Music Class

The highlight of our week is on Tuesday morning when we go to Music Class. It is a Mommy and Me class where they sing, dance, play instruments, read books and do many more fun things. Maya is always thrilled on Tuesdays when I tell her it is "Music Class Day!" In the bottom picture she is playing an instrument - don't you love her "concentrating facial expression?"

Maya's New Bike

We went to Yuma this weekend to visit Nana and Papa Mitchell (my mom's parents). While we were there we went and got Maya a new bike. She can't quite figure out how it works yet, but we know there will be years of fun to come!

We love adoption!

Adoption has led us to meet so many wonderful people. Today I hosted a playgroup of LDS Adoptive Families that I originally met online and now 3 of the families live in our neighborhood. So they came over today to play and all together we had 17 kids and 7 adults. It was wild, but Maya loved it. I worried that she would yell, "MINE" the whole time, but she shared so well. I guess she had no other choice, but to join in the chaos. I am so glad we have adoption to thank for meeting such great friends!

Nudist Colony or Typical 2 Year Old??? :)

Either Maya is trying to start a nudist colony or she is just a typical 2 year old - the girl keeps stripping! On Friday night I went out with some girlfriends for a FABULOUS girls' night out of dinner and shopping. So Jer kept Maya home with him (I love you Jeremy!!!). He was feeling tired and Maya was playing with her toys so he told her he was going to go night-night for a minute and she should keep playing. He said she was REALLY quiet for about 5-10 minutes. Next thing he knew, she was jumping on him on the couch COMPLETELY naked (pull-up and all!). He was totally freaked out! I laughed so hard when he told me. Then the next day she went to a babysitters house and they had some music playing. She took off her clothes and danced in her pull-up. What is up??!! I am hoping this is just another phase she will go through. :)

Tonight we went over to some friends' house to visit. Maya was playing with a Little People doll house that they had. She put the Mommy on the kitchen table and yelled, "Get down, Get down NOW." She continued, "1, 2, HURRY!" Then the Mommy got down and she said, "Thank you" and kissed her. Don't you love the mimicking? I wasn't proud that she was yelling it, but I loved that she said "Thank you" and kissed her after the discipline :).

Happy Valentine's Day

For Valentine's today, we decorated cookies with cookie dough that Papa and Nana Galovich bought for Maya when they were here a couple of weeks ago. As you can tell from the picture, she loved it! After cookies, we went over the Papa and Mama Wilkinson's house for dinner. They had prepared a fabulous Valentine's feast complete with chocolate fondue for dessert. Yummy! Maya was on a sugar high by the end of the night!

This morning I told Maya that Mama (what she calls Grandma Bev) was coming to pick us up and we were going to go bye-bye with her. Maya yelled in a very excited voice, "Shopping?!" She is a girl after my own heart (if only she really enjoyed the shopping once we are there...). Jer said, "Where do you expect her to think you are going since that is what you spend at least half of your week doing?"

Cute Phrases

In contrast to what I have stated in recent posts, Maya does say some really cute things right now. I thought I would share:

• I love it! (when referring to good food or something fun she is doing)
• Cool dude
• Peace out
• Airplane too (meaning she wants to go for a ride in an airplane - we hear this one daily when we see an airplane!)
• Weeeee (when we are driving and we go around a corner or down a hill)
• Horsey ride (when she sees a mall or park with a carousel - we spoiled her by taking her on it every time)
• Play at park
• Go Caillou (her favorite TV character right now - she yells this out of the blue, when she is not watching Caillou, because there is an episode where they are cheering him on)
• Sleep tight (she yells this as we are walking out the door after tucking her in bed)
• I love you too, Mommy (or Daddy - this one is our favorite!)

Trip to the zoo with families like ours...

On Saturday we went to the zoo with an Arizona Transracial Adoptive Families group we are in. It was so much fun! I love to be with other families that look like ours so that Maya will grow up knowing that we are not alone. Jer paid particularly close attention to the looks we were getting from others... From the picture I am sure you can assume there were many! We bought a year long membership while we were there so we are excited to go back and visit the zoo often.

