The weekend has been pretty dull with Kent gone studying and the rest of us just hanging out inside. I've gotten lots of reading done- zeb has played to his heart's content with trains - and ike has gotten a lot of sleep and done lots of eating.
Zeb gets funnier and funnier everyday! Right now he LOVES to sing and dance for us- although we rarely understand any of what he says. I think being a mom to a newborn is so much easier this time around because I have Zeb to entertain me and keep me company (and it doesn't hurt that Ike sleeps through the night and still doesn't cry). As crazy as Zeb makes me- I sure do like him a lot.

zeb still loves him

Zeb loves to pat Ike's head and lie down with him. We have yet to have any attacks or injuries! Let's hope it stays that way.
Ike looks A LOT like ET these days. He's still all wiry and alienesque- but I do admit that he gets a little cuter everyday.

They sing this song in nursery with the kidlets and he looooves it. He has only memorized the last and loudest words and he gets a little over excited when he yells teach, preach, and work. I love it.

I am a freebie addict

Over the past two days I have been informed of- or stumbled upon- too many great free things! I can't not tell people about it!!

Thanks laura for the info on this one!! I am SOOO excited. I researched it and Msnbc is reporting that it is totally legit!! Act fast- they are only giving out one million starting today and they are already past 300,000!
www.millionsubs.com



Here is a free diet dr. pepper. I don't do dr. pepper- but i'm hoping the coupon will get me any free pop. if not- it's up for grabs to you dr. pepper lovers.

http://www.freedietdrpepper.com/




And finally- a free kashi dinner entree!

http://www.kashi.com/

back to the real life updates

The novelty of having a new baby has worn off and we have readjusted. We are now back to normal life. He'll be three weeks tomorrow and I think that he is FINALLY back up to birth weight- although he is back to a long non pooing stretch. This kid is obsessed with falling asleep on kent's chest- and kent couldn't be happier about it- it's one of his favorite things about newborns.

I took my first run this past weekend and it felt fabulous! I can't wait till the weather improves and I can get back to my park with the kiddos in a stroller instead of being on the treadmill. I think Zeb really misses the park and Ike is bound to love it as much as we do :)

We also started up seminary this morning again. It went fabulously. I think I've been blessed with a good baby so that I can continue to teach seminary- which is a great deal in my opinion. I'll get up at 5:45 every morning for a happy sleeping nonfussy baby. The kid only woke up ONCE last night!- although I still am pretty tired today.
I really missed my seminary kids and loved having them back. They are such good good teenagers and I can only hope my children are this dedicated and positive about early morning seminary (because we are bound to live somewhere without release time).

I'm also finally getting back to reading some good books. I just finished "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio"- our book for book club this week. I LOVED it and think that it is a definite must read for anybody. It's one of my favorites that I've read in quite awhile. It didn't hurt that Defiance is close by and they talk about Toledo in it! but really- it's GREAT. In 2005 it was made into a movie as well- I can't wait to see it.

Is it just me or is this kid freaking ginormous? The day Ike showed up Zeb tripled in size (or so it seems). I can't believe how big this kid is! Lately his favorite spots have been Ike's swing and Ike's carseat. Thank heavens he hasn't attempted sitting in either while occupied by the little one. He is still so good about Ike and exhibits no signs of jealousy or anger towards him or me- except at church. Nursery has become a NIGHTMARE. I can only hope this is a short lived phase. It's ridiculous. This kid works himself into such a frenzy that he can't breathe. He does that gaspy breath thing that happens when you cry too hard. I'd feel sort of bad for him except for the fact that he has no problem with nursery or us being absent during the music time and bubble time- it's just during the other stuff he doesn't like. He isn't afraid of us being gone or leaving- he's manipulating us and he knows it. Today Kent sat out with him in the foyer on the couch and told him he could either sit there with Kent all day or go into nursery by himself. He chose to sit with Kent- except when he saw the kids cross the hall into music time. He followed them in and when it ended, started screaming until kent took him out. Grrrrr. What do we do with this rascal?

FREE STUFF!!!

Just a reminder! Free pancakes from SEVEN am to TEN pm at IHOP onTuesday! For all you Toledoans- we'll be headed over right after our 9:15 workout (nice, huh?).

Here are our little monkies in their monkey pajamas! Zeb's are from nannie annie and Ike's are from grandma Oswald! thanks a million! Plus- check out this thomas the train blanket that Grandma Oswald sent this week! Zeb is the happiest boy in the world (until Ike gets old enough and he realizes he's going to have share everything). Thank you so much grandma!!! I think that 3/4 of our blankets are handmade by you!

