For your viewing pleasure...

So I took these photos last week and kept forgetting to post them.  I was laughing SO hard that I could barely manage to even hold my cell steady enough to get ones that weren't horribly blurry!  And now, for your viewing pleasure:

After her favorite activity of "pull the dish towels off the oven", Mia is thrilled to discover that papa's shorts have an elastic waist band and not only can she reach them, she can PULL them!  :)

And yes, my determined little turkey was NOT thrilled when papa hitched the shorts back up so it became a tug-of-war. By this time I was rolling on the floor!  Good thing he had undies on!!!  lol

Yeah, I was almost laughing this hard:

Mia loves to play "I'm gonna get you!" with papa, and of course, mama couldn't be left out!  :)

One of her other favorite past times... hunting down pieces of paper...

...and trying to eat it before mama gets to her.  Oh my little turkey!  Once I come towards her she'll often throw the object from her and start smiling at me and clapping, as if to say, "Look mom, see, I don't have anything! See!"  :)

...and the "throw away"

 Today we did a morning run to the park.  I say "run" because we didn't say there for as long as we planned because it was so stinking hot!!!  It was still fun.  We walked around the little pond, fed the ducks and took a few pictures.  We were SO glad to get back to the A/C of the car once we finally made it all the way around!  Paulina said, "I am pouring sweat!  I have never been this hot or poured sweat like this before!"  :)  So see, it wasn't just me, native Utahn, that was hot!

Paulina feeding the ducks/geese and birds. 

It was such a pretty day and we took some really fun and beautiful photos, but unfortunately none of them will upload right now.  Sadness.  So, after our sweaty time at the park we ran home to put Mia down for a nap and to eat lunch.  When Mia woke up, I fed her and then we hit the road to Walmart to get my car in for a much needed oil change and to browse the store.  :)  Of course, we decided to stop in at McDonald's and get ice cream cones and a french fry to split while we waited.  Mia was ALL about her ice cream cone!

Yum!!!

Uh, mom.... why does everybody keep staring at me????

Kicking back in the cart, waiting for mom's car to get an oil change and just hanging out... silly girl!

And last but not least, a photo of our front yard.  Yes, there are still dirt spots, but it's no longer dead for those of you who remember our grass killing fiasco.  Zeus sent me this photo after he cut the lawn and said, "There, now post it on your blog so people can see how good it looks NOW!"  lol

Oh, and Mia TOTALLY said mama again!  SO not a fluke!!!

And I have proof!  

Of course, I tried to get her to do it again, but as you can see below the little turkey wouldn't do it on command!  :)

Oh HOW I love this silly little goose!  :)

Surgery dates and family visits!

So, we got a call yesterday from Dell Children's Hospital and they have Mia scheduled for her lip surgery on November 10th.  It's so so so much sooner than I was expecting - not that mid November is a whole lot sooner than the end of November, but still.  My knee-jerk reaction was "NOOOOOOO!"  I LOVE her little wide smile and precious little face and can't imagine her looking any different.  Also, the thought handing her over for a three and a half hour surgery just stops my heart.  She's so little and so incredibly dear to us!!!  Knowing that this is in her best interest and that she would WANT us to do it if she could tell us so doesn't even make the thought of it any easier!!!!  The only positive that I can think of (besides of course that after surgery our first big hurdle will be behind us) is that we won't have to mess with the DAM NAM anymore.  Hooray!!!

On a more chipper note, my sister Nikki and her little family got in safe from Germany and arrived at our house Monday afternoon.  Sara and Sofia immediately wanted to hold "baby Mia" as they call her.  They are (usually) super sweet and gentle with her and it's so fun to see them together!  We've gone to parks and gone swimming and all sorts of fun things so far.  The first thing the girls wanted to do was to hold "baby Mia".

Monday:

 Sofia won "Eenie Meenie Miney Moe" and got to hold baby Mia first.  :)

Then it was Sara's turn - big smile!  :)

Next, they had to try on their Halloween costumes.

and then Sara had to hold "baby Mia" again

Nik and Claes went to run some errands and the girls and I went to the park across the corner from our house.  Sara and Sofia had a great time playing on the play ground equipment and digging in the ground with sticks.  They even found a little snail shell that we brought home.  Unfortunately our outing was cut short when Sofia got attacked by a horde of fire ants.  Sadness!!!!  She has bites all over her feet and a few on her hands.  It was truly one of the saddest things ever!  :(

 after baths, Sara and Mia chilled on the couch and watched a cartoon

when it was time to feed baby Mia, Sara and Fia both wanted to help and did a great job!

they built a boat and here's Fia sitting in it and rowing with the little blue sticks

Tuesday:

 Sarah holds baby Mia again before we head to Costco for lunch and some US shopping

Sara REALLY loves to hold baby Mia - even standing up, which we aren't quite sure will ever happen again... lol

Sara and Sofia love for baby Mia to be in her swing - this time Sara decided baby Mia needed some toys

so pretty much ALL of her toys ended up in the swing with her

Wednesday:

Sara checking out and comparing HER toes with baby Mia's toes  ;)

all three girls playing in my pop up school bus and having a grand time

then we went to Gatti Land Pizza place for lunch.  the girls thought that watching TV on the big screen while they ate was super cool.  here's the whole Lindgren family

Then we went to pick out pumpkins at a place by Zeus's work:

Sara quickly found her pumpkin

after some searching, Fia found hers too

Sara helped Fia carry her pumpkin to the wagon because it was SO big and heavy!

Sara and Sofia posing

When I asked Sara to hold Mia, Sofia insisted on "holding baby Mia's legs"

Mia and mama

my little cutie patootie

Mia on a pumpkin - being propped from behind with another pumpkin  ;)

one group shot before leaving

It was SO HOT outside - in the 90's so we didn't stay too long picking out pumpkins.  Sara picked out a little pumpkin for baby Mia and then we drove home to go to the playground and pool across the corner from my house.  Mia passed out on the couch while we were getting ready to go. 

she's started trying to suck her thumb and I love how in this pic she's got her fingers curled around her nose

Sofia and Sara had a blast splashing around in the kiddie pool while Nik and I chatted and laughed with Mia as we watched them

Papa taking a break from studying to play with Mia while Nik cooked us a DELICIOUS dinner of artichoke pasta - YUM!!! 

what???  you think "I" did all that drooling???  lol

Mia chilling in her bath - cracks me up because she locks her knees and it pins her in there  lol

Thursday:

Mia all bundled up in the DARLING cap and mittens Auntie Nikki got her

Uh, yeah.  Yesterday it was in the 90's and we were sweating like crazy, and today it was in the low 60's and breezy in the morning and we've had the windows open all day in the house.  Crazy Texas weather!!!

Sara and Fia climbing at the park under mama's supervision

Sara - far left, arms folded - was NOT thrilled to wait for her mom to finish pushing Fia on the swings before she could have a turn - lol

when it was Sara's turn, cool Aunt Darcie pushed her REALLY high and showed her how we use to push and run underneath when her mom and I were little - she loved it!  :)

Mia slept through the trip to the park

cute mama Nikki playing with her sweet Sara and Sofia