Almost 8 Months Old

Mia and Grandma Janice

I realize I must start every post off by saying, "I can't believe she's this old already", but that's how I feel when I realize another month has passed by. And so QUICKLY!!! We had an eventful week. We attended Aundrea's wedding last Friday and Mia was the cutest child there. She wore a pretty dress that Grandma Janice bought for her along with white patent leather shoes. She looks so precious. She was a perfect angel at the wedding and stole everyone's hearts. Aunt Connie and Uncle Jimmy were there along with Aunt Susan and Uncle Jeff. We had a good time.

Reagan, Mia, Erica, and Erin

Sunday, we went to visit Papa and Mia was able to see her Grandma Rhonda, Aunt Toni, Aunt Courtney and 3 of her cousins. They all had a fun time. Mia didn't quite know where to start with all that long blonde hair to play with. We had a nice dinner and Mia tried chicken for the very first time. She handled meat for the first time pretty well. She likes eating regular food and she still tolerates the strained stuff but she likes to chew and pick things up herself.

My mommy tells the funniest jokes.

I haven't caught it on film yet, but Mia can now wave bye-bye. She has a lazy bye-bye wave like she's brushing you off and the full-fledged wave where she puts her whole arm into it. She's such a smart girl. I have been teaching her to say mama and I think she's going to surprise me any day now with it.

Mia a.k.a. Big Girl also prefers to stand whenever we give her the chance. She needs help getting up but not for long, I'm sure. We all think she would be just as content to skip crawling and go right to walking. Here's a little snippet of her trying to pull herself up.

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I got a little bit of video of Mia "playing" the piano. Grandma Rhonda is going to have to teach her how to really play someday. She's definitely got great potential. :)

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Mia with "hair"

Quick Update

Mia now has 8 teeth and we believe she is also in the process of cutting a molar. The baby girl is a tooth producing machine! I sure hope they don't all fall out as fast as and as close together as they came in. Poor tooth fairy might have to file for bankruptcy!


Mia has been doing very well. She sleeping pretty good at night and occasionally she will sleep all the way through. I miss those nights. She got off track after getting her first cold. I had to take her to the doctor last week for an eye infection caused by the clogged tear duct. We had to do eye drops for about 5 days and let me tell you, she just LOVED that! It was really looking much better but I have noticed the last couple of days that it is watery again and she's waking up with dried gook in her eyes in the mornings. I am really hoping the tear duct opens up and stays open soon. If not, the pediatrician is talking about probing her eye! Not fun!

The following picture is for Mia's Birthday Buddy, Charli. Charli has been sick and we just learned today that she is traveling a rough road at the moment. This is a hug for you, Charli. Keep smiling and we love you, Sweetie!

Happy Birthday to Mommy

I had a fabulous 36th birthday. Spending it with Mia made it so much more special. Clay took us to Motor Supply for lunch where Mia sat up in a highchair (out in a restaurant) for the very first time. It was the perfect height for her to gnaw on the table. Gross. She only tried that once, thank goodness! She was a perfect angel and everyone oohed and ahhed over her.


After lunch we went to the park. It was very breezy, but such a pretty sunny day. I'm looking forward to the days when we can all go to the park and Clay and I will be spending the entire time chasing Mia. She's so much fun!


She had so much from with my present from GranE, I can only imagine what she is going to be like on her first birthday. Now, all I can think about it what do we want to do for her very first birthday to make it super special! I had a wonderful day, got some great presents, had some great food, and special birthday wishes by phone from people that I didn't get to see or spend time with yesterday. Life just doesn't get much better than yesterday.

You're how old?!

Our girl is 7 MONTHS OLD today! We can hardly believe it. She keeps getting sweeter every day. She's still doing great with real food. I think her new favorite is bananas. She is so funny to watch and she mmmm's everything. I love the faces she makes on the foods she isn't quite sure about. For instance, we gave her mango last week and she LOVED it. I gave her some again tonight and I do believe she actually shuddered after the first bite. I tried a few more times and got a shudder after each bite. We are still sticking to oatmeal, fruits and veggies. We aren't venturing into the meats until at least another month or so.



As you can see from the picture, Mia is all about standing. Poor daddy's nose! When we try to sit her down on the floor, her legs are straight as arrows and she doesn't want to sit, she wants to stand. We think she'd be perfectly happy with skipping the crawling thing altogether and going right to walking. However, she has been practicing her crawling stance. I've been putting her on her tummy more and she's working on it. It's going to be so cute when she can follow me around the house.


