Happy Birthday Ebin!

This year has just FLOWN by!  Ebin learns more and more each day about the world around him.  And, even more than what he is learning, is what I am being taught by him.  I am truly, truly blessed to be the mother of such a spectacular child.  The road to parent-hood is paved with MANY MANY bumps along the way, but the bliss of being a mom is uncomparable to anything in the world!  I thank God for my sweet little man.

We really went all out for Ebs 1st birthday!  On his actual birthday Jason and I picked him up from school and took him to the zoo for the first time.  We had a blast!  But, I think Jason and I had more fun than Ebin!  Then we had a big birthday bash for our family and close friends.

Here are some shots from his birthday extravaganza!

 

Family Portraits

my best friend erin- www.erinalaine.com – did me the honors of taking my family’s portraits.  here are some of my favorite shots.  she is SO very talented!!

isn’t she amazing?!

seriously too cute!

my best friend erin is a very talented up-and-coming photographer.  she was in town this past weekend, and as a HUGE favor to me, she took some family shots of Jason, Ebin, and I.  she also took portraits of ebs.

click on this link below for a sneak peak of her session.  she is SERIOUSLY talented and ebin is SERIOUSLY the most beautiful baby EVER!!!

http://twitpic.com/ev1v6/full

Mother’s Day and Baby Dedication

Moms treat our messy, crayon drawing like it belongs in an art museum giving it a place of honor on the fridge.  Moms celebrate the first everything… first tooth, first steps, first love.  Moms tell us we can be anything we want to be, and they actually believe it. Moms wake up for 3 AM feedings and later stay awake to make sure we don’t come home at 3 AM.  Moms hold our hands through dark days and jump up and down on exciting ones.  Moms give us a tangible reminder of the fruits of the spirit… love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  So Happy Mother’s Day to all you Mom’ out there!

“After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord and he will live there always.” – 1 Samuel 1:22

Ebin was dedicated at church during the morning service on Mother’s Day.  The dedication is a ceremony where Jason and I promise to raise Ebin in a Christian home.  I think it’s so special that my church had baby dedication on Mother’s Day! Very fitting!

 Here are some pics from that day:

my mother made this outfit for my little brother in 1983, I thought it was very fitting for Ebin to wear it 26 years later

 during

the service

  \

me and my mom

me and my littlest man

“Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children are a reward from Him.” –Psalms 127:3

Some Easter Pics

Here’s some pics from our Easter:

His first Easter basket

Checking out the goods

pose, pose

playing with Daddy

Ebin and Mommy

His ‘fru-fru’ easter outfit

Aunt Leah and Ebin

Aunt Misty and Ebin

CJ, Ashleigh, and Maci our nieces and nephew

Ashleigh and Me

The clouds before the storm came in

Since there was storm we weren’t able to take Ebin’s pictures outside … so we did that this week … here’s what we took:

With Ka-Ka (my mom)

cutest baby ever!!

Please Pray

For my sister-in-law Dena.  She is having some test run.  Thanks

Some cute pics

Ebs and me have a good time

Happy March 1 Everybody!

On Thursday it was 70 degrees.  Last night, it dropped down into the 20’s and a huge snow storm blew threw … well huge for us in Memphis!  

Here are some pictures of our ’snow storm’ on March 1!

About to venture outside

It snowed THIS much

Ebin and mommy (it was bright and I have NO make-up on)

Our pretty cherry

Our house

Ebin saying ‘ooooooo’

Mommy, Daddy, and Ebin saying ‘ooooooo’

On the way to our house

It’s not that cold inside little buddy!

Our little Gerber baby

 

Happy Birthday and Snow Day to Karen and Ashleigh!

Like Grandmother, Like Grandson?

This is a picture of my Mom at 12 weeks old

This is a picture of Ebin at 12 weeks old

He looks JUST like her.  Minus the widow’s peak which is totally from me, he is a spitting image of my Mother!  Even his hair looks like hers!  Crazy

We still smile

Here’s a pic of my nephew CJ.  He has SUPER curley hair.  We decided to straighten it, just to see …

freaky, isn’t it?

Christmas

This year was Ebin’s first Christmas, but we celebrated in the usual way.  Fondue orderves at my mom and Dad’s house, then over to Pop’s house for Christmas Eve dinner.  After all the kiddo’s went to sleep we all helped put toys together and put out Santa.  Then Christmas morning  we had breakfast, and opened presents.  Then we went over to my Mom and Dad’s for Christmas Dinner.

Here are some pictures:

Christopher, me, Mom, Dad

Ashleigh, me, Maci

Ms. Pam, Larry, Misty

CJ rockin out

Ebin

Ebin playin with Daddy

Ebin and Mommy

Mom, Leah, me, Ebin

Leah and Ebin

The end!

