Archive for January, 2016

Maia’s Birthday Update

Sunday, January 3rd, 2016

Maia’s Birthday Favorites

Snuggle baby

Snuggle baby

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Maia is two! Climbing all over things is the perfect picture of her =)

Maia is two! Climbing all over things is the perfect picture of her =)

I bought this cool yoga swing for the party. I thought it would be a nice swing to have indoors, and a fun little addition to the woods for the party. The kids LOVE it already!

I bought this cool yoga swing for the party. I thought it would be a nice swing to have indoors, and a fun little addition to the woods for the party. The kids LOVE it already!

Maia is two years old!!  Our baby is getting so big, but we all (even Serenity and DZ) still call her our baby.  She is very determined, snuggly, energetic and acrobatic!  She adores the alphabet and points out every letter she sees, and will tell you the sounds they make as well.  She loves running to greet you and getting swung into the air for a hug.  Her face just lights up, it is the sweetest thing.  She adores her brother and sister.  She will just chant their names and squeal when she sees them.  She is talking so much more.  On her actual birthday, the 18th, she was climbing in her usual daredevil way and I said to be careful.  She responded, “Don’t worry Mama, I got you.”  I was shocked because usually when she says long phrases I just can’t decipher any of it, but this sentence was clear as day!  And she has followed it up with some other cute sentences, like “I NEED Paw Patrol”, “DZ ok?” and “Wook, it’s Gram’ba.”  I love it!!!

 

Every day Maia will ask me to “Wock” and she will grin and giggle gleefully as we race to my rocking chair.  She’ll climb up first and laugh when I pick her up to set her in my lap.  Then she will wiggle down and run to get a book.  The rocking chair is getting so much use now thanks to my snuggly girl =)  She has lots of books that she loves, and that she will ask for “again!” and again.  Most recently, Frosty the Snowman has been her favorite, closely followed by Pete the Cat saves Christmas.  Earlier in the year it was the Christmas Parade and Dotty.  She loves them so much I had the Christmas books out all year long, which makes me happy too.  She also adores Ten on the Sled, the Bunny Rabbit Show, and her little alphabet and number board books.

I love this pic Kelly took of us! Reading Frosty. For the 100th time and she still loves it =)

I love this pic Kelly took of us! Reading Frosty. For the 100th time and she still loves it =)

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October =) Reading a Paw Patrol bookee =) I miss it already now that she says book instead of bookeee

October =) Reading a Paw Patrol bookee =) I miss it already now that she says book instead of bookeee

 

Food:

Maia favorite food is berries.  She prefers blueberries and strawberries to the point that I have to hide them if I want her to eat anything else.  If we are in Target, I have on occasion opened a package of freeze dried strawberries to keep her busy while I do the shopping.  This is so clearly her favorite there is no need for anything else on this list.  =)

blueberries! She is so cute with the pigtails but only left them in long enough to eat her blueberry bribe and then pulled them back out =)

blueberries! She is so cute with the pigtails but only left them in long enough to eat her blueberry bribe and then pulled them back out =)

Toys:

Maia focuses very intently on certain toys.  She loves our Magformers and has spent hours stacking them and arranging them.  She’s recently started playing Lego Duplos for real.  I had put most of them away for awhile, and when I got them out on our Epic Lego day, I discovered she doesn’t just tear things down anymore, she can really build!  And she makes awesome things!

May with Magformers =)

May with Magformers =)

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Other toys she loved a lot this year include her stacking cups, wooden puzzles, and this little vanity set that plays music.  Papa actually got that for Serenity but Maia played with it the most! She loves our lookout and Paw Patrol figures, of course =)

June =) Stacking cups!

June =) Stacking cups!

She was introduced to Play-doh this year, and Do-A-Dots.  She loved both these things and made absolutely fantastic messes with both activities.  She loves markers too, although tends to open every marker before coloring with them.  She seems to be coloring on paper mostly now, which is a major victory.  She still puts stickers everywhere they don’t belong though.  Stickers are for paper or for putting on yourself, but she seems to prefer them on my floor or on my furniture.  Which is why I made our cardboard house wrapped in white paper for one of our advent activities, so she could enjoy putting stickers on something really interesting.

