It's Beginning to Look A LOT Like Christmas!

Wow - two months since the last update and it's already Christmas time! How time flies!

Today, we went to a show called ICE! at Gaylord National Convention Center at the National Harbor. It is 2 million pounds of carved ice in various winter wonderland scenes. We were late as I got dreadfully lost... so, sadly, we kinda hurried through it trying to catch up to one of Maia's friends we were supposed to meet there. We did see some of the sites and she went down an Ice slide... but the event was actually MUCH shorter than I thought it would be, so that part was dissappointing.

They keep it at 9 degrees - so it was a tad chilly. Reminded me of my time in Kazakhstan. Ice and all! Because it was raining/snowing on our way there today... we had to carry umbrellas to walk from the parking garage to the event. They provided us with parkas inside, which I thought meant they would take our coats (and umbrellas) until we returned their parkas... but that wasn't the case. So, we had to carry our coats, and soaking wet umbrellas, which quite promptly froze in the exihibit with all the rain/snow on them. If I knew then what I know now, I would do things MUCH differently. I'm glad we went, but I likely wouldn't do that part of the show again - the pictures on the internet are almost as good as being there in person!

We never did find her friend in the exhibit, but walked over the the hotel/convention center which was all decked out for Christmas too, and we caught up with them, and one other friend of hers as well. Then we had brunch buffet (which turned out to cost like a weeks grocery money!! Geez!!) Once there, I didn't really feel like I could leave... so we ate, and ate and ate! Great food... and I guess worth the price, but NOT what I expected! I thought we'd get the kids some nuggets or something. Yeah... right! Not that kind of place. So, shrimp coctails and prime rib meals later.. among many other things... we were well fed. At one point he said he was full - I said, I don't care - go get some prime rib! LOL. He didn't - but I did!! I told Matthew no dinner tonight.. or tomorrow... or Monday. :) We'll eat toast and water. (just kidding... but I had not planned on that meal expense.) Luckily, my kids have expensive taste, so I atleast feel like we got what we paid for! The other parents were amazed that Maia sat so well and ATE while their kids squirmed around and ate nothing. Let me tell you, put a plate of shrimp in front of Maia and I don't think you can get her down until she says so!

The bonus to this was the Mr. and Mrs. Claus were there at the restaurant too, so I got Maia to meet the Clauses without a line and I got to take pictures and video of her with them, seated between them, as she wouldn't sit on Santas lap. He also had stopped by our table a few times - so that made up for some of the expense - no line to see Santa! Awesome!

We were going to go get our tree this afternoon, but frankly, by the time we got home, the roads had gotten surprisingly bad and we decided to stay in and not risk it as it was going to get dark (and colder) soon. They called for some snow today, and so far I'd say we have about 3 inches, but it DID stick to the roads, which they didn't think it would... My driveway has a hill and it was not easy to get up by the time we got home. So, home we will stay for the evening - as we enjoy our gourmet dinner of toast and water. :) It is still snowing quite hard now, but since it's almost dark, I won't get to enjoy watching it fall for much longer. We didn't get to PLAY in it today, so hopefully it will remain for at least a little while tomorrow morning so Maia can play a bit in it.

I'm sitting here in my nearly dark living room with a candle burning and a Christmas tree lit (and partially decorated) in a nice quiet house with snow falling outside. Can you say perfect? Of course, it's also great when the kids are running around making noise, but just not quite as peaceful!!

I'll post pictures now from today's fun. If I remember how, I'll even post some short videos. (One video here - others to come in the next post by themselves.)

My baby is THREE today!

Happy Birthday Sweet Maia! It is truly amazing that you are three years old today. I met you 20 months ago today... and even that is hard to believe!

You have grown up into a beautiful little girl now - no longer a 'baby' or even a toddler. I see big differences in you in the past month or less - and you are a little lady now! Mommy is sad in some ways that her precious little baby girl is growing up so fast - but at the same time - I love that you are such a beautiful and special little girl! I love you Maia Caroline!!

We celebrated your birthday yesterday at home with Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Bobby visiting us. It was a great day and you got lots of nice toys and things that you loved. It was really neat to watch you know what to do with the presents, and after each one you were actually excited and wanted each one opened right then so you could play with it. I'm not sure there is a clear cut favorite yet, you really liked everything!! One of your favorites is definitely the Dora couch you got from Grandma and Grandpa which folds out to a little bed with a blanket zipped into it, so it's like a built in sleeping bag. You love it! You also love your Disney 'boom box' with little CD's you can change out to hear different songs. You love your Princess Back-Pack from Grandma B. You loved the pink bathrobe I gave you - and when you put it on over your party dress, and then laid on the new Dora couch... you looked like royalty in your plush robe, kicked back, relaxing... Quite cute!!

We had yummy cake and ice cream for dessert - you really liked the ice cream the best. You didn't really want the cake on your plate, but prefered to dig your hand into a piece that was left in the cake pan instead...

We also celebrated your Grandma's 65th birthday and your Grandpa's 67th birthday. They let you get most (read... *ALL*) of the attention, but we tried to fix them a dinner they would enjoy, rather than serving Mac'roni and Cheese, as you would have preferred. :) Your Aunt Regan has her birthday tomorrow, and we are sorry we couldn't celebrate all together with her too!

You are still a petite little thing... just now going in to any 2T clothing, some of which is still too large! Your shoes are a size 7 (and you love your shoes - and many hand me down pairs from Kake (as you call her... this is your cousin Kate...)).

You love to be a helper and are actually becoming helpful in some things! It used to be that you would unfold things I had just folded, or take things out of drawers that I had just put away. But now, you carry things to your room or throw things in the trash when I ask you too, and you do a great job!!

You bring joy to our lives and laughter to our days. You awake with energy and happiness I only dream of at that hour of the day! You are a good girl even when I keep you up too late, and you behave so well in stores and restaurants (almost always!). This past week, we went to dinner with some friends of mine and as they dimmed the lights right before we were leaving... you exclaimed with much anxiousness in your voice, in a very high pitch for all to hear... "OH NO MOMMY!! It's gark. Oh no! Mommy! It's gark! Night night Mommy, it's gark!! Oh no... " as you looked upwards towards the lights trying to determine what happened to them!! It was simply precious and has brought a smile to my face MANY times the past 4 days.

