Late October

Things have felt busy around here.  It's a good busy, where I'm thankful to be productive and have so many good things going on.

Halloween is just a week away and Mia--if she'll tolerate wearing a costume--will be Little Red Riding Hood.  We just got the costume in the mail today from my mom; she found a pattern and sewed it herself!  It looks quite cute and will probably be something Mia can grow with too.

October 2009

I found Mia a Halloween onesie and pants to wear during October.  She wore the outfit around the house on Friday and it was super cute and reminded me of just last year when she was a cute, sorta cuddly 6 month old wearing Halloween onesies!  The front of the shirt, which is not pictured, says, "Daddy's under my spell."  SO true.

contentedly snoozing October 2010

I share this other picture just because I was sort of proud of myself.  We've been eating sort of helter-skelter the last few weeks.  I'm still on my modified diet and have gotten myself back on track after a few weeks of minor cheats building up, so this week I wanted to do a bit better.  Friday night, we had roasted free-range chicken, squash & zucchini splashed with coconut oil, milk, maple syrup, and salt & pepper (which Mia loved!), and sweet potato with coconut oil or butter & cinnamon.  Yum!  It felt like a good fall meal, and Mia had a bit of everything.

"mmmm!"

more squash & zucchini, please!

Sometimes it is hard to find meals where Mia is genuinely interested in everything we place before her, so it's nice when I can just give her something good, healthy and home-cooked and I don't have to worry about a single substitution!  To that end though, Mia seems to have a healthy appetite and I'm very happy to say she loves guacamole.  Guess what Mia, we do too...we do too.

And then unrelated, last weekend we had a special celebration for my sister-in-law Amanda, who is having baby #2 (a girl to be named Abby) in January.  Some of us girls got together and had a "sprinkle" (code for a low-key, casual baby shower) at Cheesecake Factory.  Even though the event was for Amanda, I think all of us had as much fun as she did, and my Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake splurge was worth the cheat.  Yum!
Even though I love being at home with my husband & Mia at night, it is so refreshing to spend a night out with girlfriends every now and then.  It's just good for the soul, and I'm very thankful for these gals.

For now, Greg & I are going to be old fogies and finish the movie (Robin Hood) we couldn't last night thanks to S.F.O., also known as sudden fatigue onset and eat some grain-free brownies.  With good food like that, a "restricted" diet ain't so bad.

Caught! on Camera: Mia Plays & Sings

Pause the audio player to the right before viewing.

Mia Plays & Sings from Megan Ciampa on Vimeo.
Enjoying a new toy so much, she just had to sing about it!

Gravity

Sometimes the most unexpected days are the best days.

Today I really only had two goals:

• Get my items to be consigned dropped off.
• Be at the consignment sale at 4pm when the special presale began for select customers (volunteers & consignors)

I was so excitably nervous all day about this consignment sale.  Silly stuff, right?  But one of my mom friends compared it to Black Friday--wanting to make sure you get all the special deals before they run out. And I had a lot on my wishlist for Mia.

I wasn't so sure about my intentions beforehand though; I had to wake up a sleeping Mia in order to get there just after 4, and I really didn't want to do that.  She's been napping great lately and I hate to cut a nap short just so I can shop.

However, Greg & I switched cars today because he needed the Pilot for a bit more storage for his annual pep rally gig, and as soon as I woke Mia up and walked to the Golf, she got pretty excited about an adventure in a different car and started kicking her legs.

Anyway, the sale was a success--for us, for now.  And afterwards, on a whim, I called my friend who lives in the area and we grabbed dinner together, which gave us a nice opportunity to catch up.  And then, when Mia & I got home, we just played with some of our new toys.

How you like my new wheels?

Trying on some new shoes while figuring out the MegaBlocks

We did the bath and bedtime routine and afterwards I had a few moments of downtime, for the first time all day, just to chill.

When I got online, I immediately saw a posting by a friend about the Matthews family, who live in Florida and have a little son with neuroblastoma.  I've already felt quite emotional this week; it's been a heavy week--in a good way--lots of excitement and opportunity mixed with sadness, and this just tugged on my heartstrings even more.  And then I read Kelle Hampton's blog, which is one of my very favorites and from whom I steal many a music inspiration, and it was like she was reading my mind...

