September
September brought lots of fun. Especially for Mia. She turned 3! I can't believe it's been 3 years already. It's amazing how fast time flies. Mia loves coloring with her markers. One day she was coloring quietly in her room. When I went in to check on her this is what I found. She'd fallen asleep after shoving a bunch of markers in her sock. Nap time is a rarity around our house these days so that made it all the more adorable.
We picked up a couple kites when we were at the store and decided to try them out. We has one this spring but it broke. This time I bought 2 just in case one broke again. We got the cheap Barbie kite flying great, however no matter how hard we tried we couldn't get the more expensive one off the ground. Next time I'll just have to stick to the cheapies.
The 2nd weekend in September was Cousin Sophie's blessing. It was good to see baby Sophie again and spend time with family but somehow I don't have any pictures from it.
Just before Mia's birthday we went out to Red Robin for her birthday dinner. She absolutely loves their broccoli (funny girl).
The Friday before Mia's birthday we spent 8 1/2 hours in the car driving to Wyoming to see my brother and his family. They were blessing baby Daxton and we don't get to see them very often because they live so far away. It was our first time getting to meet Daxton too.
Mia enjoyed dinner with cousin Khloe but it was a new experience for her having to keep her food away from a dog.
The girls all ready for bed.
The next day we had a combined birthday party for Mia and Khloe. Khloe's birthday was over the summer but life was crazy at that time so she didn't get a cake or anything so we celebrated together.
3 candles for Mia and 2 for Khloe. Mia blew out all the candles so we had to re-light Khloe's candles for her to blow out.
They had lots of fun opening presents.
They got matching shirts and matching Noah's Ark magnetic games.
Birthday cake is always delicious.
In Wyoming you can do fireworks all year round. Since Mia loves fireworks and Khloe was kind of scared of them, Uncle Steve pulled some out to see if having Mia there would make Khloe think they were cool. She was still a little timid but did have fun. Mia on the other hand just wanted to keep going.
Mia, Daxton, and Grandma and Grandpa
Grandma and Grandpa with all 3 of their grand kids.
My brother Steve and his family- Nicky, Khloe, Daxton, and Buddy (the dog).
After an 8 1/2 hour drive back to Idaho we decided to let Mia have a bubble bath in Grandma's big tub. If Grandma put it a little soap to make a little bubbles then a lot must make a lot of bubbles. That's what happens when Mia gets her hands on the soap. She put half the bottle of body wash in the tub when we stepped out. When she sat down it was just a head floating in bubbles.
Once we got back home we had to have another birthday party with the rest of the family.
This time we did birthday pie.
To say Mia was spoiled this year would be an understatement I think.
Shaun the Sheep has been sadly missing from our house since it went off Netflix. Luckily Aunt Trina was able to find it online.
Nana made Mia her very own scrubs.
And she got a medical kit and 2 boxes of bam aids (her word for band aid) to go with them.
Lots of clothes and some new PJs
Mia's got the opening presents things down. She's going to be lots of fun at Christmas this year.
She got her very own camera so just maybe she will stop stealing ours and it won't take such a beating.
Her princess dress from Grandma and Grandpa.
And her scrubs from Nana and Grandpa
Now Mia can get dressed for work like Mom.
Apparently I didn't do a very good job taking pictures after Mia's birthday. We're spending more time inside these days with the cooler weather. We've broken out the Veggie Tales movies and Mia's very happy to have Shaun the Sheep back. Now that it's cooler we've had some lunches out with friends. Mia also started preschool one day a week at Bravo and she is loving it.
October
We will just call October the sick month at our house. The beginning of the month I got a nasty case of adenovirus that knocked me down for a good two weeks. It was BAD. During that time Monty and Mia both got pretty nasty colds and then we finished the month off with poor Mia sick. November is here though and we are all on the mend (well Mia's still getting there).
The second weekend in October my mom came down for the Gluten Free Expo. Her and I took the Front Runner and tracks down to the expo center to check it out. My mom was diagnosed with Ceiliac's disease probably 5 or 6 years ago and now has to eat completely gluten free. I've seen signs for the Expo every year but this is the first year she's made it down. My mom was excited to take the train because it was a whole new experience for her. We had a good time. They had so many samples you couldn't even begin to try everything and they had TONS of free handouts. We had quite the pile of goodies. Everything from a t-shirt and water bottles to granola bars and fruit snacks, and grandma even brought Mia a banana from breakfast.
Mia's favorite thing we brought home was her chicken hat.
While my mom was here we also went and picked out pumpkins.
Mia couldn't decide if she wanted a little one...
Or a big one!
Once we all got our pumpkins picked out it was impossible to get a picture with the whole family looking at the camera. This was the best we got.
Mia eventually decided on a medium pumpkin and was happy with her choice.
One thing you should know about Monty is he absolutely LOVES Christmas. He has definitely passed this love on to Mia. Now that it's October, that means it's time to start thinking about Christmas. Monty helped Mia write her first letter to Santa. Seeing as it is only October we figured it was probably a little early to mail it to Santa so instead Mia delivered it to our neighbor Nick who just happens to be good friends with Santa.
Monty also put up our Christmas lights this month so we will be all ready before the snow comes. Mia's not too thrilled that we can't turn them on yet but she's finally stopped begging for them.
We painted our pumpkins again this year.
