Christmas in Redding

We had the first of our 3 Christmas celebrations this weekend at Papa Peter and Grandma Shelly's house in Redding! We left Roseville as soon as Dan got home from work on Friday and made our first stop at the Target in Woodland when we realized that we forgot Mia's travel high chair. With all the good eating she's been doing lately, we didn't want to mess with things so we figured we'd just buy another :) Mia was so good on the trip and basically slept the whole way. Mia defintely has one bad habit...everytime we put socks on her, she pulls them off and proceeds to crawl around with the sock hanging out of her mouth. She also does this at daycare and we know she must have a hiding spot at CA kids where a pile of her socks reside because she never comes home with the socks we send her in...maybe they'll find them when they move next month. So why so I mention this habit now? When we put Mia in the Tahoe, she had 2 socks on, the photo below was taken 15 minutes later...

We all had a great time in Redding, especially Mia! As soon as we arrived, Mia was crawling and pushing her walker around the house smiling! She loves to show off her skills! On Saturday we were joined by Aunties Steph and Shawna and Uncle Dan in the morning, followed by Shawna's friend Ryan, and finally Uncle Kevin, Auntie Michelle, and Cousin Kaiya! Mia LOVES to hang out with her family! Saturday night after an amazing dinner, we opened presents in our "As Seen on TV" themed gift exchange. We decided on the theme last Christmas and it was a blast! The gifts included the ShamWow, Turbie Twist, Hits of the 80s CD set, PetZoom pet hair remover, AquaGlobes, Debbie Meyer's Green Bags, Barack Obama's "Historic Victory" commerative plate, Pancake Puffs, and best of all Urine Gone. I have never laughed so much during a gift exchange!! After the gift exchange, the babies went to bed and we went to the casino. We were lucky enough to have Papa Peter watch the girls and to have Grandma Shelly drop us off at WinRiver Casino! It has become a tradition to dress up in Shelly's Christmas sweaters and head to the casino. Despite all the funny looks we got, we once again had a great time!

Mia enjoyed all of her Christmas presents, especially the LittlePeople's School Bus!!

Gavin takes Mia for a ride!

Mia has been a walking machine lately! Although she is not able to walk on her own yet, she has become quite skilled at pushing her walker around the house and neighborhood. Mia and our neighbor, Gavin (16 months) have become big buddies and are now able to play together outside! Mia and Gavin push their own toys around, but really enjoy trading their toys. Gavin has a ride on fire truck that Mia loves! She has learned to climb up onto the seat and Gavin has taught her how to push the buttons to make lots of noises. The cutest part of all is when Gavin pushes Mia around on the firetruck...they both love it! We joke with Gavin's parents (Josh and Tracy) that we are going to save the photos and bring them out when Gavin takes Mia to their prom...with housing prices the way they are, we are assuming we'll still be neighbors 17 years from now!!

In regards to our last post, we are so excited because one of the girls that takes care of Mia at CA kids has offered to watch her while they are closed!!

"Oh No!"

Those are the only words that I could vocalize last week when I found out that we are going to be without childcare for the month of January..."OH NO!!!"

Mia attends California Kids in Rocklin which is a wonderful daycare down the street from our house. Due to Dan and my untraditional work schedules, it is very difficult to use a standard daycare because our needs change every week. CA kids is a drop-in daycare that charges by the hour and is designed for parents who don't need full time daycare. It is also nice because they are open until midnight on the weekends!! The facility first opened right before Mia was born and Mia first went when she was only 10 weeks old! We love it there and Mia seems to enjoy her time there. The staff tell us all the time how much they love "Baby Mia" and how much they have enjoyed watching her grow up...so now the problem...

California Kids is moving to a new location and will still be very close to our house, but they will be closing the existing location on Christmas Eve and not opening the new location until sometime in February...YIKES!!!

So what does this mean for our family??? Thank goodness that I convinced Gram to retire, because she will be coming to stay with us for the first week in January (THANK YOU GRAM!!)
Aside from that, I am just planning on being exhausted for the remainder of the month. I am lucky that I have such flexible jobs (yes that is plural!), so I think I will be OK. I will just have to watch her a few mornings after working all night, but not on days where I would have to go back to work that night.

So if Dan and I are slow to blog, sleepy, or grumpy next month, please give us some slack, we will be doing the best we can!!!

Thanksgiving Continued...

So sorry for the long delay in posts...we have been so busy!

When I got home from work Thanksgiving morning, I went to sleep for a few hours and awoke to more visitors. Mark and Monte made the trip from San Francisco Thanksgiving morning and hung out with Dan and Mia. We then headed to the GG's house for Thanksgiving dinner (My Grandma Fay and Boppa Wayne). We were joined by my dad's entire side of the family. Mia had so much fun playing with her cousins, including her second cousin Brooke! Mia ate a great Thanksgiving dinner and was able to enjoy all the same foods that we did!



On Friday morning, we went bowling with Roger, Mika and the girls. Strikes is a new bowling alley down the street from our house that has some great new features. For the little ones, the bumpers rise and then go down automatically when it is their turn. This feature made the game enjoyable for all!

