What a wonderful world....life with Mia Kathryne

New Blog address

2009-02-17T21:25:00.000-05:00

My new blog address is http://www.miaandreese.blogspot.com.

Update on Baby Reese

2009-01-15T09:37:00.003-05:00

Ok, so I know I haven't kept everyone updated on my pregnancy with Reese like I should. Yesterday I went for my 38 week appointment. I've dilated 1cm and I'm about 50% effaced. Basically, Little Reese will probably make a late entrance like her big sister did! The doctor did say that this one will probably be smaller than Mia. I'm not as big as i was with Mia and my uterus is not measuring as large - however, she sure feels big in there!
I'll update next week after my 39 week appt if she isn't here yet!

Eating Japanese with the Mills

2009-01-15T09:36:00.002-05:00

Loving on each other...

A few more of the first b'day...

2009-01-15T09:34:00.002-05:00

Nicholas' First Birthday

2009-01-15T09:30:00.003-05:00

Loving the balloon!

The fam

Hard to believe he's already 1....

Jack Turner's B'day party at Ebenezer Park

2009-01-15T09:27:00.005-05:00

Mia, Bradley, and Trey

Baby Shower at Red Bone

2009-01-15T09:23:00.003-05:00

My girls that I go out to eat with once a month had a shower for me at Redbone on Jan. 6th. It was fun to have some girl time and they got me some really great things!

More from the family shower...

2009-01-15T08:51:00.002-05:00

The lovely hostesses and Nicholas

Caryss, Isabelle, Nicholas and Mia

Jessica and Laurel

Crowson and Haylea

Family Shower at Chasity's house

2009-01-15T08:32:00.003-05:00

Erika, Robert, and Lauren
Angela, RP, Patrick, and Emma Grace

Jessica, Daniel, and Isabelle

Summer, Bubba, Parker, and Crystal

Mia and Nicholas

Chasity and Emily gave us a family shower on Jan. 3rd. It was a really neat idea since everyone could bring their kids and not have to find a baby sitter.

New Year's Eve at Creek Ratz

2009-01-02T15:39:00.002-05:00

Getting these 2 to sit still for a picture is nearly impossible

Looking at a crab that was on Erika's oyster

More...

2009-01-02T15:35:00.003-05:00

Christmas morning

2009-01-02T15:14:00.003-05:00

Exchanging gifts with Trey

2009-01-02T15:13:00.002-05:00

Two peas in a pod!

Before Christmas program at church

2009-01-02T15:12:00.002-05:00

few more

2009-01-02T15:07:00.003-05:00

Master bedroom

view from walking in the front door

Pics of the new house - before it was finished

2009-01-02T14:52:00.004-05:00

master bath

Mia's bedroom

looking into the dining room from the living room

doors to the screen porch/deck

Christmas program at big girl school

2008-12-11T10:09:00.001-05:00

Bubbles,bubbles everywhere

2008-12-11T10:04:00.003-05:00

So, Mia found her Dora bubble bath that was supposed to be in her stocking on Christmas Day. Understand that our house is in complete disarray since we're packing up to move. Last night, Ryan was running her bath water while I was packing. We could hear her in the bathroom banging something against the side of the tub. Yes, she emptied the WHOLE bottle of bubble bath into the water. We let her stay in the tub for 45 minutes and there were still bubbles in the tub. It did make some cute pictures though!

Words of wisdom from Mia...

2008-12-11T09:29:00.002-05:00

"Don't bite your friends, you bite your food."
While holding safety scissors..."Don't cut your friends, you cut paper."
"Knives will hurt you!"
"Don't hit your friends!"
"You close your eyes when you say the blessing."

These are just some tidbits of what she is learning at school. She is so funny and at the same time very serious when she is trying to "teach" us something!

Thanksgiving Day

2008-11-28T09:53:00.003-05:00

We spent our Thanksgiving Day in Vance with Ryan's family. We had a delicious meal and Mia enjoyed entertaining everyone with her dancing and singing! Here are some pics of her picking pecans. These are the only shots I got before my camera battery died!

