14 months!

This month Millie Kate starting walking and standing up on her own!!! She loves baby dolls and playing on the stairs. In fact, it seems that the stairs is where we spend most of our time, as you can see from the following pictures. She loves going through bags and walking around with her purse. She is walking all the time now and gets better everyday. She is into everything and keeping us on our toes. We've discovered Barney, and get so excited and start dancing every time we hear the song. She'll actually sit and watch it for 5 whole minutes! Millie Kate is becoming such a little girly girl and we're having so much fun watching her little personality develop!!

if there is ever an infant seat sitting around she has to crawl into it

3 of our favorite things...stairs, baby doll, and sunglasses

watching Barney

Meeting Baby Bree

Cecelia Bree Benich

June 17, 2010 1:11pm

8lbs, 20 inches

After being out of town for almost a week, we were finally able to meet Bree! I was dieing to see her and kiss those chubby cheeks. She is so cute and was so quite and content while we were there, even with Millie Kate attacking her and trying to hold her. It was so fun that Valerie and Madeline were able to be there at the same time and we were able to get our girls together!

our girls

I promise she was just trying to hug her

Madeline and Bree

sweet Bree wearing one of MK's newborn outfits

it looks like she is waving

Valerie and Bree

Father's Day Weekend

Millie Kate and I got home from TN unpacked, packed and got back in the car with Brian, to go Lake Martin, AL to spend the weekend with my dad, sister, and brother-in-law. Steph and Mack invited us to come stay at the Magnus' lake house for Father's Day weekend and it was so nice. We got to spend some quality time with our dad and with each other. Millie Kate really enjoyed the boat and even had her first tubing experience!! She wasn't really sure what to think about and just sat in my lap and didn't make a sound. She held her hand up like she was waving, but that's about it. It was so cute! We even got to make ice cream, which is a fun family tradition that we have. It was a great trip! After we got home from the lake, Brian's family came over for dinner and we had so much fun having dinner and playing Catch Phrase, which we seem to do now every time we get together. It was a great weekend celebrating our dad's and celebrating Brian, who is a fantastic daddy to Millie Kate. He is so hands on and involved in her life, and she couldn't be blessed with a better daddy. She is one lucky little girl!!


we turned her car seat around for the first time, so she wouldn't get so hot in the car

enjoying the boat ride

she wasn't too comfortable in the life jacket

Papa Bear and MK

making ice cream

since it was Father's Day, he got to lick the paddle

Auntie Steph and Millie Kate

getting ready for her first tube ride

look at her little wave

Pops and Millie Kate

giving Daddy her card

Cheri(Brian's cousin), Pops and Millie Kate

giving Daddy kisses

Brian with his Dad and MK

A Big trip to Tennessee!!

**Warning...there are a lot of pictures on this post**

Millie Kate and I made our first trip alone up to Nashville to visit Wendi and her family. Millie Kate did great in the car on our way up and back. While we were up there Millie Kate decided it would be a good time to start walking!! We weren't there but 15 minutes before she took her first step!!! I wasn't even in the room when she did it. Wendi, Katie, and Mason saw it before anyone else. Brian was so upset that he wasn't there to see her first steps. It was so crazy how she had shown no interest at all and then all of sudden she was walking!! It was probably the coolest thing I've ever seen. We had such a great time up there just hanging out and playing. It was too darn hot to go anywhere, even the pool. Katie and Mason love Millie Kate and are so sweet with her. Robin and her boys came over to play one day too. I was excited to finally meet Charlie! He's so cute. And our friends Jason and Mae came over one night to see us too. It was a great week and we look forward to seeing everyone again soon. And we're really looking forward to meeting the addition to the Shanks family that is due in December!! Another adorable baby to love! :) Thanks for having us Wendi! We had such a great time!!

some of MK's first steps

she loved this window and would sit on it all the time with her baby doll that Aunt Wendi got her for her b-day. She loves it!

Katie, Millie Kate and her baby

more steps...love the tongue

and more

feeding the baby

Katie taking MK for a stroll

Katie on the jungle gym

cute pregnant Wendi about 14 weeks

Millie Kate loved crawling into Charlie's carrier

Charlie Mac

of course MK wanted to give the baby hugs

Clay and Millie Kate.....so cute

Robin and Charlie

the whole bunch

Clay and Charlie

hugging Charlie's feet

bath time!

I love this picture of Mason

sitting in the window talking on her phone

silly Mason

just playing

one of my favorite pics of MK

she loved pushing the baby stroller around

look at all her babies

sweet Olivia (Jason and Mae's little girl)

MK and Olivia

Millie Kate kept going over to Uncle Brad and laying her head on his shoulder. She'd go play for a little bit and then go back to him. It was so sweet!

Cute Ian