Making a House Our Home

Whew! What a busy weekend we had.

We decided to close-up the Miller Dance Studio (but it was fun while it lasted!) and get new couches. I'm pretty much exactly like that book "When You Give a Mouse a Cookie" when it comes to home furnishings.

It started when I got some new picture ledges at Ikea while we were in California, seems simple enough.. throw some shelves up on the wall. Well.... I liked the ledges so much, it made me realize I may need a new couch. Then I got a new couch which made me realize I needed a new rug (for my birthday, of course) so I ordered that, but then I realized my new rug wasn't going to go with my old kitchen and that it needed some revamping as well. Well I started

switching my curtains out and realized I may need new (or re-done, in this case) kitchen chairs... and that's where I am now. (That was basically a Saturday-Monday play-by-play) Nothing is quite ready to post here yet, it's still a bit of a work in progress (a very fabulous work in progress), but what I can show here is my bedroom that has a very similar story.

Just a few short weeks ago, someone was getting rid of some very old, very not-cute dressers. "I'll take 'em!" I blurted out before I even knew what hit me. The very old, very not-cute dressers were delivered and I wondered if we could really pull it off. We started painting them and they looked so fabulous I realized they wouldn't match my then very bland room, and you can probably see where this is going...

Before I knew it, I had a brand new bedroom, all of my own creation. (and a LOT of help from that darling Mr. of mine) with spending pretty much... nothin'. (Because I'm actually not a millionaire. Weird, I know.)

and Voila!

(I was obviously excited to take "after" pics because I didn't even worry about putting the rest of the laundry away...)

This week I've got re-decorating on my mind! I am consumed with color schemes and DIY ideas and re-doing my entire house ON A BUDGET. (Did I mention I'm not a millionaire?) It's 2012 and I'm determined to make our house our HOME.
Can it be done? Stay tuned.
Until then, I'll show you what we've gotten done so far. Tomorrow, the dressers!

Am I losing it?

Yesterday was a full day.

It was busy and eventful and it was good. What is that they say about idol hands? I believe it. We tried to get out of the house by 10:45am (I hate to admit this is a painfully difficult task) to make it to the library by 11, but didn't get out of the house til about 5 after 11 and decided to start our errands by a quick visit to Daddy. Then we had a girl's lunch and headed to the craft store for our upcoming Valentines crafts. Our carpets were being cleaned and we had some time to kill before going back home so we stopped to grab a diet coke and a chocolate chip cookie. (Diet coke for me, cookie for them.. just to be clear) We headed back for naptime that was already delayed. I got Stella settled in and started meeting Harlo's afternoon requests. I wearily sat down in my computer chair and thought to myself, am I losing it? I felt exhausted from my busy morning. I started in on my too often rant, thinking how I should really be doing more, and do other people have this hard of a time? And my laundry pile is never ending.. how can I not keep up? But those thoughts of self destruction were cut short by Harlo needing to go potty, which then lead to the bathroom being cleaned and after that, the dog needed to be let out and Harlo's snack request being filled and I had to pick out my date night outfit and then it was time for her to get ready for dance class.

As I was kneeling down helping her into her tights, she says to me "Mom, I think I love Stella. She never even cries anymore, and she's so cute." and in that moment I paused from my busy day and realized how dang cute my three-year-old girl is. How quickly she is growing.

We were running a little late, but I didn't care. I had to get my camera and attempt to freeze this time.

After just a few minutes Stella was up and that meant I needed to hustle to get to dance class on time. As soon as I picked her up from her crib she wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her little head on my face. I didn't care how much of a hurry we were in, I needed to savor this time, too. The embrace fell what seemed too quickly but Stella had so much to tell me and a lot of silly energy to get out. While we drove to dance class, just seconds to spare, I realized... I may be losing it, and maybe it's hard for me to get out of the house by 11, and to run more than three errands with two toddlers, and be on time for dance class even once, but I am enjoying the hell out of it, and something tells me that's more important.

