Merry Christmas - 2007

Merry Christmas to all our bloggy friends -- yes, even those of you who just stop in and don't leave us any love! ;)

Here are some pictures from the last 24 hours. Maya certainly understood Christmas and Santa more than she did last year!

My attempt at crafty foods -- the Blues Brothers snowmen pretzels! -- I think that their eyes look like they have sunglasses on...aren't they cute?

Black Tights + washing them right side out with other
cotton clothing = Maya's first lesson with the lint remover!

My beautiful girl!

Opening presents with the Wobbe's -- Maya still needs a little
help getting into the spirit of things!

Christmas Morning -- hanging out in front of the tree clueless that
all of those presents behind her are actually for her!

Painting with her new paints -- an artist in training!

12.15.07

Just 10 days until Christmas...I can hardly believe it! This time of year...from Halloween until New Year's always goes by soooooo fast!

Here is a cute (if I do say so myself) picture of Maya dressed up for my mom and dad's Christmas party...she looks so grown up, doesn't she?

We have been talking about (but not sitting on the lap of) Santa alot lately. When asked what she wants Santa to bring her, she replies with, "presents." When asked what kind of presents, she alternates between pink presents and orange presents. :)

They have been singing Christmas songs at daycare (aka..school) and Maya is learning alot of the words. See for yourself below. I would have edited out the last 15 seconds, but I don't know how...bear with us as she loses interest in singing!

Singing!

ABC's -- must always end with cha-cha-cha!

Rock-a-bye baby ... complete with babies falling out of the tree!

Paw-Paw and Pigtails

Maya wanted Paw-Paw to put pigtails in her hair. After much protest..he caved. Here's the semi-results! Just after this picture, she told paw-paw that momma should do it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gobble Gobble!

Maya certainly knows the sound of a turkey! But that's not all! Maw-maw has been reading two Thanksgiving books to Maya for over a month now. Maya can say the following words with great clarity...Mayflower, Plymouth, & Pilgrims. Massachusetts is still a bit tough for her, though! :)

The T-day crafts have been coming in regularly from daycare. Here is a picture of Maya with her indian vest and feathers....cute, cute, cute!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Time...

I have no idea where the time has gone. I suppose we're just busy living life! Maya continues to grow..and learn...at a tremendous pace. Here are just some of the highlights....

We celebrated forever family day on October 24th. We have officially been together for over a year now. It has gone by SO fast! When I look at pictures of Maya from a year ago, I realize just how fast it really is! Maya has gained about 10 lbs. in her first year home and grown close to 4.5" -- this past summer, I think her legs finally caught up with the rest of her body!

Here is a picture of our family day celebration...

Just one week later, we got to trick or treat for the first time! Maya really got the hang of it after the first few houses. Without fail, she said "twick o tweat" and "tank yoooooouu" at each house that she deemed worthy of going to. Here's my little pumpkin all dressed up...

In the meantime...we've been perfecting our potty skills and learning how to go to sleep "all by self" -- Maya is very proud of all of her new accomplishments.

Her language development has astounded me. The things that come out of this girl's mouth make me laugh every single day. She has caught on to many concepts and phrases...proclaiming that she likes maw-maw and paw-paw's tv better than ours ... asking me if I am "sure" that I don't need my coat ... crying when she has a potty mishap and telling me that her "pee pee is falling out" -- I cannot make this stuff up! She's so very funny..and smart..and beautiful. I am blessed to call her my daughter!

We've also spent alot of time with our friend's Joan and Alexis. Here are Alexis and Maya eating lunch at the zoo!

And finally...Maya likes to have a "pony" in her hair now...here she is showing it off!

Our first FAMILY DAY celebration!

One year ago today...

Oh that face! She looked so sad and scared! Fast forward almost one year (taken late Sept)

she couldn't smile any bigger in this photo! Of course..she's LOVING the peanut butter these days...it's her new "cheeeeeeeezzzzz" smile! Cute - eh?

More to come....pictures of our Family Day celebration!

October Update

We are just days away from the most wonderful date on the calendar. October 24th. The day that I become a mommy and Maya became a daughter. As anyone who waited out the extrutiatingly long wait (although it's nothing compared to NOW) will tell you....it's hard to imagine that the wait was meant to be. So that the daughters and sons we were blessed with were chosen to be ours. I do believe this...with all my heart. It is hard to imagine my life without Dang Hong Li in it. She has grown and changed in so many ways....the months between 18 and 30 are an amazing journey!

