Enjoy Mia's version of "Blowing Kisses"!

I am so excited to figure out how to use the 'photo gallery' option on here, instead of publishing my photos on Flickr like had I had done before in order to share several photos at once.  Here are quite a few pics of the last month.  Mia is very active at home, crawling around after the dogs, bee-lining for all of the power cords she knows are 'no no's, swimming in the backyard, and just having lots of fun playing in her playroom.  (We had to finally corral her in the back room because no matter how many times I vacuum, there is perpetual dog hair on the floor... which then ends up in Mia's mouth.)  She really enjoys most of her toys and stays occupied really well.  Of course, some of her favorite toys aren't toys at all-- like the strainer she wears like a hat!  Mia enjoys being read to, as well as flipping through her books on her own (see the pic below).  Of course, the summer has gone by too quickly.  We finally made it up to Palmyra to visit my friend, Andi, and her little boy, Jacob.  There is never enough time, and the last couple of weeks Mia has had a head cold, tummy bug, a nagging cough, and an allergy flair-up (all of which have kept us home without playdates).  Keith and I are seriously hoping she does not end up with the terrible allergy problem that he has had all of his life.  It's not looking too good so far.  Anyhow, enjoy the pictures!  I will try to keep up with the blog more often than I have!

A couple weeks ago Mia and I picked up our buddies, Ben, Brendan, Abby, and Allison, and headed out to hike for awhile.  Mia was comfortably situated in her backpack, and thank goodness the boys were strong enough to help me by taking turns!  Allison, as young as she is, did an amazing job setting the pace up the big hill and back down.  In one of the pictures, you can see a radio tower at the very top of the hill... which was our turnaround point.  It was hot and sticky out, but we had a great time!  Allison even had a ride in the backpack! Thank goodness we left when we did because a giant thunderstorm rolled in soon afterwards!