Wednesday, June 24, 2009

I was right!! It's a...

BOY!!! Autrey and I just got home from the hospital and the doctor told us that we are definitely having a little boy. We have already chosen a name for him, Dylan Taylor Duke, so from here on out he will be referred to as Dylan. Dylan was true to form, jumping and bouncing around the entire time. He even had hiccups for part of the time. I am now sure that the little jabs I am feeling are kicks. I may have an active child on my hands if this pattern holds up. He seems to be healthy and growing normally at 17 weeks, weighing in at 7 oz. with a heart rate of 163. The doctor did tell us that he noticed some cysts in his brain (which is fairly common and usually go away 95% of the time) and that the umbilical cord was attached in an odd spot (probably due to my heart-shaped uterus), so he will be watching extra carefully to make sure that Dylan is growing normally and doesn't come too early. I am really glad now that I had my cerclage surgery last week, because that should help keep him in there as long as possible. Even though the doctor said there is a possiblity that he may be born smaller than normal, I think there is very little chance he will stay that way, given the set of genes he is working with. The doctor isn't worried about anything yet and neither am I. Here are some of the pictures from today's visit:


It's a boy! (And this site is now rated PG-13)



Isn't he cute? Notice how Dylan is in a different position in each of the pictures. The last picture looks like he is kneeling. He seems to be enjoying himself, swimming and kicking all day. We are so excited to be having a little boy! Autrey thoroughly enjoyed calling my dad, father of 4 girls, and teasing him saying, "I don't know why it was too hard for you to get a boy. I mean, I'm getting one on the first try." They had a good laugh about that. Well, I need to get packing for our drive to Dallas in the morning, but I just wanted to share the good news!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

I'll get you my pretty!

Last night we decided to have some fun and give ourselves facials. Desiree' is at Girl's Camp this week, which explains her absence. Mom got out the camera and the pampering party quickly turned into a photo shoot. Instead of waiting to be blackmailed, I decided to post them myself. No making fun, or we just might hop on our brooms to get you...and your little dog too!


Tonight we all went up to camp to watch Desiree' at skit night and we found her looking as green as we did last night. What a coincidence! The 4th year girls decided to use The Lord of the Rings as their theme. Desiree' was the perfect little green Golom, of course.


Here is Desiree' with Saraiah Smith, her BFF from church who moved from St. Louis to PA a few years ago. (Autrey and I now attend their old ward and are friends with their former neighbors. Small world.) The YCLs chose to base their skit off of Harry Potter, as you can see:

Monday, June 15, 2009

Fun with Ashlyn her 1st year

I was looking at some of the pictures I have of Ashlyn from this trip and was amazed to see the changes in her since she was born. She has grown up so fast! Look and see what I mean... I volunteered to babysit one year old Ashlyn and four month old Abby while Kristen and Kelly Furr went on a run one morning this week (before I got ready for the day, as you can see). Ashlyn has learned to identify eyes and I had to watch her closely to make sure she didn't poke Abby's eyes out. (Look at me. I'm holding 3 babies at once! Not amused? I didn't think so...)
Aunt DeeDee' has Ashlyn in one of her crazy hats.

Aunt Meagan with Ashlyn, who is holding her little pink play cell phone. She does love real phones and may call you someday by accident...trust me.
Over Christmas break 2008
At Hershey's Chocolate World


The following pictures were all taken when we all went to California for Ashlyn's baby blessing when she was 1 month old:


Playing Rock Band at Tom's house with Tommy, Autrey, Meagan, Desiree', Ashlyn and I

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Beautiful

Today is such a beautiful Sunday. Beautiful girls, beautiful scenery, beautiful day. We decided to take a few pictures before church since we were all dressed up. Dad is behind the camera, where he prefers to be.All of the Miller girls...plus Ashlyn, who was born a Woodbury.

