A Very Merry Maelee

Though the holidays have come & gone and we're now well into January (and almost to Maelee's 9 month birthday!), it is finally time to get some pictures up of our first Christmas as a family of three. Sorry, Parker, you don't count...

Hopefully I'll have another post up soon with more on Maelee's nine month (including more pics from the holidays that weren't necessarily Christmas-related...) and the fun she's into now, but since there are about a gazillion pictures from this time of year, I'll keep this post less verbose. :)

We enjoyed this special season of firsts very, very much and we believe our little sweetie did, too. She tore into the presents (quickly transferring the paper to the mouth...) and loved all her gifts. Daddy and I made sure to read her the true Christmas story from her Hug-a-Bible and hope to impart that "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" and "It is better to give than recieve..." BUT, for now, we think that's a little over her head :) and we were ok with some spoiling this year! (But not every year, hint, hint!!!)

We spent the majority of the holidays in VA with a very special Christmas Eve in DE with the great Too-dad and Mary Catherine/Nana-Nart, as well as more special family, including Maelee's 2nd cousin, Caleb, who is only 4 1/2 months older! They were adorable together.

To start off the crazy slew of pictures, here's Maelee on Santa's lap at Bloomingdales in NYC just before we headed south...


And here's a sampling of our time in DE. We are so thankful God has blessed us with such incredible family!!!

Maelee with her Too-dad and the sweet ride he got both the great grandkids

Playtime with Caleb!

A giggle fest with mama

Diggin' in!

Maelee & Caleb's gift to Too-dad and Mary Catherine

A very sweet trio

Sitting on a lap that's even better than Santa's

Jolly family on Christmas morning

And, of course, here's a slideshow of more pictures from Christmas in DE:

This was also a particularly special Christmas as my brother, Daniel, came home from Japan! He was amazing with his little niece and she loves her uncle! She always got a kick out of his silly faces. The evening that Steve got in, Nana & Pop-Pop took us all to see the Christmas trees in DC.

Here we are in front of the tree that represents our home

And with the "National Tree" in the distance

And below begins the onslaught of pictures from Christmas Day in Alexandria...

Buried in presents from a Nana & Pop-Pop and Uncle Daniel
who apparently couldn't resist...

With one of her favorites, "Ba Ba" Bear

And some of her favorites from her "Uncle Dan..."

A cool pop-up book in Japanese!

(self-explanatory)

And her little Miss Bunny who "walks" down the ramp
and loves to greet Maelee when she wakes from her nap!

The aftermath

T'was a very merry Christmas Day!

With more from Christmas in VA in this slideshow:




And here are some shots of Maelee with some of her most favorite men...

Gazing up at her great Too-dad

Cozying up with a book read by her adoring Pop-Pop

Giggling in the arms of her Uncle Daniel

And being taught by her daddy about Jesus :)

Happy Girl :)

After Christmas, the six of us all packed into my parent's car (a day late thanks to the snow!) to head back up to NYC and see Wicked! It was awesome- thanks, Mom & Dad!!! It was a super short stay but we enjoyed our time with family, and on the morning of New Year's Eve, we had a great little after-Christmas-Christmas with the four of us (OK, Parker, I'll include you in that, since you did get a new toy) .

More fun with the unwrapping

Reading the inscription from her Mee-Maw & Grandpa Mason in her fun Ladybug book

Enjoying some musical instruments from mommy

And admiring a beautiful ladybug charm bracelet from her daddy!

And after thoughtfully pondering the donation gift made in her name from her mom & dad, Maelee decides to see how it tastes...

A very special first Christmas as a family of three!

And more from our Christmas in NY:




And finally, some super sweet pictures of Maelee in her Christmas best...
(also, conveniently, the "8 Month Photo Shoot)

Lastly, more shots in this sweet dress:

Our NYC Christmas ended with a trip to see the Rockafeller Christmas tree in all its glory.

It was an amazing holiday for all of us and we hope it was for you! We're excited for what God has in store for 2011 and are so thankful for His goodness in 2010.

November- a little of this and a lot of that...

In some ways, I feel like not much happened over the past few weeks, and in others, there's been lots of excitement!

