A Weekend in Photos

We stayed close to home this weekend, which was very nice after a busy first week of school. We filled the time by going out to dinner, going to the park to enjoy the gorgeous weather-- that sort of thing! And, in the midst of it all, I was determined to get some portraits of my babies. I even broke out my 50mm lens for the occasion, and fell in love with it all over again. It may not be as expensive or as versatile as my fancy new zoom, but it sure does let me take some pretty pictures! I will have to remember it more often!

But without further ado... a whole bunch of pics!

Thoughts

Before I get too far into this post, let me just assure you that Maya's hives are almost completely gone now! After hitting their peak on Saturday, they have quickly subsided. All that's left are a few faded spots on her upper thighs-- otherwise, she looks great!

Anyway... the real reason I am posting tonight is because school starts again tomorrow. While I am so fortunate to a) have a job at all and b) have one that I enjoy, it is a bittersweet moment. Being a teacher, and having a summer vacation, gives me a taste of what being a stay-at-home mom would be like. And while I definitely know it wouldn't be easy, the idea of staying at home becomes more desirable every year. Especially now. Both kids are at ages where they can be so much fun, and I just love them to pieces. It makes me sad to think that, during the school year, I spend more time with other peoples' kids than with my own (on a typical day). That just doesn't seem right. The thought of missing so many "firsts" just breaks my heart. :(

At the same time, I AM excited. I think it's going to be a great school year, and I think I have a pretty nice bunch of kids. And, like I said, I like my job. And I LOVE my coworkers!

I don't know. I'm hoping that one day I can stay at home and focus on my photography as a part-time business. That would be ideal... But until then-- back to school I go!

And a quick picture of my sweet girl, after a late nap today. I will miss this view, SO much!

Hives!

Well, that's something new!

Having been alive for 32+ years and a mom for almost three of those years, I can honestly say I have never seen hives before! It started yesterday when I picked the kids up from daycare. Bonnie said that Maya had a little bit of an interesting rash on her arm, and it was also on her trunk. We ruled out food allergies, since she hadn't eaten anything unusual, and thought it might just be a reaction to the heat (because it is most definitely HOT). It wasn't too bad, and didn't appear to be bothering her, so I just kept an eye on it.

Well, I went to take her jammies off this morning, and saw this:

The bumps were not there the night before, and they were really unusual. In the photo, they look more like bug bites, but they were not the right shape, They were flattened on top, there was no sign of an actual bite mark, and they had sort of a puffy appearance. So I took the photo, we got Nikos off to daycare, and then Gus called to make an appointment with the pediatrician.

Half an hour later, those bumps had morphed into this:

I could not BELIEVE how quickly the rash had changed! And I was scared, too, though she was still acting fine. Luckily, the pediatrician was able to see her very early, so Gus took her in. It turns out that these hives are most likely viral-- meaning that Maya has been sick (which is true-- she's had a cold all week) and that part of her body's immune response this time is to break out in hives. It's fairly common, I guess, but nothing Gus or myself had ever experienced before!

Anyhow, she should be fine. They should go away pretty quickly, and we can give her Benadryl to reduce the inflammation and any itching she might have.

In the meantime, I have come down with something, too... Let't just hope I don't break out in hives right before the first day of school! That would be bad!

Brush Brush Brush!

Ok, so to fully understand the title of this post, one must familiarize themselves with the "Yo Gabba Gabba" CD that is in heavy rotation in my car. Or just listen to a clip of the one song I am referring to, here. :)

Our little girl is a brushing machine. We have to keep the bathroom door closed when it's not in use, because we have caught Maya in there brushing her teeth all by herself. She literally climbs up on the stool, grabs her toothbrush (she knows hers is the pink one), turns on the water, and does her best tooth-brushing impersonation. And while it's incredibly adorable to watch, it's not exactly safe when unsupervised. So, we close the door.

Since then, Maya has discovered that when Nikos announces he needs to go potty, it means she can BRUSH HER TEETH! So she runs towards the bathroom even faster than he does! Today, I decided to grab the camera along the way. She is grubby and wild-haired from a long, fun day at daycare, but I think she is the cutest little girl in the world!

(oh, and the reason she was crying at first was because she had already turned the water on when I was ready to record-- so I turned it off. She was not a fan!)

Busy Weekend!

I feel like I am just now recovering from my weekend enough to post about it... and, ironically enough, this is my last day of summer vacation. Back to work tomorrow, and all the insanity that comes with that! AACK!

Anyway, my weekend started at 5:30am Saturday morning, when I rolled out of bed and hit the ground running. I loaded up the truck with tons of food, tons of baby gear, shower gifts, camera gear, and my own personal effects, and made the three-hour drive up to Grant and Melissa's house to host a baby shower. I was hosting it with Melissa's two sisters, and I think it went really well! I was in charge of the food and favors, and I was really pleased with how both turned out. I mean, look!!