Date Night

What to do for my date tonight with Mr. Miller? Sushi? A movie? A nap? All equally tempting options.

There's something about my mother-in-law calling me to say "hey! Our Wednesday's free, want to bring the girls over so you guys can go out?" that sounds exactly like "Hello, Mrs. Miller? We just drew your name out of a rolling ball and you just won $10,000!" Lucky me. Lucky, lucky me.
And don't get me wrong, I love spending time with our little babes and eating dinner together as a family, but there's nothing like a date to make me remember, "oh.. hello. I know you, you're not just the biological father of my children.. you're that guy I fell in love with 5 years ago." (although, it must be said, being the biological father of my children is Mr. Miller's sexiest role... can I say sexy? Well, he is.)

So I am spending the afternoon planning for my date. I like to get all dressed up for dates with my husband. I like to wear something that says, I'm not a mini-van-driving, stay-at-home-mom of two... just for the night. And nothing says, I'm not a mini-van-driving, stay-at-home-mom of two, like high heels. They are my first go-to on date nights.
Oh, Mr. Miller. How I love that we are 11 inches apart in height.

Harlo likes the brown because "they sound so fancy on the ground!"

Well, you can't beat that! The brown it is!

Miller's Dance Studio

This week as we've continued to be busy not being busy, we have added another element of non-busy-ness that is taking up much of our time. We have opened a new dance studio right in our home.

We thought, you know, who needs a living room? Big couches take up much of the space that could be used for dancing.. it's a crying shame. So for this week only, the Miller Dance Studio is open for business.

We now have a lot more room for putting on beautiful gowns (over our messy-from-lunch shirts... no big)

And dancing around in our new studio.

And with all this dancing time, I seem to have lost the time to shower or get ready for the day and I find myself still in my sweats well into the afternoon, which is unfortunate.. and rather fortunate at the same time.

And if you're wondering if I let my children out of the house with stains on their shirts, and messy faces, wearing whatever they've concocted... No, I don't.
And if you're wondering if I let my children change their clothes 9,203 times a day and let them be messy at meals and dance around to Rihanna radio on pandora in what used to be my living room... Yes, I do.

Stella Tidbits

Try to refrain from smoochin' your computer screen...

Oh, Miss Stellita.

This squishy little lady has me wrapped around her finger.

She is such a little ham.
Constantly goofing around, being silly, hogging all the attention.

If she has anyone's eye, she's putting on a show.

She's not the least bit shy, unlike her sister.
Unless of course she's pretending to be shy, which is her go-to charmer.

She wins people over with her big brown eyes, her deliciously peachy cheeks, her pouty little lips and her santa-like pot belly.

She is everything you would want in a one-and-a-half year old, and more.

And with all that personality comes a whole lotta sass!

She can sass me like nothin' else.

She's not scared of anything, especially getting in trouble.
Which I can't blame her, I have the hardest time getting after her when she's just so dang funny.

She will purposely push buttons and break the rules just to see where it gets her.
Heaven help me, I love that baby.

She can eat, and eat, and eat, and eat.
She will eat anything and everything and always wants seconds... and thirds.
She continues to blow us away with her bottomless belly.

Despite the hair pulling and toy taking, she sure loves her sissy.
"HAR-RO!" is the first thing she calls for when she wakes up.

She hates when Sissy is out of her sight, which Harlo equally hates so it works out well.
It's taken months to nail down a "sorry" from her, but she's now pretty good about giving her sister lovins when she's done her wrong.
Usually the episode is followed immediately by a bear hug and a big slobbery kiss before I can even get after her.
Now if we could just find a way to keep from the naughty episodes at all, we'd be in good shape! :)

Though something tells me that's never going to happen...

She is obsessed with babies.

If she sees a baby anywhere, (story time, restaurant, grocery store) she immediately demands to hold it.

I remember Harlo loving babies at this age, but nothing like Stella.

She has to sleep with her baby every night and nap, always snuggled right under her arm.
I couldn't name a favorite food since she eats everything like it's her favorite, but she has taken a fondness to dipping.

