A Special Valentine's Day

Last Friday, Maya and I had a special invite to go to her preschool (that she will be attending in the fall) and spend the morning in the classroom. She was so excited to go and see other kids. Ever since we made our decision on where to send Maya; there has not been one week that has gone by that Miss Maya doesn't ask when she can go to preschool. It is so adorable! Here are some pictures of Maya playing and participating at her first Valentine's Day party at preschool.

The first thing Maya spotted in the classroom was the drinking fountain.

A little boy came over to her as she was standing in front of the drinking fountain and told her that there was a step stool against the wall that she could use to reach it. Maya looked at the boy and said, "I'm a big girl, I can reach it." The little boy looked at Maya and said, "me too." It was so darn cute.

During dress up time, Maya loved wearing this purple hat. She kept asking me, "mommy, how do I look?" Each time, I would say the same thing, "you look awesome."

Since Maya was a special guest, she got to wash her hands first for snack time. She loved the fact she could see herself in the mirror while washing her hands.

While waiting for her snack, she told teacher Heather that she was REALLY hungry. She then told teacher Heather that she needed her snack NOW.

Maya loved her snack... apple juice and a blueberry muffin.

During quiet time, Maya found a book to read. When I asked her if she wanted me to read it to her, she quietly said, "no mom, I can do it."

During open play, two girls asked Maya if she wanted to play with some farm animals and the barn. Maya looked at them and said, "ok, but Maya wants the mommy pig and the babies." Both girls said ok and the three of them played together.

For the Valentine's Party, each of the kids got to exchange valentine's cards with each other. The staff made some cards for Maya so that she would have cards to open too. She even got a piece of candy from teacher Heather. After the cards were opened, each child got a sugar cookie to decorate. Teacher Heather gave each child some frosting, some pieces of licorice, chocolate chips and a handful of jelly beans. Here was Maya decorating her cookie...

Maya placing a jelly bean on the frosting.

Carefully putting a chocolate chip on.

Now the licorice was a bit tricky! After a few tries, she finally figured out that she needed to push harder in order for the licorice to stand up.

Teacher Heather encouraged the kids to taste the frosting. When Maya tried it, she said, "this is yummy!"

Maya then saw some of her new buddies licking the frosting off of their knives and she thought she would try it too.

In the end, she cleaned off her knife.

As teacher Heather came over to wrap up her cookie and package up the extra candy, Maya looked at me and said, " Maya eat cookie and candy for dinner." I gave her a smile and said, "maybe after dinner?"

As the morning wrapped up and it was time to go, Maya went around the room and gave hugs to her new friends and teacher Heather. It was a great day. On the way home, Maya asked me if she could come back to preschool another day. I said, "of course you can."

It was really fun to see Maya interact with the other kids. She had a fabulous time and has already asked if tomorrow she can go to preschool!

2...4...6...8...

Look who wasn't afraid to get up on roller skates. A few days ago, I decided to take Maya on my own to Oaks Parks during the "preschool skate time." I really wasn't sure how it would go, but I figured I would give it a try. I told Maya on our way over, that we were just going to try it. She didn't really say anything. When we arrived, and we were walking towards the front entrance, she told me to stop walking because she had something to tell me. I stopped and got down on my knees. Here is how our conversation went:

Maya: "Mommy, I am going to skate today!"

Me: "I know Maya, we are going to go in and check it out."

Maya: "No mommy, Maya is going to skate today!"

Me: "I know Maya, we are going to go in and check it out."

Maya: "What are we going to do after we check it out?"

Me: "We will get our skates and put them on our feet."

Maya: "What will we do after we have our skates on?"

Me: "I am going to hold your hand and walk with you around the rink."

Maya: "I want to skate."

Me: "Ok Maya, then let's go in and get started."

Maya: "Hurry mommy!"

Me: "I'm coming."

After we registered, paid and received our skates, I sat Maya down on a bench and put her skates on. While I was lacing mine up, I saw her out of the corner of my eye crawling towards the rink. I hurried even faster and by the time I was at the edge of the rink, she was standing up on her own. I couldn't believe it.

Maya standing on her own.

Once we made it to the other end of the rink, she liked to look over the railing and watch all the other kids skate by.

"Mommy, help Maya stand up!"

Maya listened to the teacher (there was a free lesson with admission).

Maya doing the Hokey Pokey.

Getting ready to skate towards me.

Skating like a champ. It was so crazy.

It seemed like there was NO fear in her! She didn't want to hold my hand and I think she never had any intentions of it either.

Instead of watching where she was going, she was busy watching all the other kids.

It is so hard to get her to smile these days! When I asked her for just one smile, she said, "Maya can't, Maya is skating."

Trying to make a turn.

One of my favorite pictures of her having fun.

