This VERY DAY last year...

is the day we first laid eyes on our daughter. We got the call at 12:45pm December 17th. Pics to come. xoxo

Couple Things...

okay first, I made my blog un-private!

second, I have not had ANY time to post or do anything but work, take care of Maya and attempt to sleep...we have been really busy getting the store ready for the holidays. The economy is making it tough at work!!

Here are some pics of Maya at Thanksgiving! I loved looking at Michelle's blog and seeing the face of here gorgeous little girl. Tracie your pics are AMAZING!

Happy Holidays!

Abby Riggs

Please go read the Riggs blog and PRAY for Abby and her family. This last post is just so heartbreaking. I could bearly read it. It just continues to put things into perspective. I remember when we found out my mom had cancer, I thought life would NEVER be the same. As time goes by things go back to normal and you forget how "awful" it felt to hear the word cancer and thought I will never be upset over the little things again...well as time passes I find myself upset over the little things...THEN I read Brent's post about their weekend at the hospital and the immense pain Abby is in...read here. They are such an amazing family with such faith.

Maya has taken on a new form of WALKING. She went from walking one day to running the next to only walking with things in her hands. She brings us books, bottles and anything else she can get her hands on. Even heavy things! She is unbelieveable. When she walks she looks like a cowboy on a horse who got off the horse but thinks he is still sitting on it. Legs wide open, her legs bent and there u have it. It might be the CUTEST thing I have ever seen in my life. Today she said mooooooooooooo when we said what does a cow say? She SCREAMS Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa from her bed in the morning. She is such a funny girl.

Maya with her aunt Ju

Anyway, please don't forget to pray for the Riggs and for everyone who has their court date tomorrow in Ethiopia!

IN LOVE...

okay so, I am so beyond in love with Maya. She is the funniest thing. Ever since we went to Disney World my mom and i sing "Its a small world...after all" to her and she dances. She sways from side to side and when we are done we all clap, she does to. Her new thing is when we are finished with the song she looks at me with a very serious face and hums...to get me to start singing again. She loves music.

I never did 12 things about Maya we love most for her 1 year old birthday so here they are:

I love...

1. Her love for dogs! She goes crazy over all dogs. Even huge labs that are 100 times her size. She absolutely loves Ollie. Tonite she was sitting on him and he was sleeping. SO cute.

2. I had a glass disney statue collection when I was younger so after our trip I decided to set them up in her room. Maya goes NUTS everytime she sees the statues. I give her each one and she goes mmmmwah and then I put them back and take the next one and she kisses the next one. over and over again...

3. When she wakes up in the middle of the night or right before bed she still likes to be rocked. We get in the normal postition and cuddle. Sometimes I will be thinking she is sleeping and she has this mischevious laugh...then i look at her and we both start laughing. Its adorable!

4. Her gummy/bottom 2 teeth smile! I really dont want her top teeth to come in (they are coming) b/c I love her top gums! They are so cute! My baby is growing up!

5. This new skirt we bought her. My mom and I took her to Old Navy and we saw this ballet pink tulle skirt. Its the cutest thing. She went nuts in the store wearing it and talking to this fake dog they have. She would scream at it everytime It talked.

Here is a pic...can u die! She is going to wear blk baby legs, this skirt, a white shirt and big bow for Halloween.

6. My mom got her a eyore doll and everytime she sees him she embraces him and hugs him!

7. When she hears Josh or my parents come to the door she goes huhhhhh and breathes in air! We run to the door togehter and celebrate their arrival!

8. She is ALMOST walking! Today she took steps across the room without anyone holding her hand.

9. She LOVES go-gart! YOGART. I freeze them for her and she sucks them. If they arent frozen

she finishes them in one second. The girl loves dairy. Cheese, yogart, milk and tons of it...

10. She loves her mommy! If she is in daycare or with someone else for the day and I or Josh pick her up she screams when she sees us!

11. She has a toy cell phone that Aunt Kelly got her for her birthday and she talks on it, then hands it to me then my mom then looks at it and texts! I am serious she looks like she is texting!

