MILLIGAN FAMILY ADVENTURES - 2008

this is our family update letter for the year 2008
thought it would be fun to post it here for any buddy to read


God has given us a fruitful year of growing in His grace. He has kept our family adventures full of fellowship and friendships. We even fit in some fun time for house play (home work) and learning opportunities (home school) for all. We had wanted to write a Christmas letter soto send out this year, but decided to wait for the arrival of Baby Milligan #6 for one mass mailing.

The first fruits of this new year are already in bloom with the birth of our daughter Shiloh Jubilee. She was born at home on Monday, February 23 at 1:50 am. She weighted 7# 2 oz, was 20 in long, and has lots of beautiful dark brown hair. Shiloh is a Hebrew name meaning place of rest, to be in safety, tranquil. It was the location of the tabernacle in biblical times - the place of worship before the temple was built. In Genesis 49, the word Shiloh refers to the coming of the Messiah - the fufillment being Jesus Christ, our confident expectation or hope. Jubilee means celebration, to be set free. Every 50th year for the Hebresw people was to be a Jubilee. It was the time when lslaves were set free, land returned to the family, a Sabbath rest for the whole year! So once again, we packed meaning into our child's name in hope that God will answer what we have spoken into her and fill her with the power of His Spirit.

Her arrival was surprisingly our quickest one yet, continuing our pattern of unpredictable and exciting birth stories. Our prayer was for God's timing and He blessed us with perfect peace. As each birth has been, it was an opportunity of faith and trust in the true Deliverer of life. So, I'll try to keep it short. (You may view our family blog milligannation.blogspot.com for the full version or make a request of a hard copy with a simple phone call.) Sunday, Kim had short, mild, very sporadic cantractions throughout the day. Grandpa and Grandma Strub decided to spent the night and arrived at our house around 9 pm. We stayed up chatting till about midnight. At 12:15 Kim woke up to a more intense ctxn and 2 more good strong ones at 12:30 and 12:45. Then at 1:20 she woke up to her water breaking. Soon after, she had a series of ctxns with only seconds of pause between. It was then that Mark woke up Grandpa and Grandma Strub and called our midwives. Moments later our daughter was born with Daddy and Grandma as the birthing team. Grandma Strub had the delight of "catching" the baby! All was PERFECTLY well! Once our midwives arrived, we did all of the usual: delivery of the placenta, cutting of the cord, momma and baby checkups, and got pampered by our midwives blessed service, all in the comfort of our home. The children met their new baby sister in the morning. They were all delighted and excited. Yes, Leannora LOVES having a sister! Nikao calls her "baby Low" and was convinced that she was a baby boy for the first couple of days. Able calls her "Shi shoh" or "Shah doh." He giggles and squeals as he says his word for doggie "dahgee" and points to Shiloh.

I could write a book on the blessings of our children and how they have grown this year! It's hard to believe that one year ago our Able boy was just a few months old. He has gone from Able Baby to big brother with such praise and admiration from his adoring family. Amiable describes him well. He is a delight to us all. Tornado Able is his most recent description as his early mobility and curious personality take him everywhere and into everything. God has prepared him in such short order for becoming a big brother at 16 months.

Nikao and Able are fellow chatterboxes. Nikao has taken off with words. He has a wonderful mix of enjoying others and his own individuality. It is fun to watch his unique fit in our family as he is strong in determination and definitely full of love.

Leannora is practicing patience as a princess. She can hardly wait to be a momma and meaures all time by this grand achievement. Her brothers test her little mothering ways. It is sweet to see her innocence and fenininity shine.. She loves to learn, loves to play cowgirl, loves her doll Anna, loves her brothers, and LOVES being a big siter to her new baby sister.

Owen is our bundle of energy. When he is still, he is asleep soundly. But before he sleeps he makes sure every ounce of energy is out. He loves to sneak around doing special things for others, but it is most enjoyed when he can give a surprise. He is full of imagination set to burst when just the right moment of maturity sparks new surprises.

