I love our tree in the fall! This is my favorite season.

Maya was not feeling well and literally fell asleep in the middle of a bite. Falling asleep "by accident" is rare for her.

Caught red-handed getting into Daddy's camera case
"I love technology..."

Maya was a Tarheel cheerleader and Aiden was a Transformer.

Daddy-daughter bonding time

Long Time No See! (sorry it's been awhile!)

Maya is a major ham. Her silly faces crack us up.

Mommy couldn't wait to try pigtails--even if Maya's hair is still a little short.

Me and my girl

I'm not sure what inspired this expression/gesture, but Joe caught the picture at the perfect time. He's much better at that than I am.

Our niece, Colette Isabella. She is truly "bella"!! I need to put more pictures of her up...
Maya is lucky to have 2 adorable cousins!

The Family

These are from August and September. I will try to put some October pictures up soon. I've been pretty busy with school. Maya now has 12 teeth, says a few words (mostly "baby"...all the time), and is walking...sometimes. She really prefers crawling but can do it when motivated!

Maya Jane turns one!

Maya's first birthday party! She is showing off the sunflower shoes her Uncle Yanni got her.

Maya had a little too much sugar by this point...you can see she is a little out of it. :) She does love cake though! She's more like her Aunt Emily in that way than her mommy.

I had fun making this monkey cake for Maya's birthday. She has a miniature monkey "smash cake" in the background that she devoured.

This was actually her first birthday cake--on her real birthday. The monkey cake was a few days later at her party. One day is really not enough when it comes to birthdays.


What a wonderful year! It went by SO quickly, but Joe and I have so many great memories. Maya is such a gift from God--words cannot express how precious she is to us.

Gotta love this girl.

Orlando

Daddy and a very hot and tired Maya watching the parade at the Magic Kingdom.

Grandpa held Maya almost the whole time at Uncle Micah's birthday dinner
in Orlando. He didn't mind a bit!

The Character Breakfast with Grandpa and Yia-Yia.
Maya liked the characters from a distance but was not crazy about them coming this close.

Maya got to meet her Aunt Rona and see her Uncle John again when we were in Orlando.

Daddy titled this picture "Peanut" :)

Maya Laughing

Maya's destructive nature comes out while knocking over towers with Daddy.

Oh, to be a carefree baby again

Fun times with Heather and Erik

Maya is pulling up on furniture and cruising across it. She'll be eleven months old tomorrow! These pictures are from the end of May though.

Maya's first beach trip! Holden Beach, NC

Maya Jane is a beach girl, just like her mommy.

Hard at work with Poppy
Where's Maya? Look for the pink hat...
she loved to put her face as far into the bucket as far
as possible to get seashells out of the water.

Chewing on the shovel is almost as fun as digging with it.
You should give it a try sometime.

Maya's meets the ocean for the first time. She's not sure at first...

But soon enough she likes to bounce and splash as the tide comes in.

Watching the waves with Nana and Poppy

Joe's photo of the shrimp boat we saw each day.

Look at all the birds chasing after it to get snacks that were left behind!

Joe and his dad went surf fishing early one morning.

Mommy and Maya, reflecting on God's creation

Snoozing on the beach after a long morning.

Poppy walked her up and down the shore until she fell asleep.

May Moments

Joe and I went on our first overnight without Maya. Auntie Em and Uncle Micah were so nice to watch her for us, so we stayed uptown for our anniversary. This is a picture Joe took of the skyline from our window. We ate at a very yummy restaurant...right next to the lobster tank! A little creepy at first, but after we scooted the table a couple inches away I thought it added to the atmosphere. :)

Out enjoying a sunny day in style

Me and Maya/Rachael and Iris
It was so neat to meet Rachael's daughter--we were little girls ourselves when we met!

Our favorite little munchkin...How can she be 9 months old already???

Maya is trying to pull up on things to stand up. She started to crawl yesterday--what a great Mother's Day gift! At least it's exciting now--while she's in the slow-crawl phase...I'm sure I'll be wishing for the no-crawl days pretty soon!

My mood changes quickly.
But I'm still stinkin cute.

My awesome friend Rachael from elementary school came to visit this past week with her 2 1/2-year-old daughter Iris. We had a great time catching up, and Maya loved Iris' company. She laughed so hard watching Iris play. They were so cute. I will post photos soon!

Miss you already, Rachael.