Bjorn...defined

OK...some clarification is necessary...we have had many a comment and question about the Bjorn. Don't worry Aunt Sarah, you weren't the only one.



Bjorn (n) byorn (thanks Aunt Peggy!): A fabulous front carrier for babies. You wear it like a backpack and the baby rests on your chest. It gives the parent freedom of his or her arms to accomplish tasks while baby can be close, feel you breathe, hear your heart beat and -with all the reminders of the womb- slowly drift into dreamland. Great for cooking, cleaning, eating and walking.

Note: When eating sloppy food, it is best to cover baby's head with something- this is demonstrated nicely here by Ian who is sporting a double paper towel over Blayne's head to ensure that no fish tacos are spilled on her sweet little face...or wake her up...

**For all the Buffett fans out there (and we know this crowd has many) these pictures were taken at Jimmy's sister's restaurant Lulu's in Gulf Shores, AL. Great place, we highly recommend it.

5 weeks

Must- get- to- the- other- side...all right, that's one arm...

and the other...

Made it! Ooohhh...floor....

Let's see...at five weeks I am very busy. I am not mobile by any means, but very strong. These pictures you see here I did all by myself with dad's hand just guiding my butt to make sure I didn't fall flat off the couch backward. I am mastering moving my head from side to side and getting better at holding it up despite the fact that it still makes up about a quarter of my body size.

I would also like to point out at this junction that at five weeks I am extremely well traveled. I have currently been to Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida (we were just miles from the Florida line in Orange Beach and ventured over for some food, beaching and exploring). Come next week at this time I will be able to add Maryland, Pennsylvania and New York to that list...not bad considering that will work out to be 8 states in just 42 days of life. I think I am off to a great start.

**Mom would like me to point out that I did in fact get a few Springsted features...check out those ears...those are hers all the way. I would have preferred a more appealing feature, but what can you do?

I put the BAM in BAMA

Bama Baby Beach Bum!

500 miles, casinos and gambling wasn't enough entertainment for me so we drove a few more hours east to spend the weekend in Orange Beach, AL. Wow, that place is pretty nice! We have some friends who let us stay at their beach house which was awesome! Above you can check out my own personal beach home away from home. Note the Bjorn again under me...that thing is magic.

After a day in the sun, we went for dinner on the water at a place called Tacky Jack's. In all the four weeks I have been on the outside, my mom and dad have not before now ventured out to dinner in fear that I will not behave myself (never ;-) But, with little choice on vacation, I would like to note here that I did remarkably well. We went out to dinner every day this past week and not once did I misbehave! Maybe one of these days we'll try this at home...

I also had my first ocean swim! There is no doubt that Miller blood runs through my veins. I LOVE the water...the pool, the ocean, the bath, hot, cold, it doesn't matter, just put me in! The beaches were fabulous! We had an awesome trip and I can't wait to leave again on Friday to see and meet all my family in the North!

Oh craps!

Gambling for diaper money...I mean with mom not working, somebody has gotta pay the bills!

Did we mention that our hotel in Mississippi was in a casino?

Don't worry, though, even with my fake ID, I couldn't get into any of the high dollar games. I will say, however, we were the most popular people in the place...not bad seeing as though we didn't spend a dime gambling!

Down in Biloxi

Traveling with an infant is easy, right? Sure...it's all her stuff that makes it tough!

Blayne was clearly exhausted after toting all her things the whole way to Mississippi. I mean, who does she think she is? We all have to pull our own weight around here...

Daddy had to work this past week in Delilse so we figured...why would we sit at home when we could go with him and hang out at a hotel?!?

We thought this would also be a good trial run for our big trip to my Aunt Quinny's wedding next week. We definitely got a feel for what we will really need to take with us and what can stay at home. This was an important lesson to learn because mom and dad say that packing all this great stuff for the airplane would be a bit more difficult than throwing it in the back of the car.

Bjorn knows bjest

What do you do with a fussy baby? You bjorn her.

To all parents out there- is this not the best thing ever created? I have no idea how to pronounce it, and yet I am pretty close to making a petition for it to be officially named the 8th wonder of the world. This fantastic little invention is one of few sure-fire ways to calm our little angel when she is having a rough moment.

A huge hug and thanks to Aunt Kirstin and Uncle Dan for giving us the best gift new parents could get- quiet, and a smiling baby :-)

Since we missed our 4 week update- we'll brief you here. Well, at 4 weeks down Blayne is doing an incredible job at sleeping through the night (of course, it seems every time I brag on her about something she makes a liar out of me...so let's keep our fingers crossed on this one). Since Saturday, she has gone to bed somewhere between 10 and 11pm and not woken up until between 6 and 7am! We are really enjoying the extra hours of slumber and hoping that this sticks.

Of course, as we all know, life is give and take. That said, yes-she does sleep through the night- but there is a good possibility it is because she refuses to take a nap after 5pm and is fussy from then til bedtime. By the end of the night we are exhausted, so we know she must be. We figure 8 hours of sleep is well earned at that point- and hell if we won't take advantage of them!

