24 turned into 26....

On Friday, December 28th , Brian and I went to our "24 week" check-up. However, we were actually into our 26th week of pregnancy (can you believe it???). Our original appointment was scheduled for December 19th but had to be rescheduled due to a last minute Christmas trip to New York.

I tried to tell the lady on the phone when I rescheduled that the baby was fine and I was fine and we could just wait till the 28 week check-up, but she said we had to come in.

Just as I predicted though, the baby is perfect and so am I - all checks in the urine were negative - the weight gain is "wonderful" (per our midwife). I have still only gained 2 pounds past my pre-pregnancy weight. She explained that because there is not significant weight gain, I can blame the not-so-attractive red marks that are appearing on my belly, on my mother - gotta love genetics!!! I have trying to find something to blame on her, especially since she never had an ounce of morning sickness! :)

My blood pressure is wonderful, 100 over 62 and the little ones heart is beating steadily at 138 beats per minute. She is still kicking and punching steadily too. She is moving around so much, I can actually watch my belly shake sometimes.

During this visit, Brian and I were able to get more acclimated to the midwifery center. I am sure, since all our appointments will be there from now on, it will help us to feel more comfortable for when d-day finally arrives. Every time we go there and see the midwives, I am more and more excited about our decision to labor and deliver there. I pray everyday that delivery in the center is part of God's plan as well.

Not only did we see the doctor on Friday, but we also put together Sierra's bed (for at least the next 2 years). :) We were abundantly blessed this Christmas and by the loving graciousness of my parents, we received many gifts, including our lot of nursery furniture. We received from my parents - a crib, a changing table, and a glider with ottoman. The changing table and glider are still on order, but the crib arrived and we had a fun time putting it together and thinking forward to all the moments our future children will have snoozing in this bed.

Thanks for all your prayers for our continued healthy and happy pregnancy.

Here are some pictures of the new crib and us putting it together.
Mannix wanted to help daddy take it out of the box (or most likely just wanted to eat the cardboard - he is our "cardboard-eating kitty")Brian was smart and carried all the pieces up the stairs, instead of carrying the whole box!

Step 1 - Read the directions!

Step 2 - Let the pregnant wife help! :)

Step 3 - Let the cat "supervise" and inform him several times that this is NOT a new bed for him! :)
Step 4 - Assemble!

Step 5 - ENJOY! (or in our case, sit back and wait for the baby to arrive, so she can enjoy!)

THANKS MOM & DAD STANK - WE LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!! And we know Sierra (and all your future "Miller grand kids") will love the crib!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! (one hour early) :)

It sure is a happy new year's eve for us! We finally got an Internet connection at our new home today! We moved on the 15th (more on that in another post) and have been without Internet and cable since then. Today a very nice man came and fixed the problem - problem was, it was never turned on in the first place. We are thankful that it is finally on! :)

I can't believe it is almost 2008 - Time seems to fly by faster and faster each year. Brian and I hope and pray that all of you have a wonderful and blessed new year!

Lots of love to all!

Here are pictures of my New Years Eve Party guests....(Needless to say, I don't think they are going to make it to midnight) :) Guess I will have to wait till morning to get my New Year kisses from Brian when he gets home! :)

Happy Birthday Pierce!

Not only was Jesus' birthday yesterday, but my precious nephew Pierce Clark Arnold celebrated his first birthday on December 24th! What an exciting time! He has brought so much joy to all of us over the past year. Brian and I thank God each and every day for this precious little angel. I simply can't remember what life was like before this ray of sunshine came into the world. I never thought you could love something so much, so quickly! It is amazing to me!

Click Here to check out my sister Katie's blog and the picture slide show she created to commemorate Pierce's first year of life!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Merry Christmas to all!
Brian and Karen (& Sierra - 25 weeks pregnant) - Christmas Eve 2007

Brian and I pray that each of you will experience the true joy of Christmas this year - Christ's birth - God's magnificent Grace!

And that you and your families will receive God's abundant blessings into 2008

Life is hard...

Moving and packing can take a lot out of you....

...especially when you are a cat!

