An update and visit from Gramma and Papa Miller

I have a few quiet minutes so I should really focus on at least starting a blog post, it’s been awhile! Things are going well here. Maya loves school and is becoming quite a little reader, although it always takes lots of convincing and encouragement to get her going. I hope one day she will love to sit down with a good book and enjoy it. We are working on it.

Josh is keeping busy playing cars, going to school 2 times a week and constantly loving on Cora! It is so ridiculous how much he loves this baby girl. Don’t get me wrong, I really think it’s cute, but sometimes it is way too much. I feel bad for her because he is constantly sitting right next to her, getting in her face. He is such a little lover, well to everyone except Maya who he loves to torment. Poor girl. It’s fun to pick him up from preschool because his teacher will tell me things he said or did in class and it just makes me laugh. Yesterday I was talking to her about Cora and she looked down in the stroller and said, “Josh, you were right. She is beautiful.” Then she proceeded to tell me that he talks a lot about Cora in class. So fun.

He just can't get enough of her! Cora is such a little light in our family, unless she is tired or hungry, she is happy and smiley. She loves it when people stop to talk to her…anyone really. We were at Wal-mart a few weeks ago and a man (with no teeth) stopped to say hi to her and she was giving him the biggest smiles in return! It was so sweet and I’m sure it brightened his day. We are starting to figure out her sleep issues, I think. For the past month and a half she has been giving us trouble after we put her down at night. She’d wake up 40 minutes on the dot and cry hysterically. We’d rock her, fed her and comfort her until she’d fall asleep an hour or two later. It has been SO frustrating. Usually she cries even when we rock her and so we’ve been letting her cry a little more, which is so hard. I hate to hear her cry and to not be able to do anything for her. We think she’s getting a little better now as she has stopped crying the last 2 nights and actually slept 10 hours last night! Hallelujah! Hoping we are on the right track but you can never rest easy with a new baby in the house, can you? Especially with teething and winter months ahead of us.

Look at those blue eyes! Hoping they stay that color...we'll see. My parents came out for a visit. Mom got here on November 28th and dad got here December 7th, they left on Tuesday, December 11. I just love my parents so much. They are seriously the best people I have ever met. My mom is a complete angel, and while I’m sure she doesn’t want me to mention this on a blog, I’m going to anyway. One night after my dad got into town, the kids asked if they could sleep downstairs and have a big sleepover with Gramma and Papa. Before bed Maya mentioned a pillow fight, and they started to play for awhile. I was putting Cora to bed upstairs when I heard someone stomping around with their shoes on upstairs. I came out and Nick came rushing over to me and said, “Your mom broke her arm. It looks really bad. I already gave her a blessing and the paramedics are on their way.” I thought he was joking; I had only been in Cora’s room for about 10 minutes! I went downstairs and my mom was lying on her side on the ground. Her right arm was to her side, but at her elbow it was completely turned backwards….just writing about this makes me ill. It was so wrong-looking! Of course when I came down, she was cool as a cucumber and said, “Hi T.” I immediately dropped down and started rubbing her hair and asking her what she needed. Mostly I was trying to keep her talking so she wouldn’t faint from the pain, but in the background I could hear a hysterical Maya crying and my mom agreed that I should go take care of her and get her out of the basement. The paramedics came and gave her some pain killers and set up an IV. I came back downstairs to be with her and the first thing she said was, “How is my Maya doing?” I was like, “WHAT!?!” Here she is with her arm bent backwards and she is concerned about Maya? She truly is amazing. I love her so much. Nick, my dad and mom went to the ER and the doctors were amazed that her elbow was only dislocated and not broken. They put her in a sling and sent her home a few hours later. Nick said that as they sat in the hospital room with her, every minute that went by her arm would straighten more and more on its own. I know with all my heart that the blessing that she received helped her to get through this. It was a miracle! We didn't do much while they were here. We did go to the World's Largest Christmas Store in Frankenmuth, which was a dumb idea because everyone was there and we could barely walk inside the store. Other than that, we hung out at home, did puzzles, played cars, etc. etc. It was so nice to have them here with us. I will get some pictures up soon. This post will have to do for now!