Happy Mother's Day to Meeeeeee!

Mia and I spent the morning at Barnes & Noble at the Arboretum. A couple of my mama groups met for storytime, so we got to see many old friends and some new ones...Sweet Gwen was there with her Mama, too. The storytime, I feel, was geared a little bit towards the slightly older children. Well, Mia just didn't have the patience for it and wanted to storm the stage. There were some flowers up there and I'm not sure if she wanted them or just to climb up and down like she did before storytime started.

I was able to chat a little with Jeannie, Tanya and Melissa for a while while Ethan, Abby and Mia raided the stuffed animal display. Gwen was quite content to be close to her mama. Then off to the trains! They have a cute train table where the kids circle and play and interact with each other. I hung out a bit with Jennifer while her Ava and Mia attended to the trains.

But before we left, we went back to the stage area and found that along with the special Mother's Day story, there were crafts, flower potting and cake! Mia picked out a plant for me and assisted in planting it in a cup for ME...she packed the dirt and everything, and managed to eat only a minimal amount :) Then it was lunchtime....STAT! We shared a plate of meatloaf, green beans and yummy cornbread. Mia is the perfect lunch time partner.

Daddy put her stools and table and chairs together last night. I can't wait till she wakes up from her nap so we can try 'em out. Hmmm over a 2 1/2 hr nap and still going!

For my Mama

rolls and cows

We had a busy morning. First stop, the Little Gym. Mia had a great time, and so did I. She really likes practicing her forward rolls. Bubble and ball time is always the highlight.

Then off to the store to buy Mia a new pair of sneaks. She left her other pair at Nana's, and all her other shoes are either too big or too small. Those were just right, so we got another pair. Nice for back up.

We hopped over to the Arboretum to hang with a playgroup. We were lucky enough to hang out with Auntie M and her sweet Gwendolyn. Gwen was wearing a cute little dress that used to be Melissa's. Gwen looked like Laura Ingals from Little House on the Prarie..such a cutie. I wish I had some of my old clothes...but they were from the 70's and I'm sure quite a bit of it was polyester :) Mia climbed on the cow sculptures for the first time. The last time we were at the Arboretum was before Christmas with Lori and Livie. Wow things have changed. Mia was EVERYWHERE!

Mia's waking up from her loooooong almost 3 hour nap....gotta run and get that snapper!

Snackin' with my Auntie M

COWgirl

Where do I start?

How about the beginning?

Sat morning Daryl hung out with Mia...shopping and stuff while I had a salon day. A great cut, color and pedicure! I was out of the house from 8am til 2pm. Daryl and Mia had some great Daddy Daughter time. When I got home, we packed Mia up for her first sleep over at Nana & Pa Pa's. I heard Mia, well everyone had a great time. After reading Goodnight Moon, Tom took Mia out to look at the real stars. They're out in the country, so the stars are amazing. Apparently, Mia was Pa Pa's shadow the whole time. He got her out of bed, feed her lunch, showed her the pond with the fish, the chickens and dogs. When she got home, I asked her where her Nana was, and she looked around for her. Then I asked where Pa Pa was and she looked straight up (Tom is a tall man). Daryl and I love that Mia has such wonderful grandparents. While all this was happening, Daryl and I had a date! Out to dinner then games at Dave & Busters. It was nice to hang out and play.

Sunday, what a day. We planned to have Suzy, Keith, Livie, Joe, Melissa and Gwen over for some beer & burgers. Daryl went out to DP to pick Mia up. (Note to sweet husband: remember to pack up all her stuff...music, sneakers....He did remember grab the most important item.. MIA!!!) :) Daryl and I spent most of the morning cutting the grass and getting stuff together. We had the best time. It sprinkled a little, but not much. It was nice and breezy. We just all sat around chatting and watching the kids. I think Joe wants the next one over at their home, so he can break out the ping-pong table. I hope we can do this a lot. We had a wonderful time.

Today, I let Mia sleep in until she was done...about 9am. We missed the ECI field trip to the Farm, but Mia needed the rest after such a busy & fun weekend. When we got it together, we hopped over to Lori and Livie's new, beautiful, spacious, warm, awesomely painted home to hang out. Lori made quesadillas and guacamole for the kids, and we ordered Chinese :) We hung out and chatted while the girls played. Poor Livie had a little accident with her new table...it flipped on her! She was more surprised than hurt. The dogs where out, so Mia played with Copper and Ipy (I've gone over this for a while, and have realized I don't know how to spell her name)..great until Copper ran her over. Just a little playful knock, she wasn't hurt, but was beyond tired, so it was time to go. Mia was asleep before we were out of their neighborhood.

