On my mind...A brain dump.

He's a chunk, and I love him...3 Months Old!

2009-07-23T22:02:00.001-07:00

My son Judah is now 3 months old! He is starting to get some awesome rolls and squishy cheeks. Very cuddly little guy. :-)

I'm slowly getting more used to my new schedule and really, new life. Everything changes so much with a baby. Also, Jason and I now have very opposite schedules so we can always keep Judah with one of us instead of doing childcare. It's rough, but worth it for us. I'll try to keep pictures posted here from time to time.

I love this one since you can see his blue eyes so clearly. I took this picture while we were on a walk on NW 23rd with Marie:

This is a picture of him on his first trip out of town to Sunriver. We went with Dan & Emily and their kids, and my parents for the weekend just before his 3-month b-day:

Judah is here!

2009-04-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

My little boy Judah Eric Miller was born on Tuesday, April 14th. I'm just now getting around to putting it here on the blog as I have been sleep deprived for a few weeks now. I'm getting my bearings now, and trying to figure out a routine, and Judah has decided to take a nap giving me a chance to tell the world about him via blog.

He was 7 lbs 9 oz and 20 inches long at birth. He was also 2.5 weeks early, so he came out a pretty good size for being an early bird. I ended up being induced early due to some high risk factors (the story of my pregnancy), but this did not surprise me since I had been on bed rest already for 5 months.

My mom drove up from Coos Bay to be there for Judah's birth, and it was just her, me and Jason in the delivery room. Mom was kind enough to skip the indecent shots, but was prepared t capture Judah's first moments with the video and digital cameras. She also stayed with us during Judah's first few weeks home to help us adjust and to get to know her new grandson.

Here's a pic of Judah's first bath at home...

Here are some pics of Judah with his Daddy and his big brother Ben...

Here are some pics of Judah with Uncle Dan, Aunt Emily, and cousins Caedon, Gavin and Aislynn Hawk

Almost There...

2009-03-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

Judah is closer to coming now. I'm in week 35, and still on bed rest. When I get through my 36th week, I will have a lot less restrictions and will be able to get out of the house more. I'm getting HUGE! I have clown feet and Mickey Mouse hands, but otherwise I am doing well. I had baby showers this weekend and last, so Judah is almost set with everything he will need. We are very blessed by our friends and family! I'll post pictures of the nursery soon. Thank you for your continued prayers!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Our little man on the way...

2008-12-18T20:04:00.000-08:00

Well, it's a boy, and we're going to name him Judah Eric Miller. He's due on May 2nd, but the doctors are worried that he's going to come early. They say I'm at high risk for pre-term labor. I just got back from the hospital where I stayed overnight and had a surgery done that should help my body to keep Judah inside a bit longer. We're hoping and praying that he will be patient for another 2 months, until he's through week 28. To get a bit further along in the pregnancy, my doctor has put me on bed rest. It would be great if he could go full term, so please be praying for this. Thanks!

Where we used to live...

2008-11-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

My Mom and I lived in the downstairs apartment in this picture when I was in 5th and 6th grade. I was driving around our old neighborhood this morning and decided to stop by and take a picture. Mom and I used to have a routine of watching our TV shows on Friday nights and ordering a Dominos cheese pizza. On Saturday mornings, Mom and Grandma would talk on the phone and I'd hang out in Mom's room and read the comics. Then we'd get ready and go walk around Washington Square Mall. Mom would sometimes get me a cookie at Mrs. Field's Cookies. Even after all this time, those two years contain many of my best memories.

My friend April

2008-09-02T22:11:00.000-07:00

I've had the privilege of spending a lot of time with my lovely friend April over the last week, and I just thought you should know a few reasons why she's so fabulous.

I enjoy being the audience for her and Jason's political debates/friendly conversations.
I like that she also is a fan of People Magazine, even though it's not very deep.
I like that she calls me to say hi and to let me know she's thinking of me.
April is the biggest fan of NKOTB that I know - That makes her cool.
She is from The Beautiful Land...That must be why she is so Beautiful.
She is a person I can trust with my story - The good, the bad and the ugly.
April loves to spend time with me and my husband, even when we're boring.
April drives a super cool luxury car with a great 'I heart Oregon' sticker on it.
She is very committed to her goals and inspires me to want to take better care of myself.
She always makes me laugh. :-)

Starting something new...

2008-08-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

So today it's official that I'm going to be starting a new job soon with my company. I've known for about 2 weeks, but everything had to be announced through the proper channels at work, so it's finally been announced.

