this actually isn't a Christmas recap!

So I fully intended to do a brief (hahaha) Christmas recap tonight. What I did not plan for was how long it's been since I've downloaded my photos from my phone to my computer. I suspect that I don't know the most efficient way to do this. You'd think I've been blogging long enough...but anyway. My current system is that all of the photos on my phone automatically sync with iCloud throughout the day. Then on a (theoretically) regular basis, I download all of the pictures from the cloud to my computer...because I don't trust clouds to keep pictures forever. Or something. And then when I blog, I upload the pictures from my hard drive to Blogger (or maybe make a collage in PicMonkey first, and then upload that). 

Am I missing something super obvious here? Why can't I just link up my Blogger account with my iCloud? Wouldn't that be easier? Ugh.

Anyway, since I haven't downloaded all of my pictures from iCloud lately, it turns out that I have about 400...and tons of them are videos...and it's taking forever. So I want to talk about Christmas, but so far I only have pictures up through my birthday (two weeks ago). And since I haven't talked about my birthday, then let's just do that, shall we? Because the pictures are ready. And some of them are even cute.

Exhibit A: The Greatest Picture Ever

I'll look at the camera and smile this sassy smile JUST THIS ONCE, since it's your birthday, Mommy!

 Trust me, that smile is better than any gift in the world. Any.

So we celebrated my birthday, which was conveniently on a Saturday, by visiting the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. (For the record, we also celebrated my birthday there in 2008, but those pictures are too hideous to actually share. I was in a pinning-back-my-bangs phase, and it wasn't good.) But before we embarked on our journey, Matt gave me a most awesome gift: that sweet Gilmore Girls t-shirt I'm wearing in all of the pictures. Subtle, isn't it?? AND YET AMAZING. Anyway, it was lucky that I had that shirt to wear...I had been planning to wear a new blanket scarf...you know, since it's December and all. Then it ended up being 80 degrees outside (and about 2,000 degrees inside the aquarium, where apparently they didn't get the memo that it's FREAKING HOT AND PLEASE TURN ON THE A/C), and I would have died if I'd gone with wardrobe choice #1. So anyways. Gilmore Girls saved my life, in a way.

I'd suspected and hoped that Millie would be really excited about the aquarium.

I wasn't disappointed.

You see that sad face in the bottom left picture above? We only saw that face when we cruelly tried to get her to turn away from the fish and pose for a picture. That made for a saaaaad Millsie. But as long as she was looking and pointing and "WOW!!!"ing...she was a happy girl.

We walked to Der Biergarten for lunch and it was delicious! I wasn't sure how I felt about authentic(ish?) German food, but I was pretty sure I'd feel really great about German beer, so...we took a gamble. And then I played it really safe with the food (no to things involving veal or sausage...yes to the rotisserie chicken and cheesy pasta-ish stuff, ha) and it was a smashing success. Millie was just as impressed as we were!

We checked out all of the giant ornaments in Centennial Park before returning to the aquarium for the afternoon.

I'm CHECKING OUT ORNAMENTS, not posing for ridiculous selfies!! Sheesh. PARENTS.

AAAAHHHHHH FISH FISH FISH FISH FISH!!!!!!

All in all, we had a freaking fantastic day. Millie is such a joy to take places...she just gets so excited and is so inquisitive and happy. I want to show her the whole world. Even the places I've previously deemed boring (ahem, sorry, Yellowstone)...I'd go back, just because I think that SHE will enjoy it and therefore I probably will too. (Unless the geysers are still smelling disgusting. I just don't know if I'll ever enjoy that.)

It was a perfect way to celebrate turning 33. I am so thankful for my family and my life and I really don't need a thing...so spending the day experiencing something special like this was absolutely perfect. (Well, I guess I did kinda need that t-shirt. Because seriously. It's the best. Also, if you feel like you need one for yourself, be aware that they run big. Size down.)

And now, a treat (or two) for YOU! Due to popular demand (hahaha, and by that, I mean that maybe two people have asked...in like, the last month), I've uploaded a few videos of Millie. Enjoy watching her in all her 'live' glory...or feel free to skip if you think movies of babies doing basically nothing are boring. I get that, too. :)

First of all- Millie decided to start dancing (all by herself. In her nightgown.) to the sweet Christmas jams that were playing in the background on Christmas Eve. It was basically the greatest thing ever. She was soon joined by her cousin and uncle and my heart pretty much exploded, but we didn't get a video of that part. (Video is 12 seconds)



Secondly, you can have a taste of what it's like to take Millie out to eat. When there are TVs broadcasting bowling tournaments. Trust me- no one in the history of the world has ever been this excited about bowling! And then after the guy bowls, she realizes that...once again...there are some sweet tunes playing. So she dances. (22 seconds)



And that's basically it. The rest of my photos have finally finished downloading, so just hold your breath and maybe someday I'll recap Christmas. :)