First Snow...

We experienced our first snow in Washington this morning (and Maya's first snow ever!)  When she woke up this morning I showed her the snow outside her window and she got a big smile on her face!  She even showed Elmo :)

Then we bundled up and headed outside.  Fortunately, she let me put her hat on her, which until today was a major battle that I always lost.  I told her I was putting my hat on and did, so maybe that helped.  She's also been getting better about her jacket (which we had a near meltdown over when we put it on her on Thanksgiving..."I don't like it, I don't like it"...ugh) and we've been talking a lot about how it's cold (or "chilly willy") outside, so I think it's all starting to click.  Whatever the reason, I'm very thankful!!  Next battle...gloves.

Mama, I touch it!

I have a post I've been trying to publish for over a week, but I'm having issues with uploading some videos...very frustrating!  Hopefully I'll have an update soon!

Baby Stats Subway Art...

My latest pinterest-inspired creation...

I love the baby stats subway art...it's so nice to have all those special stats in one spot and displayed in a creative way!  I've seen a lot of it lately and I think it's a great addition to any nursery.  

For this project, I followed the technique used by Sarah at the winthrop chronicles.  I liked that it was easy enough without too many steps or complicated crafting tricks like some of the other "baby subway art" tutorials I had seen.  

Per her suggestion, I used powerpoint to create my layout...it was super easy!  I really wanted to add a bible verse and found I had the extra space in my layout anyways, so it worked out perfectly.

This was my first attempt with mod podge and I'm quite happy with the results :)

Here are some pics of the process (which I would suggest following from the link above if you want to give it a try)

created my subway art in powerpoint and printed them on cardstock

painted my 8.5" x 11" pieces of wood white...I bought a large board at home depot and asked for them to cut it down for me :)

used mod podge to adhere the paper to the wood and sanded the edges

finished with another coat of mod podge...voila!

I've now made four total (one for me and three for friends with new babes).  I think it's a great new baby gift!

Keeping busy...

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been pinning quite a bit these days and I've been trying to improve my pin to action ratio!  I've been pretty motivated to give miss Maya B some new things to do to keep her busy...especially since the rainy season has begun and our time outside is very limited!  

I had tried some "artsy" activities in the past, but she was never too interested.  Now that we go to toddler group, she's been exposed to more options and I think seeing other kids do art and craft projects, encourages her to give it a try too!  She wasn't too keen on painting for a long time...she didn't seem to like getting her hands dirty ;)  But recently, she's been much more interested and though she still doesn't "go for it" with full blown finger painting, she's getting there...

I used some ric rac and mini clothes pins to hang her art by our window in the dining room.  This window is pretty bare, so it's nice to bring some life to the dining room and see all of her work!

Another activity that's been keeping her busy these days is water beads!  You can find them in the floral section of any craft store.  I've had multiple friends recommend them and I finally gave them a shot.  Once you add water, they become marble sized wet beads, similar in consistency to jello (probably a little more firm).  They're a great sensory item and Maya loves scooping them with a spoon into bowls.

As you can see in the previous pictures, we had gotten into a pretty bad habit of allowing Maya to stand on the bench to do projects.  In order to avoid potential falls, we brought a small Ikea table that I had found at a garage sale for $5 (I plan on paining the top with chalkboard paint sometime very soon!) and one of her chairs into the kitchen to create her own "craft table".  She seemed pretty excited and hasn't complained about having to sit here instead of standing at the bench :)

lovely post-nap crazy hair

this picture makes me giggle because she is actually saying "cheeeese".  she's learning how to actually smile for the camera...makes my job much easier :)

If you have any other great crafty ideas for an almost 2 year old, I'd love to know!

Kisses from Katie...

My sister-in-law had been telling me all about a book called Kisses from Katie.  The minute she was done, I was excited to get my hands on it myself!  Little did I know how much it would impact me, my faith, my perspective.  It's an incredible story about a christian girl from Tennessee who went on a mission trip to Uganda her senior year.  She not only fell in love with the country and the people she encountered, she felt a strong call to return and continue to serve.  Now 23, she lives in Uganda, has adopted 14 girls and has started Amazima Ministries to feed, educate and encourage orphaned children and the poor in Uganda.  I'm completely convicted by Katie's story and her decision to say "Yes".  How often we hear of issues in our world and feel the "nudge" to act, but turn away instead since the problems seem to big and it's just so much easier to ignore!  The truth is that we can do something. We are so fortunate in this country and often take our blessings for granted.  We need to choose to say yes. 

If you have some free time for a read, I highly recommend!   

Once our eyes have been opened, we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know, and hold us responsible to act. 

Proverbs 24: 12

Halloween at Little Gym...

Tonight was the Little Gym Halloween party!  Maya was able to wear her halloween costume for the first time and enjoy lots of games and activities...and some candy too ;)  

My dad had bought her a cute elephant costume for this year, but she's very anti anything on her head, so she wasn't at all interested in putting it on :/  Her exact words were "all done, mama, all done!"  So as much as I would have liked to dress her up like an elephant or some other adorable fluffy animal, I knew I needed a more subtle option.  When I came across the Seahawks cheerleader costume at Target, I knew I found a winner; no crazy head gear, wings or other accessories, plus it would be a big winner with dad and most everyone in Washington.  She wore it well and even let me put her hair in pigtails :)

We found our friends Andrea and Hallie as soon as we got there.  Maya loves seeing Hallie every week at Little Gym and talks about her all morning till we get there!

We played lots of games and Maya enjoyed getting candy :)

And she showed off all the "skills" she's picked up over the last couple months to dad...

There was also a craft table set up where she could decorate her own trick or treat bag.  She LOVED the stamps!  Her hands were a mess, but it's fun to see her try :)

We finished the night off with a walk (or 5...Maya loved this part) down the "catwalk" for the parade of costumes...

Thanks Little Gym for a fun family evening!  I think we're officially ready for the main event next week!

Potty Talk...

I wasn't sure if I should post this information, but in an effort to keep record of all our milestones, here it is.  It's about potty training (and I'm not interested in using PC terms), so if you're not interested or if it seems TMI to you, you've been warned...

BIG NEWS in our house...Maya B has gone "poo poo in the potty" 2 days in a row!  To say I'm proud is an understatement!  We've been talking about the potty for some time now, but definitely haven't taken it too seriously since it's still fairly early.  She definitely shows interest in it and sometimes likes to sit on the little kiddy one we have in the bathroom.  She went through a phase about two months ago where she would tell us when she had a poop (or was about to have one) but that stopped for a while and I hadn't thought much of it.  However, in the last couple weeks, she started telling me when she had "poo poo coming".   So yesterday was the first time I actually sat her on the toilet when she told me she had "poo poo coming" and low and behold, she pooped!!  I was quite surprised when it happened again today!  Yay!  So exciting!

I know that it is unlikely that it will continue consistently from here on out and there's no discussion about pee pee in the potty yet.  I'm definitely not running out for the big girl undies, but as a dear friend always tells me for moments like this, she's capable, and I'm so proud of her!

Pumpkin Patch...

I'm a little behind on this post, but a couple weeks ago we had our first trip to the Pumpkin Patch in Washington.  We were invited to join our friends Joe and Taunya and their two girls Coura and Ella (and some of their family and friends).  They took us to a great Pumpkin Patch in Snohomish called The Farm.  Besides the Pumpkin Patch itself, there were all sorts of fun activities offered at The Farm including a giant kids' play area, a corn maze, a petting farm, wagon rides, live duck races, plus some super yummy food options. 

We had a great evening!