Mia's Mama ~ our life with The Snapper

we've moved!

2009-01-25T21:33:00.003-06:00

I won't be posting here anymore.

Come on over and check out the new digs.

p.s. when I comment over at your blog, I won't be listed as Mia's Mama anymore

Operation Cupcake

2009-01-22T16:08:00.006-06:00

The night before Layla's big party, Jenni called in the troops to help with cupcake duty. We came armed with cupcake pans and cooling racks...she supplied some beer. We had a super fab time decorating and hangin out. When my area was full of decorated cupcakes, I'd call out 'Cupcake Removal!' and someone would whisk the decorated ones away while someone else brought in more cupcakes that needed to be iced. Stephanie and I did most of the icing (I did notice that my area was a disaster and Steph's was pristine...it says a LOT about us), Christen was an Ace with the sprinkles. Mel blew up a bunch of those punch balloons, and Jenni was running around mixing and baking. It was a BLAST!

The next day at Layla's Cowgirl party, all the cupcakes were displayed in all of their confectionery splendor....we were proud and at the ready for any other cupcake emergencies!

this awesome shot of me was taken by Melanie...in processing,

I cropped my allergy swollen eyes out...trust me, it was needed :)

I decorated this lil mini cupcake, and for some reason I grew kind of attached to it.

Isn't it purdy?

We don't hibernate

2009-01-22T02:54:00.006-06:00

Not in Austin, Texas we don't! We're barely aware that it's January...Winter in these parts. Just take a look at today's weather forecast: Sunny. Warm. High of 81f. We are aware that there's snow somewhere up North and stuff, but it really doesn't affect us. In fact, the other afternoon, Heather and Ryland got a group of us together at a super fab park to play hopscotch...or as Mia sometimes refers to as popscotch.

I don't mean to paint a picture that it's all a bed of roses down here...Cedar Fever has hit..and hit HARD! For two weeks, my eyes have been swollen & itchy, nose clogged or runny...and the sneezes? Forgetaboutit! So, many of us are taking our antihistamines and braving the outdoors by hitting the pollen head on...today? Oh, on our beautiful sunny day? The pollen count is estimated to be High (1,499). So, we'll be hibernating :)

For more Theme Thursday shots, head on over to The Land Of K.A.

Happy Birthday Cowgirl Layla!

2009-01-21T09:46:00.004-06:00

YEEHAW! Our friend, Layla...one of the sweetest little girls in the whole wide world...turned 5 years old! Her parents threw a righteous cowgirl bash in her honor...complete with petting zoo and ponies! There was entirely too much fun going on...which often leads to me taking too many shots....here are some of my faves, then some compilations of more super fun shots, too.

there are many more shots on my flickr

You've gotta look closely, there's a LOT of fun going on..don't want ya to miss anything!

Happy Birthday sweet Layla!!!

Happy Birthday Snapper!

2009-01-20T09:00:00.003-06:00

Our lil baby is three years old today! It's been quite a ride so far and we're loving you and your spirit. Some of the things about you that I truly cherish, are your empathy and loving heart. Oh and your love for animals :) Mia, you're so much fun and make us laugh till we're crying. You are the best thing your dad and I have ever done. We're in awe of you and all you do everyday. I love your voice...well, not when you whine. You pretty much talk any chance you get...showing us the world as you see it. Lately, you've been calling me 'mom' and daddy 'daddy-o'. You're very aware of everything around you and are super smart...you get concepts that we can't believe. So, sometimes it's hard for us to think of you as only three years old. You're super fab, baby and we love you!

here I am a couple of weeks before you were born

with your daddy on your birth day...about 20 minutes old with me the following day

our baby at a year old! at your first Daddy Daughter dance

I thought you were so grown up at two!...and so did you :)

here you are at three...or a few days before. your smile makes my heart happy
Happy happy birthday sweet girl!

Terra Luz a Progressive Preschool ~ nourishing the whole child

2009-01-19T13:55:00.006-06:00

As I'm sure many of you know, we're so honored that Mia has been able to attend school at Casa T (just search for Casa T on my blog for all the posts)...run by my very lovely and loving friend, Andrea. Well, Andrea is now spreading her wings and transitioning from in home child care to a larger off site school (soon). I can't express how proud of her and her work. She's following her heart and making her dreams come true.

She's moving from Casa T to Terra Luz a progressive preschool and you really need to read all about it.....HERE

I know a picture is worth a thousand words, so let these of Mia at Casa T show what kind of unique school Terra Luz will be: (ALL shots taken by Andrea)

p.s. if you want to join Mia in the fun, Terra Luz currently has a waitlist you can sign up for ;)

Fairy Tea Party

2009-01-19T11:59:00.004-06:00

While enjoying Ethiopian food last week with friends, I mentioned that Mia had finally seen Peter Pan and was in LOVE with Tinkle Bell :) Courtney's daughter, Izzy and Erica's daughter, Devin are totally into fairies and princesses and the mamas were thrilled that they had another little girl who was just getting her feet wet in the fairy world. Well a Fairy Tea Party HAD to be planned! So on Friday, Mia dressed in her fairy finest, carrying blueberry scones, went to her first Fairy Tea Party.

Wow! What a spread!!! Courtney went all out!!! The mamarazzi was in full force for this too cute event. I found that Mia enjoys dipping her scone in her peppermint tea. All the little girls...and Devin's bro Joey, all dressed up at a tea party was beyond precious! Then Courtney blew up an air mattress, covered it in pillows for their Fairy Pad..so they could watch the Tinkerbell movie in style. the movie was well done and the girls were delighted to hang on their fairy pad while the mamas chatted and ate crumb cake (thanks Erica!)

Ohhhh then it was discovered that Mia's birthday was a mere 4 days away! Well! The girls ran around decorating Izzy's room and pulled out a Melissa and Doug birthday cake in Mia's honor. I think the older girls were more into it than Mia, because all attention went to Courtney and her laundry basket filled with snowballs...um, rolled up socks. Snowball FIIIIIGHT!!!! We ended up staying so late that the dads came home, but brought pizza with them. This was a Fairy Tea Party that Mia will never forget!

and true to form, I just can't pick my best shot...which one do you like best?

More best shots here

Bread 'n Honey

2009-01-16T12:35:00.004-06:00

My super fab in-laws gave us a super duper bread machine for Christmas. The only problem was that when I went to bake some bread last week, the paddle (needed to knead) was missing. My sweet husband is the one who took the machine and components out of the box and set it up...in his words 'I never saw a paddle', so I just went from there and called the company who happily shipped out a paddle that same day....regular mail. Wait? Wait for fresh baked bread that I was sooo in the mood for right then?!?! What's a paddless gal to do? I waited. Till yesterday...*trumpets blaring* the paddle came in! I immediately opened the instruction manual...it's quite thick and intimidating...and followed the directions to make fresh honey wheat bread (got the mix in the box thang...it's about ease and instant gratification for me). A couple of hours later....right around dinner time, viola! Bread! I baked...my machine...baked BREAD! and it was gooooood. I barely waited the allotted cool down time and then sliced away. I cut my first slice in half. First half was slathered in butter. The second half was slathered in butter and topped off with honey...for dessert. YUMMMMM! Thanks Dee and Tom for a FABULOUS gift that will make sure a fresh carby loaf of bread isn't too far away :)

A Taste of Ethiopia

2009-01-15T15:39:00.006-06:00

Recently, I joined three lovely O'Mamas for a Taste of Ethiopia...my first try at the cuisine, and I'm hooked! It was the coolest that many Ethiopians eat with their hands using injeras to scoop up the stew like wat...very much like how I was raised using tortillas to scoop up Mexican food. The owner of the restaurant was one of the most hospitable women I'd EVER met! She lovingly cooked up some tasty vegetarian and meat wats (I have no idea if that's grammatically correct) for us to sample. I know I was in heaven...and I'm pretty sure Courtney, Erica and Melissa were as well. After stuffing ourselves quite full, we couldn't pass on chocolate cake (cake that I couldn't finish, so she wrapped it in foil and created a sweet bird). We were delighted by a coffee ceremony. It was such a beautiful display...and I was sooo hoping the coffee tasted like chai, but no. Oh, the owner was so doting. Once she found out I was pregnant, she gave me extra vegetables, and only a dash of coffee in my milk...just to taste :) I love her and will be back soon!...Courtney, I do believe we have a lunch date there on Monday, right?

the following shot of us was taken by the owners husband...I think

from left: Erica, Courtney, me and Melissa

Thank You Layla ~ Mia LOVES her 'new' clothes!

