Moving Day

So its bittersweet around the Miller household, at least for me it is.  We have been in our house here in Augusta for 2 years as a family, I lived there before we got married and then it was rented while we lived in Wadley.  Needless to say we have had some fun memories in the house, also some scary ones!!!  However, as much as I know we have totally outgrown our little house and we are So So excited to move, its still somewhat sad for me!!  

Looking back.....

As you know, we just brought our second daughter home to this house!

We had Chelsey's 2nd birthday at home, this was special because her first birthday had to be held at my parents house because ours was under construction from the fire.

Chelsey's 2nd Christmas was even more special in our house because it felt like her 1st Christmas all over again....

Because her 1st Christmas was a blur to us....

This picture stirs so many emotions....as we sat there as a family we had NO idea there were flames above us and what the next few hours would entail.  We enjoyed the beautiful, warm fire, read the Christmas story from the Bible, put Chelsey to bed, exchanged presents with Charlie and around 10:00 decided to go to bed, once we turned the tv off we heard a strange noise in the walls, Charlie pulled the attic down, met me in the hall way and said "get Chelsey, call 911, our house is on fire" I can still here him saying this because he was SO calm....so calm I thought he was kidding, as I saw the smoke, I knew he wasnt kidding, and then there was NO MORE CALMNESS!!! 

I cannot look at these pictures and not thank the Good Lord enough for keeping us safe that night, I cant help but look at them and think what could have been, the Lord has plans for us and I am so thankful!!!

Also to this day, every time I hear a siren or see a fire truck it still stirs emotions, I am SO thankful for the Augusta Richmond County Firemen that came to OUR house on the Christmas Eve instead of being at their own homes!!!  They truly did an amazing job and we will forever be grateful!!!

So, even though Chelsey was not phased by the fire because we ended up at Papa B and LeLe's for 3 months, I know she will not remember her first Christmas, but she will hear the story and see the pictures and it will be one that we will never forget!!

All this to say, we will miss this house but we are very excited about our new adventure and new memories in our new house!!!

 Thank you to everyone who has been so sweet and helpful during this exciting time of our lives with the baby and the move....it has been crazy but we have enjoyed every minute of it!!!  Special thanks to our amazing parents, family, friends and our awesome Sunday School class!!  Thank yall!!

WOW!! Its been a year!

Wow, I cant believe its been a year since I have posted.  Needless to say life has been busy, but SO good!!  We are now a family of 4, Chelsey is a WONDERFUL big sister!!  We are moving July 13, we are SO excited!!!  Promise it wont be a year before the next post!! :)

Caroline Raines is here!!  Here is her newborn pictures!

Chelsey Ray's 2 Year pictures!

15 months plus some!!

Better late than never right?!?!  So we are back in our house and have been for a few months now....I have been working on a post regarding that, but never finished.  The gist of it is pretty much that every time that I walk into my living room, smell smoke, hear a siren, hug my sweet girl...I am reminded of our "Crazy Christmas Eve 2010" and how blessed we are!!!  We are still dealing with insurance MESS but other than that we are back home and back to "normal" life!!!  We love our new and improved house (with smoke detectors in EVERY room and the attic) and continue to appreciate the goodness that came from that crazy night!!  Thank you all for all of your thoughts and prayers!!  I still get chills when I even think about what "could" have happened...and it amazes me that the sound of a siren can take me straight back to that night and me standing in the middle of East Vineland Rd longing to hear those sirens and knowing they were coming to MY house as I stood there and watched smoke and flames come from it!!!  Anyways, moving on!!!  Luckily I dont think our sweet girl will ever remember that night, but I feel certain she will know of her first Christmas.....so she is now 16 months old and into EVERYTHING!!!  Yesterday she was stirring the toilet with my hairbrush....nice, huh?!?  She has started climbing on anything she can.  And she is OH SO SASSY!!!  She has a new love...his name is "Mitty Mouse" and we talk about him about a thousand times a day!!!  All in all, she is the light of our lives!!!   Here are some of her 15 month pics that I did about a month ago!!  Enjoy!! And thank you all again for all of your thoughts and prayers!!

Chelsey Ray: 12 Months

I cannot believe my sweet baby girl is a year old!!!  What a crazy, emotional, AMAZING year it has been!!  In your first year of life we have remodeled a kitchen, relocated to Augusta, survived a house fire, and moved in with LeLe and Papa, hence the change in our normal monthly chair pictures!  But this is part of your life so we will go with it!! :)

At your one year check up you weighed 19lbs 8oz, they said you are petite!!  Def dont get that from your mommy!!  Your are in the 20%ile for weight and 50%ile for head circumference and 22%ile with height.  You barely wear a size 2 shoe....your feet are TINY.  You are crawling like a champ, just not sure about walking yet, you can pull up on everything and can walk pushing something but just wont let go, I personally think it is your small feet!! :)  You have the sweetest personality and are very strong willed and fiesty!!  You can say mama, dada, papa, brock (bok), baby, bye bye, papa, you can sign dog, more, milk, eat, cracker.....you are SO smart!!  You have truly blessed our lives this year and we are so thankful for you sweet girl!!  Happy Birthday!!!

SNOW day!!!

So we woke up to a blanket of white snow...and ice....Chelsey had fun checkin it out!!!!

 Then she helped Papa B as he made his juices for the day....

Our Second home....thank you Mom and Dad!!!

Crazy Belle (Chesapeake Bay Retriever) got in the pond....and had fun!!!

Chelsey and Papa went for a short 4-wheeler ride.... 

 My sweet family!!!

Chelsey and her Papa B!

Love this pic....

I am so in love with this sweet girl!!!

So, the snow day allowed me to somewhat catch up on my blogging!! :)
Happy Snow day everyone!!!

Christmas to Remember addendum....

So many people  have asked if we knew what caused the fire.....aside from this being above our fireplace....

The Battalion chief that night said it was a "faulty fireplace"....our house was built in 1951, and apparently there is not a liner in the fireplace....so he said that overtime the mortar began to crumble which left the perfect hole for the perfect flame to get into which made the "perfect" situation for the fire to get into our attic....which just happened to be Christmas Eve 2010!!  So needless to say, we will not be burning a fire in our house ANY time in the near future, but as long as your fire place has been inspected (which ours was 2 years ago) and it is built correctly.....it should be safe!!!  Don't let our story scare you!  Just be safe!!! :)