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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!