Christmas 2009

Well Christmas has come and gone and with it plenty of exciting things have been keeping us busy. We found out that we're having another baby girl just before Christmas!! Many may know that I really thought it was going to be a boy this time around and I'm still adjusting to the idea. I am very excited that Maya is going to have a sister to be her companion throughout her life but at the same time I really just thought this was going to be a boy :-) The standard response from most people has been, "Well you can always try again". And now we feel the dilemma of every person that has two (or more) kids of the same sex. Luckily for us that decision is a couple years down the road! We actually have quite a bit of work to do at the house shuffling rooms around and buying furniture so I think it'll be a busy spring and May will be here before I'm ready for it. I'm just about halfway through this pregnancy and the time has gone by pretty quickly I suppose, it helps that I'm feeling better these days.

And now on to Christmas and such. Here we are making our gingerbread house and a little video of Maya helping make some Christmas cookies.

We had a really nice Christmas (especially Maya) and we actually got a few inches of snow on Christmas Eve! It was a real treat especially because it melted the next day...lol. Maya was definitely into Santa Claus this year which made it pretty cool that she finally understands how the whole thing works. Here are some pictures and also a link to a video on photobucket for those who want to see Maya opening presents.

Playing in the snow on Christmas Eve...

Maya and her Barbie car from Santa...

Maya and Michael on Christmas...

There is no doubt that our daughter is 100% all girl!

And lastly here is a link to a video of Maya opening and playing with some of her presents. We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

The holidays are upon us

This time of year is definitely my favorite, I love all the decorations and parties and shopping and food and music and... ok so I love it all, I did say it was my favorite :-) I am so thankful this year for so many things. There are always things in life that we tend to focus on and complain about but when I look at the grand scheme of things I am so grateful and happy to have this life. We may not always like our jobs and we may not always feel like we have enough money or things but I also know that we are very lucky to have jobs, a home, our health and a loving family and we should not take these things for granted. We are anxiously looking ahead to our new addition next year but I am also trying to savor this time with just the 3 of us. Here's the first good picture of our newest addition - we will find out what we are having in 2 weeks so stay tuned! I'm sure I'll be in full baby mode after the new year...



We are getting into full swing for Christmas around the house. We bought new outdoor Christmas lights this year and had a bit of a 'Griswold' moment but they are now up and running after much perseverance. We already have Christmas parties starting this coming weekend and the weekends are all looking pretty full through New Years. We will have to squeeze in some time for cookie baking, shopping and napping on those weekends!


And lastly, we have princess and ballerina activities going on at our house on a daily basis. Here is a lovely picture of Maya and daddy dressed as princesses, and a super cute video of her dancing. Enjoy!

And so October comes to an end...

My gosh where has the year gone, is it really November? Are people really already asking for Christmas ideas!? It seems that the year has gone so quickly but at the same time so many amazing things have happened this year. We were in Napa Valley 6 months ago, we had a very full summer and fall with visitors and activities and we have a crazy 3 year old running around and now here we are in November and we are expecting another baby!! Surprise! :-) I am due on May 24th and we are very excited! I'm very glad the 1st trimester is just about done, only a few days left and I'm starting to get some energy back and start to feel normal again. We will be finding out what we are having in mid-December so I can start to plan and decorate and clean out rooms and closets. Good news is I have literally saved every single baby item that we bought for Maya. Bad news is I now have to sort through them all instead of being able to go buy new things. LOL. Maya is in the stage right now where she LOVES babies so I just know she is going to be the best big sister ever! Here's one of my first baby bump pictures, I didn't take many pictures last time so I'm trying to do better this time around. This was taken today, I've had to tell my co-workers the news already as you can see I can't hide it anymore!

Maya was a butterfly (Barbie Mariposa to be specific) for Halloween. Here are some adorable pictures of her. We had alot of fun this year carving the pumpkin (well dad carved the pumpkin while Maya helped me make pumpkin cookies which she wouldn't even eat) and of course she loved trick or treating. I can't wait for the holidays this year, it's going to be alot of fun :-)

Off to the Pumpkin Patch we go!!

Grandpa Bennett is in town and we are having so much fun! Yesterday we went to a pumpkin patch and got nice and muddy - Maya had a pony ride, picked out a pumpkin and we went on a hayride. And to top off the day the Cowboys somehow miraculously won! Here are some pictures and video of our fun day!

http://s205.photobucket.com/albums/bb14/kbennett79/?action=view&current=PumpkinPatch101109.flv

And here's just a little around the house fun - we let Maya try on her Halloween costume one time and it's been hidden ever since :-) We can't wait for Halloween!