12. Her newest trick. I chew gum all the time and i look over at Maya and she is chewing her tounge like I chew gum! SOOOOO cute.

Maya, we love you more everyday. Every day our loves grows deeper for you. You are the JOY of my life and I thank God He brought you into our lives.

P.S. I of course am getting the major adoption bug and WOULD LOVE to start the process over again BUT we have to pay off our debt first...Its so hard to wait. I would LOVE to adopt from Ethiopia again and go through the whole thing again...we will see.

One Year Check-Up

So, I took Maya to the doctor today for her well baby one year visit. I was SO nervous to go b/c Maya has been on a eating strike. Seriously all i can get her to eat is peanut butter crackers. She has fully given up on baby food and so have I. If i open one more can of baby food only to have her grab the spoon and get it all over the place i might die. SO, when the doctor asked what she eats....i said:

wheat thins
cherrios
pretzles
2 peas (if we are lucky)
american cheese (this is a new one)
peanut butter crackers

thats it. Thats all my little Maya will eat. I was also very nervous he was going to say she should get off formula and switch to whole milk, which he did but he said that the formula only has a tiny bit more protein then whole milk. So my finicky girl drank whole milk today! It was great. No more formula for my big girl.

Maya also took 5 steps today i my store. It was amazing to watch. She is 19.4 Ibs, 29 inches. SHe is the 25th percentile. That was our dr. visit.

OPERATION PRINCESS HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please read below and follow as u feel led. This is just such an amazing group of people this adoption world. Please pray for Abby, for her to be healed of Lukemia and read about OPERATION PRINCESS HAIR! Michelle (her mom) wrote the email below and then her friend who decided to start this for Abby wrote as well.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

The Voice Of Adventure: OPERATION PRINCESS HAIR BEGINS!
First, I want to thank everyone who took the time to help me come up with a costume for Abby to wear on Halloween. You are a very creative group and I loved every idea. Thank you. I plan on showing them to Abby tonight an letting the princess pick. I can't wait.
What I didn't write about yesterday, was that I was wondering what I was going to do about her hair. For the last few weeks it has been coming out fast. Abby used to love choosing hair styles and picking out bows and barrettes. Abby is sad that she is loosing her hair, and has been telling me that she wants to get "wig" hair. When I looked into applying for one, a well known charity said they didn't think that she would be approved, because of her age. I understand there is limits to how many children they can help, but I was sad for Abby.
Last night some wonderful friends, Angel and Amy Block, decided to raise money help Abby get a beautiful wig. Many, many wonderful woman have come along side them, joining together to help Abby. Thank you all so much. The list of people helping can be seen at the bottom on Angel's post at http://thevoiceofadventure.blogspot.com/2008/10/operation-princess-hair-begins.html It has been changing, so I am afraid to list the names here, because I don't want to leave anyone off. We want thank everyone who is helping Abby. I bawled when they told me that they were going to help Abby. Thank you all for helping our precious daughter.
I debated about posting pictures of Abby, but since they are everywhere else, I decided to go ahead and post them here too. We gave the pictures to them, with permission to post them. Brent feels that this is Abby's story. When she looks back at the blog when she is older, we want her to understand how much she has overcome and how brave she was.
Below is a post about Abby, that I copied from Angel's blog.http://thevoiceofadventure.blogspot.com Amy and Angel, thanks again for all that you are doing for Abby.
Friday, October 10, 2008
OPERATION PRINCESS HAIR BEGINS!
It's hard for me to even start this post. Already I feel a big lump forming in my throat. Someone that many of us care about is walking through a deep valley. That someone is sweet Abby....
I have serious doubts that I will get through writing this without crying..... Ok now it's too late... I am already there...with tears flowing. This is Abby. You will find her precious family at this blog address.
Abby is so many wonderful things. She is part of an amazing family. There are 7 wonderful kiddos in her family. 3 of those sweeties- including Abby came by way of adoption. Abby is a bouncing, happy, funny princess of a 3 year old....

