We're a Nielsen Family!

Wait? You thought our name was Miller? Ha! Seriously though, a few weeks ago we got a phone call from the people at Neilsen asking us if we would be a part of their ratings collection process. Uh, duh! I only love TV more than any one person should. If there was a way to volunteer myself to let the networks know the shows which I adore, I would have been first in line. Turns out, my devotion must be legendary. I mean really, they sought ME out. ;-)

Wait--in case you don't what Neilsen is, they are only the oldest and best known media research company in the history of the boob tube. Doy.
(Learn about Neilsen by clicking this awesome line.)

Um, where were we. Okay, so, this week I received our family packet. It has diaries for every TV in the house and all you have to do is write down what you watch on each TV for 8 days and our time starts May 1st. La, la, la. I can't wait. There's even a way to write down what you watch on your DVR versus just actually channel surfing. I am already mapping out my 8 days so that all of my favorite shows get their worthy props in the eyes of the TV gods.

Know what else the packet had? $30! In cash, no less. Yes, I get to watch TV until my eyes bleed, someone actually cares that I'm watching The Hills, and I'm paid to do it.

This must be what heaven is like....

5 months already!

Our little man is 5 months old today. As it turns out, today was a doctor's visit and he ended up a total fuss-pot afterwards....so, his 'official' 5 month shot will be a little late.

He is changing so much everyday and is so much fun now! His favorite things to do are be tickled, laugh, play in his exersaucer, and chew and drool on everything in sight.

• Officially, he can roll both ways, but he doesn't know it. I've only seem him roll back to belly once and so far he can't repeat it. He's so close though. It's just that 90th percentile head holding him back.
• He has a tooth and a half! I hear this is really early for teeth, but he has them and they are sharp! It's also quite adorable.
• He is sleeping unswaddled!! This is a big one. We are on night three of the unswaddled adventure and so far he goes from 8pm-8am without a peep. I call that success. I'm so glad I don't have to worry about him rolling over while still mummified in that thing.
• He was weighed at the doctor's today and he officially is at 18lbs, 13 oz. If you're keeping track that means he's gained almost 2lbs in a month. Whoa. Length is the same so that means we're expanding to the sides. Ha!

Also, we found a new doctor who is willing to compromise on our vaccines a little. He said we weren't total nutcases because we actually do want to vaccinate so he didn't mind if we spread it out a little more--as long as we ended up with all the shots. Yes, he actually said we weren't total nutcases. That means we are kind of nutcases. But we already knew that, right?

Here's an unofficial 5-month shot of our drool baby, along with one of his bigger tooth. If you look at the big version of the pic, you can definitely see it.

Oh, sweet progress!

We've been soooo hard at work on landscaping lately. If you can remember almost a year ago when we moved in, our landscaping was ZERO--totally blank. And as a huge pregnant woman, it was the least of my worries. This year, I've become kind of obsessed with it. Maybe gardening can be my "thing" ....

Here are some updates of the latest progress, including the awesome shutters that my rockin' husband made! We hung them up today. He is oh-so-talented. We're still planning on installing window boxes, switching out some trees, and adding rock borders to coordinate with the stone on the house, but I think we're off to a good start. Now we just need everything to grow and fill in.

In case you forgot, here's what it looked like last July.

And here it is now!

Speaking of last July... Here's the view from our house a year ago:

And here's our current view:

Who does Riley look like?

I think he's a pretty good combination of both us.

Baby Kevin

(almost exactly Riley's age in #1)

Baby Andrea

Our family likes food.

And poor Riley will spend his life with his mouth wide open.

Where's the ark?

Holy crap, it's raining cats and dogs. Seriously, I think we're going to float away. Here's some pics of our backyard this afternoon.

In other Miller news...

Riley has his first tooth! It's pretty adorable and razor sharp. I love trying to get into his little mouth to look at it. Our former pediatrician tried to tell us that he probably wasn't teething, but we knew he was and a week later, here's the tooth! He's also started his journey into solid foods....if you count rice cereal as "solid." I have all kinds of fun baby food for him when that time comes. It's messy, but so fun.

And here he is with his new favorite thing to do...the activity center! And that's pretty much where his hand is all day long--in his mouth.

Happy Birthday, Jack!!!

I can't believe Jack is 5 years old!! It seems like only yesterday I was holding him for the first time. That being the first time I met him. He was so little then. And now, he's such a big boy!! Here's to a super happy birthday. Jack is one of the coolest kids ever --amazingly smart and always super entertaining. We love him so much!!


Here's a pic that Jules sent Kevin of Jack at Opening Day in Philly. I'm stealing it because it's the most recent one we have.

Riley on a roll!

He rolled back to belly today! He's been trying hard for a couple of weeks now and finally got it. Now he can officially roll both ways. I'll try to get it on video soon. Yay, Riley!

There's no place like home...

It's barely April and Riley has already survived his first Oklahoma tornado! Last night was probably one of the scariest of my life--and I've lived in Oklahoma forever.

Although it had been storming all night, around 1:30 it started hailing insanely and I had to get out of bed to see what was happening. It sounded pretty bad and not long after, our TV went out (we have satellite). I went to the back porch and could tell that things were intense. Then, my voicemail signaled and I saw my mom had called. I knew that was not a good sign. I called her back and found out that the tornado warning was in effect for us and the eye of the storm was headed our way.

