What a week!

Well, we've been home from our wonderful Atlanta trip for about 10 days and it's gone by so fast that I can barely believe it!  I thought that last week would be a quiet one where at least the girls and I would be able to "recoup" from our travels.  Boy was I wrong!  The girls awoke on Monday a little cranky, and other than a trip to Mountain View to pick up Mikie and Ollie (our two poodle dogs), the day was pretty uneventful...until that night.  At around 9pm my sister called (on the house phone, and I immediately knew something was wrong) and informed me that Luis was taking her to the hospital because she wasn't feeling well, and was having some contractions.  I was told "not to worry, and to NOT tell anyone in the family since it was probably nothing".  About 90 minutes later, she called back to tell me that at 33 weeks, her water had broken, and she was in labor.  How's that for "don't worry, it's probably nothing"?!?  I immediately broke into tears worried and scared for my baby sister and my precious nephew, and began an almost all night prayer vigil for both of them.  Being the control freak that I am, and the "mother hen" type, I felt absolutely helpless being that I couldn't be there even if it was to just sit with my sister as she went through this process.  I kept my cell phone right next to the bed, waiting for any update from anyone!  I finally awoke for the day at about 5:30 and called my mom to see if she had heard anything.  For those of you who know my mom, she's up with the birds and had most likely already done a load of laundry and vacuumed the entire house!  Unfortunately, all she knew was that my sister had progressed a little bit, the anesthesiologist was on the way to administer her epidural, and that they were expecting a long day of Lyd in labor.   Since I wasn't sure how Lyd was doing, and I didn't know how much sleep she had, I was very hesitant to contact her, so I waited and waited for a word..ANY word on how things were going.  Finally I heard from her at around 7:30 and she was still laboring and hadn't progressed much since 5:30.  I told her that I was praying and to keep me posted with ANY news!  It was KILLING me to not be there with her!  At that point, I looked at the clock and realized that I needed to leave for Mountain View in 60 minutes.  The girls and I were picking up my father in law, to then go and pick up his sister from the airport.  Thank you Lord for caffeine!  As the girls an I made our journey to Mountain View and then back down to San Jose Airport, I continued to check my phone every few seconds (or as often as I could) for any update from my sister or Luis.  Word finally came a little after 10:30...my sweet nephew Logan Michael Guzman was born!  I got word as I was driving from the San Jose airport to Mountain View.  Thankfully my father in law was there to read the messages from Luis.  Although he was rushed off to the NICU (he was born at 33 weeks gestation), he was perfectly healthy and born at 5lbs 4 ozs and 17 3/4 inches long - pretty amazing for being born 7 weeks premature!  Isn't our God AMAZING????
As I am sure you can imagine phone calls to family members all over the country began and we were all joyously celebrating the new addition to the family.  It was such an emotional day, that by the time that the girls were ready for bed, I was ready too!

We awoke to a beautiful Wednesday morning and my girls were anxiously awaiting the arrival of their three friends.  I was helping my girlfriend out by watching her three kids while she went to work for a meeting.  The kids had a blast, and ironically it was easier to care for 5 kids then just 2!  Who knew?!? After a nice little nap, we headed to Mountain View to enjoy a wonderful dinner with Daniel's parents and Aunt Elizabeth. 
Thursday's activities were running the "boys" (our poodles Mikie and Ollie) to the groomer's, as they were in DESPERATE need for a bath and a hair cut, and then a few other errands, back home for lunch, and then off to a favorite park for some water play with friends.  The girls had a great time, and it's great to see that Samantha is starting to have and make friends of her own :)
On Friday, Daniel awoke early to take his parents to the airport for their trip(s) to Seattle and Las Vegas.  The girls and I went to a friend's house in Los Altos and had a great time (as always) playing and chatting together.  Due to the upcoming school year it would most likely be the last playdate of the summer.
So, as you can see, what was expected to be a nice lazy recuperation from travel, ended up being a crazy busy week, but hey, what do you expect?
~JRM~

YES...it's been a while...

I'm sitting at well....10,000+ feet and my brother, who is sitting next to me on this lovely 5 hour flight from Atlanta back home to San Jose, politely reminds me that I REALLY need to update my blog...it's been almost a year since my last post.  So since I paid the $4.95 for wifi, and Samantha is sleeping next to me and Daniel and Madison are in the row in front of me, I guess that now is as good a time as any, so here goes!

