November

Mike said to me today, "You need to start taking more pictures". He's right. I've been seriously slacking on the picture taking lately.
We were busy in November with getting new hardwood floor upstairs and painting. We are still busy in December with it all. But it's so worth it. Our new floors are beautiful! And so is this gorgeous girly sitting so nicely on the new floor to show it off.


Maya has moved on from the cheese face for pictures to the sad face. Pretty sad, huh?


If there is something sitting around that is Maya size, you can bet she's gonna be in it.

Even if it's almost not Maya size. Little squirt...who fits in a stew pot?! (another good shot of my pretty new floor!)

We had a few warm days early in the month. Mike and Maya spent those warm evenings burning up what was left of our sparklers. Most nights Maya still asks to play with them.

I love surprise pictures that I find when I download pics from my memory card. Mike and Maya one of those warm days. Guess I was working. Wish I could get her to smile like that.

Another little treasure. Such a big girl!

"Look Momma! She has flowers in her hair!"

October

Well, October came and went and not much went on around here after our trip to the OBX except for raking leaves and Halloween. We have two big trees in our front yard that give us plenty of leaves to rake into big ol' piles for Maya to jump in and kick and slide into.

Our little skeleton posing by the mailbox flag.

We of course had to carve another pumpkin after we got home since we had to leave the witch pumpkin in NC. We decided to try the traditional carving route instead of the stencil. Maya thought it was pretty fun to dig the guts out of the pumpkin.

She also enjoyed drawing on one with a marker. I don't know why I gave her a dry-erase marker. It was much more of a mess than any other type of writing utensil would have been.

But she sure didn't care. She was just glad to be coloring on the pumpkin.

She wanted a happy pumpkin.

The temperature was in the 50s on trick or treat night. I was so happy that I had found this little Minnie Mouse costume. It was warm and fuzzy and it had a full hood. Maya would never tell me what she wanted to be for Halloween. She would only say what she didn't want to be. "I don't wanna be a ghost. I don't wanna be a witch. I don't wanna be..." I think Minnie Mouse was a fine choice.

Me and my Minnie.

Maya and her friend Ellie.

The popcorn ball was by far Maya's favorite treat.

We took some sparklers to the OBX and Maya has asked her Dad every night since we've been home to "play with sparklers, Dad!" Don't think for one minute that he's gonna tell her no.

Meet the newest member of our family. He was born the first week of November but I can't wait till the end of the month to post his sweet face. This is Maya's cousin, Carson. Oh! I could just pinch this tiny red headed man!! Welcome to our world precious boy!

OBX 2008

Maya's first trip to the Outer Banks was nearly perfect. Mike and I have been going to the Outer Banks about twice a year for several years now. Last year we didn't go at all. We've really been missing it. We love going because it's just such a beautiful and peaceful place and because we love taking Fisher. He has a blast. We have been staying in Avon the past few times that we've gone and so decided that we'd do the same this time. So far it hasn't disappointed!
We stop and spend the night at Aunt Judy and Uncle Chauncey's house in Chesapeake on the way down and it really makes the trip so much better. We can get up an leave at a leisurely pace and still get there with plenty of day to spare. Judy gave Maya a princess pumpkin carving kit so we had to stop at a produce market and get a pumpkin to carve.

I loved seeing this tiny strip of land surrounded by water on the Garmin.

We stopped at Bodie Island Lighthouse and had a little picnic lunch. We weren't the only ones eating...

Notice the big ol' red welt on Maya's cheek? It's a mosquito bite. The first of many this week!

How cute are those ears flappin' in the wind?

Maya doesn't like her syrup on her waffles. She prefers to dip. Nice dipping bowl, huh?

We had beautiful weather until Thursday evening. We spent a couple of days on the beach but not in the ocean. Fisher doesn't care much for the waves. But he could spend all day in the sound. Maya could dig and dig...she could dig a hole to China, LOL!

We took her tricycle instead of her wagon. Big mistake. It squeaked this horrible squealing noise. So we parked it and bought yet another stroller. That makes 4 now.