2009-01-14T11:14:00.008-06:00

for more Wordless Wednesday, go Here and Here

Happy Birthday Natalie!

2009-01-13T08:19:00.005-06:00

One of Mia's friends is now FIVE years old!!!!! Her parents, Geni & Kel, threw a fabulous party...jumper and all. Speaking of jumper...if you would have asked Sam what he wanted in the whole wide world...it would be to be jumping in that jumper with the big kids! He would not be thwarted! Check out Bonnie's view of the occasion to see all about it :)

Happy Happy Birthday Sweet Natalie

Texas Style Winter Games

2009-01-12T07:07:00.000-06:00

Smack in the middle of both Winter and Texas, we got together for some Texas style winter games! Mama Courtney and her lovely Izzy & Emmy hosted the fun at a neighborhood park...they were prepared with oodles of snowballs (rolled up socks), sleds (cardboard and rope) and ice skates (paper plates taped onto the bottom of the kids shoes with tape)! I still can't get over how the kids really LOVED throwing snowballs!

I'm loving this shot so much, I'm dubbing it my Best Shot

for more Best Shots, head on over to Mother May I

I GOT IT!!!!

2009-01-08T09:00:00.001-06:00

Thank you for your name ideas for my new blog. I really appreciate your energy, time and creativity...I guess knowing you were working on it, I was able to relax and last night it came to me. Nothing ground breaking, but I like it :)

Stay tuned...I'll be moving in the next month or two, but I'll make sure to post a change of address :)

need a new name ~ Help!

2009-01-07T18:32:00.004-06:00

Sooooo in a few months, I'm not going to be just Mia's Mama...but Mia and Lily's mama. I need a new blog name. I'm stumped. I need help. I need your help.

You know me...I'd like to find something that includes me being a mama, our family, my interests...photography...drumming :) Wow! what a tall order.

Anyway...if you have ANY ideas, please add them to the comments. I wish I had a prize to giveaway or something.....how about, if I use you're name, you'll get a $20 Amazon gift card...yes, I'm desperate!

Will Snuggle For Food

2009-01-07T07:47:00.002-06:00

for more Wordless Wednesday shots, hit the cute pink button below :)

I feel pretty

2009-01-06T13:48:00.001-06:00

Waterloo...I think I love you

2009-01-05T17:28:00.002-06:00

Sunday found us once again at Waterloo. Same yummy food, same fabulous friends...besides being a little chilly, it was damn near perfect. Daryl and Josh supplied many quarters to the tots so they could play pinball, Ms. Pacman and some driving game...Ben is actually super at! After breakfast, Mia joined Josh and Ben in her first official game of hide n go seek. She likes to be the one who counts to ten....a kid who doesn't mind being 'it'...I imagine she'll be popular in school :)

Bonnie and I took advantage of the overcast day and pretty much stalked the kids with our cameras...I know, I know...what's new? If you're wondering were Daryl is in all these shots...well, he likes to duck out of the frame..a LOT!

how the magic happens...check this out

4 Shots

2009-01-02T13:56:00.004-06:00

Another day without daddy, and we didn't know what to do with ourselves. Bonnie to the RESCUE! We met their family down at Waterloo for breakfast....a yummy yummy yummy breakfast.

Before they got there, Mia and I had a few moments alone. I took four shots...the one of the tree was Mia's idea. While sipping her lemonade, she looked way up then asked if I'd brought her camera. Nope. She paused and then asked if I would take a picture of the tree...it's beautiful, she said.

Hello 2009!

2009-01-01T20:45:00.002-06:00

Mia and I ended the year 2008 and started 2009 surrounded by people who love us. Our sweet Daryl has been in Kilgore, Tx (about 4 1/2 hours away) since early Sunday morning. He's out there working on a huge project, and had all his ducks in a row. If two other pieces of the puzzle would have had theirs in a row, he would have been home by Wed...New Years Eve. Well, that didn't happen, and I totally understand, but that doesn't help how much I miss him.

On to the people that have surrounded us with love...I'd like to thank some of the dearest people (and animals) in the world ~ Bonnie, Josh, Ben, Sam, Tallulah and Tucker for having us at their home, hanging with us, feeding us, and just being fabulous friends. Then there's Geni, Kell, Beckah, Noah, Miranda, Natalie, Allie, Garnier and Bill Pickles, who've generously done the same. Then today, the sweetest in-laws in the world had us over. Pawpaw had his little helper for the day and Nana had her little cook. I was able to relax and enjoy my family and some quiet time while Mia was going about her business tending to things that needed tending to.

I know down deep, that I would NOT be ok right now if it wasn't for every single one of those people...and animals.

Life is good. I have proof.

Now, since I've been so relaxed and immersed in the lives of other families, I didn't take many shots at all. None at Bonnie's, none at Geni's, and only four at Nana and Pawpaw's. So, here they are:

Holiday Potpourri

2008-12-30T14:57:00.006-06:00

Since we had planned to be at Ita's house on Christmas, The Gleinsers all met at Nana and Pawpaws the Saturday before for some love and gift exchange. Shortly into the visit, Nana took a nasty spill and ended up being taken away by an ambulance..thankfully Melissa was in the back room with girls...so they didn't see all the pain Nana went through while being put on the stretcher. It ended up she had torn her hamstring in THREE places! She's much better now, but our celebration was put on hold until later. I got about three pictures before she fell.

For Mia's main Christmas gift, we got her a doll house that Daddy got to assemble. He did it with such loving care and it was ready for her when she woke up Sunday morning (Christmas in the Valley, so we did our Christmas on Sunday morning)

ohhhh yes. We decided on a gag gift for Mia's dear teacher, Ms Andrea. She's all about children having very healthy snacks and lunches, so we thought a Lunchable would be funny. We supplemented it with a wonderful massage gift certificate from the talented and loving Sara Ballard.

While Mia was in school that day, I was able to hop down to the annual Armadillo Bazaar downtown. Amongst all the wonderfulness, was the super fab live music of The Band of Heathens. I bought myself a cd...and one for my BIL, Joe.

ok, I also bought myself ( I actually got them as gifts, but changed my mind..all MINE!) some chocolate from the local chocolatier Arte y Chocolate. Mmmm my new favorite chocolates. They actually taste better than they look!

Mia sporting one of the many caps I purchased from a vendor at the bazaar. She recycles sweaters into super cute hats and scarves.

