Don't have much time...

..But I thought I would add a couple pictures since Alayna is growing so fast! ENJOY!

And I thought hell for me would be being 9 months pregnant forever...

This week has been the absolute worse I can think of, at least since I became a parent.
Last Sunday Jacob woke up around 5:30am throwing up in his bed and continued to throw up over and over again all morning, couldn't even keep water down. It was really fun taking care of him and Alayna with our friend Joe was sleeping (oblivious to everything on the couch right next to us until 11am!) Thanks Joe, next time you go sleep upstairs in the guest bed or I'm going to have to accidentally throw the remote control at your head. oops!
The next day Jacob was a little tired and recovering but basically fine. Wed we went out shopping and it appeared that everything was back to normal, except for the "wiquid" diapers as Jacob calls them. Then Thursday we have invited my sister and her family over for dinner and right before they were going to leave Jacob threw up again! He was so upset that Makayla might not come over that he swore he was "not sick, I all better." I warned Kristi to come at her own risk, but we figured it was a fluke thing and didn't think we should be all that considered so they still came over for steak fajitas.
About halfway through my first fajita I didn't feel so well. I was thinking it was just from being sick of all the grossness I had encountered all day. (Jacob throwing up, his nasty diapers, even the cat and dog threw up that day) But unfortunately about 10 minutes later I was in the bathroom losing my cookies!
Kristi and Mark decided to leave about then and I spend the rest of the night puking and pumping so that Chris could give Alayna bottles. I didn't get any sleep! Lucky for me I have a fantastic loving sister and she came over and took Jacob the next day so that I could get some rest and recover. Alayna was very easy and we just slept on the couch all day long.
The next day we went and picked Jacob up in the morning and headed out to Katelyn's party, I was feeling much better and Jacob felt good the whole day before without any problems so we AGAIN thought foolishly that we were out of the woods. (Oh, by the way, Makayla spend that whole night throwing up and Kristi was headed to the bathroom as we were leaving.)
We had fun at the birthday party, Jacob didn't want to eat a whole lot, but he had a blast running around playing. That night when we came home within a couple hours, Chris was getting sick and at 11pm, Jacob was throwing up in his bed again! And this continued all night. Jacob throwing up a few times, Chris throwing up every 2 hours (which woke me up everytime), Alayna waking up every OPPOSITE 2 hours to eat. By late morning the puking has ended, so far anyway. Although Jacob had a "wiquid" diaper that didn't stay in the diaper and destoyed a pair of pj's, 2 blankets, the living room rug, and the bathroom rug...ALL ONE DIAPER!!!!!! Soon after Alayna's diaper exploded ruining yet another pair of pj's.
I have been running the washing machine all week long non-stop it seems like with blankets and towels and still don't have time to get to the many loads of dirty clothes. I had a moment of weakness at 8:30 this morning and was balling my eyes out while doing dishes thinking that I should be at church begging God for forgiveness for whatever I did to deserve this and begging for the strength to get through it.
I don't think I'm up for the role of Super Mom, taking care of a 2 1/2 year old plus a 6 week old is hard enough for me right now, but a 6 week old and a husband and toddler with the flu is torture.
Finally now I have all three of them to sleep and have some time to get caught up on the dishes and laundry and a few minutes of peace to cry about this week on my blog. (Don't ask me why I'm not using the time to sleep, I'm nuts and drank coffee because I was having trouble not falling asleep and now I'm all wired.)
I'm thankful that this is happening this week and not next week or the week after but I really think that I'm being tested and I'm really afraid that I'll failing. I have too much of my plate right now and I'm losing it. I don't really know what type of help I can even ask for but I know that I need something. This morning has really been an eye opening for me and brought to the surface my thoughts of finding a church for our family to start attending regularly. Something that I've been thinking about for sometime now, but never really took the time to look into full heartedly. I miss that outlet, the stress relief and peace I used to get from going to church and the love and friendships I had. And I want my kids to experience that too.
If I can get through this horrible week without going crazy or killing someone, then I know that God was on my side and I will search until I find OUR place, a church we can all love and call our own.
Wish me luck!!!