Girls having fun. Interesting side note: Notice how Desiree' is not wearing any shoes. With as many girls as we have in the house, we have plenty of shoes to choose from, including multiple pairs of the same style. Desiree' was in a rush and since someone had already borrowed her shoes, she grabbed some different ones on the way out the door. She didn't realize that she had accidently grabbed 2 left shoes. Hence, she did without. However, I don't see what the problem was, since she does have 2 left feet...haha. (She is always tripping or banging her head on something!)Auntie Shilo and little Ashlyn.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

PA Baby Shower

Though I am only 15 1/2 weeks into my pregnancy, my parents and 3 sisters decided to throw me a baby shower brunch while I am here since I will not make it back to Pennsylvania for another year. It has been so good to see dear friends and neighbors during my visit.

Mom made her famous cinnamon rolls, dad made a breakfast casserole and breakfast quiche, and the fresh fuit was delicious. Kristen was the mastermind behind the fun (and very educational) games. Meagan was the event photographer. Desiree' was gracious enough to share the limelight and allow the shower to be held today on her 15th birthday. (The 4 of us sisters did have a pool party afterwards and learned that she can hold her breath for a long time...hehe.)

As you can see, I was generously given 3 beautiful baby blankets, cute gender neutral clothes, books and toys, gift cards, and a group gift donation that will go towards a stroller/car seat combo. Thanks everyone!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Home Sweet Home

Greetings from Pennsylvania! I left Autrey in St. Louis on Saturday (a few hours after the mud run) and flew out to see my family until the 18th. He is so swamped with tests, practical exams, papers, and studying until the semester ends on the 23rd that I am sure he will hardly notice I am gone. In fact, when he called last night he told me he was crashing with Andy for a few days at his bachelor pad so he could stay close to campus and avoid the commute. Too bad he isn't having fun...because I sure am! I love coming home. I love talking and laughing with everyone. I love relaxing and taking it easy. I love going on walks with mom. I love the food we make and devour. (I always knew mom was a great cook, but since mom's back surgeries I have discovered my father's inner chef. He watches the cooking channel and loves to invent new recipes.) We have already had waffles, stuffed french toast, Manti pageant-like chicken, homemade egg rolls, bbq-ed burgers, and I am getting my fill of the fruit I crave. I eat watermelon all the time and I am pretty sure I ate almost all of that glorious pineapple by myself within hours of getting it home from the store. Ahhh, life is good.

Another reason life is good is that my visits to the doctor have been fabulous. He is a great doctor and I know I am spoiled. I am 15 weeks along and have already had 7 ultrasounds. The visits help to reassure me that the baby is alive and growing fast. At 12 weeks the baby was just over 2 inches long with a heart rate of 164. At 14 1/2 weeks the baby had almost doubled to 4 inches long with a heart rate of 160. My doctor keeps saying things like "That is a solid boy heart beat" and "If I had to guess I would say it is a boy" which has me thinking in a blue color scheme. The doctors told my mom that all 4 of us girls were going to be boys based on the heart rate, so I am not sure exactly what to think yet. Any guesses from the peanut gallery? The day after I fly back to St. Louis I will be having a cerclage surgery to help prevent pre-term labor (which happens quite often with those who are heart-shaped inside). At the follow up appointment a few days later we should be able to find out the gender, so tell me your guesses quick before we know for sure.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Mud Run

If you enjoy getting up early on a Saturday, driving to Illinois, and running a 5k in the mud, you should have joined Autrey and company this morning. Some of you crazy people did. I was planning on going, but I woke up not feeling so hot...and, let's face it, mornings have never been my favorite part of the day. (Don't worry. I was only going to go as a spectator/cheerleader. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure it is frowned upon to run and crawl through the mud for 3 miles during pregnancy.) Autrey's 5k team, made up of fellow Wash U PT students.
Some of the youth from church decided to join in the fun. I am loving the short shorts. Such sexy legs!
The church crew...just a little dirtier.
All of the Wash U mud runners.
This picture makes me feel better about the pile of laundry I have to do every week. It never gets this bad! Anyways, after Autrey came home and proudly showed me how dirty he got, his clothes went straight into the trash. Judging from the discarded clothes, I am sure there were a bunch of half-naked people after the race. I knew I should have gone!