I will be a Training Manager for my company and my team will be all across the country. They are each Trainers in different markets. I am excited to build all of these new relationships with this team, and I will be learning a lot of new things. I will start on Sept 2nd with the new group and I will be changing offices. The good news about that is I will now have my office on the 2nd floor of the building where my brother Dan works. :-)

I feel very blessed to have this new job and to be able to focus on things I love to do every day. Thanks to all of you who supported me through the process of interviewing for the position! I am SO excited about this new job!!

The view from my room this morning

2008-08-12T06:36:00.000-07:00

I am in Seattle this week for work, and I had the chance to see this view as I woke up this morning in my hotel room. Just wanted to share it...

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Weekend at the Beach...SO needed!

2008-08-09T13:39:00.000-07:00

Jason and I brought the kids to Newport this weekend for the annual Miller Family summer get-together. His parents plan this weekend for all of their kids and grandkids to spend some time together each year. Last year we were at Kah-Nee-Ta.

We went out for breakfast this morning, then Jason, Ben, MiKeila and I went for a walk on the beach. That's where we took this pic. Elena spent the morning in the room having some time to herself which she likes a lot. So far it's been nice to be lazy. I highly recommend it!

Back to my roots

2008-07-31T14:17:00.000-07:00

Here is my new black hair. Just sharing the results...

Purple hair no more

2008-07-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

So I recently had a friend dye my hair. She is a student a beauty school and has already had her training in color, so we decided to take my hair back to it's dark color and add a red hue. It turned out that the hair dye that we bought from the professional supply store was past it's date for use. Bad news...my blond highlights turned purple. The picture is not me of course, but at least a visual for all of you who only like stories with pictures. My hair wasn't quite this purple.

Good thing I was working from home. It was too late to go buy something to fix my hair, so I spent one night as a purple haired punk rocker-esque chick. The next morning we died my hair black. Some of the red is still there, but I think it's the darkest my hair has ever been. I'll post a picture once it fades a bit. Right now I'm still not used to it.

Chow Chow

2008-07-26T00:08:00.000-07:00

I went to visit my friends Terese and Sterling tonight, and was greeted by this little guy. His name is Tai, and he is a Chow. I want him for my very own. He is SO cute and has a fluffy head. I think he looks kind of like a little bear.

I love 80's TV

2008-07-25T12:01:00.001-07:00

This has to be one of the coolest pictures ever, besides the word "lame". If I had an eraser, I would certainly remove that word, but this is the picture as I received it in an email from my brother Dan.

When I was a kid we went to Universal Studios during the summer. I don't remember a lot, but I do remember sitting in this car. I was a fan. Still am. I will always have a special place in my heart for Knight Rider and Hasselhoff. I know I'm not the only one...

Stumptown makes any day delightful.

2008-07-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

I can't even describe how good this cup of coffee was. If you haven't ever had stumptown, you should.

On another note, I am spending the evening with my 2 nephews (Caedon and Gavin) and my niece Aislynn. She is great. Just woke up once and took a bottle. The boys are having a hard time going to sleep. One of them wants the door open, the other doesn't. Their special blankets are wet in the washer. I found some other blankets and made them sound really cool so eventually they accepted what I had to offer. They are finally quiet at the threat of losing the story on CD that is playing in their room. I hope it lasts...

Talking to himself in Español...

2008-07-16T23:15:00.000-07:00

Jason speaks Spanish and often gets paid to do this on the job. He has an interview this Friday for a part-time bilingual job that he would be able to do when he starts college this fall. The are going to have the first interview in English, and a second interview right afterward in Spanish.

In order to practice he had to resort to watching Spanish HBO and talking to the TV. I hope this helps him since my high school and college spanish is a faint memory at this point.

Think good thoughts for him and I on Friday. I have an interview for a promotion too. No Spanish for me.

5 hours of true community...

2008-07-12T22:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight our great friend Stephanya and our new friend Lew made dinner for Jason and I. We had tons of great conversation and had the chance to be reminded of what it really means to grow in community with others. 5 hours passed by so quickly, and soon I realized I was getting tired, only then realizing how much time had passed.

Stephanya is one of the people I like most in the world. She is a person who inspires me to want to know God more. Every time I spend time with her I leave feeling energized and renewed. I don't have that experience with many people. God has used this woman so many times to teach me what faith and belief look like lived out. As I invest into her life, she always invests so much back into me.

Thanks Stephanya and Lew for loving us tonight. Jason and I are so blessed to share life, love and grow with you.

Good Food, Great Friend, HUGE Blessing!