Packing up & Moving out

On the agenda for today / this weekend...

• Write 1 final Research paper for New Testament Class
  
• Perfect 1 final Research paper for Western Civilization Class (Paper is already written - Thank God!)
  
• Write a discussion board post for New Testament Class
• Work on New Testament Study Guide for Final Exam (on Tuesday)
  
• Prepare for Western Civilization Final Exam (on Monday)
• Pack up entire condo in preparation of our move - TOMORROW!
• Say a prayer that my professors will be in good Christmas spirits when they grade my final papers
  
• Stop for a moment to think!
• Stop blogging - procrastination gets me nowhere!!!

With papers and finals, our move and new home, heading to Rochester, NY (the snow capital of the world) next week (which we just decided this morning), and then Christmas - I am apologizing in advance if we are MIA for a little while.

Love and Blessings to all!

Christmas Cards

One of my favorite things this time of year is sending and receiving Christmas cards. I just love Christmas cards!!! I love the ability to use "snail mail" to send greetings to all the many special people in our lives. This year Brian and I sent out around 150 Christmas cards. I love knowing that so many people have touched our lives, loved us, prayed for us, and at Christmas we can bless them in return with a small token of a Christmas card.
Brian had gotten the mail when he got home from work at 6:30 am this morning, so when I woke up there was a pile of about 8 cards that he had opened and left for me on top of my computer. As I looked through each one I smiled and said a prayer for each sender as I also reflected on what that person or family meant to Brian and I.

I LOVE CHRISTMAS CARDS!!! Although email, blogs, and the Internet take up most of our communication skills each year, I am thankful that I still have "snail mail" to send and receive cards each December.

Now if only I could get those wedding thank you notes finished too... :)

One year ago tonight....

I became the luckiest girl in the whole world!


How amazing it is that so much can happen in one year!
One year ago (at about 7:45pm) tonight, Brian Miller got down on one knee (in the Yankee Candle Store parking lot) :) and asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I could not be more blessed than I am at this moment right now.

The past year has been filled with so many amazing blessings and Brian and I are so thankful to our Father in Heaven who continues to love us and bless us!

Here is the "official" story from our wedding web page about how it happened...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WHEN WE GOT ENGAGED

December 12, 2006

HOW IT HAPPENED

Brian and Karen were living / dating long distance (what else is new, seems like their whole life has been long distance!) :) Williamsburg, VA is just about half way between Suffolk and Mechanicsville, so on December 12th Karen and Brian had made plans to meet up and do some Christmas shopping together.

Karen arrived at 7:30pm and met Brian in the Yankee Candle Store parking lot. Karen was anxious to go into the store and Brian seemed to be stalling a bit. Brian told Karen he had bought a gift for her that he wanted her to keep and save for the time when they started planning their wedding (knowing that someday they would eventually be engaged). He pulled a "wedding planner" out of his truck and handed it to her. Karen was excited, thanked Brian and put it in her car, turning again to head into the store (this girl wanted to shop)!!! Brian said, "I got you a card also" and he handed her a pretty red envelope. Karen opened her car door and set the card inside and turned to see Brian's face looking very disappointed that she hadn't opened it. Brian said "I want you to open it now." So she opened the car door (again - getting a little impatient), with her back to Brian as she was using the car interior light she read the card. The front of the card said, "Together" and inside it said "Our Journey Continues" She turned around to say thank you and tell him how much she loved the card and she found Brian kneeling down on one knee with a beautiful ring in his hand.

Karen quickly gasped and said "are you kidding me"? Then Brian said a whole bunch of stuff that Karen didn't even hear because she was in shock and freaking out! She did hear him say though, "I will love you forever and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, so, will you marry me?" Karen shouted, "yes, of course" and gave him a huge hug!

That was just the beginning of their happily ever after.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Girly Girl

Most people that know me well, know that the last thing I ever wanted to do growing up was wear a dress and be prissy. I was one who would much rather have been on the soccer field, the basketball court, building a fort, or swimming in the pool, than playing dress-up and doing prissy girl stuff.

