Very Thankful

wow, sometimes i feel like a real grown up! right now is one of them. tomorrow isn't just another day, it is a profound day of thanks!! and WOW do i have SO MUCH to be thankful for! the list is never ending, but i'm going to highlight some here now.

1. i am grateful that a year ago i was awaiting news that i could go meet and pick up my new daughter! it made last thanksgiving rather bitter sweet and we were not with her then, but NOW we are a forever family and i could not ask for a better son and daughter than the two i have been blessed with.

2. i am grateful for the new job i got this year. a year ago at this time i had been laid off from the mortgage business. the timing was perfect with the upcoming travel, but obviously it was a stressful time of unknown. i absolutely love my new job and the people i work with. wow - what a difference a year makes!

3. i am thankful for my family! they are awesome! especially my parents who are so helpful to me and selfless with their time. they have helped me in so many ways, but most recently when i needed care for maia when i just couldn't miss work - they were here, just in case! they are awesome and it would be SO much harder without them here to help me. i just wish i got to see other family more often - too long in between visits!

4. i am thankful for the wonderful house. what a blessing, (even with the leaks and critters!) so many people have so little and especially now, have lost so much. i am just thankful to have what i have.

5. my friends! i have so many wonderful friends and appreciate each of you. each one is different and perhaps even serves a different 'purpose' in my life, but all serve a purpose and i love you all!! again, some live way too far away and i simply don't see everyone often enough (even those that are local!) but i love and appreciate all my dear friends.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, happy, fulfilling, full of thanks Thanksgiving no matter where you are or who you are celebrating with! ENJOY!!

Cold November Day

I wanted to post a few pictures from today. First, I dressed her in one of my favorite dresses (it's too small, but we were home today, so it doesn't matter!) It actually fits well except its like a mini-dress. :) Then I put her in some tights and the boots I gave her for her birthday.

My silly connection isn't letting me upload any more (we've just reset it 3 times in a row, so we're giving up!! - so check out Shutterfly site (listed below) to see more pictures from today. The ones in the woods are what backs up to my house and we have a nice walking path. It is very windy today, so I covered Maia up with a blanket in addition to her coat and hat and mittens. There are a couple of white trees against the dark grey sky that are just beautiful. The last shot is the one closest to home where you can see the house through the woods - it's just so pretty! I love it! I get the benefit of the beautiful woods without having to rake ALL those leaves. (We have our share, but not THAT many.) Enjoy the scenery.

9 months and counting

I have now known Maia for 9 months! I find that unreal. I'll say what I say every month though - it seems like I've known her forever, while at the same time seeming like it was just yesterday that I was there and 9 months have now passed. Amazing.

Here are some pictures from yesterday. It is quite cold here for November, so Maia was bundled up more like winter even though it is fall (looking) outside. She loves her swing!!



Getting ready to go out together and play in the swing.






Maia - my little cutie pie.








She was so cute all bundled up! (If I do say so myself!)








Matthew being so helpful and playing with her while I get a few things done inside. (Or in this case, while I take lots of pictures!)

The cutest thing just happened as I put Maia to bed... she started pointing out all the Winnie-the-Poohs in her bed (on her sheets and bumper pads) as if it is the first time she's ever seen them... And I think it is!! She just noticed them and SAW them for the first time- how cool!! She pointed to many of them, 'saying "Pooh" over and over and the pots of honey, quite excitedly. What a little cutie!

Five Friday Fun Facts - Slightly Updated!

Oops, I forgot about this - so here is it, on Sunday... I'll do better going forward!

1. Maia can say the following words... most of which have the SH or CH sounds... Cheese, Outside, (outshide), Shoes, Socks (shocks), Ashes (ashes, we all fall down), please, (peash), Matthew (Chew, which is one of his nicknames), juice (juish), datch (we have NO idea what this is, but she says it all the time), glasses, (glashes), eyes (eyesh), Maia (I-ya), fish (fishies), sha-sha (doggy... ) sha-sha (birdie), sha-sha (gentle...) Obviously we have to put the last one in context. Ein (said as a question... Ein?) is another frequently used word, I just wish we knew what it meant. And of course, she says Da-da which means Mommy. Go figure!! **I forgot some (thanks for the reminder, Kim!!) Maia also says Thank you (dah-du while also doing the sign for that, or should I say her version of the sign), Bye-Bye (a very loud and enthusiastic Byyyyeeeee while waving), Yes (Yesh), No (Noooooooooooooo while violently shaking her head!), grandma and grandpa, but I'm not sure 'how' she says them - but she has a word for each of them.

2. Maia loves the hair drier and having it blow in her face.

3. She loves watching Charlie Brown Christmas. Yes, we've already started watching it. I broke out the Christmas Music tonight too.... At least it's after Halloween!

4. Maia loves to laugh. It is so genuine. You can really tell one something touches her funny bone. She also loves to laugh when others are laughing.