31 Weeks

2008-11-28T09:47:00.002-05:00

This is actually the first belly shot I've taken with this pregnancy. Awful huh? So here it is...pretty big for 31 weeks huh? :-)

Mia's birthday

2008-11-25T08:20:00.002-05:00

Mia turned 3 on Election Day. Ryan and I both took off the day to spend with her. We started off at Krispy Kreme for her birthday breakfast. Then we took her with us to vote. After a nap, she had to go for her 3 year check-up. She was 40 3/4 inches and 38 1/2 pounds. Yes, I have a tall girl! That night we met Mimi, Papa, Emily, Brian, and Baby Nicholas at Chucky Cheese for some birthday pizza and fun. As you can see, she had a great time!
She is so entertaining and amusing at this age! She is very quick to correct anyone if they forget their manners - which i must say makes me very proud! She loves to sing, she loves gymnastics, and she loves her big girl school. Her favorite toys right now are baby dolls, moon sand, trucks, her jambox, and her pink jeep. She loves to mimic her teachers and have "storytime" with us. She is very quick to hush us if we aren't paying attention to her story! Her favorite cartoons are Wow Wow Wubzy, Dora, and Blues Clues. Her favorite foods are pasta, "treats", green beans, corn, and most fruits.
She doesn't like having her hair towel-dried after a bath, getting dressed, being told "no", and not being able to do something on her own. She is very independent and very quick to tell me that she is not my baby, but a big girl! At the same time, she is very loving - always has time for kisses, hugs, and "I Love You's"!

More from Trey's party

2008-11-24T21:34:00.003-05:00

Trey's Birthday Party

2008-11-24T21:28:00.003-05:00

More of Mia's B'day

2008-11-24T21:23:00.002-05:00

Mia's Birthday

2008-11-24T21:15:00.003-05:00

My girl is 3...

2008-11-04T21:03:00.003-05:00

I guess "bittersweet" sums up Mia's birthday in a word. I'm so proud of the little girl my baby has become, but at the same time, I'm very sad that the first 3 years of her life have flown by so fast. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. Now, she is carrying on conversations, has friends, kisses boys :-), uses the potty, sleeps in a big girl bed, entertains herself, ect. There is nothing like hearing her say "I love you" out of the blue! I guess the thing I'm most proud of is her manners. She says "yes sir/ma'am", "thank you", "excuse me", "I'm fine, thanks," and "bless you." She is not only physically beautiful, but has the sweetest personality! I know I'm a little biased! Don't get me wrong - we have our share of challenging moments! These are usually when she wants to do something on her own and can't. That generally produces a good meltdown! :-0
So, Happy Birthday My Beautiful, Sweet, and Precious Little Girl! We love you soooo much and are soooo proud of you!!! You are a wonderful daughter and you are going to be the best big sister!!!

Birthday Party

2008-11-03T21:48:00.002-05:00

Birthday party

2008-11-03T21:40:00.001-05:00

Birthday Party

2008-11-03T21:32:00.001-05:00

Mia explaining the pinata

Always together!

Painting at Wink

2008-11-03T21:26:00.001-05:00

Halloween

2008-11-03T21:20:00.001-05:00

Halloween Parade at school

2008-11-03T21:11:00.002-05:00

Cupcakes at school

2008-11-03T21:08:00.001-05:00

Helping daddy with the leaves...

2008-11-03T20:55:00.002-05:00

Mia and Nicholas

2008-10-26T10:33:00.001-04:00

Pumpkin Festival in McBee

2008-10-26T09:50:00.004-04:00

In the corn maze

More from the fair...

2008-10-25T07:49:00.003-04:00

Awww...what a sweet little couple!

Eating a funnel cake!

Wed. night at the fair with The Mills'

2008-10-25T07:33:00.002-04:00

At the top of the ferris wheel

Chuck E Cheese

2008-10-21T21:25:00.002-04:00

We went to Chuck E Cheese Friday night with Robert, Erika, Trey, and Lauren. There are no pictures of Mia and Trey together because they couldn't stay still long enough!

9 months and standing

2008-10-21T21:21:00.001-04:00

Ain't he a cutie?!?

