Life is Flying By!

Boy is life moving along at such a fast pace. Part of it can be that I am weeks from having our little boy. Knowing a life changing thing is happening soon, makes the days go by even faster when sometimes you don't really want them too. I have so many things on my list of things to do and when that happens, I tend to completely freeze and do nothing. So frustrating. One huge thing was taxes and I was able to get them done earlier this week. I also want to make a handful of baby ABC albums and get them listed on Etsy. Partly to clean out my paper supply that I have now, partly to make the money because those said supplies are just sitting and waiting for the opportunity to be in someone else's house,  and partly I need one for my little guy when he is born. I love having those for my boys and they LOVE looking through them all of the time. Plus I still have Paparazzi stuff mixed in there. I should be more motivated to make a huge push before the end of next month, but its been the opposite. I am just so tired to do much of anything beyond the daily grind. Then I just have little things here and there that I want to catch up on and do. We'll see what actually gets done. Oh ya, we need to start getting Brecken's room combined into Gunnar's before baby comes so I can get his clothes out. That should be fun. :/

I am currently 33 weeks pregnant and these pictures were taken about a week ago. Jeff is too funny and took one way close. You never know what you will get until you play back the pictures. I'm starting to feel bigger by the day. I can feel it. I am already way past the weight that I was when I delivered both of my boys. We'll see how it all comes off...I never obsess or worry about it. I just find it interesting how it all plays out with each child. I am currently down to 2 week appointments so that makes time fly by too. I am starting to get very excited about this little guy and completely content and happy about having another boy. If we just have the 3 boys, I will be completely happy with it. I have lots of little nieces to love on. We are so stuck on names. We have it narrowed down to Trenton and Walker. Jeff is all for Trenton and I am all for Walker. Neither one of us will budge much. We decided that we will have to wait and see what he looks like before we make a decision. His middle name with be Kulaniakea. It is very much a family name on my side. I love  having deep rooted family middle names for all of my boys. All of their first names are completely random. March 27th is coming very quickly when I go in first thing for my c-section.

Gunnar is an absolute pill lately. Mindy was telling me the other day that he has been so good. Well he is to other people. He really needs to get out of this stage he has been in for like the last 3 years! I hope his 7th birthday coming up matures him a little. I love him so much though and he is quite the funny kid. He is so full of energy and I wouldn't want it any other way. He still says things in funny ways like sunbeep for sunbeam or radio for rodeo or The Morax for The Lorax. Makes me laugh every time. One day while playing in the snow, he hauled in something awesome from the garden. He pulled up the gigantic kale plant that was growing out there! It was huge. I called Heidi all excited that she could have some for soups. After closer inspection, it was frozen and kind of yucky. That wouldn't really work but it was fun to see the big thing. It should be interesting to have Brecken and Gunnar in the same bedroom. The age gap is 4 years and they just don't really understand each other quite yet. We plan on making the transition when school is out in May as to not interrupt either one when Gunnar has to get up for school. Brecken will still sleep in most mornings.

Brecken is quite the love bug. He has always been my cuddlier one out of the two. I love it. He still demands that I rock him at night. Jeff likes to say that I created a complete monster. So right now Jeff has taken over that part. Gunnar likes to say that Brecken is in training right now with dad doing it because when baby comes, he can't always have that. Brecken totally breaks down after prayers when Jeff takes him but gets over it quickly and falls asleep. It has been entertaining to hear Jeff try to sing songs to Brecken while rocking him. Jeff will sing more of the hymns because he doesn't really know the primary songs. Brecken requests Christmas songs every night. I think he will know all of the words to Silent Night by the time Christmas comes this year. He's close. Brecken's speech is blossoming more and more every day. It's fun to hear him talk. He has a little lisp when he talks and gets really animated with his hands if he realizes that you have no idea what he is talking about. He still says "gago" for anything liquid. It is the strangest thing. Just a random word he made up. He is also a super busy boy, full of spunk, but you can tell he has such a tender heart as well. He understands that there is a baby inside my tummy. Yesterday he told me, "Mom, you big" as he patted my tummy. He makes me laugh. He still loves his time with Cami twice a week. They are both coming into their big kid personalities and get into fights quite often about random things. Brecken figures he can overpower Cami while Cami is hitter and goes that route. Makes for some interesting days sometimes. Also makes me very aware of boys and girls in general. Boy are they different! They are best of buds though and I hope they stay that way. I'm excited to have our baby so close to Mindy's. They will be even closer than Cami and Brecken in age! Cami has been invited to a therapy playgroup and Brecken was accepted as well as the "normal" control child they are supposed to have. They love going once a week! They will get to go until Cami turns 3 this fall. The entire transition when this baby comes, watching Cami and school things for Gunnar will be very interesting.

When I see these two little guys together, I have such a hard time imagining what our third little guy will look like. Gunnar has medium brown hair, with blue smiley eyes. He is such a skinny mini and tall. Brecken on the other hand is a blondy so far with round eyes that seem to change from blue to green regularly (I was like that as a kid and eventually settled on green). He is one stocky little guy. He is average in weight but you wouldn't know it because he is built like a solid concrete brick. He is heavy! What will boy #3 look like. Will he take after one of these guys or be completely different. Maybe we'll have a very dark haired little boy. It will be fun to see how similar or different he is.

It's A...

BOY! 

