A Tale of Five Ornaments

In 2006, my family started giving us a "Miller family" ornament each year. They have become my favorite ornaments to pull out each year because they represent our ever-changing and growing family!

Since 2006, the ornaments have changed every year. Either we've been pregnant or it's been one of the girl's first Christmas.

2006

2007

2008

2009

And last weekend my Dad gave us the new 2010 ornament - double change this year......

2010

I'm excited to say that in 2011 our "Miller family" ornaments will be set and not changing!

We'll be a family of five!! Baby #3 due July 6th.

PS - We have absolutely no intention of actually calling Maddie - "Maddie Moo" but I'm glad that now we'll have a reminder for years to come of what her baby nickname was! I also realize (though I'm confident that my Dad did not - men, not into details) that her piece of the ornament was likely meant for a dog (with the paw prints and all). Given that now she's going to be the dreaded middle child, I'm thinking that I probably need to go and swap that out!

Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours!

Candy Boxes Christmas Card

Shop Shutterfly for unique, personalized Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

War Eagle!

We love our Auburn Tigers!

We also love babysitters willing to keep three wild ones during the Iron Bowl. Best money spent in a long time!!

It's Best to Sleep with One Eye Open!

Because you never know when the sticker fairy might be around!

The Ones that Didn't Make It!

For goodness sakes it is about impossible to get a picture of a two-and-a-half year old and a ten month old together. I take that back, as seen below, it's not impossible to get one of them together.....it's just impossible to get one that is actually Christmas card worthy!

After trying and failing to get a good picture of them together, I decided this year it would have to be individual pictures of the girls.

Well, Hannah Cate was over it by now and was just cold.....this was the best we could do!

So, we headed out the next day to try again. This time I was more prepared. I promised that if she let me take her picture and if she was good and minded and acted sweet then she could take my picture with my good camera.

Worked like a charm!

That and the promise of an "e-o" or as most people call them - Oreo!

A Little Motivation.....

I'm terribly late on our Christmas cards this year. I was beginning to think maybe I should just let it go. But then I thought about the five previous Miller family Christmas cards that are sitting in "the box" and how much I love to look back at them each year to see how much our family has changed. Then I thought about how sad I would be in the years to come when I look back and we are missing 2010 - an important year that we added a new person to our family! Then I came across this great offer from Shutterfly for bloggers......no turning back, I had to get it in gear!

I'm excited to use Shutterfly this year. I've used them in the past and was very pleased with the results. I'm a big fan of quick and easy creation of their photo cards and good quality card stock that they offer. Not to mention the wide variety of designs!

We also have a very important first Birthday coming up and I just may have to take a look at Shutterfly's selection of invitations while I'm at it! Maybe I could get really crazy and make a calendar of Maddie's first year!

Thank you Shutterfly for helping me get it together this year. I need all the help I can get!

The Things She Says......

Hannah Cate is at such a fun age. We are constantly amazed at the things she says and the things she understands at such a young age. She's so impressionable, which really keeps Matt and I accountable to the things we say and the way we treat each other. You can't slip much by this sweet girl!

My Grandmother (Mom's Mom) kept a book of things that Emily and I said when we were little. Things we said at her house and things Mom told her that we said. It's one of my favorite things to look through - such a treasure to have those memories. To this day, Mom reminds us of things that are in "the book". I've known that I wanted to make sure to keep a record of the things the girls say, but I can hardly believe I'm already to that point with Hannah Cate.

One day I'll put them in a book, but for now I think the blog is the best place - plus all of you will get the joy and laughs that we get on a daily basis!

One day the girls and I were in Maddie's room. I was changing Maddie's diaper and Hannah Cate was playing. The day before she had pulled all of the empty coat hangers off the bottom shelf of Maddie's closet and they were sprawled all over the closet floor - there were probably 15 or so hangers laying on the floor. Hannah Cate said to me - "Mommy, who make-uh this mess?" To which I responded, "Hannah Cate, you did that!" She spouts back with, "What are we gonna do with me?"

All of us were in the kitchen one night getting ready for dinner. Matt and I were talking. At one point Matt must have said something to me in a stronger tone than normal and Hannah Cate quickly interjected with, "Daddy, be sweet to Mommy!" We died laughing!

Earlier this year Hannah Cate started participating in prayer time before bed. I would always ask her who she wanted to pray for. Without fail, she always started with Mimi (my Mom) and Papa. Looking back I have no doubt she "knew" that Mimi was going to need those prayers more than anyone else this year!

There is a cross that hangs on the wall in Hannah Cate's room, right above the light switch. One night during her "who are we going to pray for" recital she said "pray for the cross". I thought I was going to cry. Now she asks to pray for the cross almost every night and we thank the Lord for what the cross means in our salvation and we pray for the day that Hannah Cate truly can grasp the meaning. Oh to have faith like a child!