Sunday at the park

2008-10-21T21:16:00.001-04:00

Handy Manny Tools

2008-10-16T21:27:00.003-04:00

So, I realize that bribery is not the best parenting method, but it has worked really well for us (i.e. potty training, paci, ect). Our latest hurdle with Mia is getting her to go to bed on her own since she has moved into her big girl bed. It wasn't a problem when she was in her crib. We would put her down and she would go right to sleep. However, in her big girl bed, she wants us to lay with her until she falls asleep. We have appeased her for the last few months because she went through several major changes at once - losing her paci, potty training, moving to a big girl bed, and changing big girl schools. It wouldn't be so bad if she settled right down and went to sleep, but some nights it would take 30+ minutes. She is such a wiggle-worm!!!!!! So, I decided to take her to Target on Sunday to look at toys. I told her to pick out one toy she really wanted. It happened to be Handy Manny tools. I made a deal with her that if she started going to bed on her own that I would get her Handy Manny tools. Well, Sunday night didn't go so well. Neither did Monday. However, Tuesday she agreed to try on her on. It did take us going upstairs 3 times to wrangle her from running around upstairs, but she finally went to sleep. The next night we only had to go upstairs once. This was after hearing her little feet running around and then her banging her potty against our toilet seat to empty it.

So, she got her Handy Manny tools! She loves them! Tonight she has been down for an hour and Ryan only went up once. As soon as he hit the top of the stairs, she took off and jumped in the bed. I'm so proud of her. Hopefully, another milestone reached - even if it was with bribery!

Big girl funky hair!

2008-10-16T21:24:00.001-04:00

Sitting in a tree and catching a frog

2008-10-14T20:30:00.002-04:00

itsy bitsy frog

This weekend...

2008-10-12T21:04:00.003-04:00

Friday night we did a little shopping and then headed over to Stan and Logan's for Gracie's slumber party. Of course Mia didn't spend the night, but we let her hang out with the big girls for a little while. She had a blast and they were very good about including Mia. Saturday we watched a lot of football and then papa came over to watch Mia while Ryan and I went to a wine and cheese party over at Chasity and Trey's. Today we went to church and after Mia got up from her nap we went to Target and then to the park. Here are pics from the weekend...

More pics...

2008-10-05T20:28:00.001-04:00

Before fall pictures at school

Mia pulling Trey
Trey pulling Mia
Riding her tricycle

Bobby's party

2008-10-05T20:21:00.002-04:00

Mia went to her first birthday party of a "new friend" from her "new school" on Saturday. She was so excited that she was up at 4:30 on Saturday morning!

Pics from the weekend...

2008-09-28T21:04:00.002-04:00

Eating an orange
Playing with play-doh

Mimi and papa watched Mia Friday night while I had Bunco at our house. We had a great time! Chas won the pot and of course she was a humble winner! (lol..)

Saturday we went to B'ville and Ryan and daddy played golf. We came back home in time to watch the USC game. Sunday we went to church and relaxed.

Everything is going good with my pregnancy. I'm 23 weeks tomorrow and we have another ultrasound this week. We still don't have a name. We haven't agreed on anything. I still like Claire, Piper, and Emma. Ryan still likes Lily. I guess we've got a little while to decide...

Potty Trained!!!

2008-09-28T20:51:00.003-04:00

This is what big girls get for being potty trained!!! Mia has done so well! We are so proud of her! She LOVES her new jeep! She rides it everyday!

Pics from the weekend

2008-09-08T21:19:00.003-04:00

Changing Callie's diaper
Making muffins Saturday morning
Holding Baby "Icklas"

Ice cream in Calabash

2008-09-08T21:16:00.002-04:00

More pics before gymnastics...

2008-09-08T21:13:00.001-04:00

Playing with Trey

2008-09-08T21:12:00.002-04:00

Night at the beach w/mimi and papa

2008-09-08T21:03:00.002-04:00

It's a...

2008-09-04T10:46:00.002-04:00

GIRL! We're so excited! I had a feeling all along that it was, but she definitely was not shy about confirming it for us! We don't have any names picked out yet, but will start working on that shortly. Mia is excited and kisses the baby everyday. She will be a great big sister!

Ainsly's b'day party

2008-08-25T21:11:00.003-04:00

Think she liked the cake???

Yes, we even went to see the Wiggles...