Stickers =)

Stickers =)

She is NOT sharing with Grandma =)

She is NOT sharing with Grandma =)

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She adores bathtime.  For awhile she didn’t even want toys in the tub with her, she’d toss them all out and just enjoy the water.  She did like the foam letters, but even they got tossed out.  Then for Christmas we got her this toy that came with a water sprayer, and oh, she loves it!  However, whenever we asked her to keep the water in the tub, she would say “WA HA HA HA!” and spray water deliberately out of the tub.  This was too funny and ended up with about ten fully saturated towels to soak up the mess. We have since convinced her we really do mean it, and now she mostly keeps it in the tub.  But that Wa ha ha is absolutely awesome.

January in her first nursery =)

January in her first nursery =)

February

February

March in Cali =)

March in Cali =)

Easter on the farm with Uncle Casey and a sheep =)

Easter on the farm with Uncle Casey and a sheep =)

April in the Daddy Cave =) Her favorite way of greeting Daddy when he came home from work =)

April in the Daddy Cave =) Her favorite way of greeting Daddy when he came home from work =)

July =)

July =)

August! In front of our new house!!! With her hand down my shirt, which was pretty typical. =)

August! In front of our new house!!! With her hand down my shirt, which was pretty typical. =)

September in the rocking chair =) It's a perfect fit now!

September in the rocking chair =) It’s a perfect fit now!

Marker time! September =)

Marker time! September =)

November. Sleeping anywhere but in her bed.

November. Sleeping anywhere but in her bed.

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Hiking in Tahoe in August.

Hiking in Tahoe in August.

On the beach in Tahoe =)

On the beach in Tahoe =)

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Maia’s Second Birthday!

Saturday, January 2nd, 2016

Maia’s 2nd Birthday!!

Maia, in her rocking chair, briefly =)  I didn't try to get her to wear a mask, but the kids still use the ones I made for DZ's second birthday so hopefully she will someday =)

Maia, in her rocking chair, briefly =) I didn’t try to get her to wear a mask, but the kids still use the ones I made for DZ’s second birthday so hopefully she will someday =)

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My sweet Maia had her birthday party today!!!  I will admit I spent a lot of time waffling over the plan for this party.  Winter parties are hard!  And the age range of my guests is widening, but I still want it to be fun for the older nephews and niece as well as my two year old!  But I think it all worked out!  The theme for the party was Winter Woods.  Maia’s nursery was baby deer themed, and I had bought one book in particular, Dotty, which was about a baby deer eating strawberries.  Since berries are her absolute favorite food, and I read her that book about a thousand times, I settled on forest animals.  (We also read a lot of Reindeer Run, Eight Jolly Reindeer, and a LOT of the Bunny Rabbit Show, all woodland creatures themed =)  Abbey also gave her this little purple bunny at Everett’s birthday, and I often heard her through the monitor saying “Hop, Hop, HOP HOP!” while playing with that.

 

After Eric talked me down from hiring a wild animal petting zoo, I thought of building a forest out of cardboard.  Then I thought maybe the big kids would have fun with the actual building of dens.  So we collected cardboard, fabric, animal cutouts, a camouflage netting, curly willow branches, and our snowball collection.  We moved the Christmas tree upstairs, and it was Welcome to the Forest.  I think they all had a blast!  And it turned out so fun, with tunnels, a tree, rocks, rivers!  Lots of snowball fights too =)  I bought this cool yoga swing that I thought would be a fun little burrow for the forest, and a great way for the kids to swing indoors, or just use like a hammock for reading.

Corwyn in the hammock swing, in the woods with DZ the fox.

Corwyn in the hammock swing, in the woods with DZ the fox.

Barrett, Casey and Jen in the woods with a squirrel.  =)

Barrett, Casey and Jen in the woods with a squirrel. =)

Building the woods and animal dens =)

Building the woods and animal dens =)  They  made lots of cool tunnels, built trees, rocks, rivers, all kinds of things!  I need to go back up and get better pictures of the animals and the tunnels =)  

I bought this cool yoga swing for the party.  I thought it would be a nice swing to have indoors, and a fun little addition to the woods for the party.  The kids LOVE it already!

I bought this cool yoga swing for the party. I thought it would be a nice swing to have indoors, and a fun little addition to the woods for the party. The kids LOVE it already!

