Little Mia-isms

Mia sure does a lot of crazy stuff. Well, let's be honest. Dave and I are both a little weird and quirky, so she definitely got a little from each of us. Her little personality grows each day, and we are learning a lot about who this little spirit that has joined our family really is:
1. She is very independent, yet she knows when she needs help and is glad to accept it. She finds joy in doing things by herself, but with her cute littleness and not-so-strong-yet muscles, she is happy to accept help when she discovers she "can't do it." I'm happy for that, it still makes me feel needed although she is growing WAY too fast...
2. She is the most destructive baby I've ever met. She has torn apart countless books, the foam puzzle ABC mat on her floor is in a huge heap in her room because she tears it apart every time I put it back together, she empties every drawer, cabinet, shelf she can and trickles the contents all over the house setting up perfect tripping opportunities for her clumsy mom...I could go on and on. Oh...I've tried to sing the Barney "clean-up" song over and over demonstrating how to put things back, but she just stands and laughs and claps her hands...and then promptly comes and fights me to mess everything up again. I'll keep trying...aaaahhhh.
3. She is GIRL through and through. She has a little pink purse she carries around the house, she loves finding play jewelry around the house to wear, she is obsessed with my wedding ring and watch, she LOVES to watch me put my makeup on...but she still hates her hair being up. For the record...I put her hair up every morning, but she pulls it out at some point every day. Huh.
4. She is the messiest little girl I've ever met. She loves to get dirty. Here she is at beach day with our friends. I didn't put a swimsuit on her, and I should have. I know better. She loves the water, the sand, and the beach critters, the sand doesn't bother her at all. She gets covered in it, rolls around in it, and doesn't care. She sat with our friend Hailey forever playing with the sand dollars they collected from the water.
5. She loves music. Whenever there is music on, she's dancing, clapping, stomping, or trying to help play if it's Dave on the guitar. She'll climb all over him and do whatever it takes to get right in there to help out.

We love our little Mia and can't believe we were so lucky to get her in our family.

Views of our Morning Walk

Mornings have sure changed since we moved to Nevis. Mia used to sleep in until at least 8:30...usually more like 9:30. It was spectacular. She did wake up for a morning snack around 4:00 am, but I really didn't mind, because I would stay half asleep and just feed her, and then be on with my morning. Well...ever since we moved here, she's been completely on a schedule, completely sleeping through the night. It was a little bizarre at first, to be honest. I haven't slept through the night since I was about 6 months pregnant, but I love it...except for the fact that she wakes up like a normal kid now. We set the alarm, but we really shouldn't because she's up ready to go anytime between 6:00-7:00. So sad. So we bring her in with us as we're both trying to wake up while she does a bottle, and then we get up and get Dave going for the day with a big breakfast and a nice packed lunch. When he leaves, Mia and I head out for our morning walk.

Mia gets the daily dose of sunblock, and grabs her shades and is ready to go. If she has a snack and a bottle, I can usually get more time out of her.

We walk up and down our hill 3 times each morning. Here is the view going down the street. Can you believe there are cacti here? Thought we left the desert...


It takes about 45 minutes or so, and then we come in and do kickboxing or pilates. Mia loves dancing to the music.

Nevis Botanical Gardens

Last week, our "mother's club" here went on an outing to the Botanical Gardens by Montpelier. We decided to go have some fun while the boys were working hard in school. It was fabulous, and I highly recommend it.


The gardens are impeccable, and the restaurant is beautiful and relaxing. We went right during Mia's nap time, which I haven't done in a long time, but she did really well surprisingly. She fits right in with girl's day out.


This is at the restaurant in the gardens. Mia thought these windows were the coolest. Poor thing...she is always so sweaty here. As you may have noticed...not too many pics of me. I always have my hair back and a nice film of sweat and dirt on my face at all times. I'll just let your imagination think that I am a beautiful island goddess.


Here is Mia showing off. We were all standing around clapping, laughing, buzzing, and doing anything we could do get her to smile and pose, and she decided to conduct music instead I guess.

It was a fanastic day. Luckily, Mia didn't get lost in the maze of garden boxes. This is one of the three locations they hold graduation for MUA when Dave finishes.


This is from the "autograph" tree. You take a little stick and write whatever you want. I liked this leaf the best though...

Up's and Down's

Well living on a beautiful island has it's ups and downs. The beauty is unmatched. It is awesome to see a clear emerald ocean every single day and to walk by the most beautiful smelling flowers (all "ups"). Mia loves to play outside, especially when I'm hanging the laundry (kind of a down). Now I know that a lot of the world doesn't have dryers, but to be honest, I'm kind of missing it. Hanging laundry isn't all that bad...it smells fresh and lovely, and it's kind of fun hanging it. Until it starts pouring outside and you have clothes on the line. The first time it happened, I thought crap, and thought I'd just leave them out there and let them dry again. Here's a tip...that doesn't work. The clothes end up smelling like wet then dried puppy. So laundry is dictated by the rain/humidity which is unpredictable, which makes me miss my dryer sometimes. Mia loves to romp around in the yard while I'm hanging laundry and gets ticked when it's time to come inside. She also likes to sit on the other side of the porch that I can't see when I'm hanging laundry. Why is that? She can sit over by me, and we can both be happy...but alas, she must sit out of my vision...which leads to many more moments like this...


And huge "up" about living here is all the friend's we're making. We have met people from all over the world, and we are absolutely loving it. Dave loves school and has made some incredible friends in class. The other night I was cooking in the kitchen, and I hear Mia wildly yell in the family room. Then she starts giggling with delight and clapping her hands. I peer around the corner, and she and the little boy that lives upstairs are talking and laughing through the door. It was so great to watch. He is 2 years old, and they were waving and laughing, banging on the door, and clapping. It was like they had just discovered each other were there for the first time. I feel lucky to be experiencing all of this, and even more happy that Mia is able to experience this too. Taking her to the beach, to church, around town, all of these things are so priceless that I feel lucky that we can be here with Mia. I don't know what I'd do without her.

She swiftly turned into a little girl in the last month. Everything from no more breastfeeding (I was ready to be done at 12 months, but she held on until last week), her face isn't a baby face anymore, and she's obsessed with necklaces, purses, and anything that she can hold on her shoulder for a "phone." Oh ya, she loves sunglasses too. She is my bestest little buddy, we have so much fun everyday dancing, laughing, reading, and just hanging out. Life would be a fraction of the fun here if it weren't for her.