SuMmeR FuN wiTh ThE MilLeRs!

In the midst of all the work chaos we have had some time to do some fun summer time activities.
We went to the Dino Park in Ogden with some friends ... Maxie was so funny, he would run up to the dinos and scream in their faces .. he had Cory and I in hysterics!








We also went with grandma and grandpa to Red Butte Gardens. Grandma had the hardest time keeping him out of the water ... He is a fish just like his papa! It was so nice and peaceful at the gardens ... we played in the water and played in the childrens garden (they have so much cool stuff for the little kids) and then just walked around the gardens ... oooo and saw a bunny!
What a relaxing adventure!

UpDatE!

Its been a while since I have posted and figured everyone needed an update!!
Things in the Miller house hold are well .... ok. Not horrible but no where near where we want or need to be.
Maxwell is all boy and growing so fast. A few days ago he was feverish and not feeling super fantastic ... mama looked into his little mouth and what did she find but a 12 year old moler peeking through the gums. We were all a little shocked to see such a little tooth so far back (I think these teeth generally come in when they are like 4 or something ... i dont know). We do know however, that getting teeth early runs in the family ... thanks grandma Smith (we love you!).
The tooth is coming in perfectly and Maxie is feeling better now that it has broken through the skin. He is such a smart little boy. We do animal flash cards at night and he knows ... doggie (woof woof), Kitty (meow), Duck (quack quack), Bird and Cow (moo).
Mama is working and playing house ... a little tired and stressed (see below!).
Papa is still working at the disaster clean up and ... IT SUCKS (excuse my language)!!
Cory is working all the time for minimal pay and no overtime. He is on call ALL THE TIME, which means we can't do many things as a family, although we have done some fun things in the last little while. Its just hard for me because he leaves for work early (Max and I go to Trisha's and then mama to work) and Cory doesnt get home until after Maxie is in bed (sometimes he doesnt get home until after 10 pm). He has worked 13 hour days multiple days in a row and then the other day he worked 18 hours in one day with no lunch .... 18 hours who makes a person work that long in one day?! The kicker is they wanted him to come back in the next morning early and work again ... he told them NO! He gets no benefits, works for 10 and hour with no over time or compensation, rarely gets to have decent family time and cleans up human waste. Its a shitty job (literally!).
Cory and I have talked and really feel the reason this job came into our lives is to push Cory hard to get Miles of Piles up and running 100%. We have also assessed the situation and Cory has enough side work to keep him busy for a while and he will make the same .. if not more .. doing side work , getting Miles of Piles going and spending time with me and Maxie. Its just hard for me ... a lot of the time I feel like a single parent and (maybe I am selfish) but I would rather Cory be able to spend time with our family then make tonz of money, its just not worth it to me.
Anywho ... we have a plan that I think is going to work, its just a bit stressful at the moment. I def think it will be much better in a month or so and I think that making these changes is going to be exactly what we should be doing. All in all things are good though and will work out just fine in the end ... they always do!!
We LOVE you all and want to thank you for all the love and support you have given us through tough times!

ThiNgS aRe .... LoOkiN Up!!

The last couple of weeks have been headin in the right direction in the Miller house hold!
Cory had interviews lined up .. companies calling for second interviews, Miles of Piles and clowning!

Cory placed an add on Craigslist for Miles of Piles and the same afternoon a woman called from an HOA condo association in Park City called inquiring. Cory gave her a bid and she took it!! Needless to say its great extra money and good for Miles of Piles!! It appears that there may be good business in that same area .. its the Jeremy Ranch area and there are just tonz of what look to be condo/ housing type layouts that I am sure have HOA's and money!!
We are going to put business cards w/ rates on doors up in the area .. next weekend possibly(weather and baby sitter permitting .. its too hard with Maxie!). But yeah great business potential up there!!

Cory also landed a job this week!! Woot Woot!
The job is disaster repair type work .. mold .. water damage type stuff. He is excited and thinks the people seem good and nice. It looks like there is a lot of room for growth and he will learn things that he will be able to take to other places as a skill.
The only thing that I am worried about are hours .. the place has a lot of on-call/ emergency type work, where Cory would have to be at the office within 15 minutes. That means Cory would have to take Max to Trisha's on some days and potentially not get paid.
We are just going to see how many hours they can guarantee him .. and Cory talked to them about the baby sitting situation and they seemed to understand and said they would try to get him all the standard hour jobs they could. But yeah I am just excited that he found something that seems to be good !!

Maxie will be going back with Trish and Atticus during the day! I am excited because I know he will LOVE hanging out with Atticus and playing. Trish will teach him things that he wouldn't get with papa. I am very grateful to have Trish, Troy and Atticus ... to have a safe place to take Max where I know he will learn lots of new/fun things and get the attention he needs to be a good little boy!

I am also having kind of a hard time cause I am sad that Max wont have that time with his papa anymore .. they have so much fun together!!
I am 100 million % grateful that they had that time together though .. It def brought them closer together ... I think it taught them both so much.

I know that the time they had home together has helped me trust in Cory more .. you know, "mamas always think they know whats best" (I still know best a lot of the time .. lol!!).
But Cory being home with him all day has shown me ... sometimes Cory def knows what Max needs and wants, in certain situations, more than I do. And I think that is something crucial in parenting .. I am so glad I had the opportunity to be shown that through this experience!

