my little helper

The other day when I was taking our laundry out of the dryer and folding it, Reagan came over wanting to help. She would take an article of clothing out of the dryer and run off with it. I thought she was just making her own pile of laundry, but wasn't sure where. So I peeked around the corner to see her throwing the laundry over the gate into the basement. Her idea of helping was apparently to just hide the clothes so they didn't need to be folded. Like father, like daughter...

splish splash

it's a...

GIRL!

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That's right, Reagan will have a little sister in May!

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Stay tuned for possible names...

playing tag

Reagan loves it when "Austy" visits her. She follows him everywhere, which normally results in a game of tag...

all bundled up

and ready to go to church

our house

Here are a few pictures of our house:

Part of our living room

Our stairway
Reagan's play room

are you happy?

food fun

Reagan really loves her kitchen playset, especially her plastic food. She knows the names of most of the food, and loves finding them for audiences. Her pronunciation improves every day, and is much better than it was in this video - it is a few weeks old. Sorry the clip is so long!

christmas tree

We finally moved into our new house the day before Thanksgiving - talk about something to be thankful for! We decided to get our Christmas tree last Saturday, despite the fact that we still had numerous boxes that we hadn't unpacked yet. Luckily we knew right where the Christmas boxes were, so we dug right in and decorated our partially organized house. Reagan had fun helping out...

Picking out ornaments

Helping untangle the lights
Somehow she managed to get herself tangled
Daddy taught her to smell the tree

milestones

I apologize in advance for this post, it is really more for my journal than to entertain readers. My scrapbooking stuff is still packed somewhere, so in the meantime I prefer to keep track of things on the blog so I can't misplace them!

This past month has been a busy one for Reagan, here are some of the highlights:

• At exactly 13 months I finally decided it was time to wean her completely (mainly because I am pregnant).
• At Reagan's 13 month pictures Grandma finally convinced Reagan that it was okay to let go of things and walk on her own. It still took her a few weeks before she realized that walking is the faster form of locomotion. Right now she is trying to master running.
• Sometime shortly after she turned 13 months she cut her first molar. Yikes, that was a pain!
• Reagan developed her first two ear infections, and is now on her third antibiotic trying to get rid of them!
• Her favorite games are naming all of the food she has in her play kitchen. It is quite amazing! Some of her favorite foods to say are: apple, pear, pepper, grapes, potato, onion, orange, and tomato.
• She also loves to name animals. Her favorites include: hippo, doggy, kitty, ducky, lion, panda, zebra, giraffe, dolphin, and fishy.
• She says "amen" after our prayers, and says "thank you" when you give her something.
• Reagan knows where her ears and nose are. I've been working on mouth and eyes, but she isn't as interested in learning those ones yet.
• She likes to say, "shake, shake, shake" while she dances.

halloween

Grandma Miller outdid herself with Reagan's costume this year...

Hermione!

Photos Courtesy of Uncle Jack!

wonderful family

I often have people say things to me like, "I can't believe how well you handle Reagan's CF," or "Reagan is lucky to have a mom like you." Although it is reassuring to hear that others think I am doing a good job taking care of a child with Cystic Fibrosis, I cannot take all of the credit. I am incredibly blessed to have an extremely supportive family! After the past couple of stinky weeks, I have been in a bit of a bummer mood. Then this morning I opened my email and had an message from my niece Nayeli (and her dad, Nick). It made me start crying when I realized just how great my life is. I have the most amazing daughter who fights Cystic Fibrosis every day, and she isn't fighting alone. Hope you don't mind me posting this email Nick!

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"(This is Nick writing for a moment, just to explain this e-mail from Nayeli. As I was walking her to preschool today, she mentioned that she missed Reagan. I told her that we would see her over the holidays, and mentioned that we were going to do a walk for Reagan in the spring. Being her inquisitive self, she asked me all about the walk for cystic fibrosis and I explained to her that we were going to raise money to help cure Reagan's illness. We changed topics as we entered the school, but as she hung up her backpack and gave me a hug, she said: "Can I help make money for Reagan, too, Daddy?" When I told her that she could raise money just like Daddy, she said: "I'm gonna beat you." So now Nayeli wants to compete with me in fundraising for Reagan, and we've set up a site where she can raise money with her little sister, Karyna. I will include the URL at the end of this e-mail, for those of you wanting to donate money to the cause under their names. Now, here is an e-mail that Nayeli dictated to me this evening for all of you to enjoy!)

