Maya - 2 Years Old

All about Maya Grace at 2 years old...




Nicknames: Gracie, Grace, My My, Maya Baya, Boo, Bugaboo
Weight & Height: She weighs just over 27 lbs and is 36 inches tall.
Hair: She's had a LITTLE hair growth. Sometimes now if she has "bed head" she have little wispy curls sticking out from behind her ears. She has enough hair (kind of) for a barrette.
Favorite foods: She is getting pickier and pickier by the day. I can't even tell you how annoyed this makes me as picky eaters are one of my biggest pet peeves. She's been so limited in what she can eat (due to her diary allergy) that she's just turning a shoulder to most food in general. Even some of her tried and true favorites. I think she's had to eat the same things so many times that she's just sick of them and would rather not eat :( I do not cater to her pickiness and outside of making sure her food is dairy-free, I do not make special food for her. She eats a lot of cheese sandwiches (with dairy free cheese), her special pizza, and organic dairy-free chicken nuggets. She will eat almost any and every fruit and vegetable you set before her (except for pears, she has decided lately she doesn't like pears). Pretzel sticks continue to be her favorite snack food and she always loves salsa :) Unfortunately she also loves french fries (from Wendy's only... everywhere else makes them with butter) and fruit snacks.
Favorite Drink: Rice milk








Favorite toys: colors, number puzzle, anything small that belongs to her sisters, and most of her new birthday toys
Favorite books: She's still loving all of her Clifford books, but has branched out a little lately. We read a wide variety right now.
Favorite stuffed animal: Teddy!
Favorite Person: Makenna or Daddy
Bedtime: We kicked bedtime up a bit since the girls weren't waking up very well in the morning. We start getting ready for bed by 7:00/7:15 and try to be in bed by 7:30/7:45
Wake-up time: Almost always right around 7:15
Naps: One nap in the afternoon. Typically goes down around 1:00 and sleeps anywhere from 2 - 3 hours. She is now able to go without a nap if necessary (I would strongly prefer not), but we see behavioral issues later in the evening if this happens.
What she's saying: She is talking in sentences and will say just about anything. She also is starting to flex her 2 year old vocab muscle - "I don't like", "I do it", "Leave me alone", "Get me out" (when in her booster seat), and "Go that way" (she points and tells us where to go in the car) are regular parts of her day. Talk about Miss Independent with her own opinion!
Latest Accomplishment: Potty training fell off track during my surgery and I haven't pushed it since. Instead she has been focusing on other areas... she can now identify all of her letters and some of her numbers. She's been able to do this for a few months now.
Likes: chapstick, drinking Mommy's Propel, listening to music (especially on Makenna's stereo in her room), balloons, cotton balls (although I think her love for them is starting to wane), Elmo, eating crushed ice, taking baths, going to Target with mommy (she cries if we drive by and don't stop... I've trained her well!), singing songs before bedtime, being outside (she doesn't understand why we can't play outside now that it's cold), her blankie, family dance parties, doing music class music and actions, wrestling with Daddy and her sisters, and anything that has to do with playing in water
Dislikes: most food, long car rides, being told "no"
Best known for: Her smile. I hear about how smiley she is at least a few times every week.
Health: Maya just had walking pneumonia last week. Luckily a strong dose of antibiotics cleared it up quickly. Other than that she has been extremely healthy this winter.
Interesting Tidbits: Maya has started walking up and down the stairs now as opposed to crawling or going on her bottom/belly. She has to be just like the big girls.





Maya Gracie - You are such a blessing! I can look at your smiling face and your twinkling blue eyes and know without a shadow of a doubt that God created the awesome and wonderful miracle that you are! He made you especially for us and by that I am humbled. To share in your life is a gift. Your joy for life is contagious and makes our household a happier place. We love you baby girl!

Blizzard of 2011

Some pictures from all the snow we received in the blizzard of February 2011. I believe the estimates totalled about 10 inches for Marion, but living out by open fields we of course ended up with much larger drifts.

