Maya and Maria

Good Grief, Charlie Brown....

2010-11-03T20:46:00.002-04:00

Did I mention time is flying? whew!

Well, here's the not-so-great update... I filed for divorce and had papers served to E on Tuesday, October 26, 2010, and the papers were filed based on 2 counts of fault on his part, one is a recurring and one on multiple counts just discovered. There.... vague enough? However, in spite of all that, we are getting along better than ever these days, as my anger is gone, my stress and worry over several things is gone, and he is making a huge attempt to rid himself of some unseemly habits now. It's amazing the changes one can make when one is faced with losing something precious, and he saw the potential loss of his daughters as the catalyst needed to make some life-changing decisions. So we get along famously now, for our girls. We had to explain to Maya tonight that daddy will not be coming back home to stay, even though he's visited quite often now. We'll do ANYTHING for our girls. And I'm so very glad to see his girls are more important to him than anything else in his life.

Now, on to the better stuff! Maya and Maria continue to grow like weeds! I can't seem to keep clothes that will fit them more than an hour or two. And Maria, oh my word! That girl is not only growing, but she hates clothes!! When they get home from school (or anywhere else for that matter), the first things to come off are her socks and shoes, often just inside the doorway. Next comes the pants, and then before you know it, the top is gone, too, and she's running around in just her underwear. But she is very hot-natured, and she does not like clothes. That's Maria. Maya is our whirlwind. A beautiful whirlwind, but I wouldn't be surprised if the next tropical storm is named after her. As I watch these blessings grow, I love to watch their love for each other. When they're not having sisterly fights, that is. Maya is very much the leader, and loves to give orders (gee, wonder where she got THAT from?!?!) And she's something of a control freak. Did I say Sophia? I meant Maya .. oh yes, I did say Maya... ahem. Maria is much calmer, but has certainly come into her own personality, which is pretty much a complete opposite of Maya. Maria is ... studious, I think would be a good word for her. She can sit and occupy herself with puzzles or coloring or playdough for hours. Maya can occupy herself for ... oh, minutes on end, before moving on to something else.

I would love to upload pictures, but my computer is in the shop and all I have is the work laptop right now. Maya is this week's Totally Terrific Me in her 5K class, and she is LOVING it! She gets to take her favorite snacks and also an item to show the class. Today she took pictures of her beloved cat, Marlowe. Tomorrow she wants to take pictures of her little sister, Maria. I love it!

I've said this before, but hopefully I can get back on track with blogging about my precious girls. They say such cute things, and I don't want to forget a thing about their growing up years. Maya, for instance, said on Halloween this year, "we haven't done trick-or-treat in a LONG time!" And Maria, when I get impatient at her slow pace and my voice rises a decibel or two, will calmly tell me to "be patient!" They make me laugh. They make my heart smile. And they are the lights of my life.

Time is flying by! And Maya turns 5 ....

2010-07-27T22:27:00.002-04:00

I feel as if someone hit Fast Forward on my life. I signed on to not only find that my last post was for Maria's birthday in March, but that I still have a snow picture as my header photo! Geez, where does the time go?!?! So we skipped right over blogging about Maya's Gotcha Day on May 1, but it was special whether I write about it or not. I am amazed daily that I was lucky enough to become a mother to these two precious girls..... and now on to Maya's 5th birthday!

Maya turned 5 on Monday July 26th, but we had her birthday party on Sunday the 25th at the place where she takes her gymnastic class. She absolutely loved it, as this first picture will attest to. I adore that smile, and am glad that my baby was so happy!

My only complaint about the gym was the unbearable heat! The gym had been closed the week before the party, and temperatures in our town were in the high 90's all week long. You would think SOMEONE would have thought "hm, the gym might be a little hot since no one has been in there this week and the a/c has been turned off." Nope. Not one person. So the college students who are working the party show up around 2:30 for the party that starts at 3:00, and they start trying to figure out how to turn on the darned a/c. The thermostat reads 96 degrees INSIDE THE BUILDING. My blood boils just thinking about it. So we manage to get the a/c on, and it does bring the inside temp down to a sweltering 86 degrees before we leave, but these kids are running and jumping all over the place and I'm constantly worried one of them will pass out. I felt like I was melting and all I had to do was sit and watch! One child did end up going home early as he did not feel well, and we are all sure he just got overheated.

But the good part is, no one was seriously hurt, and these kids had a grand time in spite of the heat! Maria was absolutely tickled that she got to go to gymnastics with Maya, as she is not old enough to take the class there and usually has to watch on the sidelines while Maya goes in the class. We had 15 kids there, including my M&M (as I have taken to abbreviating Maya and Maria, as I also love M&Ms so it's quite fitting, you see), so it was a great turnout to be a summer weekend just a couple of weeks before school starts again.

After running and jumping, we of course had ice cream and cake. And lots of juice and water for the overheated crowd. Speaking of juice, many kudos go to Auntie Lisa for running to the closest grocery store for more ice, juice for the kids and bottled water for the adults. We had brought a cooler of juice boxes and sodas, but felt we would need LOTS more due to the excessive heat. And then came the presents, of course. Maya had such a wonderful day. And to top it off, her BFF Elysia, whom she has not seen since school ended in May, came back to our house with us and she and Maya swam and played for several more hours.

Here's my little monkey!

Maya and her BFF Elysia.

As for the gym, E called them today and requested a refund on the money we paid for the party. While everyone did have a good time, the heat was seriously unbearable, and unsafe, and they did agree to refund the money. I would still recommend them for parties, and Maria is now saying she wants to have her party there, but I will definitely follow up beforehand to make sure everything will be in order before we go next time! And our instructors, Jamie and Dillon, were awesome with the kids!

Oh my word ... I almost forgot to mention the Sleeping Beauty decorations!! Maya had been saying for months that she wanted a Sleeping Beauty party and cake. I do make massive cakes for my girls' birthdays, so I had it all planned. I found a small water globe at the Disney outlet near the beach when we went for Mother's Day (oh, another forgotten blog .. went to the beach for Mother's Day with my girls and stayed with friends Gwen, Don and their daughter Holly. Holly has decided that, as she is an only child, that Maya and Maria will be her little sisters. We had a GREAT time!) And then I decided to get a small Sleeping Beauty doll to use on the bottom tier of the cake and have her sleeping on a bed. Too cute. But, have you ever seen just Sleeping Beauty on any party supplies? You can find all the Disney princesses together, or you can find just Cinderella, or just Ariel, and sometimes just Snow White. But you never see Belle or Aurora all by themselves. What to do ... what to do ... I could get all the princesses, as the cake will be just Sleeping Beauty, but Maya kept saying Sleeping Beauty, not the princesses in general. So, the Google Queen that I am, got online and searched and searched. Found 2 stores in England that had just Sleeping Beauty tablecloths, napkins and all the usual accessories. I practically squealed with delight when I emailed a friend in England and she agreed to let me order the items and have them sent to her house, and she would then mail them to me. Good thing I started searching early for these things, or I never would have gotten them in time! But we had it all .... a Sleeping Beauty tablecloth, napkins, plates and banner. It was wonderful! And my princess had the party she wanted, which made this mama happy.

March 6 - Maria turns 3!

2010-03-12T22:16:00.005-05:00

Maria has been saying for a while now that "my bir-day is march 6 in the Rotunda" (rotunda is the indoor playground area at her daycare, which they do rent out for parties). Then she would say "I wan' big cake ... big Hello Kitty cake." So, of course I made her a BIG Hello Kitty cake! My baby turned 3 years old. I have no idea how that happened! When sweet little Maria came home at 11 months old, she could sit by herself, but if she fell over, she didn't know how to get back up by herself. She was not walking and not even crawling. She wouldn't even raise her arms when she cried ... she just sat there. So we had her evaluated by Babynet, and she qualified for Early Intervention services and for speech therapy. She made MAJOR improvements very quickly. Somehow she managed to stay in the program until early this month. Then her EI and her speech therapist just couldn't justify keeping her in the program. As her ST said ... "she's just too smart!" Seems she's the only one in her 2 year old class at daycare that knows how to button. :-) She has come so far in such a short time.... all the way to the bottom of my heart!

Happy 2nd Gotcha Day, Maria!

2010-02-14T04:10:00.003-05:00

I can't believe (I find myself saying that a LOT these days) that two years ago, February 13, 2008, we were in Guatemala picking up our precious Maria. She has come so very far from the little girl who couldn't even get to a sitting position by herself at 11 months old! She was slow in talking, but honestly, I think that had more to do with 1) constant ear infections that the tubes finally helped fix and 2) Maya talking non-stop, so who can really get a word in edgewise? :-)

Maria, you have the sweetest spirit, which I hope you never lose! You are the absolute opposite of Maya in every way (except that sweet spirit thing ... Maya has that too!), but you are both absolutely perfect just as you are. I love that sweet smile of yours ... it stops everyone in their tracks when they see it. And I even love the way you smile so cute and then just say "no" when I'm trying to get you to do something important, like put your socks on. You have been talking up a storm lately, much to the delight and dismay of your speech therapist, Miss Debbie, as she is excited by your progression but sad that she will probably lose you completely soon since you have more than caught up to your age group. You are so very smart that it amazes me sometimes at the things you can do! You are tender-hearted and can get your feeling hurt very easily, and I know that makes me appear to coddle you more, but I can't help it. You and Maya play so well together, even when Maya won't share her toys but then asks you to share your snack with her. And you always do. I love the way you hurry to sit in my lap or next to me when you see Maya coming this way. I love how you are turning out to be a daddy's girl.... the complete adoration on your face when daddy comes in is priceless. I love how you are such a night owl (well, I don't love it EVERY night....) but then can't wake up the next day. I love the way you appear to be 100% asleep in the chair daddy put you in after waking up, but jumping right up the minute we announce "Maria, here's your breakfast!". It's so cute to watch you eat everything you have and then go after Maya's food when her extremely-active-self can't sit still long enough to finish a meal. Your love of music and singing and dancing just melts my heart. And the shyness that makes you stop singing whenever you realize someone is watching you. You have made our family complete, and I simply adore you!

February 2010

2010-02-14T02:45:00.007-05:00

I heard a radio announcer say the other day that he is glad February has only 28 days in it, as it seems to be the longest month of the year, so he is grateful he doesn't have to endure 2-3 more days of it. He meant that, if it's going to be really cold in SC, then February is the month that it will happen. And he was correct this year ... we had a big snow event this weekend! Luckily, I already had Friday off and my MIL and my girls and I went to C to visit my mom. We knew they were predicting snow, but honestly, 90% of the time it's never as bad as they make us think it will be. Can't tell you the times when I lived in C that we woke up to NOTHING after a much-hyped snow event had been promised by the local weather folks. Anyway, as we are driving home, it starts to snow about 30 minutes from home. We saw an occasional flake here and there along the route, but then all of a sudden it was like the heavens opened and the snow was coming! And lucky for us, it was JUST snow and no sleet or ice or anything else that makes for really treacherous driving, as my MIL still had to drive another 25 minutes to get home after we made it to our house. But here is what it looked like when we finally made it home, after rushing inside to put on warmer clothes so we can out and play! Can you tell they are happy about it??

Ok, can you tell that I am happy about it, too?

And this is what we woke up to the next morning.... it was gorgeous!

Maya is the early riser, so we left daddy and Maria sleeping and went out to play in the snow!

Maya and mommy's footprints ... I can't believe this child is now wearing a size 10 1/2 shoe!! The move from toddler to bigger-girl shoe sizes, as I think I mentioned in a previous blog, really gave me a shock several months ago.

No we do not own a sled or anything like it, as the real snow events in SC are few and far between. But mama's roasting pan works just fine! :-p

They really have outgrown this little set, but I just haven't had the heart to get rid of it yet, and they will still play on it, so.....

hehehehe....

The early morning hours had such a fine, powdery snow that Maya and I couldn't even make it stick together good to start a snowman. So later in the day, when it all started melting, it finally worked. But by then, the heavier the snowball got, the more of the snow that stuck to it and so you start seeing the bare patches where we pulled snow for our Frosty, and we even had to brush off a lot of leaves by the time we finished!

It took me and E quite a while to get that second snowball up on the first.... it was HEAVY!

By this time I had worked up a sweat, so off came the coat! I'm sure my mother would give me a lecture if she had seen these photos. Assembing snowmen seemed so much easier, say, 20 or so years ago! whew!

ta-daaaa.....

This was my very favorite kind of snow event ... lots and lots of fresh snow to play in, but then nice warm (mid-40s) weather the next day so that it melts most of the snow with no residual slush and ice to deal with the rest of the week. woohoo!

Snow event 2010

2010-01-31T13:10:00.003-05:00

Our first snow and ice event of the season on 1/30/10. Daddy got some great pictures of the girls!

Great smiles!!!!

Christmas Eve 2009

2010-01-31T12:53:00.003-05:00

Ok, so bad mommy didn't get a single picture of Christmas morning. Too tired. Was up until 3:30 .. um ... "arranging" things. Then was up at 6 when Maya discovered presents downstairs (after she got up 3 different times during the night!) Then did the usual breakfast casserole and Honey Bun Cake and waited for the guests to arrive. Gran came by, of course, as did Calli and Mallori and our friend Paulette. we had a blast, but I was oh-so-tired! Anyway, these are the Christmas Eve pictures, when we let the girls open their gifts to each other.

Maya picked out a Dora the Explorer backpack toy for Maria, which she loved:
And Maya got a Scramble game from Maria, which they both love playing:

Gran stopped by Christmas morning, and I did get a picture of that at least!

Christmas Eve .... putting out cookies and milk for Santa (and carrots for the reindeer, of course!)

Maya loved that Scramble game.... trying to sort shapes to beat the clock, and I think Maya is winning!

Christmas 2009 with the Rainwaters at Hilton Head

2010-01-31T12:30:00.004-05:00

My newphew Chad ... congratulations on graduating from Clemson University on 12/17! (and on getting this bag of coal for Christmas ... tsk, tsk....!)

My awesome big brothers....

Omi got lots of presents!

Christmas 2009 with the Lawsons

2010-01-31T11:43:00.003-05:00

The cards always make Gran cry...

Maya loved the present from Uncle B and Aunt K:

Aunt K is a librarian and knows the BEST books to get:

Love that smile!

The girls LOVE their cousins!

Do I look as tired as I felt that night?

Calli and Lexi...

Maria's favorite gift of all time ... Rudolph!

Maya's 4K Christmas Program at FBS - Dec 2009

2010-01-30T22:22:00.003-05:00

I love this kid! She was the star of the show, and she and Maria are the stars of my world.

Wow. Long time no see...

2010-01-30T16:37:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I haven't blogged since early December, and now January is almost over. Where to start ....

Well, I guess the reason I've been away so long is a good place to start... my job had gotten really, really, REALLY hectic. There was no way to keep up. And while they kept adding on to the managerial duties, my one vacant position was not going to be filled any time soon, if ever. I was working long nights, often all night (more the once a week), working all day, missing out on all the fun in life, or so it seemed. Christmas was a whirlwind ... my nephew graduated from Clemson on the 17th, I had to work on the 18th (my birthday, and I hate working on my birthday!), and then the 19th we headed to Hilton Head with my family, where we would do our family Christmas thing. Well, the 2nd day there, one person ruined the entire trip for the rest of us ... she's a piece of work. So then we spend 2 more awkward days there, and the kids all exchanged Christmas gifts. My girls had a blast, I'm happy to say. My brother Roger and his wife and two daughters were able to come from Nebraska, and I had a GREAT time with all of them. Then, on the way back home on the 22nd, we spent one night in Columbia with Roger and family again. My girls got to swim in the indoor pool at the hotel, and again, they had a great time. I had to work again on the 24th, but we did all get to leave at 3:00, thank goodness. Then back home to rush to get all the presents together and get Santa's visit organized. Up until 3:30 or so doing that, then Miss Maya woke up at 6:00 a.m. on Christmas morning. That is, she woke me up at 6:00 exclaiming "Mommy! There's presents downstairs!" She was so excited, and that made it all worth every minute of planning and shopping and putting things together. We did remember to put out cookies and milk for Santa, and some carrots for his reindeer, which was all eaten. :-)

Christmas Day just flew by ... we had our usual breakfast casserole and Honey Bun Cake, with plans to go to E's brother's house for our Christmas with his family around 4:30. Then it was time for the girls to take their naps. That's where I made my big mistake. I layed down with the girls to get them to go to sleep. When I finally woke up, I thought we had only been asleep for just a few minutes and was trying to convince Maya to go back to sleep when she asked if it was time to get up. I finally look at the clock, and HOLY MOLY it was 4:15!!! Up I jumped, ran to the kitchen to make my last dish to take to the family dinner, rushed to get the girls dressed and told E he had to take them on and for them to go ahead without me and I would try to get there by 6:30. I still hadn't fixed my hair or makeup and hadn't wrapped the first gift for this event. ugh. That convinced me that the beach trip had not been the best idea timing-wise. Missed too much of my usual pre-Christmas prep-time. Anyway, they started calling me around 5:30 and I didn't come downstairs to get the phone. When I had the last gift wrapped and just had to get dressed, I finally answered the phone and found out they were waiting for me! double-ugh. So then I flew out the door with everything and put my makup on in the car driving down I-26 about 80 mph. Got there and explained everything, and I really, really wished they had started without me so I wouldn't have felt so stressed. But it all turned out great, and my girls were loving having everyone there. Mom didn't come down to spend Christmas with us this year because the beach trip, I think, just wore her out and she was tired.

Not sure how mnay pictures I even got of all of it, as I did download them but haven't really had time to do anything with them.

So that leads me back to my job ... the stress just got to be too much, and I went to speak to my boss about getting out of management. She was very nice about it and told me to think about it. She asked another director within Revenue Cycle about his open position, told him about my decision, and he was receptive to me applying for his job. But then again, got so busy I didn't have time to even think about it for a couple of weeks, so my boss called me and asked if I was still interested in that position. I said yes, I was, and she said I would still have to apply for it if I wanted it, so I did that immediately. We are all in the process of moving our offices, so when that director talked to me about the position on a Wednesday, he said they were moving that Friday and he thought that would be the best time for me to make the switch. Good grief they can move fast when they want to! Anyway, life is soooooooo much better now, but we're just a whole lot poorer. It was quite a pay cut to go from management to non-management at the hospital, but less expensive than losing my mind from the stress! So that brings me up to now, when I finally have a weekend to actually do what I want to do and not work! woohoo! I'll have to post pictures soon when I can find them. We're having a snow/ice event this weekend. We were supposed to get 3-5 inches, but it didn't even cover all the grass. But there is enough ice out there to keep us inside and off the roads today. We do have good pics of the girls playing outside, so I'll have to post those, too.

Well, supper time. I'm sure I'll have time to be better about posting now. Yay!

What I'm thankful for....

2009-12-02T06:21:00.003-05:00

Turkey cupcakes! I made these for Maya and Maria's classes at daycare.

My mother visiting for Thanksgiving.
My 2 mothers, and having the best MIL in the world.

Daughters and Nieces

Playing at the park with Gran

Taaa-daaa (Maria's phrase when she sees a lit Christmas tree)

Handmade ornaments that I wouldn't trade for a treeful of Waterford ornaments!

Uncle Konrad

2009-11-20T22:29:00.002-05:00

Need to talk about my German relatives for a minute.... my mom had many brothers and sisters, but I only knew 4 of them personally ... Viktor, Marie, Lucie and Konrad. I think that's in order .... not sure if Viktor or Maria was older, but then Lucie was next and then my mom and then Konrad was the baby. I visited Germany once with mom when I was 12. I was scared to death that I was going to get lost there and I didn't understand what anyone was saying. I have many times wished we had gone back again one day when I was older and could appreciate the culture (and FOOD!) more. But we never did. Several of my relatives have come to visit us over the years, and I have enjoyed getting to see them. Especially Uncle Konrad. He was cool.

We got an email from my cousin last week that Uncle Konrad had passed away. He was in a nursing home, and evidently had Alzheimers or something similar and was not recognizing family anymore. My mom said the last time she spoke with him, he did not know who she was. But it's just sad to me that he's gone now and mom is the last of her generation.

My dad called Uncle Konrad "you old Kraut". Dad was not known for his tact .... he really didn't mean any harm, but just didn't know better most times. Picture Archie Bunker ... well, maybe not QUITE that obvious, but he was on that spectrum. Anyway, Uncle Konrad was known for being, how shall we say ... cheap! We would laugh because he did not have a phone, and he wouldn't pay for a newspaper. He would just go sit in the park until someone left their paper and he would read it. He could afford those things, but just didn't want to spend the money. I think that's one huge reason why he never married. But when he came to visit us, close to the end of his visit you would see him over in a corner somewhere counting out his money, and he would always hand some to me and my brothers. And he would always eat every single scrap of food on his plate ... never left a drop of anything on it. I suppose that happens when live through a world war and not get enough to eat at times ... you really appreciate what you do have. My mom is very similar ... she won't spend more than $10 or $15 bucks for anything for herself, but if I need something, out comes the $50 or $100 or whatever she thinks I need.

Uncle Konrad was able to come to our wedding! I think he had already planned a visit when we got engaged in October, 1992, and then he cut that trip short so that he could come back for the wedding in April, 1993. He gave us a beautiful set of silverware as a wedding gift, but I was just happy to have him there.

Those are some good Krauts....

And just for the record, I think mom said she had 2 older brothers who died young ... one was injured at school and had to walk all the way home afterwards, and he didn't survive long after that. The other was either blind or deaf, I believe, and he was sent off to a special school that could help him with living skills, but he died while at school. I don't think mom ever knew how exactly. Then there was Agnes, who died when I was young. All I remember of that time was mom sitting in a chair with her arm over her eyes while dad was herding us kids out of the house to give her some time to herself. Anytime Agnes' name came up, mom would say "the good always die young." Viktor died several years ago. Then Marie died in 2007, I believe ... the year my Maria was born. by the way, Maria is technically named for my mom, who has many, many names ... Martha Monika Maria Magdelena Veronica Wiesner Rainwater. But I like to say she is partly named for her Tante Marie also, since the year of her birth coincided with the year Marie died. Then after dad died, when mom was still living alone in her house, she got a call from my cousin Gisela (married to Achim, who is Lucie's son) saying Lucie had died the week before. Lucie had also gotten ill and was not coherent, from what I understand, towards the end of her life. I don't talk about them much, i guess since they were just so far away and we didn't get to see them much, but I do wish mom could see my at least cousins one more time. She loves her family very much.