2008-08-25T21:05:00.001-04:00

Vacation

2008-08-25T20:56:00.002-04:00

ooh-la-la!
Showing off the crab leg she found. She was obsessed with finding a crab!
At Margaritaville!
Riding the old Pavillion rides at Broadway

Vacation

2008-08-25T20:38:00.003-04:00

Update on Mia

2008-07-29T12:47:00.002-04:00

It's been a while, so I wanted to let everyone know what Miss Mia has been up to. Over the last month she has made great "big girl" strides! She is finally in a big girl bed. We wanted to wait until we moved, but after a thunderstorm one night about 3 weeks ago, she told us that she was not sleeping in her crib anymore. We also took her paci away from her on her first night in her big girl bed. It was actually a breeze! She has asked for a couple of times at night, but quickly forgets about it if we change the subject. Also, she is wearing big girl panties all day long now!!!! We are so proud. She took very little interest in the potty earlier this year, but Miss Lisa has been working with her a lot at big girl school and she finally has it down! I'm so happy for her, but at the same time a little sad...it's just another step towards her not being my little baby girl anymore.
As far as my pregnancy goes, nothing to report. I'm about 15 weeks now. I feel much better. The nausea has pretty much subsided. I'm still tired, but it would probably help if I took my iron supplements like I'm supposed to. I'm sure my doctor will be less than thrilled with me at my appt next week when my iron levels are still low. They just make me feel so bad! :-( I really must do better. Other than that, everything is going great!

Few more...

2008-07-29T12:46:00.000-04:00

More from the beach...

2008-07-29T12:42:00.002-04:00

Papa's b'day weekend at the beach

2008-07-29T12:40:00.000-04:00

I know, I know...

2008-07-07T21:11:00.003-04:00

I've been very lame in posting lately, but I do have a good excuse........we are expecting! Yep, I'm about 11 weeks along. We've had some complications, but everything seems to be okay now! I had a doctor's appt. today and we had our 4th ultrasound! The baby looks good and the heart rate is 165bpm. Mia of course doesn't understand, but she thinks that she has a baby in her belly too! Too cute! I haven't been feeling too great, but complaining won't make it better and it's better than the alternative. Hopefully, it will subside in a few weeks. I'll try to post some pics later of our beach weekend of the 4th of July and Ryan's birthday.

2008-05-26T21:38:00.001-04:00

More...

2008-05-26T21:31:00.001-04:00

Fishing - only one keeper, but it was fun...

2008-05-26T21:24:00.004-04:00

More...

2008-05-26T21:17:00.001-04:00

Weekend at the beach

2008-05-26T20:59:00.003-04:00

Mia had a big weekend at the beach. She got to get in the ocean, ride in the boat, touch a fish, play with baby Nicholas, swing in the hammock, and much, much more! She LOVES the beach. It makes me wish we could take her every weekend just to the see the look on her face when she sees the ocean!

Slip and Slide

2008-05-19T20:44:00.002-04:00

After Mia woke up from her 3 hour nap on Sunday, we went over to our neighbors so that Mia and TJ could play on his slip and slide - yes, even as windy as it was! They played for 3 hours. She was nice and tuckered out when daddy got home from playing golf!

Madelyn's birthday

2008-05-18T15:28:00.004-04:00

Kid Fest at church

2008-05-18T15:18:00.002-04:00

Mia had another busy weekend! Friday night we had some mommy/Mia time and went to La Bamba to have dinner. It was Mia's first taste of Mexican food and she LOVED it! We came back home and played in the yard. Once it started raining, mommy and daddy got up on the porch, but Mia insisted playing in the rain. Saturday morning we went to Kids Fest at church where Mia rode the train and played on the inflatable castles. Emily and Nicholas met us out there and we had lunch before heading off to Sumter for Madelyn's first birthday party! Mia played on the swingset and inflatable bounce house there and ate plenty of cake and ice cream. It was a fun and busy day! Next weekend we are off to the beach for a long weekend! Can't wait!!

Playing in the rain

2008-05-18T15:09:00.001-04:00

Mommy's night at Miyami!

2008-05-16T10:36:00.001-04:00

Mother's Day weekend

2008-05-11T21:17:00.003-04:00

Mother's Day weekend

2008-05-11T21:11:00.001-04:00

"I Miss You"

2008-05-08T20:55:00.003-04:00

I just had to share what happened this morning. Mia woke up when my alarm went off and I went and got her and put her in the bed with me for a few minutes before I had to get in the shower. When we laid down she turned towards me and said "Mommy, I missed you!" Talk about melting your heart!!!!!! I always tell her I miss her when I pick her up from big girl school, but she has never told me before. I just had to share! I think it was the sweetest words that have come out of her mouth! I'm such a lucky mom!

Happy Mother's Day!

