Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays! We had a very busy few weeks. Just before the holidays we got a decent snow storm.



And then it melted, just in time. Here's Maya in her cute Santa dress supplied by Aunt Molly!



Immediately after pulling the hat off she asked for help putting it back on. That's a fun game we're into right now.



And then it was time to leave for Albany. We headed up for our annual gathering at Aunt Kathy's house. We made a pit stop at our hotel. Maya's always been a fan of hotel air conditioners.



Then it was time to leave for Aunt Kathy's house.



Maya's cousins Sammy and Kyle were there too.





Aunt Kathy had all sorts of fun, breakable toys within reach.



Here's Mommy trying to keep things from getting destroyed.



There were a lot of people at the party. It got a little overwhelming for Maya at times.



Here's Maya being shy with Uncle Luke:





This is the other Aunt Kathy, Grandma, Sammy, and Uncle Kenny.



By the end of the evening, Maya was ready for snuggles and bedtime!



On Christmas morning we woke up and got dressed.



Then Maya tried on daddy's boots. They were a little big.



Then we went to Uncle Luke and Aunt Christina's. When we arrived Grandpa had just fallen and needed to be taken to the Emergency Room! Grandma took him. So us kids had to make breakfast. Grandpa was fine but we missed him and Grandma for breakfast. Maya had a good time playing with Sammy and Kyle's toys.



Mom and Aunt Mary made breakfast for everyone.



Maya loved hanging out with Kyle!







Maya had a great time playing with Sammy and Kyle's play kitchen. Kitchen Aid mixer! Stainless steel appliances!



Kyle was a little sleepy from holiday festivities.



But Sammy was ready to play.





Maya got lots of good cuddle time in with Daddy.



When Aunt Mary showed up it was party time!



This is Uncle Jason opening presents.



This is Grandpa when he got back from the ER. He had to have surgery less than a week later!



Here's Aunt Christina.





Fun with fake mustaches!



I think Sammy had too much chocolate!



Fun with Grandma!





Before the night was over the girls had to play in Sammy's ball pit one more time. They're not as ticked off as they look.






After we got home, one of the packages for Maya's gift proved to be more fun than the gift itself. We call this the plastic space helmet. Excuse our lazy weekend attire.

Busy month!

The month of November was very busy for us!

Our friend Rachel made Maya this adorable devil hat. We think it really suits her personality.







All done with hat!



In early November we took a trip to Albany to spend time with family. Along with Grandma, we took Maya and Maya's cousins, Kyle and Samantha, to the Schenectady Museum. They had a blast. The biggest hit was this little kitchen area. They could have spent all day there.













Then we came back to Albany again just before Thanksgiving on our way up to Vermont. Maya had a great time playing at Kyle and Samantha's house. Besides all the cool toys, her favorite person, Kyle was there!





We actually didn't get any pictures of our Thanksgiving adventures, but Uncle Jeffrey got a few. We had a great time in our house at Hawk Mountain with the Sumber crew. We had great meals, and lots of relaxing!



On our way back home we stopped at the Northshire book store in Manchester for lunch with our favorite Vermonters, Jenn and Jude. This is Jude - he is 4 months younger than Maya. Isn't he a cutie?







The kids had a great spot to play for a bit before we headed to the indoor farmer's market to see Jude's daddy, where he sells fudge. Yes, we did take home some fudge and it was delicious!





We took a bunch of video after we got back home. Here is Maya trying to pet Stanley, but getting shot down.



Here she is pushing her walking toy around and asking for help (which is her new favorite word):



Just being chatty:



Playing in her wagon:



She finally figured out how to turn on her ABC puppy and she's soooo excited about it!



Playing with the wagon again:



And the big news around here is that, at 15 months, Maya finally started walking. She's not a fan of an audience and much preferred to walk on her own timetable, and without any pressure. And, in case you haven't noticed, she's completely obsessed with her pacifiers. In order to encourage her to walk on camera, I put a pile of pacifiers within walking distance.



And here's Maya showing us that she loves music!




Just being funny:

Orchard fun!

Last month we visited an awesome orchard! Maya got to try out her new wagon. It was very crowded!





Who's that little farm girl?



Oh! It's Maya!











She loved looking at all the animals.









And the pretty flowers. She wanted to grab them all.







There was barely enough room for her at the end of the day! We picked up pumpkins, apples, cider, and apple butter. Then we grabbed some lunch and headed home!