Merry Christmas!!!

From our family to yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

Dont’ let the hustle and bustle of this time of year take away from the TRUE meaning of Christmas.  It’s not about Santa Clause, Reindeer, or presents!It’s the celebration of Jesus’ birth and all the miracles surrounding that miraculous event!    Please don’t forget that!

Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 

Happy Gobble Gobble Day!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Please take a moment today and in the following days to reflect on the things that you are grateful for.  If you are like me, I’m sure that you can say, that even through hardships there are true blessings in each of our lives.  We should not only use Thanksgiving Day to reflect on these blessings but every day. 

… how’s that hymn go …

Count your blessings
Name them one by one
Count your blessings
See what God has done
Count your blessings
Name them one by one
Count your many blessings
See what God has done

Happy Gobble Gobble (you girls out there remember Gobble Gobble?!)

Are all 4 years olds THIS quick witted?

The Scene:

Me, Jason, and Maci (our 4 years old neice) and Ebin in our car on the way to IHOP

The Conversation:

• Aunt Ker Ker – ‘Uncle Jace, did you know Maci has a boyfriend?’
• Maci – begins to blush and smile
• Uncle Jace – ‘You have a boyfriend Maci??  Tell me about him’
• Maci – smile begins to get bigger ‘His name is Parker and he’s in my class.’
• Uncle Jace – ‘Parker huh?  Sounds like a nice boy’
• Maci - shakes her head enthusiastically ‘I have 3 boyfriends really …Parker, Nick and Jo’
• Aunt Ker Ker – whispers under her breath to Jason .. ‘those are the Jonas Brother’s from that Disney show she loves’
• Uncle Jace – now pretending to have a clue ‘Nick and Jo from the Jonas Brother’s are your boyfriends?? That’s cool!”
• Maci – puzzled look on her face ‘You watch the Jonas Brother’s Uncle Jace?’
• Uncle Jace – to build a repore with his 4 year old niece ‘Yeah I LOVE them Maci!’
• Maci – ‘Uncle Jace, you are gay’ .. bc somehow she knows grown men aren’t supposed to watch Disney and like the Jonas Brother’s.

TOO FUNNY

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a sweet pic of me and Maci a few years back

Ebin Daley Miller

I’m pleased to announce that my son has finally arrived!

Ebin Daley Miller was born on Wednesday, October 15th at 6:40 pm after 9 hours of labor.  He was delivered by c-section, weighing 7 pounds 3 ounces, Measuring 20 inches.

He is the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen!!

Here’s some pics from the last 9 months as long as the labor and delivery pictures

_____________________________________________

7 weeks

15 weeks

3 months

4 months

18 weeks

18 weeks – it’s a boy!!!

5 months

23 weeks

6 months

 

7 months

8 months

9 months

9 month ultrasound

The day before

Labor and Delivery

Some cute pics ..

cutest dog in the world

Cutest 4 year old niece in the world

cutest 2 year old nephew in the world

most awesome 14 year old niece in the world

THANK YOU!!

I just wanted to post a BIG OLE FAT THANK YOU to all the people that have helped me get ready for this baby!!  God has really blessed Jason and I with great family and friends that have been able to provide necessities to get ready for this little one.  I am SHOCKED with how generous people have been.  I am completely ready for Ebin’s arrival because of how much people have helped us (and I haven’t even had a shower yet!!)

The list of things given to us-

• crib
• mattress
• crib bedding
• changing table
• changing table mattress
• rocking chair
• bassinet
• stroller
• car seat
• bouncy seat
• swing
• high chair
• pack-n-play
• bumbo seat
• baby clothes ranging from 0 to 24 months
• diapers by the cases
• wipes by the cases
• lotion/shampoo
• bath tub
• towels
• book’s
• cd’s
• bottles
• paci’s
• socks, shoes, hats, onesies
• toys
• blankets
• and other things I’m sure I’m forgetting

Everyone I want to thank -

• Mom and Dad
• Pam and Larry
• Leah and Christopher
• Misty and Chad
• Wendy and Nathaniel
• Shannon
• Ashleigh
• Amber

Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my <3!!  Becoming a Mom can be a scary experience, and without everyone’s help I would have been VERY overwhelmed!  It’s wonderful how God has provided!! 

I’m sure I’ll have more thank-you’s as the due date gets closer, but I wanted to go ahead and post this now bc I’ve just been SOO blessed!!

