Oh the price we pay...

For keeping the little girls up wayyyyyy past their bedtime. Even after going to bed after midnight my girl still awoke Saturday at 6:30am. I'm telling you, the girl is out to kill me with her sleep...or lack there of. It was a bit of a rough start to the morning with two cranky little girls but by late morning they were in the back yard running around together splashing in the pool, jumping on the trampoline and being silly...in the buff mind you. While the girls were happy and playing I ran over to Cafe Rio to pick up some salads for Tiff and I and then after a quick lunch it was nap time.

The girls decided to sleep together in Tiffany's bed. They talked and giggled for a few minutes but soon were fast asleep.
Solomon too enjoyed his second nap of the day.
And it wasn't just the little ones who were out for the count, Tiff & Beau enjoyed a little snooze too.

After naps we headed over to Tiffany's friend Marji's home for a little pizza and pool party. I never pulled out my camera but another of Tiff's friends Marque, took the pictures I'm posting. The girls were in the pool for four hours, jumping & swimming and having a great time. It was another late night, close to 11PM before we all got into bed and we told Maisie that the rule was, no one out of bed until 8am and I had my fingers crossed that she would last that long. Imagine my surprise when she awoke at 8:11am looked at the clock, put her head back down and then slept until 9:15am!! Ahhhh, the joy of a little rest makes a happy little girl and an even happier Mama!
Eliza is a little fish in the water and has no fear, she was jumping into the deep end with the big girls and just had a blast.
Maisie doing her silly grin.
Eliza is a hoarder collector and the booty of the day were all the swim goggles she could get her hands on.
Nora & Liza
MiMi
YuYu
Marque & Solomon

Return to Salt Lake City

Maisie and I flew into Salt Lake City on Thursday and just like our visits in 2006 & 2007, we're having a great time. Waiting for us at Tiffany's house were Julie & Tess and Lisa & Tate. It was so fun to meet Tate & Solomon for the first time and oh my gosh, to see how big both Eliza & Tess have grown. Lisa & Tate had a family get-together to attend but the rest of us hung at Tiffany's and had a great time chatting and catching up as well as watching the girls play in the pool and run around together like best friends. Maisie, Eliza and Tess just had so much fun together, playing and whooping it up like they knew each other forever and were best friends. We then headed out for dinner at Cafe Rio and the Pork Barbacoa salad was as wonderful as I remembered and I'm sure to enjoy another one before heading back to Atlanta.

Before leaving Atlanta, Wednesday night Maisie was just too excited to sleep. After a struggle she finally went to bed at 8PM but then awoke at 10PM and stayed awake until 12:45am, thus depriving me of all but a short sleep because we had to wake up Thursday at 2:30am EST for our obscenely early flight. After almost no sleep, about eight hours of travel including two planes, a layover in Dallas, getting the rental car, hanging and playing with friends, dinner out and a two hour time zone change, by 8:30PM local time (10:30PM to our bodies) Maisie was begging to go to sleep and I was oh too happy to oblige, within minutes we were out for the night.

I was totally bummed that Julie's plans had changed due to unforeseen circumstances so instead of being able to see her for a few days, our trips now only overlapped by about a day so we tried to get in as much time together as possible. Friday morning before Julie's flight Tiffany and I along with the kids met up with Lisa & Julie and the girls at Liberty Park so that the girls could play. It was a gorgeous day and the park was beautiful so it was a fun time. Even with all the sprinklers, water features, climbing equipment, swings & slides the girls had the most fun of all playing on some large rocks. It was sad to say goodbye to Julie & Tess after a much to short visit but hopefully we'll see them again soon...I'm thinking a trip to out to see them along with a visit to Mall of America may be in our future.

All the little kidlets were just so very tired so nap time was next on the agenda and a must as we had big plans for the evening. Laurel had invited us along with numerous local adoptive people over for a BBQ so Friday night we headed over there. Laurel's home and yard are gorgeous and it was a perfect place for a fun evening. The older children played volleyball & basketball and chased each other around with cups of ice while the younger ones happily played in the stream, on the playground equipment and the trampoline.