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Bun in the Oven

It’s true! Autrey and I are expecting our first child to arrive right about Thanksgiving this year. Yay! I am currently 14 weeks along and into my second trimester. We are so excited. A lot of time and effort have gone into bringing us to this point. For posterity’s sake, and so I don’t have to repeat myself again and again, here come the details. Those of you not interested in hearing all of this, feel free to stop reading. You might get more information than you bargained for.

Autrey and I have wanted to become parents for a couple of years, but we felt we needed to wait until Autrey was closer to finishing grad school. At the beginning of last summer we finally decided the time was right. We were unsuccessful throughout the summer, which didn’t help my growing baby hunger/baby jealousy. The thought that there might be a connection between my hypothyroidism, my mom's 7 miscarriages, and my childless situation led me to see a doctor who specializes in fertility and high risk pregnancies in September. (Thanks for the recommendation, Rainee and Meggan!) After many visits and 2 surgeries –an HSG and a laparoscopy- he discovered that in addition to my hypothyroidism, I have a heart-shaped uterus, my left fallopian tube does not function properly, and I have major deficiencies in my B-vitamins and folic acid levels that could result in physical/mental issues for a baby if untreated (the deficiencies were discovered after I tested ANA+ and the doctor suspected I had Lupus). Interesting tidbit: 2 weeks ago at my “First Look” screening ultrasound at the hospital, two doctors each saw the baby but could not find my left kidney. I may only have one. Good thing I never decided to donate my right one. So, basically I am a little messed up inside, but most of you already knew that…haha. And by the way, I was still teaching throughout the year and Autrey was down in Houston doing a clinical during all of January and February when all of the surgical procedures were occurring. I was lonely while he was away, but I kept my morale up by calling family, visiting friends, working out my pre-pregnancy body, reading the entire book “What to Expect When You are Expecting” cover to cover, and we finalized our baby names. That list might sound weird, but I needed to feel like I was getting closer to having a baby in some way. This year has definitely been a roller coaster ride for me. Thank heavens for good doctors and modern medicine! Anyway, Autrey came back home on March 3 and with the help of Clomid (egg stimulator) I became pregnant and found out on the 25th, which just happened to be my 26th birthday. Happy birthday to me! Here is a picture of how I shared the news with Autrey (writing words in a speech bubble upside down and backwards on a bloated belly is not as easy as you might think, just so you know):
(If you are thinking: “Too much information. I wish I didn’t just read all that or look at that picture.” I’m sorry, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. You read/looked at your own risk.)

It has taken me a while to go public with the news because of my fear that I would be a high risk pregnancy that would miscarry. Growing up watching my mom bravely struggle with her miscarriages and the events of this past year have given me a healthy respect for the complexity of creating a life. I, for one, will never take it for granted. I am still cautious, but very excited to have made it this far and wanted you to share in my joy. I truly appreciate all of the outpouring of love, prayers, and support given to me by those I love. Baby Duke is on the way!

P.S. – Happy 28th Anniversary Mom and Dad! I love you! :)

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Has it been 4 years already?

Today Autrey and I celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary. If you were a fly on our kitchen wall on Monday, you would have heard the following conversation:

Shilo: “You ready for another anniversary?”

Autrey: “Has it been 2 years already?”

Shilo: “Um, try 4 years, chief.”

Autrey: “No. I would have gotten rid of you by 4 years.”

Shilo: “Well, you still have 2 days…”

I have been holding my breath, but 2 days have come and gone and it looks like Autrey has decided to keep me around a little bit longer. *whew!* And I guess it is a good sign it has only felt like 2 years to him. For me, sometimes it feels like we just got married and sometimes I have a hard time remembering what it was like without him. We have come a long way since we met and became friends back at BYU while both living at the King Henry apartment complex, that’s for sure.