Zeb thought it was sOOO cool to have ike lay on his arm in his bed with him. he wouldn't stop smiling and giggling about it.
Last night Ike was AMAZING. Zeb on the other hand was not. he woke up at 4:30 crying for Percy. Are you kidding me? then he decided that he was up for the morning. He sat in front of his dvd (I'm hoping he fell asleep for at least a little while) until 7:30 when Ike and I decided to get out of bed. How is it that my newborn sleeps better than rugrat #1? Lucky for Z, he is still cuter and more fun - but he had better be careful because Ike is bound to catch up eventually.

I love this kid. He is so much fun right now. He'll play with me during the day- loves to sing songs and dance for us- and has been so good with Ike. His attention span and imagination amaze kent and me daily. He will spend HOURS playing on train tracks and under tunnels with his trains. He'll talk to them- make things for them- and sing songs about them. Here he is with four of his favorites- fergus, harold (the helicopter), percy, and elizabeth. These dang trains can cause so much drama- but they are also such a lifesaver right now!

2 weeks!

Here's a pic of our little rugrat with his eyes open. he's finally starting to be awake for longer than a few minutes at a time! I think that he's going to be brown eyed like his big brother- but we'll have to wait and see. I think he's starting to look a little more like his cousin hank.

This baby thing is soooooooooooo much easier the second time around! We've lucked out with a good baby- but I think I'm a lot less anxious than with Zeb. I also feel a lot better this time around too. I weigh significantly less and I've already started back into my workout routine- so I'm a lot happier and healthier.

The one stress with this little guy has been his weight gain. With him not pooing (he went another three day stretch this weekend but pooed once yesterday AND today) and me nursing I was so stressed out that he wasn't eating enough. I convinced Kent to come with me yesterday to the post office to weigh our little guy :) You can go after hours when nobody is around and use the package scale! I forgot my camera or I would have had a great picture to post. The kid is still a little pigmy- but he's gaining weight steadily. Friday at his doctor's appt he was 6'13" but last night he was 7'1". Hip hip hooray- I'm not starving him. He still hasn't reached birth weight- but he's almost there (and starting to poo more regularly).

he sleeps and sleeps

this kid loves to snooze. Depending on the day- often times I have to strip him down and set him on the floor for awhile to wake him up so he can eat. Today I put him on his back and returned to find this- he had flipped over onto his arms and knees. He's a wiry little rascal.

Here's the little guy snoozing on the couch. He loves his blanket from great grandma Oswald- thanks grandma!

He's looking less and less creature like everyday.

I'm getting my haircut this week sometime- what should I do? Really it's my dream to do some crazy color with purple highlights (you'll have to zoom in to see them)- but I have NO desire to deal or pay for maintenance. Really though- I need some suggestions. Any ideas?


P.s. this website is pretty fun- you can put movie star's haircuts on- and put on weird makeup.

Ralph, thanks for choosing me to love the most!
I love you the most.

strange looking

Sometimes when I look at Ike- I wonder if we brought the right baby home from the hospital. I just don't see any of us in him. I think it's cause he's still got that goofy newborn look. He was making some really strange faces yesterday so I tried to get a few shots of them.
The kid is still as amazing as ever. He rarely ever fusses- never cries- and sleeps really well. He had a doctor's appointment today and although his pediatrician thought it was super strange that he didn't poo for so long- he is gaining weight and everything looks great.

he did it!!

with a little coaxing- he filled two diapers!!
I think it's more of a relief for me than him.

my little zeb is back!!

My Z man has returned. Sure- he can still be a little nasty (he gets that from his dad) and he's definitely still got attitude (he must get that from his aunties metta, daysa, and laney)- but the past few days he has been so much fun and so darn good. He's taking his 3+ hour naps, going to bed happily, sleeping well, and just being zeb. The past two or three weeks he's been possessed or something! I finally feel like he's returning to normal.

Today we had playgroup at Babies'r'us. They did a "wiggles and giggles" activity and were overrun by Mormons! We were at least 80% of the attendees. It was a lot of fun and zeb loved playing with the toys. Ike just slept. He still hasn't pooed and I think it's starting to make him uncomfortable. I called the nurse who told us to give him an ounce of juice. That always did the trick with Zeb- but with ike it hasn't seemed to do it's job (and I thought nursing was supposed to NOT make kids constipated!). We're going to have a poo party when it finally happens.

no poop still.

