Megan Nichole

Megan is our 8 year old niece. She is the daughter of Steve's sister, Suzanne and her husband Scott. Megan has a younger sister, Hannah, who is two. Megan's life has been a true miracle from the start, and I know that God gave us Megan for a reason! She's the sweetest most loving little girl!

Megan has Cerebral Palsy and Metabolic Mitochondrial Disorder. She suffers from seizures, and has been having them severely lately. Megan's body is becoming weak and she is having trouble managing the pain that she is in. The family could greatly use prayer as Megan's health is currently fading. God has a plan for her, and we just pray for comfort for both Megan and the rest of the family! He will give them the strength to face whatever challenges lie ahead.

Friends and family, please pray for sweet Megan. Pray that God will take away her pain and that she will be happy and healthy again, whether that be here in this world or in heaven with Him! God Bless Megan!

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/meganmiller

Busy Week!

This week we saw a lot of progress on the house. Steve was able to work several days and I even helped some! We are finished painting with the exception of a few ceilings and some trim. When we get all the tape down I will add some pictures. Soon though, really soon!

After the last bit of painting is done, Steve will start on putting in the hardwood floors. Almost 900 square feet of new flooring! I'm excited about it! But it means much more hard work for my devoted husband. He's been so busy in every way lately but he just keeps on giving and never complains. I'm so proud of him!!!

Today the boys and I have taken a day off. Avery is finished with school for the year because of our upcoming move. So we don't even have to prepare for school (of course this would be spring break anyway.) I'm a little sore from working on the house, so we've been home playing, doing laundry, and even packing a few boxes. I'm going to be doing much more of that as our move is sneaking up on us.

Chaille is getting SO big. She's up under my ribs already! And she moves all the time to let me know she is fine. I see the doctor tomorrow and don't anticipate any concerns.

Hopefully I will be back soon with those pictures!
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Painting week!

After much preparation, the house is finally to the point where we can begin painting! We ended up doing much more extensive work than originally planned. The whole house will have to be primered first, but I can't wait to see the place transform! Check back soon for some in progress pictures!
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I GET IT!

The other day I was laying in bed and the boys woke up WAY too early. (Well in my opinion, it was too early!) Anyway I laid there thinking, "great, now I have to get up." So I get up and within minutes I realized that Avery was in a really grumpy mood. I immediately addressed his behavior and told him that he had a negative attitude. "Drop the attitude NOW!" was the choice phrase I used.

That exact moment is one that I'm not sure I'll ever forget. Thankfully it was God who spoke to my heart instead of my 5 year old calling me out! God told me in that instant "Why don't you drop YOUR attitude! If you weren't in such a bad mood, Avery wouldn't be acting this way!"

...WOW! I heard it loud and clear! This attitude, this "have to do" attitude, this sense of obligation was wrong and I knew it. God reminded me in that instant that my life, and these children are not obligations. They are blessings and I GET to enjoy them. And in that moment I vowed to always view life as a privilege and not an obligation! How embarrassing to take for granted a Blessing bestowed to me by God Himself!!!!

I've always tried to blame my mood and my attitude on outside influences. I'm just tired. I'm pregnant and have 3 children to care for. I've got so much on my plate. The list goes on. But the truth is, no matter what the circumstances are, I GET to choose my attitude. It isn't easy to change completely overnight, but what I felt God tell me that way has really stuck with me!

Since that day, I never wake up saying that I HAVE to do anything. I wake up Praising God that I GET to have another day with my 3 wonderful, loving, healthy children. No matter how early it is, it isn't too early to GET to take advantage of the opportunity to love them and spend time with them. However, there is a point where it will be too late! How sad that I might have missed it!

Another Monkey

Lately Nolan has begun climbing onto everything. I found it funny at first that he was not brave enough to walk, but he'd climb with reckless abandon! Well, today, we experienced a first. I tried to put him down for a morning nap. He wasn't having it! He stood in his bed and cried (more like screamed!) I had no more than made it back into the kitchen, when I heard a loud "thump" and then... SILENCE!!!

You can imagine that in my mind, I was thinking the worst. I dropped everything and RAN into his room. He had climbed/fallen out of bed. And he was fine and happy. He was free. He hadn't hurt himself at all. And he had broken out of jail!