The weather has been beautiful for the last few days and Mia and I have been taking advantage of it and getting some walks in. I will be so glad when Spring gets here and we can get out on a regular basis like we were doing before winter. She is so cute in the stroller. She has to hold on to everything and the stroller is not exception. It's so cute to look down at her and she's laid back, relaxed, and has her arm up on the side taking in all the sights.

Valentine's Day and Other Cute Moments

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Punk Mia

Funny turtle

Look at all my teeth!

Look at me!

6-Month Stats

Mia's appointment on Monday went well. Aside from the cold, she is in perfect health and growing strong. Her weight is up to 17 pounds 8 ounces and she is now 27 inches long! Her head circumference is at a very smart 17 inches.

Monday was a rough day for Mia. Here's hoping for a speedy recovery from this cold!

6 Months Old

Duran Duran's Littlest Fan

Our little sweetie-pie turned 6 months old yesterday. She's getting so big and so smart and I call her my "big girl" all the time. She is eating solids twice a day. She has oatmeal and fruit in the morning and veggies and fruit in the evening. Some of the newest foods she has tried are green beans, peas, apricots, prunes, apples/blueberries, carrots, mashed potatoes, avocado, and corn. Sweet potatoes and apples are still her favorite. :)

I have the cutest butt.

Mia is sitting up very well without assistance. She used to end up on her face but now she can push herself up. You can just see the excitement on her face with this newest accomplishment. Her latest sleeping thing is rolling over in the crib to sleep on her tummy. Most of the time she rolls over and then gets mad that she's there. We roll her onto her back and she rolls right back over. When she gets it just right, she seems very content sleeping on her tummy. Mia's top teeth have been trying to come in. She is having a little harder time with them compared to the bottom two, but she is still handling it like a trooper. I could see the whites of the two front teeth for the longest time and most recently noticed that the teeth on either side of those are also coming in. She amazes me! I felt for them this morning and can feel the two top front teeth have just barely broken through the gums. Hopefully, she will be easy on mommy.

Hangin' out in Daddy's new truck.

Clay and I have been sick with a cold for the last week and unfortunately Mia has caught it as well and is sick for the very first time. She has been sick all weekend and it is just pitiful! She can't breathe well through her nose and has a yucky cough. I am pretty sure I am not her favorite person right now because I am constantly coming at her with the snot sucker. I have gotten a little more efficient with it but it just does not get enough out and doesn't seem worth all the stress and upset it causes her. Her 6 month check up is today and hopefully the doctor can give us some pointers on relieving some of the congestion for her. I will post an update with her latest stats some time after the appointment.

5 Months Old

The Proud Parents

Where's my food and water?

Mmmm, sweet taters!

I am so cool.

Are you kidding me?! These ears are SO real!

Mia turned 5 months on December 28th. My little baby girl is growing up too fast! She's been rolling over a bit more but she's too busy trying to sit to be bothered with rolling over lately. She is not sitting up on her own but she certainly is giving it her best shot. As soon as we lie her down on her back, her head and legs are off the table trying to get back up! She is balancing herself more when sitting but does not stay that way for long. She is so much fun!

She is loving solids! We have pretty much stopped giving her rice cereal. That stuff was gross anyway. Besides the rice cereal, she has had apples, sweet potatoes, oatmeal and bananas. She loves them all and I think she's particular fond of the sweet potatoes and bananas. I can't wait to see how she likes green beans. She also tried pear juice and loves it but we are going to stay away from that for a while longer.

You can't really tell in the pictures but her hair is growing more! It's also turning a golden color which makes it harder to see in the pics. ;-) She is doing fantastic! She is so smart and so sweet and so funny! She's absolutely perfect for us!

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas! We braved the crazy people and the traffic at the mall and took Mia to meet Santa. She was absolutely perfect. We waited in line for about 20 or 30 minutes and she never once protested.



We went to church on Christmas Eve morning with Papa and Rhonda. It was a first for Mia and I believe a first for Clay and I as a couple. Mia and I spent most of the time outside listening to the music, singing and sermon. She was awfully tired and could not get comfortable sleeping on my shoulder.



After church we went to MeMe's and Mia had a good time with her cousins Erin and Reagan. She slept through the present opening but loves all her gifts.



Later that afternoon we visited Grandpa and Janice. Mia spent most of the time on Janice's hip and was all smiles. Janice gave her sweet potatoes during dinner and Mia gobbled them up. She also gave her a little taste of the yellow part of a deviled egg but Mia didn't like that too much at all. She was awake for the gift opening this time and shortly thereafter the day caught up with her and she was tired!