As mentioned above, the whole family (plus my brother) is on the way back from a BEAUTIFUL wedding in Atlanta, Georgia.  Madison was the flower girl, and she did an AMAZING job!  She was so beautiful, and of course mommy and daddy are so very proud!  The bride, my cousin Ashley, was STUNNING and it goes without saying that we had a wonderful time!  We were able to see my Aunt Lou, and my cousin Ashley and her wonderful new groom Justin (now referred to as Cousin Justin), cousin Lindsey and cousin Courtney (they were the maids of honor and they were stunning as well!).  I just miss them so much and wish that we didn't live across the country from one another!  Hopefully they will all be able to come to San Jose soon!  The cousins gave Madison a new nickname (baby bug) and she wears it proudly!  Of course, if that nickname would have come from mom or dad, it would have been refuted almost immediately.  Thankfully we love Aunt Lou, Ashley, Justin, Lindsey and Courtney SO MUCH, because the 90+ heat and the 65%+ humidity was about to kill us!  All in all we had a WONDERFUL time and were so glad to be apart of such a wonderful day.

The rest of our summer has been quite eventful.  We started off with a family trip to Las Vegas to celebrate Daniel's nephew Henry's graduation from Green Valley High School in Henderson Nevada.   We arrived on Tuesday to wonderful 110+ temperatures.  It was lovely (ahem ahem) to say the least.  However, there's nothing better than time spent with family (especially for a celebration) and no amount of high temperatures would put a damper on our fun!  Thankfully we were blessed to enjoy a wonderful hotel that had a pool and a man-made beach and also a lazy river, which definitely helped us beat the heat!  Henry graduated with high honors, and to show off the family's pride - Crazy Aunt Jess had to let the whole Thomas & Mack center know just how proud we are of him!  I think I was hoarse for the remainder of the 3 days after yelling so loud!  Hopefully I didn't embarrass him too much :)  The girls had a wonderful time with their cousins (Henry, Ben and Isabella), Auntie Inge, Uncle Cesar and of course Grandma and Papa.  The other highlight of the trip (at least for Daniel and I) was the lovely getaway that we had to Caesars Palace.  Daniel surprised me with a date night - Dinner out at an AMAZING sushi restaurant, and two tickets to my favorite performer - CELINE DION!  We saw her during her first engagement there, so I was absolutely floored when my wonderful husband made it possible for me to see her again.  We had a wonderful time - a night that I will definitely remember for the rest of my life!

We arrived home from our Vegas trip just in time to prepare for the 4th of July holiday.  However, I thought it would be fun to start the weekend off memorably!  It was Saturday night, and we had just gotten back from church and a quick little trip to Gilroy for some fireworks.  We had put the girls to bed and were about to open a bottle of wine to chill out and relax when I went into the VERY DARK dining room and bent down to pick up the power cord for my laptop computer.  I wasn't watching what I was doing, and on the way down, I rammed my head into the top of one of the dining room chairs.  can you say OUCH!  As I covered my head, I thought that I would have an ugly bruise, but then I took one step back and two steps into the hallway and fell to my knees.  My hands started to feel sticky and as I pulled them away from my head, I realized that I was bleeding.  LOVELY.   At this point, Daniel realized that I really did hurt myself and rushes over to me.  He takes one look at me and informs me that we will be going to the hospital.    Thankfully my parents are 5 minutes away so we called them and they came right over.  At the culmination of the evening, I had an ever so beautiful knot on my head that was tied together with 6 stitches and of course a RAGING headache, but thankfully the 4th of July celebrations could continue.  On Sunday, we had the wonderful Jones family over for a great BBQ,  water playtime and some sparklers.  We all had a fabulous time.  My girls didn't get to bed until almost 10pm!  Monday morning we awoke to participate in the 17th Annual Cambrian Park Parade.  We have enjoyed the last 6 parades and this year was no different.  We decided (partially due to my injury) that it would be best if we sat in the shade and cheered on the participants rather than walk or ride bikes.  The girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves and waved their flags proudly!  After it was all over, we went into the house for some seriously good tri-tip and ALL the fixin's!  We ended the day by going over to the Jones' house and watching a really cool fireworks display!  All in all it was a memorable weekend to say the least!