It should be an interesting nap time this afternoon. I may have to stand outside his door until he is safely asleep! :)

So... I guess it is now time to add Nolan to the list of monkeys in this house!

Working boys!

He's Walking!!!

After a LOT of walking holding hands with mommy today, he finally took up the courage to do it on his own! Yay Nolan!!!

Random busy-ness

It seems that with the new house as our major focus right now, in addition to the day to day stuff in our lives, we are just busy all the time. Steve is especially busy! I'm amazed at how he balances it all. He's really good at it, and runs on very little sleep these days. I'm really no help when it comes to the work being done at the house, so I find that my time is best spent trying to take care of everything else. Keeping our schedules in line, paying bills, household chores, and soon... packing up our things. Oh and most importantly, taking care of the children :o)



The boys have enjoyed helping at the new house. Just yesterday they helped with the demolition of the back porch steps. Steve took video, and I'll add it soon, when I can get the uploader to cooperate! It's funny!



Nolan has yet to take his first official steps. We aren't pushing him, and he isn't offering. He can stand on his own and clap and wave, but just won't even attempt to move. He just plops down and takes off. Soon, he'll surprise himself by just doing it, I think. He is still using the word "ta-da" all the time when he's showing off his skills. He's such a performer!



I'm most certainly entering into the "uncomfortable" 3rd trimester. I'm doing fine, but I can just tell that my belly and baby Chaille are growing by leaps and bounds. The heartburn is getting increasingly worse (thank heavens for Tums :o), I'm getting increasingly more tired (especially by eight o'clock or so in the evening), and it is getting increasingly harder to bend over (which is sort of a necessity when you have a 13 month old who won't walk!) But honestly, I'm doing ok with it. I'm just thankful that these complaints are VERY VERY minor!



Today has been a nice reprieve from the busy-ness. Steve is working an overtime shift, and the boys and I have enjoyed a day at home. We are all a little grumpy and tired, so today has been a good day to be home and just do "home" stuff. They have played outdoors in our beautiful, but windy, 70 degree weather. And we've done lots of playing and very little work! That makes for a very nice Saturday!

House in progress...

On Friday, February 6th we closed on our "new house," which would also be known as Steve's "old house!" We bought the house that Steve grew up in. It's sort of a long story as to how this came about, and most everyone already knows it, so I'll spare the details here. Let's just say this was totally unplanned :o)

We've been in it at every chance since then (well, Steve has anyway) and it is coming along well. So far he's gotten all the wallpaper stripped, the carpet pulled up that is coming up, some electrical and plumbing finished, and some new drywall hung. Essentially, the demolition phase is almost over and soon the rebuilding & cleaning phase will begin. It is all so exciting!

I've got some pictures here to share and I'll do my best to explain to you what is going on in each photo. But, I've got to note that our "before" pictures were taken by Steve and were shots of things that he was going to have to fix. They aren't really full room pictures like the ones I took. Also, I call the new pictures "after" pictures, but very obviously they are the "in progress" pictures!!!

I'll start in the Kitchen and Dining Room. Here are our before pictures:




And the kitchen and dining room after pictures. Notice the new pantry where there used to be hall:


Next, I'll show you the living/family room. The before pictures don't tell the story much, but these used to be 2 different rooms:




And now for the after pictures. Steve took out a wall here and closed off the hall entrance to the bathroom:


Also downstairs is the Master bedroom. Before there was a hall that ran from the dining area through to the master bedroom, with the bathroom midway down the hall. Here is some before of the hallway:

And here is the hallway closed off (pantry on one end and master suite now at the other):



The stairs before:

And after:



What will be the nursery before:



And what will be the nursery after:


We have yet to do anything with what will be the boys' room. It needs the least work. Steve and I refinished this room back when he was in college. It needs paint for sure, but otherwise it's not too bad. Here's a glimpse:

And here is a picture of one of the many handimen working on the house. Steve has been great about letting the boys pitch in here and there. In this picture Avery is hammering nails into a scrap piece of wood:

Blog Now Private

Family and Friends,

If you are reading this blog, you've officially been able to log in using our new privacy feature. I'm sorry for the added inconvenience, but by making this blog private, I feel that I'll be able to more openly share what is going on in our lives! It is very important to Steve and I that we don't compromise the safety and security of our family.

Thank you for understanding and continuing to read our blog anyway!

Blessings to you,
Jennifer