She thinks she needs a dip for everything she eats.
her favorite breakfast right now is blueberry waffles dipped in yogurt.

She still prefers to dip, but she is really, REALLY good with a fork and spoon.
Way ahead of where Harlo was at this age in that department.
She can totally eat cereal out of a bowl with a spoon, she can eat anything we have for dinner with a fork.. she's a natural.

She is the biggest auntie's girl.

Auntie has been in town this weekend and if she so much as goes to the bathroom, Stella's in all sorts of fits.

Today she woke up and started singing "Auntie's girl!" as soon as she woke up.
We're going through a bit of withdrawals now that Auntie has gone home.

Her separation anxiety is still there, but she's doing pretty good.

We have to be pretty nonchalant about telling her goodbye and make sure she's good and distracted before we go.

She is still a little sleeping beauty.

Her sleeping schedule goes something like this:
wakes at 10:30-11:00 am (for the day) goes down for a nap at 1:30, sleeps til 4:30 and is ready for bed again at 7:30-8.
I've never met anyone who likes to sleep more than Stella does.

She definitely takes after her Daddy in that department. You don't want to run into a tired Stella... or Brady.

Princess Stella runs this household. From the minute she wakes up to the time she goes to sleep she is the boss.

Luckily none of us have a problem with that and tend to her demands without a fuss.. most of the time. ;)

Stella fills a part of my life I can't even explain.

I feel so unbelievably blessed I get to be her mom.

Rainy Mondays

There are two things that I am finding very comforting on this dreary, rainy Monday.

Did you know that Mr. Miller brings me a fresh drink almost every day? That darling Mr. Miller. Bless him.

Did you also notice how dirty my crockpot is? I hope not. (I promise it's really clean inside where that dinner is cookin'.

Happy Monday!

new years resolutions

We make resolutions in our family. Setting goals with the hope of a better year can only be good idea, I always say. This year Harlo made some resolutions of her own and it went like this:

After explaining to her about the new year, 2012, and setting goals for us to do through the new year is a good idea, she quickly made up her own list.
Harlo: Cake.
Me: Cake?

Harlo: Like, making them and stuff.

Me: Oh.. that's a good goal. What else?
Harlo: Coloring with more purple and green and red.
Me: hmm.. that sounds pretty.
Harlo: I want to play with my tooth fairies more in 2012. ("tooth fairies" are her tinkerbell and friends barbies)

*Just then the cat interrupts us with a "meeeeowwww"
Harlo: You hear that sound? (hand at her ear) It's Kitty Figaro.
Me: Figaro?
Harlo: Yeah, that's my kitty. (she changes the cat's name on a bi-yearly basis.. we'll see how Figaro sticks in 2012)
Harlo: I want to go to Santa's birthday party in 2012.
Me: Oh, Santa's birthday? That sounds fun.
Harlo: Yeah.. I missed it last year. (with a face full of concern)
Me: Okay, well my goal for 2012 is taking more pictures of you and Stella. Do you think you can help me with that?
Harlo: Ummmmmmm..... yeah, we can take pictures of cakes!

So it's sounding like 2012 will be a busy year for us... and Kitty Figaro. Lots of cakes to be made and photographed and I've still got to figure out how we'll get to the North Pole for Santa's birthday party.

Oh how I love this 3 year old's imagination.

Tough Sisters

Who: Stella Johann, age 17 months

What: first bloody nose

When: Sunday, January 15th, 10:48 am

Where: living room

How: running out of the living room fort, smacked face right on the side of the coffee table... Poor little goosey. Blood was all over Stella and mom, not a drop on the carpet/furniture. Miracle. Nose/lip were swollen for a day, nothing more than that. Cried for about 30 seconds, Popsicle soothed the pain.

..........................................................................................................................................................................

