My poor daughter, Molly

Like I said before, it seems to be one thing after the other - Molly has bronchitis. She always seems to be more prone to getting sick and Lord knows we've seen our share of doctors since she was born! Having asthma doesn't help her at all - poor baby. The bad news is that she's back on all kinds of medication, which we hate - she has only been using her nebulizer on an as needed basis and now she's back to 2/day with one medication and every 4-6 hours for another .. she's also on Singulair and she's being treated for pneumonia because the chances of her bronchitis turning into something worse is pretty good .. we have a followup appointment with her pulmonologist next month and 2 days after that, we see her ENT - we've been seeing him every 8 weeks since summer. We thought that Molly might have to have tubes put in her ears, but after our last appointment, he said something about her adenoids coming out - needless to say, we're ready for answers and obviously, just want to do what's best for her :) We've been using this time to research our options and we'll know more when we see him again. Until then, we work on getting Molly better and getting her breathing under control ..

My poor daughter, Abby

For those of you that don't know, Abby has walking pneumonia :(  I think I mentioned in my last post that it's always seems to be something with these girls and this week, it was Abby's turn. What I didn't know, was that we'd be going to the DR the next morning and getting this diagnosis. My poor daughter looks terrible, she can't stop coughing (no meds allowed for that) and I think she's slept maybe 10 hours in the past 2 nights, maybe. To her, the worst part about being sick is that she's going to miss her costume parade and field trip to the pumpkin patch at school tomorrow - this is something she's been looking forward to for weeks! She keeps asking me "am I still sick" and knowing how people get sick, she has placed all of the blame on a girl in her class - ha! She said and I quote "I know who did this to me. It was ----- .. I know that because there was a time she should have washed her hands and she didn't" Ahhhh, kids. I wish it were that easy, this is the first case of walking pneumonia in Abby's school so I'm pretty sure it didn't come from one of the kids there. What Abby doesn't know is that her Nana is coming by tomorrow morning with a basket of goodies for her - she thought it would help soften the blow about not being able to go to school. So sweet.


I am praying for a quick recovery and crossing my fingers that it doesn't get passed to anyone else in our household. I think if I spray any more of our stuff with Lysol, we're going to become immune to it! Ha!

Had a bad day, taking one down, sing a sad song just to turn it around

Why is it that every good day seems to be followed by a bad one? Yesterday was a really nice day - the sun was shining, our kids behaved, Jamie and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary - we saw a movie, went out to a nice dinner and made it home with just enough time to see The Next Iron Chef :) I woke up this morning expecting my luck to continue - I was wrong. For those of you that I'm close to, you know that I have been struggling with a couple of things emotionally - neither one of the things I am going through has been easy and to be perfectly honest with you all, my heart feels like it's breaking ..  I am so sad about some of the changes in my life and I really don't know what to do about them from here. I pray I will find my answers, I need them! It also doesn't help that my girls were off today and it just seemed to be one thing after the other, you mothers know what I'm talking about! Ha! Not to mention, we Millers can't seem to shake being sick - well, minus the boys. (knock wood) The girls and I have been passing one thing or the other to each other for the past 3 weeks and this week, it's Abby's turn. She started with a cough this morning, but my mid afternoon, she seemed to shake it. After Jamie and David left for scouts, I took the girls to Publix - bad idea! Abby started a coughing fit that was so bad, she puked down an entire aisle and then, once she stopped, she peed all over  the floor - ughh. I honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry! Poor thing has been coughing/puking since 7:30pm!? About 30 minutes ago, we took her out of her bed - no sense in keeping Molly up too. Yep, that's right - Molly has been wide awake for 2 hours watching us shuffle in and out of their bedroom! Last we checked, she was jumping up and down, making sounds like a monkey :) I think I'm in for a LONG day tomorrow!  I wonder what kind of day follows a bad one?

Each day of our lives we make deposits in the memory banks of our children -Charles Swindoll

It's funny to see and hear the things your kids pick up on - especially when it's something you have said or done! Usually, my description of something, anything is "stinkin' cute" - this applies to the way Abby has fixed her hair or the way David looks in his baseball uniform .. sometimes, it's the smile Molly gives us, it really could be anything. Anyway, yesterday morning, Abby came into the kitchen, completely dressed - a task she did all on her own. She was quite proud of herself and while it was something I wouldn't have picked out for her (she matched, but it was a "winter" outfit), I let her wear it .. she stood, staring at me with her big, blue eyes and said "Mommy, I look stink today, don't I" Ha! Ha! I laughed and laughed! Throughout most of the day, anything she saw was "stink this" or stink that" - it didn't matter that she didn't have the saying quite right, it was her way of remembering what I said .. she warms my heart :)


On another note, Molly and I participated in a trial class at The Little Gym this morning and after warming up to it, she loved it!! She got to play on a balance beam, mats of all different shapes, colors and sizes, she sang songs, played with bubbles, and much more! What's even better is that Ellery is in the same class - how fun! I think from now on, Molly will be going every Thursday - it's something all for her and it's a great way to spend one on one time :) Thanks to Christy for inviting us along!!


