Since Friday....

...Mia had her second swim class on Friday, and truly loved it. She was so ready to go and she really doesn't hold anything back. I was totally surprised when she went a little further under the water on her jump than I had expected. Andrew, the instructor, reminded me that my reaction, good or bad, really affects Mia, so I needed to stifle my nervousness for 30 min and let the little fish swim. Oh, Mia turned 15 months old. Friday afternoon I really wanted to get together with friends (Mia really wanted to play outside...always hanging out by the window, but we were still treating the ants), but Lori was closing on her house (Yay Lori, Josh & Livie!!), Isabel was teething, and Suzy was packing for Florida. *NOTE: Suzy is going to Florida to visit family for 3 weeks! How wonderful for her and Livie, but we'll really miss them. I miss them already! Suzy, when you read this, say hi to Danielle, Jennifer and your folks for me :) Hope Livie has a great time with her cousins!

When Daryl got home, we hit the Waterloo Ice House @ Parmer & Avery Ranch. It was a 50 minute wait. Did it bug us? Noooooooooooooooooooooooooope! They have a great playscape that was crawling with kids and parents that actually kept up with their kids. Because there were so many kids, Mia had a shadow the whole time, but did climb up and slide a few times. We'll be back!

Saturday was crazy fun! Daryl was on full time daddy duty while I went over to Sarah's for chai. It's always a blast hanging and chatting with these girls. Lori brought some tasty breakfast sweets & I brought my choc chip banana bread fresh from the oven. Well, after chatting the morning away and almost falling asleep with Isabel, I had to hurry home to pick up the fam and head out to Dripping Springs for their Founder's Day Festival. After we had to head back home for the stroller, we were on the road again to meet up with Dee, Tom, Laura, Joe, Melissa and Gwen. It was a perfect day. Overcast and breezy. Mia had her first taste of funnel cake and we all got to visit a little. Gwen had a little stranger anxiety, so I wasn't able to hold her. I've only held her a few times, so I sure am looking forward to snuggling up to the sweetie and getting to know her and not be such a stranger. We all walked around checking out the booths and Nana bought Mia a sweet flower/ribbon halo...for the angel of course :) and then Mia let Nana and I hold her hands while we walked a bit, then she wanted to do it all herself.

After the festival we went back to Tom and Dee's. They're really doing some amazing and fast work on the add-on to the house. Mia actually chased the bigger chickens a little and hung out with her little chick. She's getting the hang of 'gentle' pretty well. It was so nice just to sit back and relax. Mia stalked the guys until they let her play on the pool table :) Then off to home and when Mia hit her bed, she was out!

Daryl got some daddy-daughter time this morning while I went shopping. When I came home, Daryl told me that Mia got cold, went and got her jammies, took them to him, sat down and put her head down (that's how we dress her...head first). It was so sweet. Also, as Suzy warned me, it's the Daddy Show. She couldn't do anything without her Daddy for the rest of the day. I love that they were able to spend such wonderful bonding time together and are so very close. Yeah, he's a super dad..didn't fall far from the tree. Tom is so amazing with Mia, so natural and loving. She's so lucky to have such a warm and loving family.

p.s. Bart, their 19 year old cat died Saturday of old age. Bart was always so loving and friendly. On the arm of the sofa, ready to be pet. He will be missed.

Mia with Bart when she was 9 months old.

Little duck ready for a dip

Can I go out and play, Mama, pleeeeeease?

I'm gonna get you!

Mia and her shadow at Waterloo

Yes, my husband is this handsome

Gals strollin along (Mia with her 'Mia' bloomers)


First funnel cake, but surely not the last


Princess Nana

Two little teapots

Chasing the bawk bawks

ants, but not in her pants!

We had a pretty eventful day yesterday. We started at the Dr.'s office to make sure Mia didn't have an ear infection. She's only had one, but it really snuck up on us. It ends up she's teething, again. This time it's definitely her 2 yr molars! It's been a little hard on her, but then she's done with teething forever.

