Two

Exactly two years ago at this moment I held my precious baby girl in my arms, feeding her as her daddy slept on a plasticy fold out bed, it was our first moments alone. Just the two of us, locked in a gaze that I know now as her fighting sleep, dazed trance. She was long awaited and a miracle that I wasn't sure I'd ever get to see but in that moment I felt complete and so in love!

I can't believe two whole years have past. She's growing up so fast it's unbelievable. I feel as If I blinked and now I can hold a conversation with my daughter. She is tiny, but full of personality, she weighs in at barely 24 pounds-triple her birth weight! She knows all of her colors, shapes and can count to 14-that's how many steps we have, she can sing her ABC's and recognize all of the letters and most numbers. She knows days of the week, and can sign enough to get by although we've really dropped off on that since she started talking so well. She loves to pray and some meals insists we do so between every bite. We spend about two hours a day reading and she has a growing love of coloring. She's a daddy's girl if I've ever seen one and mimics everything he does. She's a grazer, eating small snacks constantly and rarely eating a whole meal in one sitting, however if it's a peanut butter sandwich she'll lick the plate!

We had her party saturday and she had a blast!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

We had a brunch party-an idea I stole from a mom experienced mom, and it turned out great. Breakfast food is easy and I had friends and family who were willing to pitch in and help me get everything together.


(tot & cheese kabobs, quiche, bacon, and fruit kabobs)


(coffee station)


(DIY Yogurt Parfaits and juice bar)

We are so blessed to have found amazing friends and those that we call family in Nashville and Addiston got more toys than she knows what to do with!



She was so excited for her friends to be at her house. And did pretty well with their help opening presents till about halfway through when she realized that they were in fact all "mine"



I felt so blessed to have my grandmother here the week before the party and put her to work helping with the cake. She's an old pro and having her make my daughters birthday cake was so special.








(and yes that is her instantly sticking her finger in the icing-she's my kid)


After cake Addy and her friends watched some Little Mermaid, before the party wrapped up.






4 generations at my girl's 2nd Birthday!

For her birthday dinner we took her to Rainforest Cafe.







After dinner we took her to ride the carousel, I swear she was excited but in all of the pictures I got she was nervous. Clenching the little bar awkwardly jutting from the horses neck yelling "mommy I riding a horse"



We came home well past bed time and after calming an excited sugar crazed toddler, she finally crashed.  But not until after she kissed my belly "all better" when I had a contraction, and squeezed my neck with all her might telling me "I love you too much mommy"

whoops

I started writing this post yesterday at 2:30 in the afternoon with plans to furiously tap my keyboard, cut and paste some codes and hit publish by dinner. But it turned into 5:30, 10:05 & 11:50 with little accomplishment. Between then and now, I got distracted; folded laundry, attended a meeting, made a quick dinner, took inventory of the disaster zone that is my house and finally laid in bed, without remembering to finish or post last night-whoops!

Really though, I went to write several times today but didn't feel it.

I like the way it feels to write when I'm inspired. I like to clean my house when I'm in the mood; savoring the way hot water suds when it hits lemon oil in a bucket or forcefully scrubbing mad circles on the bathroom tile because, at that moment, the world will not go on unless my knuckles are bleach-burned and that tile is spotless. I love to cook when my kitchen's clean, dinner music is streaming, my favorite apron is tied around my waist.

You can't always wait to feel it though--at least that's the antithesis that must be stated to add validity. There are things we have to robotically do whether we feel it or not. Pay bills, work, wake up with crying babies, pack diaper bags, put gas in the car.

And right now I want to write, I want to get out what has been going on in our lives lately because oh so quickly our lives are going to change and while I know I haven't updated as often as I should have do to insane sickness, and then business, I don't want to forget how sweet our girl is right now or the life experiences we've tacked on lately.

We traveled to New York again the last week of May. It was so different than the last time we went as a family. Addiston was vocal about what she wanted to do and see, when she was tired, and what she wanted to eat!



She had her first bit of Cheesecake and we laughed till we cried when she literally dove in to get the first bite.