Maya and Water

2009-11-20T22:22:00.002-05:00

fade in....

scene:
mommy is sitting in her armchair. the girls are upstairs playing
sounds from upstairs:

Act 1:
Two girls come downstairs into living room, laughing and giggling.

Maya: "my sleeve is all wet"
Mommy: "why is your sleeve wet?"
Maya: "the water leaked"
Mommy: "why did the water leak?"
Maya: "because"
Mommy: "because why?"
Maya: "because I put my arm in it."
Mommy: "ah."

I love my life! You just can't buy this kind of entertainment.....

The Flight of the Bumblebees (and Tigger?)

2009-11-03T01:01:00.003-05:00

Maya and Maria were supposed to both be bumblebees. Maya is the one who came up with the whole idea, as a matter of fact. She announced early, when costumes were just beginning to appear in stores, that she wanted to be a bee for Halloween. So off we went in search of bee costumes, and found really cute ones at the first place we went. So we bought bee costumes. Case closed, right? Not so much ..... fast forward several weeks, and the mom of one of Maya's school friends told me "in case you didn't know it already, Maya wants to be a tiger for Halloween." whaaaaaat? Of course, I've heard of those kids that change their minds all the time when it comes to their costumes. But I've always said (and I was such a perfect parent before I had kids) that MY kids would have to stick to whatever costume we bought first ... I'm not going to have those spoiled rotten kids who always get their way. HA! double-HA!

So I happened to be in Toys R Us a couple weeks ago and saw that they had their Tigger costumes 1/2 price already. And really, isn't $9.99 a STEAL for a Disney costume of any sort? Even if we don't use them, the girls could play dress up with them later, right? RIGHT?? So that's not really spoiling them, is it? I didn't even tell the girls I had the costumes, since I was sure Maya would revert to wanting her bee costume again. But when the neighbor stopped by on Oct. 29th and asked Maya what she was going to be for Halloween, of course she exclaimed "A Tiger!" So I packed up both outfits and took them all with me when we went to C, where we were going to visit with my mom and go to a friend's Halloween party and the kids would all trick-or-treat from there. Sure enough, here's my little Tiger/Tigger and my bee. Maria did not seem to like the Tigger costume at all, and really wasn't that fond of the bee outfit either, but that was easier to convince her to wear since she was able to slip it off every now and then and run around in her black pants and top.

So then we went to spend the night at another friend's house, and I found out her daughter was a bumblebee this year! So on go all the costumes again (it was soooo hot in C this year that I let my girls take their costumes off early, and they actually did a round of trick-or-treating in regular clothes at the end!) so we can do the photo shoot:

And a good one of my mom and my girls!

God love 'em ...

2009-10-13T22:28:00.003-04:00

Maya is in that stage where she likes to point out things that match. Especially when it involves something between me and her. Like, "mommy! my shirt matches you!" if we're both wearing pink shirts. Or when her crayon matches my socks. Or whatever..... anything that matches is worth noticing and mentioning in Maya's world. So here's what Maya said today ... it started with her black crayon ... "Mommy, look ... my crayon matches my hair!" But she really wanted to include me somehow, so then she tried to say it matched my hair too. I said, "no, honey, mommy's hair isn't black."

Maya's response: "Yeah, it's gray."

Gotta love the 4 year olds.

And pictures....

2009-10-05T20:55:00.005-04:00

So of course I spend my evening looking through pictures of my babies. There were a few (few?) that really made me stop and stare at them. Some were just cute, some made me miss those smiles (after all, I haven't seen those smiles in over 12 hours now!), and some I really thought were just good photographs. But then, with this subject matter, how can you go wrong? :-p

Peace and Quiet ... wayyyyy overrated!

2009-10-05T20:23:00.002-04:00

Ever think you would like to have just one night of peace and quiet? One night to do whatever you wish? I've got it. Both girls are spending the night at Gran and Poppi's house. I can do whatever I want tonight! woohoo!

But what I really want to do is to drive over to Gran and Poppi's house ... it's too quiet over here. All the fun is at Gran's tonight!

Well, I guess I could do laundry, which was my plan for this entire evening. But then I remembered the old blog, which hasn't been updated in forever!

Maria is sounding sooo grown up these days. Talking much more clearly, saying whole sentences on a regular basis now, and playing lots and lots of make believe with Maya. Maya alternates between appearing so very grown up, and then acting like a baby so that mommy or daddy will hold her and rock her like a baby. And then she acts like a cat and wants to put her food on the floor and eat it like Marlowe does. Ugh.

Maya has had her first official gymnastics class! Yay! She really seems to enjoy it. Mommy didn't enjoy it so much when she didn't think they were paying enough attention to her. Maya was obviously the new kid in the class, and I didn't like them not taking time to explain things to her, or even introduce themselves or other kids to her! She just fell in line with everyone else as they went from station to station doing different exercises and routines. But I remained calm ... somehow ... and I noticed that even though she spent some time just twirling around in circles by herself, she really appeared to be ok with it all. And when she came out she was smiling. I asked if she had a good time and she said "yes!" I asked if she wanted to come back next week for another class and she said "yes!" So we'll do it again Wednesday night. She looked so adorable in her little leotard! She looks like such a big girl at home, but she was by far the smallest child in the gymnastics class. It's nine little 4- and 5- year olds. I picked Wednesday night class because they said it was only 1/2 full, whereas the Monday night class was almost full. But by Wednesday night, it appears they were full, and again, my child appeared to be the only one who had not done this at all before. What she really seems to love the most about this class is being able to say to Maria "when your big sister comes home from gymnastics class, we'll ---- ". It's so cute! The one big mistake was buying a leotard for Maya and not bringing one home for Maria. Oh, the tears when Maria couldn't put on Maya's leotard, NOR the sweatsuit I got for her to wear over it since it's getting cool outside now. So of course we have rectified that this week. But I can't believe I didn't get pictures! argh! Mommy is losing it these days. You better believe we'll have pictures this Wednesday night!

Just can't get enough ... Maria!

2009-09-11T01:10:00.003-04:00

At Gran's earlier in the summer. It took Maria a LONG time to get used to swimming pools and being in water, but she's there now ... she LOVES swimming. She had to chase the Nemo ball here. I think Maya actually threw the ball out of the pool, but at 2, it's very easy to convince Maria to fetch things, and Maya appears to have figured that out! Don't you just want to pinch these little legs, though? Sooooo cute....

And at Hatcher Garden with E and Gran last weekend. My girls just adore their Gran. But then, everyone adores Gran! You can't not love her .... she's too sweet!

And back to Gran's house....

Just can't get enough ... Maya

2009-09-11T00:37:00.002-04:00

Have I mentioned lately how much I adore these girls of mine? I think all day long of things I need to blog, but when I'm sitting here, I can't think of a thing. So I'm just going to keep posting pictures, and hopefully they will tell the story of their childhood.

This was taken at Gran's house earlier in the summer. I can hear Maya's laugh by just looking at this picture.

And this was at Hatcher Garden. Gran spent all week with Poppi when he was in the hospital with pneumonia, and she was having some serious Maya and Maria withdrawals! So she came by and picked up E and the girls so they could all go out and mommy could clean!

This is still Maya's BFF, Elysia. We went to Elysia's house weekend before last and Maya had a great time! Not that you could tell that by any of her pictures of course. :-p

Elysia's dad concocted this monstrocity! High enough to give a mom heart palpitations, but of course Maya just HAD to try it. She did very well, and put up extremely well with mommy constantly yelling out "hold on tight, don't let go, sit still!, hold on!!!" I don't think I got any pictures at all of her actually sitting in the seat. Not sure if I was even holding the camera at the time ... I think E had the camera. It's all a blur to me (no pun intended ... camera .. blur ... get it? ... hehehe)

Random Pics

2009-09-05T02:29:00.002-04:00

My scooter-bug:
One happy girl with her new big-girl bike. ;-)

She actually let her little sister sit on her bike! Now that's true love....

Could this be any cuter?!? (and yes, I know the helmet was not on correctly....)

And this is a cake I made for a baby shower at work. Of course I used Maya's birthday cake as my inspiration. Seems the baby boy's room is decorated with sailboats, and I love doing the ocean cakes, sooooo....

Maya is FOUR! How did THAT happen?

2009-08-31T23:38:00.002-04:00

Stop the roller coaster!!! It's going too fast!!! How can precious little Maya, sweet tiny baby Maya, the 9-month old baby wearing 6-month sized clothes and a size 2 shoe, be FOUR already?? Crazy. I'm afraid if I blink she'll be married when I open my eyes.

On the other hand, I am so enjoying this stage of my baby's life. Watching her fills me with awe whenever she learns something new and watches with that wide-eyed, open-mouth stare of hers. I was telling a friend yesterday that last year at this time, when she was starting 3K at FBS, she seemed to be very much a follower of the kids around her. But now she seems like such a leader of the pack. Ok, so the fact that she can't sit still for more than 30 seconds at a time just might have something to do with that. But I watch her with her friends and she's always giving orders and telling them what to do. And for some reason they seem to do it.. But she also has geniune compassion for her family and friends. If someone is hurt, she is the first to go and try to comfort them. And she has this squeal-type laugh when she is really, really excited about something that I just love to hear. And the talking. Oh, my, goodness. She can talk non-stop. No wonder Maria is so quiet ... when does she get a chance to talk?!

Anyway, Maya turned 4 years old on July 26. I'm a little late posting, of course, but then I'm a little late doing everything these days. I still have not caught up on sending out the thank-you notes for the presents her family and friends gave her. I think I'm about 1/2 way done. Maybe I can finish by Christmas ... just in time to write those thank=you notes!

This is Maya's cake. Her birthday theme was Nemo. Yes, you may recall we just had THREE Nemo parties when she turned 2, but it seemed appropriate since she does love the movie, and since she is quite the fish. That girl loves nothing more than spending time in the water. I had the best time ever making her birthday cake this year. I used fondant, which I rarely use, and have learned not to use again for a child's party. Maya loved her cake, but honestly, fondant is not the best-tasting icing, to put it mildly. I do like this particular recipe ok, but it is not even close to being as good as regular buttercream or the white chocolate cream cheese icing I love to make. But it turned out really cute anyway.... I made the candy molds, but the 'rocks' are just yogurt-covered raisins. The Nemo on top is a bubbles container, and I took the top off and stuck the candle in there during the party.
She was so anxious to open her presents! This was from Sammie, Val and Jennifer, my BFFs from C. One of Maya's favorite gifts was her "Hannah Batana" guitars. LOL! That's how she pronounced Hannah Montana. I had no idea she even knew her name. No idea where she heard it or if she has ever seen the show, but she seems to like her.

And these were the guests ... I never did get a great shot of all of them. Do you know how hard it is to corral that many 4-year-olds and get them all to look at you and smile? Impossible, I say....

And this is Evan, one of her friends from preschool. He couldn't come to her party, so he came over to our house to swim and play the next week. And this was just too cute ... holding hands as they jumped off the diving board!

Since we were having a swimming party, I had collected a few things for the kids to do in case of bad weather, including decorating these visors. Since her birthday was bright and sunny, I sent the visors and materials to preschool the next week so her class could use them. Christen, Maya's BFF's mom, works at FBS and she sent me this picture that day.

Maya, I can't believe how fast you are growing up. I miss the baby, but I look forward to each new step you take. You are so independent now, and each day you amaze me with something new that you can do. Well, maybe 'amazed' isn't the correct word for what you taught me today when you said "dammit" in the tub. I immediately scolded you and stressed you are never to say that again. Then you looked at me and said "just mommy can say it." Oy. So I said no, not even mommy can say that word .. it's a bad word. So you now know that if you hear mommy say it, mommy gets a spanking on her hand, and she does not get any gum if she says it.

And just when I think you can't get any more precious, you surprise me again. I knew you would not like all the shots you get at your 4-year-old checkup, and I wimped out and asked Gran to take you. She did it, and told me you were quite a trooper. You did cry (and who could blame you ... why in the world do they put a child through THREE shots in one day??!!), but Gran said you cheered up rather quickly once it was over, and then you were so proud of your bandaids the rest of the day. You showed them to Maria when you were in the tub that night, and proudly relayed the events at the doctor's office for her. It was the cutest thing ever when Maria bent over and went "awwwww".

I love to hear you sing. You and Maria love to sing in the car, and with the tv, any time you can. You come home from school singing the cutest songs ever. And when you were bent over your coloring book earlier tonight, you were just singing your heart out.

I am so proud of the little girl you are becoming, but I do miss the baby. I like to hold your face in my hands and just stare at your face looking for the baby. I still see a small glimpse or two every now and then, but the baby is rapidly disappearing. You stayed so tiny for so long, and now you seem to be shooting up every time I turn around. Each time I think I am stocking up for the next size clothes, you are in them and I have to stock up again! Luckily for me, sometimes you like to pretend you are a baby and I get to hold you and cuddle you for a few moments. You and Maria are the best things that have ever happened to us, and we love you so very, very much!! Happy 4th birthday, baby girl.

Beauty and the Beast

2009-07-19T19:23:00.002-04:00

... and no, I'm not talking about Maya and Eric :-)

Maya went to her first live play today ... Beauty and the Beast, and cousin Kaitlyn played Babette. It was so much fun! So Kait took Maya onstage afterwards for the autograph session, and of course, brilliant mommy left her camera in the car. This was the best I could do with the camera phone. And even better, the camera phone was full and I couldn't get a picture of her with the prince/beast. sigh.

And this, my friends, is a picture "for daddy." She worked so hard on it (as you can tell by the concentration on her face in the picture below), and she handed it to me and said "here, mommy". I went into the big "I love it! Thank you so much!" speech, but she stopped me cold and said "It's for daddy" as she takes it back out of my hands. double-sigh.

It's been a great weekend.... we went to Evan's house yesterday for lunch and swimming, and today was Beauty and the Beast. But why, oh why, does the weekend fly by so fast?!?! Now it's Sunday evening, and I still have to do laundry and finish some work before tomorrow morning. I hate Sunday nights ... it's like a ticking bomb counting down the minutes until the workweek begins again. Someone really needs to reverse this concept ... how about 5 day weekends and 2 day workweeks?

Just had to mention ..

2009-07-15T12:54:00.003-04:00

Quite often I find myself saying "I need to put THAT in the blog before I forget it", and then 2 or 3 days go by, and I remember that there was something I needed to say, but can't remember what it was. So here goes ... E just emailed this to me this morning about his ride to the daycare. It was really cute, so I thought I'd just pop out here and post it while I think about it:

On the way in this morning, Maria was singing her little heart out to “Cat’s in the Cradle.” Maya’s very good about letting Maria sing. When the song ended after its third time, Maya clapped really loud and said “Good job Maria…you’re a great little singer.” They walked down the hallway to the rotunda holding hands.

Isn't that the cutest thing? I do hope they stay best friends forever ....

Chasing rainbows and puddle-splashing

2009-07-11T00:15:00.004-04:00

It's been a great week, but man, did it fly by fast! Monday, as I was driving home from Walgreens, I saw the most incredible rainbow I have ever seen in my life! It was a complete arc, absolutely HUGE, and I saw every single color in it ... red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. I was in awe. As I pulled into my street, I was anxious to get home so the girls could see it, but was disappointed to find you couldn't see it at all from my house. Everyone came outside, and being the adventureous types, the girls, Gran and I all hopped in the car to go see the rainbow down the street. But it was gone by the time we got back to my spot where I saw it. We tried to chase it down the street as we followed the rain, but it was gone for good. We saw bits and pieces here and there, but my babies never got a good look at it. I was disappointed they didn't get to see the rainbow, but was delighted when we were honored with Maria's rendition of "Doe, a deer, a female deer .... Ray, a drop of golden sunnnnnnn.... Me, a name, I call myself .... " She can truly sing almost the whole thing. What a cutie pie .... she's so sweet!

And Wednesday, during the torrential rainfall on my ride home, I saw that the roads in my neighborhood were difficult to drive through thanks to the flooding. I considered taking my girls out in the rain to play when it lightened up some, but then came the thunder and lightening, so obviously we did not go outside. But as soon as it was over, I made a couple of paper boats and me and the girls went out walking looking for water puddles to play in. I didn't see any anywhere in our front yard, so then we headed downhill toward the cul-de-sac and found the perfect puddles a couple of doors down from our house. We had a blast!!! Maya and Maria splashed and giggled and played for a long time. I just love my girls!!!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-06T02:52:00.003-04:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July holiday. I had a blast with my girls!! I wish 3 day weekends came along more often ....

Friday we spent the day with another of Maya's school friends, Evan, and his parents, Cathy and Tully, at Cathy's parents house and pool. They have an awesome pool, complete with pool house, and an outdoor bathroom that is far superior to my indoor bathrooms! But I digress .... Maya and Evan had a great time splashing in the pool for hours. Cathy is an awesome cook and grilled chicken, burgers and hot dogs. Getting Maya to stop swimming and slow down enough to eat is quite a challenge, but she did rather well this day. However, she did graze a little and leave and come back a few times to eat more of her burger. When she got down to the end of the burger and was walking around with it, Princess the dog came up and snatched the rest of her burger and ran off to eat it. It was so funny! Maya is still talking about it.

We had to leave earlier than I wanted to, in order to come home and meet Jen, our social worker, for our final post-home visit for Maria. We had not seen Jen in a while and it was so good to see her again. However, little Maria was sound asleep for much of her visit.... the girls had played so hard at Evan's grandparents' house, and they had not had a nap, so they fell asleep rather quickly on the way home. Maya woke up and ran to answer the door when Jen arrived, and then proceeded to entertain Jen with her usual diatribe of questions and discussions about pets. She is so funny! After Maya had grilled Jen on the type of pets she had, I looked at Jen and commented, "and I suppose you thought you would be asking the questions today, didn't you?" She laughed.

oops ... I'll have to continue this post later .... little Maya just woke up and said "mommy, I don't have anyone to sleep with me!" So off I go.....

Random thoughts

2009-07-01T00:02:00.004-04:00

Maya was so cute tonight. Ok, so she's cute every night. But this one stood out enough for me to make sure I updated the old blog. One of Maya's favorite things to say these days is "Can we go somewhere?" Which is cute as can be, and I do love to "go somewhere" myself, but that usually means it will cost me some money. So I said, "why don't we just go swimming instead?" Worked like a charm, as my little fish LOVES to swim. So I made mac and cheese and packed it all up to take out to the pool. We ate, or, as I like to describe it, I ate and they wiggled and twisted and tried their best to get out of chairs and into the pool. While swimming, Maria noticed a bird perched on the electrical wires behind our property. She started saying, "Hey, bird! tweet. tweet. Hey!" Maya then piped in with "You want to come swimming? Put on your bathing suit. Put on your little bathing suit." How cute is that?! That bird stayed around a long time and looked for all the world like he (she?) was just watching my girls swim.

Speaking of swimming, Maria is getting to be quite bold in the pool! She's my cautious one, the grounded one who analyzes everything for an hour or so before warming up to any new situation. But she actually lets us get her face wet now, and she'll stand on the side of the pool and jump in, all while holding my hands tightly, of course. She's asleep on the living room floor right now .. she just cannot fall asleep easily at night. So while Maya was heading off to bed, Maria was boucing off the walls ... literally ... she bounced off furniture and banged her head in there somewhere.

I found more pictures on my cell phone of Maya and Elysia. This was obviously after Maya corrupted Elysia and convinced her through peer pressure to get as wet in the stream as she was. So stinkin' cute!

And aren't these bows the cutest ever?! I'm dying to order them, and probably will, as shopping is my life, but I couldn't help but post them, too since they are so adorable! They come from this website, which I found through another friend's blog:

http://www.bowtiquelollipop.com/mayanfamilies.html

Prayers for Aviana, please!

2009-06-27T01:36:00.002-04:00

This is a friend of a friend of mine. The little girl, Aviana, was walking with her grandfather and they were hit by a car last week. The grandfather will be ok in time, but sweet little Aviana is still in a struggle for life. Aviana, like my babies, is from Guatemala. I simply cannot imagine the pain the parents are feeling right now. I firmly believe in the power of prayer, and would ask that all those who read this pray and/or send positive thoughts to this family, and especially to little Aviana.

http://avianareese.blogspot.com/

ok, just one more ... Happy Father's Day!!

2009-06-21T03:21:00.003-04:00

Random Pics

2009-06-21T02:38:00.004-04:00

After coming home from Charlotte, mommy took a rare NAP, made supper, and then took the girls outside to play in the kiddie pool. The good news is that daddy finally got the pool looking blue instead of green! Yay! So hopefully we can swim in the big pool soon, but if I'm taking them out by myself, I prefer the kiddie pool anyway ... safer, you know!

I think I could get a shot like this every year of Maya. Nothing more fun than falling in the pool backwards, you know...

Isn't this the cutest thing ever!?

This is a creek in a local park, where we took Maya for one of her school friend's birthday last weekend. I forgot there was a creek in that park, as we had not been there in a couple of years. I don't think Maya was even walking last time we went there. But oh, my ... it did not take her long to gravitate toward the water, and there she stayed for most of the party.

And this is Maya's newest BFF, Elysia. She's such a cutie-pie, and she is the reason Maya no longer wants her hair cut. Elysia's hair has never been cut, and comes down past her waist. These two are two of a kind. Her mom works at the daycare where both girls go, and she was telling me that a lot of the girls in the 3 year old class don't like to stay outside as much, as it gets too hot, and they don't like running around in the heat. Our girls, however, are right there with the boys wherever they go, and they love to run and jump and do the kung fu or spiderman moves the boys are doing. So what happened to the GIRL I requested from Guatemala? hmmm??? And Maria, of course, is not going to be left out!