Oh yes, you read that right. Another little dude will be joining the Miller clan. Was I over the top thrilled...nope. I was a little shocked and a little sad. We had a girl name picked out, I already had two boys, so having a girl just seemed logical to me. I was sad for about a week about not having a girl but then the following week things changed. I was watching Cami like I normally do and she was just getting over the flu bug, she was especially whiny both days because she wasn't feeling herself still but man she changed my perspective really quickly. I just don't know girls at all. I am so used to boys and I am realizing they are more my speed. They always have been. In school I was more drawn to my guy friends then girlfriends. I just couldn't tolerate the unnecessary drama. I think I wanted a girl so bad for two things. I wanted to use the name we picked out and I really just want to see what a Jeff and Kristi Miller girl looks like. That's all really. So thank you Cami for being you and making me realize that I am completely okay with having nieces.

When we found out what we were having with Brecken, we took Gunnar to the store and picked out an outfit. We did the same with this little guy too. Brecken LOVED the monster shirt but Gunnar LOVED the camo pants, so we put them together and made an outfit to make them both happy. This is what the little guy will come home in. Gunnar was really into this robot outfit but we were not about to buy both. We do not need anymore boy clothes at all. We are set.

Right now I am 24 weeks and feeling great. I don't even feel that big at all which is great. Many people at church are just now figuring out that I am pregnant because I really don't look it for as far along as I am. This little guy always has a dance party at about 8:30/9ish every night which is fun. Gunnar loves to give my belly hugs and kisses and is excited for a baby. Brecken is slowly starting to catch on and will give my belly raspberry kisses over and over again. The other day, he turned to me, I thought he was going to give loves and instead he head butted my belly super hard. That was not fun at all. He had a little lesson about being soft. I had to laugh when I read Mindy's blog because I knew that she liked yucky Spaghettios but I had no idea that she liked sour things too. Heidi did with Cami and I like sour patch kids with this baby and Brecken. Funny the similarities and it didn't make a difference whether they were girl babies or boy babies. Speaking of Mindy, she is finding out what they are having tomorrow and I can not wait to find out!!!

The last month and a half has been so busy but for some odd reason I feel ahead of the game. Not sure why. The gift buying is all done, I've made treats for all of the people that needed them. I'm feeling pretty good. We've had busy fun days with cousins and siblings and just over all silliness.

Gunnar and Brecken got it in their heads that they were going to play school. They got winter/rain boots on, lunchboxes together, hats and vests...silly.

A box provided hours of fun. They thought they were so silly.

Brecken walked around for days with this hat on saying he was a worker. Funny kid.

I caught these two reading books on the steps. I had to laugh because Cami was literally telling Brecken all of the right colors and shapes. Brecken is so clueless. 

I made these for our Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching families. They are little oven safe ramikens and homemade flavored popcorn. Yum!

We made these for one of Jeff's brother's family for Christmas and for our really good friends the Sartell's. I'm not going to tell you what is inside...yet. I would hate to ruin the surprise, but it is fun. I bought empty, new paint cans from Home Depot, spray painted and poly'd them.

I made these for Gunnar's teachers at school and for a hostess gift to a party we were going to. They were fun, easy and super cute!

I better get back to my projects. For a week that looked calm compared to others last week, turned into a really busy one when I started filling in the calendar. I can't wait to post some of the super fun things that I am excited to give as gifts this year!

19 weeks and boy did that fly by...

I am 19 weeks pregnant as of yesterday. Time is going by really fast. I think part of that is that I had two other rug rats and other stuff happening that I don't have time to watch the pregnancy ticker slowly go by like I did with Gunnar. Most of the time I completely forget how far a long I am and am reminded when I get the weekly updates. So different than the other two. With Gunnar I could tell you to the second how far along I was. With Brecken I kept up a little but could at least tell you how far along I am. With this one, I usually have no idea and just guess. Usually it is so wrong and I short my self at how far along I am. And for some reason, I was in no hurry getting the word out that I was pregnant. I kind of wanted someone to ask if I was, say that I wasn't, and watch theirs faces in complete horror that they just asked a chubby person if they were pregnant or not. I was only able to recently do that a couple of times and my friends new me so well that it didn't work. They told me that I was too skinny and that I couldn't get away with that. They know me too well and I love them for that. I could tell that some people were starting to wonder though. Last week I wore a maternity skirt to church. My good friend Shelly the primary president, knew instantly that I had to be pregnant because I let her borrow that skirt when she was pregnant with one of her kids. Now that is being observant. Too funny.

When I was about 8 weeks pregnant, we had yet to tell our families. Mindy called on a Wednesday. Why I remember, I have no idea to tell me that she was pregnant. I was so excited for her!! I knew that my yet-to-be-announced kid would have a super close cousin again. That Friday we had an adult sibling day planned. Rillz and Mindy, Ren and Heidi and Jeff and I were going to go miniature golfing in the morning and then the hot air balloon thing that night with the kiddos. It was going to be a fun day! I was craving frozen yogurt so bad. So after we were done, Jeff spilled the beans and told everyone. We are all so excited for all the new babies!

I've learned now the third time around, I don't get sick. Thank goodness! I would have stopped at one kid probably. This time around I was pretty exhausted. At the very beginning, I was doing the 3 fairs in 1 month and that just about did me in but I also had a crappy bladder infection too that really made me feel yucky. Some yucky smells still put me over the edge, like poop or fart smells. I can't handle them. I feel like it has taken me a while to show at all. I'm just now starting to get that pregnant belly. This baby's first appointment went well. There is only on there. The second appointment was interesting. Nurse Christy couldn't find the heartbeat. I wasn't panicked at all for some reason. I just walked over to the other room and had an ultrasound. That was fun. I got more pictures which Brecken immediately declared one was his. The baby was doing just fine. The baby wanted to hide for whatever reason. The second appointment went much smoother. Dr. West wasn't there because he was delivering 3 babies during that time. Christy said according to the heartbeat, Dr. West would say that was a girl. The heartbeat has been beating really fast at all appointments. We'll see...I've been feeling this baby move a lot as well which is super fun. That is my favorite thing about being pregnant and the thing I miss the most after birth.