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Hi! I'm gonna beat Daddy to make money for Reagan. Reagan and Karyna played by the entertainment center. She has cystic fibrosis and eats enzymes. We're gonna make money as the whole family. Daddy, what's cystic fibrosis? Grandma Miller and Grandpa Miller and Grandma Namie and Grandpa Namie and Cameron and Brittany and Emma are going to visit in November! Austin is my best friend. Please give Reagan money so I can beat Daddy. After bed it will be tomorrow. I love you, Daddy. Bye!

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(I might add that she dictated this to me under the heavy influence of Halloween candy!)

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(To donate to the CFF walk in their names, please visit: http://www.cff.org/Great_Strides/NayeliandKarynaMiller)"

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My family is amazing!

st. louis

Two weeks ago we took a road trip to St. Louis to visit Nick, Allison, Nayeli and Karyna at their new home. The trip was well worth it! The car ride itself went smoothly and Reagan was an angel! We arrived in St. Louis around 2 am our time, caught a little shut eye and began our tour saturday morning. We walked to the zoo, which was a little further then any of us anticipated. Here is a picture of the Miller family by the super cool Elephant fountain. The miracle - Nick has a real smile on his face!

Reagan was quite exhausted from the car ride, the heat and the time difference, so by the time we made it to the zoo she had decided to snooze. Good thing I took pictures of the zoo for her, since she didn't wake up till we were done.

There were lots of elephants to see! There was even a baby elephant! Did you know that a baby elephant can weigh 300 pounds at birth?!

After we looked at the animals, Nayeli and Karyna entertained us at the waterfall! I really wanted to join them! Our next stop was Washington University at St. Louis aka Nick's home away from home. We were privileged to see most everything, including the coldest men's bathroom on campus! Rick left the camera in the car on our tour, so we were only able to take a few pictures after the tour. Reagan took a bath with the girls one of the nights, and we of course thought it was a great picture opportunity! Reagan loved playing with her cousins, and missed them once we left! Aren't they too cute for words?!

Nick and Allison are great tour guides! We highly recommend their services - just make sure you wear good walking shoes! Oh, and if you are ever in St. Louis you have to eat at Nachomama's!

uncle john's cider mill

We had a chance to take Reagan to the cider mill with my family on friday. It was a little chilly and Reagan was getting over two ear infections, but it was still fun. Here are a few highlights:

one more thing

I'm pregnant!

picture fiasco

After a whole year had passed and Reagan never had professional photos taken, I decided the time had come. I made the appointment at Portrait Innovations because Steph had great results when she took Skyler. I guess I should have made sure to get the same photographer. Mine apparently had never worked a digital camera before. We did an entire photo shoot, got some great smiles out of Reagan, only to find out the camera was in some "white out" mode that made every picture so bright you could hardly see Reagan. Needless to say I was a little upset. Their remedy: come back in a half hour for a new photo shoot and we'll give you $70 worth of free pictures. That sounded okay to me, but have you ever tried to make a 13 month old sit pretty for two photo sessions?? Not easy. We got some okay pictures, but overall I was disappointed. We definitely had better pictures in the first photo session, but oh well. Nothing I can do about that. Here are a few of the okay ones from session number two...

new pastime

Reagan loves to cuddle. Not so much with humans, but with her stuffed "doggy" (it is really an elephant) and her stuffed "ducky." She also really loves my old Mickey Mouse sheets from when I was a kid.

family fun

Reagan was very excited to meet her Aunt Jeni and her cousin Addison for the first time! She already met Brayden and Bryce, but was very happy to see them again. She has already learned how to say "At-sin" for Addison, and says it every time we walk by her picture. Although they could only stay a couple of days, we were very glad to see them. Too bad they don't live closer, Reagan especially misses them already!

she turned one

Reagan's 1st birthday was an exciting week. She got to see lots of family and friends, and was given lots of wonderful gifts. She probably would have enjoyed her party more had I not taken her to get her one year shots the day before. Oh well! Thank you to everyone who helped to make her birthday so sweet!

Reagan got a kitchen playset from her parents...

There were a bunch of animals that showed up to Reagan's party!

I made Reagan a duck cake, which I must admit I am quite proud of... Reagan had lots of little helpers when it was time to open her presents!

walk this way

I love how babies walk!

This is another old one, from about a month ago.

moving and shaking

What a dancing machine!

