Grandma Miller

My incredible Grandma Miller passed away early this morning. Her soul and heart were two of the most beautiful proofs of goodness and love that I've ever been able to witness. She was always thoughtful kind and more than generous with her love and what she would do for others and give of herself. She lived a long and beautiful life and has left quite a legacy of love. Over the last several years her life has become more of one to be endured and not lived. When I received the text from my mom this morning, with tears in my eyes, I knelt down and offered my sincere thanks that she had finally been able to be released from her body. I will miss her so, and it's hard to imagine not going to visit her in her peaceful home anymore. Or hearing her tell me that she loves me and that I'm special. But I have hope that one day I will be able to feel her gentle arms around me and her voice reminding me that I am special.

August 2013

Will is 8!

How can it be that I have an 8 year old??!

I made Devil's Food cookies and Will got to take them in to share with his 2nd grade class. He was very excited when I picked him up that everyone loved them as much as he does.

That evening we had a little party. He invited Lane's family to come over and eat his birthday dinner with him. Will chose cheeseburgers, fries, and pineapple. I added a salad on the side. He got some Pokemon cards, a wii game, a game that shows you how to build with different electrical circuits, a new chapter book- Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and a dinosaur that was trapped in an egg. I think he said that the dinosaur was his favorite gift. That came from Lane and Ella.

When it came time to blow out his candles, all the other kids blew them out instead of Will. It was a little sad, and Will obviously a little sad but trying to be mature quickly said, "Next year, I would like to blow them out." We all praised Will for being so nice and understanding and quickly assured him that we could relight them and do it again, and we told the other kids to scoot back. No harm done!

We finished up our party with hot fudge sundaes and got everyone in bed by 8:30. It was a fun evening celebrating a fun sweet boy.

Will is very excited about being baptized! We are planning on doing that after the first of the year.

All Tuckered Out

Holly had watched Sam for me while I had an appointment to check-up on the baby. He was not happy to see me. He loves playing with friends, but he obviously had too much fun. When we left to make a quick trip to get gas and a few groceries which is literally less than 2 minutes from Holly's apartment, he was out. I had to go in the store, and was stunned when I moved him to the cart and wedged my purse in for a pillow and he stayed asleep. Poor thing! But it's moments like these that make the best pictures.  

Bed Time Story

Another Year Older

Hard to believe I turned 32 this year. Wowza. I kept thinking I was only turning 31.

I made plans to get my haircut loooong overdue and to go and visit my Grandma Miller. I hadn't been able to get down to see her since she had fallen and been to the hospital and put in a nursing home on Halloween. She was asleep when I first got there so Mom and I went to the funeral home to see about some things, but when they weren't open we decided to get a bite to eat while we waited for Grandma to wake up.

I had a nice lunch with Mom at Gondola's while she caught me up on everything happening with G'ma. After we'd eaten and visited for awhile we went back to the Nursing Home. Sometime after we got there, Grandma woke up. I got to sit by her and talk to her about different things. She made sure I knew I was special and that Patrick and the boys were special too. My Aunt Agnes told her it was my birthday and asked if they should sing Happy Birthday to me. Grandma as weak as I've ever seen her agreed and they all sang to me, even Grandma. Mom recorded it. We were all in tears as we listened to her tender voice struggle to sing the words. That recording is so precious and priceless to me. I'm so very happy I was able to spend time with her today, to tell her I love her and feel her soft gentle arms and hands...this will probably be the last time on this Earth. So happy I could spend a short little while with her today.

I headed home around 4 and when I got home we ate some chicken tortilla soup that I had put in the crock pot before I'd left that morning. While I was gone, the boys made me a strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting. After our dinner they sang to me and we each had a slice. I am one lucky girl to have so much love in my life.

Our Baby!

Conversations this morning before taking the boys to school:

Will: Jack, today Mom will find out if she's having a boy or a girl!"
Me: Will, we aren't finding out. We are waiting till the baby comes."
Will: What?!?!!! 

hahahaha

I had my 20 week ultrasound today and we got to see our sweet baby! We stayed strong and didn't find out the gender. It was easier than I thought it would be. Everything looked good with the baby, but there was a small echogenic intracardiac focus on the heart that is sometimes seen in babies born with Down's Syndrome. So my doctor is wanting me to have a more in-depth ultrasound with a high-risk doctor in about a week. That is a little nerve wracking, but we also aren't too concerned about it. We feel good about things.

Being the Littlest is Hard

Sam & Cooper

Another Day, Another Nap

Halloween

One Spoiled Puppy

Sweet Sam

 Sam has been pretty sick this week with croup. So today we decided to go on a short little walk to check the mail. Samual rode his bike and walked beside me and Cooper. Sam got a little distracted on the way back when he spotted some pretty yellow flowers. I was growing a little impatient with how long it was taking him to catch up. He finally rode his little balance back over to me and looked up at me and held his flower high. He said, "For you." I said, "Oh for me?" He smiled,  and I stooped over to give him a hug and tell him thank you. As I was giving him a hug he said,"I yove you...so much." Talk about melting your heart. Love this sweet little boy of mine...so much!

