Mommy Group's 1st B-Day Party

There is a wonderful group of women that I've been friends with who all have babies that were born around the same time as Maia. Some of the women were friends before the babies came and others were couples Aleks and I met at our birthing class. Throughout the past year we've tried to be a support for each other and meet at least twice a month if possible. Our get togethers have been more informative and reassuring than most any doctor's appointment we've been to.

So, we decided that we needed to celebrate our kids' first birthday in style! We met at my friend Chelsea's house and had a great time of eating and watching the kids play with one another. It was amazing to think back to our first mommy group when the babies were just a few weeks old. We were all so exhausted and just sat in a circle breastfeeding (with all our boppy pillows, diaper bags, burp rags, and car seats around) and talking about the babies' diapers, eating, and sleeping habits. Now, Owen is walking, they play with one another, they're starting to talk... my goodness how time flies!

Here are the birthday kids:

(Maia, April 4)

(Harmony, March 12)

(Owen, March 31)

(Oliver, March 20 and Alden, May 28)

*To you mommies: My apologies if I got some of the birthdays wrong!*

Oliver and Owen getting their birthday cakes!

Harmony and Maia getting their turn with cake

All the kids with their party hats on, I think Maia is in the process of getting her hair pulled in this picture. Her hair was actually quite a hit with all the kids that day. It was pulled a lot, but you can't blame them, she does have a lot of hair.

We're going to be in Connecticut for her actual birthday. This week has been spent getting ready to leave, making lots of lists, and trying to get practice in. I do have to learn an opera! Look for updates on Maia's b-day, Easter, my b-day, and opera happenings in the next month.

Baby #2 Update: I'm starting to feel a lot better, hardly nauseous anymore. Today was a rough day, but it was the first one in a while. I think this little one is going to be more laid back than Maia... wishful thinking? We'll see.

Surprise!

We're having another baby!

We found out Jan. 13 that we're expecting baby no. 2

At our first doctor's appointment in Feb. we were able to hear the heartbeat which is nice and strong.

The first 7 weeks were really awful. I was really nauseous all the time and super tired, but I'm starting to have more and more good days. I still try and take a nap when Maia does and that seems to help quite a bit.

Everything with the baby and mama looks to be great. I'm due Sept. 18, but Aleks and I have decided to schedule a c-section. We're thinking that this baby will be born Sept. 12 (if they do c-sections on Sundays).

I'm feeling like this one is a boy. We're going to find out at 20 weeks, so we'll see!

Maia already finds my belly and gives it kisses. She has no idea, but it's pretty cute.

So, the adventure continues...

11 months old!

Today Maia is 11 months old. It's completely mind-boggeling to me that we've almost come to her first birthday. Maia is fully proficient at crawling and pulling herself up to standing on almost anything. We've caught her standing on her own a few times, but she's still very shaky.

Maia loves her books. She pulls herself up on the cabinet where her books are and pulls them all onto the floor. Then she sits, surrounded by her books, and "reads" them. It occupies her for a good 15 minutes, which in baby-land is like an hour or so.

My goofy girl.

Maia is definitely developing a sense of humor. She'll put our fingers in her mouth, then pull them out, look at us, and smile as if she knows that fingers aren't supposed to go in mouths. When we're cuddling on the couch, she'll pull her pacifier out of her mouth really quickly, then put it back in, and repeat over and over. She thinks it's hilarious.

She's also very social. The other day Maia and I were at the library (which has awesome toys and a play area; we love going there when we need to get out of the house) and there were 2 sisters who must have been 3 years old and 18 months. The 3 year old saw Maia and started bringing toys over to her. The 18 month old then came over and very gently put her forehead against Maia's forehead. It was like they were hugging foreheads, it had to be the cutest thing I've seen. When I told Aleks about it that night, he said "and then you immediately disinfected Maia right?". We're grateful that she's been really healthy so far.

Maia is a chatterbox! She says:

mama

dada

duck

book

walk

uh-oh

She said "eyes" and "Aleks" once, so I'm not sure they're for real yet

Here's a little video for your enjoyment: