Happy Family finishes AIDS WALK SF 2010

What a week! We were in LA to celebrate the impending arrival of our new nephew- Kim, Rigo and Elijah are the proud family awaiting Evan and our friends Perla and Marc’s celebration of the coming arrival of baby Luke. It was quite a day of baby love! It was a smooth trip there and back- an hour flight into Long Beach is just the about the most ideal way to fly. Maisy did wonderfully. This was our last trip out of town before baby girl arrives. I’m now not allowed to fly, so I was cutting it a bit close and it was perfect timing!

At Perla’s baby shower with Mr. Minton, Perla, Sarah and Mykah

Luckily it wasn’t as torturously hot as it has been during some past visits to LA, although it was still nice to cool down in the jacuzzi. The kids had a blast and Kim and I were on strict orders to stay in for only 12 minutes at a time so we don’t over cook the new little ones.

In Mom’s new jacuzzi also known as a “cool”

Maisy and Elijah hanging out

We are continuing our alphabet lessons and tomorrow is “J” day. Maisy is doing very well with learning the letters and looks forward to waking from her nap to fun lessons. The picture below is of her finding “H” items Hidden in a tub of rice. She liked that as well as the “H” swimming pool.

“H” Day activity

Maisy’s new favorite book is, Kipper’s A-Z: An Alphabet Adventure. It is actually a really cute book and I don’t mind reading it at all. I would highly recommend it!

What’s in the pool? Hand, hot dog, horse, H

AIDS Walk was next on the agenda. We started off around 10:30 and quickly met up with Uncle Steven, Jiri and Sherri. The walk was great fun and seemed to go by swiftly. Time flies when you are walking and talking! It was a lot of fun for a great cause. Jiri knew of a tiny short cut, so we did end up cutting off about a mile- but with the walking to and from the car, I’m still claiming a 6 mile walk day! It wasn’t too hot or too cold, it was just right. At the end of the walk, I was slightly sore and had some sensitive feet, but all in all it was great and I would totally do it again. We were so proud of us :-)

Maisy in her cap

Uncle Steven, Maisy and Todd

Maisy on the walk with Todd, Jiri and Sherri

We also went up in the attic and got all of the infant clothing and gear out. Maisy thought this was just the best thing ever. She was constantly exclaiming, “OH- CUTE, So TINY!”. Now my task is to wash everything, sort it all, put it where it belongs and then we’ll be ready. I can’t believe there are only 6.5 weeks left! My next doctor’s appointment is July 27 and then again on August 10, where they will do another ultrasound to check the baby’s size and position.

Here is the most recent belly shot.

33 Weeks

More later!

Much love, Todd, Becky, Maisy and baby girl

Maisy loves the new garden

M aisy had her 15 month doctor’s visit just yesterday. She is doing wonderfully. She is up to a whopping 20 pounds and a whole 2 feet and 7 inches tall. She got two shots yesterday one being the flu shot. She didn’t like getting those very much at all. Luckily, I was able to get the inhaled flu vaccination- so no shots for me. Around bedtime poor Maisy’s leg was so sore she didn’t even want to stand on it. Some Tylenol and rest had her feeling tip top by morning though.

We are almost done with our garden and Maisy likes to go out and make sure everything is in order. Here are a couple of pictures of her today checking it out. We hope to finish the garden up this weekend.

Plopped in the garden!

Maisy and Becky are taking a trip to LA next week. It should be a fun though HOT adventure. It’s supposed to be sweltering.

Hope you are all having a great September!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Walking with Daddy along the path by Old Faithful

M aisy came through just in time with her walking skills. She took her first steps on August 12th. It was perfect timing as she was set to be the flower girl in Todd’s cousin’s wedding (Congratulations Daniel and Theresa) in Montana just a week later. She walked down the isle like a pro. Todd dropped her off at the end and I snuck around front and she walked down the isle with the biggest smile on her face. It was adorable!

Swing me Daddy!

Uncle Steven, Maisy, Daddy and Grandpa J

Getting our dance on

We took the opportunity to make a family vacation out of our trip to Bozeman, MT for the wedding. We stopped and saw Yellowstone along the way. Truly an amazing and very unique place!

Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone

Waterfall in Big Sky, MT

Upon returning home Maisy and I joined a music class for little folk. Maisy enjoys playing with the instruments and other kids. We also enjoy regular driveway play dates with Maisy’s good friend Evan. We are so sad to see them moving next month!

First Music Class

Going tap-tap-tap on the stairs with Evan

We were only home from Montana for a few short days before heading to HOT HOT HOT Los Angeles for cousin Elijah’s 4th birthday! We had a great time.

Happy Birthday, Elijah!

Bye, Nana and Papa!

As the saying goes it’s good to be away, but it’s good to be home!! We are happy we are home for a while now to really get down to work on our front back yard, which has been in the state of torn up for over a month! We are lucky enough to celebrate our 9th anniversary of dating (today actually) and next week our 3rd wedding anniversary. Time flies when you’re having fun!!

Maisy goes for her 15 month shots later this month. She’s also getting her two top 1st molars in and doing really well with them. Not too much fussiness. Maisy’s language skills have just really exploded! She can say so many words now- and imitate almost anything you ask her to, although not always on command. Time to really pay attention to what comes out of OUR mouths!

Lesson of the month: Don’t go into a store with a child that can walk (who is not yet under voice command) without some sort of restraint, like a stroller or a cart. Trying to chase Maisy down or hold her hand while she squirms away, while my hands are full of Hardware goods is not an easy task. Paying at the check out is even more tricky- as every time I tried to get my wallet, Maisy tried to escape. Finally the checker lady, a grandmotherly looking woman, asked if it would be helpful if she held Maisy while I paid and yes it was helpful. Whew. Won’t do that again!

Hope you are all having a great September!

Much love, Todd, Becky and Maisy

Maisy taking her first ride in a wagon

M aisy had her 6 month doctor appointment at the beginning of December. She got all her 6 months shots including her first dose of her flu shot. We are trying to stay as healthy as we can! She now weighs 15 pounds 6 ounces and she is 2 feet and 1.75 inches tall.

Maisy has lots of new tricks! She can roll over both ways, grab toys and move them from one hand to the other, she can grab anything and everything within reach and shove them with confidence into her mouth. She is eating like a pro now and the variety of foods she is eating just keeps growing. So far there is nothing that she refuses to eat. Pears are definitely her favorite.

Maisy is close to sitting, she just has to get that whole balance thing down. There is no stopping her though when Maisy is on the ground! She scoots all over, forward and backward. She gets up on her knees and rocks back and forth. It’s just a matter of time before she’s off and crawling. Maisy has a bunch of sounds she likes to practice vocalizing. La-la-la-la seems to be her favorite sound at the moment.

On Dec. 11 we flew down to LA for the first part of the Christmas celebration. We all had a great time seeing many family and friends and staying at Mom and Charlie’s.

Auntie and Maisy

Kim, Rigo and Elijah were able to spend a couple of days and a night with us there too for a fun sleep over. Elijah is a constant source of hilarious entertainment!

Cousin Elijah and Maisy playing in the “extra-saucer”

We were so thankful and lucky to get to visit with Perla and James at Perla’s for lunch, it was delicious! We had a great time on Sunday with the whole family at a large family photo shoot and our family Christmas celebration. It took months to plan to get everyone the day off and to try to figure out what to wear, but the pictures came back and they look wonderful and it was all worth it.

Maisy opening her first Christmas presents

On Monday we had the chance to go visit with Auntie Pam, Uncle Bob and Cousin Sarah. It was so good to catch up and have a visit. Then on Tuesday we got to go out to lunch with Aunt Diane and Jim. It’s always a pleasure to see them! Maisy was a trooper through all of our outings. Unfortunately upon our return home, we all came down with colds and we think Maisy is cutting her 2 bottom teeth, so she has been especially touchy. Poor baby!

Next Tuesday we head back east for the Christmas holiday to Todd’s hometown. We can’t wait to see everyone and have a white Christmas! We have 3 connecting flights out there- we are just hoping the weather cooperates and we don’t get stuck anywhere in airports along the way! We also are hoping that we are all nice and healthy by then.

Much love to all- we hope your holiday season is off to a great start!

Todd, Becky and Maisy