1/2 A Year Already!

Hurray for 6-months old!! We cannot believe that our little girl is halfway to a year already, but we sure are loving watching her grow up!

To celebrate her 6-month birthday we went to Taste of Fort Collins. (Actually, we were invited to go by David and Ashley but we will just say it was to celebrate because then I can put it in this post!) We arrived at about 2:45 PM on Saturday and saved a spot on lawn to watch the band we wanted to see that night. Matt Nathansen was playing. I only knew one or two of his songs, but I liked the other songs too.

We tried desperately to get Maya to nap. Talk about over-stimulation! Ryan managed to get her to snooze for about 40 minutes. That was the only nap she got between 2:30 PM and 9 PM. Despite that, she never got very fussy! Did I mention our child is an angel?

Brady also joined us for the music. It was nice to spend time with everybody!

We got Beau Jo's for dinner, which is mountain pizza pies. It was really expensive and not that amazing. We won't be going there again!

Maya can now sit up on her own! She got it down while we were on a vacation, and now she's a pro.

I have been taking her on walks every day to enjoy the outside world. She sits very happily in her stroller just looking around. She has even stopped trying to take off her sunglasses.

She now weighs 12 lb 5 oz and is 24 1/2 inches long. She gained less than a pound in 2 months! I was a little worried at first, but the doctor reassured me that it is fine. She is in the lower 3% in weight and 10% in height. But her head? 75%. She's got some brains!

Sometimes she still tips over....

I am so looking forward to spending my summer with this sweet little girl! 

Arizona and Utah 2013

Last week we took a trip to see family in Arizona and Utah. We were gone for 10 days. Ryan and I were a bit nervous about the length of driving time we would have to endure with a 6-month old baby. But we figured there's a first time for everything! We left on a Thursday afternoon (my mom came down that day to help watch Maya while I scurried around getting everything ready - thanks Mom!) and drove the 14 hours to Phoenix. Ryan was awesome. He must turn into some sort of machine while he's driving. He made it to 4 AM before he needed me to take over. And Maya. Our dear sweet Maya. She slept just as if she were in her crib. It was nice to realize we had nothing to fear regarding the drive.

Maya took her morning nap on Grandpa Berne one morning so I could take a shower.

Ryan's mom and stepfather own 2 Great Danes named Penny and Sam. They are basically ponies. Maya was very curious about them.

Maya has started sticking out her tongue a lot. I think she likes feeling those little teeth.

Ryan's Grandma was so sweet with Maya. 

Maya got to interact with all sorts of kinds of dogs on our visit!

I love this picture. 

Maya went swimming for the first time! We weren't sure how she would react since she hates baths so much, but she could clearly tell the difference. The water was a great temperature, and she just loved splashing and swimming with us!

She was so happy! I'm sure this was her favorite part of the whole week. I'm glad we were able to swim 3 of the days we were there!

Cute little splashing baby!

I told Ryan we need a pool in our backyard. Surprisingly, he said no.

Maya also got to meet her 101-year-old great-great Grandma. Seeing them interact was precious.

She loves sharing our water.

We had to run to Target to get Ryan something and we saw this suit and sunglasses. How could we resist?? Right before I took the picture Maya stuck her little leg out. This girl knows how to pose already!

Oh that tongue....

She loved the wind chimes! 

We were in Phoenix until Tuesday night. We left after dinner (about 7:30) and headed to Salt Lake City to see my side of the family. Driving through the night again was a little bit more difficult the second time, but we made it in one piece. We arrived at my grandma's home around 7:45 AM. Ryan had done most of the driving again, so we all took a day to recover.

I came back into the room and saw this. Haha!

At Papa and Sessie's house we spent a little time outside. Sessie was surprised that Maya didn't recoil her bare feet from touching the grass.

We had a lovely time at Papa and Sessie's.

Maya liked to spend a little time with Grandpa every morning.

The day before we left we invited all of the family close by to come hang out. Everybody came, minus just a few cousins (who we missed!). I was so glad that people took the time out of their day to come see us. This is Maya and Colton, my cousin's little boy. Maya had her first sharing experience. I think she did all right. :)

We drove home on Sunday. Maya did great driving during the day, too. We are so glad we had the opportunity to take this vacation! We loved seeing everybody and can't wait to do it again!

Maya - 5 Months

My little sweetie is getting so big! She is really coming into her personality, and I can already tell that she is going to have spunk! 

She makes me laugh constantly. She is getting ridiculously curious about everything. If I'm holding something, she wants it. If it makes noise or flashes, she wants it. 

She especially wants whatever I'm eating or drinking. It's getting difficult keeping it from her (partly because I want to share, and partly because she is getting so strong and fast). 

She has also started laughing! And by some miracle, we caught her first laugh on video. I was extremely excited. She is continuously easier to make laugh. 

She can roll both directions going from tummy-to-back, and is getting pretty close to rolling back-to-tummy. 

She has 2 teeth! She obtained them very gracefully. The only indication that I thought she may have been teething was how much drool she was producing. I hope the ease of her teething becomes a trend. 

She is a serious Mama's girl. She is desperate to be with me, always. If I set her down and walk more than 2 feet away, she cries, even if she can still see me. 

Right now I find it somewhat humorous, but I have a feeling it is going to get irritating. It makes me very grateful for my lillebaby COMPLETE carrier. It has helped me many a time get chores and dinner done. 

In other news, this holding and picking up a baby thing is working wonder for my arms. But not my thumb or wrist on my left hand. I hold Maya on that side 90% of the time, and it has started to strain my joints. 

So much, in fact, that nearly every night for the past couple of weeks, my left thumb comes out of the socket while I'm sleeping. The first time it happened was rather startling! 

Last night it did it twice in a row, and I can no longer just move it back into place, I have to actually push it back in. Today Maya and I took a little walk to the Walgreen's down the street and got me a thumb brace. Hopefully that helps.

Spring!!

The weather here in Colorado has a pretty intense reputation of being bipolar. And it never fails to stand up to that reputation.

Just a few short weeks ago our streets and homes were covered in several inches of snow (Ft Collins had a snow day on May 1st!). Now the weather is already pretty warm, and seems to indicate that this summer is destined for 90s-100s like last year. Which is great! I love hot weather. 

But Spring brings some new fun things. Like our trees. They are leafing! It's so exciting to me! I feel like a new mom again.

Yesterday Maya and I went on a walk and there was a meadowlark perched on a lamp post. I love their song.

We can sleep with the window open! If Maya doesn't wake me up first, the tweeting birds do it for her. 

I love Spring!