Brief overview of the past 5 years: The next school year we both just happened to move to the Raintree apartment complex. (Coincidence? I think not. Either Autrey was secretly stalking me or greater powers were at work.) We dated that fall semester and became “unofficially” engaged in December (read: no ring). Then Autrey took off to go play baseball for a semester at Southern Virginia University. He had committed to do this during the summer before we started dating and I supported his decision, despite the unappealing 4 month long distance situation. I graduated from BYU in April of 2005, we got married in Houston, Texas in June, moved into Wymount married housing in July (aka the rabbit hutches), and I started my first teaching job in August while Autrey went to BYU. Autrey graduated in April 2007 and we moved to St. Louis so he could attend Washington University in St. Louis. He should (better!) earn his doctorate in physical therapy and graduate in May 2010. Last week I finished my 4th year of teaching (2 years of 1st grade in Utah, 2 years of 2nd grade in Missouri).

I don’t think Autrey was remembering all of those things when he made his comment about our approaching “2nd anniversary” on Monday (even though I am about 90% sure he was joking…you never really know with him). I know Autrey well enough to see through his friendly banter and know that he still loves me and wouldn’t ever get rid of me. (At least not until he graduates and is no longer in need of a sugar mama!) Likewise, he knows he is my best friend and the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Here’s to 4 years and many more. Happy anniversary, love!

Trip Down memory Lane: 2nd year in St. Louis

I started reminiscing after that last post and wanted to share my thoughts while they were fresh on my mind. I would like to invite you on a walk down memory lane with me. This adventure will start with the most recent events in our lives and go back until we first met. Enjoy the trip back in time!
Autrey and I drove down with Meagan and Desiree' to Washington, D.C. for the 4th of July 2008 to hear Emily Lewis sing with the Singing Sergeants and to see the huge fireworks display along with the Lewis and Sander families: The "young marrieds" got really excited when Twilight came out on DVD and decided to have a party. The food and decorations were all red, white, and black. We all love the books better, but we still enjoy the movie:

Autrey and I went with Mona and Doug to Galveston, TX and had fun with the beach buggy. Those things are fun, but you work up a sweat. We went months after Hurricane Ike hit, but we still saw a lot of damage, debris, and water lines on buildings:
This crew of Wash U students went with us on a 2 hour drive to our 2nd annual pilgrimage to the very popular home of the "throwed rolls" to eat ourselves sick. Last time Autrey got smacked in the forehead with a roll that was intended for the table behind us. Great times...well worth the drive:

Andy and Mike sat at the table with us

These pictures are from Halloween 2008. Autrey and I were Mugatu and Katinka from the movie Zoolander (totally his idea...seriously). Loved that wig!:
At my faculty party
At the Wash U party
Jackie Chancellor and I all wrapped up like mummies by our students at our class Halloween Party
I am a den leader for the cub scouts. They got a kick out of mummifying each other.

Henry Elementary's championship kickball team with great nicknames:

These pictures are from "Draft Day" at Wash U. The students were all selecting where they were going for their last 3 clinicals that day. In order to reduce the stress, they all dressed up. I decided not to post Autrey's costume, and I think you will thank me for it. Let's just say it involved tight baby blue long johns and bright yellow underwear. Don't think about that too hard. Enjoy some of the others instead:
Austin Powers characters

The Incredibles characters
These pictures are from a camping trip Autrey and I took to Lake of the Ozarks the first weekend in October 2008:




This is at the remains of a cool burned down mansion at Hahatonka State Park

Watching the hot air balloons at the Lights Festival in St. Louis, September 2008:

Chuck E. Cheese Night for Henry Elementary with fellow teachers, Chris Chisholm and Emily Fischer:
Autrey built towers for Maggie on a trip to Houston to visit Doug and Mona:

We flew out to CA for Ashlyn's baby blessing July 2008 and met up with Maxwell and his fiancee', along with Andy Chan (2 of Autrey's former BYU roomies) at Duke's Barefoot Bar and Grill in Malibu: