miller shares his 12 favorite books

Miller has been read to on a daily basis since he was still growing within me! Brian would lay his head close to my torso and read the Bible to Miller in hopes he would know Brian’s voice. And since his birth, we all have been obsessed with reading together!

At a couple of months old, we continued with reading the Bible every single night and when Miller got to be old enough to “pick” a book (approximately six months old and by grabbing for one of two books we would hold up), we also read to him throughout the day! Miller’s bedtime books have been my most treasured moments of each day because of the excitement he has when we say, “want to pick out books to read?” Now at almost twenty-two months old, we read usually six – ten books (sometimes it might be the same book six times) per day AND another two – four at bedtime.

happy first birthday miller

When I think back to the past three hundred and sixty five days, the word that comes back to my mind is “joy.” Becoming parents and working as a team to love Miller as the child God has given to us has been everything to our hearts and more. I expected to love my child unconditionally, I expected some days would consist of tears, I expected moments of frustration, and I expected to see qualities in our son I would love and laugh at. What I did not expect when becoming a parent was instantly understanding and getting a glimpse of the kind of love God has for us all as His children. You simply cannot understand it until you become a parent yourself.

my kind of motherhood

I choose to believe that we all are born into this world dreaming. Seriously. Have you ever watched a baby sleep? One minute they have the most peaceful face and the next minute the biggest smile forms across their face. I’d like to imagine they dream about being held, playing with their daddy, and milk. As we grow older we dream about a variety of things.  We dream about becoming that superhero you saw on tv, about getting out of school and playing with friends, about getting that college degree you hope for, about planning that “dream” vacation you swear you’ll save up for, about starting that business you’ve worked so hard at, and about becoming what you’ve always wanted to be. For some, it’s being a lawyer, a business owner, a writer, a professor, a chef, and anything and everything else one can dream they can become. For me, it was always to be a wife . . . and a mother.