After bowling we headed to El Dorado Hills for our annual Friday night Thanksgiving Dinner with Shelly's family. We look forward to this meal every year not only for the good company, but for the amazing food they serve. We were not disappointed this year!!! Mia had fun playing with the other kids at the party, although they were much older than her! Mia also enjoyed the second of her turkey dinners sitting beside her Papa Peter and Grandma Shelly! Mia even wore her My First Thanksgiving bib that Shelly provided.

As if we hadn't had enough action, we headed to Apple Hill on Saturday for another of our annual events...wine tasting! Along with Papa Peter, Grandma Shelly, Kevin, Michelle, and Kaiya, we drove to Apple Hill and enjoyed an afternoon of wine tasting and a picnic at Jack Russell Brewery!

Although we were so exhausted from our many days full of activities, Kevin, Michelle, Kaiya followed us to Roseville when we were done wine tasting. We all felt the need to have a little break from the kids, so we came up with a great idea. We put the girls in their PJs, wrapped them in blankets, put them in their strollers and walked them to Mia's daycare, California Kids, which is right down the street from us. They do drop-in daycare by the hour and are open until midnight on the weekends!! After settling them in, we continued down the street to the bowling alley, where we ate some food, drank a little beer, and bowled a few games! When we picked the girls up at 11:30, they were both wide awake and happy! Apparently each of them had slept for 30 minutes and then were wide awake! Oh well, we all had fun!!! It was a great way to end all the craziness that Thanksgiving brought!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wow, what a week it has been already! We have been so busy the past week and we are only getting started with the holiday festivities. I guess this is what happens to holidays once you have children!!

Our Thanksgiving celebration started last Saturday. After working all night long and only getting a few hours of sleep Saturday morning, we hosted the first holiday get together. Grandma Sandy and Bill drove up with Auntie Steph, Uncle Dan, and Doggie Cousin Louie and Kevin, Michelle, and Cousin Kaiya headed over for a BBQ. Mia was so excited to see her baby cousin that she couldn't stop shaking. She enjoyed showing off her toys and showing Kaiya how they work...especially the flippin' frog on her jumpy house!!



The flood of family continued on Monday night. After working all day, we met up with Gram and cousins Ellie and Nisa for a very special treat! A few years ago when the girls came to stay with us, we took them to Chuck E Cheese and we all had a great time. Remembering the fun we had that time, we promised the girls a few months ago that we would take them to a place even better than Chuck E Cheese...John's Incredible Pizza. Dan and I were really just looking for an excuse to check it out for ourselves :) Wow, this place was amazing! There is a buffet consisting of a salad bar, pasta bar, pizza bar, and even a dessert bar!! Mia was very excited to partake in the buffet and ate her fair share of peaches with cottage cheese, pasta, and even ice cream!! The games and rides (yes rides!!) were a blast. Ellie and Nisa really wanted to ride the kiddie roller coaster, but since Nisa was too short an adult had to ride with her. Since Dan was way too tall, that task fell to me :( We all survived the roller coaster and went on to win lots of tickets playing games. The girls seemed to enjoy SkeeBall the most, but both were entertaining to watch as they shot basketballs with great accuracy. After pizza, we all went back to our house and Mia was lucky enough to have guests in her bathtub! Ellie, Nisa, and Gram stayed with us on Monday night and we were joined by Doc for Tuesday night. Unfortunately Doc and Dan's golf game was rained out on Wednesday...and more unfortunately it is 3am and I am at work right now!!



Being that it is 3 hours into the Thanksgiving holiday, I have been reflecting on how truly thankful I am to be spending my first Thanksgiving with my beautiful baby girl and her amazing dad! I am so blessed to have them in my life! Mia is such a smart, cute, and happy little girl, but more than that I thank God everyday for her health. Working where I do, not a day goes by that I don't see children and their parents suffering with devastating diseases. I hope everyone takes time this holiday to give thanks for the things we so many times take for granted!!

Happy Birthday Auntie Steph!

Last weekend was Auntie Steph's 24th birthday! On Saturday we went out to an amazing dinner at Kingfish in San Mateo to celebrate. We all had a fabulous meal...including Mia.


As many of you know, Mia has not been the best eater in the past. After Mia's 9mo checkup last week, her pediatrician told us to skip the baby foods we've been trying and just start with real food. So far Mia has been a huge fan of turkey meatballs, fresh blueberries, and canned peaches. When we went out for Mexican food last week, she ate Dan's carnitas, my chicken, and a ton of refried beans. So back to Steph's birthday dinner, from the time we arrived at the restaurant until we left, Mia was stuffing her mouth with food! She started off eating her cheerios, continued with a dinner roll, then moved on to her main course, halibut! In addition to the halibut she ate some pasta with cheese and gnocchi! To complete the night, we even let Mia have a few bites of Auntie Steph's vanilla ice cream!! Wow, was she full!! Of course, Mia is still as active as ever so I am sure she burned off ever calorie she ate!!

