Welcome Baby Ben!

Last night we went to Hershey Medical Center to meet the newest member of the Blauch family. Aunt Kristen and Uncle Mike welcomed Benjamin Michael Cressman to the world on Saturday, September 28th. The girls were so excited about their new cousin!






Jillian's quotes of the evening...

"Baby Ben is a boy. My wish-ded came true."

She had been hoping the baby was a boy.

"Now I have three brothers."

She counted Ben, Kole (both cousins), and Connor (Mommy's cousin) in her count!

Waiting, somewhat patiently!

As we anxiously await news of our new niece/nephew/cousin's arrival, we thought we'd share some Miller girl cuteness from this weekend... 

In a fleeting moment of sisterly cooperation, here's Jillian helping to button Natalie's coat.  It was so sweet.

Mom: Whatcha doin' Natalie?

Natalie:  Weading BOOKS! 

(said with all the "well, duh!" attitude an almost two year old can muster.)

Funny

Tomorrow, someone will ask me "How was your evening?" and I'll say, "Same old, same old."

From Baby Blues, September 21

Friday Happiness

This weekend is another busy one. Doesn't it always seem that Fall is full of them? Chris is working a football game tonight (in the rain!) and tomorrow we are heading towards Philly to visit Chris's great aunt. Sunday is church and a polo match in the afternoon. If the weather holds, it will be a big group of friends there, yay! There's an open invitation to anyone local to join us for good family fun: tailgating, horses, stomping divots like Pretty Woman - what more could you ask for?

And, of course, we have also implemented Baby Cressman Watch, as we get closer and closer to the baby's October 5th due date. We're so excited for Aunt Kristen and Uncle Mike and to become a aunt/uncle/cousin again!

For now, here's a bit of Miller girl cuteness from last night:

Photo Essay by Jillian

A photo essay by Jillian  

September 21, 2008

Pillowcases

Here's some little sewing projects I did for the kids recently.

Front and back of a princess pillowcase for Jill. 

(Hippo was kind enough to model for me.)

This was a new design I tried and I think it turned out alright.

A Sesame Street pillow for Natalie

(I found Sunny Puppy to be obliging as well!)

Apples Part 3

The final apple-ly goodness...

In total, we made:
156 cups of apple sauce

2 apple pies

various apples for eating

We still have enough apples for another pie or two, or perhaps the apple cake someone promised me a recipe for...  YUM!

Barnstormers

This afternoon we headed out to the ballpark for the final Barnstormers game of the season. It was the township's employee picnic so we were out in "Power Alley" in right field. Boy, was it was aptly named today! The first inning Chris missed catching a home run ball by mere inches, only to catch one half an inning later. The second one was hit by a Barnstormer so it is so much better anyway! :)

The girls think Daddy is a rock star... and Mommy does too!

Note the baseball glove worn like a bracelet!

Hiding in the shade

Mommy & Jilly on the bumper boats

Jill's Speckled Frog Song

Here's a little something Jill sang for us on the way home from apple picking.

Backyard Campout

Two weekends ago we were supposed to go camping with friends in New York. Of course, because it was a Miller/Rhoads family trip it rained. (It ALWAYS rains when we camp with them.) This time, the weather looked especially bad and the thought of pitching tents in a thunderstorm with young children was just, well, Ugh. Grudingly, we cancelled our trip.

I was still bumming about my lost campfire time (i.e. smores) a week later when I came up with a wonderful idea. Let's have a backyard campout! So we invited our friends, the Riveras and the Orrs, to share in a campfire dinner and dessert at our house. There were mountain pies and hotdogs over the fire, mac & cheese, fresh applesauce :), salad, and baked beans, as well as more mountain pies and smores for dessert. In a flash of brilliance, we borrowed a projector and screen and had the kids spread out their sleeping bags in the yard to watch a movie. They loved it!

It was a perfect way to spend a fall evening.

All the kids:
Raquel, Taylor, Liliana, Jillian, Sofia, Natalie, Paloma & Will

Apple Day part 2

Just how many apples did we pick???

This is what 99 POUNDS of apples looks like!

And here's the yummy goodness after processing a third of them.

There's some more saucing to do and some pie baking too.

That's if there's any left after Jill and Natalie keep helping themselves!

Apple Day 2008

Saturday we celebrated the 3rd annual Miller Family Apple Day. We headed down to Cherry Hill Orchard to pick our own apples... lots and lots of apples!

We found a lady bug on one of our apples!