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!!