Halloweentime

I've seen many Halloween costumes this year as I shop for baby clothes, both in stores, and online. There are so many that are so cute and so funny. With babies though, they don't get candy or anything for getting dressed up in some silly outfit like the older kids. Really, the babies are getting dressed up so the parents can laugh at how funny (and cute) the kids look. Of course, we will be participating in the great event because Calvin has this awesome beaver outfit: complete with a tail:

I'm a Mormon, Yes I am!

On Saturday when I was at Seagull book there was an author sitting next to me, Janeen Brady. She was there to sign her new book called The Creation. Depending on your age, you may or may not recognize who she is at first. For anyone who grew up listening to that classic red cassette tape entitled "I"m a Mormon", she wrote that. As well as all those Standing Tall tapes, about Happiness and Gratitude and Captain Dependable. Anyone else have fond memories of singing to that stuff as a kid? It was like I was meeting a celebrity. She also did the Safety Kid stuff. My childhood would not have been the same without her.

Invincible

In case you were thinking of renting Iron Man and you see it at redbox, make sure it is just called Iron Man and not Invincible Iron Man, because it's not the same thing. But if you have a 5 year old in the house, it might be okay anyways.

Me being pro

I'm feeling really cool as an illustrator this week. Not only do I get to do the book signing stuff, but a cute little 12 year old is job shadowing me on Wednesday. I just know I'm going to bore her trying to tell her way too much about fun things like contracts and stretching paper.

Am I famous yet?

I feel like having a book signing means I am one step closer to being famous. I've got a ways to go, but I like the direction of things. I just got a call from Cedar Fort, who I have worked for on a few projects, and they want me to do a couple of book signings at Seagull Book. There are two on September 27th, first from 10-12 in Orem and then from 12:30-2:00 in American Fork. And another one on the 26th at the Women's Expo from 11-1. I'm trying to think if I need to do anything to prepare? Practice my signature? Read the book again? Get a haircut?

Bunny boy

Calvin tried out a new toy, and it seems to be a hit.

Foot method

Another way we like to see how much Calvin has grown is to compare him to Brandon's foot.

Football

This is Calvin expressing how he feels about BYU football this year. Go Cougs!

Congratulations to Brandon

Brandon took the LEED certification test this morning, which he has been studying for like crazy. And he passed!! It was an incredibly hard test, with tons of information. It means he will be able to work on LEED certified projects, which are green buildings. Since this is becoming more emphasized lately, and not a lot of people are certified, it will be helpful for him as he starts interviewing for jobs this fall. I am so proud of him and grateful for how hard he works.

2 Months

Calvin survived his 2 month check up. He had to get 4 shots. He cried a lot, I cried a little. Then we had to go to the hospital to get his jaundice checked again because it hasn't gone away completely. If babies are older than one month they can't prick their feet for blood anymore, so they drew blood from his arm! I had to hold his legs still. Again, more crying for both of us. Thankfully, the jaundice check turned out fine, so we don't have to worry.
Everyone that knows Calvin knows he is growing fast. He is now 25 inches and 14 lbs. 15 oz. which are both the 97th percentile - for anyone without kids, that means he is pretty big for his age. Brandon is hoping he will be over 7 feet tall and play in the NBA until he is 32. I said it would be such a hassle to buy clothes & things, so I think it would be great if he is 6'5 like Brandon, still play for the NBA for a little while, but then become a neurologist.

Fill in the blank

We had a fun visit from our friends and their son Jackson. As you can see Calvin is making quite the face in this picture. Since Calvin & Jackson can't talk yet we just have to wonder what is going through their minds in this photo. What do you think?

The Brain

I checked out 5 books from the library on the brain. They all looked interesting and I thought by getting 5 books I would read 2 or 3 of the more interesting ones before I had to return them. I renewed them once and then had to return them yesterday. (I tried renewing them again, but I guess that's not an option) I only read half of one. So now I think I'll just get one book at a time unless it's from the kids section.

