Back to School

Well, what an interesting week. We started out with a bang on Monday, and things were going well. We were all exhausted, but that's normal for the first week of school. Then on Wednesday morning things got interesting. Maya woke up at 5:30 screaming, and even after we got her out of bed, she kept crying and crying. We couldn't figure out what was the matter, so I had to stay home with her on my third day of school. It was a disaster. I took her to the doctor only to find that nothing he could see was wrong. Dr. Feole used some stickers to get her to move her head in all directions, and we finally surmised that she must have had a crick in her neck, which was causing her not to be able to turn her head all the way, and obviously some pain. He put her on a high dose of Ibuprofen and sent us home. Maya slept about 4.5 hours, and then woke up totally fine. Ugh. He gave her those 2 stickers, which we put on her shirt. Well, when it was time to put on pjs, the stickers had to be moved to them. The next morning when we got dressed for school, we had to put the stickers on that shirt too. I finally convinced her to stick them on her door, where they would be safe. Let's just say our child is just a little bit OCD. (ok, a lot!)

There's also a pic of her sitting on the big girl potty, showing off her Firehouse Subs firehat and sporting her stickers. Oh yeah - hot stuff!

Today when I picked that little booger up, she was playing outside with her "buddies." She did NOT want to go home with me! Instead she wanted us to keep playing on the playground with Tristan, her favorite buddy. So, we swang, went down the slide, rode the carrusel, rocked on a fish (yes, a fish) and rode cars. She was so happy until we finally had to go home. Then she cried for her daddy all the way home, only to find he wasn't home from football practice yet. I hated to break her little heart! It was pitiful.

We bought her the movie CARS and I am proud (I guess) to say that she has now watched a whole movie. Not in one sitting of course, but she did watch it and LOVE it. If you haven't seen CARS, you need to rent it. It is so cute!

Her newest accomplishment is counting to ten, and she's actually gotten most of the colors straightened out now (for a long time she could say them, but would get them all wrong when you asked her what color something was). Casey taught her to count, and she still needs some prodding, but if she really wants to she can do it. I'm attaching 2 videos of her learning - they are cute!

Ok, I don't think the video is working. Ugh.

Working, working, working!

Our first week back at school (without kids) has been a busy one! I've drug poor Maya back up to school for the last 2 days until 7:30, and Wednesday we didn't get home until 9 because of church. But, she has been a trooper, thank goodness, because I had and still have SO much to do!

Casey has been coaching away this week, and he is exhausted too, but has really been working hard. Maya was so glad to see her daddy tonight, she didn't know what to do! I have a cute video below of what he has taught her most recently. She learns better from him than she does me - she'll repeat things he says when she won't repeat what I say. She's stubborn that way!

Maya starts in the 2 year old room next week - several of her buddies are moving up to, so she should do fine. Their main objectives for the 2 year old room is to learn to drink from cups without sippers and to potty train. The cups won't be a problem - I'm not so sure about the other, but I'm not worried about it either. Diapers, though expensive, are actually quite nice. I don't mind changing them, and I don't have to worry about having an accident out in public.

She is still in love with her car shoes, but they are really giving her feet fits. She came home today and said, "Mommy, car shoes hurt." Poor thing! She let me take them off and put on her tennis shoes, so they must have really been hurting her feet! She had ANOTHER blister on the side of her foot. Blasted car shoes! Couldn't they have made those things a little better so my poor baby could wear them! Ugh!

This weekend we are hoping to take naps, not get up so early (we'll see if Maya obliges), NOT eat fast food, and just take it easy.

"My car shoes"

We had a fun weekend! We had the Hudgens from church over Friday night for dinner. Addison is 2 1/2 and so she and Maya had a fun time playing. They were playing in her room while the adults were in the living room chatting. Elizabeth, Addison's older sister, was back and forth between the rooms giving us updates. She came in and we asked her how the girls were doing, and she replied, "Oh, they're fine. They're just playing on top of the changing table." Juliann and I got up and ran back to Maya's room, to find Addison and Maya standing and dancing on top of the changing table. EEK! Ok, so it was completely dangerous but also incredibly cute, so I had to get the camera and take a picture. The only problem with this was that Maya then thought this was perfectly ok, and when I told her she couldn't do it anymore, she was not pleased. In fact, she proceeded to get up there multiple times, with a spanking accompanying each attempt. She was so stubborn and she pitched a fit when I finally dragged all of the girls out of her room and shut the door!

On Saturday I took Maya to get some tennis shoes and a new pair of fake crocs, since she had outgrown her old ones. We went several places and ended up at rack room, where she had a ball picking out shoes. Unfortunately she discovered a pair of shoes (BOY shoes!) that were made for the movie "Cars." Maya is OBSESSED with vehicles, and so she HAD to have those shoes. She made me sit down right there in the store and put those things on her feet. And then she would NOT take them off. I must admit, I gave in to avoid a scene and bought her those shoes. Now they are the ONLY ones she wants to wear. Last night she had to sleep with them in the bed with her. For those of you that don't know her well, she is the most stubborn thing I have ever known, and some battles just aren't worth fighting. So, yes, she slept with those things last night. They have rubbed blisters on her ankles, so she has to wear them with band aids and socks, but this does not deter her. She is determined to wear those things everywhere, so I have hid them tonight with the hopes that I can put another shoe on her tomorrow. We'll see.

