Holiday Card

We have opted not to do a Christmas card this year due to the craziness of our lives right now. We also figure that with blogs and facebook we keep you updated fairly regulary. I'm sure we'll get back into the swing of things next year. For now, enjoy the card below, and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Berry Merry Frame Holiday Card

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Ahhhh... Sweet Communication

As with all toddlers, yesterday was another day of firsts! Our conversation (Yes, I said CONVERSATION!) went like this:

Me: Bailey are you hungry?
Bailey: Eat!
Me: Do you want juice or water?
Bailey: Juice.
Me: OK. Walk over to your seat, and I'll put you in it.

As I round the corner into the dining room, I am still wondering if she is following my instructions. When her chair came into sight, there she was standing beside it! At this point, I am wondering whether to celebrate or follow through with my end of the deal and put her in her seat.

Though communication brings on a whole new area of challenges, I am so ready for it. Playing a guessing game is... for lack of a better term... getting old! As adults, we struggle communicating with each other, so I know it won't always be easy. I am hoping I'll learn something as Bailey opens more doors for communication over the coming weeks and years. And lets be honest, she'll probably tell you a few of our secrets in the meantime. Bring it on!!!

Pig Tails

I have been waiting for this day since I found out I was having a little girl! Bailey's hair is finally long enough to make pig tails! Though she wouldn't leave them in, I got some precious snapshots of this exciting time!

My Favorite Days

Look who I get to spend the day with...

Feeling very blessed to have a day off to spend with Bailey!

Crazy, Busy Life!

I apologize for my lack of blogging the past few weeks, but LIFE HAS BEEN CRAZY!!!

First off, Scott and I feel as though we have a newborn again. Bailey has been waking up almost every night for the past few weeks at least once (sometimes twice). I can feel two of her molars making their way in, and I feel other large bumps throughout her mouth. However, she still only has 5 official teeth that are in. So, this teeth issue is disturbing both sleep as well as eating. On Thursday, Bailey ate 4 green beans. That's it!!! I always said I wouldn't stress about my child eating, because they will eat when they are hungry BUT I am starting to feel a little stressed. Today was a better eating day though. She ate an entire yogurt and cup of applesauce as well as a popsicle. I just need to be creative, because she obviously doesn't want to chew anything. Any moms out there have any tips???

Also, we are dealing with whether her teeth still bother her at night or if she has just gotten herself into a routine where she wakes up. We have been told to let her cry, and we did last night. I have a hard time with this though if she is actually waking up because of a toothache. Oh, the joys of the guessing game that we call parenthood. I long for the days when she can just tell us what is wrong! (I know... be careful what I wish for b/c then she'll be telling the world our business!)

Scott's grandpa passed away this past Tuesday. He was diagnosed with cancer over a year ago and has been up and down since. We knew this was coming, but it still doesn't make it easy to say goodbye. We headed for Montgomery, Indiana (southern Indiana) after work on Wednesday and stayed until Friday after the funeral. (To add to the madness, I had to be back in Columbus for an all day class on Saturday.) Even though funerals are sad occasions, it was nice to see all of the Yoder family.

This semester is also winding to a close right now. I am so ready for it to be over! I spent most of this afternoon finishing up my last weekly homework assignments for my accounting class, and I am excited at the fact that I just have my final assignments to finish up now! Only 3 papers and 1 test stand between me and FREEDOM!!! :) I feel like I can't get anything else accomplished with these assignments weighing on my mind. I so badly want to concentrate on Christmas shopping and our basement. (It is a mess b/c we are redoing it at the moment.) Soon enough, it will be here!

I hope to have a more exciting blog for you soon, but this is it for now!

Pumpkin Carving

Pumpkin carving is a family tradition around the Miller household. Scott feels as though I made up the tradition, and he has to do all of the work. :) He enjoys it though! This year was fun, because Bailey was interacting with us during the process and "helping."



Here is Bailey with her pumpkin patiently waiting to get started!

Bailey & Daddy ready to start carving. (Look at that smile!)

At first, Bailey really wasn't too interested and wasn't impressed with the "ickiness" inside of the pumpkin. We could never get her to actually put her hand inside of the pumpkin, but she enjoyed playing with the pumpkin top. She eventually played with the "ickiness" that was inside the pumpkin after it was taken out by Scott and put into a large bowl. Of course, she was holding a spoon with a very long handle.



Playing with the pumpkin top! Her favorite!

 All in all, it was another successful year of pumpkin carving. It is fun to see how Bailey acts with different traditions from year to year. Maybe next year she'll actually put her hands in the pumpkin. We'll see!


The final product!





Smashing Barriers at the Columbus Half Marathon

Sunday was the big day! After 12+ weeks of training, my sister and I ran the Nationwide Columbus 1/2 Marathon. My sister reminded me of the long road of training that we had after the race yesterday. She talked me into running the 1/2 marathon when we were at the beach this summer on our family vacation. That was the beginning of July!!!! It is yet another reminder of how fast time goes by!!!

We got up at 5:30 on Sunday morning for the race. Unfortunately, there was a traffic jam at our exit and we never made it to our corrals. Even though we were rushing to get to the start line, we still had time for a pre-race picture:

We took off with the overwhelmingly large crowd towards the back of the pack. It wasn't until mile 5 that I felt like I had space to move. I spent a lot of time on sidewalks in the first five miles of the race. Not fun! I am just thankful that I didn't fall off of any curbs!! At mile 5 I also started to feel strange and unfamiliar pains throughout my body. I am not sure whether to contribute it to just normal running pains or old age... :) I also noticed the hill for the first time between mile 11 and mile 12. It didn't seem to be that awful the first two times I ran this race. Maybe they just had it put in??? Needless to say, this was a mental race for me. I had a goal that I wanted to achieve and I wasn't going to let large crowds or pains get in my way!

My goal going into the race was to run it in under 1 hour and 50 minutes. The last time I ran a half marathon I ran it in approximately 1 hour and 52 minutes, (I say approximately because my time chip didn't work. Talk about aggravating!!!) so I wanted to beat my previous barrier. Well, I SMASHED the barrier, and I am stoked about it. I ran it in 1 hour 45 minutes and 2 seconds. (Of course, I am thinking if I wouldn't have slowed down at so many water stations I could've knocked off those two seconds! Never satisfied am I???) My sister also smashed her barrier as well by five minutes. Her goal was to run it in under 2 hours and she ran it in 1 hour 54 minutes and 41 seconds. So proud of her!!!

Here we are all smiles after the race!!!

Can I just say that I love running!?! Even though it was physically (and mentally) a tough race, I look forward to my next race. Someday I will take on a full marathon, but I have some other things to do first. :) I also don't feel like I can talk about running without thanking the man who gave me my running genes, my dad!!! Thanks, dad! We really wish you could've been with us yesterday!!! Maybe next time???