When we got home, Mia wanted to play in the backyard. After applying sunscreen, getting juice, water and sunglasses, we were outside! Mia checked out her sand box, then decided to say hi to our neighboring dogs through the fence. She never goes over there, but she was lucky enough to find something new to play with. A piece of poo! Niles always goes out of range and I'm able to clean it up, but not this time. In the house to wash her hands in a flash! That's when I noticed her hands had been bitten by ants. She had red splotches and white bumps. I rubbed on some stuff that works in about 5 minutes, but then you never feel the sting, itch again. It must have worked, bc Mia hasn't even noticed the bites.

poor baby




you are so not my Mama

After a loooooooooooooong nap...from 11:30 to a little after 3pm! we got ready for our visit from Amanda. Her Matt has been out of town on business in Ireland for 2 1/2 weeks, so we invited her over for dinner. We all walked down to the mailbox for a walk and some fresh air, while waiting for Daryl to get home, then we hung out and snack while Daddy grilled. Mia was a little shy of Amanda at first. Mia wrapped her arms around one of my legs and buried her head for a few seconds, then they were friends and played and laughed. The company and dinner were both great. Daryl did the honors of cleaning up the kitchen while Amanda and I gave Mia a bath. It was nice chatting and stuff, it had been a while. So, Amanda got to see how we lived with the little Snapper :) Oh, she brought the BEST brownies in the world...Sarah would have loved them, she loves brownies :)

The Grillmeister

We read stories while Mia had her milk, then brush teeth and off to bed. It's hard going to other people's homes, especially since Mia got mobile, but we realized it sure is easy to have company over.

note on the soap shark pic

I just logged on to flickr.com to add some snaps of Mia, and noticed that I had a message from someone who collects pics and stuff of 'soap' and wants to add the pic of the bar of soap that has Mia's teeth marks on it:


1 comment 4 views
Mia is a soap shark

dbz885 says:Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Soap, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.

Funny, huh? http://www.flickr.com/groups/342525@N23/

Shoe Fetish

While I was hanging up some laundry in the closet this afternoon, Mia helped me by 'reorganizing' a couple of shelves worth of my shoes. I'm glad the boots are down low and the nice ones are up high :)

Lori recently blogged about her top 10 list of her fav things Livie does. I think I'll borrow that idea. Imitation is the best form of flattery, they say.

(written to Mia)

I love when:

• You look out the kitchen window on your tippy toes & look back at me ~ letting me know that you want to go out and play....it doesn't matter if it's raining, either.
• You 'help' me type while I'm emailing. Many friends & family members have read your special little footnotes.
• You love the the water to rain down on you when you're in the shower.
• You get to the front hall ASAP when 'Da' comes home, reach up and say 'Da' (pick me up now).
• You take turns. When brushing your teeth, you open up and say ahhhh and let me brush then it's 'Mia's turn' and you brush for a while...Or sucking snot out of your nose, you let me use the bulb, then you used to love to stick it in your mouth, but now you just hold it and smile until it's 'Mama's turn'. If there's anyone else at the table, you let them have a turn, too. With the toothbrush that is.
• After you've been sipping on a sippy cup that has a straw, you suck in your food really fast at meal times. You make this cute noise, and you move very fast.
• When Daddy or I'm in the shower and you're on the outside, you throw in your bath toys one by one. Thanks sweetie :)
• You reach out and gently poke our face parts...nose, mouth, eyes, ears and you especially LOVE your Daddy's eyebrows.
• Every time you wake up you love snuggling in my arms, sipping on your juice and we read book after book.
• When you settle in to sleep at night, we can hear you through the monitor. You go over all the words you know and put 'Mama' & 'Dada' in there often as well...'Mama, teta, Dada (Daddy), dah (dog), bah (ball), Da (Dada), Mama, Ni (Niles), Ta (Uelita), Mama, Ma (Max), Da, papa, bur (bird), tata (tiger), Dada....until you gently, softly fade off.

Under the weather

It's a grey day, and it's pretty fitting bc Mia woke up (at 9:45 - almost sleeping for 15 hours!) very snotty and with a low grade fever. It's rainy so we can't play outside, and we can't do anywhere bc she's sick. We're trying to make the most of it. Mia's been very snugly and we've been reading every book in the house, some twice or three times. I built a pyramid of pillows for her to attack and climb, but she'd just rather snuggle. She's usually on the go, so it's been nice.

We had an awesome time with my Mom this weekend. Daryl and I ran errands, went out for lunch and grabbed some play sand for Mia's sand box. We installed it all, watched her go up and take the sand from the box and throw it in the yard! :) Glad we got a few extra bags. She climbed up to the top of the pile and played with her shovels and buckets. She really digs transferring sand from empty yogurt container to a small clear plastic container. She only tried to eat the sand once. Once was enough, and she'd rather not have seconds thank you very much. After the sand box exploration, Daryl and I went to the Drafthouse for dinner and a movie. I LOVE when my mom is here! She's the best baby sitter!

