Shot, shot, shot...

Well, that describes Nicholas' afternoon. No, I didn't take him to the local bar, but we did hit up the Waukesha Department of Health!

Back story (insert dream sequence hands here) - Nicholas' first year doctor appointment ended up being closer to his 13 month birthday due to my forgetfulness of scheduling. When we finally had his appointment, Nicholas ears were a little red so they said we would have to wait for his shots until after he has been healthy for 2 weeks. The boy kept getting colds, but finally he was healthy!

Today we went to DHS for his shots. I was thinking 2 of his 12 month shots and then the flu shot. Since we are close to his 15 month birthday they said we could just do those shots today as well, 6 in total. I told her to go for it (side note: this conversation was going on in the waiting area. Nicholas was busy waving and high fiving everyone in the room. After she said 6 shots, I told Nicholas he wasn't going to be happy in a few minutes and everyone in the waiting room was laughing). He did cry at the shots, but luckily mom came prepared with a bottle to ease the pain.

Afterwards I decided to reward Nicholas (and get food to make dinner). I took Nicholas to the little toy area they have. There was a duck and a frog he liked so I held them both in front of him and asked which one he wanted. He grabbed them both at the same time. I told him, "Which ever one you stop playing with first we will put it away." He played with them both until it was time to check out so I had to get him both!

1st Dentist Visit

Since Nicholas has his 11th tooth poking through, we figured it was time to take Nicholas to the dentist! He loves brushing his teeth so I was hoping it would go well, and it did.

They said his teeth looked good, although their could be future crowding on the bottom. They said at his next appointment he will probably double his teeth, but I can't see him having 22 teeth by August. Guess you will have to stay tuned to know if they were right!

2 cute things:
  1- when Nicholas was waiting for the dentist he was running around, pointing at everything and saying dada.
  2- the two tables beside Nicholas were two little sisters dressed the same. We ended up getting done the same time as them and rode the elevator out together.
     Girl to me: 'Your baby is really cute'
     Me to girl: 'Thanks, you two are cute too. Are you twins?'
     Girl to me: 'No, we are 17 months apart.'
     Me to girl: 'My sister and I are 18 months apart. We used to dress the same too.'
     Girl to me: 'That's funny.'
 

Back again

So, I keep saying I am going to get better at blogging and I just keep getting worse. Rather than going through the past 2 months I am skipping to the present.

This month we have been lucky enough to have visitors come to Wisconsin and hang out with us! I think Eric loves it the most when people visit, because he gets a clean house out of the deal.

FEBRUARY

The first weekend Alex came out for a long visit. Friday night we went out to dinner. Saturday we hit up the local favorite, The Steaming Cup, for breakfast. After naptime we went to the home brewing store, saw the Fonz downtown and went to the Mars' Cheese Castle. Sunday we went to brunch at Perkins and then just hung out until the Super Bowl and Glee. Alex left in the morning.



This past weeked, Rae, Alison and Ashley came out to visit. Nick stayed back in Iowa since Eric had reserves and would be gone most of the weekend. We spent a few hours shopping on Saturday, followed by a late lunch at Applebee's. That night I made taco pizza and we watched Despicable Me. Sunday morning Ali, Ashley and I went to a couple craft stores so they would have projects to work on for the ride home. They headed back around 1.

Since the last post Nicholas has just been getting cuter and cuter. He is a walking fool and really only crawls when he is trying to get up and down the stairs. He has 10 teeth or so... we think that number 11 may be peeking it's way through. He does have a few words down: mama, dada, nana (that's banana), sometimes there is a word that sounds like Tink... the rest of his talking is just babbling, but he is pretty convinced he is having a conversation with us!!

Oh good, only a few weeks this time! Whew! I think my New Years Resolution is going to be more blogging!!! Time to flip back through the pictures and see what we have been up to!