I read a lot of fascinating stuff though. ie: about how drugs work, how cocaine used to be sold to cure lots of things, like a toothache; there is a drug that increases your memory, I think it was ecstasy, it had a lot of uses whichever it was, so I suggested it to Brandon before he takes his big test on Saturday; people used to perform lobotomies all the time, they thought a simple stab to the front part of the brain could fix all kinds of mental problems, including child misbehavior; the reason I'm grouchy when I don't get enough sleep is because sleep effects the serotonin which is the mood controlling section of the brain; different brain diseases and how they affect people. I think there are a lot of people with mild brain disorders, we think they're odd but really it's just a problem with one of their organs. Kind of like someone with a stomach problem or liver challenges, only it's the brain.

Last night when I was up in the middle of the night feeding Calvin there was a PBS show on about the brain that was interesting also. This guy talked about having a healthy brain because 50% of people have Alzheimer's by the time they are 85. He talked about exercising twice a week, learning new things all the time in genres unfamiliar to you, playing table tennis, and more, but I don't remember. It was like 3a.m. He mentioned that if it's in your genes you are more likely to get Alzheimer's, if you have had cancer treatments, if you have untreated sleep apnea, and probably some other things I forgot too. He said a way to test for it early on is to smell things like pineapple, lemons, natural gas and some other fruits. If you can't smell them it is a sign that you have Alzheimer's coming. Maybe it will be on again tomorrow night/morning so I can catch more of it. If only Calvin could figure out that talking thing, maybe he could fill in the gaps for me.

Santa Claus

I think this is Brandon's favorite outfit that Calvin has. (courtesy of his awesome cousin) He seemed pretty disappointed that Calvin wouldn't fit in it for Christmas, or even Halloween, so I surprised him at work today by sending him some Santa footage, even though it's August.

Bad Parents

We had a really fun family get together today. We always go out really prepared for crazy diaper explosions, 2 extra outfits, plastic bags for dirty diapers or messy clothes, lots of wipes, 10 or more diapers, burp cloths, etc. etc. However, today when we got to my cousin's place we had to change Cal after only being there for half an hour and we realized we had no diapers. Let me repeat: no diapers. What kind of lousy parents are we anyways? We could either go to the store or borrow one from my cousin whose daughter wears size 4 diapers. We decided to see how size 4 would work. We put it on as snug as we could, which meant there was quite a bit of excess diaper in the front. We couldn't stop laughing. Poor little Calvin just kept looking at us wondering what was so funny. Luckily we found some scissors, cut it down so the diaper didn't reach his chest anymore, and put some new clothes on him so you couldn't really tell. Let's hope we don't make that mistake again anytime soon.

Life drawing

Since I spend so much time drawing in my cartoonish style I don't ever get around to practicing drawing from life. Now that I have a new subject who does really well at holding still and is really cute, I think I might start practicing more.

Dairy Dan's

Our vacation was so fun. Here's a picture from a stop on the way from Seattle to Seaside. If you ever drive down I-5 going by Chehalis and you like ice cream then you should take a quick stop at Dairy Dan's. The picture says it all.

Vacation Time

We have a family reunion coming up at the Oregon coast. I am excited, of course, because we love seeing family and we love the ocean too. However, traveling with an infant makes me apprehensive. Everything is just a little more complicated, what we do is more limited, and a lot more equipment is required. I think I'll pack every outfit Calvin owns because they're so small and you never know how many outfits he will need any given day. I'm really paranoid about Calvin getting sand in his eyes at the beach, so when I was at the store I picked up some vacation supplies for him, a new jacket to keep warm if it's windy, and some stylin' shades that velcro around his head. Let me know if you have any other traveling tips. And to all the family - see you soon!

