To Grandma and Grandpa's House We Go

Hailey and Lindsay made a trip in early November to Utah, they had a blast! Lindsay and Hailey were both sufficiently spoiled and disappointed to have to leave so soon. We finally got all of the pictures downloaded this week, so here's a summary of the trip...



Took a nap with Grandpa



Played with Aunt Chelsea...



and Aunt Julie



I learned how to sit all by myself



I got spoiled by grandma



Bye Bye Utah!!!

Happy Thanksgiving

Things Brian is especially thankful for this year:

My little turkey


Family




Deep Fried Candy Bars


Duke Basketball


Friends

(All of the LDS Duke Law students at a cookout back in September)

and most of all...my sweetheart

Blue Devil Basketball

Lindsay and I went to our first Duke basketball game a couple of weeks ago. It was the Blue and White scrimmage (a preseason game against themselves). It was super fun! The grad student section is either right behind the basket or behind the Duke bench. From our little spot we can hear Coach K shouting at the team. It just doesn't get any better! I've been to a regular season game since then and I can't believe how crazy the fans are in the student section. These photos are from the preseason game so the stands aren't completely full, but there isn't a single empty seat at any of the regular season games.

The State Fair and More

The last few weeks have been busy. A couple of weeks ago we went with some friends to the North Carolina State Fair. Between the pot-belly pig races and the deep fried...everything (no kidding, they deep fried vegetables, cookies, candy bars, and more), it was a nice taste of the South.



Then this week we had a ward Halloween party, Brian was all signed up to participate in the donut eating contest...but before he got the chance, one of the girls in our ward choked on a donut and had to get the heimlich (don't worry there are a gazillion doctors and med students in our ward, and one of them dislodged the offending piece of pastry), needless to say, the donut eating extravaganza was cut short. Last of all, today, we stopped by a pumpkin patch and got a pumpkin to carve for Hailey's first Halloween.

The Hailey Mills Show

Episode 1 - The First 5 Months

Mrs. Mills Goes to Washington

After 25 years of yearning to visit the Nation's Capitol, Lindsay's dream was finally realized. We spent about 2 full days walking, and walking, and walking...and walking around the city. We visited the Smithsonian, the FDR, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials, the National Archives, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress...and of course admired the White House and Capitol Building (which required passes for actual entrance).

We stayed with Lindsay's old friend from her time in China back in 2004. They were truly gracious hosts; they even made us homemade dumplings on Saturday before we hit the road!

Cameron Crazies

During the last 3 days I've learned exactly what it is that makes the Cameron Crazies go crazy: 2,000 grad students, every RV and U-haul in the triangle area and at least that many tents crammed onto a field and a couple of parking lots...

submitting to 36 hours of random checks and consuming mass quantities of alcohol...

and finally, standing in line to see if you have qualified to enter a lottery. If you're one of the lucky ones that wins the lottery, you get the distinct privilege of paying full price for a Duke Basketball season ticket. Can you say CARAZY??

(you probably can't tell but this is a cell phone photo of Coach K and the team)

Needless to say, I had to join the madness and give it a try (well, minus the booze of course!)

(if you look really closely you can see the youngest crazy at campout - Hailey Mills, age 4 mo.)

Summertime and the livin's easy

A day in My Life - by Hailey Mills

Hang out with mommy...I know what you're thinking, and yes I'm always this cute!



Get in my "tummy time". I work hard to keep my belly soft and round.




Suck on Mommy's oreo...it is milk's favorite cookie after all.

Help dad with his homework...no matter how many cases he reads he still doesn't get that in the end, I make the law.

After tutoring dad on the intricacies of Criminal law, I distract him with my infectious smile!















After a long day of being cute, I take a nice warm bath with my strategically placed duckies.

Beaufort and Fort Fisher

During our first month in North Carolina, we've tried to take advantage of the nearby coast (about a 2 hour drive). We spent a day in Beaufort, a small coastal town...it's claim to fame is that it is the setting for Nicholas Sparks' book "A Walk to Remember" and it also was a favorite rest stop for pirates such as Blackbeard (who hung his wife from a tree in the front yard of one of the hotels). On the way back home we made a pit stop in a little town called New Bern "the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola" good times!

Then a couple of weeks later we were invited to go back to the coast by some friends in the ward. This time we went a little farther south to Fort Fisher.

Hailey enjoyed it immensely!

The whole gang!

Our First Week in Durham

Well after a long 3 days of driving and 7 states later we have finally arrived in North Carolina! Although its just 2000 miles away from home it kind of feels like a new country! For instance we went to fill up our gas tank and the pump didn't stop automatically when the tank was full so gas just came spewing out of the car, Brian smelled like pure gasoline all afternoon. We went to the grocery store and we noticed some of our west coast brands had new names... the ice cream had this label



instead of this one





However, it's gorgeous here (HOT and HUMID) but gorgeous!

Our first few days getting around town were definitely interesting, we couldn't tell if we were in the middle of nowhere or on a major highway... it turns out they look exactly the same.



The people here are very friendly and outgoing, we've already noticed people don't worry about offending each other they just say what they're thinking, which is often quite comical. Yesterday we were at the gas station (shortly after the aforementioned freak gasoline spewing incident) and there was a woman trying to pull around into a spot but she couldn't remember which side of her car the tank was on. She pulled around 3 different times but still couldn't decide if she was on the right side of the pump. The woman pulling into the pump behind her leaned out of her window and shouted "Girl, WHAT are you doin'?" The other woman shouted back "Well, I'm just gettin' ALL turned around", then a third woman at another pump shouted to both of them "uh huh, you know that's right". All three of them started laughing, and I had to smile a little too, even though they were only pointing out the obvious, I had to wonder if a northerner or a westerner would have been able to take the light-hearted teasing quite the same way.

Mills Family Reunion

From the 14th 'til the 21st of July we met up with Brian's family in Newport Beach for a family reunion. We stayed in beach houses about 100 feet from the beach it was gorgeous! We spent a day at disney land, but other than that we sat on the beach and played in the ocean all week, it was a blast to have almost the entire family together for the first time in a really long time.

Oh how they grow

Hailey is already 6 weeks old, 23 inches long and weighs alot more than she did 3 weeks ago. She's starting to smile, coo, and has found her new favorite thing...her thumb. Here are some pictures of the last few weeks, hope you enjoy!

Photo Shoot Week 1

Hailey is now 11 days old, and this last weekend we took way too many pictures. We never get tired of just watching her every little movement, and every face she makes, here are a few of our favorites.


Hailey's favorite sleeping position


Taking a nap with mom


Open Wide!


Looking cute in her diaper


That's Enough Mom!

She's Here!

After 9 arduous months of pregnancy, and 2 days of intense contractions, our sweet little girl couldn't wait anymore...on June 2nd at 10 am we checked in to the hospital and by 4:51pm she was born. She was 7lbs 5oz at birth and 19 inches long. We've decided to name her Hailey Renee Mills. She's very healthy and her mom is absolutely amazing. You'd think she'd been a mom her whole life the way she's taken to our little one. After it all, the thing I am more struck with now than ever is what an incredible woman I married. She was so tough during the delivery, and is so gentle and patient with our baby. We hope you enjoy the pictures and the video.

Hailey's First Bath



Mom and Hailey


Hailey Meets Her Mom

The Season's Hottest New Fashion

We're finally making some progress in preparing for the coming of our little one. I convinced Lindsay to pose for us with our new car seat and stroller. (In case you're wondering dad, those flowers in the background are the dutch tulips you gave to the Benches they're coming in pretty nice this year!)