Now she is also a dear little warrior fighting for her life. She was diagnosed with Leukemia and life suddenly took a radical turn for this amazing family. Her concerns of which princess dress she should wear have turned to whether she will get poked or be able to keep her food down today.
This is sweet Abby right now....
These are the battle scars she has right now in her fight against cancer...
Just one of the MANY things she has been forced to give up is her GORGEOUS princess hair and it makes her very sad.... What is it like to be the mommy that has to tell your 3 year old that she has to take medicine that will give her horrible sores, make her throw up constantly, and cause her to lose her hair? What is that like? What is it like to watch tears slide down your sweet baby's cheeks even in her sleep cause that's how much it hurts.
THIS is not OK with me. If I could I would make this go away. If I could I would change this- I wish there was a way. I know there are so many of us who wish that. We CAN'T MAKE IT GO AWAY! We just can't.
What we can do is give Abby back her princess hair. It's expensive and not something this family needs to worry about during this stressful financial time of paying for medicine and gas and hospital bills. We can not make this all go away but we can give Abby back her hair and make her smile.
SOOOOOO TODAY WE BEGIN....
OPERATION PRINCESS HAIR!This is your mission, should you choose to accept it...1. I want us to buy sweet Abby one of these- http://www.hatswithhair.com/
It's called a pony sport. It costs $228. It's made with real human hair. It's very comfortable and can be worn with any baseball type cap that Abby prefers.
After visiting with her mommy we feel this would be very comfortable and fun for everyday use at home and the hospital.
2. We will flood Abby and the other kiddos in the family with care packages that let her and her family know they are loved. If you feel you would like to send Abby or her family a present please e-mail me at angelweir@gmail.com
We can all send Abby fun presents AND ALL SEND an ADORABLE BASEBALL CAP to wear with her new hair. Then everytime she is having a hard day her momma can bust out a new care package to give her something to smile about.
3. We are also going to buy Abby a custom made wig! Check it out here....
http://www.celebritystylewigs.com/shop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=493
I am so excited about this! It is going to be custom made to look a lot like her hair did before she needed to start chemo. So when Abby wants to dress up nice and look like the Abby she remembers she will have this. This wig will cost about $450. It is made of real hair and created just for her little head.
4. If there are donations exceeding the needed amount for the princess hair we will invite the family to use this money to help with whatever extra expenses they are facing during this difficult time.
It's hard for me to fathom what this family is facing. I want to do whatever I can to support them.
They are full of faith and strong. Cancer FEARS this little fighter! Let's do whatever we can to love and walk with this family during this time. I can't begin to imagine what they are facing but I PRAY that people would be there for me if we ever did walk this path.TO HELP ABBY GET HER PRINCESS HAIR YOU JUST NEED TO CLICK ON THE PAY PAL BUTTON ON THE TOP RIGHT HAND CORNER THAT SAYS "OPERATION PRINCESS HAIR."
IF YOU WANT TO SEND ABBY A CARE PACKAGE INCLUDING A CUTSIE NEW BASEBALL CAP PLEASE E-MAIL ME AT angelweir@gmail.com
Thank you from the BOTTOM of my little ol' Texas heart for taking care of a little girl named Abby. What we do matters. What we do makes life better or worse for those around us EVERY SINGLE DAY. Let's take time to stop and care. Hugs, Angel
PS If you would like to spread the word on your blog PLEASE do it!! Feel free to take this whole post or part of it. Then please link your blog to mine so everyone can see how many people are loving and praying for Abby.

Maya went to DISNEY WORLD!

We're in Disney World!!! Celebrating my mom being Cancer Free!

Here are some pics from our trip to disney world! Maya became one year old on TUESDAY!!!!!!! The crazy thing is we were put on the waiting list for AGCI on the 9th of Oct. I never thought our baby was born when we were put on the waiting list and she was! I remember at Thanksgiving thinking is she born yet? Well, she was and she was one month + old then! So hang on all of you who are on the waiting list! Your baby could be born!

