The McMillins

Can you believe it? We have been married 6 months TODAY! Wow! What a 6 months! It has definitely been a learning and adjusting time for both of us. As in every marriage, there are good times and bad times. For the most part, we really try to be sensitive to one another's feelings AND we try not to take each other for granted.

Some people will tell us that it's only like this b/c we're "Honeymooners". We agree to some extent but your relationship and your passion for one another is all in what you put into it AND it's about keeping Jesus as your center point. Jesus is the one who GUARANTEES that your relationship will be "till death do us part". The GREATEST attribute that Gretchen LOVES about Corey is how much he really tries to be like Jesus. He really tries to be humble and love Gretchen as Christ loves the church and gave Himself up for it. He is best at being a spiritual leader, not only to Gretchen but to Zach as well.

Our family is blending very well. Corey has really adjusted well to his role as both a Father and a Husband. Gretchen has adjusted, as well, to being a housewife and stay-at-home mom. She loves the time she gets to spend with Zach AND Corey. Although we love Zach and we focus mostly on raising him in a Godly manner, we make sure that our dedication and love for one another comes FIRST (after God). Zach will one day grow up and move out, then we're stuck with JUST each other. lol So, we make sure that we have that good balance and our priorities in the right order. It's probably harder for Gretchen than it is for Corey. :)

The ribs turned out VERY well. Gretchen liked them but wouldn't eat them on a regular basis. She likes chicken better. Corey LOVED them! He just HAD to take a picture of them.

Zach and Gretchen went to the YMCA today while Corey was sleeping. Corey is working nights this week. When Gretchen first took Zach to the Child Watch area, Zach didn't want to go in. We think he may have been overwhelmed by all the kids in there. After a few minutes, he seemed to warm up and Gretchen was able to go work out. Gretchen really enjoyed working out. She did an hour of cardio. When Gretchen went to pick Zach up, he didn't want to leave.

The boys got their hair cut today. After that, we decided to eat at our FAVORITE restaurant for lunch, McAlister's. It is soooo good! The sweet tea is the best there.

Then, we took a tour of the YMCA and joined. So, now Gretchen can go to the gym anytime she wants and work out while Zach gets to play with some other kids. Gretchen can also do some swimming and tumbling classes with Zach. It should be fun! Gretchen can't wait to get Zach involved with some of those things.

Tonight for dinner we are having smoked baby back ribs. We called Corey's Dad to find out how to "smoke" ribs. He gave us some great ideas that we're trying. Corey is looking forward to it but Gretchen has never had ribs, so..... we'll see. We're also putting some corn on the cob on the grill. Then, Gretchen made pasta salad last night to be cold for tonight's dinner. It should be good! YUM!

Corey went to Promise Keepers on Friday and Saturday! He had a lot of fun and it was very uplifting to him. Corey thinks the best feeling is having all of those men in that stadium singing together for Jesus. He says it's so powerful!

While Corey was at Promise Keepers, Gretchen went out with Zach. Zach was VERY bad. She had only gotten 3 hours sleep the night before (b/c she can't sleep lately) which didn't help. He ran away from her in the store, twice, AND threw a fit in the middle of the Post Office. So, she took care of it when they got home. He's been listening MORE since he got punished. He usually only needs one good punishment and then he's good for a while. He was good the rest of the weekend.

Corey is having his Bible Study this morning. They are all downstairs while Gretchen and Zach are upstairs watching "Herme & Friends: Stanley the Stinkbug". The rest of the day is reserved for family time.

It's so nice for Corey to have 4 days off. We are so blessed that we get to spend much more time together than most families. We think it's so important for Corey, more than Gretchen, to spend time with Zach b/c of the age that he's at. Focus on the Family says that all children tend to need their Dad's more than their Mom's after the age of 3. Not that they don't need their Mom, but it's more important for Dad's to be apart of their lives more than their Mom's. So, Corey is now making sure that one day is reserved JUST for Zach. That means, Gretchen doesn't get to be apart of that since she is always with him. It's so important for Corey to spend some alone time with Zach.

Nothing has really been going on. We sold Gretchen's computer to one of Corey's co-workers. We weren't using it at ALL and could really use the money to try to pay off some bills. Corey says that we can't even think about having a baby until Gretchen's student loans and car are paid off. So, Gretchen is pushing to get those bills paid. Hopefully we'll have at least the student loans paid by the end of the year. BUT... we have to plan around going to Hawaii in January, 2008. Gretchen's parents are renewing their vows then and both Corey and Gretchen would like to go. So, Gretchen is praying that God will change Corey's mind to at least start trying around December, 2006. We'll see.

Corey has been working days this week. Gretchen has been cleaning through her Premier jewelry to try to sell what she doesn't want. She was thinking about continuing to sell the jewelry but she decided to give piano lessons instead. We are trying to be conscious of what we don't use or want anymore and try to sell it. Gretchen also wants to sell her wedding gown (since she won't be wearing it anymore) but is still trying to figure out how to sell it. Maybe ebay?? If you have any suggestions or know of anyone who may want it, let us know.

