wedding. Well at least he's going to try - we're not making any promises. Jason and Alice requested that he wear either a black or gray suit. Luckily, we found one at Burlington Coat Factory that fits the bill. We bought two to see which he likes the best. Kevin and I like the red vest w/ the blak tie look the best, but Joshua HATES the red vest and prefers the jacket look. We'll be lucky if he wears either one for more than 10 mins.

One Handsome Dude

"How you doin'?"

One Cool Dude!

Joshua has been very busy the past few weekends. We celebrated Kate's b-day at her n'hood park on 10-8 with the Harrisons and all of their friends and family. Jenn served Zaxby's chicken - a huge hit with Joshua. The boys are all pretty close in age. Joshua is 26 months, Harrison is 28 months and Bridger in 35 months. Below is a picture of Joshua, Harrison, Bridger and a neighbor friend of Jenn's enjoying the food and festivities at Kate's 1-year.

The Boys - Joshua, Harrison, Briger, Ryan

Big boy Joshua

Joshua is talking up a storm. He's saying 2 - 4 word sentences now. And others are starting to understand him too. Some of his favorite sayings are:

1) Come here daddy now

2) Outside now Mommy, two pumpkins

3) Tickle me again Mommy

4) I love you Daddy / Mommy

5) Goodnight gate, goodnight down there.

Last weekend Kevin and I celebrated my b-day by going to see "The Departed", to dinner and then seeing, "Man of the Year." We then stayed at the Hyatt and slept in until 7:30 AM - wow, crazy kids! My how times have changed! I can only imagine that it will be like this for the next 4 - 5 years as I firmly believe life will get easier when dos is about 3 or 4 and since his (yes, I think the baby is going to be a boy just as I did with Joshua) arrival won't be until the last week of April 2007, we have quite a while.

We went and picked out pumpkins on Saturday. Joshua is really into pumpkins and scarecrows this year. He loves to go look at all of the houses in our n'hood and check out their pumpkins and other Halloween decorations. Then Jaime came over so we could go out and stayed the night w/ Joshua. She said it's not work anymore that she really had a lot of fun with him even though he woke up at 12:00 AM and tried to trick her into letting him sleep in the bed with her. It' s nice to have here and I'm so pleased that she and Joshua have a close relationship. I don't think we could handle Boo and dos without Stephanie and Jaime... we'll certainly be calling and asking for more help after Arpil, that's for sure!

This weekend, it looks like we'll hang out w/ the Wrights and we'll get Joshua and Tim together, which means "T"rouble.

The Many Faces of Joshua

Here are some pictures of Joshua from this morning:
1) Joshua playing w/ Dino.
2) Joshua loves to say "cheese" when we take his picture.
3) Kevin taught Joshua to make a "scary" face - he is actually growling and crinkling his fingers but it's hard to tell in this picture. 4) Kevin taught Joshua to make a "silly" face - he is actually making the puppy dog face that Kevin is famous for doing when he used to pick up the ladies.

My Friend Chucky

With much needed relief this weekend, TT came over on Saturday and took her favorite nephew to the park and to Chucky Cheese. Of course going to Chucky Cheese does not include eating pizza like it does for most toddlers, but none the less Joshua had a blast at both the park and at Chucky.

Joshua and his new Best Buddy "Chuck"

Joshua driving the "Bob the Builder" tractor in the toddler area

This was a much more successful outing since the last time we went to visit Chucky, both Harrison and Joshua got stuck in the rat tunnel and Greg had to rescue the boys. Lucky for TT Joshua expressed no interest in revisiting the maze.

On Sunday, we had an opportunity to go see the movie, "The Last Kiss," when Grandma Stephanie came over. What a nice weekend! Only if this could become a routine - ha ha!

A Mother's Love

Who would have ever thought that you would be the love of our lives! Each day you amaze us and just when we thought we can't love you anymore, we realize that we love you more and more each day. You are a great teacher and thank you for teaching us (okay really me b/c your Dad is already all these nice things) to be more patient, understanding and kind. Despite your refusal to try new foods, sit still, listen to us and your terrible 2s temper tantrus, you are the best son a mother and father could ever dream of having. We are very proud of you and love you so much that it sometimes hurts Lerue.

Let's Party!

We celebrated Joshua's birthday at Monkey Joe's with 11 other toddlers. All of the kids had a blast climbing, sliding, jumping and running around the play center. I'm not sure who was more tired, the kids or their parents! After running around for practically 2 hours, we had pizza, cookie cake and cupcakes. Joshua attempted to blow out his candles and we were impressed that he almost did it by himself, but his Dad provided a little hot air so the wax wouldn't drip onto the cake. Below are pictures from the party.

Joshua and Connor climbing up one of the slides

Joshua, Tim, Rowan and Connor going down one of the slides.

Joshua, Rowan and Tim riding the icecream truck - "hands up!"

A thirsty bunch - Joshua, Stephanie, TT, Kevin and Harrison (it's no wonder the boys are so thirsty!)

Kevin and Harrison having a water break

Joshua having a water break

The Ladies - Jenn and Kate and Hollis and Kerri

J-man getting ready to blow out his candles


J-man - he's not scared to eat some cookie cake!