Sending a message to the world...

The next President of the United States - Barack Hussein Obama.

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled, Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who’ve been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America."

Happy 15-Month B-Day Mia!

I can't believe my little girl is a walking, talking 15-month old now. Took her to her well check appointment today - she got 2 vaccinations (did not like those one bit) and found out she is 32-1/4"L (94%) and 21.3lbs (25%). She is a bean pole. Doc says she is proportionate height and weight wise, so this is okay. Looks like her body type may lean more to being long and lean.

Mia is a little shy around unfamiliar people and tends to cling onto either Pete or I for dear life in these circumstances. And she's pretty slow to warm up to scenarios that are out of her element. We're thinking partly because she spends the majority of her time all day with me, in our little routine she's comfortable with, and partly because we may just have a bit of an introvert here. Doctor says this is normal and putting her in preschool part-time in another year would be a good solution to this stranger/separation anxiety. Anyway, should be an interesting photo op with Santa next month. Yikes.

Her new favorite word is DUCKIE. Everything is duckie or doggy. Another new thing is when you ask her what sound a cat (DUCKIE!!!) makes, she meows. It's pretty darn cute. And of course we have the word balloon, more like BRROOOON. We can't get out of Publix without a friggin balloon these days. Luckily they are free over in produce. Also she is starting to say OUT! OUT! when she wants to go outside, which is a whole 'nother thing...

Mia is obsessed with going outside. Obsessed. After breakfast every morning we take Chili down to Rivercrest Park. She points out the sky, the trees and the cars. And she looooves the breeze blowing her hair all around. Usually we are in the buggy and toward the end I let her out to get on the swings and toddle around the playground, back to the car. Well she doesn't like to get back in the car. No sir. Tempers flare. This goes for being in the backyard too. She does not like to go back inside, in fact I'm convinced she'd walk around out there all day and night if it were up to her, after all she's just getting the swing of this walking thing anyway and being inside is boring. She knows perfectly well how to walk on her own. BUT she prefers to hang onto one of our fingers and lead us around where she wants to go.

When we are inside her favorite things to do are read books (especially the ones where she can identify objects like shoes, dogs, cats, frogs, bananas, etc). She loves to reorganize things, whether it be the pile of laundry in the basket, her bookshelf, etc. And opening and closing cabinets is super fun. Throwing dog food around is even more fun. She definitely gets into things she's not supposed to, testing her boundaries as toddlers do. I'm getting pretty good at redirecting her attention and showing her what's appropriate. Still, I can see the terrible two's setting in, and it scares the crap out of Pete and I. We were just saying today that we have the next year or two cut out for us with this one. She definitely lets us know when she doesn't get her way. At this point she is too small to try and reason with, so we're just trying the distraction approach and keeping our fingers crossed that she moves on.

Anyway I think I'm starting to babble now and not make much sense, it's been a long day and I have Election Eve coverage on, which is making my head spin. Hope everyone is doing well. Glad the holidays are closing in and we'll get to spend more time with a lot of you. I'll be posting Halloween pics in the next day or two, so keep on visiting.

Best Friends

Going to the World Series!!!

Congrats to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Pumpkin Patch

Fall Festival in Hyde Park with my little ballerina.

Walking proudly with her Daddy.

Pumpkin Princess. She looks a little different than last year, ha?

My sweet baby girl.

Mia's buddy Ella is afraid of pumpkins.

And apparently Mia didn't care for them too much either.

Cutie Patootie

Scrub-a-dub-dub

Her favorite time of day.

Hammin it up.

She cracks me up!

Adorable little thing.

Buggy Love

We go every morning to Rivercrest Park. These 2 love it. Me too.

Chili wishes she didn't need a leash. But so far her track record and new hip warrant one.

Different day, same buggy. Funny how she was afraid of this little car at first, but can't get enough of it now.

Chili provides good comedic entertainment.

A) How did my child get so big and -
B) Why doesn't she like the swings?

Hmmm... well I think it's the same as the beginning buggy phobia. Already since this picture was taken, she stays in the swing a lot longer and giggles the whole time. She's just unsure of things the first few times - it's gotta be on her own terms.

More Mia updates - she's starting to walk. She can stand up without holding onto anything and take 5 - 8 steps unassisted. Cutest little Frankenstein walk you've ever seen, just in time for Halloween. You can see the wheels turning in her head - she's definitely thinking each and every step through carefully. I bet in another week or two she really takes off. I'm scared though, because when she does hold onto my finger she prefers to run. So I think this little one is going to go from kinda walking to running all in the same breath.