We needed a little bit of time to recover from our Vegas trip and 4th of July, so we rested for the next few weeks and about midway through July, we decided that it was high time to go and visit the Tahoe house!  We ended up going on our trip all by ourselves, but we really had a fabulous time!  We went to the beach, relaxed at home and of course did some fishing.   We found a new fishing spot, but unfortunately all we caught was Samantha's craw fish! Go figure that the youngest and least experienced one would catch the only fish!  I guess it's "beginners luck".  Madison has really learned to love fishing and Samantha is following in her big sister's footsteps!  Who would have thought that this mommy would have to "fishergirls"!   I am proud to say that they won't go fishing without their hair done (headbands for Madison and bows for Samantha) and co-ordinating shoes!  Who says that you can't look good while fishing! 

In true Miller fashion, we arrived home just in time for the next adventure.  KIDZTOWN (aka VBS) for Madison.  This was the first year that she was able to participate in our churches VBS.  She had a BLAST!  Thankfully she was joined by her BFF, EmmaKate Balog, and another good friend from preschool - Naomi Miller.  The kids "traveled" to hometown Nazareth and learned all about life when Jesus was a boy!  I have to say that it tickled my heart to have my daughter come home every day singing a new praise song!  She proudly shows off the motions that she learned to each song all while singing at the top of her lungs!  There's not too much better than to have your child sing praise songs! 

And that my friends, brings me to today.  I can't believe that in two short weeks, my little girl will be a first grader!  You never truly believe it when friends tell you that "time flies" when your kids are little, but IT DOES!  I'm sure that the next few weeks will absolutely fly by and I will *hopefully* be blogging about my daughter's first day of school! 

The dreaded topic of...BOYS!

Being any normal parent (some of you may differ) of a 5 year old girl, I figured that the topic of liking boys would be a little ways off.  Last night, that theory was proven otherwise. 
After a putting Madison to bed (Samantha was already down for the evening), I hear my name through the monitor.  I rush in to check on Madison as she was crying.  I asked her what the problem was and through much crying and tears she informed me that "none of the boys at school like me"!  In the few seconds it took me to process this minefield of a topic, I was able to hold back the chuckles and ask her why she thought that.  Now, while some of you may find this little dilemma trivial, those of you who know Madison already know that this is a HUGE problem.  Madison doesn't like to have anyone NOT like her.  In this regard, she's so much like her momma!  Thankfully, I was on campus earlier in the day, and when I picked her up it was not the usual drive up pick-up that we normally do.  I was having a meeting for her upcoming circus day (info to come later).  Samantha was with me, and when we "rolled" up to the playground, Madison was VERY upset.  She thought that because I was at a meeting, that she would get to stay for extended care (i.e. extra computer and playtime).  As we were there one of the little boys from her class poked his head into the Sit-N-Stand, and told her that he would see her tomorrow at school.  Little did I know, this little incident would prove very valuable later on in the evening.  Now, back to my story.  She proceeded to inform me that she has her one "boy" friend Ryan from her old school that likes her, but that she doesn't have any new "boy" friends at her new school.  Madison informed me that she isn't quite sure why she isn't "chased" on the playground.  Thankfully, I was able to recall the situation of the little boy who poked his head into the stroller, and I informed her that if he didn't like her, then he wouldn't be poking his head into the stroller or telling her that he would see her in the morning.  That got her talking and then she told me how she plays legos with another boy, Evan.  I think that she kinda has a thing for Evan, because he's the one that doesn't "chase" her on the playground.  Then she lowered the bomb question, "Mommy, how did you get daddy to play with you on the playground?"  Oh, the questions of a curious 5 year old!  Again, I gained my composure and told her that some 5 year old boys don't play with girls, but that as long as she treats everyone with kindness then I'm sure that they would like her.  She said, Ok Momma, and then leaned over and gave me a kiss and went back to bed. 

Well, now that the boy topic has been brougt up, I'm on my knees lots and lots!
I hope that you enjoyed this little anecdote!
~jrm~

ALREADY?!?!?!!!