This was at the same park with the creek. They were too cute! In case you can't tell, Maya's shorts are soaking wet. It didn't take her long to sit down in the creek. Elysia's dad and mom tried to tell her she can wade in the water, but she should try not to get her clothes wet, as they had other places to go after the party. I think I laughed out loud at them .. couldn't help it. To give her credit, Elysia did stay dry MUCH longer than Maya did. Here they were going up to the pavilion for cake and ice cream and the present-opening, and Elysia still had dry clothes. It wasn't until after this part of the party that Elysia finally gave in to peer pressure (sorry, Christen!) and followed Maya in sitting in the creek and splashing. Luckily, I had not only brought extra clothes for Maya to change in to, I had a spare set that Elysia could wear. I honestly didn't know there was water in this particular park, but I knew it was going to be hot, so thought I might take the girls to another park after this one, and the new park has a large water fountain area designed for kids to play in. So I had even brought bathing suits and towels, but we never got around to putting on bathing suits.

Another meet up with our Guatemalan friends!

2009-06-21T01:37:00.006-04:00

Charlotte has this awesome Latin-themed mall called Crossroads Mall. It is directly across the street from Carowinds, and has this huge play area that only costs $2 for 45 minutes of playtime. They close it down every hour for 15 minutes to clean it, which we mommies really like. We met some of our friends there today and had a great time! I didn't get very many pictures, as I was by myself with my two girls, and Maria tends to be really clingy for the first hour of anywhere we happen to go. So my hands were full, to say the least. But a good kind of full! Mary Ann got much better shots ... her blog is The Shrum Family Adventures that is linked under my favorite blogs. You can also get a glimpse at the play area in this incredible mall. One day I need to take Eric or cousin Lisa with me to this place so that I can actually SHOP, too.

This is Maya and Lilee ... Maya and Lilee became buds today. Maya seemed to think Lilee needed her help putting on her shoes, but they are the same age! Lilee turned 3 this year, but Maya will be 4 next month, and I guess at their age, that few months in between does make a difference, but they were so cute together.
And Sara Ava seemed a little taken with Maria. Maria can be VERY clingy, and especially so in new situations. Just being in my lap isn't enough .. she has to be in a certain position with me holding her tight with both arms, or she'll still keep repeating "hold you, mommy, hold you". Normally she warms up after an hour or so in my lap. It was almost time for us all to go when she finally let me put her down, and Sara Ava was holding her hand to keep her from getting too scared.

And the group shot. Mary Ann has boys unlike any I have ever met. They are so sweet around all the little girls, and they are sooo helpful with the younger ones! This time only Joel could come, but he was great with all the girls! Sara Ava and Lilee are his sisters. Daniel had to sit with his newest son, Zane, who just came home from Vietnam last fall, as Zane was NOT in the mood to sit for pictures. Chloe is standing beside Maria with her arm around her, also helping to keep Maria from being scared and crying. Chloe is Zane's sister.

And this is Zane. So glad you are home, buddy! It was a long wait for your mommy, and she looked like such a proud mommy today! Zane's older sister Kaitlyn was also there today, but somehow missed getting in the pictures. We're not missing you next time Kaitlyn!
We had a great time! Thanks, Mary Ann, for organizing all the meet ups for us!

Maria firsts!

2009-05-26T00:37:00.003-04:00

Guess who went peepee on the potty TWICE this week?! No, not Eric ... well, he probably did, but we didn't clap and cheer for him. Yep, it was Maria! She loves to sit on the potty, because, of course, Maya does it too. Maria loves to copy Maya. It's the cutest thing ever. Now, though, the problem seems to be that she doesn't like to keep her diaper on. And she doesn't quite understand that she needs to finish peeing BEFORE she gets off the potty. And she loves to just sit and tear the toilet paper and throw it in the water, but sometimes doesn't actually pee until she gets off the potty. So we still have a ways to go here, but it was exciting nonetheless.

Maria is also talking up a storm these days. Sometimes it takes me a minute or two to figure out what she's saying, but it's quite clear that she understands what she is saying, and that she is saying something important! Occasionally Maya understands it before we do, and she's quick to point out what it is Maria wants, which I also think is quite adorable.

Oh, and Gran told me one on Maya today. Eric took the girls over to his mom's for lunch Sunday so that I could have some time to work on stripping off the bathroom wallpaper, and they had fried chicken for lunch. Maya and Maria always get the chicken legs. Gran said that Maya came in the kitchen and said she wanted more chicken, but her choice of words was she wanted another "chicken with the handle". hehehe. Too cute!

The daycare had their Spring Fair last week, and the 3, 4 and 5 year olds sang. The theme was Love Notes from Jesus, and it was incredibly cute. Of course, my child was the best and cutest one, but I'm not sure all the parents noticed that. I don't know why....

More Beach Pictures

2009-05-04T02:59:00.004-04:00

We had such a great time this weekend at the beach! Maya had been so excited about going, but honestly, I don't think she really knew what "going to the beach" meant. We took her when she was just over a year old, but that was over 2 years ago, so she can't really remember that trip. We didn't get to go at all last year, so this was Maria's first beach trip ever. The hotel we usually stay at had a great pre-summer special rate, so we decided to go just for 2 nights since I already had Friday off anyway in anticipation of Maya's Gotcha Day. But, after spending $$ to get a dual-screen portable dvd player for our car (and let me tell you, that has GOT to be the best invention of the 21st century!), and $$ for a new cooler, and a new bathing suit for Maya (I didn't get a picture of the whole thing, but it came with a matching zippered vest that clips on to the bottom part of her bathing suit ... another excellent invention, I might add), all the dolloar store beach toys, sunscreen for 4, etc, etc, etc, it wasn't quite the inexpensive getaway that I had planned. But it was worth every penny.

So Maya was excited, and that excitement never waned during the trip. She loved to go out on the beach, but loved to swim in the hotel pool even more. The weather was great, but it was very windy the whole time, so it was still a little chilly to be out on the beach or by the pool when one was wet and/or not in full sunlight. So in the mornings and evenings, E would just take Maya to swim in the indoor pool. I think my girl might be part fish. She will jump in the water over and over and over again. Absolutely no fear at all. And now, with the vest on, she can jump in by herself, which stills scares this mommy some, as she can't swim without the vest. I really need to get her enrolled in swimming lessons this year, but back to the pictures....

Maria, however, wasn't quite as impressed. Maria is far more reserved, and still clingy when in an unusual place. And she's not the most water-friendly child out there. If you'll recall, when we were in Guate with her, she did NOT like bathtime and never did warm up to them while there. Once home with Maya, and seeing how much Maya loves the bath and water in general, she did much better and even liked to play in the little kiddie pool we used last summer when only one of us was home and didn't want to try to get both of them in the big pool. I'm trying to set the scene for the next picture, and I think it's already too late to make a long story short, but in essence, she did NOT want to get in the ocean. And prior to that, it was even a struggle just to get her dressed in her bathing suit. I got it on her, but it was a huge struggle to get the little cover-up on her. I managed to do it, but she was NOT happy about it, and I think this is still her pouting face. Sort of saying, "I don't care how interesting this huge sandbox is, I am NOT going to enjoy it!" And you will notice she is wearing her cover-up in all of her beach pictures, because once I got it on her and then tried to remove it when we got down to the beach, she absolutely refused to take it back off. So I decided that this was one of the battles I would choose not to pick:

And here we finally have the beginning of a smile. She was enjoying herself, but just wasn't going to let me see it yet! Eric did try to get her to dip her toes in the water, but she did NOT want to go near that big pool of water in the background. So we had a few tears when he tried, but he didn't force the issue and just brought her back to her sand, and she settled down and was fine for the rest of the time we were out there.

And finally I got a real smile! Until, of course, we got back to our room and I had to take it all back off AND get her in the tub to wash all the sand off. Oy.

In comparison, these smiles were easy to find all weekend:

I can't wait to go back! The girls did great in the car, thanks to that wonderful new DVD player. They love Nemo and can almost recite the whole thing. Maya can say the shark pledge ("I am not a mindless eating machine ...."), and Maria and I love to repeat the part where Crush and Squirt do the "fin, noggin, duuuuude" part. She'll give me five, we'll bump heads, and she'll say "duuuuude" .. so cute! Anyway, they slept a good part of the way down there, and were asleep within 5 minutes of leaving there today around 2:30. It's a 4 hour trip, and I was a little nervous about it, but it all worked out great. Nemo and Cinderella saw us home without any problem!

p.s. Oh, and around 12:30 on Sunday, just a couple of hours before we have to leave to come home, guess who finally wanted to get in the pool? yep... Maria! She kept pointing to it and saying "water", so I finally asked her if she wanted to get in the water and she nodded 'yes'. Wow. Once in, she did not want to get out, so I hated to have to tell her it was time to go and we had to go get dressed. She kept getting out of the pool to go to E and tell him "I water", meaning, of course, "look at me, Father, for I am in the water in the pool and am enjoying myself immensely!", and then she would come back to me and get back in. What a cutie-pie.

Gotcha Day!

2009-05-01T23:37:00.006-04:00

Happy Gotcha Day, sweet Maya! You have been the star of our lives for 3 years now, and I love you more every single day that goes by. I hope you have enjoyed your day today, and if all the smiles and laughter are any indication, I think you did!

Mommy and daddy love you very much, baby girl!

Check out Little Miss Independent!

2009-04-21T00:54:00.002-04:00

So we, of course, attend the regular stream of birthday parties hosted by schoolmates. Maya went to just such an event last Thursday evening at Mr. G's, a local pizza and play place. She had a blast! But there was one of those "moments" where I realized she's just not a baby anymore. We were all going to ride the bumper cars, but there wasn't enough room for all the kids on the first go round, so we waited for the next turn. Most of the 4-year old crowd was sitting on mom's lap in the bumper car, except for 1 little girl, I believe. That, of course, would be the one Maya watches. So when it came time for us to get on, my little rebel decided she was going on one by her self or she just would not get on at all! I saw her face and knew she meant business. That "I can do it by myself" rang loud and clear. So, being a 'pick your battles' kind of mom, I told her to go ahead and try it by herself, fully expecting her to just sit there and not be able to control the car and having to wait for others to run in to her. Boy, was I in for a surprise. Not only could she actually reach the controls, SHE USED THEM! To borrow a phrase from my MIL years ago, "it was like a dagger through my heart." I know I say all the time I can't believe how fast she is growing up, but it's true. And check out the smile the independent streak resulted in. Not to mention her little independent streak resulted in a rash of independent streaks and many of the kids rode the 2nd time sans maternal parental unit.

And then there was the more sedate merry-go-round.

And the thrill of the small indoor playground equipment.

And a shot of Maria just because she's so darned cute. This one is not too far behind big sis in the independence area, either. Except her phrase is "I do it!" She loves to be tickled, but then will say in the cutest way ever, " 'top it!" (aka 'stop it'). And then she'll giggle some more anyway and get you to do it again. Her latest independent streak is wanting to climb into the car seat by herself, and no, it does NOT matter if you are in a hurry. My lack of time in no way hinders her insistence that she climb up herself. So if I try to put her in her seat anyway, watch out! Have you ever tried to strap in a wiggling monkey? Impossible.

And don't forget the Easter eggs!

2009-04-13T19:54:00.001-04:00

Much fun was had by all! (especially mommy!)

Easter continued....

2009-04-13T19:47:00.001-04:00

Making Easter cookies!

And tasting said cookies is the best part!

Hoppy Easter!

2009-04-12T23:12:00.002-04:00

Spring has sprung!

2009-04-05T10:17:00.002-04:00

This is Omi. She's my mom, and we moved her out of the house she was in for 40+ years and into an independent living place. She seems to enjoy it there, but I know it was difficult for her to have to pare down her 'stuff' so drastically. She moved from a 1700 sq ft house into a 700 sq ft living space. And the woman had more stuff than God, I think. But we did it, and we do have a lot of her things in storage, until we are sure she is happy there. We might move her to a bigger unit if it becomes available, and then she could fit more of her stuff in there with her. But we'll just wait and see how it goes for now.And this means spring is here! Happy girl, riding her big sister's car, wearing shorts, and enjoying the sunshine.

We decided to hang some plastic eggs from our tree. Really, though, we decided to go outside and play so that inside the house would be quiet and Maria could actually sleep. But just look at how tall my baby is getting!

And this was after Maria woke up and came outside to play with us. This was too cute not to photograph....

And Maria really did go, "whee!" as she started sliding down the slide. Cute, cute, cute!

Three in one day?

2009-03-16T23:17:00.004-04:00

Ok, so is it obvious I was home today? Maria was sick, bless her little heart, and Maya did have some congestion, so I stayed home with them. I had hoped for a nice quiet day to catch up on some house chores, but of course, that never happened! My kids may be sick, but they were quite capable of going full steam today! I think the pre-nap congestion meds just hyped them up even more, so no naps today. I was so looking forward to a nap. Anyway, here are more pics of my babies, at Maria's birthday party!

This is why I picked Monkey Joe's for the party. They have ELMO! A whole bouncy thing is strictly Sesame Street, and since we were having an Elmo party, it was perfect!

Many people commented that they had never seen Maria that outgoing. She just played and laughed and followed the other kids and even led the way occasionally. My normally shy lap baby was quite the queen of the party. Go, Maria, go!!

Would you believe I never remembered to take a picture of the cake?! I couldn't believe it myself. I figured it out when we were all back home and I was taking yet-another-slice of cake for myself. Nope, not one picture of the cake. Hopefully someone else got one at some point during the day. It did look almost exactly like last year's cake, but I did add a little more color to the corners, and of course the wording was for 2nd birthday instead of 1st. We practiced blowing out candles at home that week, and Maria did a perfect job blowing out her two little candles!

Oh, and can you believe these were taken in the same week???

2009-03-16T14:33:00.002-04:00

Monday, March 2 ... 4-5 inches of snow. Schools closed, no work for me and E. Saturday March 7th: in the 70's, playing outside, barefoot! Crazy weather in the south.

And these are just because they're so darned cute!

Sister love!

How about a photo Monday?

2009-03-16T14:19:00.002-04:00

I finally got these downloaded and actually have a few minutes to myself, so time to share! It's just so hard to pick a few out of all the photos we take! I'm sure it's obvious why I love this one....

Is she not the cutest thing ever?

Well, maybe Maria just ties with this one as the cutest thing ever. To quote Madagascar, they are so cute I just want to "dunk them in my coffee."

Maya was having a little jealousy over Maria's new toy. Cute, cute, cute.

And this was the birthday girl when she first got her gift. She loves it! This was from mommy and daddy and Omi. Gran and Poppi got her a new toddler bed, and she has been sleeping in it all night for a few weeks now. No more crib babies at my house. They're just growing up so fast.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Sweet Maria!

2009-03-06T00:42:00.004-05:00

Permit me to reminisce ...

Our baby girl in Guatemala: February 2008: 11 months old
I hope this is not indicative of her future driving habits: August, 2008

Christmas, 2008: This is a typical look for Maria. Adorable, huh?

Celebrating Valentine's Day, 2009, with her classmates at her preschool/daycare. It's so much fun to watch the vast difference in abilities in a room full of 2 year olds:

And our most recent pictures of snow in SC in March, 2009: Maria was not really happy with trying to walk in 4-5 inches of snow.

I can't believe my baby is TWO! How the heck did that happen?!?!

To Maria:

From that first glimpse through emailed photographs in March, 2007 to our first meeting in Guatemala in February, 2008. To our reunion at the airport with big sister Maya, who doted on you from the very beginning. To the first time you sat up by yourself, crawled, walked, and talked. I'm glad I was there to be part of it all. You have brought incredible joy to my life, and filled an empty spot that no one else could possibly fill. You have made my family complete.

I love to watch you grow, even though it is painful to see you grow up so quickly. I love to watch you learn new things. You furrow that little brow and concentrate so hard on anything you do. You can spend hours just putting on and taking off socks. You love to color. You love puzzles. You love your cat, Marlowe. You love to do anything that Maya is doing, and I'm constantly having to watch to make sure you don't try to jump off the couch just like she does! You are learning to talk, and it's just the cutest thing ever to hear you tell Maya "I sawry" (translation: "I'm sorry"), and to watch you clap your hands and yell for Marlowe, as if he's really going to come running over to you. At 11 months old you could not even turn over or sit up by yourself in the crib. And now at two, you can do it all (or at least seem to think you can do it all!) You are becoming more independent, yet still remain such a mommy's girl, and even more of a daddy's girl. Your first words in the morning are usually "Daddy! Daddy!" But that's after you have had some time to adjust to being awake, as you do not appear to be a morning person like Maya is. You're such a night owl and late morning sleeper, just like your dad. You are a wonderful snuggler. You don't like for anyone to help you eat or drink anymore, unless you are really hungry and you can't get the utensils to cooperate fast enough. Everyone is so amazed at all you have accomplished in your short time here. Gran says it's hard to believe you are two already, but that it also seems like you have been a part of us forever. Poppi says you are something else. Omi calls you her little sweetheart. Papa, if he were here, would call you "a living angel." I call you mine.

You've come a long way, baby.

Gotcha!

2009-02-18T22:44:00.004-05:00

I just can't keep up the pace. Work, kids, work, house, work, laundry, work, cleaning, work, paying bills, etc, etc, etc. So I find I'm missing photo ops and posting opportunities. I hate that I missed getting pictures downloaded for Valentine's Day. I went to Maria's speech therapy for the first time on Friday the 13th and haven't posted about her updates. And I went to two cute little Guatemalan's Valentine parties at school. I did get some pictures, but just haven't had time to download them.

And I hate that I missed posting about Maria's FIRST Gotcha Day!! Friday, February 13th was the one year anniversary of having Maria join our family. I know some don't like the "gotcha" term, but that's exactly what happened. We got Maria. And Maria got us. So, I took the day off to just play with my girls! I had completely forgotten at first that Maria's speech therapy is on Friday's, so I actually got to go with her, and the therapist made handprint hearts for me and for Gran (she is used to Gran bringing Maria, so we couldn't NOT make a handprint heart for her now, could we? If only I could remember to give it to her .....)

We had such a blast! After her speech therapy, I took her back to school only because I had taken miniature cupcakes for her class to celebrate V-day. They weren't going to do anything other than exchange cards with each other, but Maya's class was having a Valentine party, so I decided Maria's class needed to do the same and I volunteered to bring everything. So we had mini cupcakes, juice boxes, and pink napkins. They were so cute! Maria, not used to having me in her class, wouldn't get out of my lap to eat her cupcake. If you know Maria at all, you realize how HUGE that is. Maria is not one to miss a meal, or a snack. All you have to do is ask her if she wants something to eat, and she'll immediately stop whatever she is doing and nod and head for the kitchen! So cute. But she finally sat in her chair long enough to eat her little cupcake (and eat it all she did. Some of the kids only licked at the icing, and some ate a little bit, and some, like Maria, polished off the whole thing). Her little classmates are so cute ... it's amazing the difference between the kids at this age. But they are all adorable!

Then I had to leave her there, because her class was going to make something for the mommies and daddies, and I wanted to go to Maya's party next. So I got to her class in time to help put out the lunch food ... heart-shaped jelly sandwiches, cheetoes, M&Ms, grapes and a heart-shaped cookie. ALL of her favorite foods! I hardly ever see my girl sit still that long or eat that much in one sitting. But she ate it all except the cookie (it wasn't chocolate with filling ... :-) ), and she asked for more cheetoes twice. My job was just to bring the juice boxes. They never ask me for anything complicated in that class ... bless them! I had such a great time. And then Maya was so excited because I told her she was going home with ME after the party. Mrs. Catoe, bless her heart, is such a sweet lady, and she volunteered to go get Maria for me, so I wouldn't have to leave Maya, go get Maria, come back and get Maya and then leave. They have a rule about not letting the big kids on the little kids wing, which kind of makes sense if you think about the big kid germs and noise level while little kids are sleeping. So Mrs. Catoe brought Maria over, and I don't know who was more excited, me or my girls! And the day was just beginning....

We went home for naps, and after naps Auntie Lisa came over and we were took the girls to Build A Bear to continue with our Gotcha Day celebration! I sort of cheated there ... a friend of mine at work gave the girls gift certificates for Build A Bear for Christmas, and we had not used them yet. So we used them Friday. Maria picked out a gray kitty cat, and Maya kept going back to the zebra because he looks like Marty on Madagascar. The zebra cost more than most animals as it was for some animal rescue fund or something like that. So I tried to get her to select a less expensive animal, but she wasn't having it. So the zebra it was. She was a little difficult to keep focused on the task at hand, so between not paying attention when we were trying to pick out outfits for the animals, and hers costing more to start with, she did not get an outfit for her zebra, which of course is named Marty. I helped Maria pick out a cute pink outfit for her gray kitty cat, which we decided to name "Sandra" in honor of Maria's birth name. It was her special day, after all. But it was MY special day, too ... I enjoyed every second! A long, 3-day weekend and it just flew by. Now it's late Wednesday night and I have to get back to work. But I just had to stop and post so I wouldn't forget all the details. I wish I could take every Friday off and play. My next day off will be March 6th ... Maria's second birthday! woohoo! Oh, and for those of you perched on the edge of your seats waiting for my decision, I finally decided to go with the Elmo theme again for Maria's second birthday. It will be a whole new crowd, after all, and she just loves Elmo.

I haven't downloaded any pictures all year, so I'll just post one of my favorite shots of our pickup trip in Guatemala one year ago exactly. I just love this one ... it took a long time to get a smile out of my girl in Guatemala, but once she started, she never stopped. She has the cutest little grin ever!

They're growing up too fast!!

2009-02-06T00:48:00.003-05:00

Speaking of babies growing up too fast, I just noticed in my last post that I said Maya's picture was from her 2K class Christmas program. oops. Let's make that the 3K class! My baby is 3 years old, and will be 4 in July. I feel like I should be at an AA meeting or something saying that. I'm admitting it. My baby is growing up. My little baby girl will be 4 in July. Maybe if I keep saying it enough, I'll believe it. Maya will be 4 ... Maya will be 4 ... Maya will be 4 ....

nope, not working.

Oh, and let's make this worse .... MARIA will be TWO years old in just a few more weeks. EEK! I can't take it.

So, what sane person obsesses and stresses over a 2 year old's birthday party? Just the thought of actually picking a theme is stressing me out to no end! Last year's party was an Elmo party, but she had only been home a month with us, and really wasn't "into" anything yet here. This year, she loves Elmo, but I feel funny using the same theme two years in a row, even though it will be a completely different crowd at this party. Last year she had not been home long, so her birthday was a chance to meet and greet a lot of family and friends. So other options, which she also likes, are Dora (who she happens to look exactly alike!), Bees/Butterflies (her nursery was butterflies, but she does this bee 'sting' thing that is adorable!), Jungle Book, or Madagascar. Or any wile animals. or any farm animals. or ..... I'm sure you get the idea. I have pretty much decided on Elmo again, but am not 100% with that yet. We'll see.

ok, must go to bed. it's after 1:00 a.m. and mama needs some sleep!

