Brycen's First Christmas

We had an awesome first Christmas with our little guy. Christmas is so much more fun with a little one in the house, even though he had no clue what was going on. I'm excited for the upcoming years.

The three of us woke up on Christmas morning, Brycen ate, then we came out in the living room to find what Santa had brought. This was Brycen's stocking:

"Toy Story 3" on blu-ray, a stuffed Eeyore, a Winnie the Pooh book, and a whole bunch of other fun things! Perfect for our little man.

He was pretty happy with his stocking.

Santa brought Tyson three Wii games: Donkey Kong Returns, Epic Mickey, and Mario Party 8.

Tyson and I decided to just do stockings this year and not wrap anything for each other. Brycen was the only one unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning.

Jammies. Just what he needed!

Brycen with all his loot

The aftermath of opening stockings and presents

Mine & Brycen's stuff

Tyson's stuff

Brycen wrapped something and gave it to me though! Photoshop Elements 9. Woo hoo!

After opening presents and such at our house we went to Tyson's parents' house to open presents.

Dustin made his parents a nativity set. It was amazing. He made one for us to that was different, but equally amazing.

Brycen opening a present from Grandma and Gramps

Jack and Brycen playing with the present

These boys are too cute!

Erika helping Jack open a present

Lillie & Zoe

We stopped at my parents' house on the way home from Tyson's parents'. We had already opened gifts at a party we had the week before, but my parents had one more gift for him.

Books and play cell phone. Perfect!

He loves that phone.

Amber and Che' also gave him a present that day. He got a really cute monkey outfit. Amy got him a pair of dinosaur jammies. Can't have too many jammies!

Later in the afternoon we went back to Tyson's parents' house for a late Christmas lunch.

Jack and Brycen played really well together!

Kate and her dad, Steve, playing with Zoe

And one more stop at my parents'! We played games with my siblings in town and my parents.

I was playing some games with Tyson and my sisters and mom when I looked over to see these three surfing the net together. :)

On Sunday, December 26th, Tyson and I sang in his parents' ward with his parents, the rest of his siblings, and their spouses (minus Tacie, Clark and their spouses). After our morning practice we took a picture of all the grandkids in their Christmas outfits with Milan and Julie. Clark sent me a picture of Bailey from Reno so I could put her in the picture. I love all the dresses and the girls' sweaters. Julie always does such a good job picking them out!
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We really enjoyed our Christmas and spending so much time with so many family members. It was sad not being able to celebrate with Tacie, Ryan, Clark, Kristi, and Bailey. But we thought about them constantly and felt them there in spirit! (Missed you guys! And you too, Ledger. :) ) We hope you all enjoyed the holidays and are ready for this bright, shiny new year!

The Appointment Results

Brycen is nine months old today! Too crazy. Tyson and I both went to his appointment this morning and I was so glad. Not only because it helps to have the other spouse there to give the doctor information, but I found myself once again sick last night and was feeling super weak this morning. Tough few days for the Miller's!

First off, here our the measurements for our growing boy as of today:

• Height: 29 inches (75%)
• Weight: 22 lb. 9 oz (80%)

We were able to talk to the doctor about how sick Brycen has been. He didn't have a fever this morning, which we were very grateful for. Last night was just too scary for us. We received some tips on what symptoms to look for as signs of dehydration. So far it looks like Brycen is doing really well on that end (no pun intended) and has good coloring. No sign of dehydration just yet. But we've been advised to keep an eye out. He said that where Tyson and I have been so sick it is pretty common for the baby to get sick too. We should be more worried if he gets sick and nobody else is sick. Makes sense. I'm so glad Brycen checks out well! Such a blessing.

Here are a few other notes from the doctor:

• Brycen has really good posture and sits really well. The doctor's words were, "He sits like a champ."
• Brycen's head is growing really well and looks great.
• We will be getting a car seat delivered to our house today. The doctor says not to feel rushed about getting him in a car seat. As long as we're comfortable holding the carrier we have we should just use that. Something interesting: The doctor recommended we keep babies in a rear-facing car seat till they are two years old. This hasn't become a law yet, but laws follow recommendations. He believes it will be a law in the next couple of years. I'm glad I shouldn't be stressing over getting Brycen in a car seat just yet. I've felt a little pressure from others in this area but haven't felt ready myself. So I'm feeling a little better about it.
• Brycen tugs at one of his ears all the time. We thought he has had an ear infection but apparently he just likes to tug on that ear. His ears look great.