Yep, you guessed it!  Another milestone in the Miller household!  Madison lost her FIRST TOOTH!!  I am kinda shocked that it came so quickly!  Yesterday, as we were having our our daily morning prayer, Madison prayed to Jesus that her tooth would come out quickly and without any pain.  Little did we know how quickly Jesus would answer her prayer!  She came home after school yesterday a happy little girl, but by dinnertime, her mood had changed.  Her tooth was hurting her and had started to bleed.  Thankfully, just as the tears started to flow, Daddy came through the door to the rescue.  She showed him her tooth, and how loose it really was. After a quick examination, and a determination that eating spaghetti would be difficult with such a loose tooth, we improvised a bit and allowed her to have some pudding for dinner.  Of course, this was met with NO COMPLAINTS!  After a healthy dose of pudding and LOTS of cuddling, it was off to bed and all of her teeth still in tact!  Madison awoke at 6:13 this morning to go to the bathroom, and thankfully I convinced her that it was still far to early for her to get up.  She obediently went back to bed.  We finally had to go and get her up at about 7:30.   Daniel did the honors and as soon as he went in, Madison proudly informed him that her tooth had come out!  Both Daniel and I were shocked!  We asked her how it happened, and she said that it came out in the middle of the night!  WHO KNEW?!?!  Madison was at first, very disappointed because she thought that the tooth fairy forgot about her!  Apparently, when she lost her tooth in the middle of the night, she placed it under her pillow, and upon awaking this morning, found nothing under her pillow!  UH OH!!!!  After a bit of quick thinking, Daniel and I informed Madison that we needed to "call" the tooth fairy to inform her that Madison's tooth had been lost.  So, of course, like all good parents, we "dialed" 1-800-TOOTHFAIRY and informed the tooth fairy that Madison had lost her first tooth!  PHEW...crisis averted!   We quickly finished getting ready for school and away we went barely making it on time!  She was so proud!   You might ask what the best part of the morning was, and my answer is...hearing my daughter Thank Jesus for answering BOTH of her prayers! 

As much as I LOVE watching my daughter grow up, I'm hoping that the next milestone is a ways away.  I need time to adjust!

~JRM~

CRAZY 2 WEEKS!

Well, my last post was 2 weeks ago after Madison's first day of kindergarten. Thankfully, Day 2 was MUCH better.  We found her little friend (and her mommy - who's a friend of mine) in the morning "line up" and I mentioned how Madison was a little hurt when the little girl didn't remember Madi.  My friend said that her daughter told her about what happened the day before and she thought that she recognized her but wasn't sure.  When we "re-introduced" the two girls, all was right with the world!  Lunch time was a lot better since Madison knew what to expect, and I packed a sandwich instead.  When I picked her up on day 2... she was furious with me that I had come so EARLY!  Go figure!  By the end of the week, she said that she wanted to be a big girl and do the morning drop off all by herself.  I thought that I would have at least a few more weeks before that request came, but alas I allowed her to get out of the car and go with her friends, and for me to just drive away.  I cried a bit, as I realized that my little girl is gaining more independence every day.   All in all it was a successful first week of school.

Last weekend was spent participating in the annual Berry Way Block Sale.  It's actually a really fun event.   The majority of our street pulls out their "wares" and sells them in our block sale.  The street almost shuts down to traffic and the kids run free. Many antiques and treasures can be found.  Even the kids get in on the action.  Many of them have Lemonade and baked goods for the shoppers.  My parents joined us this year and we all were able to get rid of some things and make some cash at the same time.  Madison was barely around as she played with the neighbor kids, and Samantha enjoyed hanging around with Mommy, Daddy, Grammy, Grampy and Uncle Phil.

Last week felt like things were back to normal as we settled into a "routine"  PRAISE GOD!  I am so happy!  Madison is doing well adjusting to full time school, and she loves it!  Last Thursday at Chapel, she received a "Principal's Award" for being kind and thoughtful to others, and for listening so well!  We are so very proud of her!  Another milestone for Madison is that she has her very first loose tooth!  Of course I'll be updating here as soon as the tooth is gone!  Madison is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Tooth Fairy.  She's very curious as to what "present" she will leave behind!

