Merry Christmas!

We started a new Christmas tradition this year for our little family. After the festivities in Mascoutah with the Twenhafels, we headed back to good ole 527 Atalanta. We wanted to be able to celebrate Christmas morning at our own house. Mia must have been a good girl this year, because she got lots of fun stuff from Santa. Her 2 big gifts were a Dora the Explorer kitchen and the Little People Nativity Set. These were both set up in front of the tree so as soon as Mia made her way downstairs in the morning, she saw them and immediately started playing. So fun!!



After Mia's morning nap, we headed back to Mascoutah to celebrate Christmas with the Simon Family at Papa Art and Grandma Randa's. Grandma & Papa gave Mia a baby bed for her Bitty Baby. However, Mia thinks its for her.



Mia had a great time playing with her cousins Christian and Aubree.



Christmas Cheers! (And a delicious Christmas Dinner prepared by Grandma Randa!)


After dinner, we headed over to Lockwood's to continue our Christmas fun with the extended family. It was a busy day, but one that was full of the best things in life - family...and lots of good food. :)

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

Our Christmas Eve tradition is to go to the Christmas Eve church service and then head over to my mom's house for egg nog, gift opening and lots of snacks! The added fun this year was getting to see Mia open her presents. Since the Twenhafel clan celebrated early at Thanksmas, the adults had a mini-exchange. Mia had a blast and wasn't shy about tearing off the wrapping paper. She received wonderful toys, books and clothes from everyone! And this was just the beginning of our Christmas celebrations!



Grandma, Grandpa and the Grandkids


Mia looking at her presents

Mia & Max

Mia and Max have become pretty good friends lately. Max is awesome with Mia. He lets her pet him and hug on him and never seems bothered by it. Mia's allergy test indicated that she is allergic to cats, so we had been trying to keep Mia and Max separated, but as you can see...that doesn't work very well. How can you deny these two? Thankfully Mia's eczema is doing much better lately. Just in time for Mia and Max to become pals. Here's a couple pics from last week of the two of them.

Flashback!

It is so hard to believe how fast time goes by! Since I wasn't blogging until Mia was 11 months old, we have lots & lots of photos that I haven't shared. I thought it would be fun to post Mia's Christmas photos from last year. Mia was 1 month old when we took these pictures. Its hard to remember Mia being so small, but I definitely remember her being a cutie!

Ho Ho Ho = Wah Wah Wah

Last night we went to a Christmas party hosted by our neighbors. This is an annual party and practically one of the only times we visit with our neighbors. This is the 3rd year that we've attended and we've always enjoyed it. However, now that we have Mia, its even more fun because Santa makes a visit. We eagerly anticipated Santa's arrival and Mia had been practicing saying "Santa" and "Ho ho ho". We weren't sure how Mia would react to Santa. Once he arrived, we sat and watched about 10 kids sit on Santa's lap and then finally we decided it was Mia's turn. Luckily Jake was quick with the camera because Mia's time with Santa was cut pretty short. Just one look at the picture and you'll know why.



A much happier Mia, before Santa's arrival:

Watch out Picasso!

We have a budding artist on our hands. I guess that shouldn't really be a surprise since one of the most creative guys I know is her daddy. Mia does have a fun time with the art projects at school and at home. Here are a few pics of Mia and her "Splash Art" toy she got from Heather for her birthday. Its a fun way to create colorful pictures with water...once it dries you can start all over again. No mess AND lots of fun!

Walk this Way

Our baby is becoming a toddler more and more every day. She's starting to get more and more interested in walking. On Thanksgiving, both Annaliese and Mia entertained everyone with their walking progress. Thanks to "Auntie" Alana for helping get the girls moving!

Mia walking!

Merry Thanksmas!

On my side of the family, every other year we celebrate Christmas at Thanksgiving time since that is when my sister and her family are visiting. (They take turns spending Thanksgiving and Christmas with both sets of relatives.) In our family, we've dubbed this holiday "Thanksmas". Its a little strange to be celebrating Christmas so early, but Mom makes sure to have all of her decorations up to get us in the Christmas spirit. Plus, its nice to have a lot of my Christmas shopping done so early...impressive for a procrastinator like me!