Hogan keeps us on our toes as we are always amazed at his sharp mind. He has mastered reading and is moving on in math and manhood. He will be celebrating his golden birthday this month - 8 years old on March 8th. It is only such a short time that we have the privilege of preparing our children for the path God has chosen for them. Oh that we make the most of every moment!

God has blessed our family this past year with some wonderful family adventures. Our home has been a happening place! We've welcomed a good share of visitors - family, church friends, neighbors, new friends from the community. Looking over the calendar we enjoyed guests for meals, overnights, games, play, prayer, homework, remodeling, cleaning, meeting baby - so much sweet fellowship!

We also enjoyed a bit of traveling for more fellowship - visiting grandparents in McFarland, Ames, and Dixon; our first family vacation to TN which included visiting friends, a wonderful 3 day Milligan family reunion, a visit at the Creation nuseum with both the Strub and Milligan grandparents, and camping at Turnkey run State Park in IN; a special weekend at BoJo's cabin in WI; helping people move; helping and playing at Uncle Joe's work weekend; helping friends with a bathroom remodel; a kickball picnic; many church activities; homeschool group gathers and field trips; raspberry and apple picking; a childless date to a musical The Rock and The Rabbi; Highway to Heaven band practice and concerts; Nachusa Grasslands family day; 10 year high school class reunion; buddy days; and business adventures.

Our home has taken on some transformation this year too. We were amazed at all that was accomplished. Here's a quick list: electrical; toilet; trim, paint, and French doors in FR; clouds and night sky painted in Leannora's bedroom; bay windows painted; insulate house; plenty of destructo (enough for a dumpster in our driveway!); kitchen and mudroom remodel; DR and LR painted !!!!! My husband is amazing! Our parents are awesome! The Layhews are incredible! Our friends are indescribable! Thank you!

We are expecting more exciting adventures this new year as we wait on God's timing to reveal His blessings upon and directions for our family in 2009. We hope that you are equally blessed by His peace and joy. We send our love and greetings and smiles to you all. Also, you are welcome to join in our adventures anytime. We would enjoy a visit, phone call, card, e-mail, or even blog post!

Love in Him,
The Milligan family
Mark, Kim, Hogan, Owen, Leannora, Nikao, Able and Shiloh


and here we are getting ready to take our family picture on the saddle in our family room. it's always an adventure trying to get everybody to smile and all that camera crazy stuff. and now we have 8 people to pose! thanks to Grandpa Bill and Grandma Sara for helping us with the pictures!

Welcome Shiloh Jubilee Milligan!

Shiloh Jubilee was born at home on Monday, Febrary 23 at1:50 am. She weighed 7# 2oz, was 20 in. long, and has lots of beautiful dark brown hair.

Once again, we packed meaning into our child's name in hope that God will answer what we have spoken into her and fill her with the power of His Spirit. Shiloh is a Hebrew name meaning place of rest, to be in safety, tranquil. It was the location of the tabernacle in biblical times - the place of worship before the temple was built. In Genesis 49, the word Shiloh refers to the coming of the Messiah - the fulfillment being Jesus Christ our confident expectation or hope. Jubilee means celebration, to be set free. Every 50th year for the Hebrew people was to be a Jubilee. It was the time when the slaves were set free, land returned to the family, a Sabbath rest for the whole year!
Shiloh's arrival was surprisingly our quickest one yet, continuing our pattern of unpredictable, adventurous, and exciting birth stories. Our prayer was for God's timing and He blessed us with perfect peace. As each birth has been, it was an opportunity of faith and trust in the true Deliverer of life.


Sunday, Kim began the day as a usual getting-ready-for-church-morning and noticed she was having contractions. They were short, mild, very sporadic, and continued throughout the day. We went to church, had an indoor picnic lunch after church, visited an open house just for fun, enjoyed a long quiet time (nap time), and spent the evening relaxing - Kim cozied up on the couch and caught up on some reading while the children played. Grandpa and Grandma Strub decided to spend the night at the last minute and arrived at our house around 9 pm. We watched a Monk episode borrowed from the library and stayed up chatting till about midnight. Kim had still been having ctxns, more intense as the day went on, and noticed them being closer together as we talked. She wasn't really kepping track and hadn't felt the need to time them yet, so we all went to bed thinking maybe we would begin labor in the morning!?!

