Are we there yet? Part 1

The answer is NO! I feel like we have been in the process of moving for almost three months now. I guess we kinda have been. Allen had SOS training in Alabama and we try to make a little vacation into most of his TDY's that are towards the south to see family and friends so we decided we would go with him to this one. We would only be back in Montana for three week before moving all of our stuff to Dayton Ohio so we decided VERY last minute that we would go ahead and move out of our house and then get BAH while on vacation to help with the cost of traveling. This involved putting half of our stuff in storage in Montana while we took the other half in a trailer to Allen's parents house in Arkansas. It was sorta a mess and we always do our own moves and I try to be very organized so that when people come and help they don't have to kill themselves while helping us. Well, this was not the case. All of our stuff was together but Allen's tools and the basement was not cleaned or packed. I was just overwhelmed and everyone was great about it but I felt horrible that it took so long and it was very hard work getting all the tools and wood upstairs. I can never repay all the people that helped us get out of that house. It's amazing what you can accumulate in four years at one place. We finally got it all together and left on our crazy trip. You would think we were trying to hit every state in the US during this trip but I promise that was not the case. After a LOT of car trouble we made it to St. Louis and dropped the girls off with Allen's parents and after a very loud flight thanks to Isaac we made it to New York, New York to see some of our friends from Oklahoma Christian. Everyone is getting up from their naps so this will have to be continued later. I know you just can't wait! LOL!

Hair cut on a budget

I have been trying to stay on our track with our budget this year. It is hard because we have a plan to get out of debt and it leaves very little for anything extra. Allen has always said he would cut the kids hair and I always said no because I had a cousin cut my hair when I was little and I ended up with a bowl cut that was less then flattering on me. Well, Desperate times call for desperate measures and Devin ended up in our kitchen with Allen cutting her hair. It looked a little scary in the beginning but Allen ended up doing a great job. The only issue was Devin moved her head once and Allen cut some of her bangs that I wanted to grow out but what are you going to do? Allen favorite motto that night was "The difference in a good or bad haircut is five days". lol! It looks fine and it was FREE! Her she is.....

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines day! Allen and I had our valentines day on Friday so not much is happening today since Allen is at work right now. He should get tomorrow off though so that is good news.
So a lot has happened since I last posted so I will start playing catch up now. haha! We found out that Allen made it into a program were he will be getting his masters in logistics. This is what we were praying for so we are very excited it worked out. We will be moving to Dayton Ohio in early August. It is an 18 month program and we think we will be heading to Alabama after that but that could change very easily. Dayton seems like a nice place. There a lot of little towns around it so it seems likely we will live on one of those small towns. They have an amazing children's museum and lots of fun stuff. It will still be pretty cold there but hopefully not as cold as Montana. :) I really have liked Montana and the church here but I am very excited for something new.
Since Isaac was about three months old he stopped gaining weight and always acted hungry and fussy even though he seemed to eat all the time but they told us his weight was just slowing down and since he was so big to begin with not to worry about it. We didn't until he was six months and I noticed when he was laying in my lap crying that he looked like he was tongue tied. I looked it up and everything seemed to fit because he was always hungry and babies that are tongue tied have trouble nursing because they have to work so hard to stay latched. HIs sixth month appt was in a couple days of that so we just waited to see his weight and if the doctor thought it was a problem. His weight was 2 ounces less then he was at 4 months so I was upset about that. The doctor said he was tongue tied but that they wouldn't do anything until it caused a problem and she didn't think his weight was a problem. Anyway, I thought it was a problem so I tried to get a referral to a lactation consultant but the lady I talked to wanted to give it another month and if he hadn't gained weight by then she would give me the referral. I talked to Allen that night and he said that would not work so he called and 30 minutes after he called we had a referral and an appt for an ENT the next week. Go figure? We saw the ENT and he set up a surgery for the next week to get under his tongue clipped. I was glad it was getting done but they would have to put him under so that was pretty scary. We had to have him at the surgery center really early and he was not able to eat so that was hard because Allen had to hold him and he was just reaching for me and crying for about 45 minutes until they took him. I tried not to but I cried as soon as he was gone. Luckily the time he left until we were holding him again was 30 minutes. He nursed right away and did great. We were very blessed to have two nurses from our church be with him. One was with him the entire time and one was just there for recovery. They cradled him and sang him bible class songs as he woke up. I could not ask for much more then that. They are amazing.
He seems to be gaining weight and is so much happier then he was. I am so happy that we got it done. We go into the clinic next week for a weight check and I think it will be good. He is still in 3-6 month clothes. Today during lunch he had some 3-6 month pants on and they just fell right off because he is so skinny. haha! I have some really cute 6-9 month stuff I am wanting to put on him but it is still pretty big. I know he will out grow it all before I can believe it.
This has gotten really long so I will update more soon. Here are some picture of the kids for you!

I know....I know....

