Veinte!

Our sweet 20-month-old valentine (reminiscent of a flamingo here):

Mia got too close to Aunt Bev's wood stove and couldn't have had better luck. This "owie" has received way too much attention. She didn't even cry when she got it, but I'm pretty sure that 50% of our county's population has been emotionally manipulated by Mia's

"look at my poor wrist" promptings.

"Yoga for Sleepers" position # 83: The Supine Frog

Behold, Our new stomping grounds!

Hobby farm and house coming soon (we hope)!

Mia just can't seem to keep herself out of the spotlight...

AZ, Part 2

AZ continuted...

Mia picked grandma's kumquat tree clean! She would store the little fruits in her cheeks for hours.

Mia didn't want to share the stale bread with the ducks. No matter how many times Gma demonstrated, she kept popping it into her own mouth. I swear...she is not starved!

Rockin' at the Phoenix IKEA:

Uncle Grant took us to The Cornish Pasty Co. in Tempe. YUM!

This is how Mia thanked him:

Mia was convinced that Grandpa's shoes needed re-tying at least three times a day.

We met some old suguaros!

Tonto National "Forest" was in my grandparents' backyard. We made good use of its trail system and found that the desert really can be stunning!

AZ, Part 1

We just returned from a nice, long visit to our family in Arizona. Although we were hoping for lots of balmy weather, we experienced an entire slew of extremes (from 75 deg. and sunny to -25 degrees and blizzardy!). Fortunately, the high-quality time we had with our friends/fam made the weather much less noticeable!

On the way down, Mia (who was flying as a "lap-infant"), got to experience all sorts of seating arrangements as we desperately sought means of entertainment. We are grateful to have lucked out with toddler-friendly fellow passengers.

Right when we arrived, we were lucky to catch our friends Amanda & her David while they were on a business trip. They spoiled us with a trip to the zoo.

While there, we spotted the Jabba-the-Hut of all prairie dogs...Can you believe how FAT this guy is? I'm convinced he has a harem of female prairie dogs who constantly scurry around to gather his food and feed an obviously insatiable appetite since he, himself, has become one with the mound of dirt beneath his large bum and cannot do it himself.

The grin on David's face here is a result of the bonding moment he had with the animal of his soul: the formerly endangered gray wolf.

We celebrated the sunshine with the appropriate melon:

Our dear Aunt Bev transferred us from desert valley to her mountain town with a elevation of 6000 ft. We were ever so glad to be kidnapped.

Mia was convinced she had gone to heaven! I have never seen her so animated as when she had her cousin (2nd cousin), Taylor, to keep her company. Is it weird that even the most mundane demonstration of human sociality (when Mia is the demonstrator) is big news to me?

Taylor and her cute big sis., Hunter, guessed Mia's favorite game: dress up and act silly!

David had to get in on the action...

It was difficult to say farewell to this sweet family. They were so good to us.

After all the delicious food we ate that week (Aunt Bev is a chef and her daughter, Vanessa, is just really good at everything, so we were well-fed), David decided to hire a personal trainer. She didn't cut him any slack!

We Need YOU!

We have officially begun our search for baby #2.

As we have read, been told, and most importantly, experienced, when it comes to our method of family expansion(adoption, for those of you who weren't aware) it really does come down to

WHO YOU KNOW.

Therefore, we enlist anyone who does us the great honor of reading this blog into our

networking for babies campaign!

We have learned that privacy and modesty will not help us out here, so you have our permission

(actually we are begging you)

to tell everyone you know to tell everyone they know about this:

www.davidashleyadopt.blogspot.com

We are hoping to appeal to a birth-mother who is considering an adoption placement for her child, and particularly, a healthy African-American child (like Mia ).

19

Mia is now 19 months, and as silly as they come! She is a constant source of entertainment.

Grandma K got Mia these "Melmo" house slippers. She is quite proud of them. He is her favorite monster. We often catch her humming "la, la, la, la Elmo's Song."

Every time Mia gets ready for bed is an opportunity to sport a new "hat."

Hat + deftly navigating the "hello"- what more can girl need?

Another type of hat

This is Mia's favorite "silly" face

When she tilts her head, she is winding-up for more silliness...

This look must be contagious!

We get to be graced with my sister's piano practicing much of the day

& Mia makes the most of it:

Ice and Little Skates

Two facts about the Ice Palace:

1. It hosted my 9th birthday party

2. It rents skates in a whole assortment of sizes, including baby size 5

This subjects in this photo are moving at a high velocity, and Mia couldn't be more "chill."

After 2.5 hours, she was still going strong & she cried when it was time to leave.

Holiday Season, Part Two

The holidays are more than over, and we are just now getting them documented. This has been a hectic time with lots of changes for our family: relocating and all that goes with it, a new teaching job for Mom, continued schooling, etc., etc., etc. Our Christmas celebrations seemed to be hurried and we lost some of the excitement in the stress of "survival." It did allow me to continually ask myself "What do I really need to get out of Christmas?," and thus rid most holiday commercialism from our worries.

Just before Christmas, we made an attempt at a matchy extended-family photo shoot. As usual, Mia would scoff at all our efforts to get a smile...until we give up and put the camera away. THEN she won't stop smiling! Here is the closest thing we got.

As we all are, Mia is quick to squeeze her squishy baby cousin, Sydney.

On Christmas Eve', Mia (and her assistant, "T") spent a long time consulting

Aunt Mary on the importance of hair care.

She also demonstrated to Aunt Brittney the right way to "Wellie."

Christmas morning in our temporary basement bedroom:

Mia received such sweet gifts from grandparents, aunts, and friends.

Here are some of her spoils. Beautiful doll and books from our literature promoting Great Gma...

(All the "exciting" wooden puzzles are from Santa...)

A cute hat and "pack-pack" from Aunt Jasmine...

A "fort" from Gma/Gpa R...

An art easel from Gma K...

A trip to the indoor water park from Great Gma/Gpa Heinz...

This baby has no shortage of attention!

Here is our post-Christmas Sunday morning.

I love this photo because it demonstrates what happens whenever I try to snuggle Mia.

She gets silly, and I get hair in the eye.

Happy New Year!