Well, due to a cold with a 103 degree fever, we were unable to travel down to the Valley for Christmas. The wonderful this is that Ita jumped a plane and was here the day after Christmas until the following Monday! So, when we got back together with the Gleinsers for our holiday do-over, Mia got BOTH of her grandmas!!!! She was delighted, as were her Nana and Ita.

Mia finally got to try out the sandbox that Pawpaw had built for the girls. Ita helped her find some oh so pretty rocks.

She was more than upset when she couldn't go for a swing. It was toooo cold out and we'd forgotten her sweater at home. Poor thing.

Luckily Aunt Janice was in town and captivated Mia with her watch. It never occurred to me that since Daryl and I both use our cell phones for the time, she'd never really messed with a watch.

Mia got some super quality time with her Memaw. Memaw showed her some pictures and helped her open some gifts she'd made. Memaw, with a little help, made some fancy shmancy barrettes for Mia and knitted a cap and two pairs of booties for baby Lily...Lily is the name we decided on for our new little one.

I whipped up some calendars of Mia for everyone. Nana's fave was the shot of Mia picking her nose!

super sweet Pawpaw putting a barrette in Mia's hair.

ahhh some more pictures of our Christmas morning. Mia is in LOVE with her camera!

I usually don't pick favorites, but this year my favorite gift was from my darling Mia. She'd gone shopping with her daddy, and picked out a beautiful snow globe for me. The scene was of Santa delivering gifts while two little girl figures were asleep on the sofa. I asked Mia if they were her and me. No. Her and a doll. No. She said it was 'Mama holding baby Lily'. *sniff* That's one moment I'll never forget. Ever.

Mia digs her first piggy bank and kept asking her daddy for 'more coins, please'

So, I super spoiled my darling husband this year. One of his gifts was the Wii Fit. I LOVE this shot of Mia standing on a box so she could be 'just like daddy'

The best Wii fit moment so far has to be when I came downstairs to catch him doing the tree pose! Daryl, doing yoga?!?! He said he always thought it was a laugh, but it ended up being pretty challenging :)

Cookie Family

2008-12-28T20:52:00.003-06:00

I've been wanting to post about these cookies for a couple of weeks...now that everyone has their cookies, I can! It all started when Daryl, Mia and I sat down to ice some gingerbread cookies. They started out like random gingerbread men...then Daryl made one with a UT shirt on...I made one of Daryl...in the end, every family member got a cookie of themselves for Christmas :)

Daryl posing with the cookie I'd iced in his image

Mia HAD to show off her cookie just like Daddy did
Mia quite intent on icing a cookie that she'd already sampled!

(from top left) Daryl with UT shirt and Blackberry in hand, Me with camera, Mia with kitty cat

(from bottom left) Pawpaw with is Ron Paul shirt on, Nana with her glass of red wine, Joe in suit and holding his blackberry, Melissa with a book in hand (I added a set of knitting needles and scarf later), Gwen with messy hands from painting :) (I'd also made one of Memaw, but it didn't make the photo shoot)

Mike the fisherman, Tia Mae who's pregnant, and Ita with her beloved dog, Max even our sweet Ms. Andrea from Casa T got a cookie with an Om symbol on her shirt, a paintbrush and painting

Baby Mia and her family

2008-12-24T17:10:00.004-06:00

Around this time last year, the McGuire's had a baby...baby Mia. Through our O'Mama mother's group, I signed up to bring them a meal. That was our first and incredibly fun meeting. I feel a kinship to them, well because, they named their beautiful daughter, Mia...just like ours. So, a year later, I found myself on a little photo shoot with this lovely family in their warm home and at a chilly park. To say it was fun would be a HUGE understatement! I adore this family and loved taking their pictures :) Here are a few of my favorites.

Another Merry Winter Solstice Time

2008-12-24T12:51:00.006-06:00

Joe, Melissa and Gwen had us and some friends over for a Solstice get together. It started in the kitchen where we peeled sun-hued oranges. I love the smell of a peel fresh off an orange. Then as more and more families arrived, we all just did our own thang. Kids played, mamas visited and daddies stood around talking and drinking beer :) A super fun time was had by all....especially Ava and Orion...I think she has a crush on that younger man.

More shots can be found here :)

this shot of me with Mia was taken by my loving husband (who now, and rightfully, wants credit for his shots)

Winter Solstice

2008-12-24T10:17:00.003-06:00

Even though the Winter Solstice this year was on Sunday morning, there was a Solstice party out on the lake Friday night. The Djembabes played (including a talented and soulful sax player), there was an amazingly beautiful and fluid fire dancer, food, dancing & cavorting, friends and a wonder full presence around. Sherry, my drumming instructor, has such a beautiful way with words, and one of my highlights of the evening was when she paid homage to the Earth, Seasons and Winter Solstice. The neighbors had a slight issue with the noice, but the Westlake police officers were incredibly understanding and kinda wanted to join the party :)

Here's one of my favorite links to explain what Winter Solstice is all about. Now, I need to talk with those Djembabes about back lighting on a dark night! The only decent shots are from when the fire dancers' flames got close :) As usual, there are more shots here.

Mia's first day as a photographer

2008-12-21T19:42:00.003-06:00

I'm not sure why, but I can't wait til the actual proper date to let someone open a gift from me. It's not that I want to open one so bad, b/c it happens on other people's birthdays, too. So, yesterday (Dec 20th) Mia opened one of her Christmas gifts. A new kids digital camera. She LOVES it and it soooo easy for her to use. Here are a few of her shots in a collage, then some of my faves a little larger. Now the camera's turned!

I'm not sure if Mia took this one or if Auntie M got ahold of the camera and graced Mia's camera with a self-portrait :)

Our first taste of Hanukkah

2008-12-21T00:03:00.005-06:00

As a girl growing up in a South Texas border town, there was a HUGE catholic population. I 'knew of' a couple of Jewish families, but wasn't ever really introduced to Judaism. Until this past Friday when the Simon family hosted a little Hanukkah get together. I regret that I don't have a single shot of Geni...she was busy in the kitchen making latkes (YUM!) from scratch. Mia was entertained by the menagerie of animals...Allie the big kind dog, Garnier and Bill Pickles...guinea pigs, a cat and hamster that I didn't catch the names of. Bonnie, Kel, Geni and Bethany all shared snippets of the culture. I learned about the Maccabean Revolt against the Romans, Menorahs, dreidels, and even Shiksas :) A total crash course that I truly appreciated. Their home was decorated with a little bit of both....a Christmas tree, a Menorah (shaped like a dog), a nativity scene (with a chewed up wise man)....beautiful.

Here are a few of my fav shots...I have many more on Flickr

Jennifer's delish gingerbread dreidel and scotchie cookies

Mia played the piano, with a cat under her feet that she pet with her toes...while playing, Mia even turned the sheet music :)
LOVED Freya's dress and leggings!

one of the coolest hobby horses I've ever seen

Mia LOVED the latkes...with chunky applesauce

Miranda sculpting

here she is eye to eye with an animal...as usual :)

It's a Grrrl

2008-12-19T17:05:00.004-06:00

While talking with my pal, Jennifer today, I realized that I posted it on the O'Mama message board and on my Facebook status. Since I hadn't posted it here, Jennifer was unaware that we're having a girl :) We found out on Tuesday.

Mia's excited about becoming a big sister to a little sister, but don't talk to her about it too much. It gets old fast.

Daryl's First Christmas Gift of the Season

2008-12-17T17:47:00.003-06:00

For his birthday, Daryl got a RC airplane and his dad got the engine and all the innards needed for actual flight. Well, they flew it on Thanksgiving, and if you can remember from the post, it only lasted about 6 seconds. I heard flying a higher end RC helicopter may actually help learn how to work the controls and stuff....soooooo I may have won wife of the year with this gift. He opened it on Sunday night after Mia went to bed....I couldn't help it. I'd bought it Saturday. So, I did wait an actual 24 hrs :)

I LOVE how happy he looks in these pictures. He actually RTFM'd! He flew it around...Niles was mildly concerned, but Daryl was having the time of his life! Then he let me have a try. It was fun, but I felt out of control and insane. There's a LOT to think about while flying. All was good until I managed to make it fly toward ME! That just freaked me out! I dropped the control box and fell to the floor!

Holiday Cookies 2008 (aka Sprinkle Time!)

2008-12-15T20:50:00.002-06:00

Mia and I baked up some holiday cookies...regular sugar cookies in the shapes of candy canes and trees then some gingerbread men. Mixing, rolling, cutting out and baking the dough was fun...so I thought. Then came the SPRINKLES!!!!

I'm not sure when the last time was that we had that much fun! Mia's sprinkle theory: icing, sprinkles for me, sprinkles for cookie, sprinkles for me...eat cookie!

In the time it took Mia to decorate one cookie, I did about 25! She's serious about her sprinkles. We may have to have a sprinkle intervention...scroll down to see why! What's even more hilarious was when she 'found' sprinkles on the rug and told Niles (our dog), 'NO! those are MY sprinkles!!!' and then ate a bunch more! tis the season :)

Playdates of the week

2008-12-14T12:58:00.004-06:00

Oh, we almost had too much fun with our friends this week. Our first stop was on Tuesday morning at Andrea & Colton's for a Pajamas & Pancakes playdate. Everyone was still dressed in our pj's and we feasted on YUMMY puffy pancakes, fruit and oh my, does this mama LOVE bacon! Andrea's storytime with Eric Carle's Pancakes! Pancakes! was awesome with all the kids totally absorbed in the book. Thanks, Andrea and Colton!

On Thursday, we hopped over to Gayle and Che's for a To the Tree! A Dog Party! based on P.D. Eastman's Go, Dog, Go! Ok. I must confess that I'd never read this book, so Mia and I were totally captivated as Gayle read the book and Che yelled out the proper responses...too cute! Then we all made our party hats with construction paper, pom pom balls, stickers, gems, pipe cleaners and feathers! It was the best time being all creative and silly. Then came the party cake! A yummy chocolate cake...the kids all had a piece while the mamas snuck and extra piece or two in the kitchen. All the kids played so well together which really makes a nice relaxing time. This was the playdate where my niece, Gwen, was super affectionate (that's the way the sweetie always is) and very into my camera and took a beautiful shot of her cousin, Mia.

this sweet shot of Mia and I in our super groovy hats was taken by Stephanie

We finished the playdate week off with Melanie and Damon's Let it Snow. We made snow globes! Take an empty glass jar. Hot glue some cute holiday things on the inside of the lid. Add about 1/3 of the jar full of light corn syrup. Fill almost to the rim with water. Add glitter and other shiny fun floaty stuff (Mia added mylar-ish trees and reindeer). Fill the rest of the way with water. Put hot glue around the inside rim of the lid and close up tight. Shake and watch! Tahhdahhh! A DIY snow globe!!!!

New Photographer in the Family

2008-12-12T13:05:00.003-06:00

This is Gwen, my two year old niece

(with a sticker on her nose)

At yesterday's Dog Party playdate (a post about it will come in the near future...no worries), Gwen, sat in my lap and was interested in my camera. Now, this girl has been around cameras....her mama has one just like mine :)....so, I held it for her, showed her were the button was and enjoyed her excitement of watching her click away, and click away she did...I had it set on continuous shooting, so she got about a gazillion (ok, 22) of her pal Che. Gwen also took a shot of Mia that took my breath away. It's simple, but, I feel, so beautiful.

Here's her artistry:

12 Days of Christmas Giveaway!

2008-12-12T12:50:00.003-06:00

Hope over to Design Mom for your chance to enter in the 12 Days of Christmas GiveWay! She's got the requisite 12 fabulous gifts, plus a bonus gift if you link back to her :) Doesn't get much better than that!

I ain't too proud to beg

2008-12-11T16:39:00.004-06:00

My dear friend and super duper photographer, Bonnie Berry, is hosting a contest....if you vote for photo 12....the shot of Mia and I, and we win, then we'll get a shot from our sitting on CANVAS!!! What's funny is that photo of us is one of my all time faves, and that's the shot from the sitting that I'd pick :)

So, here's the LINK to VOTE...PLEASE!!!!

I wish I could post the shot, but I can't, sooooo please go check it out, and please vote for PHOTO 12 :)

Love,
Tanya

Tree Trimming & Cookie Baking

2008-12-10T12:39:00.003-06:00

This year, Mia is a BIG help. She wants to be right in the middle of everything. She's enjoyed laying under the tree while I was putting all the lights up. Daryl topped it very nicely with our star...it's only fallen on me once. Mia was soooo cute trying to hang ornaments on the tree. Her first one, a red apple, she hung on the tippy tip of a light bulb. Then she moved on to attaching ornaments to the wires of the lights instead of the tree branches. Oh, and ALL the snowmen and to be together...like a centimeter apart! Mia's totally into my snow globe collection. She'll sit on the floor with one for a loooong time just turning it over and watching the snow slowing fall...the ones with a music box in the base are her favorites. She's only broken one...now they are up on the counter and will be moved down per her request...one at at time while supervised :)

Then we baked many many many sugar cookies in the shapes of snowflakes, candy canes and christmas trees. I'm waiting for a peaceful block of time this week to sit down with her and decorate away. She had her own little rolling pin, but I LOVED when she used mine that my mom gave to me....it's what she used while I was growing up...very sentimental.

p.s. anytime we do anything christmassy, Mia wants to wear her elf helper hat. I sometimes don my santa hat, but it's a little itchy

Zero Tolerance!

2008-12-09T07:47:00.006-06:00

Mia's been having some nightmares lately about dragonflies, mostly. I have NO idea why dragonflies, maybe she thinks they're related to dragons. We have a Miss Spider book full of sweet dragonflies that we've been reading since her nightmares started up...not much help.

It's harder for her to fall asleep, and sometimes she wakes up crying in the middle of the night. I go in to rock her...soothe her...and help her work through it if she wants to talk about it.

I came up with the sign idea that we taped to her door letting those creatures that we mean business! Since then, she's been nightmare free! She told me everything she's afraid of including the space worms? Hmmm never heard of space worms, but they're on the list!

This morning, she wanted to add another sign to the door. Saying what? 'no mamas'. No MAMAS!?!?! Who would tuck her in at night? oh, no. After a little though, she opted not to make a 'no mama' sign.

Santa Hat

2008-12-07T21:26:00.005-06:00

Another little holiday tradition is the shot of Mia in a santa hat. I usually print small ones and stick them on cute photo ornaments for gifts to the grandparents. It's been silly and fun, but not this year. I think I've been in her face with the camera too much. What happened to my sweet lil one with the fabulous smile?

2006

2007

so far, the choices for 2008

Visits with Santa...through the years

2008-12-04T15:41:00.003-06:00

I'm 38 years old and I still cherish my pictures with Santa when I was young. It's a tradition that I wanted to keep going with Mia. She's had fabulous visits with him...even when she was in the womb :) She's snuggled, received a much coveted lollipop, and this year, Santa gave Mia a jingle bell necklace that she won't take off. She's coming up the stairs as I'm writing this...jingling all the way :)

Happy birthday baby...

