New Cat Toy

This week my hubby invented a new cat toy for Lexie.  It's very simple, really... tie a long string to Lloyd's tail and entice Lexie to chase it around.

We have been laughing like crazy over this...


Oh, if this is what we do with animal children, just imagine the fun we will have with human children...

Never Forgotten, Dec 7

December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.

Friday Letters: Busy Weekend Ahead

• Dear Hubby, You were my hero this week.  I am so lucky that you are mine!
• Dear This Weekend, My To-Do List for this weekend is a MILE LONG!!!  The things on the list vary from work projects, to Christmas cards, to college football games, to reorganizing our bedroom to make room for Baby, to packing our bag for the hospital (better early than late)... and more.  I am SOOO excited for our weekend projects!
• Dear Little Baby, You are either growing like crazy, or in a different position... or both because your movements have been SOOO much stronger this week, and right in the FRONT of my stomach, instead of off to the side by my ribs.  Some of your kicks have even made me giggle.  As they get stronger, I think they will be less ticklish, and a little less adorable than they are now.
• Dear Winter,  You have officially arrived, and I don't mind.  I moved to Colorado for winter, so you won't hear me complaining.  I will say, 10 new inches of snow overnight, and waking up to -17 degree temperatures is quite a cold dose of reality, but you make me so grateful for our warm little house and how blessed we are.
• Dear Lloydey,  You were so adorable this week playing in the snow.  I will post that picture when I can.
• Dear Michigan State, BEAT OHIO.
• Dear Miller Family Christmas Card, I love to see how our family has progressed and changed over the past three years... and its all right there in three pictures.
• Dear This Weekend, I AM SO HAPPY YOU ARE HERE!!!
• Dear Hubby, I am so excited for our weekend together and all that we can get done together... and all the snuggles and hugs and fun together.

Husband Jackpot!

Ladies, I have to confess something.  I am married to the most wonderful man in the world.  When it comes to a husband, I hit the JACKPOT!

 Yesterday morning we had 10 inches of snow overnight, and I was up and ready to do what I had to in order to get to my students 90 miles away.

I was up at 4am and ready to leave the house at 5am.  My amazing hubby was up at 4:30am (without my asking) to brush off my car, warm up my car, and shovel a path for me to get to my car.  We were saying goodbye at 5:05am and he was giving me all sorts of last pointers for my snow, icy, windy drive, when he got a call from his school district that school was cancelled.  His first Snow Day in four years of working in the mountains!  This district has had 3 snow days in 40 years.

As soon as he learned he had a snow day, he informed me of the new plan -- he was driving me to all my schools for the day, and we were taking his truck.
It took another half an hour for us to brush off and warm up the truck and for Hubby to get ready to go, and then we were off on a romantic day of driving.

Hubby drove me to 5 schools, all 75-90 miles away from Rifle in 14 hours.
Someday Hubby will tell our child about how he drove through 2 school districts that had cancelled school to get Mama to work in the one district that still had school.

I have the most amazing husband in the world!

A Letter To Myself About Pregnancy

Five years ago, in April 2008, I wrote a very heartfelt email to a friend who was pregnant and in the hospital on bed rest.  I was in graduate school at Vanderbilt, two years  post-heart break, two-years post-boyfriend, and wondering if God had a husband out there for me, and if I would ever be pregnant with our child.

I wrote the following email to my friend... and now, five-and-a-half years later, as I am struggling with tiredness, fatigue, the size of my body, and uncertainty about the future, I know I need to read my own words.

This was my letter to a pregnant friend five years ... but its also a letter to a pregnant me, from the lonely young woman, beseeching God, begging for everything that, five years later, He has provided in abundance.  In order to truly appreciate my blessings, I need to remember where I came from, and how faithful God has been on my journey.