Recently..I have been reminded that I must watch the words that I use around Maya. Even if they are said in jest...when the come back out of her mouth, they are not quite as funny. The other day, we were goofing around and I told Maya that she was funny. She said to me "No..momma funny...I trouble" -- well...yes..she sometimes IS trouble...and I've said that to her, but never expected her to repeat it back to me!

Potty training is going VERY well. I don't want to jinx it, but I think it's going to stick this time. She is very proud of herself and I can tell that she just gets it. Eventhough I will be thrilled to be out of the diaper phase...there is certainly some sadness that comes along with seeing her grow up so fast!

We are busy just "being" these days. We spend time at the park, with friends, taking walks, and running errands. She suprised me the other day when she said that she wanted to go bye-bye and I told her that we didn't have anywhere to go. She had some suggestions. First..she suggested church. Interesting since she can't sit still for more than 5 minutes when we are there. When I told her that we weren't going to church, her next suggestion was Target! I think we must spend to much time there!

Halloween is fast approaching. It was the first holiday that Maya and I celebrated together last year and she is very excited about the decorations and pumpkins this year. We have a set of pumpkin lights that she insist get turned out whenever we are at home.

That's about all for now. I hope to get a nice post up next week to celebrate our one year forever family day! I just can't believe it!

Round 2 - Potty Training

=

Will potty for M&M's -- if there was such a sign, I'm sure that Maya would be wearing it!

We are potty training full-force today. I'm taking her every 20 minutes or so to sit on the potty - if she just sits, she gets one m&m, if she "produces" she gets two. She has just figured out (around 3:30p) that if she tells me she has to go potty, then she gets an m&m. Hmmm..I'll have to rethink the reward system!

And...she is going to be VERY disappointed tomorrow when she goes to school and there are no such rewards for sitting on the potty. Poor baby!

more digi-scrapping!

I have discovered the quickness and ease of scrapping with pre-made templates and digi-scrap kits. There are many freebies on the web, like the template that I used for this layout (by FreeStyleMama Creations). I purchased the kit, though, because I liked it so much. The digi-scrap kit is available at Kay Miller Designs.

new(ish) hobby...

I have fallen in love with digi-scrapping! It's a form of scrapbooking that is 100% digital. There are some great communities out there of digi-scrappers that have been helpful in getting me started. One way to force myself to learn more about the program that I am using (Photoshop Elements 5.0) is to jump into a challenge. This one was hosted by another adoptive mom, Diana, whom I met a few years ago. This challenge was to scrap in a brag book size (6x4) which is nice because they can be very easily printed at the local Walgreens, Target or wherever!

Here is the outcome...pictures from Maya's 2nd birthday!

Time flies...

Maya is 28 months old now....and we have been together for almost a year! In many ways, it feels like we just met..and it so many more, it feels like we've been together FOREVER!

Some tidbits of what we've been up to:

• Maya is talking up a storm. Sometimes we know exactly what she's saying and other times, well...I can catch a word or two.
  
• Tonight, Maya suprised us with counting to ten in Spanish. Glad to see that my hard-earned daycare dollars are well spent! Oh...and she can count to ten in English, too. Interestingly, she frequently skips seven in both English and Spanish! We'll work on Mandarin next!
  
• Maya and I read stories together in bed almost every night. She now enjoys reading the books back to me. I was able to catch one such reading on tape...it's at the end of this post.
  
• She is getting much more comfortable in both familiar and new places. She's much less my "velcro" baby and gaining in independence each and every day.
  
• Although I don't have an exact measurement...I'm pretty certain that she's grown a few inches this summer. The capri pants that went down to her ankles in the spring are now really capri's!
  
• We spent a lovely weekend at Trout Lodge -- about 90 minutes from St. Louis -- with a friend and her daughter. The girls got along very well and it was so fun to listen to their giggles!

I'm looking forward to celebrating our one-year Forever Family day on October 24th!

One year ago today....

"God bless the broken road...that lead me straight to you"

while the song that I have chosen for this special day might seem odd...written most likely as a a romantic song for those in love...it has been a significant song for me in the journey that I have taken to become a mother.

Hopes...dreams...wishes...loves...wisdom...strength and broken hearts are all words that would describe my journey. The path that I had assumed I would take to motherhood was not to be.

"lovers who broke my heart...they were like northern stars"

every path I chose...every decision I made...lead me to being Maya's momma...and led me to that very special day...just one year ago...when I first saw the face of my angel...Maya.

"this much I know is true...that God blessed the broken road, that lead me straight to you"

For Robin...

Going somewhere?

5 seconds in (really bad) pigtails....