We got such a good baby. He doesn't fuss or cry at all and he sleeps so well. At night he gets up to eat every 4 hours- but goes back to sleep instantly! I'm tired- but not exhausted at all. Let's hope this keeps up. I have a feeling that once he wakes up a little- things will get a little more hectic.
In other news- today was my big day!!!! my last dentist appointment. I know that you are all insanely interested in the welfare of my mouth and are equally as overjoyed as I am. I chewed on the left side of my mouth for the first time in NINE weeks today. Tonight will also be the first time in that many weeks that I get to brush my upper left tooth. Let's hope that I never have a root canal again.







Here's the progression of my tooth over the last two months :) The pictures are for you, mom!

Today was a great great day. For some miraculous reason Ike decided to sleep a four hour stretch and then a five hour stretch last night! That- coupled with the fact that the entire fam went to bed at eight- meant I got over eight hours of sleep. I can only hope that little Ike keeps it up!
We went on our first outing as a threesome today and it was very successful. It tired Ike out (as pictured) and zeb was so good. We went to storytime at the library. Besides the fact that he pulled a huge shelf of dvds onto the floor- he was an angel :) He really does love having Ike around and now that our house is empty again he isn't trying to get so much negative attention. He also took almost a three and a half hour nap. Surprisingly that three hours went by a lot faster now that I've got another rugrat to feed and take care of.

Ike also experienced his first bath this evening. The kid pooed twelve times in his first few days of life- but now hasn't pooped in two days. We gave him a bath to try and stimulate his bowels. The kid is gassy gassy gassy (must take after his auntie laney) but still as happy as ever. Let's hope for poo tonight!

Ciao Nannie Annie!
Goodbye Gramps!
Adios Laney (and taylor)!

seeya hanky p.Everybody is gone! I feel like they just got here- and now they are gone. Tomorrow will be my first day all by myself with two children (eek). It was so great to have everybody here to help out and distract me! but now I'm looking forward to some long and quiet (or loud and restless) days.

Laney is sending me more pictures from the week's adventures since my hands were always full and I didn't take very many. We did a lot of resting-eating-and shopping while the fam was in town and it made me miss metta and daysa (they are very good at those three things)!! Zeb loved having the company (although he never really got over the fact that when they initially showed up I disappeared for two days. He was very wary the remainder of the time that they were here) and already misses everybody. It will be nice to get him back into his routine however. He has definitely been the most affected by this change in our family dynamic.

This little rugrat of ours is a really really really good baby. We haven't had a single long crying fit! he has the usual outburst and nights aren't exactly heaven- but at least he isn't crying. I can handle an awake baby- just not a screaming awake baby. Let's hope I don't jinx myself.

ike's arrival-part 3 (the end-finally)

My night in the hospital was pleasant and very beneficial. The nursery took Ike all night and I got a good seven straight hours of sleep. I knew that it would be my last for quite some time so I decided to take full advantage. Kent was going to spend the night with me- but they weren't sure if' they'd need the other bed in my room so he stayed until eleven and then went home. It was sooooo great to have my parents here so that they could watch Zeb that night and the next full day.

Going home from the hospital is always so strange to me. We went in as three and came out as four. Luckily it was not nearly as scary this time as with Zeb.













I canNOT believe that we've already been home three days! and I canNOT believe that I am a mother of two little boys. So so weird. As you can tell from this picture poor little Zebby is still having some rough times. He really really likes Ike- he's just feeling a little overwhelmed with everything right now.

