New Things

I have to tell a couple of the cute things that Johanna has been saying lately.
If you ask her if she wants something, she'll say "yeah, sure."

She is all about saying things like "cookie an juice too" or "wead tar book nex" which translates to "read star book next."

She also is really into doing things "again"- this is probably her favorite word.

She loves to play hide and seek. She has about three spots where she always hides.

She is counting by herself to five, and can sing the ABC's if you help her out a little. She also can do pretty much all of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

My two favorites are...

When she drops somethings or messes something up she says, "oh man!"

When Brian (who tends to have a bit of road rage) honks the horn at someone, our little backseat driver promptly says "Come on dude! Go!"

Yikes!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

Cheers to another year of blessings which you all will get to hear about in ridiculous detail :)

Christmas with Rachel's Family

Christmas tends to be such a busy time of year. Brian and I are very thankful to be living close to both our families. However, this also tend to make the holidays a but crazy. Thankfully my family decided to go Christmas on Dec. 22 this year. It was nice to not feel rushed.

Brian and I hosted this year which was really nice.

So, here's the pics....

Sierra got Johanna this adorable little fish which Johanna loves. She sleeps with it every night. It is her "sish."


Raquel opened presents from Mawgaw and Papi (my parents) with James

Johanna got a baby doll from Gaga and Bapi (my parents)

Sarah liked her movie, and Sierra lived to help everyone open their presents!
After all the gift opening, we were exhausted. So, James took a nap while Raquel sang him songs.
We ate TONS of food. It actually makes me sick just to think about it. It was all very tasty. I just can't wait to eat some salad and carrots after all the junk I have eaten.

The girls then entertained us with some music.

It was a great evening.

BTW- Did I mention how much Johanna LOVES Bapi?

Update bananza!

Merry Christmas to all! So, I guess I am a day late, but you shall get over it. Christmas was fun, special, exhausting, and sickening all at the same time. My whole side of the family (including Johanna) got sick before or on Christmas. It made for some interesting times. You should read the poem my brother-in-law wrote about the drive home from Michigan on my sister's blog (Dewald family blog on sidebar). Before I can do the Christmas blog, I must do a brief update.

What have the Miller's been up to-

We've gotten haircuts



Played in our skivies



Gone Black Friday Shopping


Taken baths


Played Dress-up



and decorated for Christmas


Hope you all had a GREAT holiday! We will post Christmas photos soon!

I'm so hood

I have to admit that one of my students said the title of this post while in class today. She was being funny since the thought of someone being "so hood" where I teach is pretty hilarious. Although, there is a pretty big population who thinks they are "so hood."

Anyway, here is Johanna doing her version of being "so hood."

She's got her tunes.

Let's not forget the hat. She's even got the shiner under her right eye.

Here's the "so hood" nod

What about the backwards hat..

And last but not least, the hat pulled down over one eye.


Now you can all go to sleep feeling safe since this little "hoodlum" is in bed and safely off the streets.

Fall Festivties

I can't believe that it is almost Thanksgiving!! I have to admit that I am excited. I LOVE to celebrate the holidays with loved ones, and I LOVE to go shopping the day after Thanksgiving. Yes, I am insane. It has been a family tradition since I was little, and I look forward to it every year. I am sure that I will once again document the event and share some highlights with you. I think that Brian and I want to get Johanna one of the most popular toys of the year, so I might be one of those moms clawing her way towards a coveted gift. We'll see!

Since I am home taking care of Johanna, I actually have some time to post :) Thank heaven for naps!

Overall we are doing well. Brian's hours got changed around at work which is kind of hard, but at least he still has a full-time job- no complaining here. My job is going well....enough about that.

Johanna is as fun as ever. I have decided that this is the most fun age thus far. She is so communicative. She is speaking in pretty consistent 3 word sentences which is absolutely adorable. She LOVES to play, and generally just enjoys life. What is there to feel down about when you are not even 2 yet?! Here are some recent pictures-

This is Johanna playing in the leaves while daddy is raking.She really did have a blast, even though she doesn't look exactly thrilled in the pictures. She would ride on the tarp with all the leaves every time Brian had to take a trip to the front. It was so cute!