2008-05-08T20:48:00.001-04:00

Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body. ~Elizabeth Stone

You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back. ~William D. Tammeus

More weekend pics

2008-05-05T21:19:00.002-04:00

Emily's Birthday

2008-05-05T20:40:00.002-04:00

Emily turned 29 this weekend. We celebrated by eating dinner at Redbone and then eating cake and opening presents at Emily and Brian's house.

Apparently, my sweet little girl is not a girlie-girl at this age. For the second weekend in a row, Mia has chosen a truck when offered a toy at the store. She loves trains, trucks, tractors, and cars. It's actually kinda cute!

Some of the cute things Mia is saying:

"This way, mama?" (pointing in the direction we're going in the car)

"I go to church!"

"Mama, I help!"

"Mama, color with me!"

Mia loves to sing "You are My Sunshine" "Jesus Loves Me" "ABC's" "Tiny Tim" "Wheels on the Bus" and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"

She loves to color, push her buggy, play outside, take baths, read books, and eat!

Last zoo pics

2008-05-01T11:43:00.003-04:00

More zoo pics

2008-05-01T11:41:00.001-04:00

Zoo

2008-05-01T11:34:00.003-04:00

I decided to take a day off this week and take Miss Priss to the zoo. We met up with Jessica, Laurel, and Isabelle and had a great day! I couldn't have asked for a better behaved child! She held my hand, stayed with me and even wanted to be held some. For one day she was definitely "mama's girl!" This was definitely a good trip for a 2 1/2 year old!

Strawberry Patch

2008-05-01T11:31:00.002-04:00

This past Sunday we took Mia to the strawberry patch. She had a blast picking and eating the strawberries. The Morning News was there and took her picture and she was on the front page Monday morning. We were so proud!

Updated pics of the house

2008-04-20T21:17:00.002-04:00

Mia's weekend

2008-04-20T21:02:00.002-04:00

Mia had a busy schedule this weekend. Friday night we went out to eat with Robert, Erika, and Trey. Mia and Trey were well-behaved, but they couldn't stay out of the play area at Red Bone. Saturday Mema came to stay with us for the night and keep Mia. Ryan and I had a birthday party to go to in Columbia. It was a casino birthday party and we had a GREAT TIME! Sunday morning wewent to church and then mimi and papa came by to see us. Here are some pics of Mia playing with mema and riding her scooter.

First time at the beach this year...

2008-04-13T21:06:00.004-04:00

Friday we picked up Mia from big girl school and headed to the beach. We met mimi, papa, Emily, and Nicholas there. Me, mama, Em, and Nicholas went shopping at Tanger Saturday afternoon while Ryan and daddy kept Mia. They took her to ride ponies and to get some lunch. Saturday night Ryan and I went out to eat at Crabby Oddwaters. We got back in time to help get Mia down. Emily and Ryan played Wii and I caught up on some reading. It was a nice, relaxing weekend. Our next door neighbors called when we were on the way home and invited us over for a cookout Sunday night. The adults chatted while Mia and TJ played outside. Mia had a LARGE weekend and kept everyone busy!

Watching Mickey Mouse before church

2008-03-30T20:59:00.002-04:00

More of Mr. Mark's

2008-03-30T20:55:00.001-04:00

Friday night at Mr. Mark's Fun Park

2008-03-30T20:31:00.002-04:00

Random pics

2008-03-23T21:50:00.001-04:00

Giving Mimi some love
Nicholas chillin'
Foundation poured finally!

Hunting eggs

2008-03-23T21:43:00.001-04:00

After church

2008-03-23T21:36:00.002-04:00

Easter morning

2008-03-23T21:31:00.001-04:00

Gavin and Georgia Grace's birthday party

2008-03-23T21:15:00.003-04:00

Busy Easter Weekend

2008-03-23T20:57:00.003-04:00

Brian trying to get the kite out of the tree
"No, a little to the right, Brian!"
Me trying to fly the kite!

My Birthday

2008-03-16T17:51:00.002-04:00

Ryan, Mia and I celebrated my birthday on Thursday, but our families didn't come until Saturday. Despite the weather, we all headed up to Red Bone for dinner and then back to our house for cake and presents. It was a good time. These are some pics of me and Mia on my 32nd B'day...

Easter Egg Hunt at TJ's and Jessie's House

2008-03-16T17:42:00.003-04:00

Every year our next door neighbors have a huge Easter Egg Hunt. They always have delicious food and a good time! And we couldn't have asked for better weather!

Sunday at the park

2008-03-05T20:16:00.002-05:00