Mia was incredibly cute at the gift opening. We all take turns opening gifts, youngest to oldest. This whole process usually takes a couple hours and Mia was in a great mood the entire time. She had a blast opening up the gifts and when she would see what it was, it was usually greeted with a "Wow!" from her - her new favorite word. When it wasn't her turn, Mia was content hanging out, playing with her new toys and watching everyone else. We couldn't have asked for a better night!

Here's a video of Mia opening a gift. Listen carefully and you'll hear her "Wow!"

Mia Rosa

Last Friday night, we went to a restaurant solely based on its name: Mia Rosa. We really didn't know much about this place, but since our daughter is named Mia Rose, we felt that it was our obligation to go there. The restaurant was a little more fancy than we would normally attempt with Mia, but she was an angel. In fact several of the other patrons stopped by our table to tell us how cute Mia is and how impressed they were by how good she was. We sat in the bar area and the live entertainment was acoustic guitar. As soon as the music started, Mia was enthralled and spent a majority of the time just watching the performer, who I must admit was pretty amazing.

Mia Rosa is basically an Italian tapas restaurant. We tried several excellent dishes, but our favorite (and Mia's too!!) was the pancetta wrapped asparagus. Delicious! The waitstaff at Mia Rosa was great too. They thought it was so neat that we had a Mia Rose and told us to send in a picture of her to their website. If it does get posted, I'll be sure to include it in an upcoming blog. If you are interested in checking out the restaurant, here's the website:

Here's the review from Sauce Magazine.

Mia Rose outside of Mia Rosa

Movie Star

You know when something triggers a memory that you haven't thought of in ages and it makes you a little sentimental? That happened the other night when Mia was trying on her sunglasses. The instant she put them on, I immediately said "Oh look at the movie star!" It was one of those times when the phrase just popped out. All of a sudden I remembered a time when I was little and came strutting into the living room with my big red sunglasses on and my mom saying to me "Oh look at the movie star!" I haven't thought about that in years, but now the memory is as clear as it happened yesterday. Maybe one day Mia will look at her little girl wearing sunglasses and call her a movie star?

Here's my little Movie Star!

Official Potluck Taster

Two weeks ago, our church celebrated its 140th anniversary. Its a well known fact that we Lutherans love our potlucks! For the celebration, we actually had a catered meal, but our little Mia was dressed to impress in her "Official Potluck Taster" bib. So cute!

Dawn and Dave's Wedding

This past weekend our good friends Dawn and Dave got married in sunny Ft. Myers, Florida! Jake and I had the pleasure of joining them for their beach wedding. This was our first "vacation" without Mia. It was hard to be away from her, but we knew she was in good hands while we were gone. Friday she stayed with Grandma Randa and Papa Art, Saturday she was with Grandma Jan and Grandpa Bob and Sunday she visited with Uncle Terry and Aunt Beth. This way everyone got some extra one-on-one time with Mia. While IL/MO weather was cold, rainy and 40 degrees, Jake and I were enjoying 80+ degree weather and lots of sun! Except when the rain rolled in during the outdoor reception. I have to hand it to Dave and Dawn - they totally rolled with it and didn't let a little rain ruin the fun. Here's a few pictures from our trip.

Fall is here!

Over the years, my favorite time of year has changed from summertime to springtime and now in the past few years I've finally decided that I like fall the best! I love the chill in the air, pulling out my sweaters and enjoying all the fun "fall" things like playing in the leaves. Here's a few of my favorite picks of Mia this fall.

On one of the warmer days this fall, Mia and I went to a park by our house. She squeals when she sees the park coming and claps her hands once we get there. Usually her favorite is the slide, but this day she was loving the swing.


Jake had just raked a big pile of leaves so we decided to let Mia have some fun!

Vote for Mia

In the spirit of the election, Mia wore her "Future President" shirt today. Who knows...maybe one day...

I hope everyone got out and voted today! Enjoy democracy!

