Oh Iris...

Brent and Noelle had their anniversary a few weeks ago and asked me to watch Iris. Heidi warned me that she may cry for hours. Oh Iris...poor thing...she just wails forever. I knew she had to have been tired. She fell asleep on the way to my house. Brecken was SO excited to have her over and kept trying everything to make her happy. He even got new toys out hoping that would help. It didn't. Both of them took a great nap and when they woke up, Gunnar was home from school. That helped quite a bit for Iris to have Gunnar around trying to make her happy.

I'm glad the boys got to spend more time with her. Since they've been gone so much since she was born, they haven't gotten to know her as well and I'm happy they got the time together.

Santa Came To Town

We were invited to the annual Miller Christmas Party this year with all of Jeff's extended family. It was held at Jeff's Uncle Steve's house in Fruitland and it was SO much fun. Ahead of time they organized a cousin exchange so we bought for two other cousins that were assigned to our boys. And then Santa came with gifts for all of the kids. Gunnar was in complete awe. I've never seen him so mesmerized and out of it sitting on Santa's lap. This particular Santa was so funny! He said the best things ever making the adults bust up laughing. He didn't really do the typical what do you want type questions. He would make observations about the child. Like one little girl was wearing tights with flowers on them so he would ask her if they were painted on her legs making her completely laugh. Stuff like that and it was funny. He went to fist pump Gunnar about something, but he was so into sitting on Santa's lap that he hardly noticed what was going on and stiffed Santa. It was hilarious.

Now Brecken took a little prodding to get up there at first. But the nice parents that we are pretty much picked him up and threw him on Santa's lap and walked away. The awesome Santa that he was immediately gave Brecken a candy cane and he was sold. Then he got another one and he was so in to Santa. He would have sat there all day. At the very end Santa asked him to say "Merry Christmas" to everyone and he did. It was so cute and he really does say it in this cute little voice. Then he got a present and was thrilled.

All of the kids had to wait until the very end to open their presents. I was so surprised that Brecken understood and was so happy to wait. He's a good little waiter and opener when the time comes.

We had so much fun with family...aunts, uncles, cousins (many that I did not know well), their kids, Jeff's grandma and all of the spouses. We had super yummy food and desserts and great conversation. It was great and I will now look forward to it ever year.

And It Was Supposed To Be a Secret

The day we found out what we were having, Mindy and I used our unborn children to negotiate. She said that if I told her what we were having before Gunnar got home (because we didn't reveal to anyone until we told Gunnar first-he deserved that right), she would tell us the day she found out. But I couldn't tell anyone else outside of Jeff. She had this plan to tell everyone on Christmas Eve which was about 6 days later. I totally agreed to the deal!

The best part of agreeing is that Mindy and I would talk about what she should do to tell everyone. Eventually they decided to tell everyone shortly after instead of waiting and making Christmas Eve all about them. It made it even better. Everyone would least expect it that way. After going from one idea to the next, we came up with the best. I scratch off gender reveal card that would randomly arrive in everyone's mailboxes. It was awesome. I created the cards for her and ended up mailing them all out because it was easier that way to our family members and Rillz's side as well. It was SO much fun!

I made the boy and girl version up the night before she found out and just printed the right one off the day she found out. The scratch off stuff was so easy to make and awesome! I'm excited to do it again on something. It is one part any color paint to two parts liquid dish soap. I used a metallic silver to make it look more authentic. Then you paint clear contact paper with it a couple of times with thin layers and then punch whatever shape that you want. With the cards that were mailed, a penny was included.

Look how awesome those look! I was seriously so proud of them and SO excited for everyone to get them. At first Mindy and I would text or call back and forth and wonder why she wasn't getting any phone calls. We knew that they had to have received them on a certain day. Eventually the calls came in to Mindy. The best part is that so many of us thought that they would be having a boy. I sure thought that they would and really hoped they would but indeed its a GIRL! Mindy I think was in a little bit of shock over it. Jeff drives me bonkers sometimes because he doesn't get hung up on stuff like that and tells me that we shouldn't because then your hopes won't be shattered when the gender is the opposite of what you want. Oh Jeff...you are so a boy and don't understand girls at all...

I had so much fun working with Mindy on these and I really think that she was thrilled with the outcome. This is totally their style.

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!

And Then There Were...

You know those people that can get their kids to take the cutest pictures together. Not ours. They are crazy. They are either fighting each other off the entire time or one of them is doing something goofy or not paying attention. Brecken is at the age where you take one picture and he is done looking at you. So most of the time you have to take like 7 pictures all at once really fast. This series was really funny.

Get it?

A Scooby Doo and Bam Bam Too

Halloween felt like a marathon. Probably one of the most longest days of my life. It just kept going and going. Heidi and I had this great idea for the longest time to dress Cami up as Pebbles and Brecken as Bam Bam. Brecken looks and acts just like him. It was fitting. The problem is that Heidi is no crafter. We all know that. So that responsibility rested on me. Cami's outfit was pretty quick to make. No big deal. Brecken's was a little more involved and I waited until the night before to even start the thing. I had to make the skirt, hat, sash, bone and club which took me about 3 hours until 1am. I felt it the next morning badly. Gunnar also did not have school on Halloween or the two days after so that just adds to the craziness in the house.

The day before I contacted a local publication for advertising with Paparazzi. The lady wanted to me Halloween morning at 11:15am. I already technically missed the deadline for their holiday gift guide edition but they were letting me in. I needed to be in that edition so I made it work. We met at McDonald's so the boys could play and we could actually talk about everything. The interesting part was that I did a Paparazzi Open House for her last November so it felt like a full circle moment for us and made the meeting really relaxed and fun.