My due date is April 4th, which is really fun. That is Heidi's birthday. However, we know that won't happen. I'll probably have my c-section the very end of March. Maybe on my grandma's birthday, March 28th. That would be fun. We find out what we are having November 19th. That is next week! Right before Thanksgiving! We're excited.

We are also excited for Mindy and her baby that is due May 10th. Then my sister in law on Jeff's side is having a baby due April 20th. Our lives are going to be full of babies come spring!

Totally on the Final Leg

We are on the tail end of this thing called pregnancy. I've enjoyed it and know that I will miss feeling Breckin move around when he is finally born. Just the same when I had Gunnar. I will definately not miss the heartburn or the low, low baby which I didn't have with Gunnar at all. I will miss the funny things that Gunnar says in reference to the process. I won't miss him talking about him having a baby in his tummy even though I find it pretty funny. I will miss wearing clothes that actually fit me pretty well. I always seem to struggle more with my regular ones. Aren't people always ready to get rid of maternity clothes. I just really love the jeans that I invested a pretty penny in with Gunnar so that they fit well. I also feel great and small. I've never felt big. I've gained about 35 lbs which is perfectly normal. My hands and feet don't swell up but 70 and 80 degree weather in the summer definately helps out. I really lucked out there.

This baby is coming Friday no matter what. There have been times this last week where I over worked my self and I thought that this guy was just coming no matter what. But with good sleep at night and taking it easy each day, I am able to feel really good and move on. Like today, I feel rather good after a long painful day yesterday after a long fun day Saturday. I can't wait to sleep in my bed next to Jeff again. For the last week, I have been sleeping on the couch. I had heartburn so bad and always ended up there anyway, so now I just start there for the night. Plus the couch just molds around my body better making it far more comfortable to sleep with a belly. Soon I will be back in my own bed which should be nice, with a crying baby every couple of hours, with a husband that can sleep through anything and would say that the baby never woke up when really he did about a million times. Hmmm, this should be fun.

I am actually kind of anxious the closer this gets. Gunnar was an emergency c-section so I had no time to calculate all that was going on. Plus I didn't read up on c-sections prior so I had no knowledge as to what really happens. Now I know what to expect and it doesn't really scare me but I just know and my mind tends to go around and around with it all. Okay, so I didn't really read up on natural births either and was just going to wing it plus I was so sure that Gunnar was going to be born on his due date that having him one week early just threw me for a loop so I was so unprepared but I would have it no other way. I can be pretty white or black sometimes. I think the needle parts freak me out more than all the other stuff.

Anyway, we are ready, everything is in its place. I have my last doctors appointment tomorrow. I will actually miss those regular appointments too. Thursday I woke up from a nap deciding that I wanted a haircut. I called the place that Heidi, Mindy and Noelle get their hair done hoping for a Tuesday appointment while I was down in Boise. He couldn't do it so Thursday it is. Boy is that cutting it close and hopefully I can make it. I really want my hair cut. Really it should have been done a long time ago. We'll see what happens.

I am still struggling with the idea of having a 4th person in the house. It just seems so weird after 4 years with just 3 of us. We are ready for it and I can't wait to see how all of the adjustments go. The closer it gets, the naughtier Gunnar gets at times. I can tell that he senses this baby is coming soon. It will be fun to see what happens. Thankfully Jeff will be home for 2 weeks to help out. I am excited about that. Hopefully the next "pregnancy" post will be about a baby. Until then, I better take my nap while Jeff and Gunnar are out fishing for a while.

What Was I Thinking?

As I was packing for the hospital yesterday it occured to me why we really stopped at Shopko and Babies R Us the day that we brought Gunnar home from the hospital. I remember my mom telling me that they always needed something on the way home from the hospital with us kids and sure enough here we were headed there too. I remember wearing my winter coat on a warm day into Shopko and was pretty sure that it was because I needed nursing pads only. Yesterday it totally occured to me it was because I also needed nursing bras! What was I thinking. Did I not pay close attention to the baby books to know that I should have packed one. It all came flooding back yesterday. I wore no bra, a winter coat and was slightly leaking in Shopko. Oh man...boy have I learned since then. I also remember we ran into Babies R Us for a nursing stool because I used one at the hospital and loved it. It will be interesting to see what happens this year. I can assure you we won't be stopping at the store for those things.

10 Long Days

I have 10 days left! Can you believe it? I actually can't. This pregnancy has gone fast...until yesterday and now it seems forever. Last week Dr. West checked to see if anything was happening. Nope, nada, nothing. Yesterday I had an appointment and felt fine until the doctor left and Gunnar and I were leaving the office. I felt like I couldn't walk. Things down there hurt so bad. We trudged on and I took it easy last night. I still hurt and really hope that Breckin decides not to come earlier than the 9th. Seriously I am so worried about it now. I worked an 8 hour day the day before I had Gunnar so this is all too new to me. My water also broke with Gunnar so I have no idea what contractions are like or how to handle them. This baby better take it easy on me. Maybe I should have had Dr. West check yesterday for anything. I felt so good during the appointment we decided to hold off. I see him again next Tuesday which seems so far away, which really is one day later than my normal appointments. Darn holidays.

I am so forever grateful for my willing sisters. Gunnar is with Heidi today at preschool. I hope to rest and get this body back to a comfortable place.