And my favors (I made everything myself-- including the lemon cake balls inside, which were covered with white chocolate and a swirl of dark chocolate. They looked really fancy!)

All in all, the turnout was good, and they got a lot of gifts which will really help them out. I was EXHAUSTED, though. It was a ton of hard work, especially transporting everything, but I think it paid off. Here's one last pic from the shower-- me, Melissa, and her sisters (basically her and all the aunties-to-be!).
Melissa also let me take a few belly pics before the shower, which I posted over on my photography blog. She is seriously ALL belly. It is amazing that my little nephew will be here in a month-- possibly even sooner! I am so excited to meet him!!

After the shower, I spent the night at my old friend Wendy's house, which was the highlight of my week! We had so much fun catching up that I didn't realize how late it was until my eyes started to droop. :) It was so nice to see her again after all these years. Wendy and I both started teaching at the same time, at the same school, so we have one of those bonds like what soldiers form in the trenches. It was a long-overdue meetup, that's for sure!

The next morning, I got back into the truck to drive to Gus' parents' house. His sister recently got engaged, and her fiance's family had driven out from Las Vegas to "meet the family," so to speak. Gus had driven the kids up on Saturday, but I obviously had the shower to throw. At any rate, I arrived, and then we all went to brunch together at a fancy local place (think white tablecloths and carpeting... I felt bad for whoever had to clean up under Maya's highchair!). It was nice and delicious, although the kids were definitely getting antsy. They were excited to get back to the house and play! Here are a few pics from the afternoon... The nice clothes were actually gifts from Bill's parents (Bill is the fiance), which was so sweet! I have to say, the kids (especially Nikos) really liked Bill's family. And I am pretty sure the feeling was mutual!


Later on, they changed to more casual comfy clothes, but (of course) continued to play...


And at bedtime, we made the drive home with both cars and I slept really, really well, haha!

15 Month Stats

Well, we had Maya's 15 month checkup this morning, and it pretty much went how I thought it would! She has hardly gained any weight since her last appointment-- a whopping 6 ounces. BUT, she has gained two inches in height! Holy cow! So our little girl measures in at (drumroll, please!)

20 pounds (11th percentile)
31 inches (69th percentile)

Our little monkey is stretching out! The lack of weight gain was the main topic we discussed, but our pediatrician decided that it wasn't an issue. Clearly, she is still growing (taller!). We know she is still eating plenty. And she has become a full-time walker (and runner) since the last appointment, which also means she is burning a lot more calories. And, well, Nikos was the exact same way-- he didn't gain weight again until his 18 month appointment. So the pediatrician wasn't concerned, and neither am I. She is just perfect!

Maya took her shots like a champ, crying for a grand total of about two seconds, and dazzled the doctor with her repertoir of animal sounds and her knowledge of where her bellybutton is (and other body parts). Her receptive language is far ahead of her expressive language, but the doctor said she was doing just fine. She is an awesome kid!!

Nikos did well, too, sitting patiently in the chair and chatting politely with the doctor. One can only hope that he will be this well-behaved when we come back for HIS appointment in October, ha!!

My Mom

I took the kids up to my parents' house this weekend, only to find that my mom had pulled a handful of her childhood photos out of storage someplace. And I can see why! She had told me a few times that Maya reminded her of herself, as a toddler, but I don't know that I ever really believed her. I mean, the mom I know is a grown-up! And in my head, Maya looks like a combination of various people. I see a lot of Gus in her, and sometimes my Grandma Patty... it changes! And aside from the hair color (which is also mine) and the eye color (which is on both sides of the family), I didn't really see the resemblance.

Until now, that is. I mean, just LOOK. My mom is a little older than Maya in these pictures-- probably closer to Nikos' age-- but still! The curly hair! The big eyes! The facial expressions! I couldn't find a good picture of Maya for a side-by-side comparison, but it is SO her. It blows my mind!

It also amazes me just how much kids change over time. I mean, I would have never seen this resemblance 6 months ago. And who knows what the next 6 months will bring? But for now... Wow! I TOTALLY see it!


(the top picture is of my mom with her dad, my Grandpa Lee. And the second one is with my Uncle Kerry, who I also have a tough time imagining as a helpless little baby, haha!)

Finally!

Gus' sister and her fiance came down this morning and took both kids to the zoo, giving Gus and I some (gasp! can it be true?) FREE TIME! Woohoo! So, we did what anyone with free time would feel inclined to do-- we went to the nursery and picked out a bunch of new plants for our front flower bed, haha!

A few months back, Gus really made it his mission to clear out and fix up the two flower beds in our front yard. He got one completely finished, but we were kind of stumped when it came to the other. Literally. Because there was a huge stump just below the surface at one end of the planter, which would make it really tough to plant anything there. And we couldn't really figure out what to plant, without it looking weird and lopsided. So we just didn't.