Samantha is enjoying her time of being an "only child" when Madison is at school, although as soon as she wakes up from her nap, she runs to the door saying "sissy, sissy"  Whatever Madison does, Samantha is trying to emulate.  Wherever Madison is...Samantha isn't far behind.  She definitely loves her big sister. 

This past weekend was a well deserved relaxing one.  After many many weeks and weekends of going, going, going, we were finally able to rest.  We started the weekend with a pizza night and dancing around to some tunes and then a Mommy, Daddy, Madi date of watching Camp Rock - even Uncle Phil was able to join us!

Saturday I caught up on laundry and housework, and the girls and Daniel played games and hung out.  Sunday we went to church, had an enjoyable brunch out and then did a little shopping and finally home for nap time.  We then went back out after we were all rested and enjoyed the beautiful summer evening.  Today, we just VEGGED!  Even the girls woke up late!  We ended up giving Mikie and Ollie much needed baths and then went out for our last "summer" yogurt.  It was an uneventful, yet perfect weekend for us.  Now, back to reality...work and school.  Tomorrow will be here before I know it!
~JRM~

Well...we have a kindergartner!

Yep. Hard to believe, but Madison is now a Kindergartner. Who knew that 5 1/2 years could pass by so quickly! It seems like just yesterday that I held her tiny little body in my arms being 100% dependent upon me for EVERYTHING! Now, my little girl is growing up, and she's not so dependent upon me! She was SO excited to go to kindergarten, but at the same time, nervous and apprehensive.

Our school preparations began on Sunday afternoon where we did some final back to school shopping, and then back home to bathe and get into bed early for a good night's rest. Monday morning came so fast and my little girl who loves to sleep in was up and rearing to go at 7:00. We picked out her dress, ate some yummy pancakes, prepared her lunch and then placed her "homework" (that was given to her at "Back to School Night" the Thursday before) in her backpack and of we went!

We arrived and were happy to see Madison's BFF in the courtyard. They were definitely two giddy little school girls. We are so happy that the girls are able to be in the same class. I'm sure that knowing that her friend would be in class with her helped her with any fears that she had. As the morning bell rang, the children lined up and marched into class. All of the kids sat nicely on the carpet at the front of the class, while the teacher read a wonderful story about a raccoon that was also attending his first day of school. It was so sweet!

The kids were each given a sticker to put on the back of their hand, and then one for the parents. It was a reminder that mommy and daddy's love would always be with them. At that point it was time for the goodbye. Madison came up to Daniel, Samantha and I, and proudly said goodbye. At this point my eyes welled up with tears and I realized that my little girl is REALLY growing up. She is so independent, and I couldn't be more proud. So, we walked out the door and away the three of us went. Full day kindergarten is quite a big step for a little girl, so at many points during the day I checked (and re-checked) my phone just to make sure that the school hadn't called to tell me that there was a break down, and that I needed to go and pick her up. Proudly she made it through the day, and I couldn't wait ti pick her up at 3:30. So I drove up parked the car and found my princess waiting for me with all of the other kids. I was met with the comment that EVERY parent wants to hear on the first day of school..."MOM...why are you hear already! I want to stay and play with my friends!" On one hand I was disappointed becuase she wasn't ready to see me, but on the other hand, I was so glad that she wanted to stay and was having a good day - or so I thought!  As we walked away from the kids, she broke down.  She informed me that one of the little girls from her old preschool didn't recognize her on the playground AND she was STARVING!  Thankfully I had lots of love and hugs to give her for her "broken heart" and snaks and water for her hungry tummy.  The hungry tummy was easy to fix but the "broken heart" needed a little work.  I explained to Madison that her friend might not recognize her because in the year and 3 months since they saw each other, Madson got glasses and her hair cut.  By the time that we got home, the tears were dry, the heart mended and the tummy full.  So all in all, she had a wonderful day and enjoyed her first day of kindergarten, and couldn't wait to go back again.  So here we are anticipating a wonderful year at Valley Christian!
~JRM~

Near Year, New Blog

So maybe it's not an official new year, but it's a new school year and I've decided that I really am going to get on the bandwagon for this blog thing. So to all my friends and family, I'm gonna leave it up to you to ping me when I haven't posted in a while and you want to see/hear what's going on with us.

Love to you all!!!
~JRM~