our intent

as you may know our faith and Jes-was, as jude calls him, are pretty important in the miller house. we recently celebrated harry's baby dedication, kinda like a christening or a baptism but not quite. the focus is on the parents and the church saying we will raise harry in a way that introduces him to God and jes-was.

proud mama

pastor todd explained the meaning of harrison nathaniel belt miller's name and offered a prayer for his future.

12/04/2011

i was excited for this dedication. during my long days at home in the challenges of motherhood i am grateful to know for sure that god loves my kids even more than me. he knows what's best for them, and he saw fit to make us their parents. it is humbling and amazing that we play a role in helping shape them into the men he wants our boys to be one day.

i had to snap a quick photo in church as it was so meaningful to so many family members gathered together for this day. it worked out that it occurred the same weekend greg's parents were visiting all the way from baltimore.

all together

afterwards we gathered at the house for lunch. i managed to whip us a butternut squash/sweet potato pasta meal with plenty of generous help from the in-laws to set up.

uncle burt, aunt jan, todd and chuck

harry was the star of the hour...at least until nap time.

harry, nana jane and todd

we were touched that several people brought gifts, not just for harry, but for big brother jude as well so he would feel a part of the big day.

jude the gift 'helper'

taking the title of oldest heirloom at the event, a wooden merry go round toy bought in switzerland in 1961 by kara's grandma.

thanks jan and burt for passing on this special treasure

we hoped he might wear the tiny outfit greg wore for his baptism but like jude, little harry was still too big for it. instead he wore the same blue wool outfit that jude wore to his dedication.

grandpa scott & harry

what a meaningful day. thanks to all who made the trip.

tis the season...of birthdays

it took four months but we finally emerged a bit from the tired haze of new baby around mid-november. it corresponds with mister harry getting a bit more sleep at night. he's now into that wonderful, but challenging for the social life phase, of going to sleep by 6:30pm.

that's allowed us some evenings at home with time to spare. we've filled it a few times recently with grandparent birthdays from chef jude. it was his idea, begun when we spoke with grandma carole on her actual birthday while she was abroad and jude said 'are we going to have a party??'. so we did, in november when they came.

enjoying the sweet rewards

First up was the popular sesame street themed party for grandma carole and grandpa chuck...chosen for its colorfulness and availability at the dollar store.

the party in full swing

we had fun enjoying a train cake, overdecorated with sprinkles. being a guest isn't a laid back affair here...grandma carole baked her own cake with jude earlier in the day. he still says "now we have to break the 'okes" whenever we bake something with eggs now.

the punch balloons have been a lingering hit in our house.

more recently we celebrated the year marks for grandma nancy and grandpa henry. they both have birthdays in between thanksgiving and christmas. as you can see this was quite the bash.

perhaps my favorite mother in law photo ever

yes in addition to a cake we had the noise makers and quite the festive birthday centerpiece and plates. (really is the best $6 spent total spent on a party in recent memory) again no rest for the guests here...grandma had to help jude with the set up.

decoration time

it is rare for us to celebrate birthdays with these two, as normally we see each other thanksgiving or christmas. but this year we decided to stay home for the holidays with our newborn, so they made the trip out in early december.

it took like 3 tries to get this shot

as for harry, although he slept through the parties he continues to thrive in his awake time. rolling over except for that one blasted arm in the way! smiling a ton, laughing at himself in the mirror every time. this is an adorable age.

grandma nancy and harry, age 4 months

that's it from birthday central for now. next up is mine in january and greg's in february. we'll have to host a 'bash' for grandpa scott and nana next fall. hmm...train or pirate party anyone?

50/50

so baby jude is now mister jude, age 3 1/2. the time is flying by. our neighbor jann, a retired advertising photographer, recently snapped this amazing photo of our oldest.

jude: october 2011

at his 3.5 check up doctor dave said all is well. and it turns out our jude is 50/50.