2008-11-30T21:26:00.005-06:00

...Baby Mia!

Since our Mia's a couple of years older, we lovingly refer to Kiwe & Tom's Mia as Baby Mia. We met Baby Mia a few days after she was born...delivering a hot meal to the new family. Well, we just fell in LOVE. How could there possibly be a kid as cute and lovely and charming as our Mia? Baby Mia perfectly represents the adorable Mia's in the world.

Soooooo, this afternoon, we broke out our boots and rode on over to their place for a Cowgirl Birthday party for Baby Mia and her pal, Hadley (in the first pic below)...also turning one. They girls wore the cutest matching eyelet dresses with pink rickrack and embroidered horse shoes...oh, can't forget their little pink and white boots. PRECIOUS! We brought along Mia's black cowboy hat in case her friend Roarke wanted to wear it...it was passed around and most of the lil ones had a blast with it.

Happy Happy Birthday Orion!

2008-11-29T22:11:00.001-06:00

Orion, our little friend, turned one! Yes, that makes him One-derful! Sara, Russ, Leilani and more of the family and friends celebrated the birthday boy on Thanksgiving morning...perfect way to say thanks for this sweet lil boy. Linda, Sara's mama, went all out with a super cute monkey theme. Monkey puppet craft, song with other monkey puppets '5 lil monkeys and a crocodile', a bean bag throw game with bananas and a hungry monkey, CUTE monkey cupcakes and an AWESOME goody bag with more monkey paraphernalia including a Orion's Monkey Mix CD loaded with monkey songs! She used to be a pro party planner...and it showed!

Too much fun was had by all...can't even write down half the stuff, so the next time you see me, just ask me all about it!

Orion got a gluten free pie and after a little help blowing out the candle, he dug in. Then, the rest of the kiddos had their cupcakes. It's interesting to see how many different ways kids can eat cupcakes....and then there's Sam. Oh, that Sam and his cupcake...then his brothers. You MUST continue through the oodles and oodles of photos for that yummy messy series below.

And then there's Sammy!

He takes the cake...literally.

Some of my faves from the day

if you still need more

Over the river and through the woods...

2008-11-28T14:16:00.005-06:00

...to Nana's house we go.

Thanksgiving '08 is a blur for me. Not because I was drunk...I had a HORRIBLE migraine. I hadn't had one of those in forever and it just floored me. On the way out there, Mia had a little sun in her eyes, so Ita came to the rescue with her shades. Once we got there, I gave my hellos and hugs and went to nap in the thankfully dark guest room.

They guys were off to fly the plane. When I woke up, I found that Daryl had crashed it into a tree after about being airborne for 6 seconds, so they just came home and drank beer, cooked and watched the game. Then I went out to call the girls (Ita, Nana and Mia) in for dinner. It was TASTY and lasted, for me, about 4 minutes then I had to go back to sleep. A few hours later Daryl woke me up. The car was packed with leftovers...we said our goodbyes..and that was Thanksgiving.

These are the only shots I took while out there :(

But WAIT!

I just found these fun shots of Mia (and her mouse) dancing with the performers singing White Christmas at the Macy's Thanksgiving parade...on TV

All About Red!

2008-11-26T20:07:00.003-06:00

Melanie and her Damon hosted an art playdate that focused on the color RED! We wore RED shirts, ate RED food, and painted with RED paint! Mia even got to wear her diablita shirt :) Last month she hosted the ORANGE playdate :) Well, before the rest of the kids got there, Mia and Damon were finished painting and ready to play outside...it was a GORGEOUS day. Who could blame them? So, they all played and snacked and painted and played while the mamas got some good chat in.

Then Kona, Damon's shepherd mix puppy (huge puppy) opened the door to the room she was in and came down to join the party. The kids were in LOVE with all her friendly licks....especially my little animal lover, Mia. It was sooooo hard to drag Mia away from that sweet playful dog and her sweet friend, Damon, who was kind enough to have us over and let everyone play with all his cool toys!

Catch Me if You Can...

2008-11-25T22:06:00.003-06:00

...I'm the Gingerbread Man!

This morning was wonderfully spent at fellow O'Mama Andrea's house...this is Colton's mama, not to be confused with Andrea from Casa T & Sophia's mama :) She went ALL out! Had gingerbread man coloring pages for the kids to color, an AWESOME story time about a Gingerbread Baby that had Mia on the edge of the rug, AND homemade gingerbread dough! The kids took turns cutting out their very own gingerbread men and when they were out of the oven and cooled, they got to ice them all by themselves...the icing was a little tough, so the mamas helped out with a good squeeze. It was the BEST time, and Andrea promised that next time, the mamas could make their own cookies ;) Oh, I think she should do this EVERY year :) :) :) Can I RSVP now?

I also had a wonderful time documenting all that went on. Andrea's kitchen was full of natural light and all the kids were beyond adorable. I ended up with 85 shots or so! Here are some of my faves...the rest are on my flickr.

Music & Movement

2008-11-24T14:22:00.001-06:00

We hosted an O'Mama Music & Movement playdate this morning. It was scheduled to be at Lora's home, but her husband is sick. So, after looking around and assessing how much I'd have to straighten up, Mia and I volunteered to host. I'm soooo glad we did, because we haven't had friends over in a while, and it was soooo much FUN! Leah Ann, as usual, was a perfect song and dance leader for the kids. I just sat back, enjoyed and took pictures.

Corbin, Texas

2008-11-19T19:37:00.004-06:00

Another Wednesday, another fun day at Casa T! Mia did all sorts of fun stuff...pics below, but what I want to focus on is our conversation as we were driving home from Casa T.

Mia: (through closed car window...and we were a block away) (yelling) BYE FRIEEEEENDS!!!!

Mama: hey, Mia, wanna go to the store?
Mia: Damon is my friend
Mama: yes, baby, Damon is your friend.
Mia: Damon IS my friend. He loves me.

(from our previous conversations about planets, and where we live, but still random b/c we were talking about friends)

Mia: I live on planet Erf
Mama: yes, and our country is The United States
Mia: (silence)
Mama: The state we live in is Texas
Mia: Texas?
Mama: yes, Texas. And we live in the city in Texas called Austin. Austin, Texas.
Mia: no mama, I don't live in Austin, Texas....I live in Corbin, Texas

Austin is a friend of hers as is Corbin ...both go to Casa T :)

all these amazing shots (love the sand angels) taken by Andrea

at Casa T

Vote for my friend!

2008-11-17T19:52:00.004-06:00

My fellow blogging photographing mama, Christina, is a finalist in the Prego Fun with Food photo contest with the following AWESOME shot of her cutie pie daughter, Nadia:

Food doesn't get more fun than that! Notice her tongue licking the very bottom of the bowl! Priceless! Christina has a chance to win a grocery card worth $500!!!!! Hello! How much cake batter do you think that'll by lil Miss Nadia?

Please vote here for #20... Christina at Momology

Our first trip to Sea World

2008-11-17T10:38:00.004-06:00

This was our first visit to Sea World as a family...Mia's first time, period. On the drive down to San Antonio, we talked about what we might see. Mia's VERY into animals, so she was pretty excited. She hugged the shark and Shamu characters...I was a little surprised. For some reason, Mia's right leg/knee/foot/hip or something has been causing her to limp a little. So, we opted to rent a stroller, so she rode around in style...oh, we ended up having to wrap a (fresh, unused) diaper around the stroller handle after someone took off with ours while we were watching the dolphin/beluga whale show that Mia LOVED. She was sooo mesmerized and then would clap and cheer the dolphins on. Too cute. Peeps kept turning around and smiling big at her when she clapped and yelled 'Yay! DOLPHINS!!!!'