At 12:15 Kim woke up to a more intense ctxn lasting about 30 seconds and 2 more good strong ones followed at 12:30 and 12:45 maybe a minute long. Then at 1:20 she woke up to water breaking. Soon after, she had one long, intense ctxn requiring a lot of concentration. Kim asked Mark to pray as she was beginning to feel a bit fearful Mark prayed and immediately God gave us this great sense of peace. Mark asked Kim if he should call the midwives and Kim suggested we wake up her mom first. Just as Kim's parents were getting up, Kim began a series of ctxn with only seconds of pause between. At this point, we recognized things were going to progress quickly. Yet there was no concern that the midwives would not make it. We knew this was God's timing and He was covering over us with His presence. Mark asked Lucy to turn up the thermostat while he called our midwife. Just as Grandma returned to our bedroom, our daughter was born with Daddy and Grandma as the birthing team. Grandma Stub had the delight of "catching" the baby!


All was PERFECTLY well! Once our midwives arrived, we did all of the ususal: delivery of the placenta, cutting of the cord, momma and baby checkups, and got pampered by our midvives blessed service, all in the comfort of our home. We cannot describe how wonderful it is to have a home birth. We love that God has given us this gift!




The children met their new baby sister in the morning. This is one of the best parts of having baby #6. They were all delighted and excited. We took lots of pictures and videos to capture the joy of the morning's surprise. Kim could hardly sleep anticipating being able to share Shiloh with her big brothers and sister.

Yes, Leannora LOVES having a sister! She thinks everything about Shiloh is wonderful - her tiny fingers, her pretty clothes, her little diapers, and that she is a girl! We have a little momma in the making.

Nikao calls her "baby Low" and was convinced that she was a baby boy for the first couple of days. He tells us when "baby Low uh whihn ing" (whining = crying).

Able calls her "Shi shoh" or "Shah doh." He giggles and squeals as he says his word for doggie "dahgee" and points to Shiloh. It has become a game to him - he says doggie, we answer baby, and then we all laugh together. It must be pretty confusing for a 16 month old little boy. All he has known is that we have called my tummy "baby." How could he understand that Shiloh is really the baby that was in momma's tummy? Well, it's hard for me to grasp the miracle of God's creation of life in the womb too. Anyways, it's adorable.

The children have all taken turns holding and caring for Shiloh. She will never be in need of a protector with 4 big brothers. We are already looking forward to seeing how all the childrens relationships will develop with one another as they grow. I imagine Hogan and Owen will have a constant admirer in their sweet baby sister.

Grandpa and Grandma Strub stayed with us for the first few days letting the momma get losts of rest. It was a wonderful time of blessing as they enjoyed the children to the fullest, took care of meals, dishes, laundry, diapers, quiet time, play time and everything in between.

milligan men, a maiden, and an expecting momma

we milligans are all doing well.

mark has been a bit busy with real work again! yeah! he got caught up today. then he got caught up in a fun trumpeting project idea.

hogan has taken off reading. he read an entire chapter book today! one that he's read before, but i was sure impressed at the accomplishment of 182 pages. and it didn't even take all day. i think he picked it up after lunch and plugged away at various times for the rest of the day. he actually worked on a book report assignment this morning, did his normal work responsibilities, and fit in plenty of play time besides!

owen helped papa in the basement for quite a while today. he helped me work on cleaning his bedroom after lunch. he has turned into a great helper. he helped his brothers and sister have lots of fun today too. some friends from church brought over a bunch of hand-me-over toys on Sunday. owen was pretty excited about playing with them. he is such a fun companion as he loves to make people happy.

leannora loves learning time. she read a book to me this morning. she helped me with meals, kitchen work, cleaning her bedroom, and kept nikao and able company so i could finish up some things. she would reeeeeaaally like a sister. a sister might be good to help even out the emotions of the lone girl. our new baby will be a pleasant help to fill the needs of our little aspiring momma.

