Farmer Mia (guest blogger - Nana)

This child had SO much fun today!! First, she is so adored by both of us...she knows it too! And she is SO okay with it! She helped me plant corn, zucchini, carrots, and onion seeds today. While we were planting, she kept running her hand over my face and lovingly saying "Nana.....". We were planting seeds for our garden today while Pawpaw ran a tractor to dig up and grass and get the soil ready at least a foot down. Our seed planting had such a rhythm....I handed her cups full of soil, and she filled the Jiffy pots, then we smooshed and mushed until the dirt actually filled the pots. Then, I handed her cups full of water to water all the new soil.Then, Mia counted two seeds for every pot (OK, some little pots may have 70 seeds in them but hey...so what?) and dropped them into the holes I made. Then, we covered the seeds with more wet soil (she kept saying Look Nana, my hands are dirty....and they WERE!). After we planted lots of seeds, we watered some more and had some stick fights.

When we made sure that we had enough plants to feed an army, Mia and I went back to check on PawPaw. The tractor was loud and not very girl-friendly, but when he turned the engine off, Mia felt sure enough to sit in his lap. PawPaw showed her how to drop the bucket, and a new tractor operator was born. Once she got that down, the only thing left was to turn the engine back on (easier said then done with a 3 - year old in your lap. There are about 10 different things that have to be in neutral or the engine won't start.....as Tom set one thing and turned to another, Mia helped him by unsetting what he had just set.) Finally, I convinced Mia to step down for a second, Tom got all the stuff set to neutral and the tractor started. Mia was fascinated. She raised the bucket sky high and dropped it like a pro. Good thing it was a rental. Then she drove in circles until PawPaw got tired and a bit nauseous. She drove for about 30 minutes and had a BLAST. I will forward the pix I got tomorrow.

Once the tractor bit got old (for PawPaw, not Mia), the gals walked back to the house for a drink. Wine for me, juicy water for Mia. A quick rest and TV show, then off to the swings. But before we could swing, Mia had to help make dinner. A Farmer and a Cook all in one day. We put a pot roast in the oven, then went to swing for about an hour. After that, we had a duck egg hunt and found two! Success! Then, on to Elmo hat designing sessions with PawPaw. By 6, she was seriously considering a nap, but there was no time. Welcome to our world!! We still had to feed the dogs, chickens, ducks and deer. At one point, she peed and told me she needed another diaper. Now. We went into the bedroom to change her dipes, and uh oh.....WHERE IS MY CRIB?????? Did Swiper get it????? No, Nana had just put it away. Life was good.

While we waited for dinner, Mia did a movie star bubble bath with Dora and Boots. Way too much fun. See the pix I will share tomorrow. Then, a full dinner (she had to fight off PawPaw....GIGGLE, GIGGLE....NO, NO..GIGGLE) and a long snuggle with us on the sofa. By 8, she could not even start to keep her eyes open any more and curled up in my arms and went to sleep. Yes, it's true.....my heart is nothing but pudding now.

A wonderful day for all of us.....what a treasured thing. I hope your day is just as great. Happy Valentines Day!!! I love you and I love your willingness to allow Mia to share our lives. None of us will ever forget these moments. Thank you!

I love you!
Nana

Best Shot Monday ~ Fountain Fun

If you were looking for us on Saturday morning, you would have found us at the Farmer's Market. Mia and I hooked up with Bonnie, Josh, Ben & Sam. We ended up at our usual spot, the fountain. Ben and Mia played around the fountain, but not in it. When I took a spin with Mia around the fountain, I figured out why...it was freakin' cold! Water sprays + shade + a slight breeze does indeed = chilliness. The kids played, Bonnie and I chatted, Josh so very kindly fetched us all Jim Jim's. Good Times. I guess Mia needed a rest, so she climbed into the BOTTOM of her stroller. There were a few other cute moments that I caught with my good ol' P&S:

But my Best Shot Monday has to be this one of Mia. There's just something about it that I love.