Mid November is THE time to go. It was cool and crisp. There really weren't any crowds to speak of. Never any lines at concessions or stores. No one pushing and we got great seats at every show. Daryl said we need to make a yearly Sea World trip...as long as it's in November.

This may seem silly, but I've never had a caricature drawn of me. Daryl has one from when he was little...it's framed and hanging at his parents house. I never got one, and felt like something was missing in my life...ok, I'm exaggerating, but I wanted Mia to have one from when she was little. She was game and posed very well. She ended up sweet, with the requisite big head and a ballerina body...super sweeeet.

Oh, she also really dug the penguin exhibit. Her fave penguins are the Macaroni variety. She has a little plush Macaroni penguin at home, so when she saw them for real, she was totally jazzed. Out through the exhibit was a little gift shop. Mia flipped between wanting the big mama and baby penguin duo, then the HUGE penguin, but when she saw the Macaroni penguin backpack, she was SOLD! I told her to go ask her daddy for $21.99, she did just that, and he just smiled and handed her his wallet. He was such a great sport about it all. I guess he figured if he was buying $5.50 beers, his baby could have an overpriced backpack :)

Oh, Daryl tried his hand at a midway game and tried to knock down...and completely off the stand...a set of three milk jugs. Poor thing came incredibly close, but no cigar. I only proved that I did indeed throw like a girl and hit NOTHING!

Mia LOVED the sea lion/walrus/ sea otter comedy show. She actually followed the plot and said 'the walrus did it...he stole all the fish'. The sea lions were the main characters, otters thrown in for some comedy, and the walrus had about 3 minutes of stage time, but Mia was impressed. That's all she talked about all the way home. The walrus. The BIIIIIIG walrus.

One bad note of the trip was that I broke my camera lens...so only a few shots and no shots of Mia and I at the dolphin pool. We both were thrilled when I was able to pet a few dolphins about 6 times during their swim bys. Daryl pointed out that I didn't actually 'pet' them...just happened to touch them as they were going by. Sour grapes, I say. I pet dolphins :)

At the end of the day, Mia was jumping around and attempting to skip when she saw an older girl doing just that. She didn't limp at all, and no limping today. Whatever it was, she worked it out. Sea World was a success!

oh, the things you will learn

2008-11-13T08:47:00.004-06:00

There's been much going on at Casa T. Last week, Domi had a day off from school, so he helped his Mama out with the kiddos. They LOVE him! They made Royal Icing together for the sugar skulls for Dia de los Muertos, they iced the skulls and then read a story...Head to Toe. Mia loves her alone time with books, as well. They also explored cascarones and the confetti found inside and tended to the garden. FUN!

Another thing that's been happening is a LOT of potty practice. The kids are on and off the potty quite a bit! Andrea relayed a funny little scene from the other day. Mia was on the little potty while a little boy classmate was on the big toilet. He very frankly said...almost sang, 'I have a penis'. Mia felt she had to answer his bold statement with 'I'm a girl'. Now, we haven't really talked about those body parts mainly because Mia hasn't shown an interest yet. She knows about private body parts that she calls her 'pribacy'.

So last night, while in the bath, we discussed the differences of pribacies between boys and girls. Here's our convo:

Mama: Mia, remember when he was pee peeing on the potty and he said he had a penis?
Mia: yes, I'm a girl.
Mama: you ARE a girl, so you have a vagina.
Mia: a bagina?
Mama: yes, girls have Vaginas and boys have penises.
Mia: oh. you have a bagina?
Mama: yes and daddy has a penis
Mia: PawPaw has a penis?
Mama: yes, PawPaw is a boy, so he has a penis
Mia: Nana has a....aaaaaa..ba...ba...BUFFALO!

I laughed HARD for until Daryl ran upstairs to see what was going on. I replayed our penis/vagina conversation for him, but for some reason, he didn't find it as funny. Maybe it was because we were talking about HIS Mama's buffalo! :)

all the following shots taken by the amazing Andrea at Casa T

Wobble like a duck

2008-11-12T11:35:00.006-06:00

Every Fall, Mill's Pond get some visitors from up North. Mia's always excited about going to the duck pond to see the regulars, who like to get fed, and the snow birds who stay in the middle of the pond. Wild. Wild ducks. Mia showed me how to 'wobble' like a duck, then asked me to join her. So I did.

While, feeding the ducks some stale popcorn, a pair of rather aggressive geese came over and tried to peck at Mia's feet. She said 'NO! Those are MY feet you can't EAT them!' Quickly back on her feet, she went off in search of more peaceful territory where we ended up finding a friendly squirrel who was more appreciative and less demanding of our treats.

She ran and ran and ran...until, she fell. Fell HARD. Then she ran and ran and ran some more!

Rituals, Volcanoes and Erf ~ Three playdates this week

2008-11-07T16:16:00.006-06:00

We celebrated Día de los Muertos on Tuesday with Lucy, her Bruce and some friends. Lucy had a beautiful alter set up for flowers, the pictures of our deceased loved ones, and special foods they enjoyed when they were living. We, of course, brought some biscuits for my Dad, or Mia's Ito. She's never met him, but has heard plenty of stories all about him. It was a lovely way to remember him and bring him into the forefront of our day.

Then it was playtime! The kids were everywhere and really enjoyed themselves.

On to the VOLCANOES!!!! Courtney and her Izzy and Emmy hosted a super awesome science playdate at a park. The kids molded homemade play dough into the shape of volcanoes, we helped them dump in loads of baking soda, helped them mix vinegar and the food color of their choice...then the kids poured the vinegar in and WOW! Out it came the lava!!!!....bubbling, fizzing and smoking! It was soooo freakin cool! The kids...and adults did it over and over and over again!

Babies Emmy and Kristopher were there, much to Mia's delight. She's VERY into babies lately...well, one's growing in her mama right now. The Dr. Sears books are very helpful explaining what babies are all about on a toddler level. Mia really digs them.

To planet Erf...as Mia calls our lovely Earth. Erica and her Joey and Anna had us over to learn about our solar system. Erica explained some stuff to the kids, but more importantly explained to me just why Pluto isn't a planet any more...actually, it's a dwarf planet :) Thank, Erica! The kids had fun gluing their planet Earths and cotton to the blue atmosphere, then they added stickers of the other planets...and silver stars! Super COOL!

Mia actually asked Courtney 'may my mama please hold baby Emmy?' Mia got much Emmy time today, and they both just LOVED it!

this final sweet shot was taken by Courtney...miss Emmy's mama

Our Lil Trimp

2008-11-03T21:26:00.003-06:00

Daryl and I spent a lovely half hour with our unborn child this morning. He (we already have a girl, and until we know...he'll be a 'he') was quite still at first...heart beat going, but still. Then after the ultrasound tech started pushing on my belly, he woke up and was pretty active. He rolled around, gave us a wave (counted 1, 2, 3, 4, fingers and 1 thumb!) and pretty clearly gave a good punch. Feisty. So, at 14 weeks (based on the date of my LMP, he should be 14 weeks tomorrow...at the last two visits/ultrasounds, he's been measure small, so the Doc wanted to have another look to see if the due date needed to be changed...it does matter after all), the lil babe is 3 inches long. I read somewhere they compared this size to a 'medium shrimp'. Along with some amazing quality time, we got a pretty nice shot of his profile.