Mia's been pointing out the paint in the closet for months telling me it is for pumpkins. She was excited to finally be able to use it.
Monty hard at work.
Our finished products. The A is for Utah State Aggie's for those who may not know.
We took Mia mini golfing for the first time this month. She had a lot of fun.
She didn't quite get the concept but that's okay. Most the time she teed off then picked up her ball, went and put it right next to the hole, and hit it in.
Mia and her Daddy checking out the awesome eye.
Mia enjoyed all the characters on the course almost more than the golfing.
In the end we hit our balls into the skeleton. She still talks about going golfing and how at the end we hit our balls into the skeleton. She has an incredible memory!
October also means Halloween! This year we went to the FSA (Families Supporting Adoption) Halloween Party. Doing Mia's hair and getting ready to go.
We used TONS of hairspray but the curls didn't last super long.
Our little Princess!
We had a pizza dinner with lots and lots of goodies. They had a bean bag toss. Mia got it on her first toss.
They also had pin the eye on the monster. Mia put his eye on his arm but still won a pencil.
Then we did a mummy wrap and turned Mia into a mummy.
A mummy who couldn't see.
Then it was time for trick or treating.
Mia was really cute. At the first door I asked her "what do you say?" She looked up at the person and said "Please." I guess we spend more time trying to get her to say please than trick or treat. After a couple door ways she figured it out though.
Not too shabby for the first round of trick or treating this season.
We are huge fans of the TV show Big Bang Theory at our house. Monty told me two days before the Halloween party that he was going to dress up as Sheldon. I spent most of the day running around town trying to find a Flash t-shirt but no one had one so we had to settle for Green Lantern. I decided if Monty was going to be Sheldon that I would dress up as Amy Farrah Fowler. I hit up DI for a skirt and cardigan and got a wig and it worked out pretty good. Sadly few people seemed to know who we were because they don't watch the show. For being the #1 comedy 3 years in a row, not many people around here seem to watch it.
October brought a few nice days as well. We were able to get back outside again. We've done a few more bike rides. Mia could ride around in her trailer all day. I on the other hand cannot haul her around in the trailer all day.
We also did some more kite flying. This time we only got out the Barbie kite. I have learned to stick with the cheap kites.
Mia likes helping to fly the kite.
I got out of the shower one day and Mia had made a bed on our floor for herself, her frog, and her teddy bears. I thought it was pretty cute. She had everyone tucked under their covers.
Like I said before Mia got sick two days before Halloween. The poor girl had been looking forward to Halloween and going trick or treating so of course we still had to go. Sadly it didn't go so smoothly and we were all ready to come home once we were on the other side of the block. Someone asked me what Princess Mia was for Halloween (I'm guessing they were thinking she was a Disney character) and I just told them the Grumpy Princess. I guess we are mixing fairy tales now. Maybe she's what you get when you mix Snow White and the dwarf Grumpy. Here we actually got a little bit of a smile though before we headed out trick or treating. No denying even if she's grumpy she's still cute!
November
We started off November with a carry over from October. A couple days into November we went to Wendy's for dinner and they still had their Halloween kids meals. Mia enjoyed her Shrek/Fiona mask (it was double sided so you could chose). Sadly it didn't last very long being paper and all but she still gets to wear her Shrek ears. She likes it when Monty wears them too.
November was my birthday. Mia asked me if I was 16 and I told her sure. I don't know if I'd want to go back to being 16 again though. We went out to Zupa's for dinner (one of my favorite) and then came home for birthday pie.
For my birthday Monty and Mia got me tickets to the Forgotten Carols. I am so excited and can't wait to go!
With the colder weather we are back to doing a lot more playing in the house. We've built more of our super towers. Santa Clause needs to bring Mia some more Lego's so we can build bigger and stronger towers and bigger houses.
When it started getting cold Monty moved Mia's slide and tramp downstairs next to her box house. Now she has her own little playground downstairs where it's much warmer than outside.
This girl loves to jump!
One night while I was at work Monty kept Mia entertained forever by making Mia burritos.
Mia decided she wanted all of her friends to watch a movie with her one day. She brought out all of her stuffed animals and set them on the couch so they could watch "Buzz" (Toy Story) with her. I had to watch from the chair. Her friends sat out there for a couple days until I decided it was time to reclaim the couch. :-)
I will confess. I am not above bribery to get Mia to be good when running errands. On this particular day we had a bunch of stores to go to. I promised Mia if she was good the whole time she could pick out a doughnut at the grocery store (our last stop). She was pretty good considering all we had to do and she was absolutely ecstatic that they had Christmas doughnuts!
Monty decided one evening to make cinnamon rolls. Isn't he a sexy baker. :-)
We spent Thanksgiving with Monty's family this year. Wednesday night before Thanksgiving is always pie night. We had soup and left lots of room for dessert. Then you don't have to worry about leaving room for dessert on Thanksgiving. I think it's the best idea ever!
Monty's mom got the two youngest grand kids matching turkey day dresses. It was impossible to get a picture of both Mia and Sophie looking at the camera in their dresses.
All the grand kids on Thanksgiving. HAPPY TURKEY DAY!
Like I said before I have decided bribery can definitely be a good thing in working with a strong willed 3 year old. Another great bribe...a bubble bath. We just need Santa to bring her some bubble bath of her very own.
Maybe one of these days I'll manage to keep up on two blogs again...until then thank goodness for copy and paste!
