Memorial Day Beach Pictures

Memorial Day weekend

We spent the weekend at mama and daddy's beach house in N.C. Mia found the sand at the beach very interesting, but wasn't too sure about the water. She looked so cute in her bathing suits! Me, Ryan, daddy, and Emily all went fishing on the waterway Saturday. I caught a big flounder (yes, it counts even though it didn't quite make it in the boat), a little flounder, and a trout. Ryan caught zero. :-) We took Mia out to eat at Chili's and TideRunners. She was pretty good anytime we took her out. Vacation wore her out though. She wanted to sleep all day yesterday. I will post pictures tomorrow. My battery died and it's recharging.
Miss Mia has also developed quite the little temper when she doesn't get her way. Her new thing when crying is to throw her head back. I guess she got it honest though!!! :-)

Mia LOVES her new big girl swing!

Sick Mia

This is pretty much what she did all weekend!

I managed to capture the one smile she gave all weekend!

She likes her bed head!

Sick Baby Mia

Well, we've had a sick little baby since Saturday. As you recall, she was running a little fever last week at big girl school. Well, Saturday it hit her pretty hard. I took her shopping with Emily and Chas and she just wasn't herself. We got home and I took her temp and it was close to 101. All she wanted to do was sleep. She didn't have much of an appetite and she had a really loose, hacking cough. She was so pitiful. She slept all night Saturday night and didn't even wake up during the bad thunderstorms we had. She even let us sleep to 8:15. Woo Hoo!!! She was still very lethargic all day Sunday. She just wanted to sleep and be held. I happily obliged! Mama came over Sunday night so she could spend the night and keep her Monday. I got off work early and we took her to the doctor. Dr. Davis gave her something to break up the cold in her chest and help her to get rid of the cough. I didn't want her getting worse since we're supposed to go to the beach for upcoming holiday weekend! She seems to have perked up and is smiling and talking to me now. I missed my spunky little girl, but she is so sweet and needy when she is sick. I enjoyed cuddling her and trying to make it all better, but it's good to be back to normal.
So, this morning she really got us! Ryan and I were getting dressed and Mia was sitting on our bed watching her Baby Mozart. I heard her grunting while I was putting my make-up on, but payed it no attention. After I finished I went over to give her the cough medicine and OH BOY - she had a blow out on my sheets!!! It was all over her. In the midst of cleaning her up, I unknowingly got a fleck of poo on my face. It was discovered as I was pulling my hair back for work. Nothing like some dried poo on your face to get the day started....

Bright-eyed and Bushy-tailed!

That's what Ryan and I have felt like the last 2 days! Mia is back on track at night. KNOCK ON WOOD!!! When I picked her up from big girl school on Tuesday they said she had been crying most of the day and had run a low-grade fever. I took her home and gave her some Tylenol and held her until bedtime. She just needed a little TLC. She slept so much better. It's difficult when they can't talk to you and tell you what's wrong. She obviously just wasn't feeling like herself in the beginning of the week. I'm just glad all is back to normal and that she isn't still running a fever.

Yawn!!!!

I don't know what has gotten into my daughter, but the last two nights have been rough!!! Yaawwnnnn!!!! What happened to my sweetie that was sleeping so well last week??? She is going down very easily at night when I rock her, but half way through the night she is up and ready to start her day. 4 hours of sleep isn't cutting it. Darn those Survivor and Grey's Anatomy season finales!!! They are causing me to stay up way past my bedtime. Yaawwnnn!!!! I'll just have to DVR the season finale of Boston Legal tonight. Yaawwnn!!! I shall sleep tonight when Mia sleeps!!!

More pics from Mother's Day

Mia was getting tired from all of the pictures!
Me, Mia, and my mother-in-law (a.k.a. Nana)
Mia and her great-grandmother.

My first Mother's Day

We spent my first Mother's Day with Ryan's family. We went to church and then went out to eat. Mia gave me an emerald cut citrine (her birthstone) ring. Besides having her, it was the perfect Mother's Day gift. She was pretty good in church. She just wanted to play. She blew raspberries the whole time and wanted to bounce up and down in mommy and daddy's laps. Everyone enjoyed watching her though. She looked like a little angel in her blue Sunday dress.
I'm so lucky to have this little girl in my life. Before you have children, no one can tell you how much you'll love them. It's like having your heart outside of your body. It's so much fun rediscovering the everyday little things through her eyes. She finds wonder and amazement in everything. I can't wait to see what she does next!

