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Moving on Up!

Mya has officially moved to the Toddler room at daycare. My little "Bright Balloon" is now a "Cute Comet"! This is a big change, especially for me! No more babies in cribs. All the kids are walking around, playing with new toys, sitting at tables for breakfast and lunch. The biggest difference is that they all sleep on cots for naptime. I'm a bit worried about this, but I'm sure Mya will do fine. It may take some time to train her to stay put though. We'll see how it goes. Mya did not do well when she started at this new daycare in April. It took her about two weeks to adjust. I wondered if it would be the same when she moved to the toddler room but then we found out that Miss Jami, her favorite teacher, was moving up as well! We love you miss Jami!

Some things they will be doing in her class this year include:

signing words

gross motor activies (tumbling, running)

fine motor activities (eating with a spoon)

building vocabulary through nursery rhymes and songs

Should be a fun year! I hope to be able to volunteer here and there...depending on my schedule.

I didn't get any pictures of her in class today, but here is one on our way in...

Yes she had an arsenal of stuffed animals with her. She needed all the comforts of home!

When we came home today, Matt had a surprise for Mya. A lady he works with made her an awesome blanket. It is so cute!


Thank you Cindy - that was so nice of you to do!! Of course Mya loved it. Blankies and babies, her favorite things!

Yeah, slumber party!

And the back...I took this to show Mary Beth. The whole back of the blanket is this material. Too cute!

Coming soon...back to school :(
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Fred Fest

Well I survived Fred Camp Fest 2008. This year we went to Stonybrook State Park and it ended up being a really great time, tents and all. Everyone was able to come except for Carey who's in NYC. Maybe next year she'll make it. This was our 6th annual summer event. Kath, Maren, Candy and I got there Friday night and set up camp. Colleen and Meghann came Saturday morning. We had lots of laughs and lots of food! The only downfall was that this was a very family oriented campsite, with kids and noise, and something that smelled like the zoo. Not sure what that was though... Maren any thoughts on that?


Here are just a few of the many memories that were made. Remember girls, these are memories!

Our deluxe tent, courtesy of Kath

How many cookies can I fit in my mouth?

Get out of the box and play some tennis

Maren, Candy, and Meghann gearing up for our hike

Hi Carey!!

Temple Street girls (with Maren taking the picture...)

Chow Time

Aftermath of swimming in 66 degree water!

While I was off toasting marshmallows Matt took Mya down to Olean. They had a great time and Mya was excellent during the two hour plus car ride. She got to hang out with G-Ma, G-Pa, and Uncle Dave. On Sunday they hung out at the Lebanese festival for some good eats. Maren rushed home so she could love on Mya before they left, which gave me several hours home alone to relax!!

Thanks for rushing home Auntie!

Next year we are planning to rent a cottage at Letchworth. Tent camping was a bit much for us - give me a warm bed anyday over that! We are also planning something big for 2009 - the year we all turn 30. Where does the time go??

Randoms

We finally finished spreading mulch in the front of our house and it is looking much better. A lot of our plants are coming back to life and I've been pruning like a mad woman. Next year should go better but it's a learning process.
I need to get a few more pictures of the front but I'm waiting to see if more flowers bloom soon.


Mya is walking all over now. She still keeps her hands up in the air for balance but she's becoming a pro. I tried to get a little video so you can see her mad skills but it won't upload today. Maybe next week.


It's an exciting weekend for me! It's the 5th annual Fredonia Camp Fest. Six girls, no husbands, no kids. I can't wait. This year we're going to StonyBrook Park, instead of Letchworth. We have to sleep in tents so it will be interesting. I'd much prefer a nice log cabin, but I'm keeping my mouth zipped. This should be the last ever tent camping. I'll make the best of it. Matt is taking Mya down to Olean to see Great Grandma Joseph and go golfing with Uncle Larry. It's my second weekend away from my baby. In other news, Mya is getting two new teeth on the bottom! Making that a total of 4 teeth. She's a bit cranky today so I am guessing that is why. Bring on the tylenol!

Some pic from the week -

I bad

Mya's new snack table

Bye Mommy! I'll miss you!

Oh, and 6 months from today I'll be the big 3-0. I'll drink to that.

Fiasco

Poor Mya, it's always something. We decided to try out a new restaurant today cause I didn't feel like cooking. When we moved here we got a welcome letter from Prioretti's, an Italian place. It came with a gift certificate for a free pizza, and two free entree's for dine-in. We thought it would be good to go out since we'll all be split up this weekend.

Having never been there before, we go dressed very casually (thinking it's a pizza joint) and lugging a one year old with all her goods. Turns out we stuck out like a sore thumb. It was not exactly baby-friendly. But whatever, we were hungry and didn't feel like leaving.

Mya got settled in, we ordered our food, things were fine. Then the waitress sets down a dish of pasta and Mya's hand flies into - kinda like when she squishes all the noodles in her bowl of mac and cheese...only this was hot pasta sauce!

If you know Mya you know that she can scream louder than Macauley Caulkin in Home Alone. It was quite the scene. I got her out of the chair and walked to the front of the restaurant, where I thought the bathrooms were, but no, they were in the back, so we scream our way back to the bathroom. After she calmed down and we went back to the table I see that her eye and cheek are red and puffy - she had put her hot hand on her face! Oy. So Matt had to take Mya out of the place while I asked the waitress to pack up our uneaten meals to go.