She left Sunday and took her little Max with her. Mia crawled around looking for her 'Ta' (short for Abuelita) and 'Ma' ( well, that's Max). Daryl, Mia and I spent the evening out in the backyard. Mia played around and Daryl sparked up the grill. It really is nice to sit back and watch your family enjoying life.

Oh, Mia has been diligently trying to walk from one surface to another. Going from the patio to the grass can be tricky :) Blustering wind doesn't help, either.

It's my shovel!

Not so tasty sand

out goes the sand!

gotta little fish on our hands!

Mia had her first swimming class yesterday, and she took to it like a little duck. The swim school was fabulous! The saline pool is warmed to 90 degrees and no chemicals :) We got there a little early, so she was plastered to the waiting room glass ready to go and giving her Abuelita and me horrible looks as to say, 'why are you keeping me from such fun?!?!?'. When it was her turn, we went in with 5 other mama/baby pairs (6 is the limit) and was introduced to her instructor, Andrew. He really has a way with kids and adults. The class is set up into stations where we practice different skills. Jumping in (Mia LOVED!), free play...to get their bearings in the water without you holding them, laying on her belly on a flat float to get the sensation of floating on your belly without being held, the ring grab...toss different colored rings on steps so the babes could retrieve them, at their comfort level, move to a deeper step. There were songs, jet boats, slides.... Mia really enjoyed it and wasn't nervous at all. We've signed up for the rest of this class and the whole summer session! Yay Mia!

Then we all went by and said hi to Daddy, Unca Joe, Nik, Doreen and Adam. Mia said 'bye bye Da Da' it melted Daryl's heart. :)

Lora and Liam came over to drop off Mia's party goodie bag that we'd forgotten the day before and we had a wonderful little impromptu playdateJUST what I needed :) Liam and Mia really do play well together, and Lora is such a lovely friend.

Back at home, Mia napped for about 1 hour then was like on crack for the rest of the afternoon/evening. She didn't take her second nap and I was having a rough afternoon in general, so when Abuelita came back from getting her hair done, I got outta there :) I walked to the mailbox, checked out some catalogs on a park bench and chatted on the phone for a while. Then on the way home, I ran into Joseph and Ranger, two of my 8 yr old buddies down the block. They were playing catch, and asked if I wanted to play. I was all over that! They got me a glove and we tossed the baseball around for almost an hour...I did remember to call Daryl to let him know where I was :) I kept saying, 'ok, 3 more balls then I have to go home'. Their rule was that if the ball was dropped within those 3 throws, we'd have to start all over again....I left when it got dark :)

When I got home, Mia had already had her dinner and asleep in bed. Daryl is fierce!! We all sat around, chatted and watched a chick flick...again, Daryl rocks!

Today marks 3 years from the day we met so, we're on our way to a hike and picnic at Lake Georgetown...our first date :) My mom is here to spend the morning with her little girl...Mia's in the best hands, and Daryl and I are FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Let me go swimming already!

Kicking on their bellies

preparing to jump

Having tons of fun singing songs

in her rocket boat-kicking

sliding goodbye

Happy Birthday Liam!!!

Mia's friend, Liam, turned one today and we got to help celebrate! After a makeup class at the Little Gym, we headed on over to rock the party :)

Speaking of rockin, Lora got a sassy new haircut! She went from ponytail mom to a hot mama...it's all spikey and piecey like a rock star! Great short cut for summer. Ok, enough about the hair. Ohhhhhh they had a bubble machine. The kids really dug it and Mia did too, but she was right in the flow and pretty much got her hair washed :)

Yummy snacks, tasty cupcakes and such fabulous friends to hang out with. The kids were playful but mellow, oh, except for Samuel. He got hit in the head a couple of times, and it add insult to injury...he had just come from getting his 15 month shots. Poor sweetie. Mia insisted on walking around and showing all the mamas that she was holding a frog in her mouth. I think this was the most fun she's had with so many kids. I talked to my Mom about it and she thinks it's because standing and walking around puts her at a higher level and she may not feel like such a victim. Anyway, she was very confident today and had so much fun.
My Mom is driving up here right now! Isn't that exciting? Mia is napping to prepare for the Abuelita and her Max.

Mia (frog in mouth) & Lauren

Mama & Mia

Rockin' Mama Lora & Birthday Boy Liam

Keitha & her Samuel

Yay buuuuuuuubbles!


Kaylee & her Mama Lauren

Kaylee, Ana, Kanai, Mia & Liam