I gave Mia a bath and then Clay read The Night Before Christmas. We had bought the book for her and are starting a tradition of reading it every Christmas Eve. Mia loved the illustrations and between the pictures and watching her daddy read, I am not sure which one she liked the most!



We woke up Christmas morning to see what Santa left for Mia. It was so exciting! Santa left her a sweet Build-a-Bear named Claire. She is so soft and sweet and was wearing white satin bloomers, a red sweater and a white fuzzy hat. Mia loves the sound and giggles that she makes. He also left her a set of sippy cups to try for the first time and a cute teething toy that lights up and makes cute boingy noises.



After opening presents we headed to Papa's house. More excitement, delicious brunch, and more present opening. Mia missed the present opening again. All this Christmas excitement was wearing her out. She had a 2-hour nap at Papa's and she really can sleep through anything!



Mia had a great time seeing her Papa, Rhonda, aunts, uncles and cousins. She was showered with lots of attention, hugs and kisses. All the grandkids made handprint ornaments for Papa's tree and also drew pictures to make their very own Christmas plates. Clay did Mia's for her and it turned out so nice. Her little handprint looked adorable and I can't wait to see it on the tree next year.



That afternoon, GranE, uncle Danny, Emily and the kids came over for more yummy food, family time and present opening. It was nice and crowded! Joshua wanted to help bake apple pie so badly and there just was not enough room in the kitchen. Clay was helping me in the kitchen and I was quite impressed with his apple pie making abilities.



Mia slept through dinner and missed half of the present opening because she was hungry. Everyone in the whole family was very thoughtful and Mia got lots of toys, clothes, books, and very special Christmas ornaments. There's no way she can get bored, that's for sure!



In none Christmas related news, Mia is eating more rice cereal. We started feeding her twice a day and she is actually swallowing it all now. She tries to grab the spoon and feed herself and makes lots of Mmmm noises and shows that she is very pleased with the new grub. She recently tried applesauce and at first made a sour face but took to it immediately. I am very excited about making her food now.



Mia LOVES to play with her feet and as you can see she also loves putting them in her mouth. She cracks me up. She is so funny! She's a very happy and comical baby. She loves to laugh and squeal and is even rolling over a bit more. She's still getting stuck on her arm but with practice she'll "get" it. The other morning I went to check on her and she was sleeping halfway rolled over. She amazes me everyday!

20 Weeks Old

Mia now has a SECOND tooth! I saw it last night and could NOT believe it! I didn't expect the second one so soon, but then again, this is all so new to us! Tuesday was MeMe's birthday. We celebrated by meeting her and Aunt Toni for lunch at Wild Wings. Afterwards, Mia and I went shopping at Wally World. She was a perfect angel and had me laughing all over the store. She is such a little comedian.


It's been a very busy week for me at work. Our department moved to a different building and I have been busy unpacking. I love my new space. I have 3 BIG windows and a lot more privacy. It's very nice and I'm even more productive! Clay and I have pretty much run out of time on finding a new sitter. GranE and MeMe have been a huge help but unfortunately they cannot watch her every week. I really don't want to put her in a "big" daycare. I am going to first try to find someone that will watch her in our home. That would be my ideal choice next to quitting my job and concentrating solely on her. I am not that worried about it because I know it will work out in the end.


I can't believe I nearly forgot to mention that Mia tried rice cereal for the first time on Monday. She seemed to like it okay. I thought it tasted kind of nasty but I did mix is with breastmilk so it would be a little familiar in taste. I'm not sure how much she actually swallowed but it was fun trying it for the first time. I'm excited about trying real food eventually!

19 Weeks Old

This has been a busy week for Miss Mia. Last Thursday, while she was staying with GranE, she rolled over for the very first time. I almost cried when I heard. Clay and I did miss the first time but she has rolled over for us since and it's so amazing to see her do that. This morning we were playing on the floor and I noticed that her first tooth has popped through as well! Our little gummy bear is getting teeth!!! That almost made me cry, too. It is amazing children can change your priorities in the day-to-day routine and show you what is truly "important" in life.

18 Weeks Old

Somehow I missed posting for Week 17. I guess I waited and posted the 4 month in its place. Anyhoo...Mia has been staying with her GranE while I am at work and is having a ball everyday. Too bad GranE can't retire early. She's been teething and handling it very well, I might add. I'm sure her little gums are sore and achy but she is such a tough little girl. She makes me smile just to think about her and she truly is my purpose in life right now. I take one look at her and know what is truly important in life.


Clay and I went to the annual HBA holiday ball last weekend and had a very nice time. It was fun shopping for a dress and shoes. Not much to add right now. Been very busy.