A Post-Call Monday

Our family has really enjoyed Marc having fewer call nights over the past year. Residency call was really busy and always required Marc to stay overnight in the hospital for a 12 hr. shift. Now that he has made it to the other side, we get the perks of "home call" (he only goes in for deliveries and c-sections) and only having weekend rounding/call once every five weeks on average. The great part is that whether his weekend call is busy or not, he always get the following Monday off. On slow weekends it is a sweet bonus day, and on busy weekends, it is a day for us both to catch our breath. Last weekend was one of the busy ones. He had several deliveries and a c-section which required him to be in the hospital a lot. We were all ready for Monday to arrive!

We decided to make the most of the weather on our bonus day with daddy and headed to the zoo. We really enjoy day trips to the zoo to see the animals and to be outside in God's creation. It is so refreshing. We miss lots of the exhibits we had at the Wichita zoo, but are thankful for the zoo that Peoria has to offer. There is a children's exploration museum being built right next to the zoo which will be super fun when it is ready!

After we left the zoo, Marc took Eli to his first dental check-up. I wasn't sure how he would do. He hates getting his hair cut, and I was afraid this would be the same with all the noises and stuff going in his mouth. Surprisingly, he LOVED it! He let them take x-rays, polish, and floss his teeth. He has asked me several times this week when he can go back and if he can take Hailey with him next time (a definite indicator of how much he liked it!). Maybe it was the cool glasses they let him wear, the new fancy toothbrush he brought home, or the bouncy ball he got from the grab box after the visit. Regardless, I was super excited it went so well. He even came home and told me that I can't give him fruit snacks any more because they are not good for his teeth. Ha! Those are my go-to airplane snack so I will have to come up with something else next time. :)

 Eli tripped last fall outside of Marc's office and hit his mouth on the curb. We really thought the tooth was going to fall out. It was loose and turned gray. Then, with time it whitened back up again! We learned from his recent x-ray that he did fracture the tooth, but it is not loose anymore. We will hopefully get a few more years of pictures before it falls out.

Hope you have a smile filled day!

And He Grows and Grows...

Isaac is adored by every single person in our house to the MAX. We just love him so much! I am thankful to be home this time around to get to know Isaac all day long. I can't believe how many smiles and snuggles I must have missed with our first two kids while I was working. Thankfully, I didn't really know I was missing out on anything at the time because it still seemed oh so sweet. :)

Isaac is 4 months old today. He enjoys talking (but only when Eli and Hailey aren't in the room to capture his attention, as well as his tongue apparently), he loves his play mat and is slowly mastering the back-to-front roll, he is most happy being held and talked to face to face, and he does not like taking milk from a bottle (still working on that one). He weighs around 16 pounds based on our scales at home and wears mostly 6 month clothes. Between vacation and illness his sleep had become a bit erratic, but he is finally sleeping through the night again. He falls asleep on his own the majority of the time which I have found to be the most useful skill I can teach my children at this age.

Isaac resembles Eli a lot as a baby and I especially notice it if I put him in Eli's outfits and compare the pictures. I wonder if they will look alike as they get bigger???

Silly boy!

We love you Isaac Miller!

Mother's Day 2013

I love being a mom. I'm sure I have said that at some point on this blog before, but I really mean it. At least a few days a week I take a moment to ponder what an amazing calling motherhood is (usually when I have been humbled by another time I have goofed in my job). There is no job in life that has brought me more joy and refined my character in such a profound way. My kids show me my sin...daily. All I have to do is look in their eyes and know that my tone was too harsh or my eyes too critical. They have taught me to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17) throughout my day in a way I never thought to be possible. I have learned to be patient instead of resort to frustration (most of the time) and have learned to apologize even to a two year old when I have wronged her (something I have never been great at). They have taught me lessons in repentance, forgiveness, and perseverance just to name a few. They are precious in my sight but even more precious in His sight, my loving God who has entrusted them to me for an unknown amount of time. I pray often that it is a very long time. I'm thankful to have a day at least once a year that reminds me of all these things. Happy Mother's Day to anyone I have the privilege of sharing this day with and especially to the wonderful women that Marc and I get to call mom.

Thank you God for giving me these most precious gifts of life and the sweet grace I need in this job to hopefully be a mom that these children will one day "rise up and call blessed." (Prov. 31:28)

Myrtle Beach- Part 2

I realized I have close to 400 pictures from vacation on my computer (I put my mom and sister's pics on my computer as well.) It is really hard to whittle that down to something manageable but here goes Part 2. :)

We had a few rainy and colder days on our vacation to Myrtle Beach which actually turned out to be really fun days. There is an area in Myrtle Beach called Broadway at the Beach and we had the best time walking around all the stores, trying out some great restaurants, and visiting the aquarium.

Ripley's Aquarium was lots of fun for the kids and I think the adults enjoyed the all around shark tank.

While out at Broadway at the Beach, we ate at Amici's Bistro, Johnny Rockets, and Sweet Carolina's (not all in the same day). The cornbread at Sweet Carolina's was so good!

On another cooler day, we decided to pack a lunch and go play at a nearby park. The kids had a great time.

I promise Isaac did go to all these places with us. He just failed to make it in any pictures because he was usually doing this...

And one thing that NEVER got old with our two was swimming inside at the condo. I'm so glad our kids love the water so much! Isaac seems to be taking after his big siblings.

This picture melts my heart. Love my boys. :)

We certainly had some good weather, too! One night we walked down the boardwalk by our condo to the big giant SkyWheel to take a ride to the top. We all fit into two of the compartments. They were completely enclosed which was a comfort with the little ones. The ride is situated right by the ocean and you can look out over the water when you come over the top of the wheel. It was really neat.

We had a great family vacation. Thanks mom and dad for all your work in making it fun for us all! We look forward to the next one. :)