Maya's 1st Birthday Party

We had a small birthday party for Maya over the weekend.  We just invited immediate family and godparents/spouses to keep it small and manageable.  Maya seemed to have a lot of fun and enjoyed smashing her piece of cake.  We had an owl theme and I had fun making the majority of the decorations.  I have to admit that I borrowed stole the ideas from this blog.    Well they say that imitation is the greatest form of flattery right?!

Here are some pictures!

These were a bit time intensive but I think they turned out really well!

These showed a picture of Maya each month so guests could see her growth!

I loved making those little owls sitting on top of the china cabinet.

Did you know that you can get a free sheet cake from Acme for the first birthday? Yup!  You just have to show them the birth certificate.  I just asked them to do the lettering on the bottom edge and I added the owl craft to liven it up!

As guests arrived we took some pictures outside.  We took a Target basket that I typically hide keep toys in and turned it into a faux hot air balloon ride (idea found on Pinterest- I actually had the basket before I saw the idea on Pinterest)!  Maya loved the balloons.

Of course, she needed an owl shirt to match the theme of her party.  Her hair clip is an owl as well :-)  

"Just poking up to say 'hey!'"

"Wow, check out these balloons Dad!"

She was pretty distracted while opening presents but does enjoy her gifts.  She received clothes, bubbles, a bathing suit (that will match her cousin's at the shore), books, puzzles, a dollhouse with all of the accessories, a pull alligator toy, a barn set with animals that make noise, and a boat bath toy.

"I love puzzles!"

"Woohoo, a dollhouse!"

No, her cousin Alex wasn't a present- his parents might have been willing to leave him with us though :-)

After we sang "Happy Birthday" Maya got to enjoy a piece of her birthday cake!

"I can't believe my mom is letting me eat this! It's not even cut up into little pieces!"

"More please!" 

 To make the day even more special, Maya took her first wobbly step before her party right in front of Dave and I!

Random Happenings

I realized that I haven't blogged in awhile.   Until this past week we've been enjoying the nice weather.

Maya has been having fun playing with the dogs.  She knows which toys are theirs and will grab them and take them to the dogs in an attempt to get them to play with her.  They're not sure how to react yet but they are very patient (even when she steals bones out of their mouths like in the picture below) and will play tug-a-war with her!

I babysat for my niece and nephew recently.  Dexter seemed concerned that there was another baby in the house.  He then seemed to accept it and decided to help me out.  Here is is watching my nephew.

Maya started to climb the stairs a bit ago so we had to install another baby gate!

Maya will turn 1 in a week!  We can't believe it.  Right now she has a nasty cold complete with a fever so we hope she's feeling much better when her birthday rolls around!

Maya & Multiple Dogs & Misc.

Earlier this week Dave had an oral argument in State College.  He went up the night before so Maya and I headed to "G.B.'s" (Grandmom's) for a sleepover!  This of course meant that the dogs had to come along.  My mom has two dogs herself so there were 4 dogs running around in the house.  Maya loved it. I snapped some pictures of her with the pooches!

"Form a line please!'

"Everybody sit- Good dogs!"

Dave, being the great hubby that he is, brought me home my favorite sandwich and smoothie from State College!  It's the small things- ya know!?

Yup- I was so excited I took a picture of my smoothie!

Today a friend and her daughter came over for a play date.  Our girls are a month apart so they're perfect playmates.  We were laughing at them because although they don't really play together, they follow each other around and play with the same thing- a perfect example of parallel play.  They would even grab the same toy back and forth from each other, and neither of them seemed to mind.

Isn't Maya tall?! Maya's about a month older.  I love her friend's workout outfit!

Maya Outside with Bubbles

We've experienced spring like weather already!  We've been meeting friends out at parks and going for walks.  Today we walked to a park in the borough and met a friend and former colleague of mine and her two kids.  When we came home we walked the pugs and then went outside to play with bubbles!  Here's the best pics I could get.  It's hard to blow bubbles and take pictures!

P.S.  How cute are these "Babylegs" leggings?!

"Wow- check them out!"

"Where did they go?"

"Maybe I could blow some bubbles myself next time?"

Maya- 11 Months Old

Maya is 11 months old!  It's hard to believe that in a month she'll be a year old.

This month she has been crawling and traveling along the furniture like crazy.  She's surely a girl in motion.  We really cherish our cuddle time now, as she usually wants to be out and about exploring!  She now has 6 teeth.  She's also been a napping champ the past few months!  This month we started going to story time at our local library.  She seemed to enjoy it the first time, but seemed annoyed when other babies were not listening to the story (she LOVES books and will listen to them seemingly forever).  When the teacher asked "Where's my dogs Wags?" (a dog puppet), Maya pointed right to it (alright, she does just go around pointing so there is a chance she just got lucky)!  The 2nd time, she seemed scared of an older boy and wouldn't leave the safe confines of Mommy's lap.  Hopefully the 3rd time will be better!

Today the weather was beautiful!  We went to the park with 2 of my (Amy's) friends and their little girls!  I think the girls had fun- at least the moms did!

Here's Maya playing at the park with her identical twin friends! Her other friend was wrapped up in the Moby Wrap!

"I LOVE when my Daddy puts me up on his shoulders!"

"Check out my new pug shirt!"

"Mom, I'm too busy for you to take pictures of my first day in pigtails!"

Maya the Bumblebee

Today Maya wore a cute outfit that was a gift from a friend and former colleague of Dave's.  Thanks Janelle! :-)

She looked so cute! Side note- it's awfully hard to get pigtails styled on a constantly moving baby- but I did my best!

Pardon the blurry image (and the messy mouth- she stores food in her mouth like a chipmunk)- she won't sit still for long!

"Even this bat matches my outfit!"

"Come on Mom, I'm ready for our walk!"

Check out Maya's Latest Trick

Check out what Maya can do. This is her with one of her favorite books- "First 100 Words."  We read it multiple times a day.  She points to it constantly while she's in the "playroom."

Hodge Podge

This blog post is a hodge podge and you get bonus points if you're reading this post as I'm not broadcasting it on Facebook (not that I broadcast them all on Facebook).  Why? - Because I gave up Facebook for Lent!  I'm hoping that it means that I will spend more time either not on an iDevice at all, or that I'll spend time catching up on the news or something worthwhile while I'm on an iDevice.  However, I'm thinking that it might ultimately lead to more game playing... I just discovered the game "Draw Something" (let me know if you'd like to play that with me) and I'm thinking that's going to ultimately be my trade... oh and, of course, I'm still on Pinterest- can't give that app up!

So basically, here are some recent pics. I should have taken pics of some of the dinners Dave and I have enjoyed together the last few weekends.  I prepared 3 courses of fondue for our Feb. pre-planned date (Christmas gift for Dave).  This weekend Dave cooked a delicious 4 course meal with steak as the main dish!  It was such a nice treat!

Here is Maya crawling around.  Doesn't Dexter look huge next to her?  He's really not much bigger than her...

Happy girl!

"Let me in!!!"

I've been making almost all of Maya's baby food and it's super easy and cost effective.  However, I think she should be transitioning to more finger foods.  I think I'll miss the days of purees.  Above is some zucchini and butternut squash!  She loves squash!

"Hmmm, do I want to eat this green thing?  Is it a puff?  If not probably not, but I'll eat it if all my puffs are gone."

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day From Our Family to Yours!

Today we went into the borough to have lunch with Dave! 

Maya Signs "More"

As promised, below is a video of Maya signing "more." Please note that it cannot be played on iDevices.  

Maya's Political Conversation

Maya Crawling

Below is a short clip of Maya crawling!