Give this girl a recording contract!

Finally...A Decision!!

Ugh! Trying to get an almost four year old to choose a Halloween costume is like trying to get an OCD crack head to pick shoot, snort, or eat!

Originally I wasn't giving him the option. He was going to be a crab, Leila a lobster, and Josh and I were going to be scuba divers. Well, I couldn't find the crab in Kai's size and Leila is SO much cuter than a lobster. Then I made the mistake number one...asking him what he wanted to be. For those of you that know Malakai, you don't give him a lot of options, it over-stimulates his little brain and he freaks out. You should have seen him in front of the ice cream truck when my mom told him to "pick one." Little Rain Man gets a little nervous.



First it was a power ranger, then speed racer, then a power ranger. We finally decided on this!

Not my first choice, but it could be worse! I specifically told him when he left for school this morning that there was NO changing his mind because I was ordering it today. Which I did. You know what the little stinker says? "Okay Mommy! Don't forget to order Daddy's pink power ranger costume." LMAO!

We are not sticking with the family theme this year because I'm not gonna lie, we don't really have anywhere to go :(

On that note, Leila Jane is a beautiful peacock :)

Stay tuned for the "after" pictures!

Best thing since I last blogged: My birthday! Good drinks, friends, and weather!

Worst thing since I last blogged: HOA's!

For the love of "US"

Let me be the first to admit that I am a subscriber to “Us” magazine. I eagerly anticipate its weekly arrival in the mail and I devour every page like a starving husband with a bowl full of Hamburger Helper. It’s not right. But I can’t stop. What is my fascination? What is our fascination? How has this seemingly contagious case of voyeurism caught on like wildfire across the country, and why oh why does anyone care about what Jessica Simpson, Paris Hilton, or Nicole Ritchie did this weekend?

Do you care as much about what your own family and friends are up to? Your neighbors? Who your single friends were recently spotted with? Having read nearly every reputable gossip rag for the past 10 years, I can not think of one interesting thing uttered by any of the three women I mentioned. They are quite possibly, the most boring people alive. Their teeth, hair and jewelry blind the viewer, which draws us away from other things, like their views on life (or decided lack of them), their vocabularies, their actual accomplishments, and seemingly, their brains. Yet, their images are everywhere. I know their catch-phrases and I know about their legal troubles.

Are these the kind of women my daughter will look up to? Will she try to emulate them? Good Lord, the thought of it chills me to the bone. Is she already starting by the pic on the right?! No silly, I just had to stretch the neck to get it over her "Rader" head! Check your brain at the door, accomplish nothing but greedily obtaining publicity, and look good while you’re doing it. This is considered the pinnacle of success? In pop culture, it seems to be just that.

What the Hell are we doing? Consider women who have ACCOMPLISHED things with their lives. Women like Jane Goodall and Mother Theresa. They are women I respect and admire tremendously. They have changed the world with their hard work, love for their fellow creature (both human and non-human), and their clever minds. These are women who have inspired, and who have created things. Important things. They had ideas. THESE are the women I want my daughter Leila to know about. And what am I doing about it?

Nothing. I am often too tired and distracted (did I mention lazy?) to make the effort to block out the media, and create a more thoughtful environment for my children to soak up like a sponge. Which is why as I go through Target I have Malakai yelling "Oh Hot Damn! This is my jam!!" I am too selfish to change the radio in my car because music I like puts ME in a good mood!

Everyday I go through my routine of taking care of things, cleaning, cooking, bathing, dinner, bed, etc. Once the kids are in bed, I curl up and see which reality show I have recently Tivo'd. This is what I do, because it’s easy, and I am often too exhausted and distracted to be thoughtful. And yes, I am aware that I offer up a giant, enormous cop-out as an excuse.

Apparently, so do a lot of Americans. Sales of expensive flat-screened TVs are up. The explanation for this, based on an article I read today, is that people are investing their entertainment dollars in big screen TV’s and leaving their homes less and less. They buy these TVs to avoid having to go out to movies and the expenses associated with various forms of entertainment that as a by-product, also cause us to interact with others.

Which, by the way, I took Malakai to see the movie IGOR this past weekend and spent $35!! Just for tickets, popcorn, and drinks! $35 people!! Just he and I!!

That kind of freaks me out. Everyone seems to want to live on their own island with their own garage and their own flat screen TV. Is human interaction really that scary? This is chasing the American dream! Stay home, tune out, buy stuff, ignore your neighbors and stalk celebrities in cyberspace!

Just give me my magazine and leave me alone with my sweet, sweet escapism. Why do I love to read my “Us” Magazine so much? Am I shallow? Yes! Sometimes I am! But I try to be decidedly un-shallow in many aspects of my life. I am conscious of the ridiculousness of it all. Particularly, I am painfully aware of the utter lame-ness my own behavior. I have bought in, and am a happy shareholder, of American Pop Culture. Because it’s mindless, and it’s fun, and Sweet Jesus I am too tired to do much else. Give me my gossip rag and stop talking at me. I have the disease. Call it boredom. Call it escapism. Call it loneliness. Call it exhaustion. I want to know about the love life of that beautiful ditsy blonde. How do they stay in shape? Who does their hair? What are their kids wearing? It’s all so fascinating!

