My future's so bright...

It's finally sunny here in "sunny" california!  woo hoo!  We're excited...can you tell? ;)

Are you ready for some football???

Maya is!!  Let's just hope there's a season this year.  I don't keep up with it myself, but last I heard (from someone is my house whose just kinda interested in the sport), there's some league dispute.  Football is one of the sports I actually enjoy, so I'm hoping things are figured out in time.  Plus, Maya B is just too cute in her jersey, so I hope she gets to wear it!  

Thanks to Uncle Greg and Aunt Mimi for sending the Hawks gear.  We love it!

We survived...

...the first sickness  :(

Poor baby, it was rough!  On her 3 month birthday, Maya developed a cough.  We weren't too concerned that day, but when she woke up that night with a 101.3 fever and a much worse sounding cough, we called the doctor right away.  Unfortunately, there's only so much you can do, and after a cold rag on the head and some time in the bathroom for a steam shower, we brought little miss into our room so we could listen to her breath for the rest of the night.

Sleeping in mom and dad's bed...yes, the hair is for real!

Fortunately, the fever was gone in the morning, and we had a doctor's appointment already set up for the following day (she was supposed to have some vaccines...which were of course postponed) so we were able to have our pediatrician check on her.  Since we couldn't give her any meds, we just had to wait it out!  It was a tough 8-10 days, but I'm happy to report, she seems back to her old self...crazy hair and all!  

My, how I've grown...

Here are Maya's month-by-month pics.  It's so fun to use the same outfit and teddy bear to compare how she's changed.  I guess I won't be able to use the polka dot top for too much longer!  She's getting so big!

One Month 3/12/11

Two Months 4/12/11

Three Months 5/12/11

New tricks...

Maya is 3 months old today!  How did we get to 3 months already??  It's been quite a whirlwind to say the least, but all her cooing, squealing and that sweet smile make it all worth it!  Seems like everyday I notice her growing and changing.  There's a lot going on in the picture below...can you guess what's new??

1- Maya has been discovering her hands over the past couple weeks.  At first she would just bring her fists up towards her face like she was angry.  Eventually, she got them to her mouth, but they just kind of rested on her lips.  The past week, she's been sucking on them a ton; during play time, when she's getting burped, in her swing.  Whenever her beloved nukie isn't in the way, the hands find their way to her mouth.  And when she gets going, you can hear her sucking from down the hall!

2- She's half way to rolling over!  Now, I'm sure this isn't an official milestone and it may not even be that impressive, but it is to me!  I had her laying on her back for a diaper change and ran into the other room to grab her lotion.  When I returned she was laying like this!  She was probably trying to see the TV, which was off, but it's been her new obsession.  Whenever we have the TV on, Maya will crane her neck in unnatural ways to get a look.  I guess we need to be careful...we don't want to foster couch potato habits!

3- Notice her cute diapee??  I've finally begun the transition to cloth.  I fully intended to start earlier, but the first couple months were way more than I expected and dealing with laundering diapers just didn't sound like a fun idea.  Now that we're settling in more, I decided to take the plunge.  I'm trying to slowly transition away from disposables, though we'll continue to use them on occasion and for outings.
I'm loving the BumGenius 4.0.   They make cloth diapering super easy!  I haven't been a big fan of the flats and prefolds with covers, but maybe I'll warm up to them eventually.  I know this won't make my cloth diaper mommies happy...have no fear, I haven't given up on them completely, but BG is just so much easier!
The BumGenius are one size and adjust with snaps, so she'll be able to wear these until she's potty trained (in theory).  For now, they look a little poofy...

"my body's too bootylicious for ya babe!"

Though there are lots of good reasons to go with cloth including cost and environmental factors, I must admit, one of the biggest draws for me was that they were just so darn cute!

Other fun things...
*Maya's loves to talk and squeal.  She talks to mom and dad and to her play mat friends; monkey, elephant and parrot, or Mookie, Albert and Petey (as dad has named them)
*She still hates tummy time, and it often causes her to spit up :(, but we're getting better.
*She's starting to mimic.  After watching mom do it for a while, Maya can now make a raspberry sound...when you stick your tongue out and blow air.  It's cute now, but hopefully this one doesn't backfire.
*She's getting closer to be able to sit in her bumbo.  Her head is getting steadier and steadier each day.
*She is now sleeping sans swaddle!  Her arms are free and she couldn't be happier.  After a couple weeks of kicking and screaming (literally) when being swaddled, we finally decided to let her have her way and put her to sleep with her arms free.  She's still adjusting to it and sometimes wakes herself up, but she's getting better.
*Bath time is officially a positive experience!  Maya has realized how fun it is to kick her legs around in the water.  Crying during bath is a thing of the past- woo hoo!

We head to the doctor tomorrow for our second round of shots.  No one is looking forward to it :(  Prayers for a quick recovery please!  I'll also post some height/weight statistics from the first 3 months so you can see how she's grown!  She is quite a big girl these days ;)

First Flight

Maya survived her first flight!!  We headed to Washington for Easter this year and we anxious about Maya's first flying experience.  Leaving the house on time, dealing with security, the timing of her feedings, the pressure on her ears....just a few of the things that stressed me out.  Fortunately, things couldn't have gone smoother!  Timing was perfect and Maya slept the entire flight there and back!  I'm so thankful for a successful first flight and it gives me more confidence for future traveling adventures :)

Waiting to board

Yay, we made it!

Easter in Washington

At church in her Easter dress

Ever since Brad's sister, Deanna had to go home after coming to California for Maya's birth, we had been plotting the next time we'd all see each other.  It just couldn't happen soon enough!  We decided Easter was the perfect time for Maya's first flight and for the 3 of us to go visit Auntie Deanna, Uncle Paul and cousins Caleb, Weston and Isaac!  We were all so excited to see each other and couldn't wait for the cousins to finally meet!  The boys seem to just love Maya and were all so sweet with her.  She is one lucky girl and I'm sure they will look out for her forever!

We mostly just hung out around the house, playing games and catching up.  The weather was gorgeous on Saturday and the boys were able to dye their eggs outside.  Sunday was a little rainy, but we went to Church in the morning, came home to a yummy brunch and then watched the boys go on the hunt for eggs in the backyard.  Overall it was a great weekend!

Now we are counting the days until August when Deanna, Paul and the boys come to California and we all get to see each other again!  We can't wait!