Downstairs the activity was based on another of Maia’s favorite things, digging in the sandbox.  She hasn’t gotten to do much of that lately, since the weather is chilly and she refuses to wear shoes.  At all.  So I made a giant sensory tub filled with rice!  I hid a bunch of forest animals figures and rings in it, and put out measuring cups, spoons, bowls and little buckets.  Maia spent HOURS there today.  I barely got her to listen to us sing Happy Birthday!  So I’d say that was a success!  Other kids loved it too.  Sweet Everett lay down in the tub and just enjoyed it like it was his own personal beach.  Only a few times did the rice get out of control, and several kind friends helped sweep up those mishaps.  I’m on my own tomorrow though so that will be another story.  After her bath she started her usual litany of “Pablo? Paw Patrol?”  And I asked her, do you want Paw Patrol or do you want rice?  She shrieked “Rice! Rice!” and ran to the tub.  Yay, sensory bin beats tv. =)  At least for today.

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She found a fox ring!  And lots of other animals.  Listening to her wolf howl is too cute!

She found a fox ring! And lots of other animals. Listening to her wolf howl is too cute!

Papa played with Maia in the rice =)

Papa played with Maia in the rice =)

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Donovan kindly handed Serenity a deer ring when she wanted one, and she replied, "You don't UNDERSTAND, I have to find this myself!"  So she buried it so she could find it again =)

Donovan kindly handed Serenity a deer ring when she wanted one, and she replied, “You don’t UNDERSTAND, I have to find this myself!” So she buried it so she could find it again =)

I made a lot of woodland creature masks.  Foxes, bunnies, owls and deer.  The kids were so cute in them!  Maggie especially wore her owl all day.  And of course, baby Athena needed an owl mask too =)  Serenity chose a deer, and DZ claimed a fox.  Eric, Carson, and Barrett were rabbit jedis together.  Love it.

DZ the Fox!

DZ the Fox!

Maggie the Owl and her friend Serenity the Deer.

Maggie the Owl and her friend Serenity the Deer.

Ninja bunny

Ninja bunny

Jedi Bunnies

Jedi Bunnies

My sister made an amazing cake.  It was so delicious!  Cinnamon and a touch of coconut, SO good.  Maia woke up from her nap and asked for more so I’d say it was a hit.  Maia won’t eat just any cake =)  And it was so cute with the cinnamon sticks and rosemary!  Maia was not as thrilled with the singing part of Happy Birthday.  Not sure if she didn’t appreciate all the sound or if she just didn’t want to be distracted from the rice.  Serenity helped her with the candles.  =)

This cake was SOOO good.  I'm saying goodbye to sugar for awhile tomorrow so this was an excellent way to go out!

This cake was SOOO good. I’m saying goodbye to sugar for awhile tomorrow so this was an excellent way to go out!

I got sticks and berries for party food =)  That was as creative as I got.  Chick Fil A provided the rest.

I got sticks and berries for party food =) That was as creative as I got. Chick Fil A provided the rest.

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She may not have been thrilled by the singing, but the cake was a definite hit!  And randomly, successful fork usage.

She may not have been thrilled by the singing, but the cake was a definite hit! And randomly, successful fork usage.

We had such a wonderful day!  Several families spent the night with us the night before the party, so we started off with a slumber party.  I just love these friends!  We’ve been friends half of our lives now, and watching our children together is just amazing.  Plus we got to visit and play a lot of games together while they were busy having fun =)

Sleepover before party fun =)  Such a great weekend!

Sleepover before party fun =) Such a great weekend!

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The stars were made at her first birthday party =)

The stars were made at her first birthday party =)

Friends!

Friends!

We all match!  Yeah =)

We all match! Yeah =)

Amazing Boys Corwyn and Donovan =)

Amazing Boys Corwyn and Donovan =)

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Birthday girl couldn't even wait for me to put them in the serving bowl to start eating her berries =)

Birthday girl couldn’t even wait for me to put them in the serving bowl to start eating her berries =)

Maia liked unwrapping presents!  She opened this one, and said ABC!  But then moved on.  She was so focused on the awesome abc puzzle Gavin and Jennie got her, that she didn't notice the tower.  She finally turned her head at something Mike and Kelly said and did a classic double-take!  She loves this abc tower!  Happy girl =)

Maia liked unwrapping presents! She opened this one, and said ABC! But then moved on. She was so focused on the awesome abc puzzle Gavin and Jennie got her, that she didn’t notice the tower. She finally turned her head at something Mike and Kelly said and did a classic double-take! She loves this abc tower! Happy girl =)