Toddler Bed

Lil M has been sleeping in her crib up until tonight... tonight, she's in her new (to her) toddler bed, thanks to my friend at work! Her son, who is 5, just graduated to a big bed... and so she gave me his toddler bed! :)


My baby is growing up! Let's see how she does tonight. :) Her very first-ever night in her big-girl bed!! I guess I should get her something cute to make her bed look special, huh? She seemed pretty excited, so I hope this goes over well!

I think we're going to see the new movie The Blind Side tomorrow. This is still National Adoption Month... and tomorrow, the 21st, is National Adoption Day!! The Blind Side is the movie with Sandra Bullock that is about a successful older child adoption. Please go see it!! :)

Peace.

First Haircut

Last night, Lil M had her First REAL haircut ever... She was cracking me up! I had a hair appointment scheduled, as usual, and she said she wanted her hair cut, too. "I want haircut"... So, Douglas said OK!! She did so, so good, too!

Can you say love? I mean, look at these two!! lolHappy, happy girl!!
Serious play!
Look at THAT FACE!!!!

Peace.

Circus - Sunday

Circus pics!! :) We had BIG fun this weekend. :) Lil M and MK2 and Abbi all rode the camel! Lil M and I went up and down the air-filled slide twice!

Peace.

Zoo and Girls-Night-In Saturday

The Zoo!!



MK, Mk2, Lil M and Mommy:



Whew, what a weekend!! We went to the Zoo yesterday with MK and MK2. That was awesome. The weather was absolutely, utterly perfect! Then we have some friends over... (didn't watch Tyra, Tom... we missed you!! LOL) And had big fun. I was remiss in not getting a pic of our new friends C & K! Little K was just adorable. :)

As if all of that wasn't enough... today, we went to the Circus! What fun that was. :) MK, MK2, Sis, Abbi, Mia, Scott and I went today. The girls rode the camel. :) And, Lil M and I went down the blow-up slide. It was a ton of fun! ... Thank you Scott for treating us all to such an awesome day!

I have a blue-ton of pics... but am only posting a couple from yesterday. I'll post more later!!

Peace.

counting

Lil M can count to 10 with me now!! This came about this weekend. She just kept going! Before, she could count to 2. lol. She says nine (one), two, three... and can count all the way to 10 with me! I'm so excited! She can't do it alone yet, but it's just a matter of time. :)

Her phrase of choice this weekend was "I did it!"

Peace.

Oct 31 Happy Halloween

Tonight we went trick-or-treating (yes, again), with our friends Martha-Kelly and Mary-Kelly...

It was a blast! ;-) It happened to also be the anniversary of my login date to China in 2005. What a way to celebrate my very first anniversary of my daughter and me!!

OH, and Mia said "Thank You" tonight for the very first time!! Very cool!

Cinderella and the Itsy-Bitsy Spider:


Lil M had to give Mary-Kelly her candy, 'cause there was too much in the punkin' for her to carry!!!

The twirling Cinderella (action shot)!!!!
Peace!

Line Dry

Lest you think I'm truly nuts... I've been doing a lot more line drying of our clothes these past few months. It's been great. Takes me back to when I was a kid. The clothes smell great. :) I also cloth diaper part-time. What does that mean?

Well, before Lil M came home, I bought a bunch of these new-fangled cloth diapers that have buttons and have a different type of outside layer that keeps them from leaking. I've had really great success with them, actually, and I don't feel like I'm putting as much into landfills as we would be otherwise (obviously). Yes, I do a little bit more laundry, but not too much. Maybe it's 6 one have dozen the other... but... it makes me feel better.

This mommyhood thing has been quite an adventure so far... Lil M used the potty for the first time ever last night. It was cool. It took awhile, and I don't think she's got the idea quite yet. We're going to take it slow, like everything else we've done, but we're trying.

So, have you ever thought of "going green"? And what does that mean to you? I do recycle what I can. But the other stuff's been kind of newer to me and fun. Fun because I made the informed choice myself, it wasn't forced on me. I should take a pic of the clothes on the line, so Lil M can see how crazy her mommy was when she was little!! LOL

Peace.

New words

So, Lil M is definitely talking....and walking up stairs... literally! She can walk up the stairs holding onto the wall! It is crazy! Such the big girl!! She's been doing this for about 2 weeks now...

She also said her first little sentence... "More Juice"... as in, more juice please, mommy!! OMG

She told Scott "NO!" and pointed her little finger at him the other day... and today she told him to "SIT" and pointed to the couch! Tooooo funny!!! :)

Oh, she also said "peekaboo".... peeboo! LOL She's learning so much. Have I mentioned she calls stuffed dogs 'puppies' and real dogs 'dog-dogs'??? ;-) She's one smart cookie!