During the car ride home, after I picked up Mia from Casa T, I told Mia that Daddy and I saw the baby today...we even got a picture. She asked if the baby was 'still in mama's uterus'. I reassured her, that Yes, he's safe in my uterus. I told her he was still very small and had to grow for a long time before he'd be big enough to be born. 'how big is the baby?' I let her know, that the baby was about 3 inches long. Well, that meant nothing to her, so I quoted what I'd read and showed her what 3 inches looked like and said the size of a medium shrimp. 'Oh, a trimp'

Mia was The Bean until we knew she was a girl, then she was Mia. Well, until we shortened whipper snapper to The Snapper.

So, without further ado, here's our Trimp:

Halloween 2008 ~ recap

2008-11-02T08:39:00.008-06:00

Totally forgot that we hit another pumpkin patch a couple of weeks after visiting Sweet Berry Farm. The line to purchase pumpkins had been sooooo long, that we just blew that Popsicle stand! Here we are at the Red Barn's pumpkin patch in town. It was nice and relaxed... Mia was thrilled to pick out a few gourds for the Fall table at Casa T :)

Full out Halloween started the day before Halloween at fellow O'Mama, Bethany's place. She co-hosted a SPOOKY bash with Jennifer. They went all out and it showed! The kids had a blast trying to bite into apples hanging from a tree...a non-watery way to bob for apples. Jennifer amazed us all with her face painting prowess. There was a bean bag toss to knock down tombstones, a SPOOOOOOKY snake pit and Haunted room...plenty of treats to go around. There were plenty of yummy and scary treats. I totally enjoyed carving a brain out of a melon! There were bags of 'baby vomit' and 'bloody bags of vodka' (jello shots) for the Mamas. Mia stood by the snack table beggin for candy corn. Special thanks to all the mamas that made her happy :)

Here are just a few of my faves...there are LOTS more HERE

Halloween morning, Mia and I were out of the house pretty early to get to Old Settlers Park for the Annual Round Rock Fall Festival. We learned last year, that the early bird get the worm..and doesn't have to stand in long lines for games! Mia had the BEST time. I LOVE that all the games are run by city workers. They were so patient and silly with Mia. They let her get wayyyy to close while trying to toss rings on witch hats, bean bags through fish mouths...balls at bowling pins. One nice fellow even helped Mia golf. While stacking cookies until they fell down, Mia really concentrated, and then grabbed the stack before they fell down! Toooo cute! She really enjoyed the tour of the fire truck and the hayride. It was sooo nice to run into buddies Ryleigh (a fairy pixie) and Isabel (a spooky ghost). They got tattoos together :) It's such a wonderful event, we've added it to our Halloween holiday traditions.

Here are some of my faves....and LOTS more HERE

Trick or Treat....smell my feet! Time for trick or treating. Mia had me call daddy to ask him to hurry up and come home from work. She wanted her kitty costume on as soon as she woke up from her nap. She LOVED the makeup nose and whiskers. As soon as they were applied, she bolted to the bathroom mirror for a long look. This girl LOVED being a kitty cat! Daddy finally got home, and before he could put his keys down, she'd grabbed her treat bag and was pulling him out the door! It was a little early still, but this kitty couldn't be stopped. We stopped at our super cool newish neighbors first. Mia was their first trick or treater EVER. They were as thrilled as she was. Mia insisted on carrying her own treat bag, and when it got too full, she just dragged it behind her. Between houses, she was able to play a little hopscotch :) At the end she wanted 4 candies, but we'd already agreed upon one...so miss sneaky kitty chose a pack with like 8 candy corn in it...super smart, and they are her favorite.

A few more trick or treating shot can be found HERE

Yes, it was Nov 1st and Halloween was over, but there was one more party to hit. Daddy dressed up as a 'bam-pire' with teeth and all, Mia was a kitty again, and I, a witch. The Hoech's hosted a super fun and remarkably full event. There were prizes for best kid and adult costumes, spookiest dish, closest guess of a jar full of candy corn. They had a spooky boat ride across their pool, bobbing for apples, candy necklace making, Halloween magnet making and karoke! Jennifer's daughter Chloe won the kids prize as a dead bride, Bethanie's hubby won adult prize for his Rhino costume and I won spookiest dish with another melon brain! Mia stalked the M&M bowl, and after eating some real food (pizza and bat wings) she got her much coveted cupcake!

For a few more shots, go HERE

So, since Mia is VERY aware of how much candy she looted, we needed a plan. The Candy Fairy to the rescue. Before bed, Mia emptied all her candy into a bowl and put it outside. In the morning, she had found that the Candy Fairy did indeed visit and traded her candy for a cuddley teddy bear :)

Happy Happy Halloween!

Happy Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby!

2008-10-29T11:26:00.007-05:00

No. Not the Snapper, my husband, light of my life...my everything. He turned 28 last week, and I'm finally up to documenting the festivities.

Mia helped decorate...blowing up balloons is HARD, so she added sprinkles...MANY sprinkles to the cake, and an extra candle...one to grow on. We took daddy out for spaghetti and meatballs...his all time fave, then back home for the opening of gifts and eating of cake. I LOVE how Mia was very involved even in blowing out the candles. Daryl was silly...shaking obviously soft gifts, wearing his new cap even though it was still wrapped. Silly. He loved the gifts...especially his HUGE RC airplane...and the birthday beer :)

Daryl actually took Friday off, so we got to the POC early enough to do some early evening fishing. Daryl hooked a MASSIVE Jack Cravel! Known to get hooked and then fight fight fight for HOURS! Daryl was THRILLED! This fish is so strong and huge, he almost took all of Daryl's line out, so we had to pull up anchor and chase the fish down! After an HOUR...SERIOUSLY!!! Tom almost got him in the net, but in a flash he dove out of the net and under the boat...snapping the line :( No fish. No photo....but we did have one super happy birthday boy!

Then back to the house for dinner and the guys started working on putting the plane, engine and all that good stuff together. Armed with power tools and more birthday beer, they set to work with over 400 pieces! Did they even open the manual? No. Daryl even got injured. A rite of passage when building an airplane, I guess. He was very proud.

The next morning, we hit the open waters while Mia and Nana happily spent time together back at the house. Mia was up all night throwing up...bad chicken. She was weak, but did rave about how daddy held her hair back with she barfed in the toilet. Her hero. Mia only barfed one more time that afternoon...on Nana, on Nana's shirt and in her bra! DISGUSTING!!! Thankfully I was napping.

After the AWESOME UT game, HOOK 'EM Horns!, we went out to Clark's for dinner....it was lovely sitting outside on the deck, enjoying the moment and each other. Then Mia was ready to go. Tom and Dee so sweetly brought back a YUMMY slice of Birthday pie for Daryl :)

self portrait while tooling around looking for the perfect spot

my bonnet head shark...Tom held it...he's strong and I'm not stupid! the rest of Daryl fishing were all with his Jack Cravel

the most PERFECT shot in the world...except for Tom's CRACK!!!!
LOVE the smile on my happy man's face

The next morning, everyone took Mia out on Pawpaw's boat...I opted to sleep longer. Baking a baby is hard work and exhausting. Mia loves to go fast, and when going slow, loves to play around with Nana. When she was sitting on one of the tall chairs, by her Pawpaw. Daryl asked her if she wanted to go up way front, or play in the back. She simply replied, "Daddy, I'm just ridin" That brought another HUGE smile to Daryl's face.

Happy Birthday Baby!