After the zoo, Jer and I dropped Maya off at my parents house and went on our anniversary getaway. It was an overnight trip to a resort in Scottsdale. I love being a mom, but it was SO nice to take a break and just focus on the 2 of us again. The best part was all of it! We shopped, ate out, went for ice cream, sat in the hot tub, slept in, and went to brunch. Jeremy doesn't ever want to go away as much as I do, but once we were there, he agreed that we need to do this more often!

My Hair Creation

Today I mastered a hair do on Maya I have been wanting to attempt for quite a while. I am often proud of myself for the fact alone that I can do Maya's hair and amaze people (especially African American people). It sure feels good when they ask who does it and I reply, "I do." So today I managed to braid it (well they are actually twists not braids) all of the way around her head up into a puff. At first I didn't like it on her and then I was really mad because I had spent all of that time doing it. But as the day has gone by, it is really growing on me and the best part about it is that it looks really impressive. Take a look for yourself! This is a picture of her with her friend Destany (also a transracial adoptive family).

In other news, since Maya turned 2 just 5 days ago, the tantrums have increased 100%. She is officially in her terrible 2s. I thought that I was a really patient person after being a school teacher, but she is pushing me to the limit. Then today she keeps yelling "SHIT." I can't blame that one on the church Nursery - she got that one from me. AHHH! :)

Yeah Daddy!

Today Jeremy was asked to offer a prayer in church. After praying in front of the entire congregation, he was walking off the stand and back to his seat as Maya yelled, "YEAH DADDY" and clapped her hands. Everyone laughed.

On a sad note, tonight Maya told me to "shut up." I think she must have learned it at Nursery today because we never say that. I was shocked and then immediately put her in time-out. She is always so polite and kind so it threw me completey off-guard. I pray that 1 time-out was all those words will take!

Oscar the Fish

We got Maya a fish last night for her birthday. She is in heaven! She wants to feed the fish all of the time. He looks like a grouch so we named him Oscar. To her, he is just Fishy.

Happy Birthday Maya!

Today is the real day, Maya turned 2! My baby is officially a big girl. 2 sound so old. I am really ready for another baby now :).

I decided to write Maya a letter letting her know how much I love her so here it goes:

Dear Maya,

Congratulations on turning 2! You are such a big girl now. I love that you made a quick change from telling people you are 1 to now telling them you are 2. You are SOOOO smart! Every day you amaze me at the words and phrases you know. I love this latest stage you are in because I can reason with you and you completely get it. There are so many "almost tantrums" that are prevented because I can calmly tell you what we are going to do instead of what you want to do at that moment. I love your patience and understanding!

My favorite thing you do right now is say "I love you too Mommy" when I tell you that I love you or sometimes when I haven't said anything at all. My other favorite thing is the big hug that I get when you wake up. You give the best hugs! You are also VERY polite. I have been told many times that people don't know another toddler that polite. You ALWAYS say please, thank you and sorry. Sometimes you say them even when it is not necessary - like if I bump into you, you tell me sorry instead of the other way around :).

I love your outgoing nature. No matter where we go, you are constantly saying hi to new people. We never went through a stage with you where you were afraid to be around strangers. I know that you will use this to do good in the world. You seem to already seek out those that need a little extra attention and give it to them. You are very loving and caring!

Your birthmom, Maria, and birthaunt, Janice, both sent me messages today wishing you a happy birthday. What a lucky girl you are to have 2 families to love and support you!

I am constantly amazed that we have the privilege to be parents to such a little angel! You make each day a fun adventure. You have brought so much happiness and joy to many people. As we enter your third year of life, I can't wait to see what lies before us.

I love, love, love you!!
Mommy

5 Years Ago Today...

1. Jeremy and I were married in the San Diego LDS Temple

2. I was a beautiful bride (if I do say so myself :)

3. Was one of the happiest days of my life

4. We were on cloud 9

5. I pretty much looked the same, but with shorter hair

6. Jer pretty much looked the same, but with more hair :)

7. We had no idea we would build our family through adoption - what a wonderful surprise!

8. We went away on a fabulous honeymoon to Coronado Island and Las Vegas (I want to go again!!)

9. We were surrounded by all of our family and friends

10. Started a journey that has been full of ups and downs, but one I wouldn't trade for the world - I love, love, love you Jeremy!