New words!

As of yesterday when playing with her grandparents, Mia can now say "Good Girl", "Dog", and sometimes "cheese". She also now says "mama" more than she used to say but still loves to say dada more than anything! :)

Doctor's last week

Well I took Mia to the doctors last Thursday the 14th, b/c she sounded a bit congested still and coughing a little. I also wanted to be sure it wasn't an earache which it wasn't. The NP said Mia was fine and to keep giving her pedicare. She said it will eventually go away and it's nothing serious. At that appt, Mia weighed a bit over 20lbs w/ clothes on (20lbs 4oz I think). She screamed when we put her on the baby scale so they had to weigh me holding Mia. I won't tell you how much I weighed though. ;) As of this past week, Mia is no longer congested and not coughing. Her nose is a bit runny, but that's due to all the teeth she is getting at once. I can't believe it took over a month for her congested to go away!

New things, Teeth!

Well since yesterday, Josh taught Mia how to say No and Yes...with her head! haha! Yeap she can shake her head yes and no when we ask her...it's cute!

Also, Mia's getting another bottom molar, this one on the right side which has caused her to have a runny nose and a bit of congestion. She wasn't too cranky when it broke through a few days ago thankfully. Mia was def cranky when the other molars were coming in a couple weeks ago. So now she has 6 teeth coming in!

Mia is also getting better in the childcare center at my gym. Since yesterday, they have not paged me which is fine w/ me! She did however get her 1st bump there when she stood on the kiddie couch/chair and fell when one of the girls looked away for a second. They kept trying to get Mia to sit instead of stand, but it was too late when the girl when to catch her. They said she screamed when they went to put ice on it so they just let Mia play and she was fine. Mia now has a brush burn on the top of her forehead and it seems like it's not going to bruise thankfully.

Back in Cali :)

Hola Mis Amigos and Familia,

Well we are back in Cali after a very quick stop in PA for an awesome wedding we attended this past Sat (we had such a great time!!!!)! We left Sacramento late Thurs night and arrived Fri morning in Phili and left Sunday night at 5pm. It was about a two day stay and it was prob one of the quickest trips we've made in the 6 years we've been traveling back home. Mia didn't do well on the way home and was very cranky, fussy, squirmy, screaming to the top of her lungs at times, and just not liking being confined at all. Mia didn't like being delayed either on the runway for about an hour (in Chicago) due to weather in Phili...neither did we. :( She eventually slept though and both legs for a total of about 2:45 hours but was very tired since she didn't get her 12 hours of beauty sleep. We were happy to be in Phili once we landed and happy that Mia napped another 2 hours on the way home...poor thing was so tired!! :)

Sunday night we headed back to Cali and Mia did pretty well considering how tired she was. She only napped 1 hour maybe on the way to the airport and could have slept longer if we didn't stop at a rest stop which woke her up. She was cranky but lasted and did okay the rest of the way. Once in Phili, Mia got to see Josh's parents for a bit b/c we borrowed their car which they picked up at the airport. Mia was pretty cranky in the stroller but once she got to walk around in Phili while Daddy watched the Eagles game (poor Eagles), she was fine. Our flight was suppose to leave at 5 but once we got on the runway the pilot told us that due to weather in Chicago, we'd be delayed for an hour and half!! Yeah so we weren't thrilled partially due to our layover which we thought we'd miss, but didn't b/c it was delayed also. Mia did pretty well on the way to Chicago and we sat next to a guy who didn't mind Mia pointing at him and wanting to grab his book. Mia slept on the way to Chicago but woke up after 30 mins b/c of an extremely, I mean extremely inconsolable baby. Everyone felt really badly for this little girl who was maybe 1 and whom no one could calm down..she was literally screaming the entire 1 1/2 hours! So Mia didn't sleep but 30 mins and wasn't too squirmy due to babies behind us whom she was playing with off and on. That was one time I was glad to be sitting by other babies! :)


Once Mia, Josh and I were in Chicago, we couldn't believe all the people in that airport..it was crazy due to the weather delays. Our flight was delayed an hour and 40 mins thankfully and we were able to grab something to eat and let Mia wallk around which she loved. Once on the runway though, we had to wait about 30 mins I think due to the line of planes taking off. We encountered turbulence this time around and I was holding on and praying b/c it was pretty rocky at times and all I saw were drinks swaying and stewardists trying to get their drink cart to the back of the plane. I was scared too b/c I was holding Mia who wasn't buckled in. We were fine though and luckily the turbulence didn't last long. We got lucky this time around b/c there was an empty seat in b/t us due to the guy sitting next to us who moved to an open seat. It was great having the space but still hard to get mia to sleep. She was pretty squirmy and fussy and didn't want to sleep. She'd lay her head down for a min then would just get antsy. Then she pooped her pants and the stinken plane was an older one and had no changing table in the bathroom like the other one in July did. Soooo we had to change her in the middle seat which caused her to SCREAM BLODDY MURDER! She also had a nasty rash on her butt which caused her to scream even louder...it was hard, veryyyyyyy hard, but we got her changed thankfully! I really don't know what we would have done if that guy didn't move who was supposed to sit next to us?!! After all that, Mia did end up sleeping on Josh for a bit and woke up fussy. She then fell back to sleep on me for maybe 2 hours thankfully. We ended up getting to our house 17 1/2 hours after leaving PA (usually it's a 13 hour door to door trip). It was a longggg day to say the least and we were all very exhausted, but it was well worth the quick trip home! :)