The girls standing next to one of our drifts in the front yard


Now standing on top of it


The found their own little hill in our yard (yes Maryn is mad in this picture... her boot came off when she slid down the hill)

Bowling

Last Saturday afternoon we decided to try something new... we took the girls bowling! We have never taken the girls bowling before but decided now that the bowling alleys are smoke-free it would be a good time to try it out! As we were discussing this, I think we figured out that in our 15 years together Josh and I have never been bowling together. Crazy! We had an absolute blast! Maya and Maryn enjoyed using the ramp that they provide for little kids. Maryn was getting creative by the end of the game, using her feet and elbows to propel the ball down the lane. And I can't believe that I'm actually going to admit this on my blog, but I tied for second.... with Maya!!! Bumpers and all I couldn't outscore my almost 2 year old! Pathetic! Oh well. It was a blast so that's all that matters!


Makenna, Maryn and Maya on their first trip to the bowling alley! (Maryn really was thrilled to be there... even though she's not showing it!)


Everybody checking out the ramp for the first time


Maya watching her ball after she pushed it down the ramp. She was always very particular about shoving her fingers under the ball to get it going.


Makenna getting ready to go... she did it with the old-fashioned "throw-it-between- your-legs" maneuver.


Daddy and Maryn waiting their turn


Maya looking less than happy about the outcome of her turn ;)


Watching her ball roll away...


Some bowling alley dance moves. We turn everything into a dance party :)


Mommy and Maya having fun... although someone was a little camera shy


Maryn celebrating a good roll!


Maryn trying out some of her fancy moves on the ramp


Mommy and her girls (although not a one of them looks like they could be mine in this picture)

Sledding

We took advantage of the freshly fallen Iowa snow last weekend and took the girls sledding! The girls had so much fun! This was Maya's first experience actually sledding down a hill (versus being pulled around the yard). She was quite the trooper!

On our way to go sledding! They love riding in Daddy's truck... all squished in there together!






The snow was so deep it made it difficult to get up the hill






Maya enjoying a ride with Daddy


Makenna


Creative methods of getting back up the hill


Maya was the lucky one... Daddy carried or pulled her up the hill


Maryn


Daddy trying to be a show-off - HA HA HA! Look what I captured on camera?!

Poopy Hands

UNFORTUNATELY... "poopy hands" has become a common phrase around our house. All potty training efforts with Maya were lost during my surgery/recovery time and she started pooping in her diaper again. Instead of just being normal and telling us when she had gone to the bathroom, she went through a phase where she would stick her hand in her dirty diaper and proceed to show us "Poopy Hands!!!" This of course all took place when Josh was trying to take care of everything by himself while I was recovering on the couch. Kids have perfect timing!

Yes folks, that is poop on her face. And it was everywhere else as well. She might be smiling but I can guarantee you Daddy was not :)


Now she's starting to look a little guilty... still with poop on her face



Our "Poopy Hands!" baby!

Down To One...

Hamster that is. Ten days after we purchased Peanut and Serafina for the girls' early Christmas gift, Peanut (the brown hamster) starting attacking Serafina. It happened two nights in a row where we had to physically pull Peanut off of Serafina. The second night I was home alone with the girls and ended up getting bit in the process. Serafina wasn't bothering Peanut at all... we would just set her on the opposite side of the cage and Peanut would immediately bolt over to her, jump on top and start biting her. Maryn and Maya were screaming and crying (two little hamsters make more noise than you might imagine) for me to save Serafina. The decision to take Peanut back was an easy one... we had a 14 day guarantee and she wasn't a good cage-mate within 10 days. She went back that night. I was concerned how the girls would feel about this, but they were fine since they had seen how mean and violent Peanut was towards Serafina. Now we are down to sweet, little Serafina. She is a cute little hamster and definitely favors Makenna. Or maybe it's just because Makenna favors her :)

Christmas 2010

I'm so far behind on blogging. Combine a bumpy road of surgery recovery with a few weeks of a dead computer and thus I'm blogging about Christmas in February :(

We drove back to our house on Christmas Eve, as has been the tradition for the past few years. It is so worth the craziness of Christmas Eve and all the traveling to be in our own home on Christmas morning. I love it! Makenna was the first one up on Christmas morning, then I let her wake up Maryn a little while later. We were all snuggled in Mom and Dad's bed waiting for baby Maya to wake up! The stinker picked Christmas morning of all mornings to sleep in! Daddy couldn't handle making the older two wait much longer so he finally got her up (It was approaching 8:00 if I remember correctly). Santa Claus was very good to the girls this year :) It was the year for outside toys... Makenna got a very big girl bike :), Maya got a 2 wheel bike and Maryn got a scooter!

