Happy Thanksiving All!

Evie spent Thanksgiving with her Dad so I decided to visit my Mom (her Nana)! Here are some pics of my trip and festivities =)





















Here's me doing the ski jump on Wii, big fun!!!

Happy 2 year Birthday Evelyn!!!

Two years ago today you came into our side of this world. I wanted you so much! I could not wait to meet you and hold you in my arms. And you made your entrance into our world so easily. My birth with you was everything I could have hoped for and more. Having you at home with your Dad and my parents and Heather and Christine was exactly what I wanted and needed. There was more love in that house that day then I have ever felt before. You bring so much love and light into my life and into everyone's life you encounter. You could light up the state of Georgia with your smile and your laugh. You are truly a gift to me and your Dad. He and I may not have succeeded at marriage but we definitely succeeded at making and raising the smartest, sweetest, funniest, and silliest child ever. And you are the greatest gift that your grandparents and great grandparents have ever received. Your Grammy and Gramper love you more than anything in this world, anything. They tell me all the time how much they love you and how incredible you are to them. Your Nana never fails to mention how amazing you are when she calls me. Your Mimi and Grandpop feel the same way too. And your Gigi and George and Great Grandma Evelyn and Oma love you to pieces too! And your Uncles Paul and Stan and Aunts Karen and Vanessa all love you tons as well! You won't know for many many more years how amazing your existence is to us and what an amazing and wonderful impact you have had on all of us but that is okay. For now just know that when I rock you and bathe you and kiss you and chase you and tickle you I am in heaven. And the same goes for your Dad I am sure and your Grandparents and your Aunts and Uncles. We all love you so much!!

Happy Birthday Evie! =)

Happy Mother's Day to Me!!

I had the best Mother's Day ever this year! Evie and I went to North Carolina to see Evie's Nana and we went to Virginia to see Gramper on the Appalachian Trail. It was so awesome! Evie travelled in the car very well (thank god for portable DVD players!). So here are some pics and video of our travels =)

And Happy Belated Mother's Day to Grammy, Gigi, Mimi, Oma, and Grandma Miller too!!

Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

Okay, not so much the train part but definitely the planes and automobiles. I recently purchased plane tickets for myself to see my friends in Indianapolis and to visit my bestest friend Jen in Hawaii!! That's right folks, I am leaving on a jet plane all by myself to have some much needed friend fun!

I go to Indy the first week of April and I will be in Hawaii the last week of July. To say I am excited is an understatement! I am absolutely thrilled to see my friends! And especially excited to go to Hawaii and get some beach time. I haven't been to the beach in 4 years!! That is a crime! I really love the beach, but Ben is not a fan so we never go. But that is going to change come July 25th!! YAY!!

Also coming up is our little family's much anticipated and needed trip to New Jersey to see Mimi and Grandpop and Oma and cousins and uncles. We are really excited! We haven't bought tickets for that trip because we are waiting for the dates when Ben will be done with school. We will probably be there in late May.

Oh and I am driving up to North Caroline for Mother's Day to visit with Evie's Nana. That will be a very fun trip for all of us. Evie hasn't seen her Nana since she was 1 day old. This is a much anticipated trip as well.

So all in all we are a family on the move. =)

p.s. Evie saw her pediatrician today and he said he isn't worried about her speech at this point. He offered to give us a referral to a speech therapist anyway. I told him I wanted to think about it and talk with Ben. I am leaning toward getting the referral even though I don't think she really "needs" it. I think it will help her and not hurt her and we can learn a lot about her and speech in general. We'll see...

I get by with...

A little help from my friends. Truer words have never been written. I don't know how I would survive if I didn't have good friends and family around to support me. I have leaned on all my friends and family to some degree many many times in the last year or so. And I am sure I will lean on them again.

I just hope that I can be as available, open, and supportive to my friends and family as they have been to me. I want to be the breath of fresh air, the sigh of relief that my friends have been to me. So here is a tribute to my friends and family that have been my support system in this crazy new phase of my life.

Benjamin, holy cow, did you ever think we would be here!? I am as always, forever grateful and honored to have you as my best friend, my life partner, and the father of our most amazing daughter.

Evelyn, you are truly amazing. I think the greatest gift in life that I have received is you. I hope I can raise you to see family and friendship as the true blessing and gift that it is.

Moms and Dad, without you I wouldn't be who I am today. I thank you for that and also for supporting me. I never knew how much I needed you or wanted you around until now. Thank you!

Paul and Stan, you guys are awesome! You both taught me how to be rough and tumble and how to not take shit from people. You also taught me what it means to be a diplomat and how to get what I want without pissing anyone off. And you continue to teach me what is cool and hip.

Grandma, you are the only grandparent that I have ever really been close with. You have taught me so much about my family and what it means to live a long full life. And thank you for always cooking special food for me because I am such a picky eater. =)

Jen, you are my bestest friend ever. You have stuck by me for over 10 years! You are the sister I never had, a soul mate and a life long friend. We don't speak often but I always feel better and more balanced when I talk to you. I miss you and I can't wait for you to be state side again.

Karen, you are a new member to our family and to my friend circle. But you are wonderful! You are so thoughtful and easy to talk to and be with. You have a wonderful heart and an amazing capacity for empathy and compassion. I love that you are in my life!