The rest are just general pictures of her around the house. The one of her in the bathroom shows her carrying around her basket of buckeyes that she just loves to play with. Yes, I know they are poisonous. No, I do not let her eat them....duh. She is not in the least but interested in putting them in her mouth.
I think she is eating something in this picture, but I just love how it shows some of her curls!
Last but not least, here is some bedhead for you. AT least she finally has enough hair to have bedhead! Yes, those are teeth marks on the side of her crib. Those are all thanks to her teething days. How good that must have felt!

Awkward moments..

I have something to admit dear old blog.......I have been avoiding you. Life has been a bit crazy and the thought of writing it down was seriously overwhelming. So, we shall keep it lite!

Brian, Johanna, and I are all doing great. Things have been super busy, but good. Jo got over the chicken pox just fine. School is going ok- never a dull moment.

Trick-or-treat was great! We went twice- once at a church and once at my great grandma's nursing home. Johanna LOVED it! We are still working through her candy. She asks for candy about a million times a day, but she only gets one to two pieces a day (and not every day). She would walk right up to each person and say "ta-tweat" which was her version of "trick or treat!". She went as this...... THE CUTEST PENGUIN EVER!!!

We also had a blast at the zoo last month. We went with my good friend Beth and her son.

It is hard to believe that Johanna is going to be two before I know it. Some of her favorite things lately include- elmo, jay jay the jet plane, counting, singing, and playing ring around the rosie with her stuffed animals. She is talking in more and more sentences. The other day she put a dime on a pillow and told brian that "money's tired too" She often tries to tell people to "go in there" or that it's "mommy's turn" for something. She loves to talk. Hmmmm..... I wonder where she gets it from!

I hope that everyone is well. I am glad that I got a second to update.

Note to blog- I promise that I will no longer cheat on you by only updating my school webpages or checking facebook.

I am still alive....I think!

It is hard to believe how long it has been since I posted! Yikes! Teaching keeps me more than busy. If I calculate all the time I spend actually teaching, grading papers, and writing and designing lessons, then I am working 60+ hours a week. I keep reminding myself that I get a few days off for holidays, spring break, and then SUMMER! Then, I was reminded of the fact that I have to start taking classes for my Masters Degree over the summer. Plus, teachers don't get done until after the kids, and I will have to start getting my room ready for the year at the beginning of August. I also have some professional development seminars that I need to go to over the summer. So, I guess I might get about a week off! Urgh!

Enough complaining for now!

Johanna is doing well. She is talking sooooooo much. We still don't have our computer back from Worst Buy, uh, I mean Best Buy. I have some really cute pictures and videos to post. She LOVES playing with some old stuffed animals from when I was little. She puts diapers on them and treats them like babies. She puts them in the high chair to feed them, and she even shares her snacks and drinks with them. She loves to listen to "Songs, songs" which is what she calls music. She has always been a dancer, but now she dances with her stuffed animals. It is sooooooo cute!

About a week ago, she found my beloved stuffed peguin, Pete, which I got when I was four. He was definitely my security blanket while growing up. Ok, ok, I'll admit that he slept on my bed until I got married. Pretty embarrassing, but I guess we all have small ways of haning onto the good parts of our childhood. I have been saving him to give to her when she gets older. But, she found him in our bedroom. It was while I was at work, but Brian was still home with her. I got a text from Brian showing Pete with a diaper on! She has been attached to "penin" ever since. It is so special to see her love something that was so special to me.

Fun recent events-

• I took Johanna to the zoo with my friend Beth and her son Hunter. We had a blast! Johanna loved all the animals, especially the "penins."
• Johanna pooped on the potty for the first time on Sunday Oct. 5 (this is mostly for my own personal recording of important dates, so I apologize if this grosses you out!). We celebrated and gave her candy. We aren't really potty training, but we are fostering her own interest. Since Sunday, she has not even been to interested in even sitting on the potty. However, I think this might be due to the next tidbit....
• Johanna has the chicken pox! Yup, I missed most of the day on Friday and have been a hermit ever since. We have gotten out for a few walks and to go through the drive through at the bank. She seems to be doing ok so far. Please pray that she doesn't get worse.

