Recent pics

I feel like its been a while since I have posted pictures. One reason I want to is Brody has had a HORRIBLE couple days with a really bad rash and diarrhea, I thought I'd show off some pictures of Brody being happy. Also this morning we had a little get together at my Mom and Dad's house for Jada's husband Jarom. We were celebrating his birthday and partaking of delicious breakfast food!! Then when Brody and I got home we discovered that his wonderful Grandma Donna cleaned out this black thing that I think was supposed to be used for a pond or fountain and it ended up being the perfect pool for Brody to rest his red bum!!

Here is Brody avoiding laying on his sore bum. The little bowl full of snacks just make him look like a typical guy, sitting back relaxing on the couch while munching on something - only difference is he is watching Elmo not Baseball!

Brody has this little magazine he got with one of his Thomas trains. It has a ton of pictures of different trains and tracks. I found him in his room looking at it.

He loves looking at it and gets so serious and you can't distract him from it!

I constantly catch Brody climbing on computer chairs, mostly in our living room and in his Grandma Donna's room. I say his name loud and sort of catch him messing with the computer and he always hides his face and smiles!

So today at Jarom's breakfast birthday party we were all hanging out after and playing with the kids. Here he is playing with his Uncle Gabe and Gabe's friend Dustin - it was so cute - like Thad really felt he was, "playing with the boys"!

Thad always so eager to play

Of course Eva is obsessed with Kinsey - or as she says, "Kizzy"!

The toddlers were watching one of their favorites "Finding Nemo"!

There are a couple parts that Brody really gets a kick out of

The rest are of Brody enjoying his new pool!

What is going on with us?

Haven't been posting much lately. My morning sickness has really been keeping me down lately. Not complaining really, I know that its just how it is for some pregnant woman...for those who don't experience it you are very lucky and I am convinced that somehow you have won a version of a non-monetary lottery!

I just wanted to post a few things about what has been going on in our family for those who read my blog but I don't get to chat with that much. Mommy duties and morning sickness has been my lot in life for the past few weeks. Jake started a sales job selling Xerox products a few weeks ago. Well the job was really not for him and after two weeks he was offered a job by another company and quit that job. He now is working as a Manager trainee for Mattress Firm. Right now he is still in training so we don't know yet the store he will manage permanently. It took a while for Jake to find a job. Jake has been looking since around February or March of this year. At the time he was still working part time and finishing his last semester at ASU. Not sure what illusion Jake and I had that made us think with a bachelor's degree under his belt from a top 20 business school but we didn't realize how tough it would be for him to find a job after graduation. So 6 months, hundreds of resumes sent out a about a couple dozen interviews, he found a job that really seems to be a good fit. It really sucks that the Xerox one was a waste of Jake's time and talents but this one at Mattress Firm, for starters, is a management job and since he just got a bachelor's degree in business management he at least feels he is using his degree. There is going to be training and a detailed program to learn from and move up on to manage different size stores and such. The company seems to be well organized and helps Jake feel motivated and excited to start everything. Jake's first day was this past Wednesday August 6th. Our family is truly blessed and happy about this job opportunity for Jake. It will be a bit of an adjustment for us though because the job, of course, exist around retail hours so during the weekdays the store doesn't close till 9 pm! Also Jake has never worked at a job that required working weekends. It really sucks because he will miss out on church but, as I explained earlier, it took Jake so long to find this job and he has to do what is necessary to provide for our family. Luckily the stores don't open on Sunday's till 11 am so Jake will be able to go to Sacrament meeting at least until our church meeting time changes. Also the store closes at 5 or 6 pm on Sunday nights (for some reason I can't remember). So that is the excitement and change that is happening with Jake and as well as for Brody and I!

As for Brody he has been doing really well in therapy. Brody's speech therapist Jammie has been so great with him. Just this past week Brody signed please and airplane. Then he said go and ball a couple times. Also when Jammie showed Brody a flashcard of a dog he made dog sounds (well his version of barking and such)! On Tuesday Brody is scheduled to get tubes in his ears. Its an actual surgery which is big for me even though it will only be about 10 minutes (I don't say it as new information many of you might be aware that its a surgery I guess I word it like that to emphasize the shock to me).

