Tiptoes & Gerber Daisies

tiptoes...

discovering...

deep thoughts...

Big Weekend Pics...

God's promise

craig, linda, mom & dad

fun with uncle boo!

mia and my cousin ben

sarah and mia

jon and mia during her dedication


i'll post more pics as i get them...

Big Weekend!

what a weekend we had! it was a great weekend - one of the best! we started off the weekend by going to an american cancer society relay to meet some of dustin's co-workers at the chickasha location. mia had a great time, and so did mom and dad. we just love to show her off!

saturday evening was mia's big welcome home party at my parent's house. we weren't sure how things would turn out because every weather forecast stated that thunderstorms would move in that evening. great! well luckily, the storms moved just south of us - the entire party was centered on being outside, so i don't know what we would have done! thank you God!

it was a perfect evening. the rain that had come earlier in the day had made everything lush and green. at about six thirty everyone started to arrive. the tables were decorated with hot pink, orange and red gerber daisies - colors that remind me of india. we grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and catered indian food from taj. i was so suprised to see the long line at the indian food table! we had frisbees, my parent's miniatures horses for the kids to pet and a moonwalk. i think everyone had a good time.

we had a pretty large crowd - relatives, church friends and college friends. it was wonderful to be reunited with people we don't get to see very much. midway through the party, someone pointed up and wouldn't you know - a beautiful rainbow was just starting to stretch across the sky. how appropriate - God reminded us of His promise to all on the night we were celebrating His gift to dustin and i. it was a VERY special night.

of course, sunday was father's day. it was not only special because it was dustin's first father's day, but we also dedicated mia at church that morning. she did very well and looked oh so beautiful in her indian outfit! we even placed a bindhi in the middle of her forehead. jon middendorf did her dedication. he did such a great job. for the past several weeks every time we saw jon, he would practice walking mia around the sanctuary. she's a pretty easy going little kiddo, but she won't just let anyone hold her, so we made sure that she knew jon before the dedication. she did very well (besides a small fascination with his lapel microphone)!

we ended the day by going to the park with sarah, chuck and carol to watch dustin play cricket. you heard me right - cricket! we fell in love with the game while in india, so dustin came back and joined up with a group of guys that play every sunday. i think chuck might start playing as well.

it was a very special weekend - it flew by too fast.

i'll try to post some pics.

Learning to Walk...

Sweet Mia

i never knew being a mom would be so great! i'm having the time of my life. i expected it to be wonderful, but there's so much more to it than i expected. it seems as though everyday, there's something new. she's so observant - she just picks up on things so quickly. i'll do things once or twice and before you know it, she's got it down! she loves the whole "patty cake" thing. when she "rolls it up", she puts her hands together, locks her fingers and rolls her hands at the wrist (kinda like when you imitate a fish swimming in water with your hands). that might not make sense, but let me just tell you now - it's the cutest thing in the world!

she's just about to walk - no, i take that back...sprint. i truly believe that she will go straight from crawling to sprinting! that girl is so active and what a wiggle worm she is!

we spent some time with gramma today. she drove us around town, just running errands. we went to an indian boutique and of course i picked up a few things for miss mia. we then went next door to the indian grocer and bought some cookies for mia - the kind she ate in india. bud called and wanted us to go to his work and show off his little niece. i was happy to do so! he's a proud uncle!

we will be dedicating her at church next sunday...yes, on father's day. how about that! i got her right before mother's day and we will dedicate her on father's day. perfect, huh?

Getting Into the Groove

well, we've been home two weeks now. it really feels like we've been home longer. i think we've found a routine that works well for all of us.

mia's doing great. she's sleeping 12 hours a night and eating very well. call me crazy, but i really think she's gaining weight. either she's getting bigger or we are just getting use to her tiny frame.

mia is getting a little more social these days. she still takes it at her own pace, but she's getting much better. she loves her gramma and grampa, her great aunts & uncles, aunt hiley and yes, even uncle boo (bud). she loves aunt sarah, but still cries when she sees uncle chuck, but let's face it - most girls do! he, he - love ya, chuck!

church was great today. it was actually our second sunday. everyone wants to say hello to sweet mia & she does so well. she's a really easy going little girl. some new friends of ours at church just adopted a little boy from guatemala. he's adorable - and oh, so kissable! he's got the cutest little cheeks! they just got back last friday, but emailed me some pictures while in guatemala. hopefully, they will be at church next sunday. everyone is looking forward to meeting the little guy!

sorry, i'm so bad about updating my blog. i really haven't been good at checking my email either. sorry again! i'll try to get better.

i thought i would post a few pics of jacob from guatemala and some of mia.

i just can't get over how much God loves His children. His dreams for us are much richer than the dreams we have for ourselves. we are just so thankful for our mia.