I love 'em more than Chocolate!

2009-01-30T23:05:00.003-05:00

Maya is adorable. Then she's not so adorable. Then she's stinking adorable. Then, not so much. And she's teaching Maria everything she knows! This 3-year-old tantrum thing is really getting old. She knows what she is doing is naughty. But she does it anyway. Tonight's finale was after bathtime, when I was trying to make her brush her teeth. She normally does it just fine, but was already mad tonight because I sent her out of the bathroom after the bath because I refused to listen to her whine and cry (loudly) because she didn't like being punished for screaming loudly and not listening to mommy. But after the beginning battle, I told her in no uncertain terms to brush her teeth. She picked the toothbrush up. I thought she was complying with my request. Then she stood up, looked at me, and put it back on the counter! Sigh. I hope one day that she will be blessed with a little girl just as .... oh, let's call it "spirited". I will laugh my head off.

But I gotta say, in spite of the tantrums, I just love that kid to pieces. She can make me crazy with her defiance, and in the next minute, have me laughing hysterically at her antics. The latest is she will sing and dance in the tub and Maria will try to copy her singing and will also mimic whatever dance or arm movements go along with the made-up song. It's just too darned cute!

But on to the pictures! This was from her 2K class at daycare (church preschool program and daycare) when they had their little Christmas program. Cutest thing I've ever seen! They all did really well! Here they are rocking baby Jesus.....

Here she is jingling bells. The poor little boy on the left wearing the red sweater with white stripes got bopped in the head with the jingle bells. I had to watch the video a couple of times before I realized it was the boy behind him that got him, not Maya. whew!

And Maria. Sweet Maria. Who is being taught everything Maya knows. She has learned to say "no!" and to hit. But she has also learned to march her little self up to Maya's room when we tell her to go to time out (because, silly, that's where timeout MUST be, as that is where Maya always goes when she gets in trouble!) After about 30 seconds, she will come back to the door and peep out, and we'll tell her she can come back downstairs. Or even better, Maya will go up and get her, hold her hand as she walks her back down the stairs, and lead her over to us and tell her, "now tell mommy you are sorry." And Maria will say "saaaawwwwy" . Just adorable.

Maria, as I think I have mentioned before, is NOT a morning person. So E gets her up in the morning and changes her diaper. Then brings her downstairs and sets her in a chair while he goes to get her milk and breakfast. This is what she does once he sets her down. hehehe. cute, cute, cute.

I know everyone who saw this just went "awwww." How could you not?!

I love these girls more than chocolate! And if you know me at all, you know how much love that would be for me!! Today chocolate was involved in breakfast, lunch, snacktime and pre- and post-dinner snacks. I could live off of chocolate. But I'd give it all up for my babies. If I had to, that is. No need to make a choice now, right? I think I hear the brownies in the kitchen calling me.....

New Family Pics

2009-01-11T22:49:00.002-05:00

Yes, we have the copyright release on these ....
These were taken by Bella Sposa Photography, and I must say they are my very favorite photos ever! Oh, ok, so maybe it's the subject that make it so great this time ... I mean really, how bad could pictures be with these adorable faces?! But I was so impressed with them. This was actually a fundraiser for the hospital I work for, and we had only a 1/2 hour time frame for taking them. That may seem like plenty of time, but try to capture two running targets in that time frame! Maria is extremely reserved and shy around strangers, but after an hour or so, she warms up and becomes quite animated. However, that's not going to happen in 1/2 an hour. And Maya was her usually sometimes bubbly and outgoing self, and her sometimes pouty and not wanting to cooperate self. It was interesting. But yet, the photographer somehow managed to capture my girls' personalities PERFECTLY in the middle picture below. Maya, my sweet, happy, feet-off-the-ground, hair flying in the breeze as she whizzes on by child, and Maria, my lovable, reserved, shy, grounded, steady and stable child.

Maya & the plege of allegiance

2009-01-11T01:22:00.002-05:00

Isn't this the cutest thing ever?!

Oh, my mommy pride overfloweth...

Holiday photos

2009-01-02T01:09:00.003-05:00

I just realized I completely missed Thanksgiving here somehow. Oh well. No excuses. Thanksgiving was nice. Lots of food, ate at the in-laws house. My mother joined us. That's it. Now on to Christmas!

Yes, Santa does visit our house. Maya has an incredible fear of Santa. So no photo ops with my wee ones sitting on Santa's lap. I don't want to pay for the psychotherapy we would need if that was forced on the poor kid. But we are trying to get her to understand the good in that jolly old elf. Everyone was trying to ask Maya this year about Santa, and poor kid would just look terrified. They would ask what he's bringing her, or if he was coming to her house, or God forbid the "you have to be a good girl or Santa won't come see you" phrase! She does NOT like the man and does NOT want him in her house, so that threat certainly held no power over her! But we explained more than once how he'll come here, but she will be asleep and she won't have to see him at all, and that mommy and daddy will see him and just take the toys he leaves and keep them for her and Maria until they wake up. And we put out the required cookies and milk because he's going to be hungry after bringing all those gifts for her and Maria! She still didn't really 'get it' until Christmas morning when she saw the loot! It was the cutest thing ever to see her eyes get so big when they came downstairs! I think this is the last year we'll have to sleep in a little. Maya is an early riser in general, so we had to wake Maria up to get them downstairs at the same time. But enough words. On to the pictures!

Favorite toys this year: I'd say for Maya the Wiggles guitar was a huge hit, as was the Sleeping Beauty Vanity Table. She loved playing with the curling iron and Aurora's hair! For Maria, she loved the animal choo-choo train. As for non-Santa gifts, Maya absolutely adored the little ironing board and iron that Gran gave her, and also the Elefun game that Omi got for her. Those have been well used in the week since Christmas. Maria loved all of it ... the Little People toys, the Learn about Town she got from her speech therapists, and all the musical toys (including her own Wiggles guitar)! Maria plays very well on her own, and all these toys allow her to do that. But she also plays well with Maya and her toys, when they are not arguing over whose toy it is, that is. One of Maria's current words used daily is "mine!" Maya loves all her toys, but she mostly loves whatever it is that Maria has in her hands at any given moment. I used to love, love, love getting gifts for my birthday and Christmas. But I can honestly say that this has been my very favorite Christmas ever, and would have been if I had not received one single gift. And my gifts meant nothing compared to the gift I received in my girls' smiles and laughter and utter joy Christmas morning. It's the same way they light up when they see Gran, or Omi, or Aunt Lisa. So imagine having Omi and Gran AND presents on Christmas morning, all in one place! My mom spent the week with us, and Gran came over Christmas morning to see what Santa Clause left them. I was up until 4:00 that morning putting together all of the things that Santa brought (because of course Santa brings many of the toys in boxes, because he outsources much of his toy production these days, and he just doesn't have time to assemble EVERYTHING and still make it around the world in one evening), plus making sure the breakfast casserole was ready to put in the oven when we all awoke, and making the honey bun cake I wanted to have ready for our guests. So 7:00 a.m. arrived mighty early that morning, but I wouldn't change a thing. Oh wait, I did decide that next year, I'm going to see if Santa can arrange to deliver some of the outsourced toys early, and I'm going to distribute them to my own outsourced help. And Aunt Lisa and Uncle Robert, and Uncle Russell and Aunt Kathy, and maybe a few others can help assemble some of these gifts and store them until Christmas Eve. So that way, mommy can get some sleep next year! Think Santa could arrange that for mommy??

No, I have not given up blogging.... it just looks that way.

2009-01-02T00:39:00.002-05:00

So a whole Christmas season has gone by without a single blog from me. The fact that I'm writing this one at 12:40 a.m. should be a clue as to why. And I think the only reason I'm taking the time to write this one is the guilt Sarah made me feel when I read all about Lily's Christmas Eve, Christmas day and New Year's Day.

Sigh.

Guilt. It's a mom's best friend. I want my girls to have absolutely everything for Christmas, but I don't want them to be spoiled. I want to be a laid-back, cool, 'hip' mom, but I want my girls to respect my authority. I don't want to be strict, but I want them to be disciplined. I want to be able to give them treats, but I want them to be healthy. I want to do absolutely everything for them, but I want them to be independent. I want them to be giving and trusting of others, but I don't want them to be taken advantage of. I want them to understand they have been given an incredible opportunity in this country, but I don't ever want them to feel indebted to me and their daddy, as THEY have saved ME in so many ways. I want them to know their birth mother and the sacrifice she made for them, but I selfishly don't want them to ever become more attached to her than to me. Oh, where does it end? Does the line ever become clear?

Anyone else ever think they were a much better mother before they actually had kids? Me!! Me!! I had such idealistic attitudes... my kids wouldn't ever be spoiled rotten, or ever act up in public, and I would NEVER give in to tantrums. TV would be very limited in my house, if I allowed it at all, and it would NEVER be used to babysit the kids. And I would watch what they eat like a hawk, and not allow any sugar in their diet for at least the first 2 years of their life. Bwahahahaha! And God forbid if MY child ever ran wild in a store. Or created a scene in a restaurant! And heavens, I certainly never understood parents who would actually bribe their own children to do things! Children should do what they are told without expecting anything in return, right? Oh, I just kill myself with the guffaws on that one.

Well, having said all that, I do happen to think my kids are perfectly normal. And I do think I'm a pretty decent mother in spite of not living up to my former expectations. I mean really, what's wrong with ice cream at 10:00 in the morning occasionally? It's milk, right? And so what if it's a complete, out-and-out bribe for pooping in the potty instead of in pants? I mean, a mom has to do what a mom has to do in order to keep her baby from being thrown out of daycare because she has regressed in the art of pooping in the potty, all because stupid DHEC regulations say the 3K kids MUST go to the potty by themselves, right? (And Maya, I hope you read this one day, just in case I forget to use this information against you in your rebellious teenage years somehow ... hehehe!) And so what if the baby gets the same treat, just to avoid the tantrum you know would be coming if one child got ice cream and the other didn't? And ok, so what if they eat it in the living room so that they can watch Jungle Book for the 2nd time in a row, because mommy really needs to take a shower and clean the kitchen before the entire family descends upon the house for the holiday festivities! I can clean the couch later of the chocolate drippings.....

Back to my regular scheduled (hah!) blogging next time....

Ramblings and Musings, and really late Halloween pictures

2008-11-16T23:52:00.004-05:00

This is my friend, Lea, the one lone friend I kept in contact with from high school. Her sister has a Halloween party each year, and we were actually able to be in C this year to attend. She was a HUGE help, as I had the girls by myself that weekend. She's great at just jumping in and taking one or both of the girls and keeping them occupied to give me some time to rest. I've got awesome friends!
It did not take this one long to figure out the 'free candy' thing! And boy did she eat a lot of candy that night! But fun was had by all....

So maybe the 'by all' part is a little over enthusiastic. Maria didn't quite know what to make of the whole thing. But she did learn all about lollipops that night! She had never had one before, and I actually let her eat the one my SIL gave her (this is in front of their house). I was worried she might choke on it somehow, but darned if she didn't eat the whole thing! Little monkey... oh, wait ... little kitty! Yep, that little one learns fast. Just feed her and she's quite content.

And this was before we got on the road to start the festivities.... she was NOT a happy camper when mom put her down to take the picture. But really, what could be so wrong? Just because mom puts a strange outfit on her, complete with cat ears, and then paints stuff on my face using her makeup ... what in the world could be wrong with that? poor kitty....

Now on to the ramblings....Maya has reached an all-time high (low?) with the temper tantrums. We're just about at our wit's end here ... she is very strong-willed, and has caused quite the scene in more than one public location. We've dealt with it before, but not to THIS extent! The last straw was when she once again ran from E when he took the girls to daycare one morning. He had to put Maria down to run after Maya, and Maria ended up falling and had a pretty bad nose bleed as a result. So that was it for me .... I announced it was the beginning of boot camp for Maya. I got off work just a little early to beat E home, and I got out the big trash bags and loaded up ALL of her toys. There were none left in her bedroom at all, and only a couple of big items left in the living room, which we forbid her to touch. Several things were moved into Maria's room, but we didn't let her in there, either. I think this was last Tuesday evening, and I told her she had to earn back all of her toys with good behavior. If she would be well-behaved for an hour, she would earn one toy back. As of Thursday morning, she still did not have any toys back. But by Saturday, she was doing very well and had a few toys back and could watch movies again. Then Sunday came ... she did very well in the morning, but then E took her out so that mommy could stay home with Maria while Maria napped. Maria had one of those strange nights where she was awake at 4:00 a.m. and wouldn't go back to sleep. So she was napping by 9:30 a.m., and mommy tried to nap, too, since guess who had to be up with her at 4? But I digress.... when E came home with Maya, she was very sleepy, but by the time we went potty and got her in bed for her nap, she was wide awake and would NOT go back to sleep. I empasize the 'would' in that 'would not', because she still rubbed her eyes and was obviously tired, but she wouldn't lay still long enough to fall asleep. I finally gave up and sent E back in there and told Maya I was leaving and going shopping. Well, that did not go over well at all, as anticipated. I also made her take off her much-beloved halloween shirt with the blinking pumpkin. Also did not go over well. The tantrums were back! She was pretty bad the rest of the day .... It does seem that taking away beloved items works best on her, plus out-and-out bribes. If she's good in school all day, including no pee or poop in her pants at school, then she gets a special treat at night. Friday it was getting her toes polished. At Target Friday night it was picking out her toenail polish. Saturday it was getting to go to Sams and tasting all the samples they pass out. Saturday evening at the mall it was picking out her dessert when we got home. So it's now Sunday night and she is once again toyless and pumkin-shirtless. If anyone out there has any great ideas, I'm all ears!

Other than the temper thing, she really can be a sweetie-pie. She loves to "help" mommy in the kitchen. And she's a great help with Maria most days ... always wanting to bring her things and help her eat and dress. She's so much fun. Saturday while Maria was still napping, Maya and I made edible playdough. She had a blast! I let her use sprinkles for decorations, and she loves nothing more than eating 1/2 of them and then playing with the rest.

As for Maria, she is making amazing strides in her speech! Ever since the ear tubes were put in, she hss been saying more and more words! She qualified for speech therapy under the babynet program, but her evaluation was done only a day or two after her ear tubes were put in. Even the speech therapists cannot believe how far she has come in just a few short weeks. She qualified for a year's worth of services, but they are not sure she'll be able to remain in the program that long. But until then, they are just enjoying having her there at the local rehab (inside the local hospital). They said it's nice to see children that they can make such an obviousl difference with, knowing that her delay was merely environmental. And just today I realized she was actually trying to sing some song on the toddler song CD we were listenting to in the car.... I don't remember the name of it, but it has several animals and animal sounds in it, and she would hum and sing and occasional word and make some of the animal sounds. It was sooo cute! Some of her newer words are "hello" and "my-my" (which means Maya, of course) and "mine!" whenever me or maya take something from her. She also does animal sounds of "moo", "meow", "woof" and "quack". But I have to admit her 'quack' sounds an awful lot like her 'duck', so it's not very clear. But she understands things really well! I can tell her to go get her shoes and she'll do it, or ask if she's ready to eat and she'll stop whatever she is doing and head straight for the kitchen! She says 'mama' quite often now, but not as often as she still says "da-da." I think she's going to be a daddy's girl.

So much more to tell about what they are doing, what they are learning, and how much fun I am having with them! I so look forward to weekends, and then they just fly by so quickly. Not the least bit restful, of course, but I can rest in oh, another 20 years or so. I constantly look at them and wonder what their life will be like. A friend of E just recently lost his wife to cancer, and they have 3 young children at home. So it keeps bringing back to me how precious and fragile life is, and how very much I want these girls to have happy, healthy lives, and how very much I want to be there to see those lives. I imagine Maya working with animals, outdoors, and most likely around water somehow. Being a Shamu trainer would be the perfect job for her! And Maria will be more likely to have an indoor office job .. something that doesn't require moving fast, and takes lots of attention to detail and figuring something out. She's very studeous when she's playing with something. They both love animated movies about animals with lots of music. They loved Jungle Book, Garfield, and now Madagascar is the current favorite.

Well, that's it for now. After midnight again, and I really MUST get to bed for my 4-5 hours of sleep before work again.

Baby, or not?

2008-10-21T22:24:00.003-04:00

Maya is such a hoot... one minute she wants to do everything herself, and the next she wants to be 'carried like a baby.' So funny. Here she is showing us her tumbling skills. I have GOT to get this girl in a gymnastics class!

And Maria, being quite the hoot herself, gives this attempt to copy Maya's tumble:
We met another group of semi-local Guatemalan adoptive familes at the zoo in C. We have met once before at a Latino-themed mall across the street from Carowinds, and we had a great time. We had to leave the zoo early, due to having two exhausted girls who had not had a nap by 2:30. But it was soooo much fun to meet / see these other families. I hope we can do it again soon! And these shots would be Maria's attempts to copy everything Maya does. So stinking cute!

Oh, I managed to solve part of my supper dilemma. I bought a new crock pot that is programmable, so I can set it on low for 8 or 9 hours and then it automatically switches to "warm". LOVIN' IT! So far our favorite meals have been pot roast with carrots and potatoes, and BBQ pork (boneless pork ribs in some sort of sauce ... either beef broth or lipton onion soup mix or even better vinegar and chicken broth!) yum. I don't use it every day of course, but I try to use it at least twice a week. Now if I could just find a meal that both of my girls would eat! They are complete opposites still, and Maria is just not fond of any sort of meat other than ham. Maya likes meat but is not much of a fan of vegetables, which Maria loves, of course. Maria's current favorite is green beans. Maya likes candy instead. bwahaha! She asks for candy at least 5 times a day. Gee ... wonder where she gets that from?!?!?!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love these girls? I simply adore them, and I can't wait to get home from work every single day. So many people tell me I need to find time for "me", but I waited a long time for these babies, and I TRULY enjoy nothing more than planning a weekend full of Maya and Maria time! And I know, without a doubt, that in just a few weeks (or so it will seem), they will be all grown up and leaving my nest, and I'll have more than enough "me time" after that!

I found pictures!

2008-10-09T00:47:00.002-04:00

I found recent pictures after all in my photobucket account! I forgot I had loaded them to post somewhere else, so here they are!

This is the infamous Marlowe the cat. Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE at Maya's daycare knows about Marlowe. She would talk about him long before she could say coherent sentences, so every other word could be "marlowe", and then she would say "marlowe's crazy". I can't tell you how many times I was asked at the daycare "who is marlowe?" Here we have a bird that has actually landed on our window screen and was just hanging there for some strange reason. Marlowe spotted him, and poor little kitty about had a stroke trying to get to that bird. I see it as tantamount to someone hanging M&Ms outside the window and locking me inside the house with the windows nailed shut.

After the bird finally moved on to the ground, I couldn't resist this shot:

We have an inground pool, but if I'm home by myself with the girls, I prefer this pool. The suit Maria is wearing is a hand-me-down from Maya. Maya wore it last year for her 2nd birthday party, but it already fits Maria. hehehe.

Ever since Maria started walking, and then running and climbing, she gets so proud of herself whenever she does something Maya can do! Then she'll turn to us and give the cutest little grin ever....here she climbed on the little step stool and found she could look out the window.

And this is the fearless one. The one who really doesn't know how to swim, but does know how to hold her breath underwater, and who is more than thrilled to just jump in the pool. Yeah, makes a mom feel good knowing there is a big old pool in our back yard. We have GOT to get this kid some swimming lessons! In the meantime, we keep the 'chime' on our alarm system turned on, so we can always hear the beep-beep if someone opens the door. So far, so good ... she hasn't tried to get in the pool area without an adult there yet. And she will have lessons before next summer! This happens to be my cousin's pool .. the cousin without kids. So she can afford to have a gas line hooked up to her pool and provide heated water for us. yay! I don't even need our pool anymore ...it's so much nicer to be able to use someone else's without the maintenance! The next house we buy will be in a neighborhood that has a community pool, but NOT a pool in my backyard.

Tired, so tired....

2008-10-08T23:35:00.003-04:00

Work has been absolutely crazy lately, and I've compensated by feeding my children PB&Js every day for lunch last week. I think they even had it Sunday night, too. Last week from Sunday to Friday evening, I had a total of 16 hours of sleep. None on Sunday night because I had a spreadsheet due first thing Monday morning. I got a few hours Monday thru Thursday and then practically none again on Thursday night, redoing the same spreadsheet over and over to test possible rates for a managed care contract negotiation. Friday night I finally got a little more sleep, but still went to bed late because I had to do 3 loads of laundry in order for us to leave early enough Saturday morning to get to the zoo in Columbia. We were meeting some other Guatemalan adoptive families, and I certainly didn't want to miss it! We had a great time, until my girls were starting to crash from not having had their nap by 2:30. So I had to leave the rest of the group, pack up my girls and head to mom's (Omi's) house where we would be spending the night.

Omi's house is not exactly restful, as her house is definitely not baby-proof, plus I have to watch everything my mother gives the girls to eat or drink. I try not to be too strict about what they eat, but mom is a little over-the-top. She doesn't see anything wrong with letting them have sips of her Mountain Dew, fully loaded with caffiene and sugar! Then cookies and candy on top of it, and whatever else they want to eat. She asks us every single hour what we want to eat. Nothing, mom, NOTHiNG .... we just ate 1/2 hour ago... but she really does mean well. She just wants everyone to eat and be happy.

This week is better, but still hectic. Still working on the same project at work, in addition to another project that was due by COB Tuesday afternoon. So again, little to no sleep on Sunday night. I see a pattern here that I really don't care for. But yay!! I have a new employee starting in a couple of weeks and he seems to be extremely bright AND a database guru. I can't wait! Best of all, he's internal and is transferring to my department, so he won't need nearly as much training! Double YAY!

