Merry Christmas from The Trustys'!!

Merry Christmas!! This time last year, we were praying our hearts out that God would finally bless us with a baby and just a few weeks later we got pregnant. I keep going back to this time last year and how desperate we were and now how blessed we have become. Even though Miller will have no idea what is going on, we are still so excited to have him to spend the holidays with this year. Maybe God will answer our prayers this year in a few weeks. We hope everyone out there is having a blessed and happy holiday!

Miller Week 8

This was a busy week. Ben was out of town for 3 days. My mom was here for 4 days. Did all of our Christmas baking. Miller had his two month appointment with his first set of shots. Friday I got sick and had an urgent trip to the clinic at Walgreens. All this and I am pretty sure Miller had a growth spurt which meant more work in feedings and interesting sleeping patterns.

Here are some pictures from last Sunday when we were trying to clean the house. Miller was helping daddy.

How do you unwind from a long day of cleaning......by watching a movie. Miller was watching "Home Alone" with us.

This is how he fell asleep on Ben that night.

Miller helping Ninny and I make buckeyes.

This was Miller right after his shots. He was fine once we got him in the car and he slept. Oddly enough, he was in a great mood for the rest of the day.

He loves to watch this thing on mom's phone where a Jello cube dances to music. He is mesmerized. I have a video of this and he is trying to grab it.

As I said above, I got sick and I am on some antiobiotics and the pharmacists advised me to not nurse him for two hours after I took the meds. So I fed him when I got home, pumped and Ben fed him his last bottle for the night. I always said I wanted Ben to do a bottle with him everyday but have yet to do it so this was the first time Ben has gotten to feed him.

I did a gift exchange with some friends and this is what Miller got from my friend Amy. She crocheted it herself and it is gorgeous! Miller got all snuggly when I covered him up in it.

I have heard of people bathing with their children as a bonding thing, so I took a bath with Miller last weekend. Also, I do not want him to be afraid or hate the water (like his dad) if I can help it. He was pretty good for a bit. On Sunday while Ben was taking a shower, we threw Miller in with him since it was his bath night anyways. He actually liked the water going over his head, he just does not like being cold.

Drying off post- bath.

We are headed to Knoxville this week so I am sure my next posts will be mostly Christmas related.

Miller: Month Two

Miller had his 2 month appointment so it is perfect time for his update with his stats. The numbers in parantheses is from birth.

Weight: 12lbs 12oz (+4lbs 10oz)

Height: 23.25in (+1.75in)

Head: 17in (+2in)

Sleep: He is still a good boy with sleep. Normally goes to bed about midnight, sleeps for 5-6 hours, eats, sleeps for another 2-3 hours, eats, sleeps for another 2 hours. During the day he takes some short naps in between feedings.

Eating: When I was back in Knoxville, sometimes he was eating every hour and a half. They were not even good feedings. I got so frustrated. When we came home I started trying to space out his feedings to every 2.5-3 hours. This has been a lifesaver!!! I am able to figure out better what he needs because I know when it is hunger or he is tired. I have had a hard time with feeling out of control and like I can not communicate with him. Now that this eating thing has been working out, I feel much more in control and saner.

Best Moment: Since we have got the fussiness in control, he can be so smiley. There are so many moments in the day when he just lays there cooing and smiling. It makes everything in the world better in my opinion.

Milestones: He is so strong! I have had to adjust the position I feed him in because he was was trying to stand up every time. Also, he definitely recognizes our faces and voices. He was following my voice around the room at Ben's Christmas party last week.

Monthly Wisdom: As I said above, I have been stressed out with his lack of schedule. I have heard different thing about the pros and cons of schedules but I was just craving a routine. The past few weeks have really shown me the pros of having a routine but not having a set schedule. I have the flexibility to adjust feedings and naps around what we need to do, but have some predictability to rely on and read him by.

Goals for the Upcoming Month: Since it is the new year, we have quite a few "resolutions". I told Ben I was giving us one more month of being in newborn mode before we started to get back to normal life. Plus, there was no point in establishing routines that we will never be able to keep up while we are in Knoxville for Christmas. Here are the goals we will start in January.

1) Work on Miller sleeping in his crib.
2) Miller do a bottle with Ben every night.
3) Mommy get an hour of alone time every night.
4) Start our babysitting exchanges with our friends Heather and Steve.


Like I said, Miller's 2 month appointment was today. He had 5 shots (ouch!!) but the nurse was so fast. He was so happy during most of the appointment, cried for the shots but was calm once we got in the car and started driving. He slept for two hours, ate and was surprisingly so happy when he woke up. See his bandaids on his legs.

