Aunt Janice :)

Daryl's Aunt Janice (Toms' sister) was in town to hang with Memaw while Tom & Dee hit the coast (we'll be going this weekend!). She called around 4:45 yesterday, and Mia and I were in the car by 5 on the way to Dripping Springs to visit with our loving Aunt Janice. We hadn't seen each other since Memaws birthday last August! So it really was time for a visit. Of course Mia has grown and and do/say more things, but Janice was FLOORED when Mia called her 'Aunt Janice'. Apparently, when Janice was in kinder or something, even her best friend couldn't pronounce her name. That's the beautiful thing about Janice, she's so easy to please, and is always in a fabulous mood!
Janice gave me a copy of her son, Greg's, CD they cut about 6 months ago. They've been on tour for three months on the East coast. Greg's band (he's the drummer), Shrapnel, is a pretty heavy metal band, and they just rock! I hadn't heard them since we all went down to a club they were playing at downtown a couple of years ago. I can't wait to pop it in to the ole player and rock out!
Mia loved being around her. She showed Janice her box of toys in the guest room, they both picked out some choice pieces...the little radio included. Memaw asked Mia to turn on the radio and dance. That was easy. Mia's always ready to cut a rug. We all got a kick out of Mia's dancing. Memaw went on and on to Janice about how cute, smart and easy going Mia is. I've never heard Memaw describe all the things she cherishes in Mia, so it was very nice to hear.
Before we left, Memaw asked Janice if Daryl was going to stop by. No, he was at pool until late. Memaw became concerned and made Janice promise to help me get the bag and baby safely into the car...usually Daryl's' job. Wasn't that sweet?

While PawPaw's away....

After Mia got a couple halves of cookies, played with her her Aunt Janice and Memaw...she was ready to go. By then, it was 9pm! Mia was in bed by 10 quite possibly dreaming of cookies or Aunt Janice...definitely something sweet :)

More snaps HERE

and the shortest video

Wonderful Wednesday

Mia had her last Gigglebytes computer class. She got so much out of it, and really has fun, so I'm thinking of registering her for the next session. She's learning many PC vocab words, mouse and keyboard usage, and has a great time with her instructor, Miss Angela.

After class, we went over to friends Martha & Bethany's home. They've never had a playdate there before, so they wanted to keep it small to see how it would work out. Juliet & Blake were there, too.

Bethany has a beautiful princess room! Her mama, Martha, hand painted many details. It was super cute. Blake loved the kitchen, Mia used a little pail as a purse and they all had their hand at coloring using colored pencils.

Oh, we met their puppy, Mylie. I would say she's about 3-4 months old, part black lab, and just the most energetic ball of fur ever. Mia was enchanted and wanted to pet and play with her. Blake was not impressed. He prefers little dogs. After a good round of playing, Mylie went back into her kennel for a nap. Mia played with one of Bethany's babies. Mia rocked, fed and burped the baby (there's video below). We just need to work on the burping part. She's pretty rough.

Martha cooked up the tastiest lunch. Tortellini with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms in a fabulous cream sauce. Mia ate hers and then Blake's. He preferred a PB&J sandwich. Martha is sharing the recipe! Yay!

After lunch, super mama Martha brought out the sugar cookies she'd baked earlier for some decorating. She had icing, and candy eggs, Peeps and of course, sprinkles....Bethany's favorites. Mia mostly licked the icing off the knife, I mostly ate some cookies, but we came away with some very cutely decorated cookies. We brought home 3. One for each of us, but Daryl has pool and won't be home till late tonight. He may just get some cute pics to look at...if the cookies don't make it.

Mia, just came down off her sugar high and is crashed in her BGB. I'm following in suit....crashing from a sugar high and ready for a nap :)

More pics HERE (towards the end)