She is eating really well (note the rolls) and as of last Sunday had gained another pound or so putting her at about 10lbs (on our home scale so not totally accurate). She had also grown another 3/4 of an inch measuring 21 1/4 inches!

She is smiling more and more everyday. She has also started taking a pacifier (when she masters this, it will give the bjorn a run for its money on the wonders-of-the-world-status). She is not supposed to truly discover her hands for a little while yet- but she is doing a pretty darn good job, considering. She hits things (like the pineapple man) and grabs and holds the "juicers" when she eats. She is also working really hard at getting her hand in her mouth to suck- she hasn't done it yet, but I don't suspect it will be long.

She is busy growing, learning and growing! And we're busy just loving her and being constantly amazed at what she can do!

Happy Father's Day Dads!

Happy Father's Day to all!

My daddy is really the best! Notice I dressed for the occasion.



Here is my daddy with me and my brothers! It may be Father's Day but as you can see, the focus is still on me!



I have been smiling more and more, but mostly in my sleep. Today, though, special for my daddy I saved a couple of smiles just for him.

Update on the Portuguese...

The boys are still completely fascinated by Blayne- they constantly want to be near her and know what she is doing. Monte is definitely the "nanny". He watches over her without getting too close. He also makes sure that when Mulligan is out of control that he does not have access to her. If she and I are on the bed -for example-, Monte will lay at the foot of the bed and growl and bark at Mulligan to keep him from jumping up. The other day he went as far as standing on the landing and not letting him up the stairs!

Mulligan, on the other hand, is the "over-interested big brother". He constantly wants to sniff her and play with her. He is very gentle about it though (quite different from his role of "annoying little brother" when playing with Monte).

Mulligan has also recently adopted the role of the "night watchman"- he gets up with me in the middle of the night to feed Blayne...the only problem is for some reason, at this hour, he wants to sit on her. This is very difficult for me as I am not a morning person (nor a middle of the night one) to stay lucid enough to feed the baby and at the same time fend off a 55lb dog.

Blayne is becoming more and more interested in the Portuguese as well, often staring at them for long periods of time (of course she does this at the wall too, so who knows ;-). Despite her growing interest in the boys, however, her heart still belongs to the pineapple man.

Mystery Scroll

We received this very cool birthday scroll in the mail a few days ago. It will help us remember all the things that were happening the day I arrived. We were a little busy that day, so it is a good thing we have this as a reminder! If you click on the picture, depending on the quality of your eye sight, you may be able to read a little about my birthday- it really is an awfully clever gift. We would like to thank whoever sent it to us, but it seems that remains a mystery! It came with some packaging information, but no clues as to who sent it. Please let us know who you are so we can thank you properly!

Has it been 3 weeks already?

Can you believe it?- Today I am three weeks old! My mom and dad can't believe how fast the last three weeks have gone- it seems like just yesterday they were so anxiously awaiting my arrival- and yet- at the same time, they are not sure how they ever lived without me! Can you blame them?

For my three week birthday, I woke up this morning in my very own room! I have been doing such a great job sleeping, mom and dad thought they would give me a try on my own, and -as expected- I did great!

A quick glimpse at my life at three weeks: By no means am I on a schedule yet, but I am definitely showing signs of working toward one. For about the last week, I have consistently woken up at 7AM for my first feeding. I eat on average about every 3.5 hours which totals between 6 and 8 feedings a day- with 1 or 2 of those in the middle of the night. I occasionally sleep for 5 hours at a time- usually at night, which makes my mom smile! Between feedings I take a few naps a day- no real consistency yet at when these fall, but of the 6 or 7 lulls between feedings, naps consume about 3. The others are filled with night time sleep and wake time. When I'm awake my most favorite thing to do is be outside. My other favorite wake-time activities are hangin' out in my bouncy chair, playing with the pineapple man (and friends) on my activity mat, having books read to me (I don't care much for pictures, but I like to listen), and just sitting on laps and staring at whatever is in front of me. I also really enjoy golf cart rides and walks, but these often start out as wake-time activities and end in nap-time activities.

To make a short story long, at three weeks, we are all doing really well and quickly adjusting to our new life as a family.

Simply Irresistible

What is it about babies and sunglasses? I mean honestly, I don't think I know of one baby that has escaped the inevitable picture of his or her little face drowning in oversized frames! Blayne is no exception to the rule...Dad couldn't stand it and finally gave in to the irresistible...

Bathin' beauty

The dad may have the upper hand in teaching me swimming, but the mom is teaching me all about sun bathing (not really-don't worry grandmas...I was only here in the 5 o'clock sun for about 30 seconds while dad got ready to take me into the pool).

The opportunity to take a picture of me in my swimsuit and hat was too cute to pass up- so we had to post it for all to see! Don't you just want to squeeze me?

I'm a swimmer!

Dad had been workin' in the yard all afternoon so when he was finished mom suggested he go for a swim to wash off all that stinky sweat and he suggested that we all go! So...we did!

I loved the water- I didn't cry once! Dad says he has a lot to teach me about swimming...if it is as fun as today- I can't wait to learn!

Doctor visits are exhausting!

