I'm the proud owner of....

A six month old!

       Yes, this past week, marked the big day. Five months brought lots of things, including reaching for and holding toys, a longer attention span and interest in things, sitting in a high chair, eating rice cereal, progress towards rolling over and less fussing and more playing. It has been our favorite age so far. Unfortunately sleeping through the night has continued to elude us, but maybe that's in store during the 6 month mark? I'm not holding my breath on that one.

      Six months has already brought with it the milestone of sitting up on his own. He's still a tad bit wobbly, but he is very near to mastering it all together.  This month, we're also hoping to tackle rolling over and trying some more solid foods. Oh, and did I mention sleeping through the night. Here are some recent photos (on our new camera, I might add), that show just how big our bug is getting.

Bath time = Highly adorableness time.

And what does a highchair + rice cereal mean?

It means we've got a very cute sitting & eating baby on our hands.

5 months also brought with it a love of toes. 

As in, putting his own toes in his own mouth. 

Anytime that he had the chance. 

During a diaper change is one of his favorite opportunities. 

The new year and our big boy have meant lots of walks in the snow.

Hello blue eyes.

This weekend, with very sunny skies, 

and some freetime on our hands, 

we took Nolan on his first sledding adventure. 

As in, ghetto-laundry-basket-sledding adventure. 

Yes, I said laundry basket.

He seemed to enjoy the comfy ride.

The Spring-like weather made for some 

blissful photo opportunities.

That's all folks. 

I've got chores to tend to. 

Thanks for watching.

The Milam Holy Days: Round II

       Okay, I'm realizing that this post is about 2 weeks overdue, but for the love-of-butter, it's hard to balance a baby, a home, a job and a blog. So the blog tends to be on the lower of my priorities. Sorry. Because pictures speak louder then words (especially pictures on our new fabulous camera), I'm going to let the photos do the talking this time around. Here. We. Go. 

On the morning of Christmas Eve, with our new camera in tow, 

we packed up our boys and headed down to the bay area. 
Grandma and Grandpa were waiting.

There were cousins to play with.

And one well trained dog.

Then of course, there was the magic of Christmas morning.

The rest of the day proceeded to go like this.

Oh, and then there was the all-cousin shot.

This one took a little work to capture, 

but it will be worth it 20 years down the road.

       I have lots more that I'd like to share- about all the snow that we've been getting, about things we've been capturing with our new camera (there is A LOT to learn with our new toy), and about our growing boy. I only hope that I can wedge it in...

The Milam Holy Days: Round I

       It's taken me a few days to come out from the toy boxes, wrapping paper, leftovers, and snow (more on that soon!!!), but I'm out. I'm here. And I'm ready to share! We had a great Christmas involving lots of family, kids, surprises, and a good amount of driving. Let me start from the beginning. 

       I'm somewhat obsessed with traditions. As in, creating memories for us and our kids, that we continue throughout the years. But I took somewhat of a bye on new traditions this year. Next year we will have an Advent calender, maybe an Elf on the Shelf, homemade cinnamon rolls, etc. etc. For some reason, I could hardly get my gifts wrapped in time this year, let alone create new traditions for a won't remember it, 5 month old. 

       This is the first year that Jon and I have had the entire Christmas holiday off together and I was very thankful for that. We had a four day weekend to relax and enjoy together. After finishing up work on Wednesday, we decided we needed to treat ourselves and get out of the house. We rarely splurge on eating out, but appetizers and drinks at the River Grill were just what we needed. After having our wedding reception here, over two years ago it was only fitting to come back with our addition to the family. Oh, and the manager there always takes good care of us. Our sweet boy even fell asleep at the table which made for a great evening out.

       We opted to open gifts on Thursday morning, the Eve of Christmas Eve. We wanted to get on the road on Christmas Eve to avoid traffic on our way to the bay, and we didn't want to rush opening our gifts. So on Thursday morning, with snow on our porch, we brewed a pot of coffee and cut up some coffee cake that had been gifted to us. And then the magic began. 

Santa was very good to us. 

He left us an elf and a reindeer.

Santa left his favorite reindeer the biggest bone his sleigh could bring.

Having Nolan here on Christmas morning 

made the holiday more magical.

Yes, I said "magical."

Jonny has been wanting a chainsaw. 

I found these boxers with chainsaws on them. 

That will have to do for the time being.

And my husband surprised me with something 

I've been wanting for months. 

Something we've been needing.

Something we've been pining over. 

Can you guess what it is?

Any ideas?

A CAMERA!

The camera of our dreams. 

Well, at least our current dreams.

I say "our" because apparently it was just 

as much a gift for Jon as it was for me.

He's been using it way more then I, and he's

been devoting his time to learning about all its various settings.

Which also means that we have been documenting

our live with  SO MANY pictures.

As in, hundreds upon hundreds each week. 

While we study up on how to use our beast of a camera...

My gift for Jon was a bit less anti-climatic.

A homemade, "Man Toy Gift card."

The bottom reads "Not redeemable for motor vehicles. Sorry."

He's had his eye on a few nice toys, 

but I knew that he wanted to hand pick them himself. 

I've told him that he better redeem his gift card, before

I see our credit card statement and realize how

 much holiday shopping already needs to be paid off.

The holiday left our house in a bit of disarray. 

But finally, everything has found its rightful place

and we're feeling a bit of more prepared to start the new year.

I'll be back to share more of our photos from Christmas Round II.