I guess if she's staying I better start liking her!

Jacob was not very accepting of Alayna at first, but he's finally starting to warm up to her a little. He likes to give her "little pushes" on her swing, he was ok with giving up his baby swing outside to Alayna and is using the big boy swing. He even helped give her a bottle today! Although that only lasted about 30 seconds before he said "I don't want to, Daddy do it." Luckily we had time to snap a few pictures.

Our Angel has Arrived!

Alayna Grace Miller
Born October 26th, 2007 at 9:10am
5 lbs. 14 ounces
19 inches



(I'll get back on here and give you more detail and photos when I have some more time!)

Does this tank top make me look fat???

I don't know, it's not all that flattering is it??? You can be honest

Potty Time!

Jacob woke up the other day and wanted to wear his "Big Boy Underwears" and since he was interested, I couldn't refuse. I wasn't planning to start with the potty training until after the baby came, but since he sounded ready I thought, what the heck.
He's been doing pretty good at it. He runs around with no pants and and makes it to the potty pretty quickly after starting to pee. He gets better and better each day and I think we're getting some where with it. He even pooped on the potty once! "I made a big pee" he calls it. He gets a sticker for the potty chart and an M & M for each pee and a little present to open for the poops. As soon as the pulls ups go on he's right back to peeing in them like diapers so I know we have a long way to go still. But we're certainly off to a really good start!

WAY TO GO BIG BOY JACOB!!!!!

Our First Little Scare

Yesterday we made a trip to the hospital. I was having contractions all night and then in the morning they didn't really go away so I called the doctor and she wanted me to go to L & D and get checked out. I thought the contractions were probably Braxton Hicks, but you can never be sure and they seemed to be 9 minutes apart so I was getting worried.
By the time I got somewhat of a bag packed (lesson learned, be more prepared!), Jacob to my Aunt Cheryl's house and met up with Chris to go to the hospital the contractions were 3 minutes apart!!! WOW! They hooked me up with IV fluids and pretty quickly the contractions spaced out, almost not even there. But after about 30 more minutes they came back again at 3 minutes apart. We were starting to think that maybe Alayna was going to come this early, but after about 30 more minutes, they spaced out again.
They told us that at this point in the pregnancy they wouldn't be super aggressive to stop labor so I got sent home and told to rest and drink lots of fluids. I'm still having contractions, but nothing regular or painful. I guess it's just a waiting game from here on out and I'll bet she comes early. (I hope, just not THIS early!)
For now, if you need me, I'll probably be sitting at home with my feet up and a big glass of water in my hands trying to buy some more time! Man, do I hope Jacob is cooperative! :o)

GODZILLA!

Jacob was practicing his "moves" for Halloween today with Daddy. They did this for about half of hour and Daddy was exhausted with Jacob still yelling "RUN DADDY, RUN!"

"My dog is dedo (yellow)!"

Although we complain about Maggs being a crazy lunatic 75% of the time, she really is the favorite animal around here for Jacob. He can't seem to get enough of her and she is so good with him. It's crazy to me that she is so gentle and playful with him, but such a pain in the ARSE to the rest of us!

Mmmmmm.....Donut!

All these years and I never knew the best way to eat a donut! Thanks Jacob for making this morning so comical! And thanks Dunkin Donuts for getting my order wrong..I said chocolate glazed, not chocolate frosted. Jacob seems to enjoy the goof up, not so much for my furniture and Jacob's pj's!

Jacob's BIG Boy Room

We're almost done with decorating Jacob's new room, just a few small details left, (a shelf added, a bookcase, some pictures here and there, etc.) but it is certainly livable. He "officially" moved upstairs last night and LOVES it! (Thank God!) He slept super well and when he got up in the morning I asked if he liked sleeping in his big boy room he said "I want to do it again!" Good, because I think you'll be doing it a lot from now on.

