Mae Mo

This is a photo dump. Consider yourself warned. Be thankful all the photos are of the squirt. And no, the following are not in chronological order. I'm not that organized.

Those are some impressive, rosy cheeks… and a pretty unsightly schnoz.

"I didn't do it."

"I'm an excellent (intense) driver."

Rollin' with the homies.

So during Maci's stint of sickness, she slept in her car seat (in her crib) most of the time. The nylon seat can get a bit uncomfortable so we started draping it with a blanket before we set her in it. One afternoon, we heard her stirring from her afternoon nap and went to go retrieve her from the seat. Below is what we found…

The setup.

Our Jedi (wearing her Star Wars onesie no less).

She was not phased in the slightest.

On a side note about having your baby sleep in the car seat in the crib: we're big fans when the situation calls for it. One thing we learned, however, is that when they reach a certain age, it might become necessary to start buckling them in. I will never forget the way I found Maci one morning. She had wiggled herself down so that her head was basically where her butt should be, her torso was teetering on the bottom edge of the seat and her legs were clear out. I was SO scared I'd broke my baby. Mom of the year, right here.

And speaking of which, yes, I took a photo of my child on her worst day of existence to date.

The day the music died.

Nekked yoga.

This is Maci's stoic pose.

"I'm sorry. You said I have drool where?"

She is her father's daughter…

…with her mother's hair.

"I love you little music-walker-toy-thing."

Playing sure takes it out of a wee person.

The following photos are all from Easter. Now, we did not see the Easter bunny. We did not hunt for eggs. And we did not find any baskets full of goodies. However, we did get all gussied up. We did go to church. And we did sport some pretty adorable bunny ears (Thanks Miss Bree!) so that a shameless mother could take some photos.

Too bad we were out of carrots.

I just think that's the cutest stinkin' profile I've ever seen.

Okay, so then we took our photo shoot outside. Below is my favorite picture of Mae Mo to date because if you put me in a dress and sat me on a blanket in the grass while it was a bit chilly outside, below is what my expression would be. Ah, if looks could kill…

"You want me to do what?"

The day is not complete without some basset love.

She must have beautiful parents.

Some bare tootsies…

We get told all the time that Maci has the greatest shaped mouth. It's a pouter's mouth. We have no idea where it came from but we think it accentuates her jowls quite nicely.

Said jowls.

Maci's current craze is clapping.

THIS angle is to show off the curls she's sprouting. They're blond but we'll take 'em.

FINALLY! A smile!

"Dear God… "

Her eyes could not possibly be any bluer.

I had to include the one below because she's laughing at herself while throwing her face into the sofa (her new favorite place to stand). She thinks she's pretty funny… like someone else I know.

"I crack me up."

Next Saturday, Maci Mae will be 10 months old. What. the. hell.

Shawn and I were watching some old videos of her yesterday and we could NOT get over how teeny tiny she was and how much she has changed in both appearance and personality. She is actually a very good baby. She's almost always happy, smiling, laughing, shrieking or tweaking. While she still has no teeth (Mama luvs the gums) and isn't quite crawling yet, she is a droolin', scootin' (mostly backwards) fool. We're still working on her not planting her face every time she sticks her butt up in the air to get up on her knees. She's also clapping, pinching, rolling her tongue, saying Da-Da and making all kinds of ridiculous noises that, for some reason, sound very bird-like to us. Her Dad is her favorite person in the world, her bunny is her favorite toy, Goodnight Opus is her favorite bedtime story and blueberry apple is currently her favorite flavor of food (followed closely by sweet potatoes and real cantaloupe). Recently, she's learned how to tilt herself to the side (always to the right) and grove her little body to a pretty coordinated jig. It's her version of dancing and as soon as I can get it on tape, I will. She loves to stand, be outside and always, always, ALWAYS wants to face out when you hold her. We're not sure how we were blessed with such a perfect little person, but we do think she's got us buckled in for a hell of a ride. And while absolutely EVERYONE tells us she looks like the Gerber baby… to us, she just looks like our baby.

A Cause

I will be running (yes, running) on Saturday, August 11th in honor of my Dad, Mark V. Miller who committed suicide in April of 2010. My goal is to raise awareness, raise money and raise my heart rate as I attempt to complete my first ever 5k. Please click here to learn more about this event, the non-profit organization SAVE, and what you can do to help. No cause is greater to my heart and unfortunately, closer to home. Help me remove the stigma associated with mental health, depression and suicide in order to continue the conversation, raise awareness and promote education so that others may find help.

I will wear my camouflage on the outside to encourage others not to hide what's on the inside.

I hope you will consider making a donation. Donating online is safe and easy and all donations are 100% tax deductible. Anything and everything helps and I sincerely thank and appreciate your support.

DO YOU WANT TO RUN (OR WALK) WITH ME?
If you would like to participate in this event, let me know and I will send you a separate invitation to become a member of Team Camo. Minnesota is lovely in August… *wink, wink*.

Grandpa Miller

It will be two years this week since my Dad took his life. I still don't know how to put what I feel into words. It's indescribable. It's ironic actually. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him but when I try and articulate my thoughts into something… what I come up with doesn't do my feelings justice. There's an ache and a hole and a sadness like no daughter should have to feel but it's there all the same. So much of who I am, what I know and how I do things is because I learned it from my Dad. That's what he is. My Dad. Shawn's larger-then-life father-in-law. Maci's Grandpa. Maci will never get to meet him but had she, she would've hated his beard but loved the squeaky noise he could make with his cheek. She might've turned up her nose at some things he offered her to eat but I bet she would've got some ice cream out of him. She would've definitely made him nervous when she cried but ultimately melted his heart when she smiled. I know he watches and I know he's in a better place and I wish him nothing but continued peace… I just wish he could've found that peace while he was here because dammit, I miss him. He was definitely not good at some things but he was great at others and above all, to me, he was a pretty stinkin' fantastic Dad. And he had the best taste in music…

"He says son can you play me a memory, I'm not really sure how it goes… But it's sad and it's sweet and I knew it complete, when I wore a younger man's clothes"