I LOVE you!

Always and forever!

Another little peek

2008-10-22T21:08:00.003-05:00

Mia can't get enough of Casa T...and neither can I. She always looks forward to seeing 'my friends' ...she'll name them all...and 'my Miss Andrea'. This week, their focus is on corn and they made little dolls from corn husks. Mia LOVES hers and wouldn't even let Niles (our dog) sniff it. I think he would like to get used to the little pet treats they made at Casa T last week. Now he thinks everything is for him. I had to post the shot of Mia with her binoculars she made at Casa T (last week was all about birds)...dirty face and all. Another favorite shot was of the kids enjoying the music of Ella Jenkins. Seeing Mia sitting on that drum makes me smile.

all of the photos are by the lovely Andrea

Gwen is Two-rrific!

2008-10-20T16:29:00.009-05:00

Mia's cousin, Gwen, turned two last week, and we were all out at the park this weekend to celebrate this sweet little girl. It had been a while since I'd seen everyone...home on sofa being nauseous...but, I've been feeling better and was ready to PARTY! It was a perfect day at the park, and all the kids had a BLAST. Gwen was a cutie trying to blow out her candles, but needed a little help from her mama. Mmmmm cake.

Oh, one of my highlights was when Gwen came up to me, pointed and called me Tah...my heart melts every time, and wanted me to pick her up and did NOT want to be put down. I could have held her all day. Then she pointed to rocks then the swing...so, I put her down and she held on to my big finger (hard) and we walked hand in hand to the swing....swung a little bit until she started squealing! Ahhh Nana had arrived. Aunt Tah was replaced :)

Here are a few...ok. MANY shots. There are even more on my flickr :) (I still didn't get everyone or enough...but I'm just getting back into the swing of things)

photo of Gwen and me taken by the lovely Anjalika

We wish you the most wonderful year,

sweet Gwen.

Ita was here

2008-10-19T10:59:00.006-05:00

It had been a while, but Mia's Ita (my mom) came to visit. It was short, but oh so sweet. Mia LOVED dressing up into her Halloween costume and trying to tickle Ita with her tail. We visited Casa T, so Ita could see where all the magic happens. She was impressed and said Mia was is fabulous hands and she's thriving like a well taken care of seedling. One night everyone pitched in while I made entomatadas y arroz. Mia enjoyed helping her daddy break up some queso fresco. We were sad to see her go, but we'll be seeing Ita soon :)

the following two shots were taken by the lovely Andrea at Casa T

My Frog Prince

2008-10-17T17:41:00.001-05:00

This is a frequent post-bath scene at our house. I love his playful spirit.

The Patch

2008-10-14T17:24:00.009-05:00

This was the third year in a row that we hit Sweet Berry Farm for some Fall fun. Mia's always LOVED the oodles and oodles of pumpkins. Last year, she fell in love the pony ride...horse ride, actually...so we did that again, too. This time she did it all by herself. No hayride this year...too hot, huge crowd. She did find a little tractor she liked. Here's a little look back through the years.

2006

2007

2008

Mia's Mama is M.I.A.

2008-10-06T15:59:00.007-05:00

We're pretty much 10 weeks into this beautiful pregnancy and I'm feeling soooo much better. I honestly haven't taken many shots, we haven't really been many places, and being on the PC too long makes me even more nauseous. For those who've missed Mia, here are some shots taken at Casa T by Ms. Andrea. Mia has the MOST fun there. They do all sorts of art stuff, cook and bake, go on nature walks, sing and dance, learn a bit of Spanish, even practice yoga and SOOOooooo much more :)

all shots taken by the lovely Andrea

I wanna see my friends

2008-09-26T08:08:00.004-05:00

With this whole pregnancy thang, I haven't been feeling well...especially this week. If it wasn't for Casa T, swimming class and gymnastics, Mia wouldn't see any of her friends. Every morning I ask her what she wants to do, and it's pretty much always 'go to a playdate and see my friends'. We are meeting some friends up at the park this morning, so I hope that gives her a good friends fix that can get her through the weekend. Here are some shots from an impromptu playdate we hosted a couple of weeks ago.

Angel Butterfly Biker

2008-09-22T00:33:00.000-05:00

After hangin in the grass a little, Mia was back on her trike, this little one couldn't decide if she wanted to wear her butterfly or angel wings...she went with both.

Much like my daughter, I'm having a hard time picking my Best Shot....I love them all, but will go with the one below because I love everything about it. You'd never know how much a struggle it is for her to turn those darn pedals...she looks so confident.

For more Best Shots...head on over to Tracey's

May I Hold Her?

2008-09-21T20:32:00.004-05:00

Now that we're almost 8 weeks pregnant with our second baby, I've been thinking a lot about the birth of our first. Our Mia. There were so many wonderful first moments, but when I look back at pictures, I'm reminded of the sweet looks and cooing she received, then the hopeful looks to Daryl and me with the question, 'May I hold her?'

Some sweet bloggin gals, Kristen and Rebecca are growing their families as well. Let's give them warm wishes and sweet thoughts....soon everyone will be asking them 'may I hold your baby?'.

For more info about them and the wonderful online baby shower click on the button below :)

The Trike

2008-09-21T11:41:00.008-05:00

I just found these shots! I LOVE it when that happens :)

A few weeks ago, we went out and got Mia her first trike. She was soooo excited once we got it home, but then so NOT when she realized that Daddy had to assemble it. She was pretty patient and I was proud of Daryl for following the instructions...his baby's safety was at stake and he was taking his job very seriously.

After quite a while, it was ready to GO! Mia tried it in the house while her daddy was putting on his shoes.

Once we all got outside, much to my husbands chagrin, Mia was distracted by the neighbor's cat....for a LONG time. He patiently watched her play. What a fab daddy!

Then he and the trike were up. Mia struggled, but her daddy was right there with every turn of her pedals.

more trike delays due to kitty drama

then she found that she could pedal so much easier barefoot, and got on the road again.

Old Pecan Street Festival - Fall '08

2008-09-20T13:43:00.007-05:00

Since Daryl and Mia are hanging in Port O'Connor with his awesome parents, I went to the Old Pecan Street Festival solo. Have to admit that it was nice just walking around, checking stuff out and taking shots all by myself. I missed them a lot, though. We went together last year. When I went by the booth were Mia got her first airbrush tattoo...ahhhh all the beer stands reminded me of my sweet husband...who is probably having share of beer while fishing with his dad at this very moment :)

For all our previous Port O'Connor (POC) moments go here.

Another perk about today, is that Melody at Slurping Life is hosting SOOC Saturday. SOOC= Straight Out Of the Camera...no editing, no processing. FREEDOM! Seriously, it's super fab really thinking about the shot knowing that there's no editing allowed post-snap. Head on over for more SOOC shots.

Life of the Party

2008-09-19T17:43:00.005-05:00

Was it only last Friday that my latest drumming class ended? What a loooooong week! At the end of each session, Mae throws a big party and jam session. This time, Daryl and I thought Mia would enjoy it. Once she heard she was going to a party....out came her party dress and ballerina slippers. Don't try to call them ballet slippers...she will correct you. I had a wonderful time just playing, and so did Mia. She actually stole the show. I wasn't aware of the ham she most definitely is. She pulled out and played with all the instruments and then picked TWO djembes to play at the SAME time. Everyone was either smiling hard or outright giggling and enjoying her. I just realized that all the video is still in my camera that Daryl took to the coast. Well, I'll post some shots and then the video will come later. Yay! I don't have to edit :)