Happy Heart!



Anyone who knows me is aware that I have always loved Valentine's Day, but this year was one of the best ones yet!  Mia certainly didn't have a full understanding of the holiday, but she understood enough to make it really fun.  To kick off the holiday week, we attended a Valentine's Day party for Mia's playgroup, where they made heart-shaped mini pizzas for lunch, which they enjoyed along with heart-shaped pasta, mini-cupcakes and cookies.  Mia also had fun making Valentine's Day cards and she even liked the champagne chicken I cooked for our family dinner (though I am sure she liked the cupcakes better!) 

Tim and I also had a Valentine's treat when Auntie Theresa came to stay with us over school vacation because we had a chance to go out for a dinner date, too!  It was so nice to have a visit from Theresa and Mia loves when she comes to stay with us!

We hope you had a great Valentine's Day, too!

Happy New Year!

New Year's is always an appropriate time to reflect on the past year while looking forward to the new one and this year is no exception.  As 2011, which was Mia's first full year, came to a close, we remembered all of the milestones she accomplished - sitting up, eating, crawling, talking, walking, and so many others - she grew into a little girl who is full of personality last year!  We are so grateful for everything 2011 has given us and are excited to see what 2012 will bring!

Since Mia goes to bed at 7 (another big change from last New Year's Eve, which still included a midnight and 2am feeding!), we had a little daytime New Year's celebration at our house with her friends from playgroup - of course they had no idea what we were celebrating, but they loved the party horns and food anyways!

We wish everyone a Happy New Year and a wonderful 2012!

Merry Christmas!

As anticipated by her excitement leading up to the holiday, Christmas was such a special day for Mia this year!  We started celebrating the holiday on Christmas Eve with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Sean, where Mia had fun visiting with everyone and opening presents.  When we drove back to our house, Mia loved looking at the luminaries lining our streets in preparation for Santa's arrival! 

When she woke up Christmas morning and went into the living room, she froze for a moment when she saw her new play kitchen and toy piano under the tree and then exclaimed "Wow!"  In fact, Mia walked around all morning saying "Wow!" as she opened new presents and as snowflakes started falling outside, too (it was perfect!)  Grammy, Poppy, Auntie Theresa, Uncle Joseph, Auntie Tanya and Uncle Frank also stopped by that morning to share Christmas breakfast and celebrate together, and then the three of us headed over to Nana's house for Christmas dinner.  Mia enjoyed Nana's escarole soup, raviolis and Italian cookies and loved visiting with everyone (and of course opening fun new presents!)  It was a truly magical holiday this year - Merry Christmas!

Santa Baby

December is always a month of holiday fun, but it has been especially fun this year with a new addition to our celebration - Santa! We are pleasantly surprised at how much Mia understood of the holiday season - in fact, some of her favorite words are now "Santa," "Star" and "Tree!" We are still not exactly sure how Mia first figured out Santa since we hadn't told her about him, but whenever she spots an image of Santa in a book, on a gift bag or wrapping paper, or on a television commercial, she is sure to blow him kisses (apparently she is trying to ensure that she ends up on the nice list!)

We have also been teaching Mia about Christmas through books, movies and, of course, parties! She attended the Gleason Family Christmas party earlier this month (where she sat on Santa's lap and received an early Christmas present from him), in addition to a Christmas party with her little friends from play group, where she participated in a Secret Santa Swap.

We were also happy to continue the tradition of having our annual "Christmas Sleepover Weekend" with Auntie Theresa and Uncle Joseph - Mia had a blast decorating the tree with them and looking at Christmas lights (every time we passed a house with Christmas lights, she would announce it by exclaiming a big "Wow!" from her car seat.) She also decided to add to the little stocking ornaments on our tree by putting her own tiny sock on the tree when no one was looking - a very cute addition to the existing decorations!  It has been a fantastic month so far and we are looking forward to what the rest of the month will bring - including a visit from Santa on Christmas Eve!

Time for Thanks!

It is very appropriate that we just celebrated a holiday for giving thanks because we have a lot to be thankful for this year - we had a wonderful holiday spending time with family and, of course, sharing some delicious meals together!  Mia was very festive in her adorable turkey dress from Grandma and loved visiting with everyone.  At Auntie Linda's house, Mia preferred cranberry and butternut squash puree over turkey this year, but she enjoyed Nana's homemade raviolis (which was no surprise!) and cherry biscotti cookies.  In Easton, Auntie Theresa had already decorated for Christmas, and Mia loved the tree and lights, which put everyone in the holiday spirit!  Here are some photos - thanks for helping us create some great memories for Mia's second Thanksgiving!

These Shoes Are Made for Walkin'

Now that Mia is officially a toddler, we just had a new milestone - we bought her first pair of "real" shoes!  Mia was very patient while having her feet measured, and has been having fun walking everywhere in her new shoes - she is getting faster every day!

Our Little Pumpkin


Even though she has no idea what candy is (though I am sure she will figure it out soon!), Mia had a great time celebrating Halloween this year! She liked wearing her pumpkin costume, reading her Halloween book and playing with the jack-be-little pumpkins. Even though she is too little for trick or treating, we visited Grandma & Grandpa's house and Maureen & Steve's house (where Mia was delighted to see the puppies) - it was a fun Halloween!