Time just keep flying by. Things around the MIller home are pretty normal. It seems to me that Erin Michal is keeping us hopping the most these days. We spent Sunday afternoon in Urgent Care with a very infected swimmers ear. It was so swollen that they had to put a wick in in order for the medicine to get in her ear. But, by Monday, things were worse, and once again... the little ones and I spent time in a doctors office with Erin :). Her ear was hurting so badly. I must say, she is one tough cookie! There were very few complaints on her part. Once in awhile she would moan enough for me to realize that this infection was bad. Well, Monday she was put on a heavy antibiotic, switched ear drops, and then given a shot. We were told then that if she wasn't any better by the next day, she would be in the hospital. Well, by God's grace, she is doing much better. Her ear drum actually perforated. We ended up back at the doctors the next day due to the blood from the perforation (I had no idea that it had perforated). She is out of the water (swim team) for a week, though (to her saddness).

Ri is growing leaps and bounds. The other day he was downstairs looking for Daddy and we heard "Daddy, where are you?". To me, that is amazing. The drag he had so much in his leg is almost gone. He is actually running without falling.

Well, i need to get some work done. I just wanted to update everyone with some new pictures. Hope you enjoy them!

Time just keeps slipping away from me. I can not believe that we have been home 5 months now, yet it seems like we have been home forever with Ri. Five months just doesn't sound like a long time. We recently had our home study. Chine requires that we have a follow up homestudy at 6 months and at one year. We have a wonderful social worker who is a joy to have in our home. The visit was wonderful. Jacob was concerned that if the visit did not go well, they might take Ri away from us. I suppose that is possible, but we assured him that Ri was safely our son! Regardless, Jacob was very nervous throug hhis "interview".

Five months.. where has the time flown? I have been in quite a fog. It has been so much harder on me then I ever imagined. I can't exactly figure out what has been so hard, I am truly baffled by it. I think that part of the reason is that I have struggled so desperately with my walk with God. When your walk with God is not personal, your life often reflects that. For me, I feel like this "season" is a viscious circle that is going around and I can't get on or off it easily By that, I mean that because things are so tough right now, I can't seem to have the energy or make the time to spend with God. But I know the truth... if I want to be able to deal with things better and handle this "tough" season, I know the answer is to spend time with God. But... I do feel like my spinning wheel is beginning to slow down. God is faithful and He has never let go of me. He has given me the breath of fresh air I need, just when I need it. He has allowed me to walk through this dry and tough season, but hsn't let go of me through it all. The poem "Footprints in the Sand" is very true... God has held me through every step.

As I begin to come out of this fog, I am beginning to feel His presence once again. There were fleeting moments when I could see Him and feel Him, but I would soon go back into my fog. But now, I feel like God is bringing me "home" once again. He seems to be restoring me and giving my that living water that He speaks of in the Bible. And so I rejoice! I good friend of mine reminded me of how God allows us to go through things so that we will be able to minister to others when they go through them. What a joy that will be!

So what is our precious clan up to these days? Well, Erin joined the swim team. She has never swam before, but wants to stay in shape for soccer. SHe seems to enjoy it very much right now. What I enjoy is the "new" relationship we seem to be building. A very, very long time ago, I was once a decent swimmer. That past seems to be brought up and talked about often these days. It is such a joy to be able to connect with her once again. I am truly loving this new side of my little girl. Emily is participating in a school play. This is so exciting for me. It is really the first high school activity that she has really been involved in. I am loving watching her be excited about it. This week is "tech week" because the play is Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so she has practice from 6-10 every night. It definitely is keeping her busy! I can't wait to see her in it :). Sam and Jacob just finished soccer. Neither is involved in anything new, yet. It is nice to have our sons home for a little while. Sam's team ended up winning in his league. Jacob's team ended up playing in the championship game of the tournament, but lost by 1 goal. Both boys played incredibly. This has been a wonderful season for them.

As for Mark and I... well, I believe with all of my heart that our marriage is a beautiful example of God's grace and faithfulness. We are so blessed. After 17 years, I am more in love with him then I ever have been. He is my better half. He has been the one person who God has used to carry me through this tough season I am in. He is my encourager, my support, my constant friend. He has smiled through almost every little fit I have thrown. He has known exactly how to handle me. I have more respect for him then any person I have met. I thank God for my wonderful husband. God truly gave me the perfect match.

As for myself, I recently entered a design contest for digital scrapbooking. There were 4 rounds in which I had to make 4 different "kits" for scrapbooking. If you are familiar with paper scrapping, it is much like that, only you don't have paper. You have the same elements and gorgeous papers, but they are done on the computer. ANyways, I made it to the last round. I did not win, but I was asked to be a designer for their site. My kids and Mark all encouraged me and watched me 'stress out with the designs. But through it, they saw my love of design and are encouraging me to try it. So.. I just signed a contract to be a designer. It is kind of exciting and kind of scary. I guess I will probably start a new blog site just for my desiging. I'll let you know once I do for those of you who want to see my designs or are interested in digital scrapbooking.

Well, for now, I need to get off. Elizabeth just woke up, the kids need woke up in about 10 minutes for school and I need to get at least one element designed for my new kit.

Who ever said that trick-or-treat was not for the older kids too. It is true that 11 year olds still enjoy going house to house and dressing up! My young man is living proof. He had his choice, he would have gotten a very elaborate Uncle Sam outfit (or Elvis), but since Mom does not go spend money on costumes, Jacob came up with his own. He is so creative! I think this one has to be my alltime favorite of his! He found this Santa hat at a garage sale this past summer and loved it. Well, he decided he was going to be a saxophone playing Santa. It was hilarious! Doesn't he look too cool?









The little ones both hesitated at first, but as soon as Ri realized that if you went to someone's door and said trick or treat, they gave you candy... well... he was sold! Elizabeth took a little time to warm up, but she caught on pretty quick too. They were so much fun to watch!

There are some family shots we took yesterday.

a few pictures from our walk yesterday. Enjoy.

A very special friend sent this to me. I really think it is sweet.

Time does seem to fly for me these days. Everyone is doing well. Sam is back to normal. The pictures are of his game on Saturday. He scored a goal! Yippee. Erin is doing well. She is still a little swollen and tender. She is trying hard to be a good patient. Hopefully she will be able to get back into full swing in a few weeks. We will see. Emily still hates her hair, but God has been answering so many prayers that I think she is feeling much better about it all. She at least is back to her sweet, smiling self. Ri is having a rough few weeks. His behavior and speech have seemed to regress. I think it is because of the crazy schedule. He did not get many normal days or normal naps. I will have to work on that this week. It really does effect him! As for Jacob, he is awesome. Mark and I are wishing we had a little more time for each other. We figure it is a season. It will pass.

UHBADETH.... It is an adorable word. Any clue what it means? I hear it alot these days. Guess it yet? Well, you probably have to be mom to understand it. It means.. Elizabeth. And it is a word that Ri likes to use alot. He is adorable when he says it.

Erin is doing well after her surgery. She is walking on her leg and attempting to move it normally, though she is uncomfortable. We go back tomorrow for the follow up. I will know more then. Sam is doing much better. He finally went back to school yesterday. He told me last night that no matter if he has a temp or not, he is going to school. He has missed so many days that he is really getting behind. Poor guy.

Emily is having a very tough week. If you could pray for her, I would appreciate it. Saturday, on the spur of the moment, she decided to get her haircut....at Walmart. I had mentioned that she needed to cut it and teased her about getting it short, she had responded with "no way". Well, she shocked me and cut it. She went in on her own and asked for 4 inches to be cut off. She loved the 4 inches and decided to go another inch. During the next moments, the woman cutting her hair took SEVERAL cell phone calls WHILE she was cutting Em's hair... it ended up at least 4-5 inches more! And to top it off, is was so lopsided, that she came home and had to cut it again. She is devastated. A long time ago, she had set a goal that if she ever got her hair cut short again, she would wait until her hair was long enough so that she could donate the hair to locks of love. She wasn't ready to cut it all off. Now that it did end up getting cut off, she has nothing to give to locks of love and won't be able to for a long time. That just kills her. ANd..Do you remember what being 16 is like and how important it was to you how you looked? She LOVED her beautiful long hair. I have never seen her so sad, it breaks my heart. She still looks just as beautiful, but I can not convince her. The thing is, Emily is probably one of the most gorgeous young woman I know. I am not being bias. It is just that Em has so much inward beauty that you could destroy her hair and not notice it one bit! Unfortunately, a 16 year can't see that. So.. please pray for her. I think it is more then just hair, though. She is taking a psycology class. She loves it. She was given an assignment that really impacted her life! She and a friend did an experiement. Emily dressed up as a gothic kid. She played the part wonderfully. I have picture that i have to scan for you all to see. But she did not look like our beautiful little girl. This was Sunday. Then, after dressing the part, she and her friend went to her friend's youth group. THey did not share what they were doing, Em just played the part... well. She got shunned and judged horribly. Then they went to Walmart. Again, she felt the resistance of others. After the experiment, she was changed. She had walked in the shoes of another person. She had felt the judgments adn criticism of others. I think it has effected her more then she thought it could have ever done.
So.. on top of the devestating haircut and this experiment, she is struggling. She is a precious, tender hearted, little girl who loves the Lord. She is so incredibly beautiful and a joy to us. My heart just breaks when one of my children is hurting.

