Maya's Christhanukkah

Maya had a great first holiday season! We celebrated Hanukkah with gifts from Rachel and her side of the family and then Christmas with gifts from Ken and his side of the family (and Santa, as Ken reminds us). Maya got tons of cute outfits and a cool kick toy from Mommy and a wagon and monkey from Daddy and lots of other gifts from those who love her. Daisy, in sharing in the holiday joy, did manage to decapitate one of Maya's gifts. We were also exicted to receive holiday cards from so many friends with super cute pictures of all of their kids.

Maya's first Hanukkah gift!

Maya and Mommy lighting candles on the first night of Hanukkah


Maya, Mommy, and Daisy Christmas morning. Maya is sitting in her new Radio Flyer wagon with her new stuffed monkey.

Maya playing in wrapping paper Christmas morning.

It has FINALLY stopped snowing here. Our total was somewhere around 2 feet. That is a crazy amount of snow for us in Washington, but no where near what Chicago has apparently gotten this year. Rachel's parents are really happy that this was the year they decided to retire and not spend winter in Chicago. We're hoping we're done with snow for the winter!

A White Hanukkah!?!?!?!?!?!

So, last we checked, we're not living in Chicago, but it's sure snowing like we're there! It's been snowing since about 2 pm yesterday and is showing no signs of stopping. We NEVER get this much snow in Washington, so things have been interesting. The city of Seattle has 21 snow plows. I think that O'Hare Airport has 21 snow plows, so you can imagine how quick and efficient snow removal is here. To make things worse, they don't use salt (bad for the environment apparently), so they use a dirt/sand mix with de-icer in it. All this seems to do is leave sand on the roads when the snow melts and lovely little pieces of gravel to chip your windshield. Rachel says who cares about the environment, salt the freaking roads!

At 9 am, we had 11 inches on top of the 4 hanging around from earlier this week. It hasn't stopped snowing since then, so we've probably got another inch or two, at least.

View down the street

Our poor bushes are getting buried in the snow

Maya's first snow picture. Thanks again to Tina for the hat, it's working out great!

Even Daisy, who normally loves being a snow dog, is not enjoying this. She keeps sinking when she goes outside to potty and the snow is up to her belly. We're both waiting to see if work is cancelled tomorrow. The rumor is that the highways are fine, but you can't get to them. But (and everyone knock on wood), at least the power has not gone out!

And, of course, Happy Hanukkah to all! Enjoy your latkes, gelt, and menorah lighting!

It's Daisy's Turn

Poor me...my life is so rough!
Hmmm...wonder if any of these presents are for me??

Finally! That darn baby is good for something!

I don't know why she's laughing, there's nothing funny about petting me!

Trip to Baltimore

We apologize for the lack of posts lately, but things have been busy. Last week, we took Maya on her first plane trip. We went to Baltimore so Maya could meet her great-grandma Rogers, Maw. We were also going to attend a wedding for one of Ken's college roommates.

Maya was a superstar on the airplane....she did fantastic! She slept in her seat throughout most of the trip and didn't seem to have any trouble with her ears. We definitely recommend getting babies their own seats on the plane, it made things so easy for us.

Maya had a great time visiting Maw and meeting her Aunt Sandy and Uncle Ken (Ken's aunt and uncle) and all of her cousins. She also got to spend time with her Grandma and Grandpa Rogers. She even managed to squeeze a visit with Santa Claus into her very busy social schedule.

Maya and Maw

Maya and Aunt Sandy

Maya talking with her grandparents

A family portrait

Unfortunately, we have no pictures of us dressed up for the wedding. Rachel got really sick (and that's an understatement!) right after the ceremony, so we had to leave before any pictures could be taken. But rest assured, Maya did look very cute!

Pictures from the Weekend

I love when my daddy picks me up from day care!

Hanging out with grandma and grandpa

No Daisy, don't lick grandma's hand! Oh, that tongue is big....let me grab on to it.

We start them on Starbucks at a young age in Seattle

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Rogers and Rosenblum families had a great Thanksgiving! Rachel's parents were in town to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. We even pulled out Maya's high chair so she could join us at the table.

Maya's "My First Thanksgiving" onesie. And Ken's "namesake" Mr. Rogers' shirt. Now Rachel just needs a special shirt and she can fit in with the rest of the crowd.

The "3 Butterballs"....kinda like the "3 Amigos," only one of the Butterballs got eaten!

Wow! Check out all of this food!

What do you mean all I get is a bottle????

I like Thanksgiving...and I'm looking forward to the black olives next year.

There are more pictures of the big holiday weekend to come, so stay posted.

Maya's First Urgent Care Visit

Yesterday, we received a phone call from Day Care that Maya had a temperature of 101.8. We went and picked her up, brought her home, and called our 24-hour consulting nurse. Her verdict was that Rachel was bad for giving Maya baby Tylenol and that we should bring Maya in to Urgent Care. So off we went (and the nurses there told Rachel that the baby Tylenol was the right thing to do.) Maya was traumatized with a urine catheter, a blood draw, and the worst of them all, a chest x-ray. The way they do baby chest x-rays is interesting....they sit the baby on a little seat and ask the parent to raise the baby's arms in the air. They then enclose the baby in this plastic tube to keep them upright. It looked like one of those tubes you put your bank deposit in at a bank drive-thru. (Rachel kept telling Maya that she wasn't a bank deposit, but it didn't seem to reassure Maya or stop the crying.) The result of all the poking and prodding was that they couldn't find any reason that she had a fever, but gave her a shot of 24-hour antibiotics just in case and told us to bring her back to her doctor today.