As I grew older, I always thought that God would bless me with little boys as a mother, because for me to raise a little girl would almost be a disservice to that child. I thought God and I had a pact and He would grow 4 boys in my womb (one at a time of course) and then on child number five, I would have a girl. Well, as you all know, I am carrying a little girl in my tummy right now, so it turns out, those were just my worldly ideals - God had other plans!

I have spent the past 3 weeks, since we found out we were having a girl, making sure EVERYONE that loves me knows that this child will NOT be inundated with outfits that are covered in the color pink, she will not wear frilly, lacey, gaudy dresses - with dreadful bows, and most certainly she will NEVER wear those stupid headbands around her head - if she doesn't have much hair, people can ask and I will tell them that she is a girl!!!! Don't get me wrong, if my child decides (when she is older) that she wants to go to dance lessons or gymnastics, I will let her try it -but you won't find me waiting in line to sign her up for ballet lessons as soon as she is able to walk!!!

I will admit though, the "girly-girl" inside of me has shown its face a bit lately. While walking through Kohl's the other evening, I saw this dress and I just couldn't get over how stinkin' cute it is. I can just picture our little girl wearing it with white stockings and black dress shoes. (oh, no! I just said stockings and dress shoes - I think I am turning into a monster!!!)Of course my husband doesn't like it - but can you blame him, he married me, the least "girly-girl" of the bunch. He feels the same way I do about frill and lace. However, maybe it is because I have a little girl growing inside me, but I seriously think I will buy this dress if there are any left after Christmas (of course I need to get it on sale! Let's not go crazy folks, if I am going to branch out and buy a dress, I certainly am not going to pay full price for it!) I know that she won't be able to wear it this year, but I can get a size 9 months and hope that she fits into it next Christmas. :) But if they sell out, I will take it as a sign straight from God above! :)

Moral of this blog = Tomboys can have daughters that own at least 1 dress!

Neat

This video is very cool - check it out and I hope everyone has a wonderfully blessed Thursday!!!

Christmas Lights

It is no secret that a favorite past time of mine is to help my parents set up Christmas lights at their home. This year is no different and because Brian and I were in Richmond this past weekend for my friend's baby shower, we were able to help out. Although it was cold and there was a strange occurrence of all the lights we plugged in, only half the strand would work, we got it done! It looks so great!

Each year we seem to add another fun display to our already huge display of lights. This year we added a 6 foot spiral tree, a choo-choo train, and 3 lit gift boxes. It looks AWESOME!

Unfortunately, we were working so hard all day on Saturday, I didn't get any pictures of me, Mom, Brian, or Dad in action. I did take a few pictures on Sunday night, however it was raining so I only took pictures from the front porch looking out and the pictures aren't the best. They will have to do though until I can get some more next time we are there.

Merry Christmas lights to all of you!!!

Matt & Steph's Shower

On Sunday I was blessed to be able to attend a baby shower in honor of my friend Matt Johnson and his wife Stephanie. Matt is a very dear friend of mine and was my late husband Daniel's best friend. He met Stephanie shortly before Daniel passed away, married her the weekend before Brian and I got married and now they are expecting their first child - a little boy - on January 14th. I love them both dearly and their friendship is so precious to me. I can't wait to meet their little boy and I am excited that our little one will only be about 3 months younger! Please keep them in your prayers as they head into the last few weeks of pregnancy.

Here are a few pictures from the shower:

Mike Moved!

My little brother decided that his time in Northern Virginia was done - Stick a fork in it! He picked up and moved to Raleigh, NC. Here, he not only scored a great job, but an even better girl! :)

This past Friday I was able to travel with my mom (while Brian slept the day away in Richmond - after working all night) to help with the move and unpacking. His new place is really nice and this is the first time he has "been on his own", meaning no roommates!

Unfortunately, Blakely, his great girl that I spoke of, was unable to be there on Friday. She was very excitedly finishing her last few hours of her medical rotations. We are so very excited for her as she will graduate from ECU with her degree as a Physician Assistant on December 15th.

Here are some pictures of the new place that I snapped on Friday:






































































Mike and Dad were exhausted after unloading the moving truck up at least 4 flights of stairs