Hawaii and dancing Maya

Well I did so good in the month of August with my blog and I did awful in September! I do have excuses if you want to hear them all :-) Going to Hawaii for a week is sooo hard. lol

The trip was wonderful of course! Can't imagine a trip to Hawaii that isn't breathtaking. It isn't until I get to paradise that I realize I really love it there and I start to daydream about ways to move there. Someday we won't live in Ft Worth, I think we can promise you that much, although Hawaii is probably a stretch. Had alot of fun with Ang and Mom and we didn't even kill each other or anything. Ang and I had a blast snuba diving and going snorkeling by our hotel. We did a good job of splitting up our relaxing time with our activity time although on that last day I think we all wanted one more day of relaxing before heading home! Thank you SOO much Mom for the wonderful vacation!! Here are just a few pictures...

Since I have been back life has been pretty busy. I had a training class for work and then this week I'm back at work after being out for two weeks...fun week, ha yeah right. Chris has been sick all week so I've had solo time to watch some chick TV, try to finish the 4th Twilight book, and had lots of Mommy time with Maya. Thursday we got out our fall decorations - Maya is definitely ready for Halloween, too bad it's still a month away! We will either have a princess or a ballerina, depends on the day but at some point we'll probably just pick one for her cause she keeps changing her mind. We are ready for fall in our house for sure.

And last but not least, while I was gone in Hawaii Maya decided with the good influence of her cousin Michael that dancing was finally fun - check out this super cute video! Great blackmail material someday, I know...

Weekend at home

The weather is finally NICE outside! We were able to go to the park and play outside for the first time in months so here are some new pictures and a video link from Maya's swim class (also see my previous swim post with video).
http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k223/kamikazecrashing/?action=view&current=MayaVideoAugust2009.flv

Maya is just getting so big! I talked to my mom yesterday and she was saying that she really missed Maya and I realized it's been 6 weeks since she saw her - I was trying to think of all the new things Maya has been doing that she has missed. I guess there haven't been any huge changes but I just thought about how big she is getting - like remembering things that we tell her from one day to the next, being WAY to big for me to bundle up after her bath and cuddle, wanting to help me cook dinner every day which is so cute except for the day that she got her first blister from touching the hot stove (ouch!) or telling me she wants two cookies as a snack instead of the one cookie that she has been perfectly content with for the last year.

Chris and I got to go to the new Cowboys Sadium this weekend - it was SWEEET! It was unbelievably large - we couldn't even tell where the ball was at from our nosebleed seats so we watched the game on the massive screen which seemed like a silly way to watch the game. But we walked around alot before the game - Chris was joking that it would take 5 escalators to get up to our seats but it really did take 5 escalators it was crazy! My $14 margarita and $10 popcorn were yummy and we had fun nonetheless.

I am prepped and ready for my vacation with mom and Ang next week! House is cleaned - I just need to pack and spend lots of time with Chris and Maya before I leave. Oh yeah - and I need to finish reading New Moon so I can take Eclipse with me on my trip. I am so obsessed with reading these Twilight books!! Beach and umbrella drinks here we come!

Ramblings...

It seems this blog has become just updates on the family and activities recently and less of my rambling, so I thought I would ramble for an entry. The month of August has actually been pretty boring around our house. We have kept busy with normal weekend stuff, but we haven't had any visitors, haven't gone on vacations, and don't have any big events. It seems life definitely revolves around these things (and potty training as the case may be).

So this past Friday was a very nice surprise, Chris came and took me to lunch and he bought me the Twilight series to read on my trip. He also had flowers waiting when I got home along with a bottle of wine - this is a good man I tell you. Just as I thought, I'm having a hard time putting the book down. I want to get through the 1st one before my trip so I can take the 2nd one with me.

I am going to Hawaii with my mom and sister in 2 weeks and I am really excited! It was kind of a last minute deal that I am getting to tag along on the trip and I can't wait. I'm the only one of us that has been there before but I will be happy to lay by the pool and beach just the same. Hope mom is ready for some snorkeling and luau!! I know Chris and Maya will do just fine without me although I'm sure I'll miss them like crazy. He keeps telling her that I'm going to the beach with Grandma Maureen and Aunt Gigi and she just keeps saying 'But what about me??' LOL! I think she will get plenty of McDonald's and going to the park, and will probably get to see Grandma Bennett, Tammy and Michael as well.