We met up with some old friends and toured central park, FAO Schwartz, and the Apple store on 5th. Addy made a new best friend in Melody but was a little apprehensive with Josh, at one point she told him to stop talking so much.



Addiston is learning different animals and their sounds and was very excited to see a row of horses "wearing hair bows" on the outskirts of the Park. One driver thought she was extra amusing and let her pet his horse without paying $5 for a picture.



We ate at Bobby Flay's Restaurant Bar Americain and it was wonderful. We tried to go at an in between time (2:30) so that we could take Addiston to a very grown up restaurant and not ruin to many peoples meal. It worked out great, there was another little boy there at the same time as us so we didn't feel too silly.



Jared and I try to not encourage children's menu's, while I know I was a picky eater and ate mostly grilled cheese or mac & cheese for the better half of elementary school we try to give Addiston "real" food and while in NYC that got to be a bit pricy it also provided us a respectable way to sample another dish that we wanted to try on various restaurants menu's! Plus Bobby Flay doesn't do chicken nuggets!

We did however pack some of our familiar snacks from home, and Addiston was more that glad to eat her nightly bowl of cheerios before being tucked into her queen sized bed.



On Jared's final day of working Addiston and I decided to try out the Central Park Zoo, and while it was nice to get out of the hotel room let me just say, I was raised in Cincinnati. They have one of the top 3 Zoos in the country and while there is a lot of hype about there being a "zoo" inside the best city in the world i would equate it to a glorified farm. There was exactly 1 polar bear-sleeping, 2 apes, and a penguin exhibit, other than that, the birds and fish were plentiful. Addiston really wanted the monkeys to say "oo oo, ah ah" but much to her dismay, they simply picked at each other's flea's.



She did however get to feed a "sheepy"



If you look closely at the next picture you'll see something missing...Addiston's Shoes. She and I had been napping in the hotel room before the daddy got off work and we left as soon as Jared got there, we made it three blocks before realizing she in fact was barefoot and turned back to get some shoes.



She also got accustom to not having to sit in a car seat while in the city. She did well, sat and watched the "towers go by" and I think she annoyed the drivers when she would echo ever car horn she heard go "beep beep"



Jared has been to the City several times without us and my tour guide barbie routine is no longer necessary, he has discovered little gems within the city that he got to share with us, like the italian grocery market, an authentic gelato shop and a decent little shop or two.



I was sad to leave but we were all ready to get home and get back to normal. Our flights on the way home of course got delayed and cancelled and delayed again so we didn't get home till the middle of the night but as always our dear friend Nathan was there to pick us up.

Two days after we got home it was Jared's birthday and Addiston was so excited to help decorate the house and bake him a cake. I let her color all over her present to him, and she was so proud of how "cute" it was.  And she insisted on adding her balloon to another of his gifts-I know you thought Jared was a big hello kitty fan.



She had her first taste of chocolate cake for the Daddy's birthday and while she liked it she still said she wanted pink cake for her own birthday. I did get to take Jared out on a date for his birthday, our friends Mike and Jill came over to keep an eye on our dear little one so we could sneak off to dinner, and it was so nice to not tag team referee during a meal out as we had all week in the city.


(Sorry for the blurry picture it was taken from my phone during a little girls bath time-we just don't dress up anymore and I wanted proof!)

The next day Jared got to pick what we had for dinner and I was less than surprised at what he chose!


After being home a week with a little one who was used to sleeping in the same room as us, and didn't want to stay in a crib in her own room we decided to jump the gun and move her into a twin sized bed. We're still in the process of refinishing the bed so it's more or less a mattress on the floor but she loves her "own bed" and her pillow, which she carries with her all over the house.



The first few nights were rough, since she could now get out of bed on her own, but now she goes down easier than she ever has and stays in her room till sun up. I'm so glad we were able to make this transition before the baby came so that hopefully the girls disrupt each others sleep as little as possible.

Welp, I have no fancy conclusions, thats just what's going on in our lives.
Sorry this didn't post yesterday!