I've gotta brag on David - he got an "A" on his book project!!!! Not just an "A", he got a 100% on it!!!! He had to read a book that was at least 200 pages, write a summary on it and then make something creative that showed what the book was about - he chose to read Judy Moody Becomes Famous and he made a t-shirt, it really was cute!  We had a conference with Mrs Frantz last week - she likes to keep parents informed about whats going on at school and she had nothing but great things to say about David! He's above average in reading AND in math and he's doing great in all of his other subjects! We are so proud of him!!

Keeping up with the Millers ..

Just to bring everyone up to speed ...


David - turning 10 years old (wow! time flies!) in January and loves just about everything he's ever been introduced to! Right now, he's into baseball, Cub Scouts, chorus, and pretty much anything that requires him to be outdoors .. he loves school (always has) and this year has proven to be somewhat of a challenge to him which is exactly what he needed - his teacher is awesome and does nothing but praise him and encourage him to "take it to the next level", we love that! David's a thinker, he questions the logistics of how something works, pretty much always - there isn't anything he doesn't like learning about. Although we would say he's "all boy", he does have such a sweet side to him, especially when it comes to his 2 younger sisters ..  we are so proud of how well rounded he is and for doing so well in everything he does! 


Abby - she's full of spunk, we've said that about her since she was a baby. She's been planning her 4th birthday since January and has decided she wants to get "make up" aka makeover at the mall , then she wants to buy a new princess dress, see a movie, eat lunch, get new shoes, play with Sarah and finish the day at Chuck E Cheese!! We can't promise all of those things to her, but we'll definitely try :) She started preschool this year, 2 days a week - Tuesdays and Thursdays and she absolutely loves it! She's been making new friends although she is starting to notice differences between herself and her peers .. on Tuesdays, she takes a ballet/tap class which is offered through her school and she loves that too! Come to think of it, there's not much she doesn't like - she's very much the "girly girl" although she's also not afraid to get dirty! Everyday, it's something new with her and like many kids her age, she likes pushing our buttons to see what she can and can't get away with .. we have fun (and a lot of laughs!) just watching her!  


Molly - the baby of the family, just turned 2. She's a bit of a challenge for us and has been since the day she arrived!! Molly's probably our most lovable child and isn't stingy when it comes to giving up hugs and kisses :) Of course, she's like that when she wants to be!  She's 2 and with that also comes hitting, screaming, biting, tantrums, Independence, etc .. in June, she was diagnosed with excessive receptive/expressive language delay which simply means she doesn't communicate the way other kids her age do. Since then, she's been working with an in-home speech therapist - Molly adores her and just after a few weeks, she started making progress! She's still got quite a ways to go, but we know she'll get there - just takes time, not to mention patience. We do a lot of communication through sign language - we introduced that to her when she was a baby and now she picks it up so quickly! Molly loves everything about the world she's in, especially animals. Live ones, stuffed ones, she doesn't care :) She's a bit of a daddy's girl (always has been) and her daddy loves it .. she loves being outside and right now, she can't seem to get enough of "ba-ba" aka Barney. Molly's definitely our loudest child, but we like all the craziness she gives us - sometimes :) Ha!  


Jamie & Emily - we're busy parents!!!! Next weekend, we will be celebrating our 6 year anniversary and we have yet to decide how we should spend the day?! It'll be great just hanging out together - those times are far, few and in between these days! Ha! Jamie is still a general manager at Chili's and though he probably averages 55 hours/week, he really does like what he does. Eventually, he'd like to get into a new store - usually though, a GM stays put for 3-5 years ..  as for me, I graduated in May and took the fall semester off to figure out exactly what I want to do with my degree - I am an education major and will be starting classes in January. Still not 100% on what I'll do, but I do know that whatever it is, it will involve education .. I am also working part time scoring FCAT (practice) essays - I love it. I am involved with the parent board at Abby's school and I'm on the PTA board at David's school .. I am also part of a MOPS group (mothers of preschoolers) which has turned out to be a great outlet and out of it, I have met a lot of new people and have made some great friends :) Jamie and I teach 1st grade Sunday school at our church - it took some getting used to, but we really like it. We hardly get any free time, but when we do, we like spending time in the yard, visiting museums, hiking, bike riding, and this season, we're hooked on The Next Iron Chef - we pretty much love everything on Food Network! For us, life right now is about our kids - we often have to remind each other of that when we've run out of energy before the week is up! Everything we do and every decision we make involves them - we want to be good parents, our kids mean the world to us and we want to make sure they know that!