Who: Harlo Elle, age 3

What: first bloody nose

When: Sunday, January 22nd, 12:34 pm

Where: Miller backyard

How: Tripped over the hose outside, scraped knee and smacked face on concrete. Poor little lovey. Slightly bloody nose, fat upper lip and small scrape between nose and top lip. Cried for a couple minutes, Popsicle soothed the pain/stopped the tears. Miracle.

Happy to say that both of my brave little ladies are doing well! We're hoping for a safe Sunday next week. :/

Harlo's many talents...

The girl's got skills....

She can make a masterpiece out of pretty much anything.

I'm really busy not being busy..

The holiday season for me is as busy as the rest of us. I am in the business of documenting families through my photographs and there's something about the holiday season that makes everyone think, "I need my family documented though photographs." which makes me very happy, and it makes my schedule very busy. It starts out with a few phone calls and emails and promises of excitement and projects, in the middle of it it's a crazy whirlwind of deadlines and excitement and appointments and emails and deliveries and reward, and it ends with the very last deliveries, the immense feelings of accomplishment, the heaviness of guilt from neglecting my housework and cooking and play time, (although I try to pencil that in even in my busiest of days) and the overall feeling of never wanting to sit at my computer desk or pick up my camera ever again.
So I am in the latter of the stages right now, and I've got to say, I am just so dang busy not being busy.
My day starts with Mr. Miller groggily rolling out of bed to fetch our oldest of kin (I've always wanted to use that term, does it fit here?) Then that sweet little three-year-old-girl comes to the side of my bed and awaits her morning lovin's. From there we head to the kitchen for our daily peach yogurt and oatmeal and I have my coffee and Harlo asks for her coffee (which she's never had a taste of in her life) but settles for milk with just a pinch of vanilla. We call these our special drinks and we sit and talk about what we should do for the day, and what we did yesterday, and Harlo tells me about her silly dreams and we giggle and chat and sip on our special drinks.
Sometime between 9:30 and 11, the little sleeping beauty of the house awakes and from there it's squeals and giggles and tears and hair pulling and lovins and babies and barbies and strollers and snacks and lunch time all in between which I try to fit in small chores and house projects where I have 4 tiny helping hands, which actually isn't nearly as helpful as it sounds.
Before I even know it (okay, that's a lie) nap time has approached us. Nap time is God's special way of saying "You did great today, I will give you a small break so you don't harm your children before the day is done." and you get to recharge your batteries and forget about how naughty your children are and somehow miss them terribly by the time they wake up.
Of course, my 3 year old gave up napping a handful of months ago so my "free time" is still filled with a request for a snack and a treat and a vitamin and a drink (never at the same time) about every 7 minutes or less. It takes about 30 minutes into my chores or computer/work time to realize that I should give up and play with her.. which I always happily oblige.
And really before I even know it, it's time for Stella to wake up which is also the same time I need to start dinner which is not a good mix. Not a good mix, at all. So then I start doing a juggling act of sorts of tending to the pots on the stove, giving a snack, stirring my noodles, fixing a toy, preheating the oven, calm a crying baby, add to my sauce, trip over the 8,393 pieces of tupperware that now cover my floors while simultaneously bouncing a baby on my hip. All while approximately 23 negative thoughts cross my mind which I quickly hurry out with remembering how much I love my husband and children and being a wife and mother. :) Then as the crying has reached it's climax and I barely saved the dinner from burning past the point of edibility, my husband walks through the door just in time to enjoy silent kids who have started on their dinner and a hot plate and happy wife awaiting him. He always misses the dinner chaos by just seconds.. never even knowing what takes place. And every single day I remind God that in my next life, I think I'd like to try out being the dad. Then we laugh and play and tub the girls and jammy them and rock them to sleep and as my baby asks me to sing to her each night, I take back what I previously mentioned to God and tell Him that I'm actually fine with being the mom, after all.
And at 8:17pm I rest my tired old soles for the first time of the day. My house looks like a train has literally driven right through it which makes me smile inside at the wonderful mess we made today while equally cry inside that I have to get out of my chair.
I spend the rest of my night chatting with my husband about our day and giggling about the funny things the girls have said and as tired as I am, I can't wait to start it again tomorrow. And that is the miracle of motherhood.

the big fat holiday post

Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving this year went off without a hitch. I had a very small, very casual dinner at my house which I prepared myself. It was good-ish, but I have a theory that you have to make something at least 4 times to make it really good. So, two more thanksgiving dinners to go before my guests are wow'd. (sorry, honey!)