The whole ordeal of Brody and his ear infections has been tough on him and me as a mother. No one in my family really had a problem of recurring ear infections so I have had to get used to a miserable child who cannot really be helped. So I am very eager for the once a month ear infections, constant bowel movements, runny nose, coughing, interrupted sleep due to pain, dr visits, antibiotics, diarrhea, painful rash - in that order usually - to finally stop!! I spoke with a nurse from the facility Brody will be getting the surgery at and it won't take long but it is going to be strange to know that a nurse will take him and he will be put under anesthesia. But I know a child getting tubes is practically an everyday occurrence and I am not worried about the procedure but I think it will just be a strange experience!

Also my first OB appt is next Friday (I will already be 11 weeks along by then)! Jake might be able to go with me which will be really cool because now that he is working so much there are a lot of things he won't be able to go to but we were able to manage on this appt!

So those are some of the few things going on with the Miller family lately

Random pictures

I haven't posted in a little while and I have taken some pretty good pics lately so I thought I would share them!

A couple weeks ago Brody saw his Dad mowing the lawn (one of Jake's favorite things to do is yard work).

Brody was very interested and wanted to be involved (don't worry for this picture Jake turned the lawn mower off)

I took this picture for two reasons 1) for the first time ever Brody saw a shirt sitting on the couch in the living room and brought it to me and wanted me to put it on him 2) this is a Kansas City Jayhawks jersey that Aunt Delaina and Aunt Kris bought for Brody

Last week my friend Saundra and her husband Bruce sent me a fabulous gift - which I posed with - as a congrats about the pregnancy.

It was the PERFECT gift for a pregnant woman. Its from a company called Edible Gifts. It was not only beautiful to see but delicious to eat! Thanks Saundra and Bruce!

Jericho is back from Utah and has been coming over to hang and help out a little while I have been dealing with horrible morning sickness

It has been a great time for Brody and Aunt Jericho to bond!

Brody has rediscovered this toy and loves it - even though he has had it for a long time

This morning I heard Brody whining from the other room. It sounded like a slightly distressed cry so when I came in the room this is the scene that I found! Donna came as well and we just laughed so hard. Brody is going for the VHS tapes that I have hid behind a huge stack of magazines deep in that shelf he is trying to get to, somehow he got his head stuck.

Today, Brody along with his older cousins, Hannah, Jackson and Gavin all played outside in the sprinklers

Brody did not like the sprinklers but LOVED playing with the hose

Hannah and Jackson were being goof balls

They wanted Brody included in the picture

Then Brody had a sugary snack!

The best surprise for our family

Our family will be growing soon because....

Due the beginning of March

Big change....a toddler bed!

It was a big and strange change in our house last night. Jake and I went and bought Brody a toddler bed. In the end Brody was up out of his bed till 11 pm playing around in his room with his toys until he fell asleep with his blanket on the floor. So I am sure it will be a couple crazy and late nights for him but I guess its all part of our little boy growing up!!

This is his crib taken apart. Brody has slept in this since he was 4 months old!!

I know its not like this little bed needed a master craftsman to put it together but I was thankful to have Jake just the same

Yes, its small but his bedroom is small and he is not a very big kid anyway

How cute is this bed!!

I wish I could have manuvered the camera so that I was able to take a picture or video of his initial reaction when he first saw the bed because it was so adorable.

When I put the new Thomas the Train pillow case on the pillow and put it on the bed Brody's face just lit up and he had the biggest smile then he slapped his hands on the pillow. Again, wish I would have gotten a picture of that but I at least got this which was a minute after the initial reaction and he is still looking at the trains on the pillowcase.

Except for his Thomas blanket here is how the bed looks now. The sheet have Thomas the Train and a couple of his buddies all over it which leads us to the next picture....

Here is Brody looking at all the little trains on his new sheet.

Okay I know this picture is out of focus but let me explain: I really wanted to get a picture of how Brody looked asleep in his new bed after the first night. So I had to turn the flash on which is why the room looks so bright even though it was dark but I didn't want to be in his room too long and wake him up so I was quick to take the picture which probably why the picture is out of focuse but still, how cute is Brody in his big bed

Brody is really excited about this toy

American Idol Concert

Yes, the concert actually took place Tuesday July 1st and I realize I am very late in sharing these pictures and story about the concert but its been a little busy since then. It was a great concert. For a group of singers who are pretty new to the entertainment industry putting on a concert for a stadium full of people - I think they did a pretty great job.

