九, Devet, Ni, Neuf, Neun, नौ, Nove, 9, Девять, Nueve, Nio, Nine months = 274 days!

In celebration of my glorious 9 months of life on this planet, I thought I would give you a "best of" list...

9. I weigh 20 lbs. That is 4 times my birth weight! I love blueberries, pears, bananas and applesauce. I drink water out of a sippy cup! I hate any food associated with the color green... and my tummy does too! I tried fruit puffs the other day and loved them! Apple Cinnamon of course! My favorite though, is still my bottle - and the love that goes a long with it. Oh, and this puts me in the 65th%...

8. My big brother is my hero. He makes me laugh more than any one in the world. He is big and strong and he loves to play with me. He is 3 years and 3 months older than me, give or take. He helps me build with legos and he even plays dolls with me sometimes... When I am sad, he tries really hard to cheer me up. I LOVE my brother.

7. Naps are for babies. Im a big girl. I sleep for 12 hours at night -- so, I play the day away. Naps, who needs em? Okay, okay. That is sort of a fib. But, I am a cat napper. So, a 10 minute nap here, or a 30 minute one there-- well, that doesnt really count, if you ask me!

6. I am a Princess. I have the crown to prove it.

5. My hobbies include smiling, jumping up and down in my jump a roo, playing with me feet, chewing on anything and everything in site, standing up, drooling, practicing crawling, giving kisses, and going anywhere I can to see my friends.

4. My favorite color really is pink. And red. And blue. And green.

3. I do not, repeat, do not like windy days --- or any sun in my eyes. Youch. I will complain until you do something about it.

2. My first words are "da, da, da" Yup, I LOVE my daddy; and I am tall like Daddy too! I am 28.6 inches -- being the 74th% for height! I also forget to mention... I am not a fan of being chilly... or being away from my mommy, as you can see in this picture below.

1. I am a morning person! I wake up with the biggest smile on my face every day... and when I get picked up from my crib, I squeal with delight. Another day, another adventure! Life is soooooo good!

Talk soon -

Love, Princess Mia

What the heck are these things??

April Showers Bring May Flowers...

Hi world... It's me, Mia... or Princess Mia as I like to be called!

Rain, Rain - GO AWAY! I mean, I know we need it for the pretty green grass, leaves, flowers, and all... but yick. Our March of Dimes walk got rained out. I was looking forward to having a nice little ride in the BOB stroller while getting some fresh air and some zzzzz's. And I wanted to see my friends, Natalie, Rylan, Gabriel, and my cousin Keaten too. All of our families were going to do the 5k together and then go get pancakes. Yum. I LOVE pancakes, by the way. Oh well. Thanks to all of our friends and family who donated to our March for Babies walk... our team raised over $800. My mommy always gets really emotional when she talks about the March for Babies - It is very important to us to keep spreading the word and helping raise money for ALL babies to one day be born healthy and on time. With both me and Nick being preemies - we are going to do everything we can in our life time to help other babies stay put in their Mommy's tummies until they are ready to come into the world healthy. Well - as Daddy and Auntie Nicki said, we will sign up and be ready for next years walk...

It has been a busy weekend... Honorary "Uncle Raulie" got married!! So - we had the best time. No, silly... we didnt go to the wedding! We had a 2 day play date AND a slumber party with Grammie!! Lucky us... and Mommy and Daddy got 2 date nights in a row. Hooray!

Here are all of my "honorary uncles" Geoff, Chris, Josh, Luke and Raulie... This was at Buca - I guess they have some good mashed potatoes. mmmm. Another food I like!

Look at Mommy and Daddy all dressed up!

Here is Mommy with the handsome Groom!

Raulie and the "ushers"

The "blushing bride" and Mommy told me that she made her own dress! Impressive...

So, really it was a win-win for the entire Wray family this week. Mommy got her alone time with Daddy, and we got our special time with Grammie!

Last week there were a couple of sunny days - it was a little bit chilly - but sunny. Mommy LOVES being outside - and so we hit up a couple of parks. I love going to the park... and as you know, I really enjoy swinging on the swing. Nick runs all over the place, up and down the slides, the swings, up the rock wall. I cant wait to run all over with him. I am getting so close to crawling. I just keep forgetting to put my arms in front of me. Silly Mia. I know, I know. One day, it will just click. For now, I like to fly with my arms swinging behind me!!

Here are some pictures of our park days...

Here is Nick and his bud, Gus - they were racing down the slide full speed ahead! I was busy playing with Henry on the other side of the park. Okay, you got me. I was actually taking a snooze, while Henry (1 year) played in the rocks and crawled around. Yes, I should have been taking notes. But - really Mommy keeps telling me to take my time with the whole crawling thing... so I just may. I really like being toted around anyway.

And, here Nick and Ava are taking an ice cream break - lots of running around can make you hungry. Mommy gave me a teeny tiny taste of ice cream this week! WOW. And, she really thinks I am going to just go back to my squash and bananas?? Ha. That was so good. I must have licked my lips for 10 minutes after. Yum. Wonder when I get that again. Afterall, I am going to be 9 months in a week...