Momma and Maya carving the pumpkin.

Of all the stencils, Maya chose the witch from Snow White. By far the most detailed of them all. I had never used one of these kits. They are awesome!! I love the scooper and the saw. I thought she turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

We had a great day for flying a kite or an umbrella. Shortly after the pic of Fisher setting under the umbrella, it blew out of the sand and rolled and rolled until it was totally out of site. I tried running after it. I ditched my flip flops (but not my mimosa) and ran as fast as I could but could not even come close.

Our house was way too big for just the 3 of us and we tried to swindle some friends into coming down with us but as usual, no go. It was a beautiful house and the pool was great. It was plenty warm even in October.

There was a playground...

and painting...

and naked foosball for players under 3.

Our boy. Doing one of his favorite things. I thought I was going to have to go in after him for a minute. He couldn't find the stick I threw and would not come back to the shore. I finally had to throw another.

My two loves on the ferry to Ocracoke.

The mosquitoes were bad in Avon but they were ferocious on Ocracoke. Driving around with the windows down, Maya got about 4 bites on her including one under her other eye in the exact same spot as the one in the pic at the lighthouse. Here are Mike and Fisher running for their lives back to the truck.

We are having computer issues. Sorry for keeping everyone hanging.

September

As summer came to an end we got busy trying to make the most of every last minute of warmth and sunshine. Now here it is the middle of October and it's still warm and sunshiny. We are certainly not complaining. It just makes for a little harder decision on what to wear.
Maya loves bubbles. I could blow them until I passed out and she'd still be asking for more. But how could I ever say no?!

September brought Maya's first shiner. Here it is the day it happened. I never took another pic of her while it was healing but it was just a little blue under her eye. The scrape healed quickly and we're putting Mederma on it now. You can hardly tell it was even there. Her cousin Bryce was showing her a new dance move and he bumped her a little too hard. Dancin'...it's risky business!


I have been slacking on the wildflower pics this year so we decided to have a photo shoot while taking care of Shadow and Sir Galahad late in the month. It has never been very easy to get good photos of our beauty. I know it doesn't seem that way from this blog but I have to take many, many horrible ones to get one good one. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Thank goodness for the digital camera!! Lately Maya has been almost refusing to look at the camera. I try every ploy to get her to look and not much of anything works. I just happen to get lucky sometimes. It starts the minute I pull the camera out. She will not look at me no matter what. Here's what I got from our only wildflower shoot this year. I bought this little dress while we were waiting for Maya. She's never worn it and it's getting too short so I had to try it for the pics.


Bobble-head Maya.


We went to Tennessee for a visit on the way to Atlanta for the Autumn Moon Festival with the Lazars. We finally visited the Knoxville Zoo. Maya loved it and still talks about the animals. She sat right up there beside of this gorilla. She was very slow moving and seemingly sweet behind the glass. Pardon the flash.

Maya and Grandpa riding the lion.

It rained at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Something we have seen very little of around here. There was this great little puddle in their yard. It was very deep and clean. If it had been in our yard, one step in it and it would have become a mud hole. Maya jumped and splashed around in it for a long time and it never got muddy.

Then we were off to Atlanta. We had another great time with the Lazars and thank them so much for hosting us in their beautiful home. This adoption has blessed us in so many ways. First and foremost of course is being given this fantastic child that makes us smile and has created so much more love in our lives than we ever thought possible. Second is the forever friendships that we have made with our travel group and in particular the Lazars. We love this family!!
Maya and Ella got along just fine. Like they have been buds forever! I was pretty lame with the camera but here are a few shots from our weekend.
The girls playing a little beauty shop.

And being the smiley, happy, beautiful girls that they are.

The whole gang (minus Evan as he's behind the camera) on top of Stone Mountain.

Dad, on top of the world...in more ways than one!

Maya and Momma in front of that giant rock sticking out of the ground.

After dark with their glowsticks.

We just got back from the Outer Banks this past weekend. I will try to get a post up for that trip soon.