Happy 9 Months to My Sweet Maya!

My little punkin is 9 months old today! Her appointment got moved back two weeks so I don't have her stats yet. Feels like I was just pregnant yesterday. I have been putting her baby book together and a photo book on Shutterfly and going through her birth pictures has brought on the water works!! What an amazing miracle that I get to have fun with every day. My cup runneth over Maya!! :)

Right now:
~You just started crawling this week! You haven't quite figured out that you can leave the room yet!
~You love to crawl over to Ariel and then Ariel looks over at me to make sure it's ok :)
~You are eating some solids now. Chunks of banana, avocado, little bits of waffle, pasta. Mommy needs to start branching out a little more because very soon you will be on only solids!
~You are still sleeping great so far! 12-12.5 hours a night and you recently went to two naps during the day.
~You smile at all the sweet elderly men who talk to you in the grocery store! :)
~You just started making the funniest scrunched up face. You are getting quite the silly personality and Mommy LOVES it!!
~You break out in random laughter which cracks everyone up!
~You learned to fake laugh when Mommy's friend was in town because you wanted to be in on the laughter. :)
~You are now sleeping with your little starfish.
~You can display a little temper when you are "done" with something!
~You love your Daddy time.
~You still love books and got LOTS for Christmas!
~You play peekaboo by yourself with your burp rags! You just started doing it last month all on your own!
~You have learned to clap with noise and look so proud when you do it!
~You are having 4 seven ounce bottles a day.
~You got your first cold this month! :(
~You are still a party animal and love to be around lots of people!
~Your favorite song is still Godspeed by the Dixie Chicks and sometimes Mommy singing a verse and snuggling you tight is the only thing that calms you down if you are upset.
~You love to dance and when you are on my lap you even do it on command! :)

I love you Maya Jayne! You are the light of my life and I cherish every moment my little love :)

I'm Dreaming of a White First Christmas!

Disclaimer: This post includes A LOT of pics! :) I had a hard time editing. We had an amazing Christmas and I was so excited that Maya's first one was a white Christmas! Not that she will remember, but I will! We went to my mom and dad's house for Christmas. Since Khalid was already there working, Maya and I drove up with Sharla and the fam. We piled into their Tahoe and seriously looked like the Griswold's!! I could barely see Maya over the sleds! We got there a day before the snow hit. The holiday was filled with hula hooping (teehee!), food, fun, games, tons of laughter, drinks, sledding, and lots more!

Austin and Maya

Avery and Maya

Papa and Maya...love how the light is hitting her in this pic!

Mimi giving Maya some sugars!

The girls found all my old costumes (and Khorey is sporting my old punk rocker halloween wig!) and they tried every single one of them on! It was too cute!

Silly faces! Making reindeer food to sprinkle on Christmas Eve!

Getting ready to sprinkle reindeer food in the blizzard!

Khorey feeding my little monkey. She is going to be the most amazing babysitter some day! She's a natural!

Christmas tradition: unwrapping their Christmas jammies from Mimi and Papa

Mmmmmm.....wrapping paper! (Which was immediately removed after this pic! Teehee!)

Adorable Christmas jammies!

Christmas morning.....Santa's little helper :)

LOVE this pic! Maya with her Mimi and Papa

Beautiful Christmas morning!!

Maya's pretty Christmas day outfit! :)

We didn't get to go to church Christmas Eve, but we decided to dress the kids up anyway so we could get some pics! After all, I have been waiting to see her in this dress for about 2 months!!!

Precious kiddos

Maya and Aunt Michelle

I just want to sugar those cheeks all over!

I think she liked her Christmas dress! :)

Sisters! (Of course they wanted to take this after I changed clothes. Hence the sweatshirt!)

Onto Christmas celebration with the Elneser's! (It was far too short though!) Uncle Nabih and Luke.....such a sweetie!!

Teta reading Maya some of her new books!

Kkhalid with Isabelle......pretty girl!!

Aunt Sarah snuggling with Maya :)

December Fun

December was very busy, as I'm sure it was for everyone! Mom's birthday, crafting, baking, etc. Here are some pics.....

Love those PJ pics!

My little sweetheart!

This was one of our pics on our Christmas card :) Thanks Sydney for my adorable outfit!!

