Visit from Emma

My sister, Emma, came down from Long Island to visit for Halloween. We had a lot of fun. I am so glad she could make it down even though she probably would have rather not made the long drive. Thanks Emma!

Eowyn drew this face all by herself.

We went to a farm that had Halloween activities and games for the kids.

Layla, a "boot", and First day of school

I got a call from a sister who will remain nameless requesting some updated photos. So here you go - Autumn will start updating with all our adventures soon. So stay tuned for Michael's pre-K graduation, stitches, swimming, camping, and more!



Here is Layla - 3 months old. We are struggling with reflux, but she is still adorable.





Eowyn fractured her pinkie toe and the doctor put a splint on it - her boot. She wouldn't keep it on, but she is fine now. It was a little heart breaking seeing her hobble around right after they put it on her though.

Micheal all ready for his first day of Kindergarten. He loved it and had no problems riding the bus (which is surprising if you know anything about my adventurous first day of school).

Saylor ready for her first day of second grade. She has always loved school, so she was very excited to start a new year.

But let's get real - this is how they are 90% of the time...

Full on spider battle in my kitchen

So, a lot of people have been begging for more pictures. Well, you asked for it. But first, the context.

I was minding my own business when a huge fly buzzed passed my noggin. I don't like being startled, so I search around and plotted my revenge. I found a handy throw pillow, and planned to make good use of its name. When the fly came around for a second pass I let him have it. Wham! It sailed into the corner of the kitchen stunned. When I went over to finish off my kill, I saw a spider drop down out of its hiding place and attack the still dazed fly. It quickly tied it legs together - like a cowboy hog-tying some poor farm animal that probably could have been persuaded to do whatever the cowboy wanted for a little hay, but I digress. I was pretty enthralled by the whole ordeal and decided to capture the epic battle between spider and hog-tied fly. Watch out famous National Geographic photographer whose name escapes me!

Layla's Birth Story

As requested by Robyn.

I had a doctor's appointment on Wednesday (my due date) and showed no signs of progression so my doctor wanted to schedule an induction for the following week. I was disappointed but had many things to do before my parents arrived on Friday night so I just went about daily life. On Thursday, Mike had his preschool graduation (I'll blog about that when I have pictures-it was too cute!) Everybody there kept asking me when I was due and I always had to reply that I was due yesterday-so sad! After the graduation I took the kids to a graduation get-together at the park. It was HOT!!! I came home and put a movie on for the kids and just had to lay down. (This has been been routine for me this pregnancy) When Saylor came home from school we went to a friends house to get her glasses that she had left the day before. On the drive there I had what I would consider my first real contraction. It was about 3:30pm. By 4:15 my contractions were taking me to the ground (yeah, I'm pretty much a sissy). I called Jeremy so he could take Mike to baseball because I knew I shouldn't drive. Luckily, Jeremy was on his way home. I made a very blah dinner in between contractions and my sweet Eowyn rubbed my back while I was having contractions. When Jeremy got home I timed my contractions and they were about five minutes apart. I was thinking from past experiences that I was just starting a six to eight hour labor so I didn't want to go to the hospital just yet. I had Jeremy take Mike and Eowyn to baseball and Saylor stayed with me. It was while Jeremy was gone that I decided that I could not take six to eight hours of these contractions so I called a friend to see if she could watch my kids so I could go to the hospital and get an epidural. Then Saylor and I packed the kids overnight bags and my overnight bag in between contractions. Saylor became scared when I was having a contractions so I eventually sent her outside. My water broke at about 5:30pm so I changed clothes and took all the bags out to the car (not an easy feat because I didn't want the whole world to know I was in heavy labor). The only thing that kept me together was the thought that as soon as I got to the hospital I was going to get an epidural. So when Jeremy got home we just had the kids pile into the van and Jeremy went to get Saylor who was playing outside and we were off. We dropped the kids off at a dear friends and went to the hospital. The first thing I said to anyone was that I wanted an epidural right away. They were wonderful, they wisked me into a room and calmly changed my clothes and discovered that I was almost ready to deliver-so NO epidural. When they told me I could not have an epidural I lost it and became a moaner (remember I was thinking that I had six more hours to go at this point). The wonderful nurses got right in my face and really helped me try to focus. In between contractions I would aplogize for yelling out and then another contraction would hit and I'd just yell out again (I'm so embarrassing). Anyway, Layla finally entered the world as perfect as can be. I was extremely surprised to find out that she was born twelve minutes after we got to the hospital (it seemed like sooo much longer to me). I got to hold her and kiss her and smell her and I haven't been able to stop doing any of those things since. Let's just say, I am completely smitten.

Grandma, Saylor, Autumn, Layla, Jeremy, Eowyn, Grandpa, & Michael

We had Layla blessed while Grandpa was still in town.

Layla in her blessing dress.

More Layla Ann Miller

She is so sweet and soft - I love to just kiss her cheeks! She's even better in real life so come and visit!

Layla Miller - Born May 27, 2010 at 6:36PM; 7lbs 4 oz., 19in

A proud moment for me.

Two days ago we took Saylor to her swim class. Michael and Eowyn were getting restless just waiting so I took them on a little walk. We ended up in a waiting room that had a television in it. I didn't really pay any attention to it (honestly if it's not LOST or The Office I pretty much think it's a big bore) A commercial came on that had cars on it. I heard Michael say "I want to watch this movie!" Thirty seconds later the commercial ended and Michael said "Hey, what happened to my movie?" I turned to him with an incredulous smile on my face as I realized Michael had no idea what a commercial was. I'm not exactly sure why I feel proud about this because he gets to watch WAY too many movies (especially during this pregnancy) but for some reason I do feel a sense of pride that my five year old has no concept of what a commercial is.

Grandma made Michael "Thorny". Michael loves this bear! He named him "Thorny" because the fabric Grandma used to make the bear is paisley and to him it looks like thorns everywhere. He wanted to have his picture taken with "Thorny" (which I did) then he said, "Mom take another one, Thorny's eyes were closed." I took another one right away.