A Maya Montage

I wanted to do a themed weekly blog posting and I think I have come up with it. Actually my photo taking abilities (or lack there of) combined with Maya's expressive face gave me the idea. So weekly I will do some sort of Maya Montage.


This weeks installment is Maya's first attempt at eating with a spoon.....

"Thanks for trusting me with the spoon Mom, but to you really have to make a fool out of me on the blog with all these pictures?....

...I think I am getting the hang of this (concentrate, concentrate).....

...I actually got some in my mouth (and on my shirt and on the side of my face) but still I actually got some in my mouth...yummy.....

.....thanks for treating me like a big girl and letting me eat with a big girl spoon. I feel so grown up and just like you guys. I love you Mama and Dada"

~ Maya

So Lady Like...

This is Maya's signature lady-like position to sit in! Ha! Thats my girl!

Cuddle Time

Maya loves to cuddle. She is definitely Daddy's little girl. She will come up to him and lay her head down on the couch where he is laying, then he picks her up and they do this for anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. I don't know of any other 14 month old that will sit still for that long. For her its worth it just to be with her Dad.

Our Memorial Day weekend....

Friday night Pres came over and spent the night. He was an angel child the whole time! He listened, played with Maya, took a bath, didn't put up a fight when it was time to go to bed...all and all great! On Saturday Maya and Pres woke me up at 5:50am, needless to say I was a little sleepy the rest of the weekend. We woke up, I made the kids breakfast and we played some quiet games until the rest of the world was ready to get up. Maya went down for her morning nap around 9 and Pres and I took off and went to the store to get stuff for breakfast. After the store we went to the Dollar Store and got some sidewalk chalk for later, then went and got my car washed. My friend Charla was raising money for the 3-Day Breast Cancer walk by hosting a car wash, so we went and donated $ and got my car all shinny too! The rest of the day was packed full of playing, going to the park, testing out the sidewalk chalk and later a nap. It was a great start to a Memorial Day weekend.

Maya and Dada hanging out on the blanket while we all played with Sidewalk Chalk

Sweet Angel!

I have a slight obsession of taking pictures of shoes. I just couldn't resist taking a shot of Dad's new sneakers and our little girls sandals together. So cute.

Maya's glare and Claim Jumper

Have you been lucky enough to see this face?

This is what she does, she glares. Its a little scary, I know!

I have absolutely no idea where she got it from? Ha!

Oh and for all the parents out there, Claim Jumper rocks for kids! They give a place mat that sticks to the table so you don't have to worry about giving them a plate and them taking the plate and dropping it on the floor. Also, they have complimentary kids plates....that's right I said complimentary. It comes with two different kinds of cheese, turkey, oranges, applesauce and a drink. Its great place to go for lunch for the whole family. I got a sandwich that was only $8. That's almost as expensive as Subway! Ha! Anyways, I think I have rambled. Go there with the kids you wont regret it!

Mornings with Daddy =

Chocolate Pop Tarts!

Brush 'em Brush 'em Brush 'em.....

Umm...this feels so good!

I think I'll bite it

Get those uppers Dada!

She loved every minute of it!

We were using her little infant toothbrush for the last few months but Maya has now graduated to a "toddler" toothbrush and she loves it! We also bought the toddler toothpaste and I think she really likes the taste of that. She cried when Daddy was all done cleaning her teeth. Maybe she will take after the Redd side (my mom's side of the family) and be a dentist!

Another Maya Montage....

"Hey Mom, don't mind me I'm just working in the kitchen....

....geez this is tough work, I need a break....

....wow what are these magnet things, this could be hours of fun....

...what do you want? I'm busy in here....

...alright I think I'm finished. Now I'll just put these all back where I found them and....

....Yeah! Job well done. Time for a snack, I sure worked up an appetite!"

Sun-Mama-Day

The sweetest card from my family

My Baby

DJ and Maya got me a beautiful rose and card and DJ made an awesome dinner for me on Sunday. It was nice finally having a Sunday at home with nothing planned. It seems like for the last month we have had something going on every weekend. Thank you Maya and DJ for a wonderful day!