You love to watch Dora the Explorer and Go Diege Go. You like the movies the Jungle Book, Finding Nemo, and Toy Story. You like to eat Macaroni and Cheese, and that's about all. (*Not really, but that is by FAR your favorite and something I can get you to eat, without doubt, no matter how many times you've eaten it that day, or week, or month.) You love your school and are busy learning your numbers and colors and shapes. You are learning them more and more each day.

I love you Maia, and I am so lucky to be your Mommy!! You are a special little girl and God blessed me for sure when He let me be your Mommy! Thanks for being such a wonderful daughter to me and sister to Matthew! We love you!

Maia enjoying her day as royalty... plush robe, kicked back on her new love seat...

Mommy and her precious Maia!

I love this picture - she doesn't even see the cake and candles yet, and yet the excited on her face is priceless!

I'm not quite sure what she was doing here... but she had gotten so excited - it's like, talk to the hand, I can't catch my breath I'm laughing so hard!

I can NOT wait for you to give me my plate with ice cream... I'm just going to take a taste from here...

Dig in! Two fisted!!


Looks like she's sipping soup! Nice a lady like...

Now I'll use my fork...




I think it might just be easier to use my fingers...

Full fisted - like Winnie the Pooh!

Even that took too long - maybe just put it straight in my mouth!!

I may eat like a puppy dog... but aren't I am ANGEL mom??? :)

I'm pretty cute too, aren't I Mom? (except if he were actually asking, it would be more like, yo, mmmfffgh, hhhffff, gggghhh, huh?) Lots of mumbling at this age, but I still love him! :)

I think the sugar is kicking in!! Or maybe it's because it's 9:30 at night??? We started to get a LITTLE silly now!

Maia-isms

The truth is - I lost one camera over the summer and the other one wasn't working... so I have few pictures of Maia, (or Matthew) for July and August. At the end of August, I got the one camera working (sort of) so I have some pictures from the end of summer - but they aren't the best. Sometimes they are just with my cell phone - and those tend to be blurry for me. In any case - this gives you a glimpse at Maia this summer and now that I have a working camera and a working router, I should be all set. (Famous last words.)

Maia enjoys playing the piano. Recently, she has taken her stuffed animal 'stack' toy (like the plastic ring kind) and taken the top three rings (this is piglet, eeyore and tigger)... She stacks them on the piano bench, hikes it up there, and then plays. She has very good balance, so the first time I was a little nervous she might fall as she climbed on the bench, and then scaled Mount Pooh. I really don't worry about that anymore, at least not on the piano bench.

Matthew has these boots for scouting/camping, etc. Maia LOVES to wears other people's shoes, including these! As you can see, they go up to her knees... but they are rather light weight, so she was able to walk in them... sort of!

Did I tell you Maia can read?? These two pictures are from Matthew's birthday celebration. She took one of his new hats and starting reading one of her books - I swear, she is a GENIUS!

Now on to what I like to call Maia-isms. Sometimes when Maia does something we say it was just 'so Maia'. She makes us laugh and it really quite funny. Let's see what I can remember! :)

Just today Maia came up to me and said ... ooooo ooooo, aahhh, aahhh... and then she said, MONKEY. I didn't know she could do that. A few times today, she was just walking around saying, ooooo oooooo, aahhh, aahhh. Made me smile.

Recently, she has gotten in to Dora the Explorer and Diego. The way she asks to watch it is so cute. I wahch Dorwah. I wahch Dego. All the while nodding as if to convince me so I won't shake my head no. :)

Now she also likes the movie Finding Nemo. I wahch Nemo. Fishies!

When we are leaving the house and I grab my purse, she says, "My purse". She doesn't ask it like a question, but what she wants is her purse to take with us. Sometimes I know where it is, and sometimes I don't. I try to just leave it in the car now so we have it and if she ever wants it in the house, then I know where to find it! Once we get to the car, she also wants her Gasses. Her sunglasses. Word to the wiser-than-I. Don't buy kids sun glasses at the dollar store (actually, 4 pair for a dollar....) they fall apart when you look at them. Really. I bought some Kids safe glasses at Target and she hasn't broken them yet. I am quite confident she COULD, but she is learning to be a bit more gentle these days and so far they've survived a few months of Maia.

We call Matthew "Chew". Additionally, his middle name is Ryan. Nickname - Chewchi Ryan. Maia now goes around calling him Chewchi Ryan but it sounds more like Chewchi Whyan.


She also wonders where he is when he is gone. Where'd Chew go, she'll ask? Now, what I find so cute about this is... does anyone know the movie Top Gun? When they are lost in a bogie fight and Tom Cruise asks Where'd he go, where'd he go? And Goose says, Where'd WHO go??

Maia says, Where'd CHEW go JUST like Goose says in that scene - I love it! It cracks me up!


She would live on Fruit Snacks if I would let her. Right now, she has Dora Fruit Snacks. She says Fruit snack like this: BOOT SNACK. Dorwah boot snack, while nodding her head to try to convince me again...


She can HOP now. Before it was one footed and sort of like a weird skip. Now both feet leave the ground at the same time. She's JUMPED off things for months... but actual hopping has just occurred. Neat!

She loves to 'help. She says, I helper. Of course what this really means is she 'helps' UNFOLD the laundry and hand it to me, and take it out of drawers, and throw things in the trash can that are NOT trash... There are times she actually does help - but more often than not right now, it's something that really isn't helpful, but it's cute nonetheless. :)


She realizes now when it's getting dark. She'll say, dahk Mommy. It's dahk. Jammies. Night night. Like, she's telling me, it's dark now, get me dressed and put me to bed! And when I ask if that's what she wants, she'll run for her room for her jammies! She's in for a shock when it starts getting dark at school before I ever even pick her up after work!


And one of my all time favorites... we have a pretty standard 'night night' routine. One of the last steps of this routine is me singing Jesus Loves Me to her after we pray. We've sung this since Kazakhstan - so it's really a nightly thing. If she really doesn't want to go to bed... a newer phenomenon... and I start singing Jesus Loves Me, she'll rather violently shake her head while saying... No Jesus, No Jesus.


She has also done this once or twice when I sing it in the daytime - and she thinks it means night night time. (Even though I explain it's not bedtime...) Once or twice she has flat out refused to let me sing it, mid-day, for fear of bedtime.

