Falls x's 4

WOW! Its been an exciting few days around here. Let me start with the craziest of all 4 first.

Fall 1 &2
Thursday night, I turned my shower water on and then decided I wasn't ready to take a shower. As I walked back into the living room, I heard some commotion upstairs. I thought it was Peyton on the monitor but as I walked a few steps into the living room and headed upstairs I realized it was Clark. I heard, "Misssssssssy, Missssssssy." Of course I automatically thought, "Why is he yelling when the babies are asleep?" So I'm going upstairs whispering (in a louder whispering voice), "Hush, hush..." About half way up the stairs I started to hear him more and that's when it got scary. I walked into CJ's bathroom and saw CJ sitting on his bathroom counter, blood pouring from him nose, Clark on his knees, bloody Kleenex in hand. He said, "I think CJ just broke his nose and I'm about to pass out." I started taking care of CJ and told Clark to sit on the potty. CJ is still crying and saying, "There's blood all over me." Clark started to sit down on the potty and then for some crazy reason stood right back up. As he stood up, I thought he was just fine. Then he started to raise his arms like Frankenstein, although he was headed backwards. All of a sudden he passed out taking the shower curtain down with him, landed in the bathtub wrapped up in the shower curtain. CJ yelling, "Oh my daddy..." I unwrapped his head from the shower curtain to survey the damage...still passed out. He laid there for about 30 seconds, and then opened his eyes but was completely blank. I was talking to him but he didn't move a muscle. Finally he came completely to after the water from the faucet started dripping on his face. The bathtub in that bathroom is a regular size bathtub, he was wedged in there and I was jerking on his legs but I soon realized there was no way I could help him at all. I do have to say that when he finally woke up, I had to hold back my laughing and I wanted to say "Could you just stay like that so I can get my camera?" but I didn't! Sorry everyone, I wish you could have seen it too! When he finally got up he went into CJ's room and plopped on the floor just a giggling away as I finished cleaning up the bloody mess-cracking up!

Later, CJ said "My daddy fell and he should have been looking where he was going." Of course that's what Clark had been lecturing him on while he was cleaning up the blood after CJ had fallen and started all this commotion! CJ is fine, no broken nose!

Fall #3

Peyton is now crawling upstairs. We decided that we wouldn't keep a gate up because all the boys learned to crawl up the stairs and they need to be able to go up there and not have me lift them all day. We go up and down so much that it would be more cumbersome. I still feel that way even after today.

Mark was having a little bit of a hard day. Just cranky. He followed Peyton up the stairs and about half way up, as I turned the corner from the bedroom to watch them up the stairs Mark pushed Peyton down...boom, boom, bang, boom...whaaaaaaaaaaaa. He banged up his head pretty good but he didn't cry long. I think it just scared him more than anything.

I was hoping that was all the action for a few days.

Fall #4

Last night, right after Clark got home, Mark crawled on the table. I kept telling him to get down but of course that didn't work long. I got up to get Peyton something and that's when I heard Mark fall onto the tile floor. I did what I always do when they fall, inspect them, make sure nothing is broken. I opened up his mouth and it was full of blood. This time I got to yell for Clark. He came running in, picked Marky up and took him to the sink. No one passed out but it was close.

I'm hoping the weekend is quite!

Where did we get these names...

We're often asked, "How did you pick your boy's names?"

I started putting this post together and as we ALL searched for photos, I realized just how special this post was going to be. To have three boys, all namesakes, brought tears to my eyes.

C.J. Miller

Clark Thomas Miller, Jr. (C.J.)

We always knew that if we had a boy we would follow suit and name him after Clark because his side of the family has a tradition of naming their sons, Clark Thomas or Thomas Clark. I believe that every generation, the names would flip-flop (Thomas Clark is Poppy and then Clark Thomas is C.J.'s daddy's name). We decided to keep the order the same as Clark's but added "Jr." at the end. The name "Thomas" is also the name of my grandfather, Papaw, my dad's father! A win-win! My younger sister Michelle, actually pointed out to us that we could call him C.J. and that stuck!

Thomas Clark Miller (Poppy)

Clark Thomas Miller (Daddy)

Thomas Chambers (Great Papaw)

Mark Robert Miller

So, we had a second son and boy were we happy to be able to use two of the most important names of people on my side of the family. Mark was the name of my uncle (my mother's younger brother). Uncle Mark passed away shortly after his 23rd birthday (I was 4 years old), in a tragic boating accident. He was the only blood related uncle that we had. He was just a cool guy, an uncle that was always missed terribly. The memory I have of him the most was how much he loved his "Tiddies" sandals, those rubber sandals that were popular with those who loved boating. Also, his nickname was "Gator". We still have the light blue towels that have "Gator" embroidered on them, probably given to him from my Mimi.

Robert is my dad's first name however he goes by Steve. What an honor to be able to name one of our son's after my dad...I have all sisters so no namesakes there!

