March

March is one of those months when the weather can go from 70's and sunny to 20's and snowing in the course of a day. But the snowy, cold days are soon to be gone and it can't come soon enough. We are taking advantage of the warm days to get some outside play time. We've sure missed that.
We spent one afternoon with Julianna and Jaclyn. The girls had a great time taking a little hike, building fairy houses, swinging and sliding.


All of the fairy house building has brought out the fairy in our girl. She can't wear just the wings though. She has to have a "beautiful princess dress" too. And of course, a flash light or two are always part of the costume.


I've put her to work doing dishes...not really! She does love to play in the sink. Maybe I should give her that job, LOL!

"Mom, take a picture! I'm sittin on Fisher!" Thank goodness he's a good boy. And thank goodness she doesn't weigh much. You can tell by the look on his face that he's really enjoying his rider. We often have a talk about not sitting on Fisher. Or not pulling Fisher's tail. Or not chasing Fisher with the stroller. I know she loves him but she sure does hassle him. But then in the next minute she's gently patting his head or laying her head on him and giving him kisses. (Sorry to anyone who is not a dog person but we always kiss our dog. He is our furry child and we love him) She has started calling him Ben Ben. Don't know where that came from.

This one was, "Mom, take a picture of Ben Ben and Maya and Baby Hippo". I'm just so amazed that she's asking to have her picture taken these days. My, my how they change!

Back to the sand table and she loves it as much this year as she did the last. I can't wait till it's warm enough to put water in it instead of sand. The sand and our new wood floors aren't getting along very well. I looked out and this is what I saw. I asked Maya what she was doing. She never even turned around and said, "Being lazy."


Happy Birthday to Daddy!!


Dad's best present!!

February

Until two years ago, February was my least favorite month. Then two years ago on February 25 we finally wrapped our arms around the sweet girl that we had already wrapped our hearts around and now I feel a little differently about February. Still, it is cold and dark and I am SO tired of the cold and dark. But just thinking of our great fortune to be blessed with Maya does warm me and she is for sure, the light shining through any darkness!
I Love Maya in motion in this pic. She was dancing in circles.

I never thought I would see the day when this girl would actually ask to have her picture taken. She asked for this picture with her giraffe and her critters.

I have had Maya's picture taken at a studio one time. It was in May 07. We got a few good pics but over all it wasn't all that. I thought I would give it another try. Mom made Maya this super cute little dress and I wanted her pics in it. So I made an appointment and we talked about it for days before going. She looked so beautiful in that cute little dress and her cute little curly hair. See this picture that I took? That's all we have. The portrait studio was a complete failure and a serious aggravation! I'll just say I left there steaming. Maya still has some of her favorite things taken away because of this little incident.

She does love some spaghetti.

Does anyone else's refrigerator look like that?

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day again!

Where's Maya?

Why, she's playing with my Ipod, of course. But not anymore. At least until I get a good picture...

Maggie was really interested in Maya's block tower until it fell over.

We do a Mom and Me gymnastics class. They have blast!

Maya's first attempt at the big rope swing.

Our ice skating rink has "Totcicles" skating on Friday mornings. We've been trying to get to that when we can. It's great because they don't have to wear skates unless they want to. They keep the ice rough so it's not slippery at all.

Klaire went with us a few weeks ago.



I have been consumed by vampire books these days. I'm almost finished with the last vampire book so hopefully I won't be so late getting my March post up.

2 Year Reunion

As previously mentioned, February 25 was our 2 year family day. We were so happy to get to spend the weekend with 2 other families from our travel group. We have been getting together with the Lazars a couple of times a year since our time in China. This time we got to see the Mulligans too! How exciting!! We had not seen them since getting off of our flight in LA leaving China.
We spent the weekend in Nashville and the girls had such a great time. Each morning Maya would ask, "Where are my friends?" And any time throughout the day that we weren't together she wanted nothing but to play with her friends...and her flashlight.

We took advantage of the Managers reception each evening. Little girls enjoyed popcorn and Shirley Temples. Big girls and boys enjoyed something a little stronger! We all enjoyed the company and the music.

We spent the day on Saturday at the Monkeys Tree House. Super cool play place for the kiddos.



Maya and Ella playing some My Little Pony.


Maya, Ella and Molly playing dress-up. Thanks to Evan for being the quick change master behind the curtain. Maya didn't care much for any of the costumes but did wear the hat.



We had Chinese food for lunch...imagine that. And of course, the ladies working there were very interested in the 3 Chinese beauties at our table.


Cuties


Next was Brushfire Pottery. The girls picked out their pieces and painted away. They did a great job. We just got ours in the mail last week.


Concentrating hard on her cupcake.


Maya loved riding in the elevator.


Running the halls wondering where Molly was.


Laura with a lap full of sweetness!


We ordered pizza for dinner and just let the girls run wild. And did they ever! They played ring-around-the-rosie until they couldn't spin anymore.


Together again!




I love this pic! How cute are they?!!


There was a purple couch at our hotel. We had great plans to recreate the red couch pictures from the White Swan. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate and we were kind of scurrying around trying to get out of town before a snow storm. Oh well, maybe next time!
We had such a great time! Although, we wish Paul could have been there...ha!

January 2009

January was a cold and snowy month. We spent most days just hanging out here. Some days because that's what we wanted to do and then other days because we didn't have any choice because of the snow. We missed 2 weeks of gymnastics. That's a true bummer. Most of the time if you ask Maya what she wants to do she'll say, "I wanna stay here." She is definitely a homebody.
We did venture out to our local groups Chinese New Year dinner. Our girly looked just like a princess.


Maya and Emma


All the kiddos that made it to the dinner. The weather made it difficult for many families to make it this year. We usually have twice as many kids.


Maya loves to make snow angles. We made them all the way across our yard.


Such a shame to be so sad...


We do a lot of painting around here these days. We paint pictures and our fingernails and toenails.


The tent will be up for days at a time and then I just can't stand it anymore and have to put it away for a few days. Maya asks about everyday that it's down to put it back up. She will play in it for hours. The static is out of control!


"You take a picture of me, Mommy and I take a picture of you!"


We did get to spend one morning with the cutest red headed boy I know, Carson!


Halloween created a monster out of Maya. A candy monster. Before trick or treat Maya never asked for candy. She would only eat those tiny M&Ms. And not very many of them. Well those are days of the past. Candy, candy, candy! She asks for it 10 times a day, at least! This is Maya's first candy necklace.


Ice cream is another favorite. But really now, who doesn't love ice cream?


Just because she's so darn cute..


It's been a while since I've taken a picture of one of Maya's drawings . This Tinkerbell dry erase board has been a favorite lately. "It's a clown!" Maya says as she circles and circles to make the nose. The last thing drawn on the picture. "Hey Mom, I make a clown!"