Update from earlier. :) Last but not least... I just wanted to say - my earlier post today may not have been exactly what I wanted it to be. If I sounded ultra mad, I really wasn't. I hate wasting money on something so silly, but it's really just a day in the life. Life happens, which is why there's never enough money, the house is never clean enough, I never have enough time, my best laid plans may never happen, or take much longer to happen than I anticipate.

Here's an example - I left for the grocery store to buy balloons, etc. for Matthew's birthday. I left Maia home with Matthew, my brother and my dad. No problem. Grocery store - 2 miles away. I realize at some point early in the short trip to the store that my cart was vibrating. I check my phone. 3 missed calls from home. I assume they want me to get some chips or soda or something we hadn't talked about - so I got to the front of the store for reception and called home. Matthew starts off... "OK, I had to call poison control... but she's OK." What??? She had gotten hold of a Silicone Packet, torn it open and eaten it/some before Matthew could get to her. (You know the drill.. Maia put that down! So, she moves faster and popsit in her mouth all the faster.) Matthew had been on the computer in the same room as Maia, and I have no idea where my brother and father were - but it only takes 2 seconds with Maia... she is FAST.

All this to say, today was no different. Just another day in the life of Matthew, Kristen and Maia!! Something new and exciting all the time. I don't like silly mistakes, and I hate money spent like that, but otherwise, it was no big deal. Live and learn - and I think, Matthew now knows what can and can't go in a toilet. LOL.

And lastly, I said Matthew started high school - but didn't mention how well it has gone. I am pleasantly surprised at how great the first week has gone - even the getting up wasn't as hard (YET!) as I thought it would be. Homework is always interesting - but we'll get through that too!

Enjoy football season everyone! GOod fall weather!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Wow - it's been a while. Let's try to catch up! We had a great summer - and now fall is in full swing!

Maia and Matthew went to visit my parents last time I blogged, and although I missed them terribly, that week went so quickly. Then August flew by. That's when we went on our vacation for a week to visit my parents all together. It was awesome to have a week off from work. It took me about 3 full days to really, truly relax. But, when I did - I DID. It was great! Matthew and I even went out one night while my parents watched Maia and we had an awesome dinner at our favorite retaurant and a close game of Putt-Putt. It was a great time. It was the first time I've had any kind of tan in years (but compared to Maia's DARK tan, I look like Elmer's glue.) Anyhow - it was a good time had by all and I'm glad we had the opportunity for a whole week to unwind. I needed it!

August also brought Matthew's birthday... now he's 14. Geez, I must be OLD. Here he is at age 12....

Age 13.....

Age 14...

I love to see the changes... it's obvious at age 12... but between 13 and 14 the changes are less obvious. I can tell though by looking at the endo of his sleeve compared with the piano... I know the angle is slightly different, and the shirt is different, but it gives an idea. The obvious change is his desire to let his hair grow at this point rather than keeping it buzzed.

As always, I take a first day of school picture. That was at 6:30. It literally was a pitch black picture, so I re-took it that night when I realized it didn't work out that morning. Here is my boy, on the first day of high school, Tuesday, Sept. 8, 09.

I can not believe he has started high school. Our whole schedule has changed... my alarm now goes off at 4:45 a.m.. Matthew has to leave the house to catch the bus at 6:30 a.m. I figure I might as well be ready too so all I have left to do is get Maia ready to roll after Matthew has left. So far, so good. But we're only 4 days in...

Going back a little bit now - last weekend we went to Matthew's aunt and uncle's house (my sister-in-law) for Labor Day. It is actually the third time we went and visited in a month! They have a pool and we enjoyed keeping cool. Maia is a dare devil and loved jumping in and dunking under the water and seemed to get more and more excited each time we went. Here are pictures of Matthew, with Maia, and Matthew's brother, Evan, and Evan's Mom, Stephanie. You can see, Evan and Maia are a little more timid as Matthew and Stephanie are trying to coax them to jump off the raft here.... As the pictures progress - look at the JOY on their faces as they fall, jump, splash and dunk more and more each time. This went on for some time and it was awesome to watch and take pictures of it all!!

Winding down....

Here is a picture of the birthday boy - up close.

So, today, Maia was a big girl and went potty on the potty... When she was done, I realized the potty wasn't really flushing... so I asked Matthew is he had noticed that it wasn't 100%. He said, yeah, maybe.... So, he went and got the plunger and I started plunging. (This usually works wonders...) I started plunging - and it started overflowing. (Without details, I will just say, gross...) So, I plunged and plunged and plunged, and it kept spilling and spilling... *gross*. At this point, I wasn't happy and realized my Saturday would be spent waiting for a plumber and not having a fun girl day with Maia. Happy, I was not.

I was telling Matthew that next time he thought it might be backing up to tell me BEFORE anyone else used it so maybe the less in there, the better chance of fixing it myself. I told him I'd have to call a plumber and have it snaked out and he asked what that meant. I explained it to him and he said, Does the stuff go further IN or does the snake pull it back out?.... Knowing Matthew as I do, I KNEW RIGHT AWAY he wasn't worried about 'gross stuff' but something that had OBVIOUSLY gone down the toilet that wasn't SUPPOSED to. I said, "WHY? What went in there that wasn't supposed to??" He responded... "A plastic cup... " "A PLASTIC CUP????!?!?!??!" When I asked him why he didn't reach in and get it out before flushing, he said he didn't want to get dirty. I explained that since HE stayed 'clean'... the bathroom FLOOR, etc. was now NOT clean, and it was going to cost me a good bit of money to get it working.. not to mention time on a gorgeous fall day. He was apologetic, and I believe learned a lesson, but, Mamma was NOT happy. (BTW, $263.84....)

As it turned out... the plumber (who is featured in a post last November...) was able to get here in less than an hour. He said he's seen worse - an iPod, cell phones, and the worst DENTURES (that the woman insisted was her best set, and she wanted back... in fact, the snake didn't work, so they REMOVED HER TOILET and she bought a new toilet, etc. to save the dentures.) I won't say another word... but *gross*.

So, now, Mom, Dad and Matthew are in Baltimore until tomorrow... so after that morning, I needed to go do something FUN! What did we do with only and hour before nap time??? We went SHOE SHOPPING. Yup, Maia got some new fall shoes. Buying shoes always makes me feel better - and I just love these for her. I must say, I was tired of pink shoes, so she got these instead:

Her new sneakers... I love the BLUE for a change, but still girly looking...

