Kids N Dance

Lila Bean, our tiny dancer, has been dancing at Kids N Dance since January. It's a great little school that offers pre-ballet and gym for toddlers. She loves it. Many thanks to Gigi & Poppa for gifting Lila her first dance classes for her birthday! We signed up for another season because it's so much fun. This past Monday was the final dance recital of the season. The kids did three different routines plus a gymnastics session. You can check out out some of Lila's sweet moves below...

Just Keep Walking

Maya is ONE!!!!

Our baby girl turned one on March 25th. It seems impossible that an entire 365 days has passed since the day she was born. I remember everything I was doing on the days leading up to Maya's arrival. I makes me so happy to think about that time. I felt great and we were so excited about becoming a family of four.

Our little Maya, otherwise known as Myers, Miss M's, Punky, or Ladybug, was the easiest infant on the face of the earth. Maybe that's why the time seemed to fly by. There has never been a sleepless night. She never has inconsolable screaming fits. She is patient and observant. It's so fun to sit with her and watch how she entertains herself. She loves typing on the computer, crawling under tables, opening doors and finding gross stuff to put in her mouth. In the last several weeks she has taken her first steps. She is constantly trying to walk right out the front door. She loves being outside in the sunshine.

I can barely remember what it was like before Maya came. Before it was only Eric, Lila and I. We knew something was missing, and then there was Maya. I love you sweet baby sissy. Your smile is so big and toothy. When you laugh, everyone in earshot stops to listen. You love to be tickled and to play peek-a-boo. I love how you lay your head on my shoulder when you are tired and pat my back when giving a hug. Your sister can be mean sometimes but you never let it upset you. Your love for her is unconditional and someday she will be so grateful.

Happy birthday Maya Rae!

Spiders & Alligators

Maya Update!

Our baby girl is quickly approaching ten months old. Once again I find myself wondering what we have been doing all these months? Oh yeah. I remember now. Phew.

So Maya is almost twenty pounds. She's very tall for her age. Her mobile skills continue to impress me. I think she may be walking soon. She started crawling during our visit to Ridgecrest for Thanksgiving. I can barely keep up with her now. She loves pulling herself up and cruising around the ottoman. She wants to talk but hasn't been able to mutter anything but DaDaDaDaDa yet. I keep practicing MaMaMaMa with her. She just stares at me as if she's thinking "yes, Mama, there you are." She loves, adores, and worships her big sister. Her favorite thing to do is follow Lila around. Lately it has started to seriously annoy Lila, but most of the time she's a good sport about it. I hope I can capture some video of Maya laughing and dancing soon. It's the best thing ever!

Birthday Girl

How could Lila be three years old already? Time just melts away these days. I'm so happy to have her little self around. She likes to talk, ahem, all the time. All day long really. She's great company. She asks questions. Lots of them. She loves to tell little stories and share secrets. Her favorite things are her "guys" which she carries around in her Ciao Bella purse. Her "guys" consist of Minnie, Mickey and the Yo Gabba Gabba gang. Thankfully, she still loves her books and cuddling up on the couch to read them. She's a Daddy's girl and goes with him everywhere. She loves the gas station, bank and post office which is hilarious to me. I'm told by her teacher, Barbara, that she's a leader, very expressive and really sensitive to feelings. I already knew this though. She wears her heart on her sleeve and can get herself worked up fast. If she's mad, she tells you. If she's sad, she let's you know. She is quick to say she's sorry, give a hug when you are sad, kiss booboo's and tell you how beautiful your outfit is. She shares her sunshine with anyone who wants it. Happy birthday to our big sissy... we love you.

I mentioned she wears her heart on her sleeve? She was not feeling her birthday cake.

So, Mommy had to blow out her candles...

Happy now!

Digging in.

Gigi & Poppa gave Lila dance classes for her birthday! She looks so tiny in her leotard.

2009 HoliDaze

Our 2009 holiday season was a huge hit! We had a Brown Family Thanksgiving in Ridgecrest this year . Grandma and Poppy Hicks even came to eat turkey with us. Too bad we don't have any photos to prove how delicious our table looked! The last few months of the year were a technical fiasco for us. My camera broke, my computer crashed, and Eric lost the card that held all of our Thanksgiving photos. I'm still sick to my stomach when I think about how many memories were lost. Maya even started CRAWLING while in Ridgecrest. I'm bummed I don't have a photo to post of this huge milestone! Anyway, we are thankfully back on track and will hopefully be blogging more in 2010.