50th percentile in weight at 36 1/2 inches, and 50th percentile in weight at 38 1/2 inches.

holidays at three

celebrating the holidays with a three year old is a lot easier thanks to preschool

this year concordia not only provided several holiday crafts. but the kids even got a tasting meal where they tried all the traditional thanksgiving dishes.

jude's holiday feast feathers

he also brought home one of the more creative hand turkeys i've seen. they used different color paint for each of the fingers.

the brown paint might be dirt for all i know

so after the parade on thanksgiving we settled in for naps. and then enjoyed a delicious meal at our friend kristen and kevin's. thanks for allowing us to join your feast. unfortunately we forgot to take many pictures. but here's a quick shot of greg, and harry on his first thanksgiving.

baby's first thanksgiving

thanksgiving 2011

check it off the bucket list. chicago's huge colorful thanksgiving day parade.

happy thanksgiving!

here is a look at how we enjoyed turkey on thanksgiving morning.

tom turkey's giant cousin

three of the four in the miller clan made it to state street by 7:20am. we hired a sitter to keep harry warm and rested at home. We decided this was the year to do the parade as its the last year jude makes the 3&under ticket price of free for the bleacher seats. the tickets included breakfast. this may be the first time cookie made it on jude's breakfast menu.

sweet time at the parade

the bleachers include a view of the first hour of televised musical performances. honestly about 30 minutes would have been enough. but once the parade began it was amazing.

he really is a big bird

the many giant balloons in the parade required a team of handlers. check out how small they are below that giant big bird:

don't let this bird fly away

a highlight of the parade for jude was ronald mcdonald. you may know that he calls mickey d's "chicken fries". later he told friend he saw ronald mcdonald "in a chicken fries shoe".

hey ronald!

we missed celebrating with our families this year but we are thankful for all the memories of this special holiday event.

pumpkins and pottys

we begin the update with our little pumpkin from halloween. harry left the lobster inside during trick or treating. he helped supervise on the porch for a bit before heading inside for a nap.

first halloween

harry is now our big four month old, weighing in at 13lbs, 9 ounces.

this fall jude enjoyed his first pumpkin carving with greg. further proof of all he is learning from preschool. greg set up on the kitchen floor and jude jumps up to get the ice cream scoop to clean out the pumpkin.

1st pumpkin carving

this fall has been a rough one in the potty training department. we've endured lots of close calls and messes while mr jude figures out how this all works. but recently we've turned a corner. jude is now sailing through his sticker reward charts...recently snapping up a hotwheels wall tracks curve set (his current favorite toy) and this stylin mator ride-on.

poopin for prizes

we have good news on the george front. he's been cleared to be out of his crate inside the house. but we still have a rule. when mator is on the move george must be in the crate. jude has learned how to help shut the crate door, but george is still resistant to listening to commands from the boy who joined the family after him. i bet they'll be buddies before we know it.

learning lots

someone told me recently i should write down everything my three year old says because this is the time in life they say the cutest things, as they figure out how the world works.
here is jude recently experimenting with adding a can on top of his ball popper.

what happens if...

later he figured out he could tip it over and shoot them out the side across the room. less cute, but still learning.
taking the friend's advice here is a recent cute morning exchange.
jude: the day is still sleeping!
us: what do you mean jude, it is light outside
jude: is daytime taking a nap?
greg: no jude its daytime outside, see?
jude: no daddy...its morning

we followed up with a short discussion about how it can be daytime and morning at the same time. but as i read recently, three-year-olds literally can't get that words can have more than one meaning. its lead to some funny chats for sure.

hope your daytime and morning is going well.

a halloween parade

the miller family joined this year's oak park halloween parade. it is generous to call it a parade, its more like 500 people line-up and walk one block before descending on local stores in trick or treat chaos. but it was fun to see many friends, neighbors and church friends early on a saturday. and a great chance to get daytime pics of halloween fun.

happy halloween

we caught ourselves a cute baby! three month old harry as a lobster.

cute crustacean

jude spent the morning say 'arr' and collecting treasure in his parrot bag.

ahoy mateys

we met up with several of jude's playmates and managed a few group shots among the sugary chaos. for those of you who live far away, here are some of the friends we meet at parks and museums. aren't they adorable?

friends halloween 2011

and here's a shot of the little marchers. superstar gilly, cardinal jonah-- yes his mom angie made his costume. she is also my sewing teacher!

lots to see on lake street

jude always enjoys seeing his buddy owen who made the trip from downer's grove. thanks for checking in on the millers, mateys!