I think that is all the main stuff so now. I wish that I could load some pics, but you will have to wait until we get our computer back (that story will be a whole other post).

I hope that everyone is doing well, and that my readers stick with me even though I am gone more than I used to be.

Things to look forward to seeing on this blog...

• Johanna's haloween costume
• Trip to Ramsier Farms (did I spell that right)- if you are from Woo, you probably know what this is. Ya know, that HUGE place with the corn maze and lots of fun stuff!
• All the pictures that you have been missing since we don't have a computer!!!
• Christmas Ideas Blog
• Freezer Meal book idea- need some comments when I do this one!

Jam Session

I don't have the pictures to prove it yet, but Johanna loves to have jam sessions. She LOVES to play the piano. We sit together and I play and sing while she plays along. Her favorite is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I'll play and sing the melody while she just plays along. When I get to the end of the song she always says...."Gin" which stands for "again." We usually repeat this routine about 5 times during our jam sessions.

What some of you may not know is that I also have played violin forever. I started in fourth grade and played throughout high school. I even played for some musicals during high school. I played in the pit orchestra for My Fair Lady and Brigadoon. After high school I played for a local community theater and even taught some lessons when Brian and I moved to Kansas. The sad part is that I haven't played much at all over the past five or six years.

One day during our jam session, I got my violin out. I think this might be the first time that I really played with Johanna. She wasn't sure what to think. I think she kind of liked when I played Twinkle Twinkle, but I have to admit that I have DEFINITELY lost my touch. I started trying to play the Mozart song that we had to play for senior year auditions. Johanna stopped playing the piano, looked over at me, and started saying "No, No!" I stopped and asked, "Do you want mommy to stop playing?" She just replied "OK" which is her way of saying "YES, PLEASE SAVE MY EARS."

I guess this mean that I shouldn't quit my day job.

Birthday's and M&M's

One of Johanna's friends, Lindley, has her second birthday party today. The theme was M&M' s since that is Lindley's favorite candy. My friend Bri (Lindley's mom) did a great job with the party. There was lots of great food and plenty of chocolate!

They played one game where the kids got to fish M&M's out of a kiddy pool (minus the water) and put them into colored bags to take home along with their new M&M watch. I was helping Johanna from behind. I got two little scoops into her bag and I turned her around to move out of the way for other kids. When she turned I realized that she took FULL advantage of me not being able to see her face. She had completely stuffed her face full of M&M's. She had chocolate running down her chin and onto her outfit. She's my kind of a girl!!

I still just can't believe that she's old enough to go and play at a birthday party.
Here's a few pic that I took as we were getting ready for the party-


The following picture were taken on random days. The first is of her watching her favorite movie (Nemo) while holding her beloved Pooh.

Freezer Fabulous

I just have to share something that has been such a HUGE blessing in my life since school started. I have been doing freezer meals with three other girlfriends with families. It has been SO AMAZING! What a huge help with dinner every night.
Here's the lo-down:
We each make five meals and one dessert. The catch is that we make four of each recipe (one for ourselves and one for each other person). The meals all go in the freezer. Then, one day toward the end of the month we all meet up or coordinate schedules to trade meals. Thus, we end up with twenty dinners and four desserts. All I have to do is decide what we will want for dinner the next night and put it in the fridge to start thawing. By the time I get home from work the next day, all I do is pop it in the oven and viola......dinner!

It is sort of labor intensive when you are preparing your part of the meals. But, the end result is more then worth it. I can do up to three recipes (four of each recipe) in one day if I am home for a Saturday. I then do a recipe here and there when I have time until my recipes are done. I usually only spend about a total of four days working on my meals. After trading, I end up with a months worth of NO COOKING! The other great part is that it saves lots of money.