Mom's birthday weekend. Reading with Maya :)

Happy little peanut!

Made this for Mom's b-day. Joy has a very special meaning in our family.

Am having so much fun doing these letters! Officially obsessed!

Been Far Too Long!

It's just wrong that Sarah and I had not seen each other for 3 years until November!!! This is a girl I spent pretty much every day with for three years after all! Sarah and Shawn came the day after Thanksgiving and we had so much fun. Lots of laughs, memories, picture-looking and a road trip to OSU to visit our old stomping grounds!

Sarah and Maya at Eskimo Joes. Somehow it kept Sarah laughing to have her memories of me at ladies night at EJ's and then me now at EJ's with a baby! :)

Maya chillin' with Shawn and Sarah

I wonder why we never did this for a job?

One of our famous self-pics

We miss you already Sarah!

Gobble Gobble

Well I am way behind on blogging. Here are some pics of Maya's first Thanksgiving! We hosted our first Thanksgiving and I had so much fun preparing all the food. Wasn't nearly as stressful as I anticipated! My first turkey was a success! Khalid's parents came as well as his brother. We had a very nice time!
Teta feeds Maya her first bite of mashed potatoes!

She apparently is not a fan of mashed potatoes. :)

Can you spot two turkeys in this pic?! :)

Brain Dump Alert

OMG. My mind is spinning tonight. Random thoughts.

-I need to give some Christmas ideas to my mother-in-law.

-Our open house is tomorrow. Please, oh please, let that right person come along tomorrow!

-Why am I sitting here typing while I still have to dust and mop?

-I was so productive this morning.

-I am so glad I actually bought some clothes I felt good in today!

-Is it true that Maya's first tooth is poking through?!? Where in the world does the time go?!

-Can't wait to see her in her ADORABLE dress tomorrow.

-So excited I cooked a meal tonight that made my husband go on and on and on about it.

-Yum Yum roasted carrots. You have to make these. HAVE to!!! http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/11/roasted-carrots-by-pastor-ryan/

-Love my new crockpot. Thanks to my sisters :)

-I must stop going into Baby Gap and Gymboree just because I am near them.

-Sad my Christmas tree won't be going up this year. :(

-Surprised I'm not more stressed than I am. This is where my excellent denial skills kick in I guess.

-Where is Ariel going to stay if we have to move in with my parents for a couple weeks?

-How am I going to get everything cooked at the right time for my first time hosting Thanksgiving?

-I want to go work on my mom's birthday present that I am making her.

-I despise passive aggressiveness.

-Kind of want to read Twilight. I am curious enough now as to what the buzz is all about.

-Cannot WAIT to see Sarah on Friday. It's been THREE years!! That's not right.

Ok, writing this post is causing my brain to exceed its overdrive status. I thought it would help. I was wrong.

Can't post without adding a pic of my monkey! :)

Leaving on a Jet Plane....Well, Not Really. We'll Be Going By Car!

Well....it's official! We are moving to Tulsa! Khalid got a new job going back into civil service. Actually he is going into federal service this time. He will still stick with the Reserves as well. When he took the job he has now this past January, his plan was to get some really good experience, eventually get promoted and then be able to get back into civil service at a higher rank. This was his five year plan. However, he was promoted the month after Maya was born which was the biggest blessing! He started just keeping his eyes peeled for opportunities in Tulsa and OKC and lo and behold....well, you know the rest of the story! We are so thrilled because we both love Tulsa. But I am really experiencing every emotion in the book. I cried my eyes out when I first found out because my sister has become one of my very best friends. We get together a couple times a week and the little ones just adore each other. I know, I know....it's only an hour and a half away. Sometimes change is just hard. At the same time, I am SO SO SO excited to live close to my mom and dad! And other friends and family! Basically I am feeling every emotion in the book except for anger. We put our house on the market Thursday so I am crossing my fingers and praying!!
Here are a few pics from the past week.

Maya's first time in a shopping cart without the car seat! Big girl :) She loved it!
She was SUCH a trooper while Mommy and Daddy did Christmas shopping!

Maya and her cousin Zoey, who is one month younger. Such sweeties!!!

Maya and Daddy time!

I made my first wreath! I am quickly becoming a craft-addict!