When I asked her why her hands are behind her back, she said, "Those kids are doing it." "Yes, but those kids are much older."

"Maya going to take skates off and get snack."

I guess this was my clue that she was ready to go. We were there for an hour and a half and had the best time. I was so proud of her, and she impressed me so much. Thanks for a fabulous time Miss Maya! I can't wait to skate with you again.

Professional Pictures!

Last week, Stewart and I decided it was time to get new pictures taken of our family. Our walls and fireplace mantel had been crying out for weeks! It used to be so easy, with just Maya. Honestly, how could going from one child to two, be so difficult? If it wasn't one of the girls having a serious melt down, it seemed like Stewart or I was getting frustrated that it was taking too long. In the end, when it was over and we saw our pictures we were very happy.

Brooklyn might be smiling in this photo, but do you notice her middle finger? Neither Stewart or I noticed until we went to publish this post. OH WELL.

The time has gone by so fast. It is hard to believe that Brooklyn is already 3 and a half months old. Maya is a great sister and has adapted so well to Baby B.

SURPRISE!!

Today we got a special surprise from mother nature...about 2:30 this afternoon, I looked outside and saw SNOW falling. It was awesome! Stewart had just gotten home from work, and it didn't take long, until Maya asked to go out and "see snow." So Stewart bundled Maya up, and she and I took a windy, cold and blustery walk around the block.

Leaving our house. Good thing for my back, that once we started down the driveway, Maya wanted to walk on her own.

"Look mommy, Maya make boot prints in the snow."

"Snow falling fast. Let's make more boot prints."

Maya loved watching the cars drive by. Every time a car passed, she would get all excited and say, "car made tracks in the snow mommy."

Since the snow was blowing so hard in our faces, I suggested that we walk backwards. Maya thought this was so cool. When I suggested that we turn around and walk normally, she said, "Maya like walking backwards, it's funny mommy!"

As we were approaching our home, Maya asked if I could make a letter in the snow. I made lots of O's, M's, A's, C's, and B's. Every time, I got done with one letter, Maya was quick to ask for another.

When we got home, Maya wanted to see her turtle sandbox. We walked up our driveway and she said, "take lid off to see if sand has snow on it?" I had to do a lot of convincing that the sand wouldn't have snow on it, because the lid was on the sandbox. Luckily, I did a good job, because a few minutes later, she said, "Maya go inside and see my baby." (She now calls baby Brooklyn, Maya's baby)

After getting our wet clothes off, daddy put on Dr. Seuss's Horton Hears a Who. Daddy had a great time cuddling up with Maya.

I went out a few hours later and this is what our house looked like. There was a good 4-5 inches!

Daddy will have to get up a few minutes early tomorrow morning to clear his car off.

When I put Maya down for bed tonight, she looked out her window and said, "I am going to go sledding in the morning on Maya's snow." I kissed her goodnight and said, "we will have to see if the snow melts or not." Maya was quick to say, "snow won't melt at Maya's house." I hope it won't, or we will have one very unhappy girl. The forecast is for the snow to turn to rain. We will have to wait and see.

A NEW FAMILY TRADITION.....

A couple of weeks ago, I was at the store and I overheard a lady telling her young little girl (maybe a year or so older than Maya) that they were going to start a new tradition at their home. I was very curious what she was going to show her, so I walked a little closer to them and saw that she was picking up a gingerbread house kit. I smiled at the lady and said, "great idea." I then walked away and continued my shopping. A few minutes later, I caught myself smiling and thinking that it would be an awesome tradition to start at our house. When I finished shopping, I went back over to the gingerbread house display and picked one up. I was so excited. When I got home, I told Stewart, "I would like to start a new family tradition." I pulled the gingerbread house kit out and smiled. He quickly replied, "have fun, I bet Maya will love it."

So, last weekend, I pulled it out. It was a rainy weekend, and I figured that it would be a great time to make it....

Putting the frame of the house together. Maya liked putting the frosting (or what I called "glue") on the pieces.

Holding the frame together. I had to keep reminding her not to push to hard!

While waiting for our roof to dry; Maya and I decided to try the frosting.

Working to put candy on the other half of the roof. I put the "glue" on and Maya chose the candy and the colors.

Putting the buttons on our gingerbread man.

Decorating the tree.

After two days and about 10 hours, we finally finished.

Check out the funny headband that Maya is wearing. When she wears it, she likes to say, "Maya is a cool dude!"

The front of the house.

One side of our house.

The back of the house.

The other side of the house.

The gingerbread men, our tree and our pathway leading to the front door.

What daddy thought of the whole project!

I am looking forward in doing it again next year, but I am hoping (just hoping) that something will be different:

That daddy will help a little more and be a little more excited about it when we are done!