1000 divided by 2

Yup, if you did the math correct, you're right, this is post #500! That's amazing, I can't believe we've written that much. When we first started this blog it was way before Mia and we had a hard time writing 1 post some months, but now life is definitely all about Mia, ok, not all about Mia, but quite a bit, so it's a bit easier to write posts now that we have a great reason. And after she was born, we re-purposed this blog to be all about her, but more importantly, all about God, how He is merciful, gracious, and powerful (to name just a few). We've seen God's mercies new every morning, and we continue to be in awe of His power, we serve an awesome God! So, we just wanted to take a moment to reflect and say, Praise God! Thank you Lord! We are looking forward to the next 500 posts and the way that He will continue to transform our lives!

Galations 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

Speech Therapy

Speech Therapy went so well today! I was so excited at Mia's progress. Last Sunday she would occassionally mouth mama, without the voice to go along with it, well at therapy they got her consistantly doing it today! They were just playing with her and bubbles and the therapist kept saying "pop pop pop" and Mia started opening and closing her mouth and then trying to do "pop pop pop" herself, it looks like "mama" too, so that was exciting. Please continue to pray for more progress like that!

And it's official, we've moved into the "new" class at school, the teacher also agrees that it fits Mia better, and I think it will work out great. Today Mia was sorting blue, green, and red pieces into blue, green, and red containers. She actually did pretty well with it, I was pleased.

LA

So we were off to LA today to see Mia's intestinal surgeon and everything looked great. We are now at a size 10, so we are about 1/2 way there, our goal is a size 13...so, we should be done in about 2 more months, since we are taking it real easy.

After we got home, Mia wanted to crawl up on the couch with her kitty, CindyCat...but she still can't quite do it, so I gave her a little push and she did get up there...one of these days though she'll get it and then we'll have to be super careful until she learns how to get down.

CindyCat, I'm gonna get you!

Oh, I so desperately want the CindyCat!

Thanks for the push Mama!

I love my CindyCat!

Nice Cindy!

Cindy, I'm giving you a kiss!

Hey, where do you think you are going???

Mama! Did you see how my CindyCat just left me!

I got this climbing thing going, why not...see my leg...I'm ready!

I guess Mom should jump in and save her before disaster strikes.

I love this picture, even if it is horribly centered, I just barely got her in it! Isn't she a cutie!

Today we started Mia's new class at school. It does seem to be a better fit for her, so I think we will be staying there, but I wanted to see what the teacher in the class thought after Thursday, if she agreed or not. It was a bit less structured than our other class, and so that was different for me, it will just take a bit of getting used to and getting to know new people. :)

This afternoon we went to our first speech therapy appointment and that went really well. It was mostly just playing with the therapist, so Mia could get to know her and get used to being around her. What struck me the most though, was that there was a lot of repetition of phrases. They would play with a certain toy and she would repeat the same phrases, like 3 times, over and over again. She said that after awhile, kids pick up on this and naturally start producing those same words/phrases. So, we'll see what happens. We have noticed Mia using her mouth more, like she wants to say something, but nothing comes out, so please continue to pray for her in that area.

Wearing the glasses is going great, for the most part she keeps them on, usually when she sees her reflection in something (like the fireplace or dishwasher), she will try to remove them, but otherwise they stay on. I noticed her trying to take them off the other day and I said, "Mia No.", in my strong firm parent voice (I have no clue when I developed that...hehehehe), and she fussed a bit and looked at me, but kept them on. So, she definitely understands!! Praise God!

Oh, and sleeping with her hip brace, she actually sleeps better with it than without! For the last several nights, she's been making it all the way to the morning, it is so awesome. I think it's because she can't get on her knees, it forces her to stay lying down and so then she eventually falls back asleep when she wakes up. I told Brad that we've found the secret to getting your kids to sleep through the night and if we have any more kids, we'll put them in the brace if we have to! Probably not, but it is kind of humorous to us that this is what it took to get her to sleep through the night. Praise God for uninterrupted sleep!