Well, it has been a good week. This week we have 3 playdates scheduled - On Tuesday, we are going to Gabriel's house and with my friend Rylan too. We are going to go the park for a picnic. I love sunshine and fresh air - just like Mommy. Nick and Gabe will go do "their" thing... and Rylan and I will swing in the swings and smile at each other! Yay! On Wednesday we are going to ride some bikes with Nick's friend Levi and his sisters... and then Friday playing with Morgan and maybe Ava too. A fun week ahead!

Nighty Nighty--
Love, Princess Mia

32 years young

Happy Sunday!

So, this past Friday I turned 32 years young... it was a great day! And a great weekend! I think I am okay with turning 32. Not as easy as turning 31, but not nearly as hard as turning 30!! And, dont they say something about how it doesnt matter the years, but the way you feel? Well, I feel just fine... so Im going with that!

I was really spoiled by everyone this weekend! On Friday, Mother Nature gave me (and all of you!) a gift: 70 degrees! We took advantage of that and went to Como Zoo with Grammie. Nick got to hang out with the monkeys, giraffes, zebras and lions. His fav. Mia wasnt too sure of the zoo this time around. She had a really hard time with the stinky smells... poor thing sobbed when we walked past the very very smelly giraffe area. (Grammie is a trooper. She braved the smell so Nick could see his beloved giraffes while I tended to crying baby girl...) We soaked up the sun for a bit, and then Grammie treated us to a delish lunch at Snuffy's Malt Shoppe. We all splurged and shared a chocolate and butterscotch shake which was a slice of heaven. Nicki and Kyle came to babysit on Saturday so Dave and I could "go out" for my birthday to a concert. We saw Chris Cornell - and I LOVE him. It was an amazing show! I got lots of nice gifts from everyone and I also got to sleep in -- which I think could maybe be the very best gift of all!

So - backing up a bit... I have some great Easter pictures to post... We went to the cabin with the Frase's from Thursday to Sunday and then jaunted back to Minny for Easter dinner with Grammie and Grandpa. The weather was beautiful - and the boys got a long famously.

Nicki and I read A LOT (Thank you Twilight saga) and the boys went on "bear and squirrel hunts" with the daddy's.

Easter Morning (really Saturday morning, but none the wiser!) We hid their eggs and they opened their baskets from Mom/Dad/Auntie/Uncle -- Easter Bunny...

It looks like the Easter Bunny was kind enough to leave his ears at the cabin for us to play with too...

We also had fun playing Wii (Nicki and I rock at bowling...) and just did lots of relaxing. Easter dinner was "delicious and delectable" as Nick would say... And the Easter Bunny aka Grammie, spoiled everyone with huge baskets and an egg hunt. Even Grandpa got in on the action - which was very nice to see - he is recovering well from surgery!

We have been busy as usual with playdates - and Nick is loving every minute of it. I have had a lot of fun reconnecting with old friends and Nick is enjoying meeting new friends! One of the highlights of the last week was definitely Mia and Rylan swinging together at the park over by Melissa's house. Adorable!

It is also really fun to see Nick climbing and running all over - he seems to have a lot less fear this year, and even tried to tackle the monkey bars... I bet by the end of summer! We also have been to Pump It Up a couple of times - and Nick is a super man there...

His appetite is growing by the day - and I am thrilled to tell you all, he eats salads and his veggies like a true champion. He LOVES to eat - and he is always so proud to tell you AND to show you how big his hands and feet are getting! ;-)

He has been playing a lot with Grace - they do a great job of entertaining themselves and playing make believe games. They love to read books -- here is a really cute picture of them together doing just that! We really miss Grace and Addie, and of course Katie - they are vacationing in Arizona right now!

Hmmm... what other news... Mia is sitting up ALL BY HERSELF!

And, we can fit cute little bows in her hair!

She almost has one tooth in -- I can see it! I will be sure to report back once it has cut through! She is still sleeping like a champ (knock on wood) and has just the most easy going personality around. What a true joy she is. Next time you see her, she will want to give you a kiss... the most slobbery kiss you have ever had that is! And, her newest "party trick" she will shake her head "NO" at you when she is all done eating or doesnt want to go to sleep...

Here is my chunky monkey and big bro cuddling on the couch... had to take a quick photo of this!

And -- I had to post this great picture of me and some of my girlfriends... and Mia and Rylan of course! This was a really fun lunch that turned into some of us gushing over Twilight and Edward Cullen, which then turned into a book club - with Twilight as our first book to "club" in May. I am so excited to talk more about book. I am sure most of you are sick to death of me talking about it, so maybe after the book club I will get it out of my system. Have to say though, I am darn impressed... four 600+ page books in just about 2 weeks... Not too shabby. Must clear out DVR now before I start my next book - which I think will be Kite Runner... I am on a reading kick! Cant wait to see you girls (Melissa, DeeAnna, Meg and Megan) in a couple of weeks...

And a Nickism for you before I sign off... Just thought it was cute that he knew what both Dave and my "jobs" were...

Mommy: "What does Mommy do all day long?"
Nick: "You take care of me and Mia."
Mommy: "What does Daddy do all day long?"
Nick: "Works on his computer at Medtronic."

...hence the proud supporter of his daddy's company!