Apparently I had to be admitted by my doctor before I could start any type of prep to have the baby- unless of course that included HAVING the baby- because I'm sure at that point they would have let me into a room. My doctor was in a surgery and they couldn't get a hold of her- so I had to wait. I guess both OB floor anesthesiologists were also in surgeries and weren't free to give any epidurals. Why would ALL of the floor's anesthesiologists be busy?!? people go to the ob wing to have babies and GET the proper DRUGS to do it. I begged her to get an anesthesiologist from another floor. She said she'd check. They checked me then and I was at a nine- totally effaced.
I did convince the nurse to put me in a room and start my IV and actually begged her to call another OB to admit me. She said she couldn't call but she'd start my IV. At this point I was near death- really.
Did you ever wonder why they compare all pain to having a baby? It's because having a baby is the WORST. I don't care what anybody says. Some people may forget about the pain so it doesn't seem so bad- but I am not one of those people. and I didn't even push out the baby sans epidural!!!
I have NEVER been so miserable in my life. I cried NO tears. With pain that bad- tears don't help. I didn't scream or yell. I just hunched over and squeezed Kent's hands as hard as possible. My contractions were every minute. Between every contraction I would ask the nurse if she'd gotten a hold of my doctor or the anesthesiologist. She was starting to get really bugged. I finally asked her if she thought I'd actually get one and she said no. I almost gave up. It had to have been the most devastating moment of my life. I'm not joking. WHO GOES THROUGH THIS ON PURPOSE?!?
After just a few contractions I told the nurse that I felt like I needed to push. She told me I had progressed too far and was going to have the baby. She told me if I needed to push on the next contraction that I needed to tell her and they'd get a doctor. I totally lied to her. Through the next two contractions I said I didn't need to at all. I know that if you get too far then they won't even give you an epidural- so I lied.
Suddenly- out of the blue- in walked an anesthesiologist from another floor. My doctor had finally called back and admitted me and they'd found some random hospital anesthesiologist. It was the most wonderful moment of my life. I think just seeing him helped my pain subside. The nurse asked if I felt heavy pressure or like I needed to push- I totally lied again. Within five minutes I was the HAPPIEST GIRL in the world. It was AMAZING. They checked me after the epidural and I was totally ready to have the baby. The nurse was super irritated and told me I should have just had the baby. Even if the drugs took away just ONE extra contraction- it was so worth it. Who has babies drug free on purpose?!?!
My doctor finally arrived at this point and said she was going to give me some time to relax and that she'd return. When she came back- I pushed three or four times and out popped Ike. WOW. It was soooooooo easy compared to pushing two and a half hours with zeb!!! It was actually fun this time. The only thing that even remotely hurt was my root canal tooth.

When just the head had popped out- kent laughed and said it had better be a boy because it's head looked just like Zeb. It was so exciting not knowing what we were having!

The placenta came out next! This time it was really bloody. Apparently my uterus stopped contracting and they had to give me some methergine to constrict my blood vessels because I was gushing blood. I guess it's very common with red heads?!

Here I am after delivery. I was so happy. Here's Kent- the happiest dad in the world.









Just after we were wheeled into our hospital room my parents' flight landed in Detroit! Kent went and picked up Zeb from the neighbors (thank you sooooooo much Lindsay!) and my parents arrived a few hours later. Having Ike on the third was perfect. I can only hope that all of my kids have odd day birthdays.

All in all it was one of the craziest days of my life. I still get sick to my stomach thinking that I almost had to have a baby without an epidural. Next time I will do things a little differently. First- I will not stay home to teach seminary. Second- I will not arrive at the hospital early in the morning when all of the s-sections are scheduled. Third- I will just start crying and wailing as soon as I arrive at the hospital so that people realize the seriousness of my situation. Fourth- I will take the week early induction date and postpone my root canals in order to avoid the most terrible pain humanly possible.

I am so happy that I got to be at home last night! Ike is doing quite well and last night even slept a full five and a half hour stretch until I had to wake him up to eat- unfortunately Zeb isn't faring as nicely. He isn't having any problems with the baby- just lots of neediness, whining, freak outs, etc. I'm trying to keep his routine regular and so my mum and I took him to storytime at the library today while gramps stayed home with the new one. He was a bit crazy.

Here's the rugrat at the hospital meeting Ike for the first time. Ike brought him "Harold the Helicopter" - and that helped soften the blow. Zeb has been playing with it ever since.

I feel great and I've been trying to get out and walk around so I can get back to "normal" ASAP. I've never felt so skinny and fat all at the same time!!

