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.

a trip to the hospital

Well I'm sorry to say that the entire month of October passed and I didn't make a single post - certainly not for a lack of things to say. We had a few challenges at the end there and I feel like I better at least document one of them.

One night Bel was having a horrible coughing fit - when I went in to check on her she was having really labored breathing - her whole body was working so hard to get these little breaths and it was so sad. After trying a few things at home we took her to the ER. I was planning on going in - getting a quick diagnosis, some magical medicine, going back to bed and going on with our lives... no such luck. After a few traumatic hours of tests, iv tubes, blowing oxygen in bel's face and way too much beeping from monitors, they admitted Bel to the hospital, still no diagnosis. Turns out she had viral pneumonia - so we were constantly blowing oxygen in her face, had her hooked up to an oxygen saturation/heart rate monitor and an IV to give her fluids and meds. She also got Albuterol added to her oxygen every few hours (helps the muscles in her lungs dilate and breath better). That's what all the tubes/wires are that you see in the photo. Here she is watching Cars for the 11th time - thank heaven for that movie - we would not have survived without it.

I'm so amazed by our little, energetic 20 month old that she successfully stayed on her hospital bed for 36 hours straight - bless her heart!

A special thanks to our surprise visitors from Des Moines - it was so incredibly nice to have some loving family distraction, glow sticks, new movies and scrumptious cinnamon breakfast cake (I don't know how I devoured all of it by myself - so yummy!) We love you guys!

It was an exhausting 2 days (although Ryan is actually faking it in this photo - don't be fooled)

The best part of our hospital stay (besides learning a little empathy and gaining a HUGE appreciation for our daily routine at home)... scoring a free package of Pampers diapers - woohoo and this incredibly cute toddler sized hospital gown, complete with pants and the hospital blanket that bel snagged on her way out. Gosh I love little freebies - and she looks so stinkin cute in her new jammies!

Bel is doing just dandy and we are so happy to have such a good sport for our daughter.

More frequent and happy posts to come - I promise.