Overdue for an Update!

This is the Miller Family at the harvest festival… Our little pumpkin Brodin had a great time, He wasn’t so much interested in the games, he preferred to run up and down the hallways of the church. Our sweet little pea pod Ella slept through the whole festival… They were both very cute.

So I realized that I haven’t updated since my birthday… anyone with more than one child would understand.. I haven’t even had the chance to update Ella’s baby book, and by the time I had time to send out announcements I figured since it had been 3 months people probably know she’s born! hehe

For those of you who didn’t know Ella Mae Miller was born on July 31st at noon exactly, I delivered all natural and it was the most amazing experience of my life.. She weighed 6lbs 4oz and was 19.5 inches long.. The Labor was hard but BJ and I literally slow danced through the contractions and it was so fast that I made the nurses and doctor run! 2 pushes is all it took.  Ella had a really hard time gaining weight… she dropped down to 5.12lbs and didn’t gain much over the first 6 weeks… We started pleading to others to start praying to find a solution… after 3 pediatricians, we finally found one and he is an amazing man of God… he said if she were his grand daughter he would have her admitted to the hospital for further testing.. so we admitted her.. after 4 days she gained 12oz and 5oz just overnight… (the norm is 1oz a day) God heard the prayers of His people… we tried several pumps, devices, and formulas to help her to gain weight…. in the end we finally found the problem.. she is allergic to casein which is the protein in milk.. in breast milk and milk based formulas… so now we have her on a formula called alimentum… its super expensive but it is doing the trick.. in just six weeks she has gained over 4lbs! and as of Halloween she weighed 10.6lbs. Amen! :)

BJ is now working for Horizon/Alaska Airlines in Spokane… He likes it, but works crazy hours… lots of split shifts and 12 hour days make it rough on the family, but we know that this is just a season.. and we are paying off the last of our debt with the extra income which is a huge blessing! We are so close to being debt free.. it is a very exciting thing! (Also a must before you go on the mission field)

We have been getting more sleep now, Ella is sleeping through the night (although both of them have decided that 5am is the hour to rise after the time change).  I feel like a new woman with 6hours of sleep under my belt… I truly enjoy my children, and they are a blessing from the Lord.  I am blessed to be able to stay home with them, and to see them grow..

Brodin recently started singing and dancing a lot… He sings in the back seat of the car to “Praise Baby”  and says  “halleluiah Jesus halleluiah” melts my heart every time! I love that he sings praises to the Lord! He says “happy feet” and starts dancing… kind of looks like toddler river dancing.. ha-ha.  Ella enjoys her swing, and her front pack with mommy during the day. She is enjoying tummy time and lifting her head a lot.

We are in a season of praying and preparing to go to Lima, Peru.  We are waiting to hear from the pastor in Lima, John and are so excited that shortly we will be serving there.   We have had amazing times in the word as a couple, and really heard from the Lord on specific things to better our family… As with most young married couples with children, we are trying to figure out this whole parenting thing, especially since Brodin is already pushing his boundaries and testing us. We want to not just be our children’s parents, we want to minister to them and be examples.. We want to correct our children’s hearts not just their actions.. and guide them toward a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Parenting definitely sends us to our knees… asking our Father how we should lovingly correct our children.  God is faithful and blessed us with tons of wisdom and understanding. For that we are grateful!

We will be updating monthly now.. its amazing what sleep does! :)

Until all have heard,

BJ, Courtney, Brodin, & Ella

Getting started...

April 18, 2009

We are healthy! Praise the Lord After a small hospital visit for Me and Baby Ella our family is healthy... We all got the stomach flu right after Easter, and I couldn't keep anything down which was a ticket to Labor and Delivery when I started contracting(scary) because of dehydration... After the 5th time trying to start my IV they finally got it and labeled me severely dehydrated and admitted me into the hospital.. after 6 bags of fluid my contractions stopped and I was able to hold stuff down! I feel great today (two days later). BJ and Brodin have recovered well too..
Things have been going good, we feel God has us pressing forward toward Lima, Peru... we talked to our Pastor and shared our vision with him a month or so ago, he pointed us in the right direction with how to proceed, and is behind us supporting us. We really love our new church, it feels as if we have truly found a place of love, prayer, and amazing people.. They really share our vision for missions as well. We have contacted the district missions director and let them know our vision and are waiting to hear how they would like us to proceed. We have also contacted John Bonner from CCBC Lima Peru, where I went to school, as we feel like God is leading us toward this ministry, they are supporting us and praying for us as well as we continue to seek God and His direction. We never want to be ahead of God, but walking right behind Him and following His will for our lives. If it were up to us we would have left yesterday lol.. our excitement for what God will do in and through us is overwhelming! :) We are in a season of preparation so we ask that you would continue to pray for us as we seek God. More to come.. :)