I put this picture up of Mamaw, my mother-in-law, to share with all of you. Isn't she beautiful? But it isn't just her outside beauty that shines. She is probably the one female that I look up to most in my life. I know, I've heard so many stories about the "scary mother-in-law" and how women don't like theirs... well not me! I think that there is none better. I look to her for advice, I long for her words of wisdom, I seek her when I am troubled. I enjoy every minute I am with her, I love to watch her with our kids, I miss her when I haven't seen her for awhile. She is my mentor, my hero, and my friend. I am truly blessed to have her in my life.

The above pictures were taken when we went to visit Mark's family in Ironton. We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon with his Aunts and cousin. We were treated like royalty! They are just about as wonderful as Mamaw is. It was the first time they had gotten to see Ri in person.

As for the rest of the time since I have not been posting....it has been a busy week and a half. I think I spent a good 8-10 hours at doctors this past week... and with 2 toddlers. It was definetly a different experience. But.. Erin had to see the orthopedic here in Mt. Vernon twice and then have the MRI done at the hospital. Then we went to Columbus to see another orthopedic doctor. Then she had surgery on Friday. On top of that, Ri had his normal weight/ck exam and then Sam ended up in the doctors Friday morning because he was so sick with fever and pain. That is how it typically goes around here during this type of season.

Erin's surgery went well. She had an excellent surgeon. We all felt very safe with him. He said she did great and should be up moving in no time. He did not repair it, but cut around the tear. He was quite happy with the results. He found an extra tendon (or something like that) that did not belong in her leg, so he cut that out. I am trusting that he knew what he was doing :). She is uncomfortable today and says that her knee feels very funny. She is a little concerned, I can tell, because of the way it feels. But, I am confident it is because someone was inside her leg doing all kinds of things. At this point, we are trusting God that all has gone well.

Sam is as sick as Emily was a few weeks ago. THis "flu" is a doozy! I always hate it when he gets so sick, because fevers cause him to halucinate. At times, his halucinations aer so scary to watch. You know he is completely detached from all reality and totally convinced that whatever he is halucinating is completely real to him.

On another note, Ri is doing wonderful. He weighs 27.1 pounds (I weighed Elizabeth and the same time and she weighed 27.2 pounds... though a few weeks or months ago, she was pushing 29. So who knows?) He measured 34 1/2 inches. He is saying 2 and 3 words at a time. He is running faster then he use to. His too most common words are "eat" and "potty". We do a LOT of both around here with him!! :) He is an excellent napper and sleeper. I have never had one so good. He responds great to discipline (he gets it alot :)). He is an incredible kid!! So sweet, so innocent, so full of spunk, hesitant yet brave. He bounces back after he gets hurt or after he gets disciplined as if nothing happened. He is very forgiving and quick to say sorry. Mark and I are constantly thanking God that he allowed us to adopt this little guy. What a huge blessing he is to our family! What a beautiful little boy.

And... oh how he has blessed Elizabeth's life. Everyday, we see her growing and changing because of him. Words really are enough to share how much he has effected her life. They are so good for each other. Wow! It blows us away.

Eizabeth has grown so much. She is talking using 4-5 words at a time. She is able to lay in bed at night without crying for me and wait patiently until I return. She is coming out of her shell ... a little... around others. She is such a good sister to Ri and really, really loves him. I catch her dancing and singing all the time (maybe we have a musician on our hands?).

Well.. I have at least updated a little. I have to go right now. I will try to write more later.