We got Riley out of bed (at 2 a.m.) and headed to a closet under the stairs. I listened to my mom as she tracked the tornado for us and I started to panic--alot. Then, the electricity went out. I knew this was a bad sign and all I could think about was Riley. I cried. And cried some more. Then my dad called to check on us and once again, this freaked me out.

I held on to Kevin and Riley as tight as I could and silently prayed while my mom talked us through the reports. The fifteen minutes of the storm traveling through Edmond seemed like years. Then, my dad called back and said it had passed us. I heard the weather guys say something about I-35 and I knew we were okay.

Scared, but relieved, we got out of the closet and started lighting candles. Outside it was spooky calm and pitch black and all of our neighbors were in their yards with flashlights. Thankfully, we were untouched and the storm just missed us.

It was the closest call I've ever had and my first brush with a scary situation as a parent. It was unreal. I didn't care if I landed upside down in a tree--as long as our son was okay.

Of course now I'll be buying a weather radio and a storm shelter is on the wish list for the near future. Nightime tornados are so not cool.

http://newsok.com/article/3223071

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4 Months....check!

Ri-guy turned 4 months old on Saturday and today was his official 4-month check-up at the ped.
His stats:
Weight: 16 lbs, 14 oz (75-90%)
Height: 25 1/4 inches (50-75%)
Head: 44cm (90%)

So we have a large baby, if you haven't caught on to that. The doctor says we're seeing the first signs of teething and that there are some baby teeth buds just below the surface. We are doing great on all fronts. Because he's sleeping 12 hours a night we aren't supposed to worry too much about naps for now. Guess my days won't be as productive as I hoped....

Regarding vaccines... After talking to Juli (Ph.D. in Immunology...why didn't I think of that immediately?!) and doing a TON of research, we decided that spreading out the vaccines was the way to go. I got a lot of great info from The Vaccine Book by Dr. Bob Sears that I mentioned in a previous post. It has a breakdown of each vaccine, pros/cons, and ingredient list. It was eye-opening to say the least. I slightly altered Dr. Sears' recommended alternative schedule and came up with our own.

Unfortunately, our pediatrician did not share our viewpoint on vaccines and told us today that he wouldn't do our alternate schedule. Not only that, he basically let us know that there was no point in doing it. This sucks because I really, really liked him. I did convince him to go ahead and give us only the shots that we would get had he agreed with our plan. So, instead of 6 vaccines, Riley only received 2 today and now we're set for 2 more shots at 5 months. He was a little sleepy this eve, but other than that, no effects. The kid didn't even cry when he got his shot today. Nuts!

We're on the hunt for a new pediatrician now, which is a bummer, but we feel like we made the right choice for us. I'm sure the first of many hard fights as a parent...

Riley's first ski trip!

Every ski season for the last five years, Kevin and I have made our way to Pagosa Springs, CO to ski at Wolf Creek. Last week was this year's trip....and this time we invited along some of my family. Riley did great on the drive, although we made lots of stops to give him time to stretch and play. The trip was so fun and we learned that Riley loves hats and sunglasses--he really is our kid. I can't wait until next year!!



Here are a few pics from the trip:

Happy St. Patrick's day!!

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Vaccination Nation

Riley will be headed in for his 4-month appointment soon and all I can think about is the next round of his vaccinations. We had his 2-month vaccinations without even a second thought, mostly because I didn't know there was a thought to give. However, the talk about vaccinations seems to be all around me, and although it's probably because it's on my mind that I'm noticing the buzz, I can't help but think I should listen to what's being said.

I know vaccinations are a positive thing and have kept many a child alive and well. However, there are a lot of people who say a lot of things about the negatives of these chemicals that we are pumping into very tiny babies. Much has been said about the levels of mercury and aluminum and even more has been said about the heavy doses of vaccines that our babies are receiving at one time. I don't want to be alarmist, but I don't want to be hasty. It seems silly to blindly do it just because every other parent does.

So... I have about a week and a half to figure out my answer. I've been reading a lot about an alternative vaccination schedule developed by Dr. Robert Sears and written about in The Vaccine Book. It isn't an anti-vaccine approach, but rather anti- "all the vaccines at once." Instead, spreading them out a little bit more over a number of doc visits. More co-pays, more shots and saddness, but less chemicals at once.

This might be my compromise. I'm going to spend the next week-and-a-half researching pros and cons of recommended vaccines and hopefully my pediatrician will be receptive to my decision. Maybe it's not a big deal at all, but I think we owe it to our son to at least do a little digging on the subject.

Here's hoping I make the right decision.... If you have any insight, please pass it my way!

Spring has sprung!

The weather has been GLORIOUS this week. Seriously, no other way to put it. Yesterday, Riley spent some time with Grandpa Andy and the two took a lovely spring stroller ride! When Kevin and I returned to pick him up, we came around the corner and saw them sitting on the wall together. How many humpty dumpty references does this inspire? What a belly on this child!!

Ha!

It seems Riley is super ticklish! Here's a quick clip of him cracking up while I'm changing his shirt.

3 months already!

Mr. Man is 3 months old (and almost 14 weeks if you're still counting those....)! I know I'll continue to say it, but it's true. Time goes sooooo fast!! He's doing so great. Babbling (sp?) like a mad man, laughing all the the time and drooling insanely. It is so cool being a mom.

Above is his "official" three month pic, along with some other faves from the last couple of weeks. Enjoy!!