Miller's 1st Christmas

So I have been absent for a few weeks. We were quite busy when we were in Knoxville so I never had a chance to post. Here is a little recap of Christmas.

The few days leading up until Christmas Eve, we spent visiting family. Here we are at my dads house the night of the 23rd. Miller has discovered his hands so they are always in his mouth.


For a couple of months, I have mentioned to Ben that I wanted to save up for a nice DSLR camera. I obviously love taking pictures of my kid and have always been wanting better quality and control. I started researching and have been prepping myself for when I could finally get one. So while we were in town, I played with my sisters a lot on the days leading up until Christmas. Here we are visiting with my grandparents at my dads house.

Someone was really tired!

After Mass on Christmas Eve at my Grandma and Grandpas.

Christmas morning- We did not actually open presents that morning but I had to get a picture of him (so yes this is staged).

We went to visit mom at work Christmas Day. After this was taken, he ate and then spit up all over himself. I was disappointed that he messed up his Christmas outfit so I went to dads and washed it.

We headed to my dads house where we ate, then opened up presents. We got a video camera from my parents, which I was in denial about needing but am so glad we have it. Miller got camo overalls and a onesie for when he goes fishing with my dad (at that will be the only place he wears it) and a Smokey pillow pet which I have been dying to get for him.

Our family sugar cookies. They are fat because for some odd reason they spread while they baked ( I am kind of bitter about this because I know how to bake them correctly and did everything like I always do).

We setup a little shoot of Miller. I had to wait to do it in Knoxville to use my sisters camera.

He now loves sleeping in this blanket from Ikea. We think he feels like he is being cuddled without burning up.

Yes, he thinks he is cool with that hairstyle.

December 26th, we did Christmas morning with mom, and Ally. We all have matching pjs (except Ally because she grew out of hers).

Miller got some more argyle socks, an interactive stuffed puppy, some other clothes, some puzzles, books, stuffed Wizard of Oz characters, and a new sleepsack. I tried to get all his presents in the picture but some are missing.

Ben got a new cordless drill, and a sweater. And what did I get? A NEW CAMERA!!! Ben surprised me and him and mom got me the camera I wanted, a bag, and a lens. I am so in love with it! Everyone was laughing at me all Christmas day playing with my sisters when they knew I was getting my own. You will see a definite improvement in the quality of my pictures now (and probably a lot more since I love playing with it).

I am going to post about the other things we did over the holidays soon (mom's birthday, seeing family, New Years Eve, my birthday).

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.