I can not believe it has been so long since I have typed anything. I have entered a design contest for the digital scrapbooking and it has kind of consumed my life. I have been meaning to get on and write about Emily. A week ago, Emily asked if she could go visit her Mamaw. We asked her to wait until later in the afternoon so that she could watch the litte ones while Daddy and I watched Erin and Jacob's game. I don't get that many opportunities to really sit and watch any of the soccer games because we always have the little ones with us. She was disappointed. Why? Well, not because of watching them, but because she would miss out on seeing her cousings. Normally that is understandable. Sheis a teen and most teens want to socialize with other kids. But in this case.,.. her cousings are 8 and 6!! She was so sad at the thought of not having time with them. It is mind boggling to me. She amazes me! She wanted to go to Columbus to visit her cousins and spend time with her Grandmother and her Uncle. Now that is one amazing child. But it gets better. When she knew that we were disappointed, she thought of a solution so that she would not miss her cousins and she would be able to help us out. She volunteered to take the 2 little ones with her! ARe we blessed or what?? How many 16 year olds would offer that? I don't know ANY!!! WEll, after thinking about it for a long time and her actually begging us to do this for us, we finally agreed. So, Emily took Elizabeth and Ri to Columbus. This was around 1:00pm. She didn't come home until 9:00 that night!!! What a gift she gave me! I was able to sit and enjoy 2 soccer games and spend the day doing whatever I wanted to do. It was such a refreshing day for me. I praise God for the precious young woman that Emily is becoming. She is a true treasure!!

You might wonder about the beautiful pictures of Emily I just posted. She went to the Homecoming Dance last night. She must have been the most beautiful girl on the dance floor!!!!!! Isn't she just gorgeous?? I am thankful that she has a wonderful head on her shoulders, she is not boy crazy (because I am sure they are crazy over her!) and she loves the Lord. What more could I ask for?

As for the rest of the family, all is well. Ri and Elizabeth are doing great. Soccer is winding down. I am so thankful for the game I was able to watch of Erin's... because she got injured in the next game. She is out of commission for awhile. She tore her manicus cartilage (not sure how to spell manicus) and will be having surgery on it this week or next.

Well I need to go, Elizabeth needs me.

Well, I have a very funny (and very grose) story for everyone. Last Friday, Elizabeth had to have x-rays on her head because of a very large knot. I might have shared that before. Anyways, to encourage her to sit still and reward her for being so brave, I took Ri and Elizabeth to McDonalds to play in the tunnel. They were having a ball. It was wonderful to see them having so much fun. At one point, Elizabeth had to potty. As is ALWAYS true, when Ri hears that word, all of a sudden he has to potty too. So, I headed to the potty with both in arms. Success! Both did what they needed to do and off they went running back into the tunnels. It could not have been 5 minutes later, and Ri came to me and said he had to potty. Well, lately, at soccer games and just about anywhere we are, he makes 3-4 trips and often really only goes once. It seems to be a fun game. He did have his "look" of concern, so I told him that if he had to go, that was fine, but we were going to go home after that. He then responded with his hand and words "no" and off he ran. Evidentally, he didn't have to go. I started to clean up since we had been there a long time already. Just as I finished, Ri came around the corner from out of the tunnels with a very panicked look. I instantly knew that look of fear. Then he lifted up his shoe for me to see the wonderful deposit that sat right on top of it. Oh no! Then he game me his pained look again ... the look that says "I'm not done and I have to go NOW!". I picked him up as fast as I could (so as to not draw attention to myself and to the deposit on his shoe) forgetting what was down his leg (and now on my arm and side of my shirt). Did I mention I was at McDonalds? In the tunnels? Well, guess where Elizabeth was? Yep, at the top of the tunnels and not wanting to leave just yet. Have you tried to attempt to retrieve a 2 year old quickly? It doesn't happen! So I stood there, now feeling quite panicked myself. I realized at that moment that I had nothing with me. No diaper wipes, no change of clothes... nothing. Having 2 potty trained kids is a blessing... but I often forget that I just might need something to clean up any accidents. So... I ran to the van in hopes to have some change of clothes. I had something and ran back into the McDonalds and placed him on the toilet. I then went to grap paper towels to soap down him, the floor, the seat... etc. Guess what? They are air only in that McDonalds. No towels.. nothing but air machines. Remember, I have Elizabeth too, I can't just leave the bathroom. So I grabbed Ri, stood him in the sink and proceeded to wash him down. The sink clogged. As I stood there trying to clean him, trying to figure out how to clean the stall, at least 4 women came in - --- totally disgusted with the whole scene (can you blame them?). I had to quickly yell at 2 of them not to go into the stall that Ri had been placed on. I finally got him cleaned, prayed the drain would unclog and then went to work on the toilet and floor. I threw his clothes away (nothing to put them in) and managed to go back into the restaurant. I then realized that I needed to clean up tunnels and go get Elizabeth's shoes. I did, I even told the manager so that she could use disinfectant on it. Then I left. Elizabeth kept saying something stunk. I then realized it was me... it was at that point that I saw how I looked. : )

Well... that is the story in my life as mom of 2 little ones. Hope you weren't too disgusted and found a little humor in my life.