Ummm...so I thought I would be way better at this :-)

Holden & Kamdyn in front of the tree

Well, what can I say...lets try this again? Ha! I am chatty by nature, so I assumed I could keep up with this whole cute little blog bit. Wrong. I actually forgot about it. So here I go again...

Update...So much has happened since July. The biggest change was that Paul left October 11 for his umpteenth deployment (actually I think it is his 4th major deployment and like 8th total including all the little ones here and there since 04') He is again in the middle east . Hopefully to return late May or early June of next year. So far ...so good. As good as being a single mom in a far off land can be! Haha! Okay so Virginia is not so much a far off land as it is a lonely one. Luckily, I have a couple of great friends to keep us company.

Photo taken a week prior to d-day

Holden started kindergarten in September. His teacher, Mr. Outlaw is great. He is learning so much so fast. Already reading! It can be overwhelming when he gets home and has so much homework...but, I know how important it is because, lets face it...1st grade is not what it use to be! My first born turned 6 on October 1st...I can still see he sweet little toothless baby grin in my mind.

Holden also began guitar lessons recently. He plays electric guitar, Ibanez and he is lovin' it so far! It amazes me how much he looks like his daddy when he plays. I love it!

Holden on his first day of school with his biggest admirer

Kamdyn- is potty trained! Woohoo! I can not believe she will be 3 on December 29th...it amazes me and is bittersweet. She is such a curious little kid. Gets into anything and everything but, the wheels are always spinning...hmmm..."how can i get antibiotic ointment out of moms new boots...lets try baby powder!" She is very into Barbie's right now. It is funny how, kids automatically know what they like even without being "directed" to it.

The kids & I got to go back home for Thanksgiving (Rockport,Texas...near Corpus...anywhere in Texas is home these days). We were so blessed to go because, we will be staying here in good old VA. for Christmas this year. My sister, brother in law, niece, nephew, bro in law and the whole gang were there. I even got to see my long lost cousin Billy. Such a blessing!

Big Sister is happy...Kayla, Me & Blake

Holden

If I had to describe him I think the easiest way is to say he is the perfect combination of his daddy & his uncle Blake. He is sweet and sincere. He is inquisitive and insightful. He asks questions and he gives the funniest answers. He is by far the best big brother I have ever seen. He looks after Kam and protects every move she makes- he has since day 1! He was 3 when she was born & I remember going into the bedroom and there he stood holding her in his arms when she was only a few days old- she was crying and he had to rescue her. Now, he still tries to rescue her and she is not always so appreciative. That's okay though, someday she will be. Holden Cain Lamar Miller, our first baby was born on October 1, 2003 in Corpus Christi. He weighed 6 lbs. 4 oz. and was 18 in. I was induced (original due date was 10/7/03). My labor only lasted 7 hours and he was born shortly after 4 pm. He was so tiny and he was the best baby we could of ever asked for.I nursed him and he blew up like a sumo wrestler! Today he is a big boy. It won't be long and his feet will be as big as mine. He is about to start kindergarten in the fall and he is so ready for it. He has one of those crazy birthdays and the cut off date for kindergarten is Sept. 30th here in Virginia. He missed that deadline in 2008 by just a day so he had to wait until this year to start. I really think that is a good thing though. I am nervous about my baby being at school with "big kids" but, he is a big kid! (I just don't always see it that way yet).

Where We Are Now

We've been here, there & everywhere in the last 5 years!

September 2002- Paul & I moved from Amarillo to Rockport,Texas (down around Corpus Christi) to follow my family

October 2003- Our son Holden is born in Corpus Christi, Texas

October 2004- Paul went to Great Lakes, Illinois for 9 weeks of basic training (& we thought it was tough to be seperated for 9 weeks...ha!)

January 2005- Paul was at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas for school. While he eventually changed his rate to a GM. Gunner's mates (GM) are responsible for the operation and maintenance of guided missile launching systems, gun mounts and other ordnance equipment, as well as small arms and magazines. They work with electrical and electronic circuitry; mechanical, hydraulic and pneumatic systems. What it has equaled to me is a ton of deployments.

