Family Day / Xander’s (early) birthday

Xander's cake & candles

Last Saturday was “Family Day” here at the Mills  household. The three of us spent the entire day together and even celebrated Xander’s 3rd birthday (a bit early).  Since Nick had to leave for his new job in New York on Monday, it was important to us to spend quality time together before being separated for 2 weeks (Xander and I fly up to Syracuse for a long weekend later this month).

it's like Christmas!

The day began with some presents! Xander got some new Thomas the Train toys to add to his collection. He’s a bit obsessed! Since it was a sunny day and in the upper 30s, we decided to venture out to the amazing (free) St. Louis Zoo. Xander had a ball riding the carousel with Daddy, listening to the penguins,  watching the hippos swim, and getting close and personal with the apes. After lunch and after checking out the elephants we were all frozen solid so we headed home. As soon as walked in the door we got a call from our realtor saying we received a contract on house. Unfortunately we couldn’t accept it due to the buyer’s contingency. Oh well….crossing our fingers!

loving on his Daddy

butterfly room!

hello, my name is Xander!

daydreaming?

Xander's silhouette

We rounded out the day with more presents and a little cake and ice cream. Xander loved hearing us sing him Happy Birthday and promptly blew his 3 candles out all by himself. No surprise that he inhaled his chocolate cake and Breyer’s ice cream!! Overall, I think he loved the attention and had a fabulous day!

he's a big boy now!

Xander is 2 years old!

On March 8, Xander turned 2 years old! Hard to believe. Where has all the time gone? This past weekend my parents came into town to help celebrate Xander’s big day. Unforunately, he woke up Friday morning with a cold and mild fever. On Saturday he developed a raspy cough. In short, it’s a good thing I did plan a big birthday party because I would have canceled it. However, my parents (and Xander) were good sports. We still did cake and ice cream and we still went to the zoo. Overall I think Xander had a wonderful time this past weekend– mainly because he was drugged up on Tylenol! I’m attempting to be a “recessionista” so instead of paying the local grocery store $30 to make a nice cake for my son, my mom and I made an $11 home-made Elmo cake. It turned out wonderfully and tasted even better! Gift-wise, Xander received a ton of new toys and gadgets. He now has a beautiful new swing/jungle jim in the yard, new books, various noise-making toys, a shopping cart, a guitar, and a new chalk wall in the basement painted by me. He’s one spoiled little boy. Thank you to both sets of grandparents for the amazing presents! He loves them and you!