I had to small baby showers last week which was really fun. My sisters didn't throw one for me nor did I want one. I am having another boy for heaven sakes so I had everything already. If it was a girl, it would be different. Jeff's work had one for us. It was fun to have lunch there and watch Jeff and Gunnar open presents. I told Jeff this may be a once in a lifetime opportunity to open presents at a baby shower. Gunnar thought it was the greatest thing to get to have lunch at daddy's work. Then our hula friends threw a small potluck shower. It is always fun to be with them and laugh with the aunties. They sure keep us laughing. Between the two, we got diapers/wipes, little summer clothes and other great essentials. They were fun and low key.

Today I will probably get my hospital bag packed just in case. It is half done I just need to finish it. Breckin's is done and the carseat is out and washed. That's pretty much all that I need at this point, right? I sure hope so.

3 Weeks to Go!

I only have 3 more weeks to go. Can you believe it. So many people comment on how it has all gone so fast for them and believe it or not, it has gone incredibly fast for me to. I really like being pregnant for the most part and will miss it when it goes but thankfully I will be blessed with a sweet little boy.

I have so much to do before he comes. I still need to get his room organized and get some of the baby stuff out. I asked Jeff to get the carseat from the attic last week. At least we have that out just in case he comes early and nothing else is prepared. I realized about a week ago that I should start getting my hospital bag put together. You just never know and it would be great to be prepared.

The nesting phase has yet to hit. I really believe this. I am getting some things done and it may appear that it has hit, but I think it hasn't. I have absolutely no energy and I have to force my self big time to get some of these things done. I remember with Gunnar I had huge amounts of energy and was weeding and washing windows about this time. Not for me yet anyway. I really hope it comes.

Jeff is always a huge help and has done lots to help me get projects done. In 3 weeks he will have 2 weeks off of work which should be fun. It will be nice to have him around. I can't wait to see what this baby looks like. I think that is one of the most exciting things about having a baby. What will they look like, what type of personality will they have. Gunnar has been fun. He is still pregnant himself but not mentioned as much as before. He is excited to have the baby or I should say he is excited about the idea of having a baby around. We will see what he really thinks when all that it does is cry, eat, sleep and pee/poop for a little while. I really think that he will be a great big brother. He has always loved babies.

Anyway, we are all excited and can't wait for the day to come to meet this little guy. We have one last busy 4th of July weekend before he comes and then the big day. I have been SO lucky with awesome weather. I can't believe it. The hottest it has gotten so far is the low 80's. It is usually in the 70's. So not normal but I don't mind. I really feel bad for Heidi. Being pregnant during the entire summer.

Are you ready to LAUGH?

The first weekend in June is the Global Village Festival where we have a Hawaiian booth for our hula group. We have participated someway for the last 2 years and it is something that we always look forward to and have fun at. This year was no exception. The weather was absolutely perfect and we had a lot of people come by our booth. As part of the experience, we perform a half hour dance show. Always fun with a lot of costume changes. Now who said that I have a nice little belly? This costume will argue otherwise:

Mindy, Heidi and I were laughing so hard as we took these. I am so glad that we did. Camden and Breckin will have a seriously funny memory in their baby books. And who forgot to tell me that I looked so bad in this outfit. You can also see my half in, half out belly button. It actually forms a beak looking thing. So weird.

This is always the first dance that we do. A very haole (white person) hawaiian song with the outfit that most people expect. It gets people's attention. Anyway, Tasha always says something about how it is something that you would expect a hula dancer to look like...yeah, I don't think they expected an 8 month pregnant person in a hula skirt. Not their idea of hula dancer.

Ren, Rillz and Jeff said it looked quite humorous from their vantage point. Seriously something funny to laugh about.

Thankfully, the keikis (kids) danced between us and hopefully made everyone forget about the pregnant person. They are so adorable and their costumes are so cute!


I chose not to dance one of the dances with the implements. I seriously did not want to overdo it and I am glad that I stayed out of this one. It is fast, you have to get up and down and by the end of the day I was hurting. Heidi and Mindy danced it and did an awesome job. They have been partners from the beginning of learning this about a year ago and do well together. I really like this dance but it wasn't going to happen this time around.

I did dance the last song and Heidi and I had to change the costume a little, which worked out well. We just could not fit into the super fitted top. My last time of wearing it was about 4-5 months and then no more. Wasn't happening. One of the aunties made us these awesome REAL leis and hairpieces. I have mine in the freezer, preserved for future use. I loved the real, green hair things. They looked awesome. It is funny that Kristin and I are standing next to each other here because we had to switch skirts. Mine was tight with the belly and hers was always too big. It worked out well.

I love my sisters so much and this is something that brings us together at least once a week. we have so much fun together. I love them so much. I just love this picture of all of us and to know that there are two little babies there too makes it fun. Also crazy how we all look different but the same.

Heidi had a silly picture on her blog of Mindy. Well guess what....I have one too. What is up with that. She is such a silly girl.

We had such a great experience, raised tons of money and all worked really hard. I went home and hurt so bad. From my waist down just killed. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to tolerate all of church the next day, I hurt so bad. Thankfully it didn't last long and I have tried to take things easy ever since. The experience was all worth it though. The festival is always fun.