A few weeks ago, I had a brainstorm. I suggested building that end of the planter up, creating a second level and allowing us to actually plant things there. So Gus did it! And we finally got the plants in there today!

The plants are pretty young right now, but it should look really nice when it all fills in. And you can't really tell, but there is a creeping vine planted around the edge of the upper planter. Over time, it should cascade down over the edge, giving it a softer look. I am excited!!

Crazy Kids!

Lately, I feel like there is just SO MUCH that doesn't ever make it onto this blog, and I hereby vow to do better. Between being a full-time mommy to two very mobile, very active kiddos and starting up my own photography business (which is doing pretty well, I might add!), I am WIPED! Not to mention all the other commitments we have going on. It's all fun, but it just doesn't leave much time for blogging!

But I digress.

Back to the point, indicated by the post title: my kids are nuts. Even on the most trying days, they can always make me smile and laugh. Take today, for example. I didn't feel well this morning. Nothing specific, just generally tired and blah. I had NO energy. And when Maya went down for her morning nap, I wanted to take one, too. Nikos was playing with his cars in the living room, and I laid down on the couch and closed my eyes. Two minutes later, without saying a word, Nikos ran back to his room, got his blanket, bear, pillow and "Plablo" (really Pablo, a cute stuffed penguin from a show he likes), and climbed up on the couch with me. Then he got off, grabbed the remote, brought it back, and asked for The Wiggles. So I put it on for him... and then I slept!! He only woke me up when it was over, and just wanted me to start it again. So I did. And I managed to get an hour nap this morning, snuggled up with my boy. That NEVER HAPPENS! But I am not complaining.

Still, that's not really crazy, just sweet. Here's some crazy for you: After Maya woke up, we went grocery shopping. Much like Nikos used to, Maya LOVES holding random food items before they actually get into the basket. Today's top item was a can of frosting, which she carried with her for almost the entire trip. Better yet, she would hold it up in front of her face, like a camera, and say "CHEEEEESE!" I mean, she was YELLING this all through the market, at top volume, pointing her can of frosting at random passers-by. It was so funny! She has this new Elmo camera toy that my parents gave her, which I think is where she got the "cheese!" thing, but it is just hilarious! Meanwhile, Nikos kept telling her, "Maya, no yelling in the market! Shhh!" And you should've seen the look on the checkout lady's face when I asked to get the can of frosting back right away after she scanned it (Maya was crying for it). haha!

Then, back at home, the kids were playing nicely while I was washing dishes. I always close off certain rooms when they are wandering, mostly because Maya gets into trouble. She puts things in the toilet, pulls dirty diapers out of the pail in her room-- that sort of thing. So we close those doors. And Nikos doesn't usually mess with them, because there's nothing in those rooms he really needs or cares to mess with anymore.

Anyway, it got quiet. REALLY quiet. Too quiet. I thought they were both back in Nikos' room, and went to check, but they weren't there. On a whim, I opened the door to our bedroom. Yup. Nikos was very-quietly-but-very-excitedly jumping like a madman on our bed, while Maya ran around in circles on the floor with my bra on her head and one of Gus' dirty socks in her hand. I wanted to be annoyed, really, but I couldn't help laughing. It was seriously like a scene out of a movie! And I WISH I had gotten a picture!!

So later on, I went to look for a bag of craft-type supplies I had purchased a while back. Things I needed to make the favors for Melissa's baby shower next weekend-- you know, kind of important? But they weren't where I thought they were, and I couldn't find them anywhere! I was tearing the house apart. Nikos thought this was great fun, and was crawling around, looking under things and calling, "Baaaaag! Where aaaaaare you?" After about 45 minutes, I found it. It was in a dumb place. But I felt much better.

After dinner, Nikos was in his "songwriting" mood. Here are a few new ones (set to the tune of "The Elephant Song," as always!)

"Maya, I like Maya, I like how she wears her new shoo-oooes, I like Maya!"

"Daddy, I like Daddy, I like how he eats his pizza, I like Daddy!"

and, my personal favorite,

"Mommy, I like Mommy, I like how she finds the bag, Mommmy, I like Mommy!"

God, they crack me up. And don't even get me started on the completely irresistable cuteness that is Maya dancing (which she does ALL. THE. TIME. lately). But that deserves a video, so I'll save that one for later.

I love my crazy kiddos!!

Just another day at the office... (x2!)

So, we met Daddy for a lunch date today! We went inside the building, hoping to see his boss (who hasn't seen the kiddos in a long time), but he was stuck in a conference call. Still, the kids had fun (though they had MORE fun at lunch... but I didn't take pictures then). So, without further ado, a few photos from my cheap camera, in low lighting, with moving subjects (haha!!).

Sitting in Daddy's chair...


Feeling shy (his usual M.O.)


Investigating Daddy's laptop bag


And Maya's first time on the Controlled Neutron Analyzer, hahaha! (Don't worry, it's nonoperational-- it's a floor model). I took a similar one of Nikos, back in the day...