After McDonald's we had an hour to prepare for the Canyon County Courthouse trick or treating and I had to make 3 Paparazzi gift bags for a fundraiser Jeff's work was putting on this weekend. I should not have put that off too but I did. We got it done, dressed, and headed over to Jeff's work with Probation and the courthouse. For the last few years, it has been fun to trick or treat with Jeff while he works and his coworkers love seeing the kids all dressed up. It's very fun. We got to trick or treat all 3 floors of the courthouse where many departments decorated in Halloween fun. Total hilarious side note, one of our really good friends April went over there with her girls. Her husband also works with Jeff so she was excited. She talked to another friend beforehand who said it took about an hour to go through. It took April about 10-15 minutes to go through. Later that night as we all met up to trick or treat the neighborhood, April learned that she missed two of the floors. She seriously missed most of the fun! It was pretty funny and now she knows for next year.

After that, Brecken needed a nap SO bad if he was to make it the rest of the night. We stopped at Sonic for the $.50 corndogs and hit it just right for half off drinks and grabbed a couple of slushes and headed home. Brecken went right down after we ate. I wanted to head to our local salon and say hi at their halloween party and vote for the best dressed stylist. The winning stylist won a Kindle Fire and then one lucky person that voted would win one too. Why not. She I woke Brecken up, got them dressed, to the salon and then back home in time to meet up with everyone to trick or treat the neighborhood.

Okay, so here is my rant. I know Trunk or Treats are the thing, its safe, yada yada, yada...but I am not a fan. It's 30 minutes of speed trick or treating. Pretty much after 10 minutes the same kids go through over and over again and it drives me nuts. I guess I remember the good old days where I had to walk from house to house. Yes, it seems like that was the only thing to do (no trunk or treats) so almost every house was participating but now its hit and miss or maybe it is where we live now. We live in an older established neighborhood which I LOVE! I can see where back in its day there were kids every where but all the kids have now grown so its different now. However those many houses that do have their lights on love it when we knock. They get so excited! There was an older lady giving out cookies and fig newtons, literally out of the packaging. So sweet. Brecken thought it was great because he had an instant snack on the go. We had 5 kids total (and a baby-so six) and people thought we were a neighborhood group of sorts. Nope, just a bunch of friends and family. We had fun and the weather was in the 70's! Awesome!

Heidi and I lucked out on a shopping trip and found this Scooby Doo costume at a local kids consignment place. He was so happy. He didn't have any ideas what he wanted to be this year. He told me this is what he always wanted to be. I was worried about sizing. It looked like it worked from the neck to the crotch area but I could tell it was made for a very short child or they chopped the legs off. Thank goodness it fit overall and he work brown pants underneath which worked for warmth too.

Brecken was hilarious. He was SO excited the entire month. He LOVES pumpkins the most by far. At the courthouse, he was way into the decorations and not so much into the candy. He was the same way and every persons house. It got to the point that he was also into knowing if the owner had a dog and would look into their house for one. He is a nut. Cami kept saying "Beckie dress." Yep Cami, he has a skirt on and I used one of yours as a pattern. He is also wearing girls leggings. haha. I didn't want anything baggy. It was just there for warmth. I used a dog bone cookie cutter we have as the pattern for the bones. The club I drew freehand. I used a Paparazzi cardboard box as stability on the inside, wrapped it with the pink foam that comes in the boxes so I didn't have to stuff it a ton and then added extra stuffing to round it out. I also stitched a wood grain on it which was fun. Jeff said that is not what a club really looks like. Whatever...

Gunnar told me later in the day that everyone says Brecken is so cute and they know what he is. Nobody knows that I am Scooby Doo. They think I am a dog and that makes me sad. I told him that not everyone knows Brecken is bam bam. They think he is a caveman. Gunnar had no idea what that was and I had a good laugh and told him that he'll be fine.

 They saw each other for the first time. It was funny and they were excited! At one house, the lady said that Cami was such a cute pumpkin. What!? If anything, she could have been a watermelon. As we were walking down the step, she commented on the bone in her hair. I really don't know if she made the connection at all. We had a good laugh with that one.

I love how Cami is standing there by herself. She started out quite grumpy. Gunnar with his buds-Paige (Belle), Jayden (Batman) and Gunnar (Scooby Doo). We had such a fun group with us this year. The older kids had a blast!

Afterwards, we headed to my mom's like we always do so the kiddos can show off their costumes. With two trick or treaters, we came out with quite the haul this year.

Total rant (and Heidi and Jeff agree): It bugs when people come up with catchy little things to get rid of their kids Halloween candy. We have a local dentist that will buy back your kids candy at a certain rate. I think they donate it to troops overseas or something but still. Then I read the idea on Facebook last night of Switch Witch. Let the kids pick out their 8 or 10 pieces of candy. Then set out the buckets of candy. The next morning a present/small toy will be in its place. Okay, irritating. If you only wanted your kids to have a few pieces of candy, maybe you should have trick or treated that many houses and then stopped. Then let the kids help pass out candy or something at that point. I refuse to go out and buy a toy or something additional for something that I allowed them to do. Dumb in my opinion. What am I going to do with some of the candy, I am going to save some for their stockings at Christmas time. Then I don't have to buy anymore. Now I read that somewhere and I thought that was smart...save yourself some money...