The life of new parents

We did an awful job taking pictures this Christmas.  We got several of Maya and her new toys but didn’t get hardly any of our family gatherings. We had several nice gatherings and a wonderful holiday.  Grandma Jacobsen came down from Iowa (Uncle Brandon had to stay home because an ice storm was on its way).  We went to my Dad’s on Christmas and had a really nice time and the next day had the Amberson’s and Grandma Jacobsen over to celebrate Christmas and later that weekend we had my family over to celebrate.

Aunt Kathy came in from Michigan and we got to hang out with her a few times.

Grandma Jacobsen gave Maya this wagon and we’ve been wheeling her all over the house ever since!

Aunt Niki and family got her this walker/stroller that she loves to push her babies around in.

Grandma Jacobsen’s friend Lynn got Maya a rocking chair and so did Grandma Rosie.  We’re going to stencil Maya’s name on one of them and Friend on the other so she can rock and read her books with her friends.

Aunt Brie & Uncle Corey gave Maya this tent.  She’s been having lots of fun with it and likes to try and roll her wagon and stroller in there as well.

Maya got a lot of time playing with her cousin’s.

A couple weeks ago we had our annual Christmas party and ornament exchange with the Kammerer’s, Mitchell’s and Humphrey’s.  Here are Maya and Sylvie playing, but we forgot to take any more pictures when everyone else arrived.

She’s a natural, just like her daddy.

Last weekend we went to Council Bluffs to celebrate Christmas with Dustin’s mom’s family.  Here are some pics.

Santa gave Maya a farmer girl doll that she really likes.  Great Aunt Barb and Aunt Niki are trying to help her check the new baby out.

Maya didn’t like Santa too much…

Here we are shopping for our Christmas tree.

Somebody loves her stocking, thanks Aunt Judy!

Maya signing “more”, not sure what she wanted more of.

The final product.

Brie & Corey, Lee & Kaitlin, Mom & RB, Buddy, Dustin, Maya and I all stayed in a cabin at Tall Oaks for the holiday.   We played games, watched movies, played basket ball, took walks and naps and hung out.  It was a good time and a very relaxing holiday.

Here’s Maya helping me do some baking in preparation for Turkey day.

Grandma Rosie, Grandpere & Buddy took Maya for a walk. Grandma just zipped Maya right into her coat and away they went.

Here’s Maya helping Kaitlin play video games.

Maya had fun playing with Uncle Corey during the afternoon on Halloween.

We went to a local nursing home to show off the babies in their costumes.  The group included Noelle & Eva, Tamara & Keira, Noelle’s friend Ashley and her daughter.  We had a lot of fun, the residents were so happy to see us. After that we had a little Halloween party at our house and had a good time.

Maya was a lady bug, Keira was a duck and Eva was a unicorn.  Liam below was an military guy. All they wanted to do was crawl up and down the stairs all night.

Maya’s cousin’s came by after all the Halloween festivities to hang out for a bit.  Griffin was an Indian and Kate was Dorthy from The Wizard of Oz.

We went to Stephanie’s house for the 4th to celebrate with some friends from our Friday play date group.  From Left to Right is Keira, Eva, Maya & Liam (Stephanie’s son).  We tried to get a good pic of the babies on the couch, but those never work out…

Maya’s future b-friend?

Pacifier snatcher

Snacks, attack!

Saturday we had dinner at my mom’s to celebrate Mother’s Day with her and RB.

Mom borrowed this jumper toy from a neighbor which was wonderful because we got to eat our entire meal in peace while Maya played.

Dustin took me to a bed & breakfast in Fort Scott, KS this weekend for my first Mother’s Day. We had a really good time. He had a couple other places he wanted to take us, but they were both 4 hr. drives and after the ride home from Wichita on Friday night (did I mention she screamed the last 30 minutes of the drive, we thought she was going to vomit it was that serious), Maya was not in any shape to be in the car for long on Saturday afternoon…so we decided to go to this b&b that was a little over and hour away.

Maya wanted to swing, but I didn’t feel real sure these old swings could hold my healthy girl.

M loved looking at the fish in the pond with daddy.

M sitting in her big girl high chair at the Mexican restaurant we went to on Saturday night.

Here are some shots of our room. The bed was big and comfy and the headboard was a tree. It was all very interesting. Especially this huge TV that was in the room. It just didn’t really fit in! Some b&b’s we’ve stayed at haven’t had any TVs at all, so this was a surprise.

Not much sleeping happened in this bed…little M woke up SEVERAL times (daddy might say she was up every hour)…she’s done wonderful in the hotel with me in Wichita the last couple times, but for some reason she wasn’t feeling like sleeping at the b&b…I think she is trying to get her top teeth or something, she just keeps waking up crying! over and over and over. Happy Mother’s Day, you will not have a day off for many, many years. (But that’s ok, its all worth it, just a reality, my reality that I wouldn’t change for anything!)….

M loved swinging on the porch swing.

Maya was very good during breakfast on Sunday morning. She sat in an old high chair they had and played with measuring spoons. She loved the sweet lady that ran the place, she has several of her own grandchildren that were running around.

We planned on staying in town Sunday afternoon, but there’s not much to do in Ft. Scott so we decided to head back to town and surprise Grandma Rosie with a visit and some flowers. M was happy to get to see her. Then mommy got a massage (yeah!) and picked up some BBQ and brought home for our dinner..M napped on daddy’s lap the rest of the evening while I cleaned the house (it was a pit from our travels) and watched some TV. All in all, a very nice mother’s day! Thank you Daddy and baby girl!