Great Grandparents

I am a little behind on posts. With getting ready to move, I came across a whole bunch of pictures that I realized I hadn't blogged about. So here's to catching up.
My Dad's parents live in Sierra Vista which is a little town in Southeast Arizona. It's about a 3 hour drive from us, and we picked a nice sunny day in February to drive down and have lunch. My grandparents were beside themselves that we came to visit, as my Nana had recently had back surgery followed by an infection that has really set her back. My grandpa is 88 years old and my Nana is 86, and they are still going strong. They went on a seven day white water rafting tour down the Colorado River about 5 years ago, and every year they go on at least one 2-3 week vacation somewhere foreign. So my Nana being sick has put a damper on their adventurous spirits and it was good for us to stop by and cheer them up. I can only hope I have their stamina when I'm old so Dave and I can go on adventures like they do!

Yes, she's talking

Everyone's been asking the usual questions, is she walking? Is she talking? Is she eating solid foods? Walking-kind of. She totally can, but she's a total scaredy cat. Talking-yes, baby talk. She talks ALL DAY LONG. I often hear her talking in the morning in her bed, and usually at nap time too. The other night I had church, and I brought Mia with me because they had nursery that night. When I got home, Dave was sitting on the couch and immediately Mia started pulling down to get to Dave. I put her down to stand and hold on to the couch and she started babbling away at Dave. Dave just kept saying, "a-huh. And what else, tell me all about it...etc." I put a few things away and a few minutes later, I went to pick her up to put her in her bath, and she started SCREAMING. She never does this. She is a mama's girl through and through. I couldn't figure out what her problem was, so I put her back down where she was standing talking to Dave, and she stopped crying and started talking away again. I guess I interrupted her conversation with her dad...oops.
Oh ya, solid foods..yes, but she is the pickiest, most opinionated eater I've ever come across. Boy, she sure is cute though...
p.s. Happy St. Patrick's Day! Mia had to wear her green shamrock outfit for good luck!

1st Birthday in 3 States

Our little is not so little anymore. Can you believe Mia Jane is already ONE??!!!?? To celebrate her birthday, we went to Texas, Michigan, and back home in Arizona where she had birthday cake, a candle, and presents galore in each place. She decided to stay awake on the plane now, and discovered a new game. It's called pull, kick, and punch the chair in front of you. I'm pretty sure that game is only fun to the one playing it though. We are spoiled too because we have a seat for her, and she still managed to be a little nuts on the flights.
Anyway...she was terribly cute at her birthday party in Texas. Our camera ran out of batteries (okay, I miss my old camera that just used AA batteries, easy to fix in a pinch), so her big first birthday extravaganza was not caught on tape. Bad parents, bad. She devoured her little personal cake, even down to the plate in was on licking every last crumb. She just sat by and watched as the older kids beat the pretty unicorn pinata to shreds, and then slept like a little baby that night. I just love her so much. She is the yummiest piece of chocolate ever.
We also went to Michigan to visit Dave's sister Karrie and her husband Dave. They live in the cutest little house that was built in the early 1900's in downtown Clarkston, which is a charming little village. I loved every minute of it. I felt like we were in a little doll house. Karrie surprised us with a birthday cake and presents for Mia the first night we were there. The weather was chilly, but it was a charming visit that was very relaxing and enjoyable.
Then we headed home to Arizona for a party with Dave's family at Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa. That place is so fun. It's packed with old-timers, but Mia didn't mind. We ate greasy pizza and ice cold rootbeer and listened to a fabulous organ show. We finished off the night with pink cake and thus ended our celebrating little Mia's first birthday. I personally like her first birthday WAY better than last year's "birthday!"
(p.s.-I just noticed that in both pics she's holding my cell phone. Yes...she is obsessed!!! My parents bought her a little fake cell phone for her birthday, which she loves, but if she happens to see mine...it's over. ahhhh it begins...)

With one week left...

This is before the race...bright-eyed, excited, and pre...well, just read how below to see how it all went.

