A New Sweater

Mia got a hand-knit sweater and hat from Grandma. They are beautiful and the color looks wonderful on Mia.

Spain

We had a wonderful time visiting Allan, Raquel, and baby Alan at their home in Zamora, Spain. We spent most of our time in Zamora and took some day trips to nearby cities and villages.

Mia loved being able to spend time with her Uncle Allan, Tia Raquel, and Cousin Alan. We also had a wonderful time with them. This was Mara's first trip to Spain and we were able to get to see a lot of the local history and sites. We have lots of pictures of various sites, but have mostly posted pictures with people here. (Click here for a direct link to the album.) Let us know if you'd like to see all of those.

We can't wait until the Spaniards come to visit us in just a few short weeks.

Big Bed

Mia has officially moved into a big bed.

She even has a quilt especially made for her bed by Grandma.

Good-bye Raskal

Raskal was put to sleep last night after sudden complications from a previously undetected heart tumor.  We'll all miss him terribly - he was an exceptionally well-behaved, loving and playful dog.

I will remember him for poking his nose around the corner and sulking to the back of the house when we would show up with Mia, barking furiously at anyone who went into the pool and being so patient with Mia as she learned how to pet a dog.

In Memoriam

Mary Elizabeth "Betty" W

October 20, 1917-February 2, 2009

This picture was taken at Grammie's 90th birthday party when Mia was 4 months old.

Random January Pictures

We have just a few random pictures to post from January. Hope you enjoy.

Mia hanging out in the kitchen.

Mia playing

Mia really loves her ball.

Welcome to the world Andrew Nicholas

Congratulations to our wonderful friends and now proud parents Nick and Betsy!!

Andrew Nicholas

January 26, 2009 1:33pm

6 Pounds, 0 Ounces

20 Inches long

Baby Brother

Mia found out today that she's getting a little baby brother in June (or there about).

Hair Styles

Since Mia had the flu this week and Daddy has had to work a lot, Mia and Mommy have spent a lot of time together. Saturday, it was still too early in Mia's recovery to go anywhere so Mommy decided to see if Mia's hair would go up in pigtails. It did and seemed to stay in, until Mia found a moment when Mommy wasn't looking and pulled the rubber bands right out. Oh well, it was cute while it lasted.

18 Month Update

Mia had her 18 month well-baby visit today. Despite having the flu earlier this week and not eating for 4 days, she's a happy, healthy little girl who has clearly grown quite a bit.

The Stats
Height - 31 1/2 inches (up 1")
Weight - 21 lbs 6 oz (up 8 oz)
Head - 18 1/3 inches

Trip to the Zoo

During our vacation, we took a trip to the National Zoo with our friends Noah and Noah's mom Jennifer. The kids had a great time together, especially in the indoor exhibits.

Noah and Mia are watching the tortoises.

A close up for size comparison. These are huge animals.

Three pandas were outside eating, enjoying the sunny day.

Mia in her Christmas dress

Christmas Morning

A couple shots of Mia from this morning

Christmas Eve

Mia: "Please, please, please Daddy, can I have a present?"

[Later] Grandma: "OK, Let's lets Mia open one present tonight"

Mia: "Playing is serious business"

Mia: "Shhhh... Night, night - time to go to bed so Santa can come"

Mia's First Haircut

It was finally time. The hair in Mia's eyes was just driving everyone crazy and she pulled every type of hair contraption out.

Mia wasn't perfectly happy until she had to walk into the front door. Then the crying started. I have no idea why, but she apparently doesn't like the look of hair salons. After a reassuring hug to Bitty Baby (brought along for the needed emotional support), we sat in the chair together. Mia also got to hold onto a comb so she would have both hands occupied and far away from the scissors.
In no time at all, we could see Mia's eyes again and everything was evened up.

Don't worry, her curls are still there. Thanks for being so patient, Julie!
Funny enough, when it was time to go, Mia refused to leave. She laid down on the floor and I had to carry her out. Who knows what is going on in that girl's head...

"Meme" - The Tagging Blogger Game?

Yes, we have succumb to some sort of tag on the internet, courtesy of Sienna's mom, Mimi. Here's how it goes...

The Rules
-Link to the person who tagged you.
-Post the rules on your blog.
-Write 6 random things about yourself.
-Tag 6-ish people at the end of your post.
-Let each person know he/she has been tagged (or let them get tagged by reading your blog).
-Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

6 Random Things about Me

1. Like Mimi, I worked on interesting projects in school. I am a physicist and engineer by education (and yes, I know I don't practice either of those in my current line of work). In engineering school, I worked on a design for a quick release shot gun mount for police cars and a disability friendly speed hump. (Btw, a speed hump is different than a speed bump, if you didn't know.)

2. I will take a cheesecake over any other cake any day of the week, followed closely by carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. (Seeing a trend here?) At our wedding, we had a small traditional cake, but many single cheesecakes and carrot cakes. Sadly, by the time Rob and I made it to the desserts there was no more cheesecake left. I did at least get some carrot cake.

3. When I was in college, my dad was running a company that turned recycled paper into alternative products (think kitty litter, etc). On vacations, I would work in the warehouse and have driven a skid steer and used a welding torch. (Clearly, no gender bias issues in my family.)

4. In high school, I volunteered for the local opera company. My aunt worked there and in return for volunteering at various fundraisers, I got to attend the operas for free.

5. I'm a sucker for a good cop/murder mystery paperback. At this point, the only time I get to read is in airports and hotel rooms when I travel. Since my brain is typically dead during those times, they are also about all I can manage to intellectually process.

6. The most listened to items on my iPod are the "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" podcast and an assortment of audio books. Even though Mia is sleeping through the night at this point, my body still wakes up. So, I pop in the headphones and fall asleep to one of the books in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series or Bill Bryson's assortment of books. I'm asleep in no time instead of laying awake in bed thinking about my long list of to do's.

OK, now that I've completely embarrassed myself to anyone who reads this blog, here are the people I'm tagging. (This is hard as Mimi took some of my best candidates so I am only putting up 5. Sorry guys.)

1. Susan (of Matt and Susan's Blog)
2. Kristen (of Santa Barbara Blabey's aka Cyanne's Blog)
3. Karen (of Introducing...Baby G aka Anna G's Blog)
4. Christine (of Kiera and Cody's Blog)
5. Laurel (of Adleigh's Blog)

Good luck Meme-ing!!

And the ornaments were hung on the tree with care...

Ok, it is supposed to be the stocking being hung by the chimney, but our stockings are hung on our railing as we don't have a mantle on the fireplace yet. Instead, we'll talk trees and ornaments.

The Christmas Tree finally went up this weekend. Mia was thrilled and found the tree fascinating.

She "helped" hang some ornaments, but we found her patience and willingness to stay away from the glass ornaments only lasted a few minutes. So, Mia got dinner and watched us hang ornaments from her high chair. This produced a much happier little girl and definitely more relaxed parents.
Happy Holidays!

Christmas Card 2008

We are a little slow getting our Christmas Card out this year so here is the sneak preview!!

Christmas Wish List

Mia is here, hard at work, figuring out what she is going to ask Santa for.

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!!)