Miracle!

Last night Leigh and I went on a date, which involved doing a bunch of random stuff, including going to Target. We moseyed past the children's stuff and I noticed the potty training stuff. Maybe we should buy her a miniature potty? We did. So then she had a choice: sit on a booster seat on the regular toilet or sit on a teeny-tiny potty.

Tonight, she sat on the teeny-tiny potty. Then she peed. Then I nearly tackled her.

It was amazing, people. I never thought I'd care so much about someone else's bathroom habits.

Now we just have to get her to do it again.

That's nice

When we picked Mia up from school, one of the teachers, Miss Kelly, told us a story about Mia using her new words. Mia was jabbering away at Miss Kelly and started pointing out her body parts. She pointed at her eye and said, "Eye!" Miss Kelly got excited and encouraged her to keep going. Mia pointed to her nose and said, "Nose!" Miss Kelly was so excited and asked Mia what else she knew.

Then our child stuck her finger up her nose and announced, "Booger!"

Super.

Forever Family Day

Today was a special day for a very special family. My good friend Michelle got full legal custody of her adopted children, Noah and Izzy. She's a single mom who was kind enough to bring two kids desperately in need of love and attention into her home. After a year, she finally got to officially call them her own. They named it Forever Family Day. I was so honored to be able to attend the adoption ceremony. I might have started crying even before the judge came in the room. It was one of the greatest things I've ever seen. So wonderful. The world is a better place because of Michelle, and those two children will have a shot at a real life. God bless her and those babies.

Snack time chat

We've been trying to implement a new rule from Mia's dietitian: eat everything (even snacks) at the table. This is new for all of us, grown-ups included, and Mia is a little leery of snack time in her high chair. But we used this time-out to talk about all those new words she's using. Kind of. Of course, there was mooing.

Princess Blah Blah Blah

Mia's babysitters, Jaeson and Caele, gave her the best nickname ever: Princess Blah Blah Blah. They dubbed her that a few months ago when she really started jabbering away. It's hilarious and accurate.

Well her blah blah blah has really started turning into words. The other night we had the TV on mute, and she noticed her favorite animal out of the corner of her eye. She spun around, pointed and said, "Cow!" Since when could she say cow?

Today she shared a bunch of other words she's been secretly hoarding. At my grandparents' house, she pointed to and correctly identified bird, cat and Grandpa.

Also this morning, we were disappointed to hear a sentence: "Wake up."

She woke up crazy early, and we tried the oldest trick in the book. We put her in bed between us and tried to go back to sleep. Maybe if we sleep, she'll sleep, too, right? This use to work. Now? Not so much. Immediately after we put her down, she stood up, pointed and demanded, "Wake up."

Were we excited about her using more words?

Those Darn Schmids

We finally got to meet Aubrey! Let me just say ... my friend Emily has such a beautiful daughter. We made it over to Fayetteville this weekend to get a peek at her little girl, who was born right before we went on vacation. It was so exciting to see tiny Aubrey and see Little and Aaron.

We left Mia with my Aunt Connie because she wasn't feeling too well. She and Aubrey can get crazy some other time. Leigh and I waited impatiently for Aubrey to wake up, and we both had the chance to hold her.


And then I held her some more.


And then Clarence the pug got jealous. Sorry, C-Murder.

Born to run

Mia bails out

Around we go

We stopped by the zoo, where Mia had the chance to ride a real carousel for the first time. It took her a few go-arounds before she could wave at daddy when she saw him, not by the time we looped around to the other side.

USA! USA US ... oh.

We had some friends over to watch the Women's World Cup final, which, unfortunately, did not go our way. We still enjoyed eating with friends. Mia celebrated the patriotic experience by wearing a Fourth of July dress, trying to feed Leigh with a spoon and then honking his nose.

Holy Kimball Matrimony

We love the Kimballs. We love them. First of all, they are fantastic people. Second of all, they are amazing friends. Their wedding was absolutely lovely. I mean seriously - look at these two!