And her boots - These have sneaker like treads so she can wear them to school and still go outside with them - but give her something other than athletic shoes to wear to school. Spending money, especially on shoes, always makes things better, at least a little bit!!

I wanted to post some pictures since it's been so long and catch up in general. I will post more soon - now that I have a new router that actually ALLOWS me to load pictures without crashing my internet. :) Maia will be up any minute though so I will have to do more soon. I'm sure I have some Maia stories to tell - she does something new and crazy almost every day. :)

In the past three days... Matthew has lost his cell phone, lost his house key, and flushed a plastic cup down the toilet, which resulted in money spent and messes made, as you are well aware.

I love my boy, but I'm glad he's gone with my parents until tomorrow night... :) Gives me a chance (and I mean, CHANCE) to calm down a little. :)

FYI - we did find the cell phone at least... he knows I'm not buying him a new one.

Great videos

I got to watching some of my favorite videos on YouTube tonight, which of course, always leads to finding even more. As you have time, please watch these if you'd like. Some make me laugh, over and over and over again. Some make me smile. Some make me cry. Some make me think. Some make me do all of the above. Enjoy - let me know your favorite and post a comment with your favorite video link that youc an watch over and over.

(**Also, see below for the update to one of the stories I wrote about yesterday.)

This first video was given to me last year by my sister for my birthday. It means so much to me. Forgetting what I look like after a 24 hour flight with a toddler on a completely packed plane... - enjoy the rest!



This video/song is just so wonderful - watch and I'm sure it will touch you too.



This video is the most watched (supposedly) on You Tube. I laughed and laughed when I saw it. Brings back some memories. Funny!



This video makes me laugh no MATTER what MOOD I might be in... Keep it on hand in case of emergency... :)



Hope you enjoyed them all as much as I do - all for different reasons!!

Tell me your favorite among them - or share one of your own!!

Once Upon a Time

Alright everyone, it's story time!

My mom and dad have taken both kids for the week to their beach house. (I am home alone, but that's a different story...)

I was just talking to them on the phone and they relayed the following stories that I must share.

Maia is a girl. Maia is potty training. We buy Maia girl pull-ups. They are pink and have princesses on them. Maia doesn't want these. She wants the Cars pull-ups. These are blue. They are for boys. My mom was nice enough to buy the last case at Costco - so we had MANY princess pull-ups to use up before we got to buy another case for her. I felt guilty going and buying the boy ones since my mom had so nicely bought the girl ones for Maia... so I decided we were just going to use them. (This could take a while since her school provides the pull-ups for us, and she really doesn't wet them, so we don't use that many a day. A case could take a while.)

Anyway, my mom tells me tonight on the phone that they bought her Car pull-ups at the store yesterday and now she won't use anything else! (I could have told you THAT!! I wonder why I felt guilty about going to buy more now??) BUT, to make the story more funny - she took her Cabbage Patch Doll down there to play with and now insists that Baby Richard ALSO wears a car pull-up like Maia is. AND, she is putting Baby Richard ON THE TOILET so he can go potty too. I'm not sure how they get a tiny little Cabbage Patch to stay on the toilet seat, but apparently they did. I can just picture this!

**UPDATE: I forgot the best part of the Baby Richard story! Remember, Baby Richard is not a doll with a hole in his body to go potty. My puts Richard on the potty and waits for a few seconds, and then raises her arms over her head, like a touchdown signal, shakes them, and says, "WOO-HOO!!" This, of course, is what I said to her when she was first learning to go on the potty. Too funny that she is saying it about her Baby Richard now!! Also, when she was first learning how to go potty on the potty, she would sit there and do nothing, and raise her arms and ask in a timid voice "Woo-hoo?" I would just laugh and say, no woo-hoo sweetie, you didn't do anything. I love that she is playing this way with her baby doll. Too cute!

Now, on to a different topic, but still a Maia story. Since Maia was adopted, I wanted her to feel comfortable with me and know me as well as if I had given birth to her. So, as we bonded, and she explored a little, she would snuggle on me and sometimes rub my arm, sometimes, rub my face, sometimes rub my 'chest'. This was fine with me for a while as we bonded, and, as I said, she got to know me. Once I knew the bonding thing had happened 100%, I was a little more aware as she got older how much or WHEN she might be doing this. So, at some point, as she pulled open my shirt and poked my chest, I simply started closing my shirt a bit and saying, "No, no sweetie, that's Private." Then she'd go to the other side and we'd play a game, back and forth, with her learning that both, were indeed, private.

As days progressed, she would simply leave my shirt in place, poke one, and say Private. I would agree and she'd go to the other one and say, "Private". She had pretty much learned and it was a game she played, but it lessened as weeks went by.

Tonight, she was getting out of the shower at my mom's house, and Maia was in a towel. Maia dropped her towel and made a B line for one of my mom's bras that she could see. Maia started to put it on. She turned to my mom and said, "I'm putting on my Private." I still can't stop laughing about that one!! The funny thing is, my mom said she new exactly what it was, where it went and how to put it on!! Interesting! I would say I am always dressed before Maia gets up, so I am shocked she has this all figured out already. :)

A story from earlier in the summer. Maia is in the habit of pointing to a part on her body and saying "It hurts". She'll point to her cheek and say, It hurts. She'll point to her elbow and say, My hell-bow, it hurts.

No matter what part is hurting, after I show some concern for her hurting 'part', she'll say, "Matthew did it."

Her eye socket has hurt. Her nose has hurt. Her elbow has hurt. Her tummy has hurt. Her toe has hurt. Her cheek has hurt. You get the idea. And Matthew has done them all.... even when he's no where around - or out of town, or whatever. It is always his fault.

That is, until we went to the beach for the 4th with my sister and her 4 kids. On the ride home, July 6th, Maia was pointing out various aches and pains and I showed some sympathy as I was driving. Then she said, "Eh-shaw did it." I almost drove off the road. "Eh-shaw is my 18 month old nephew, Ezra. Ever since then, poor Eh-shaw has been blamed for everything! Every ache and pain. Every mess Maia has made - everything! It's all Eh-shaw's fault!! Poor Ezra!

As I said, Matthew and Maia left on Friday for a week at my parents house. So far, it has all gone well - hurray!! I've been a little lost, not knowing exactly how to fill all my time. Don't get me wrong - I have PLENTY to do, and to catch up on, but trying to figure out the best use of time to not only accomplish things, but also do things I can't do when they are here - it's a juggling act.

