Yikes! Already the 19th and I haven’t posted a single entry this month! It is time again for my favorite unofficial holiday: the Summer Solstice is tomorrow.  Hard to believe how time has flown since the last solstice (and that post).  Waaaaay back then, we were still in our beloved Albuquerque, loving our little girl and new lives as parents, and we had no idea of the major life changes that were about to knock on our door…

Here we are, six months later, happy at the places we are in.  We’ve been spending lots of time exploring our new home.  And, we went back to Albuquerque for a wedding; it was GREAT to see everyone and, the true test: it really felt like we were ‘coming home’ when we left Albuquerque after that trip.

So, now, what you are all waiting for…how is Mia? She is moving right along and as charming as ever.  She has two teeth coming in on the bottom and her ‘talking’ now consists of what seem to be more deliberately formed syllables.  We’re hearing a lot of “da-da-da” sounds along with “ba” sounds and others. See for yourself in these videos:

• Some of her first words: http://youtu.be/b6NiZVpxzfw
• Continued talking: http://youtu.be/jkmwq9PDZIE

And here are some random recent photos…

I may not have time to write stories about all of our adventures so the pictures will have to be worth a thousand words…

Mama and Mia, before her afternoon nap.

We had a cold snap on May 27th with freezing temps for a couple of nights

Slow moment at Papa’s office

Trying out the new ‘hiker’ (on loan from a dear friend)

Lovely day for a hike

Mia and chaperone at famous bar

Happy girl before bed

Happy girl in the mornings (we are almost always awake before the sun comes over the hills)

Sunday drive: coming down the mountain

The Mountain Mama Brigade: weekly hiking trips with moms & kids. (Yes, even a double-wide stroller can handle these single track bike trails.)

Mia loves to watch the older kids on our outings

Story time happens many times every day. (She even turns the pages — in addition to chewing on them — & definitely has her favorite books.)

Happy girl!

Father’s Day picnic by the river

Father’s Day Dinner at our local Pub

Still to come this month: we have another wedding to go to — this is a family wedding (yeah!), out of state, which will require driving and two plane rides (our new airport doesn’t do many direct flights).  We’re excited to see many of our family members and to introduce Mia to them! And we’re looking forward to meeting two other little ones that were in their respective ‘ovens’ at the same time Mia was.  I promise to try and post at least a few more entries this month.  Until then, happy summer!  And I sincerely hope that your longest day of the year is a good one!