I can't believe she turns 2 next month. Guess I better get the party organized, huh?!!

Peace.

PS. I had a decent review today. Whew. I 'exceeded expectations' and they 'couldn't have done it without me'!!! :)

couple pics of the weekend...more to come

Are we there yet? ;-)
Twins and Chase with the "B" man... Lil M got cut out...
TWINS. :)
Scott and Melissa (melissa *hearts* scott) hehe
Mindy (Mommy) and Chase
The girls in Starbucks! :)
Chasey-man with Spongebob and Mia!
Scott, Melissa, the "B" Man, Chase and Lil M!!

Fun times at the Kings Island today. If I didn't mention it enough before, Scott came up and spent time with us this weekend, even during the fireworks. That was a first for us, too, as a couple. :) He's so good to me.

Chase had to go back to his Dad's today, but other than that, we had a great time, this weekend... and the past 2 weeks!!!! He's such a great kid. I wish he didn't have to go through the crap he does... Please be with him, Lord.

Peace.

Bottle

Yesterday was a big first for Lil M... it was her first day ever without a bottle!!! Yes, she had milk... but she didn't drink it from a bottle! WOOHOO!!

... of course, makes Mama a little sad, her baby's growing up!! :)

She also said:
Shoe
Door

this week. :)

Peace.

Christmas

Wakey Wakey, it's Christmas MORN!!!!! (sleepy Mama and Lil M!!)
Happy Mommy Mimi, who got a pretty bracelet from her Chasey-man
Lil M wanted to play with Aiyee Mimi's pot.... clankety, clank!!!!
Chase got a very cool camera/video cam!!!
Aiyee Mimi and Lil M, trying to pose for Mama!

That's better! :) Oops, Lil M still isn't looking at the camera!!Gramma and Grampa got Lil M an Amazing Doll!!!! See the resemblance? She was touching her *nose*... that doll must have looked pretty real!! lol

Yes, I subject my poor child to torture, such as this!!!!! hahaha She was too cute!
We're playing chess in the background, and Lil M is laughing at someone about the Silly Reindeer ears MAMA put on her!!!! :) (ok, maybe not, but she's laughing at something!)
Mama Mia is tired again... I could have slept this way all night. Lil M had a BIG, HUGE, ENORMOUS day...and she was having a little trouble settling in for the night. But she gave me loveys and kisses before she went to sleep. Ahhhh, Mommyhood. I wish she (would/could always be so happy and easy-going!!!

Our first Christmas was just amazing. Her first thing that she learned was how to pull the name tags off the presents... She seemed to enjoy most everything about the day. She didn't open presents, so much, but she did like to play with everything! Paper, boxes, the toys... it didn't matter! :)

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas.

Peace.

Walking

It's official... Lil M is walking! She took a couple steps for the Dr. on Friday...and has really been trying today... She's taken 6 or 7 steps at a time 3 or 4 times today! Woohoo! The Dr. suggested I practice with her a bit, so that's what we've done. But she has been walking by herself. :) Very cool!!! I'll get pics when I can!!

Peace.

Women's Basketball

I got tickets to the city cross-town shoot out women's basketball game yesterday. We cheered for UC and they won! :) It was a lot of fun. Sis, Chase, my friend Scott, me and Mia went. I love college basketball, but I do like men's better than women's. More action, I think. lol. Apparently, it was the 30th annual crosstown shootout. Fun! Then we did a little shopping. I got a UD sweatshirt, which is odd, since I'm quite far away from there... and there isn't anything of MY school in the stores down here!!

We did our Christmas cards today. Basically, it was a fairly laid back weekend.

This will be Lil's M's first Christmas (with me)....and I'm starting to get in the spirit. Chase helped put out Christmas lights last night. I have reindeer and 2 lighted trees outside, along with some lights on the hedges. It is starting to look like Christmas! lol.

Here are a couple of pics from yesterday's game.

Peace.

Thanksgiving weekend pics

Here is Chase and Lil M. She's got the funniest look on her face, but he has a great smile!

Much better big smile from my girl!
Aiyee Mimi telling Lil M she *can* fly!!
Chase requested I hold Lil M up in the air!
DinnerLil M set up for the big dinner!
After dinner cuddle before I am-scram to go shopping!
Oh, forgot the HAT! She wanted to pick the hat up, but it was too heavy.... so, Sis and Grampa put it on her for a photo op. haha.

Peace.