Soup and Smores

Our pals - Jenni Carlson Reaves and Ryan Reaves - hosted their super fun soup and smores party. (Thank you, Alison Lowe, for the fabulous photos!) We took Mia with and she had a great time hanging out with all kinds of people. She didn't cry or get fussy, but she did need a wardrobe change midway through. That's when we discovered not only did we not bring diapers, but we also forgot to bring a onesie. We had a jumper, pajamas and a pair of pants. This does not an outfit make. So she had to go sans onesie and leave on the pants and sweater. She was like a flasher in a trench coat, but she's still not coordinated enough to unbutton her shirt and flash. Thank god.

Hanging out with daddy

Sleeping in on a Saturday.

Quiet and loud

Leigh captured a picture of Mia and me doing one of our favorite things - napping!

And I shot a video of Mia babbling away. You can see her smile in this video!

Maybe she'll splash

Why babies have pockets, 2

To hold the remote control while they do other things around the house.





See the first reason babies have pockets.

She's a super (health) freak

Mia had her two-month check-up today, the day after she turned two months old. The doctor said, and I quote, "She's the healthiest baby I'll see all day. I really mean that." I was so proud!

Yes. She's a health nut.

She weighed 10 pounds even, which is holding steady in the 10 to 25 percentile range. The doctor said she's strong and is developing normally.

She had four vaccines today - one was oral and the others were shots. I had been dreading this. I couldn't look - I could only hold her tiny arm and turn away. She was calmer than I was. She cried a little after her first shot, but she was over it before the nurse gave her the second shot. The same happened between the second and third shots. The nurse told Mia she was one of the bravest babies ever. Well, I'm glad one of us wasn't scared.

Santa says YES!

Well, Mia browbeat us until we put her in what might be the cutest Christmas outfit ever. Here's how it went down:

Mia: "Put me in some holiday clothes. Enough of this pink nonsense."
Us: "But it's still technically November."
Mia: "I don't care. I've got the holiday spirit! Put me in some candy cane pants!"
Us: "But Thanksgiving was just the other day."
Mia: "Shut up and put me in a Santa hat, people!"

We relented.

Flexing the guns

Mia was hanging out with me on the couch, having some good ol' tummy time, when she started lifting her head up. Then she started pushing herself up by her arms! It was pretty exciting. I think half of this video is of me shouting, "Leigh, omigod, get the camera, omigod!" ha

Vilakazi

After two years of talking about it, we've finally started our own charity: http://www.vilakazi.org/. We got some great advice from a friend, Edwin Amaya, who started his own foundation - Smile Colombia.

We aren't a nonprofit yet - that costs a whole lot of money - but we have plans to help children in need in rural South Africa. Our first fundraiser is a holiday dinner Dec. 15, and we are having a wine tasting in the spring. We're really excited about this project!

Our goal is to improve the lives of South African children by giving them better access to education, health and athletics. We plan to collect money before we go to South Africa in June, when we will distribute school supplies, health care items and sports equipment to the children of Coffee Bay.

So please go check out our site: http://www.vilakazi.org/!

Mia's first Thanksgiving

We're thankful today for our family and loved ones. We miss everyone we couldn't see today; you were on our minds.