We made it home

After just a day in Mountain Home, we had to turn right around and come back to Oklahoma City.

We survived the drive with Mia, who is still thankfully an angel in the car.

Christmas - Round 1

We celebrated our first of several Christmases this year in Mountain Home. We woke up and opened presents like it was Christmas morning. Mia found it all super amazingly wonderful. She helped my mom pass out presents and she helped pretty much everybody open presents.


After that, we had a chance to go see the Baxter County Library, which is absolutely beautiful. I haven't been able to see it since it was rebuilt across town. It's wonderful.


For supper, my mom invited over lots of family friends that we haven't seen for two years. It was so nice to see everyone: Jackie and Carol, the Bergmans and Bobbi Burchard.

Happy birthday, Jesus!

We celebrated the birth of the Prince of Peace by playing a xylophone shaped like an alligator! Hooray!

This Christmas was so much fun. Mia was old enough this year to open presents, though she didn't really get that we were tearing up the paper for a reason. It was still so much fun!



My grandparents gave Mia a pair of tiny, hilarious moccasins. So, of course, we both had to put our warm house shoes on.

They also gave Mia an outstanding bow, which I immediately put on and she immediately took off. Oh well. I'm glad Leigh snapped a picture to document the 1.3 seconds of adorableness.

I got an AWESOME pair of rain boots and rain boot liners (who knew those even existed? they're so great) from my Uncle Jeff. Leigh gave me this beautiful headband from my favorite shop in Oklahoma City. I love it!


I got Leigh a video game for Christmas, but that's for another blog post. After we opened gifts, Grandma Peggy and PawPaw Bob came over.

Game day!

Once again, the Hogs caused great stress in our home. But sadly, things didn't go as well as last Saturday. I spent most of the game folding laundry and freaking out. My mom eventually went to the kitchen to cut vegetables for Mia's party. Oh, well. At least Mia got to play with Grandma Peggy and PawPaw Bob. 



Mia is ready for some football!

We were Hoggin' it up! BTW, that is just pop in my fabulous Razorback martini glass. So just cool your jets, people. I wasn't boozing it up with Mia. She was boozing it up with me.

Mia teaches PawPaw Bob how to use a toy.



Labor Day: Fun outside

Tiptoes to splash in the fountain.

Where's my cup?



There it is!



I love my cup!

Love it!

Pet my toes, Grandma!

Now hand me off to Uncle Russ!

Uncle Russ and I do not approve.

Visiting PawPaw Bob.

We have the same haircut.

Laugh it up, Uncle Russ, but this is serious.

Aunt Debbie just passed me a cookie.

Aunt Debbie is the best.

Inspired by Barbados

When my stepdad remodeled our bathroom a year and a half ago, I had a particular look in mind: the colors of Barbados.


Leigh and I went there on our honeymoon (there he is in the first photo!), and it was beautiful. I loved all the pastels and island colors of the buildings there. Most of all I loved all the shades of blue of the sky and the water. So the dark wood floor, light blue walls and white fixtures were supposed to give it kind of an island-y feel. Our bathroom was the best room in the house, hands down.

Oh, how life has changed since then.

Parents and children

After Mia was born, I was surprised that I continued to be somebody's daughter.

When you're growing up, you think of your parents as Parents with a big P. Parents do important Parent-type stuff. They Pay The Bills, File Taxes, Have A House, Have Kids and do other really Important Things that seem light years away.

In the first three months of Mia's life, I'm pretty sure I've called friends and relatives about 7 million times to ask questions. Am I doing things right? Is she happy? Is she healthy? What does it mean when she cries this way or that? Am I doing enough to stimulate her, engage her, teach her, comfort her, love her? I know I'll call for advice millions of more times.

It isn't until you're completely responsible for someone else do you realize how vulnerable you really are.

And it wasn't until I started facing that vulnerability and overcoming it did I realize that my parents must have felt that way, too. My parents probably called their parents a million times and asked about what to do for me. They were kids, too.

You think of you parents as superheros who were born somewhere around age 40. Parents with a big P. They already know everything. You can't imagine there was a time in their lives when they didn't. But as I've transitioned into this new phase of life, it's given me a new appreciation for all of my parents.

When you become a parent, you don't stop being a child. You're always someone's daughter or son. I appreciate that I can still call my parents and ask for help. It's really a lovely place to be in life.

Christmas column

I wrote about how awesome our regifting Christmas was. Yea! Speaking of Christmas, here are a couple more pictures from the weekend: Mia with Pawpaw Bob and Aunt Beth.



And here's a video of Natalie being super cute.

Surprise!

We arrived early this morning to Grandma Peggy and Pawpaw Bob's house. They were expecting us Friday evening but we came about 2 a.m. Friday. We left Oklahoma City after work and came straight on through. Mia did great. The only time she was awake was when I woke her up to eat. My brother, Joe, and sister-in-law, Beth, left the door open so we could sneak in. So at 2 in the morning we dragged in all our stuff, turned on the Christmas lights, set up the crib and camped out in the living room. No one noticed. Peggy and Bob both woke up and noticed someone sleeping in the living room but didn't check it out. What? They could have squatters and would never notice.

But Grandma Peggy was excited nonetheless. We had so much fun with our extra day. We went to the thrift stores, got a beer and hung out. We went to the Back Forty and played a card game. As you can see, Mia offered to help Beth.

Natalie - Joe and Beth's little girl - is absolutely beautiful. She is so big! She turned 1 on Oct. 15 and is just a busy little body. It's crazy to think that Mia will be her size next year.

Despite Natalie's cuteness, she is a bit of a rebel. She wasn't a fan of Beth holding Mia. She was pretty sure that Beth was her mom and her mom alone - no other baby better encroach on her terrirotiry! This is the only photo I think we will ever have where Beth has both girls.