Our neighbor's car

Anyone who lives around us in Provo, just south of campus, may have seen this great looking car parked on 5th north. The funniest part about it is if you look inside the windows it is full of balls, you know, like the ones in the ball pit at Chuck E Cheese or McDonald's Playplace. When I first saw this I thought it was funny, and then thought it might be a little disturbing too. Someone could drive this car around and easily lure innocent children to come play in the ball pit, only to be taken away. Maybe it is just owned by a young family whose kids are really hard to take places and they needed some extra persuasion to get them into the car. There could be a lot of explanations for filling 80% of your car with colorful plastic balls, what do you think?

Something extra at aerobics

For a week now I've been regular at my old stake's aerobics. I'm excited about my record so far, it is so exhausting to get used to again. Today we had a teacher I've never had before and she was really fun. A little over half way through she said, now we are going to have belly dancing instructions. So today I learned how to belly dance, and it was pretty fun. I feel like I'm better prepared for the big Miller reunion next year.

First day at Church

Calvin went to church for the first time today and he did really well. Although, he was in his 3rd outfit when we left due to diaper explosions.

Mealtime

I don't know how he manages to make such a mess just drinking milk. I can just imagine what he'll look like when I start giving him baby food.

4 weeks old

Here's Calvin in the hospital in his little striped onesie. And below he's in the same onesie 4 weeks later. He's our growing boy.

Old Habits

I used to love having a daily run, it was such a great habit. However, many many months have gone by without running even a mile. So yesterday I was out for a nice early morning walk with Cal and decided I would give jogging a little try. I knew it would be challenging, but wow, even more than I thought. My lungs felt like they would burst after half a mile. So pathetic. As rough as it is trying to get a normal body back, it sure is great to have such a cute running companion. I feel bad for him though because you can tell he just wants to get a nice nap in, but right when he looks so comfortable we'll go over one of those messed up sidewalks that causes quite a bump for him. Maybe after awhile he'll get used to it and then he'll have incredible sleeping powers.

Family resemblance

A lot of people have commented on how much Calvin looks like Brandon. We looked through Brandon's baby pictures to see which pictures he looked the most like Calvin. See the similarities?
Calvin 2008:
Brandon 1982:
Calvin 2008:
Brandon & his sisters 1982:
Calvin 2008:
Brandon 2008:

Different

I'm sure there are lots of differences between taking care of other people's newborn babies and taking care of your own. The biggest difference I've noticed is that I always look at Calvin to make sure he's breathing. I don't think I ever did that when I would watch other people's babies. I just assumed they were always breathing. Now I'm a paranoid mom. It's different.

Bald Spot

When Calvin was born he had a tiny circular scab on the crown of his head, about the size of a ladybug. It turns out the skin grows from the outside in, towards the center. Who knew? The scab is where the skin didn't quite connect. There isn't any kind of damage from that happening, the scab already fell off. The doctor just said he won't ever get hair in that spot. So our little newborn is already going for the come-over look. I think he'll pull it off well.

Correction

On Wednesday Calvin went to his first doctor's visit. Things went really well. I thought for sure he would decide that was the perfect time to eat and scream his head off when we got there, but he was mellow, I was so glad. They weighed and measured him again and he gained back a few of the ounces he lost, and he also grew an inch and a half. He is 21 1/2 inches long. Okay, we don't really think he grew an inch and a half. They said the hospital just measures them so fast it's not always very accurate. We thought he looked longer than 20 in. He has already grown out of some of the newborn clothes and I put some socks on him where the heel only went to the middle of his foot. He must have his dad's feet.
The picture is of him in his bassinet. We placed him on his back in the sunshine to help with jaundice. He tried to get out of the sun and almost rolled over!

Pictures

I added some Calvin pictures to the picture blog (link is to the right) It's just a few, but you know there's a lot more where that came from.

Finally!

Our sweet little baby came on June 25th at 7:36pm. It was quite a day. He weighed 9 lbs 13 oz.! Yeah, huge. And he was 20 inches long. His name is Calvin John Miller and we love him!

oh yeah, and nobody passed out.