Just earlier today I was thinking that at some point I should find those awful diaries I kept when I was a preteen and teenager, and reread them when I'm ready to face how ridiculous I was, so that when the time comes, I'll be able to better relate to things Mia may eventually go through.  And hopefully through it all, I'll be able to celebrate with her who she is.  Not an all-things-are-good-and-I'm-gonna-pretend-there's-no-room-for-improvement sort of thing, but more like a, this-is-how-God-made-you, and He is pleased with it.  And so am I.  And why do things just stink sometimes? I don't know, but we'll make it through.  And if we don't, then we'll die, and we'll go to Heaven, and then it'll be really, really great.

So, to bring it on home, I've just really been enjoying the little things with Mia, seeing her light up, learn new words, hug, blow kisses, and be our little companion, and sometimes when it seems one's heart couldn't possibly burst anymore, it just does.  And I know this blog went from straightforward to emotionally serious in just a matter of paragraphs, but that's sometimes just how life goes.  It feels like you're just going through the motions, until you realize you're nurturing a little soul who watches your every move and copies you--oft times not to your liking--and you think, "Woah, this is heavy.  This isn't just about me anymore."  So I think that's how I got there.  I had these plans and these goals for today, but in the end, what was more important was how I took care of my little daughter.  And we had a good time, and I'm trying to be a better momma, so, I think we're in a good spot for now.

And I loooove to hear Mia sing.  I must get more video of that.

Things that make you go hmm...

As I've alluded to before, we often get things in the mail that are clearly marketed towards the parents of a young one, but today I stopped in my tracks upon receiving the American Girl October 2010 catalog.  I could barely believe my eyes.

This is the stuff I used to salivate over almost every year from age 7 to *gulp* age 12.  They had only 3 dolls when I first got into it: Kristen, the Scandinavian pioneer who immigrated to Minnesota; Samantha, the Victorian 'princess;' and Molly, the daughter of a WWII soldier.  My neighbors had two of the aforementioned, and I received Felicity, the redheaded colonial girl who grew up in Virginia.  It's astounding what I still remember from these books, but I read them over and over again and probably used the historical fiction to fill in any gaps I ever received in my history education.

Felicity in her "holiday gown" & "cardinal cloak"

It makes me excited to think that Lord Willing I might be able to share these fun things with Mia someday. My parents/Santa Claus (now, who was who???) were gracious in gifting me many a thing from Felicity's collection back in the day, and I hope we can share this with Mia too.
Coincidentally, I had just been thinking about American Girl earlier today and how it really fueled my imagination.  I hope for Mia that she doesn't get so bogged down by media, pop culture and societal ridiculousness that she doesn't have the chance to just imagine, play and pretend, like little ones ought to.

And now I feel really ready to get ready for the holidays!
Wow, who would've thought one American Girl catalog could do that?!

Huge AG nerd, signing off.

PS: For an awful night of sleep, Mia, you did well this afternoon with a 3 hr nap!  Yay!

Lil' Mia = Lil' Helper

I guess I shant be that surprised; Mia's always been observant.  But she loves helping me in so many tasks now.  Or thinking she's helping me.  I'm pretty sure when she's just a bit older, she really will be a big help, and I'm very thankful for that. (I know I wasn't always the biggest help to my mom!! *ornery squirt*)


From time to time, we now get children's catalogs most likely from signing up for something online, because I am pretty certain I didn't register for One Step Ahead or Hanna Andersson, but some of the catalogs we do get have some cute things.  I think I may have found the perfect holiday gift for Mia in the most recent One Step Ahead catalog:

Dyson Upright VacuumLeaps And Bounds Kids

We have the real version of this vacuum cleaner so I know Mia would love it!  She recently saw me using the hose attachment to pick up dust bunnies underneath small spaces, and took it upon herself to find a roll of unopened wrapping paper, and began using that as her own vacuum hose attachment!  She walked around the hose "vacuuming".  It says it's for 3+, but Mia never takes age suggestions into account.  She'll push around anything.


New words for Mia this week:
flower
no (it sounds really cute but could quickly turn dangerous)
um....
uh-oh

and I know I'm forgetting some others.  That bambina!