The Birthday Girl... on her big day

The birthday girl! Oh Mia, where to begin... I love you sooo much! You are a the sweetest little girl and we simply adore you. At your party I was reflecting how much has changed in the past two years. When you were born I was terrified of your future. You have been home with us over a year now, and life couldn't be much better. Recently a stranger who met you told me how you just radiate happiness. I agree! You have a light that is unique to you, and that makes people love you.
The birthday family! Both Jensen and Ellie made her some pretty adorable birthday cards. Ellie and Jensen love Mia to pieces- she is a huge part of their day. I have yet to hear them do or say anything mean towards her. Sometimes she gets a little too much attention, but it is always loving attention.

Me and my girl! I sure love you little peanut!

Some things I want to remember about you and this age are:

-"eeew!" you say this a lot, probably because I am constantly trying to keep you from germs.
- the noise you make when you are trying to be silly. It is a low pitched grunt almost, and you do it with a massive smile on your face.
- how well you can throw food. You swing your arm horizontally and release handfuls of your meals... and it travels quite far.
- "woah" this is another word that you frequently say. If there is a loud noise or you fall down you follow it up with a "woah."
- we try to get you to show off and you never will. We have learned not to have you demonstrate your skills in front of people, because you just smile really big and then burrow your face into whomever is holding you.
-your animal noises of choice are "moo" and "ssssss"
- every time you finish a bottle (we are trying to wean you) you push the nipple inside out.
- You happy scream at almost anything. When we come into get you in the morning or after a nap you start screaming with delight. You also happy scream when someone you recognize comes to the door, or are playing with a toy. Your happy scream often replaces laughter.
- You love to dance, and we love turning up the music and just watching you go. You do a lot of happy screaming while you dance.
- You only give open mouth kisses
-Many of those kisses are directed to Sam. You love him, and he loves you.
-Your favorite games are "creepy mouse" "pat-a-cake" "peek-a-boo" and "popcorn popping."
- No means yes. Any question we ask you... the answer is "no" then you reach for whatever it was we were offering. You finally learned how to say "please" so we have you say that after you say "no."
- You roam around and are getting quite fast. Every time I go upstairs you are hot on my heels and surprise me every time.
- You love your meds and open your mouth wide when it's med time. Your little eating noises melt my heart!
- You love to snuggle, but are in constant shifting mode when your trying to get cozy.
-You absolutely love to rough house. Your dad tosses you around and you couldn't be happier. The craziness lasts as long as your daddy does... he can't resist your "moors."

She was supposed to wear this Olivia shirt (thanks Anne) while she ate her cake, but I forgot to put it on her. She is OBSESSED with Olivia and it is pretty much the only TV she watches, period. It's Olivia or nothing. She also likes baby Einsteins during her echo's, but is a one show kinda girl. I used to distract her with an Olivia show (while I nursed, or got kids doing something etc) now she will request them. She says, "guh guh aaaaaahhhhhhhhh" She says it so sweetly, you would want her to watch TV just so could hear her say this... it's precious!


Miss Mia and her other BFF Anna. Sean took them for a ride around the park, she would sit in that wagon all day long if someone was pulling it.

Mr. Sam was busy hanging out with the baby girls. What a handsome little devil!

One of her favorite gifts was this pillow pet. She carries it around by holding it's nose in her mouth. The pillow just dangles as she roams around the house. Thanks Jaim- she loves it, and treats it like a pet!

Last year she wasn't exactly eating solids so she didn't get to dig into her cake. This year, she definitely ate some but didn't make the colossal mess I was expecting. She insisted on using a fork to dig in after she realized she didn't want her fingers all messy. At home, she wants to eat everything with her hands- goof ball!

Look at those dirty knees! Mia gets nervous about walking in grass for some reason. She played in a lot of dirt and ruined her fancy shoes! I suppose we can just buy her some new ones with the birthday money. Oh, and she didn't blow out the candles... again, she doesn't like showing her skills in front of people. We need to send her to camp Ellie. Although the candles mesmerized her, she failed to blow them out. There's always next year, right?

The birthday dad. I am going to make him insert his favorite things about miss Mia here. He used to contribute a lot to the blog, but hasn't had time. He's busy being so serious apparently- and hot.

The other guest of honor besides miss Mia, was her new friend Gabrielle. She is the sweet little baby I mentioned a few months back. She is on the transplant list, and had the exact procedure that Mia had pre- transplant. I am in awe of how great she looks, and how healthy she is despite needing a new heart. Having her there was special and a very real reminder of our lives used to be so different. I wonder if Mia has any recollection of her feeding tube? probably not. Christen, Thanks so much for coming- and bringing her out into the world :-) I am so thrilled that you get to wait at home and love her up before her big procedure. We will be praying for your little family!



Mia loved her birthday party. A huge THANK YOU to all of her family and friends that came to her party! Thanks to everyone who brought food, snapped pictures, and grabbed last minute things from the store. I love celebrating her and feel so blessed to have so many along side with me. I will admit I am glad that the big day is behind me...big events and new babies are brutal!


Although she didn't blow out the candles and dig into her cake- she was a gift opening expert! She gets that from her mom! :-)


Little miss open mouth kisser. I wonder when she'll start to pucker... hopefully it will be awhile.
Hey Meez, it's daddy. Thought I would make a little note in here on your birthday about some things that I adore about you. I love that you are such a happy girl. You are always smiling and have the softest little voice, and you really like to chatter. Lately you have developed the ability to yell when either in distress, or usually when you are really excited about something. You like to eat with a fork, and you like to dip nuggets in sauce, which I think is funny. You are the squirmiest child on the earth. I have rarely had you fall asleep while snuggling in the last year because you reposition non-stop. It's like you are a human drill. Not long ago you had a night that you just didn't feel like sleeping so I decided to hold you as long as it took just to see how long you would stay up. After many songs, back scratches, shows, snuggles and human drilling, you finally zonked out at 3:00 a.m. Amazing. You now let me sing to you . For the longest time if I sang to you, it would trigger you would get this huge frown and cry really hard. You typically like to be plunked into your crib with 8 oz of milk and that's all you need! Lights out. One of your first tricks when you learned how to stand was to lay down upon being prompted. I would stand you up on your crib railing and say, "lay down..." You get a big grin on your face and plop down. What is hilarious is that you have the darndest time ending up on your back in the middle of the crib. You will lay on your tummy and try and roll. It cracks us up to see you all skee-wampous laying sideways on your crib railing. You goof-ball. When you lay down for a diaper change it is just as fun to see you lay down and then realize your are not properly positioned. The scooting and rolling and concentrating is great. You also bring us your diaper and wipes when it is "time" for a change. Oh, and as quickly as I can use a wipe, you will have plucked another one from the package and have it waiting for me. What a team. I feel like a surgeon being handed my operating tools. I love that you follow up your happy pterodactyl scream with a huge cheesy grin. You are a great pal. Greetings at the door, (you don't know how tough it is to walk past you when I get home, in order to properly wash up.) You are happiest when I am "roughing you up." You are happy to dive off Jensens window-sill backwards, and the higher the aerial stunt the better. I love that you squeeze my neck when giving hugs. You love to be outside, and you love getting filthy in the dirt. We love having you in our home Mia, for the many many things you do that bring us great joy. Happy #2!!

A first kiss.
Hudson didn't get the memo about Mia only giving out open mouth kisses :-)

We are so thankful to have this little girl in our family! We are honored and overwhelmed with gratitude for her donor family. We love them and pray for his family often! I hope to meet them someday and try to verbalize just how much they mean to us. Giving her the gift of life, saved her life- but it saved us all as well. We are forever changed!