nikao is now talking away. it is so fun to hear him speak new words each day. at supper tonight he saw a truck with flashing lights out the window. he was so delighted and excited to tell us all about it. his names for the milligan children are the best . . . able is "ahbull," nikao is "kayoh," leannora is "nohrra," owen is "oh no," hogan is "oowheyoowheyoh." there are a few other fun varieties for owen and hogan, but i'd have to ask them to help me remember them.

able is everywhere. a delightful, wonderful, happy boy that gets into everything and can figure out how to get anywhere. he is definately preparing to be a big brother. it's so cool how God is doing that in him! he loves to immitate, so he too is talking away. i've been trying to teach him a bit of self control. this morning i gave him one toy and told him to sit in one spot while i worked on breakfast. i had to remind him of his place and possession a few times, but he did get the idea of obedience!

our baby loves to wiggle and move around a lot. we all have fun watching the momma's belly roll. the not so fun part is when the baby positions him or herself in the momma's ribs. but this has only been uncomfortable for a short time now. even though this is baby milligan #6, i can not get over the wonder of this child in my womb. it is just soooo amazing that i am carrying a living, eternal being uniquely designed by God. and that very soon we will meet His creation.

we are 3 weeks away from our due date of february 20. mark thinks i'm going to be early. i don't have any guesses. almost everyone is wishing us a girl, including our children. again, i don't have any guesses or wishes. i'm so pleased to know that this child will be the perfect fit for our family at this time because God has planned it for us ahead of time itself. and besides, my past efforts at guessing were failed attempts anyway.

i don't really feel prepared for our baby's arrival. mentally, that is. we have been sooo busy with house and home and life that this child has been overlooked in some ways. i guess some of that might be normal with a big family though. but i still feel funny about that. mark and i haven't really even sat down to discuss or list names yet! i'm counting on all those prayers that have been pouring in over this new baby. we have really been prayed for among friends and church family, so i can rest in that!

i'm hustling and bustling at this nesting thing. but i'm lacking the energy required to do all that i'd like to accomplish. i think i used most of my nesting energies during the house transformation. thankfully, God has given me an extended grace period in my personality battles. before our remodeling adventures i pleaded with God to take control of my need for order. it has been exciting to experience victories in this. i'm reckognizing that it's beginning to wain, so i guess i need to renew my request.

some funny kim pregnancy facts . . .

i'm still sneezing - yes, i sneeze at meal times while pregnant (it's much nicer than morning sickness and throwing up, but it is gross when i have a mouth full of food and my hands are full) we just say hi baby instead of God bless you now.

i haven't shaved my legs in months. but they are not hairy, they are bald from above my knees and down! that's pretty cool! sorry guys if i gave you too much information. feel free to laugh a lot. (maybe i've got some weird nutritional or hormonal imbalance, but you won't catch me complaining)

oh, what was the other funny thing? . . . oh, yeah, i'm a holy moley momma. moles run in my family. hee hee. get it? guess it wasn't that funny, it's just past my bedtime. anyways, i've always multiplied moles with each pregnancy. i even have one in my belly button! but this time i've got little white ones everywhere!

well, ive procrastinated the bedtime thing long enough now. it's really no fun trying to wrestle the blankets with 40+ extra #s attached to my body just to roll over. not to mention having to go to the bathroom ???? x ? but then waking up to put on pants that don't fit and shoes that i can hardly reach to tie is equally difficult. really, i'm not complaining, it's pretty funny stuff that we go through. and you've just gotta think that God smiles when we laugh about his creativity.

well, kendra, you asked for it. i apologize for those of you who didn't know what you were getting into when you started to read the latest milligan post. any time kim is asked to talk, well, you're going to get much more than you've asked for. but if you ask my mom, grandma, sister, aunts or cousins, their over explinations might really give you the giggles.

goodnight.

cloud room update

the momma finally got around to updating the cloud room story. part one is posted in august. part two is posted in november. sorry, i put in the pictures way back when and just this evening got around to adding an attempt at a quick story follow up. i hope it's not to difficult to check out.

