Happy Birthday Sam!!!!

A couple of days ago Sam turned ONE! Sam is one of Bonnie's (that's Sammy with the purple hat on her site) boys, and he's just a fabulous kid. Totally easy going and happy as a clam. He's one that could make even the sourest sourpuss smile. Ben fixed his own plate of jalapenos, pickles, lemons and onions! Sam ate up his slice of birthday cake with a fork. He looked directly at Josh and said 'Dada' for the first time. Sweet Anja filmed the whole celebration. Mia got hooked on photography. There was so much fun had by all. I posted a couple of shots yesterday, and here are some more of my fave shots of the sweetest little boy (not a baby any more) ever with his family and friends.

Bonnie's Guys

I always look forward to hanging with my lovely friend, Bonnie. When our families get together there's always this laid back vibe that makes for a nice time.

These are Bonnie's guys: Josh, Sammy and Ben (well, his feet on Sam's new ball). They were all watching Bonnie taking a portrait of another fabulous family, the Simon's. Taking amazing shots is one of Bonnie's forte's. I'm sure they guys have watched her take thousands upon thousands of photos, but they are still so captivated by what she does...that and the Simon's were making silly faces at the camera :)

I picked this shot for my best shot because I just dig the easy feel of it.

Here's another shot I had to add....an impromptu family portrait I took of them. Talk about the tables being turned!

Visit Mother May I for more Best Shots.

SOOC Saturday - Mia plays around

SOOC = Straight Out Of the Camera (no editing at all)

Melody at Slurping Life has added SOOC Saturday to the mix, and it's just what I needed. Knowing that I couldn't edit, made me more deliberate with my settings, stuff in the background... It was fun and I can't wait till next Saturday!

Mia. Playing around.

Thanks, Melody :)

video catch up

Mia's latest film work:


The Alphabet Song (the last 10 seconds are my favorite)



All Dressed Upt (LOVE how she says 'upt')



Zero Shows (daddy confuses Mia with the concept of Zero)



Running Wild



Friends, Anjalika and Anika, shake their bums :) (what fabulously fun girls!)

Casa T - week 3

Ahhh another fun day at Casa T! Yesterday, Mia hung with her friends and Ms. Andrea :) They went on a nature walk (notice the hand holding shot below...Ms. Andrea is strict about the buddy system) and gathered somethings for their nature book that I keep hearing so much about. They ate some nuts that they toasted and even made their own nut butter! Mia loves helping out at home...she takes her plate and stuff to the sink, throws her yucky diapers away, cleans up after herself...so folding and putting away the napkins at Casa T is right up her alley! Andrea has even created a little song that Mia kind of knows by heart.

Corner to corner
Smooth it out
Then fold it over
Smooth it out
This is the way we fold


Mia's already helping with sorting the laundry...I'm sure she'd love to help fold towels :) Also, Mia started wearing her unders at school. Dry for an hour. This past week, Mia's been singing La Araña Pequeñita (The Isty Bitsy Spider)

La araña pequeñita subió, subió, subió,
Vino la lluvia y se la llevó.
Salió el sol y todo lo secó.

Y la araña pequeñita subió, subió, subió.

all pictures taken by Andrea at Casa T

I LOVE this shot of Sophia tasting the nut butter

to see what I was up to on my day off, hop on over to my blog.

Road trip to the Scottish Rite

Yesterday, Daddy, Mia and I went on our yearly road trip to the Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. To read about last years visit hop on over here, and her very first visit here....or for Mia's first diagnosis.

Mia was a trooper...she asked for one of her pregnant mamas' pickles, licked it, then tried to return it! Stinker. I was a little nauseous, but Daryl kept me in pickles :)

Since she's in the scoliosis study, her study nurse came in and took all sorts of measurements. Mia is now a tad bit over 3 ft tall and has a looooong wingspan that's almost as long as she is tall.

One main difference in this visit was that Mia was a year older, and man what a difference that made! When it was x-ray time, I realized that I couldn't go in to help...hold her down. It was so awful last time, I just couldn't think of not being able to be with her. I went back to the waiting area for her. A few min later she was whizzing down the hall, not a tear on her non-red or puffy face. Hmmm. Daddy told her that they just wanted to take a picture of her like Mama does. She gave them a huge cheesy smile. Awww.

Mia had such a fun time, she decided to play hide n seek with Dr Birch...can you find her?

I wanted to show Dr. Birch that Mia kind of hold her right arm close to her body when she runs...is that a concern? So, he had her run down the hall and back, did some range of motion stuff and said, nope. It's not a back, muscle thing. No worries, just keep an eye on it. If anything, it may be a slight neuro thing, but it doesn't effect her, so no reason to put her through an MRI and general anesthesia just yet.

I heart Dr. Birch! He said Mia was growing just perfectly, and you wouldn't be able to notice Mia had any back issues by looking at her. She still doesn't have any restrictions and no MRI scheduled!!!! He even gave Dr. Harry props for adjusting her when she has her growth spurts...I thought I was going to get chewed out, but he said...whatever helps and doesn't hurt... :) So, we don't have to come back till next year! Yay Mia!

Oh, Mia wanted to run down the hall again, so I told her that we had to finish with Dr. Birch and say good bye before she could go run. She walked right up to him, looked up, and said, 'Good Bye Dr. Birch'. Ready to run!

For more Special Exposures, hop on over to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

We are....

Hope the world is ready for another Gleinser!

Our little one is due early May '09

for some more shots...possibly life changing...visit Tracey at Mother May I.