Halloween, Halloween!
October 31, 2008 by Ryan
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Happy Halloween Everyone!
I can’t believe this is Kim’s third Halloween! She was just a ball of pink dressed as Piglet for her first & we didn’t go trick-or-treating on her second.
That’s what made this Halloween so fun! We went trick-or-treating, it was Jeremy’s first Halloween, and we got to do the first of many years of coordinating costumes! As you can see we did Mickey & Minnie. We took these picture and just died with how cute they came out!
Hope everyone had a safe & happy Halloween!
Friends & Family: Be sure to leave links to pictures of your kids in their costumes!
Update on a few more notes that I forgot to include last night:
Beth actually made Jeremy’s costume!
A black long-sleeve onsie + black tights (at least it’s not a full on dress like my mom put me in once!) + red sweats cut into shorts with felt circles sewn on and a shoelace tail + white socks for gloves & yellow socks for boots + the Mickey ears we got last weekend from Disneyland! I think it turned out adorable!
Tip for Trick-or-Treating with little ones
We went with cousins and they were smart enough to bring a little wagon! It made it so much better for the sometimes long walks between houses. The kids didn’t get quite as tired and we didn’t have to wait for little legs to catch up!
My Little Family
October 22, 2008 by Ryan
It’s after midnight.
I’m up because both Kimberly and Jeremy have colds.
I’m sitting in my bed with Kimberly sleeping next to me, so cute, so peaceful…other than her occasional cough.
Next to her is Beth, with Jeremy sleeping on her chest. I’m jealous. I love when they sleep on your chest. He just giggled in his sleep! That’s good, poor little guy caught Kimberly’s cold. He really loves his mama!
Beth is asleep…I think. I think I might be keeping her up with my typing. She’s so good with the kids.
It’s so sad but sometimes it’s so sweet taking care of the sick babies. Every now and then they snuggle into you, or do something off the charts cute and I exchange looks of “Ahhhhh” with little half-frowns with Beth.
You might think that I’d be thinking, “This sucks!” Instead, it makes me think of how much I love being Daddy!
The Hairesy of 2008
October 4, 2008 by Ryan
Here’s some cute pics we told of Jeremy & Kimberly. You’ll notice their hair has been “done up” because we took them in conjunction with what I am referring to as The Hairesy of 2008!
Beth wanted to get her hair cut, and it had been a while because like any good husband I’ve resisted, for her own good. What? I’m a fan of long hair!
So finally I relented and gave her the green light. She posted to get suggestions on how she would get her hair cut. The consensus came back for the Feb ‘08 haircut and the deed was done about two weeks ago. She’s finally getting around to posting the results but I thought I’d link up and post the kids pics along with her update.
For the record…I think you look beautiful baby!
No Remedy Like Laughter
October 4, 2008 by Ryan
If you are down about the mess with the economy, frustrated with the election, and depressed about the Cubs & Angels losing, let me offer this to cheer you up!
One night we were just playing as a family and Jeremy started crackin’ up when we’d toss this little beanbag. We’re not always good about getting it on video, and even worse about getting from the camera on to YouTube or our blogs, but we’re gonna try to be better!
The Challenges To Realizing Our Inner Potential
August 21, 2008 by Ryan
Image by Life in Asia (aka Life in Nanning)
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Today I had one of those small victories that you need to overcome your inertia/laziness. I woke up early, put on my running shoes and ran to start my day! It was nice and cool with a bit of a breeze (actually more of a gust, we’re just down from these). Running into the wind was okay because I knew it would be at my back on the return trip. I didn’t know how far I was going to run, I just had a street that I wanted to get to and then turn around. It got my heart beating! It wasn’t until I looked it up on Google Maps that I realized that I ran 1.4 miles! And I did it in about 10 minutes! Considering how long it’s been since I ran, I was ecstatic!
I’ve been meaning to start exercising for a little while now as part of a newly kindled desire to improve myself. This desire has been slow building over time and goes beyond getting in shape. I wrote about Josh Waitzkin’s article in which he discusses learning and learning what quality feels like. That article really made me want to develop myself.
What Lies Behind Us
Life gets busy, and if you don’t consciously decide to act, life will sweep you up and take you in directions you might not want to go. Whether through neglect or through mistakes, the weaknesses we have accumulated hold us back and give us ready excuses not to try. Here are some weaknesses I want to overcome:
- Disorganization: I have so many things going on at the same time, from work to blogging ideas to bills to family to business ideas to errands on and on…and I am not the best multi-tasker around! I get distracted, discouraged and overwhelmed. To improve, I am trying to simplify and prioritize more.
- Out of Shape: I can’t claim sympathy weight anymore! Actually, I never could. Basically, it comes down to poor eating habits (way too much Coke) and lack of activity. I sit at a desk, in front of a computer all day. I think the lack of self control is the worst part of it. I should be in charge, not my urges!