and a smidge of video

Love Bugs

One of Mia's good buddies, Cole, LOVES giving hugs. He is in fact a love bug. As I'm sure you know, Mia sometimes has issue with kids getting too close to her. Maybe she has post-traumatic stress syndrome from getting pegged in the head with a sippy cup when she was only a few months old. She'll hug adults, but is very cautious and incredibly uncomfortable when kids get into her space. Not any more! Cole, the hugger, has on two occasions targeted Mia to be the recipient of his fabulous hugs. He's not fakin'. He gets in there close, squeezes (not too tight...just right) and then lingers. My honey, Daryl is a fabulous hugger...I think he gets it from his mom. Some people don't know how to hug. It's all stiff and forced. Not warm at all. Cole turned 2 in Oct and he's got this hugging thing down! Mia actually opened up, sank into the hug and gently patted his back.
Today the hugging took place at a playdate hosted by Juliet & Blake. Blake, Phoebe, Roarke and Kevin mostly played in Blake's room, so I don't really have any pics of them...only a couple of Blake and one of Roarke trying to get into Coles' action by hugging Mia, too. Mia and I mostly hung out in the living room/kitchen area with kids Bethany, Chloe, Gigi, Rebecca, and Cole & Mamas Juliet, Sarah, Stephanie, Martha, Julia and Eve. I got to chat with Eve a little more. I met her last night at an O'Mama MNO event, but we barely introduced ourselves. Today, she brought her little Rebecca along. Oh does this girl have a sweet face with FULL lips. Such a cutie. She's pretty little, so Gigi took her in and showed her the ropes...snacks :) The other love bug was Mia. She just really wanted to be by me. Not in a needy way, a very loving snugly way. We sat on the sofa and read books, snuggled, and hung out with the mamas when I got up for water. A few months ago, I noticed little Sarah really snuggled up to her preggo Mama, Allison, and thought it was the sweetest thing. Now, here's Mia doing it. She melts my heart. Oh, she was also very good with one of Blake's baby dolls. She didn't try to throw it on the floor to make it burp. She was super sweet.

I recharge so much when I hang with friends. They give me so much love & energy...I'm running low on energy lately.

The love bugs in action

my angel

Mia was awesome today. So easy going and mellow. After her nap, she cooked in her kitchen (wearing an Easter hat and angel wings....if only everyone dressed for dinner) while I got a little work done.
Then she helped in Mama's kitchen. I made some banana bread, and she helped stir. Her reward: 3 chocolate chips

E I E I O

O'Mama Monica and her Gabriella hosted a farm animal themed playdate this morning. Mama Jillian had an appt to see her new little one by sonogram, so I volunteered to take Kayli along with us.

Two toddlers in one backseat. Interesting to say the least. Kayli was so thrilled, she squealed, then Mia squealed. This HAD to be stopped! Monica lives in South Austin, so two squealing toddlers on a 30 min car ride was NOT going to work. I pulled out the big guns and turned on the Barney video AND put on a kid song CD. It worked :)

Included in Monica's directions was the following:We are on the second cul-de-sac with a Ron Paul sign in our front yard.I let Daryl know just what kind of friends Mia was playing with. He loved it. Ron Paul ROCKS!

Silly Izzy & Skye

They had a full house with Mia, Kayli & me, Dawn, Ava & Gavin, Courtney & Izzy, Leah Ann, Allie & Liam, Kristi & Skye. It was crazy fun. The kids played great together, and the mamas chatted well together :) Gabriella was on task by bringing out her farm animal puppets and books...as if to say 'this is an EIEIO playdate!' It just flowed so well, we never got to the animals.

Leah Ann with her Liam & Allie...Kayli is after the balloon

Allie I LOVE this shot of Kristi

Gabriella gave Mia a lollipop on the way out. Mia hearts Gabriella even more now :) Gabriella even said 'thanks for coming'. She's a big girl...older than 3. Kayli fell asleep before we were out of the neighborhood. Mia just chilled with her lollipop. Sometime on the way home she misplaced it, but I found it on her BUTT!

More pics here

The end of the weekend

Daryl and I had a wonderful weekend together. We're so grateful for his parents. Mia was theirs from Saturday noon till last night when we went out to Dripping Springs to get her.

Mia playing with her Memaw's spoon collection

We LOVE going out there. It's always so calm and relaxing. I was so relaxed that I went to the back room and had a fabulous nap. Boo has been wearing me out lately. Tom fixed up his super tasty chicken chow mein. Mia is just in heaven over there. Nana & Pawpaw are always so loving and doting. Mia just runs around like she owns the place.

She loves to feed Bubba and Bug...the dogs, feed the chickens, and PawPaw even has a tin can with deer corn that they feed the deer with. He just shakes that can and the deer come around for a snack. Mia experiences so much when she's out there. Oh, they feed the fish in the pond and watch the frogs scatter and jump in. Pawpaw and Nana swing her for hours..literally HOURS.
She does get an occasional cookie, but her Nana & Pawpaw buy organic fruit and veggies, and give her super healthy snacks and meals. If only I could eat that well! One thing that Daryl and I appreciate so much is that they follow are rules for her. When we drop her off, I let then know what's been going on with her (tantrums, fragility, whining...) and what we've been doing about it. They happily follow our lead, so Mia doesn't get any mixed messages. When we got out there yesterday, Mia was at the tail end of a 2 1/2 hour nap. Nana & PawPaw were a little nervous. She'd never napped that long, but they had just worn her out extra well :) Mia was very happy to see her Mama & Dada :) She played and ran around the house. I, needed a nap, so Dee watched her while I got in a good long nap. I woke up to dinner being ready...I love the timing.