Maya with her aunt Sammi

We had such a great time at disney world. We took Maya to the magic kingdom for her birthday. She LOVED A Small World. Just LOVED. When we got to the Africa part of the ride we could have taken Maya and made her part of the little children on the ride. She was the same size, same hair as the little dolls on the ride. She waved her hand and danced as we went thru. (this was the second time) the first time she was a little more affraid.

Maya with my mom. She would point and say "oh oh" when she saw things she liked.

We took her on the haunted house...very very bad mistake. She was okay but it was torterous for me b/c she was clenched onto me, head in my chest just so scared. She didnt cry but it wasnt fun and i felt soooo bad for my baby. We made it up to her and only took her on fun cute NOT scary rides. That being said. When we went on Peter Pan and Whinnie the Poo there were a few dark parts to the ride and she was scared. She assumed the position and when we passed the dark part she was happy again! :)

Maya on peter pan :)

THEN...we took her to Ariel's water area. She was in HEAVEN! more to come...we LOVE disney world. I want to live there and never come back!

Cinderella's Carousel. She loved. Everytime we walked by she pointed and said Oh Oh!!!


us in front of the Magic Kingdom waiting for the parade. Maya had a pin on that said "Happy Birthday Maya" and everyone said Happy Birthday to her all day. CUTE!

Daddy and Maya doing high five...

PLEASE PRAY FOR THE RIGGS

please go over to the Riggs blog and read their post about their daughter Abby! My heart is broken for them and their little girl. She is in so much pain, I just cannot imagine! Please please pray for them.

Click HERE to see their blog.

Our US Citizen!

Maya became a US Citizen on Sept. 4th! Here are pics from the day.

My mom is doing good. Starting her third week of radiation so far so good! We are praying she stays healthy and doesn't start to get sick. She is being so strong! Looking at the pictures below you would never think she was going thru radiation. Thank you for your continued prayers.

Ollie is now blind (my dog) the weight gain and vision problem is all leading to a acute retinal disorder. My poor dog. I cant believe he is blind. My heart is broken for him. We are going to the opthomologist tomorrow to confirm this is the case! :( I can live with the blindness, I just want him to be happy again! My ollie...who would have ever thought.

Maya's Auntie Kelly came to celebrate the big day!

Happy 11 Month Birthday Maya!

WOW! Do we really have an 11 month old! Maya has officially been with us longer then she was without us! On Sept 10th it will be 6 months with our little girl.

The is the first picture we ever saw of our little Maya. Hana then! :) How beautiful is that picture. I wish we were able to know her then. She was around 2 months old. We first laid our eyes on that picture on December 17th. We got the call at 12:45pm. A day that we will NEVER forget. I can't imagine how teeny she was. She was 7 pounds at the time.

11 things about Maya the we LOVE:

1. Her eyes

2. Her tongue smile...always sticking out the tongue

3. Her thumb nail...so dainty and pretty

4. Her baby talk and hand expressions (just like mommy)...all of a sudden she will bust out with a full conversation in baby talk and move her hands as if she is in deep conversation. LOVE this!

5. Her LOVE of balloons!

6. The way she loves my parents

7. The way she plays on her own and talks (this is few and far b/t but we are working on it)

8. The way she KNOWS I am her mommy!

9. When she cries when I walk out of a room. (this is difficult if i have things to do but overall she wants to be with me!)

10. Her belly button. It can be an outie or innie! Its soooo cute. And her little naked body! The bow legs and upper thighs! I LOVE IT. My friend says she's like a chocolate bunny. You know how a choc bunny is so smooth and perfect. That's what she says Maya's skin is like :)

11. The personality on this girl is crazy. She is so funny. Like she gets it...whatever it happens to be at the time.

Maya we love you so much. I cannot even imagine life before you. You are growing up so fast. You are the biggest gift from God and we thank Him everyday for making you our daughter.

Love you

Mommy and Daddy

P.S Maya is a citizen of the United States!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pics to come...