It was such a blessing that we had this appointment today. I scheduled it three months ago after Brycen's six month appointment, and he just happened to get really sick this week. We probably wouldn't have been able to see his doctor this week if we hadn't already scheduled that appointment in advance. I'm so grateful today for the way that worked out.

Parenting is a Scary Thing

Here's a warning: I'm writing this with tears in my eyes so this is literally a sob story. It's something that all parents go through and I'm experiencing it for the first time. I don't blame you if you don't continue reading or if you cut out early! I'm just being a baby.

Here's our situation. We haven't physically felt 100% since before Christmas Eve. Since that night we haven't gotten much sleep. Last week I had a MAJOR sinus infection (that I vented about kind of like I'm doing here), and this week our family was cursed with the stomach flu. Tyson and I woke up at about 3am Monday morning to both of us feeling nauseated. At this time I can say that I'm grateful for two bathrooms. And especially for two bathrooms that aren't on opposite ends of the house from our bedroom. That night was a nightmare. Brycen seemed like he wasn't feeling too good either so this was how things went: One of us would go puke in our assigned bathrooms, then come out and take care of screaming Brycen. The other person was super weak and couldn't move until they had to throw up. Which was when they'd also go take care of the baby. And so on and so forth. It was a well-oiled machine that we wish was not a machine at all.

Tyson took the next day off and we were exhausted. I called my mom that morning and she willingly called in at work to come take Brycen off our hands for the day. After being up sick in the morning, Tyson went down for a nap and was able to sleep till noon. I had a three-hour period in the afternoon where thankfully nobody called or came over, so I was able to take a nap. The rest of my day was spent in the bathroom. It was 100% miserable. By the afternoon Tyson was feeling a lot better, so he ran back to work for the rest of the day. He later picked Brycen up from my mom's. Tyson's mom came by with soup and crackers for us right after he got home with Brycen. We have the best moms in the world. They gave us the two main things we needed that day: a babysitter and some food that wouldn't kill us. Brycen had come home and his little body decided to have diarrhea. Wonderful. Let's just say that all our bedding got washed before bed.

I decided to sleep on the couch last night just in case I had to get up and out of bed constantly. Right before I went to sleep I made the decision to take some pepto bismol. I have always hated pepto and, as always, I struggled getting the 2 tbsp dose down my throat without gagging on the texture. Ironically, I started feeling better not too much later. I'm giving the credit to the pepto. We are now friends. Maybe even besties. I felt really weak so ended up staying up a lot of the night sipping on powerade and munching on saltines. Brycen got up multiple times and we made bottle after bottle. He also had a fever, which had started Sunday but was coming back more often. Earlier in the evening we gave him some gerber apple juice that Tyson drove to Walgreens for. Our goal was to try and keep the fluids in Brycen. We were so worried about him becoming dehydrated. Long night.

Tyson brought Brycen out at about 5am because he acted like he wanted to play. So he sat on the floor and played with toys and watched "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" till 6:30. Tired was I. I woke up to Tyson getting ready for work. I felt loads better after a night of regaining my strength back. Brycen had a fever and was fussy. He stayed fussy throughout the day, which most of you know is not like him at all. Tyson came home at about 12:30 and was feeling very weak. He hadn't quite gotten over all the sickness when he decided to head back to work. We enjoyed some Progresso soup and crackers for lunch. It was amazing. Brycen continued to have a fever today and be very fussy. It was difficult to get things done or try to take a nap.

Tonight is what has made me crazy emotional. After these days of being sick and worrying about Brycen the worrying has gotten completely worse because of his fever. It has gotten higher and higher, and he was just burning up tonight. He wasn't acting like himself at all and it really scares me. We've been told that if our baby has a fever for 3-4 days we need to bring him in. As of today we were at 3 days of having a fever. Tomorrow morning we have an appointment with our pediatrician that ironically have had scheduled for well over a month. I'm grateful that if Brycen was going to get sick he got sick this week. Just in case there really is something wrong we already have the appointment. Brycen napped almost all day and even went to sleep tonight. But not without crying and acting obviously sick. It is awful to watch your baby going through something like this and not have any control. All I've wanted to do is snuggle him, kiss him, and tell him everything is going to be ok. I called a friend in the neighborhood who is a nurse at one of the hospitals here. She gave us a few helpful tips and we continued on with our night. Brycen has been sick before, but this is the worst by far.