This is a little old, sorry! I think this is from early August.

a year ago

One year ago today, I was anxiously waiting for the arrival of my daughter. She was due on the 10th of September, but once that day had passed and no arrival, I started hoping that she wouldn't be born on September 11th. My wish was granted, and at 2 am on the 12th my water broke. 11 hours later my beautiful daughter was born and life as I knew it changed. No one could have prepared my husband and I for the trials that awaited us. Surgery at 3 days, diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis at 12 days... It was horrible! But here we are almost a year later, and all I can think about is what a tremendous blessing Baby R is. Everything we went through made me appreciate life even more and appreciate these wonderful bodies we are blessed with even more. As I look at my wonderful, healthy, happy daughter, I can't help but smile. Her smiles are contagious, her laughs are contagious, her happiness is contagious. She loves life and wants to be a part of everything. I learn so much from her - she stops to smell the flowers, she says "Hi" to strangers, she loves the outdoors, she laughs at cats and dogs, she talks to inanimate objects, she loves food... The list goes on and on. Children are wonderful. I love being a mom. Happy Birthday tomorrow Baby R!

waiting

We officially made an offer on a house in Howell yesterday. I really love the house, but it was extremely over-priced. Especially in today's market and comparing it to the other houses in the neighborhood which have sold recently. We are really hoping they will come down, way down.

catch up

Next week marks a big event in our lives, Baby R turns one! I figured it had been a little too long since my last post, so here is a little recap of the past almost two months.

Baby R can walk on her own, but won't do it by herself. Meaning, if I let go of her she will walk - but she won't just let go and take off. She easily walks 20 steps or more, and is very stable. I am not too eager for her to let go though, because she is quite the little mischief maker. At least for now I can steer her away from potential disasters.

Can you say "rectangle" or "octagon"? Baby R can. I don't know where she got this little genius streak, but she easily adds one new word a day to her vocabulary! And the strange part is that she prefers two or three syllable words. The only one syllable words she says are: hi, bye, keys, tree, book, jack, cheese and up. The longer words include: kitty, doggy, ducky, turtle, daddy, mama, becky, austin, susie, little, delicious, fishy, bu-bye, whoopsie, grandpa, tractor, pasta, rectangle, octagon and triangle. She also recognizes the Old McDonald song and sings "ee-i-ee-i." I know, she amazes me!

Rick started his new job with the IRS, and is enjoying it. He will be going to DC in a little over a week for some more training.

The house hunt is getting better, we have found two we really like. We will be making an offer on one of them next week.

Other than that, here are a few pictures from when we took Baby R to the zoo last week (courtesy of Grandma).

temporary abode

Well we officially moved out of Nemoke Trails into Rick's parents' house last weekend. Our apartment complex would no longer let us rent month to month, thus pushing us out on the streets. Luckily, Rick's parents took us in until we can find a house of our own. Since my computer is packed up somewhere, our blog will have to take the backseat for a while. And all of you loyal Baby R fans will have to wait a little while until I can hook up my computer to send out her 10 month pictures. In the mean time, here are a few pictures from our move...

My little packing buddy...

The gang after emptying the apartment (which included moving our piano down the stairs - did I say thanks?!) Baby R tried to hide her spoon from her Cousin Steve... After the move was over, we decided we needed another relaxing day at Uncle Jack and Aunt Susie's pool...

harry potter and the order of the phoenix

Although I did enjoy the 5th Harry Potter movie, it was nothing in comparison to the book. The top ten things missing from the movie (in no particular order):

1. Harry's interview with the Quibbler
2. The Weasley Twins' dramatic exit from Hogwarts with the Swamp and great dialogue with Umbridge
3. Hermione's charm on the DA sign-up that resulted in Marietta having purple pustules and the word "SNEAK" on her face
4. Kreacher's role in the whole story, especially regarding Harry going after Sirius in the Dept. of Mysteries
5. The Golden Statues fighting for Dumbledore in the Ministry of Magic
6. Hagrid's experience when visiting the giants
7. Luna, Ginny, Ron, and Neville's great escape from the Inquisitorial Squad
8. Cleaning Number 12 Grimmauld Place
9. The rooms in the Dept. of Mysteries, and the real battle that takes place there (where the students use the skills they learned from the DA)
10. Harry never really gave Lucius Malfoy the Prophecy

Are there any other events that you really loved in the book, that weren't in the movie?

Oh, and I missed Dobby and Firenze...

mackinac island

We took a trip to Mackinac Island with Grandpa and Grandma Brooks. We spent two days on the island, and had lots of fun. We ate at the best restaurant in Northern Michigan, got lots of fudge, rode bicycles around the island, toured Fort Mackinac, lounged around at the bed and breakfast, shopped, rode the ferry, asked a man not to smoke near Baby R, did some sightseeing, had Baby R's Caricature drawn, tried to listen to the carriage tours without paying, bought a root beer float at the dog house, searched the island for cheesecake (unsuccessfully), played Sudoku, and killed off the Durango...

Day 1

Day 2
And most importantly, we found some similarities in sleeping habits...

no more toothless grins

I have had my two bottom teeth for months...

Now I have four on top (you can really only see three, but all four have broken through).

So no more toothless grins for me...