Miller Week 7

Here are some pics from our past week.

Miller kept pulling my robe over his face more. It was so cute!

I put him down so I could shower. I thought I could trick him by laying him on the Boppy and a pillow but he was not fooled for long.

Miller in his leg warmers mommy made him.

We went out Wednesday night to run some Christmas errands. He was so good for the most part. This was the only time he fussed and it was because we had to put him back in his carrier after we ate dinner. I love his mad face!

Here is Miller and I at Ben's office for his Christmas party.

My boys!

Friday morning, I watched my friend Heather's little girl, Isla. I have a picture of them from 6 weeks ago like this. I will be showing them off at their wedding.

Miller was giving me some good smiles.

His outfit on Saturday- tie dye and argyle. Very trendy!

Look for his 2nd month update in the next couple of days.

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

As I mentioned last week, last Monday was Ben's 30th birthday. We got to celebrate with our family in Knoxville but we did not want to leave out our friends here in Atlanta. We went out on Friday with our friends. From left circling the table, Julie, David, Heather, Steve, Lindsey, Lance, Isla, me and Miller was in his carrier at the end. Oddly enough, the birthday boy took the picture.


I am trying to balance (not very well) December with trying to get everyday stuff done with an infant but wanting to do seasonal stuff because it is his first Christmas. We are still trying to get our house in shape from having a baby, then still unpacking from when I was in TN for two weeks, putting out Christmas decor, and majorly need to clean.

We found time to run down to the town square in Roswell to see the newly lit Christmas tree (we missed the actual lighting part). Miller loved the tree!



Sunday night we went with Lindsey, Lance, Jaimelynn and Cliff to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens to see the holiday light show. Miller slept through half of it but seemed to like what he was awake for. It did the job to get me in the actual holiday spirit because I was just not feeling it all up until this past weekend.


We came home on Sunday night and Miller was in a good mood, so I laid him under our Christmas tree. He normally loves lights and this was no exception. This is honestly the best present I could ever ask for under our tree last year. In fact, that is all I wanted last year and I got it a few weeks later so I am hoping that what I want this year happens the same way.

Miller's Baptism

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we had Miller baptized. We figured it would be good timing because family could come to town for this and Ben's 30th birthday on Monday.

Here is Miller being held by his godmother/aunt Katie (my cousin).

Fr Michael asked my cousin Bridget to help out.

Miller intently listened to Fr Michael

We have this picture from our wedding (well minus Miller).

Us and the godparents. From left to right, Mitchell (my cousin who was standing in for the godfather, my cousin Nolan), Miller, Ben, me, Katie, Liz (Ben's sister) and Fr Michael.

Us and my grandparents. Mammaw and Pappaw on the left, and Grandma and Grandpa on the right.

Us and Miller's grandparents. Ben's mom, stepmom Bobbie, Miller, Ben, my dad, Ben's dad and my mom.

Miller and his Poppi

Miller's cousin Annemarie loves him.

Ben's birthday cake. Yes the candles do not correlate to his age but just looked good.

Ben opening his presents. It is a US Forest hat from my aunt and uncle (a forester).

Miller and my uncle Craig (technically his grand godfather).

He wore a christening gown that was in Ben's family for the baptism and wore this gorgeous romper for the party. It was given to us but a dear friend.

Fantasy of Trees Friday

Fridays after Thanksgiving we go to Fantasy of Trees with my family. It is a Christmas thing downtown that benefits the Childrens Hospital. It is one of my favorite days of the year and kicks off the holiday season.

Miller all dressed up to see Santa. Trying to make a good first impression.

Santa loved him and he slept right through it. So glad to not have one of those screaming kids but mom assured me that will be next year.

We always decorate cookies and Miller "helped" this year.

Ben always gets his face painted.

They have ornaments that you decorate with your thumbprint. I have one for the last 24 years. Here we are doing Miller's first.

And finally we rode the carousel.....kind of.

That night we decided to go to tree lighting downtown with my mom, aunt Tine, uncle Bob, cousin Ally, aunt Jennifer, uncle Mark, cousins Natalie and Bridget, and Ben's friend Daniel and his fiancee Lisa.

This is not for Fantasy of Trees but I wanted to share them. Miller went out with Ben and his family on Saturday so mommy could get ready by herself for the big Baptism and birthday party that day (post to follow soon).

On Sunday we went to brunch with Ben's family. This is Daniel, Ben's best friend, and his fiancee Lisa.

The whole gang (and the waitress took a blurry pic).

Annemarie loves her cousin Miller.

We went to my grandparents house and look how cute Miller is and Pappaw holding his hands.