Her favorite things right now (besides Chili and Buggy):

• Backyardigans (she dances her little butt of to their theme song)
• Guess How Much I Love You book (she shrieks at both Little and Big Nutbrown Hare)
• Raspberries (she puts too many in her mouth at once and her cheeks puff out)
• Mommy & Me Yoga Class @ Yogani (she loves to climb all over and study the other kids)
• Baby Einstein Duck toy (she bounces up and down on her butt and throws it around)
• Fisher Price vintage phone (she pushes it around the living room, runs over the cat, etc)
• Pulling all the books off her shelf (and at Barnes-n-Noble)
• Momadillas (my quick and easy version of baby-friendly quesadillas)
• Daddy/Kenya rodeo rides (she just giggles like crazy)
• Milk (no more formula - finally! we were having to mix the two for a while)
• Splashing in the dog water and throwing the dog food everywhere
• Bacon-flavored dog treats (to my horror I found her on the floor munching on one I had just put in Chili's kong a minute before)

My Cutie

Playing at International Mall today. Notice the shorter bangs - I snipped them yesterday while she was "reading" a book. I'm leaving the mullet in the back though because it's starting to curl a bit. Such a sweetie, this little person of mine.

Back with More Mia!

Things have been busy. CRAZY busy. Between caring for Chili post-surgery, chasing Mia and rearranging everything into our new garage, I've completely neglected the blog. Sorry. I'm going to post some pics of the last few weeks and catch everyone up with all of my adventures in Mialand. And pics of the garage are coming soon.

Here is Miss Thang at the Aquarium Explore-a-Shore outdoor splash park, or as I like to call it, the Germarium. This place is like a big petri dish, but whatever. Mia loves it. Nothing like splashing around on a hot, humid afternoon, without a care in the world...

What do you mean it's time to go???

Yes, Chili pays attention during story time too.

No more Mr. Quackers! Somebody outgrew him and is in the big girl tub now. She has lots of fun with her foam letters. Her favorite is to see how many she can get to stick to the top of her head.

Look Ma, I've got a lot of stuff to get around to today... baby needs her bottle, my shapes have to be sorted and many buttons on many toys have to be pressed over and over and over again.

And I've got to read this whole book before nap time.

(these were taken after our mommy yoga class and all the girls kept laughing about her hair)

Give me that camera!!!

Mia kicks off the new season in Uncle Corey's birthday present - her very own Bucs cheerleading uniform.

How cute is she????

Tell me Garcia didn't just throw an interception.

Typical Bucs shenanigans!!!

Sweating her butt off at her friend Ella's birthday party in Philippe Park.

My little - yet long - baby girl.

I love her hair in this one.

Baby Rage

Keri and Jamie got her this tent for her birthday, which we unfolded weeks ago when we thought we needed to "hunker down" for some hurricane heading this way. She loves hanging out in there, as do Chili and Mookie.

Cute Picture

Just had to share :)

Chili's Big Adventure

Chili had a major boo-boo last weekend. While up in Annapolis we had a friend house sit. Somehow Chili went missing from about midnight Sunday until mid-morning Monday. Luckily she was found and brought home (we had a cavalry of people looking for her). A woman spottd her approx. 8 blocks away on the corner of a busy street. Unfortunately Chili was hit by a car and had her little hip shattered.

On Wednesday she had bone fragments removed from her hip, as well as the top of her femur, since it was dislocated with the impact. The surgery was successful and she is expected to make a full recovery with her new hip. You can see here in the pic she had all her buddies very concerned. Even Miss Little was snuggling with her. So far she's been taking it very easy. We've been showering her with lots of treats, hugs and kisses. She gets 2 different pain medications twice daily, as well as antibiotics for her wounds and road rash.

We are very lucky to have our little Bionic Smooshy Face Chili Vanilli still here. For a moment there on Monday I thought that was it - another pet in an urn on our shelf. But she's alright. She may walk a little funny for some time, and that's okay. She'll still be snoring, farting and making us laugh, as usual. Anyone is welcome to stop by and spoil her some more. She's loving all the attention.

Annapolis, Maryland

Pete's company flew us up for the weekend. Annapolis is a beautiful town - home of the US Naval Academy and many quaint restaurants and fun boutiques. We had a wonderful time strolling around with Mia. She's already becoming quite the little traveler. Other than one or two over-tired, end of the day outbursts, she did great.

Here I am with my little side-kick. She was helping me navigate with the tourist info map.

Just a block or two from our hotel.

Little square where they had an outdoor farmer's market. We bought some olive bread, goat cheese and wine to enjoy back at the hotel.

Resting by the Chesapeake Bay.

Mia thought the grass was way weird.

Enjoying the breeze and comfortable temperature.

I think it was parent's weekend or orientation at the Naval Academy.

Somebody was all pooped out, but wouldn't nap in the room - stroller did the trick though.

Mia looooved the cookies at the Jewell & Associates picnic.

Ready for bed after a long day of site-seeing (we brought along her pack-n-play, but she liked to cuddle in our bed with a little Olympics on).

My 2 favorite people.

Big girl in her high chair.

Adorable.

Hammin it up.

View from our hotel room terrace.

Monkeys are not allowed on terraces.