Now onto transforming the baby boy room into a baby girl room!

Here's a couple pictures. Actually, there's Jacob in the picture during his nap. (Notice the only air conditioner in the house in in Jacob's room...LUCKY GUY!)

Cellphone ettitquette

Like Father, like Son.
Doesn't this kind of sound like Chris yelling at his drivers....or at his WIFE?!?!

Fun at Houghton Lake

We just got back from our week long vacation to Houghton Lake. It was a blast! We rented a house and had a bunch of friends and kids with us. It was definitely a house full! Everything went great and everyone got along good. No major arguments or drama to report, thankfully. The bugs were horrible and the lake was very shallow and weedy, but we still found a way to make the best of it. Joe had his boat so the kids got to go out tubing and fishing. Jordan brought a bunch of fireworks too. Here's a few pictures of Jacob having fun.


On another note, our garden is doing awesome! We planned WAY too many tomatoes so I'm sure we're going to have a TON to give away...if you're interested, let us know. I finally got to pick some of the grape tomatoes today and a couple cucumbers too. Check it out, I'm so proud of my little garden! :) I think since we did so well, next year I'll go even bigger! I mentioned the idea of quitting our jobs to become farmers but Chris didn't sound too interested in that! he he

No stem on this apple!

My mom snuck us into the hospital she works at for one of the doctors to take a peak with the ultrasound machine and he is 99.9% sure it's a GIRL!!!!!!!
Of course we got the disclaimer that we can't hunt him down if it's a boy, but he thinks we're in the clear to start buying pink clothes!
YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!

Let's just assume it's a GIRL for now!

We have FINALLY picked out a girl name after 18 weeks of back and forth's and yes and no's.

Alayna Grace Miller

Of course if it does end up being a boy, I think we'll have to call him "Oh Crap, It's a Boy" since we can't agree on a name to save our lives!

Baby Surprise Continues!

Today was the ultrasound and we found out that we're having a stubborn little child! He/She would not open his/her legs to get a good luck so it's still unknown whether to buy pink or blue!
The ultrasound tech said she could give us her best guess and that is that it's a girl, but it's not 100% as of now. We didn't see an "extra leg", but we didn't really see anything.
(I think it's a girl too! :o)
Fortunately everything else looks good so at least we know that the baby is healthy.

If I find anything else out, I'll be sure to let you all know! Here's a couple pictures.

Two More Days...

The suspense is killing me, I can't take it anymore!
Is this baby a boy or girl? All I know is that he/she moves around a TON!

I'll be sure to post as soon as I know.

Things Growing

On Mother's Day I spent the day planting a vegetable garden. I really have no clue what I'm doing, but it seems to be going ok so far. We have way too many tomato plants (9 total) so as long as they produce tomatoes, I'm sure there will be plenty to share! We allso have corn, green beans, green peppers and cucumbers. I have a couple strawberry plants that had some green strawberries on them, but apparently Maggs likes strawberries, because she sticks her head under the fence and plucks them off. BRAT! I had no hope for the strawberries!

We are also trying AGAIN to grow some grass in our side yard and a few spots in the back. It seems to be going good too, lets hope that the hot summer heat doesn't scorch the new grass like it usually does. I think with me being home to keep the sprinkler on really helps!

On to more (slightly) interesting things.... Jacob is getting pretty funny these days. This morning he was trying to pull me out of bed saying "Um on, in da car" (Come on, in the car) I asked where we were going and he said "Ma Donnal's!" (McDonalds) Just like his mommy! ha ha!

He got to ride on Gampa's tractor last week and I've been hearing about it ever since. "Ba-bup tactor" He loved it!

He also spend the day with Grandma Mary on Memorial with I loved! I had the whole day to myself while Chris was at work and he got off early and we went golfing together. I did surprisingly ok, I think if I had clubs my own size I would have done a little better, but I was impressed for only my second time out. I think I like it, and I'm looking forward to doing it again....minus the hefty cost involved!

