Kohl Children's Museum

Mya and I got the chance to visit the Kohl Children's Museum with the Korman's. The place is absolutely amazing. It is a hands-on museum for kids. "Exhibits encourage the building of strong social skills by creating situations that require children to help each other and work as a team." I am so envious that they didn't have places like this when I was younger. Some of the exhibits we were able to visit were Water Works, Music Makers, Doll Day Care, Dominick's, and Potbelly Sandwich Works. We can't wait to go again and see some of the other exhibits!!! Thank you BJ and Brittany for taking us!

Mya was using the computer to color the numbers.

Potbelly's Sandwich Shop.....exactly like the real restaurant!

Of course, Mya LOVED the Doll Daycare! She was putting all the babies night-night.
It was a bit creepy to me...resembled a scary orphanage!

Mya and Ella with their babies. Could they be the next Angelina Jolie?

Water Works.... this was one GIANT water table!

Mya and Addie watching the water go by. Aren't they adorable together?

Dominicks...my favorite exhibit! It was so cool!!! It was identical to a real grocery store! Here's Mya shopping for milk.

Hmmm....so many to choose from!

Checking out the produce.

Mya with the meat slicer. Her daddy would be so jealous...he's always wanted one of his own!

Mya and Addie at the magnetic board. Addie likes to taste everything first!

It's Been Awhile...Sorry we were in Florida!

Beautiful Ft. Lauderdale.... WE LOVE IT!

Matt and I took a MUCH needed mini-vacation to Ft. Lauderdale last weekend. It hasn't been the best 2010 so far, so we needed a little "pick-me-up." We are so thankful that my Mom was able to watch Mya so Matt and I could go on our first baby-free vacation! It was difficult to leave our little lady, but we had a blast without her! :0) It helped that we knew she was in good hands! Thanks Mimi!

We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale and it was 84 degrees and sunny! We immediately bellied up to the bar at an outside cafe and drank ourselves silly! Literally. We did manage to make it to a cute little restaurant on the intercoastal, enjoy some delicious seafood, figure out how to take the water taxi back to our hotel, end the night drinking $13 dollar margaritas (oops!), meet some interesting people, and ALMOST go clubbing with a 50 year old mom! Needless to say, it was a fabulous first day of vacation!!!! The next day was cloudy and cool but we still enjoyed our day AND I managed to still get burned!

By Sunday we were ready to head home to see our little angel. I think we were more excited to see her than she was to see us. To be perfectly honest, I think she would have been just fine staying with her Mimi for a few more days!

Our first day! This was taken after a long afternoon of cocktails!

The second day was SUPER windy!!! Matt is anti-picture taking so we only got a few shots. No retakes either....hence the windblown hair.

A picture on the awesome water-taxi. It takes you up and down the intercoastal. They tell you all about the mansions and yachts. We saw a home owned by Jay Leno and a home ALMOST owned by OJ Simpson. The neighbors outbid him, $17 million, so he wouldn't be able to buy it. As the driver said, "Don't worry, he's in another big house now....it's a gated community."

Sticker Fun!

Mya has a new obsession....stickers!

She can even make a sticker creation while watching the "Mya Movie!"

Yeah, SHAKE IT BABY, SHAKE IT NOW SHAKE IT LIKE THAT

Way back in 1988, my bff Sarah and I shook our rumps to the single, yes cassette single, Rump Shaker by Wreckx-N-Effect. I vividly remember getting out of her mom's minivan in our orthodontist's parking lot and dancing to our new tape! We thought we were so cool. All the while, I am sure her mother thought we were absolutely ridiculous!!! In retrospect, there really isn't anything cool about two, brace-faced, overpermed, awkward ten year-old farmgirls dancing to Rump Shaker.

For my 31st birthday, my same bff, Sarah, burned a CD for Mya and my driving pleasure. To my surprise, she included Rump Shaker by Wreckx-N-Effect! I don't think I have heard this song in at least 15 years! I immediately reverted back to fourth grade and sang EVERY verse and danced like a complete spaz! Mya danced along with me and laughed at her ridiculous mother! She was probably thinking the same thing Sarah's mom was thinking 20 years ago!

We decided to show Daddy our dance moves! On our way to Grandma Diane's house, we jammed out to Rump Shaker! Mya was really busting a move! I can't imagine where she learned her dance moves!?!? Please ignore the fact that her own Daddy was telling her to "shake her money-maker!"

And the Oscar goes to......Mya?

I know I am a good mom, but there are days that I would love just a little downtime. I would love for Mya to just sit and watch a little TV. Just give me 20 minutes of quiet time....actually, just give me 10 minutes of quiet time. Many moms have the luxury of turning on a cartoon and their children tune in to the TV. I have tried just about every cartoon and children's show imaginable. Almost NOTHING keeps Mya's attention. She could care less about the dancing Strawberry Shortcake, the singing Mickey Mouse, or the flamboyant Wiggles!

But there is that one thing that keeps her attention....herself.

Just recently I was showing Mya the clip of herself showing off all of her "tricks" on the blog. I was amazed when she sat still and watched herself the entire clip. She even did her "tricks" as she watched. When it was over, she signed for "more, more." Hmmmm...we could be on to something here. I replayed the 10 second video clip about 6 times, all the while Mya sat contently on my lap watching herself. I then showed her video clips that I have taken of her over the last 15 months of her life. She smiled, danced, and giggled at the sight of Mommy, Daddy, her relatives, her friends, but most of all...herself!

Matt had the brilliant idea of creating a movie with all of her video clips (ahhh....technology today!). He created a video that is 1 hr. 15 minutes long. Although she doesn't sit for the entire 1 hr. 15 minutes, she does sit still and watch the videos. She begs for me to turn on the computer, gets cozy, and watches her favorite actress..... Mya Isabelle Wiegman!

Stir Crazy

With the weather absolutely FRIGID... we haven't really wanted to go out and about all that much. Needless to say, all of this indoor time has caused us to go a bit stir crazy! We decided to build a fort for Mya to play under. She didn't really "get" it, but she had fun for a little while. Mya is also still in her pj's at 3:00 in the afternoon! It was just one of those days!

Auntie Andra let Mya borrow Carly's princess vanity for awhile. Mya loves going throughMommy's make-up, lotions, fingernail polish, etc. So, we thought this would be perfect for her! She loves it!