Sydney's First Week

Here is Sydney all ready to leave the hospital.

Nicole LOVES being a big sister. She talks very sweetly to Sydney and loves to hold her. Nolan loves her, too. He calls himself a "Super Duper Big Brother" now that he has two little sisters. I haven't been able to capture a good picture of the two of them together yet, but we'll work on it. Here is the happy big sister:
This is Sydney at 5 days old:

Sydney is one week old today. We gave her her first official bath (she's had sponge baths throughout the week...don't worry, I'm a good mommy). She LOVED her bath.

She got into this trance while she so cutely gripped the washcloth close to her face. It was so funny! She didn't love the getting out and being cold part of bathtime, though. She gave her lungs a good workout while we got her dressed and warmed up again.

Here is our little angel sleeping this morning. So far she is the best-behaved baby we've ever met. She's giving me grief with nursing, though, but hopefully we'll get the issues resolved soon. It's been a really fun week having a new baby in our family. My mom is here helping me, and I'm so glad. It's enabled me to rest and focus on getting the nursing on track.

Nolan's Field Day and 7th Birthday

A couple weeks ago, Nolan had his first school Field Day. Check out his long jump:

This is Nolan's 1st Grade Class:
On October 3rd, Nolan turned 7! We celebrated by going to Mr. Bigg's that afternoon. He chose to play laser tag with his cousins and had a blast. They also got to play a few video games at the arcade.

The next day Nolan had a sports party with some of his friends from school at our rec center.

While Grandma and Grandpa Miller were on their mission, Nolan discovered his love for carrot cake. I told him that Grandma Dorothy makes the best carrot cake in the world, and he decided that was what he wanted for his birthday cake (which was 8 months away at the time). Grandma decided to play a joke on him and made him a Bugs Bunny cake with a carrot on it, and when he saw it she said, "Here's your cake with a carrot on it...isn't that what you wanted?" He was very polite and didn't want to hurt her feelings, so he slowly nodded his head, but we could see the disappointment in his eyes. She told him she was just teasing, that it was a real carrot cake, and he thought it was pretty funny. He agreed that it was delicious. And I owe Dorothy a huge thanks for making Nolan's cake this year (she took pity on me after seeing the dowels holding up Nicole's cake...and because I was 8 1/2 months pregnant).

We can't believe our little boy is growing up so fast! He's such a great kid and we're proud of him every day.

New Arrival!

Introducing Sydney Jane Miller, born Sunday, Oct 12, 2008 at 6:30 a.m., weighing 7 lbs 12 oz and 19.5 inches long.
Nolan and Nicole have been SO excited to get a new baby sister. They came to meet her a few hours after her birth and they loved her. Nolan said he thought it was going to be weird, "but it wasn't weird at all!" Nicole couldn't stop kissing her forehead and talking very sweetly to her. Both kids freaked out whenever she would move..."MOM! I saw her move her hand!" We tried in vain to get her to wake up while they were here. Grandma and Grandpa will bring them back this afternoon and we'll try again.

Everything went well with the delivery, and we're all doing fine. Tammy is absolutely thrilled to not be pregnant anymore. Sydney came on her own 10 days early! We'll post more pics within the next few days.

36 Weeks

I had a high resolution ultrasound last week to check for early signs of eye tumors...just a precaution...our chances of having another child with retinoblastoma is very tiny. Thankfully, everything looked great. Here is a 3D face shot of our growing little girl. Check out the chubby cheeks!

I had my 37 week appt. today and nothing is happening yet...which is a good thing because we're not quite ready!

Nolan 's New Trick

The other night I told Nolan I'd give him $5 if he could put both feet behind his head and spank his own bum. It's a hidden talent I've always had, but I didn't think Nolan was blessed with my freakish flexibility. But I found out within about 10 seconds that I was wrong! I had to keep my word, so the next day he got to go buy a new Star Wars toy. I've learned my lesson...I'm no longer a betting woman.

Happy Birthday Nicole!

Nicole turned 4 on September 11th. We had a fun week of celebrations! The night of her birthday we went to Casa Bonita (a birthday tradition for most people who live here). She felt pretty special when the Mariachi Band came to sing just for her! We had a princess tea party with four of Nicole's little friends. Aren't they cute?!
We served heart-shaped finger sandwiches, mini bundt cakes, and fruit with pink dip. Oh, and pink lemonade was our "tea". It was a fun day.
I thought I was doing great by making her cake the night before her party...so here it is right when I finished it:
...And here it is 2 hours later, being held up by two dowels down through the top and a rod through the back, braced by a heavy bowl. I'm so glad I married an engineer! I was literally in tears (it was the end of a long, tiring day...and I'm very pregnant/hormonal), but Kevin saved the day. And I'm so happy to reveal that the cake survived the night and most of the next day until her party!
I don't know why I insist on trying to be Martha Stewart with my kid's cakes every year. It's just so darn stressful, and I'm reminded very bluntly every year that I am not, nor ever will be Martha. Nolan's birthday is next week, and I'll admit it now...he's getting a store bought cake. But I'm sure I'll feel guilty enough that I'll try to be Martha again next year, so no worries.

Back to School!

School started on August 12th. Nolan is in 1st Grade and Nicole is in her 2nd year of preschool (Pre-K). Nolan was most excited about eating lunch at school and about having 2 recesses! Nicole was most excited to paint.