I rambled on about how busy I have been to say this ... I want to apologize to my girls for letting work come first. But when I have things due, they are due, and I have to get them done. I seem to have to complete every task on time AND I have to do it well or I just can't stand it. But then I let things slide at home that I should not let slide. I have not been home before 6:00 in quite a while now. So it's been 7:00 some nights before we have supper, and then I don't want to rush from supper to baths, so we get baths late around 8:00, so now the girls are going to bed a little later. They seem to handle it just fine, so I hope I'm not scarring them for life. I am going to go in to work late on Friday so that I can take them to school, as it is picture day and I want to be the one to make sure their hair is still fixed correctly after we get there (some little GuatAmericans I know like to remove hair accessories in transit to school each day, not to mention shoes and socks). And I'm also going to get off work an hour or so early so I can go pick them up after school to see how the picture session went. And to check Maya's cubby for myself to see how many clothes are gathered there, and to make sure I get her napmat to bring home to wash this weekend. If the weather is nice when we leave, I hope to take them somewhere fun, like the park, or maybe to Converse to see daddy's office since they will (hopefully) still have their nice picture outfits on. I can't wait! My boss did say I could just take the whole day off, but I still do not have a lot of leave saved up and want to wait and use my leave time during the holidays instead.

My guilty conscious led me to Target after the girls were in bed, and I bought a new crock pot to try to feed everyone real meals on weeknights. Then I went to the grocery store and got pork ribs to make bbq pork tomorrow (which E picked as the dish he wanted first), and also got a pot roast and veggies to make Friday. Tomorrow at lunch I hope to have time to stop by the halloween store near the office and check out possible costumes for the kids.

Anyone else love the Gosselins (Jon and Kate plus 8)? I love that show. Mainly because they are real people and not perfect. Mom gripes too much, dad yelled at the kids ... you know ... real life. Right up there with Nanny 911.

Ok, I'm rambling now, so I think it's time to go to bed (another midnight bedtime) to hopefully get a whole 5 1/2 hours of sleep tonight!! woohoo!

United Stations of America

2008-09-15T22:21:00.002-04:00

I see so many changes in Maya in just the few shorts weeks she's been enrolled in K3 at First Baptist. As you can guess from the title, she is currently learning the Pledge of Allegiance. To hear her pronounce new words is the cutest thing ever!! The first time I realized what she was trying to say, she was saying something similar to 'allegiance' and then I heard "to the united stations of america." bwahahaha! Cute, cute, cute! She is learning circles and squares this month, along with the colors red and yellow. I must admit she does not seem to be grasping the color concept yet. She'll make up colors completely ... red is green, pink is blue, black is red, etc. But it's so amazing to watch the moment when she finally "gets it", no matter what the subject is. And her favorite phrase right now is "let me show you how I do this." And then, inevitably, "let me do that again."

She's also singing new songs at home almost every day. Lately it's been "He's Got the Whole World", and E and I cracked up tonight when she started the second verse of "He's got you and me, sister, in His hands ... he's got you and me, sister ...." Of course, her favorite time to start a new song is when she is trying to get out of doing whatever I'm telling her to do at the time, usually when trying to get her out of the bathtub. I swear that girl is part fish! Her latest mom-heart-stopping-moment has been showing me how she can hold her breath under water. Yeah, just what mom wants to see.

Maria is also learning so very quickly, I guess part of which has to do with trying to copy every single thing Maya does. Maya loves to tumble, and it's so funny to watch Maria put her head on the floor between her feet and try to figure out how to flip herself over like Maya does. Of course, we just help her out there, and then she gets the biggest grin on her little face. If Maya climbs in my lap, then Maria wants in. When Maya gets down, Maria follows. When Maya goes upstairs to play, I just wait and watch for those little stubby legs to follow slowly up the stairs. Tonight I think Maria was actually trying to hop like Maya does.

Maria had to get tubes put in her ears today. We had to be there at 7:15 a.m., as they take the youngest patient first. She was actually the 2nd youngest, as they had a little boy in there that was only 16 months old. She just got over her 6th ear infection in 6 months, so at her last follow up visit after the antibiotic round, I asked when we would have the tubes discussion. The doctor counted the episodes and replied, "that would be today's visit". So here we are. She came through it well, but of course they had to knock her all the way out to insert them. And when babies like that come awake again, it's scary for them since they don't recognize where they are or who is picking them up. So after a very short while in recovery, they bring in mom and dad. I think this one is going to be a daddy's girl, as there have been a few times recently that I absolutely could not console her, and she only quieted down once E held her. sigh. Oh well, they seem to have more in common anyway, being the ones who like to stay up late and sleep all morning. Maya, once she wakes up very early in the morning, is completely awake and ready to go, much like mom. Maria wakes up slowly, usually coming to life when E finishes making her scrambled eggs and brings them to her. That's my girl! We do hope the tubes make a huge difference in how she feels. She did have trouble going to sleep tonight, so it's not off to a good start yet. Not sure what the problem was, but she finally settled down about 10:00 p.m. Signing off now to go peep at her and make sure she's actually sleeping!

Had to write this one down before I forget it!

2008-08-30T16:08:00.002-04:00

Let me tell you how smart that little Miss Maria is! I got home from work yesterday and found that Maya had a fever. Then Maria woke us up at 2:30 this morning with a fever. So it's been an inside day nursing our sick babies. Maya's fever broke and has not returned, so E took her to run some errands just to get her out of the house a little. She's such an outdoors-y child that being sick is harder on her simply because she has to remain inside. So, I started looking through a great book I have entitled Toddler Play (by Gymboree). Those of us who are less than imaginative when it comes to child play need a little help now and then. I came up with a few things Maria and I could do while whiling away the hours indoors today. I came up with the old "hide and seek" with a box of yogurt-covered raisins and 3 bowls. Let me set the scene:

We're sitting in front of the couch playing on the floor. I get two yogurt-covered raisins out of the small box and put them under the middle bowl. I then put the box on the couch behind me. I lifted the first bowl to show her there is nothing underneath it. I lifted the middle bowl and showed her the 2 raisins. I lifted the last bowl to show it had nothing underneath. Then I said, "Maria, where are the raisins?" , tapping on the tops of the 3 bowls as I said it. She went directly to the middle bowl and tried to lift it. It was a little large for her hands so she had a little difficulty getting a good grasp on it to lift it up. So my 17 month old prodigy then stood up, walked around me, picked up the box of raisins on the couch, proceeded to sit down, empty them out and eat them! bwahahahahaha!! It was such a brilliant move that I had to let her have them.

I so wish I had my personal laptop with me so that I could have captured the moment in pictures and downloaded them, but alas, I'm using a work laptop right now and not a personal picture in sight on it.

Mommy and Me

2008-08-20T22:43:00.003-04:00

I finally copied all the pictures my friend, Mary, so graciously put on discs for me. They were, ahem, gathering dust in their jacket until tonight. So yes, they really do go all the way back to last Christmas, but I'll just post a few of them since it's late and mommy needs to go to bed.

This was from Easter. We had an Easter egg hunt at Gwen's house. Gwen is Holly's mom, and Maya just had her first spend the night event at Holly's house last weekend. Well, the first one that wasn't at Gran's house, of course. I just love this picture:

Here's the Christmas picture. I cannot believe how much Maya has changed since last December! She still looks like a baby here, but she looks so grown up now!

And this was Maria's birthday in March. That Mary is certainly good with a camera! I hope to post more later....

Saturday Ramblings

2008-08-09T13:28:00.009-04:00

My laptop died (again!), and so now I'm stuck sharing the desktop with E until it's fixed. Which means I might be scarce around here for a while. I thought I'd rummage thru the photos on the desktop and see what I could find. I love these ....

I was just thinking this morning that I'd like to capture more of the things my kids are doing and saying now, but once I sit in front of this screen, it all escapes me. My babies are napping now, or at least I THINK Maria finally went to sleep. That little girl sleeps hard, but it's hard to get her down in her crib without her waking up and crying. Maya still wakes up during the night and comes and crawls in bed with us. I know ... I know ... everyone says we need to stop that, but honestly, we do NOT mind it at all. She's only going to be little once, and goodness knows she's growing up so fast, and soon she won't even want to hang out with us at all, much less sleep with us! This morning I was awakened by this scenario: someone laid her cheek on mine and said "are you awake?" I opened my eyes to see the cutest little face ever, and she got the biggest smile on her face when she realized I was awake. Then she proceeds to talk non-stop about anything and everything that comes to her mind. She got a little musical toy piano keyboard and started playing it ...one of those that plays a song whenever you hit a key. Thing is, it has no volume control! (aside to dad: maybe you shouldn't bother changing those batteries next time they die!) So it didn't take long for both of use to wake up for good for the day. When Maya wakes up, she is awake and hits the floor running! Maria, on the other hand, is a grumpy-grump sleepy head for a while.

Maria has suprised us again with the things she has learned! Maya does this butterfly routine where she holds her arms straight out behind her, bends her back a little, and runs forward. She's been doing it for a while ... but Tuesday night we were exclaiming how good of a butterfly she was, and little Miss Maria proceeded to tuck her hands behind her and head off right behind Maya. It was the cutest thing ever, and we were just stunned to see her do it. Then she stopped and turned to us with that ever-cute grin she has, and we just started clapping and woohooing for her, too. And right after that, Maya did her bee imitation where she pokes us with a finger like she's stinging us, and then we're supposed to cry and she consoles us and tells us "it will be okay!" cute, cute, cute. Smarty pants Maria did that, too, right after Maya did! She is simply amazing in how quickly she has learned things. Now, I just wish she would learn to TALK. She still only says "da-da" and "uh-oh". Both of those are very clear, and she did do the little buzzing sound when she did the bee act. But that's it. Seventeen months old, and only 2 words in her vocabulary. Her early interventionist said she really does not qualify for Babynet services anymore, since she met all her goals in just a few short months, but that speech therapy might be the one thing that keeps her in the program. And to be honest, I'm pretty sure the EI wants to keep her in the program simply because she's fallen in love with her ... it's really not hard to do, just ask me or her Gran! Anyway, I think I got a decent video of the butterfly routine on my camera, but I'm going to have to figure out how to download it to the desktop and then upload it here.... my girls are just too cute!

I'd like to thank the academy .....

2008-08-05T22:55:00.005-04:00

LOL at Sarah!!! Thank you for the honor, Sarah....

And of course I must thank my stars! Who just happen to be the loves of my life, my reason for being, the shine in my sunshine, and oh, yeah, the reason I'm so exhausted that I'm about to collapse. :-P

So, according to Sarah, here's what happens now:

1st I have to answer a little questionnaire, which is pretty much all about ME! Then, I have to choose 7 bloggers who I feel are BRILLIANT (see list below) and I give them the award. They will post their own answers to the questionnaire on their own blog and they will choose 7 more recipients.

Here is the questionnaire (drum roll please...):

A. Attached or single? Attached

B. Best friend? My ya-yas: Jennifer, Sammie, and Val. Oh, and Mary. And Gwen. And Lea. Goodness... you like me! You really like me! (to quote another award winner...)

C. Cake or pie? Can I have both, please? With ice cream on top?

D. Day of choice? Saturday

E. Essential item? My laptop, of course.

F. Favorite color? Purple

G. Gummy bears or worms? Yuck ...neither! Gimme chocolate!

H. Hometown? Born in Columbia, SC. Now live in upstate SC.

I. Indulgence? Shopping, chocolate, shopping, chocolate, and oh, yeah ... shopping for chocolate!

J. January or July? July .... Maya was born in July! It just doesn't get any better. Except March is just as good, of course. ;-)

K. Kids? 2 girls, and a male cat

L. Life isn’t complete without? My babies, family, friends, and did I mention chocolate?

M. Marriage date? April 17, 1993. yikes. I'm old.

N. Number of brothers & sisters? 2 older brothers

O. Oranges or apples? Oranges

P. Phobias? Bugs and heights

Q. Quotes? An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet. It may stretch or tangle, but never break. ~ Chinese proverb.

R. Reasons to smile? Maya and Maria! (and chocolate)

S. Season of choice? Fall

T. Tag seven peeps! (see below)

U. Unknown fact about me? I have a rather high tolerance for pain. I prefer (if possible) to get teeth cavities filled without novacaine, as I can't STAND the numb feeling. And when I had my hysterectomy, I asked the doc to leave one ovary in. He warned me it too would have to come out eventually, but I enjoyed the 6 weeks off of work with pay so much that the pain and discomfort of the surgery was negligible. But alas, he could not do it, so it all came out at one time.

V. Vegetable? Macaroni and Cheese! It counts, right? Does too!! It's listed right THERE in the vegetable section of Lizard's Thicket's menu!!!

W. Worst habits? Chewing my fingers and cuticles.

X. X-ray or ultrasound? X-ray

Y. Your favorite food? Give me a break. Like I can pick just one. Maybe chocolate?

Z. Zodiac sign? Sagittarius ... married to a Capricorn.

Here are 7 other BRILLIANT bloggers Ok, you caught me. It's only 6. Wait! I'll nominate ME again! Lucky # 7 ....

http://www.myquietthoughts.blogspot.com/

http://http//theshrumfamilyadventures.blogspot.com/

http://skyliesmiles.blogspot.com/

http://mac3mom.blogspot.com/

http://nyblomfamily.blogspot.com/

http://anotherdaypassesby.blogspot.com/

More random pics...

2008-08-01T22:44:00.004-04:00

We spend a lot of time sitting around taking pictures of our girls. They're just so darned cute we can't help ourselves!!

This was the collapse of the fire engine tent ....

Random pics

2008-07-30T23:32:00.004-04:00

So here's a normal scenario in our house. (ok, the cupcakes are not a "normal" snack, but it was the day I sent cupcakes to Maya's class for her birthday celebration with her classmates, so we had a special cupcake that evening, too, so Maria could be included ... but the general theme of the snack is true to form.)

Maya smells her food and takes a bite.

Then Maria takes a bite of hers.

Final scene: Maria polishes off her snack and Maya is nowhere to be seen, having taken a bite or two, and now can't sit still long enough to even finish eating her beloved chocolate.

And actually, there is a scene missing here ... the one where Maria then gets up, walks around to the other side of the table, and polishes off Maya's food, too! And the epilogue, where Maya comes back 15 minutes later wanting her cupcake.

Completely NORMAL scene in our house. I love it.

Maya is THREE!!

2008-07-27T22:04:00.005-04:00

Maya's birthday party was yesterday, ON her 3rd birthday. I don't have extremely high housecleaning standards by any means, but for some reason, I felt compelled to have the entire house cleaned for a bunch of 3 year olds. And it was a pool party, for goodness sakes! They were outside most of the time anyway! But it was all worth it. House was clean, and kids had a good time. And I made this awesome Cinderella cake for my baby girl. I felt bad last year because Maya had 3 parties, and I ordered the same Nemo cake from the grocery store for all 3 parties.... what a cop-out when I know how to decorate cakes. So I was determined to make it this year, even though I just accepted a promotion at work, and even though we had a meeting Friday that I couldn't miss, so I had to work a full day the day before the party. All in all, I was very pleased with the turnout, and Maya had a grand time!!!

Yes, there is a little 'glass' slipper on the bottom step, but it's hard to see:

This was early in the morning, when we let her open our gift (a kid-friendly digital camera ... she LOVES to take pics with my digital camera), and she was pretty grumpy in the morning. But I managed to get a smile out of her anyway...

This was after swimming, when all the kids were good and hungry and ready for ice cream and cake:
Back to the morning hours, when she opened her camera. She was mesmerized:
A good friend of mine came to the party and I assigned to her the role of official party photographer, as I learned the last 2 years that I just don't have time to take pictures! So I'll post more whenever I receive her copy of pictures.

And to all of my blogger friends, I apologize most sincerely for not reading and posting comments on your blogs lately .... I truly have not had an hour to myself for several weeks now. I don't think I went to bed before midnight in the last 2 weeks, and I honestly fell asleep just now waiting for my pics to load! This is one tired mama, and I'm heading to bed as soon as I finish here. But it was worth every single second of effort. I made my baby smile with her cake, and she had a very good time at her party. I don't care a fig if she knows how much effort I put into her party or not, but I do care that she enjoys her birthday parties and remembers the excitement and joy she had that day. I have a December birthday, and so I can count on one hand the number of birthday parties I actually remember. Far more often, I had birthday gifts wrapped up in Christmas wrapping paper. So when I found out my first baby was to have a summer birthday, I jumped for joy, and knew we would have a blast each and every summer!

Maya has already grown so fast, and I keep staring at her little face trying to memorize how she looks at 3 years old. I know time is going to fly faster and faster, and I just want to enjoy her as she is. She is at such a sweet age, all cuddles and hugs and wanting her mommy one minute, and then fiercely independent with her "I can do it!" attitude the next. Throw in her jealous-of-her-sister moments, and her remaining 'terrible-twos' tantrums, and she is just a mix of sweet and sour, and altogether 100% precious. I can't wait to see where this next year takes her.

Good Grief! Tired, but happy ...

2008-07-20T23:52:00.007-04:00

How in the world does time creep by so slowly when you're 10 waiting for Christmas to come, yet fly by so fast when you're (um, let's say 40-something) and trying to get ready for a 3-year old birthday party?!?!

I was seriously shocked when I saw that my last post was June 9. I know the laptop has been in the shop for about 3 weeks now, but geez, that's almost a month and a half! So much to post about, and so little time to do it....
Maria's day in Family Court was June 9, and I finally have the pictures downloaded from my camera. The judges were great and came all the way down from the bench for the picture I requested. So the final 't' is crossed and the final 'i' is dotted! Isn't my little American beautiful?!

Next update: Maria is officially WALKING! She's been taking a step here and there for several weeks, and just like Maya did, she finally let go and just took off across the room and there was no going back! She can even stop and almost fall, but catch her balance and get upright again and keep on going. Such a smartie! I tried to upload the video, but can't seem to get it to work. The video is cute, because you get to see the jealous sister Maya when Maria gets the attention and applause so deserving of those who begin to walk. hehehe. Plus you get to see our real-life Tuesday evening mess in the living room after the girls have been playing in there for a couple of hours.

And finally (for today anyway): Maya appears to be potty-trained!! BIG WOOHOO!! We were getting nervous, since her preschool will not allow the 2K kids to move on to 3K in late August unless they are completely, and I mean COMPLETELY potty-trained! But she seems to have gotten it now, and has been in big girl panties since Tuesday. We still have some issues with, um, poops. There's just no nice way to say that, is there? But now that I've seen her accident free on the pee-pee side for almost a whole week now, I'm confident we can beat the poop problem in the next month. YAY!

That's it for now. It's 1:00 and I have to get up in another 4 hours for another exciting week at work. More on the birthday plans later .......

SHE CAN STAND ON HER OWN!

2008-06-09T08:30:00.004-04:00

GUESS WHO IS STANDING BY HERSELF? Maria is such a cutie ... she has learned how to stand by herself, and she'll get up and throw her hands up, as if saying "look at me!!" She just gets the biggest grin on her face and loves it when we clap for her. Any day now we expect her to actually take a step and keep going, just like Maya did. Right now she just stands there and then lets herself back down to the floor to crawl wherever she wants to go. So, so cute!

Maria has come so very far in just a few short months. When we picked her up February 13, she could not even turn herself over in her crib at 11 months old. She could not get to a sitting position by herself, and she made no attempt to reach for her own food. She hated tummy time and didn't seem to be able to hold her head back for very long. You can kind of tell in the pictures we had made with her and Maya that she is not comfortable on Maya's back, and her head is sort of at a strange angle. But before we left Guatemala, she was reaching for her Gerber puffs and was starting to figure out the pincher grasp. When we visited the doctor for her first post-placement well check, he referred us to Babynet for their early intervention services. He thought, as we did, that her slow gross motor development was because of her environment and not a medical issue. But we certainly wanted to do all we could for her, so we signed her up. Now, in a very short 4 months later, she has already met all of the goals we set with her EI, and she does not qualify for physical therapy at all ... I took her last week for an appointment that we had set with the PT when we first met with the EI, and while I knew she wouldn't qualify, I did want to get her checked out just in case I was missing anything. The PT was very helpful and had some great advice on how to help her develop even further, and some milestones to try to hit as she ages. Maria is simply amazing, and such a smart, smart girl. I could just squish those little cheek of hers!

Mommy decided she didn't have enough pictures of herself with her adorable girls. I tried on Mother's Day to get one, but it just didn't work out so good. So this one starts off my campaign to get lots of pics! I am one that definitely does NOT like to have my photo taken, but I know the girls won't care how I look and will appreciate the pictures one day. At least, I HOPE they do! I just love them so much and want them to see that in our pictures. Of course, this one is already outdated, as I have had my hair cut since then, and it now just reaches my shoulder. But there will be more!

I'll post more pictures later, but right now a certain little GuatAmerican needs some kisses! Today is our family court day for Maria!! She officially becomes Maria Bishop Lawson today, and I can send her paperwork off to get her revised birth certificate with her new name on it! Woohoo!! It's strange how this system works ... if you visited your child before the pickup trip, you came home with one type of visa for her and would automatically receive a certificate of citizenship in the mail. We didn't visit first, so we came home with a different type of visa, and while I believe she IS an American citizen now, we have nothing to prove that, and nothing to prove her new name. So we have to go through this convoluted process of family court, DHEC birth certificates, getting a passport for her, and THEN going back to the Social Security office to have her card reissued with her new name on it ... we need the birth certificate for proof of identity with the new name and the passport for proof of identification. Crazy, huh? But we do what we must do for our babies!

When Love Takes You In - Steven Curtis Chapman

2008-05-22T21:53:00.002-04:00

I can't even type the words about what happened to Steven Curtis Chapman's precious daughter. I'm sure you can find 1,000 stories on-line about it. His youngest daughter, and her name was Maria. Imagine how that hits home for me. I simply cannot imagine his pain. I'M having such pain over it, and I didn't even know them personally. In my readings today, I found this song that he wrote, and it expresses his views on adoption beautifully.

When Loves Takes You In

I know you’ve heard the stories
But they all sound too good to be true
You’ve heard about a place called home
But there doesn’t seem to be one for you
So one more night you cry yourself to sleep
And drift off to a distant dream

Where love takes you in and everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in

And somewhere while you’re sleeping
Someone else is dreaming too
Counting down the days until
They hold you close and say I love you
And like the rain that falls into the sea
In a moment what has been is lost in what will be

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
And this love will never let you go
There is nothing that could evercause this love to lose its hold

When love takes you in everything changes
A miracle starts with the beat of a heart
When love takes you home and says you belong here
The loneliness ends and a new life begins
When love takes you in it takes you in for good
When love takes you in

Please pray for peace for the Chapmans.