November 16-18

Eric's family came out for the Northwestern/Iowa game. Even though Eric was the only one happy with the outcome, we still had a fun time. Nicholas got to go swimming a few times with Uncle Alex at the hotel. The pool was chilly, so he hung out in the lukewarm hot tub. Other than them all going to the game, we just hung out most of the time.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving we went back to Iowa for the long weekend. On Thursday we had Thanksgiving at the Owens'. It was a lot of fun seeing everyone. Emily took some pictures of Nicholas for Christmas and I can't wait to see more of them! On Friday we had Miller Thanksgiving. That night was really fun! Katie was also there and Ali & Ashley came over to spend the night. We all watched Elf and then did some of Ali's ELP games! Saturday Nicholas hung out with dad all day and then Sunday we saw Papa Tim before heading back to Wisconsin.

Daddy Day!

Yesterday I was at a dance competition all day so Eric and Nicholas were on their own for 12 hours! I thought they would just hang out at home and play (there was talk about bad weather), but they did anything but sit around. They went to Menard's to get some stuff for the house and then to Babies R Us and bought Nicholas a new set of hat and gloves. After coming home for lunch and a nap, they then went to the home brewing store so Eric could get more beer supplies. Then they played at home... well, and changed the basement light so it worked, did some laundry and a load of dishes! I should leave more often!!!

Future

We are getting ready for a really busy couple of weeks. Back to Iowa on the 17th until the 27th! We have the Reams Christmas the 18th, Nicholas' 1st birthday on the 19th, a few days of rest and then a few more Christmases. On the 31st we leave for Dallas, Texas to go to the TicketCity Bowl Game. Well, let me rephrase that. Eric is going to the game while Nicholas and I shop!! Busy, busy!!

Dang it! Did I really go another month without blogging? How have you all survived? Oh, your friends with me on Facebook. I guess we are good then! Let's go back through the photos and see what has been going on...

October 22-24
Dad had his 10 year college reunion in Evanston. We decided to stay down for the weekend, but at a different hotel than the last time since I didn't sleep well the last time!! Dad was really busy on Saturday with the football game and the reunion party so mom and I hung out. We went to the mall and then to Rainforest Cafe. Mom didn't think I looked good so we went back to the hotel where we found out I had a 102 fever. The rest of the vacation I spent in my PJ's playing.

I don't look sick, I know

Halloween

For my first Halloween mom dressed me up as a puppy dog (and funny enough, mom's cousin Erica had the same outfit for Chase!). I liked the outfit, but it made me really warm. I only wore it to the daycare parties though since I didn't trick-or-treat this year. Maybe next year I can go out for lots of candy!! Yum!

Nicholas and this little boy had their hands crossed the whole time. Too cute!!

Playing!! 

Since I am so great at crawling, I am able to get into a lot of stuff. Some mom and dad are okay with, some things that they don't care for! My favorite thing to get into are my books. I am able to flip through the pages with some ease... and then I am onto the next thing! I also love to play with boxes, Tink... and just anything that looks like fun!

November 10th

A very busy day for me! That morning I was grinding my teeth, and mom discovered that my 5th tooth had came in overnight. Then, that night, I took 5 steps by myself. Yeah me!!

November 12-14

Party weekend! Aunt Claire, Uncle Dustin, Uncle Alex, Grandma Deb and Grandpa Miller came out for the weekend!! Friday night mom, dad and I went to the hotel and I went swimming with Uncle Alex. The pool was really cold so we ended up swimming in the lukewarm hot tub! On Saturday everyone but mom and I went to the Iowa/Northwestern game where Northwestern won (GO CATS!). Mom and I did some Christmas shopping and played at home. That night we went out to dinner and then back for more swimming. Sunday morning we all went to the Steaming Cup before they headed back to Ankeny.

I am looking forward to going back to Ankeny for Thanksgiving weekend. I haven't seen most everyone for 6 weeks and I miss you all tons!

