Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a bit chaotic this year as Rob's grandmother had some complications with her illness and family plans were changing every 1/2 hour or so. Mia did get a chance to spend some wonderful quality time with her cousins.

They had an amazing dance party (Bitty Baby included)


Mia and Raskal bonded some more.
And, Mia and Maddie had a great time making their own music. I believe there was even a building block parade where the two of them marched around the house clapping their blocks together.
Mom and Dad really enjoyed the cousin quality time, too. We had lovely adult conversations and didn't have to run around after Mia in the middle. (Thanks Maddie!!)

Baby Alan Photos

We finally have pictures of Baby Alan W G!

Alan with His Daddy

Alan with His Nina

Alan with his Taid

Alan and his mommy are finally home from the hospital and Nina has stayed in Spain for one more week to help Mom and Dad.

You can see more pictures of Baby Alan on Nina and Taid's Website

From "No Dog, No" to Where's Raskal?

While Rob's parents were in Spain, their dog, Raskal, came to stay with us. As frequent blog readers know, Mia has not been too keen on dogs (See this post from last February and this one from June). Though two weekends ago, she went from crying to tolerant of Grandma and Grandpa's dogs in South Carolina. And this weekend, Mia completely changed her attitude towards Raskal.

Before I picked Mia up from day care yesterday, I dropped Raskal back off at home because Taid was going to be home from Spain later that evening.

Last night, Mia got home from day care and started looking for Raskal. When I explained to her that Raskal was at home, at Nina and Taid's house, she said, "Go Nina." I explained that Nina was still in Spain taking care of Baby Alan. Then it was, "Go Taid." I explained that Taid wasn't home from the airport yet. Then, "Go Raskal. Outside." I explained that Raskal was waiting for Taid to get home because he missed Taid and wanted to see him tonight. She was a bit disappointed when we didn't get in the car.

This morning, she saw Raskal's tennis ball and started looking for the dog again to give him his ball. She kept pointing upstairs, as Raskal tends to like to sit at the top of the stairs. Rob explained that Raskal went home to be with Taid. She then told us that Taid should bring Raskal over.

We have hope that when we someday get a dog, Mia will still believe that we love her and it isn't a punishment.

Welcome to the World Alan W G

Mia has a new cousin!!

Uncle Allan and Tia Raquel now have a wonderful baby boy, Alan W G. At 5lbs 8 oz and 18 inches, he is a happy, healthy baby.

Nina and Taid head out to Spain on Friday to meet their new grandson. We hope to fly out in February to meet the newest family member.

Visiting the Fam

We had a wonderful long weekend in South Carolina visiting Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Kate, Uncle Matt, Ellie, and even Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa.

After traveling and then a quiet Friday afternoon, we went to the local quilt show on Saturday to see Grandma's quilt.
The Aiken Historical Museum staff let us know that there was a carriage parade going on outside. We ran out and got a few pictures of the neat carriages, horses, and women's hats.

Ellie was quite a blast as you can see by how much fun she had wearing her pants on her head.

Mia adored her little cousin. All she wanted to do was talk to her and play with her. Ellie also loved her big cousin and gave many open-mouth kisses.

Party at Noah's

We spent Saturday night at Noah's house having dinner with Mia's crew (and their parents' too). The kids got the seats of honor and got to eat at the table, while the parents ate 2nd tier nearby.


Noah's mom baked some wonderful cupcakes (that were actually good for you)! All the kids loved them.
After dinner was more playing. Noah took all of his toys out of his big basket and thought it would be great to play in it.

Mia thought the idea was pretty cool. We're not sure how Noah felt about the company.
Rob was a big hit during story time.

A big thanks to Jennifer and Darren for a wonderful night!

The Morning After

Everyone knows Halloween can be a bit rough on a kid; the let down after all the excitement, no more parties, realizing you have to wait a whole year before you can go door-to-door again. This morning, Mia woke up and decided she had relive Halloween by putting on her costume again. It seemed to be best to slowly leave Halloween by reading the newspaper after eating breakfast.