Fun with Friends

Jacob has been having a TON of fun lately playing with all his friends. He got to go to Matt and Kayla's house (who he calls Matt and Makayla) while I was at my doctor's appointment. He had a blast there and cried "Matttttt play" the whole way home. Poor guy!

Saturday was Makayla's 6th birthday party. And Jacob and Daddy went on a go-kart for the fist time. He was a little scared as first, but was LOVING it after the first few turns. He's apparently a good racing video game driver too.....just as long as it's an automatic transmission! ha ha Then later that night we went to Eric and Michele's house and Jacob and Grace (Jacob calls her "Dice") got to hang out and play. She is just the cutest little thing!

Sunday was Chris's first softball game. It was a doubleheader and although they didn't win at all, it was very close both times and they looked really good out there. They have a pretty good team, even if they have a stupid team name....The Dingers! Jacob and Jason didn't spend much time at all watching the game, they were enjoying running up and down the bleachers. Which is turn made it easier for me to sit and watch! Thanks Jason, I hope your Daddy brings you to every game!

All day yesterday Jacob has been going on and on about wanting to play with Matt and Dice, poor kid really needs to get out more. I think we're going to try and plan something with Gerilyn and Alex this week so that should be fun too!

Man, I wish I was 2 and could play with my friends all the time!

Tiny Baby

No luck telling the sex of the baby. :( He/she is measuring smaller and so my due date has been changed to Nov. 17th.

The next ultrasound appointment is set for June 13th, Maybe we can find out then...If baby Miller #2 cooperates that is! :)

Amazing Words

Jacob is blowing our minds lately with his vocabulary. It seems that everyday he says a few new words that I didn't know he knew. He's doing much better with sentences too. We're so proud of our little munchin! A lot of words still start with "B" or "M" that aren't suppose to, but he'll get it eventually.
Just yesterday alone he told me "Mommy, poopoo on my butt" (nice) and when asked where his shirt was, "Daddy took it off".

Counting is still not working for him, he counts things, but everything is 2. He points and says "two, two, two". Very cute though, he gets so proud of himself. He can point out all his colors and basic shapes, but can only say a select few; back (black), boo (blue), dedow (yellow) and dar (star), wear (square), heart.

He's really got one part of his manners down. He says "please" all the time! Which is good, except that he thinks it means that if he says it, he automatically gets what he wants. (ie in the store, "please please, Mommy please please.") But,he never says thank you even though we've been working on that very hard for a long time and he ignores us when we tell him to say sorry after a timeout. (At least he stays in the timeout spot until we say so!)

He's becoming very helpful around the house. He wants to help me with every little project I have. He helps put clothes in the dryer, dishes in the dishwasher, leaves in the lawn bags. He cleans up his toys, and puts his dishes in the sink when asked. I'm sure by the time the new baby comes, he's going to be ready to be the BEST big brother!

This Friday I have another ultrasound appointment to check the size of the baby and possibly change the due date if he/she is on the smaller side, I'll keep you posted. There's a chance that we might be able to find out the sex too since I'll be at 15 weeks. Otherwise we'll have to wait another month. Keep your fingers crossed!

Next week Chris will be out of town for work Tuesday and Wednesday, so if anyone feels like stopping over to keep Jacob and I company, (translation: give mommy a break from little crazy man) let me know, I'll cook you dinner!

Website Re-vamp

Since I'm having such a hard time keeping this thing updates, and since it's really not always about just Jacob anymore, I have decided to re-title the page and it will now include updates about all of us Millers. I will try (roll your eyes...yeah right!) to be more diligent about keeping current from now on.
Thanks everyone for stopping in and checking us out, I hope that you'll enjoy all my random thoughts and stories in the future!

So I lied...

A baby will not be coming November 23rd!

