Bound and determined to get the five month picture up before he's six months! So...here are the pictures from Asher's five-month photo shoot. Asher has rolled from belly to back, but only a few times and not so consistently. He just HATES being on his belly. Weighing in at 20lbs, it must be hard for him to roll. It's hard to carry him, I can tell you that. No sign of teeth yet, but he is loving the little amounts of rice cereal he's getting lately. Also, he's sleeping unswaddled--one of my favorite mom milestones with both boys!

Here's Riley at the same age:

Things are picking up steam around here! Closing on our latest flip very, very soon. Busy picking out finishes for our next flip (the one we're going to live in) and super duper busy being a Realtor. I'm showing houses, selling houses, and it's crazy fun. Although I'm learning that there are no days off. So much for my life of leisure... Wait, did I have that?

Here are some pictures from one of our blizzards...Gotta love Oklahoma! Riley is so much fun right now. He's so hilarious. Today, I was asking him what was wrong with a car that was in my way. His response? "Get off the phone and drive, people!" Awesome.

Asher: Four Months Old

Asher, Month Four

Not sure on weight/length right now, but you're easily wearing 6-12 month outfits and making mommy very sad that she bought all of those summer clothes in that size... You sleep like a champ and I can put you in bed wide-awake and you'll fall asleep--usually without a peep. In the morning, you wake up happy, but that quickly turns into FEED ME RIGHT NOW. We love you so much, Asher Boo.

Likes:

• Mommy (You are a real-deal momma's boy. Daddy tried to put you to bed the other night and you flipped. Must change this soon, but I love that you love me.)
• Your swing. Riley never loved the swing, but man, you will fall asleep in there in a second.
• Toys! You've discovered your hands and then realized you could do things with them. We love watching you grab at brightly colored toys and chewing them like mad. 
• Milk. (Not that you have a lot of choice...you're still on a mom-only diet, but solids are a doctor's checkup away and we know you'll be loving them!)
• Bibs. Okay, I don't know if you love them, but we do. They keep your shirts from getting soaked from all that drool and spit-up that's a constant with you.

Dislikes: 

• Tummy time. Nope, you hate it. Riley was rolling over by two months but you just kind of float there like a big chunky Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade float. I know you would roll if you didn't weigh so much!
• Baths. Funny thing about you... You don't dislike a lot and you rarely get upset, but when you are upset, you show it. Alot. And baths....well, we think if you had the means you would stab us in the face. You are not a fan. 
• That's honestly all I can think of. You are the easiest baby I've ever met. 

Asher v. Riley: Playing Catch-Up

Let's get back on track here with the baby pictures...and the comparisons. Honestly, I feel a little bad that I'm always comparing Riley and Asher, but I can't help it. It's more fun than anything to try and remember what Riley was doing at the same point in time. I'm sure I'm probably ruining them somehow by not letting them be their own people, but I'll likely scar them irreparably anyway so I might as well start young and get it over with!

Okay, so without further delay. The first four months of Asher's life...combined with the first four of Riley's:

MONTH ONE:

MONTH TWO:

 MONTH THREE:

MONTH FOUR:

Yes, they are definitely brothers!

Beginning, again.

It's a new year! So here I am with what will probably be one of four posts I'll manage to get out in 2011. There was no exciting "blog more" resolution so sad-to-say I'm not going to make some crazy proclamations about how well I'll do at updates. BUT, I have to keep chugging along. One of my favorite things to do is to look back at the early posts from 2007 and see how things were and where we were and what house we lived in. Now, it's a quick picture and our lives in bullet points. Way too busy living life to write about it!

Everything is fast these days... we have a four-month-old. Wow. He's a third of a year old! Too fast. Way. Too. Fast. He's a doll baby with the sweetest personality and a smile to match. We all just adore this perfect little guy that has blessed our world. Our 3-yr-old is pretty amazing himself. One of the funniest kids I've ever met (and I'm not at all biased). He keeps us laughing and happy all the time. His mastery of the English language is for real. His mastery of the potty--not so much. But, we're making some great progress. I would say...75% there. He switched classes at school and it improved his behavior by a landslide so I'm guessing it was the right decision. (Although he talks about his old classmates and how much he misses them. Sad.) He's also in gymnastics and adjusting to yet another teacher telling him what he can and cannot do. Get used to it, kid.

In professional news...tonight marks the last night of work on what can only be called, one of the longest projects ever. Throw pregnancy and baby-havin' into a construction site and 6-months later you'll have a finished house. The house, however, is awesome. Our best yet to be sure. I MUST share pictures. It's insane. AND, I will be listing it as my first listing (yaaaay) so I've been spending lots of time learning my real estate ropes.

Things are cranking. Big time. We are working on moving...yet again....and getting our current house on the market. So between selling the flip, selling this house, and renovating the next, I'm thinking 2011 is going to be pretty bad-a. I'm excited for it.

