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October

We spent the first two weeks of October recovering from Maya's tonsillectomy. We tried to stay close to home because I just could not imagine her getting sick on top of a throat stripped of it's tonsils. The flu, swine and others, have been running rampant around here. She was out of school for a week and I think we may have left the house once. Fisher was thrilled to have us here with him all week.

She spent (and is still spending) lots of time drawing and coloring. Here is a family portrait by Maya.


And here is her holiday drawing with a bat, bunny, her name and "ear microphones", hee hee.


We busted out the ol lava lamp for Maya. After being home for a while we were really searching for entertainment.


Finally feeling nearly 100% we were able to get outside and enjoy some of the beautiful fall days. Playing and working!




Then came Halloween! Maya's very most favorite of all holidays! Our first Halloween activity was a pumpkin hunt at church. To bad it was rained out but they still got to pick a pumpkin and paint it and they did get outside to "hunt" their treat bags.


Next was our local library Halloween party. She had a great time with all of the games and crafts and of course, the candy. The only thing that freaked her out was "feeling the creepy fings(things)".





This is Maya with her friend Amy. Amy does the Books n' More story time at the library. Maya loves Amy. She does a great job with stories and activities for the preschoolers.

Next was the Halloween party and parade at school. I love to go into Maya's class just to watch the kids interact. They were even more fun in their costumes.

Then yesterday we carved our pumpkin. It was a beautiful day. It was 80 degrees and, for the most part, sunny.




Tonight finally brought an end to the Halloween festivities. Instead of having trick or treat on one of the past two beautiful nights, we get tonight. Cold and damp. So, we went to 4 houses and then came back home. I think Maya had as much fun giving out treats as getting them.


Our beautiful princess Belle!

September

Oh, I am so far behind! Now that those words are out of the way I am going to try to catch up.
Let me see if I can remember all the way back to the beginning of September. It seems like forever ago. As I look at these pics with green trees and grass and us wearing summery clothes it just doesn't seem possible that it was just two short months ago.
We started September with a new adventure...preschool! Maya went right in the first day and hardly looked back. Not a tear shed...at least by her.

She is in class with one of her BFFs, Klaire. What a couple of cuties these girls were on their first day of school! (as if they aren't every other day, ha!) Klaire's momma and I really have enjoyed the girls being able to be in class together. We especially enjoy the time that we get to spend together while they are there! Nothing like a little Momma time at the gym and shopping. According to someone behind us on the treadmill, our hands move quicker than our feet.

We went to see Grandma and Grandpa in Tennessee. That is always a great trip so we decided to extend it a little this time. It was a much more relaxed trip by adding on a couple of days. Maya was able to see her great grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Here she is waiting for everyone to arrive. Once everyone was there I guess I forgot how to use my camera.

As an added and so, so welcomed bonus the Lazars came to Tennessee to visit too! Every time we get together with them the girls take right off where they left off. As if they've never been apart.

Then we came home and Maya got sick. Maybe freezing in the pool had something to do with it. Thank goodness it was a quick sickness because she was scheduled to get her tonsils about a week later. This girl loves her nebulizer and will ask to "do a dragon" when she's sick and not breathing well. She knows what works.

The tonsils are gone and this is why. Those things were nearly touching back there. We have always had problems with Maya eating. She would only take tiny bites, one kernel of corn, one noodle, one piece of cereal etc. I had to cut everything into little pieces. It wasn't just her being picky. She simply wouldn't eat if it wasn't something small or soft. The girl weighed 26.5 lbs on the day of her surgery. She is almost 37 in. tall. Then came the obstructive sleep apnea. Do you know how scary it is to listen to your child suffocating while she sleeps? It was particularly bad in her car seat. The two weeks before her surgery were very, very bad.
She did great with the surgery. It was outpatient and she came right home and ate 2 cans of chicken noodle soup, never required anything more for pain than Tylen0l and recovered like a champ. We don't even hear her breathing now and she's taking big, mouthful bites.


She's been on a big drawing spree again lately. She has gotten really good at coloring and staying in the lines and has been particularly creative and imaginative. Here she is posing with her unicorn.

Check out more drawings in October.

August

August is always bitter-sweet to me. It is the last truly summer month and we love some summer around here.
Teresa and Molly stopped back by on their way home. We were so happy that we got to spend a little extra time with them. It was an extra special treat for both girls when Molly got to join Maya in dance class. Little girls in tutus has to be one of he cutest things ever.

Luckily they came on laundry day and Maya was able to share one of her favorite princess nightgowns with Molly. These two gowns have sure had a work out this summer.


Maya loves her new princess dress from Molly!


We got Maya this little tree swing a few weeks ago and it has been amazing watching her figure out how to hold on and how to get off of the swing when she's finished. She is doing great!

We took Maya on her first camping trip. We had a blast. She loved it and asks to go again every couple of days. We went up to Spruce Knob Lake campground. It is one of our long time favorites and we were as pleased as always. Spruce knob is the highest point in WV and it is beautiful!

This was our home away from home for the weekend.

As is always the case, the food was great. Everything always tastes better when it's cooked over (or in) the campfire.


The view from the top of Spruce Knob. Mountains everywhere! It is awesome up there.



"Enough with the pictures!"


I'm pretty sure sparklers are illegal in a National Forest.


Ahhhh mornings around the campfire with a princess nightgown on.


We had to stop to play in the creek when we came down off of the mountain. It was a super fun weekend. Maya was a real trooper for her first time camping. She's such an adaptable little girl. I never doubted that she would have a great time.


August brought the final piece of our adoption paperwork. Maya's WV birth certificate!

July

OK, I've tried and tried to move these pictures around. Aside from starting over, I'm not sure what else to do. I can't seem to rearrange and of course, I didn't upload them in order because I've never had a problem moving them around after loading them. So, in an effort to get this July post up before the end of August I'm leaving them the way they are. Sorry for the complete disorganization. I'll do better next time.
After finding and eating all the raspberries, Maya had to love on Fisher since he didn't get to eat any raspberries. I guess she was feeling sorry for him.

We were so happy that Teresa and Molly (and Korinne) came to visit for a couple of days. Maya still asks when Molly is coming back to her house.


The girls were eager to help make french toast for breakfast.


They enjoyed a little snuggle under Molly's soft butterfly blanket.


Maya started telling me how to spell her name about a month ago. Then about a week later she wrote it on the driveway with chalk, completely unprompted, and totally on her own. Needless to say, I was amazed. Now she practices every chance she gets. We are so proud of our big girl!

We managed to pull off a surprise birthday party for my Mom. She was truly surprised and loved every minute of it. Here she is with her great grand kids and Maya who is a "great" grand kid but just a granddaughter. And don't forget Buddy the dog.

These next 4 pics were taken when Maya and I went to check on our grapes and found raspberries as well!

A delicious bite!

This is what I found when I looked in to the grapes. Few green grapes and many raspberries.



This is the grape pile. We have cut these grapes back several times and then never do anything else with them. We would like to build a little arbor but have many, many more things on our list of things to do that are more important. The grapes don't usually amount to much anyway. It seems like they are green then they are gone. I think the critters get to enjoy them more than we do.

We made it to the Kanawha State Forest for a picnic and playing in the creek.


We had a great time in Pigeon Forge at the Cirque de Chine's Adopted Chinese Children Reunion. They had lots of traditional Chinese games and activities. Most of them were a little too old for Maya to participate in but she still had a blast. The show was good and the food was EXCELLENT!!

Posing with Dad in Tennessee.

This is the original name on the driveway. I am still astounded. I was messing around in the yard and Maya says, "Mommy! I wrote my name!" She sure did.