This move has taken a lot out of me but our home is slowly coming together and we sure do love it. Maelee has taken it in stride but has really started to show some personality "quirks" lately...

I think she may have (at least, temporarily) a little bit of a split-personality going on! (Or as my mom likes to say, "She's just being a baby"). :) We've noticed that she will either be Miss Happy Face or Miss Fussy Pants with not a whole lot in between. Some days there's not a single whimper with plenty of smiles, giggles, and coos. Other days, try as we might and hardly a grin is cracked, with whining and fussing for no obvious reason! Sometimes it's several good days in a row, followed by several not-so-good days in a row; sometimes it's an every other day thing! I never seem to know what awaits me when I get our little sleeping beauty in the morning... But regardless, she's still our sweetie and we love her just the same. Some days, I'd just really like to know what the deal is, though!

About the 2nd week of November we noticed one of her bottom teeth had cut through and the other followed shortly after, so I like to use teething as the convenient excuse whenever she's just "not herself." I'm really hoping that is the reason, though (and it's not something else that I'm completely missing!!!), but am also hoping that as they say, she'll get somewhat used to the teething sensation and it will get easier on her.

Her little babbling makes us laugh harder than ever with how expressive she is and how seriously she wants to communicate with us. Bananas were added to the "solids" diet which she seemed to like (finally!) and she's also a fan of carrots and is ok with rice cereal, but insists on spitting out peas. She also (finally!) seems to be ok being on her tummy as she flips onto it all the time but we still foresee any crawling to be quite a ways away and wouldn't be too surprised, or disappointed, if she skipped crawling altogether. But who knows! She tends to surprise us :) She definitely loves playing with her toys and has her favorites, and loves her little books.

And she loved her big treats this month of seeing both sets of grandparents and her Aunt Kim!

Early on in the month, her Nana- Lin came up for a quick visit to help with the unpacking and really, to see her little darling. The couple of days went by too fast, but as always, we all enjoyed every minute. We also enjoyed our quick visit from Aunt Kim who made the effort to see us after a meeting she had in the city.

Then, a couple days before Thanksgiving, our family of three took the bus down to quickly see my parents and pick up their car (thanks, Mom & Dad!) for our trip to North Caroline to see Steve's parents. We were there for a delicious Thanksgiving and a couple days, then made the quick stop back up to VA to see my parents and return the car, followed by another bus back to NYC.

Anyhow, on to the fun part! Enjoy some pics from Maelee's 7th month into her 8th month, along with her 7 Month "Photo Shoot," followed by a little holiday cheer to get you in the spirit of Christmas at the bottom... :)

How Maelee feels about avocado...

Chewing on the teething ring container, while the ring lies beside her...

Enjoying a Saturday brunch with friends, giving big smiles to David,

and to daddy!

Fun with Aunt Kim!

Sitting patiently with Nana-Lin while mommy gets ready to trim her hair!

Like daddy like daughter!

Actually started to really bounce in her jump-up, and not just twirl!

"Mmm, bananas! Finally a 'solid' that I like!!!"

And allll over the face!

Go Army!!! (a little shout-out to her Pop-Pop's alma mater!)

And here's a slideshow of more shots from the 7th month:

Happy to be with Nana-Lin & Pop-Pop for a very short but very sweet visit before Thanksgiving

Then enjoying some bouncing on Thanksgiving Day at Grandma & Grandpa Mason's!

A little, impromptu Thanksgiving Day/7th Month Photo-Shoot...

Not sure what that expression is telling us but it sure is darn cute!

And here's a slideshow of more pics from that "shoot:"
Maelee & Mee-Maw

A little snack before the big feast!

Beginning our first Thanksgiving Day tradition of turkey-hand-tracing, along with a bible verse that expresses thankfulness. For the first year, we chose Psalm 69:30

I will praise the name of God with a song;
I will magnify him with thanksgiving.

Well, she didn't quite get the feast that we devoured
but she did enjoy her sweet potatoes and bananas!

Maelee was happy to see both sets of grandparents and really liked the decorated Christmas Tree at Nana-Lin & Pop-Pop's!

Here's a slideshow of pics from the first part of Maelee's 8th Month,
including our Thanksgiving trip:

And finally, even more shots in a slideshow of "Santa Maelee"