The past forty eight hours have been a bit of a blur- so I've got to get them all written out before I forget everything. Bear with me or stop reading now :)

Part 1
Labor progressed so similarly to Zeb's it was crazy- just a little faster this time! I went to bed Monday evening feeling a little strange and über-anxious for no apparent reason. I slept relatively well but was awakened at 5:45 (just a few minutes before my alarm) with a contraction. I knew my seminary students were on their way and I figured that since I hadn't been up all night with other contractions that I had awhile to wait them out and see if I was in real labor. About halfway through seminary I texted kent that we'd need to head to the hospital as soon as class ended (6:50 ish). Apparently he slept through the text! I went in to wake him up and was pretty darn uncomfortable. The contractions were four minutes apart- but only lasting 10-15 seconds so I wasn't super concerned (I should have been mortified). I took zeb across the hall while Kent got dressed - we grabbed everything (in my anxiety the night before I'd set out everything exactly ready to go) -and drove (speedily) to the hospital. I warned Kent about the intersections with photocops but asked him to race through the others. We arrived in good time but because I was acting so calm the lady checking us in didn't understand that I was in active labor (I had also refused a wheelchair at the front entrance because I just wanted to HURRY) despite the fact that I told her THREE times. She sent us on a goose chase only to have us get sent BACK to her. Then she angrily walked us back on the same goose chase only to finally realize (thanks to Kent's continual explanations) that I was DYING and in ACTIVE LABOR. She took us back to our starting point and they triaged me. I was doing okay at this point and told them that I'd be fine AS LONG AS I GOT AN EPIDURAL. The nurse assured me that I'd be fine. They checked me and found that I was at a six. I warned them that with Zeb I went from 5 to nine VERY quickly. They left to call my doctor and admit me when suddenly I got hit by some crazy bad contractions. Here is a picture I took between some of them. I regretted not getting any in my gown with Zeb so I made Kent take this one. After the third BAD contraction I told Kent that he had to get the nurse because I HAD to get the epidural. She came back and said she couldn't get a hold of my doctor. I demanded (pleasantly) that she at least start my IV so I'd be ready for the epidural. She said she couldn't- but I insisted- and she took me to a room. Here's where everything went downhill. I wish that I could put into words better the following thirty minutes. I think about it now and I get sick to my stomach. It will have to wait until my next post however. I've got a whining rugrat at my feet.

Rugrat number two is HOME! We got in just a bit ago and I'm so happy to be out of the hospital bed. I get way too bored just sitting and sitting and sitting. I begged for them to let us go home today- and since little boy miller was born yesterday in the morning- they allowed us to be discharged because we'd been there over twenty-four hours. Kent also made it home just in time for his clinical skills lab - today they get to do genital exams! I told him that my labor should have just counted.

about the little rugrat- so far things are great! he just sleeps. I got a good night's sleep last night and I'm hoping for at least one more before he turns into a real baby and starts demanding things from me.

I want to record all of the past twenty-four hours' events- but it may take a few days to get it all posted so if you don't care to know it all (or to see some of the gorier details of having a baby)- just don't read the blog for a day or two :)

Oh, and we are pretty sure that he's got a name-

Friedrick Hinckley Miller

aka "Ike"

aka (by my mom) freddy

We've got quite a few Friedrick's on both sides of our family history- and we love the name! I think Ike and Zeb sound great together and my mom thinks freddy and zebby match. Call him what you like- we'll see what sticks (I like Ike).

In some terribly unfortunate news- this kid has got one NASTY head of hair. He'll be getting the miller buzz cut in a few days. Take a look at this old man hair. It's almost a mullet. ewww.

It's here!!

It's a boy!! Leisy taught seminary this morning from 6 to 7 trying to ignore the contractions. Needless to say we were in the car to the hospital as soon as her students left the house!! She progressed so quickly she almost didn't get an epidural. Our little boy weighed 7 lbs 5 oz and was 20 inches. We're still talking about names and how we will spell them. So it's just a baby boy for now! The birth went super well and Leisy feels great! She should be back in no time to fill in all the details - I just wanted everyone to see our little guy!

We're off to bed with no exciting news. My mum and dad arrive tomorrow and then we are set to go. I'd love to have this rugrat come tomorrow because it's the 3rd- and I want my kids to have odd day birthdays. The fourth also works though because my OB is on call in the hospital and would deliver (instead of another from the same practice). From here on out I am happy no matter what happens- as long as I get the epidural.
It kinda freaks me out that I have to get this baby out though. I've got the pre-labor jitters. It's like the whole ship in the bottle thing- only I'm not so worried about how the baby got in (obviously we know the answer to that)- but more so how we get it out. If I have to push for 2.5 hours again- I'll freak. Laney did give me some pointers about how to get around that- just pretend you're pushing and don't really. Apparently the baby makes progress and will eventually come out anyway.
Let's just hope this one is a little cuter than Zeb was at first. Kent found this picture earlier this week while going over some old cds. Maybe it's just a bad picture- but I don't think so. These newborns look a little creepy for awhile.