Daddy's Home

Mike is home from California, where he spent the last eight days for work. It was a very busy time for me, but I managed with the help of our parents (thank you all SO MUCH!!).

On my birthday Mom and I took Mia to see Tangled for the second time. That girl is all about "princess-es-es". She's told us she is no longer Mia, she's "Jasmine", and we are to call her such. She's also declared Grace to be her prince, Aladdin. She piles Grace with blankets and lays all over her, reading her stories.

Mia's imagination is rapidly developing. I love to sit and listen to her play with her dolls. She spins some great tales! She has become quite the chatterbox and will ask me question after question and comment on my responses for entire car rides. She's definitely about "telling stories" these days too! When she spills milk on herself she tells me Cara did it. She also tells me of the great adventures she and Cara have at school (Cara, of course, is still in Cincinnati!).

She's so happy to have her daddy home. Tonight when he picked her up from school she told him she wanted to go get barbecue, like she did with her mommy while he was gone (note: Mommy and Mia have never gone to get barbecue just the two of us!). So Mike took her to eat and I met them there. She chattered away while we ate, keeping us and the other restaurant patrons entertained. I drove her home and in the car she asked me where her daddy went. I said he was on his way home too. She replied, "Good, so we can be a family." She is so sweet.

Toenail Massacre

Mia and I just gave each other pedis. Good thing it's winter!

Christmas 2010

As usual, we had an amazing Christmas. This year was so much more fun, however, because of Mia's excitement. She knew who Jesus was, and that it was his birthday we were celebrating. She knew Santa was coming, and she even received a special video message from him. She knew to watch the sky on Christmas Eve in case she caught a glimpse of Santa's sleigh. It was so much fun!

The only damper on the holiday was that she was sick. Even though she started a new antibiotic on Monday, school called us Wednesday to pick her up. She was lethargic, her eyes were glassy, she was pale with purple rings under her eyes, and her temp was approaching 103. We have battled that every day until today. A couple nights we had to give her cool sponge baths to get her fever down. She also slept with me every night because her lethargy and chills were scaring me so much that I didn't want her out of my sight. We are heading back to the doctor today to get her other ear cleaned and discuss the reinsertion of tubes.

As for Christmas, we were all spoiled, in typical fashion! We spent Christmas Eve afternoon at Mom and Bruce's. Mia and Cara had a blast together. Some gift highlights from there included a MobiGo and games, her first fishing pole and tackle box, costume jewelry, play-doh, and a crow call (thanks for that, Grumpy! ) After Mom's, Mia's fever spiked again so we had to skip the Wilson gathering to get Mia home and to bed for a nap. That night after she was feeling better, we went to the Robbins'. Some of the things Mia got include Barbie clothes, a big dollhouse, stickers, sequined boots, Candy Land and hair accessories. Unfortunately by the time we got home Mia's fever was high again, so we had to do a sponge bath. Mommy and Daddy set out snacks for Santa and the reindeer on Mia's behalf.

On Christmas morning, I actually had to wake Mia up to tell her Santa had come. She was pretty worn out from the night before. She walked out to see her "big princesses and two castles" that she'd requested on each visit to Santa. She was so excited! Santa also brought her a basketball hoop, a CD and some more Barbie clothes. Mommy and Daddy also got her new princess pjs and two barbies.

After breakfast we made our way out to Dad and Sue's for breakfast. After we completely stuffed ourselves (my favorites were bacon, biscuits and gravy, and tomato pie), the girls tore into the wrapping paper full force! Mia got an art easel with paint, chalk and markers. She also got more play doh, another MobiGo game and pjs. She and Cara had a blast playing together.

The best Christmas present for all of us was the news that Missy, Paul and the girls will be moving back home. They will be moving to our neighborhood and hopefully the girls will be going to daycare together very soon. There is even a chance Missy could work at Norton with me. Keep saying your prayers for us!

Twas the week before Christmas

Well, last week was full of snow and ice, and subsequently full of Mommy and Mia time. We had a great time at home together, although she didn't quite understand why I couldn't play with her like I normally do (I was working while I was at home). We still found time to make cupcakes, snuggle and play with her princess dolls though.

Friday was Mia's annual Christmas party at school. She was really excited about seeing Santa this year! She and all her friends sang Rudolph to welcome Santa, and Santa surprised her with the new Shrek movie. On Saturday, cousins Cara and Ramsey came to visit and Mia had a wonderful time showing Cara all her toys. While they were here Missy and Paul got a phone call from the realtor stating that they may be getting a contract on their house. We are all crossing our fingers they move back home really soon!

The past few days Mia's been fussy and I've suspected she's never gotten over her double ear infection. Mike took her to the doctor today and sure enough, the infection is still there. They had to use water to remove the wax in her right ear and they found that the tube is no longer in place. Since she hasn't been complaining about the left ear they didn't remove wax there, but we'll go back in a few weeks for that. If the tubes are no longer effective and she continues to get ear infections, we may have to do another round of tubes. :-(

Kayfield Christmas Party

Mia's #2 Recital

Busy Weekend

What an eventful weekend! Yesterday was Mia's tap dancing debut. She displayed her stellar skills in front of hundreds - including all six of her grandparents and her uncle Matt and cousin Emie - at the Kayfield Academy Annual Christmas Play. As she is not a one-trick pony, Mia also wowed with her vocal chops, belting out "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer". Granny recorded a video diary of the event, which includes Mia running wild throughout the lobby of the auditorium (she could hardly contain her excitement) and Mommy carrying her off stage (she saw me in the audience and started crying when they told her she needed to walk off with her friends). Following the show, Mommy and Daddy treated Mia to a breakfast of Krispy Kreme doughnuts. They were yummy!

Last night we went to the home of Mia's idol, Chloe, for the UK/IU basketball game. Mia was finally old enough to go off and play with the girls while we watched the game. It was so odd to not have her in our eyesight the entire time, but was also the first time I watched the majority of a ball game since she's been born!

This morning was my annual girls brunch at Lynn's with my high school friends. Best friends and bacon...does it get any better than that? This afternoon we celebrated Christmas with Mom's family at her house. Mia had some distant cousins to play with, and it was snowing so she got to run around outside catching snowflakes on her tongue.

One other thing of note is that Mia usually calls for "Mommy" when she needs something, but if I'm not here she catches herself and it comes out "Moddy". Mike and I have laughed at it enough that she's started calling him Moddy to entertain us. In response, he's started calling her "Mandy", which she also thinks is funny. So they've got this cute little inside joke of Moddy and Mandy.