Love,
The Mama

Ballerina Girl

We went and had round 2 of cousin pictures taken last Saturday. Last year Maya was only a few weeks old when we did this and wow so much has changed since then. Last year she just laid there and looked cute, small and so innocent. This year was another story! I have to give her a little break since she wasn't feeling good all week but man was I worn out after our photo shoot. She screamed when I tried to put her next to her cousins for the pictures, she cried when we had to change outfits, the only time she was happy is when we put some yogurt bites down on the floor and she sat there and ate those while the poor photographer tried to get a few good shots. Oh well, its the memories we were capturing right? ha!

After the photo shoot we went back to Auntie Tay Tay's and had dinner. She made us an awesome impromptu dinner of Salmon Burgers and some awesome french fries (with the red robin seasoning on them) YUM! After dinner Maya was pretty tapped out so we headed home to put her to bed. But not before we put all the kids in tutu's (even Preston) and played with all of Nay Nay's toys. Here are a few shots of our little Ballerina Girl....

Dang who is that cute baby in the mirror?

I wanna give her a kiss!

Maya has learned how to kiss and it is the cutest thing EVER!! She puckers her lips and makes a "mmmmm...." sound. The other day we were driving and DJ and I heard her in the back just going "mmmm..." to everything she could ; her feet, her shoes, her car seat. It is so adorable! Every night DJ and I have a routine of putting her down to sleep together. Now we go in there and the process has gotten a little longer now that Maya kisses. She goes back and forth from me to DJ giving us lots of love before we put her to bed. This picture is from the other night, she was giving her self a kiss goodnight. She is the sweetest little girl. Next time you see her make sure to get a big, slobbery kiss from her, it will make your day!

Me and My Daddy

My Daddy is the best. He plays with me all the time and takes such good care of me. Especially this last week when I was really sick. I even threw up all over him and he still just smiled and just gave me a bath. He missed school so that he could take good care of me and watch over me to make sure I was ok. I love him so much and my favorite time of the day is right before I go to bed and I get to sit next to him on the couch and read a book or watch one of my favorite shows.

Love you Daddy!

Love,

Maya

So Cool.....

The last 2 weeks in 1 long post

Its been two weeks since Kat came into town and I am just now posting! Why you ask? The week after Kat and Chris left, our house came down with some sort of stomach bug. It started with DJ, then went to Maya then it ended with me. On top of Maya getting the stomach bug she is also fighting off an ear infection. Poor baby!!! So anyways, here is an update of our last two weeks....

Friday April 24th...Kat and Chris arrived in Seattle! WOO HOO!

Saturday April 25th....Me, DJ and Maya went and picked Kat and Chris up at Shirrae's house and took them down to the city for a little sight seeing. On the drive down there DJ was the best of the best tour guide. It went something like "Over there is where my Grandma and Grandpa live....(further down the road).....to the right is a sketchy part of town where a lot of crack heads and hookers hang out, I wouldn't go over there if I were you....oh and there is the University of Washington." Ha! Here's a few pics of the morning,

Little Miss Piggy on the Piggy

The view from the Pike Place Grill that we had lunch at

We headed home after a morning at the market to get ready for Shawn and Michelle's wedding. Maya went down for a nap, like a good girl, and all of us were able to get dressed up for the big wedding. We took Maya to Auntie Tay Tay's house so she could hang out there for a few hours until Uncle Michael and Preston could come by to pick her up. She then spent the night with her Auntie, Uncle and Pres. While we were.....

After the wedding Kat needed to put her feet up since they were larger than life itself. So we headed back to our house and chatted and hung out just like old times.

Sunday April 25th...The SHOWER!!!

Lets just say Sunday I was a total mad woman all morning trying to get things perfect for Kats shower. I feel really bad for Joss, DJ and Cami because they are the three that got to see the crazy side of me when I plan parties (BTW I get this lovely characteristic from my mother). Anyways the shower was beautiful and I think everyone had a good time. All and all it was so fun to just have everyone back together again. Here are the highlights.....

All of us girls together again

After the shower all of the guys came back to join up with their ladies and we had dinner and played games. It was a very full weekend but a ton of fun. I think I am still recovering.

Much love to Kat, Chris and Baby Michael!