Hey Liz -

After a week of non-stop paper-writing, I am taking a few minutes before bed to tune into abcfamily to catch the end of "Father of the Bride Part II".  In doing so, I've found myself full of familiar thoughts and hopes for my life and I wanted to take a second and share a few with you as you find yourself in your final weeks of pregnancy.  I'm sure in many ways I'm writing this as much for myself as I am for you, and I know we don't know each other very well, but I hope you can receive what I write with a tender heart and know that there is much love and hope behind everything I write.
I'm to the point in life (young as I am) where I am more excited to have a baby than I am to get married.  A part of me is terrified at the idea of marriage - trusting another human that much; the whole process of meeting, knowing, growing, trusting, committing... it scares me.  I am, however, so excited to have a baby.  And more specifically, in my never-been-pregnant ignorance, I am most excited to be pregnant.  I was the youngest of my family so I had never even felt a baby kick through a stomach until about a year ago (when a close friend of mine was pregnant and I happened to feel the little kick on my hand from the outside).  I can't imagine what it feels like to have a child growing inside of me; moving, kicking, hiccuping -- it's an honor women throughout time have sacrificed their bodies to experience; an experience no man can or will ever have; it is the only way life begins -- and I want to experience it so much.

For as much as I enjoy my studies, all I want is to be married and have a family.  If I could be in the grad school of "how to find a Godly husband" or "prep for future wives and mothers" I would be.  Some days it is hard to apply myself diligently to what is in front of me because all and everything I want, have nothing to do with the path I'm on.  I'm digressing, but the point is, I am being so well trained for a job I don't want to have for very long.
Why am I writing all of this to you, a relative acquaintance and sister in Christ?  I'm sure your pregnancy has not progressed as you expected or always imagined.  You may be rounding those days where you're ready to move on and embrace the next stage of motherhood - where you can walk around again, when you will meet your child and hold her.  I guess I want to let you know that what you feel right now, your pregnancy... there are women (myself being one) who are living on the hope and anticipation of someday feeling what you're feeling right now.  The good, the bad and the unpleasant - I probably have a very romantic and ignorant idea of pregnancy, but I want to experience it more than anything else in life.
Sometimes I think it's easier to endure our current assignment when we realize we're living someone else's dream.  I'm hoping to brighten your last weeks by telling you that, despite your frustrations and complications beyond measure, you're living mine.
Love and prayers.

Brooke (at 24 years old)

1000 Words

1000 Words

Preggers I: 31 Weeks

31 week in Vail -- looking a little tired after our 1,015 mile overnight drive returning to Colorado

How far along?  31 weeks

How I am feeling?  Pretty well, although this past week of travel, holidays, family, decorating, and more unleashed a new facet of pregnancy hormones, (and aches and pains with our 2,030 mile road trip).  Traveling and holiday stress is a little different at 7 months pregnant.

How big is baby?  The size of a pineapple... 15.2-16.7 inches and 2.5-3.8 lbs

Sleep:  I sleep pretty well... although Hubby and I had to move from a double bed to a king size bed when in St. Louis to allow for all the pillows I needed stacked around me while sleeping.

Boy/Girl Prediction:  We had our first baby shower this past week, and we played a game with Old Wives Tales to try to figure out whether the baby is a boy or girl.  It depends on the tale as to weather a boy or girl is predicted.

Baby Nicknames:  Pretty much Baby, Jitterbug, or Nugget

Best moment this week:  We had our first baby shower this past weekend with friends and family in St. Louis.  We were blessed by so many people who came to celebrate with us and give us gifts to prepare for Baby.  I still have to unpack everything from the car, but I really feel like if the baby arrived anytime, we have what we need to survive.  

Also, we got to see my parents this past week in Colorado, and it was so exciting for them to come to a doctor's appointment with me and meet my doctor.  Also, they've both been able to feel the baby movements.  :-D

Food cravings:  Food that is spicy, and Dr. Pepper

Missing:   My endurance when driving cross country.  Hubby had to do much more driving than usual, and I was much less comfortable in the car than usual.  I just kept telling myself over and over,  "At least I'm not riding a donkey (like Mary)."

 

Movements:  I LOVE feeling baby movements!!!  Mostly I feel squirming on my right side up by my ribs, and then some big kicks all over.  Hubby was finally able to feel some of the major squirming that I've been feeling for awhile, and he looked at me with a surprised look and said, "Is that you?"  NO, that's not me!!!  That's our little critter in there.

Labor Signs:  No.  Thank goodness!

General Attitude:  Well, tired at the moment... but I think, excited for the Christmas season, and to organize our baby shower items.

What I am looking forward to this week:  We have a very busy week ahead -- with several gatherings at our house.  I'm looking forward to enjoying our Christmas-decorated house, and then unpacking and organizing our baby shower items later this week or this weekend.

Milestones:  We've had our first baby shower, so we are feeling a little more prepared for Baby's arrival.  Now, bring on the Thank You notes.