Maybe some day soon I will share what our September menu looked like! If any of you are interested in more details or recipes that work well, please feel free to let me know.

Mrs. Miller

Hello and welcome back to the world of Mrs. Miller. I have been called Mrs. Miller more in the past three weeks than the past three months combined. Yes, school is back in session. The room is decorated, the air is hot, and the kids are wound-up- that is August for ya. It was almost 90 degrees in my room today. That mixed with a bunch of seventh graders is a recipe for a crazy day.

I am enjoying my new job. It definitely has been a HUGE adjustment. It is still hard to leave Johanna, but she seems to be enjoying herself at the babysitters. It still is hard to not be with her all day, but we will all manage to make it through.

I am slowly finding my routine in my own classroom, which is good. The staff there is amazing, so I consider myself very lucky.

We had a three day weekend for Labor Day, and I was able to visit my best friend Meredith in Boston. It was a FABULOUS weekend. I saw a lot of the sights, but I also enjoyed just getting to spend time together. We did lots of things that I love. We did the tourist thing, shopped (we even found her wedding dress!), drank martinis, talked, ate too much, watched a girly movie, sang karaoke, slept in, hung out with other friends, and even had some time to exercise. It was a whirlwind trip since I was only gone for three days, but it was a great break. Both Mere and I had to go back to work on Tuesday, so it was nice to have someone to dread the next day with on Monday.

Brian and Johanna came to pick me up at the airport. I did really miss my family, so it was good to see them.

Tomorrow begins the annual big to-do here in Wooster. That's right, it's the beginning of the good old Wayne County Fair. I am sure those of you from around here have plenty of fond memories that involve hanging out at the fair. Don't ask me why we thought this was so cool. I still enjoy going a few times to get some good food. Ummmm....cheese on a stick is like food for my thighs and soul. I also enjoy doing some people watching and wondering where all the really big freaks come from. Do they really all live around here?

Here are some pics of Johanna to help appease the angry blog viewers!

The following pictures confirm that Johanna is a shoe lover- just like her mommy! She LOVES to try on shoes. She will walk around in my shoes for hours if I let her. There are also some pics of her putting on my clothes. This is another one of her favorite hobbies. The last pic is of her and her bff Katelyn. They decided to climb in the toy chest, even though Johanna knows that she is not supposed too. Johanna looks like she knows she is about to get into trouble for this!

Not to be a downer....

I don't mean to be a downer (well, kinda), but here is why I have been absent from more frequent witty, humorous, or cute blogs-

1. Our good family friend went to be with the Lord this past Saturday morning after courageously battleing cancer. Please remember his family (wife and three kids- two with spouses).
2. My computer is STILL not back from bestbuy, so I STILL don't have a way to upload pics. I don't want to inundate my dad's laptop with all my photos, which is what I am using right now (thanks dad!)
3. I started teaching this week
4. I am not feeling witty, humorous, or cute

I will try to work on #4, but don't have much control over #'s 1-3.

Here's to hoping for more cute pics of Johanna soon!!! However, I will settle for not being eaten alive by a seventh grader and getting more than 5 hours of sleep.

ugh...

It stinks to not post for awhile and then be all full of sad news. Things in the Miller house have been off cilter and CRAZY! I am finishing up freezer meals for september, and the girls and I are going to swap at the end of the month. It will be FABULOUS when all is said and done. I'll have a total of about 20 meals and 4 dessets. YAY! It is a crazy couple of days of cooking, but it is MORE than worth it!

Johanna is ok. She has been struggling with some health problems that we can't quite put our finger on. She goes back to the doctor on Wednesday morning. If you think of her, we would appreciate your prayers.

Speaking of prayers- Awhile back I mentioned this about friends of the family. Well, the cancer is back and agressive. The doctors said there are no more treatment options. Uncle Tom is home and deteriorating quickly. It is very difficult and sad for my family, but I cannot even imagine what his family is feeling. I don't know what all of your individual beliefs may be, but I ask that you please pray for him and his family (wife and three kids). I don't want to give out too much information, but I don't think that I need to. Even if you do not know the people and the needs specifically, God does.