Guess who's crawling?!

2008-05-05T19:30:00.004-04:00

One day short of 14 months old, little Miss Maria decided to crawl today! woohoo!! She's pulling up and trying her best to walk, and I just knew she would be like Maya and walk before she crawled, but nope. She crawled!! Gran was here to see it, while daddy has taken Maya to the doctor. It appears that Maya has some sort of rash with a fancy name, but it's a rash. It'll be itching her soon, poor baby, and it could last 6 - 9 weeks! eeek! Daddy should be home soon, so I must go prepare something for my big baby girl's supper. But I just had to share the good news. Maria crawled!! Yay!!!

GOTCHA!

2008-05-04T22:11:00.003-04:00

May 1st was 'Gotcha Day'! Two years ago we flew into Guatemala City on April 30, full of excitement, anticipation, a little fear, and a LOT of love for our baby girl. We had to wait until the next day to get her, but she was worth the wait! She was absolutely perfect, and she still is. I know some people do not like the phrase "Gotcha Day", but I like it! It's the day we got Maya, and the day Maya got us! I can't believe it's been 2 years, but I also can't believe she wasn't always part of our family. It's like we were just existing until she came, and now we are fully alive.

We celebrated a day early, since mama loves a good sale! The local bounce house now has a family time on Wednesday nights from 4 - 7, so I took that day off and took my girls around 4:30. Daddy met us there, as did Gran. We had a blast!

Maria, however, is not quite as fond of the big slide, so I'll save her the posting of the crying picture, and just post the one of what she DID enjoy there:

After Pump It Up, we went to Baskin Robbins 31-cent scoop night (in honor of our local firefighters) and we all enjoyed ice cream before supper! Maya, as usual, loved the treat but did not eat much as she just didn't have time to slow down and actually eat something. Maria did a little more damage to her 2 scoops. But let's just say mama polished off a whole bunch of ice cream that night! We all enjoyed it very much.

We love you, baby girl!

Maria loves her food!

2008-04-29T21:39:00.002-04:00

I have never seen a child love food this much! I guess since my only real comparison is Maya, that would explain my shock at how much food Maria can put away. Maya just does NOT have time to sit still long enough to eat a whole meal. After a few bites, she will annouce "I'm done." I'm almost to the point of letting her eat anything at any time just to get some food in her!

Maria, on the other hand, thoroughly enjoys eating. She also eats very slowly. I'm guessing so far that she will be left-handed (notice which hand she uses to feed herself), and she will veryyyy slooooooowly piiiiiiick upppppp a pieeeeeeeece of fooooooood. Thennnnnn sloooooooowly mooooooove it towarrrrrrrrrds her mouuuuuuuuuth. Then cheeewwwwwwww, chewwwwww, chewwwww. You get the idea. One night we had to just cut her off after an hour and a half. We had to go to bed, man!

This morning was a perfect example. Maria tends to sleep a little later than Miss 5:00 a.m., so we try to get Maya eating early to get something in her before daycare. This morning I made Maya a piece of cheese toast. She ate a few bites, I think (unless I find the remainder in a chair somewhere ....). We even let her eat in the living room if she'll just EAT.

So Maria finally got up, sat in her chair and ate some banana and a whole fruit cereal bar. After 1/2 an hour or so, she's still wiping up crumbs and eating them, but we get her out of her chair anyway. I put her on the floor in the living room to do her hair and BONSAI! She spies Maya's leftover cheese toast and automatically scoots herself towards it. Grabs it in her hand and eats it. Go, Maria, go! She's so cute I just can't stand it!!

Get some snakes?

2008-04-26T22:09:00.002-04:00

Maya is a hoot! E's parents were coming over for dinner tonight, and E was telling Maya about it. He told Maya he was going to grill some steaks and was going to take her with him to the meat market to pick them out. She started telling Gran that they were going to "get some snakes" instead of 'grill some steaks.' Yeah, um, not in MY house .... I'm a 'no reptile' mommy.

She is talking so clearly now. I tend to forget she's only 2 1/2. She can tell some amazing stories. It's really funny when she runs out of storyline because she'll just start saying anything. Usually she has to throw in a "jake was spitting" line, about the little boy in her daycare class. He may have spit one time in class long, long ago, but in Maya's world, he spits every single day and has to go to time out because "he won't listen." Hm. Wonder where she has heard the "(s)he won't listen" line before ... at HOME, maybe?!?!

Maria update

2008-04-11T20:53:00.003-04:00

Maria is learning so very fast! She's simply amazing ... sometimes I completely forget she is 13 months old, as she is still small and a little delayed in some gross motor skills. But she is picking things up so quickly that it reminds me she is not going to be a little baby much longer. Today she learned to give mama some sugar. And for those of you reading who are not from the south, that is NOT sugar for my iced tea! I got a big old smoochy kiss from my baby today, and it just melted my heart to see that little grin after she did it.

I also handed her my cell phone, and that little stinker put it right up to her ear! Any time I asked her if she was calling Gran, she would try to get it to her ear ... it was sooooo cute!

She has sat up by herself at least 2 times that we know of, but I haven't seen it myself yet. We have an Early Interventionist work with her once a week, and even she is amazed at how quickly Maria is progressing. Even though Maria isn't crawling or walking yet, she IS pulling on anyone's hands she can get to and will pull herself up and "walk" holding on to your hands. That is currently her favorite thing to do, and it's breaking mommy and daddy's backs! But she is so very adorable, and we just love her to pieces. She gets the cutest grin ever on her face whenever she does something that we clap for, or that we praise her for. She'll head for the stairs whenever Maya goes to her room to play, and she loves to follow Maya wherever she goes. Even though she's not crawing, she can scoot on her little bottom anywhere she wants to go, and she's pretty quick, too!! I almost had a heart attack when I walked upstairs to wash my hands, and when I came back down she was sitting at the top of the other set of stairs!! whew ... just in time! (Yes, I learned to close the gate between the two stairs before going upstairs again!)

Back to Maria's birthday party...

2008-04-05T15:03:00.004-04:00

I forgot to post pictures of Maria's birthday party!!

My favorite Maya quotes

2008-04-03T21:55:00.003-04:00

My favorites right now (she's 2 1/2 ... will be 3 in July):

- "Jake is spitting. He's in time out. He won't listen."

- "Marlowe is crazy."

- "Mama ... mama ..... mama .... you wanna get up?" (usually said very close to my face around 5:00 a.m.)

- "She's cute" (referring to Maria, of course)

- "She's crying" (referring to Maria)

- "She's sleeping" (referring to Maria, usually very loudly, standing right next to Maria's room and/or crib, which means she's not sleeping any more, Sweetheart)

- "Thank you so much, mommy!"

- "Monkey Joe isn't there."

- "Doe, a deer, a female deer ....Ray, a drop of ...."

- "She's from Guatemala"

- "Probably" (pronounced more like "proberly")

She's just so stinking cute!

Our week

2008-04-02T22:11:00.003-04:00

Aren't they gorgeous?! (and yes, I bought the cd of the pictures and have the copyright release ....)

I got another comment today from someone at work about how "they look so much alike!" Um, yeah ... if you mean they both have dark hair and dark eyes, then yes, they 'look alike.' Other than that, I just don't see it. Completely different looks, if you ask me. I think Maria has more of an Indian look to her ... wider face, nose, slightly slanted eyes, and adorable, just completely adorable. Maya looks more hispanic to me, perfectly almond-shaped eyes, lighter skin, gorgeous lips, and simply all-around beautiful. Both completely stunning, but nothing like each other. :-)

I've got to tell you, there is NOTHING more stressful to a mother than to have her little one(s) sick or hurt. I'll admit Maya has been relatively easy so far ... occasional cold or fever, but nothing serious to date. Maria, however, almost caused my heart to stop beating. As a side note, and to continue my saga of maria, that first day we got her, she was so very hot and sweaty with the intensive crying that we couldn't figure out whether or not she had a fever. I did have enough sense to take the ear thermometer with us to Guatemala, but of course when I tried to use it, it wouldn't come on. ugh. So thank goodness for the baby lounge at the Marriott! We wandered in there with our crying baby and found other parents who had an ear thermometer we could use. Thankfully, she did not have a fever. But we were on the verge of calling the concierge and having a doctor come to check her, even though we knew we were going to the doctor the next day. After taking her temp, we were confident enough to hold out until the next day, when we walked a few blocks away to get her photos taken for her visa and to visit the pediatrician (embassy-approved, of course), who diagnosed severe eczema and a milk allergy. We switched her formula to Isomil and got a prescription filled for a low-steroid creme and a special soap for her eczema. The Guatemalan doctor was great! Very kind and patient and helpful. So anyway, my point is, Maria was the complete opposite of Maya from the very beginning .... not in a bad way, just different.

So fast forward to last Friday. I still have Thursday and Friday off most weeks for my FMLA adoption leave, but this week I had Monday and Tuesday off because I have end-of-month reports due this Friday. So Friday we went to C to see Omi (my mom ... she's German ... a REAL international family ... LOL!) for her birthday. My aunt went with us, which turned out to be quite a blessing. After lunch, I took the girls to the zoo while Aunt E stayed at home with mom. My friend Val met us at the zoo, and we both commented on how Maria seemed hot, but as mentioned above, she's normally a hot, sweaty kid. So I didn't really think that much of it, other than to say I would stop by the drug store on our way out of town and pick up some infant motrin if she was still warm by then. Well, on the way home, just a couple of miles from mom's house, I saw Maria's little hand start shaking in the rear view mirror and got really nervous. So I hurried as much as I could and when I went to get Maria out of her carseat, her eyes rolled back in her head!! Talk about panicking!!! I rushed her into the house and told my mom she was very sick and very hot and I didn't know what to do for her. She and my aunt suggested a tepid bath, so I ran to turn on the water. Mom and Aunt E managed to get Maya out of the car into the house, and bless her little heart, she just didn't understand that Maria was sick. She saw the running water and got excited and started stripping right then. So I just let her get in, too. Aunt E, in the meantime, rushed to the nearest drug store and got an ear thermometer and some baby motrin for me, and when I took her temp, it was over 104! eek!!! So I immediately gave her the motrin and kept checking her temp. It seemed to go down for a while, and then it jumped back up, so I called my brother to ask where I should take her to get checked out. We headed to Doctor's Care, and Aunt E went with me (after she and mom managed to corral Maya and get her dressed again!) and she sat in the car with Maya (I figured strapped in the carseat was the safest place for her, as she is a little too much for mom and Aunt E to manage on their own. Long story short (oops, too late), her fever went down some, we got home, and I took her to her regular doctor the next day, who disagreed with the ear infection diagnosis, so they spent HOURS trying to figure out her high-grade fever. It was 104.4 that morning at the doc's office. After 2 1/2 hours, plus another 1 1/2 hours getting a chest x-ray that showed nothing wrong, poor little baby Maria had been poked and prodded and had blood drawn and shots with antibiotics and they still didn't know what was causing it, so the doc told me to bring her back Monday. Thankfully we could keep the fever under control by alternating baby motrin and baby tylenol, so we did that all weekend. I was soooo thankful I had Monday and Tuesday off, because there is no way I would have gone to work while my baby was sick.

So back to the doctor on Monday, and this time we got to see her regular doctor. As I was undressing her, we found she had a strange red rash on her torso, front and back. The doc took one look at it and said, "oh, it's roseola." Evidently they spend a lot of time doing tests on high-grade fevers, only to have a rash appear in about 3 days (after the fever has subsided) and they can finally diagnose roseola. whew ... heave a big sigh of relief simply because we know what it was and now we know it's just a virus. But I will never, ever forget that feeling of helplessness when I saw those little tiny eyes roll back in my baby's head. Thank you, God, for making my baby better!

The saga of Maria, Part II

2008-03-16T22:24:00.004-04:00

February 15:
We got up bright and early to make our appointment on time. Hector picked us up in the hotel lobby at 6:50, and we had to be at the embassy by 7:15. Completely uneventful at the embassy ... Maria was quite unimpressed with the importance of her big day! The best news of the day, other then making Maria an official immigrant, was that she was now used to her new mommy and daddy and managed quite a few smiles for us. The medicines and lotions she now had seemed to make her feel 100% better, and she decided she likes us pretty well. She is just an absolute doll, and starts smiling all the time.

Maria's homecoming, Part I

2008-03-13T22:32:00.003-04:00

Feb. 12:
So I told my cousin that I could absolutely get packed early this time, since of course I know what I'm doing the 2nd time around, and will get plenty of sleep before getting up early to fly to Guatemala. HAH! I decide I absolutely MUST see Maya before leaving her for 8 whole days, so I leave work and go home and pack Maya's clothes and snacks and head to Gran's house. I stay there long enough to give her a bath and put her to bed, but she wants Gran to lay down with her. So I sneak out and head home to, ahem, START packing things for Maria and myself. On the way home, Eric calls and asks if we have a second diaper bag to take to for Maria. Um... no ... hadn't even thought about it yet. So off to Target I go.

While there, I also decide to get a couple more outfits for Maria, as I still have no clue what size she wears, but am betting on 12 months. And since we're taking my laptop, I also stock up on a large bag that can double as a purse and a laptop carrier (complete with laptop sleeve). So another $100 later, I head home at 10:00 and start packing. Luckily, I DID have most of my things stacked and ready to pack, just had to organize Maria's things and fit it all in as few suitcases as I could. We ended up wtih 4 suitcases, and 3 carryon items. geez. And I thought I packed light....

Feb 13:
So around 1:30 a.m., I do finally head to bed and manage to get about 1 1/2 hours of sleep before getting up at 3:00 a.m. to head to the airport around 5:00. We leave home about 15 minutes late, and within a couple of miles from the house I remember I forgot to take my extra stash of cash, which I had saved to buy some jade jewelry for my girls (well, ok, and for mama!) So back home we go and then finally get to the airport and start checking baggage. The flight was uneventful, and we get to our hotel room about 1/2 hour before the att'y and his assistant/interpreter call and say they are downstairs with Maria! yay!!! I'm finally, finally, finally about to get my baby girl!! I am just as nervous at this point as I was when getting Maya.

So we rush downstairs and I honestly didn't have time to get emotional like I did last time. They had me that adorable baby girl, who is crying quite earnestly, and they tell me she is in "desperate need of a diaper change." So I rush upstairs and change her and come back down. Then they ask for our packet of paperwork that we need to take to the embassy. Back upstairs I go, Maria in tow. By this time, Maria is not only still crying, she is sweating profusely. Seems they dressed her in an outfit I sent to her in a package the Conley's brought with them in December, and the little fleece top is sweltering hot in GC weather. Her little face is drenched with sweat and she's quite red from the heat and the crying. We finally finish with the att'y and are able to stop by the gift shop and pick up some formula for her. Once we get back to our room we are finally able to take some of those darned hot clothes off of her! But she continues to cry, and cry, and cry. By that evening we are really worried that she might have a fever and be sick, as she will not eat much and will not stop crying and seems to still be quite hot. We head to the baby lounge and find someone with an ear thermometer, and her temperature is normal. So we decide to wait until the next day, when we will take her to the Guatemalan doctor anyway for her medical release that needs to go to the embassy with us.

Maria slept sporadically throughout the night, and continued to sweat! But she was one of the two cutest baby girls I had ever seen, and we were so completely in love with her already. I just wanted to cry with her and do SOMETHING to ease her misery!!

Feb 14:
Daddy needed some sleep after the long night, so after breakfast, he went back to bed and Maria and I left to window shop and go to the baby lounge. While downstairs, I thought daddy needed to buy "his girls" a little something for Valentine's Day, so we stopped at the jade store in the hotel and bought matching jade heart pendants for the girls and a larger one for mommy! We'll just show daddy later how generous he was to all his girls....

In the baby lounge, Maria is finally calm for the first time since we got her, and we discover her love of Gerber Puffs! I let her eat as much as she wanted, as she had had very little to eat by this point.

We later go to get her photos taken for the visa, and we go to the doctor to get her medical release. He was an extremely nice man, and took plenty of time with us to answer our questions. He convinced us that we did NOT need to have her immunizations redone in the states, with the exception of the M,M,R one, as she had gotten it too young in GC. He also helped us figure out that our new baby had a probable milk allergy, which explained the severe rash she had, along with some strange looking poops. He also prescribed a low-steroid creme to tackle her severe eczema. We stopped by the Pharmacia Americana on the way back to the hotel and picked up the prescripion cream, along with some soy formula. Within 24 hours, we had a new baby on our hands, and we had gotten several smiles out of her by then. From then on, she continued to improve and had nothing but smiles for us. I know she missed her foster mother, whose name was Maria, coincidentally. But oh, happy day!! Eric was able to make her smile quite often, and she really seemed to like him, so he was much more at ease than he was the first time we were there!

To be continued .. mommy is sleepy!

Happy 1st Birthday, Maria!

2008-03-06T22:39:00.002-05:00

Wow, I simply cannot believe how fast time is flying by! I wanted to come and update about our Guatemala trip, all the sights, all the details, all the new friends we made. But now it's Maria's first birthday already and I just cannot keep up with all that is going on in our lives, much less stop to write about it! sigh.

Maria is an absolute doll! She is simply a happy, smiley baby. She loves to watch her big sister, and lights up anytime Maya is in the room. She and Maya appear to be complete opposites, and I just love watching their little personalities develop. Maya is a 100% on-the-go, never stop, early riser, too busy to stop and eat, non-stop LOUD talker. Maria is laid back, quiet, slow eater, and likes to sleep late like daddy. I've already pictured Maya and I hitting the early morning sales on Black Friday while Maria and daddy sleep in.

Maya has adapted amazingly well, and adores her little sister. She is reveling in her big sister role, I think. She has her moments of jealousy, but overall handles it very well. Oh, I MUST mention Maya's newest funny! Before we left, we taught Maya to say Maria's name and where she is from. She is very adept at telling people very matter-of-factly, "She's from Guatemala." So after we got home, we started explaining that Maya is also from Guatemala. She seemed surprised at first, but started answering "Guatemala" whenever we asked where she is from. Fast forward to last week Sunday, when daddy took Maya to Monkey Joe's for some one-on-one father-daughter time. Maya LOVES Monkey Joe's, which is really why we decided to host Maria's first birthday party at a local bounce house. Maya has a great time, as usual, at Monkey Joe's. For some reason, after her trip there, this is how our conversations about national origins now go:

mommy: What is your sister's name?
Maya: Her name is Maria. (pronouced "rhea"...hehehe)
mommy: Where is she from?
Maya: She's from Guatemala
mommy: Where is Maya from?
Maya: I'm from Monkey Joe's

My girl is hilarious!

Since Maria's party is next Sunday, we didn't really do much today. We were going to go out for lunch (just Maria, me and Omi), but I had to finish a spreadsheet for work, and so we didn't make it out in time before Maria's nap. Then we were going to meet daddy and Maya for supper somewhere, but then daddy had to work late at the last minute. So I picked up Maya and we just came home and had mac & cheese for supper, and I made icing for the cupcakes I was going to freeze and use for the party on Sunday. We each had a cupcake, and wore our Elmo party hats, and sang Happy Birthday to Maria. I have a GREAT picture that emphasizes the differences in eating habits of my girls .... which I hope I can find time to download and share tomorrow. Maya just wanted to decorate her cupcake, and she ate most of the icing off of it, but only took about 3 or 4 small bites of the actual cupcake. Maria devoured her cupcake!! It was so cute ... she smooshed it to pieces, like I thought she would, but she also ate as much as she could get in her mouth!

They're absolutely adorable ... and I love both of those girls to pieces!

She's ours!!!

2008-02-17T11:10:00.004-05:00

Oh, wow. I can't believe we are finally here!

We arrived Wednesday, and checked in about 1:45 p.m. They brought Maria to us about 2:30. I didn't have time to get all teary-eyed like I did when I got Maya, as the minute our facilitator handed her to me, he said she is in desperate need of a diaper change, so I grab her and go back upstairs to take care of that. The minute I get back downstairs, he asks for our paperwork packet, which of course is in the room, so back upstairs I go. All this time, Eric is the one who is getting the details on her eating and sleeping habits... kind of scary, huh? But he did well with it.

I have LOTS more to post, but I'm off to play with my baby now!

It's Official!

2008-02-09T22:11:00.000-05:00

We are leaving for Guatemala on Wednesday morning to pick up Maria!! I cannot WAIT to see that precious baby! I have had no photos or updates on her medical appointments since OCTOBER, and that update was actually from a September appointment. She weighed 15 pounds in September at 6 months old. That's how much Maya weighed at 9 months old when we picked her up. And so I have absolutely no idea how much she weighs, or what size clothes or shoes she will need. Is she crawling? Walking? Teething? Does she use formula, or regular milk? Real food, baby food, or just formula? aaaaaagggghhhh!

Luckily, we'll be staying at the same hotel we stayed at last time, so I already know how well-stocked their hotel store is. I can find almost anything I need in there, so I'll just pack the minimum basics and then buy whatever else I need there. There is also a small market within a couple of blocks of the hotel, which we used last time, and we can find more baby food there if need be. The hotel is extremely accomodating to new parents there, and we can also call or stop by the restaurant and they will prepare anything we ask. We found out Maya was eating pureed veggies already at 9 months old, so we asked them to send us a bowl of that, and they delivered it very quickly.

Did I mention how excited I am?!

Oh, we did decide to leave Maya at home. It's killing me, and I even bought her some of her usual snacks to take to Gran's house. Gran, I am certain, will have quite a stockpile of Maya's favorite snacks already, but I can't help it. It eases my guilt in leaving her to send some of her favs with her. And I bought her a new DVD today to take to Gran's also ... The Aristocats. I wanted Jungle Book II, but couldn't find it at Sam's today, and since she still loves cats, I thought she would enjoy this too. Again, easing my own guilt and sadness over leaving her for 8 whole days!

We had not planned to be away from her for that long, but our embassy appointment is on Friday, and we can't pick up her visa until Tuesday since Monday is a holiday. So we'll use the extra time to just bond with our new little girl, sightsee, and maybe shop an extra time or two.