See the closet?  It’s packed!!

written at 33 weeks

Fun with the kiddos

Jason’s neice and nephew have been all the ‘practice’ Jason and I needed as far as having kids around.  They come over to our house and spend the night, 12 hours later we give them back.  They are sad or sick their Mom takes care of them.  They want some candy or coke we give it to them, then back to their mom!!  HAHA!!  They are the most precious children and we love them dearly!!  They won’t ever realize it, but they’ve helped us get ready for our own children.

It won’t be long until we get ALL the practice we can stand when Baby Miller gets here …

Until then, here’s some pics of the 3 of us .. Aunt Ker Ker, Maci Dean, and Uncle CJ.

He’s ALL boy

If you read below, you saw that I was very sick while we were in Florida on vacation.  So I don’t have a WHOLE lot of stories to tell about the trip .. but here’s a cute story I read on my sister-in-law blog about Jason and I’s nephew CJ…

__________________________________

“OK, so CJ loves boobs.  One morning we were all sitting out on the balcony looking at the ocean and visiting.   Keren and her big pregnant boobs came outside and she picked up CJ.  CJ immediately grabbed on to her boobs and said “booooooobie” and had the biggest smile on his face!!  Two seconds later, Chad got on to him and told him not touch Ker-Ker’s boobies.  CJ looked at him like he had absolutly lost his mind, giving him a look like “daddy, we are SUPPOSED to like this, what’s wrong with you??!”  Then he baby cussed his Daddy, but we aren’t exactly sure what he said thru his paci.  The look and cussing was priceless!!  Anyway, then he turned and looked at my Aunt Donette, then my Mom, and then me and seemed a little disappointed.  So CJ’s ALL boy!”

_________________________________

I took this picture while we were in Florida, then I read my sister-in-law’s blog and re-looked at my pics and realized that ANY time I was holding CJ he always had one hand firmly planted on my boob. 

7 Months Pregnant + Beach = Hell

Jason and I got the chance to go to the beach last week with his family.  We hadn’t been to the beach in over 2 years, and the beach has always been a special place for us!  Jason proposed on the beach, so it always brings back sweet memories.

Fast forward and we arrive at the condo.  The whole ride down I felt like I was coming down with something.  But, since I’m preggers, I just thought the discomfort was one of the many random aches and pains that I’ve gotten used to.  I tried to ignore it .. but sure enough, Monday night, I get a fever.  Awesome.  This continued all Monday night, and into Tuesday.  Tuesday was our first full day to get on the beach, so I took it easy, stayed hydrated and cooled off every chance I had, and tried to soak up the sun. 

As Tuesday progressed, it was clear to me that I was definitely sick.  I went out for a ‘nice’ dinner with the girls, while the boys went golfing.  I say ‘nice’ in quotations, bc for me it was HORRID.  The food was good, I hear, the company was great as always, but I was so nauseous I couldn’t make it through the whole meal without throwing up.  Luckily I only ordered the $7 soup, instead of a $20 entree.

The nausea/vomiting/fever/aches ect continued all thru the night Tuesday and into Wednesday.  I stayed in bed all Wednesday and I was SOO very sad bc it was a beautiful beach day.  Jason stayed by my side the entire time taking care of me!  Wednesday I tried my hardest to go out and visit with friends and family, and just ended up near passing out 2 or 3 times, so that wasn’t a good idea, I should have stayed in the bed!! 

Wednesday night my Doctor’s office told me to go to the ER bc I was very dehydrated and needed some fluids.  The combo of fever, nausea, throwing up, not eating, not drinking and heat was taking it’s toll on me.  But, for some reason I decided I could take care of this on my own and I would get better.  It was just a virus, right?? 

Well, as a side note, each day I had these shooting pains in my stomach and back.  I’ve had pains similar to this before so I just figure, again, I’m just uncomfortable from the baby.  Well, I started getting worried bc the pains were coming about every 15 minutes … mmmm, sounds suspish.  Anyway, again, dumb me, I decide I’m fine.  I’d know if I was having contractions, right?  I mean, it was a stabbing pain, but no water breaking or anything like that. 

Fast forward and it’s 2 am Wednesday morning and I’m still in pain and miserable.  Jason turns to me and says very stern voice says “If you aren’t better in the morning we are going to the ER!”  Around 4 that morning my fever breaks and, thank the LORD, I’m able to keep some fluids down, and the stabbing pains in my back and stomach are moving farther apart and seem to be fading.

By the end of Wednesday I could eat solid food and I was regaining my strength, but I still felt like CRAP.  Jason and I had a few days left and were hoping to get on the beach.  BUT it rained the remainder of our trip!!  Can you believe it??!

I ended up going to the doctor later, and I spoke to my obgyn about all my symptoms and she told me that the stabbing/shooting pains I was having were actually contractions.   She went on to say if I had stayed dehydrated and with a fever for 2-3 more days I would have begun labor.  Thankfully I didn’t, the fever and dehydration went away as did the contractions.  GEES.