Safety First

Big-D was kind enough to send Brandon a package this weekend. Enclosed was a letter about the importance of safety and they included safety glasses, glasses strap (not shown), leather gloves, and the nice glowing vest. He has a hard hat at work, which would have looked good for the photoshoot too, maybe next time. At the end of the letter it stated that safety is important to keep in mind, even while working on things at home. Of course, I insisted that Brandon put everything on so I could take pictures. Now Brandon is prepared to safely hang pictures on the wall, keep our carpet in place & move furniture around. (those are the only household projects I can think of right now)

Da Vinci

As much fun as it is for Brandon and I to sit around the apartment staring at my belly, wondering if I'll have a contraction in any moment, we ventured out to Orem today. We had heard about the Da Vinci exhibit on display at the mall gallery and it was pretty cool. It's amazing that one guy could come up with so much by himself. I love how great Da Vinci was at science and art, his anatomical studies are so amazing. Mostly the exhibit was models that had been made of his inventions. So today we learned some things, and most importantly, killed some time waiting for junior.

Wikipedia

I noticed that on Wikipedia they have Rebecca Miller on there, only it's not me. It's some film lady. What I want to know is, how do I know when I am famous enough that I can edit Wikipedia and write down my bio info in replacement of hers? Do you think she'd be upset? I also noticed on google there is another Rebecca Miller who is even an illustrator. I feel like I have name competition. I need to hurry and become famous before she does.

9 months

After running some errands today I made some observations. As did the people around me. I don't feel like I'm much bigger than I was last week, but for some reason I felt like everyone noticed me today. Some of the looks I got were "are you suppose to walk around with a belly like that?" and "what if that girl goes into labor right here in the middle of the store?"
What I decided today is that anyone 9 months pregnant should be given a disability parking pass, just to have the option, and free cuts to the front of any line more than 10 minutes long.

Absolute deadline

Even though our little baby may be nervous about ll this coming out into the world stuff, kind of like his mom is, 2 weeks from today there is no way around it. We will have a baby! Our doctor let us know that after the baby is a week late they'll induce me to make sure unnecessary complications don't come up. Being induced doesn't sound like the ideal way to go, kind of intense. So even though I have zero signs of labor so far, hopefully that will change before the 2 week deadline.
I love watching my massive belly when he is moving around and I was thinking how nice it would be for the pregnant belly to not only expand really huge, but what if it turned into transparent skin too? Then you could see how he's doing and what he looks like. It might be kind of gross, but also really fun.

Summer Band

Apparently our neighbor has a band that likes to play in their backyard so everyone can enjoy their music. At first I thought it was nice, something unique to listen to instead of the radio. Lately when they've been practicing they decided against lyrics though and they just yell various things like they're pretend singing - euh uh. EUUUh ah ooh. Do you get the idea? Brandon does a great impression of the female vocalist if you want to get a better idea what they sound like.

Scera Shell Outdoor Theater

Friday night Brandon and I went to see The King and I in Orem. We had never heard of this outdoor theater before, but we saw some pictures and things in their brochure. It was really fun, a little windy so we bundled up in blankets to keep warm. The funniest part for me was trying to figure out where to sit before we got there. They have different sections and different prices for each section. I just knew I wanted to be in a section with chairs because I would get way to uncomfortable trying to watch a whole play sitting on a blanket with a big belly and aching back.
When we got to the ticket counter we decided to sit in section B, the further away, cheaper, but still chair seats. I asked the ticket kid if we could still see from those seats. He nodded and confirmed that we would be fine. Then we walked over the big grassy hill to see the theater and everything was a lot smaller than we had pictured it. They had some chairs for the "floor" seats, maybe a couple rows, a few rows of chairs for section A, and then 2 rows for section B. So yeah, we could see just fine being 8 rows from the stage and on hill. Brandon mentioned how funny it must have been to the ticket kid that I asked if we would be able to see okay from section B. I couldn't stop laughing. I don't know if I can adequately describe how funny this was to us, so it's okay if you don't get it. But if you're looking for a nice summer activity, it is a pretty cool place to check out.

