the post i thought might never happen

After nearly two years of trying, Bart and I are THRILLED to FINALLY announce that we are expecting baby #3!!!
I'm due the first week of November, but we are shooting for 11/11/11 because that would be the coolest birthday ever! As you can see we had an ultrasound over a month ago and we saw ONE tiny, fluttery heartbeat, so it's not twins this time. Honestly I would have been thrilled if it was twins again (maybe a little less thrilled if it was twin boys again), but I've also heard that having only one baby at a time is a nice way of doing things, so we'll give it a whirl!
Kade and Ky are excited to be big brothers. Some days they say that they don't care if it's a boy or a girl, but most of the time they want a little brother. And, they want to name him Luke Skywalker Miller. Oh, and Kade does not want it to be a girl, because he does NOT want to buy princess movies!
These past two years have been filled with lots of disappointment, lots of tears, lots of prayers. There have been lots of doctors visits, dozens of ovulation predictor kits, and far too many negative pregnancy tests. Days of trying to keep our hopes high, days when we wondered if this just might not ever happen for us again, and days where I wondered if we were sent two babies the first time because it was our only shot. Days when I felt guilty for wanting more, when I had already been given the two most amazing kids ever, to days when I truly felt blessed that I even had two kids.
Through it all I have learned a lot about trusting in the Lord and His plan for me. I have learned a lot about the importance of growing from our trials, not simply enduring them. I have learned some about how to choose to be happy, even when things aren't going how you expected them to.
Hopefully I can be a better wife, and a better mother because of what I have learned. I see this pregnancy as a blessing from above and not just something that is supposed to happen because I wanted it to. And I see this precious life that is growing inside me as nothing short of a miracle!

time out for women weekend

Last weekend, my friend Greta and I drove out to Minneapolis to attend Time Out For Women. It's a two-day seminar put on my Deseret Book. There were lots of awesome speakers and some great musical performances. We learned all about how to be better in our different roles as women: as mothers, friends, and daughters of God. I was amazed how all the speakers could have us all laughing one minute, and the next minute we were in tears because we were all touched by the Spirit. What a great time! Not to mention the 10 hours driving that Greta and I had to chat. There aren't many people that I could talk to for 10 hours in two days, but I'm lucky to be Greta's friend.

One of the reasons I was so excited to go was because my friend Whitney's singing group, Mercy River was going to be there to perform. Whitney and I became friends when we lived in BYU married student housing (Wymount) and Bart and I liked to show up on their doorstep, usually Sunday evenings, and expect her, her husband Rock, and their one-year old, Braden to entertain us. We have kept in contact with their family these past seven years, but it had been a while since I had seen her. Watching her singing group perform was so worth the long drive!

Here Greta and I posed with Mercy River. Because we knew someone on the "inside," We got to have front row seats, and lunch backstage with the presenters. It was nice to feel so special!

My friend Whitney and I. Can you believe that she is pregnant with baby #5?

mini photogs

I just uploaded pictures from a camera that we rarely use, only to find tons of pictures that the boys have taken. Apparently they use the camera way more than I knew about. I thought I would post a few of the less random ones. (Yes, most of the pics were way more random than these). The really funny part was all the videos they took with the camera. I'll have to see if I can upload some of them so you can hear how silly my boys are!