Frustrating

I'm finally sitting down at my computer to read our Ethiopian message board.  This message board is our life line.  One woman posted about her child's school and how they are discriminating against her child.  Apparently some anonymous parent sent a letter to school saying they are concerned about the "black" child and possibly the spread of HIV.  Can you believe this?  First of all, this parent knows nothing about this child and this child's health background.  Second, this person is assuming that because the child is black and is from Africa that he/she must have HIV/AIDS.  Well I am here to say that is 100% false.  How can people be so ignorant and cruel?  Our adopted children deserve to be treated with respect and human compassion as any biological child.  If I ever have this happen to us at Maya's school then I will be sure to take action.  It isn't right that this family has to be put through this because they had enough love to adopt a child and treat this child as if they gave birth to him/her.  Maya is OUR child and it doesn't matter where she was born and to which womb.  She is OURS and no one will treat her this way.  It is our mission to spread the word and to be an advocate for adoption especially adopted Ethiopian children.  Please everyone, help us get the word out and to help stop racism in this country.  It isn't right and it doesn't have to be this way.

Okay I'm done now.  Thanks for listening.

Family

Dave's family (Melvin, Kerry, and Leslee) joined us for dinner at the Old Broadway downtown Fargo on Saturday.  They were driving through town and stopped to have dinner with us.  Thanks for calling us guys!  We had fun! 

After dinner we hung out outside and Maya had a blast.  She was in such a great mood and really entertained us all.  She is so adorable at times with such a charming personality.  One couldn't help but smile.  Of course I had my camera along as did Kerry so here a few pictures.  (Kerry, be sure to email me your pictures!)

Gabe? Gabe?

Have I blogged about how much I love our new house?  Of course we love our house but we also love our new neighborhood.  We have such great neighbors.  Our next door neighbors have a 4 year old boy named Gabe.  Maya just loves him.  When we get home from daycare, Maya yells out "Gabe"?  Gabe is usually outside on the other side of the fence yelling right back with "Maya"?  It is so very cute.  Well this morning Maya found her way on top of the sofa looking out the window that faces Gabe.  Maya stood there yelling for Gabe but unfortunately Gabe wasn't outside.  So cute for her to yell out for him but not cute that she found her way on top of the couch. 

Do you know your countries of Africa?

I don't but I'm going to learn them!  Check it out.

http://www.purposegames.com/game/countries-of-africa-quiz

Frustrated

I'm calling all parents out there...I thought this parenting thing was going pretty good so far.  Maya has been a very good baby/little girl overall.  Well now I am typing this blog entry as I look at all the contents of my kitchen drawers on top of the counters.  Maya is into everything!  To top it off, when we say "no" to her she hits herself.  She will also ask for a "time out".  Apparently she does this at daycare too.  So what do we do?  Do we say "no" to her and have her hit herself or do we redirect her?  Redirecting does help in some situations but Maya has a mind of her own.  She will eventually end up at the same spot that we removed her from within 30 seconds.  I realize some of it is her age but is there anything that we can do???? 

On a positive note, she is as cute as ever :)

Maya's new face and Playdate

Maya has a new face which I'm guessing she picked up at school.  She seems to use it a lot when eating (insert eye roll).  

Saturday night we had the pleasure of watching our friends two boys, Noah and Cole.  Noah is around 2 1/2 and Cole is only 3 months.  We had a great time playing, going for a walk, watching some NDSU football, and laughing at Dave when Cole spit up on him.  Maya and Noah played pretty good with each other.

 

3 Things I love

1. Honey Crisp Apples - only found in the fall
2. My new in the cupboard garbage can which is Maya and Toby proof
3. The new "Whatever Martha" show on the Fine Living Network

What are 3 things you love?

Tumble!

Maya was invited to a birthday party this past Sunday at American Gold Gymnastics.  Maya had a blast running, dancing, and jumping.  This confirms that we are for sure enrolling her in the parent/child gymnastics class later this fall.  Here are some pictures of the party.

Do you know someone with a birthday in Sept? Here is a great gift idea

There are more people in Ethiopia without clean water than any other country in Africa.  There are 70+ million people living in the country, and 75% of the population lacks access to safe, clean drinking water. This April, Charity: Water visited 33 communities in Ethiopia in need of clean water. We heard stories of leeches, droughts, women carrying water for 3 hours and children dying of diarrhea from drinking polluted pond water. We promised to help every single one of them.

If you have a birthday or know of someone with a birthday in Sept. consider donating $33 for this cause. If you don't know one, please still consider donating and sharing with others. What a great cause!

 

http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1552996&server=www.vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1

The September Campaign Trailer from charity: water on Vimeo.

Cute Maya Moments

Well the day isn't over but I managed to capture two cute Maya moments to share with all of you.  The first one was this morning before leaving for daycare.  Maya found my shoes and gave them a try on.  She has discovered that the right shoe goes on the right foot, etc. 

The second Maya moment is very impressive.  Maya managed to eat an entire Culver's cheeseburger.  I think that calls for a shout out as those are big burgers.  I guess she was hungry!

On another note...our photographer posted a few pictures from Maya's 18 month photo session on her blog.  Check out them out by clicking on the link in the post below.  We also saw the rest of the pictures and they turned out great.  We have a hard decision to make as to which ones to buy.  I guess that is a good problem to have.

Sneak Preview

Check out a few of Maya's 18 month old pictures on our photographer's blog site.  We're excited to see the rest of the pictures.  So far so good...

http://www.fargobabyphotographer.com/

Our Week

We started the week out by having family in town for Maya's Forever Home Anniversary party.  On Monday afternoon, Maya enjoyed a play date with the neighbor kids.  Maya had a blast playing in the kid pool.  On Tuesday Maya woke up with pink eye.  Luckily my mother was still in town so she stayed to watch Maya until lunch.  I was happy to come home despite being behind at work as I had a cold and still do.  The rest of the week was very uneventful as we both were recovering from our sickness.  Maya's pink eye looks good and she is back to her happy self. 

This morning we had Maya's 18 month photos taken once again at Blessing Photography.  Maya did an amazing job.  We are hopeful that we have too many pictures to choose from :)  One of the pictures below is Maya with a stuffed bird.  Maya loves it and had to play with it before we left.  When we got home we decided to snap a few photos in our front yard.  I hope Tera's photos turn out better than ours - Ha!

Tonight we are off to watch the NDSU Bison rule in football.  This is our first game we will have attended this season and are looking forward to it.  We took a photo of Maya in front of our Bison yard sign.  Hail to the Bison!

 
  
 

Hair

So I am still trying to figure out how to style Maya's hair.  I have tried a few different products and a few different styles so far.  Here is my latest.  What do you all think?  Personally, I think they are adorable as long as Maya doesn't pull them out.  I'm debating on whether to style her hair like this for her 18 month photos which are Tuesday.  Anyone have any thoughts or opinions for me?

Party Update

We had a great party for Maya's 1 year Forever Home Anniversary.  Many friends and family were able to make it for the event.  Dave made two Ethiopian dishes and our friend Betty brought one over.  Most people were daring to try them and loved them.  We are lucky to be able to buy fresh injera here in town.  The kids enjoyed playing outside and playing one of the many lawn games.  All around I think it was a huge hit.  Thank you to all of the friends and family that were able to make it.  We really appreciate you being here to help us celebrate.

Here Dave is cooking one of the Ethiopian dishes

Maya with her four cousins from my side

Maya play row, row, row your boat with cousin Megan

Maya got a new doll from Grandma Agnes

 
Family Photo - what a happy bunch!

Maya's cake - Huge hit, not a piece to spare