I'm having a hard time finding time to finish up my pictures project I mentioned a few months ago. I really do need to get some motivation and get it wrapped up since I'm so close now. It just seems that when there is the opportunity I would rather snuggle on the couch and watch Big Brother, read a book, take a nap, work on HOA board stuff, etc, etc. Ah yes you heard me correctly, somehow I got roped into being on the board of our HOA. It doesn't take up too much time but it's still something else that I need to do in my spare time.

Lastly a potty training update, Maya is back to her pre-discipline potty training status - we have some days where there are no accidents and she gets a small prize and lots of praise, but there are more days than not where she will have a small accident. And she still isn't telling us she has to go even though I'm trying to bribe her with presents telling her she can get a present every time she tells us she has to potty. At least things are back to 'normal' and less out of control so I think we are good to just wait for her to be ready.

Until next time...

Maya graduates swim class

Well summer must be coming to an end, because our 10 week swim lessons on Saturday mornings have come to an end! Maya can now swim 5 feet and hold her breath for 10 seconds. She's really swimming in this video - pretty impressive!

Potty Training Saga - a diary of non-progress

We have a power struggle going on in our house. Maya vs. the mean potty training parents. How can we be losing this battle to a 3 year old!? Looking back I think we've made some mistakes in our efforts (we're now probably 6 months into this thing). And so in my efforts to figure out the secret, I have to tell the saga...

Maya started to wear pullups when she turned 2, and when we tried to get serious about potty training shortly after she turned 2 1/2 she completely refused to wear the princess panties that we bought. She would scream and cry when we tried to put them on her and she only wanted to wear pullups (mistake #1 -pullups!). So we would take her potty in her pullup. We told her she wasn't supposed to go in her pants and also we kept trying to get her to wear panties. Then on Fathers Day Chris asked if she wanted panties and she said YES out of the blue and she has been in them every since. We were excited but I was very nervous about her peeing in her panties because she did in her pullups all the time. Everyone just assured me that once she had a few accidents and had to sit in wet pants and got embarrassed that she would start telling us she had to go potty. So we had the princess panties but in addition I bought several packages of thicker 'training' panties so if she did pee it wouldn't make such a mess. Well she consistently had accidents just like she was wearing a diaper so we limped along since Father's Day like this - we would take her every hour and we bought candy for the bathrooms and she got candy every time she went potty. But she STILL wouldn't tell us she had to go potty. The only time she will tell us she has to go potty is when we are out in public and I know it's only because she thinks it's fun to go to the bathroom. Half the time she doesn't even go when I take her...grrr!

So she was doing ok, but she would still have accidents several times a week and still wouldn't tell us she had to go. We were frustrated and could tell that Ms. Diana our daycare provider was frustrated as well. So a couple weeks ago Ms. Diana started to put Maya in timeout if she had an accident and then we found that Maya was coming home from daycare in pullups!! NO!! Well we thought maybe consistency would do the trick, so last weekend for the first time ever, we put Maya in timeout when she peed her pants. Poor little thing just sat there and cried (sniff, sniff). Well this punishment idea definitely has not solved our problem (mistake #2). In fact she now pees her pants every day several times a day instead of before sometimes she would make it all day with no accidents, some days she would have a couple small accidents. So after complete failure I am forcing a switcharoo!!

My new plan started today because yesterday was my breaking point, but officially the plan starts tomorrow when we're at home. Plan details:

1) A "Maya's Potty Time" chart in the bathroom, handmade by yours truly. It even has purple glitter on it...ooooh ahhhh :-)

2) Markers and new stickers to mark on the chart for every success in the potty

3) No more timeouts or criticism about peeing in the panties

4) Taking her to the bathroom every 20-30 minutes for the next two days

5) A basket full of small toys that she will get to pick from at the end of the day if she has no accidents

6) A larger toy that she will know about and she will get if, I mean WHEN, she makes it a whole week with no accidents

Any wagering on my success??

Hot Springs vacation

Well we are back from our vacation to Hot Springs, AR and we are already full swing back into real life of working and chores...not much else going on (unfortunately). Hot Springs is about a 6 hour drive from here and it was a pleasant and relaxing vacation. We were kind of wondering what it would be like, and several people have asked about it - but it was a very nice place to go for a few days. We stayed at a condo on the lake which was fun and perfect for entertaining a 3 year old - Maya had her own room with a bunk bed and she liked the lake alot, she always wanted to feed the ducks.

We went on a 'duck' ride through town and to the lake. Those of you in the midwest that have been to Wisconsin Dells know what a 'duck' is. Maya LOVED it!