We got to Jobing.com Arena then went to our seats (which were SO close) with our friends Saundra (whom Brooke and I have known since we were little girls) and her husband Bruce. Saundra also brought her best friend's daughter Nikki and granddaughter Stephanie. Stephanie was diagnosed with Leukemia last June and just a couple months ago finished a long stay in the hospital and her Chemo and radiation treatment. Brave and amazing girl and I think she had a blast.

Then the concert! Now I know some of you who read this blog don't really like American Idol but these (mostly) novices to the entertainment industry they did a really great job. The contestants played in the order they were kicked off. Each played 3 songs. Brooke was wonderful, great, awesome and amazing. She played Let It Be, 1234 and Yellow (which is off her Songs from the Attic album and I adore her version so I was thrilled that she could play it for all the fans). Also, since I don't really want to have such a long post I am not going to go through each performance but I will add that David Cook was awesome. For being the winner he really is a great entrainer and really gets a crowd going. I am really eager to see what he does with the rest of his career.

Then once the concert was over (around 10:15 pm). A big group of us waited and then were brought "back stage" which really meant we went upstairs to a private room. There was a ton people there. Some were like us, family and friends of to see Brooke and others were fans to the show and other American Idol singers but it all added up to a lot of people and a lot of chaos. Brooke was so great, she stood up on a counter in the room and told everyone she loved them and was grateful to see them but this needed to be organized and a line needed to be formed for it to work.

So Jake and I had the opportunity to meet Kristy Lee Cook, David Cook, David Archeluta, Seysha Mercato, Jason Castro and Carly Smithson BUT we didn't because it is sort of weird to just go up to someone and ask for autographs or pose for a picture (especially because this is new for them to). Instead Jake and I snapped a couple of pictures of the other contestants while they were with other fans.

All and all it was great to see Brooke and her family but we didn't get much time with her. The girl was such a great sport, especially considering the crazy night and at about 12:30 am all of them hopped on a bus and went to San Diego to do it all over again!!!

This picture doesn't do justice to the crowd that was there. It was also interesting going to a concert with a amount of them being pretty young (very different than REM, Coldplay and Pearl Jam that I have been too...nicely enough there was no smell of POT half-way through)

They had a big screen in the back of the stage which was awesome but I wish they would have used more to put the performers on since, though our view was close, we couldn't see their faces.

Here is a picture of Brooke's Aunt Jenny and Saundra's husband Bruce
A couple of girls, one of whom knew Brooke as well, were nice enough to take a picture of Jake and I before the show started
Saundra and I wear our "Brooke" shirts (she is the one who bought our tickets and arranged to get the backstage passes, we didn't have money so without her none of it would have happened - thanks!)

Saundra and Bruce are such wonderfully generous and great people. May they be blessed with better health (they have had a lot of problem in the past couple years). Bruce is a Vietnam Vet and an amazing husband to Saundra. It was nice to see them for a night and even better was their generosity to enable Jake and I to be there!

The next couple pics are not the best quality of the concert but the best that would come out with our camera.

Everyone thought I was silly to take this picture of Saundra eating half-way through the concert but I just thought it was hilarious to turn and see this lady eating celery sticks and peanut butter from her little cooler (Saundra is severally hypoglycemic)

One of my favorites, other than Brooke was Michael Johns. He played a Queen, Dolly Parton and Areosmith song. He was so great.

Then Brooke came on! It was so great because it was the first time so far in the night that someone came out with an instrument and Brooke came up from the floor of the stage playing Let It Be on the piano!

I LOVED her version of 1235 by Fiest (not sure if I have the spelling right)?

There were a couple group numbers that were alright

And of course I loved David Cook. He rocks and, not that I am an expert but he looks pretty great on the guitar. The couple songs he played that I loved were, Hello by Lionel Richie, Hero by Foo Fights and Billy Jean by Michael Jackson.

Then we snapped a couple pictures as the other singers came out

Isn't Seysha even more beautiful in person...and let me tell you even tinier!

I finally got to see my girl Brooke! It hasn't been that long since I have seen her since she came by real quick in December but SO much has happened since then!!

We were able to get Saundra, Brooke and I in a picture as well, which from the huge crowd, was a bit of an accomplishment.

Oh and I ran into my friend Sheena while I was there. Like I told her that night - it seems like that her and Brooke are the same size we were in high school but I have gotten bigger...what is up with that! I will blame the whole, having a kid, on that!