Punches and Jabs

Boy does this baby move a lot and he is getting stronger and stronger making some of them more painful. As I write this, my stomach is a circus act. I can only imagine what it must look like on the inside. There is only so many places he can go. So many people have commented on here and just in life that I must be nesting because I am doing or getting so much done. So not true. I have no energy...zero, zip, zilch. I have to muster the little that I have just to work on anything. Really it is getting projects done that have been started and have been sitting in my way of, say dinner, at the table. It seriously takes me about half a day to get myself in the mind set of working on anything at all. It does feel good to cross things off the list but I am usually too drained to have any type of celebratory party over it.

One thing that is driving me nuts is how low this baby has always felt. I don't walk like I have a baby between my legs (waddle) but he is down there and my crotch always hurts. Nonstop hurts. It's rediculous. I never experienced this with Gunnar. So interesting how one pregnancy can be pretty different from the next. I am also starting to get bothered by how some people feel that I can do anything still and that 5 weeks away from having a baby is no big deal. Granted I am not on bedrest and can still get around easily, it doesn't mean that my body doesn't hurt and it hurts bad. My upper half is great. It all centers around my lower half...my hips and down. They hurt and that darn crotch problem. I have to remind Jeff often that I hurt and am seriously tired that sometimes I just need a break. After all I am carrying a baby. That's a big deal right? I had to remind my mom too. On Tuesday I spent all day helping her plant tons of flowers in pots. She had me lifting bags of steer manure and potting soil and planting flowers of course. I kept telling her that I was desperately tired and she seriously didn't understand and kept making fun of me. She would then tell me a couple of different times that I need to spray chemicals on her plants to keep them from getting disease because she couldn't really do the pump sprayer. Hmmm, is that something that I should really be doing. A couple of times I told her that her grandson is going to come out with 1 foot and 4 fingers. She laughed but didn't really care. The next day I was sooooo sore it was incredible. I hurt so bad. I still hurt.

Boy am I complaining but it hurts really bad and I am tired and grouchy.

Should I Be Spray Painting...

...probably not but I do. Last week Gunnar and I picked up a couple of things from Hobby Lobby. I really wanted a big letter B for Breckin's room. That meant that Gunnar wanted a big G and then he wanted a wooden toy train for the baby. They were super cheap and 40% off on top of that so why not. Saturday we spray painted them. Gunnar loved watching me to see how it turned out. He picked the color and I painted. Jeff was cleaning the garage and kept teasing me about whether or not I should be doing it.


Our projects are done and Gunnar and I had a great time. Just ignore the really ugly look. I had just gotten back from hula practice and had no intentions on looking good for the day.

6 More Weeks

Can you believe it? I only have 6 more weeks to go. At this point, most pregnant people are ready to be done with being pregnant. For me, this entire thing has gone so fast and I now need to really get things together for this little guy. I am still waiting for the "nesting" thing to kick in because I have lots of projects that I want to wrap up and be done with around the house. I am slowly getting them done, but then new ones seem to make it on the list. Part of my problem at this point is motivation but I will get it soon. And they are fast easy fun projects too so not very difficult. I am 33 weeks and apparently Breckin is the size of a pineapple. For some reason I keep imagining an actual pineapple in my belly and it just seems painful because pineapples are not exactly a soft fruit on the outside. Anyway, I can feel this guy getting bigger by the week. Kind of strange to look down and my belly is lopsided or I can feel a hard body part. That part was always strange to me. Heidi and Mindy tease me that I look completely normal from the back then WHAM! I turn around and there is a baby there. I will take that anyday than looking pregnant everywhere. Height really is a great thing. My doctor appointments are now 2 weeks which makes things go by super fast. Before we know it, this baby will be with us. I feel super good. I can easily get around, bend down, twirl around, lift Gunnar, do hula.

Speaking of hula, we have a huge festival coming up this Saturday. We love going and have gone the last 2 years. We are excited. I will be dancing 2 of the 3 dances. Hula looks funny with a big pregnant girl but it is fun. We had to change out one of the outfit tops to accomodate Heidi and I. It was tight on me about 4-5 months and that top is no more for a while. The night before we have a performance for a retirement party at an LDS church building. We are using that as a dress rehearsal sort of thing so we will see how that goes.

Heidi should also find out what her baby is in the next 3 weeks or so. We are so excited and can't wait to see if we have a little niece or nephew. They are pretty excited as well. Mindy also realized last night that she is going to have 3 new nieces/nephews this year along. We are having our baby in July, Rillz's sister is having a baby in September (don't want to find out) and then Heidi in November. That is a lot of babies for them and they are so excited.

Better get ready for church. That is the update for now. I still need to do some MAJOR catching up on here. It goes way back to Easter and Gunnar's birthday. Pretty bad. That's one of the many items on my to do list.

We Have a Date

As we were driving out of Bend (which I will write about soon), I finally connected with my doctor after playing phone tag. We have a date officially set for this little guy to arrive. His birthday will be July 9th. We will have to arrive at 6am, so he will be the first appointment of the day. We originally talked about the day before but Dr. West couldn't do it apparently. He asked me if that was okay. I told him it would have to be. I didn't have a choice. He was the one that we had to work around. He is funny and it is weird to me to have a birthdate already determined. I am excited to meet this guy and see where him and Gunnar differ or see where they are the same. I told Jeff that if he comes out looking like another mini Jeff like Gunnar did, I was just going to laugh. The problem is, I can't imagine another little boy from us looking any differently. I am really excited for Gunnar to meet his brother. He talks about him all of the time.
I have been doing pretty well. I am starting to get tired and actually want that nesting instinct to kick in some time so I can get motivation to get things done. I have been working on painting all the doors in our house but have slowed down for lack of motivation. I'm almost done though. My ciatic nerve in my error is a pain in the butt. I do get heartburn frequently which I don't remember having at all with Gunnar. And my legs will cramp up if I am not careful. I can still bend and sit on the floor and get up and carry Gunnar which I am all thankful for because I know that it can be worse. I really need to get a picture up here because I am now looking more pregnant than ever. Every one at church tells me that I am now looking pregnant...whereas before I apparently looked just fact. Just teasing. It is all fun to me. I loved being pregnant with Gunnar and I like it with this baby too.