Educated Voting

To assist you in determining who is more likely to pass out in the delivery room here is some background information to assist you:

When Brandon had to go with me to the ER for breaking a window and getting 10 stitches in my slashed wrist, he almost passed out while I was getting checked in and prepped. He was white as a ghost and had to go outside and lay down on the sidewalk.

I've passed out from pain before. I was running around getting ready for work one morning a few years ago and I smashed my elbow against my bedroom door. As I was walking down the hallway my elbow was throbbing and I started getting light headed. I reached my hand out to balance myself against the wall and the next thing I knew my face hurt really bad and I thought I had run into the wall. I opened my eyes and realized I had passed out and smashed my face on the floor. It was a painful morning.

Pointless shopping

I've wanted to purchase some new sandals recently but every time I try some on they are too tight or narrow. I keep forgetting that I have swollen feet. What's the point? So it's black flip flops every day, rain or shine.

New callings

We've been in our ward for a few months now and half the people just moved out, so Brandon and I both have new callings. Since we are in a BYU ward sometimes you get unexpected callings. Brandon is one of 3 assistant ward clerks. Or maybe it's assistant to the ward clerk, I'm not sure. He's the statistical guy. That's right, he's the one who walks up and down the aisles counting people. His goal is to make it through the first week without laughing.

Movie personality of the week

For those of you who don't understand why Brandon wrote a comment on my last blog about "his boys" it's because he spent labor day watching a couple Godfather movies with his friend's clearplay set up. And whenever Brandon watches some kind of action movie, he often talks about what his life would be like if he were in a role like the main character. ie: after watching Bourne movies he wants to be an assassin, and after watching Godfather movies he tells me of his plans to run his business through my art projects and turn it over to our son when he is old enough, after watching 24 he wants to be Jack Bauer. You get the idea. So this week I get to hear about our life in the mafia. It's quite entertaining.

High school art

My little brother has taken some ceramic classes in high school, which I always thought he did just to have an easy class. I guess he is really good at it though. He won awards and is having a piece displayed somewhere in town and gets to put some pieces in an auction. Pretty impressive.
He has the same art teacher I had in high school, and that a lot of our siblings have had. The art teacher remembers our other siblings, but not me. What a jip. I'm the only making a career out of it here! I guess I'm not sending her some autographed books anytime soon. At least my math teachers remember me. They kind of have to though, since they are a couple that live two doors down from my family.

He's really coming!

Has anyone noticed our baby could be here in less than a month?! The pregnancy thing is getting to be pretty uncomfortable, but I feel like I have so much work to do before he gets here, I'm kind of hoping he comes late. I feel kind of weird saying that because I think every person I have ever talked to about their pregnancy hopes their baby will come a week or 2 early. But even though I wouldn't mind him coming a week late, I have a feeling he'll be early. I guess I think if I'm this uncomfortable, he probably is too. who knows though? We'll definitely have reasons to rejoice either way.
I can't believe such a life changing event has such a vague date. He could come this week, he could come in a month and a half, either one wouldn't be that abnormal. (and Katy, don't worry, I have a back up plan if he comes early - either you and/or Brandon will finish the paintings for me) And then, suddenly my life will be completely different. We are way excited about being parents, however, it would be more convenient the better prepared we are. If it is even possible to be "prepared". I don't think junior really cares about that though. I think he'll come whenever he feels like it. He's in charge already.

Baby Clothes

We've been collecting baby clothes of all different sizes, some new, some used, all tiny and cute. The tricky thing is knowing when he'll actually wear them. If you look at the tags they give you a month estimate, like 0-3months or 6-9, or whatever, and occasionally include pounds, and they all look so similar. Not only that, but they are not consistent whatsoever and some items that say for 12mo, they look smaller than the 6mo? So if you ever see our little boy in clothes that look way too big or small, it's because I never figured it out. And I'm pretty sure Brandon's strategy for dressing him will be to put his hand in the clothes drawer and put on him whatever he grabs first. It could be interesting.

humans & robots

I really enjoy listening to science friday podcasts from npr, but I don't do it often enough. While painting today I listened to this segment about robots and how they are trying to give them more personality so people can feel like they have some companionship them. Isn't that what people are for? Do we really need to have conversations about our day with our vacuum cleaners? I mean, I know some people get lonely, but is talking to our appliances the best answer for that?