Wow!! I really need to blog more. I feel like tons has gone on in the past month, and also nothing! Thinking back, the blog break started when Nicholas was sick for a week with a cold and we just sat around the house. I will have to go through pictures to see what has been going on....

Ah, yes.. the month of September. Between Eric working, going to the Northwestern football games and Reserves, we didn't see much of him that month! Nicholas and I kept busy by taking plenty of classes at Gymboree and shopping the days away. Seriously, that is all we did. What can we say, he and I are lazy! Luckily he is cute enough for me to take pics of him doing anything!!

Yummy, eating a hanger

Literally will teethe on anything

October has been a bit busier for us. We went back to Ankeny the past two weekends so it has been great seeing family and friends. The first weekend we came back so mom could have a wine tour with Grandma Deb, Aunt Claire and Godmother Katie (Katie's blog) while I watched football with dad and Grandpa Mike.

The second weekend back was a lot of fun. Jesse and Emily were getting married!! And we were going to the Pumpkin Patch!! Saturday morning mom, dad, Erin and her kids, Rae, Nick and the girls, Claire, Dustin and the boys, Nick's parents, Alex and I went to the Center Grove Pumpkin Patch. Boy, was it warm (mom even got sunburned!). I didn't care for the Corn Pool with cousin Alison, but liked seeing the animals and watching everyone. The wedding was fun too, but dad took me back to stay with Grandma Deb and Grandpa Mike while everyone else went to the reception (but don't worry, he was really missed by everyone!)

In the Corn Pool

Enjoying the wedding with Ashley and Savannah

Development: Well, Nicholas hasn't started walking yet, but now he is letting go and standing for a bit on his own. He doesn't really act interested in walking, but I have a feeling the day he starts he will be a pro at it! His top two teeth just poked through (the first day he was grinding his teeth, that was a great noise) so he has started eating more 'real' foods. His favorite is bananas.

Oh, the biggest news for Nicholas this week is that he started day care. I am searching for a full time job so we got him into the GE daycre through Eric's work. He is still sad when I leave, but I hear that is short lived.

Meet Mr. Miller!!!

On Friday morning we had our court date to make our adoption official!! It took all of 15 minutes and Nicholas was a crazy man for every second (that's what happens when the kid fights nap time!). The judge just asked each of us our names, address, do you promise to take care of him.... and POOF! You are now parents! Eric took the day off work so we went back home, packed up the car and headed to Ankeny!!

Saturday was my typical run-around-like-a-crazy-person day. Nicholas and I met Erin, Carter and Addyson at CJ's for breakfast. Then we dropped off the kids and hit up some garage sales; which we bought all stuff for the kids! Saturday afternoon we had my Grandpa Owens' 80th birthday party. Nicholas loved seeing all of his relatives and was passed around from one to the next!! That night was pretty relaxing watching The Blind Side while the Miller men watched Northwestern beat Vanderbuilt.

Joy, Mark and Nicholas having a great time!

Sunday afternoon my dad and Kelly hosted an open house for family and friends to come over and meet the new Mr. Miller. Nicholas is mister social and loved every minute of playing with all of the kids and adults! Afterwards we went over to Aunt Rae's for what I called Big Rae's Labor Day. Although by that point Nicholas was ready for bed so he and Eric left while I hung out for a couple hours.

Whoo hoo!!

I don't know who loves Nicholas' new toy more!!

We love having a holiday weekend! That extra day makes the vacation seem sooo much longer! That morning we met a whole group of family and friends at Gray's Lake (Claire, Dustin and the boys, Mike & Deb, Erin, Brad and the kids!). A number of them went boating while the rest of us hung out. Then we all met Katie and Alex at Perkins for lunch (Breadbowls could use some re-recipe-ing). After going to Alex's new apartment we headed back to Waukesha.

Mike, Dustin and Tanner canoeing while Eric, Brad and Carter paddleboat

Future spouses: Addyson Hill and Nicholas Miller