July - in pictures

keys? check hat? check phone? check

oh wait...I forgot something....

my SHADES!

say cheese!

post-bath .. all wrapped up and cozy!

still got the finger-sucking eye-lash stroking thing goin' on...

Happy 4th of July!

On the phone...

It's a bit dark...but still quite funny!
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It's been a long time...

Cheeeese!

Life with a toddler can be crazy, hectic and sweet. Here's an update on all things Maya.

Potty Training

We are in the beginning stages of potty training. Maya did great on her first day - and then not so great on the second. I think she is ready..but something that I've certainly learned in my seven months with Maya is that she does things in her own time. So...we'll see. Daycare said that they'd give it a go for a week and them let me know if they think she's ready. I will default to the opinion of those who've done this a million times over!


update: Maya is not ready for potty training - she was 'kicked out' !!

Puppies and Shoes

This girl cracks me up. Lately, she's been pretending to be a puppy. Funny..since she is deathly afraid of the real ones. Early one morning (3:30ish), I was awoken to the sound of a yappy little puppy. Apparently, Ms. Maya was awake and bored, so she woke momma up with a fun little show. She then asked, repeatedly, for her shoes. Um..no..baby girl..we're not getting out of bed at 3:30am..nice try!


Words

She's got lots of them. And she'll use them when she feels like it. She continues to suprise me with full sentences every now and then. Last night, we saw her cousins hanging out on their porch down the street. Clear as day, she says to me: I want to see Carly. She'll do that from time to time...and stun us all.


Extra-curricular activities

We've been having fun at swimming lessons and now tumbling. Maya really likes the water. This class that we were in is an introductory Mommy & Me class. We hang out in the water and play fun little games. She LOVED going down the slide and splashing into the water.

We are alternating swim lessons with tumbling. We took a tumbling class over the winter that was mostly just playing on a variety of gymnastic equipment. It was structured, but the kids could pretty much play on whatever they chose. The next level up is for 2-3 year olds and the first thing that they said yesterday was that it is more structured..and that they begin to expect the kids to sit and watch..and wait their turns for each activity. My first thought was "uh-0h" Maya's not going to like this. But..she did beautifully! She needed some time to warm up to the teachers but once she did, she allowed them to help her out on each activity. She really enjoyed it!


Walking, Climbing, Running, Swinging

We spend as much time as we can at the park. Maya loves the swings. She will sit in the baby swing for a looooong time, commanding me to 'push, momma' -- she's also starting to get the hang of the big girl swings. The first time that she was on one at daycare, I got really excited and said something that got her excited and she just kinda plopped off of the swing. Since then, she's learned that you need to wait for the swing to stop and get help in getting down. Oops!

Maya is developing so nicely in her gross-motor skills. She's beginning to walk faster and faster and can even run a little bit. She likes to climb and can get herself up onto a lot of things.


Funny monkey

Some of my favorite things:


~ Maya will be walking away from me...stop and turn around...stick one finger out at me and say "back" -- as in, I'll be back. It's uber-cute!


~ Maya will also motion for me to come with her by curling her cute little fingers, motioning to me and saying 'mon momma.


~ My momma (or maw-maw or paw-paw). Maya likes to walk between the three of us, hug our legs and pronounce "My ...." She gets confused when Grandma (maw-maw) says...'and you are my Maya' -- she usually shakes her head no..points to herself..and says Maya.


~ Maya really likes our Laurie Berkner CDs. We have come up with funny little movements and motions for many of the songs. It's funny to see Maya doing a little car-seat boogie to the music! She mouths/sings a lot of the songs as well.



That's about all I've got right now.... I'll try to update more frequently!

Very cool!

One year + one day later...the Shaolin Warriors will perform HERE (well..near Cape G, MO). We saw this spectacular show last year, while in China. You better believe that Maya and I will be going to this one. What a VERY cool way to celebrate one year together!

http://shaolin-temple.gungfu.com/

Here's a pic from last year:

Conversations with a 2 year old...part 1

Maya and I are starting to have real conversations...which is kinda cool...maybe our subject matter will mature as she gets a bit better with language.

Conversation One - after dinner, which she was clearly done with.

Me: Maya, what is that on the floor?
Maya: Chicken
Me: Why is there chicken on the floor?
Maya: Throw
Me: Does our food belong on the floor?
Maya: No
Me: Where does it belong?
Maya: Trash
Me: That's right! Please pick up the chicken and put it in the trash can.
(and so she did...and all is well)

Conversation Two - laying in bed, ready for night-night

Maya: (something that sounds like swim)
Me: Swim? - yes, we went swimming tonight
Maya: no..no..no...(swinm)
Me: Oh, the swing! Yes - you were on the big girl swing when mommy picked you up from daycare
Maya: Ouchie
Me: Yes - you fell when you were so excited to see mommy and you let go of the swing
Maya: (nods her head yes -- and points to her boo boo)

Hee hee....so much fun!!!