* MORAL * Don’t do the following:

1. Go anywhere hot on vaca while in third trimester
2. Get a virus
3. Refuse to go to the Dr.

The Lake

We had a great time at the lake!  Jason and I went over on Saturday and met some of his family -Sister Misty, Bro in law Chad, Neices Ashleigh and Maci, and Nephew CJ-  We did the usual .. hang out on the boat all day, eat yummy food all night, repeat, repeat.

Here are some pics from our trip.

Jason and Roxie are ready for the lake.

.

Chad, Maci, Ashleigh, CJ, Misty

Naked baby!

Me and Jason ride the sea-do

Maci was exhausted from all the fun!

Jason cooks yummy pork tenderloin

Maci helps her Uncle Jace

A boat lovin’ dog!

Roxie, the life-guard pup

So I’ve talked before about Jason and I’s Jack Russell Terrior – Roxie Anna Special Puppy Dog Miller (that’s her full name)

She’s a precious pup, but we have our ups and downs with her.  One of the worst things about her is that she HATES the car.  She wines and carries on any time you put her in the car.  It’s rare that we take her anywhere bc she is just not manageable! 

This weekend Jason and I went back to the lake.  We went with his sister Misty, Chad, and their kids Ashleigh, Maci, and CJ (link to her blog to the right)  Anyway, we didn’t have anyone to keep Roxie, so we decided to take her with us.

The ride there was actually not that bad.  We called the vet and got a sedative that was just for the 3 hour trip and for her size.  It didn’t knock her out, but it made her crying more managable.  So we arrive at the Lake and we felt pretty good having tackled the car ride with the winey-est dog you will ever meet.  Now we wonder how she will act on the boat.  You see, we can’t leave her in the condo bc she is a little accident proned. 

So, we get on the dock, pick up the pup, and put her on the boat.  We start up the boat and off we go.  MUCH to our surprise she LOVES the boat!  She HATES sea-do’s and barks at every single one that passes us .. which is hilarious .. but you can tell she LOVES the wind in her face.  Cool!!  Success!!

The entiretly of the trip we are unable to get the dog in the water.  She seems curious, but not curious enough to make the plung.  We are good dog owner’s, so we don’t force her.

Fast forward and it’s Monday afternoon and the guys want to go to a rope swing and play on that for awhile.  The swing is on the random island in the middle of the lake.  So, we dock the boat on the muddy shore, and the guys make a short treck to the tree.  Roxie starts carrying on .. she’s barking so much it no longer sounds like a bark but a scream.  She obviously does NOT want him climbing up the tree.  As he heads up the tree she jumps off the boat and makes a B-LINE for Jason.  He continues to climb the tree all the while she is racing to catch him, barking the WHOLE time.  He takes off on the swing and before he can hit the water Roxie has high tailed it to him to ’save’ him.  I’ve never seen a dog swim that fast!!  She was SO concerned for his safety.  Once she saw he was ok, she turned back around and zoomed back to the shore.  It was the highlight of our weekend. 

I’m very proud of the pup.

HERE ARE THE PICS …

He’s ready to jump.

She ’saves’ him

One last look to make sure he’s ok.

Alright, he’s ok .. back to the shore

Black Widow Infestation

So over the last week Jason and I have seen and killed 6 black window spiders at my house.  I think it’s pretty safe to say we have a black widow infestation.  I’ve only seen a BWS once in my whole life before now, and that was when I was a little girl.  So it’s been kind of creepy to keep seeing them pop up around our house. 

Did you know that BWS are 15 times more venomous than a common rattlesnake?  Pretty freaky!!

So, needless to say, we are calling the bug man to kill these little creatures.  I hope they are gone soon bc I can’t stand being afraid that I might get bit every time I walk in and out of my house.

Happy Birthday Jason

Happy Happy Birthday to my sweet husband Jason. 

Below are some pictures of him and I through the years!

April 2007

October 2006

March 2007

February 2007

December 2006

September 2006

January 2007

 

I love these kids!!

Here is a picture of Jason’s neice’s and nephew.  L-R Maci, CJ, and Ashleigh.  They are his blood, but I love them like they were mine!  I was at each child’s birth, and have loved each of them since the day I met them (Minus Ashleigh because she was born before I was in the family)!!  They are the sweetest neice’s/nephew a girl could have!! 

I got this picture from their mom’s blog (Misty) and I just thought it was priceless!!  Maci trying to hog the camera, CJ wanting some of the action, and Ashleigh trying her hardest to keep both of the little ones in line.  Aren’t they precious!!  I love them so very much and am patiently waiting for MY sister to have babies!!