Maya and Hannah

Did I already post this?  I thought that I had posted it a long time ago, but it was labeled draft, so here it goes again.  I'm feeling guilty for not posting for the last month!  I've been trying to get a few projects done around the house since we're nearing the arrival of Zain David. He is due, according to the Dr. on Oct 13th, but according to my original calculations, he's due the 7th, and I've started having Braxton Hicks contractions, so maybe he's gonna show up early and bless his momma!

They look so sweet, but I'm pretty sure this lasted about 4.5 seconds before Maya pushed Hannah for holding her hand.

I think our water must come from a well, because even in the summer, it is COLD!

 Do you see all the water flying through the air?!  Love Hannah's face in this one!

A true friend--Hannah is always ready to offer a helping hand.

And another helping hand. . .

Maya's face in this one just defines JOY!

Splash!

They really do like each other.

See?

Hannah's sister Breeley trying to edge her way into the action.

I feel as though Maya is defying gravity here (that's some bubble blowing, in case you're wondering).

Such pretty girls, and so much fun!

Year and a Half, Sort of

Because I haven’t kept a baby book or a scrapbook and I rarely have time (or make time) to journal these days, I’ve been wanting to write a post about what Maya has been up to recently. I missed her year and a half mark, so this is kind of a belated year and a half post.



Maya baby, you bring so much joy to our lives. You are a little over 20 months now.  You are learning things SO quickly. You often repeat the last word of every sentence we say-English or Arabic. Some college-age visitors recently taught you to give the fist bump. You love anything having to do with water—everything from your baby pool on the balcony, to a glimpse of the sea. When you see the sea, you say “May” (Arabic: water) over and over. You also use the word, “wa-wa” for water, and milk is, “Me-me”. You’ve just started to say things are pretty, and you love babies. You’re a little dangerous around actual babies, as you enjoy pointing out all of their body parts, especially their eyes (and you’re a little unaware of personal space and kind of sit on them a little bit). After baths I wrap you up in a towel and hold you in front of the mirror and call you my little baby. Then you let me snuggle you. I love it! When you want us to do something, or feed you something you’ve asked for, you nod your head up and down emphatically and make a little “um-hmh” kind of sound (and sometimes add in eyebrow raises for effect). I would love to catch this on video, but when a camera comes out, you want to see it, rather than be seen by it. You have started to learn the names of all of our friends and family and your tone of voice is so cute, especially the way you say please and thank you. You also do the intense nodding while saying please if you really want something. You are a GREAT eater and almost never reject food that we offer you. You’ve just about mastered eating with silverware (well, sort of mastered).


Much to my surprise and delight, you still take two naps a day, which has helped me so much (I need two naps a day too!) You wake up early in the mornings and have special time with Daddy while he gives you milk and reads you books. You still love to read books and you’ve just started to ask to watch videos occasionally, though I try not to let that happen too often (you know, I don’t want to kill all those brain cells). You are extremely cautious when walking over anything slanted or bumpy or raised--to the point that it’s kind of comical, but you’ve saved your face and teeth a lot of pain by being so careful. That may be the only thing you’re really careful about! You are fun-loving and you love to play chase (which is more like hide and seek) with Daddy and you like to wrestle and tickle too. You still love the song, “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” (because we row you like you are the oars) and you've just learned "Ring Around the Rosies". You are learning to count, but most of the time, you just like the number two. You hold up your fingers and point to them while saying two over and over. We were at the pool last week and we would count to three and then you would step/jump into the pool. You got very brave and let us hold just your hands while you kicked your legs. You have also recently learned to blow bubbles and have done that in the baby pool, the big pool and even the bathtub. You are friendly and sociable, even when there are a lot of people, unless too many people get in your face at once. We are trying to teach you to at least give a polite greeting to anyone who greets you (a lot of people want to greet you here b/c you look so special to them with your blue eyes and blonde hair).  You have been out of your crib on your very own "big girl bed" for about two weeks now, and you handled the transition like a rock star! 


I never could have anticipated how much I would love you or how much joy you would bring to our lives!

Baby Charm?

Hey all, I need some help.  I am hoping to get a special gift for our OB/GYN who delivered Maya and will be delivering baby boy.  I'm thinking about a charm/necklace that looks like a baby.  Anybody know any good Etsy shops that sell silver stuff--particularly something that would be a cool gift for our wonderful Dr.?

SEVEN years!!!

Seven years ago today, I married my love!  I loved him before I ever met him.  No joke.  I don't have time to write about how amazing and wonderful he is because I need to get to bed because he's taking me out of town tomorrow!  Without our child! (of course, in-utero boy is coming along)  We're going to stay in a hotel--for TWO NIGHTS!  We're going to swim!  We're going to eat every meal prepared by someone else!  We're going to run the A/C non-stop at ridiculously low temperatures!  I may even get COLD!  Hah!  So excited to be sneaking away for two nights together.  Away.  Alone!  Just me and my MAN!  We'll have adult conversations, unpuncuated by whining!  We'll sleep as late as we want, without our human alarm clock saying, "Mama!" (even though her daddy is the one who takes care of her first thing in the morning).  We will do our yearly ritual of writing on a greeting card all the memories we can think of from the last year.  My amazing friend Kendra has volunteered to keep Maya in addition to her two ankle biters, while her husband is out of town!  Isn't she the most amazing woman you know?!  Kendra, I owe you big time!!!  There's ice-cream in our freezer for you! :)

First Finger Painting

Awesome family members sent us some non-toxic, washable finger paints recently, and a friend sent some throw-away plastic smocks, so Maya and I had a crafty morning.  Right after she got started I had the thought that we should use a canvas to capture Maya's first attempt at painting forever.  I'm so glad we did--it turned out GREAT!

 getting warmed up . . .

 This is messy!

Can I paint the other side?

A new color!

How does this stuff taste?

Ew, it feels squishy!

Clean up is FUN!

Water, water, WATER!

I forgot to take a picture of the final product, but she's clearly a little artist in the making :).  She also sang the entire time she painted.  FUN!

Taking a Dip

Hello people who read my blog.  I have missed you.  I had great plans of uploading all sorts of video to the blog while we were in another country last month with faster internet.  And then it didn't work.  I have no idea why.  I'm not techy.  I'm too old.  We had to have search engines explained to us in college.  And my husband is even older.  He typed papers for a little extra cash when he was in college.  And when I say typed, I mean on a type writer.  And yes I know that you're not supposed to start a sentance with and.  And I probably just spelled sentance wrong.  And today I don't care (and I usually really do).  I just want to get this post posted so all of you can smile at how cute my kid is.  Or how cute her little bikini is.  Or how cute it is that she is still in the running between the two of us to win the "biggest belly" contest.  I love her.  Some day soon I'm going to write a belated Father's day post.  And a year and a half post for Maya.  And some other posts.  But in the meantime, hopefully this will tide over my mom, and anyone else who finds their way over here to Life Over Here.

The Picture to Prove It

To read what posessed this self-inflicted humiliation, read this post.