She's not a complete angel, she also asks to pray for her piggy bank!

The last of the prayer time stories - at least for now. During our "who do you want to pray for" time I'll continue to ask Hannah Cate "who else/what else" until she just stops talking. Well, recently she's started listed a few people/things and quickly says, "That's it". I guess you gotta draw the line somewhere!

Wordless Wednesday

Going to See the Tigers Play!

We left Birmingham bright and early Saturday morning headed towards the Plains. Hannah Cate has been to Auburn several times, but this was her first time to actually go into the game! I knew when we were watching Game Day one Saturday morning and she saw some football footage and completely on her own started yellling "Go Auburn Go" and shaking her liitle arm that we just had to take her to a game this year. That and the fact that "War Eagle, fly down the field" (otherwise known as the Auburn Fight Song) is her favorite song!

We had one excited little girl on our hands!

It was a beautiful day and despite the traffic we got there in plenty of time to see the band, cheerleaders and the team run out on the field! I think it was a bit overwhelming for Hannah Cate, she was pretty clingy but she really seemed to like it too!

We even got to see Aubie pretty up close. This was close enough for Hannah Cate. She likes to talk about Aubie, but she would rather not get too close. She's really never been a fan of mascots or walking/talking characters. I asked her if she wanted me to take her down to see Aubie and she was not interested in the least! She kept wanting to know where he was, I think to keep her eye on him and make sure he wasn't getting too close. Eventually she started saying "Where is Aubie? Aubie not get me?".

It was hotter than I thought it was going to be, so we made a drink run pretty early in the first quarter. Not long after we got back from a break in the shade Hannah Cate looked at me and said "Mommy, I all done War Eagle". Hilarious! I looked at the game clock - 10:24 left in the 1st Quarter. Glad we picked the ULM game and were able to find friends that were not using their tickets who graciously gave them to us! We stayed through the end of the first quarter and were able to enjoy Auburn while most everyone else stayed in the game.

She loved playing on the lawn in front of Samford and sitting on the Auburn sign.

I love this girl so much!

We can only pray that we'll get to replicate this family picture in about 16 years when we are dropping her off for some of the best years of her life!

We headed back to Birmingham to get Moo and show her some of the tricks that we learned from watching the football players live and in person.

And of course spend some time with G-Daddy

When this one heard that we went to the game without her, she couldn't believe it......

But I know she had a good time playing with G-Daddy and Me Rose.

Digging Out

Sorry to breeze in and breeze out with so little information about my Mom and exactly what is going on. Thank you for your sweet comments, emails, texts and phone calls. And thank you for praying for my family.

A little background - Mom was diagnosed with a fairly uncommon disease in 2002 called Scleroderma. Only about 300,000 people in the US have been diagnosed with scleroderma. There is no known cause, there is no cure and the treatment is minimal.

In August Mom started having some complications from an infected place on her finger (scleroderma related) so she was seeing a physician that was helping her get better. While being treated for the finger, she started having some other issues/symptoms including loss of appetite, weight loss, low blood counts, low blood pressure, etc. This eventually led to a trip to the UAB ER where she was eventually (after a painfully long wait) admitted and underwent many tests. She was discharged within a few days without a true picture of what was wrong, but with plans for additional outpatient tests with a gastroenterologist. Before she ever made it for the additional tests she began to have intense stomach pains. Again we headed back to UAB where they discovered she had an ulcer that had perforated the lining of her stomach. She was taken for emergency surgery very early on a Saturday morning to repair the tear. During the operation they discovered that she had far greater problems than they expected and due to what they found in her stomach (which we now know to be non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma) they were unable to repair the tear and therefore were left with no choice but to completely remove her stomach.

It was a very hard surgery on Mom's body so she was left on the ventilator and taken to ICU following the surgery. She was on the ventilator from Saturday until Monday afternoon and on Tuesday she was released from ICU to a general recovery room. She stayed in the hospital for another week (or so) and was then released to a rehab facility where she's been for the last month (just about).

She's recovering well and getting stronger every day. She's still got her sense of humor and is as feisty as ever. She's still on a feeding tube to help her get the proper amount of nutrition so that her incision can heal. She's learning how to eat and drink without a stomach (she can eat regular food, she just has to eat smaller and more frequent meals/snacks).

I've learned a lot from her. She's a fighter - and I really didn't know that about her. She's stayed so positive, constantly saying that it could be worse (and I'm not so sure about that sometimes). She's so kind to each and every care giver that she comes in contact with - even the ones that could be doing a better job. She has patience and extends grace to everyone. She's strong and I know that is going to help her in the days ahead.