Did I mention my excitement yet?

I've already reserved the place for Maria's birthday party / aka "meet the family" party. I've already emailed out pre-invitations to let everyone know the date and time. Now I just need to decide on the theme, and for some reason, it's quite a difficult decision for me. I can't decide between Dora, zoo/barnyard animals, butterflies, lady bug, Elmo / Sesame Street, etc, etc, etc. This is one of my favorite part about being a mom ... I get to plan birthday parties!! I remember a few birthday parties for me growing up, and I'm sure I had more than I can remember, but my birthday is a week before Christmas, so every birthday gets mixed up in the holidays. I do have friends that are sweet enough to make sure my birthday celebration is kept separate from our Christmas gathering, but I still cannot ever remember later whether a new item was received for my birthday or for Christmas.

But I digress. I can't wait to visit Antigua again, and to shop the markets around Guatemala City. And since we'll be there a little longer this time, maybe visit the zoo and some other sights within the city. We didn't explore too much last time we were there. I enjoyed our trip to Antigua very much, and we made some great friends while there, though. Maybe it's just that the anticipation is not so stressful this time since I actually know what to expect! I am so looking forward to this trip! We'll be home the next week Wednesday, flying in around 4:00 p.m. I know it's bad timing for anyone hoping to meet us at the airport, but it was either 4:00 p.m. or 11:30 p.m.! And Maya is the only one that MUST be there, and of course I wouldn't want her out late at night. So this might actually be good to have a small crowd there this time, to give Maya some extra time alone with Maria.

We are taking my laptop this time, so hopefully I can find a few moments to spare to post some new pictures of us. Hm, just realized I might need to find a new name for my blog here. It's not all about Maya anymore, and I wonder how she will manage having to share the spotlight? She is a precious girl, and the light of my life, but I am the first to admit she's incredibly spoiled (and not just by me!) I hope my girls become forever friends along life's path, but I know there will be quite a bit of jealousy on Maya's part at first. I hope she knows we wanted to do this for her as much as for us. I always felt like I was missing something in life by not having a sister. So as soon as Eric finally agreed to adopting our first daughter, I started working on planting the seeds for our second daughter. It didn't take him long to agree.

In just a few weeks we'll be able to have portraits made of my girls together!! I'm dying to buy matching outfits, but I have to make myself wait until I find out what size this new baby girl is. Oh, ok ... I'll admit I have taken a chance and bought a couple of matching pink sweaters, hoping they can wear them for a sort of Valentine-theme picture, even though it will be taken after V-Day, of course.

Well, off to pick out clothes and shoes in several different sizes for Maria!

I'm leaving ... on a jet plane ....

2008-01-23T22:46:00.000-05:00

Yep, we'll be getting our PINK any day now! Well, any day next week, hopefully. Our 2nd dna test was done last Friday, so now we just wait for our appointment date! Woohoo! My best guess would put us in Guatemala City in mid-February.

We're still debating on whether or not to take Maya with us. My heart says yes, yes, she MUST go with us. No way could I survive a whole week without my little Punkin'. But then my brain says "are you completely freakin' NUTS?!" You want to take a screaming, tantrum-throwing toddler on the plane to a country where you don't speak the language, where she looks more like the average citizen than you, and where she's bound to continue her habit of running from you at the worst times?! And to top it off, you want to take TWO of them on the plane ride home? What the H are you thinking?!?!"

heart: Sigh. I still stress over being an hour late coming home from work and missing that extra hour of time that could have been spent with my baby. How can I leave her for a week?!?!

brain: But we need bonding time with Maria, and it's not fair to Maria to bring along a 2 year old that will demand mommy's every waking moment. Maria deserves mommy's full attention, and this is probably the only chance she has to get it.

ARGHGHGHGH!!! I'm almost to the point of letting fate decide ... when it comes time to make reservations, if we can get a suite or even 2 adjoining rooms, where Maya and Maria can have individual attention from at least one parent at a time, then maybe we can handle taking her with us. If that's not possible, then maybe fate is telling me she should stay home. I try to delude myself into thinking we want to take her for her sake, but it's so obviously a ruse .... I want to take her for MY sake! She'll never even remember the time apart if she stays, or the trip if she goes.

I made the mistake of asking her tonight, "do you want to go with Mommy and Daddy to Guatemala, or do you want to stay with Gran?" Silly mommy ... what 2 year old wouldn't pick GRAN when she knows she can have her way all the time at Gran's house?! Doesn't Gran always have the BEST snacks around at all times?! Heck, I want to stay at Gran's, too, and be spoiled completely rotten, and have my every whim catered to!! When can I get some Gran time, hmmmm? I really do adore my MIL... and I'm not exaggerating when I say she would coddle me just as much as she would Maya if I stayed with her a week.

I've already asked a few people if they would be interested in going with us, then I would have a babysitter to help watch Maya, but no luck so far. Oh well, still a few more weeks to decide. I'll think about it tomorrow......

Guess what started today?!

2008-01-13T20:08:00.000-05:00

Scene: in the bathtub.
mommy: "stand up, Maya, so we can wash your behind."
maya: "BUT WHY?"
mommy: "because it's stinky."
maya: "BUT WHY?"
mommy: "because you've had a few stinkies today and we need to clean it."
maya: "BUT WHY?"
mommy: "maya, we need to wash your bottom. stand up, please."
maya "BUT WHY?"
mommy: "BECAUSE I SAID SO!"

sigh. Let the good "why's" roll.

Two and a half really is a fun age, though. Maya is like a sponge, and just seems to absorb everything around her (including the few, uh, not so nice words mommy MIGHT have let slip.)

The other thing I thought was really cute was:
mommy: "Maya, your hairband is sooo cute!"
maya: "I like it."
maya: "not really. hehehe."

She really does not like things in her hair. She will keep the little elastic bands I use for ponytails, but removes all clips and bows and headbands and anything else I have tried. I think she would take the elastic bands out too, but she hasn't figured out how to do that without hurting her head.

She's growing up too fast!!! How do I slow it down?! Oh, and she's learned the art of little white lies already. I must admit I loved the stage before she learned how to lie. I could just ask her "Maya, do you have a stinky diaper?" And she would look at me and nod. Now I ask her the same question, and she's figured out to say no..... even if the true answer is yes.

Maya definitely has the make believe thing down, too. She likes to pretend she's a bee stinging us to make us cry. And tonight I told her to look sad and she made the cutest little frown EVER! It was absolutely adorable, so we had to go show daddy. I have got to get a picture of it, and of course will post it whenever I do. I foresee a Tony award in her future....

The Christmas that almost wasn't.....

2007-12-31T21:57:00.000-05:00

Since I've been in a bah-humbug mood all season, I had yet to wrap the first gift when my family showed up on Christmas Eve for our celebration. My mother lives in C, along with my brother and his family, and C is about 1 1/2 hours from my house. My mother's house, in particular, is about 1 hour 40 minutes or so from my house. We invited mom to stay with us the week of Christmas as we certainly didn't want her to be alone this year. So after supper, I tell my brother I need a few minutes to wrap some gifts before we start the gift exchange. They tend to Maya while I disappear upstairs for about 15 minutes. I came back downstairs and tell my mom that I cannot find Maya's gift from her, and I wanted Maya to open it while my family was here. I looked several more times that evening and really get worried, as there are two other Santa gifts that I got along with the gift from my mom. I had other things at home to give her, but these were 3 of her main items, and I was to the point of tears when I still couldn't find them around 8:00 that evening. I even left to see if I could find ANY store still open that late. Walgreen's was the ONLY store open, and they were packed, and all the toys were quite picked over, so no luck there. So I go home and try to make do with the pitiful offering of stocking stuffers and a few other measly gifts for Maya, all while fighting the tears.

Finally, around 10:00, it hits me ... I remember where the gifts are. I bought them when in C visiting mom earlier in the month, and I remembered putting them in HER closet to hide them from Maya. Oy! I call my brother, who is back home by this time and ask him to ride out to mom's house (only about 3 miles for him) and see if they are still in her closet. Sure enough, there they are! So I tell Frank I am on my way down, as I cannot STAND not getting them for Maya to have Christmas morning.

My nephew meets me in CL, which is about 40 minutes from mom's, so it saves me a good amount of time. But I still do not get back home until 1:00 a.m. Chrismtas morning with the gifts. I put them out and head on to bed, a happy Mama! I do realize that Christmas is not all about the gifts, and that Maya would not have had a clue if they had not been found, and she would still have been ecstatic to have the few other things we had for her. So this trip was really more for me than for her. But I truly would have been devastated. Christmas was saved .....

This gift was not in Columbia, so we still had her big item at home. But I wasn't about to go outside at 6:30 a.m. when Maya woke up to find this Santa gift ... we waited until E's mom was able to come by, and she "found" it outside from Santa!

And this face was definitely worth the drive to pick up the Cabbage Patch doll!

These are from Christmas Eve with my family.

...for Sarah

2007-12-23T14:09:00.000-05:00

Ok, Sarah, your Christmas is now complete! Here's the lastest pictures we received of our darling Maria, who should be coming home in January, 2008! I believe these were taken in September at 6 months old.

And here's a recent one of Maya. This is the picture we used in our Christmas cards this year:

I'm trying hard to get out of the 'bah, humbug' spirit I've been in this month. I think it's getting better. I know I'm excited that my mom will be coming tomorrow to stay with us for a week or so. She was supposed to come yesterday, but she got sick and had a fever and didn't want to expose Maya to anything. But the fever is gone and she just has the cold symptoms left, so I insisted she come stay here anyway so we can keep an eye on her and make sure she is taken care of. We've all battled a recurrring bug that has been floating around our house since Thanksgiving, and have all just completed our rounds with antibiotics, so I think we're safe from mom's bug.

I am excited about Omi (my mom) and Gran (E's mom) both being here Christmas morning to see Maya and her Santa toys. Gran drove over last year on Christmas morning, and I'm sure she'll do the same this year. I have waited a long, long time to be a mom, and I cannot wait to see my little girl's face light up when she gets up on Christmas morning! I will make my usual Chrismtas morning casserole and have the coffee pot brewing. Then we'll all hang out in our jammies until almost noon, when it will be time to get ready to go visit E's family for our Christmas celebration with them. My family will all be coming up to my house tomorrow to celebrate with us and mom. So I think I'm starting to get over my doldrums for the moment.

We wish you all peace, love, and joy this holiday season, and here's to an awesome 2008!

Maria is coming home soon!

2007-12-10T21:31:00.001-05:00

We got a call Saturday from our agency, and Maria should be coming home in January! woohoo! Maya is finally going to be a big sister!!!

We got out of PGN on Friday, which is actually about a week earlier than I had predicted. We were kicked out around Oct 18 and resubmitted the next day, but I was sure it would take at least another 8 weeks before we got out. I'm so glad to say it ain't so!

We still have to wait for the reissued birth certificate, the 2nd dna test and results, and our appointment date to appear at the US embassy in Guatemala, but at least an end is finally in sight! So Maria will be 10 months old when we bring her home. Maya was 9 months old, and I must say, it is a wonderful age.

I was just telling E tonight that it's hard to remember Maya being so small when we got her. She was running around the living room between daddy and the orange and her toys and mommy. Everyone is so surprised at how well she speaks now. She will talk up a storm if you have time to listen, so we make time!

We went to see Omi Saturday and took Maya to see the Christmas lights at the zoo. Traffic was horrendous, and while I'm on the subject, let me just express my complete displeasure with the extremely rude, boorish and completely inane drivers who think it is perfectly ok for some of us to sit in traffic over 1/2 an hour to take a certain zoo exit while they zoom up the left lane and weasel their way into the front of the traffic line. I wish I could remember the NC license tag number I tried to memorize ... the one that so rudely pushed his way into line even though we were trying not to let him in. I'm all for being curteous and letting people get in front of me, but I'm not exaggerating when I say we were in traffic for more than 1/2an hour to go about 1/2 a mile. But it was worth every second of the traffic agony to see the big smile on Maya's face when she saw the elephants!

One of her favorite movies is Jungle Book, and we practice our marching with the elephant military patrol. She also still loves Garfield and Cinderella. I heard from a little birdie that she will be getting Cinderella III from some of her favorite relatives who happen to live in Nebraska.

We went to a neighborhood Christmas party last night. It was at our friend's house, and their whole neighborhood has a Luminary Night each year on the 2nd Sunday in December. It gets larger each year, and we have so much fun taking a hay ride around the neighborhood, eating snacks at host houses, and meeting with our friends each year. Maya is still afraid of Santa, who she calls "Ho Ho". She will be chattering away and if you ask her if she wants to go see Ho Ho, she'll freeze up and say "No!" very quickly. I hope she gets over her fear soon .. I can't wait to get pictures of her in Santa's lap!

E, Maya and I all wish each and every one of you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Bye, Papa

2007-11-18T12:54:00.000-05:00

Maya's Papa: May 13, 1922 - November 1, 2007

Let me tell you a little about my dad. He loved, loved, LOVED his family. And his grandchildren could do no wrong. Some of my favorite memories of him include impromptu trips to Mr. Smith's for a banana split, sitting around listening to him talk with any of his siblings about their growing up years (there were 12 chilren in all), playing cribbage with him (and catching him cheat!), dad taking me shopping for clothes when he got an unexpected rebate or insurance dividend, and going swimming at the local military base.

Dad was the organized one in the family. Mom and I haven't a clue how to do that. Lucikly for my brother, who handles most of dad's paperwork, dad had a folder for everything and a place for every folder. Whoever gets to take care of me and my mom will not be so lucky. You'll have to search every kitchen drawer, every nook and cranny, to find the important papers we never get around to filing. I wish I had inherited that organization gene, but alas, I didn't.

Dad was proud to be a veteran, and he was very proud to have served in two wars, WWII and the Korean War. He wasn't happy with the state of today's military. He thought the soldiers had lost their respect for military rank, and for serving in general. But he was so proud to have been a part of it when he was. He met my mom in Germany, and looking through his files I found a picture that he had labeled as the day he had to leave mom and come home. They were not married yet, and they couldn't get the paperwork processed in time for her to come with him. He came home in August, 1959, and she wasn't able to come here until late October of that year. His note under the picture said it was the longest 2 months of his life. They celebrated their 48th anniversary on October 26, and I'm so glad he made it past that point.

I asked my mom what it was about him that attracted her to him. Rumor had it she wouldn't give any of the German men the time of day, much less the American soldiers coming through. She replied that all of the other men always kidded around too much, always acted immature, and always wanted something. But dad would always talk about his family, and his mother, and how she had raised 12 children and 2 of her many grandchildren. He talked about sending money home to his family (instead of gambling and drinking it away as so many others did). And she told me something I had never heard before ... they had actually broken up for a little while, because he said he needed to go home and help his mother for a little while, as she was getting remarried to an older friend of dad's and he needed to be there to help them. She said she wasn't sad about it, because she had a feeling that he would come back. He did. So it impressed her that he took such good care of his family, even to the point of helping his sisters who had married alcoholics and often didn't have food to feed the many children they had. I heard from my cousin at the funeral how dad would come visit them one day, and if they didn't have any food in the refrigerator, dad would always be back the next day with groceries. And how much he and his siblings would look forward to seeing that car pull up in their driveway. not just because he knew it would mean food on the table the next day, but just to know someone loved them and cared about them. I remember dad telling me how, when this particular cousin's mother would be having another baby, dad would go pick up all the kids, bring them home and make sure they all had baths and something to eat until their mother came back home.

Also at the funeral, I heard one of his longest and closest friends speak about the prisoners of war that dad was around. He said many of the soldiers would not treat the prisoners (or the locals) very well, but dad was always respectful of them, and treated them with dignity.

We sure do miss you, daddy. But I know you're in a better place now, and for the first time in all the years I knew you, you have no pain at all now. Rest in peace, dad.

My dad

2007-10-27T22:22:00.000-04:00

I know it's been a while since my last post, but it's been a difficult month. My dad, who is 85 years old, and who has been married to my mom for 48 years as of yesterday (Oct. 26), was admitted to hospice last week and will not be with us much longer. I'm so glad he made it through that anniversary for mom's sake. The hospice staff were so very sweet ... they had a cake and ice cream for him and mom, and they took pictures of them in his room.

It's very difficult to even type, as he's in such pain that I tell everyone that it would be easier to let him go than see him in such agony. But now in hospice, they are controlling his pain much better than they did in the hospital, so he's comfortable now. But he's also mostly sleeping now, too, and you cannot understnad what he says when he does try to talk. Today he slept through our entire visit, and his blood pressure is dropping, so we know it will be soon.

The saddest part to me is that he will never get to meet my little Maria. He absolutely adores children, and his grandchildren can do no wrong. One of the funniest things I can think of about him is, he was a very strict father. Ex-military, by-the-book, and a 'do as I say, not as I did' kind of dad. And he was stricter on me than on my brothers, because I'm a girl, and I was the baby. Ok, so not to the funny part yet ... his grandchildren can run through his house screaming at the top of their lungs, and he would sit back and say "that's just music to my ears!" My brother eloquently pointed out that it most certainly was NOT music when we did it! But thst's my dad.

Mom and I had to go through the bank box looking for his will, and we checked out all the things he had in there. He had some pennies in there ... one from 1900 and one from 1906. I didn't realize they were United States currency, as I had never seen that type before, until I read the writing on them. Pretty cool. And the only other penny he had in there was from ....... 1964. Guess what year I was born? Yep. So I WAS the favorite, right?!?!? Right!?!? Ha!

Dad was strict, but he was pretty cool sometimes. He was always good for a banana split at Mr. Smith's ice cream shop. And he loved to take us swimming at the military base where he retired from, and where he still worked civil service. He loved his family more than anything. I took Maya to see Omi today and she mentioned "Papa" more than once. I guess she was wondering where you were. I'll have to find some old pictures later to post so my children will know who Papa was and how much he loved them.

We love you, dad, and we will miss you.

Please help bring them home!

2007-09-29T22:38:00.000-04:00

I am asking for your help to bring home the 5,000 Guatemalan orphans currently in process to be adopted by US parents.

Edited to remove personal commentary, as it just takes up time and space when you could be reading the linked site instead....

http://www.5000orphans.com/

ETA: The DOS has revised their statement and added verbiage saying they have asked that the current in-process cases be grandfathered in to the new "law" and be allowed to finish. While we would be thankful for that, it does nothing for the babies being born right now that will not have any other option to remain with the birthmother. The majority of adoption agencies have shut their doors to Guatemala for the time being, and it is unknown if or when they will be allowed to reopen. It breaks my heart to know that the Guatemalan government is not prepared at this point to step up to the plate and help care for their own. I look at my first daughter's laughing eyes and smiling face and cry when I think about what 'could have been' if she had remained in Guatemala. And it makes me very sad to think there is even a slight chance that we might not be able to bring home our second daughter at all.

2K

2007-09-16T23:38:00.000-04:00

No, 2K is NOT a distance that I run. I don't even walk 2K if I can help it.

Maya started the new 2K program at a local church. She loves it! I cried. And Gran cried when I told her about it a few months ago. Gran kept Maya for us on Mon, Wed and Fri, and a friend kept her on Tues & Thurs. But the friend lives pretty far away, and we've had a couple of problems in the past (with another sitter) and had to scramble at the last minute for daycare. Once I had to stay home on LWOP as I didn't have any leave time left, but Maya was sick. Soooo, Gran is the one who actually looked into the church program for us, but she intended it to be a Tues/Thurs program only. I had already told E that I would prefer to just pay for 5 days and then just have the option to drop her off on MWF if Gran or Poppi is sick. But when it came time to enroll (we were number 23 on the waiting list when we signed up months ago), they had eliminated the TTh program and had begun a new 2K program. So Gran cried when I told her it was now 5 days. She knows she can still have Maya anytime she wants, but this does give us a sense of security if we need to keep her there. But Gran wants Maya to have that time with the other children, and to not miss out on whatever little projects they have going on.

And then it came time for her first day. We had visited the week before when they had the open house for parents, and Maya played in her room and met her teachers. Maya adjusts extremely well to most situations, so I knew she would be fine. But I wasn't . It was one of those "below the head" reactions. 'Below the head' means it doesn't involve my brain or my common sense. Those two told me she would do wonderful here, and that she would love meeting new children. But 'below the head', I was anxious and nervous and I just hated leaving her there that first day. Who knew I would turn into this quivering mass of emotions the minute I became a mommy? E and I walked Maya to her room that morning, and she looked around a little. Then when she realized we were leaving her there, she started crying. So we said goodbye to her and left (as they instructed us the children tend to recover faster if we don't prolong the goodbye.) That was one of the hardest things I have ever done. EVER. I was crying before we rounded the first corner. Then we had to stop by the director's office and paid our first month's bill, and turned in Maya's updated immunization form. I'm still crying the whole time I'm writing out the check. The director (and the rest of the staff, too) are all very sweet, and she kept telling me Maya will be fine, and she will have a good time. I KNEW all that! But I couldn't help the tears anyway. My baby is growing up so fast. Oh, and yes, she is just fine there, and she's made some new friends, and she is having a great time.

We got PA!!

2007-08-29T22:53:00.000-04:00

We got US Preapproval (PA) today!! On to PGN!
This is Maria, Maya's little sister. I haven't posted her picture yet because it makes me nervous to do so. The adoption isn't final until her birthmother signs off one last time after we exit PGN (which we hope will only take the average 8 weeks to complete). But I'm very excited about getting PA! One step closer....

Isn't she a cutie? Everyone says she looks like Maya, but I don't see any resemblance at all. Other than they are both drop dead gorgeous, of course! :-)

I am worried about the current status of US adoptions in Guatemala right now. The atmosphere seems to be deteriorating daily with regards to anti-American sentiment. Rumors abound about the reasons behind American's adopting from Guatemala, plus the Hague treaty issues, plus the push by UNICEF to keep Guatemalan babies in Guatemala, regardless of their government's inability to care for these children. Yes, I think adoption processes could be greatly improved in Guatemala, and yes, I think there should be more controls over the lawyer's roles in adoptions, and yes, I think the government should do far more to assist the 75% of their population wayyy below poverty level. But dammit, NOT at the expense of the children who will die or suffer malnutrition or abuse because their gov't does not assume responsibility for them!! So, with all the current hullabaloo, I think it would be best if Maya stays home. I will NOT endanger her life, even for the opportunity to get to know her little sister before facing the big crowd at home. Hopefully things will improve after their elections in September, but if not, Maya will have to stay with Gran. I hope she understands one day.

