His way is perfect...

even though we may not always understand...

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” - Matt. 11:28

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Dear Praying Friends,

The passage above is actually on a good friend's facebook page but I have been meditating on in since I found out some terrible news (I hope you don't mind me sharing, Marjy). She and I have only ever met in person once, but since then have been wonderful "pen pals" and sharing in the joys, ups, and downs of our pregnancies together. We had great intentions of our babies meeting and growing up to be good friends. I found out Tuesday morning that she lost her precious son, Elijah, at 36 weeks. My heart aches for them as they were so eagerly anticipating getting to meet their little boy. Thank you for joining me in prayer for Aj & Marjana Lloyd - that God would comfort them during this extremely difficult time.

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"As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the LORD is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. For who is God, except the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God? It is God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of deer, and sets me on my high places." Psalm 18:30-33

Nursery Progress

I keep getting asked about the progress of our nursery, so I thought I'd post a visual for all to see how well it's going (*or not*)!! (but I'm not worried, I still have time!)

The Future Nursery of
Reaghan Denae Miller

In this photo:

* A crib that we got for $40 from Reece's co-worker's daughter - praise the Lord!!

* 4 boxes of 0-6 month baby clothes, bottles, and feeding accessories from Reaghan's 1 year old cousin, Jordyn

* A "Travel System" - Jogging Stroller and Car Seat - early shower gift from Grandma & Grandpa Miller

* Quilts and blankets that were saved from Reece & Katie's childhood

* A beautiful, handmade dress from Marjana Lloyd

* Baby Einstein Activity Center & an adorable spring dress from the Winniford Family

* Baby's First Year Calendar from Julie Adams

* A bunch of outfits and sleepwear from Grandma Fowler

* A "Mount Shasta" Onesie from Mary Alice Haistings

* A 4th of July Outfit for Daddy's little Sparkler - (his Father's day present this year - I can't wait to do a photoshoot with it next summer! Being a "Mount Shasta Fireworks Pyrotechnic Operator" 's daughter, she had to have a festive outfit!)

* A new crib mattress - they were 50% off at WalMart two weeks ago!

* Reaghan's "baby book/scrapbook" that I got at Michael's last weekend...I couldn't help but want to start the layouts already! Perhaps I should finish our wedding album first while I have the time!!

Thank you to all who have already begun to help us prepare for the arrival of our baby girl! We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends!

The 4th of July...

is always a big occasion when you have a pyrotechnic operator for a husband!

June was an incredibly busy month for us! I did not spend a single weekend at home, but it was a great way to start off summer vacation.

* June 5-7 we visited Reece's family and brought my little brother home to stay with us for a week
* June 12-18 I visited my family and grandparents
* June 18-20 I helped kidnap a friend for her surprise 30th birthday camping trip (don't worry, I used an air mattress!)
* June 25 I had my 'Week 23' appointment and diabetes test - all is well!
* June 26-28 I attended a Beth Moore conference with my mother-in-law while Reece's brother stayed up in Shasta to help with the firework preparations.

I returned home on June 30 to help with meals for the crew and run any last minute errands needed by my hard working hubby. The fireworks display at Lake Siskiyou was fabulous this year, as always. I was probably not such a good girl and sat way too close to the 'noise', but I wrapped my tummy in efforts to muffle some of the explosions. As a pyro's daughter, she'll have to get used to it one way or another :P


We're now at 25 weeks and she seems to be a pretty active girl - of course I have nothing to compare it to though. I can count on feeling her right on schedule at 9:30am, 12ish, 3, and 10pm - and lately, it's almost painful depending on where she is pounding. My "favorite" is when she flips around and has her backside sticking out - feels like a bowling ball in my gut! We still have quite a ways to go so perhaps she'll be a good listener when mommy tells her it hurts. As of now I can give her little nudges and she'll eventually move around a bit.


I can't believe it's already July 7th! I have 8 friends that are expecting new additions to their families between now and November and it's so exciting to be having a little one around the same time. For the next several weeks I will be working hard at de-junking our home in efforts to make room for our sweet daughter and all the "stuff" that comes with having a baby!

58% guessed boy...

And they were wrong (including me)!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today and we're having a baby GIRL! The ultrasound technician said he was "70% sure" just in case something was hiding...but with how much she was wiggling around, he thought it very unlikely.

Her name will have to be posted later as we haven't quite decided on how we want to spell it. :)

Oh yeah, and we were quite accurate with our "suspected" due date, too! On or around October 18th we will get to meet our precious little girl!

18 weeks

18 weeks has come and almost gone...after tomorrow I'm around 19 weeks...I should take a poll on whether people think I am right on schedule or farther along than the original guess...although, with my rapidly increasing "size", I already know what the results would be! :P

To help with your gender guesses...

• I had HORRIBLE morning, afternoon, and night sickness for a solid 10 weeks
• The heartbeat averages 130
• I have a nice, shapely belly - all out in front - and without it, could still get into my non-maternity jeans
• I am starving....all the time....hungry hungry hippo. :P
• Cravings have not been for sweets - more along the lines of bagels, apple juice, and mashed potatoes.
• I have developed acne...6 pimples in the past month compared to my usual 1 :-0

On Monday, June 1st at 10am I go in for the scheduled ultrasound and will hopefully find out the gender of the baby, along with other important facts, like...."am I really only 19 weeks?!?!" (I may not have made it very clear with the original post, but the due date was by "best guess"....I'm usually quite organized....apparently not when it matters!)

Stay tuned for the outcome!

Funny Story...

I have one particular student that comes in half-asleep most mornings. This morning was different. He was quite awake - unusually so. As he walked in the room, I greeted him and he said nothing. He proceeded to dump his backpack on his desk and exclaimed, "Mrs. Miller, you don't have to worry!" Curious, I asked him what exactly I don't have to worry about (thinking he completed his homework or some other assignment), and he responded very 'matter of fact-ly':

"Last night I learned all about how to deliver a baby. So, if you need help or have an emergency, I am here for you. I watched a few movies with my dad and that was just disgusting. So instead I got on Google and read all about it. Now I'm ready."

A few minutes later a very concerned student came up to me and said, "Mrs. Miller, you might want to make sure that Mr. Miller is here when you deliver your baby. He (the student) doesn't always pay attention very well in class and who really knows if he was paying attention to how to deliver a baby - something bad could happen!"

LOL! I had no idea my "kids" were so concerned about how this whole thing is going to work!! I reassured them that IF I was at school when it was time, I would be able to get to the hospital for a doctor to deliver the baby since it is only about 2 minutes from the school.

Now, I hope I don't have nightmares about delivering in my classroom! :)

16 weeks...

Not much to report here...

I had a check-up last Tuesday that was fairly uneventful. We listened to the heartbeat again. My Dr. says it's on the "slower" end of baby heartbeats - and according to my mom that means a girl...yet, with the way I have popped all out in front she is leaning toward a boy...we shall see! Either way, I'm feeling huge and look way too big for 16 weeks...big baby?? Oh dear!

I have a 19 week checkup at the end of May. At this appointment I get to schedule the big ultrasound during which we will hopefully find out what we are having (as well as check all the major organs) .

Hip Hip Hooray! - I haven't thrown up since last Wednesday morning and I don't miss it one bit!