Not too sick for love

Mia ALWAYS gets sick with the flu in December/January.  Never fails.  Her first year she got sick right before Christmas, last year it was a couple of weeks after Christmas and this year...well, today was the day.  She's still in good spirits, though, as you can tell by these pictures where she's so aggressively loving her Ziggy.  It's okay, though.  He likes the Mia abuse love.  It wouldn't be a brother-sister relationship without some teasing, right?

Teaching Ziggy to count...that's very important, ya know

More teasing...

 ♥ She's his girl & he's her boy ♥

Looking back...

Mia will be three years old in exactly one month

 

My, how time flies...

Beautiful Day

The week and days before Christmas gave us such weird and wet weather, but that's all changed.  It has been beautiful and sunny for the last few days now, so we are taking advantage of it!

If she wasn't strange, she wouldn't be Mia

Mighty Mia

You're this close to getting bubble-wrapped, kid!

Daddy showing Mia how to perfect her dare-devilism...he would know

Merry Christmas

Mia loves Christmas, like me, and we spent the weeks leading up to it watching Christmas movies, learning Christmas songs, decorating and just learning what the holiday's all about.  She can sing "Jingle Bells", "Santa Clause is Coming to Town", "We wish you a Merry Christmas" and maybe one or two others I can't think of right now.  We just had a lot of fun with it and I'm glad she's at an age now where she can relate and enjoy it all.

So late Christmas Eve/early Christmas morning, I stayed up making preparations for Santa.  Last minute wrapping, bowing, milk and cookies, etc.  Mia was so excited that Santa was going to come and so was I!  I couldn’t wait to see her little face when she saw that Santa had brought her what she so wanted since she was such a good girl... 

...and she is a good girl.  She has her moments, but overall, we have a really good kid on our hands.  I make no excuses for her terrible two’s and she can throw a mean fit with the best of them, but I know that’s part of a phase for her in her little life .  She’s sweet and so funny – always wanting to make people laugh or laugh along with others.  She doesn’t like to see others hurt or cry and she just always has a good nature about her.  She'll talk to anyone who's willing and isn't scared or intimidated or snooty towards people.  Most of the time she's in a good mood - rarely moody or sulky.  She’s always loud and full of life, which I love about her.  She’s just a cool, weird, goofy little girl.  And theoretically, I want to give her the world…buuut then I don’t.  We found that out the hard way last year at Christmas and then her birthday.  She just ripped through gifts like there was no tomorrow and that really bugged me.  I didn’t want to have that kid.  I didn’t think she was one of those kids because of those two occasions, but it did scare me and the light bulb clicked on (Hello, McFly!).  I knew that she was probably overstimulated, a little defensive and she was just TWO.  But still, this year I set a limit on the gifts we got her (too much is too much) and really stressed to her beforehand that she needed to say thank you to everyone and be happy with what she has. (And she did a really good job - yay!)  

SO...Santa wanted to get her her wish for Christmas, which was her pink bike.  Now, we saw a LOT of bikes, but one stood out amongst the rest, not only to us, but to Miss Mia.  We’ve been buying her little muscle cars and classic cars since she was old enough to play with them, sort of as a joke to see how many different makes and models we could find every time we came across them, but it seems to have rubbed off on the child.  She saw this and immediately wanted it (hell, I immediately wanted it).  It seems she has an affinity for old-school chrome like her Mommy :o)

There it was, nestled under the tree, fresh off of Santa’s sleigh.  How adorable is that?

Yes, it's a Schwinn.  That's why it has that classic look.  They had red, blue and pink to choose from.  She went back and forth between the pink and red, but ultimately set her heart on the pink.  And when she woke up, I was ready with the video camera.  I wanted to capture her real-time reaction since this was her first Christmas of really understanding it all.  She cautiously walked to the living room, peeked around the corner and gasped saying, "Santa brought me a bike!"  She immediately got on it and started riding it!  What?  I mean, I knew she wasn't brand new to the concept of pedaling, but this trike is a little heavy and I didn't think she'd just get the hang of it right off.  As she rode it around she said, "This is just what I always wanted!  Thank you, Santa!  Thank you!  Thank you!"  She looked so darn cute.  

