On the Edge of a Cliff

Sorry I have been MIA with adorable kid pictures, but I have been kind of busy standing on the edge of a cliff.  Some days I am standing there admiring the beauty and splendor of motherhood and other days I am standing there trying to talk myself out of jumping.  Luckily I haven't jumped, yet.

Having 3 hasn't been much different to me than 2 or even 1.  As I have said before, Jackson rocked our world and that hasn't really changed much.  Until he no longer has my personality I don't think that will change.  Maternity leave was super busy, but as usual I had lots of help from the grandmothers!!  God bless Gaga and Sheshe.  I would not have made it without them.  So now that I am back in adult world (queue the exciting music) I will take you through some of my favorite pictures of the last 6 weeks of Miller Mayhem party of 5!

Jackson and Mary Frances LOVE their little brother so much and take every opportunity they can to love on him.  We just have to make sure their version of love is not too rough.  Especially considering Mary Frances finds it endearing to slap Rook on the head and say "babee."

My little Matt look a like had 2 weeks of camp while I was on maternity leave.  Week one was Adventure Camp where they went bowling, to the science museum, Pump it up, and his favorite, fishing.  Week 2 was Sports camp where they played basketball (he scored 2 goals!!), football (he liked throwing the ball the best he said, imagine that), baseball, and water sports.  

Franny went to school and that meant the Rookie and I could hang out together.  I have been able to enjoy him in rare alone moments and it is an odd feeling to know he will be my last baby (God willing).

This was his first bath.  And he actually enjoyed it!! Bless his heart though, Jackson got a bath every other day.  I'm not even going to tell you how long poor Rook has gone some weeks.  As long as he didn't smell we let it ride some days.  Just keeping it real for y'all.  :)

This was the first day I had all 3 of them in the car with me.  Not to worry though, I had Matt and Gaga's help!  5 years ago when we bought this car I would have NEVER imagined I would be riding 3 wide.

More cuddle time with this chub-a-lub.

Yah!!  Daddy was home!  During one week of bed rest and all of maternity leave Matt was working nights on trauma or "night float" as they call it.  I am not going to lie, it is MISERABLE!  And now that he is on days it is not any better.  It's actually worse I think.  He is operating most all day and we can't even text back and forth.  So I get about 30 minutes a day to talk to him that he is not asleep or reading some bone book.

Ok, I am done complaining about it because it could be worse.  I remind myself all the time about military families and our situation pales in comparison to theirs.  Matt is in the same city and not getting shot at.  He's only working on people that have been shot.  Plus, I have these adorable kiddos to keep me company.

Dinner by the pool!  PB&J, grapes, and Capri Sun.  This is one of the admiring motherhood from the cliff moments.  Well, until Jackson pushed Mary Frances down on the concrete and it was time to go.

Some big sister love!

 More hanging out.  Rook is such a stud!

This picture was at his 2 week check-up where he had already gained an ounce and a pound.  8 pounds 8 ounces!

 We even made it to Nana and Papa's for Evan's wedding (Matt's cousin).

More of Daddy sleeping.  When the kids get older they will look back and these pictures and say, "Why did Daddy sleep so much?"

 Jackson's favorite part of the wedding was the blue cupcakes.  He had 2!

And we actually took a few family pictures.  It was the FIRST picture we took as a family of 5.  We went out to eat with my family after the wedding, but of course the terrible picture taker I am, I didn't get any pictures.

"Aunt" Sarah gave Jackson this Uno Barn for his birthday and we can't go any where without it.  He even sleeps with it at night.  So now we have Dougie, blanket, a milk cup, and the Uno barn.  He looks like a homeless person with all the stuff he drags around.

 And this was mommy's postpartum treat!  Mmmmm...

My super sassy Franny

 More of Daddy sleeping......

Rook gives me this look a lot.  Like, "What you talking bout women?"  And "Why are those bigger kids so loud?"

A little brotherly love.

These are from our really sad 4th of July.  Aunt Anna and Coco did come over so we could go to the pool, but that was the highlight.  Jackson was in Cali with my parents so Anna swam with Franny while Rook, Coco, and I laid out.

Then our power went out for about 2 hours.

Hanging out in the dark.

Hanging out when the power came back on.

 Then there was this.....  I took a picture of my super sad 4th of July "cookout."  I sent this picture to Matt and let him know I expected really big diamonds and exotic vacations to make up for this when he is done in 5 years.

Then a few days later I sent him this picture to let him know he could start with the Rolex on the left.  It will be my "done with residency" present along with a fabulous Mediterranean vacation.  On a yacht.  Once a year.  Ok, maybe not once a year, but you get my drift.  Oh, and to top off my solo indoor "cookout" I set the smoke detectors off.  Luckily my kids can sleep through anything.  But, it was a "don't jump off the cliff" moment for sure.

Miss Priss getting her second hair cut.  And of course she was already asking for highlights.

Sweetness!!  BUT what you can't see is that Mary Frances wanted to hold Jackson's hand, but he was tired and being difficult and didn't want to hold hers.  So, I made him!  Holding hands is Franny's new thing.  I don't know if it's because I am always holding Rook and can't hold her or if they do it at school, but she loves to hold your hand.

Chas Michael (Jackson's best friend from school) had a birthday party at Chuckie Cheese!  They had such a good time!

More of my studs!

And Franny doing what she always does, begging for MORE food.  I give them both a pack of gummies for being good, she eats hers in 2.5 seconds and then looks at Jackson and screams "MINE!"  And amazingly he will share his with her.  At what point do I need to become concerned about how much she eats?

One of the big moments I did not capture was Matt's 30th birthday or his surprise party the next night.  Since I am older than Matt I have always known I wanted to throw him a surprise party for his 30th birthday.  It could not have worked out better either.  He was coming off of night float and I was on maternity leave and able to pull it off.  So many of his friends were able to come and he was so surprised!  I couldn't believe I pulled it off considering the fact that I would be getting ready for it while he slept during the day!  Luckily he was so exhausted he slept through it all.  Even me trying to hide 20 pounds of ice after I realized our deep freezer was not plugged up and he would be getting up to go to work in 30 minutes.  I have never been so nervous in my life!

All in all maternity leave was great, but I am thankful to be back and work.  God made me to work outside the home (luckily for our bills).  I have SO much respect for women that stay home.  It is the hardest job in the world and I couldn't do it.  Maybe one day when the kids are in school I can stay home, alone.  Ha ha!  But seriously, to me, being a stay at home mom is so much harder.  At least at work I can go to the bathroom alone, write this blog while I eat my lunch, click over to foxnews.com and read the latest headlines, and see other adults.  I am sure there are people that judge me for not being the stay at home kind, but that's fine.  I'm sure my kids are cuter and smarter than theirs so they can live with that!  :)  But I am just being honest and I try my best to be honest and not make it sound like it's always roses over at the Miller household.  Because 'ain't nobody got time for that.'  Being a mother/parents is hard for everyone, no matter the circumstance, but when you see their little faces you know it's all worth it.  So keep it real other there moms!  We all know there are some days you want to jump off the cliff.