Mia is growing and learning so much every day.  I haven't really devoted a post to her in awhile.  So, here are way more pictures than you want to see, but I had a hard time choosing my favorites.  

Mia is talking so much now, sometimes I feel bad because I don't know exactly what she is saying.  Her favorite sound right now is the 'ck/k' sound.  She has mastered saying: back, truck, neck, work, Mike and walk.  My favorite is when I ask her where daddy is, she says, "work". : )  She'll pretty much try to say anything, it doesn't always sound the same, but she gives a worthy attempt.

 This girl loves to paint,

 help her daddy with his homework,

 color,

 stand outside in the snow,

 sit outside in the snow,

 give kisses,

 throw temper tantrums,

 get the mail,

 climb on the couch,

 explore new textures,

 read really long books,

 take baths,

 pray, 

(she reminds me before every meal and pretty much anytime we sit anywhere)

 build really tall towers,

(I came in the playroom and found this...Mia built it all by herself!)

 wake up from a nap,

 be silly,

 go on walks while looking super cool in her sunglasses,

 point at airplanes,

 and play with her little friend, Bennett.

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 Joe took me to Flemings Steak House for Valentine's Day.  It was delicious and nice to have some time alone with my hubby.  This date almost didn't happen due to work travel,  no babysitter and to top it off, a delayed flight, but we were determined and I'm so happy we were.

Chocolate Molten Lava Cake

                                     

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Mia and I hosted a Valentine's Breakfast this morning.  There were 7 moms, 3 babies and 5 kids under the age of 3.  We had such a fun time eating, playing, painting baby feet and making Valentines.  I think this will be a new tradition that I will do with my girls every year. (I can't believe I will have two girls in 3 months...wow!)

 The kid's tables.  These table and chair sets are awesome and only $20 for the set at Ikea.

 Party favors.  Each kid got a bag of three different sized heart cookies.

 The mommies got a personalized bottle of homemade trail mix (can I call it homemade if I just mixed the ingredients together?)  Before I got pregnant, I was obsessed with Starbucks Frappuccino, which is where the bottles were from.

 I forgot to take a picture of the food.  Since I know my Grandma will be wondering, here is the menu:  strawberries and blueberries, heart shaped muffins (saw the idea on Pinterest), Valentine donuts (from a local donut shop), egg bake and individual applesauce pouches for the little ones.  

 Mia eating breakfast with her friend, Rebekah.

 Baby Liam...this boy is so handsome and melts my heart.

 Titus and Cierra enjoying their breakfast.

 Sweet Kennedy, who has mastered sitting up.

 Notice the hearts on the wall behind Mia?  She colored them and taped them to the wall ( I helped with the cutting).

 Making Valentines.

 Baby Bennett and his mommy, Laura.

 Painting fun!

 Tillie with her Valentine.

 Me and my little Valentine.

 How cute are these baby foot prints?!?

 Mia gave everyone their party gifts when the party was over.  She was so proud and so was I. : )

 Three little babies, all born within a month of each other.

 Mia loves arts and crafts.  Coloring keeps her busy for a long time.

Mia, watching her friends go bye bye.

I'm so fortunate to have such great friends that are also stay-at-home moms.  Today was a good day.  I hope all of you get to spend Valentines Day with people you love.  Don't forget to spread the love.  

I'm off to sanitize all of Mia's toys and sweep sprinkles and heart shapes off my kitchen floor. Then, I just may have leftover donuts for lunch. <3 Yum.

Thank you to everyone that sent Mia Valentines, she has them displayed in her playroom and loves getting mail.  I didn't get Valentines out this year, but we are definitely thinking of our friends and family that live far away. We miss you.

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So, Joe and I came to a very sad realization today.  Carnival Cruise lines doesn't let women who are further than 24 weeks pregnant aboard their ships.  I will  be 29 weeks at the time of the cruise. : (  So, we just made an expensive mistake since we had already bought my mom's flight and my flight (Joe's work didn't cover my airfare).

I was really looking forward to some quality time with my husband, sitting poolside enjoying the warm sunshine and some R&R before having an all consuming newborn.   Uggg.   Well, the good news is that I'll get to spend some quality time with my mom while Joe is gone.  Side note... Joe will be going on 6 business trips in the next 6 weeks (including the cruise).  Yep, it would have been nice to have some time with him in the midst of the craziness.

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This will be Joe and I next month (just pretend that the cartoon version of me has a large bump in her midsection).  We get to go on a 4 day cruise to Cozumel with Joe's work.  I'm so excited to have some one on one time with Joe before we become a family of four.  

My mom is coming to our house to watch Mia.  It's going to be hard to leave Mia for 5 days since I've never even left her for the night, but there's a first time for everything.  Now, I just need to decide if I can rock a bikini while 32 weeks pregnant...it'll definitely be a sight to see!

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My church congregation got a sneak peek at my little miss last Sunday.  My Pastor asked if I would do an ultrasound at church for everyone to promote a ministry called, Alternatives Pregnancy Center.  It was great to be able to see my baby and give everyone at church the ability to see the power of an ultrasound.  I think the statistic was that if women sees their baby on an ultrasound, the are 82% less likely to have an abortion. These pictures are not very good as Joe took them in a dark auditorium with his cell phone, but you get the idea.  The way she was positioned, we actually got to see the details of her face.  Joe thought she looked like Mia and had pudgy cheeks.  Oh, I can't wait to meet her! 

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I've been researching double strollers for several weeks now and finally bought one!  I actually went to Babies R Us yesterday with the intention of buying the Chicco double stroller that works with the car seat I have.  After pushing Mia and an empty car seat around the store, I knew that the Chicco was not for me.  I seriously felt like I was pushing a Costco cart full of groceries!

Much to my surprise, they had a phil & teds stroller on display (Babies R Us usually only sells this brand online) and were selling the floor model at a discounted price.  After going home and doing more research and realizing that the brand new stroller was at least $150 cheaper than Amazon was selling it for, I was sold.  So, Mia and I went and picked up our new stroller yesterday afternoon and I absolutely love it!  I can't review how well it works with two until my second little lady makes her appearance, but Mia is kind of obsessed with it, so that makes me happy. : )

 In the above picture, the baby would be laying down in the black area behind Mia.  I should have taken a picture from the back view to give you a better idea but it's a super cozy baby bassinet.

 This is the position for two toddlers.  Surprisingly, Mia loves the back.  

I can buy a connector piece to safely secure the car seat and Miss Mia can happily ride in the back.  This stroller can also be used as a single stroller by simply removing the second seat.

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