wearing her Dada's glasses

After a few hours of being there, we packed up and gave out our hugs and kisses. Mia talked and talked in the car, then she just passed out when she got into her Big Girl Bed.

fun:

Cuties photo shoot

Bag O' Cuties

Early (8am!) we met up with Stephanie, owner and creator of CurlyQ Cuties monsters, her kiddo, Roarke, primo photographer, Bonnie Berry, and an other mama, Tre and her lil one, Cooper. Bonnie wanted an urban gritty feel for Stephanie's Cuties, and she picked out the best spots.

not THIS gritty!

Mia was shy at first...it was pretty chilly, but warmed up after a while. Roarke was awesome, and lil 10 month old Cooper was super cute. They all took turns posing with a Cutie. It was fun. Bonnie made them all feel so comfortable. I can't wait to see the pics. This was a commercial layout for the Cuties, and I believe that the shots will be on Stephanie's Cuties site as well as Bonnie's photography site.

I tried so very much to keep my inner stage mom in check, and I think I did pretty well. I did 'help' a little, and felt a little embarrassed about my lack of control. It turned out pretty darn well, as Bonnie offered me a job as her asst at weddings! How cool is that?!?! As I was driving home, I remembered that I used to assist a photographer down in the valley. They did mostly school pics, and some studio portraits. I did a lot of behind the scenes work like sorting and numbering (before digital cameras...yes, I'm that old...so everything was on film and printed). I helped a little with positioning and worked with the light reflectors, but it was all so staged. Nothing as organic as Bonnie's work.

At the end, we were all super wiped out, but it was so worth it :) We met up with Nana & PawPAw at Sam's and made the exchange. She's going to enjoy the rest of the weekend with them. Tonight, Daryl & I are going to game night!

Here are some shots of the fun!

Roarke & Bonnie groovin' together

Bonnie snappin' Cooper & Tre

Mia, waiting patiently for her turn

a snuggle with Dada

checkin out those white shoes

hangin'

what's up there, baby?

my hearts

& a smidge of video

It all happened in one day!

Daryl took a much needed day off today, so we did a whole bunch of super fun stuff! First, the Austin Zoo. Daryl (mostly his bag of animal food) got assaulted by a goat! He caught it on video...see below. Mia LOVED all the animals and really enjoyed getting down on their level and speaking their language...to chickens she'd say bawk bawk, pigs..oink oink. goat..maaaa. Too cute. I think she was a little disapointed in the llama. He was nothing at all like the Llama in her books.

if she knew that she had transformed into a DUCK, she'd be happier
creepy goat!

We were ready for lunch, so we hit Nutty Browns and Mia played in the sand pit for a little bit. Mostly, she enjoyed her ketchup with french fries. In order of importance...Ketchup, French Fries, pink lemonade....then grilled cheese sandwich. They've really done a lot to the place since the last time we were there. We're really looking forward to going in a few weeks when The Eggmen play. I had the chili pie! Nope, it didn't bother me at all. This pregnancy has been so much easier.

Mia managed to stay awake for the ride home. Before every nap or bedtime, we always gently ask 'do you want to sleep in your crib or in your big girl bed?'. Since November, when she slept in her BGB for two night, she's prefered her crib. Until today. She picked her BGB and took a pretty good nap! When she was done, she wiggled her door knob and little, and we were there to let her out. She seemed very happy with herself.
More fun this way ----> Ready Set Play! Mia and I went the other night for the first time since cold & flu season hit. She did very well the other night, so we took Dada this time. She went up and down the big slide several times, jumped in the jumper and did more stuff with her Dada while I snuggled on a sofa and read a magazine. I really dig how much Daryl is into Mia. He's so innately wonderful with her.
If you think that was it for the day...WRONG! A day 'o fun isn't complete without Chuck E Cheese! We had a delicious dinner of salad, fruit and pizza. Mia played games (she put her tokens in all by herself) and gave Chuck a high five. She traded her tickets in and went shopping for the following loot: a mini tootsie pop, a little plastic gold fish, some stick on body jewelry, and some Chuck stickers. She made out like a bandit. Oh, she also got a too precious for words tiara sippy cup.

Look Ma, no hands!

making a call

what else would she drink from?

She's now tucked and happily asleep in her Big Girl Bed :)

Zoo footage (goat attack)

Jump!

High Five