Maryn's new scooter... it has red on it of course :)


Makenna's new bike


Maya on her new bike! She stayed in this position with a big goofy grin on her face for a long time! It took a lot of convincing to get her down to open other gifts!


Maya's new puppy (that has only been played with once I think)


Maryn's very cool new keyboard


Makenna getting excited over finding headbands in her stocking!


The girls loving the new water bottles they found in their stockings. And yes, I only have Maya's head in this picture because she was still perched on her bike for this picture :)

Makenna - 6 1/2 Years Old

All about Makenna at 6 1/2 years old!!!



Nicknames: Kenna, Nenny, Nenna, Nenner, Nenner Benner, Nen, Buddy, Peanut
Weight & Height: She weighs right around 57-58 lbs and continues to be off the charts for height.
Hair: Medium length blond hair.
Favorite foods: Hamburgers, Meatloaf
Favorite Drink: Water (I asked her, this is what she told me)
Favorite toys: Littlest Pet Shops, Magic Fabric, Serafina our hamster
Favorite stuffed animal: Duckie
Favorite Books: Reading continues to be a strong point for Makenna. She loves to read and it comes very easily to her. At her last conference in October she was reading at a 3rd grade level and I know she has been bumped up since then. She continues to love Boxcar Children books, but we've added Magic Tree House books to the favorites list as well!
Bedtime: Just recently we've started going to bed a little earlier because the girls weren't waking up well in the morning. We start getting ready for bed around 7:00 and we try to have lights out by 8:00
Wake-up time: I wake her up around 7:45 - 7:50 for school. She gets ready speedy quick... she is dressed, teeth brushed, hair done, breakfast eaten, bag packed, coat on and out the door by 8:30.



Grade & Teacher: 1st Grade, Mrs. Seery
Best Friends: She has more friends than I can count - she's more social than Josh and I combined. Some of her best friends include Ana, Grace, Whitney, Ava M, Caroline and Hanna L.
Latest Accomplishment: She has only missed one word all year on her spelling tests! And this includes the challenge words which she does every week. And if I do say so myself, the one word she missed was a difficult word (Tuesday). This same test included the days of the week and months of the year... I think I focused too much on "Wednesday" and "February" in our practicing. Makenna was also bumped up to Advanced Math at the beginning of the school year.
Likes: playing with friends, seeing family, playing with her sisters, sleeping in, writing in one of her many journals, reading, one-on-one time with Mommy or Daddy
Dislikes: when her friends fight at recess, when her sisters fight, when her stomach is bugging her (from constipation), if she ever lets anyone down (which is rare)
Activities: Makenna participated in AYSO soccer this fall and will be on the same team again this spring. She took dance in the late fall and just recently switched to gymnastics (surprisingly, she was bored with dance). Makenna and Maryn start swimming lessons in March.
Fears: Going to bed and being sick - just lately she's been overly concerned about being sick and it always seems to hit right at bed time when she has time to think about it. It all started with her severe constipation a few weeks back when she wasn't feeling well most of the time. I think she's concerned that will happen again.
Favorite shows: Since the last time I posted this our family acquired cable TV. This added some new possibilities to her list. She's really too busy to watch much TV at all, but if she had to choose I think she'd pick Hannah Montana the movie or Shake It Up.
Health: She's getting over a bad cold right now and has been struggling with constipation over the past month. The constipation got really bad but I think we have it under control now.
Favorite Class in School: Music class. I know I'm biased, but this child has a very nice singing voice! She hopes to get a speaking part in the upcoming 1st grade musical. She really loves all school and is probably the only kid that is disappointed when there is a snow day.