Disneyland - again!!

We went to Disneyland again a couple of weeks ago!  We feel so darn lucky to have gone a few times this year!

We went during Halloweentime - so awesome to see everything decorated!
We also went to Mickey's Halloween Party and Trick-or-Treating, such fun!

Happiest family at the Happiest Place on Earth!

Maya loved all of the rides in Cars Land

Our little beauty

Maya loves seeing all of the Disney Characters!

Maya's most favorite character this time was Chewbacca!

We couldn't believe Maya was tall enough to ride some of the
'big-kid rides' like Splash Mountain!  And, although her face may
say otherwise, she loved it and kept asking to go again!

Another favorite Disney Character of  Maya's right now is Baily
from 'Finding Dory'.  She was all about the Baily stuffed animal!
And it's not a Disney trip without a yummy churro!

 We don't know when our next Disney trip will be, but we sure have lived it up so far this year!

Easter 2016

Maya was pretty excited for Easter this year, many days (unbeknownst to us) she would get her hands on some jelly beans and hide them around the house pretending to be the Easter Bunny, we were finding hidden little jelly beans around the house for weeks!

With all of her goodies from the Easter Egg Hunt at preschool!

This little artist really got into painting Easter Eggs (and her hands) this year!

We each picked one of our favorite eggs for a pic!

Easter Sunday!  So happy the Easter Bunny filled her basket and even brought
her a new swimming suit!

Happy Holidays!

We had the BEST time celebrating Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years!  The best part of it is the extra time we get to spend together and with family!

Happy Halloween

Thanksgiving

Merry Christmas

Happy New Year

Guess Who turned 2!

Happy Birthday to our girl!  We can't believe she's 2 years old already!

I guess time flies when you're having fun!  Maya is growing fast!  She loves all things Disney, loves to be outside, seems to love the color blue (calls every color 'blue'), enjoys reading, playing in her kitchen, is a serious thinker, still is attached to her stuffed puppy Diesel (and her binky), loves to tease, has the best laugh, and she is very thoughtful.

On her birthday we took her to the Aquarium.  She loved every minute of it!  

Then that Sunday we celebrated Easter, her birthday, and her cousin's birthday with the family! Birthday cake, presents, and the best Easter Hunt from Grandma!

We hope everyone had a fun Easter weekend!

Where did February go?

February was a flash!  I can't believe it's March and almost time to celebrate  Brandon's birthday!  We had a fun Valentine's Day!  We took played around the house, and then took a drive to get a delicious Chicago pizza (YUM!), then back home for bath time for the babe, and a movie night!

Happy New Year!

It's January already?  I can't believe it!  We wish you the happiest New Year!  We brought in the new year quietly - ordered take out, Maya was asleep by 10:00pm, and we were in bed just after midnight.  But we sure had fun up until we all got sleepy! ;)

Here's a fun little review of our year that I did on instagram - I just took a favorite pic from each month last year (it was hard to pic just one from each month!

Merry Christmas!

We hope you had the best Christmas!

Our fun started on Christmas Eve!  We had some shopping to finish up at the mall, so we stopped off to say 'hi' to Santa while we were there!  Then that night we snuggled up in our warm house to open our traditional Christmas Eve presents.

This girl sure does love Santa!  Never been afraid.  

We open three presents on Christmas Eve: 1. Christmas Pajamas, 2. New books, 3. a Family Game.

Christmas was the best!  Maya got a fully-stocked kitchen!  She knew right what to do without us showing her too! 

Merry Christmas all!

Ready for Christmas!

We are so ready for Christmas to come!  We bought and decorated our tree, set up and have told and re-told the (short toddler version) of the Nativity, attended Christmas parties, talked to Santa, and have had fun shopping for the big day!  Yep - ready!!!

Looking for the perfect tree. 

We found just the right one -- ready to take it home!

All set up and we celebrated with a glass of sparkling apple cider.

Maya participated in her first live Natavity, and being the youngest she was cast
in the role of baby Jesus.  In true toddler fashion she wouldn't keep on her
swaddling clothes, got scared of the stuffed horse in the stable, and threw a fit
when it was time for a picture of  the finale.  This pic makes me giggle.

Maya got to see Santa - we thought she might be afraid (like most kids her
age) but she was excited and ran right up to him, and when it was her turn she
hopped right on his lap.  This girl knows where her bread is buttered! ;)

 Here is the virtual copy of our Christmas Card this year!  Merry Christmas to you!!

This is the front. 

and the back!

 Only a few more days - we can't wait!!!

Thanksgiving

We hope you had a fun-filled Thanksgiving!  Ours was the best!

Halloween Time

We had the best Halloween!

We took a fun day trip to Gardner Village for Witches Night Out.

We had a FUN birthday party for Grandpa!
All of the grandkids dressed up, we carved pumpkins, played
games, and (of course) at cake and ice cream!

Halloween was a blast! Maya got to trick-or-treat at Daddy's work!
She walked the whole way and got a TON of candy!
After, it was so nice outside, Maya had to lay in the grass to eat some treats!

Happy Halloween!  We hope you had a fun Holiday too!

Disneyland!

We just got back from the Happiest Place on Earth!  I'll post all about our fun trip soon!

March Fun

Oh, we've had a great March!  We got to celebrate Brandon's birthday and St. Patrick's Day this month!

Happy Birthday to Daddy!  We decorated the house (favorite birthday tradition),
and that night Brandon and I went on a date: out to dinner and to see WWE.

On St. Patty's Day Eve, we made sure Maya was decked out in green
pajamas - so there was no way she could get pinched! :-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!
We celebrated with a fun family party for our nieces birthday!

Last Sunday we went on a fun little family adventure to feed the ducks.  Maya LOVED it and kept trying to call the ducks to her with something that sounded a lot like "Come Here", Oh, so cute!

Happy March everyone!

This-n-That

Oh, we've had fun since the new year!  It's gone by too quickly for our liking, but we're sure enjoying ourselves and our BEAUTIFUL girl!  Life can't get any better than this!

9 month check-up in January - Dr. reports that she's "Perfect, as always."

Maya and Lucy - best friends. 

Maya has 8 teeth - they all decided to come at once, it seems!

This girl is ALWAYS on her feet!  She walked before she crawled!
She took her very first steps on January 1st - great way to start the year!
She cruises furniture and walks short distances between furniture and people!

Did I mention that she's unstoppable?  Her and the cat love climbing the stairs together!
See the video below.

Our little Valentine enjoyed her first Valentine's Day!
She even got her very first rose -- from her daddy. 

Here she is with most of her Valentine loot!

And for your viewing pleasure - a little "I love you!"