Maya's first trip to the ZOO!

okay so today Josh and I decided to take Maya to the zoo. We had the BEST time! Maya was so cute. She responded and pointed at everything! She loved the meer cats, chimps, the snakes and BIRDS. I of course have never seen anything cuter, maybe that is because she is my daughter but Josh and I must have been the most obnoxious parents ever DYING over how cute our daughter was. (yikes...) we never thought we would be those parents!

Here are some pics of the day!

Isn't this a cool pic. Its of me and Maya at the blk bear cave window...

Josh and Maya at the mist station...she LOVED this.

Maya was scared of a big steal turtle. Josh wanted her to go on the turtle's back but she was too scared and cried! Oh a child after my own heart. That was me as a little kid...I don't want her to be fearful of things like I was at all, Its just TOO crazy that my daughter who was born in Ethiopia is JUST LIKE HER MOMMY emotionally! WOW. God brought us the perfect daughter.

Last BUT not Least, I FINALLY figured out how to get a video of Maya online...so click HERE and HERE to see her in real life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maya and her Balloon & UPDATES

Maya Updates:
Okay now more then ever I am really starting to think Maya might have come out of my belly. She is literally so much like me. Its scary! Really though! For example, Maya started daycare last week. Monday went great. Wednesday was another story. She woke up fussy and I think her teeth were hurting. Anyway, I dropped her off and heard her cry a little. Then a few hours later (I held myself back from calling to check on her so I don't seem like that crazy mom all the teachers hate)...I called and spoke to the teacher, she said "Maya had a tough morning" before I could hang up the phone I was in the car and at the daycare. I took her home and she was rejoicing all day that we were together. As I walked out of daycare, the only mommy who had to take their baby home I thought that was my mom so much of the time. I was the only kid at 15 (haha kidding) who had seperation anxieties...well now my daughter does too! And I don't mind at all! Well now at least! :)

The girl has two teethies! One is half way out and the other is almost all showing. I keep trying to get a pic but I can't get it where u can see the teeth. BUT believe me they are soooooooo cute. Like little pearls. They are causing her pain though for sure! :(

Yesterday we were in the food store. Whenever we walk by the balloons Maya goes CRAZY! So yesterday I decided today was the day to buy her a balloon. I leave her in the cart and walk over to the balloons, seriously the girl was screaming on the top of her lungs with joy over the balloon. I finally get the balloon loose from all the other balloons and hand it to her, JOY! The whole store was looking and she was soooooooooo happy. Very funny and cute. Now whenever I say Maya wheres your balloon, she points!






Here is a pic of my mom with Maya taken today. Tuesday starts Radiation and ends on October 6th. We are nervous but doing good. Trusting this is the path to complete healing for my mom.

Notice Ollie is still gaining weight. I am not kidding!

Maya is a major mommy's girl (might have something to do with the teething, might not but I am not complaining). Its hard for me to put her down. She doesn't like it. Today I was getting dressed and put her in her jumpa jumpa, she was NOT happy. Look at this face! She calmed down and had some cherrios. Usually she likes to watch me do my make up but not today...

Trying to give me a guilt trip with this look...


Here is Maya being her crazy self! Happy Girl!!

Maya Pics...

Here are some recent pics of Maya...

My Girl...

THEN...

and NOW...

Maya Has a TOOTH!

Maya FINALLY has a tooth. A little white tooth is poking out of those gums...its adorable. We are going to one nap now, since Maya isnt the best sleeper and are getting ready for her first day of mommy's day out on Aug 25th. We loved her teachers. Maya has 4 friends in her class with her birthday! She is one of 3 girls and the rest are boys...watch out Abel it could happen that Maya falls in love with another man! U gotta step up baby. I am sooooooo nervous about leaving her for the first day but i think she is going to LOVE it. We will see. The place we are taking her is 5 minutes from my store, which is great.

My mom is doing good. Going to start radiation probably next week.

The store is getting busy which is great.

I am trying to get a pic of Maya and her new tooth. I will post pics soon.

