Just a Great Sunday!

Happy Birthday to Daddy!

Today we celebrated Dominic's birthday. When I asked Maya last week what she wanted to get Daddy for his birthday, she said Jeans...so that's exactly what she got for him. She painted a birthday card and helped to wrap his present. She couldn't wait for Daddy to get home from work so she could sing "happy to Daddy...happy to Daddy". We had cottage pie for dinner (one of Dom's and Maya's favorites), and apple pie with ice cream for dessert.

Note to self: Not a good idea putting birthday candles into a freshly baked apple pie!

A Swimming We Will Go!

Maya had her first swimming class today at our local YMCA. We're called the "perch" group which is a series of swim lessons desinged for a child with his/her parent(s). Beginning early this morning, all Maya said was "swimming" every 5 minutes. When we finally got to the pool, she was initially shy around the new people and our swim instructor, Mr. Justin. As soon as Maya hit the water, all fears were gone and she swam like a crazy fish for the next half hour. We sang songs, splashed with our feet, used the kick boards, and practiced our strokes. Maya even got to wear a float belt and swam almost completely independently in route to find the rubber duck that she threw from the deck. Her favorite part was jumping off the side at the end of the class. As all the other kids cautiously walked to the edge of the pool and waited for many seconds before jumping, Maya barely looked to see that I was ready to catch her before flying off the edge of the pool. She even gave Mr. Justin a high five at the end of class. We left wanting to come back next week which is always a good thing.

Trampoline Time!

It's finally spring time in Indiana and time to set up the trampoline. That's how we spent our Sunday afternoon, anyway. Maya was so excited as she saw the bolts, screws, poles, and net actually transform into her trampoline. She jumped and flipped and ran until her heart's content...and until Mommy and Daddy's final warning that it was last call for bath time. This afternoon, she found an old hat in our bedroom, put on her jeans jacket, grabbed her new soccer ball, and headed for the door to jump some more. By the way, she has not parted with her soccer ball since she picked it out at Old Navy on Saturday. Dom played catch and soccer with her in our driveway at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning followed by another session with me. She loves taking the ball on the trampoline, and the ball even made it into her bath last night. We're looking forward to many jump-filled, ball-catching days ahead.

Best Friends!

Maya and I, along with some friends, went to visit a neighbor that recently moved to Michigan. We all piled into our minivan and drove about an hour to our friend's beautiful 10 acre property just over the Michigan border. All 6 kids had a blast playing together. When we returned, Maya's best friend Kenzie stayed for a spaghetti dinner. They had a great time playing "princess dress-up" together.

Happy Easter!

Last night before Maya went to bed, she found a spot for her empty Easter basket so that the Easter Bunny would be sure to find it and fill it with goodies while she slept. When she woke early this morning, the first thing she did was look for her basket. She became so excited in route to the kitchen as she began seeing "hidden" eggs on her way. The Easter Bunny brought her so many goodies including a bubble maker and Panda book. We spent much of the day outside planting some new trees. Maya helped mix the dirt and put the trees in the holes. Later in the afternoon, we went to DeeDee and Papa's house where Maya went on yet another egg hunt. We had a great time seeing Easter through the eyes of a two year old.

Preparing for Easter!

Maya had a great time getting ready for Easter this year. DeeDee and Papa gave her spring stickers to decorate our living room window, and an egg tree for her bedroom. Nanny gave her an Easter egg coloring kit. Just yesterday, we dyed Easter eggs for almost 45 minutes. Even though our hands ended up different shades of blue, purple, pink, green, and yellow, we had a lot of fun.