Click HERE for more Best Shot Monday

Mia's full morning of Firsts

our loot. notice the empty berry basket...they never do make it home

Daryl had to work again on Sat, so Mia and I hit the road. Destination: Austin Farmer's Market

We briefly ran into Natalie...poor thing got her blackberries at the wrong booth. They were not tasty looking. Mia and I ran into Mel, Greyson and Mel's Mom (I'm THAT good at remembering names). We all hung out around the bandstand and ate up breakfast tacos while listening to some hillbilly music...it was.

Then, I lost Mia for the first time! She and Greyson went up to throw a buck into the tip bucket. I assumed that Mel's Mom had Mia, too. Oops! In the time it took me to wrangle the stroller free from a mess of chairs, she was GONE! Mia runs. She runs fast. I just took off in the direction I thought she'd go...I got to the end of the block. No Mia. I was freaking out. People were just in my way. I saw a cop, touched his arm and said 'I lost my baby' and kept walking. I didn't have time to talk. I heard him behind me when, through the crowd, I saw Mia in Mel's arms. I LOVE Mel!!!!!! I couldn't move. I bent over with my hands on my knees and just cried. I don't remember moving, but soon, Mia was in my arms and I was hugging her so tight, telling her that I love her. I saw in Mel's yes that she got me. I LOVE Mel! Apparently, instead of taking of down the block like I thought, Mia went around the band and started dancing. That's how Mel found her. Grooving to a hillbilly beat without a care in the world. Life goes on.

Mia at the tip bucket seconds before I lost her

Time for mango ice at Jim Jim's stand and then off to the fountain to cool of. Andrea, Sophia and Domi met us out there, too. I snapped a lovely shot of Domi blowing bubbles into his hibiscus tea :) Greyson was all into the water. Sophia sat next to her mamacita and Mia sat on the bench and experienced her first brain freeze seconds after Mel called hers. That's the only way I would have know what made Mia go from loving life to freakin' out in 2 seconds.

Oh, Mia and I walked to the market together from Book People. She go a ride in her stroller on the way back. We made it there just in time for a puppet show! Mia's first puppet show! It was based on the book Is your Mama a LLama, and it ROCKED! I busted out laughing several times. Mia was so into it, too. She got all excited, pointed, called out the animals and had a hard time sitting..so she stood.

going to market

Saturday morning while Daryl met up with his Dad to inspect the house we're looking to buy, Mia and I hit the road and ended up at the Austin Farmers Market. It was such a beautiful morning, and even more so cuz we ran into Melanie and Greyson. Yay! Mia and I both had a friend to hang and have breakfast tacos with.

We bought and ate strawberries and the juiciest nectarines ever...yes, they are supposed to be juicy....who knew? Green beans and some YUMMY gluten-free tasties from Living Arts Bakery also made it in our bag. Mia made her pick of flower bouquets for her Nana. I got Mia a super cute tee. We saw this cute kid around 8 yrs old playing soccer in HEELS...and a fabulously pregger mama with her honey toting her flowers. Awwwww
Mia and Greyson chilled IN the water fountain. We cooled off with some of Jim Jim's pina colada water ice!! Mia grooved to the live music. We also ran into Stephanie and her crew, but they were just getting there as we were leaving.


We met up with Mel and Greyson at Book People for some story and art time. The planets were aligned just right cuz we ran into more friends....Anjalika, Anika and um....Anja's husband. I hate when I forget names. They were on the way to lunch at Mr. Natural, and invited us to go with. Next time, cuz we had plans to meet up with Dada, Nana & Pawpaw for lunch.


Mia was so sweet when she handed her bunch of flowers to her Nana and said 'happy mudder's day'. Yes, Dee's heart did in fact melt onto the floor. We had a great chat about the house...it passed Tom's thorough exam. Mia entertained us all by fashioning a hat out of the lid to the tortilla warmer.