I did enjoy coffee without interruption. I read books without interruption. I went to the bathroom without interruption. I ate when I wanted without worrying about whether the kids would eat it or not. I stayed up later because I knew I wouldn't be woken up in the morning. I went to stores not appropriate for little hands. I went to the Post Office without having to chase Maia around. I changed my sheets without 'help'. (Maia always says, "I helper".) I sorted stacks of old papers without anyone walking through the piles before I was done and messing them up. I watched three movies without Matthew asking when they'd be over. I went to bed without having to get up and check on them just 'one more time' before I fall asleep. I cleaned the kitchen and it stayed clean until I messed it up again!! There are no dirty socks in every room. There aren't shoes in every walkway to trip over. There isn't dirty laundry from 'potty' accidents to do daily (although it's not always daily.)

On the other hand - they aren't here!! I miss them. I miss seeing Maia in action and living her stories first hand! I miss Matthew's stories and trivia. I miss Matthew's hugs!! I miss snuggling with both of them. I just miss it all!!

There are days I need a break - but I'm not sure I need 8 days alone all at one time. :) I know this is making memories for my kids though. I still fondly remember weeks spent with my grandparents in the summer and wouldn't trade those times for anything in the world. I hope this time my kids are spending with my parents are equally special for all! I'll survive, and hopefully I'll be a better Mom when they return. In the meantime - hopefully I'll hear more Maia stories over the phone and make it through the week without too much trouble. I do have a few evenings planned this week, so that'll certainly help fill the evenings.

Stay tuned for the never-ending Maia stories everyone! :) Hopefully I'll find my camera and will have more pictures to post before too long.

50/50

Thursday June 11 was the 16 month anniversary of meeting my precious baby girl, Maia. She was 16 months old the day I met her, February 11, 2008. That means that every day after June 11, 2009, she has now had me in her life longer than she didn't have me in her life. I don't know why this is so awesome to me, but it is!! I'm now on the positive side of time and I am 'winning'. :) It is great!

She continues to amaze me and just makes me so proud to be her mommy. She is smart, kind, gentle (usually...), snuggly, HAPPY, fun, easy, independent, dependent, (yeah yeah, I know), and not too bad as far as two year olds go!! She has occassional moments of defiance, but they are so short lived, I can't possibly complain.

Her potty training continues to amaze me - she learned so quickly. She goes to sleep without a fuss and never wakes during the night, she plays with lots of different toys and can amuse herself with nothing more than a label or 'sticker' from some trash we might be throwing away, she wakes with a smile (99% of the time).

Tonight, to top it all off, after her bath we sat down to read. She'll usually drink some milk before bed while I'll read her a story. We read her favorite three books and she was done with her milk. I turned her around on my lap and we started singing. After a few songs, she patted my chest and said "Let's snuggle!" I couldn't believe it. A full sentence, that I understood, and that made my heart just MELT. We often DO snuggle, but she's never said it before. How amazing. :)

Matthew finished 8th grade this past Thursday. He'll start high school in the fall. I just can't believe my 'baby' (first baby) is old enough to start high school in two months. I'm not sure where that time went - it's neat to see him growing up but also so sad to lose my little 'baby'. He's maturing so well and for that I am so pleased. He's made so much progress in so many areas and it just makes my heart smile. But I still hate to see him grow up!

He goes away to scout camp a week from today for a week. He'll return on the 4th of July. I'll be at the beach that weekend with Maia, so I won't be here to get him. He'll go with his Dad that weekend until I return. I don't like it when he is gone, I miss him so much (and admittedly, miss all the help he gives me!) But, this is one of those areas where I need to let go and let him GROW. He loves summer camp and gets so much out of it. I am happy that he loves scouts so much. It is an incredible program that has served him very well!!

Here is Matthew on his last day of school:

Here is Maia enjoying our brand new, grand swimming pool!

She loves getting sprayed and spraying herself with the hose!

Here are a few from a few weeks back when we played with sidewalk chalk in the driveway. It was such fun!

This is my neighbors last weekend in their house. I am going to miss living next door to them. They've been great neighbors and friends!

Today is the longest day of the year - in a good way!! (Not like those days at work that you think will never end!) I LOVE SUMMER and the long days of daylight. It's depressing when I think that the days will get shorter and shorter from here on out, but I'm hoping not to dwell on that and just enjoy each summer day to the fullest! ENJOY summer everyone!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful Dad, and to all the other wonderful Dad's out there! Hope you enjoyed your day!

How do they learn this?

Maia found many, many, many ponytail holders that I had in a baggie in her room. I was busy on the phone and although I knew it would make a mess, was relieved that she found something to do that wouldn't hurt her, interrupt me, or ruin a piece of furniture. So, I talked as I watched her dump these many, many, many ponytail holders into a rubbermaid container in her room, and then climb in and play with them. (The container needed to be put in a closet, but I hadn't done that yet... and she loves to climb in it, so I had left it out...)

Anyhow, I eventually got off the phone and went in my room to do some chores. Change the sheets, that kind of thing. She dragged that container full of ponytail holders (among a few other toys she had thrown in there) down the hall to my room. She played in it while I cleaned.

I went out to the living room to sit in 'my chair' and take a load off for a few mintues. Wouldn't you know, she dragged that big 'ole container down the hall. to the living room so she could play with it in there.

Fast forward to later in the day, after she had dumped the contents of the large container on the living room floor, and then taken a nap. I went and got her out of the crib from her nap and took her to the living room to snuggle... After a couple of minutes of snuggling, she pushed up from me and looked around. This is the conversation that ensued.

(Maia): It's a mess.

(ME): It IS a mess! Who made the mess?

(Maia): Maia's mess.

(ME): You're right! It IS Maia's mess. Will you go pick up your mess?

(Maia): .... Matthew's mess.

[Mind you Matthew wasn't even home this day!!]

(ME): No, it's not Matthew's mess. It's Maia's mess.

(Maia): .... Mommy's mess.

At this point in the conversation, I am basically laughing so hard, I couldn't carry the conversation much further. I kinda gave up and just said, Maia's mess.

The next morning, the mess was still there (of course!!), and we had a similar conversation. however, this time when she said Mess the first time, and I asked whose mess it was, she immediately said Matthew's mess this time. In the end, she said it was Maia's mess and cleaned up [some] of her ponytail holders. This still makes me laugh and it's been 3 days! How/where/when/why do they LEARN these blame tactics? Truly amazing!

