The Un-invited Christmas Guest

It's ugly name.... cancer. We found out on Friday that my Marty has colon cancer. He fits none of the criteria, no family history, he is young, active.... He was having some health issues so he made a routine visit to the Dr. The Dr. thought it would be a good idea to have a colonoscopy, 'just to be safe'. He did the colonoscopy, found one single polyp, removed it, and it was cancer. So January 13th he will have surgery to have a portion of his colon removed. The Dr.'s are pretty vague with what they say right now. As far as we know, we will know what stage the cancer is at after the surgery and if chemo will be necessary. Marty has such a great attitude, and is un-phased by all of this. He amazes me with how strong he is. He said, "Don't cry, there are just some weird little cells we have to get rid of, I'm not going anywhere!" Nothing keeps him down, maybe that's why he's so good for me. I, on the other hand, have been a basket case, I can't imagine someone I love so much having to suffer through this. I want him to have the surgery tomorrow, but apparently he has Jazz tickets for the 10th and he's not willing to miss it! So he will spend his birthday in the hospital instead!! I love him and want to beat him all at the same time!! Anyway, I will keep you posted. We are so grateful for all of our wonderful friends and family. It is overwhelming how loving and thoughtful everyone has been, so thank you, each and every one of you!

Babies Wanted

I am in the 'portfolio building' phase of my photography business and I am in need of some models!! If you know anyone who is expecting and would like some maternity shots, or someone who has a newborn have them email me: martymiller@peoplepc.com. Right now I am offering a free session and they can purchase a cd with 10 full resolution photos for $25- it's a steel! Photography is not only a hobby, but I would also like to do it as a full time business. Thanks for anyone who sends me a referral and helps me get my name out there!

More of the family

Just some more of the family. Thanks Michelle, you are such a good friend and mentor, and a great photographer!!

My Man

My friend Michelle aka Old Crow Photography took some family photos and such for me. Somehow she caught Marty actually smiling. This sounds so corny, but when I got this photo back, I had a little flutter in my heart. I think sometimes life gets so busy and you stop taking the time to just notice each other. He just looks so handsome to me. Anyhoo there he is.... that's my man!!

Today I'm Doing the Happy Dance!!

For anyone who has known me for very long, you know that I have gained some weight over the last few years. I'm not sure why, I think that age and genetics have just played their role, and played it very well I might add. Any hoo, I have been doing research like crazy for a year now about this HCG diet. So many patients that we see at work have had amazing results, and have kept the weight off very well. A couple of weeks ago the opportunity to try it fell into my hands, so I jumped on the wagon. I have been on the diet now for 9 days and I hit the -10lb mark. The diet is kind of a toughie, but every morning when I see that I have lost weight I'm motivated to try another day and really I do feel a lot better. Then to top things off, yesterday Lori Holyoak gave me the most fabulous hair cut ever! If you need services of that type you really should give her a call, she is FANTASTIC!!! My kids didn't fight this morning, they made their own breakfasts, so today I think I'm going to put a smile on my face..... life is good at the Miller house today!!!

Welcome to the Miller's house

As most everyone knows, we moved into a new home in April. We have no family here and I have had some requests to send pictures of the house. I decided to post them here, and then our family and friends can come for a visit!!

This is the entry way, kind of boring right now, I am still trying to come up with some ideas of how I want to decorate.
Living Room, I would so love a built in entertainment system
.....the kitchen.
...dining area

This is Baylie's room, still a work in progress. I need to find her a head board and furniture set, just haven't look much yet.

This is our (mine and Marty's) bedroom, also a work in progress. I am again, not sure what I want to do here. I was excited about the trunk at the end of my bed, I found it at a local thrift store for $5, and the headboard also. I refinished the head and foot board and distressed it. The family above my bed is a generic family that came with the frames, haven't switched that our either. Whew, I have some work to do!!

...the bathroom off of the master bedroom, I was excited about the mirrors.I also liked the shelf made from the tile... definitely a selling point for me!! We also have a jetted tub that Cam spends most of his time in. I hate cleaning that thing!And lastly, the backyard. We just finished the landscaping, (we paid someone else and they finished), a lot of my plants did not make it, so there will be some work to do this spring!

Please take note that you do not see a photo of my adorable little boy's room. The reason is that it is an absolute pig pen. That is the room that when people come over we shut the door and hope they don't ask for a tour. That kid is a slob! If anyone comes to visit, don't worry you won't have to sleep in there!

Go #4!

Cameron is in football again this year. Marty is coaching Cam's team in football again this year!! He is so small but he amazes me more every game. That kid isn't afraid of anything. Marty has been playing him as a linebacker!! A 57lb. linebacker!! I just hate the sound of those pads and helmets colliding, but the boys love it, so I guess I'm not going to be able to talk him into doing ballet this year.

Above: that is my little Cameron in the lower right corner, tackling the kid with the foot ball!!

Back to School

I know that the kids have been back to school for half of the school year already but here are a few 'first day of school pictures'.

This is our cute neighbor Jackson. He and Baylie walk to the bus stop together in the morning.

That's my BOY!!

My idea of a photo session is this: 1. take a bath 2. dress cute 3. comb your hair 4. smile pretty and so on. However my son's idea is 1. take a bath 2. dress how my mom makes me 3. let my mom fix my hair 4. find a bucket of oil 5. drop a rock in the bucket of oil 6. crap, I heard a little dirt will absorb the oil maybe I could just rub that on my face before my mom sees and all will be good!! We weren't at the location for more than five minutes and as you can see.......

More Pictures

I have been playing around a lot with Photo Shop lately and wanted to share some more pictures of my kiddos. I get kind of sad when I see how much they have grown up. I know I am kind of partial, but my girl is so dang cute!!! Cameron is too, but lately I just look at my daughter and can remember being her age....would never go back......but I can remember! Cameron is so funny. He is like me, he is never too serious about anything, and is always goofing off. I wish that I could add some of the voice captions to go along with these pictures!! "Why are you taking pictures of my back, that's gay.", "I am not touching him, we're too old for pictures like that!!" I am so happy that they love what I do for them, and that they love each other!!

FINALLY!!!!!

Okay, so I finally decided to see what all this blog hype was about! I love looking at everyone's cute blogs, obviously some have some very extravagant designs... mine, not so much but oh well. I took new pictures of my kids this weekend, and they turned out pretty well. The sun was still a little harsh, but I actually got them to pretend that they liked each other and that is an accomplishment in itself!!

Now that I actually have a blog set up, let's see how well I keep up posting on it!!