Caleb Photo Shoot

Well, we were going to pay for a photo shoot for Caleb's one month pictures and then decided to just give it a try one night. We are pretty happy with the results! Here are a few of the pictures that we took. Enjoy!

Russ' two favorite things....

So, I asked Russ to watch the baby while a got a few things done around the house....and I came into the guest room (which was also his office for the month of September) and this is what I found. Who knew a guitar case would make such a comfortable place to sit :)

First REAL smiles :)

Well, it's hard to believe that one month has already passed since Caleb was born. Everyone always says that they change so much so fast- and it's true!! Yesterday he had his first real smiles. It was the highlight of my day and I pretty much sent the picture out to practically everyone. It's kinda fuzzy because I took it with my phone, but it'll do :) As far as stats- um, we think he's around 11 pounds now...that's pretty much all the stats we have. At his last appt. at 2 weeks, he was in the 50th percentile for height and 75th for weight....or the other way around. Seriously, I don't know how all of you moms keep track of this! Anyway, enjoy the picture...it makes me smile :)

The Story of Caleb's Birth...

So, many of you have been asking me about how my labor went, so I thought I would post the details for ya'll!

On Tuesday, September 9th, we went for a walk on the beach with my parents, hoping to go into labor on my own (after being overdue by 2 days). I was told earlier that morning that my actual date for being induced would be that Friday (yuck!). In addition to walking, I had plans to drink Castor Oil, which I did after lunch that day. All I got was a bad case of the runs. Gross, I know. After lunch, I decided to take a nap. I woke up from my nap with what I thought might be a contraction. I said to my mom- "Hmm, I think I just had a contraction...but I don't know". Then, nothing for about an hour. So, I decided that it couldn't have been a contraction and that I imagined it...or that I was still cramping from the after effects of the Castor Oil.

Minutes later I had a contraction that felt like period cramps. I told my mom and she wrote it down so we could possibly time them. Then, about 3 minutes later I had another one. Then another 3 minutes later another. In denial that this was the real deal, I decided that I would text Russ and just let him know that he should maybe come home soon from his meeting. For the next half hour or so my contractions were about 1-2 minutes apart. At that point, Russ still hadn't responded to my text, so I called him and told him to get home ASAP so he could take me and my parents to the hospital.

The car ride to downtown was loooooong. The contractions continued to be 1-2 minutes apart yet I still did not believe that I was really in labor. It just didn't seem like it was "textbook". I even told Russ not to call anyone else yet because I was sure that this was false labor.

When I got to the hospital, my mom stayed with me while the men parked the car. I got to the triage room (spelling???) and they checked me and I was dialated to a 4. I remember thinking then, "well, I guess this is labor". 10 minutes later they checked again and I was dialated to an 8. At this point they asked me if I wanted an epidural. DUH!!!! YESSSSSSSS!!!! So they rushed me up to the delivery room and promptly gave me the good drugs. :)

From there I dialated back down to a 6 and things slowed down significantly. A hour or so later (or maybe more...I don't know!) we decided that it was time to start pushing. My mom, Russ' mom, Jen, Rachel, and Russ were my moral support. They fed me ice chips, held my limp legs, took pictures, and managed to help flip me over onto all fours when my heart rate and Caleb's heart rate plummeted drastically. I still don't know how they did that. I remember panic setting in once they strapped the oxygen on and then I felt myself losing consciousness. Scary stuff. Apparently though, getting on all fours works. Our heart rates got back on track and we got back to business. Unfortunately, Caleb didn't want to come out. The doctor started using words like C-section and vacuum. We tried the vacuum and after 3 tries, Caleb finally took his first breath of fresh air!

Every day I think back to where we were a year ago at this time. We were hopeless and had given up. We were told we had a 3% chance of having children of our own naturally and after a couple of years of trying and after countless doctor appts. at the fertility clinic, we took a break from it all only to find out on New Year's day that we were pregnant with our miracle child.

God is good.

Every day we thank him for our little Caleb, our little miracle.

Caleb Pics

birthday eve....

this is one of my favorite pictures... taken the night before the birthday.

don't tell amy I posted this one, otherwise she will get that same look in her eye. :)

Introducing...

Caleb Russell Miller

the stats: 8 lb, 12oz, 19 1/2 " long

What a gift from God!

Self Punishment

notice: for best viewing results place left ear on left shoulder...

2 weeks to go....YIKES!!!

It's hard to believe that we only have 2 weeks left. Today we are working on the nursery some more so hopefully we will get it done before Caleb arrives and then we can post some pictures of our hard work (or should I say Russ' hard work).

Also, here is a lovely picture of the ever expanding belly. I can't believe how much Caleb has grown just in the last few weeks! This little guy sure is active too- I think he's gonna be a soccer player :)

Well, that's all for now. We will do our best to keep you updated on Caleb's arrival.

Till then...

moving sched.!

Hey everyone...

here's the plan,

loading at 6pm at my parents house on Friday!!! (bonfire shortly thereafter???)

unloading at 10am at our new home on Saturday!!! (the beach isn't too far away if you want to make a day out of Holland)

also... if you're interested in throwing paint on the walls, the only day I will be working on it will be thursday... any help is welcome, but we will still be friends if you have something better to do! : )

just give me a call for directions...

thanks ya'll...

rm

We're Moving!! Finally!!!

Hi all! Sorry it's been a while since we've posted. We've been playing the waiting game with our lives...waiting for the baby to get here already...waiting for my grad classes to finish (3 weeks!)...waiting for our house to close...

Hopefully on Tuesday we will be in our new home. Unfortunately, I will be leaving for WI on Tuesday as well, so that leaves Russ with all the work! So, I am calling all troops to come to help paint and move. Russ will be painting and staining Tuesday evening, Wed. evening, and Thursday evening from about 6-9. Friday evening we need Rockford peeps to help pack up our loot over at the Miller's house in Rockford. Saturday, we are calling on all Holland peeps to join in the effort and help unload the uhaul in the morning at our new place. If anyone can help, please call Russ. I feel terrible that I can't be there...but someone has to open the presents at our baby shower in WI, right? ;)

Here are a couple pix that I took of the house during inspections. Not the best shots, but I'll post more once we get moved in.

30 Weeks!

Yesterday we were privileged to have another ultrasound, since Caleb was so shy at our first. However, he once again was quite shy. It took about 45 minutes to get these shots and they still aren't the greatest. So, let's see how good you are at finding the baby in the picture :)

And here's everyone's favorite...Amy's expanding belly bump (yikes).

Day 11

Well... we're back, safe and sound, and on the ground... i don't think we even took 1 picture of our trip home....so here's the last of the pics... thank you rhianon and heath so much for being our tour guides... we had a blast!

day 10

Day 9

Guam 7 & 8

On Saturday, we swam a little and snorkeled a little. When we got back, we got ready for the wedding of a co-worker of Rhianon's. It was a HUGE wedding! Beautiful too and good food.

On Sunday, the family had plans to go snorkeling at GabGab, but we locked the keys in the truck (oops)... So we went to the pool instead. Once the spare keys arrived, we went to GabGab and snorkeled, swam, bbq'd and played a while. Then we got ready for another family dinner at Pedo and Flo's house (neighbors and "adopted family" of Rhianon and Heath).

Day 6 in Guam

On this day, we toured the southern tip of Guam and learned a little bit about the culture. We also went to our first "family dinner". We all had a great time!

day 4

refrigerator down!

Days 4 and 5 in Guam

Day 3 in paradise!