Home for 6 weeks already

It is amazing that we have been home for 6 weeks and it seems like forever, yet this is less time than I was in Kazakhstan! It is just amazing how with each passing day, it seems more and more like Maia has been here forever. It's weird, I know I say that each time I post, and it becomes more true each time I write it.

Although she never seemed to have an adjustment period - she seems more and more settled each and every day. She is signing more and walking faster, almost starting to run! She understands 90% or more of what we are saying now (still not always listening to everything we say, though!)

She has become a pickier eater than she was at first, but still has a pretty good appetite. She still picks up and puts in her mouth as much as humanly possible. This week, I thought she swallowed something, so I took her to the doctor. (She was breathing fine but had other 'symptoms'). Well, the doctor thought something wasn't right too, so she sent me to the ER to get an x-ray. (8 weeks with Maia and we're at the ER.... in 12.5 years with Matthew we've never been to the ER!! Go figure!) It was a relatively fast process, and it turns out, nothing was stuck (although I'm not convinced she didn't swallow anything!) We did have a few bad nights this week, which was a first, so that's made it interesting (and made me tired!) I can't complain though, I thought it would be more like that all the time, so a couple nights once in a while is ok!! I still think she may be vegetarian... but she eats protein in other ways, so I'm not too concerned. She is a happy little thing though and really makes us all smile!

We got tons of rain this past week. Between Thursday and Sunday we got almost 8 inches. There was flooding in our county, as well as sinkholes, landslides, tornadoes, potholes, and basements flooded. Luckily, I was unaffected, besides some really dreary days... but I was getting nervous about some side affects! We are expecting another inch or more tonight, so the flood warnings are back up. Ugh! Enough already with the rain. We are headed to the beach this weekend to see my parents renovated house, so I hope the weather is at least decent!!

Mother's Day was VERY rainy (about 7 inches of rain just that day!) but we enjoyed time together. Mom and Dad were here, and my brother visited and I had both my kids here with me!! What a joy! Mom and Dad overdid it in getting me things from my kids - but it was very nice and I love everything they got me.

We went to church Saturday night (first time with Maia here - since we attend an extremely large church, it is also broadcast live on the internet, so I've been attending church on the computer!) Anyway, it was going to be her first time in the nursery... Well, as we were pulling in the turn lane to turn in to the church, I realized I couldn't steer! So, as soon as I got to the top level of the parking garage, I pulled to an area without others to check, and YUP, I had a flat tire! Dad and I got the tired out and the tools, but Dad couldn't get the screws off the tire (he's still recovering and couldn't overdo it) so I called AAA. Dad and Matthew went in to church, I took Maia to the nursery while Mom waited with the car... Then when I returned, a good samaritan came and helped us change the tire. As he was finishing, the AAA lady arrived and tightened the bolts on the newly changed tire and added air to the spare tire. Now there was only about 10 minutes left in the service, so Mom and I went in and watched the end of the service on the huge TV's they have in the lobby (since I was too embarrassed to go in 50 minutes or more in to the service!) I watched it again on Sunday on the internet since basically missed it Saturday night... What an adventure that was. How lucky to get a flat as you are pulling in to a church parking lot and not on the Beltway somewhere?

One exciting tidbit - I found a new job!! I am so glad to be out of the mortgage business and moving on to a new company!! I start on May 27th and I can't wait! The mortgage industry is just in such dire straits that I can not even imagine how much longer the company will be open - so it's best to move on!! Maia has visited her new daycare which she will start on June 23rd and she loves it!! She had a great time and cried when I made her leave!! LOL. Until then, she'll be with friends and family after I begin working again. I will have spent almost 4 months with her since meeting her then and it's awesome. A lot longer than I got to spend with Matthew when he was born, so I'm happy about that. Yeah on a new job!! I'm so excited!

As for pictures, I've been lax and not taken any recently - I'm sure i'll take some this weekend at the beach and post some then.

Maia finally came around with my dad this past weekend as she asked him to pick her up!! She gave him books for him to read to her and then let him hold her while she drank a bottle!! It was awesome - she finally turned that corner with him. Yeah!!