In the end Cory and Max had a wonderful 6 months of TIME and experience and learned more from each other than either knows I am sure .. I know Max did from his papa!! Everyday he does things that just remind me of Cory .. more and more!
Max is just going to continue on his journey of growth and learning with Trish, Troy and Atticus. They, along with all of you, are helping us mold this little man into a kind and gentle soul.

Thank you to everyone who prayed for us and put positive energy out there for us .. it payed off!! We are def going to keep positive about jobs, work and life and all of you and maybe even greater things will happen .. for all of us!!!

We LOVE you all and hope to see you soon!

EaSteR FuN !!!

Cory, myself and Max went to St George for Easter weekend and had soooo much fun!!
Max hasn't seen my dad and step mom in almost six months and I was so excited for him to get to see them. Its hard sometimes when family lives away ... but I am thankful that a drive to St George is easy breezy!
I am so thankful that we were able to make a trip down there and see everyone and am so thankful that we have such WONDERFUL family to spend the holidays together and make family traditions with ...


Maxie was such a good boy in the car (both ways), sleeping a little but mostly watching out the window inquisitively ... and playing giggle face with mama!

When we got to St George we had fun visiting and playing together ....





We ate pizza, had drinks, played putt putt and died Easter Eggs .....





Saturday Max walked with a "monkey on his back" through the St George art festival. It was a bit drizzly but it almost made the festival that much more exciting!

Sunday was Easter and the bunny was good to us!



At Shauntae's house the family had mimosa's, ham and fabulous home made salads and cupcakes. Like when Shauntae and I were kids, my dad and the uncles LOVE to hide the eggs for the kids! Max had so much fun following the kids around looking for his yellow and Elmo Easter eggs.







The rest of the Easter afternoon consisted of relaxing in the wonderful sun watching the kids play, having great conversation and trying to stay out of a water gun fight (too funny!).





After relaxing and letting brunch settle we all packed up for an Easter afternoon of simming in Mesquite.
The water in the pool was soooo cold so the only tough swimmers were Maxie, Mama, Sammi, Tana and Michael. Max and I played for a long time in the pool .. splashing and floating on our backs.



We ended a wonderful Easter day with a great seafood buffet in Mesquite full of all sorts of goodness and family.
And after the goodness of the brunch .. Max decided to leave Mama some goodness all over his bum and pants (Thank you for helping Shauntae! ... Yuck)

I am so super glad that we were able to go to St George and spend this time with family and make these kinds of family traditions and memories ... I am so thankful that Max has so many wonderful people in his life!

Max is getting so big now, Cory and I cant even believe it! He is running around all the time .. climbing on things .. falling down .. making a mess .. jibber jabbering all the time .. he is turning into a real little man.
He is talking constantly, although we cant make out most of it, I told Cory one day its all just going to come out in full sentences. He is at that stage where he totally understands what you are saying to him but cant quite get his own words out. He is usually (90% of the time) a good listener... mama says sit on your bum and he sits, papa says bring that over here and he brings you whatever he has in his hands. He runs to the changing station when you say "lets change your bum bum" and every night we read a book and mama says "lets brush our teeth" and he runs to the bathroom to brush teeth.
He says keeh and points to the kitty .. he says no no and shakes his finger at you (that is one of his all time favorite things to do right now) .. he says mama, papa and baba (although he really dosent get anymore of those).
His ALL TIME favorite thing to do is take a bath .. he LOVES the water!
He loves to dance and play hide and chase. Elmo is still his favorite character and watches Elmo's World every morning. He puts himself to sleep every night at 8 pm in his own bed, in his own room .. sleepy time has never been a problem around this house!
He such a good, happy baby .. I really dont know how we got so lucky, but we did! .. we must have been good people in our previous lives (lol)!
We laugh at each other all the time and have so much fun just being together as a family .. I would rather sit at home and hang out with my boys then do much else!
I never thought hanging out with a 15 month old could be cooler than doing anything else .. but it is!
Here are some recent pics of the family .. the ones of Cory and I are a bit silly .. he was making me laugh so hard and then would take the picture (not nice, and not super pretty pics but oh well .. like i said we laugh a lot around here!)

LoNg HaiR ... ShoRt HaiR!

So Cory has been starting to get some job interviews ... its about time! But so far they have all asked for applicants to be clean cut. The first interview, because the job wasn't really anything we wanted, he left it long and just told the interviewer that he was willing to cut it if need be ... we haven't heard back from that job .... LOL!
Well, he has another interview with a job that he feels more optimistic about and would enjoy doing ... what does that mean you ask.
That means Cory was having an internal struggle. "Do I cut my hair ... do I leave it because I love it and risk not getting the job?"
We discussed it and I told him it was just hair and it will always grow back... he was just upset cause he has wanted dread locks for so long and he was finally getting it long enough to almost be in a place he could get them.
We both really loved the long hair .... but I think it was the right choice!
And I actually really like the short hair too ... he looks like my sexy missionary man!

Mmmmm DinNer TiMe ....