Sick Kids, Ohio Lunch, and CERTIFICATE OF CITIZENSHIP!

OK...I know I am usually SOOOOO good about updating this each day. But let's face it, you come to see the pictures NOT hear about “this and that.” OK so I am sure you care about the "this and that" a LITTLE bit but you like the "this and that" to come with pictures. Well...there have been no pictures lately because I have had two VERY sick children and STILL have two VERY sick children. Mikayla is on her 2nd round of antibiotics and Alec is very sick. Actually today has been the worst day of all for him. But, even in his sickness, he adores his sister and put on a smile so I could get a picture of the two of them together. Mikayla is much better. She got two shots (Prevnar (sp) and a flu vaccine) on Monday. She was MAD and the she did NOT react well to the shots. She ran a very high fever and was very upset and fussy for about 36 hours following the shots. The BIG news is that she has gained an ENTIRE pound since we have been home. WOW! The other news is that she is now sitting by herself! When we picked her up she was like a wet noodle. Now she is sitting and getting so much better at her gross motor skills. What an improvement. I am thrilled!

Yesterday we had our 2nd Ohio Luncheon. We had about 20 people and kids there and it was wonderful. I organized one back in December and it was a hit so I decided to do it again. I had it at Max and Erma's up here in Canton and we had a YUMMY cake and did a kitchen towel exchange. It was so fun to see all the new babies that were NOT home in December and meet new friends. It was fun and I am going to have one each month now. I am going to post a picture from it.

Now...the most exciting news...although Mikayla sitting up on her own it pretty big news...is that today we got Mikayla's Certificate of Citizenship! OMG! I cried and cried when it came. It just felt so good to see it. In the packet was a letter from President Bush welcoming her to American and explaining the true value of becoming a citizen in the United States. It was very touching to read. It was a wonderful moment. It was. Now...on to the pictures. She is not real smiley because she is still a little under the weather from her shots. OH...and thank you so much for all of you wonderful comments about the video I made for her. They were all sooooo sweet!

Cool mom!! Can I eat that?

The two best kids in the world!

Sitting UP soooo pretty!

Mikayla at the Ohio Luncheon...you can see it in her eyes that she was not feeling well from those dang shots!

A view of the table...we had SO much fun!

Mikayla's Video

I FINALLY got the song that I wanted to do this presentation. It was very emotional for me to watch the final product. I hope you enjoy it...I love this sweet girl so much!
Get video codes at Bolt.

VOTE FOR MIKAYLA

I entered Mikayla in the same picture contest that I put Alec in when he was younger and won. They have a popular vote contest now so would you mind going to it and voting for our princess???????? You can only vote one time. She is number #25! Woooooooo Hoooooooo!
Hugs,
Mindy

http://www.goldframebaby.com/contestantsfeb.htm

AWESOME DVD!!!!!!!

I feel like a door-to-door saleswoman today...or should I say blog-to-blog. Anyway...I had to share this for various reasons. First off...let me say that I am NOT a fan of small children watching TV. There is too much else they could be doing. However, I do LOVE the Baby Einstein series and had some for Alec, when they FIRST came out. I entered Alec in a baby photo contest a year or so ago which he won. One of his prizes was this DVD I am going to tell you about. I didn't get it for him, since he is too old for it, but got it for Mikayla instead. It is called an Infant Recognition Video. It is a "Baby Einstein" type of video....set to the same types of music with the same types of simple, classic things. The major difference is that about every 5 minutes it shows pictures of YOUR family. You choose ten pictures, send them to the company via e-mail, and they put them IN your DVD. We chose pictures of Kris and I, Alec, the grandparents, and then one of Mikayla and us on our visit trip. SHE LOVES IT. When the pictures of all of us come on, and they rotate throughout the show, she laughs and smiles and points. She KNOWS that those pictures are of "us." I think this video has been great for her. Especially since our babies come home a little later, this DVD has really seemed to help her recognize us better. I know that may sound dumb...but it has. I love it and I would highly recommend this DVD. It is awesome and so worth the money. http://www.infantrecognition.com/

I took some pictures of the video when it was playing and such and then Mikayla watching it.

Where did I get my dress and bows?

I get a lot of e-mails and comments about my bows. I also had a lot of people wanting to know where I got this dress for Mikayla. I am going to put the links on this post. But my answer is EBAY. I am one BIG Ebay fan people. I have the same lady do ALL of Mikayla's bows. There are many, many ribbon choices and she is very affordable and sooooo sweet. She also does custom orders. Here is the link to her Ebay store: http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=lesliesbowtique

The dress Mikayla is wearing also came from Ebay and here is the link to an Ebay store that sells it. I ADORE this dress...such a GREAT price for a totally beautiful dress!

http://stores.ebay.com/mykidsmart1_infant-dresses-sz-0-to24month_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZ12QQftidZ2QQtZkm

My Portrait Studio

OK so today I attempted to take some pictures of Mikayla in a dress that I adore. I just haven't had the time to go get her pictures done somewhere and she is quickly growing too big for this dress. So I turned by bed into a pink portrait studio. Tell me what you think. I like quite a few of them. I took over 100 but these are some of my favorites.

In the Crib:-)

I don't have time to write a bunch tonight. House cleaning is calling me now that the kids are in bed. Plus I have to pack. We have to go to Mansfield tomorrow (Alec, Mikayla, and I) to get our car fixed. It's leaking antifreeze and my wonderful father is going to fix it for us So we will be spending the night in Mansfield tomorrow with my mom and dad. Don't freak out when the blog isn't updated tomorrow night. LOL. Here are some pictures from today!



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Kris took the video clip of Alec in Mikayla's crib this morning. It's dark but it's cute.

Good Morning Sunshine!

Big Brother and Little Sister

Check out the HAT

Today was just your nice average Sunday. We took Alec to McDonalds in hopes that he would PLAY off some of his energy in the playland. Umm.....it didn't work so well. But whatever. Mikayla had a good day. She was just her usually happy self. She misses all of her grandparents and hopes she can see them all soon. She is growing up!

Happy, Content, and full of cereal!

Dad...you are ALWAYS making me laugh!

OK...what is going on here. Everyone is staring at me and laughing. I just don't get it. I am not seeing anything that is funny at all. Why is everyone talking about a hat? What is a hat? Is it that thing that mom just put on my head because she said it is funny?

OH I GET IT! You are laughing WITH me not AT me! OK...HAHAHAHA...I will laugh too then. This is GREAT. Now mom...are you going to take this ridiculous thing off my head now?

She's EIGHT Months Old Today!!!!

I can't believe it! Today marks three weeks we have been together with Mikayla and also her 8 month birthday! My princess is growing up! I can't even begin to explain how wonderful it has been seeing her develop over the past three weeks. She is now starting to sit unassisted, rolling from belly to back, and laughing and smiling all the time. She is such a happy baby and we are such blessed parents. Everything really is going very well! Mikayla is just so beautiful that sometimes I just sit and stare at her in amazement that she is actually OURS. It still feels like a dream! Enjoy the pictures from today...it is a COLD snowy day here in Ohio.

I am 8 Months Old today and I am getting cuter every single day!

Mom...is that cereal mixed with bananas you have? I can't take my eyes off of it!

OH MY GOSH it IS cereal mixed with bananas! Give it to me NOW!

I SAID GIVE IT TO ME!

She LOVES this bath...it is awesome and loves the water

I am even cute in the bath. Imagine that!

Wooooooo! Look at that HAIR! I Love it!