Lieutenant Miller

One week from today Kent will be active duty US Air Force in Montgomery, Alabama.

I made Kent take this picture- and I made him do the salute. I wanted to show off his snazzy "mess uniform". It's the formal tuxedo that he has to wear to Air Force Balls and other formal events. This dang suit cost SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS (and is required for officer training)!!!!

Kent has a friend who attended Officer training last summer and is letting him use his. He and his wife had us over for dinner last night to give Kent the low-down on what to expect. They had two little kids and a yorkie-chihuahua mix. Zeb was ecstatic about the dog. He chased it around the house and giggled and screamed like a baby banshee. I haven't heard him laugh that hard in awhile. He LOVES animals.

Back to the atrociously priced suit- we are so darn lucky to have friends willing to lend it out! The Air Force will pay us a monthly stipend to live off, they pay tuition, they pay for all of his books, and they even pay for him to fly to Alabama and back to Utah- but they won't pay for his uniforms?! does that seem crazy to anybody else? I am so glad we could borrow this blasted thing. He'll still have to pay a pretty penny to get his basic gear- but not this extra 600. It is pretty sharp though, huh?

As anxious as I am to have Kent gone for five weeks, I am SO excited for him. I know that he'll LOVE the training. Kent is definitely the type to be excited about four am runs and push up contests. He is going to be in HEAVEN amongst all the order and rules. He's already a pro at bed making (thanks to his great mom) but he's going to come home and be able to make quarters bounce off our sheets.

As of last week we are totally done with bottles! It was a far easier task then I had anticipated! He loves water and milk and is only mildly fond of juice. I think that I may have done him a disservice with the bottle though. I didn't let him hold it and feed himself because I didn't want him to be running/crawling around with bottle in tow (I think it would have made him much harder to wean) so I always held it when he ate. Now the poor kid is trying to learn how to tip the sippy cups by himself! He is starting to use his hands but check him out doing it hands free. When he does use his hands he still does the whole body motion. I actually think it's pretty cute.


I love that Zeb is understanding what I ask and tell him now! It is so fun to see him respond to tasks and do things. He's learning body parts right now- but has only had success with the nose (and only on other people's faces - not his own).

please don't go to south bend, emilee!

This weekend has been a weekend of conquering (or at least attempting to) fears and trying new things. I don't know if I'll ever sing in sacrament meeting again (I was absolutely terrified) but this next new thing may be a keeper.

After the race on Saturday, Kent dropped me off at the church for a sewing activity -can you believe I signed up for it? a wonderfully talented and patient woman (thank-you thank-you thank-you emilee) gave up her day and taught us all to to make dresses and skirts. I only got a picture of the dresses- but some of the sisters wore their skirts to church today and looked fabulous. The pictures don't do justice to these amazing little peasant dresses. They are empire waisted- and are bunched at the neck and sleeves. I CANNOT believe that I made this dress from scratch- and I can't believe how cute they all turned out. So, now I don't want Emilee (the seamstress) to move to South Bend because I want to do a sewing saturday every month!

I couldn't help but dress up Zeb in it! Later in life he will KILL me for doing this (and Kent is already pretty irate) but I really wanted to see what the dress looked like on. Zeb was pretty unhappy- but we did get one good picture. He's a pretty cute little girl I'd have to say :)

Click on the picture to get a better look at the empire waist.

Leisy - wonder woman. Me - not so much

I married wonder woman. Leisy never ceases to amaze me! After a really long night with Zeb, we got up and prepared to go to church early. Why? Because Leisy had to set up for sharing time and practice for the musical number. That's not a misprint - practice for the musical number in sacrament meeting. This is huge. When Leisy knew me in highschool she refused to sing if I was sitting next to her in church. When we started dating and went to church together she would actually sing. She told me if I ever made a big deal about it she would stop. The quartet of sisters was really good - Leisy even had a duet during the song! Leisy taught primary, pulled off sharing time with smashing success and dealt with a really cranky Zeb. I had a less than successful Sunday. I forgot the rolls for Priesthood, struggled with the hymn in opening exercises and ignored Zeb while filling in for the missing primary pianist. How can Leisy do everything so well?? She is wonder woman - I don't have any other explanations.

The dart frog dash!
Kent and I got up bright and early to run the zoo's annual 5k! It was great. My favorite parts were the bleating lambs and the fresh aroma of elephant dung. I loved running past all of the animals and through the zoo's gardens but I didn't love that the very end of the race was UPHILL. Who makes the end of a race UPHILL?!? thank heavens that it was followed by a downhill as well.


Zeb did wonderfully in his stroller- and both Kent and I made pretty good time. They gave free fruit and bagels at the end- and free massages! I couldn't believe how many people ran the race. It was INSANE. We saw a few ward friends- and met lots of other funny people. One man offered to run Zeb's stroller up the hill with me! Thankfully our regular running route involves hills and we were just fine.