2008-07-11T22:22:00.000-07:00

René and I had a great time at the Macaroni Grill tonight. We sat and talked for hours about everything going on in life. It's so cool to catch up with friends and to be able to talk through all of the craziness of life with someone who you can grow with. I thank God for Miss René. She and I also did a bit of coloring while we chatted. Enjoy this work of art, because it's doesn't get much better for me. Jason is going to be SO excited about the leftovers I brought home!

Just a little bus stop romance

2008-07-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

So I park my car in a pay lot next the bus stop on SW 6th and Burnside and I witnessed a lot of love being shared between a couple. A few things about this surprised me. First, the couple was not teenagers, but rather in their mid-fifties. Secondly, this very affectionate pair did not come up for air the entire 2 minutes that I was loading up my car in the parking lot. I would post a picture, but would hate to embarrass anyone by showing their parents making out on my blog. I'm not talking just 'making out' - This was intense, holding each other's faces, end of the world kind of making out. You all missed a great display.

Ladies Night Out

2008-07-10T20:22:00.000-07:00

The ladies from Home Community decided to do a ladies night out at The Cheesecake Factory. I have a new weakness. It's name: Banana Cream Cheesecake. There's nothing like good cheesecake and laughs at the end of a long day. Too bad I had to go home and workout...

We look like we're enjoying our work day...

2008-07-08T12:47:00.000-07:00

My brother Dan and I had the chance to attend an all day meeting together today for work, and we got to dress alike. How many full grown siblings still wear matching outfits?

okay, I'll go work out...

2008-07-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

Jason and I have been talking about getting in shape, eating better an all that important stuff for a while now. I have now started eating better. You know, eating every 2-3 hours, snacks, only healthy well balanced meals, etc. That's going well, although it's hecka-hard. The hardest part for me is the working out part. I've been saying to Jason for a while, "We can workout, but I need to plan for it". I basically didn't want to set myself up for thinking I was coming home to relax and then have to work out. Just an excuse really, because we never plan for it, it's always a spontaneous thing that he says like, "Honey, do you feel like working out tonight?" Do I feel like working out? Heck no!

I need to just get over it. We did work out tonight. I'm exhausted, but glad that I just did it and didn't whine about it.

If you see me, or write to me, please ask me how my working out is working out. That would be good, because it's the only thing that will keep me doing it.

Loving the marginalized, looking for veggie oil

2008-07-06T20:54:00.000-07:00

While we were in Spokane for the weekend, we met some folks who are traveling the US and Canada in their Veggie Oil powered RV's. They are Mustard Seed Ministries. The 2 families are the Fidanzos and the Coulombes. They are both from the Portland area, and for the next year or so they will be going into communities to invest in the poor and marginalized in practical ways. They aim to Follow Jesus, Love People and Be Simple. It was so cool to hear about what they are doing, and also challenging to think about what this might look like for our community here in Portland. Something I will be thinking about for a bit...

Please pray for them and support them if you are able. Let them know if you have some veggie oil too.

Lazy time in Spokane...

2008-07-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

We're in Spokane for the 4th. One of Jason's best friends from High School lives up here. He's the kind of friend who once new Jason in the "Mullet Phase" and still hangs out with him and is kind enough to not bring it up. Eric is a pastor here in Spokane for a church called Jacob's Well. It's fun to hang out with Eric and his family because I see different side of Jason when I'm here. I hear stories that I've never heard, and it helps me to put some of his quirkiness in perspective. Those of you who know my husband, also know that he is the king of quirkiness, but in a good way. Just so you can appreciate how cool my husband is, I'm sharing a picture today of him eating a fire wing at lunch. He is just coming back to meat after a 3 year stint as a Peskitarian.

I spent like 2 hours hosing off watching Youtube today. I never do that. I never allow myself to do stuff just to do stuff. It feels good in certain ways, but I also feel lazy.

As we've been driving around seeing new places, I've been thinking a lot about living in different parts of the country. Jason and I talked about the idea of moving somewhere to "start fresh" once the kids are older. Then I wondered if we should have a purpose for moving that was about something more than "starting fresh". It seemed kinda selfish to me. I thought about maybe moving to be a part of a community or moving to invest in something or contribute something. I don't know if I'm just being weird about that, but I've been thinking a lot more these days about purpose and the drivers behind the choices we make.

We will begin the long drive in the Mini-van tomorrow. 6 hours. Jason has made these CD's that we listen to. The CD's have his entire collection of songs in alphabetical order by song title. Jason is really into Spanish music, and a lot of those songs start with "El". That section of the CD begins to suck by the 5th El song. I'm kind of a singing in the car kind of gal. I have a hard time when I don't know the words. I'm going to use my powers to introduce some of the new John Mayer live CD.

It's going to be sad to go back to the real world and the busyness of living by my blackberry. I will miss the lazy times.