Maya's first Christmas was spent at home with both the Hicks' and Brown families in attendance. It was a full house to say the least! The food and champagne was delicious. We all had fun together. This was the first year that Lila really understood the whole Santa thing. She had a loot of gifts on Christmas morning. Santa was very, very generous. And Maya did what any other nine month old would do - ate paper then took a nap. It was a perfect holiday!

Christmas Eve Dinner

Circling the Tree

I really did love this tree. Even after is fell over.

Christmas Morning

Matching Christmas Jammies!

Mommy & Lila

New Years Eve was quiet this year. I see this becoming a trend as finding a babysitter is wishful thinking. We had fun with our pizza and party hats though... just the four of us.

2009 will always be special to our family. There were countless laughs, great times with friends and family, fun parties, warm summer vacations and (most important) the birth of our little Maya Raye. Looking forward to 2010!

My Maya

What can I say? She's the cutest, happiest little girl ever.

Halloween 2009

Halloween 2009 was a success! This was the first year that Lila was able to Trick or Treat and she loved every minute of it. She did insist that Daddy carry her door to door but eventually she was happy to ring the bell herself. She was our little Minnie Mouse and Maya had some ears and Minnie Mouse jammies too. Eric HAD to dress as DJ Lance from Yo Gabba Gabba! but I don't expect anyone else to know who that is. Hey, Brad Pitt wore the same costume though. It was a huge hit on the street! We love Halloween and can't wait for next year...

Annual Halloween pic on the front stoop.

Minnie and her Bumble Bee friend, Jasper.

Maya in her jammies, ready to root Lila on!

DJ Daddy and our two little Minnies!

Rice Cereal

Maya had her first taste of solid food just after she turned six months old. The doctors always recommend starting with some form of cereal. We use the rice kind. You mix a tablespoon of the cereal with a few spoonfuls of formula or breast milk. It needs to be a smooth consistency so the baby doesn't choke. It looks and smells pretty nasty to me. Maya seemed excited about it when I put a little on her lower lip. She immediately opened her mouth for more. After a few bites she was underwhelmed and done. We moved onto butternut squash a few days later followed by sweet potatoes and pears. These have gone over much better! Can't say I blame her.

Nice Mommy. That looks kinda good.

Hey. Where are you going with that?

Okay. I'm done. Where's my bottle?

Maya, Maya, Maya!

Maya Stats as of Oct. 14
Weight: 16 lbs, 14 oz
Height: 27 in

Maya is almost seven months old. Each day is a learning day. Rolling is her primary mode of transportation. She rolls across the entire living room in a flash. This has given both Eric and I a few heart attacks. Imagine turning your back for a minute and your baby is not where you left her. She's like a little rolling pin. She also recently had her first taste of solid food. Butternut squash, sweet potatoes and pears make her very happy. She still sleeps through the night but will often wake up to play with her toes or practice her rolling skills. She can make a lot of noise but always falls back to sleep on her own. She's not really interested in toys unless it's something she can suck on or bang on her head. This really irritates Lila as the toys are usually hers and we don't let her do these things to them. Maya's personality is becoming more clear to us everyday. I can now imagine what she may be like at one or two years old. She's an observer and really patient. She is content sitting by herself but always throws you the biggest smile when you catch her eye. She's happiest just sitting on my lap listening to all the noise that fills our house. She's a mommy's girl, for sure.

San Diego 2009

The annual Hicks Family vacation was spent in San Diego! September is a great month to visit. We rented a house in Mission Beach by the bay. I'm still having withdrawal symptoms after returning. Our days were spent people-watching on our patio, sipping wine, BBQing, cruising the strand on our bikes and scheming for a way to move to there. Thanks to Grandma and Poppy Hicks for planning such a great family holiday. I can't wait for next year!

The Hicks' minus Uncle Tom.

Daddy and his girls

Hicks girls on the bay.

Will, Juliet and Thatcher visited for a few days.

Thatcher & Maya at the beach.

Sand and more sand. Lila's favorite thing.

Sunset at Mission Beach.

The girls on the patio.

Grandma and Maya

Cutest picture EVER!

Sea World!

Little penguins are good. Big penguins are scary.

Dolphins swimming behind glass is good.

Dolphins swimming up close so you can pet them is better!

Water shooting up from the ground! Hurrah!

Sea World should remind us that bathing suits are needed.

Flying Elmo Fish!

Waiting for killer whales!

Maya was more interested in watching her big sissy though.

Lila's favorite part was the aquarium. She found Nemo.

Grandma, Uncle Tom and Lila.