Angie, what can I say, I love you, if I were gay you would be my girlfriend! You are so loving, so funny, so sassy, a great dancer. You have an amazing mind and unparalleled organizing skills. You kick ass!!!!! I still wonder why you would want me as a friend, but you keep hanging with me so I just count myself as lucky!

Despi, you are me if I were smarter and ballsier. You are extremely smart and creative, and motivated. And you're super fun and crazy. When I am with you I feel 10 times cooler just by association. And you are caring and thoughtful and wonderful!

Heather, you are the first true friend I have had since I moved to Georgia 2 years ago. You were at Evelyn's birth, and you made me feel relaxed and confident enough to birth her with almost no pain, and definitely no regrets. But you've been more than just a doula to me. You've listened to me talk about my biggest fears and my guilty feelings. And you've been my friend that I can always depend on to make me laugh and see the humor in the most difficult situations. You've been my go to person for emotional and physical support for a year and counting. I am so glad you are in my life!

And to all my other friends and family, thank you for supporting me too! I am who I am because of the friendships and family ties that I have with you. Thank you!!

Happy Mother's Day

Mom (Grammy), Mom (Nana), Mom (MiMi), Mom (Melinda), Grandma (GiGi), Oma, Grandma Miller (whom Evelyn is named after), Aunt Justine, Aunt Kathy, Chris, Heather, Mary, Kara, Cara, Melissa, Paula, Angela, Rosalyn, Kelly, Joanna, and all the other Moms that have touched my life over the years.

This year I feel especially thankful to the mothers in my life. For the first time ever I now understand how insanely hard and wonderful it is to be a Mom. Some of you have graduated all the way to Great Grandma status. Some of you just became Grandmas. A few of you have been Moms for years now. And then there are the others of you that are like me, rookies to this whole Motherhood game.

To you Great Grandmas on my list, thank you for surviving, you show me that though I feel like I will never make it some days, in the end Motherhood is a survivable condition with a happy gaggle of Great Grandkids at the end. To you Grandmas on my list, thank you for raising me and I'm sorry I was/am such a pain in the butt sometimes. Now I understand why leaving a sink of dirty dishes and tracking mud through the house warrants a punishment. Again, so sorry, I sure am gonna be on the other side of that soon. To the other Moms on my list, thank you for supporting me and being honest with me so I can be honest with you. Thank you for being my friends and understanding "Mom Time" and my greasy non-showered self in dirty clothes. To my Mom in law that didn't live to see her grand daughter, thank you for raising your son to be the kind of man that loves his daughter and wife more than anything. I wish you were here to get a hug from Evelyn but I know that wherever you are you know Evie and you love her. And you know that we love you and miss you.

To my husband and Daddy to Evelyn, thank you for creating this incredible little girl with me. It brings tears to my eyes because it was and continues to be our love that made this little girl who she is, thank you.

Happy Mother's Day Everyone =)

WWJD May 8, 2007

Okay Dear Readers, no one asked for advice via WWJD Tuesday but, but, I sense a need for comforting words for a lot of my friends. So...I am going to give some (semi) unsolicited advice. Here goes.

There are a lot (A LOT) of things in this world that I don't understand. Illness, poverty (in a country that wastes more than any other, ever!), abuse (substance, emotional, physical, etc), just to name a few. Despite my best efforts I have been unable to avoid all of these things in my life so far. I am not even sure that I have learned anything from these bad/sad yet unavoidable things. If I press myself to remember the times I have dealt with these things.... I still don't know what I took away from my experiences except a sense of experience. For better or for worse I now know what it is like to watch someone get diagnosed with cancer and then to die from it in 6 months, despite (or because of?) surgery and chemo. I know what it looks like to watch someone throw their life down the hole because of substance abuse, physical abuse, and emotional abuse. I know what it looks like for people to be up to their eyeballs in debt and have no way out. What does all this experience give me? It gives me a goal. A goal to strive toward. A goal to reach for even when it feels impossible. My goal that I reach for when I feel down is simple. Keep going, keep reaching, keep believing that at some point, in some way, things will get better, somehow. That's it. Cheesy, optimistic, sugary, whatever. And what fuels my goal?

Her


And him


And them


















They are all worth it, they are all worth sticking around to see what will happen next. To hear the laughter, to see the smiles, to feel the hugs. So to my friends that I know are suffering right now, I hope that you find your goal and your fuel.

Evie's Nana

Dear Readers Evie and I are very lucky ladies. Not only do we have an awesome Gramper/Dad but we have two Grandmas/Moms. I am currently living with my Dad and stepMom (who I call my Mom too), Evie's Gramper and Grammy. I haven't written much about my Mom, Evie's Nana, til now. My Mom is quite a lady, she has many amazing accomplishments under her belt, number one being me, of course, just kidding! Just in the last few years she has graduated with her bachelor's degree and started her doctorate! All that while waiting for and now recovering from hip replacement surgery. Truly, my Mom is incredible! But the thing I want to focus on today is my Mom's crafty side. Check out what Evie got from her Nana!






The outfit definetly looks better on Evie than me...



Yup, my Mom crotched the hat, sweater and booties, in like 3 days! It is an awesome ensemble, and I will cherish it forever. Thanks Mom!