It was hard getting her off of it to open the rest of her presents, but she finally brought herself around.  She got lots of cute things, but my favorite (besides her trike) was her LeapFrog Scribble & Write.  I knew I would get her that as soon as I saw it and I knew she would love it.  She's a smart little cookie and I love finding neat educational toys that I know she'll take to.  She's known her ABC's and 1-10 since she was 18 months and has only learned more since then, but this teaches little ones to use fine motor skills to write letters and draw shapes by tracing the lights that appear on the screen and she's already a little pro at it.  It's really helping her learn to write them out and associate her letters and the difference between capitals and lower-case.  Love it!

Playing her fishing game...still....

It's funny how kids will find the cheapest thing you get them and put all their attention on that, like it's the greatest thing ever.  She did that with her little wind-up magnetic fishing game that came atop a candy tube in her stocking.  Really, Mia?  You have a sweet ass bike over there in the corner, remember?  She remembered, but that game was just too alluring for a while there.  Guess we'll have to get her the full-sized version one of these days.

Our two little ones' stockings.  Ziggy loved his treats and especially his squeaky pirate bird

"Come on.  Let's go for a ride."

Mia's so proud of her Daddy and she'll usually pick out a gift for him that has to do with his profession, which he Loves.  She spotted this out of all the nutcracker characters on the shelves.  And although she sometimes still calls them "bad boys", she now knows that her Daddy is a "police officer".  He loved it and thought this guy looked pretty hardcore with his stache and white goatee.

After we opened gifts at home, we went to Grandma and Papa's house to have a yummy breakfast and watch the kids open gifts.  Mia got a pretty jacket, a game and that cute little Alphie The Robot, which I know she'll love and learn from.  We visited and Mia played with her cousins and tested everyone's toys...just to make sure they were working properly, of course  ;o)

Yes, that's my child.  Naked in leopard boots with toys spread around her at the end of a long Christmas Day.  Good times  :o)

 Overall, it was such a wonderful Christmas - definitely the best one yet.

Christmas Eve Fun

This Christmas was the best yet.  We had fun getting ready for it and when it finally came, it was all we hoped it would be.  This year, we had my family’s Christmas Eve party at our house so I spent the week before decorating, making decorations and finishing up the unpacking (yes, we were still unpacking!).  Of course, when I say I finished "unpacking", I mean I waited until the last minute and then just threw everything in the garage  :-D

I didn’t want to spend lots on decorations so I got crafty with paper.  Lots of snowflakes (like 60!) and paper fan flowers made from scrapbook paper that I found in the dollar section of Target.  They turned out really cute and I love the way our house looks at Christmastime.  This house has an especially homey feel to it (just ignore the, uh, 70s-chic kitchen...), so that makes it all the more comfy.  So I took what pictures I could get in the week before, but I didn't get a before picture on that day of the buffet or table setup with the yummy food; only an after...it all happened so fast!

Our beautiful tree!  Notice the empty patches from all the - ahem - mysterious rearranging of ornaments that went down...

Mia's very interested in the story of the real reason behind Christmas.  She keeps taking pieces of the set and coveting them lol.  She also thought Jesus should have a birthday party with balloons and cake.  How sweet.

And the party was so much fun.  I loved spending time with my family and watching the kids open gifts.  Among other goodies, Mia got cute clothes from her Mimi and the awesome skates she wanted from her Aunt and Uncle.  She kept saying, "Just what I wanted!  This is awesome!"  She had more appreciation for her gifts this year, which is a relief for us.

Mia and her Daddy left for a while so she could go exchange gifts at her GG Carol’s Christmas Eve party.  She came back with cute books, colors and PJs (which she just had to wear that night) and the most adorable fairy ornament ever.  It resembles Mia with her pale skin and complicated blonde/brown/red hair  :o)

...and yeah, that's me in the corner there...my four-year-old mad-scientist grin.  So that's where Mia gets it from...  >:-D

By the time they got back to our house, Mia was pretty done!  It had been a full day of excitement and she was ready for sleepy time.  But first, we finished our gingerbread house.  Liz did most of it, but there was lots of supervision – er – suggestions on what to do :o)  It turned out great except for that one ghetto window on the second floor.  Ezra said there wasn’t a chimney, so Santa had to break a window!  Lol…there's something wrong with that boy.  Kidding.  It was a lot of fun.  The only thing Mia did was put a few stepping stones on at the very end because her and Abi were busy with coloring.  Coloring on what is a different story…

So all good things must come to an end and everyone went home to get ready for the big day.  And it was off to bed for the little ones until the morning when it was finally Christmas!

