First Haircut

Today I took Miranda to my "stylist" for a haircut. Ok..., if you know me at all, you know the thought of me having a stylist is kind of amusing. Really, it is is my friend Amy from church who does a great job with my hair 4-5 times a year which is the most I can make it in to see her.

Miranda's hair is beautiful, but was pretty uneven in the back, as we have never had it cut. This was her very first haircut! Thanks to Amy and also to Elizabeth for letting me borrow her camera--I was on my way to the salon and realized I didn't have my camera--PANIC!!! Elizabeth's house was (kind of) on the way and she let me borrow hers.

The back of her hair, post-cut. It is so much more even now.Ta-Da! The view from the front.

Miranda was a trooper this whole day. She has been doing great since she got her ear tubes in February. Today, though, she woke up with yucky goo coming from both of her ears. Thankfully, the goo is draining because of the ear tubes. Pre-ear tubes, she would have gotten a raging ear infection and fever and been in tons of pain. Now, with the ear tubes in, we just have to do antibiotic ear drops for 10 days.

Florida Trip

We have had a great few days here in Florida visiting my parents. We are excited to head home tomorrow to see Matt, but will miss the warm weather and beaches here in Florida! We've gone to the beach every day for anywhere from 2-5 hours. Miranda has done really well, usually taking an hour nap in my arms under an umbrella whenever we're out during naptime. I hope she gets back into her routine once we're back home! Here are a few pics from our trip.
At first, Miranda didn't quite know what to make of the water and sand.
Once she had been at the beach a while, she was happy playing in the sand with the boys and running around in the shallow water.

Debbie, this post is for you

...and all the rest of you who've asked if I'm going to keep the blog going. The answer to that question is that I'm not really sure! But, here's a post and lots of pics to update everyone.

We had a big snow in January and it took me about 20 minutes to get Miranda all bundled up, only to spend about 2 minutes outside because she hated the snow!Here are the boys measuring the amount of snow in the backyard.And, of course, being St. Louis, about a week later we had a 60 degree day and the kids all had fun playing outside!
Max has been practicing how to hold Miranda on his hip. I think he's doing a great job! Miranda has been practicing eating with a spoon. She's doing a great job, also! (About a minute after I took this picture, I thought "What the heck am I thinking giving Miranda a GLASS bowl of yogurt???" and I poured it all into a plastic bowl.Miranda has recently learned how to climb up into the chairs at the kitchen table and thinks it is great. I, however, have not learned yet to not leave things within her reach on the table!Miranda is an excellent Jedi knight. Here she is practicing with her fellow Jedis.Here is my perpetual 1st place science fair winner. He and Matt did a project on pendulums. I'm really excited for him because he won first place last year also, but wasn't able to take his project to the city-wide science fair because we were in Guatemala. He was a great sport about it.

So, there's an update from us. If you actually still read this blog, let me know and maybe it will give me incentive to keep working on it!

Halloween Fun

We had lots of fun yesterday for Halloween. Max had a party at school and I took Miranda and we helped out a bit. Poor Mitchell had a fever and a sore throat on Thursday, so he had to stay home and miss his party on Friday. The room mom who hosted his class party brought by a treat bag for him, which I thought was definitely above and beyond!

We went to our friends', The Dohle's, house for chili and trick or treating and had lots of fun. Today we have our Trunk or Treat at church. So much activity!

Matt and the boys and Matt's dad worked hard last week on our pumpkins. Max showing off his pumpkin that he designed.
My favorite pumpkin (created by Matt) on display in the front yard.
Miranda has learned to open the fridge! I may have to go buy a fridge lock!

Great News

Halloween pictures to come, I promise...

More importantly, our friends Jimmy and Emily are bringing their son, Samuel home on Wednesday!! Emily has been in Antigua fostering Samuel since before I went down to pick up Miranda. She was a blessing to me, helping me find a place to stay when the boys and I were in Antigua with Miranda. I'm so excited for them!!! Here's a pic of Samuel. You can also read their blog (The Armstrong Family)--the link is over on the right.

Samuelito, I'm so excited for you that you're coming home!!!

Birthday Fun!

Last week was a long birthday week for Miranda! On her actual birthday (Wednesday) we went to her friend Jayden's house and played. Jayden's mom took some pictures, so when I get those, I'll post some. Wednesday night, the boys and Matt and I celebrated with Miranda. She got a new toy and a few cards from the grandmas and grandpas and great-grandmas.
On Sunday after church, Matt's parents and brother came over for the afternoon. After a nice chili lunch, watching football, and sleeping in the basement, we all did (more) cupcakes for Miranda and then Matt's brother Greg took some pictures for us of Miranda. There are a ton of great pics, but here's just a few:

Playing in the Kitchen

Miranda has figured out that playing in the kitchen is fun! Matt put drawer latches and cabinet latches on everything except the pots and pans and Miranda loves to get into that cabinet. Unfortunately for me, now that she's in the kitchen a lot more, I have to sweep the floor multiple times a day because she'll pick up any tiny bit of food that's left on the floor!