It rained the first couple days that we were there but we still managed to squeeze in some fun, went to the waterpark/amusement park on the one nice day. We all got a bit of a sunburn, we aren't used to 85 degrees and cloudy so we weren't very careful. This was the first time that Maya wanted to go on the kiddie rides...it sure was fun trying to squeeze on the rides with her!

And lastly, we finally got some pool/Sea World pictures from the summer, they are cute so thought I would share :-)

Maya Turns 3!!!

Well another month has passed and with it Maya's 3rd birthday has come and gone. Our little girl is getting SOO big! In the last month she decided that she wanted to start wearing big girl panties (on Fathers Day of all days, Chris says it was the best present ever!) and she has started to talk about new things - how everything is 'my favorite' and asking me 'mommy do you want to come to my birthday party?', on the opposite front she likes to say 'me neither' and 'that doesn't match' when I'm trying to get her to pick out her clothes every morning. She is a hoot! She will laugh out loud at America's Funniest Videos and of course 'her favorite' show Wow Wow Wubbzy.

She got so many wonderful birthday presents - thank you so much to everyone! We had a fun party on her birthday at the jump house with her friends and then yesterday we had a pool party at Great Aunt Karen's house which was tons of fun to celebrate again.

Our summer is still kicking along, next weekend is her cousin Noah's birthday party and the following week we are taking a family vacation to Hot Springs, Arkansas. We hear it is very pretty over there so we're looking forward to our condo on the lake - we'll go to the waterpark for sure and maybe rent a boat.

At my birthday party with Grandma Bennett and Aunt Tammy...

Driving around with my homegirls Jaidyn and Ellyse....

The birthday party kids (well most of them, this is as good as it got!)

Me and my Grandpa Pearson on my birthday...

One of my cool birthday presents...

And last but not least, check out some video from Maya's birthday party...

http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k223/kamikazecrashing/?action=view&current=MayaJuly2009Edited.flv

She had issues blowing out the candles when under pressure at Aunt Karen's house :-)

http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k223/kamikazecrashing/?action=view&current=BDayParty07112009.flv

The rest of Maya's birthday pictures can be viewed here...

http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k223/kamikazecrashing/Maya%20Turns%20Three/?albumview=slideshow

San Antonio and Summer Fun

Well summer is definitely here. Every year I think I forget how truely hot it gets until it is 99 degrees everyday...and it isn't even triple digits yet! :-( We have had a very busy summer so far and this past weekend was no exception. We mostly ran around like crazy running errands but we did take a little time to relax - Saturday we went to the pool in Hurst and it only cost $1 to get in! That's cheaper than the cost of gas to drive to see someone with a pool for sure. Yesterday we stopped by Ms. Vickie's housewarming party to say hello - Ms. Vickie watched Maya during the work day until last fall when there was that awful fire at her home (http://cbs11tv.com/local/Bedford.Daycare.Fundraiser.2.827243.html). Well her house has been rebuilt and it was just beautiful!

Below are some pictures from Memorial Day weekend - Chris and Maya at the Japanese Gardens in Ft Worth.

Maya playing in her pool in the backyard for the first time this year.

Maya playing dolls after church and a haircut (although not in that order).

Maya, Me and Grandma Maureen at the drive thru safari in San Antonio. Yes, parts of it were not in fact 'drive-thru' :-)

Feeding a zebra...
Maya posing for a picture. She says 'cheese' but it's hit or miss on whether she'll actually look at the camera while saying it!
And all our pictures from Sea World are on a water camera that still has pictures left so we don't have those just yet. Maya did really great at Sea World and it was alot of fun - she had no nap and zero melt downs. Yippee! We stayed with Grandma Maureen for the weekend which was really great.

The week after San Antonio Maya was pretty sick and stayed home from daycare for 3 days with a fever - in June! I've never heard of such a thing! I'm glad she recovered in time and we were able to go celebrate Lu Ann's birthday with her the following weekend. We took her out for dinner and Chris splurged and bought her a laptop for her birthday! She had one of our old computers and it had just about completely stopped working. Anyways, she is loving it!