Here are a few Christmas pics: (and coming up next, a post with Asher's pictures...months 2-4)

Meeting Thomas

We headed to the Oklahoma Railway Museum to meet the one-and-only Thomas the Train! (Can I just say that Thomas is the most boring cartoon ever?!) We wanted to take Riley for a big-boy day of fun that had nothing to do with his little brother. (Trying to make him feel special!). It was fun and a gorgeous fall day. We followed it up with a lunch trip to Pops...yum. I will use any excuse to head to Pops. Here are some pictures of our super-cool outing:

One month

Remember this kid?

 
Well here's his "little" brother in his very own one-month-old picture! How has it already been a month? Who am I kidding, he'll be six weeks old on Monday. It goes so fast...

Baby on board!

Super timely with this post...what can I say? Life with a newborn.

I'm sure this is old news to most of our blog followers, but we do, in fact, have another Miller in our lives! Asher Britton was born at 10:18 am on Monday, September 13th!

Remember that huge baby we were supposed to have? Ours turned out big, but not huge. He came out a very respectable 7lbs, 15oz (one tiny little ounce away from 8lbs!) and 20 inches long. His head was off the charts big though, so I can't say I'm sad that my pelvis didn't have to deal with that. ;-)

Delivery was quick and went great. I went in early for prep and then it seemed like it was suddenly time. I walked into the surgery room, Kevin stayed next door and put on his scrubs while they did my spinal anesthesia. When I was ready to go, they let him in and a few minutes later they were cutting me open to retrieve our babe.  

The c-section was a whole other beast compared to the first time around. I can see the pros and cons of both ways, but I have to say, I did enjoy knowing exactly what was going to happen. The actual c-section was weird, weird, weird. No pain at all, but when they pushed on my chest to get Asher out, it was very intense. I thought my chest would cave in for sure! And then there was the non-stop shaking. I had shaking the first time too, but this time it would not let up at all. It was strange. The anesthesiologist kept asking me to try and think about holding my arm still so they could take my blood pressure. Afterwards, I got to listen as Asher cried, and Kevin watched, and I was repaired. Then onto recovery and finally getting to hold our baby!

I guess I should type out my entire birth story so I can remember it two years from now when this all seems like a good idea again, but I don't think I have the time! I have one kiddo asleep, one hanging out next to me and that means I'm holding my breath for lots of activity at pretty much anytime. I'm slowly getting the hang of mothering two boys, but it's hard to have the confidence! Healing from the c-section was a good first step.

Asher is the best baby ever! He has the sweetest personality and is as close to an easy baby as we could have hoped for. Just a doll. Riley is sloooooowly adjusting and the behavior problems are starting to present themselves lately. Poor thing, I know it is a huge adjustment for him, but holy smokes! We may be working on breaking his spirit just a wee bit...

I know there is so much more to say, but I'm going to be satisfied with writing this much out without any major breakdowns from children. Here are a few pictures from our hospital photo session. Official newborn pics coming soon...they are out-of-this-world fantastic.

Tired, but happy...that's our life right now. Love. My. Boys. (all three of them.)

The final countdown

In just over five hours, I'll be awake again. Kevin too. We'll be showering and preparing to head to the hospital to meet our baby. Yep, at 8 am we check in for a scheduled C-section to retrieve our supposedly very oversized boy.

At the specialist last week we found out that Mr. Baby Miller is measuring around 9lbs, 2oz. --give or take a 1/2 pound either way. Now, almost a week later, it's time to bring him on out of that warm belly he loves so much. After much thought and deliberation with Kevin and our doctors, we decided a C-section is the safest way to enter the world. It was a hard decision...but I think the right one. The doctors were concerned with shoulder dystocia because of his size--and although it was a somewhat slight risk of injury because of it, I couldn't sleep at night taking a chance with it. So, Section it is.

Pretty different this time around. No timing contractions, wondering when everything will happen. Nope. Just no food after midnight, be here in the morning, and expect a baby soon after. It's crazy! We had a low-key day and night hanging out with Riley, doing last minute this and that around the house and relaxing. The calm before the baby storm.

Next time I post, I'll be a mother of two. Can't wait to introduce our little man!

Getting roomy

Time is winding down here... The world's longest to-do list is pretty much complete (I thought it would never happen. I should probably mention that I PASSED my real estate exam last Wednesday. That was a pretty major pre-baby accomplishment. Between trying to prepare for the baby and studying non-stop, I came kind of close to losing my mind. Luckily, pulled through and passed. I am so happy and relieved!

Also in the nick of time, we managed to finish up the nursery. Wahoo! There are still some small details left but they are minor. I'm so, so, so happy with the way it turned out. Love it. My super-talented mom did all the bedding/curtains and everything else just kind of evolved after deciding I didn't want to paint since we'll be moving sooner rather than later.

Here are a few pictures of the nursery in all of its mostly-finished glory:

Now, we just need a baby to put in here...