We really enjoyed the evening and a huge thank you to Laurel and her family for hosting everyone. I especially loved that I was able to see our friends Kim Brown & Susie along with their families as well as meeting so many new people as well. All in all there must have been close to 40 people all hanging out, eating and having a great evening. We were all having such a good time we didn't get back to Tiffany's place and into bed until just after midnight and the kids did really well so lots of fun, fun, fun! More piccies and fun times to come!

Maisie & Grace dipping their toes in the stream.
Scott, me, Maisie & Susie.
Solomon, Eliza, Tate, Pearl, Kai, Emily, Grace, Maisie, Maylin, Anya, Xanthe.

Fourth of July weekend

We have enjoyed a really nice 4th of July weekend. It started Friday afternoon/night when we joined with some of our neighbors for dinner and a BBQ. Maisie of course had a great time playing with K & A and it was nice for the adults to be able to sit down together, relax and laugh. Eammon left the party early in the evening as he had prior plans to join a friend to help celebrate his birthday but Maisie and I stayed and played until she came to me and said she wanted to go home because she was tired and by then it was close to 10PM. Even though she went to bed over two hours after her usual bed time, the next morning she only slept about 30 minutes later than usual...OY!

Saturday we didn't have any plans for the 4th nor plans to attend any fireworks displays as neither Maisie nor I like crowds and the sound of fireworks scares the pants off of Maisie. Since she was extra tired from the previous night she went down without any fuss, for an early nap and then she and Eammon spent a few hours at the pool. We've been having glorious weather here in Georgia, bright sunny days with no humidity, perfect for enjoying the outdoors. After the pool we went out for dinner followed by a little playtime at home, then it was bedtime. I was happy that Maisie fell asleep before people in the neighborhood started setting off firecrackers as she was able to get a good nights rest.

This morning we headed over to Trixie & Roger's home for brunch. It's been forever since we last saw them so it was great to catch up and to finally meet their daughter Danielle who will be 4 months old in just a few days. Also it was fun to see how much Andrew had grown, he's such a big boy now so much more so than when we saw him the beginning of the year. We all enjoyed a delicious brunch and it was a nice relaxing time together and with the children. Trixie made a spinach & tomato pie and a wonderful corn relish, Roger grilled some Carne Asada to perfection and to the mix I added a potato crusted garden quiche. It was fun that both Trixie and I used veggies that we had grown in our gardens, love those home grown veggies! Danielle was such a cutie, so alert and following everything that was happening around her. Roger introduced Maisie to cheesy puffs, which she loved and is now disappointed that we don't have such fun junk food in our home and may be planning a trip back to raid their pantry.

I had hoped to take Maisie to the pool this afternoon but after all our wonderful weather of late, today is a rainy day. Instead of the pool we're just spending time together and I guess I'll get caught up on laundry and some cleaning.

Hope that everyone had a wonderful Independence Day.

Playtime at the zoo

Much to Maisie's delight neighbors K & A came over to play this morning. Out came the stuffed animals, tiaras and feather boas. Add to that a gourmet lunch of chicken hot dogs on wheat rolls, veggie chips and grapes, all combined it equalled three very happy children.

If It's Tuesday, This Must Be ...

Oh heck I don't know where I was at that point. Maisie and I just returned from a whirlwind trip though New England, meeting up with old friends and eating more lobster than I care to admit. We flew into Logan (Boston) and even though I used to know and get around the North Shore, South Shore, Boston and its neighborhoods like no ones business, all I can say is thank goodness I had my GPS with me otherwise I'd still be circling around the airport having no clue where I was.

I'm so thankful that Maisie is such a great traveler and this was the first trip that we've done without her stroller and no problem at all. She loves doing it and looked so cute pulling her suitcase through the airports, like a big girl and so many people commented on how grown-up and adorable she looked. While waiting for our flight out of Atlanta Maisie was happy to sit, eat a muffin and watch the planes coming and going.

After we landed in Boston I picked up the obscenely over-priced rental car and programmed my GPS with our first destination being Peabody to visit with Aruba friends Sandy & Allan. We haven't seen them since December but Maisie quickly warmed back up to them and after being timid at first, she had a blast playing their piano, especially duets with Allan. Sandy and Allan then took us out for dinner at one of their favorite places, The Weathervane Tavern, where I had an absolutely delicious lobster roll...the first of many! I've heard Sandy & Allan raving about The Weathervane for years and I have to say it definitely lived up to all the hype.