We went to a new church today. It's right across the street from our development. It was nice. Corey really liked it. Gretchen liked it, but not as much as Corey. She's willing to keep going to it, though. It's not a real big church. The congregation was probably around 100 people. There are quite a few "older" (meaning over 60) people, but a good mix of younger people as well. They have a music team that Gretchen could possibly get involved with. Zach seemed to enjoy the 3 year old class. We opted out of putting him in the 2 year old nursery and he's already as big, if not bigger, than most of the 3 year olds. He did VERY well in the 3 year old class.

Corey had to go to work tonight for one night so that he could have off on Friday to go to Promise Keepers. So, we went out to eat after church and then came home to take a nap. When we got up, Gretchen made dinner and Corey went off to work after dinner.

This past week, Corey has worked nights. Here is a picture of Corey at work. lol Gretchen had a hard time sleeping because of Corey being gone. Not because she was scared, but because he just wasn't there. So, it made it a rough week during the day with Zach.

We also missed Zach so much that we are just spending so much time with him. We are looking at getting a membership at the YMCA so that Gretchen can work out, Corey can workout WITH Gretchen when he's off work AND so Zach can have some interaction with some other children. Plus, Gretchen wants to get Zach into some swimming lessons AND a Tumble Tots class. We think Zach will enjoy that.

We tried giving Zach soymilk this week instead of cow's milk because of his allergies. He seems to really like it but he also seems to be allergic to it. He started breaking out again. He doesn't break out when he drinks cow's milk. The doctor seems to think it just drives his eczema a little bit. The soymilk seemed to make his eczema even worse than the cow's milk. So, we think we're going to wait and see how he does. If he starts to get worse again, we'll take him to another doctor.

Corey is going back to work for one night tomorrow night (Sunday night). He is switching one of his days this week so that he can go to Promise Keeper's this weekend.

Today, we went to North Carolina to meet Gretchen's parents to pick Zach up. We miss him soooo much! After not seeing him for a week, he looked so much bigger than just one week ago. We came home and started chasing him around the house. He immediately started playing with his toys in his room. We think he missed his room and toys more than he missed us. Oh well... that's a kid for ya! At least he's home.... safe and sound!

Yesterday, we were suppose to go to the beach but there was an overcast so we both slept in. Corey had to go see the dentist again about his dry sockets to give him more medicine. He's fine now. Then, we came home and relaxed. Gretchen had a hair appointment to get her hair flat ironed straight for the surprise date that was coming in the evening. Corey told Gretchen to get dressed up, have some semi-comfortable shoes on and to be ready by 6 p.m.

Corey took Gretchen to downtown Charleston to eat at Magnolia's. Magnolia's is a five star restaurant. It was amazing. It was very romantic. Gretchen loves to get dressed up to go to places. After dinner, Corey planned to take a walk to WaterFront Park, which was only a 10 minute walk. It was beautiful. It was a little chily but that made it even more romantic as Corey put his arm around Gretchen for the evening. Then, we picked up some cheesecake and went home. It was so nice. Oh, and Corey looked very handsome dressed up. :)

This morning, we went to the beach (since we couldn't go yesterday) and had so much fun swimming in the ocean together, laying on the beach and reading a book. It was very relaxing. It's not very often that we get to go out in the ocean together since we always have to make sure someone is with Zach. We went to Cosco after that and picked up some nice marinated pork tenderloin to put on the grill tonight AND some more cheesecake. The cheesecake we bought last night wasn't very good. Now, we're cleaning the house, mowing the yard and getting everything ready because Zach is coming home tomorrow. We are soooo excited! The time alone has been nice but we miss Zach VERY much and can't wait to see him.

Gretchen met her parents in North Carolina to drop Zach off with them for this entire week. Corey and Gretchen both miss Zach sooo much! Corey started his 4 day work week on Sunday. So, he wasn't able to go with Gretchen to drop Zach off.

During the past 3 days while Corey has been working, Gretchen has been sleeping in :), scrapbooking, exercising and cleaning. It's nice to be able to do all of those things with no interruptions. Today, Gretchen is going to get her hair cut and to enjoy a nice spa pedicure.

Corey has been feeling some pain in his mouth since he had his wisdom teeth taken out. So, he will be going to see the surgeon again tomorrow afternoon to see if he has dry-sockets.

Today, Gretchen went shopping for some curtains and other things for the upstairs room to match the rug that we got. While Gretchen was shopping, Corey delivered the home gym that a guy from Corey's work bought from us. We never used it anyway. Corey was pretty sore today. He's pretty swollen too. He's only eating mash potatoes and tomato soup. He tried to eat some macaroni and cheese but that still bothered his mouth. He'll get better soon.

We put curtains up today that match the rug perfectly. We also got a picture that matches. We put lamps in the loft area (we took the lamps from our bedroom). It is sooo cozy. We can't wait for everyone to come visit to feel how warm and cozy it is. we don't even use our downstairs as much except to eat. I'm sure eventually that will come along as well, though.