I'm thankful for...

... (and will always thank my lucky stars for) a daughter who likes her veggies

... & breaks from school.

Supposedly this was the hardest semester of med school, plus we had a few other bumps in the road thrown in there, but on Monday (after a second weekend in the hospital with Bel - don't worry all is well...again) Ryan took his last final and we are loving our family time together.

A few highlights -

bel rockin mom's cowboy boots and practicing her model faces and poses

a delicious, leisurely Sunday breakfast - I love my husband's scrambled eggs - they are divine

manicures by dad - this multi-talented man never ceases to amaze me

her painted nails are always such a thrill.

best baking experience ever

The other day Bel and I made banana bread - to say it was fun would be an understatement - I would relive this hour for the rest of my life (as long as I could invite Ryan for the repeat).

I am happy to report another aspect of how Bel and I will get along quite nicely together -enjoying unbaked baked goods and listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving, oh and let's not forget the spontaneous dancing.

bel's new tricks

well it's official - anything bel does that is cool, ryan has taught her how to do or she has come up with on her own. yesterday he taught her to play the harmonica (stay tuned later this week for a video recital) and today he taught her this little gem. we all got such a kick out of this - it was a regular "miller fam stupid human trick talent show" at our place tonight - only one trick was showcased over and over and over (nope it's still not old yet - we will laugh at this for a few weeks at least) : behold, the glow stick face stall...

this next one is her own spontaneous performance - i call it the growling donkey kick...

(i don't know how long it will take me to learn NOT to talk or laugh while videoing, please excuse my annoying background noises)

i am so proud of her - with these kind of skills she'll go far in life

a few thoughts to accompany the photos

i wish i were a fabulous photographer and could beautifully capture this pot of simmering spices, alas, i'm lucky if you can tell that it's cinnamon sticks and cloves - today this what made me feel okay about being confined to the house by darkness starting at 5pm. it seems like a few days ago we were heading to the park at 7pm for one last expulsion of energy and it is sad to me that those days are gone BUT i felt okay about it today because i had this on our stovetop. starting about this time of year my mom simmers this same concoction on her stove - it fills the house with this incredibly homey, authentic smell of fall spices - it reminds me of coming in from the cold, good times with my family, my favorite time of year and just being happy at home. so tonight as i wondered if i could entertain bel indoors for a few extra hours i took a deep breath of this yummy spice scented air and i was happy to be home.

cinnamon chex gets 6 thumbs up from the miller home. i wish i had 20 boxes of this in the cupboard. i bought 1 lonely box on the last day of a sale and now i wish we'd never met - they are the most delicious simple carbohydrate i've encountered in a long while and the worst of it is... ryan and bel like it too (too much competition for me) now it will be gone in less than 36 hours - woah is me, what is a cereal loving girl to do?

and just because i rarely make it through a blog post without including my sweet gal - here's a new photo and an unrelated story... (mostly for the grandparents benefit)

ryan usually gets the honor of reading bel's bedtime stories to her and since there is only room for one adult on that chair i sit somewhere on the floor - tonight i leaned over the side arm of the chair listening and watching as ryan quizzed bel on all the animals, shapes and objects on each page and i had one of those proud parent moments (like when she went down the slide for the first time by herself) it is such a thrill to see my daughter learn! i am usually reading the books with her and don't see her facial expressions but tonight i got to watch her eyes search the page for the right animal or the next flap to flip, to see her get excited when she found the puppy or when ryan turned to her favorite page in the little engine that could. i just keep thinking how cool it is to see her change and learn and enter each new stage and i was wondering if it will be such a thrill for me with our other kids - i hope so because it sure is fun this first time

today's favorites

post nap cuddle

and park smiles

pickle

oh how i love to hear my daughter say pickle

only claussen's will do in our house - they are a delicious splurge - mmm mmm mmm!!!

day 3 - 3 photos

this morining bel found the thrift store clip on earings that i bought for my latest costume and wanted to put them on - she let me clip both of them on and wore them around for a while - i was amazed (but never did manage to get a really good photo)

adding a little glamour to that heinous morning bed head

photo of the day 2

photos of the day...

long live sunny fall days

we went to a super fun shindig for a friend's birthday - we were supposed to dress as a famous couple - can you tell who we are???

...american gothic! did you get it right?

too bad i can't keep a straight face to save my life - bel does a better job than i do - sheesh

time to celebrate...

the return of our long broken camera - yay!!!

it's pretty pathetic how long it takes me to get certain things done and this was one of those things. we've been without a camera for about 6 months now and i finally realized that bel was changing right before my eyes and i wasn't documenting her life - eee gads - that is slacking in my motherly responsibilities. and so to celebrate the return of this lovely and vital piece of technology...


photo of the day


i'm only guaranteeing one week but I'm going to shoot for a month (minus the days i'll be away from my computer for thanksgiving - yep, still can't handle commitment, except the one i made to my husband)


today's photo - lately bel prefers to veg from a higher viewpoint.


she also likes to climb up and tumble down repeatedly, honestly the seat cushions of the couch are her last choice in places to sit, sitting above, on the arms or on the floor just in front of the couch. I know this will result in premature tearing of the back pillows but it's so darn cute that she can get away with it.