Christmas Moments

the big reveal...








guess she likes it...
she's learned how to strike a pose already...












making cookies for santa...








mia's creation...








frustration (can't open them fast enough)...






exhausted from unwrapping so many gifts!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!

Christmas Cutie!

looking too much like a teenager... next to our tree...
kissing her bear...

recently we had our friend shawn take some pics of mia. she did really well and we got a lot of great pics out of the shoot. many of you have been asking for his information so here it is...
www.shawnbrandtphoto.com

INTRODUCING...

america's newest citizen! that's right...as of 3:10 p.m. today mia is now an official u.s. citizen! we went to court today to finalize her adoption and everything went really well. it was a very quick process. the judge walked into the courtroom and dustin and mia and i approached the bench. our lawyer said a few things and the judge signed off. it was as easy as that!

what a great christmas present!

'tis the season...to be thankful

mia "praying" before dinner...
first time in the snow!!!our little snow angel...


okay, this is a really late thanksgiving update, but better late than never, right?! i guess i’ve put it off because there’s so much to be thankful for and i just don’t know where to start. this has been an amazing year for us. i don’t think it’s possible to put it into words.

i keep making the mistake of saying that we are so lucky to have mia in our lives, but it's really not LUCK is it? God has been in every part of this process for us and He has BLESSED us with our precious daughter. there couldn't have been a more perfect child for our family. God knows exactly what He's doing and for that we are eternally grateful.

we are also grateful for the family and friends that shared in our sorrow and joy during the past couple of years. they were essential during our wait for mia and we couldn't have survived without their prayers. i'm so excited to see mia grow up surrounded by such wonderful and loving people. thank you, to those who prayed for us...people we might have seen everyday, those we only saw once a week, some we only saw once a year and others we had and still have never met. thank you.

the entertainer

what did we ever do for entertainment before mia came along? can i just tell you how smart my daughter is?

things that mia can do...
when you ask her where she was born, she says "india".
she knows her eyes, ears, nose, hair, tongue, teeth, knees, toes, chin, fingers, tummy and belly button.
on command she can, cry, laugh, be sad, be shy, and get angry - watch out hollywood!
she knows everything around the house and even tries to help me clean.
she also knows her animal sounds - a lion, cow, owl, doggie, cat, horse, turkey and baby chicks.
she knows who loves her: she says momma, dada, gramma, grampa, boo (uncle), hiley (aunt), nanna, pappa, danna (aunt), eddie (uncle), jason (cousin), sarah, chuck, aunt mimi (great aunt), g.g. (great gramma), paw (great grampa), she trying to say davie (great uncle) - we'll get there. she tries to say just about everything else.
she says thank you, please, waves and yells "HI" to every passing stranger in the stores & restaurants...and best of all...she says "i love you".
she does so much more and i'm sure i'll think of more later, but needless to say, we think she's a genius!

here are a few pics from the past few weeks...warning...beware of the vicious lion...

mia and i riding uncle dave's horse at the hall family hayride '06...

mia standing with her uncle boo and aunt hiley on the hayride...

mia loves her aunt hiley...
aaarrrhhh.....
mia and i with sarah and our friend lily from croatia...we hope to see her again very soon!

a diva is born...notice the boa, sparkling high heels, necklace and the cell phone...

Diwali and Dimples...

mia and i at aero-space...
mia and her uncle boo at diwali celebration/dinner...
with aunt sarah...
faking a smile for the camera (still cutest thing ever)...
adores her grampa...

New Pics...

Kisses from daddy...
Kisses for daddy...
Loves her Paw Paw...
Flirting with Carl (photographer)...Carl, thanks for the pics! India Fest, Tulsa, OK...

Crustaceans and Curls

last thursday, sarah and i took mia to tulsa to visit the oklahoma aquarium. we had a great time. mia fussed quit a bit on the way, but by the time we arrived, she was ready to go. we stopped for lunch at zio's, did a little bit of shopping then headed to the aquarium.

it's a wonderful aquarium. i really wish they had something like that closer to our home. kids just eat up stuff like that, and i know that mia will enjoy it even more when she's older.

mia loved waving to the fish, but was a little leery when the bigger fish passed by (as you can see, she holds on tight to mom as the big fish approach)!

the longer mia's hair gets the curlier it gets. i just had to throw in a pic of those cute little curls.

India Heritage Weekend

okay, i was finally able to upload all the wonderful pics from last weekend!

what a weekend it was! dustin, mia and i headed for tulsa on friday afternoon and were able to meet up with nadra, charlie and ian for dinner. it was great to finally get the kiddos together! mia really enjoyed flashing her frown/attitude face at everyone! she's just practicing for those teenage years! we didn't get to spend as much time with nadra, charlie and ian as we would have liked but it was a very crazy weekend. we do plan to visit tulsa quite often so there will be many more get-togethers with the conners.

india heritage camp was wonderful! dustin and i didn't sign up for any workshops so we ended up working in the nursery. that gave us plenty of time to see ian and mia play together. ian is such a happy kid! i think he smiled and giggled the entire time! i really enjoyed the time i spend with him. while dustin and i were in the nursery we were able to sneak a peak at some of the activities they had for the kids. there was a workshop were the kids could learn to play indian music, cook indian food and even learn to paint henna on their hands and arms.

one of the great things about this weekend was that ms. roy, the director of isrc, was attending the camp. we were able to visit with her and tell her how much we were in love with ms. mia. it was just 2 1/2 months ago that ms. roy introduced us to mia.

after the camp we headed to broken arrow (right outside of tulsa). mark, shelly and their son kyle live in broken arrow. my other cousin, brian, just moved to broken arrow with his wife, brooke and their two sons, sy and harry, so we thought it would be a good time to get all of the kids together. we had a great time! mia was very tired, but she did very well. we hope to have many more cousin (or second-cousin) reunions!

dustin and i had the opportunity to meet grace. she and her husband are waiting to pick up their beautiful little girl, jadyn. grace and shane have run into a pretty big snag in the courts in india and if you guys could keep them in your prayers, please do. we look forward to the day when they have their little girl in their arms. maybe ian and mia will have a new little playmate!

ang

pictures from top to bottom:

kylea, dhira and mia (i hope i spelled those correctly)
nadra, ian, mia and i
mia & ian (3)
the tuckers and the conners
mia's "attitude" look
ms. anju roy, mia and i
mia, sy and kyle

Picture Day

yesterday, my mother and i took mia to get her first studio pictures. it was quite an event! changing outfits, fixing her hair and getting her to stay still - wow, now that's a workout! boy, did we make the photographer work for it! most of the shots he got were of mia running!

this weekend we leave for the indian heritage camp hosted by our adoption agency. we are very excited to see nadra, charlie and ian. we haven't seen them since we returned home with mia. it will be great to get the kids together. at the camp, we will also be able to reunite mia with other kids from ISRC (where mia spent the first year of her life). we have been looking forward to this weekend for such a long time. we will also be stopping in to see my cousins and their kiddos. after that we head to durant to see dustin's uncle from florida who has yet to meet miss mia.

it's going to be a weekend full of friends and family! i'll be sure and take a lot of pictures! i'll post them as soon as we return!

have a great weekend everyone!