pals

three months and counting

happy three months harry! our youngest turned three months on wednesday, october 19th. it is good to stop and celebrate for just a moment, as life at home and work is still crazy, disordered and stressful.

brothers

a friend confessed recently that she and her husband thought they had ruined their life after having a second child. i can relate to that. it is difficult keeping up with both boys and trying to keep up with anything else...life, the house, friends, let alone social activities or going out.

we got a sitter last saturday night and went out for dessert. both of us were tired but at least we were out, somewhere else, together. my how the expectations of date night change.

harry is doing well. there is no 3 month check up for babies so i don't have updated height and weight. but he is plumping up and so cute. lots of ah-goo and smiles.

happy baby

i forgot how much babies need to sleep. i know the experts say their days are a series of naps and that's best for their tiny brains, but i quickly get distracted and then he gets fussy, and usually, if not always, instead of eating, its a nap he needs. greg says harry is smiley every morning when he gets him out of the crib. (did i mention that's still our deal, greg gets him up while i get a quick minute to wake up and get ready to feed him). despite our best efforts we still have plenty of meals and moments where harry is crying and we'd prefer to be doing something else with both hands besides holding him. and yet...he's so little and cute other times.

as for jude, he loves preschool and is more cooperative on those days when he gets home. yay for mom. we've done a couple more things in his room. we finally got the bookshelf. so no more precarious stacks of books on his furniture.

read me a story

and we finally cleaned the train playroom in anticipation of family photos that failed to happen, almost...more on that later. but at least i got a photo of the cleaned up room.

let's play trains

our boys

still underwater here at 1001. these two boys and the injured dog are too much for kara to handle each day. yet somehow we are making it through. as we stumble through the second month with harry, here's a look in:
many have asked how jude is handling being a big brother. we are pleased to say he is doing remarkably well. jude gets a high pitched voice when he says 'harry is so tiny. harry is so cute.' he rarely over-shakes, over-hugs, over-runs at the baby as he did in the first few weeks. now i think he just wants harry to be able to do more stuff...like hold the tiger.

hold the tail harry

jude got upset after this photo when harry couldn't hold the tiger's whiskers. he kept insisting that yes, harry could.
speaking of jude, he is fascinated by how things work and creating his own toys now. i decided recently i should ask people to bring him junk from their basement and drawers, instead of toys.

this is him creating a vacuum from george's leash and a dowel rod.

engineer-ing fun

its fun to see harry enjoy jude's old baby stations...that's what i'll call the many places around the downstairs that are harry rest areas. we still bless the krasinskis for crazy mobile. this thing entertained jude for hours. harry is also a huge fan.

kickin it with my mobile

unfortunately this fall is shaping up to be the season of jude's sickness. this may be the year he just gets a lot of new stuff in his exposure at preschool and to older kids. pray for patience for me as i endure days stuck at home with sick one.
our other patient george is stuck in his crate for four more weeks. the vets say the bone is healing more slowly than expected.

still a doll

our little harry is still a doll at two months old. but he finally has the baby doll beat when it comes to size and expressions.

two and a half months old

six days old

our other baby is still restricted to his crate. we take him to purdue small animal hospital for his six week follow up on monday. we and he, are hoping for a bit more freedom for george.

will i ever get out?

surprisingly the hair on his surgery shaved leg is still not back. it has a bit more fuzz than it did when he came home bruised and bare. but it may be a chilly winter if it turns cold soon. leg warmers anyone?

babee shower

About a month ago a sweet friend mindy hosted a shower for baby harry. It was a nice chance to spend a few hours with girlfriends and my mom and to celebrate the little guy.

cupcakes with filling. yum

looking back only a few weeks ago its amazing how much more rested i feel now. in fact harry slept through the night for the first time ever last night. unfortunately jude was awake several times dealing with the last blast of his cold and stomach issue.

the guest of honor

i think its important to stop and remember the blessings we have. I told the girls at the shower that harry is one of mine. It was a real possibility greg and I would never have a second child. he is a miracle, thanks to IVF and grace.

harrison nathaniel belt miller

I have sweet friends that have helped in various ways with harry and surviving raising 3 year olds together. here are a few of them.

i could not write about the shower without thanking mindy again for the amazing effort and adorable details in the buzz-worthy shower.

the diaper cake