I had a goal to run a half marathon within a year of having Mia, and with one week left, I finally did it! I ran my first half marathon on Saturday, February 28, 2009 in Ft. Worth, Texas. I met my sister Heather and her fiance Shaman to do it with them. It was freezing cold, and very windy!!! It was one of those chill to the bones day...but I must be a glutton for punishment because I actually had a lot of fun! It must have been 35 degrees that morning with 25 mph wind gusts. The first five miles were great-I did them in 50 minutes, which might be slow for some runners, but it was great time for me. Then the hills started. Miles 6-9 were one hill after another, and that was really tough on my right ankle. I wear an ankle brace, and those hills really did a number on my ankle and my time. When I hit mile 9, I wanted to just plow through because I only had 4 more to go, but then the cobblestone brick pavers started. Cracked, old cobblestone brick pavers. My ankle just couldn't take it. From mile 9-10.5 it was really difficult to run on an uneven surface, so between slowing down, stopping to readjust my shoes, to finally taking my ankle brace off, I really slowed down. The last two miles were okay (with one kick in the pants hill right about 1/2 mile before the finish line), and my official finish time was 2:44:35. My original goal was under 2 1/2 hrs., so I guess 14 extra minutes isn't too bad, but I was really kind of bummed when the last half didn't go my way. I will definitely do another half marathon. It was great to train for-hard at times, but the first time I ran 4 miles, then 6 miles, then 8 miles, then 10 miles in training, I felt so proud and amazed that I could do this! ANYONE can run if I can run! It was awesome. I am so glad Mia and Dave were there to cheer me on this silly little goal of mine. So get out and find yourself some windy freezing weather, brick cobblestone, hilly terrain and RUN!!


The finishers! Here we are with our cute little finisher COWTOWN Marathon medals
p.s. Mia was exhausted after the race...it's tough being a diva in a suade pink furry coat all morning.

And we're off!!!!!!!

Well this week sure had it's share of ups and downs. Putting Blitzer down at the beginning of the week was extremely hard. The mood was pretty gloomy around the house. When Friday rolled around, we were all looking forward to date night and finding a way to lift our spirits a bit. The phone started ringing early Friday morning from Dave's Cinnamon Toast Studios clients (his creative productions and web design business), and the day started off to it's usual routine . Dave put four medical school applications in about two weeks ago, and we've been anxiously awaiting...well the unknown really. Neither of us have been through this process before, and we didn't know how long everything would end up taking. Dave had two interviews (one for St. Matthew's University on The Grand Cayman Islands, and one for The Medical University of the Americas (MUA) on the island of Nevis in the Caribbean). He felt great about both interviews, however the Dean of Admissions from MUA informed Dave on the spot that he was granting him admission for the May '09 start date immediately. That's right... DAVE GOT INTO MED SCHOOL!!!!! I am so stinkin' proud of him, I can't express it adequately. What I am proud of is that he is chasing a goal and dream that he's had for years, and he's doing and is willing to do the hard work it is going to take to achieve it.
His first day of classes start May 4, 2009, so we only have a few short months to get everything in order. Good thing we already have all of our passports! We also need to insure financing in order to go, so that is one of our top priorities in the next week or two. We will be on the island for 20 months (until January of '11) for coursework, and then come back to the U.S. for 2 years of clinical rotations probably in the Northeastern states. We are thrilled, humbled, grateful, and excited for this new adventure that awaits us. So get ready to come and visit us on St. Kitts and Nevis...the island of rainforests, reefs, and ruins!

