Miller-Times: April 2012

Welcome to Spring!

Compared to previous posts this one will be semi-short & sweet! While the last three months have been eventful we have actually been pretty low-key. Calendar hasn't been quite as crowded with events and honestly it has been nice! We've been able to be home a little more and spend a little more time relaxing and doing things around the house.

Steve's list of things that need fixing & attention is quite long and so we find ourselves trying to be present more so he can have the time he needs to check things off. It's not happening as quickly as he'd like I'm sure but we'll get there!

First Piggies

Gracie is still amazing us daily and her little (BIG) personality is blooming. She is incredibly independent and definitely knows what she wants! Not a bad thing but it does create some issues when you want to get out of the house and she wants to wear the flip flops but it's 52 degrees out and flip flops will just not do. She's enjoying school and learning so much! Her favorite thing as of late has been the planets.

She will name them in order from the sun for you and tell you little facts about each one as well. Daddy has a Uranus car in case anyone was wondering. She absolutely loves being outdoors and we try to get out as much as we can. Another great thing we love about her school is their focus on outdoor play.

They do lots of nature walks and I love getting her home at the end of the day, giving her a great big hug and sucking up that "you've been outside playing all day" smell. Ahh the little things.

OK - so now that we've kind of caught up a bit - here's what we've been up to since January.
We had a great visit with my sister Pam -

They had a little craft time and we all really enjoyed having her here. Nice to be able to see her every so often.

Couple weeks later Steve and I took my brother Stephen to the Monster Jam show! It was fun & we all had a good time. We did wish there had been more wrecks though - since that's the best part of the show!

February brought just as little snow as January did but we did still manage to have enough to make a snowman...pathetic as he may look - ha.

We were also able to get in a snowboarding trip. We went for Steve's birthday and while most of it was man-made it did actually snow that day and it was beautiful. My sister Jess was able to come with us and that made it even more fun.
We always have such a good time with Jess!

Couple weeks later we got a visit from my Aunt Sabrina & her husband Greg. I cannot begin to express how nice it was to have them up. It's difficult for Steve and I to get down to FL to see everyone as often as we'd like to especially since we started our family but when we get visits from family it's always very special.
Here are a few pictures from their visit:

We made the most of every single day and Gracie had a great time with Aunt Bina and Papa as she called Uncle Greg. We got a kick out of that. We think she called him Papa because his beard was white like Papa Maxwell's. Too cute. Bina, Greg and I got to spend a day in DC and while we were nonstop we did manage to fit quite a bit in.

After that came Ms. Jillian's birthday. She did a bowling party and Gracie got to bowl her first game! She LOVED it. She has since asked multiple times to go bowling and she loves pushing the ball down the ramp.

I think she had a better score than me last time!

March was relatively low key. Kimmie, Robert, Nene and Gabriel all came up for a visit. It was so wonderful to see her and spend time with the kiddos. Again - it is rare that we get to visit them so we really enjoyed the time. Nene is growing up so fast and has to be one of the sweetest lil ladies we know. She is so tender hearted and thoughtful and really all around just a good girl.

Gabriel has grown so much since we last saw him too! Cannot believe he is almost a year old already - yet just another reminder of how quickly the time passes. His eyes are so bright and his smile lights up the room. He is a sweetie as well. Little snuggle-bug.
The visit was far too short but we did enjoy it and can't wait for the next one!

Steve finally had to bid adieu to his truck. It has served us well over the last ten years but too many things were starting to come up and we decided that with him taking Gracie to and from school most days we needed to ensure he had a reliable vehicle. Being stuck on the side of 695 with a 2 year old is most definitely not a situation we wanted him to encounter! After much discussion and test driving we (he) decided on the Subaru Impreza. He loves it and we love that we don't have to worry about a mechanical disaster!

We'll end this post with our biggest news since our last post: as most of you know, the Miller family is expanding as we are expecting again!

Our new little Lovie is due to arrive towards the end of August and we truly could not be happier. Here are the latest pics of our little one - who clearly already looks quite a bit like Daddy!

So cool to be able to "see" them in utero and get a picture of that beautiful face. Can't wait to kiss those lil cheeks and snuggle him/her! Anyway - that's our latest & greatest! We hope you all are enjoying the early spring as much as we are and looking forward to an amazing summer.
See ya in June!