As you can see, we decided to name our little guy Breckin (Breck) Maunakea Miller. We really like that name and it really fits with Gunnar. Maunakea is a family name in all generation starting with my great great grandpa who bore the name. Gunnar is still pretty sure that he is having a baby and he for some reason took on the name Brent Thomas for his baby and won't change it. You ask him what his baby's name is and that is what he will give you everytime. Can't wait to see what happens when nothing comes out of his tummy in a couple of months.

Onto other really exciting news, Heidi, my sister is pregnant too! I am SOOOOO excited! This has been a long time coming for them and after many struggles with pregnancy, she too will have a baby this year. She is due the middle of November and all of us are over the top excited. A few days before she told us, Jeff and I were talking about how our kids are just going to be the cousins that are just wingin' it out there on their own because no one else was having babies. Low and behold, our babies are going to be about 4 months apart. We can't wait. I am secretly hoping for a boy because we are having a boy and that would be super fun. But it really doesn't matter and we'll all find out in about 4 weeks. They've had the name Camden picked out for either boy or girl for a long time. The other day Heidi shared the name with Gunnar and Gunnar proclaimed that the name is sooooo weird. He also told Heidi that they can take their babies for a walk in strollers. Does she have a stroller because we have a stroller. She needs to get a stroller from the stroller store so they can go on walks. We still aren't sure if he was literally talking about his baby or my real baby. He cracks us up. He is so excited for this little cousin to come.

This year is definately bringing us lots of great blessings.

25 weeks and cruisin'

(Jeff kept telling me to stop standing like that. I couldn't help it. This was the only way to make my shoulders straight and not slouched over.)
Today I went into my regular doctors appointments. I always love going into those. Frankly I really like being pregnant. It did with Gunnar right up until the day I had him. I have felt great and this little guy moves a TON. Feeling him move is one of my favorite things. It is always fun and really reassurring. It is also one of the first things that I miss when the baby is born. Today he told me that in a month at my next appointment, I can pick the date that I want this little guy born. He said that I can go anytime 1 week prior to my July 17th due date. He then looked at my chart and said that I can actually go two days earlier than that becuase the ultrasound put a July 15th due date. Yeah! So this little guy will most likely be born July 8 or 9th. It all depends upon Dr. West's schedule when we finalize it the first part of May. It is kind of weird picking and knowing when your baby is born. I like it that way. I can plan around it. I know that the baby will come out quickly. Jeff and for sure get the time off easily with it planned. Jeff is planning on taking a week or two off to help out. It will be nice to have him around. It will be a big help with Gunnar. I am sure that Gunnar will be a big help but he also has tons of energy that can drain you of yours just watching him.

I am getting bigger which is fun. I am not huge but big enough that it makes moving around sometimes a challenge. Gunnar loves looking at my belly and then proclaiming in a really dramatic voice how FAT I am. We then laugh. It really is funny and there is no offense taken because I know that I will never get overly big; even at the end. Gunnar tonight wanted to show the baby a Lightning McQueen sticker. He stuck it on by belly and "showed" the baby. I asked him what the baby said. He said that the baby said, "thank you". He's a goofball.

I still think about the time that I was pregnant with Gunnar. I was extremely aware of what I did, ate, etc. I took it easy. With another child, you just can't and it is amazing what I can do and still be pregnant. I can't avoid picking Gunnar up or running around doing things with him. I've learned that I was extremely cautious for no reason with Gunnar. The way that I am with both pregnancies is so different.

Baby B

So I am 22 weeks pregnant and feeling great. Being pregnant with child #2 is soooo different than with child #1. When I was pregnant with Gunnar, I felt that I needed to be extra careful. Take is super easy. Make sure I didn't lift hardly anything...you get the picture. With child #2, there is no way I can avoid Gunnar or not take care of him like I normally do. Which means, I still chase him, still lift his heavy little body, get incredibly tired from doing it all. So different. At this point, I can't imagine adding another child in the mix. Thankfully none of us have gotten really sick, aside from a normal cold. We are generally healthy and I am so thankful.

We are really excited to be adding another little guy into the family. Not to mention that it cuts down on baby expenses tremendously in the fact that we have all of the boy stuff. For that I am grateful. At this point, I can't imagine spending more money on girl clothes. Those things add up even if I was buying them at yard sales or thrift stores. I've had to buy more maternity clothes for me than I will ever have to for this baby. I had no summer stuff. Just the winter stuff. I look back at the time of the ultrasound and realized that I was a little in shock of finding out it was another little boy. I later realized that it wasn't the fact that it was another boy, but that it finally hit me that I was having another baby! Two kids, not just one kid anymore. After 4 years next month, I pretty much have it good with Gunnar, but now we get to start all over again with a newborn. There are advantages to having kids closer together, I now realize. But we wouldn't have it any other way over here.

People tells us that it will be fun for Gunnar to have a brother, but Jeff and I talk about this all of the time. They really aren't that close. By the time this baby gets kicked out of his crib and has to share a room, he will probably be 2ish and Gunnar 6 years. That's a big gap. By the time Gunnar graduates high school, this baby will most likely be a freshman or somewhere around there. When Gunnar is into big boy stuff, this baby will be into little boy stuff. Not quite condusive to builting a close brotherly bond when they are younger. Thankfully the older people get, the age gap shrinks and things change.