So long ole' boy

Yesterday was a sad day. Dave had to put his family's dog Blitzer down. He had a good run, though. He was a "German Shepard" (or so they were told, but he really didn't look like a German Shepard), and he was almost 11 years old. I'd say that was pretty good. We miss him terribly. He was the most gentle dog I have ever seen. He was so good with the grand kids, and I always trusted him around Mia, and that's a good feeling for a mother to have. Dave's nephew Steele would even ride him like a horse around his parent's house and poke is eye almost out and Blitzer wouldn't do a thing about it.
Some of my favorite memories are:
-When Dave and I were dating, we'd take Blitzer on Sunday walks down to Mesa High School and let him run free in the baseball fields. He loved running and feeling the wind in his fur.
-We took Blitzer hiking with us around Arizona. He did an awesome job climbing the rocks and getting around the mountain. He left tons of hair in my car from that day and I kept finding Blitzer hair on my clothing at work for weeks after that. It brought a smile to my face every time.
-He was a good listener. He would just stay right there and listen to whatever you wanted to say. He never offered advice, gave his opinion, or interrupted you with an experience he could relate to. He just listened and sat by you.
-He loved food. Just like me. You could get him to do anything by saying, "Blitzer!!! Hot Dog!!!"
-He was a good swimmer and he and Mia got to have swimming days together last summer.
-He just wanted to sit and be with you wherever you were. He would quietly sit in the room you were in and just be. It was nice to feel like someone wanted to be around you just because.
-He was a good camping buddy. One time when we took him camping with us, it started raining in the middle of the night. He was sleeping outside our tent protecting us (ha) and started jumping on the tent...on my side!!! I was 4 months pregnant and it was an unpleasant way to wake up in the middle of the night. He was just scared of the weather, I can't blame him. We let him in and he slept great.
-Even though he got some flack for his common sense from some members in the family, we think he is the one having the last laugh. He knew how to get what he wanted, and he wasn't easily deceived. When he'd stand by the door to go out, you could say "Macaroni. Monkey. Pool." and he wouldn't move. But you'd say "Out!" and he was out the door. Same with "load!" to get in the car, or "go to the bathroom!" and he'd do it. We think he was pretty smart after all.
-Our last favorite memory was his sleeping patterns. He spent his days going from room to room around the house trying to experiment with different sleeping positions. It was comical to walk in a room and see his legs up in the air and be totally out.
We sure will miss him, but we know he's in a better place now having all the hot dogs he can handle.

There's still some cowboys out there

Last weekend my sister Heather got engaged to her sweetheart Shaman. He is a sweet, kind, fun guy that will fit in beautifully with our family. Our family actually met his family in 1991 while stationed in Hawaii!
Anyway...my favorite part about their engagement story is actually from the night before they were engaged. Shaman drove over to my parent's house to talk to them and ask permission to marry Heather. He was so dazed (as MOST men are when they are going through this weighty process of proposing) that he didn't pay attention to his speed as he left my parents and headed to Heather's house. While driving through a little town that pulls you over for literally going 1 or 2 miles over the 30 mph speed limit, there was no hope for Shaman as he raced to Heather's going 50 mph. The cop did his cop thing and finally came back to Shaman's car to hand him his ticket. As he did so, Shaman profusely apologized and said, "I'm really sorry officer. I just got done talking to my girlfriend's parents about us getting married and I'm proposing tomorrow." With that, the cop said, "Well in that case..." and tore up the ticket. That's good stuff.

My name is Mia, but you can call me Ms. Filhart

Mia has begun copying a lot of what Dave and I do. I guess you can tell that we are on the computer in the Family Room quite often. She was all over the computer when I had left it for a second, and this is what I came back to when I returned. She happened to wear a little blazer and skirt that day, and she looked like she was prepping for a business meeting or something. She already started dusting (stay tuned for footage on that!!!!), and I'm working on her learning to mop. Hey-she's almost a year old, and she initiated earning her keep. I'm just facilitating it.

MCAT Tackled

Dave is a stud!!! He finally took the MCAT for medical school this morning. This has been years in the making, and he finally did it!! Yeeeooowww!!!! I am so proud of him for overcoming his anxiety and taking the test. I got up extra early to make him a big breakfast and pack lots of snacks, and while we were sitting there at the table I asked him what time it was. He said "quarter to 7." For a split second I panicked because he needed to be on the road by 6:30 to be safe. I quickly looked for a clock and saw that it was 6:15, not 6:45. I looked at Dave and he says "Crap. I'm gonna fail this thing." Good thing telling time isn't on the MCAT.