First time sitting in grass...

Grandma and Grandpa Boykin's green grass was perfect for Mia's first pictures sitting in grass.
As you can see, her hair has now gotten long enough to clip it back from her face with a bow. Too cute!!!

Mia's first trip to Groucho's

We had lunch on Saturday with Aunt Emily. We ran into Nikki's mom Brenda and got to meet Davy's new wife. Mia tried to be good, but she wanted anything within her reach to go into her mouth.

Baby Einstein video

Mia tunes the rest of the world out when she is watching her Baby Einstein videos! Too cute!

Nikki and her man and karaoke

The Newlyweds and the bridesmaids

Me and Chas and me and Adriann

Chasity's big weekend and Mia's 6 month check-up

Mia had her 6 month check up on Friday morning. She weighs 16 1/2 pounds and is still 26 3/4 inches. She was so good. She only cried when they stuck her and immediately resumed gnawing on her teether. I was so proud of her!
We left Friday afternoon for Chasity's wedding. She had karaoke at the rehearsal dinner and once again, Adriann, Nikki, and I thought we were on tour. Yikes! I'm sure all of the sober guests appreciated our harmonious renditions of "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", "Earl Had to Die," "Love Shack", "Redneck Woman", ect......
The wedding was beautiful and Chas was a gorgeous bride of course! I was so happy for her!
Late Sat. night Adriann and Brian got engaged. They are planning an October wedding. Congratulations to them!
Lots going on this weekend!!!
Mama and daddy came to keep Mia while we were gone. Mia seemed to have a great time with them. They must've worn her out though. She took a 4 hour nap Sunday afternoon and had no trouble sleeping all night last night - must've been due to pappy waking her up at 4 Sat. night to play! :-)

6 months old

Wow! I can't believe my little baby is already 1/2 year old. She is growing into such a big girl. It's so rewarding to watch all of her little milestones and to see the world through her innocent little eyes. I hope the next 6 months don't fly by as fast as these first 6 have. It seems like only yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital as a little helpless infant and now she is slowly gaining independence and discovering her world on her own a little at a time. Happy 6 month birthday, Mia!

So far, a week of firsts......

Okay, so my daughter LOVES prunes. Eww!!! She gobbled up the whole container and wanted more! She never fails to surprise me! Before Ryan started feeding her he wanted to make a wager that she would not eat the prunes. I agreed with the winner receiving a massage. Thanks Mia!!!
Last night was the first time we have heard a really big belly laugh out of Mia. We've heard her laugh, but this was too much!!! We blew raspberries on her belly before we put her in the bath and she couldn't get enough of it. It was so sweet!!! I think we fall in love with her more and more every day.

My tummy is just too heavy!!!

Yummy prunes!!!

for mothers and daughters




We are sitting at lunch one day when my daughter casually mentions that she and her husband are thinking of "starting a family." "We're taking a survey," she says half-joking. "Do you think I should have a baby?"
"It will change your life," I say, carefully keeping my tone neutral. "I know," she says, "no more sleeping in on weekends, no more spontaneous vacations."
But that is not what I meant at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her. I want her to know what she will never learn in childbirth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of child bearing will heal, but becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will forever be vulnerable.
I consider warning her that she will never again read a newspaper without asking, "What if that had been MY child?" That every plane crash, every house fire will haunt her! When she sees pictures of starving children, she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.
I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish suit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a souffle or her best crystal without a moment's hesitation. I feel that I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she would be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for childcare, but one day she will be going into an important business meeting and she will think of her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her baby is all right.
I want my daughter to know that every day decisions will no longer be routine. That a five year old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at McDonald's will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in that restroom.
However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother. Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give herself up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years, not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her child accomplish theirs.
I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor. My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the way she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is careful to powder the baby or who never hesitates to play with his child. I think she should know that she would fall in love with him again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.
I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried to stop war, prejudice and drunk driving. I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to ride a bike. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog or cat for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it actually hurts.
My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I finally say. Then I reached across the table, squeezed my daughter's hand and offered a silent prayer for her, and for me, and for all the mere mortal women who stumble they're way into this most wonderful of callings.