So far so good....

A couple of weeks ago, Stewart and I decided that we were going to try and transition Maya over to a "big girl bed." Before we went out and bought a bed, we were going to take the advice from our doctor which was to just buy a twin mattress, put it directly on the floor and put bed rails up. So that is what we did! We went out on a Sunday afternoon and we purchased a mattress and some bed rails. That night the mattress was delivered and we immediately unwrapped the plastic covering, put sheets on, and put the rails up. We gave her the choice that night if she wanted sleep in her "big girl bed" or her crib. She chose the bed and had a great nights sleep. Maya loves the fact that she can just walk up and put her head down on her pillow to go to sleep and she gets excited that when she wakes up that she can just walk off. Stewart and I are so proud of her and you can tell that she is proud of herself. We know that things can backfire, but for now we are going to enjoy the fact that she has done so well with the transition.

Here are some cute pictures of her asleep in her "big girl" bed.

Sweet Dreams!

One night she fell asleep so quickly and two hours later, we found her....

sleeping sideways!!

Daddy and Maya rocking a little before getting into bed. Both Stewart and I love spending quiet "special" time with Maya. We try and alternate nights, so we each get that "special" time.

Good thing the railings are up!

As you can see, she now has two more stuffed animals. She got a gift certificate for her birthday from Build a Bear and now "Sweet Tooth" the bear and "Handsome" the monkey have a special place on her bed.

Sometimes, before she falls asleep, she rearranges the order of her the stuffed animals.

No matter where you fall asleep in your "big girl" bed or the arrangement of your stuffed animals, we are so proud of you and love you a ton!

Hopefully you will continue to sleep well.

Goodnight and God Bless....Sweet Dreams!!

MAYA'S BIRTHDAY!!

Maya's birthday was last Saturday, and all weekend long we were busy. On Saturday night we celebrated with family and on Sunday we partied with Maya's friends and immediate family. We opened a lot of presents and had (and are still eating) a lot of cake. We are so lucky that we have such a wonderful family and terrific friends. The weekend could not have gone any better.

On Friday evening, I began the "birthday festivities" by decorating our house with banners and streamers.

Saturday morning, we started the day, by singing happy birthday. When we asked Maya if she wanted to open some presents, she said, "go downstairs!"

We went downstairs and she opened our gift to her. We gave her some cooking utensils for her kitchen. She immediately went over the kitchen and started using them. She was also very excited to see that all the decorations were still up. She walked around the house saying, "decorations for Maya."

She then wanted to open her present from Grandma Grace and Zadie...it was this really cool wooden fire truck. The fireman and the dog are magnets, so it is easy for her to put them in and pull them them out.

We opened some more presents, but Maya was not in the mood for anymore pictures. She was more interested in playing with the toys, then to pose for pictures.

That night we went to my aunt and uncles house, and Maya had a great time. We tried to get a really cute picture of her in her new outfit, but as you can see, it didn't go too well! Not sure what the crazy look was for?!

My aunt made this amazing cake and it was awesome. Before we sang happy birthday, we asked her who's birthday it was, and she said, "Maya's!"

"Maya blow out funny candles." She was really proud of herself, and afterwards, she said, "good job, YEAH." We hope she didn't spit too much on the cake!

On Sunday morning, we got up early and prepared for her friends party.

This was the cake that we got for her friends party.

Daddy tried to hold her still for a quick picture. As you can see, she just wanted to blow the candles out! She kept saying, "let go of Maya."

Daddy and Maya blowing out the candles. Again, when she was done, she said, "Maya blew out candles, YEAH!"

Friends, Henry and Elliot with Lindsay mommy came and enjoyed cake.

Ben daddy helped feed Lucy and Henry. He had a hard time keeping Henry's hands out of the frosting!

Uncle Robbie, helped Maya with her piece of cake. I know that she ate a ton of frosting, but did she eat any cake?

Cousin Rileigh helped Maya open the Legos from Henry and Lucy. Henry really wanted to open the case.

Anytime you want to come over Henry, just call. The Legos are out and ready for you!

Rileigh read the card from Maryn. Thanks for the stacking people, Maya has loved dressing the people up in funny outfits.

The light bright cube from Henry and Elliot was great. That night, Maya slept next to it in bed. It has now been a ritual that every morning, she wants me to plug it in so she can see the designs that I made for her.

Still waiting for grammy and papa to come back over and put her new trike together. Maya can't wait to sit on it!

Maya gave hugs to everyone for coming over and celebrating with her.

Thank you to everyone who gave and sent presents. It was a wonderful birthday weekend.

Happy 2nd Birthday Maya!!

Love,

Mommy and daddy

Maya's New Bed

OK...maybe it isn't a "bed", but a twin mattress on the floor! It was a week and a half ago, that we decided to move Maya into a bigger bed. We had been discussing it for awhile now of how we were going to make the transition. One day, the three of us went to a mattress store and Maya got to try out a couple of different types. After choosing the one that Stewart and I liked the best, we then headed to Babies R Us and bought bed rails. Later that evening, her new mattress arrived. She was really excited. We immediately brought it upstairs and laid it on the floor and put the rails up. That night she was beyond thrilled to try it out. That night was a huge success and we are impressed of how well she sleeps and stays on her bed. The timing was perfect and we can successfully say that she was ready for the "big move." She loves the idea that she can get into bed by herself and get off in the mornings. If you ask her if she is ready for a nap or bed, she will say that she wants to sleep on "Maya's new mattress bed."

Such a BIG bed for such a young girl.

Fast asleep with all "her friends."

Every night when we put her down we kiss her and tell her to sleep well and that we love her. As she lays her head on her pillow, she will say, "Maya sleep good on new mattress bed!" We walk away and just smile!

Maya's New Playroom

For quite awhile now, I have been thinking it would be so cool, to clean up the "finished" part of our basement and turn part of it into a playroom for Maya. About a month ago, I made up my mind that this is really what I wanted to do. I went shopping and got everything I needed to make this a special place for Maya to play. It took many many hours for me to get it just right, and now I can say that I am finished and very proud of what I created. We spend lots of time playing and creating and we LOVE it.

This is what I did:

This is the view from when you walk down the stairs.

If you scroll down, you can take the virtual tour:

I first decided that I would put up the alphabet and numbers 1-30 as a border for the room. I also wanted to put up something so that we could work on colors. I found these hand print cut-outs and fell in love with them. I then put up this four foot chalkboard, so we could play with chalk.

I brought down two bookcases that we had in another part of our house to hold things. The tall bookshelf is a place for her books, puzzles, Lego's, blocks, balls, stereo, etc. The smaller bookshelf is for all of her arts and crafts.

I bought a bunch of these clear little storage boxes and put labels on them. Each box has it's own "activity" in it. There is a box for magnets, pens, crayons, stuff to glue on, beads, pipe cleaners, play dough, finger paints, supplies (glue sticks, scissors, pencils, rulers, etc), stickers, water colors, puppets and stamps.

I now wanted a place for her paper and coloring books, so I bought this rack. I made a painting station out of a presentation board and glued on a bunch of clothes pins. I hung a little plastic container for her paint brushes off of a clothes pin.

The last thing I wanted to give her was a magnet board/dry erase board. She has a ton of magnets to use and play with, but we are going to wait a little longer until we give her the markers. I have a feeling that she would mark up more than the board!!

And even though she doesn't play very often on her play structure, we decided to leave it up and just move it under the staircase.

So there is Maya's playroom. Anytime, you want to play, just let us know!