I love New Jersey...?

I haven't always loved New Jersey. Especially when it comes to cars breaking down in New Jersey. A few years ago our van broke down and the shop that eventually fixed it hosed us. Fast forward to yesterday. We began the crazy Christmas driving loop that takes us from Massachusetts to North Carolina to Ohio and then back to Massachusetts again. We were making good time on the New Jersey turnpike when the grinding sound that had been intermittent became unavoidable. We pulled off to a gas station and Jack poked around unsuccessfully. Since it was about 4:40 pm, I suggested we try to get to a service station before it closed at 5. After getting directions, we drove the relatively short, but harrowing (because of the awful sound) distance to the service station. This is the part of the story when a reader might expect me to lament the deplorable treatment by the service station employees upon us, the weary, stranded, vulnerable travelers. But, no. I have only praises to sing! Not only did the mechanic look at our van immediately, but he located the necessary part and fixed the van immediately. We barely had time to eat dinner before the wonderful mechanic picked us up at the restaurant at which we were eating. I hugged him. It was unbelievable. I had begun thinking about how it was going to be to spend the night in New Jersey. As it turned out, we were back on the road in less than 2 hours after initially pulling off the road. Jack and I could only be grateful as we pulled back on to the highway at about 6:15. And we weren't even overcharged. Providential, me thinks.

Annie skiing

The day of our family Christmas was idyllic in Massachusetts. There was a light snow falling all day. The perfect day to get outside. And since we were having Christmas that day, we hadn't made any other plans to either leave the house or to work at the house. Jack worked on the hockey rink and the boys started piling up snow for a snow cave. Annie skied. She and I did a few laps in the front yard, with her skiing in my tracks. She did great, balancing well and seeming to get the idea of which ski needed to move at a certain time in order to both move along and not fall. We have a very slight incline in the front yard and Annie could see me moving in a way that seemed different and faster than the shuffling she was doing behind me. After observing this a few times, Annie stopped and asked, "Mom, how do I go?" Enough of this shuffling business, I want to ski!

Family Christmas

Since we do some crazy traveling at Christmas to visit our families in North Carolina and Ohio, we have celebrated our family Christmas early the past few years. Here are a few pictures of the kids showing off their new duds, toys and gear. It was a fun day.

Annie practices writing

I'm so grateful for the sweet way that Annie plays while I'm doing school with the boys in the mornings. Sometimes she wants to sit at the table and do school with her boys. On the occasion this picture was taken, I had dotted out the letters for Annie's name and she traced them. I am the proud Mama of the 2 year, 9 month old little girl that traced these letters so well.

"All the Way Bigger"

For some time Annie has been talking about being "all the way bigger". When she says it it sounds more like "all-a way bigger". When she reaches a milestone like being able to wear underwear at night, she will declare that she must be all-a way bigger. Or if she's looking ahead to some far-into-the-future event, like when she will learn to like soup, she will say, "I will eat soup when I'm all-a way bigger". Last night, after a very unsatisfying night of sleep when I labored to turn my pregnant self from one side to the other trying unsuccessfully to find a comfortable position, it occurred to me that, at 33 weeks into my pregnancy, I am the one who is all-a way bigger! I continue to be grateful for a healthy pregnancy and a very active little girl who each day is getting bigger and stronger and more ready to enter the world.

Merry Christmas!

Corban - 5 1/2, Annie - 2 1/2, Jakin - 7 1/2

31 weeks

Here's the most recent picture of our growing little girl. Generally, I still feel good. My most pressing complaints, if they can even be called complaints, are: 1.) That I'm at the stage of pregnancy when my pants are always falling down. Whenever I bend over to pick something up (and in a family with 3 children, that happens a lot) my pants sort of roll down, requiring me to hike them back up. 2.) That I grow weary of people's comments about how big I am. "You look great!" sounds much better to a woman in her third trimester than "Are you sure there aren't twins in there?" or "Still two more months?!" But, the baby is healthy. That's the important thing. And I'm healthy and, incidently, I'm measuring exactly where I should be at this time (not that I'm defensive or anything). As for timing, right now I'm consumed with Christmas preparations. When January begins, I'll be in my last month. That's when I'll start preparing for our baby's arrival. So, while I'm not quite ready for the baby to be born, I'll be ready anytime to not be pregnant anymore!

Stitches

On Friday, November 21, Corban was running in our house. He tripped and cracked his head on a wooden toy shelf. He and his dad were soon off to the hospital (like Ski Equipment, Emergency Room Visits also fall to Jack in the Miller household). Corban was very brave and came home with 4 stitches in his head. Forty-eight hours later, Jack was back in the emergency room with Jakin who cracked his head while playing at a friend's house. Jakin came home with two stitches above his left eye. Both boys in stitches at the same time. Poor Corban. The boy can't even get stitches without his older brother butting in and claiming some of the attention for himself! Jack was gratified to have the clearance (sort of, but that was all the clearance he needed) to remove the stitches himself and both boys are healing nicely.