So we have narrowed it down to two names, I think. This was a tough one for us. Gunnar...easy. Had that name before he was conceived. This guy, had only one name to go on and it is in the running. The first is Breckin Maunakea. Breckin (or Breck for short) because we like it and Maunakea (pronounced mauna kay a) because it is our great grandpa's middle name on my dad's side. It is Hawaiian. Jeff feels that Gunnar will feel left out if the rest of our kids end up with hawaiian middle names. Why should he. He has the exact same middle name as his dad and grandpa. It can't get better than that. The other name is Brent Maunakea. Brent is my brother's name, yes, but it is also my grandpa's name on my mom's side (my mom's dad's name). We both really like it and both of these names come across as strong names. We haven't committed to one or the other yet, even though we are leaning stronger to one over the other.

So the question is, what name do you like? I am interested to know. You can comment or take the poll on the right hand side of myblog.

The Results Are In...

I had my big ultrasound today and we found out that we are having a BOY! I was a little thrown off honestly because for some reason I really thought that it might be a girl. It wasn't really because I really, really wanted a girl, I just kept feeling that it would be a girl. I felt that Gunnar was a boy and so I thought that this baby would be a girl. Plus I really, really wanted to use my favorite girl name. These pictures are for Ren, my brother in law. I know how much he loves them! I am totally laughing at that. He hates them.

Yep, this baby is a boy. He is loud and proud over it. Gunnar was the same way. No questioning it here. Gunnar decided that he needed to go the bathroom in the middle of the ultrasound and he loudly announced that it was poop. Jeff left and the technician was getting to the part where we would find out. She asked me if we should wait. I told her that if she got a good shot of it, to go ahead and announce. I was not risking a change in baby and not leaving not knowing. She got a good shot and announced it. Gunnar and Jeff came back a few minutes later. Jeff has 4 brothers and Jeff's brother has two sons. The Miller blood apparently runs very strong with boys.

Baby was turned inwards for quite some time so towards the end, the technician was finally able to get the face when he turned. I agree, these pictures are kind of freaky looking, but hey, that's my baby. Boy are we stumped on names. We are way stumped on names. I had one, yes just ONE, that I liked and now I am not even sure that I am set on it. Jeff isn't really into it. Gunnar was Gunnar, the second after we found out he was a boy. No questions. This poor baby may not have a name a year after his birth, we are that stumped. Nothing really sounds great. I think we have a middle name set. We like Maunakea, which is Hawaiian and my dad's grandpa's middle name. We'll see if that sticks. As names pop up that we like, I'll mention them and you can weigh in. Anyway, everything looked good with him. He is healthy and that is all that matters right now.

I first called Heidi. We went couponing this morning at 7am together (I will have to post about that tomorrow because it was good) and wanted to call her first. I asked her what she thought and she said boy. She had a dream last night that it was a boy and she was right. Mindy was next. She's said boy for a long time because of a dream that she had about what kids all three of us sisters were going to have and she was right. Over time we'll see if Heidi and Mindy's kids come true becaue if it did, it would be crazy because it was in a dream and the situations for each of them were interesting. Anyway, my dad really thought it was a girl and says some really funny things about this baby being a boy. He is excited. My mom is also excited. After all, my family only knows boys so far. Brent and Noelle were also excited. I love my family so much! They are great extended family for my kids.

I was determined to make a day of this. Jeff took the entire day off. After the appointment, we headed to Quiznos for lunch. I had coupons, I love that place, and I have not been there in a really long time so that was our choice.

After lunch we headed to the new Hobby Lobby in town. I was determined to find fabric for Boppy pillow covers that I was going to make. I am really determined to sew different things and learn a few skills here and there when it comes to sewing. These looked easy enough and I really needed them. I found a Boppy when Gunnar was an older newborn for $1 at a thrift store but never used a cover. I'll have covers now. Anyway, the colorful dots will be the top of one and the black dots the back. The flowers of the other will be a top and stripes the bottom. I am excited to get started.

We then headed to Target to get a going home outfit for the little guy. About a month ago, I received and insanely thick Target type baby catalog for the store. In it was a fake gift card stating that if I created a registry and brought it in, I would get a $20 gift card. Well, heck, I can do that. I did it online, printed in the store and got my card. I've saved if for this very day.

We had a lot of choices. We also had to remember that it was going to be July too. I really, really liked that little outfit with the blue elephant on it, but I was outnumbered.

We ended up with this really cute romper thingy with old looking motorcycles on it. The funny part was that it was on the clearance rack for a little under $5. I love a good deal and their Dwell line is really cute. We also picked up a summer romper. The best part about having another little boy is that we have everything...except for more summery clothes. We are off by one measly size. That's okay, yard sales are coming up just in time. I can't wait.

Gunnar was getting tired and bored in the car. Funny boy. He will be a great big brother.




And to finish up this post and day, I needed to take a picture of myself. I am trying harder to document more of this stuff. If I took this picture on Saturday morning, I would hardly look pregnant. I went home after hula practice that day and read my weekly pregnant email update and I think the baby saw that it said 20 weeks and decided to look it. I now have a belly. At a hula performance that night, I looked big. One of my outfits will definately be retiring after a performance this weekend. It won't fit much after that. The shirt and sweater in this picture are my normal clothes but the jeans are not. They are maternity and I have been in them for a while now. They don't even fit me that well yet, but my normal jeans are definately out. These are also the only pair of maternity that fit remotely at all. I can't wait until I can fit into more better. This stage drives me nuts.