This morning, Maya had no fever. We took her to her doctor and, after he made fun of her hair, he said she is fine. While we know it won't be her last visit to Urgent Care, it certainly was an eventful first visit.

Maya's war wounds...her "blood bracelet" on her arm and shot band-aid on her leg. Poor baby!

Daisy supervising bath time

Maya's First Play Date

Saturday night was the first meeting of the USS Alaska Gold 2008 Babies' Club. This is the submarine Ken was on and there were 9 babies (that we know of) either already born or will be born to Junior Officers from the boat this year. A crazy number, considering that everyone is in different places now....some are still in the Navy, some are out, one couple's in Italy, etc.

Last night, our friends Moe and Carmen came over for dinner with their daughter Lexi. Lexi's about 1 month younger than Maya and absolutely adorable. The girls weren't all that interested in each other, but they did manage to not be crying at the same time. We're looking forward for the girls being friends as they get older. Ken is convinced that Maya will be sneaking over to meet Lexi in Seattle when they're teenagers.

Maya is wondering when the second meeting is going to be so she can meet her boyfriend Jackson, our friends Kyle and Nicole's little boy. Ken just reminds her that she can't date until she's 18 or Jackson presents a really good dowry.

Happy Veterans' Day!

Happy Veterans' Day to all! We celebrated by not going to work or daycare. Oh, and Daisy celebrated by going in for a very expensive teeth cleaning....and we're not sure "celebrated" is quite the word she'd use, but it's a celebration for the people in the household who have to smell her breath.

Rachel went back to work on Monday (and then had Tuesday off!), so Maya is in daycare full-time now. The poor baby spent four days there last week and came home with a cold, but she's handling it like a real trooper and seems to be on the mend.

Since she's in daycare and we don't want her to be the smelly kid (like Julian in Big Daddy), she's getting baths every day. She was particularly cute today, so we thought we'd share the pictures.

A Week of Firsts

Maya's First Day of Daycare

Maya watching Barack Obama's Acceptance Speech

Maya has had a big week. She started daycare on Monday and is adjusting well. When I dropped her off today, her teacher, who wasn't there yesterday, said she had heard all about Maya and her big blue eyes and all of her hair.

Tonight, we watched the election coverage and cheered at Barack Obama's victory. Maya slept through Charles Gibson's momentous announcement that Obama had won, but she was awake for his acceptance speech and paid close attention to his words. (And no, we don't normally let her sit that close to the television!) She thinks that we selected a good name for her because Barack has a sister named Maya.

On a final note, we were happy to see that this election was won before Florida had a chance to "influence" the outcome.

Moments with Maya

Daddy, not in front of the camera!

High Five Daisy!

My belly is full!

What do you mean I need to brush my hair? Babies don't have bad hair days!

Happy Halloween!

Mommy said no costume this year, so I got a Halloween onesie instead!

Daddy always calls me his "Little Pumpkin." Today he meant it literally.

My first picture with a real live superhero - my cousin Kody.

My first official "trick or treat" with Carol and Sammie. I think I was actually the treat!

Maya didn't get to trick or treat this year, but she had fun answering the door and seeing all of the kids in costumes. This was the first time a lot of our neighbors saw her hair, as they usually see her when she's in her stroller out walking Daisy. Daisy, as usual, did not enjoy Halloween and got in trouble for barking at some little boy and scaring him so bad he ran away without getting any candy.

For The Love of The Bouncer

This is the coolest thing ever...all the lights, music, and dancing monkeys!!

(Thanks Aunt Sandy!)

I officially turned two months old on Monday.

See what you miss when you're golfing Daddy?

Why We Hate the Ever Lasting Treat Ball

Daisy has this toy called the Ever Lasting Treat Ball. The basic concept is that you put a dome-shaped treat into a rubber ball. The treat is shaped in such a way that the dog can't just pull it out, but rather has to lick it to get it. It's kinda like the dog version of "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop?" When Daisy gets into these things, she's like a dog on crack. The other night, she was going crazy with it. When we went to bed that night, Daisy was in the loft working on the treat ball and panting like crazy (apparently this is hard work!). So, she came into the bedroom with it, panting and licking. Rachel kicked her out. The next thing we knew, we hear Daisy panting and licking on the baby monitor! She decided that maybe Maya wanted to listen to her work on her treat ball. Rachel kicked her out of Maya's room twice and finally had to close the door. Daisy then moved back into our bedroom and had to have the door closed on her there as well before she finally gave it up for the night. There's nothing more annoying than being tired from the baby's late hours and having to listen to the dog heavily panting as you're trying to sleep.

The Many Faces of Maya

We've had lots of visitors the past few weeks and Maya's personality is really coming out. This first picture is "Happy, Content Maya."
And then there's "Crying, Miserable Maya." Maybe Old Man Pop Pop just told her she's not getting a pony for Christmas.
And the "What you talking about Willis (or Uncle Charlie") Maya."
And finally "Clean, Pamper Me Maya."

We had a great time introducing Maya to our families throughout the month of September and appreciate everyone coming to visit us! Maya is getting bigger every day (or so it seems), and her legs outgrew her Newborn clothing and she couldn't fully extend her legs. So she has made the jump to 0-3 month clothing and now has a whole new wardrobe to explore. Her clothes make us laugh because they're all really big in the tummy (since she has no tummy) but are just about right in the legs. All we can say is that we know she didn't get her height from Rachel!