Rant over, for the moment. I don't want to hijack my own thread with negativity. PA takes an average of 60 days now (up from 30 days when we adopted Maya), and today was either day 60 or 61 for us. An adoption forum that I joined had a bunch of people announcing PA today, and I was feeling quite left out. So I checked email one more time (have been checking daily for a couple of weeks now) and there it was! I'm so excited. I still have hopes of bringing Maria home this year, hopefully late November or December, so we can combine my 6 weeks of maternity leave with holiday leave. Otherwise I won't have any leave time at all over the holidays and will have more LWOP time. But, of course, I would fly to get her tomorrow if they would let me!

Oh, and E has 'officially' agreed on Maria B- (his mother's maiden name) for her name! I'm excited about that too! Maya's middle name is my maiden name, so I loved the idea of using a grandmother's maiden name for Maria's middle name. Her first name is for my mother (one of her many middle names), so it was only fair to use something from her other grandmother, aka "Gran".

I have really got to get started on Maya's big girl room so we can modify the nursery for Maria. Maybe this weekend .... I think this announcement is a great incentive for me to get started!

I'm soooo happy!!!

Un-named

2007-08-15T23:08:00.000-04:00

Don't know what to call this one. Just general ramblings of an old lady, who is sick of bringing work home from the office, from missing lunch because of work, and who can no longer retire in 10 short years because she left the state retirement system to work closer to home, but doesn't seem to be home much more than when she commuted 3 hours a day. Sigh. I really don't hate my job, but I'm just annoyed at all the computer problems we've had at work, which really slows down the productivity, so I end up working longer and harder but not getting as much accomplished. So here I sit at 11:10 p.m., updating the blog because now my HOME laptop keeps kicking me out of excel. Sigh again. I guess it's not in the cards for me to actually finish the Medicaid reimbursement analysis I started oh-so-long-ago. I would eat something, but I ate a whole bag of almond m&ms already today. Not good for the old diet, huh?

Speaking of un-named, Eric agreed to my favorite choice for Maria's name! But again, we must remember that E will change his mind at the drop of a hat, no matter what he has committed to in the past. So we'll see if it lasts. He has agreed to it 2 other times, but changed his mind. We had sort of agreed on Anna Maria, but that just seems so bland compared to Maya's unique name ... Maya R-(my maiden name). Paired with our really common last name, poor Maria would probably be one of 100 of them in our state alone. So, I suggested again the Maria B-(Eric's mother's maiden name), which I really love and which his mother seems to love also. He mentioned tonight that he was ok with it. Don't know what changed his mind this time, but we'll see how long it lasts. I wouldn't rush out and get anything monogrammed with MBL on it just yet.

Let me see if I can find some cute pictures of Maya to post. bwahahahaha! I can ALWAYS find cute pictures of Maya to post!

Guess who figured out her tricycle/scooter thing?! Her feet still don't reach the pedals, but she learned how to 'walk' it up the small hill then lift her feet and just ride! She laughed and laughed and laughed. I just love that little grin she gets when she figures something out. Needless to say, this will require even more "outside" time than before. She sooo loves the outdoors, and I'm happy that she prefers that over watching tv inside, but I am just not an outdoorsy gal myself. I think I'm allergic to outside. Five minutes near the grass and I'm sneezing. Or if it's too hot, I'll sneeze. But I'll brave it to be able to get pictures like this! I just love that little kid of mine. She makes days like today worth it all ......

Her first "car date"!

2007-08-08T22:22:00.000-04:00

Somehow I thought this would come much, much later in life, like when she's 20! But we were visiting friends last weekend and they have a 3 year old son. He's a real cutie, and he has one of those motorized jeeps. So he took Maya for a ride in their yard! It was the cutest thing EVER! Ok, so his mom actually had to run over and turn the steering wheel for him whenever he needed to turn, but he was pushing the pedal all by himself. They would be heading across the lawn and I would just watch them go, and Maya would yell "bye, mommy, bye!" And I imagined that same scene picturing her as a teenager. Oy! My heart ached, and she's only TWO!

But it was adorable enough for me to post the picture against my 'no other children' rule. Oh well, I might as well toss that rule ... I'm not sticking to it very well.

Oh, and this picture is a recreation of the actual event. The little boy really was driving Maya around, and she was just as happy as can be in the passenger seat. I mentioned "I wish we had taken pictures of that" several times, and so his dad finally got his camera and we went back outside. But this time Maya jumped in the driver's seat. I just can't get over how cute these kids were!!

Birthday parties galore!

2007-08-01T22:30:00.000-04:00

Hmmm, what to do, what to do? Work on the spreadsheet I brought home from work, or update the blog? Work, or blog? hehehehe.... not much of a decision huh?

My problem comes, though, in trying to select pictures to post. I try not to include other children in my pictures here, as I wouldn't want someone posting Maya's pictures without me knowing it, but it's kind of hard to find a picture at a child's birthday party without other children in it! I'll have to break my own rule and post this one anyway.... this captures my baby's personality to a 'T'!

Yes, she does that backward fall into the pool all the time. And she usually precedes it with a "Watch! Mommy! Watch!" She's absolutely fearless when it comes to water. Which terrifies me with the big swimming pool right outside. Eric is supposed to get a lock for the pool gate, as she does know how to open doors now. And we have GOT to get her signed up for swimming lessons ASAP!

She also loves to face the water and sort of dive into the little pool face first. Either way, she always comes up laughing and smiling. The first time she did both stunts, she just about gave her old mom a heart attack!

Two years old. Have I mentioned she's TWO YEARS OLD now? I know I'm being repetitive when I say I just can't believe it. But truly, I can't believe it! I look at her now and see a young girl emerging. She has all but lost the baby-Maya look. Occasionally we'll see the open mouth, wide-eyed stare we knew and loved so well in all her pre-placement pictures. And oh, the memories that come rushing back. I'll just say that 2 years have never gone by that fast before in my entire 42 years. Wait ... I take it back. The first 9 months of those 2 years positively dragged and I thought I would die from the anticipation ... all we had were pictures of her those first 9 months. It was the moment we held her that time seemed to incrementally speed up, at approximately 10:15 a.m. on May 1, 2006, in the lobby of the Marriott hotel in Guatemala City. Whoever coined the phrase "time flies when you're having fun!" certainly knew what he was talking about!

Anyway, on to the birthday parties!

We had 13 people attend her birthday party at my parent's house on July 15th.
We had 31 people attend her birthday party at home on July 28th, and 21 people attended the party at home on July 29th. That little girl is very much loved by a lot of people! Only 3 people invited couldn't make it Saturday, and 17 couldn't make it Sunday (those 17 were only 2 families, however!) The parties at home were swimming parties, and we set up Maya's little shark pool beside the big pool. We had several children there around Maya's age, and they all seemed to enjoy both pools. But having the little pool was nice, so that they could get in and out as they pleased without an adult freaking out if they got near it (as we tend to do around the big pool). Both parties at home were 2:30 - 4:30, but of course family and friends hung out until close to (some even after) 6:00. Some people brought gifts, of course, even though I added "no gifts" to the invitations. I certainly understand wanting to bring presents, but honestly, her toy-cup overrunneth! Now mommy has to do a major clean out of toys this coming weekend. It's such a difficult thing to balance .. you want them to have it all, but not be greedy or selfish. You want them to always be happy, but to be humble. You want them to enjoy childhood, but not be a brat. You want them to be healthy, but to enjoy cake and ice cream and cookies and ... well, you get the idea.

All of her parties were "Nemo"-themed. I don't understand the facination with fish, but she's hooked! (pun intended...) My best toy-investments ever were 1) her $15 Target clearance-priced orange cat-chair, which she dearly loves and kisses so much that it's little nose and mouth are constantly brown instead of off-white; and 2) her $15 Belk cheap-plastic fish screen (shaped like a plasma tv, but quite simplistic) that she loves to turn on in the mornings. We count "1-2-3!", and then she yells "Wake up, fishies!" And then, as if by magic (or a very good mommy), the light comes on and the fishies start 'swimming' across the screen. I can't tell you the wondrous joy I get from watching her little face light up from those two items. She has other favorite toys, of course, like the meowing cat that Auntie Lisa gave her, and her teddy bear that she wakes up to each morning in her crib, and any bag that has ever been given to her. She loves bags. And her newest birthday gifts, of which her favorite seem to be the fold-out Dora couch, the little veterinary shop with the 6 doors that lock and unlock with color-coded keys (given to her by a coworker of mine), and the little pet shop parlor with the tiny hair dryer that really makes noise (given to her by a friend of mine and her 3 girls, who watch Maya on Tuesdays and Thursdays).

I could go on and on ... and I think I did! But I have enjoyed seeing my daughter have such a wonderful time with her very large, loving family and her friends. And I look forward to the day when we can finally bring her little sister home. These kids are my life now, and I wouldn't trade it for all the riches in the world. Being a part of their lives is something I will treasure for as long as I live, and I hope they come to know that one day.

It's official. She's TWO!

2007-07-26T22:27:00.000-04:00

Our first picture:

July 26,2006

Maya turns 2:

Happy birthday, sweet Maya! I can't believe you're already 2! Mama and daddy love you, sweet baby girl!

Tagged!

2007-07-24T21:21:00.000-04:00

I've been tagged! And I didn't even know it until much later!! Freaky, huh? LOL!

So, today's post will be all about me. Here's what I have been "tagged" to do (by Sarah, who is mom to Lily, one of the two cutest baby girls that have ever come out of Guatemala!)

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they have been tagged, and to read your blog.

#1. I am the 'indecisive' queen. I hate making decisions. Just tell me what you want to do, where you want to go, what you want to eat. It will not be rude. It will help me out GREATLY if you make the decision for me. Honestly. I mean it!

#2. I'd really love to lose about a gazillion pounds. But I'd be happy with 30.

#3. Even though I am adament about taking Maya back to Guatemala with us when we go pick up Maria, I'm scared. I'm worried we'll lose her somehow, or that she'll pitch a fit in public in front of people who might not like us being there to start with, or that E will be miserable because of how much work it will be to care for two in a foreign country. ButI desperately want her to be there with us. I cannot imagine meeting Maria without Maya being with us. She's part of me now, and I just can't leave her behind.

#4. I wish I could be a stay at home mom and teach, play with, hang out with, and just LOVE my babies all day. But alas, it's not gonna happen. I must work. Sometimes I resent my job because I have to be there. I actually enjoy the work, but I would much rather be home with Maya, and soon Maria. It scares me sometimes when I realize how little control I have over their lives while they are being watched by others. I know without a doubt they are receiving excellent care, but I still wish it could be ME that provides it. I guess I'll just hope for grandbabies to watch one day, while MY babies go to work. Or even better, if they happen to be stay-at-home moms and I can just be there and enjoy all of them!

#5. Sigh. I'm a shopaholic. I admit it. I love to shop.

#6. I'm VERY excited about having Maya's birthday parties this weekend, but I'm disappointed in myself for admitting I can't do two birthday cakes and work. So I ordered them today at a local grocery store. I promised myself I would make ALL of Maya's birthday cakes. I mean, it's the reason why I took those cake decorating classes in the first place, right? Even way before I even thought about having kids! But I didn't even make it through 2 years. Now, to make myself feel better, I'll go look at the pictures below of ALL the wonderful cakes and cupcakes I made for her 1st birthday party last year! I can be pretty unforgiving with myself if I feel I haven't lived up to my standards!

#7. Peanut M&Ms and Almond Joys are my all-time FAVORITE candy. I will admit I hide food from E occasionally. I vowed to love, honor and cherish for the rest of my life. I said NOTHING about sharing my chocolate!

#8. I will never, ever regret adopting my two babies at this age, but if I had the chance to erase 10 years of my life, I would do it, provided I could end up in this same place with these exact two baby girls. I always swore I would never wait as long as my parents did to have children. But guess what? I'm 4 years older than my mother was when I was born. When I received all of the immigration paperwork back that we had submitted in Houston, I found out that Maya's maternal birth-grandmother is only about 5 years older than me. But on the positive side, it's much more common these days to find older parents like myself. When we first visited our adoption agency, we were not the oldest potential parents there!

And a bonus one ....
#9. I have been lucky in my choice of friends. I have awesome friends. One left over from high school, some from my first job in state government almost 20 years ago, some from newer jobs along the way, some from church. I am blessed by my friends. Some I don't even speak with on a regular basis, as life is busy for us all, but I know without a doubt that I can call any of them in a pinch and they would drop everything to come help me. I love them all! I pray that Maya and Maria will be so lucky. I know friends can lead you down good or bad paths, and I hope they will have the ability to discern which is the correct path for them. Now, having said that, I'll have to admit that I don't know a single person personally who has a blog!! So I can't exactly forward the 'tag' I received! Oh well, maybe one of them will start one and I can then pass this along.....

As Maya says ... night, night!

Update on Maria!

2007-07-22T20:32:00.000-04:00

I got a call from our agency on Friday to let us know we were kicked out of PGN for no preapproval. We knew that would happen, of course, but my problem with it was the fact that I didn't even know we were IN PGN! Which I told Missy when she called. I hadn't even heard that we were out of Family Court yet. DNA testing happened on June 20, and we got the results around the 26th. We knew that once we were out of family court, our attorney would submit our paperwork to PGN and to the US embassy at the same time. So we knew that we would be kicked out of PGN for not having preapproval yet, but our attorney did this in the hopes that if we're missing any other paperwork, he'll find out now rather than wait to be kicked out after we receive PA. It has been taking pretty close to 60 days to get US Preapproval (PA), so we don't expect that until late August. Hopefully the rest will go like clockwork, and "the rest" includes the following wishlist:
- receive PA by the end of August
- be resubmitted to PGN by the end of August
- no more kickouts!
- be out of PGN by the end of October
- received the reissued birth certificate, the visa/passport and our pink slip with our appointment date by Thanksgiving
- travel to Guatemala to pick up Maya's baby sister by late November or early December!!

We were excited to get this particular attorney in Guatemala, so we'll just have to deal with the lack of up-to-date information. He works quickly, but we'll probably have to wait until we pick Maria up to learn any details about her birthmother or the various processing dates.

Well, I'm off to get a good night's sleep for once. It's going to be a busy week with Maya's birthday coming up, and her parties next weekend. I've been 'tagged' by Sarah and will be answering the tag in my next post!

Party pics!

2007-07-22T00:40:00.000-04:00

Maya had such a good time in the water! I just can't believe she's turning 2 already. Seems like just yesterday we were in Guatemala picking her up.

This was the party we had at Omi and Papa's house on Sunday, July 15th. I told Omi we would leave the little swimming pool there so we could use it when we come back to visit, but Maya had so much fun with it, we decided to bring it home and use it at her next two parties. We have an inground pool, but Maya hates to wear the floaties and/or other paraphernalia, so we thought she'd have a lot more fun with this pool. I'm glad we did, because we've been out 'swimming' in it twice now since the party, and it's so much easier than dragging everything to the big pool and constantly worrying about Maya jumping in the deep end.

Getting behind already!

2007-07-15T22:03:00.000-04:00

So it's been 10 days since my last post and I feel like I'm getting behind in this already.

We had the first of Maya's birthday parties today at my parent's house. Yes, I said the FIRST of Maya's parties. That little girl is having THREE birthday parties. Last year's 68 people were a little much for me to handle in one day, so I decided to split them up into 2 different parties this year. But then I was worried my parents (Omi and Papa to Maya) wouldn't be able to make the trip up here for one of the parties. Since I didn't want them to miss out completely, I decided to have a party for my old hometown friends at their house. It was really fun, but exhausting, and HOT! I remember being so excited when I found out my new baby would have a July birthday! My birthday is in December, and boy does that stink! So I was really excited about having swimming parties, and buying summer stuff for Maya's birthday. What I didn't think about was ... it's HOT in July in the south!

Anyway, Maya had a ball playing in the water! We got a small inflatable pool for my parent's house, and a few different sprinklers for the bigger girls to play in. The minute I started putting water in the pool, Maya headed for it and stepped right in the water ... shoes, clothes, regular diaper and all. My mom tried to get her out, but at that point she was already wet, so I said to just take her shoes off and let her play. I did, however, wait a little too late to change the regular diaper to a swimmy diaper, and the gel stuff busted out. All I can say about that is .... EWWWWW. That gel is some gross stuff! The other problem we had was ants. Lots and lots and LOTS of ants! I didn't see an ant bed where we first put the pool, but all of a sudden a swarm of ants started climbing one side into the pool. So mom went to get the ant spray while E and I dumped water out to move the pool, while trying to keep Maya out of the ants. We ended up having to move it again a little later to the other side of the pool. It didn't even slow her down much.... she just LOVED that little pool! So we emptied it and brought it home. She likes it better than our big pool because she doens't have to wear swimmies or a lifevest or anything. She was just too adorable today! And this birthday I actually managed to get pictures. Last year it was too busy with too many people.

It took the other girls a while to get in the water ... I thought they weren't going to do it at all. But they finally got around the big water ball sprinkler and had fun. Omi got Maya a cake with fish on it for her birthday. I made an Almond Cream Cheese Pound cake with White Chocolate icing for everyone else. It's my most requeted cake, and really good!

Packing up was a nightmare. Luckily a couple of my friends stayed to help. We finally got on the road close to 6:00, and E drove faster than I had ever known him to. I didn't mind, since we got home around 7:15. Maya was sooooo worn out that she didn't even make it out of the driveway before she fell asleep! E took her out to start the van and get her settled in her carseat, and all I did was throw out what was left of the cake I made, pack up the rest of Maya's cake, collect the few things we had left inside and say goodbye to mom and dad. I opened the door to the van and little Miss 2-year-old was fast asleep. She slept all the way home, and then was wide awake when we turned on to our street. ugh. We had hoped to put her straight into bed, but no such luck. So we stayed up a while and played and watched some Wiggles, and then she got real quiet and rubbed her eye a few times. So I put her to bed, but she didn't care for that idea and started crying. We decided she really needed to go to sleep (around 9:00), so we just waited and let her settle herself down. It didn't take too long for her to drift back off.

I got some great pictures today, but not sure how many I'll post here. After we finally changed Maya's diaper to a swimmy diaper, we didn't bother putting her bathing suit on over it. She had such a wonderful time, but I just don't think I want to post pictures of my near-naked baby on the internet. We'll see if I have any good ones when I finally download them.

Too Pooped to Party

2007-07-05T23:40:00.000-04:00

A friend keeps Maya for us on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and she sent me this picture at work. She said Maya was a little tired today, and took two catnaps in addition to her usual nap. I think Eric forgot to warn her that Maya got to bed really late last night after the big 4th of July celebration. Isn't this the cutest thing you have ever seen?!?!

I was reading another blog about a mom adopting from Guatemala and she was just describing her first visit trip to adopt a little 1 year old girl. I truly admire those who can visit and then leave and come home. I just don't think I have it in me. While I would have LOVED to have held Maya during those long, agonizing, excruciating months of waiting, I just couldn't do it. I couldn't hand her back to that hogar. And we are definitely not in a position where I could just stay and foster her myself as others have done. So we will not be visiting Maria, either. I'm just not that strong.

Speaking of Maria, the discussion continues about her name. We had one heck of a time agreeing on Maya's name. Her middle name is my maiden name. But we argued and discussed, discussed and argued, and it was so hard to agree! My alltime favorite name choice was Sarah Elisabeth, after my paternal grandmother. My cousins and I used to argue when we were young about who was going to have a baby girl first and use that name for our daughter. Well, at 41, I became a mother first and wouldn't you know it? Eric refused to even consider it. He didn't like it. His choice was Savannah. And why, you ask? Just because he liked it. I hated it. We had agreed on Maya as a middle name early on in the process, as we (well, mainly me) wanted to give her one name that reflected her Guatemalan heritage. I wanted her other name to reflect her new family roots, but that didn't appear likely to happen, since Eric didn't like any of our family names (his side or mine). His grandmother's names were Madge and Ruby. I told him that Ruby is once again a popular name, but no dice. And to be honest, it's not my favorite, either. Eric's niece already has one of his mother's names, so he wouldn't consider that, either. We didn't agree on anything until one night when we were out with his coworkers, eating ribs, and we were discussing our naming dilemma. One of the bright souls there finally suggested that since Maya is the only name we can agree on, why not use it for her first name? We just looked at each other and wondered why we hadn't thought of that?! So then the discussion flowed around middle name choices. I don't know how my maiden name entered the discussion, but once it came out, everyone at the table loved the combination. So, there you have it. The story of Maya's name.

Needless to say, picking a name for Maria has been just as painful. We agreed some time ago that we didn't want Maya to be an only child, so we had discussed a few potential names for her little sister. At one point, I brought up Maria B, with the 'B' name being Eric's mother's maiden name. I thought it would be great for each of my girls to have an unusual middle name that was also a family name. 'Maria' is for my mom (one of her middle names), but also a popular hispanic name. Anyway, at that point in time, Eric actually somewhat agreed to it. So when the time came to start the next adoption process, we were matched very early with a beautiful baby girl from Poptun, Guatemala. Then the naming dance began once again. The usual standbys came up, Savannah and Sarah, and were promptly nixxed once again. Then Eric came into the room one day and says he has the "perfect name" for our new daughter..... Maria! I laughed and said 'ok'. Turns out he was serious. To this day he does not remember our previous discussion about Maria B. So no, he no longer likes the 'B' part, so the search is on for a middle name. So far Anna Maria is the current favorite, just because we both like how it flows, and neither of us hates it. My choice would be Maria Elizabeth, Maria for my mom and Elizabeth for me ... my middle name before I dropped it when we wed. No such luck. Eric is currently trying to convince me to use Maria Katarina, which I don't hate, but I like Anna Maria better than that. I will still call her Maria, despite the well-intentioned advice from friends who have been called by their middle name all their lives, and who insist it's not a nice thing to do. But Maria Anna doens't have the same flowing sound, and I definitely want to use Maria. We also discussing using R again for Maria .. my maiden name. Then they would have the same initials, and we could stop racking our brains for name options. But we have definitely not agreed on anything definite. Wish us luck....