Brycen is asleep on our bed with Tyson. I decided to take the couch again tonight and have the baby monitor out as well for when he wakes up. I'm so worried about him right now. I only hope he gets feeling better by morning. If not, I hope there is something the doctor can do for him tomorrow. It is a horrible feeling not being able to help your child. Especially when they are only nine months old. Today, actually. Nine months old today. I never imagined that I could love someone like I love Brycen. I can't imagine what I would do if something happened to him. I know I'm making sickness into something super dramatic. But as a first-time experience for Tyson and I, we've been a little freaked out. I worry about Brycen all the time, and this has just about thrown me over the edge. I just hope and pray our little guy can get over this soon and be our happy little baby again.

Christmas Eve

Yep, this post is all about Christmas Eve. I had so many pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day that I had to split them up. Totally worth the work! We had such a wonderful Christmas with both our families. This year was our year to spend with the Miller side so, as was mentioned before in an older post, we had a party with my family before Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with his family. The first thing we did was meet the newest member of the family:

This sweet little puppy, Zoe, was a gift from Tyson's dad to Tyson's mom and she is so fun. Julie was so excited to get her! Tyson and I were so focused on having the video camera out when the puppy came that we spaced getting out the camera. So we have zero pictures of Julie and Zoe together. So not like me to do that.

Lillie & Zoe


Dustin and Tyson trying to get a good picture of Zoe to send to Tacie.
Cooper was trying to help as well.
Dustin and Erika and their kids were able to come from Vancouver for Christmas. We had a blast with them throughout the week! Love those guys. Some of our besties for sure.


Easton & Zoe


Brycen wore his Santa suit to the party. We never have to bring toys to Grandma and Grandpa Miller's house because they always have plenty of entertainment for him. In this case Brycen had a play phone, a plastic cup, and a doll. :)

We had a small program throughout the evening. We started with a piano solo of "Jingle Bells" by Easton. He did a great job!

Angie, Steve, Jack, and Dustin

Milan & Julie

Lillie also performed. She sang "Away in a Manger" and it was so cute. You can tell most of us have been primary choristers because of how we were mouthing the words and helping her! Too fun.

Angie played "The Hallelujah Chorus" on the piano. Tough stuff!

Dustin and Tyson the camera men

Lillie and Kate reading books during all the fun

Cooper told the Christmas story about the orange

All those kids just love little Zoe!

Erika and Dustin singing "O Hush Thee, My Baby"

Tyson and I did a piano duet of "Sleigh Ride" and didn't really care for a picture or to be recorded. Let's just say it wasn't that great. We had been practicing it for a while for another party. But after playing on Christmas Eve we decided it wasn't necessary to play at the other party ha ha.

Cute little cousins, Brycen and Jack

Tyson kept that video camera going, including a little close-up of Brycen playing on the floor.

Cooper & Zoe

After the program we read the story "Davey and the First Christmas". This story has been a family tradition in Julie's family since she was a little girl. Everyone has it memorized. It was fun to be there for it for the first time. Grandma Clawson led us.

Brycen playing with Gramps

After the story was over we had a special visitor! The kids were so excited to see Santa.

Santa & Cooper

Santa & Easton

Santa & Brycen

Brycen did just fine with Santa! We were so glad that he showed up at the house. We hadn't gone to see him at the mall so it was perfect. And a very fun moment for our little family! Santa told Brycen that he was a really good body and very well-behaved.

Brycen got a candy cane full of Reese's from Santa.

His dad was very happy!

Jack didn't do so well with Santa. :)

And Kate wanted nothing to do with him! It was so funny, we couldn't help but laugh. Julie ended up sitting next to Santa with Kate on her lap. Kate asked for a Barbie from Santa.

We snapped another picture with Brycen and Santa because I was at such a bad angle before. I love how they match!

Our family picture with Santa

Steve and Angie with their kids Kate, Cooper, and Easton

Dustin and Erika with their kids Lillie and Jack

After Santa left we broke out the food.

I made Oreo truffles and gooey Chex treat for a couple of sweets at the party. I also made a bowtie grape salad. (You can fine the recipes for all three of these dishes on my recipe blog!)

Tyson and Julie getting food ready

We had pulled pork sandwiches and they were so good!

After dinner we put Brycen in his jammies and got a picture of him with Zoe. Brycen loves Zoe!