may i have this dance?

it feels like a crazy dance around here, at least! between juggling schedules and attempting to plan our days around nap times, etc, we tend to do a lot of "dancing" around here.  the month of may has come and gone and our sweet noah has grown another month older.  he continues to love to play with lexi, play outside, and point out that anything with wheels is a "car."  he also maintains his love of reading, now bringing books to us so we can read them to him or so he can sit and turn the pages and "read" to himself.  he has added several more words to his vocabulary including: cow, teeth, ball, TV, and bird, and the animal sounds "quack quack" and "moo." he is better and better at following instructions (when he wants to, of course -- welcome to toddler-hood, right?) and will now take us to something he wants if we ask him to "show us," and will go to the bathroom if we tell him it's time to take a bath or brush his teeth.  speaking of, we did purchase an actual toddler toothbrush for him this month and it has been well-received.  noah already knew where his teeth were when we would ask, but now when we say it's time to brush his teeth or he sees a toothbrush he will excitedly exclaim "teeth! teeth!"  it is adorable.  and, other tooth news: noah finally got some of his top teeth in!  the front right tooth is completely in and the front left tooth is slowly making an appearance.  he still has the best smile around :)

we also purchased noah a pair of shoes to wear outside so his sensitive little feet would be protected.  while he did well walking in them, and didn't seem to mind having them on, he prefers to have them off.  most of the time i get them on him, he wears them for a while, then he sits down and tries to figure out how to get them off before looking at me forlornly like, "why are these things still on?"  i guess it's a work in progress.

as i mentioned last month, noah has figured out how to open drawers which, literally, opened up a whole new world of places to explore, things to get into and, subsequently, things to put away, and get in trouble for.  we've been working with him on not opening the drawers around the house and he's actually gotten much better about it, but he will still slip off sometimes and when i go looking for him i find him surrounded in the office by pens and pencils, or in the kitchen with ziploc bags, spatulas and spoons.  another work in progress.

we have a pediatrician appointment on june 1st, so i can't tell you yet exactly what noah is weighing or how tall he is, but i can tell you that we are transitioning him to 18 month clothes and size 4 diapers.  yay!
other news this month included celebrating uncle jared's graduation and his 22nd birthday, and celebrating mother's day with the family.

more pictures!

may 2012

pregnancy update

mother's day: 26 weeks and showing off my 2 reasons for celebrating!

i apologize for not updating everyone on our pregnancy progress sooner.  it's seems to be much harder this time around since i'm still working full-time and have a very active toddler to chase!  even though i intentionally tried not to set the bar "too high" during the first pregnancy, so i wouldn't feel like i was "shorting" any of our subsequent kiddos, i have already done a "worse" job of documenting this pregnancy :(

we have, however maintained the weekly pics and i have included the last 4 weeks in this post.  things either a) don't seem to change much from week-to-week or b) do change, but i have less time to notice ;)

things are all still going along well and without any problems.  my only major issue was another nasty sinus infection during weeks 26-27, reminiscent of the one i had around week 30 of my pregnancy with noah.  i couldn't breathe or sleep and i had absolutely no sense of smell or taste.  i finally broke down and got a Rx for some azithromycin that cleared it up in a few days.  now i am back to enjoying my pregnancy and the new little miracle growing in my ever-expanding belly!  if you want the week-by-week, read on:

25 weeks: our little girl should be about the size of an eggplant.  that means that she's weighing somewhere around 1.5 lbs and measuring about 13.5 inches.  she moves a lot now and it's so much fun to feel her little kicks and such!

maternity quiz
total weight gain: ~4 lbs
maternity clothes: for some things, not in the picture above
sleep: no problems!
best moment this week: enjoying a TWU reunion and my brother's graduation
cravings: anything chocolate!
what i miss: a cold beer on a hot day
what i'm looking forward to: our next OB appointment
weekly wisdom: i'm making a person, how cool is that?!
milestones: we might have picked a name, but we aren't 100% just yet.  and not pregnancy-related, but 5 years ago matt and i got engaged and i graduated college!


26 weeks: our little girl is more active all the time! she should weigh around 1.7 lbs and measure about 14 inches.  unfortunately, i'm unable to smell anything at the time this picture was taken, including all the tasty mother's day food i attempted to enjoy on sunday!  also, thanks to the infection i was fighting, i ended up sleeping through my OB appointment on thursday -- oops! had to reschedule for the following week.

maternity quiz
total weight gain: ~5 lbs
maternity clothes: shirts, mostly
sleep: no good, thanks to not being able to breathe :(
best moment this week: knowing that sinus infections are only temporary
cravings: my sense of smell and taste
what i miss: see above
what i'm looking forward to: haha, see above again!
weekly wisdom: if the worst thing i have to deal with during this pregnancy is a sinus infection, i've got nothing to complain about!
milestones: 26 weeks is definitely NICU viable (but only a nurse would think this way!) and celebrating my 2nd mother's day


27 weeks: note to self - stop taking belly pics before/after work, especially when wearing similar outfits! ;)  no big changes this week.  measurements should be along the lines of 2 lbs and 14.5 inches. our appointment went well and they were happy that i gained weight in the last 4 weeks despite not having any appetite for nearly 2 of them thanks to the sinus infection.  i did get the go-ahead to take an additional iron supplement since my energy levels have been low and it's hard to determine exactly what to attribute that to (having a 1 year old, my pregnancies being so close together, working nights, etc.).  now we move to 2 week appointments and next time i go back i have to take the nasty glucose tolerance test :P hopefully it will go well and i won't have to worry about it for the rest of the pregnancy!

