Luke 2

Luke 2 -- Tracey Translation

Merry Christmas!

Fear Not!

"The angel said, 'Fear not!  I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be for all people.  For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord and this shall be a sign until you.  Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and laying in a manager.'  And there was suddenly with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and singing, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace goodwill to men.'"

Luke 2:10-14

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Mountain Millers

Christmas Letter 2017:

 

         When Chris and I began the year 2017, I honestly thought our life was going to settle down a little bit.  We had survived our first year with our twins, Howard, and Caroline, and January marked Howard and Caroline turning one year old, and Tracey turning three.  The twins even began sleeping through the night around then, so Chris and I were really feeling like we had a handle on our little crew.  God must have a good laugh when I think I know what’s going on.

         When we celebrated Tracey, Howard, and Caroline’s birthdays in early February with a combined Mickey and Minnie Mouse party with friends, we had no idea our next little baby was already on the way.  Learning we were expecting again was quite the Valentine’s surprise.  A baby girl, Addallee Marigold Miller, joined our family on October 22, 2017 much to the joy of Chris, myself, and her older siblings.  An individual right from the start, she has broken the mold of our January babies and arrived very punctually on her exact due date.  We are so excited to get to know her and experience the joy she will add to our family.

         In other big news this year, Chris completed his Masters Degree in Education Administration from Western Governor’s University last Spring, and he and I traveled to Salt Lake City for his graduation ceremony over the summer.  It was so exciting to celebrate this accomplishment he has been working toward since Tracey was a baby.  Three years, and four children later, we are tremendously proud of his hard work and dedication.

         Tracey spent this year very excited about her new baby sister’s arrival, enjoying dance class, swim lessons, keeping Howard and Caroline in line, and attending a few days a week of Montessori preschool. 

Howard makes it his full time job to copy anything Tracey does or says.  He is very easy-going but is developing the moxie to handle being the only boy amongst three sisters.  He also finally grew enough hair for people to realize he is a redhead, and even required his first haircut this fall.  Both Howard and Caroline attend the Montessori toddler program a few days a week and they love it. 

Caroline remains our little sweetheart and takes great pride in putting things where they belong and loves washing her hands.  She enjoys books, playing with Howard and Tracey, baby dolls, and helping with Addallee (or “Lee Lee”).

Our two animals, Lexie (cat), and Lloyd (dog), are such good sports as we continue to outnumber them with children.  They are still such loving additions to our family

         With any free time we found in 2017, Chris and I just tried to keep up with our awesome little ones and squeeze in a date night now and then.  Most of my free time is spent doing laundry while Chris unwinds by trying new delicious recipes in the kitchen.

         As we thank God for our beautiful children, we are so very thankful that God sent His own son to earth as a baby to be our Savior through His death on the cross.  We wish you a very Merry Christmas, and all joy and peace in the New Year.

www.themtnmillers.blogspot.com

 

The Mom

Addallee has been a part of our family for two months now, and Christmas is three days away.  Last night, I took a few minutes to just take a deep breath and enjoy the fact that I'm The Mom.

I have wanted to be A Mom for my entire life.  I was always the little girl pretending to be a mom to baby dolls and stuffed animals.  Becoming a mostly stay-at-home-mom has always been my ambition -- with a solid degree and career in place to use as needed and have the ability to support myself if the situation ever arose where I had to do so. 

But my dream has come true in that I am the Mom -- not A Mom... THE MOM.

I have four amazing, beautiful, inquisitive children all of whom depend on me every day.  The oldest is three years old -- two are one-year-old -- and one is still considered a newborn.  All four of these children are dependent on me in every sense of the word.  It is not lost on me that every day at home with me (and each other) is shaping each of their characters.  That is such a huge responsibility, and I fall short in how I correct them and train them every single day -- but, Lord, Willing, I get to wake up and try to do better tomorrow every single day.  Is there any greater work in the world?  I really don't think so.  Certainly, for me, there isn't.

I keep the trains moving every day at home.  I keep my family in clean clothes, in relatively un-wrinkled clothes (some are more wrinkled than others...), I keep our kitchen clean, and clean dishes in our cupboards.  I keep four children fed every day, even if my husband is the better cook... no one has starved under my care.  I keep our home clean-ish... well, maybe a better way of saying it would be that I keep the mess at bay.

I also keep our house a home, and Holidays special.  I am the one who reads the Christmas cards aloud to our children, and hangs them on the wall for us to enjoy throughout the Holiday season.  I am the one who decorates the house for any given Holiday.  I am the one who stays up late and/or gets up early to wrap presents and bake cookies.

I make sure our animals are fed every night and loved every day.  When I was a kid, I used to say that the dog and the cat (Lucky and Muff) were mine.  As I got older, my mom confessed that she really felt that the animals were hers because she fed them.  I now can completely relate to her feeling that way.  I am the one who keeps track of when they need to be fed, watered, let in a out of the house.  I am the one who will realize in the evening that I haven't seen Lexie for awhile and search the house to find her closed into the nursery, basement, or garage.  I cannot fall asleep if I haven't set eyes on both animals inside after all doors are locked for the night.  I also know their hiding spots if I cannot find one easily, I know where to look to find them when their hiding.

I love being the wife to my husband, and that is worth another post in and of itself... but the truth is, I love my job as the mom.  Two weeks ago, I worked every day and Hubby stayed home with the children, and I was able to glimpse first-hand how well I am able to keep things rolling at home, even when I think things are chaotic.  Hubby did great with the kids -- they were happy and cared for every day... but no laundry was done, no dishes were done, and very rarely were the kids dressed in anything other than pajamas.

I love that I am The Mom.  I love that I do things a certain way with my family, and there is no easy substitute for me and what I do every day.  I love that I get a chance every day to try to do my job better and better and learn more and more about my children and what they need and how to help them succeed.

This Christmas when I watch my children enjoy the magic of Christmas morning, and I see my husband relax in our warm and comfortably cluttered home, I plant to fully bask in the joy of being The Mom.  I plan to take a deep breath and acknowledge that my biggest dream has come true and I am right at the heart of this family that Hubby and I created.  I also plan to get down on my knees and thank our wonderful Father God for every blessing in my life and let him know how truly humbled I feel to be having such a blessed, joyful, and loving Christmas.

1000 Words

1000 Words

 

The Key

I am learning a lot this Christmas about some keys to motherhood around the Holidays.

 

For example, the more children you have, the more Christmas presents you purchase.

Okay, that makes sense.

 

The older your children get, the more they notice everything -- EVERYTHING around them.  Of course, they cannot notice two matching shoes right by the door when you ask them to put their shoes on, but, seriously, these kids notice everything around the house.

 

That means every Christmas present that is purchased, whether its from a physical store or online has to be hidden, and hidden well IMMEDIATELY upon its arrival on the premises.

 

So, come the middle of December, the key is remembering where the heck you stashed all these presents that are hidden -- and hidden well.

 

I believe I have found most things that were stashed away... but I know I still have yet to recover one, possibly two presents which remain MIA.

The Fine Line

In motherhood I'm learning there is a fine line between a hug... and a headlock.

Hug

 Hug

Hug-ish

Headlock

Headlock

 

 After those photos, we gave a lesson in hugs... around the shoulder for pictures

And here are some other sweet photos from the same day