Maya's birthday party

What a fun party we had! Here are a few pictures ... more to come!

I love this photo - it's a little dark,

but the look on Maya's face is priceless!

Here she is digging into her cupcake

What six months looks like...

Since her initial checkup in November 2006, Maya has gained 4 lbs and grown 3.5 inches. She has WAY more teeth (look at the snaggle tooth smile on the left) and tons more hair. She's walking, running, climbing, talking and just plain old GROWING! What a big girl she has become!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Maya!

Today is the day. My sweet "baby" girl is TWO! I don't know what the year ahead will bring, but it can't be anything short of WONDERFUL! Stay tuned for pictures of the birthday girl!

Birthday Breakfast

it's melmooo!!!!

On our way to daycare
too cool for school....

Is this really for ME?
the whole thing?

Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Little Miss Manners

No pictures tonight...but there will be plenty in a week or so after Maya's birthday party! I cannot believe that my baby is turning TWO. Ack!

Maya is getting the hang of language - and has turned into quite the polite little girl....most of the time.

She says please, thank you, sorry (sometimes!), and my personal favorite...

Bless You!

I'll take credit for the please, thank you and sorry. We work on those frequently. But..I never realized how closely she listened until I had sneezed one day - and out of the blue comes the sweetest little "Bless you" EVER. Not only is she polite, but this girl is SMART. She knows when you are faking a sneeze. Many have tried to get her to say it -- but she just will NOT say it after a fake sneeze. Too cute!

Chocolate!

Maya thoroughly enjoyed her first Easter basket...check out how excited she gets over the chocolate!

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Happy Easter!!!!

We had a wonderful Easter Day. A little colder than usual, but it was still beautifl outside. Maya did great at the looooong mass - right up until the last 5 minutes - not bad for an almost 2 year old!

Lookin' pretty in my Easter Dress...

Cheeeeeeeeeese!

Got anymore chocolate in there, Char?

Changing Diapers

Less than one month...

...and this little bundle of cuteness will be TWO! Aughh..I just can't believe it!

12,700,800 seconds....

How long since...
...the most beautiful girl was placed in my arms
...my heart grew bigger than I ever imagined
...a lifelong dream was fulfilled

From and including: Tuesday, October 24, 2006
To, but not including : Tuesday, March 20, 2007

It is 147 days from the start date to the end date, but not including the end date

Or 4 months, 24 days excluding the end date

Alternative time units147 days can be converted to one of these units:
12,700,800 seconds
211,680 minutes
3528 hours
21 weeks

** I ran across this website today at work. I needed to calculate 180 days from a specific date and just knew that there were calculators for such an occasion. Of course I had to plug in the BIGGEST day of my life. Just for fun!

Play along by clicking here

Hats! ... and an update

Maya LOVES hats of all kinds...



even when they are pants....

or a swim-suit top....

Life is good. Maya is doing GREAT. She is learning more and more words, will repeat many things that I say, and loves to imitate everyone around her. She is gaining more confidence in climbing and enjoys climbing all over the furniture and anyone who might be ON the furniture. She is so much more comfortable with friends and family...and doesn't mind being "left" with them for a few hours here and there. Maya is gaining independence as well. She enjoys figuring out how to do things on her own - and I'm sure that the phrase "I do it" is going to be a favorite around our home.

We are anxious for spring-time! I cannot wait to get this one out of the house and to the park! We have great plans for spending much time outside and having picnic dinners at the park and on our back deck whenever possible. We have a super-cool Radio Flyer wagon waiting to "fly" around the neighborhood...and we cannot wait to take it on trips down to the local snow-cone stand--yum!

I took Maya to an indoor pool last weekend. This was her first experience (as far as I know) in a pool. She LOVED it! She looked mighty cute in her little two piece tankini. She hopped right out of my arms within minutes of getting into the toddler section of the pool. She was getting very brave and wanted to let go of my hands after just a bit. She went down twice - I swooped her right back up, she sputtered a bit, but it did not deter her. My brave little girl even went down the slide all by herself! We are definitely signing up for swim lessons at the YMCA!

That's about all from here. Maya is such a joy...and this mommy-gig is getting better by the day!