Today's Movie Charade

Uncle Darvey wins today! Mia's charade was Get Smart. I was afraid she would rip my glasses apart, so Daddy sat them on her head right before I took the picture. She may as well get used to wearing glasses. Wesley and I both have poor eyesight, so there's not much she can do about it. Here's the charade of the day:

Unlike this Adam Sandler movie, Mia's remote control does not control her life (but it makes a great teether!)

Can You Guess the Movie?

Grammy is the winner today! Mia was acting out Finding Nemo. Thanks to Ms. Jennifer at the CDC for letting us borrow Nemo for our charades. Mia had fun pulling the blanket off of Nemo repeatedly. Maybe she thought he was playing peekaboo. Here is tonight's picture.

She might not be Agent 99, but Mia is hitting the books to gain more knowledge.

Charade #2

Today's winner is...Christie! Mia was acting out Failure to Launch with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey. She got halfway into her roll but failed to launch herself the rest of the way over. That one may have been a little vague, so today's picture is super easy. I expect everyone to get this one!

Everyone's favorite clownfish was hiding, but Mia located him under her blanket.
What is the movie?

Name That Flick

We have had a nice and quiet week in Big D. Not too much to report. Mia started pears a few days ago. We ended up deciding to use Bartlett pears, and she loves them. She and I went shopping yesterday and did housework today. She was a big help with folding the laundry! I guess it wore her out, though, because she took a long nap afterward. It was so cute because she had an arm slung over her eyes. When she woke up, she was climbing all over me and trying to stand up. It was pretty much impossible to get a posed picture of her being still. Those get harder to come by as she learns new ways to maneuver. Here was Mia's day:

Mia at 35 weeks old (8 months)

I have a challenge to our friends and family that read Mia's blog. Well, it's more of a game really. We'll call it Mia Charades. The only category will be movies. Each day this week I will post a picture of Mia. Anyone who sees it has until the next day to comment on which movie Mia is trying to act out. The following day I will post the answer for the previous day's picture and add the next picture. I plan to do it all week. Sounds fun, right? Don't forget to post your comment to guess the movie! Let the games begin!

In this picture, Mia was trying to roll over.
Somehow she got stuck in this position and just stayed there until I helped her up.
Can you guess what movie she is acting out?
Hint: The main actors initials are SJP and MM...

Let's Make a Deal

Everyone who has had a baby that drinks formula knows that it is extremely expensive. Too bad I couldn't breastfeed since it's free. Anyway, I was browsing through baby stuff on Craig's List the other day and came across a posting of Similac formula for sale. Because that is what Mia drinks, I clicked on it. It was a pretty good deal, but the thought of buying formula online from a stranger made me uneasy. That is, until I thought about how it is packaged. The formula comes in a metal can that is sealed, and it can only be opened with a metal pull tab. The expiration date is stamped into the metal. Basically, it would be nearly impossible to tamper with the formula without it being obvious upon inspection. I read some of the postings, and the reasons for selling made sense. Of the two sellers I bought from, one of them bought several cans of formula then ended up with a baby that required a soy-based formula. The other seller's daughter had turned one year old before using all of her formula and is now on cow's milk. I ended up buying a total of nine cans of Similac between the two of them. The total I paid for them was $75. That seems like a lot until you consider what I usually pay for formula. I did the math, and if I bought the exact same cans at Wal-Mart, it would cost me $125. So, I saved 40% on formula. That's pretty significant I think. Our thinking is to use what we've bought and then buy more from Craig's List in bulk (so to speak) when our supply starts running low. Overall, we were pleased with how it turned out.

