M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

Hailey has recently become obsessed with Mickey Mouse. Maybe I just never noticed it before, but it seems like he's everywhere we go, and Hailey always seems to find him on the side of cereal boxes, on the receptionists desk at the doctor's office, and most recently on a hat that Grandpa Mills got for her when she was just a couple of months old that has been sitting in a drawer in her bedroom for the last 2 years because it was way too big for her.

Put Your New Suit On

Art Nest Pincushion RingGIVEAWAY!!!!

Art Nest Pincushion RingGIVEAWAY!!!!

There once was a boy who slept in a drawer

Does this make us bad parents? We're visiting Lindsay's family for Easter and her sister was going to loan us her portable crib, unfortunately it didn't get to us on our first night in town. So instead, we found Blakey a nice little dresser drawer, filled it with comfy blankets, and made him a little bed. Unfortunately for all involved, he didn't like the drawer at all, and ended up spending most of the night in bed with me and Lindsay.

Family Photos

We have needed to get an up-to-date family photo and some nice photos of Blake, so we had our friend Tara from our ward come and take some photos for us. She did an amazing job. Here's the link to her website with a few photos of us and the kids: www.tarajanephotography.com

Spring Break '09: Myrtle Beach, SC

We just got back from South Carolina and I had to immediately look at the pictures of our trip. It was a blast. We found (well our old friends the Stewarts really discovered it:) a resort in Myrtle Beach that has an indoor water park that's perfect for little kids. Since it's still off-season for tourists, the rates at the hotel were incredibly cheap. Needless to say we spent most of the day in the pool with Hailey, and when it was warm enough we went out to the beach to play in the sand. Our friends the Spiers and the Gochnours decided to take the trip as well and we ended up staying in adjoining rooms and sharing babysitting duties, playing Rock Band together, etc. We're so lucky to have such fun places to go that are so near by, and such good friends to enjoy them with!!

Hailey at the water park






Lindsay and Hailey playing in the sand


Blake and Daddy


Addison, Hailey and Jack (L to R) destroying our sandcastles


Packed up and ready to come home

Visit from Grandparents and Blake at 1 month old

We are so lucky to have such great families. My mom came for a week right after Blake was born, and Lindsay's parents and little sister came for about 10 days shortly after my mom left. Hailey hardly missed the attention her mommy had to give to her new little brother.

Grandma Mills and Blakers


Hailey in Washington DC


The Kiddos with Aunt Hannah


We're so glad you guys came!


Blake at 1 month old

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Last night was the final night of our visit from Lindsay's family. The girls disappeared upstairs for a few minutes, and when I went up to check and see what they were doing, I found Lindsay, Grandma Bench, Hannah, and Hailey dancing their little buns off.

Blake, Hailey, and more Blake

Duke v UNC

This Wednesday night I attended the greatest collegiate sporting event I've ever experienced (the Stanford/Cal football game I attended was pretty great...but this still takes the cake). It was bitter-sweet since my Blue Devils lost, but nonetheless, standing courtside during a Duke/UNC basketball game at Cameron Indoor was unbelievable!

Blake Alan Mills

Yesterday (Jan 29, 2009) Blake Alan Mills was born at 11:12 am. He weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz, and measured 20.7 inches long. Lindsay and Blake are doing amazingly well. I am once again astounded at what an incredible woman I'm married to. She is so strong! Hailey seems to be adjusting, aside from the fact that she REALLY misses her mommy. Hailey stayed with our friends the Quintons on Wednesday night. Last night I picked her up and she and I slept at home. She woke up this morning searching everywhere for her mommy. She's been really sweet with Blake; pointing out all of his body parts to us and giving him lots of kisses.

Snow!? Seriously?!

We moved to the south to avoid the bitter winters of Utah and Colorado...but this year we got a little taste of home:

"I'm a Real Boy!"

Last weekend Lindsay and I decided the strange sounds emanating from the front tires of our one and only family vehicle needed looking into. After finding out that the only problem was the brakes and rotors, and getting a ridiculous estimate from the mechanic we decided that it was worth making an attempt at doing it ourselves. After a a few trips to AutoZone and some elbow grease the brakes were replaced and work like a dream! I'm not the manliest man when it comes to fixing things, but as I drove around our parking lot using the new brakes, I felt like shouting the immortal words of Pinnochio "I'm a REAL Boy!!"

...and a Happy New Year

Our New Years Eve activity:

we definitely had some of the best seats in the house!

Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas Everyone! We stayed in North Carolina for the holidays, and while we didn't miss the traveling, we did miss our families. Here are some photos of our Christmas this year:

Hailey opening presents Christmas morning



Our very first family gingerbread house


Hailey's spread



Lindsay and Hailey on our Christmas day walk in the park (the temperature was pushing 70 degrees, so we just couldn't pass it up!)



Here's a video that will probably only interest Grandparents and other serious Hailey fans (it's just the first few minutes on Christmas morning)

Santa Claws?

A friend of ours told me that one of her sons was afraid of Santa Claus for the longest time; she eventually figured out that he thought his name was Santa Claws, and he was going to come and scratch out the eyes of the naughty children during the night. Maybe this is a common problem...Hailey didn't seem to like out Mr. Claws too much.


(this was attempt number one at the Northgate Mall)


(this is attempt number two at the South Point Mall)


(this is our most recent attempt at the ward party)

33 Weeks and Counting

Due to popular request, (okay mostly just Lindsay's sisters and Camille) I have decided to post a picture of Lindsay showing off her belly. She doesn't want to blab on about how her pregnancy is going...so I'll do it for her. We can't wait for the boy to arrive! We haven't got a clue what we're gonna name the little turkey, but I'm sure we'll come up with something...eventually. Also, Hailey already loves the baby. She's always trying to pull up Lindsay's shirt to give the baby kisses. All in all everything seems to be in order, except that our son keeps pushing and kicking and otherwise making my wife uncomfortable.

This is the only photo I got off of the camera before Lindsay went on a deleting spree:

*this photo has been removed by the author's wife.


Let's just say, she looks somewhere between the 32 and 36 week lady in this picture.

Gobble Gobble and Naughtiness

I forgot to add this to the Thanksgiving post, so here ya go.



Hailey is having a hard time leaving the Christmas decorations alone...especially our miniature tree. Yesterday while Lindsay was picking up the tree and putting all of the ornaments back on the tree, Hailey disappeared. When Lindsay got back to the kitchen, where she had been making cookie dough, this is what she found:


She had pushed a chair up to the counter and was shoveling the dough into her mouth with reckless abandon...I think someone is working her way onto the naughty list.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

We had a great Thanksgiving week. We spent a few days in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia with some friends. We all rented a house, and cooked our Thanksgiving meal together. Hailey had the time of her life playing all day with one of her very best friends, Amelia. Hopefully we will have some more photos to add to this post very soon, but here are a few.



Playing on the back porch with Amelia


Going for a swim in the neat jetted tub



Some of our friends watched Hailey while we went for a trip to Luray Caverns, pretty eh?