We were so honored that Mia got to be the flower girl! We found a fabulous little silver dress so she would sort of blend in with the bridesmaids, who also wore silver. We had a couple test-runs that went OK, but when the big moment came, Mia was not interested even at all. I carried her for a bit then tried to peel her off me. That failed. I decided to just go ahead and carry her the rest of the way, like a toddler sherpa.

Of course, immediately after sitting down with her, she livened up and started chatting. Leigh had to take her outside for the last half of the ceremony. She stayed with us for a while at the reception.

We took to Tiamo Jill's house after supper so she could go to bed and we could enjoy the adult part of the reception. As soon as we got there, Mia got on the phone.


We had a fantastic time, and we were so happy to be a part of the Kimballs' big deal. And then Leigh stole a case of their beer.

A new seat

While we were in Iowa, my Grandpa Jack gave Mia the most adorable little lounge chair he built. We packed it (along with a beautiful side table made of red cedar from Arkansas!) into the car and brought it home. Mia loves it. It cracks me up to see her relaxing, like she's had such a long, hard day at work.

Russ and Alice

Before we headed out of Harvard, I wanted to stop by and see my grandparents' grave. I hadn't be there since my Grandpa Russ passed in 2003, so it was pretty emotional. I left them some wildflowers tied up with grass. It was sad, but I'm glad I went. They are missed.

Thank you, Illinois!

Thank you, Illinois, for giving us the greatest town name ever: Big Foot. Leigh and I had to stop at it's only landmark (aside from the cemetary) and document its awesomeness. Mia is so kind to tolerate our nonsense.

Madison

My cousin Sarah has the most adorable, hilarious little girl: Madison.

Madison is quite a bit older than Mia, so we were wondering how everything would go down when we got the two together in Harvard. Madison has plenty of toys and things at her grandparents' house, and my Aunt Debbie and Uncle Russ were a little concerned about how having a visitor all over her toys would play out. Mia isn't really old enough to share, and Madison is just old enough to know the things are hers.

Success! After a little crying, all was well. They even blew bubbles together.

Madison is known for being pretty outspoken, which is pretty funny coming from who looks so sweet. I called the house while Leigh and I were in Chicago for the day to see how Mia was doing, and Madison handled the call. She told me to put Leigh on the phone. They had a good talk.

Mia v. the popsicle

As a little P.S. to our roadtrip, I wanted to share photos of Mia trying her first popsicle. As you can imagine, it ended with a bath. Thanks, Aunt Debbie.

Last stop: Kansas City

Our last stop of the big trip was Kansas City. We arrived in the afternoon and found out the Royals were in town. They were playing - of all teams - the Detroit Tigers! Mia has a Detroit Tigers cheerleader outfit that our friend Chuck gave her, and it is so adorable. But did we pack it? No. Because we knew we'd get all kinds of guff from my family. So she had to wear just regular clothes.

Mia had lots of fun at her first professional baseball game. She loved climbing over, around, under and in the chairs. She did get pretty mad, though, when she realized it was physically impossible to close herself up in the seats.

Welcome to fabulous Iowa!

OK, I know I keep saying we had a fabulous time everywhere we've been, but we also had a fabulous time in Iowa! We saw family and the Amish. There's no way you can go wrong.


Mia had the chance to meet Nancy's family - Grandma Joy and Grandpa Jack and Aunt Barb and Uncle Steve. But she was most excited to meet my cousin, Valerie, and her little boys, Shane and Dillon. Shane is just a couple months older than Mia, so there was, obviously, lots of trouble to be made. Shane talks a lot more than Mia does, so he was pretty funny, giving her directions and letting her know how to hid in the closet and do other things. Pretty much the only thing they sat still for was to play piano with Grandma Joy.


After eating a lot, seeing the Amish and listening to the kids playing endlessly on the piano, we headed out of Sumner toward Kansas City. It was kind of sad to head home. We stopped by what might be the greatest tourist attraction ever: the world's largest gnome.


Those trick Iowans hid the gnome inside a botanical garden, so we had to learn things along the way.