The things you go through for a free meal.

And no, no pictures. I felt too bad to be grabbing the camera. The redness went away after a bit and she was fine. I swear it's always something with us!!

Home Improvement Weekend

Grandpa and Grandma Joseph made the trek to Webster this weekend to help us out with some projects around the house. This was a voluntary visit but we sure put them to work! Matt and Grandpa Emil painted the office, painted the wall leading upstairs, hung my mirror, fixed the bathroom door, bought a load of mulch, and did various other fix-ups. Matt made multiple trips to Lowe's, ate lots of cookies, and chased squirrels around the yard. He may have rabies, but that's for another post. Here's some pics of what we did:

Now Matt, watch and learn...

Keep watching Matt...

This is never coming down!

Fresh mulch for the front (more pics to come...)

Wow can I play in that?!

While the guys did the dirty work, the ladies did a LOT of shopping. Mya was a trooper - I think we have a future mall rat on our hands. We hit up the Eastview Mall, Bed Bath and Beyond, Kohl's and Target. As well as a pit stop at Starbucks and Auntie Annie's pretzels of course. Just a couple things here..

New pillows for my couch and chair

New rug for entryway

It was a very productive weekend for us. We got so much accomplished in a very short time. Big thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Joe. Not only did they come out to visit, but they brought lots of goods too - cookies, wine, Rum (yummm!), cheese, a step stool so this shorty can reach the top shelves of the cupboards, and an outfit for Mya! We are spoiled. Thank you so much!! We appreciate all of the help.

See you next weekend!

Time for me to nap so mom and dad can draft their football teams

One down...

...one to go. Fantasy season is under way in our house. My first draft of two went well, with only a few snide comments from Matt. Team "She's All Joseph" is pretty solid, but not championship level by any means. Starting lineup will be

Tony Romo
Joseph Addai
Thomas Jones
TJ Housh
Greg Jennings
Lee Evans
Vernon Davis
Mason Crosby


Having 5th pick out of 10 teams was not a good spot to be in. That plus the fact that my internet kept disconnecting led to some tense moments. I am predicting a 5th place win for my team.

Oh....and to that girl that called me a cheater. Watch yourself. Team JOSEPH has it in the bag.

B(.)(.)Bs. Out.

14 Months

Go ahead and laugh but I still like to celebrate every "month" birthday that Mya has, although the official picture taking session stopped after her first birthday. I get picked on enough, why continue to subject myself to ridicule?

Now that Mya is 14 months old, she is taking about 20 steps unassisted. She can stand up from the floor on her own and it gets easier everyday. She prefers to run but it doesn't always work out. If you are holding her hands to help her out, the faster you can go the better. She thinks it's hysterical and will laugh the whole time. In fact, she seems to have the most fun if you are playing in warp speed. There is no such thing as sitting and playing with a toy. Her attention span is less than a millisecond. Like father like daughter?

She weighs approximately 23 pounds and is about 31 inches long. Her favorite foods are peaches, bananas, mac and cheese, pbj sandies, goldfish crackers, waffles, and toasted cheese. My good eater has become so picky. Water or milk only, don't even think of giving her juice. Or grape Kool-Aid.



Mya can clap her hands, make the signs for "milk" and "more", wave hello and good-bye, says hi, dada, nay-nay (which I believe is momma), and babbles incessantly. She still only has her two bottom teeth but I can see the top ones coming through. She loves her books, blankies, and babies. If I say "hug the baby!" she'll give her doll a big bear hug.



Mya has this crazy belly laugh that just makes you starting laughing yourself. She will laugh at the simplest things and Matt and I will just look at each and crack up. She has a smile that is so big it's like it comes from the bottom of her soul. Only problem is that it's hard to catch on camera.




She continues to get monthly colds and runny noses, sometimes fevers but is usually happy. She sleeps like a rock and doesn't know this but when I check on her at night I always rub her little feet. I will miss those!




And there are always the less exciting things like whining, screaming, hitting, pinching, hair pulling, you know...she will test my patience like you wouldn't believe. But we still love her.


Happy Birthday Mya!

Shaggy Dog

I did it. I broke down and took Mya for a haircut. I've been trying to avoid it - everyone always comments on her long full head of hair. But after a battle of the barretts, Mya lost. This morning we headed down to the HairZoo for Mya's first cut.

No way mom, you're not putting those things in my hair anymore!

This is a pretty big bib...

Get me outta here!

Mya did pretty well, but it was the fastest cut I'd ever seen. Fourteen bucks later (yes, $14)...we got this

Yeah! I can see again!

Congrats Mya! You made it through the first of many haircuts. You're getting too big too fast!

I'm-a Walking, Yes Indeed...

Well Mya is on her way to being fully mobile. It's only taken 14 months but as we all know Mya does things on her own time.. Check it out!

And so it begins...

"Who's a friendly, little bee playing oh-so happily.
Buzzing here and buzzing there.. Busy buzzing everywhere.
Maya loves and Maya cares, Maya gives and Maya shares.
Maya likes to play around, but she'll never let you down.
Maya.. Maya the Bee. Maya... Maya the Bee
See her flying through the air, buzzing here and buzzing there.
Saying catch me if you dare, busy buzzing everywhere.
Maya.. Maya the Bee. Maya.. Maya the Bee.."