maternity quiz

total weight gain: ~5 lbs

maternity clothes: no changes, still only for some things

sleep: much improved after starting antibiotics

best moment this week: being able to breathe again

cravings: everything! i could finally taste things again!

what i miss: a good, cardio-intense workout

what i'm looking forward to: getting things for a little girl :)

weekly wisdom: despite some rough patches, i only plan to do this a few times in my whole life.  pregnancy is an awesome thing to enjoy!

milestones: end of second trimester

28 weeks: 3rd trimester?! how did this happen so quickly?  our sweet little girl is kicking up a storm in there, especially if i partake of something especially sweet (i.e. apple juice at work) or with caffeine (hello, my friend, thank you for keeping me awake when noah wants to play and i've worked all night!).  i can tell she's got less space in there now because at the beginning of this week i noticed that if i don't sit with proper posture she jabs me in the ribs!  her most active time is around 3am, which i know because there are plenty of nights i am awake for that :) she should weigh around 2.25 lbs and measure around 14.8 inches.  this week she can also open her eyes and can even detect light and dark through the womb.  and despite what seems like such a small weight gain, i am feeling very large these days.  and don't be fooled by the numbers i post, i lost weight at the beginning of the pregnancy before i started gaining again.

maternity quiz

total weight gain: ~8 lbs

maternity clothes: no changes

sleep: *so* much better this week, although i've had to sleep on my side more and more

best moment this week: back to enjoying my pregnancy with a normal appetite

cravings: a frosty from wendy's...and i still haven't gotten one!

what i miss: cooler weather outside.  pregnancy is much more enjoyable during the winter months, especially if you live in texas!

what i'm looking forward to: enjoying a maternity leave with my two kiddos at the beginning of football season :)

weekly wisdom: love every minute you possibly can, don't feel guilty for the ones you don't

milestones: 3rd trimester!

mother's day 2012

thanks to jared's graduation, which fell on the saturday before, i was able to be off work before mother's day.  now, usually this would mean that i was well-rested since i didn't have to work for 12 hours before taking a quick nap and then trying to enjoy the festivities.  unfortunately, i was battling a nasty sinus infection so instead of *really* enjoying my mother's day, i had to make due without being able to smell or taste any of the yummy food.
we celebrated at sarah's house with a brunch of all sorts of tasty treats.  it was a casual day and i actually got the chance to sit and talk with my parents and siblings, which doesn't always happen at our get-togethers.  noah was a trooper and laid down for a nap while we were there (which he isn't always so good about), and matt kept up with noah so i could enjoy my time with my family without running off mid-sentence to see what he might be getting into.  nice!  i also received some beautiful flowers from my husband with a sweet card that he had signed from him, noah, and the baby :)
in the afternoon i eventually succumbed to my allergies/sinus infection and took a nap on the couch while everyone else went outside.  it was actually a nice mother's day treat, despite not being able to breathe well.  all-in-all it was a wonderful mother's day.  i did make a point of stating that i would not be keeping the current trend: 1 baby for mother's day last year, 2 babies this year.....

the food!

the grandkids play with papa john

my mother!

the guys

one of my reasons to celebrate!

enjoying some family time

all the mothers

now, show me "sexy!"

my sisters and mom opening their mother's day gift from me

maddie "hiding" from us

enjoying time outside with bubbles

hope you enjoyed mother's day with your family, too!

all grown up!

my brother graduated college on may 12 with his degree in mechanical engineering.  i was fortunate enough to be able to convince someone to pick up my shift at work and so was matt so we could all be there to celebrate this huge accomplishment.  unfortunately, the actual ceremony was smack-dab in the middle of noah's nap, so matt and noah stayed home during the first part of the festivities and joined us after the ceremony at SMU campus and the small reception there.  the whole family (included extended family) showed up at my parents' house for a graduation party complete with catered fajitas (yum!) and cake.
i also had to take time to congratulate my parents who, despite their shaky (read: financially strapped) beginning more than 30 years ago, managed to stay together despite some tough odds and raise 4 successful children who have now all completed a college degree and gone on to work within their fields.  congrats on being empty-nesters, guys!

a pic of the auditorium where the ceremony was held

the three miller girls, there to support our little brother

jared, in all his graduation glory :)

opening remarks

accepting his diploma - the best pics i could get with the poor lighting

a mass of people, but only one that matters! :D

a smile that only comes from accomplishing something as awesome as a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering

our miller family SMU grads: my dad (1980) and my brother (2012)

proud parents and empty-nesters!

a pic with my brother

showing off what it took 4 years to earn

with the maternal grandparents

love the candid :)

a pic of the "original" miller family

(these last two pics are from sarah's camera. thanks, sarah!)
we support you, jared!

big congratulations to my (always) little brother, jared! you have finally accomplished what you said you wanted to do before you started kindergarten: go to SMU to become an engineer and work at TI "like daddy." proud of you, baby bro! i love you!


as a side note - i have to include that may 12th also happens to be the day, 5 years ago, that i graduated from TWU and matt proposed! how time flies! 

smart boy

noah shows what he knows:

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