Love
Jul

Update on my Mom

So, sorry I haven't posted in a while. We found out on Tuesday that my mom does need to have Radiation. We don't know exactly when she starts but it will be for 5 weeks once a day. Its tough to comprehend all that has gone on. My mom is healing well and doing good. Still so thankful the cancer didn't spread. We did find out that the cancer she did have was aggressive so we are so thrilled it is out of her. Thanks again for all your prayers!

Maya is getting her first tooth! So very cute...she is doing great. I am busy at the store and worrying about my mom's every thought. Its hard to let go and trust that God is in control. I remember it and then loose it so quickly. The radiation is to kill anything that is lurking around. We heard it isn't that bad so I am praying she doesn't have any bad side effects.

Happy 10 MONTH Birthday our little GIRL...

Pic taken at Hannah's Hope before Maya was in our arms...


Maya is 10 months old today. How can that be...she is turning into such a big girl. Talking up a storm. Its hysterical...

Like I always do...here are 10 things daddy and mommy LOVE about our Maya Annabelle Hana:


1. Your smile in CONTAGIOUS!
2. You are a SNEAK. You continuously insist on going to an area of the living room I don't want u to go to and when I look at you to say "No No Maya" you turn look at me, smile and keep going...we are going to have our hands full! :)
3. You are TALKING up a storm. Trying to communicate with us by putting your pointer finger straight up in the air when the tv is off and you make a noise as to say "turn on the tv mommy I want zee and moose a moose"...you do this by making this noise. The same noise u make when u are in the food store and want the balloons, signs anything that you see and want.
4. You are standing and walking with the couch. It is the cutest thing I have ever seen. You are too small to walk! (although we went to the dr yesterday and he said she was 90th % tile for height and 20% for weight...you weigh 17.10 pounds)
5. You are a big girl and doing SOOO much better going to sleep. We rock for a few minutes, say night night and put you in your crib, then RUN to the monitor and watch u play in your crib til you collapse to sleep...:)
6. You are sooooooo affectionate. So, Josh has been away and my mom has been sleeping over! (Yes, my mommy has been sleeping over Praise God she is getting better) and right before u fall asleep you play and then dive into my chest and put your head down. Yesterday you heard Gram come in the room and literally dove into her neck and huged and embraced her. You are a lover for SURE.
7. You are CRAZY over the dogs. When zoe walks by or runs you are HYSTERICAL laughing. Hysterical!
8. You wave bye bye backwards...the only other person my family knows who did that was me...it must be in the genes! :)
9. You crawl with your right leg in a position of standing while crawling. Its a sight. Yes I asked the dr and u are fine but it is very funny looking. Especially now that it gives you speed and u do it really fast.
10. YOU ARE A GIFT FROM GOD. You were the best medicine during this hard time in our lives. Your smile literally made all of us feel better. Your laugh took our worries away for a few seconds and your hugs and kisses are what kept us all going. You are the most amazing little girl Maya, we love you more then we could have ever imagine loving anything. You are our little girl and we love you.

Update on my MOMMY:
We go to the doctor on Tuesday at 10:30 (we, i mean my mom and dad) to see what type of therapy my mom is going to need. We are praying she won't need anything but she might need Radiation...Thank you for your continued prayers.

xoxo

Maya's Day Out

Auntie Ju with Maya downtown...

Maya has one of the best babysitters in the world! Julia. Julia has one of the best fiance's in the world Dane. Dane, a celebrity among all of us here in Knoxville played for the University of Tenn. Basketball Team, and an author as well...check out his book Vertical Leap HERE.

Everyone knows Dane Bradshaw even Maya! So Maya was lucky enough to spend the day downtown with Julia and Dane. Maya was a little slow to warm up as she is to most guys but by the end of the day Dane pulled her in with his CHARM! (oh is he going to KILL me)


HOW CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


The point. Maya's new thing. She points at EVERYTHING!


What up ladies...jealous? I'm in the arms of Dane Bradshaw! PEACE

So not only does Maya get to spend the day with Dane and Aunt Ju BUT she gets to be the FLOWER GIRL at their wedding next year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited.
Love you Ju and Daney...ALOT! xoxo