My laptop is in the shop, so I don't have access to my pictures. I will try to post some new stuff soon- including some cute new pictures of Johanna putting my clothes on! She even got a pair of my underwear out of the hamper and put them on. It was kinda gross, but very funny!

I go back to work tomorrow (trainings this week and school starts next week). Quite a busy time!

One more thing- HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG!! This blog turned one recently. I will give an appropriate birthday post soon- I promise! Thanks for being with me throughout the past year. I hope you stick around for awhile :)

Too soon

I am getting ready to start the school year again soon. Only this time, I will have my own classroom for the first time. I am super excited, scared, nervous, and many other adjectives that elude me right now. I have SOOOO much to do to prepare- room prep, lesson plans, curriculum development, etc. At the same time I am trying to deal with the loss of the priveldge of staying home with Johanna full-time. It has been a fabulous summer full of fun times together. We've had play-dates, swimming fun, story-time, lunches out, and lots more. It has been a blast. I've really enjoyed having time to cook dinner and just be mom. I am sure that my perspective on staying home was slightly skewed by the fact that I knew I would be going back to work in August. I am sure that it gave me a little more patience to know that my stay-home mama days were numbered.

On the other hand, I couldn't ask for a better career as a mom. I get home early and have quite a few holidays. I love teaching. I know that this is what the Lord has planned for me during this season of my life. He worked everything out. He provided a job and childcare in a way which left no doubt about His hand and blessing in the matter. This being said, it doesn't make going back any easier.

Isn't it ironic that us moms are always our harshest critics. I have been able to see things from both perspectives. As a stay-at-home mom it was a struggle to not feel like everything always had to be perfect. If the laundry wasn't done, the house not clean, or dinner not cooked- it was difficult to not feel guilty. When I am at home I feel like I should cook or bake the cake no matter how crazy the day was or how tired I am. However, when I am working I have absolutely no guilt about ordering that pizza or getting someone else to make the birthday cake. When I am working, every second that I have at home gets spent on the floor or on the ground playing with Johanna. When I am working I can ignore dirty floors and a huge pile of laundry and not feel as guilty about it.

I guess it's all about the expectations we put on ourselves. After being on both sides, I just believe that us moms should support each other and not be too critical. We never know the struggle or the reasons that someone else does what they do. And we all always have our harshest critic staring right back at us every morning. I think one of those is enough.

18 months

Johanna is not officially 18 months old until Saturday, but we had her check-up a week ago. I just can't believe that she is growing so fast. It is happy and sad to look at her and realize that she is a little girl now, no longer a baby. She says well over 100 words and will string them together into 2 and 3 word sentences. She is all about her stuffed animals and her purses (an actual purse or any bag with a strap). She is such a girl! She will throw her purse over her shoulder and walk to the door saying "bye-bye" or "shopping." I claim absolutely no responsibility for this behavior! She also loves to tuck in her animals and dolls for bed. She puts them in her chair and covers them up with a pillow. It is so cute!

She has recently shown some interest in the tv which started with daddy showing her part of Finding Nemo. She now regularly comes downstairs, points at the tv and says, "memo, shish pease" which is her slang for "nemo fish please!" She also likes to watch Elmo's world (part of sesame street).

She has become very interested in gum. She likes to sneak into the drawer where we keep it and steal some. I'll give her little pieces to try. She tries so hard to chew it, but ends up swallowing it within a few minutes. She tries to pry her hand into the mouth of others who are chewing gum so she can "see, see" what they are doing with it.

Recent stats-
Head circumference- I totally forget at this moment, but I remember that she was in the 70th percentile

Weight- 26 lbs 11 oz 80th percentile

Height- 34 1/2 inches - way off the charts!


She is sooooo tall for her age! When she plays with other kids her age, she dwarfs them! The doctor says that she is the perfect weight for her height and that everything else looks great! We still have some struggles with skin rashes, but I think it is getting better as she gets older.

It has been a GREAT 18 months, and I can't wait to see what the future holds.