Okay, time for weekly food news. I realize that I probably offer more information on this subject than is necessary, but it performs an important function. This is basically Mia's food journal. I think it will be a great tool to use when baby #2 comes along. That's nowhere in the near future, but what can I say? I'm a planner. Anyway, Mia loved the avocados. I think she liked the creamy texture. I know I had mentioned pears, but I haven't bought any yet. I got to the store, and they had at least five different kinds of pears. I didn't know which one to choose, so we bought plums and a sugar pumpkin. The pumpkin was probably five or six pounds, so it was fairly small. We started her on pumpkin early this week, and she really likes it. I tried it, and it tastes a little like the butternut squash. She loves squash, so it makes sense. Today, we gave her plums for the first time. Those were a big hit. They are sweet, and I kind of liked them myself when I did a taste test. Wesley made the plum baby food all by himself. He did a great job! I still hope to get some pears this week. I guess we'll see.

Last night, we finally went out for Wesley and Jon's Father's Day dinner. Our two families are pretty busy with our little girls, but we really wanted to meet up and visit. Jon, Holly, and Harper came over, and we all went down to the West End in downtown Dallas to Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse to get the guys a steak dinner. It was kind of pricey, but I had bought a gift card for the restaurant through a promotion on my fave radio station and was able to buy it for half price. $50 gift certificate for $25. Man, I love a good deal! Holly and I split the cost for the gift certificate, so we both got a little off of our meals. We all had a good time (plus yummy food), and it was great to see the Haynes family again. Holly, we should definitely start thinking of another place to go!

Today, Mia and I took it easy while Daddy got some rest. After church, we changed clothes and headed to Kidd Springs Park. Mia and I walked around the pond a couple of times, and then we sat on a park bench to watch the ducks swimming. It was warmer than I had expected it to be, so we didn't stay out very long.

Wow, this might be my longest post yet.........

Mia at 34 weeks (7 1/2 months)

Harper giving Mia a high five at Y.O.
Mia representing her state since she's a native born Texan
Mia by the duck pond at the park

Happy Grandparents Day!

Grandparents Day isn't a major holiday, but I thought it would be nice to take a moment to say that our family feels very blessed by all of Mia's grandparents and great-grandparents. We're so happy that she has grandparents that are actively a part of her life. Many children are not given that opportunity, and we don't take it for granted. Thank you Nana, Grammy, Pa Pa, Papaw, Nana Bev, Nanny, Papa, Mamaw, and Grandma Ella Mae for being such a wonderful source of love and support.

We started Mia on peas the other night. It is the first food that she doesn't seem to like very well. She ended up having carrots for dinner instead. We tried again last night, but it was the same thing. I'm hoping that if we continue to offer her peas once in awhile, she'll learn to like them. It was also very difficult to puree them enough for the strainer. My friend suggested frozen split peas instead of whole peas. I might try that next time. This week we will start avocados. I think after that we'll try pears.

Mia still shows no interest in crawling. She will play on her stomach briefly, but she can't figure out how to get the arms and legs going at the same time. She does, however, like to stand up while holding on to furniture. She can only stand a short time, but she likes it very much.

Mia at 33 weeks (7 1/2 months old)
The sleeping bunny on her shirt was too cute.
"Okay that looks and tastes weird."
"I'm not sure about these peas."
"Oh no, no, no! I don't like peas at all!"
"There's no way I'm opening my mouth for any more of that green stuff."

Birthday Wishes

Mia would like to say a few words:

Labor Day

We spent our Labor Day weekend in Heavener. It was a lot of fun, but we hopped from one place to the next all weekend as we usually do. I think we're all tired this evening. Mia went to bed early which is unusual for her. Mia watched her first OU football game on Saturday at Aunt Denise's house. As with most sports, she enjoyed all of the action, especially since the game was on a big screen tv. OU didn't win which was a bummer, but it was nice to get together with family and friends for the evening. On Sunday, we spent some time with Grammy and Pa Pa, then went out to Hontubby for volleyball. There were quite a few people there. It was nice because we haven't seen many of them in a long time. After that, we went out to Papaw and Nana Bev's house for dinner. Aunt Rachel and Uncle Tyler came out to visit as well. It was a great weekend!

Mia at 32 weeks old (7 months)
Mia watching OU football.
She's a little fan already!
Mia and Uncle Darvey
A live action shot of Daddy playing volleyball.