I got all dressed up for my first doctor's visit yesterday. I don't know why mom insisted upon this because the first thing she did when we got there was undress me, but hey- I got to wear one of my new outfits Zara and I got while shopping, so I won't complain.

Alright, time for the stats: I am one busy girl! At two weeks and 3 days I have gained 1 lb and 4 ozs which puts me at a whopping 8 lbs 14ozs! I have also grown an inch and a half (probably more since I have lost the cone head which -to be honest- contributed a good bit to the original 19 inches)! My head measures 14 inches around and all in all I got a good report. Dr. Bellah was nice to me until he sent us for a routine follow-up PKU test which was about the most horrifying experience I have been through since that whole birth canal thing.

Needless to say- when we got home this picture pretty much sums up how I spent the rest of the day.

GWN-squared

Last week my Grandma With No Name (hence the title) came to meet and stay with me! I quickly decided I would be 12 before I could call her GWN squared (which is what my mom started calling her due to her difficulty choosing a name) so we did some searching and came up with a name for her- Zara. I had a wonderful visit with Zara- she taught me all about shopping, bought me some new clothes and sang lots of new songs to me!

I have the best (and possible the most creative) grandparents in the whole world!

What a combination!

Tiny T's and dimples- in a few short years I am going to have those boys wrapped around my finger (just like my daddy)- watch out Noah!

Note the onesie I have on- Aunt Hilary and Uncle Tom sent this to me when I was first born. My mom thought it was such a riot she couldn't stop laughing- plus she puts me in it any time people come over because she thinks it is so appropriate. I don't personally see the big deal, I needed a few more days so I took them...I don't understand why mom and dad make such a big fuss over 12 days- it's not like that was a big difference in the grand scheme of nine months. In any case, thank you so much Aunt Hilary and Uncle Tom!

I know I have my hand over my face here, but we managed to capture the super adorable dimple I have on my left cheek- and I just had to show it to you all. I think maybe I have one on the right side too, but not nearly as pronounced. Unfortunately, since I don't really smile yet (other than a reflex) you usually only get to see it when I cry. Luckily for me, mommy can't get too mad when I do this because that cute dimple is there to save the day! She just sees it and smiles.

Week Two- Eureka!

During this second week of life, I have made some fine discoveries! I have discovered that my hands in fact are good for something other than putting in my mouth! I knew there had to be a higher purpose and today I realized that they are made specifically for torturing this pineapple man! He was a good sport, though, no matter how much I grabbed and batted and pushed him around, he always had a smile on his face.



After about 10 minutes of playing with the pineapple man, I was ready for a change of scenery- at the moment I appreciate variety. So, mom put me on a little surf board that goes with my activity mat designed for tummy time. She went to grab the camera to show all of you just how well I hold my head up -really pretty impressive for a measly 15 days old- well, meanwhile, I rolled off the tummy mat only to discover, well, ME!

Of course, I had no idea I was looking at myself, but whoever it was- she was one good looking babe!

Bath time progress

Today we had our third bath with no crying! I am not going to go as far as saying bathing is my favorite wake-time activity, but it could be worse...it could be like that whole diaper change thing. Man, that is just a mess- I don't want to be wet and stinky but I really HATE being changed...especially the part with the cold wipies.

I keep trying to show mom and dad how much I hate this by peeing at the exact moment between taking off the stinky diaper and putting on the clean one. But they don't seem to get it, they just keep buying more changing pad covers because there is always at least one in the wash. I even peed directly on mommy this morning, but it hasn't seemed to deter her yet...

Oh well, at least with the baths I get to dress up in my selection of hoodie towels afterward! They really help improve my mood after being dowsed in water.

The swing is good

I am slowly becoming more accustomed to all the baby paraphernalia strategically placed throughout the house:

-I love my cradle and have since the day mom and dad brought me home.
-I have tried the vibrating bouncy seat...I love to watch and listen as opposed to vibrate, and occasional bouncing is OK.
-The swing is also OK- once I got over the initial shock of something different, I got quite comfortable and decided to take a nap.

I, however, much prefer if you hold me. This was great while we had lots of hands over the last several days, but after yesterday when it was just mommy and me (and, of course, that is eventually how it will be every day)- she says we'll have to work on that ;-)

I lost my bee bo!

Today mom woke me up from my mid-morning nap and -just like that- my bee bo was gone! It didn't give me any indication that it would be leaving, it just up and fell off while I was sleeping.

Well, that is one milestone reached...perhaps tomorrow we'll try walking...

More family photos...

Family Photo

Here we are, the whole Miller clan! We had such a wonderful visit with Mia, Bucca and Aunt Haley. Thank you all so much for your company and all your help this past week- we all appreciated it!

Dad's first day back at work

Sadly, Dad headed back to work this past Tuesday. But don't worry Aunt Tam, we didn't forget! Luckily we had the help of Mia and Bucca who stayed up late with Blayne Monday night and placed these stickers on Dad's manly truck well after he and mom went to bed.

Dad made it the whole way to work and most of the way home until he stopped at the store and realized what we'd done. He didn't seem to mind, though, in fact- he is still driving around with them stuck to him tailgate!