5. Maia loves to put things on her head. Clothes, hats, purses, anything that will stay if she puts it there.

The Gingerbread Man

Maia has been at her new school for four full weeks. It is going well. I actually had a parent/teacher conference today - since they truly treat this like a school and have the knowledge and ability to actually evaulate our children since they are trained in early childhood education. Maia is still catching up in some areas, like language, and some gross motor skill 'achievements'. I must admit, I find this one funny since she is a monkey and climbs on everything. But, for example, she doesn't really hop yet. I'm going to 'test' that tomorrow. Admittedly, it's not something I go around doing, so I don't know if she can or not, but they say she can't. These are really the same type milestones that the doctor asked Monday at her two year check up. Does she run? Yes. Does she speak? Sort of. Does she kick a ball? I'm not real sure about that either - so now I have specific milestones to check out on my own and determine if she can or not, and work on them if she can't. (The school gave me their opinions, but there are some things that she must do at home that she doesn't do there since for some our answers differed.) Like they said she never asked to be read to. I said she did at home. However, they meant more that she didn't ASK with words. She makes it known that when she wants to read at home, so maybe I was assessing a different skill. Anyway, four weeks down and it is awesome. We are ALL very happy with her there.

As I said, her 2 year checkup was on Monday. She got a flu shot, a blood test and Hep. A. She is 24 pounds now, which is still low, but at 16% - so MUCH bigger than her 1% when she came home. She is a short little thing, but she is just small all over. She is still wearing her 18 month old clothes, infact - one new pair of 18 month pants was SO BIG and LONG that I had to return them for 12 month pants. She does have other 12 month pants that we still put her in too. Petite. Lucky little girl. :)

Before I forget, thanks to everyone on the input about pictures... it does turn out that something is wrong with my connection - and basically it rears it's ugly head when doing pictures on blogger. I upload them all over the place without problem, so go figure. She post below for new picture information.

Matthew was at Scouts all day today. It is so strange on days he isn't here. Then, as soon as he got home, he went with his dad for the night. I miss him so much! I'm glad he gets to spend time with his dad, step-mom nd brother and sister though - they are family too! He got in 8 service hours today.

After dropping Matthew off at 8:30 this morning, I stopped for Starbucks. YUM!! They seasonal flavors were here, so I had this years version of the Gingerbread Latte. This year they are calling it Gingersnap latte. It was almost the same, but not quite. They sprinkled candied ginger on top which I did not like. Now, to be honest, if one hadn't gone in my mouth, whole, at the bottom of the drink, I might never have really known... But I didn't like this large chunk of ginger at the end of the drink... Now, a gingersnap cookie, maybe... but not candied ginger. I may not get that again, or atleast I'll have them leave the candied ginger off! Next step to the holidays - our gingerbread house!!

Anyway, after a little while at home, Maia and I went to Cracker Barrell to eat breakfast with my friend Judy. I worked with her for years, and since I don't anymore, we have to find some fun, different ways to get together. This was great, and it was a gorgeous day! It was a short visit, but great to see her. I'm actually thinking we might be able to get together again next Friday when I have a parents night out at day care. (Maia can stay at daycare until 9 pm...) I will be doing my Christmas shopping and hope to finish that night! We shall see! We all enjoyed our yummy breakfast. I had waited too long to eat, so I was very hungry by the time we were served. Maia liked eating Judy's food and I found out Maia likes grits. That's not a staple around our house, so I might have to figure out how to make them for her?!?!

I went to a craft fair, that sadly, was quite pathetic. So, we didn't stay long and Maia came home for another LENGTHY Saturday nap. I get torn - I wish I had more time with her, and yet I get more done when she is asleep (during the day - I'm useless at night.) So, I finally had to wake her up after 3.25 hours in her crib (I think she slept 3 of those...) We had to go get Matthew and she had to get up! I cleaned my disasterous room - and made some good progress! One day, my house and room might finally be in order. We're getting there.... One Saturday block of time at a time.

I see it is snowing in Kazakhstan already and in the teens... I can't say I miss that!

Bedtime! Night.

Wanna see some pictures??

OK, since my set-up makes it impossible for me to really share pictures and no techy person can figure out why - and I'm sick of wasting my time on the phone with them.... please see my new picture site. http://ourjourneycalledlife.shutterfly.com.

If you scroll down a little and click on recent pictures, you'll see various albums which have pictures in them. I can load 60 pictures in the time it took for maybe 2 or 3 in blogger, so until i can really fix my blogger issue, the pictures will be in shutterfly. :) If you can't click on the words recent pictures, then click on one OF the recent pictures... then above the pictures you'll see a directory of 'where you are' and you can click Recent Pictures and get the multiple albums listed. Anyway, I hope this works for everyone, let me know! I want to share more pictures (perhaps too many, because I like to take series of shots of one activity!) I am still learning all the ins and outs of shutterfly - but enjoy the pictures anyway. :)

I'll blog more soon. For now, just enjoy the pictures.