Beginning painting

I am a professional illustrator. You would think after a few years of doing this, I would have caught on by now that if I'm painting with watercolors from the right to the left, I will inevitably smear by hand in the fresh paint while painting the left side. I think I have told myself 10 times today to paint left to right. It seems basic enough. Apparently, I am just a beginner still and I can't seem to catch on to this basic concept. Someday...

Golf

This weekend was a lot of fun, we had friends visiting from out of town and we didn't do any work/homework. It was great. On Saturday some plans were made for the guys to go golfing. Staci and I planned to do something else, but then decided to tag along. Neither of us had been on a golf course before and they even gave our cart to us for free! (they probably saw my large belly and thought I couldn't walk the course if I tried, which may have been true) We loved cruising around the course in the carts. It was a beautiful day, a little windy, but sunny and gorgeous. We cheered everyone on, kept score, looked for the wayward balls, took pictures, and had a lot of fun as spectators.

Google Reader

I'm sure this isn't new to some of you who already use google reader or some other program that let's you know when blogs are updated, but I just tried out google reader and it is so convenient! Now I don't have to go through all these blogs that never get updated, hoping something new will actually be there. Google reader just tells me, it's like getting an email, only it's an updated blog! I love it. Brandon isn't as set on the idea because he likes how much time it wastes to go through each blog while he has absolutely nothing to do at work.

Another class

We attended a breastfeeding class last night at the hospital which was very informational. We were curious if they could really teach us for over 2 hours, but they did, and it was interesting too. I'm a little less intimidated by breastfeeding now and determined to breastfeed longer. However, as much as Brandon would love our little baby to become an NBA star, I kind of doubt I'll be breastfeeding until he is 3 and a half like Michael Jordan's mom.

Throatburn

I have always heard of heartburn, mostly from commercials, but I never knew what it was. I figured it was a burning feeling in your heart, or at least your chest area. That would make sense, right?
Well, I started getting this really uncomfortable feeling in my throat all the time. I thought it might be heartburn because it was a pregnancy symptom I was anticipating. Yep, that's what it is. I have no idea how it got it's name, but it's definitely a throat thing for anyone else out there who doesn't know what it is. And tums, or even a generic version of them, work great! They look like candy, and taste like it too. I'm glad one pregnancy problem has an easy solution.
And by the way, this is my 300th post! Wow, I've sure had a lot of random things to write about.

New scanner!

It's about time. I kept putting off buying a nice scanner because what I really wanted was a high quality Epson that could handle 11x17 paintings. Since those are $2,000 or more, I finally settled for the Epson V500. From looking around, this one seemed to be a good price and very professional. As excited as I am to have it, it is still sitting in it's box after arriving a few days ago. I'm a little nervous about the installation process. Hopefully it's not too bad.

Awesome new dessert

Here's the new recipe we tried yesterday. I highly recommend it. And just to warn you, it takes 6 hours to chill in the freezer, that was the hardest part. We had to try a little when it was only partially frozen, it was pretty messy, but still super delicious.

Brandon modeling

I was trying to draw this guy chasing a pig and it wasn't looking the way I wanted it to, so I asked Brandon if he would pose for me. After some prying I got him to agree.
I told him how to pose and he informed me that he could never catch a pig like this:
So we changed the pose to this:
Where would artists be without great models?

Dollar Theatre

The dollar theatre isn't going to be a $1 anymore - starting tomorrow, $1.25. And Tuesday .50 night is changing to .75, and I think it said $1.75 for movies on Fri & Sat. So you've been warned. See all the movies you can fit in today before it's too late.