But really it’s not. It’s a diversion from the predictability of my own distracted life. When I stop and think about the big picture, I get freaked out. I want to lead a thoughtful life for myself and for my family. A lot of the time, I feel like I am failing. Eleanor Roosevelt once said: “Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people.”I have to say I agree with Eleanor. And my manner of thinking is often among the smaller-minded. Often, but not always. For the time being, I will keep my subscription to trashy publications. Because like I said, it’s mindless entertainment for a frazzled mind. And the state of my mind is decidedly frazzled on a regular basis.

On that same note, I pledge to try to maintain an awareness that much more is possible from this mind of mine. The best way to fight mind-frazzle is to stubbornly carve out a little time to consider the big picture. To think about whether you are living the life you want to live for yourself and for your family. To quiet one’s distracted mind. I think yoga is good for that. Does anyone know a good yoga instructor? I hear Gwennyth Paltrow LOVES yoga.

Say Something!! WHAT?!

I'm a dork! If you don't get the title, then you don't spend enough time on the computer. For those of you that don't know, there is a random add that comes up at the top of the screen, usually on a myspace page or another forum I frequent. Anyway, if you roll your mouse over this add it says "Say something! What?!" and Malakai is OBSESSED with this thing! Everytime I am on the computer he comes over and wants to hear it over and over again.


Okay, there is my randomness for the week :)



Things have been a little wild here! Staying busy and getting ready for our much needed vacation to Phoenix. We will be spending five days there in October and it is totally NOT enough time. I need to see my new beautiful nephew and I guess my brother ;), spend time with my BF and her beautiful family, including my precious God Daughter, attend a wedding of a longtime college girlfriend, and on top of it all try to enjoy some quality Miller Family time. Too bad we just can't stay for 5 weeks!!


As most of you know, Leila has a tooth! It's on the bottom and the one right next to it should be here any day!! She just had her 6 month check up and is healthy as a horse! She is 17lbs 11oz and 28 inches long!! She is SO tall!! She is moving everywhere around the house, she can't spot something across the room and boy she is off to get it! I have myself a very determined, hard headed diva on my hands!


I wanted to share a few pictures that a gf of mine took of Leila. They are amazing!! Thank you Nicole for taking the time to do this! You can practice on us anytime! Here is a link to her blog, it has a few more pics of Leila on it, plus if you are local and need some pics of your darlings, her information is on there :) http://gourleyphotography.blogspot.com/

Malakai is crazy as ever! I swear that boy is WAY too smart for his own good! He is in to reasoning with Josh and I. He wants to see how much he can get and how far he can push us. The wheels are constantly turning in that boys head. He is so Amazing! Here are a few pics of how we have been spending our quality time when Daddy is off of work.

Bar-B-Qing!

Dancing :)

Golfing

Family Time

The Science Center

Last but not least, teaching Leila how to Share :)

XOXO,

Miller

Best thing since I last blogged: I got news that one of my gf's is prego! Yeah! Can't wait to meet baby McKenna!

Worst thing since I last blogged: Josh kicked my A** in Fantasy Football! UGH!

I love the sound of babies laughing!

I forgot how much I LOVE the highchair! We just broke it out the other day and Leila loves it! If she is crabby and nothing is making her happy, or if I need her close to me while I'm making dinner, I can put her in it with some toys and get a good 30 minutes out of it. You mothers out there know what a treat that can be!!

I thought I would share this video. She is laughing so hard at Oscar who sits at her feet every time she is eating. I only caught the tale end of it, but it's still cute. If you are wondering why her face is a MESS, Malakai decided he was going to help feed her :)

Best thing since I last blogged: "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer. Totally not what I typically read, however, after having friends rave about it I thought I would give it a try. Guarantee I will have the entire series completed by next week! So good! Go Team Edward!!

Worst thing since I last blogged: Picked up soda again...Ugh!!

Elephants Everywhere!!

Man! What a great rush I had at the "Road to the Convention Rally" on Sunday! It didn't even matter that it was 95 degrees, it was really an amazing time!


I went on Friday to pick up my tickets and I learned that there was a glitch in the computer system and they no longer had any left. I then had to drive to the McCain headquarters and was able to pick up two tickets there. Josh had to work, so I rearranged a sitter and my mom and I headed out around 1:00pm. Thank you Sarah and Carrie for watching my darlings! I know it must of been hard considering your die-hard liberals! LOL! Good thing we can agree to disagree!




So, it's about a 45 minute drive. Doors open at 2 and the Rally starts at 4. No wonder the doors opened TWO hours early, that's how long it took to get through the line to get in. There were so many people, many who had their kids with them. I just kept saying to myself, thank God I don't have my kids, what a freaking nightmare!!

