It's Christmastime!

Hello, ladies!

Precious profile

This time of year is so much fun with Mia! She helped Brock put the ornaments on the tree the other morning and had the best time. She was so proud of her work, she kept taking my hand and bringing me over to the tree to show me what she had done. Precious! Also, she loves to cook and has been helping me make Christmas cookies over the past few days. She LOVES to eat the dough, though, so I have to make sure she doesn't overdo it! Yesterday, I had to keep moving the bowl away from her so she wouldn't keep eating it. But every time I wasn't looking, she was scootching the chair she was standing on around the kitchen to get to the bowl so she could eat the dough or lick the beaters! It was hilarious. I can't say I blame her though - the dough is my favorite part, too!

Mia's 2nd birthday is Friday, I just can't believe it! It has been so much fun finding birthday and Christmas presents for her this year because she just LOVES her toys! To her, anything with a face has a personality, whether it's a baby doll, stuffed animal, wooden doll, or a face in a coloring book. She loves taking all her toys and lining them up, all facing the same direction of course! This year for her birthday, my mom and I got her a ton of Littlest Pet Shop pets and a couple playhouses. I think I am becoming obsessed in finding these crazy things! There are like a million different ones, so my mom and I have been looking everywhere we go to see if we can find any different ones or a better deal on the ones we already found! It's crazy, I've even been dreaming about it! I know she will just love them, so yesterday I broke down and gave her a pack of them. I can't wait till she opens the rest of them and their playhouses on her birthday!!!

Here is a picture of her putting her dollies and their accessories on top of poor Drake...

Also new, she got her first haircut! It was really just a trim off the bottom, but she did great sitting in her pink car chair!

Drake is doing really well. My poor guy, though - he broke out in baby acne on his face like a teenage boy! Mia had the same thing, although not as bad. Hers only lasted a week or so, so I'm hoping his is short-lived as well. He has been a lot more interactive lately, smiling a lot and making the cutest sounds. And he loves it when Mia talks to him, it's adorable.

That's all for now! Stay warm in this chilly weather! :)

Thanksgiving

I know I'm a little late in posting Thanksgiving pics, but it's the first chance I've had since then! We had a great time! We traveled to NW Indiana to see our families, and thankfully the kids couldn't have been any better in the car. Mia had such a great time seeing and playing with everyone. She is such a people-person! It was so good to get to spend time with our families. Mia and Drake got to visit their great grandparents, my dad's mom and dad. Mia had such a good time playing with her great grandpa and the cat!

Mia and Drake have been doing great. Mia is definitely a 2 year old, with all the attitude that goes with it! Drake has been doing much better with his reflux. I think his medicine has finally kicked in. We're finally getting some 5 hour sleep stretches out of him at night, so we're feeling much more rested! Here are some pics from Thanksgiving... (Mia doesn't like to smile for the camera, so that's why she's always looking away! It's all part of her defiance...)

My little man (actually, he's not so little - he is a chunky monkey!)

My Miss Mia

Mia and Great Grandma

With her great grandparents

Playing with Mister Kitty!

Sound asleep :)

Mia, Drake and their cousin Cole -

I'm predicting one day soon she'll be ordering those boys around!

Are You Kiddin' Me?

I put that as the title because that is Mia's newest phrase, it's hilarious. She has been having real conversations lately, too. Yesterday Brock called on the way home from work, and while I was talking to him, she said she wanted to talk to him.

Mia: "I poopied on the potty today!"
Brock" "You did?!"
"And I got a special treat!"
"Were you with Mommy?"
"Yeah, Mommy and Nana. Are you at work?"
"I'm coming home."
"Ok, I'll see ya later! Drive safely!"

It is so funny to watch her progress and have actual conversations with people. Lately she even seems to understand verb tenses. She'll say "I breaked it" or "I waked up." She's even been saying "I'm running fastly!" Obviously those words aren't correct, but it's so neat to watch her learn!

We are still working on the potty training. She's such a stinker. She knows exactly when she has to go, but she is so defiant and strong-willed that she'll only go on the potty on her terms, not ours. So far we've used bribery to get her to go (mini M&M's, 'special treats'), but I think I may have to resort to reverse psychology! This little girl is smart!

Drake is doing really well. We started a new medicine yesterday for his reflux, and he seemed to sleep better last night. We're still just trying to figure out how to prop him up the best way at night so he can sleep well. He's gaining weight like a champ - he is getting so chubby! He's been smiling and cooing also, it is so cute! My mom and Katie think he looks like a Cabbage Patch. He kind of does! Here are some new pictures...

"My name is Merlin..."

One of Mia's favorite things to do is to talk on her phone (or anything that looks like a phone for that matter!). Today she kept saying the same thing over and over on her phone, and I finally figured it out. She was saying, "Hello. My name is Merlin. I am a clown fish," and then she would hang up - it's a line from Finding Nemo. Quoting movie lines like her daddy already! It was pretty cute. She must have had Nemo on the brain today, because then at lunch she held up a bite of her nugget and said, "This kinda looks like Nemo!"

Here are a couple goofy pictures. Here's Drake after Mia was with him (I wish I had gotten a picture from the day when he had 3 of Mia's bows on his head!)...

I can't quite explain the next few. All I can say is that she often disappears for a few minutes only to come out wearing her own "creation"...

Things are going well here, although we found out Drake has reflux. The difficult part is that he cannot lay flat on his back comfortably unless he is at a really steep angle. So nighttime has been challenging for us, and his last middle-of-the night feeding usually ends with him sleeping on one of our chests for the rest of the night just to keep him comfortable. With Mia waking up between 5:30 and 6:00 every morning, sleep is at a premium for Brock and I! If any of you reading this has any tips on managing infant reflux, I would appreciate it! Just drop me a comment or email. Thanks! :)

This and that...

Drake had his 4 week checkup yesterday, and he weighed in at 10 lbs 2 oz! We knew he was growing fast, but I think we were surprised he was already over 10 pounds, although his little thighs are starting to show it!

A few funny stories from yesterday... my mom watched Mia while I was at the pediatrician, and my dad stopped by to see Mia as well. Her Papa (my dad) is definitely one of Mia's favorite people, because he always plays whatever she wants! She especially likes playing "hide and peek," as she calls it, with him. It's so cute! Yesterday they were playing in the toy room, and all the sudden she threw one of her dolls out of the window of her playhouse and said, "You stay out there until you're all done crying!" It's funny to hear her tell her dolls the same things we tell her, although we've never thrown her out the window. ;) Something else funny she said - I was changing Drake on a blanket on the floor, and of course she was right in his face. He spit up a little, and she said, "Oops, he spilled!" :)

Mia and I were looking at pictures of her when she was a baby, and I was reminded of how much like a girl she's always looked, even when first born. And when Drake came out, he looked completely like a boy - thank goodness he is, because I don't even think putting a bow in his hair could make him look like a girl! Here is a picture of Mia when we brought her home from the hospital:

And here's Drake (crying!)...

Anyways, just thought it was funny as I was going though her pictures! And last but not least, here are a few recent pics...

Drake's sweet little fingers

My precious kids :)

New ones...

Here are a few recent pics of our little man - we just love him to bits! He will already be 4 weeks old tomorrow!

Happy Halloween!

Trick or treat! Brock took Mia out last night, and we dressed the baby up just for fun. :) Here are some pictures of last night...

Mia had lots of fun going around the neighborhood with Daddy. Her new thing is that when you ask her something (like if she wants a drink of water) and she doesn't want it, she says, "No, I'm good. Thank you though." It's pretty funny. :) Also, here is Drake's picture from the hospital. He is such a boy!