Baby Talk

Every day it seems that Mia is picking up more and more verbal skills. It really is amazing to see her try to mimic the sounds that she hears. Her latest is when something drops on the floor (more like she purposefully throws it to the floor), she'll look at it and say "uh-oh". It's cute...the first few times at least. :)

Here's a video clip of some of Mia's first words. Enjoy our little talker! (I can only imagine of what is to come!)

The 3 Little Pigs

For Halloween, the 3 cousins dressed up as the 3 Little Pigs. And what cute little piggies they were! The group caravanned around town making stops to show off the girls to the relatives. Thanks to Lisa for making the adorable costumes!








Terry"s awesome pumpkin carving!

M1A

For Mia's 1st birthday, we had a birthday party at Uncle Terry and Aunt Beth's house. We were blessed to have lots of family and friends be able to celebrate this milestone with us. It turned out to be a wonderful day and a fun party!

Mia's highlight from the day: playing in the bouncy with Annaliese and Lilah. Thanks to Uncle Scott for bringing this over!

Mommy & Daddy's highlight from the day: singing the "Baby Mia" lyrics Jake wrote to the Mamma Mia song that Scott played on his guitar.


By the way, when a marketing girl marries a graphics boy, it should be no surprise that a logo is involved.


Other fun pics from the day:

Happy Birthday Mia!

Yesterday was Mia's 1st birthday! Its hard to believe that a year has past already. And what a fun and eventful year it has been. Mia is such a joy to us and we are thankful every day that we've been blessed with such a wonderful and amazing little girl.

Mia's birthday party was yesterday afternoon and I'll be sure to blog on that and include lots of pictures. For this blog, I want it to be a special one, capturing Mia at this point in time. We all know how fast time goes and how you think you'll remember everything, but as days go by some things are fleeting. So, this post is all things Mia...

At 12 months old, Mia can:
-clap
-wave hi and bye
-baby sign "more" and "all done"
-point to the things she wants
-climb up the stairs
-give someone 5
-raise arms on "so big"
-clap along with patty cakes & "happy and you know it" song
-stand up and cruise along furniture
-can walk when you hold her hands
(*Mia took her 1st real step on her birthday!)
-raise her arms up when she wants to be picked up
-go get daddy when asked
-give hugs

Mia's favorites:
Food: hot dogs, cheese slices, mandarin oranges, black olives, deli turkey meat
Songs: "If you're happy & you know it," "Wheels on the Bus," "ABCs"
Toys: books, rings, ball, shapes, baby dolls, remote controls and cell phones
Activities: being chased and then tickled, tickle bug, riding on shoulders, going upside down, playing peek-a-boo
Books: "Who loves you baby," "Peek-a-Zoo," "Squishy Turtle"

Mia can say:
-hi, bye, mom, da-da, ball, ba ba, more and mum mum

Other fun stuff:
-Mia is a climber! She loves to climb up on everything - which scares mom & dad!
-Mia is a snuggler. She loves to sit on laps, cuddle and give lots of hugs.
-Mia has 4 teeth. Two more are peeking through on the top and 1 more on the bottom.
-Mia loves shoes!
-Mia loves her pacifier.
-She wears size 12-18 mos clothes and is about to move into size 4 shoes
-Mia loves other kids and loves to watch them.
-She likes the slide the best at the park.
-Mia takes 2 naps a day: usually 9:30-10:30 and 1:00-3:00
-Mia's bedtime is 8:30
-In a crowd, Mia is sometimes shy and sometimes a big flirt!
-Mia likes bathtime, but her favorite is at the end when we do "baby burrito" and wrap up in the towel
-Mia likes blues music!
-Mia likes to watch and then try to do it herself
-Mia is a happy little girl and full of smiles!

ZLC Fall Festival

Last Sunday, ZLC hosted a Fall Festival, complete with games, activities, and a big bouncy house. Mia loved the train ride and had an absolute blast in the bouncy house! Both sets of Grandparents were able to join us and enjoy this perfect fall day. We hope that this becomes an annual event. Here's a few of our favorite pics.

Mia checking out the bouncy house.


The bouncy house is so much fun!



Daddy and Mia on the train ride. Choo Choo!


The Cousins: Lilah, Mia and Annaliese


Kisses for Annaliese!


The Simon Family