Once back at their place Allan made Maisie a special ice cream sundae and they both treated her with M&M's so Maisie was a very happy girl. Sandy had some fun little toys and a beading set which Maisie just loved so it was a fun night. The next morning Allan cooked breakfast and it was a hit with Maisie then after a little more play and piano time we were on our way to our next destination. A fun and enjoyable visit but oh too short. Maisie's already talking about seeing Sandy, Allan and their son Carl on the beach in Aruba and anticipating the treats that they always seem to bring for her.

Our next stop was Marblehead to visit with my girlfriend Joanna and her three children Benjamin, Sarah & Rachel. Maisie took to the kids as soon as we walked in the door and had so much fun playing games with them along with allowing them to use her as a little dress-up doll. Joanna pulled out a kids make-up kit so the girls did Maisie's hair, put eye shadow, blush, lip gloss and nail polish on her and she just thought it was the greatest thing ever!

What amazes me is that I haven't seen Joanna in 5 years and as it was with everyone I visited with, we just picked up talking like we'd never been apart. It's so fun visiting with old friends and catching up and I hope that it's not five years before we see each other again.

From Marblehead we headed up to Nashua, NH to stay with Donna, Eric & Hannah. After we arrived we headed over to pick Hannah up from school and as soon as Maisie & Hannah met they were holding hands and walking together...so very cute. The weather was quite cool so we played at the house for a bit then headed over to their club for dinner where I had my second lobster roll of the trip.

Eric returned home late from a business trip and though Hannah was asleep, Maisie was still up and he was so cute playing with her. He totally charmed Maisie and had her giggling up a storm. Maisie talked about Eric, his monkey puppet and all his great videos through the entire trip and I think she's already planning a return trip!

The next morning Hannah went to school so Donna, Maisie and I did a little bit of shopping and had a nice lunch out before going back to the house for a little nap. We then picked Hannah up from school and headed back to their club so that the girls could swim for a bit before Eric joined us and we headed out for dinner. We had a delicious dinner at The Weathervane Restaurant where I switched it up slightly and instead of a lobster roll, I had a steamed lobster and to top it off, steamers, YUM and oh my gosh how I miss those living here in the south!

Before leaving the restaurant each girl was given a balloon and that's when the drama began. When we arrived back at the house both girls managed to let go of their balloon and both shed tears as they floated high in the sky. After dinner, end of a busy day, lost balloons and of course I want a picture...not the greatest piccie but one of all of us girls together. Hannah was off for bath, book and bed and Eric was showing Maisie numerous clips from various movies. The one that really held her attention and she asked for over and over, including the next morning before we left was Make Them Laugh from Singing in the Rain, it gets her so silly and she loves it. It was great to see Donna & Eric again and to finally meet Hannah.

Our next stop was in Worcester, MA for lunch with my friend Diana. We caught up on all that has been happening in our lives and she came bearing pictures of her Son & daughter-in-law as well as her daughter Amy & her fiance. I can't believe that Amy is a sophomore in college and engaged! To me Amy will always be the five-year-old that I remember chasing the dog and bouncing down my steps on her bottom. Oh and what did I have for lunch? You guessed it, my third lobster roll of the trip!

Full from lunch and back in the car, we were off to South Windsor, CT to visit with Rich, Karen, Hayley & Brandon. Karen came to visit in January 2007 right after we returned from China but we haven't seen the rest of the family since they came to Georgia in July of 2005 and oh my how Hayley and Brandon have grown. Also in the mix was Hayley's boy friend Zack who was just so, so sweet with Maisie and she loved all the attention from all three of the big kids. We had a nice relaxing dinner together and I was especially excited for the next day as Karen had invited former neighbors of ours, John, Angela, Justin, Matthew & Kyle over for a BBQ and I couldn't wait to see everyone.

Rich & Karen, John & Angela and I all had homes built on the same street in Foxborough, MA waaaaaay back when and we just loved being neighbors having so much fun together. When we moved in John & Angela's son Justin was still a baby and now he's going to be a senior in high school. And I still remember the day that Rich & Karen's daughter Hayley was born...where has the time gone? I moved away first going to West Hartford, CT followed soon after by Angela & John who moved to Bristol, CT and the next thing we knew Rich & Karen moved to So. Windsor, CT. I then moved down to Georgia and messed it all up but it was so great all being together again.