Febuary 2005- We recieved our first duty station- Norfolk Naval Base, Norfolk, Virginia

March 2005- August 2005- Paul went on his first tour. Europe (Amsterdam, Rome, France, Norway, Spain, Ireland & Italy)

August 2005 (days before Hurricane Katrina) - My neenee, Holden & I made the 3 day, 1,600 mile drive from Rockport to Newport News, Virginia. We called this home for 11 months & during this time Paul was stationed aboard the USS Saipan. He underwent several shorter (2 months or less) deployments as part of the War on Terrorism.

June 2006- Holden & I (24 weeks pregnant with Kamdyn) returned to Rockport for major deployment #2.

June 2006- December 2006- Paul is deployed as part of a mobile security unit (not attached to a ship- The USS Saipan was decommisioned in April 2006) The new duty station is out of Portsmouth, Virginia. Paul is sent to the oil platforms in the middle eastern Iraqi waters. He was responsible for providing security & earned awards in the training of over 250 Iraqi marines.

December 2006- Our daugher Kamdyn is born in Corpus Christi, Texas. Ten days after her birth Paul traveled from Rockport back to Norfolk to settle us in to our new home.

6 Months Pregnant with my Sweet Baby Girl!

Late February 2007- Holden, Kamdyn, my mom & I traveled back to Norfolk. My mom stayed for a week and helped us to settle in. During the next year Paul underwent several more small deployments and trainings. It felt like he was home for about 2 months and then gone for one.

May 2008- My dad flew in to help the kids & I drive back to Texas. Paul was leaving again for Kuwait this time (Camp Patriot). During our almost 2 week long road trip we traveled to Little Rock to see my sister, to Amarillo to attend my grandad's funeral and eventually we ended up in Austin. I spent the next 8 months in Austin with my mother in law.

December 2008- Paul is back! I flew to Norfolk to pick him up mid December and we returned to Austin where we spent Christmas with family in both Austin & Amarillo. Shortly after Christmas (before 2009) Paul returned to our new home in Suffolk, Virginia.

January 2009- My mom, the kids & I make that well known drive again from Rockport to Little Rock to Virginia. We saw snow storms in North Carolina but, we made it safely home to what I would call "home" until July 2009.

July 2009- In preparation for another deployment the kids & I are moving yet again. Only this time it is only about 20 miles away and still in Suffolk. This is in preparation for Paul's upcoming, 4th major deployment as part of The War on Terrorism. He is expected to leave in the fall for an upwards of 8 months to an undisclosed, secure location.

Who knows where we will end up next- only time will tell. It seems like Texas should have it's turn again here soon. While we miss family & friends tremendously- this is our life. It has made us stronger. It has made me more independent. It has made me have a superb amount of respect for single moms & dads. It has made Paul & I both understand the value of trust and faith.

History Has It...

August 7, 2001... I think, if I think really hard I can almost remember the first time he ever said my name. I can remember the first time I saw him. Blue athletic shorts and white sneakers. He was (and still is) quiet at first. I can even see the way he pushed out his lips a little and moved his head to the sound of the music. He was a musician, clearly talented. He had a baby face, clean shaven, smooth and beautiful. I can still hear his music and if I hear Lifehouse it will take me back and I can smell his clean car and wintergreen peppermints. Yes, he was shy but, when he was on stage that all faded away. I remember him hanging from rafters at the Grizzly Bar and playing. I have wonderful memories of that summer. It was my last truly free year in life. The last year that my responsibities were pretty limited to how I was going to organize my social calendar. I think, we knew very little about ourselves and we knew even less about who we would become....

Fast forward almost 8 years and here we are, miles away from our roots. I wear his last name on my name tag at work (hypenated of course :-) ) and I have perfected the "M" in my signature. We were married in Amarillo on a warm evening, May 10, 2003. The whole thing went by so fast and I remember it 6 years later as a blur of candles and red roses. Not that any of that matters, ultimately. If I have learned anything in my marriage it is that perfect weddings, perfect anniversary gifts, perfect memories amount to nothing next to; the mending of broken bridges, the "ah ha" moment of the first time you realize that you were in fact; wrong, the compromise of marriage, the ability to fight and have purpose and to love with understanding. These are, the true stands of marriage. We have gone from being 17 & 20 year old kids to 25 & 28 year old "almost" not kids anymore. We are now husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, son in law, daughter in law. A lot has changed in almost a decade. A lot has remained the same.