The Zoo

A few months ago, Scott and I took Christina, Samantha, Annemarie and Mia to the San Diego Zoo. Unfortuantely, on the way down, Samantha got sick so we had to meet Sis in Moreno Valley so she could take Samantha home :-( But, we made it to the zoo and if there was a cutout--one or all of the girls stuck their head through it!!

On the bus tour....

Yes, I know my niece and daughter would hate that I blogged this, but that's what happens when I ask for a nice smile and get this....

See, this is better......

We walked through the Atrium and this Blue-Crowned something or other walked right up to Mia and started nibbling her shoes. I have to say that Mia did fine--until the bird tried to get to the Cheerios that were in the crevice of Mia's stroller seat........

Mia's Party

This year, Mia picked out a Pirate Theme for her party. I offered every other theme I could think of (SpongeBob, VeggieTales, Dora, Princesses...) and she always came back to Pirates. So, that's what we did! Lately, we've done cupcakes instead of cake, so Sis invested in a cupcake tower so that we could display Mia's Pirate Cupcakes (artfully done by Aunt Amanda--thanks, Amanda!!).

Mia LOVES music, so Scott and I got her a little piano. In the picute above, it's hard to see the piano, but who cares about that--look at Mia's face!! She loved it and has played it pretty much everyday since her party!!

Mia has also been asking to go to ballet with Samantha. She will wander aroung the house asking where her ballet shoes and tights are.... So, we went ahead and got her her very own for her birthday. She also got a set of wings and a wand (which everyone was using to hit each other on the head with!!).

And this is the latest family picture.....kinda! But, Mia seemed to like the fact that everyone was singing Happy Birthday to her. And Annemarie told me later that she was proud of me for not crying during the party--whatever!

UPDATE!!

Well, I decided that I'd like a break from the never-ending homework and that I should blog. Below are some new pics of Mia, as she has just turned 3. I love birthdays and am quite sentimental about them (to a fault, some would say....). And I have been known to cry on the girls' birthdays, although, I can usually keep it together through the parties..... Mia is now 35 lbs and 35.5 inches tall. She's in very good health, considering. She does still have Asthma and (we think) environmental allergies, although everything she's been tested for has come back negative. After some concern earlier this year that her immune system wasn't functioning properly, her allergist has suggested letting her get sick so that her immune system could learn how to fight off colds, etc. Of course, this goes against my mom-nature, but he gave me reasonable perameters so, we're adjusting. She had a sinus infection last week and seems to be (slowly) getting over it--with no antibiotics! She's now in the 3 year-old room at school and is doing very well! But, the biggest news is that she has been officially discharged from ALL Early Intervention services!!! Woo-Hoo!! No more therapies!! She's "caught up" to where she needs to be--we're so proud of her! Listening to her talk, count, and watching run around the house--you'd really never realize all she's been through!! Annie is a blue belt in Karate and just received a stripe on her belt. She's doing great! She started Girl Scouts at the beginning of the school year and really seems to be enjoying that, a lot!! She's also doing well in school and starts middle school in the fall--AAAHHHHH!!!! We're trying not to freak out about that! Scott is working, working, working.....I'm *still* in school, but may actually be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel--I should graduate in June!!!! The girls are involved in the Discovery program at church and Scott and I are teaching (with Sis, Tony and Syd) the PLUS group (college age) on Wednesdays and the collge age class on Sunday nights. Mia still has a hard time actually going to class, but loves it once she gets there. And asks if we can "go to my church tomorrow?" :-) As I said in an earlier post, I am reminded at this time of year, especially, of how far God has brought our family. When Mia was born, we were told that she only had a 35% chance of survivial and that if she did survive, she would have a 65% chance of being severely to moderately disabled. Looking back, those numbers were just two of many that were being thrown at us during her first few days of life--it was a blur. But, God saw through everything and walked beside our family, just as He always has, and always will. I praise and thank Him for that.....

A little perspective....

Well, it's been a couple of weeks but I finally got Miss Mia to sit still for a few pictures (of course, I had to take one while she was strapped in her highchair and another while she was asleep, but whatever!). I thought I'd start with a picture from when she was about a week old (above). This is Mia during a "care" (and just so you don't have to search from 2006, a "care" was when Mia would get her diaper changed, her temperature taken, get fed, etc...). The pink blob on the left side of the picture is "Baby". When my sister flew to Wisconsin the day after Mia was born, she brought "Baby". Below, is Mia's birth announcement. This is the first picture we received of Mia when she was about a week and a half old with nothing on her face! (The wonderful nurses at Meriter snapped it for us in the middle of the night during a CPAP tubing change). Snuggled next to Mia is Baby.

Fast Forward 3 years: Below is Mia with Baby--her absolute favorite baby. Baby is about 12 1/2 inches long, about the same length of Mia when she was born.

And I snuck this one when Mia was sleeping.....it was hard to pry Baby out from under her, but luckily, she's a Kallner and sleeps like a rock ! ;-)