Mothers Day

Once again it's been too long since I've posted!
This pregnancy has seemed more exhausting than my pregnancy with Addiston, which really isn't surprising considering I spend most of my time chasing her and not resting! The hardest part of this pregnancy of lately has been craving food that I was raised on. Jared says that Cincinnati is like a food cult, we have Skyline, LaRosa's, Grippo's, Frische's, and other "northern" foods. I wanted a steak hoagie the other night, called a few places and went in one, no body in the south has even heard of a steak hoagie! You can't get goetta her to save your life-nobody knows what that is either (it's a breakfast dish) and legit skyline chili is out of the question! At least I can get that in cans, it's not exact but it beats a blank.

We've been crossing lots of things off of the "get-done-before-we-have-another-baby" list which has taken up most of our free time. We've taken several car loads to good will trying to clear out space for the new little one and we're well underway on her room, my dad should be coming down soon to finish up the painting (he's a pro-so we figured we'd let him do it) and then all that's left is putting it all together.
We have officially decided to name Baby Girl #2 Isabella Grace Miller. Both of Jared's grandmothers names are Ella and we wanted to incorporate their name into our little one's name. No we are not insane closet Twilight fans, we just like the name! And Grace has always been one of my favorite middle names. Addiston is so sweet trying to say Isabella, the Isa never comes out but the Bella part always does, and in the process she looks as if she's going to vomit, sticking her tongue out all the way while saying bell. It's so funny, we laugh every time we ask her what her little sister's name is.

On Fridays I have a Mom's group that I attend at our church, this was our last meeting before summer and instead of having a formal meeting we decided to drop our kids off at church and head out to get pedicures for mothers day. I'm so grateful to have these women in my life. Most of them have more children than I and older children. They have been through the same sicknesses, trials, and are such a comfort in my life. Addiston had become friends with many of their kids and asks to play with them on a regular basis. Most of the time we find this sweet, but when she was asking for a little boy names Gavin "davin" the other night at chick-fil-a Jared decided she's too young to play with boys.
Addiston is doing quite well potty training, we ask her to sit on her big girl potty every time we need to change her diaper and are using cloth diapers more often so she can tell when she's wet. She always tries to go only is successful about 50% of the time but hey she's only 23 months and is doing great, so we're happy.

Our sweet friend Nathan, who I've mentioned before, got engaged two weeks ago, and asked Addiston to be his flower girl, luckily she's got a while before the big day. Addiston LOVES Nathan, and will have her aunt Kara's wedding under her belt so I'm sure she'll do great.

We're in a great routine right now, Addiston's super playful and we have a great balance between her playing with us and playing by herself. Her favorite thing to do is still read but swinging is a close second. We try and go on walks in the evening when the weather is good or we don't have plans and she loves those.

I had my 28 week appointment and learned that I do NOT have gestational diabetes this pregnancy! Hooray! I was told that I had a very high chance of having them this time so I was shocked when the nurse called and told me I didn't, I am however anemic, so I need to take an iron supplement, so no big struggle here.

In other news one of my best friends came to visit a few weeks ago from Virginia and it was so good to spend some time with my dear Kari, she gave me a book "heaven is for real" and somehow I found the time to read it in two days, it was so sweet, and I loved that she told me that I'm going to have an entourage waiting for me in heaven. Today ironically enough would have been the due date of the baby that we miscarried last fall. It was strange to see in on the calendar, but Jared made this mother's day so special for me and Isabella has been doing summersaults all afternoon, reminding me that I indeed have another miracle growing inside me. Addiston actually telling me Happy Mother's Day and saying "love you mama" was the sweetest thing I ever could have asked for, but her daddy got me spa certificate and a new make-up mirror just in case her sweet blessings didn't cut it.
Yesterday I was a wedding coordinator to another friend Lindsay, she was a beautiful bride and the whole day went smoothly even with a few scattered showers. Her photographer offered me a job at the company she and her husband own as a part time wedding planner/coordinator, so who knows maybe I'll go to a few weddings before this baby is born and put my OCD tendencies to good use!
Well it's a little girls bed time and she's trying to lick the ice cream on her pajamas, so I think I'll go cuddle a bit before I crash myself!