more hogan photos

hogan so kindly has taken his own pictures of our progress. once again he has captured our adventures from such a great perspective - from the eyes of our children. he's also taken the pictures that we've missed. you know, we adults miss so much in our business of busy ness. oh, i'm so thankful for our children. we would miss out on so much of life without them!

mark has worked on quite a bit of our household electrical. hogan made me a special message one day as he was helping dad.

these are the best before and after shots! hogan just added all these pictures to our computer file this week. it was so fun finding that he got these.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

BEFORE:

IN BETWEEN:

AFTER:

IN BETWEEN:

AFTER:

we almost completely lost record of this aspect of our construction adventures.
able became a mobile baby and also became aware of what happens when you touch the wood stove. he is our first child to experience a burn from the wood stove. we needed to keep him safe from his own curiousity and all the mess and dust and dirt of destructo, so we trapped him in the pack and play for a couple of weeks while his blisters were healing. amazingly, the hand injury did not phase him at all. he was happy here, but he was not such an amiable boy with his adventuring getting cut off.

i know we showed photos of our island already, but i thought this was funny that hogan was taking a picture at the same time as mark.

hogan got a much better picture of our new mud room paint, trim, and super fun letters!
and he's the first one to take pictures of the pretty new painted walls in the front room.

and of course hogan did a great job capturing the handsome features of my favorite man.

remodeling adventures

here are some updates on our kitchen remodeling project
we actually spread into working on 4 rooms
amazingly enough, all this has been done in less than 2 months
whoa!

the kitchen is fully functioning now
a bit more finishing touches are needed before we can call it done
that might be a while
but that's okay

notice the mudroom in the background
oh this room is so nice now with paint and fun letters over the children's coat hooks and new flooring and matching painted trim
we just need a door that opens to the outside to finish it off
that's a big project a long ways away

we love having an island!
i think this is going to be a favorite spot

we had a jammy breakfast this morning
mark was embarrassed about his hair - thus the napkin on the head
but this gives an idea of the new dining room colors
ahh, no more boingey greens, just restful
i actually felt like the room was foggy before we put a bit of furniture back in the room


and then there's the front room
we call it the sitting room
my men did some amazing work in here!!!
they hung new drywall to fix the past plaster problems on the stairway wall
then while waiting for the mud to dry in the stairway, hogan and owen decided to rip off all the old wallpaper and grandpa strub skim coated all the walls of the whole big room so we could paint on smooth walls
but then these guys had to sand all that mud
three generations of cute dusty men, huh?


yes, they even let the pregnant momma play with paint
the only condition was that i could not climb a ladder
i even mixed this color myself with free paint from some of my dad's past jobs
1 part mcdonald's bathroom ceiling green - 1 part golden mist - 1 part stone house = honey hazelnut (grandma strub's name for the new color)

able really wanted to help and be a part of all the progress
every time i turned around i found that he had snuck into the work zone
he's a quick one
i just had to let him play a bit so i could snap this shot before rescuing him from the dusty mess

nikao loved helping grandpa work, but he didn't like the noisy shop vac
the earmuffs were grandpa's remedy
nikao has really loved helping anyone work and he's a great happy helper
almost every morning for the past 2 months he's been getting dressed making sure that we understand that he's ready to work


all this has been such an exciting adventure
the best part is enjoying the children as they discover their own adventures
we love living in our house again
though we're far from back in order, it's all livable
i feel like we are in a place that we can relax on the remodeling process and get back to some priorities of family time, learning time, and get ready for baby time
we've got less than 6 weeks left before our baby's due date
there's a whole bunch i'd like to accomplish before baby milligan arrives, but that's where that nesting thing comes in handy

hmmm, every time i post something new i think of all the things that got left out
so we'll have to continue updating more fun stuff later

The latest in kitchen work.

Able gets painting lessons from Grandpa Strub.

First the priming coat.

Then the new green!

Grandpa Strub sure trusts Hogan since he's letting him roll close to the cabinets!

Lots of industry!

All tuckered out.