I got the dates wrong, the new baby is coming

NOVEMBER 9th!!!!!!!!

It's not CraZy Enough around here

So we're adding to the madness.....

Come November 23rd, we'll become a family of 4!

Jacob's gonna be a BIG BROTHER!

Ode to Super Mom

Every morning I wake up between 7 and 8, and I'm usually still tired. I crawl out of bed and force myself to go get Jacob and change his diaper before I can get in the kitchen for my coffee. And most days, I see you out the window Super Mom.

(Chances are that Super Mom will never see this blog, but she more than deserves it.)

I don't know you personally, we've only talked a couple times, but you're house is right outside the windows that I'm looking out all day and I seem to check you coming and going a lot. You couldn't be much more than 30 years old, you have a young face and your husband seems young as well. You have 4 children, which I had assumed are all under the age of 5. Three boys and one little girl. I don't know how you do it. You must get up at 4am to get yourself and all those kids ready and out the door by 7:15 to take your oldest boy to preschool, and that's 5 days a week!!! Only to come home and have to do it all again with the remaining 3 children to pick him back up around 11am.

(I don't want to sound like a stalker, I feel silly enough that I notice her so much, but I think I'm getting coffee at the kitchen window when she's leaving or coming the first time and doing dishes or getting lunch ready on her way back.)

In this frigid weather, I'm not brave enough to get just myself and Jacob out of the house. And if I do, I'm usually in sweatpants and a t-shirt with no makeup. Going to the gym has been hassle enough for me. You deserve 4 gold stars for doing it with all those young children. 4 winter jackets, 4 winter hats, 8 snow boots and 8 little mittens. You go through this at least twice a day and that's not even counting all the trips to the grocery store, all the birthday parties, doctor appointments, etc, etc. I give you major props!

I've never been in your house, but it must be crazy! It's smaller than mine and I already feel crammed. (3 bedrooms, 4 kids, one big dog and NO basement) I'm curious to learn your "system". Sometimes with just one kid I want to pull my hair out, you are amazing!

I don't think (please God no) I will ever have as many kids as you have, but I hope that if I have 2 or three that I will have the energy and determination that you have. You are a Super Mom in my book and you deserve to be cherished! (As do the rest of you Super Mom's out there, you know who you are, you don't have to admit it, but know that the world would not rotate around the sun without you!)

And now Maggs too!

After the pictures of Jacob climbing all over Lucy, Maggs was starting to get jealous, so here's one of Maggs and Jacob playing. They were rolling all over the floor "gettin" each other and after a while Lucy joined in too
All was fun and games until Lucy stepped on Jacob's hand. OUCH!

New Words

Sorry I don't have any new pictures, we have been kinda busy lately. I swear, my camera must hve an inch of dust on it by now! (so sad!)
It seems that everyday Jacob is picking up a few new words. It's so nice to be able to talk to him in sentences and have him understand what you're saying. And he's really not all that bad of a listener too. Sometimes I tell him to do something, not really expecting that he can understand what I'm talking about...and low and behold, he does it! It's great!
His little language that he uses is the funniest. Here's a little list of words that we hear often.
Eldo (Elmo)
Innie (Ernie)
ainning (raining)
doe (snow)
oose (Lucy-sometimes we call her Luc....that's where that one came from)
Otts (Maggs)
Zes (yes)
choo choo (train)
of course there is a TON more, but these are a few of the cute ones that he mispronounces.

He loves to point out trucks and busses on the road, repeating the word over and over again until you acknowledge it...and sometimes even after.
He's really really good with animal noises, not so good with the names of the animals. He knows the shape of a star (tar) but a circle is still being called a ball.
The older he gets, the more fun it is around here.

Pee Pee in the POTTY, Pee Pee in the POTTY

Jacob went pee in his potty for the first time tonight! I'm so excited, I can see a tiny bit of light at the end of the diaper tunnel!
Of course I'm not going to get my hopes up just yet, but hey, it's better than nothing, right?