Mark Wayne Slater (1962-1985)

Robert Stephen Chambers (Pop)

Peyton Daniel Miller

Then, we had a third boy! We decided that we wanted to use a "current" name so we chose Peyton and kept the spelling the same as Peyton Manning. You wouldn't think that there would be many girl's names with the same spelling but apparently there are. Oh well, I'm sure with Peyton's size, no one will want to poke fun at his name! Then we thought it would be a perfect opportunity to use a name from Clark's mother's side of the family so we chose Daniel. Sounded perfect! Daniel is the name of Clark's mother's dad, Daniel Hartnett!

Daniel Hartnett (1921-2006)

I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing about how special each of our boys' names are to us and to those that they are named after!

Odds and Ends

Marky and Peyton playing on Thursday after we got home from taking CJ to school.

SHOES

CJ complains every time I start to put on his tennis shoes. He tells me that his shoes don't feel good and his socks have to be just right. If there was such a thing as a seamless sock, that's what CJ would want! I am telling you, everything has to be just right for him to stop griping. I finally decided that generic shoes weren't going to suffice anymore. Early last week I had been planning a little trip to get CJ some new shoes, some that were really padded and ultra comfy. Today, we brought these new babies home. We also bought some new socks, some real soft ones that fit real snug. I guess I really can't blame him, its just hard sometimes when your kids are complaining and you can't feel what it is that they are complaining about. I just figured he was being picky. He put them on tonight after we got home and I think these are going to work!

Let me tell you the new eyeglasses story...

I knew I needed a new rx in my glasses but my frames had really been through a beating too. I started looking at all the "fast" eye glass places like Pearl Vision, Lenscrafters, Eyemasters etc. I had forgotten how expensive glasses were. Even after looking at several places, I still couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. I knew I wanted some with lighter brown frames around the eyes, but I also wanted some with a little bit of black...and of course, I wanted some glitz too. Well, what I wanted was going to cost around $400 and I just thought that was insane for a pair of glasses that I wouldn't be wearing everyday all day. I typically wear contacts. Framesdirect.com (based out of Houston) ended up being the answer. I found the coolest pair of glasses, exactly what I wanted for about $15o less than what I would have paid retail. Give Framesdirect.com a try next time you need new glasses! I even have a little coupon that I'd give anyone who needs it:)

Precious Peyton

Our big, precious Peyton turned 9 months old this week! We had his well visit on Thursday. The doctor checked him out, ooohhh and awed over how big he is and how happy his disposition was during the visit. She looked in his right ear and said, "Has he been fussy at lately?" He had not been fussy at all...he's been napping great and eating well and never felt like he had a fever. She said that his right eardrum was about to bust. She let me see...I could see, it was completely white and bulging when its supposed to be bright red. The left ear also had an infection but was not near as bad. He's one tough, big, happy baby! He's on antibiotics now so of course, the diarrhea started today. I've been pumping him full of yogurt which he loves so maybe this will help the diarrhea.

Stats and Milestones:

Weight: 24 pounds (85 percentile)

Height: 30.5 inches (off the charts, the average length of a 16 month old)

Head Circumference: 18 inches

*At 9 months old Peyton is very mobile, pulls up, walks holding on, and climbs up the stairs (just started this week).

*He's starting to eat table food, including PB&J (even though its a little early for PB). He'll eat most things I give him but still gags at some textures, unlike Mark, who would shove anything in his mouth and NEVER gagged. Peyton loves dessert and he knows what it looks like and sounds like when its being opened! The sound of wrappers opening, now means I have three little toots making their way to the kitchen to see what's next to eat.

*He still loves his bottle, but he likes to be cozied up under a blanket, toes covered and snuggled real close to me. His eyes get really heavy and I know he's comfy and ready to go to sleep although most times he's just woken up!

*He naps most mornings for about an hour since I've started to cut the morning nap down. In the afternoon he sleeps for 2-3 hours on a good day!

*He's wearing size 18 months on most things because of the length. He can wear 12 months in pants but they're too short many times. He's wearing a size 4 shoe (he just started wearing shoes) and his diapers are a size 5. Diapers only go to size 6...what am I going to do in a year, buy adult diapers? His hiney is super bubbly, he proudly gets that from his daddy.

*He just started getting his two top teeth in the last week, he has three on the bottom.

*He loves his big brothers and when I say, "Lets go see your bubbas!" He just grins and grins.

Peyton, you are so precious to us all!!!

Ups and Downs of our V-day

We thoroughly enjoyed our Valentine's Day, for several reasons as you will see...
I woke up early as I usually do on Sunday mornings to watch my Joel Olsteen on Channel 4 at 7:30. I like to have my coffee and sit and listen, BY MYSELF! Sometimes I hear one or more of these toots wake up but I just tell myself that they can wait until 8:00 when I'm good and ready to feed everyone! Usually I can count on Clark staying in bed since he likes to sleep until 8 or so on Sunday and if he's in bed then I know CJ will usually snuggle with him until he's ready to get up...that is, if CJ has already made it down to our bed! This Sunday was no different other than no one woke up early so I had some extra time to finish off their cinnamon rolls with some Valentine's sprinkles and arrange their little "sugar" presents.