It's really neat being able to have conversations with her these days. She is still learning new words, but the bigger 'story' is the conversations we have. It's so much fun!

Her other big news is that she is doing so well with potty training! Yesterday was a totally dry day AND during dinner she told me she had to go poop (yeah, right! how many times has she cried wolf before?) but I took her anyway. Wouldn't you know, she actually DID go on the potty! What a great night that was! Perfect end to a perfect day (in potty training land!)

She is growing up so much, so fast! It's incredible when I look at her now, although still a little peanut, how much she's grown and how TALL she looks compared to a year ago. I really hadn't noticed a difference until recently and then it was like, all of a sudden - she's 'tall' (for Maia!) But she is still wearing mostly 18 month clothes and she is almost 32 months old! If I buy something new at this point, I buy 24 month or 2T but some of them are simply too big on her.

Matthew will finish school on the 18th this month. That means the end of 8th grade, which means the start of HIGH SCHOOL in the fall. I won't ask, how is it possible... (But how is it possible?????)

All pictures, no talking

That's it, won't post anymore right now - I'll try again later! Hope you enjoy!

HOME SWEET HOME

Well, one last 'this marks one year' post. Today marks the day Maia, Mom and I came home from Kazakhstan, one year ago! What an incredible, fabulous year it has been!! Mom and I had spent 8 weeks and 1 day in Kazakhstan. Most of the time there was wonderful, overall ... :)

Today was extra special a year ago because Maia got to meet her big brother, Matthew. She also got to meet her wonderful grandpa and she got to meet her aunt Regan, and her cousins, Marie, Caleb, Kate and Ezra. Everyone greeted us at the airport (after they waited hours for us to land, deboard, and get through customs, immigration, luggage claim... ) It was a wonderful reception and so great to see our family after so long away, and to have Maia finally meet a lot of the family on that day. (She got to meet her uncle Bobby that weekend and her other uncle, Joel later that summer.) Getting home was rough - a long couple of flights, with a baby who wanted to walk and not sleep and a mommy who DID want to sleep (and a grandma on the other side of the plane). Landing at Dulles made me want to CRY - for 1,000 reasons. She was now a citizen of the U.S., we were HOME, we were SAFE, and the trip was OVER (both good and bad). The whole 8 weeks was part of my story of how Maia came in to my life, and I wouldn't change a thing, as that's what makes it my story... :) Let's just say, I got what I went for and that's all that matters. She is home with us now and we are a forever family!

Maia is such a wonderful little girl and the most special daughter I could have ever gotten! I'm sure I'm repeating myself, but... it bears repeating. Maia is happy, silly, funny, energetic (to say the LEAST!) loving, caring, snuggly, independent, dependent, *(yes, I know what I just said), she loves to tease, she loves to sing, she loves to climb and jump, she love to run, she loves to swing, she plays with dolls, she reads, she likes to watch Winnie the Pooh and The Jungle Book, she loves milk, she is learning how to use the potty (I go potty too) she says everytime someone says the word Potty... she loves bars (Nutri-grain bars), she loves her vitamins and doesn't understand why I'll only let her have one a day, she LOVES lipstick (chapstick), she loves powder in her diaper and/or on her belly, she loves to tickle and laugh, she loves shoes and boots (she calls them boops), she loves to take clothes OUT of her dresser, she likes to look at dogs, but if you get within 10 feet, she'll scream and climb UP you if you don't pick her up fast enough, she likes to wear other peoples shoes (grown ups), she likes to go on walks in the woods near our house, she likes to take a bath, she likes to say hello, to anyone and everyone, she likes to give hugs and kisses, she likes to say I Love You (which I LOVE!), she likes to brush her hair, she likes to brush my hair (which I don't love...), she likes to change her clothes, she likes snacks, she likes whatever anyone else is eating or drinking, she loves when Grandma and Grandpa visit, and I'm SURE I could go on and on, but basically, just about anything makes her happy.

Let me think about what she doesn't really like. She doesn't like to be told No. (Who does?) Wow, that's really all I can think of, at least at the moment. She is truly a wonderful kid who just brings such joy to all of us, all the time!

I'm not saying it was easy 100% of the time and I've never had a bad moment or day with her, but surely that was as much about ME as it was about HER. I hate to see her growing 'older' already, and yet it has made some things easier to deal with and handle. Admittedly, I was more tired this time around (and a good bit older!) since I did this with Matthew. Thank God Maia sleeps so well through the night - I've only had to get up during the night with her MAYBE three times in the past year. Not bad! LOL. She is so active and in to EVERYTHING that the first 6 months wore me out just TRYING to stay one step ahead of her. Luckily, I could recoup while she slept. Now, although still active, it's easier to keep up with her and she is still sleeping well. In the beginning, I was lucky if Maia would sit still for 10 seconds to listen to a book... or a sentence. It was CONSTANT from morning until night. As I said, she is still a VERY ACTIVE little girl, but we get some stretches where she'll sit for even 30 minutes sometimes to watch a movie. The times that were hard were especially when I was tired, or dare I say, moody! And/or when she was especially testing me to see what she could get away with. We have a pretty good understanding now, so she doesn't test as much, or as often anymore.

She is strong willed and determined, to be sure! But that makes Maia, Maia, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Matthew had a meeting tonight for scouts, so I had to kill an hour with her, around bedtime. I decided to take her to Baskin Robins to 'celebrate' our one year home. I got her a cute little kids cup of some colorful (gross) looking ice cream, but she loved it! When she saw the pictures of the cakes on the walls, etc, she started singing "Hap birthday, to you!" SO CUTE!! They sang that one day in day care and she's been singing it ever since. Adorable.

As I'm sitting here wondering what else I can think of to write about Maia... I glanced over at my night stand table... top drawer open... my chapstick inside that i use before bed, cap OFF laying in the drawer. HHMMMM, I wonder what SHE was doing while I was in the restroom for 30 seconds?????? Oh, Maia! I wonder how much of THIS one she ATE?

Thank you to all you wonderful readers, family and friends who have followed us on the whole journey! It's great to have you along for the ride!!

One year and one day...

Today marks the one year (and one day) mark since I was able to take Maia in my arms forever!! What special memories that I will cherish forever!! It has been a wonderful, special year.

