Mia turned a very big two

Our little December baby

A Little bit of sister time

Oh yeah- she came part cute and part mischievous.

She had a birthday meal at Ihop.

"Mom, one sucker is not enough for a big girl like me"

Little miss fit

'Nuf said.

Yay for video

I Finally have video!! I have figured out how to post it . This was the first time Mia went on a swing! We were in Spokane for a warm summers day.

Mia's new hobby

She has a 5 dollar violin she carts around. She really thinks she is big time. Whenever she wants to play she says: bow, bow. Its pretty cute.

Its all about taking a bow when she is done. Ahh to only look cute for five seconds, bend over and get applause for it!

Happy birthday Mia Joy

This is one of Mia's 3 most common facial expressions, the other two being a hungry face which is NOT good, and a determined face which depending on the situation is either destructive to my house or funny.


Oh to be so snug and cozy.


"You better watch out, I'm watching you."

WOW if you want to have a year go by fast...have a baby. This year has gone so fast for me. We have a sweet little one year old toddling around our house. She has been such a joy in our home. She is learning all kinds of new tricks like giving kisses, waving goodbye, clapping, WALKING, emptying everything (did you just move? She can help unpack, she may not put it where you want it to go) and she also laughs heartily. She also has a fake laugh, which she inserts in conversations whenever she feels the need of a little attention, mostly at the dinner table.

She is the only one of my kids to pull out the outlet "child proof" protectors in the wall. The only one to walk this early. She looks very similar to what Emma did as a baby, but she has her own curiosity and Marshall's street smarts. She loves Zachary and giggles most freely with him. In fact I think he was the first one to get her to belly laugh.

She loves to climb on the dishwasher door when Im doing dishes, we used to play a game where I take her back to her bedroom and I run out to put as many dishes as I can until she reaches it again then we do the process over until they are done. She is way too fast now and so I get to do dishes when she is napping. She is learning to dance to Christmas music. She loves to play on the piano, in fact I can't sit down at the piano bench without her coming strait over wanting up to play too. It is really fun to hear her plucking on it throughout the day. She prefers the high notes of course, so I'll hear PLING PLING PLING. It has been a great year for our family to see her grow, and for the older children to ask questions about when they were a baby and see her growth.

Now what to do about a Christmas tree this year with a curious little darling.....I have a few options, put a 12 inch tree on the table, put one inside a portable crib, or hang one from the ceiling!

The happiest girl

Our Mia Joy is so fun to have around. She is very easy to smile and giggling isn't too far away. She is crawling EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING, wanting to walk just to keep up with the others. She was standing, holding on to the furniture and just let go. She looked as if she had been standing on her own forever. It's good to see those chunky legs are now going to good use.

Welcome Baby Mia Joy

She joined us last Sunday, weighing 7lbs 10oz. She was 10 days late, but had to be born in December to get her middle name. We weren't planning on giving her one, but Ryan and I both looked at each other and we both knew she needed one. The next day I said to him how about Joy? Two hours later my mom came in and said I thought of a perfect middle name... Joy. That sealed the deal. My dad also said it's a family name which was important to us. She is truly a sweet thing. She really got the nursing thing down and is a pretty good sleeper... at least for now. It is really great to have a newborn in our home again. Her brothers and sister love her to pieces and are really great. We are so thankful for all the help we have recieved and feel very blessed.