So I am aware that it has been almost two months since I posted and I don't really know why except that my life might just be that boring. When Isaac was a month old Allen's parents came from Arkansas to see us and stayed for about a week. It was a good visit and we stayed pretty busy. We were able to take a day trip to Glacier National park which was nice for everyone. I spent a lot of the time in the car feeding Isaac while everyone else went looking around. They left in the morning and my family came the same evening. My sister made it with her two kids and my mom and dad. It was very chaotic with five kids age three and under but it was so much fun. We took a camper to Glacier park and camped for two nights. The kids did very well. The second night Isaac had a lot of trouble getting comfortable and was awake a lot of the night but ended up finally relaxing and we were able to get some sleep. The rest of their trip was so fast and I couldn't tell you where the days went. I was so great having family come and visit us and we miss them a lot. We are now trying to get back in a routine which is kind of exciting. Devin will be starting preschool in early September and is so excited about that. It will be really good for her and I can't wait for all the stories she will tell about her day. It is just two days a week for two and a half hours so hopefully I won't miss her too much. Isabel has started talking a lot better since Isaac was born. She has another speech therapy session this week so we will see if she has to go back anymore after that. She is such a sweet big sister and gets so upset if I leave a blanket on the floor and will follow me saying "Isaac's blanky" until I take it from her and wrap Isaac up in it. She is always wanting to help which is nice. Isaac is getting so big! He is starting to look less like a newborn which makes me sad but I am also excited for him to start playing with things and smiling even more. He is so much fun just to look at. It's just so exciting to watch your kids grow and just to imagine all the blessings that God has in store for them. Well, I better get back to my day. I'll update some more soon.

My due date!

Today is my due date for Isaac. I can't believe he is already a week old. He is doing so well. He had a very rough first couple days before my milk came in and after his circumcision but is feeling much better now. He is always smirking and smiling. I know they are not real smiles yet but it makes me smile every time he does it. 

In honor of my due date I thought I would post Isaac's birth story. We left church and went to Dairy Queen and had dinner and some ice cream. By this time the contractions were coming every 5-6 minutes  but still not very strong. We headed home and put the girls to bed and hung out watching some TV while timing the contractions. We timed them for a few hours and they stayed consistent but the contractions were getting a little more intense so we called the girls babysitter and she came over at 1:00 in the morning to stay with the girls. We headed to the hospital and they got me checked in and we found out that I was still dilated to a 5 so they had us walk for an hour and then checked again and I was now a 6 so they admitted me. The nurse that checked me said that it didn't feel like head when she checked me like it did the first time so she got the ultrasound machine out and looked and he was head down but she thought his hand might be on his head which would make it hard for me to dilate but she couldn't tell for sure. They got me in a room and I labored for a few hours and I was only at a 7 by then so they said they would break my water and everything would probably go fast after that. My midwife came in to break my water but checked me first and she thought that she felt bone instead of his head so they got the ultrasound machine in there and checked sure enough his hand was on his head so that was what was causing everything to slow down. She told me that she could not break my water with his hand there and if he wouldn't move his hand I would have to have a c-section. I of course was very upset and started saying lots of prayers that he would move his hand. They had me walk for awhile while I waited for the doctor on call to come in and see if she could move the hand manually but right before she came in the nurse checked me and said she didn't feel the hand there anymore so the doctor came in really quick and broke my water before the baby had a chance to move his hand back. After they broke my water things were still going slow until all the sudden I felt the baby move and then felt a pop and a lot of pain. Then my labor kicked into full gear I quickly decided I wanted a epidural. I was an 8 at this point and the nurse came in to do my epidural and I felt a little better but still felt a lot of pain in my right hip. About 30 minutes after this I was complete and ready to push. I pushed once and got his head out and then pushed again but his shoulders were a little stuck so they had to lay me all the way back and push my knees into my chest. His shoulders came out and I got to hold him right away.He was born at 11:35am July the 2nd.  He was lifting his head and rolling around while on my chest so it was hard to hold him while I was laying down. They took him and had to suction him out and give him some oxygen but other then that he was doing good. They kept saying how big he was but he looked so small to me but they brought in the scale and he was 9 lbs. 6 oz.! I couldn't believe how big he was. He looked so much like his big sister Devin. He is just perfect and loves to eat. I'm sorry this is so long but it was a long 12 hours. lol! 

Welcome baby Isaac!

Isaac Allen Miller was born July 2nd at 11:35am. He weighed in at 9 pounds 6 ounces and was 21.75 inches long. It was a long and interesting birth that had a few bumps in the road but it all worked out and he made it here safe and sounds which is all I can ask for. I will update with the whole labor story but right now I need to feed our baby boy. Here is a picture of our new addition. 

10 days!

The midwife did say that she didn't think I would make it that long but so far we have nothing consistent as far as contractions and my water hasn't broke so I am at least hoping it is at least a couple days after my due date if I do make it that long. I have an appt. on Thursday so we will see. My midwife should be back now so that is awesome that she should be at the birth with no problem now. I of course have heard lots of stories about how fast moms go after already being dilated to a 5 so that makes me a little nervous but it should be fine as long as we don't hang around here for to long. I am trying to keep the house together so that I don't feel the need to speed clean once everything starts happening but that is easier said then done with two toddlers. lol! I do realize that the baby will not care how clean the house is when he comes home but it does make me feel a lot better when everything is in order. We do cloth diapers with Isabel and will also be doing them with this baby most the time and I got all of his diapers washed and ready today so that is a good feeling even though he probably won't be big enough to use them right away. Other then that we are washing sheets and mopping the floors today. I know this is all very exciting but that is my life right now. Sorry. lol!

As far as the half marathon goes I obviously have not started training yet but we did go to the relay for life and walked a lot so thats a start. Hopefully we will be able to start training soon. Well, I better get everyone some lunch. I will update soon.