Vietnamese (Chinese) New Year, throw up, a passport, and poop-lots of poop

This week's updates are coming to you filtered. I will not gross anyone out too bad, but life around the Filhart house has been very...ahem...eventful. That's it, eventful.

First of all, I finally got Mia's hair into a rubberband. It was difficult because her hair is so fine and she is a little squirmer. It looked horrible, but its a start. I don't think she really cares either way.

On to Chinese/Vietnamese New Years. Since we couldn't make it to Vietnam to spend the holiday with Dave's family, we went to Mekong Plaza to celebrate and try and win a Toyota Camry. Say what? We ended up eating Pho (Vietnamese noodle soup) at Unphogettable (yes, that's the real restaurant name), and then wading through the million people to find a spot to hear the big raffle results. uggh. So we wait for about an hour, all the while listening to classic Vietnamese jams performed by local vietnamese bands and burning up because there are about 10,000 too many people crammed in this place. The big moment arrives, and they spend 30 minutes talking about how the raffle will end up working, and then announce that two more fashion shows and performances will take place before they do the raffle. I was annoyed, but I didn't have to even open my mouth because everyone started booing and yelling at the organizers. I just looked at Dave and thought "I'm glad Mia doesn't understand Vietnamese yet" because I was sure there was plenty of "potty words" being thrown around. The raffle finally happened, AND WE didn't WIN. We didn't even buy raffle tickets, we put four in that our friends gave to us. We would have felt bad if we had won.

Mia wore a traditional boy's outfit for the New Year pictures. That's about right. She's going to get back at me one day.


Here is Mia before her "Let me see how much I can throw up and poop" week. I think she got sick from Unphogettable.
I have never seen, smelled, and touched sooooo much poop in my whole life. Huggies suck. Our trash doubled this week, and I've done laundry 3 times (when I usually only do it once a week). Poor thing. So we thought to cheer her up, we'd go get her passport picture taken.


Dave is working tirelessly on med school applications, and I'll tell ya...we'll get in where we can get in, when we can get in. We are willing to even go abroad to get this show on the road. So Mimi was a big girl and got her picture taken and went to the post office to finish her passport application and get that mailed off. She is ready for travel internationale at the ripe age of 11 months.
I'm pretty sure that cheered her up because she hasn't pooped since.

This Week's Updates

Mia is pulling up and cruising around everything. She could care less about all of her toys because she's more interested in crawling to the ottoman to walk around it for hours. She has also decided to change her nap schedule yet again. This change is not that bad because she's been playing around in her bed for like oh...an hour to an hour and a half. Is that bad? She doesn't cry, she just walks around, talks, and looks around. How do we know this you ask? We kind of set up the web cam one day and watched her on the laptop out in the family room. It was hilarious. Ooooo-she is just delicious.
Some exciting Mia "first's": Laughing at a story with me, cruising, waving "bye-bye," getting into everything, crawling on her hands, and reacting to "little piggies." I'm working on her first word being "mama," naming parts of the face, and baby sign language. She's not really buying any of those whatsoever...
On to Dave news. He is a stud. He has been studying extra hard for his big MCAT test next Saturday. It will be a big relief to be able to make some decisions and continue this crazy thing we call life. He keeps me laughing, and honestly, he doesn't need me to teach him any lessons because he manages to keep himself in check. He has "flashes of brilliance" (as he puts it), but he is usually humbled immediately to keep him from becoming too arrogant. I love him.
I am still going for my half marathon the end of February in Dallas. I definitely can say that ANYONE can become a runner. I am up to 4 miles each weekly workout and 6-7 for a long run on Saturdays. It's really fun and I'm feeling great. I have no desire to ever do a full marathon, but I am excited to do this half marathon. Things are plugging along-I just can't believe Mia is almost a year old! LIFE IS GOOD!!!

Got your year supply?