Happy 9 Month Birthday Mia!!

Life around the Alexander Household has been getting much more hectic as Mia becomes more mobile. Mia is crawling with extreme speed and constantly cruising around the furniture. She is so steady on her feet and able to get up and down with such ease that Dan and I decided we should start to give her a challenge. For Mia's 9 month birthday, we bought her a push toy to help her start working on her walking and she is doing great so far. The first time she gave it a try, she pushed the toy ahead and then hopped on both feet behind it. She is now walking behind it and is so proud. I will try to post some video of her walking! I am thinking she'll probably be walking on her own by Christmas time!!

Along with Mia's increased mobility, a constant power struggle between Mia and Xena has developed. Mia has been chasing Xena around the house, always trying to catch Xena's tail. When Mia's not interested in Xena, Xena will do everything she can to get Mia's attention! Dan and I are constantly breaking the two of them up...very tiring! Hey Roger, after 5 years, are you ready to take your cat back??? Just kidding, Dan would be devastated to get rid of Xena, they are great friends!

Mia Votes!!

We decided to start to prepare Mia for her future 12th Grade American Government Class by teaching her about this historic election! As Dan and I filled out our absentee ballots last weekend we talked to her about the historical presidential race and the important propositions. Mia even practiced her first and favorite word "OO--BAAA--MAAAA"! Mia even got to carry our ballots to the mailbox, accompanied by no other than Barack himself!!

Happy Halloween!

Despite feeling a little under the weather, Mia's first Halloween was amazing!!! We drove to Redding on Thursday for a long weekend at Papa Peter and Grandma Shelly's. Dan and I decided that there was no other place for Mia to spend her first Halloween as Grandma Shelly has a love for the holiday like no other! We were lucky enough to have Uncle Kevin, Auntie Michelle, Baby Cousin Kaiya, Auntie Steph, and Doggie Cousin Louie join us as well. We went to visit Papa Peter at work on Friday and Mia was lucky enough to be able to drive the bus! The rain didn't stop the trick or treaters as there was a constant flow to Papa Peter and Grandma Shelly's front door. Dan had a great time handing out not only candy, but his political opinion as well :) Mia was dressed as a cute little calico cat. Her black and white costume was made by Grandma Shelly and Mia's orange hair completed the "calico" look! Cousin Kaiya wore a cute little white mouse costume which was also made by the talented Grandma Shelly. We all had a great time!!

Mia's chores!

Dan and I decided that now that Mia is 8 months old, she is old enough to pull her own weight around the house so we put her to work on the chores. For some reason, Mia was very interested in the dish washer and the laundry on Sunday morning...a trait she most definitely gets from her Daddy!

Alexander Family trip to Apple Hill!

Along with Papa Peter, Grandma Shelly, Uncle Kevin, Auntie Michelle, and Baby Cousin Kaiya we went to Apple Hill on Saturday. Our plan was to have a relaxing day of apple tasting, but things changed as we approached Placerville. Apparently others wanted to partake in the apple festivities as well! Traffic was bumper to bumper and only got worse when we entered the Apple Hill area. A unanimous decision was made to skip the apples and head for the grapes! Instead we visited our favorite Apple Hill wineries and a brewery. A great time was had by all!!

Night out in the City!

Dan and I had our first real night out since Mia was born. Dan had a test to take during the afternoon and as soon as it was done, Mia and I picked him up and headed to the bay for Meeko and Emily's engagement party. We were able to make it in time to Meeko's parents house for the party. After the party, we dropped Mia off at her Auntie Steph's house so we could go to Meeko and Emily's after party in San Francisco. Mia was so excited to visit with Auntie Steph, Uncle Dan, and her new Dog Cousin Louie. Stephanie's photos below are super cute! Dan and I were so excited to have some time out with friends although it was a little wierd to not have Mia with us. We definitely missed her while we were out, but must admit we enjoyed the break!!

Santa Cruz with the Hunters

Mia and I picked Dan up from work on Friday and headed to the beach for a weekend getaway. We were lucky enough to have the Hunters join us on Saturday. Although it was overcast and a little chilly, we went down to the beach so the kids could play in the sand. As always, Mia and Dylan had a great time playing together. After dinner, Mia laughed hysterically as she chased Dylan around the family room...they are so cute together! We were very excited to get our first look at the new beach house! The old house has been torn down and the lot is being leveled...very exciting!!

Mia's New Milestones

For the past 6 weeks, Mia has been scooting around the house and she is getting quicker by the day! She has also started to scoot up onto us if we are lying on the ground playing with her. Yesterday, Mia surprised us by standing up on her knees and then pulling herself up to stand next to the ottoman! Luckily, I happened to be holding my camera at the time. Look at the photos below to see the series of events! Today, we took a trip to Babies R Us to invest in a baby gate for the bottom of the stairs. We have totally put off getting a baby gate because they are a hassle and an eyesore, but after seeing Mia start climbing the stairs today, it is now a must!