Dible’s Wedding

A few weeks ago Patrick went to Columbia, Missouri to be in his friend Brad Dible’s wedding.  I decided not to make the trip, so he was in the care of Kyle and Kylee Blevins all weekend.  Needless to say, I think Kylee had her hands full;)…..

Jim and Rhonda also drove down for the wedding and she sent me a picture of the goodie basket for the out of town guests.  Love the DO NOT DISTURB sign…..

This is hilarious!  They stopped on the way home to do a little shopping.  Jim found a bench and decided to take a break.  He had no idea he had panties hanging all around him!!!

Miller in Australlia

Sweet Miller’s story is being heard around the world!  I received this email a while back from a fellow SMA family that lives in Australlia:

Hi Meredith,

I am holding a charity ball in Perth, Western Australia this weekend. We are raising funds for a PhD scholarship into SMA research which is being carried out in Perth. My son Spencer was born in 2006 with SMA and he was 7 months old when he passed away. As part of the effort to raise awareness of the global nature of SMA, each table will have a card printed with a photo and a short paragraph about a children with SMA from different parts of the world. I would like to be able to share Miller’s story with your permission. We would love to be able to say that here in Perth “We’re with Miller” and the many other families who continue to raise awareness and fund research for a cure for SMA.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Ruth Steven

Co-Founder

Click the link below to learn more about Spencer’s story:

http://www.teamspencer.com.au/index.php

Miller in Miami

My cousin, Sandra (who works for an airline), sent me this text:

“Miller’s in Miami Beach too!”

Close up of the top of the hotel…..

She said she found out that pilots use it as a visual on certain approaches.  I told her I would trust using “Miller” as a visual any day!!!

Bariola’s for Bellaflies

We had dinner at Bariola’s to support Bellaflies Foundation and help Bella “Make a Positive”.

Click the link below to learn more about Bella’s story and how you can support their cause:

http://www.bellaflies.org/

Mattie’s Sprinkle

Some of our friends were adamant about throwing Mattie a shower.  I tried to convince them that we didn’t need one because it was our 3rd child (we didn’t have one for Miller either), but they insisted that because all we have been through and the fact that this is a GIRL we needed a shower.  We finally gave in, but said that it had to be a “sprinkle” instead of a full blown shower.  Well, you can tell by the pictures below that my request went in one ear and out the other.  It was such a special day for us to celebrate our Baby Girl on the way…..

The first thing I saw when I walked in the door was this horse.  My dad bought this little gem at an estate sale probably 4 years ago.  He thought it was the coolest thing ever, but at the time he only had grandsons and this obviously needed to go to a baby girl.  He gave it to one of our friends who had a little girl and they never really did anything with it, so when they found out we were having a girl they “re-gifted” it back to my dad.  He was ecstatic to have it back!  He made a quick phone call to my friend Kate and asked if she could give the horse a “makeover” and she said of course she would.  She is the one that did the canvas for Mattie’s room, so the colors match perfectly!  This is the finished product.  Isn’t it SO neat!!!  I love it and I know Mattie will too…..

Cookies from Palette in Little Rock…..

The hostesses and me…..

LOVE the letters on the mantle.  We have them hanging in her room now…..

My friend, Emily, and me.  She lost her baby girl, Corinne, to a genetic disease (Zellwegers) 2 months after Miller passed away.  She is pregnant now too so here we are showing off our baby bumps…..

Owen’s Birthday Party

We had to leave Tyler’s birthday party in Bentonville early to make it to Owen’s birthday party in Fayetteville late!  They overlapped and we wanted to make it to both of them, so you do what you gotta do;).  You can tell by my lack of quality pictures that I was exhausted at this point.  LOL!!!  Regardless, it was a fun day and Cole slept well:)…..

Tyler’s Birthday Party

We have been on the party circuit lately!!!  We went to Tyler’s Birthday at Aspire Gymnastics.  Cole had never been there before, so we were excited to see what it was all about.  It was a blast!  A great way for the kiddos to burn some energy;)…..

The mommas hanging out while the kids ran wild…..

Cole did this over, and over, and over, and over…..

The whole crew…..

Monthly GNO…Love these girls!

I think this could be Mattie…..

A Heart of Gold

This sweet girl has a true heart of gold!  Claire heard of Miller’s story through some mutual friends posting on Facebook and immediately made a connection with our sweet boy.  She has followed us from Day 1 and offered us some of the biggest support we have received.  She had her school rally behind Miller, made video after video for us (including the most recent PSA), and the most generous offer yet was to donate 100% of her babysitting money to Miller’s Foundation.  She came to us with this offer last November, when she was still a Senior in High School and said she was going to donate everything she earned until she came to the University in August.  We were humbled by her offer, but had somewhat forgotten about it as time passed.  That is until I received her text message asking when we could get together for her to give us the check!  We decided to have her over to the Woodruff’s for Taco Tuesday, and what she gave us blew us away!  This sweet, 18 year old girl had written us a $3500 check from her personal checking account for all of the money she made babysitting from November-August!!!!  Can you believe that???  Who does that?  Certainly not me when I was that age!  It makes me cringe to think of the things I was spending my money on when I was her age.  I’m thinking designer jeans, shoes & pedicures were more along my spending lines!  This girl is truly one of a kind!

You would think that the story couldn’t get much better than that, until I tell you what happened next!  She told us that her parents decided to MATCH her donation, so she then presented us with a $3500 check from them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Yes, you heard me right.  This sweet, selfless, generous, kind-hearted family donated a total of $7000 to The Miller McNeil Woodruff Foundation!!! 

Humbled, Shocked, Speechless, Grateful…..these are the only words I have.  Simply Amazing!

A Beginning AND and End…

Cole started the Junior K program at his school this year.  That may not seem like a big deal to most people since he is going to the same school he has gone to since he was 1 year old, but for him it is.  The reason being that for the last 3 years he has only gone part time.  For the first 4 years of his little life he spent EVERY Tuesday and Thursday at Nana & Papa’s house.  He is a little OCD (like his momma) and he knew the “pattern” of going over there every other day.  Don’t mess with this boys patterns;)!  LOL!!!  I was SO worried about him not adjusting well, but he has done GREAT!!!  Ms. Debbie and Ms. Sapphire are WONDERFUL!!!  It also helps that his best friend, Conrad, is in his class:)!  I think Nana & Papa may be having withdraws,  but they’ve been fitting in quality time with him here and there, and in no time at all they will have Miss Mattie to keep them busy on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s:)!

He wasn’t having ANYTHING to do with pictures on the first day!  He was VERY nervous, but trying SO hard to be a Big Boy!  Thankfully, no tears were shed:)…..

Now HAPPY after his 1st day…..

To celebrate a good day we went for ice cream and to the park with the Schmitz and Densons…..

*Here are some pictures from Cole’s last Thursday with Nana & Papa…..

-They went to Catfish John’s to eat lunch every Thursday

-After eating lunch they would go to downtown Rogers and play on the park and/or to Lake Atlanta (aka-“Lake Nana”) and feed the geese.

-Cole’s favorite place to sit.  I think it’s Papa’s favorite place for Cole to sit too

-Heading home with a to-go bowl of sherbert