Jeané Miller's life is crazy. But because of her humor, neighbors, and an occasional perfect cup of coffee, she wouldn't change a thing.

Miller is the mother of six children--stepson Rick, 17; Christopher, 5; Annie, 4; Mackenzie, 3; and twin sons John and Ray, 2, who, Miller said, were "the best surprise of my life." Do the math and see that the youngest Millers arrived within three and a half years. "With our five little preschoolers, we have our own playgroup," she said.

Miller never aspired to have a large family. She and husband, Curtis, have been married for eight years. When they met, Miller was working in human resources at Willow Valley. Now, she says, "I still work in human resources." The Miller family "are all great kids, who love each other."

Still, it is a very busy household. Very busy. "There are days when I seriously want to bang my head against the wall," Miller said. " But I know it won't do any good. I try to keep perspective on how good I have it, even though I have constant demands on me."

And Miller knows all too well how good she has it, because having all of her children certainly was not easy. She had three pregnancy losses: an ectopic pregnancy; a daughter, Hope, was stillborn; and then Miller suffered a miscarriage. But, miraculously, within the next three and a half years, Miller gave birth to five healthy children.

Miller admits that much of her life during the last few years has been just "trying to keep my head above water." She says that her existence was more of a survival mode. But lately Miller is glad to report that "there has been more thriving than just surviving."

In addition to her "great husband," Miller credits her neighbors in Brownstown with helping her get to this point. In fact it was one of her neighbors, Sandy Hursh, who nominated Miller to be Mom of the Month.

"She has a very stressful life with so many little ones," Hursh said, "but rarely complains and chooses to see the humor and blessing that this stage of life brings. Even though she is incredibly busy raising her kids, she always has time to reach out to others and be an encouragement to everyone around her."

"My neighbors have been God's provision for me," said Miller. Sometimes it's by bringing her a cup of coffee at just the right time in the afternoon or inviting some of her children over to play for a while. She walks regularly in the early mornings with her neighbor, Rachel. It's the perfect way for Miller to start her busy days. But whatever little acts of kindness her neighbors perform, Miller says, "my load is lightened."

Often neighbor children will come over, and Miller loves that. "What's one or two more?" Miller treasures her neighbors and loves to host brunches or game nights for them. "I love my neighborhood," Miller said. "It's not Mayberry, and we're not perfect, but it's close!"

Another way Miller copes is by humor and writing about her life on her blog thecoffeecottage.blogspot.com. In her blog she says she "keeps it real." She said, "I never want to play the comparison game. That's not healthy for any woman."

Miller calls the hours of 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. her "full moon time." And she can often be seen on one of her "sanity drives" with her children. "I'll put them all in their car seats, and we'll just drive around counting cows. It's one of the benefits of living in Lancaster County." She also said that her family "kicks me out on Wednesday nights so I can have one of my wild dates at Weis Markets."

One day Miller was shopping, and she met an elderly woman who happened to also have five children also born close together. She held Miller's hand and looked into her eyes and started to speak. Miller was sure the woman was going to tell her how precious the little ones are, how to treasure each and every day--it goes by so fast. Instead, the woman surprised Miller by saying, "You won't miss these days. They're hard!"


Fast Facts about Jeané Miller

The Miller family has 18 chickens on their property. "The kids love to gather the eggs." Miller also said that the family used to have some ducks. But they were bullying the chickens and they turned into dinner one night. Miller said, "You shouldn't bully!"

Miller once applied for a job at the White House as assistant to Laura Bush's social secretary.

Miller also entered the contest to try to win the co-host position next to Regis after Kathy Lee left. "I'm still waiting for my call back," she said.

Miller enjoys watching "Downton Abbey," a British television show, on PBS.

Miller grew up in Lancaster and lived in Shillington for a while before returning.

Miller tries to feed her family healthy meals, and she tries to keep their food natural. She even bakes her own bread. However, there are those times, as many moms know, "A Happy Meal is a happy meal, indeed!" Miller also says "Chik-Fil-A is amazing."

Miller loves coffee, and that is a daily treat for her. She makes her own special coffee concentrate recipe that she adds to milk for a refreshing pick me up: Mix together two cups boiling water, add ½ cup instant coffee, one cup of sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla.

Miller's blog--thecoffeecottage.blogspot.com--"is hilarious at times," says friend and neighbor Sandy Hursh,  "but also an encouragement to those of us raising kids."

Written by Maureen Leader, Special Features Writer

Photo credit: Blaine Shahan