The photo below: all my Valentines about to enjoy their breakfast...and yes, Peyton is a real fan of cinnamon rolls. Who's not, really! CJ kindly told me that he would have much rather of had his daddy's extra large Hershey kiss instead of his heart full of M&M's. Oh, I really hope he will start to learn to be grateful for what he is given. We are trying so hard to teach him this.

Not long after we finished breakfast, we were all about to get dressed for church and Marky escaped out of the room. Clark found him eating EVERY one of CJ's M&M's on the kitchen floor. He had his own heart full but I guess he heard that CJ didn't really want his so Mark decided he'd eat them for him!

We'd had a little bit of a crazy morning, we decided to do haircuts and therefore every one had at least two baths. Marky had absolutely no reason to be upset, he'd had a great morning but he just simply didn't want to sit still for pictures. Look at that frown!

...and then, after church it was our plan for Chelsea to come stay with the boys while they napped and we were going to do a late lunch and then go have our massages! We were going to go to Salt Grass but the wait was way too long so we ended up at Christina's. They had this Valentine's Day special that was really great. To top off the meal, the waiter brought us this little shot glass. He explained that since Clark had a margarita and I had a Corona that its the bartender's special to send a shot out to end the meal. Well awesome...if we had known what it was and if it hadn't been in the middle of the day with a teenage couple sitting next to us. So, since we were feeling a little loony from the morning, we decided to make a little fun out of it. Neither one of us actually drank it but after I saw Clark making fun of the situation, I decided that he and I both would make some goofy pictures. By the way, the massage was GREAT afterward. A great Valentine's Day!

New outfit, New Digs, New trim

CJ before school in his new camo outfit from Mimi and Poppy!

Peyton in his new size 4 shoes since I couldn't find any in the hammy down closet. Peyton after his mini trim!

Grab ahold of your heart...

...because if you don't, Marky is liable to steel it!

Brotherly LOVE

Big Boy Birthday Party

Happy Birthday to my Big Boy CJ!

We celebrated CJ's 4th birthday, Star Wars style on Saturday! There are so many pictures that I am having a real hard time going through them to see which ones I could post so I decided to just put some in a collage. I need to work on my collage making for sure!

Happy Birthday my BIG BOY! He's been so sweet ever since he figured out that now he is 4 years old. We had a rough week last week, his moods were terrible but I am telling you, things have been quite peaceful in his 4 year old world since last Friday!

CJ at his birthday breakfast. When he is real hungry in the mornings, he tells me he wants a "birthday breakfast" and that normally includes pancakes, chocolate milk...it really includes sausage or bacon and eggs, fruit etc but for CJ, well he'll only eat the pancakes so on Friday that's all I made, along with his chocolate milk of course!

A few of these pics include, CJ and his friends at the table eating pizza and Darth Vader cake made by Grammy, Mimi sliding down the bounce house with Chubaca Marky Bear, Grandma and Grandpa with Gracie, CJ and Mark & Peyton dressed in costume, the fun pinata scene :), the triplets with Michelle, Brent and Grammy, Poppy who took the duty of writing down who gave what gifts to CJ (which was a crazy scene to keep up with so thank you Poppy), EXCITED CJ as he was opening gifts with Pop and Aunt Mandy in the background cracking up at the chaos, and sweet Chloe clapping at the fun! We enjoyed having everyone and the party turned out great! I think we're still recovering! For some reason I forgot to get a picture of Clark with the boys since he had the camera around his neck most of the party time so below is a picture of he and the boys after the party had ended and when we were all relaxing in our diapers (won't be able to say that for too much longer) although I was tired that I wished I could of had one on!

Two Peas in a Pod

When I picked up CJ today from school I noticed that he and his best little friend, Luke had on the same outfit. His mother and I did not plan this...each had on a long sleeve shirt, with a Star Wars T-shirt over it, pants and tennis shoes. They looked so sweet that I asked his teacher to take a picture of them!

Yogurt

Lately I have been noticing Peyton crawling up to Mark when he is eating. Peyton will pull up to Mark and just stand there. I learned why yesterday!


I walked into the kitchen and saw Mark feeding Peyton yogurt...here are the pics!

Wedding Album Obsession

Several times lately I've thought that maybe I need to put our wedding album away to keep all the fingerprints down to a minimum...Marky makes his every day jaunt to the album and he will thumb through it for the longest time. Most of the time he looks for pictures of his daddy and he just carries on conversations starting with, "Daddadddddaaaa."

I snapped these pictures the other day when I walked in and Marky was saying, "Pop, Pop, Pop." I just can't wait for him to really start talking!