The good news is that the day after my mediocre Thanksgiving feast, my

mom prepared an actual Thanksgiving feast that easily crossed into the wow-zone. Which made me realize that it was a really stupid idea to cook my second Thanksgiving dinner ever, the day before we were all invited to my mom's house... which then made me decide that next year I'm cooking a traditional Italian Thanksgiving dinner with lots o' pasta. Turkey is not my forte, as it turns out but pasta and sauces I can do! :)

We had a fabulous time anyway and I was able to enjoy 2/3 of my sisters, and my girls were able to enjoy 50% of their cousins on my side which, for us, is a huge family get together.

Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Eve this year did not disappoint. I had never been to the annual Miller's Christmas Eve party so I was excited to participate this year. Every year Santa comes to visit and everyone has a grand ol' time. This year my girls were thrilled Santa was coming, except for the time that it was actually their turn to sit on Santa's lap, which they had nothing to do with (remember our Santa picture this year?) Notice the death grip Harlo has on Brady's shirt as he walked her up to get her gift from Santa. Haha.. we all had a fun time though and were so happy we could make it this year. Looking forward to many more!

Chrstimas Day 2011

Christmas this year was just simply magical. Every year seems to be better than the last. It took my girls about 0.1 second to dive right in. Notice I didn't even get a picture before Harlo was fully dressed in her new princess dress-ups and it wasn't long before the baby sis caught on. I had so much fun watching them enjoy Christmas this year. The whole season was just so magical. Just yesterday (the 17th of January) Harlo said, "I have a great idea! Let's put our Christmas tree back up, how about that?" haha, I think it's safe to say Christmas made a lasting impression.

*We had made a big effort to explain the real meaning of Christmas to Harlo this year. On Christmas morning we had again talked about how this was Jesus' birthday and that's what we're all celebrating. Well, somewhere between her birthday being a week before and Christmas being Jesus' birthday she was a little confused about where we say "Happy Birthday" and "Merry Christmas" so she went the rest of the day saying "Happy Birthday Jesus, Papa!", "Happy Birthday Jesus, Stella!" to everyone we saw. Have I mentioned how much I love having a 3-year-old?

And for anyone we missed on our Christmas card list this year...

Happy Birthday Jesus, to you!

Revisiting 2011 : The Girls

I love being a mom to sisters. I love, love, love it. My very favorite thing to do is sit and watch them play together. They have always been so lovey and sweet with each other. Don't get me wrong, there's a whole lot of sass to be had as well, but goodness I love them.

they go from this...

...to this in a matter of seconds.

Oh, Stella...

Revisiting 2011 : The Simple Things

2011 was such a fun year. We celebrated a lot of milestones and created a lot of memories. Some of my very favorite memories of my life. I fell back on blogging a bit, but I wanted to post them here anyway. I've got lots of fun pictures to look back on.

Love that toothless grin!

Silly daddy...

Hello 2012...

How happy we are to see you! We know that you will be bringing us many happy memories, exciting new experiences, personal growth, abundance amounts of love and laughter. I can just feel it in my bones.

After thinking long and hard about where we should ring in the new year (not really), we decided that our second home of California would be the perfect fit. We threw it together in a few hours and hit the road. We had an absolute blast. We were too exhausted from traveling to actually count down to the new year, instead we headed to bed at about 10 with both of our restless girls. I wasn't too worried though, that's the earliest I've gone to bed in years, so I'm taking that as a good sign and a good way to start 2012.
The weather was beautiful and our schedule was packed full of fun things to do. Thanks again to Miss Jen for letting us crash! xo
So here's to you, 2012.

Cheers!