Overall, our trip wasn't as bad as it was in July...I really thought it was going to be just as bad. It was definitely hard traveling with a baby and I can't imagine what it will be like traveling with two! We hope we don't have to encounter traveling with two babies just b/c we hope and plan to be back near our families by maybe May of next year. I have to student teach from mid Jan to mid April so we can't move until after I finish. We just want to be closer to everyone though we realize we are leaving a great place with a lot of great friends. You just don't realize how hard it is to travel with kids until you have one of your own. Plus, we want Mia to grow up around our family and friends which we feel is really important. We really look forward to driving to see our friend and family instead of flying!

Mia is doing well today although she only slept about 8 hours this morning. She is napping now and will hopefully nap a long nap b/c she needs her sleep. :) Mia is happy to be home although she misses her family back home...so do her parents.:( TOo bad we won't be in again until Christmas. That's the sad part. I'm sure it will go by fast though! We look forward to seeing you all again in December. :)

Take care,

Cathy, Josh and Mia

Mia Update at almost 14 months

Miss Mobile Mia is now almost 14 monnths (this thursday) and is as crazy as ever! She loves to run, play peek-a-boo, blow kisses, roll around on the floor when she can't have her way, feed seeko her snacks by shoving them in his face, give hugs, standing on pillows and books, rub her butt on walls and doors, and not share her things with other babies...we are working on that. :) Mia also loves to dance and listen to her toddler music CDs which is just too cute.

Mia took her first fair outing labor day weekend which was a lot of fun. She got to pet animals in the petting zoo such as deer, goats, and pigs. Mia also got to see cows, Llamas and huge bulls among others. We had a great time except when Mia decided to become incoleable about 1 hour and 45 mins after getting there....we still have no idea why. It just happened out of the blue, she was just about due for nap but doesn't get like that generally. She ended up laying her head on my shoulder on the way out, then fell asleep in the car for about 5 mins, woke up screaming again, and then I finallllllly managed to calm her down. Poor thing!! She slept a good 2 1/2 hours when we got home, thankfully!

Feeding wise, Mia eats pretty well. She is picky about what she picks up with her fingers especially meat which she usually picks up and throws...or just doesn't touch. Mia does loveeeeee peas, green beans, bread, ritz crackers, fruit, oatmeal and bread...basically she likes anything! As of Sunday afternoon of labor day weekend, Mia has not been eating well, only drank 3 oz of milk before bed Sun night, then Monday, she hardly ate at all or drank any milk (maybe 9 oz total). Mia did eat dinner that Mon night thankfully and took most of the 9 oz then. She developed a fever of almost 102 Mon night and we think that the 5 teeth (3 of which are molars...I noticed the bottom right one Sunday night) that are coming in at the same time have something to do with it.

Mia is now completely off baby food jars and was off the bottle until Sunday Sept 10th when we had to resort back to the bottle b/c she wouldn't calm down for anything but that. She did very well transitioning to the sippy cup for water and milk...no problem at all! However, she prefers to drink her milk from a certain sippy cup and won't take it from any other one which is fine with me. :)


Sleep/Nap wise, Mia now sleeps 12 hours at night! That's been happening since she had her 105 fever/virus about a month ago and I'm loving it! She also is down to one nap if she gets up at 8am or later. If she gets up earlier (which she hasn't done since she's been sleeping 12 hours), then she'll take two naps which she's been doing for a few days now. I also have been pushing her one nap out a bit b/c it would only last about 1 hour and 15-30 mins. My friend told me I should try pushing it out a bit if Mia is doing well and as of last friday, I have been doing that. Mia now is napping at least 2 hours or more, but sometimes it's a bit less. :) Can't wait until it's 3 hours!


Now on to talking...or should I say babble? Mia loves to just babble a lot which I love. She still says Dada a ton, doesn't say MaMa that much, says GO GO GO, does the "more" sign after seeing her girlfriends Gracie and Sam do it and screams a high pitched squeal when she can't have something or when another baby takes her toy or Seeko eats her snack (which she gives him?!). Mia loves to chat to herself in the mornings and during the night too...it's cute to hear and I just wonder what she is talking about. :) I'm working on teaching Mia some more signs from our baby sign book and am doing "please" and "shoes". It's really amazing to see her do the "more" sign and to know that she understands what she is doing. I love it!

Weight wise, I think Mia is about 22-23lbs and is growing taller and taller. She is def going to need some new clothes for the fall and winter which I love buying!