We are really excited about this little guy. Boys are my thing. They always have been so we can't wait for July to come around. I asked Gunnar the best part of the entire day and he said,"it was looking at your baby."

Fun Projects

When I was on my craft frenzy a while ago, I did 3 more projects that I didn't post. Things have slowed down dramatically since I got this crazy annoying cold and cough.

I knew soon that soon I would need a pillow to sleep with when I became more pregnant, so we pulled out this long body pillow thinking that it would do the trick. It didn't. It was so new and puffy that it felt like a 3rd grown adult in our bed every night. It was so big, it was awkward to sleep with. I needed something different. Within a day or two, I stumbled upon this great tutorial for a leg pillow. The top pillow is the dimensions used in the tutorial. It was almost a little too tall, so I used the rest of the foam that I bought and adapted the dimensions for the fabric to fit. I really like using it and the larger size is perfect to sleep with. I am more proud of myself for being able to follow the directions, make the pocket in the back and make those boxed corners. Those that sew well are probably laughing at me right now but I was excited with my new found knowledge. Gunnar is pretty sure that the big one is mine and the smaller one is his.

My other project is these reusable produce bags. I saw a tutorial (love those things) on these and decided to go for it. Super easy and super cheap and incredibly handy. It takes a yard of mesh netting (by the tulle) of any color. Gunnar was so excited to be in charge of picking the color. Cut out and sew up the sides. I loved taking these to the store. I really hate putting my produce in the plastic bags to only throw them away when I get home. A yard of mesh made 6 of these. I gave Heidi and Mindy two each.

The last project was Gunnar's valentine's for this year. I saw this idea online and new it was the one. Gunnar is obsessed with gum. Perfect. He was very excited to pick out the gum but didn't fully understand that he couldn't eat the entire pack beforehand so we had to hide it. He chose that zebra striped gum from long ago. It was actually perfect because the ends had different colors on them and it was the cheapest. Probably because the flavor lasts for half a second. Gunnar also picked out the papers. Anyway, I was excited to realize that I could use my Cricut for ALL of the cutting. I cut the rectangle, circle and heart with it. All that I had to do was ink and assemble. So easy and Gunnar loved them.

I am currently working on another project but I'm not done yet. Almost sounds like I am talking about my baby...I had a cousin ask to see pictures of me pregnant. At this point I am just slightly chubby looking. Not really pregnant looking. That hasn't come yet. So when it does, I want to post pictures to remember this time. I really regret not taking more with Gunnar, like any for that matter. I think I have about 2-3 with him. But he'll probably have the most baby pictures overall so I am not too concerned. Baby is moving around all of the time. It is actually moving quite a bit while I type this. The movements are my most favorite part of being pregnant. It is also the one thing that I miss the most once the baby is here. Anyway, we have less than 2 weeks before we find out what this baby is. Gunnar is still pretty sure that I am having a girl baby and he is having a kid baby. We'll see.

My Boy

I love my little guy and some days I love him more when he is sound asleep. He wears me out. The past few days, he has been exhausted and falls asleep slightly before bedtime. Jeff and I don't complain.

Yesterday was one of those busy days. I had another doctors appointment in the afternoon and Gunnar got to go with me. He usually goes to work with Heidi on Monday so this was exciting. He was pretty sure that the doctor would check my baby and his baby. I couldn't wait to see what the doctor had to say. Gunnar was such a helper in holding my purse when I had to get weighed and then came the urine sample. I knew that this would be comical.
He was quite fascinated in the entire process. I either had to leave him in the exam room (bad idea) or he tagged along. He loudly reminded me to get my pee cup before we left the bathroom. Thanks Gunnar. He also proudly announced to the nurse that his mom peed in a cup. She gave him a nice little talk about NOT doing this at home. Mommies only do it at the doctors. She nicely explained to him the little stick they dip in there. He was cracking us up. Then the doctor came in. They had a lovely chat about peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches. It was then time to hear the heartbeat. Gunnar was able to sit by me and hold the machine thing. Dr. West also let him push the button to turn it on. He felt so important.

The heartbeat was there and doing well. Thank goodness. A week ago I started to feel the baby kick often. In 3 weeks we get to find out what this baby is. We are all so excited. If Dr. West is right, it will be a girl. That is just his guess without any ultrasounds. With Gunnar he was right and I had that feeling with him he would be a boy. My dad thinks it will be a girl too and Mindy is dead set on a boy. At this time, we only have a bunch of girl names and one boy name that we remotely like. Hmmm...

I went ahead and put a poll up on the right hand side of the blog for your guesses. What do you think this baby will be?

Not a Fan of this part

I hate this part of pregnancy. Honestly I don't remember it with Gunnar. Could have been because I worked at the time and was busy with that. I hate this part because I don't feel pregnant in the fact that I am not overly big and obviously pregnant. I still fit into my normal clothes. Not a bad thing but it makes your mind go crazy. I'm also not really feeling the baby move yet. Maybe I just don't recognize it either. However I am always hungry and I do pee about a tablespoon every hour when it feels that it should be a gallon. I am still really tired and battle my energy constantly. Thankfully I have an appointment in a week and a half and hopefully it will calm all worries when I can hear the heartbeat.

On a brighter note, I was able to finish my pregnancy album for this baby. I developed this album after I did the baby and wedding one. This one is fun and I didn't have it with Gunnar. It was fun to go through and fill out the prompts with my information. I've been able to sell several but waited for the opportunity to actually have one for myself. I plan on putting a color appropriate ribbon on the front when we find out in March.