Thankfully we had a beautiful sunny day for the BBQ and all the kids loved playing in the pool. Maisie loved being with Zack and Hayley and they were so cute together. Rich was the main cook and he always rocks in all that he makes. In addition to the pool, the kids played baseball and Hayley & Maisie did gymnastics out in the yard and once the sun went down we had a fire and made s'mores. Maisie was begging to go to bed but I waited until she was totally exhausted before taking her up and thankfully she was asleep within minutes and was able to visit more with my friends.

It was dusk by the time we all settled to take a group photo but here it is. Back row: Maisie, Me, Justin, Angela, John, Rich & Karen. Front row: Kyle, Matthew, Brandon & Hayley. Zack was kind enough to be the photographer. I miss everyone already and hopefully next summer will include a return trip.

No dust settling on us as the next morning we were off heading to Wrentham, MA to meet up with George (Diana's husband) for lunch. We just couldn't work out a day between their work schedules and our various travels to see both George & Diana together so we got individual time with each of them.

I've always loved sitting and spending time talking with George and this time was no different. It was very touching watching George watching Maisie, just the look in his eyes was so sweet. I really do miss spending face-to-face time with my friends.

After lunch we headed to my friend Mike's home and Maisie was totally exhausted and though still in a great mood she was desperate for a nap. She wanted me to lay on the sofa and she laid on top of me and within minutes was asleep. I was able to roll her off of me and she took a nice little nap before dinner. We had rain for all but two days of our trip but thankfully the rain had stopped for a bit so while Mike grilled dinner Maisie and I enjoyed his wife Lisa's swing and the cool evening, a very relaxing way to spend time.

Unfortunately Lisa was down in Tennessee visiting family so we didn't get to spend time with her too but it was nice catching up with Mike and it was an easy evening allowing me time to get everything packed up as the next day we were flying home.

Maisie and I had a good nights rest and the next morning we were on the road again. Since I was in Wrentham I decided to swing by my old street in Foxborough as everyone at the BBQ had talked about how much everything had changed. I did a quick drive by and it was nice to see the old place and how much all the landscaping and trees had filled in but it still looked good, I'm glad that I did the drive-by.

I had a few minutes before we had to head to the airport so I decided to drop in and see Nana Narciso (Rich's Mom, who lives in the same subdivision as my old house) and I knew that Hayley and Zack would be there and Maisie would love one last hug goodbye from them.

When I lived in Foxborough I spent many days and holidays with Rich, Karen and their family as well as neighborhood events and Nana Narciso was always there so seeing her again was just so wonderful and she looked great. I love the picture of her and Maisie and then Maisie wanted to take a picture of me and Nana Narciso and I have to say, she did a great job! It's funny, even though most of the friends that I visited with I've known for 20+ years, I still see them as they looked then. They all looked great and amazingly it was only the children who have aged.

Maisie and I then headed to the airport where before our flight we grabbed lunch at Legal Sea Foods, my fourth and final lobster roll of our trip. I'm glad that I have a month before my next doctors visit as I can't even begin to imagine what my cholesterol level must be at this point. We had an easy flight home and Maisie was beyond excited to see Eammon waiting for us at the airport.

We had a great trip but I'm sorry that our time was so booked as we didn't get to see everyone I would have liked to see and we didn't do any tourist things but that's okay as Maisie is still young and we'll be back, hopefully soon and for a longer visit. We're home for eight days and then Maisie and I are off again, Salt Lake City, here we come!

Head over heels excited

Maisie's cartwheeling around the house as she's so excited to be heading to Boston to see so many of our friends. I've decided to travel sans computer as I just haven't been in much of a computer mood lately so a week without my computer should be a nice break but I'll have my iPhone so I can check email and anything else if I really want. So piccies when Maisie and I return.

In just a few minutes we're going for a little drive as I'm going to show Eammon how to use my car as he's going to drive it for the first time this week while we're away. If anyone spots him driving through Starbucks and trying to take a coffee in my car, stop him as he has an unnatural ability to spill things and make messes...Just say NO!!