Maia is such a joy. She is full of laughter, and happiness which makes everyone around her smile! Her laughter is contagious. She is incredibly smart, and great at problem solving. If she doesn't know the word for something, believe me, she is able to let us know what she wants... She likes to play and tease, she likes to be chased and will go outside at every chance she gets. She is potty training now and doing so well! I didn't even start her on that, she started herself. :) I'm not sure I'm ready for it yet. She's growing up FAST. :)

She may not know or be able to say all the words to a song, but she's able to carry the tune to the point where I know what she is singing. She can give a one (or so) word answer when I ask her what she wants to sing and chimes in along the way. It is so cute!

I am just so happy Maia is my daughter (for a year now!) and thankful she is part of my wonderful family. There is no doubt she is one of us and meant to be with us. It is so cool. She fits right in. I think she even looks like me a little... dark hair, dark eyes, petite.... we're practically twins! (if you aren't already aware... think davito/schwarzenegger here). but, that makes no difference at all, she is meant to be here, and totally completes us! it's awesome. :)

i thank God for my wonderful daughter and bringing her to me to share life with me and Matthew. I am truly blessed!

Happy Gotcha Day (plus one) Maia!! I LOVE YOU!

It's Nap Time, or is it??

Last Saturday, I put Maia down for a nap, as usual. Typically, she will go right in her crib and either fall asleep right away, or play quietly for a few minutes and then fall asleep.

Well, after an hour of hearing her singing and playing in her crib through the monitor... I decided it was time to go in and tell her, IT IS TIME TO TAKE YOUR NAP. Well, I went in and was shocked at what I found! Not only was she wide awake, but she was stark naked! I mean, the sweatshirt was gone, the t-shirt was gone, the pants were gone, the socks were gone AND the diaper was gone.... OH GREAT! Now I surely have to change her clean sheets.... I felt around and didn't feel any accidents, so I put her on her changing table and got her some warm clothes - A ONE PIECE BLANKET SLEEPER. I dread the day she can open zippers.... I'm in NO HURRY (for this exact reason) to really show her! She just looked up at me with the great big grin and was happy as a lark. She was playing with her blankies and animals, and just not sleeping... naked.

Anyway, I checked the crib one more time before putting her back in it... I had missed a section, and indeed, her sheets needed to be changed! Changing crib sheets is NOT easy! I wasn't happy. (Am I the only one who has a hard time with this?) Needless to say, I told her it was NAP TIME and she went right to sleep this time. (She had to be tired! It was late, at day care she would have already been getting up at this point.)

Fast forward a week (or less) to know that she can now open zippers. (She could actually already do her coats/jackets, but I wasn't trying to show her how to do jammies!!) SO, I often now find her in her crib after waking in the morning with her pacifier down her jammies, or her jammeis unzipped and her arms out as she is playing in the crib. It actually makes me laugh, but of course I can't let HER know that! Kids!!!

She is growing up SO much these days. She ASKED for applesauce this morning for breakfast. (Not sure where that idea came from, I'd never given her applesauce for breakfast before! LOL.) Anyway, she had asked a little before we were eating, so when it came time to eat, I said, "Maia, do you want applesauce for breakfast" She said, "No." I asked, "Oh, well what do you want?" She said, "I don't know." I DON'T KNOW?!?!? When did she learn that phrase and when did she start speaking it sentences I understand?? It was really cool.

So, we called my parents so she could say it for them. What did she do, she stared at the phone the whole time we were talking to them and wouldn't repeat it for the world. (Any Brady Bunch lovers out there? Think Cindy Brady on the IQ show where she stared at the red light on the TV camera the entire time. That is Maia any time we make a phone call so she can 'talk'. She just stares at the red light on the phone... So we call her Cindy Brady.) I hope SOMEONE out there knows what I'm talking about!

Anyway - it was so cool to hear I don't Know and each day, she seems to say more and more and more. It is really cool. She DEFINITELY has "No" down.

Thanks for all your advice, in comments and emails! Next time I'll atleast offer water and won't feel guilty about it. I had thought about the fact that I don't always like milk after cereal, but she had drunk it 1,000 times after mini-wheats before, so she can't hate it that much! That's why in the past when she says she's done, and the milk isn't gone, that's fine. And then if she asked for milk, I gave it to her. But since she poured it out, I guess that was the difference, and knowing she had drunk it before after that cereal. Anyway - she has since had some cereal and didn't do that again, yet, so hopefully it will be fewer and farther between going forward.

Alright, I'm in the basement and it's chilly, so I'm headed up to get warm now. Have a great start to the week everyone!

Need advice...

Help! I need input from all you other wonderful parents out there...

Maia has started getting in the habit (sometimes) of pouring out her milk when she is done with her cereal. Sometimes she drinks it all, and wants seconds of both the cereal and the milk. Sometimes, she only wants the cereal and will say, "All done" if she doesn't want the milk that is left over. But SOMETIMES she pours it out and makes a mess.

Tonight, she did just that. (Yes, she had cereal for dinner tonight...) She poured out a lot of left over milk. I put her in timeout. When she was done with timeout, she wanted milk to drink...

What would you do?? Let her have milk (in a cup) because she asked for it and she's thirsty?

Say no way, you poured out your milk, so you obviously weren't thirsty 5 minutes ago or you would have drank that milk.

Or something else?? I did not give her more milk. I figured she got some with her cereal and won't dehydrate overnight (although I'm feeling guilty and afraid I should have given her some... kids don't ask for drinks if they aren't thirsty, right? SO maybe she's dying of thirst and I denied her a drink???)

HELP! I don't know what to do - and she's now in bed and I'm having a terrible time of it because of the guilt and not knowing if I did the right thing...and being so sad that I just did a terrible thing!

This is when parenting stinks and I don't enjoy it at all. The few minutes I got with Maia tonight stunk and the rest of my evening will too because now I won't even see her again until morning. Shoot.

The First Meeting

So, today marks another one year anniversary - this one since the day I first met Maia! (Beware, over the next two months, there will be a lot of, today marks the one year anniversary... etc. - get used to it!) :)

Today was the day that I went to the MOE in Petro and was granted permission to visit the baby house and view the available children that met my requests. Such a strange, strange set of events that occur when they march various children in and out and then tell you to pick one. I had been told about the process, but when I was there, I seemed to forget all that I was 'told', and just couldn't believe I had to pick a child! They were all God's children and who am I to PICK one? How weird. In the end, of course, God had already picked the child that was to be mine - but when faced with here are some choices, pick one, it seems a little weird and a lot overwhelming!!