Visit with Santa

Mia’s Santa visit was the sweetest thing.  She was so very excited to go and see him and I was relieved when we were the only ones in line, which meant I wouldn’t have to wait with an exploding-at-the-seams child for a long time.  There was a little baby, not even a year old, taking his picture with Santa in front of us and that baby would not smile for anything, no matter what they did – and they did a lot.  So Mia and I patiently waited, which was hard because as soon as she saw Santa Clause, she wanted to attack him.  I explained that everyone wanted to see Santa and we were next, but had to wait our turn.  So we waited and waited and waited.  That baby really didn’t want to smile.  They finally settled for what they could get and so I got my camera ready to take exploding shots of my wild child.  I heard a loud noise from above, but didn’t pay that much attention because I had more important things to worry about at the moment like getting my camera at the ready for Mia who was now literally jumping in place with excitement.  But when I saw one of the assistants cover the camera with a cloth I snapped-to and heard another one say “Here comes the snow!”  Excuse me?  This is not only So-Cal, but we were indoors, so I was momentarily confused.  But then there it was – snow!  Of course it wasn’t snow-snow, but it was foam snow, which was just as exciting for us.  Mia was so thrilled, she just had to share the news of snow with everyone (as if they didn’t know).  First me, then a woman standing next to us, and then – there he was – a child-free Santa.  The baby had now gone and Santa had no idea what he was in for.  Mia saw him; he saw her.  Their eyes connected and she started hollering while jumping to see over the poinsettias, “Santa!  It’s snowing!”   

She wasn’t sure if he could hear her over the noise from above, so she cautiously walked the path to him.  She looked back at me for the okay and once she rounded the corner, she went full speed and attacked him with a hug before I could even say, “Mia slow down!”  I cringed, half-expecting Santa to be knocked out of his big green chair, but he didn’t skip a beat and caught her in his arms.  Damn, he’s good.  And he really was good.  He’s the same Santa that’s been there every Christmas since we took Mia her first year.  He not only looks the part, but he’s so very kind and loving with the kids.  Truly a nice man.  So Mia hugged him for a long time.  She had so much built-up excitement, she just had to get that bear hug out of her system.  He just hugged her back and talked to her while letting her have her long moment of embrace.   

She finally looked up at him and started immediately talking to him while staring at him in awe.  In the midst of trying to take pictures and talk to the assistants, I didn’t hear everything from their conversation but I heard a few bits and pieces including:  “Santa, I’m so glad to see you! – Look, it’s snowing! – Santa, Mamma curled my hair to come see you! – Do you live in the North Pole? – Are you gonna bring me a present!?”  He sweetly spoke to her and answered with all the sweet answers you’d expect from Santa Clause.  When he asked her what she wanted for Christmas she froze.  She had only been telling me for a month now what she wanted from Santa, but now she was frozen with a smile on her face.  Maybe she was just taking in the moment because she then excitedly said, “I want a pink bike!”  Santa asked her if she’d been a good girl, to which she boisterously laughed, then replied, “Yeeaaah.”  That made Santa laugh because it was obviously such a mischievous answer!  Him laughing made her laugh even more as she told him, "Santa, you're so silly!"  What a ham.  He really got a kick out of her and he told me she was a little treasure.  How sweet.  :-)

 

She was hesitant to say goodbye, but was okay with it after I told her other kids were waiting their turn to see him.  She said bye and they waved to each other until we could no longer see him.  After we were on our way home, Mia kept talking about Santa non-stop.  She then got quiet for a moment and said, "Thanks Mamma!  This was the best day ever!"  I wish I could have recorded it all, but the memory will always be with me – and I hope with her, too.