Dave came home tonight with 2 bottles of squirt, a movie, and a box of oreo cakesters. I have been dieting since the beginning of December, so these indulgences are a little out of the question for me. After I politely declined, he said, "But I want you to be happy-I can see the hunger in your eyes." Ah-whaaa? To which I replied: "I am not starving. I could go months off of my own fat storage and be fine...wait!!! I have my own year supply...I am a WALKING year supply." I never looked at chubbiness this way before...

Out of Control

Yesterday at church Mia was NUTS. Our church changed to 2-5 pm...yes, right in the middle of nap time, so this will be interesting. During Sunday School, Mia was crawling, pulling, sucking, clawing, licking, and twisting anything and everything. Dave leans over to me and whispers "I think Mia has entered a new phase." To which I replied "Out of control?" To which Dave replied "Whoa...that's out of control!!!!" Meaning my breath. I could not stop laughing...okay okay, so if you can't laugh at yourself, you're not livin', you know what I'm saying? Thank you speariment gum for being my emergency friend.

A future in...

Did we mention Mia loves to dance? I think she's a natural for sure...

Goodbye to our Jen!

We love our gym. It is less than a mile away, and the child watch is the cleanest, friendliest place ever. One of our favorite girls, Jen decided to move back to California...and oh how we will miss her! She loved Mia and was so kind and fun to us. Good luck in California Jen!!

Christmas in Arizona 2008

We spent Mia's first Christmas at home in Arizona this year. We made sure to continue some of our family traditions like making perogies and corn chowder...

Perogies are a Ukranian dish that Dave ate a lot on his mission in Canada. Becky's Nana Wendt made the best corn chowder ever, and has been a family favorite for years.

Aunt Heather, Shaman, and Justin along with Kerstin, Matt, and their kids came from Texas to visit. We loved going to the Mesa Temple Lights and spending quality time with them and making memories. It was so fun to be so close and see each other whenever we wanted.

Mimi is our little dancer. Any time there is music on, she is all smiles and wiggles. We got a few last minute shots Christmas Eve in front of the tree getting ready for Santa to visit...

And of course, Mia had to have her good night bath before Santa came. She is the cutest little little ever. We love her to BITS!!!

Getting Ready for Christmas

I love getting ready for Christmas. I love the music, the feeling, the excitement, the shopping (bargain of course), the parties, and the food. Having Mia has taken it to a whole new level this year. All of these things are amplified and Dave and I have a renewed sense of the Christmas spirit because of our little Mia. We visited Santa, got all "gussied up" to go to a few holiday parties, and are dreaming about Christmas dinner when we get to go off our diets for a day and hog on. Can't wait. Seriously. Doesn't Mimi look beautiful in her little holiday dress? I couldn't pass up it's $3.00 price along with $6.00 red one for Christmas Day. Ahhh this recession is actually working in our favor...

The Happy Baby

Mia is such a happy baby. It takes no effort to get her to smile and interact with ANYONE!!! She especially loves to be held while you dance around and sing. Her latest accomplishment is "trying" to hum/sing along with me when I rock her. It is hilariously cute and I love it. After her morning feeding this morning I wanted to sit and hold her a little before putting her back down to sleep, so I started rocking her and humming Christmas songs. She was so tired, but still tried little hums with an occasional "dada" in a very exhausted attempt. It is ad.or.able. I love being a mommy.

Thanksgiving 2008

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Texas to spend the holiday with Becky's family. We got to stay with Aunt Heather and Justin, play with cousin Katy, went fishing of course, and oh yeah...eat tons and tons of food. Dave made a late night run to the store one night and came home with donuts, soda, sausages, and tons of junk food. It was fun but gross as we all sat around at midnight and binged. Needless to say, as soon as we got home from the trip we started our 1200 calorie diet. Mainly out of disgust.


One of the days we went down to Brackenridge Park by the Zoo downtown and fished. It was a gorgeous day and felt like Fall!! I couldn't capture the colors with the camera, but it smelled crisp and Autumn-like, and I just knew Mia was fully enjoying herself as she kicked back and let the boys do the work. Good girl.