Truth be told, for me and my circumstances, the children I was shown, there really was only one choice that I realistically could choose. Not because she was the cutest... (but of course, as her Mommy, I think she is!). Not because God already knew which child would be mine. But because truly, logistically, I had only one real choice. The first child was quite severely disabled, and although adorable, I am not able to care for someone as a single, working parent who would need as much care as she would have needed. The second child had a sibling. Again, as much as I would have LOVED to decide to take home two children - I couldn't make that decision in 5 minutes and what I did think about in those 5 minutes was the fact that I really wasn't prepared to take two children home with me. So, the third child I was shown was Maia. Obviously, we know how this story ended, but I did want to consider them all for at least a brief minute. In the end however, I was able to take one, healthy child - and Maia was the obvious choice for me. I only got to see her that day for maybe 5 minutes - and then after she left I basically had to make my decision. After choosing Maia, I was given two older pictures of her that I was able to take with me. That's all I had for that night to 'think' about, two older pictures, and the 5 minutes I had had with her when I was trying to listen to every detail about her medical history, all the while checking her out and watching her to see if she was 'the one'.

I must admit, it wasn't the euphoric feeling I was kinda hoping it would be. It was weird and surreal to be shown children and have to choose one. Then I chose one - how weird! Of course, it has turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made - and although it was kind of a 'non-decision', I still felt like I was making a decision and it was just weird. Again, I COULD have taken any of those children - it was just that Maia was truly the only one I could really care for in my situation.

A year later, I recall that strange day vividly. I remember the next day (tomorrow) when I got to come back and visit with her the first time (but only for an hour!!). How weird to be handed a 16 month old and know she is to be my daughter. Maybe this was because I had also had the joy of having a newborn placed in my arms. A big difference between a newborn I had carried and a 16month old that stared at me like, Who in the WORLD are YOU?? Don't read this wrong, or misunderstand what I am saying. I was full of joy with her and the whole process (well, maybe not the WHOLE process...) but it was just so strange. I don't know if families who haven't had bio kids have this strange feeling as well - but I know I did, I suppose because I did have something to compare the process to? I knew she was my daughter, and I loved visiting with her - it's just different than an experience with a newborn.

Anyway - a great day to remember, but it also comes with the memory of one of the strangest days of my life. How does one really choose a child? They are all worthy, and I so hope and pray that they have all found loving homes!!

After we left the babyhouse and I had chosen my baby... we went to the Iceberg for the second time. Ah - memories. The pathetic memory here was as we came out, still in my dress and hose from MOE, I completely fell down on the ice outside the front door of the Iceberg and landed HARD on my knee(s). OW! Getting up was ANYTHING but graceful, and in a dress no less!! (And ripped hose!) We went to our first apartment and I iced my knee(s) for the rest of the day to reduce the swelling and the pain, as we looked at baby name books for the rest of the day to see what I thought she 'looked' like. I had arrived in Kaz with pretty certain ideas of what I wanted to name her, but she didn't fit ANY of those... so I was on to plan B and was SO glad I had brought my baby name book. It was that day I came across Maia for the first time, although it took me about another week to choose that as her name.

Tomorrow is the day that we visited her for the first 'real' time, and also the day we moved to our apartment #2. It was larger and nicer, but had it's own issues. (remember the rattling chandelier, the noisey neighbors who stayed up all night (every night!, when did they sleep???), the light in the bathroom that had the Poltergeist, as well as my bedside light that also had a Poltergeist in it, and the foul smell of raw sewage in the 'lobby' the would seep through our front door somedays? (the smell seeped, not the sewage) Oh yes, the memories.... :)

As everyone says, I can NOT believe it has been a year since I met her. She has brought us ALL such joy and we are THRILLED she is part of our family. At the same time, I almost can't believe I have ONLY known her for a year. She was meant for our family, that's for sure. She is the HAPPIEST child (PERSON!) I think I have EVER met! She is always happy. Today, she woke up EXTRA happy. She was just SO happy today - it was awesome. I hope she keeps that wonderful spirit she has and the joy she seems to carry with her wherever she goes. She is an amazing little girl and I am SO blessed to be her Mommy. I love you Maia and Thank God for bringing me to you one year ago today!

If this works... here are the two pictures I was given the first day in the baby house.

This one is from the first five minutes or so after I got to visit the next day - she is so LITTLE!! I love this picture! (If this doesn't work... I will load these pictures tomorrow when I can hook it up directly to the internet rather than wirelessly, which is where my problems come in with pictures for some reason.)

Compare these pictures to those below - she's grown up a bit! 16 months old a year ago today. Today, she is 28 months old, and quite a two year old! :)

Leaving on a Jet Plane

Today marks one year since I boarded a jet plane to Kazakhstan! I can NOT believe it's been a year. It's been a day for reflection, that's for sure. I'm certain over the next two months I'll be remembering each day I spent with Maia and what we did 'first' and 'second'. So many great memories started today, one year ago. The weather here in Northern Virginia even took a bitter turn today to mark the occassion. Made me feel right at home in Kazakhstan! :) Tonight's wind chill is below zero, definitely not typical for No.Va.

My mom (who traveled with me) marked the occassion by traveling to Florida today. A far cry from the length of trip or weather in Kazakhstan, but a flight to mark the occassion, nonetheless.

This might be weird, but today reminded me of the way I get around Matthew's birthday. I remember the day before his birthday and when the labor started, and when I called the doctor and when we left for the hospital, etc.

Well today was kind of like that for Maia. Her birthday came and went in October with little for me to 'remember'. It was more a day of building memories than remembering anything. But today was like my first labor pain. The first memory I have of finally leaving to go get her! It's an awesome memory - and as I said, only the first of many, I'm sure, over the next two months until the day that marks our coming home date, April 2.

I am SO glad I could remember this today and celebrate without having to leave again though - or say goodbye to Matthew again for an indefinite amount of time. That was NOT a good memory last year - saying goodbye to my 'baby' and leaving for who knows how long. Today was much nicer giving him a kiss as I dropped him at school, and saying, "See you later!" That made today all the better - as leaving was the hardest part a year ago - and yet, also the most exciting.