On the hobby front, I am stalled with the my picture efforts after a good running start. I have another years worth of pictures printed out but now I need to get motivated once again to get the scrapbook out and finish it (I really don't enjoy scrapbooking). So instead of finishing that I have decided to finish the inside of Maya's dollhouse for her birthday instead. She could really care less, just like she didn't care too much last year that I painted it, however I just want the silly thing to be done and I do much better when there is a deadline for these things. Chris probably thinks I'm a bit crazy about my hobby efforts but I just told him to go with it, when I get motivated you just have to let me do my thing until the steam runs out :-)

Well, Maya's birthday is just around the corner. Invitations have been sent to all her friends for a party at Pump It Up (private jumphouse party). She is definitely ready for it! She says 'I want that for my birthday' everytime we go to the store and she sees something even remotely interesting. Grandpa Pearson is coming to visit us that weekend for 4th of July and Maya's birthday so our busy summer continues! Until next time...

A week flying solo

Well Chris was in Atlanta on business this week and got back today - YEA!! It was a pretty long week and definitely quiet around the house. I was feeling sick and then Maya got sick so I stayed home from work for two days, and poor peanut still has a nasty cough and congestion.

I did get lots done on my latest project around the house with my free evenings - hanging pictures on the walls and organizing/printing/scrapbooking the last 5 years of our lives in pictures (yes seriously that far back). I am wrapping up 2005 and 2006 and will soon be moving on to 2007 and 2008! How sad is it that I am just now getting Maya's baby books done? Anyways today my boss told me about this really cool website to create picture books without having to print any pictures, she says this is all they use and they love it. I might try it out to save myself the pain of printing two more years worth of pictures. www.blurb.com if you want to check it out.

Mom I curse you for the procrastination gene!! Once I start working on something I am fine, but I have to continue working on it every day until it's done. If I give myself a few days off I am done for. Hence the dollhouse incident...I finally painted the outside of the dollhouse last year, 15 years after I built it. So I took a break before starting work on the inside of the house and it still isn't done a year later. It is painted white at least and there is furniture but there isn't anything 'cute' about the inside. I have conceded to the fact that it probably never will be unless Maya decorates it someday.

And so we are looking forward to this 3 day weekend full of family fun (although it's supposed to rain!) and our trip to San Antonio next weekend to visit mom and go to Sea World. I'm sure it'll be a fun time and we'll finally get some pictures to post! Here's one from a few weeks ago on the carousel at the zoo...

Mother's Day Weekend

What a wonderful Mother's Day weekend! I feel very relaxed and ready to take on another busy week. Saturday I spent the day working on a photo collage for Chris' mom and then we all took a long nap in the afternoon! Now I want a collage of my own - that is at the top of my list of projects to do in my 'free' time - work on getting some pictures on the wall. Anyways Saturday night we went to dinner with LuAnn, Tammy and Michael for Mother's Day at Carabba's (YUM) and it was very nice.

Sunday I got to sleep in (on Saturday too for that matter) and both mornings I awoke to breakfast already made and a cute little girl 'quietly' waking me up. I got beautiful flowers and a spa giftcard for Mothers Day which I can't wait to use!! We went out for another nice dinner at a Hibachi restaurant for lunch which was very good. We went to the park and played outside later in the day, had leftovers for dinner (after we stuffed ourselves the past two days), and then topped off the evening with ice cream sundaes. Man was it hot yesterday afternoon - we put Maya in her swimsuit to run around in the sprinkler. Summer here we come!!

In potty training news, Maya is doing better but she refuses to tell us when she has to go so you have to remember to take her all the time. And she doesn't like to wear panties...oh the drama!!

My First Post and Some Big News!

Well we'll see how long I last at this blog thing :-) I'm going to at least give it a shot because I love all my friends that have blogs and I'm really over the whole Facebook thing for now. Ever since Maya was born Chris and I have searched for a website that we could use to store pictures and videos. While this isn't a storage place it is a great way to get the word out to our family and real friends about our life!

So first things first, we have news for everyone. We are married! We ran off and eloped on April 17th, our 5th wedding anniversary. We went to Napa Valley and stayed at a wonderful Inn and drank lots of good wine for a long weekend while Grandma Maureen came to our house and stayed with Maya. So to everyone that hasn't heard yet - surprise!!

Maya is growing like a weed and she is crazy about her mommy and daddy. She's also a huge girly girl. She currently will not wear anything but dresses/skirts and only will wear headbands in her hair because she thinks that they are 'crowns'. She is a hoot! Our next big venture is to really get on the whole potty training situation...I am tired of pull ups!

We are excited for summer - Maya will be in swim lessons again this year and we are hoping to go on a family vacation while our daycare is closed down for a week in July. And of course we're looking forward to Maya's 3rd birthday as well! She loves going to birthday parties so I'm sure this year will be really fun.

Hope I did ok for my first posting, sorry for not having a gazillion pictures but we will try to be better about taking them!