This little guy turns ONE in two weeks! How was zeb suddenly here for a year?! ridiculous. sorry about the ghost pajamas. they were on clearance at meijer for two dollars.

check this out

I heard about this site from a friend and I'm OBSESSED. I have an inordinate love of mail. Opening my mailbox and finding something (other than bills or credit card enrollments) brings me such joy. I get so excited when I hear our mail person open the mailboxes in our hallway! Sometimes I make myself wait an hour or so to get the mail just so the suspense can build.

This website is full of free samples that come via mail! I check it about twice a week because it changes regularly. I get free magazine trials (that DO NOT have to be canceled after the first few-it's just a sample), granola bars, detergent, tampons, and other great stuff! So- I just thought I'd let everybody know. Doesn't everybody love mail? happy sampling (just click on the image).

my day was so boring- oh, and do we have ghosts?

It was wet all day today. It felt like somebody was using a giant spray bottle throughout toledo. I love the gloom- but it was too wet to go running with my rugrat. We did a lot of reading and scampering around the house- and I got some really cute pictures. I have almost 2000 pictures of this kid. RIDICULOUS. Good thing for digital cameras and picture dvds. He will have a picture for every day of the first year of his life.
Zeb is such a camera pro. I don't even have to tell him to smile- as soon as he sees the camera he gives his obligatory smile until the flash goes off- and then goes right back to whatever he was doing. I love it.

Today while I was cleaning my room and making the bed I let Zeb crawl around the bed. I looked up and this is where he'd gotten himself-up on our headboard.
oh, and do we have ghosts? do you see the strange orb floating next to zeb's head in this picture below? If you look closely you can see a little face in it too. Pretty creepy, huh? On "Ghost Hunters" and other very reliable shows and sources (and websites)- I have learned that these "orbs are believed to be ghosts in the form of balls of light. They are life forms that travel in groups and are believed to be the human soul or life force of those that once inhabited a physical body here on earth". I so want the orbs to be ghosts. Maybe it's Zeb spirit guide (that's what Sylvia Browne would say anyway).

The other day at walking group I turned around and Zeb was at the top of this little playground thing. Watching him is getting to be more of a full-time job! This rugrat is fast and daring. I tried to get his climb on video today. I missed his first two steps up- but got the rest. I was pretty surprised that he was willing to go down the slide without any help. He did go headfirst over the side of the slide earlier in the morning but it was really graceful- no tears at all. I love that they have this "toddler" play area. Zeb is obsessed.
Here's my monkey trying to look at me (with the sun directly in his face).

The camera battery was charging and so I only got a camera phone shot of zeb at the zoo today. He refused to look at me. And I apologize about the nursing primate- strange choice for a bronze statue, huh? Zeb took four steps at the zoo today! He walks- and it's so funny to watch. He seems too little to be walking. We had a fabulous time at the zoo. Somehow Kent and I have missed the coolest parts of the zoo everytime we've gone! We always wondered why the primate section was so lame- now I realize we just never found it. I called Kent immediately and we are going sometime before his air force departure (which is getting scarily close).

This Saturday Kent and I (and Z) are running the Dart Frog Dash at the zoo. Zeb is stoked. He's been really good at just sleeping during our runs lately. People look at me like I'm abusing him but he really does like it-usually. I'm mostly excited for the t-shirt. That's why I run races anyway. We'll get some good pictures.

Here's another pic of zeb that a friend took!

ode to mom. aka nannie annie.

Since the dinner conference call (amidst the discussion of steaks and laney's bladder labor) didn't seem to hit the spot I thought I'd make an ode to you on the blog wall of fame. I couldn't resist stealing this picture from aunt michelle's blog. The picture shows you- the best mom of all- and a few other fabulous moms. The green sweater is pretty hot too, mom! I think it would even be popular now :)
Thanks for being the most wonderful mom on the planet. Today in primary I had my kids draw pictures with them doing their favorite things with their moms- I drew you and me talking on the phone.
Growing up I remember calling you at work and tattling on Laney or reporting that my "toes" were on fire. In college I'd always call and tell you about classes or my job. On my mission I remember you leaving a message on my answering machine a week before you were supposed to call "just to make sure the number was right"- and then really getting to talk to you on Mother's Day. And still- here in Toledo even with the 24 hours and 2000 miles I can just call and talk. Thanks for letting me talk and thanks for listening. Thanks for sending my rugrat packages and being the most wonderful Nannie Annie. Thanks for making me a better wife and mother- I'm so lucky that I have you to look up to! I can't wait to see you in THIRTY DAYS! Zebby is excited too. Love you.

toledo first ward rockin dance

The ward spring fling tonight was pretty dang cool. Above is a shot of the 7:15 crowd (it went from 7-9) but thankfully by 7:30ish we had quite the mob (and lots of delicious food). I love going to dances with Kent (even though neither of us can dance AT ALL). Zeb was kind of a terror. All of the kids in the nursery sort of freaked him out (this past week he has been terrified of loud noises)- so he danced with us much of the night. We have some pretty intense dancers in the ward and I was impressed by many of the flips and moves. We had a pretty good dancing circle going for awhile. Here are some shots of everybody's rugrats dancing too. They all stormed the floor near the end of the evening.




















Zeb was SO tired by the end of the evening. When we got home we put him out on the front lawn and he rolled over to go to sleep.