Other than that, all is going well here and Mia is keeping us busy as usual. We look forward to the fall weather and dressing Mia up in her pink octopus outfit for Halloween...it's going to be so cute on her! We also look forward to taking her to the pumpkin patch again this year which should be more fun now that she is 1 year old. Our little girl is growing fast and we are enjoying every minute!

My 30th Birthday Surprise Party!

So I hit the big 3-0 on Aug. 27 and now I can kiss my 20s goodbye. :( I had a great day though spent going to church where one of my friends surprised me with flowers which was soooo nice. Then Josh took me out for dinner while our awesome friends Kari and Mike babysat for us (thanks again Guys!). We went to a cute Italian restaurant where two waitresses along with the rest of the customers (maybe 25 ppl or so) all sang happy bday to me. It was funny and I was like Ohhhh noooo, they are not going to sing, are they?! Our good friend Derik and his parents were there also and thought it would be funny to say, during the "how old are you" part, that I'm 16...haha! Funny Derik, thanks! ;) I did get a free yummy choc layered cake to eat so that was nice! Then Sunday of Labor Day weekend, while at a friend's Labor Day party, Josh surprised me with a yummy birthday cake which was a surprise and very sweet. Thanks baby! I found out later that the cake was to throw me off in believing there was nothing else coming! I have a sneaky hubby. :)

Here is the email I sent out to everyone after Josh threw me a surprise 30th bday party which was great! :)

Well yesterday turned out to be a great day (thankfully b/c our morning started out pretty rough with Miss Mia being absolutely inconsolable due to more molars! Lovely!) and here is why. My good friend Carrie asked me to go shopping last week and of course I said yes. However, I wasn't sure if it was going to happen yesterday b/c I had to study and plus Mia was very cranky. Anywho, Josh persuaded me to go (good reason for that...read on) and Carrie and I spent a few hours browsing and buying while Josh had "other things" to do. She told me she had to be back by 3:15ish or so and right around that time, we were at my house. Carrie said she wanted to stop in for a bit to see Mia and so as I opened the door...all I heard was "SURPRISE!! HAPPY BDAY!" I was SHOCKED to say the least and totally caught off guard. I HAD NO IDEA that Josh planned this and was soooooooooo surprised! Josh got a pic of me walking in the door w/ a big smile on my face due to pure shock. What also made it ever better was to see everyone wearing shirts (even the babies) that said "30 ISN'T OLD...BUT CATHY IS!" (Thanks for thinking of that slogan Josh..haha!) that Josh had them wear. It was tooooo funny!! I couldn't stop smiling. This was def one of the best surprises yet...and bdays too!

Thanks Josh for planning my party (though it took some time to find a weekend where no one was busy), getting the food, balloons, decorations and cute shirts! You were very thoughtful baby. :) You really had me fooled believing the cake we had with our friends last weekend was the real celebration...good job! Thanks also to everyone who helped...and came! It was nice to spend my 30th with you all. I bet you were glad I decided to go shopping huh Josh? :)

C R A N K Y!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mia is getting 5 teeth all at once including 3 molars which has definitely been causing her great discomfort (luckily not at night anymore). For a few mornings last week, she was very cranky and fussy, sometimes inconsoleable. Nothing would work except for milk and she'd throw little tantrums on the floor until we could distract her somehow. Well this morning, all hell broke lose and she was just not having it! She woke up all congested, very cranky on the changing table, ate some raisin bread then F R E A K E D out so we took her in the living room which caused her to F R E A K O U T even more, gave her a sippy cup of milk which she held but wouldn't drink so she freaked out some more...we had no idea what the heck was up with her! I tried bringing her outside which helped a bit until she started screaming which got worse when I took her back in. Not even the cat or dog could cheer her up? Soooooo we resorted back to the bottle which she took with no problem...and was sooooooooooooo much happier afterwards!!! PHEWWWW! We were like, "What the heck was wrong with her then?" I figured she was prob still tired (only slept about 8-9 hours b/c we had to wake her up at our friend's house after we got back from a wedding we went to) and prob didn't want to take the sippy b/c the hard plastic hurt her gums...maybe not but who knows. Good thing is is that she is good to go now and napping for mommy! Woo Hoo!

Coughing again

I guess Mia's congestion isn't gone away. During the week, she has been coughing off and on at night, but not much to be too concerned. She's had a stuffy nose though since Friday and suctioning out the juice isn't one of Mia's fav things to do. Then yesterday, Mia's cough sounds pretty flemmy and this morning and yesterday, she woke up really stuffed up and boogery. It sounds like she's congested once again so I am going to call the docs tomorrow to make an appt to be sure all is ok...which I'm sure it is. :) I'm just being a concerned mommy!

Congestion, Cough just about gone

Mia's congestion and cough are just about gone, finally! She's been doing well since last Wednesday with hardly any coughing at night. She coughs a bit during the day but it's nothing like it was thankfully!

Back bottom molar

So I just noticed today when Mia was laughing on the floor that her back left molar is popping through. That makes 5 teeth coming in at once for Mia and she is doing pretty well...nothing like the top front teeth which were the worse!