Keith and I are so excited to tell you we are expecting a baby in May!  The doctor's appointment went well, and the baby's due date is May 22nd.  That may change, however, due to the baby's measurements at the appointment.  Also, the doctor said that since Mia was so big (9 1/2 lbs), he's going to do a weight measurement ultrasound around 38 weeks.  If the baby is on track with Mia, he will induce earlier than May 22nd.  We are so excited!
 
Trip to Disney 10/08/2009
 
Keith and I took Mia on a fun family vacation to Disney!  We spent 3 days at Disney World and then 4 days cruising to Nassau and Castaway Cay.  Although she's so young, she did have a lot of fun!  The night we got home, I went in to check on her before going to bed myself, and I was surprised to find she had picked Mickey to sleep with.  :)
 
 
We had a perfect day for Mia's birthday party today!  The rain held off and it was sunny and only in the 70s... wonderful!  Mia had lots of fun playing with her cousins and friends, and I think everyone enjoyed visiting and some good food.  Keith and I are so grateful for Mia, and for our families and friends!
 
 
Today has been a fun day for Mia!  Well, she probably would have preferred not to get her booster shots the morning of her birthday, but we had to get them over with.  Afterward we had a nice, long visit with Grandma Nikodem.  Grandma was having a good day, and Mia even had a chance to play with Millie when Aunt Mimi brought Grandma's groceries over.  Then we went and had a lunch date with Dad.  When we came home, I was expecting Mia to zonk out for naptime. (I kept her awake in the van the whole way home from south county by singing to her... I'm not a good singer, but I didn't want her to fall asleep and ruin her naptime!)  Grandpa had a surprise waiting for us when we got home!  Great-Grandma Collier's cedar hope chest!  He had it refinished as a gift for Mia's 1st birthday... and boy, was I ever surprised!  I think about Grandma often and miss her lots and lots, and now Mia has something to treasure for a long, long time.  We are excited about Mom Mom and Grandma coming by for a visit later tonight.  I'm hoping Mia is still awake when Daddy comes home so he can finish putting together her present and maybe she can play with it for a little bit!  No cake tonight... we're saving that for her party on Saturday.  I'll be sure to post some pictures of her special day later!
 
New 'do' 09/01/2009
 
Did you see my new haircut yet?  It wasn't my first cut, but definitely the most yet!  Madeline said she cut 2 inches off the sides!
 
 
Keith was able to finally go to the playground with us to watch Mia swing and slide... we both can't believe how quickly she is growing!  Then we stopped to say hello to the fish, of course.  (I apologize for the video being sideways.  :)  And if you click on a photo you can see a larger image.)
 
 
It's difficult to hear in the video, but at the time it seemed so loud and clear.  Mia loves to play with the red strainer, and on this day I was trying to get video of her tossing her blocks inside the strainer.  Instead, she said 'hat' and put the strainer on her head!  She doesn't normally make the 'h' sound, so it was surprising.  Of course, that was last week and we haven't heard it again... but she is trying more sounds every day.
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Kisses 08/15/2009
 
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!
 
Hiking Buddies 08/15/2009
 
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!