Mia kissin' her 'Sexy, Red Hot Grandpa'

Mia & Livie hangin' with the turtle

Gwen sitting up all by herself!

ride 'em, Gwen!

The Gang

we all need an ice cream moment

Copper, Mia & Livie

Watermellon girl

busy little bees

Mia had an amazing time at swim class. She really enjoys being on her back and going under water. One of the stations is on the steps out of the pool. It's kind of like a ring dive. She can easily pick up the rings on the first step, but the ones on the second are deep enough that she'd have to put her face under water to get it. She tried about 3 times then decided that it wasn't for her :)

Then we went and picked up Daddy at his office so he could drive us to the court house to help me get my passport. I've tried the post office...way too long lines. Not gonna work with the snapper. Try getting through security with a backpack, baby, stroller, sunglasses, keys..... Success! I've renewed my passport! One step closer to Cozumel!!

Off to lunch. Mia loves grilled cheese sandwiches, side of steamed broccoli and cold milk...mmmmm Then we had to say by to Daddy because we had to hit the park for a playdate. We had so much fun. The park on El Salido is AWESOME! So spread out, a covered pavilion, oodles of shade trees, 4 bucket swings, 3 playscapes.... I met a great mama, Christina. Her Alex will be 15 months next week. Mia had a buddy! He's an awesome walker and Mia's forte is climbing, so they had much to share. Oh, we broke out the balls. Alex played with Mia's red ball, while Mia played with his soccer ball. We don't have a soccer ball, so it was something new. Melissa and Gwen are also in this group. It's so nice to see them outside of just out Dripping Spring outings. Gwen played with some pebbles under a tree. She's such a sweetie. I love just watching her face while she explores something new.

NAPTIME!!! She crashed for 2 hours! That gave me enough time to assemble the little step stool Mia got at IKEA. Um, I tried. I was getting so frustrated. As my friend, Lori, recently found out with her bike trailer..RTFM. I assembled 1/2 of it backwards, then the screws weren't going it right!!! I felt the cortisol running through my veins. Then Suzy called and said, 'that's a Daddy job.' Ahhhhhhhhhh relief. It's a Daddy job.

After dinner, we switched the trailer from My bike to Daryl's, loaded up the snapper and took a ride. Destination: BEER!

Wiped out! (and sweaty)

riding, walking & steping, oh my!

We received the parts we needed for our bake trailer, so we were off! I truly think Mia enjoyed her new ride. Um, I've realized that we live on a slight incline that feels like Mt Everest when I'm in the wrong gear. It's a great work out and Mia and I were able to check out the field for cows, goats, or donkeys. None to be found, but we did hit a couple of parks yesterday evening.

At the park we frequent primarily, Mia decided that it was time to WALK up the steps. Her first use of handrails. I think you can hear me sucking in my breath a couple of times in the video. I'm proud of myself that I didn't run and 'save' her. It took all my energy to just watch and let her keep on keepin on. A beautifull black and yellow butterfly that was seriously twitterpated with Mia and kept coming around to play.

Oh, IKEA is dangerous! I managed to get out of there with only a couple of step stools for Mia (to wash her hands at the sink...what a big girl), and a little table with two chairs kind of like the one Livie Higbee has. Mia rode in the cart for about 1/2 the time, then I busted her out and she walked the rest of the way. Big Girl shopping moment.

Mia snackin in her new ride

butterfly wants to slide

no, just wants to play with Mia


WALKING up the steps! What's that about?!?!?!?!

They're baaaaaaaack!

Yay! Suzy and Livie are back from Florida! We spent a nice portion of the afternoon with them. It was great for Livie and Mia, because at home they were crankyyyyy, but together, they were fabulous and happy and loving and sweet and funny....

I sure did miss my friend and am so glad all is great and she's home. Did I mention that I missed them? Livie must have grown a foot. She's so tall and slender, with flowing blond hair and the sweetest smile ever! She played so well with Mia. The girls sat at Livie's little table to share a snack. Livie fed Mia, then Mia fed me, and I was able to score some goldfish for Suzy. Life is good. There was a problem with a certain pink ball, but it all worked out...Suzy has some amazing Mama skills. I always learn so much from her. I love that we bounce ideas off each other, and she is a mama of an angel that's a year older than Mia, so she's seen and been through a lot of the stuff that we're just starting with.