In a nutshell, we jammed to country music, munched on hot dogs and popcorn, sweated through our McCain shirts in the summer sun, and erupted in applause as a tour bus drove straight into the ballpark and McCain and Family, Palin and Family, Huckabee, and Romney all got off the bus. It was really cool!!









I enjoyed the speeches, really like Palin, despite the recent controversy, and it gave me a lot of hope for the upcoming presidential election. Now that I am kind of on my soap box, don't forget to vote!! No matter what party you support, just vote! What an amazing thing to tell our children that we voted in an election that they will be learning about in their history books!

Favorite thing since I last blogged: My Nobama bumper sticker and my "Hot Chicks Vote Republican" button :)


Worst thing since I last blogged: Teething babies!


XOXO,
Miller - out

Summer Lovin, had me a blast!

Wow! What an August it has been! I can't believe it is almost September already! I have started using the "better ask Santa" line with Malakai already!! The other night we had an entire discussion about what he was going to ask Santa for, and what mommy and daddy wanted, and how Santa was watching him every night to make sure he went to bed like a big boy. What does he say first thing in the morning? "Are my toys here?!" Then came on a 30 minuted explanation about how Santa will be here in December and he just kept telling me no, that his birthday was in December. It's gonna be a long few months :)

Again, I have let myself get totally behind on blogging, so my goal is to put the first three weeks of August in a nut shell for you :)

*I started off the month with my girls trip to the Great Smokey Mountains in Gatlinburg, TN. The most frustrating part was trying to get my house situated for mommy to be gone for five days. Once that was done, and we were on the road, it was relaxation all the way! It's amazing how a 10 hour drive is NOTHING when there are no kids in the car. LOL! We took our time, stopped whenever and wherever we wanted to stop. No schedules! It was dreamy :)

After a near death experience on the crazy mountain roads (in the dark) we finally arrived at our cabin. Soooooooo beautiful!! Five bedrooms, three levels, three baths, pool table, hot tub, gorgeous furniture, it really was amazing! We could see the entire town of Gatlinburg off our balcony! So, we spent the next few days relaxing, shopping, looking for bears, eating, and playing board games. I came home totally rejuvenated! I can't wait to go back there with Josh and the kids, they would absolutely love it!!

We stopped in Metropolis on the way! Kai was very excited that I met Superman :)

We did the normal stuff, you know, hung with Forest Gump....

Fought crime with the Men In Black....

And fired Donald Trump :)

Sarah and Jamillah on the Obertram

View from our deck

*After getting back from TN, we were off as a family to the Lake of the Ozarks for the annual Rader Family Reunion. Again, another excellent long weekend. It was great seeing the family, playing games, and getting to spend my dad's 50th birthday with him. Happy birthday dad, you don't look a day older than 40 :) Malakai, Kiera, and Leila were the center of every ones attention. My grandpa (Malakai's Great-Grandpa) was getting their poles ready for fishing and it was so cute listening to Malakai and Kiera talk to him. One calling him Poppy and the other one calling him Great-poppy! So cute!! They enjoyed fishing, go karts, playing at the park, and swimming. It was definitely good times had by all. Can't wait for next year ;)

Miner Mike's

I know it looks uncomfortable but she loves it!

Hot Stuff!

*Josh and I went to a wedding reception this past weekend and had an amazing time! I can't remember the last time we went out, just he and I and danced like we have never danced before. We danced to slow songs, fast songs, hip-hop, the electric slide, you name it, we danced to it! Half the time we were the only ones on the dance floor, but it didn't seem to bother either of us. It's nice to know we still got it :)

*Malakai is getting more amazing every day. He is a little clumsy though and seems to always have bumps and bruises. Here are some pics of his latest. The chin is from a lamp he knocked over and tried to pick up and the bulp burned his chin, the elbow is from not watching where he is going and totally eating it at the go kart track. I swear the kid needs to be in a bubble. He is super excited to start ice hocky in October, thank the lord for padding!!

*Leila is also growing like a weed. I can't believe she is 5.5 months! She is a ball full of energy and continues to be very chill and laid back. She definitely gets that from her daddy. She has started teething, so she can be a little cranky at times, but other than that, just an all around sweet, precious, beautiful little girl. She is eating all sorts of fruits and vegetables, and for the most part enjoys all of them, along with her cereal and oatmeal. We also got her ears pierced last week! Josh was so against it, when all the sudden we were at dinner the other night and she had on a beautiful dress and he asked when we were going to do it. Something about the dress and her oh-so-bald head. I seriously did not have hair till I was three! She did so good and only cried for a second :)

Hope you enjoy all of the pics! I have made some adjustments so reaching my computer should be a little easier from here on out :)

Best thing since I last blogged: Josh having TWO count them TWO weekends off this month!! AMAZING!!

Worst thing since I last blogged: Missing the birth of my brand new nephew, Alexander Clay Rader, born on August 14th. I can't wait to see him in October.

XOXO,

Miller-out