We all got "back to school" haircuts today, and thankfully she was good. She had another good day at daycare, so we are thankful for that. Tomorrow is the first official day back at work for Casey and I, and it will be a long one for us all. Keep us in your prayers! Enjoy the pics!

Maya's first day of school

I'm happy to report that all was well on Maya's first day of school! We got her all excited about it by screaming and jumping around and cheering about it. She went in like a champ and started playing and we snuck out after playing for awhile. They said she looked around about an hour later and said, "Where mommy?" After a short fussy period before lunch, she was pleased as punch once her spaghetti came, and then she went right down for her nap. Of course, she had gotten up at 5:15 that morning in anticipation! She was pleased when we picked her up, and she went back this morning without complaining. Hopefully she will keep it up!

All better!

I'm happy to report that Maya is feeling much better today - still a little grouchy, but I think that's because she has been spoiled all summer with her family and having both of her parents home for the entire summer. How cool! How many people get to experience all of that time with their parents when they are little. One of the perks of teaching!

Pray for us that Maya's first day goes well tomorrow. It is usually more painful for me than for her, but still its no less painful. Hope everyone is well!

Still Sick

Last night was another rough one, but at least Maya slept last night - its just that it was still in only about 20 minute increments. At least she was easy to put back to sleep. I took the first shift until 3:30, then Casey took over, and Aunt J came to rescue in the morning and she and Maya made a surprise breakfast for Casey and I. Maya cracked her own eggs to help out! We all played this morning and then J and I went off to do a little shopping. We didn't find much, but we did manage to get Maya a few pairs of shorts. We also took a load of stuff to my new classroom and I FINALLY took all of my pants to get hemmed. I have had one pair that mom gave me for Christmas almost 2 years ago all this time. Yes, I admit it, I had them hemmed up with duck tape. Disgraceful! :)

When we got home it was almost 4, and little Miss Maya had NOT taken a nap. Aunt J had to go home : ) so we sent her off in style with a Starbucks Java Chip! Finally I got her down around 4:30 and started on dinner. We jumped my car off (the battery had been dead for a few days - we were procrastinating), rode around to make sure it was good and charged, and then came back and ate. After dinner we took a walk around the neighborhood. Maya wanted to push Elmo in the stroller, and that little booger pushed him around almost the entire neighborhood. We took the wagon in case she got tired, but we had to MAKE her get in it finally because it was getting dark and we were worried about cars coming by. She was determined to push that Elmo all over the neighborhood. It was so cute!

Maya goes back to daycare Thursday, provided she is all better. It should be quite a transition so please pray that it all goes well and that I don't cry on my way to work everyday after dropping her off. At least she has her old friends there, so hopefully that will make the transition easier. Tomorrow we're going to try and do something fun (although we have no idea what) to enjoy our last day together!

August

We have had some company this weekend! Ashley and Todd came to visit and we had a great time. Unfortunately, almost always when Ash and Todd come, Maya gets sick! Saturday we were jumping away at Jumping Jax - our in town inflatable wearhouse - and Maya started breaking out in a rash and running fever. So we came back home and proceeded to not sleep again for two more nights. Last night she only slept in about 20 minute stretches, was wide awake for several hours, and then was back up at 6am. How are their little bodies capable of doing that? Anyways, today she is about the same - yucky rash, low fever, and irritable. However, while Casey was driving her around town last night at 1am trying to get her to go to sleep, he did teach her a new word - she can now say her first and last name. It is so cute, and I managed to get a short video. Sorry its so dark - I haven't figured out how to lighten the videos yet. Enjoy!

Now Aunt J has come to visit too! Today we didn't do much because Maya still isn't feeling well, but hopefully tomorrow will be better. At least we have Aunt J to help with the all night duty tonight!

Home again!

Hello all! Today Maya and I headed to Greenville to meet my friend Janet from high school. Janet lives in Bluffton, but was in Greenville visiting her mom, so we decided to take advantage of her close proximity. Maya and Addison are about the same age, and Delaney is 3. Everyone managed to get along quite well, and Maya and Addison had a great time chasing each other all over the house. They were so cute. Did we take any pictures???? NO! I don't know why - and Janet is a photographer! What were we thinking?

Janet's mom was nice enough to let Janet and I go shopping during naptime! Yipee! Janet and I tackled the mall on tax-free weekend! CRAZY! We had a great time buzzing around, trying things on, and finding matching outfits - JUST KIDDING! (for those of you that don't know, Janet and I LOVED to dress alike in high school. We were total dorks!)

What a fun day! Happy August everyone - we are depressed because school starts the 12th. Ugh.