Just a little Nap

Poor Jack has been sick most of his Fall Break. He's had some good days, but mostly not felt up to doing much. He has gotten lots of naps in and I couldn't resist his sweet face today, and I had to try and capture a sweet moment of quiet and rest.

Puppy!

Will: "Mom, I have the perfect idea for what we can do the first day of Fall Break."
Me: "What?"
Will: "Get a puppy!"

The next day we got a puppy.

The boys had been begging for a few months for a dog. They has wanted one for awhile before that, but in the past few months had really been putting the pressure on. Knowing I was pregnant and wouldn't feel like taking on one more responsibility when the idea of having to brush your teeth seems like an almost impossible task, I delayed. They didn't know yet I was pregnant, just sick so that seemed to help a little. But while I was clinging to life I tried to find the right breed for us. I didn't want an inside dog or a high maintenance one. After all my looking I decided that I thought a lab would suit our family best. Chocolate was my color of choice 1. Because they're so pretty 2. Because she would be outside and I didn't want her looking dirty even though she probably would be 3. I wanted a female, too much testosterone around here.  After all that decision making it was time to find a puppy. $600 is what I found. Six hundred dollar chocolate lab puppies. Yikes. Have I mentioned my mattress is on the floor and if you were to fit in my living room you would have a choice of 4 options; left side of the couch, middle of the couch, right side of the couch, and hardwood floor. Yeah, so $600 wasn't really in the budge. So I delayed, and started looking on local websites for  cheaper puppies.

A little bit later, we went with Pa Joe and Aunt Holly's family to Bro. Smith's farm. He has goats and cows and incredibly smart farm working dog who had recently had puppies. Cuteness overload!! My boys had picked out many contenders for us to buy. They were so cute, even I wanted to say yes, but the problem was they were some kind of collie, read long hair and smart dogs that wanted, no NEEDED to work i.e. attention. Watching them handle the puppies and love on them was hard knowing I'd have to disappoint them on the puppy front again.

Fast forward a few more weeks. Jor had been sending me links to dogs on a local buy and sell website for awhile now. Nothing had really interested me. But then Thursday night he sent me a text telling me he'd emailed me a link to a lab mix puppy. I went to my email and there he was. A 10-12 week old chocolate lab mix pretty FREE little puppy. Adorable AND at such s nice price!! Patrick arranged a pickup time and we were excited!! I could not wait to tell the boys in the morning. When I did tell them they definitely showed a lot more excitement over this need than when I spilled the beans about the baby. And they were way more impressed with his picture than if that of the baby's ultrasound picture. Sorry, Baby.

On Friday we picked up Patrick from work and went to meet the lady. We were delayed about 20 minutes because a guy had been drinking and wrecked his car and bailed the scene. We saw him running up a hill, he'd told another guy three that he lived just up the hill, and then we saw him cut back over to the woods where he jumped a fence. Craziness. Thankfully no one else was hurt. Times like these always leave me feeling sorry for people in these types of situations. I just wonder what their life has been like to lead them to such poor decision making. It makes me sad, and feel sorry for them on the one hand, but n the other hand it makes me angry that they not only put their own life in danger, but the lives of everyone they come in contact with. Sad and mad. This incident provided a good real life example of our favorite topic of discussion at home, "Your choices have consequences." Really hoping my kids can learn that lesson sooner than later.

After we were given the okay to pass through, we finally got to see our puppy, and he didn't disappoint!! He was soo pretty and so so sweet. I wasn't expecting to instantly love him though, but I fell head over heels for him, too!! He climbed up right in the laps of Will and Jack. Sam was so cute telling him good boy over and over and hugging on him. Yes, I hope this will be the right puppy for us. Poor Sam. It was pure torture for him to have to sit where he couldn't see or pet the puppy the whole way home. He kept saying, "puppy sit with meeeee...in my yap." Adorable and pitiful at the same time.

We finally made it home, and the boys had a fun time running around being chased while Patrick and I made a make shift bed for him for the next few nights. He whined and whimpered a little when we told him goidnigt, but soon fell right to sleep.

The boys decided on the name Cooper for him Saturday morning. Our favorites were Henry, Diesel, Hank, Drake (Jack came up with that one) and Cooper. We think it fits him really nicely. The boys played with him early ALL day and I think he was pretty excited when it was time for them to go to bed. He instantly fell asleep and didn't whine or whimper at all this time. He has been very good pup so far. I don't think I've heard him bark yet. He just seems pretty easygoing and laid back, so far. He loves to play fetch, and he is pretty good about sitting when you tell him too. Biggest complaint is that he thinks Sam's a puppy and tends to jump on him. Hoping we can correct this behavior quick! All in all very happy to have him join our family!!