You asked for pictures... Here you go!!!

Maya sports her Ethiopian hat

 
     
mmm... Yummy!        

  
When Maya is hungry - she wants to be fed now!

 
Maya loves to have tummy time  

More tummy time...

even more tummy time (except mom wants to finish changing her)

    
Toby is the first responder to the cries          

  
Who said the dogs and Maya wouldn't get along?

   
Typical Dave - always multi-tasking!

 
Maya with mom (Theresa)                         

Maya with dad (David)

  
The family (missing from photo Toby and Sebastian)

Shopping

Maya had her first shopping experience today with mom and Aunt Tori.  She did really well considering she was in a fitting room for awhile while I tried on some clothes.  She did fell asleep for a short while but not long enough.  She woke up and wanted out of her stroller.  It is nice to know that I can take her to the mall or to another store once in awhile if we need to get out of the house. 

 

Okay moms out there - we need some help.  It seems Maya is into having daily blow outs.  I know I have the right size diaper (based on weight) and I have tried two different brands.  What can we do to prevent these massive blow outs?  If you have any advise for us first time parents please email us or leave a comment below.  We would very much appreciate it!

 

Well it is time for another feeding - she is really liking her solids these days except for peas.  She refuses to eat them

 

Theresa 

Eating Out

I thought I would post a quick message to let you all know that Maya is already a pro at eating out.  I decided to call up a friend who is also home on maternity leave to see if she and her daughter would be able to meet us for lunch.  We met them and Maya did great.  She spent the time looking around and playing with her soft book.  After lunch we ran to Target for a few things.  On the way home she fell asleep.  She is such a cutie!  I'm a proud mom (at the moment).

 

Theresa 

Still alive

Sorry for not posting earlier.  It appears it was my turn to be very sick.  I must have gotten what Dave had as I also needed to get fluids at the walk-in clinic on Sunday.  I ended up getting the flu Friday later afternoon and am still trying to get healthy.  It is a struggle when you are responsible for a little one.  Speaking of Maya - she is doing really well.  She is still sleeping through the night which we are thrilled about.  She sleeps from around 8pm to 6am each night.  However, she isn't a big fan of naps during the day.  She does take a few short naps but not long enough to give mom a break. 

 

Maya is learning to like baby food.  She has grown to like carrots, rice cereal, and bananas.  She is not a fan of peas.  We will continue to try new foods on her but she is a picky one.  Oh - Maya has learned to scream on the top of her lungs when she is hungry.  It is very cute to be honest.  What she doesn't realize is that mom and dad can only prepare her food as fast as they can which is not fast enough for her. 

 

Last Friday Maya and I took a little trip to my work to visit some co-workers.  Maya loves attention and strangers so it went very well.  On our way home we made a quick stop at a friends to say hi.  Maya is very social and did great.  Today we plan to run to Target again as it seems we are almost out of diapers (again).

 

Maya and I are ready for visitors and play dates.  Please give us a call if you like to come visit.  Maya is excited to meet the rest of her family and friends.  Oh - for those asking for more pictures, I will post them soon.  Again, I need the help of my dear husband.

 

Theresa 

Maya's first doctor's appt

We just got home from Maya's first doctor's appointment.  She did very well considering she had to get a shot and get blood drawn.  She now weights 14lbs.  According to the doctor, she is right on track developmentally.  She also gave us the go to start Maya on baby food.  Maya and I are going to make a Target run later today to get some.  Plus, I need a perscription filled for her as she has an ear infection in her right ear.  More than likely, she got it on the plane ride home.  That could also be why she has been a little fussy these past few days. 

 

Dave went back to work today.  He is still under the weather so I'm not sure how long he will last at work.  Maya is taking her nap and I'm doing some laundry.  It is pretty exciting at our house these days 

 

More later...bye!

Theresa 

Maya's first day at home

We survived day one at home!  Dave ended up getting very sick Saturday night and had to be taken to the emergency room for some fluids.  Luckily my mom is still here and was able to take him.  Since Dave was out of commission, I was in charge of caring for Maya.  It wasn't too hard considering her slept for 7 hours yesterday day.  I finally woke her around 5pm.  I figured I better wake her if I had any chance of geting some sleep last night.  Once she was awake we got ready for her first trip outside the house.  We visited my sister and her family at the Ramada here in town.  Maya did fairly well overall.  She was a bit cranky due to being tired.  I think she had some jet lag which makes sense.  She did just travel 30 hours.  Once we got home, I gave her her first bath.  Of course I didn't have a clue what I was doing but we managed okay.  After her bath, she ate and then went to bed around 10:00pm.   She slept until 2:30 am and went back to bed until about 5am.  She is now up and making all sorts of noises.  She is very happy at the moment.

 

Dave is feeling much better today too.  I hope he feels well enough to be daddy today so I can run some errands.  I need to buy some long pants for Maya.  Poor child has nothing to wear!   

 

Theresa

We're home!

We made it home okay.  My mom, sister, and her family met us at the airport.  It was so good to be home and to see familiar faces!  Maya did extremely well on the flight home.  We left Addis about 2 hours late on Friday which landed us in DC 2 hours late.  We had to hurry in DC in order to make our connection.  Let's just say we barely made it.

 

Our flight to DC went very well.  We had boughten Maya a seat which ended up being the best thing we could have done.  Maya slept until we reached Rome which was about 8 hours.  She then spent the rest of the trip sleeping, eating, playing, and flirting with those around her.  The flight attendents were so great.  There were at least a half a dozen families that were adopting on our flight and 3 of them are from our agency.  We really liked having other families we knew on our flight.  At one point I took Maya on a little walk and we went to visit another family.  Well...this nice Ethiopian woman (who lives in the USA) stopped me and just took Maya from me.  She just thought Maya was the cutest thing ever and had to hold her.  It is Ethiopian culture to help care for all babies and to kiss stranger's babies whenever.  In the Addis airport another woman came up to Maya and gave her some kisses.  It is strange at first but then you realize it is just the culture.  Maya loves strangers so it didn't bother her one bit.

 

On our flight from DC to Chicago, Maya slept.  Dave and I watched some tv as we were trying hard not to fall asleep.  We wanted to stay up as late as possible to help get us back on American time.  When we reached Chicago, we ran into a family that we spent the week with in Addis.  It was so good to see them.  Their little one and Maya were in the same room at the care center and shared the same nannies.  We spent some time with them while we waited for our connection to Fargo.  On our Fargo flight Maya played and played.  She must have exhuasted herself and she just fell right to asleep in my arms at the end of the flight.

 

**Maya just feel asleep (and snorning again) - this is my cue to get some sleep too.  Until next time.  Bye!