Little Thinker

Life's a Beach

Lucas was discharged from the hospital last Sunday with slight jaundice, but when we went back for a recheck on Monday, his bilirubin level had gone up and he had lost more weight. By Wednesday, he'd begun gaining weight (yay!) but his jaundice was getting worse. He's not at a dangerous level yet, and he's actually at a remarkably low one (14) compared with how high Cody's got (26, requiring hospitalization), but we've been on a phototherapy light off and on all week. On Friday, our pediatrician said he wanted me to stop nursing and give formula for 48 hours to see if that made a difference. This is what we did with Cody, and he never resumed nursing. :(

I told the pedi that I really wanted to give it through the weekend and see if we could make some progress between round-the-clock feedings, and keeping him on the bili-bed (special lighted bed) except when we're changing his diaper or when he's eating. I'm so hoping we see a change in the number come Monday. Lucas is a champion nurser so I'd hate to take that away from him (and me). Think good thoughts for us, please!

(The picture above is from before we received the bili-bed...sunlight is supposed to be effective in breaking down bilirubin as well, so Lucas has been sunning himself as much as possible.)

Welcome Littlest One!

Lucas James Miller came into the world on November 2, 2007, weighing in at 8 lbs 7 oz. The labor was our shortest and easiest, and also as perfect as we could have hoped for...no NICU team, and we got to hold him right there in the delivery room. He even began nursing not an hour after he was born. We are a happy family of 5!

Here are some pictures we got at the hospital....

Snuggling with Daddy:
My 4 Men:


Proud Big Brothers:
Jackson soothing the baby:
Lucas' first storytime!
Yaaaaaaaaawn!!

I Wanna Be a Rock Star

We got red guitar boots a few months ago, and that's when the boys decided they wanted to be rock stars for Halloween. They have been SOOOO excited about tonight ever since we got the red hair-dye spray and stick-on tattoos...that was a few weeks ago, and we chose not to have a trial run, so tonight was IT.

They came home from school ready to put their costumes on. They ended up looking terribly fab and really got into the spirit of it, pretending to do windmill guitar riffs and singing REALLY loud. LOL Cody's hair is so white-blond that the "red" dye came out neon orange on his head, but he sure did enjoy checking himself out in the mirror. I ended up carrying his guitar, and he removed his sunglasses and dog collar before we even left the house. Jacks just pushed his sunglasses on top of his head, which considering their shape, ended up looking rather funny (as you'll see in the very last pic). Here are some pics of my rock stars!

Lovin' their guitars (which they decorated with stars and Jacks even added some flames LOL):




Ooooooh, psychedelic, man:



Jacks really has the pose down:





Cody tried to be tough, cool and aloof, but he let his hair down before too long:







Presenting The Miller Brothers Band....first verse by Cody:



Take it home, Jacks:



Chillin' after our big Trick or Treat (and to Cody, going TOT'ing was not only the act itself, but also each piece of candy, ie. "Look at the Trick or Treat I got!" LOL...oh and he also says we're going to go again tomorrow ):

PUMPKINS!!!

We took advantage of Jacks being out of school today to hit the Owens' Farm Big Orange Pumpkin Patch.

It was BEAUTIFUL out, and we got there just ahead of a bunch of school buses LOL....so we enjoyed the tractor ride and feeding the animals before it got TOO insanely full.

Here's a few pics:

Belly Painting

The boys have been dying to paint my belly, so this afternoon I let them go to town.

The finished product, from the front:



Details...Jackson's train, complete with track (that went around to my back!):



Cody's train (he's more of an abstract artist LOL):



Luke (note that my belly button is his nose!):



Me and my artists:



After dinner, it was Anthony's turn...I've been really attracted to trees in art lately, so much of the decor in Luke's room has to do with trees. There was only one option, then, for the subject of Anthony's painting. Here's a shot of me with Daddy's finished product.

Cody's First Day of Preschool

He was SO ready today...he's in love with the backpack he chose, and he got a big kick out of helping me pack up his lunch. Plus, he is just so proud of his napmat that "Zoe's Mama" made him that he might just pop.

Here's my little guy, who's no longer little at all....where'd the baby go?





Last year, he only attended a week or so of school before we took him out after his surgery....but here's the best pic I got then.



And here was after school that day:



I so hope he has fun today! He's been looking forward to it for the last week+, since Jacks started K...every day he would ask if it was his turn to go to preschool yet. So I'm that all goes well for him.