- Debt: Some things come out of nowhere, catch you off guard and put you in a difficult situation. My son Jeremy’s medical expenses came as one of those things. We found out he had spina bifida and that totally altered “the plans” as we assumed they would go. While I would love to say that that is the only source, unfortunately, it’s not. Student loans, car payments, credit cards. Some was necessary, some was not.
What Lies Before Us
Overcoming our baggage is only half. How difficult it can be to actually improve ourselves can also prove to be too great of a obstacle for us. Getting up every morning, forgoing things you want, disciplining yourself are hard things to do. I talk to people at my work who know they need to change, know they can’t keep doing what they’ve been doing, and yet, the commitment and hard work it requires to make the needed changes prevent them from getting out of their rut. The reality is, that’s the price you have to pay. Here are some of the sacrifices I can see I’ll need to make:
- Time: To accomplish my goals, I will need to sacrifice some of the time that I had for other things: sleeping in, staying up late, watching TV, etc. I already consider some of that to be no sacrifice at all, having started this way a while ago. There’s not much TV that interests me anymore (except Michael Phelps…curse you!) and combining the ability to DVR the things I do see (bless you DVR!), I spend very little time watching TV, especially by comparsion to my former use.
- Guilty Pleasures: Today was actually the first day in months that I did not buy a Coke! It’s terrible, I know. Luckily for me, I don’t drink, smoke, chew or drink coffee so I don’t have those challenges to take on (best of luck to those that are trying to kick the habit). The other habit that my family had was eating out all the time. It was ridiculous looking back at our bank statements how much was from restaurants!
What Lies Within Us
I’ve taken my outline from the Emerson quote at the top. He is one of those thinkers whose insights are timeless. He talked about how man is meant to aspire to more than just our instincts to eat and sleep. He wrote, “A man is a god in ruins.” I believe that we have tremendous potential within ourselves and we can realize that potential if we pay the price to develop it. What the human mind and the human body can do is amazing! Look at what Michael Phelps has done: 8 gold medals! But that came as the reward for unyielding focus and effort. That is what I want to develop, the ability to focus and develop and persist until something great happens. I want to be better.
This post is part of my Be Better Campaign Series
- The Challenges To Realizing Our Inner Potential
Serenity…In Life’s Challenges
July 29, 2008 by Ryan
Our experience with Jeremy’s spina bifida has been a trying time in our lives: learning the worst-case scenarios, not know the extent of the paralysis or problems, moving only two days before Jeremy was born, the harrowing race to the hospital, watching him go through surgeries to close his back and place his shunt. People that have been under similar kind of stress know what that pressure is like. Luckily, we had tremendous support from family, friends, doctors, nurses, and work. I really needed to talk about it. Sorry to those that had to listen, but it helped to relieve the burden I felt.
One of the many lessons I’ve learned from all this is that everyone has challenges that they are going through! My eyes were sort of opened to the situations around me. One situation that was very close in timing with our experience is that of Phil Burns’ daughter Serenity. I read one of Phil’s posts about Serenity’s chemo and it tore me up because my Kimberly is the same age! Phil has dedicated himself to fighting cancer however he can. One way is a blood drive. It’s tomorrow and I know most of you wouldn’t be able to make it, but it brings to my mind the importance of giving blood. I hate it, and my wife is much worse with needles, but it’s more important than that. It really is a shame how few people donate.
If you can make it, wonderful! But if you can’t, make it a goal to donate in your area. I’ve chatted with Phil a few times about the frustrations, fear and anger a father feels when he can’t protect his child. Hopefully, I’ve been able to share his burden those few times we’ve talked. Do the same. Take the time to notice suffering around you and offer a helping hand, or even just an understanding ear.
Little Angel
July 20, 2008 by Ryan
We recently went to an Orem Owlz game, and we went all decked out in Angels unis (The Owlz are the Angels’ Single A team). We were taking pictures and in these pictures it looks like Jeremy might have some red in his hair! It’s actually not too surprising because Papa Ottley had red hair.
Kim had a blast running all around the outfield grass seating and on the huge playground. She had a pink Angels jersey and wore here Daddy out.
Go Angels!
I Got a Mini-Me!
July 1, 2008 by Ryan
Pop quiz: Which is me? Which is Jeremy?
Crazy, huh?!
We’re Home!
March 11, 2008 by Ryan
We’ve had Jeremy home now since last Friday and it is wonderful! Obviously, much more comfortable to be home and to be together with our little girl too. She has been so sweet to him. I can’t believe how well Jeremy is doing! He’s an eater! We’ll get Jeremy TV back up and running here soon. Thanks to everyone for all their love and support!
Jeremy Aint Gonna Be a Leap Year Baby!
March 2, 2008 by Ryan
Jeremy Michael Miller was born February 27th, 2008! He has a little hospital stay to get through and so we have a live feed setup if you want to check in on how he’s doing (he’s doing great!)