We go tomorrow for her first appointment with her new hematologist/oncologist. He'll help us navigate exactly what needs to be done to fight the Lymphoma. He's already talking chemo, but she'll have scans done tomorrow that will show her doctor exactly what was left after her stomach was removed. I'm praying for no cancer left, no spreading and therefore no need for further treatment.

I'm sorry for those of you reading that were left surprised and uninformed. Thank you for all of your kind words and most of all for praying for us. We believe in the power of prayer and that's what Mom needs the most.

For some light-hearted reading and the source of many great smiles from Mom these days, keep scrolling on down.....

Sweet and Sassy

This one is just the epiotme of sass these days. Look at that face!!

But she can be really sweet too!

I think we'll keep her!!

All About Maddie

My itty-bitty baby is getting so big. I mean, I still feel that way about Hannah Cate, so you can imagine my surprise over how big my Maddie is getting! She's such a sweet girl. She still just smiles all the time. She loves Hannah Cate and wants to be where ever she is. She's loud and is starting to "talk" (ba-ba-ba, da-da-da). She's crawling all over the place, room to room. Her favorite place is Hannah Cate's room with all the toys. She's pulling up and just starting to take some steps while holding on. I think she's going to be walking so much sooner than Hannah Cate did (14 months). The girl loves to eat. I don't think we'll have one bit of problem getting her to give up the bottle, she already loves a sippy cup and she would rather eat solids than drink a bottle. We still call her Maddie Moo-Moo and sometimes just Moo. She's not a very good sleeper (that might be the under statement of the year). Her sleeping habits might just seal the deal that she'll always be the baby (wink and a smile). She's always content if she can see your face, otherwise, she'll let you know that she would like to see your face - again, she's loud.

I just cannot imagine our family without her. She's a blessing and we are so glad that she's ours. She's stolen all three of our hearts.

These two sweet girls are going to be our babysitters one day. They come over to our house to play several times a week. They love, love, love Hannah Cate and Maddie and are so sweet to them. We cannot wait until they are just a little older and are ready to take on the girls by themselves!

One day they came over and Hannah Cate was spending the night with Matt's parents, so Maddie had them all to herself. They played and played (and I was able to get some chores done around the house). They called me into Maddie's room and this is what I found:

Maddie thought it was so funny and so did the girls!

My Mom is sick.

It's hard to watch your Mom be sick and to see her hurt.



The unknown is hard.


I'm at the hospital with her in Birmingham, which means I'm not at home with my family.

I miss them.



It's hard to be away from them.



I'm thankful that I am where I know I am supposed to be - but no matter where I turn, it's hard.


The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17


Please pray for us.

Life as the Baby

Hannah Cate loves, loves, loves Maddie. Maddie loves, loves, loves Hannah Cate. The two of them are most content when they are together. Of course Maddie can't really play with Hannah Cate just yet, but Hannah Cate really thinks that she is playing with Maddie. Sometimes at sweet Maddie's expense. We've learned pretty quickly that we can't turn our backs for very long!

But we have learned the hard way in some cases.......

Hannah Cate has developed an obsession with hats lately, but in most cases, she's obsessed with taking them off. She's been saying to Matt recently "hat off" every time he has a hat on. G-Daddy came to play with us on Monday and he received the same treatment. Maddie on the other hand was given the Hannah Cate stamp of approval to wear the "War Eagey" hat (whether it fit her or not).

Hannah Cate has also developed a great fondness for talking to people on the phone. We like to call Mimi and G-Daddy on the phone since we don't get to see them as often. Hannah Cate likes to make sure Maddie gets to talk to them too!

I'm not even sure how to explain this one, other than to say, this falls in the "don't turn your back" category. We were getting ready to go to the pool and Maddie was waiting patiently already loaded in her car seat while the rest of us were getting our stuff together. Hannah Cate grabbed one of the chargers off the dining room table and proceeded to put it over Maddie's face. The funniest part is that it didn't even phase sweet Moo-Moo - no arms flailing or legs kicking. I guess you get used to just about anything around here!

On Saturday I was home alone with the girls and I was trying to get a few things done around here. Hannah Cate was playing in her room and so I thought I would put Maddie in Hannah Cate's crib ("kib") where she would be safe and sound but could still be in the presence of Hannah Cate (again, they are both happier and more content when they are together). I came back to check on them, only to find every single one of Hannah Cate's toys (books, stuffed animals, baby dolls, puzzle pieces, you name it) in the crib with Maddie. Poor girl was practically buried underneath a mound of toys. Would you believe me that she wasn't even crying or fussing? She was actually smiling when I peered over the crib to find her under the mess. So much for safe and sound in the crib. I don't have a picture of this near catastrophe because my camera battery was dead I was just trying to rescue my baby!

As for the big sister responsible for it all. This is the face I get when I ask her if she thinks maybe she's playing a little rough with sister:

Hmmmmm.....what am I supposed to say to that?