Suzy Tip: when the little one is on a step ladder playing with the water in the sink, always have a bowl covering the disposal...you never know what little hands will stuff in there :)

Oh, we'd been wanting to get an outdoor activity table for Mia since she enjoyed Livie's so much. Well, I picked the last one up from Toys R Us today. Daryl and I (Mia was not interested in assisting...see pic below) put it together. Ok. Suzy and Keith did NOT warn us about the bazillion and one screws and nuts! We LOVE the table, but may not buy from the Co. that made the table again. The holes weren't drilled all the way, so we had a lot of extra hard plastic that made it a little more difficult than we wanted while dealing with a teething tot that didn't want to go to bed. The table does ROCK, though. Mia did 'find' Daddy while he was trying ever so diligently to put connect the umbrella. Yes, we did open the umbrella inside, and we're ok with that. It made it easier and that's the name of the game. Easy.

BTW, every time it rains (not mists) and/or thunders and lightnings, I take Mia out on the front porch and snuggle with her on a chair. She points at the rain and the lightning. Niles is deathly frightened of such weather, so we are making an effort to show her the wonderfulness of nature. She finally fell asleep around 9:30 after 3 reads of Goodnight Moon.

One more note. We got our super duper new camera today. It's got a touch screen and is so easy to use. We shot the following video on it. It'll tape 45 min!

NOT into manual labor

I found you, Daddy!

In a great green room...

I laugh in the face of grey days!

I think I'm built backwards or have a glitch of some kind. These past two days, although cloudy, grey and rainy, have been the best I've had in a while. I'm just in a fabulous mood!

Here's what's been going on:

• I don't remember much of yesterday...Mia was teething hard so the world stopped.
  
• Today we hit The Little Gym. We hadn't been there in two weeks and we showed up today to find 2 friends and their little ones that we hadn't seen in forever. Haley w/ Natalie (from Mother's Inc) and Julia w/ Sydney (from Gymboree) both joined the class. Mia was super confident and everywhere during class. She received star stamps on the back of her hands, tops of feet, and one on her belly! She pointed at them and said 'sta' all day, and was a little befuddled when she couldn't find them after Daddy gave her a bath.


• Trip to the pet store again. This time to buy an actual fish tank with a pump. I found Lola floating on her side at the top of their pumpless bowl this morning. I quickly prepared more water in a pitcher. I used the sink spray on high to aerate the water as best I could. Lola survived. Now she and Mog are thriving in their new tank. I think Lola has a crush on Mog, but so do I, so there might be a cat fight...fish fight?
• Mia stopped teething and was in a fabulous mood all day long!


• We picked up lunch and ate it at the office with Daddy. Mia walked to her Unca Joe, while giggling hysterically.


• We hopped over to Starbucks on Braker to meet up with a new (new to me) mom's group. A great laid back group of moms. We had to leave after being there for 30 min, cuz it was Mia's nap time. But before we left, Melissa and Gwen showed up. We're in the same group! Gwen was so cute wrapped up in a gorgeous wrap sling, and snuggled comfy against her mama. I'm looking forward to hanging out with them more :)


• Home for a nap. Then Ginger and Kathy came over for her ECI 6 month review. They were impressed with Mia, of course. They said that she's not only hitting all her marks, but really nailing them :) She graduated and will no longer be needing services or be in their program. Awesome, but bittersweet. I'll miss them so much. They were really there for our family when we needed answers, help, support, encouragement, love...They helped me solidify what kind of mother I wanted to be, and helped me make peace that Mia's hemi-vertebra wasn't my fault. Ahhhh Mama guilt.


• The I grilled some chicken, spinach & feta sausages on the grill while Mia explored the backyard....it's been so wet she hasn't been out there lately and gets a little peeved when Niles gets to go out and she can't.
  

Daryl was home early, Mia & I were in great spirits...made for a beautiful family evening.

Edemame mess at the office (further proof that I will take a picture of ANYTHING my child does...especially with her sweet Daddy)

Daddy says 'no' to baby credit card abuse, but Mia has other ideas