We meet again

ok I know its been a long time since my last post, sorry, I'm pregnant, I was insanely ill, yada yada yada, we've all got our excuses. My sister-in-law ever so subtly facebooked me and; anyhow, I'm here now and because of the current state of my house and my life am unsure as to when my next post will be, so I'll just catch ya up on all the recent details of our lives!

First and most importantly...It's a Girl!



Our dear friends Jared and Sarah Jo threw us a gender reveal party, where we revealed to everyone that baby Miller #2 is a Girl. I'm thrilled! There was a slew of food that I was able to eat: rice, tater-tots, cottage cheese, pancakes. I ate more that night than I had in the last 20 weeks, then I got sick the next morning! I as every mother in the world would say would have been happy with either sex but I semi-secretly wanted another girl.



Our girls will be born in the same season of the year so we can do hand-me-downs and save a little cash. They will exactly be two years, one month and one week apart. I know this because we opted to schedule a c-section for this pregnancy. So on July 18th 2012 we will officially be a family of 4!



My Feburary gift came in the form of a trip to a friends house where I sat in a living room and held her sweet new girl, twenty-seven hours old, and studied her features, ran my fingers over the cowlick of silky hair that hugged her perfect head, and inhaled the rare opportunity to experience the miracle of really new life. I speak fluent newborn, you know. And I could have sat in that room holding that baby Nora all day.



Other than that you missed:

A visit from Grandpa


St Patricks day (green food and clothes)


Somebody's getting curls!


She is going to be a flower-girl this summer


I was giving myself a pedicure one afternoon during Addiston's nap and when she woke up wanted to match mama, after one foot she spased out and refused to let me near her with a polish brush. Oh we she can rock the one foot pink look!


She loves afternoons out with mama




and had her first tea party with a friend.


Jared built me a table for valentines day!

we've always done homemade gifts for V-day and this year I was sick and slacked off and made him a glorified card and he went all out! (gotta love those amish roots)

Progress:


I started to eat normal food about 20 weeks and have finally started to gain weight! I'm not going to be frequenting any chinese buffets any time soon but I'm content with my normal american meat and potatoes. My doctor is happy with the progress I've made but I have some catching up to do, I'm still about 5 pounds behind where I should be. The baby is measuring about a week smaller than she should be but shocker Addiston is barely on the charts and I'm not exactly going out for the WNBA any time soon so no worries there.

Life continues to race by, we're been getting the house ready for the new little one and spring cleaning/lawn sprucing all month. The weather has been beautiful and I'm really liking that the Month of March was more like summer than winter Thanks Nashville.

Pregnant

Sorry it's been so long since I've had the chance to post, as many of you know by now we are expecting!

We are thrilled beyond imagination and have been trying to wrap our heads around everything that has been happening. We were hesitant to share our news too quickly because of my miscarriage a few months ago but were finally able to go public a couple of weeks ago after we completed the first trimester! I am 14 weeks pregnant, due July 25, 2012.

Around 8 weeks I was diagnosed with hyperemesis which is basically morning sickness of the devil! I've been on zofran ever since and while that helps me eat and retain nutrients it carries with it migraines and drowsiness as if being pregnant didn't cause enough exhaustion! Ha! I have been SLOWLY getting better, timing my meals, learning what I can tolerate and trying to sleep as much as possible! My sweet husband has done most of the laundry for the last two months and I'm so thankful that the whole family is perfectly content eating cereal for dinner multiple nights a week!

I promise to come back more as I regain some energy, for now I just ask you to pray that the hyperemesis fades quickly (it usually lasts about 20 weeks) I'll leave you with some pictures of what you've missed!


Addiston Enjoying the tree, and our family Christmas photo.


Addiston in her first Christmas performance!


My grandma helping her open a "special present"


My Grandma's reaction!


Reading her new book!


Opening Presents at my parents.


Enjoying her favorite toy of the season-A new slide!


The Miller family finding out the big news (#1 Sister ornament)


Jared's family visit-Breakfast at Loveless Cafe


Riding the antique carousel with Grandpa Miller


My parents visit-in a giant rocking chair with Grandpa Boyer


My life most of the past two months!