Have a great week and we'll see you on the flip side.

Yet again...

I'm trying to play catch up with my posting. Since we returned from Florida I've been feeling like cr@p thinking that I may have had another kidney stone. Up until today I haven't been able to eat anything and though I've been forcing fluids these past six days it's caused me great pain to get them in. It wasn't until yesterday that I could get in to see the urologist and after numerous tests and lots of poking and prodding it was determined that I have a kidney and intestinal infection so now I'm on Cipro and Flagyl as well as some major pain meds for when I need it and thankfully today I'm feeling somewhat better.

Today Maisie and I were running around all morning before her gymnastics practice so we stopped for lunch at Evos which recently opened near us. The two of us shared a burger and air fries with Maisie eating about 3/4 of the meal and my stomach just hurting. When I thought about it, I think this may have been Maisie's first ever burger! I've heard good things about Evos but honestly I was totally unimpressed and didn't think that anything tasted all that great but of course it could be the meds messing around with my taste buds. Still, we won't be heading back anytime soon if ever.

Our week has been busy with the usual gymnastics camp & practices as well as a bit of time with friends. Maisie impressed the heck out of her coaches this week as a couple of times she pulled off perfect, unassisted back hip circles on the bar. I'm going to try and get a video of her doing them but lately even when she asks to have her piccie taken she tends to be uncooperative. I was also told that she did something really well on the vault too but I don't remember what it was but I guess it was really good as her coach made a point to tell me about it.

Maisie and I leave on Tuesday for Boston so this weekend I'll be getting the house cleaned up and packing. It's supposed to be close to 100F tomorrow and almost as hot over the weekend so maybe staying in and doing things in the comfort of the a/c will be a good idea. Well here's what you come to the blog for, piccies from our week.

This past weekend we got our first harvest from our garden. One summer squash and some lovely basil. Though not a bountiful harvest...yet... Maisie was thrilled to pick these items.
Monday morning Maisie was all ready for gymnastics camp and as I was taking a piccie of her bento and she asked to have her picture taken. She wanted her picture taken...so why was she filled with attitude and so uncooperative? I'm hoping it's just a three year old thing and that it will pass...and quickly!
When we were in Florida Maisie asked my Mom to paint her finger & toe nails which my Mom did much to Maisie's delight. BUT...Maisie wanted sparkly polish so since Tuesday morning was free for us, we went out and she picked out some totally sparkly pink glitter polish and I painted her nails. Here she is with my iPhone set as a timer patiently waiting for the polish to dry.

Finally here's Maisie Tuesday afternoon ready for gymnastics practice, being much more cooperative and totally adorable.

Florida week

Maisie and I spent last week down in Florida visiting with my parents and China travel mates Melissa & Doug. Maisie loved spending time with her Grandparents dragging my Dad out for walks or to ride her bike or scooter as well as going out with my Mom to the pool or anywhere if it involved riding in the golf cart and going through tunnels. Maisie had fun helping my Mom cook, doing art projects, stringing beads and just spending time with her Grandparents where she could do no wrong.

We both had a blast visiting with Doug, Melissa, Jetty & Ella spending time at the beach, out on their boat, going to wonderful little seafood places and spending relaxing time in their totally awesome back yard. It's been 19 months since we last got together and it's just amazing how much the girls have grown. I was so bad about taking piccies...yet again. I didn't want to take my camera to the beach or out on the boat but hopefully Melissa will send some of the ones that she took and I'll be able to post them.

It's good to be back home and how sweet it was to come into a clean house with an empty dish washer and all the laundry done. Eammon even had the bed turned down for me which was especially nice as we arrived home just before 1am after a 7.5 hour drive. We actually left Florida a day early as I decided to do the drive at night to make it easier for Maisie so that she would sleep. Honestly though she did really well in the car especially going down as I drove during the day and there was an accident which caused us to be stuck at a dead stop between exits for over an hour, so that along with me taking an alternate route to get out of the continuing traffic made our trip 9.5 hours, during which she only slept 30 minutes. We now have nine days home then Maisie and I head to Boston for a week to visit with lots of old friends. Below are some of the few piccies that I did manage to take while we were away.

Maisie painting with Grandma.
Serious artist at work.
Jetty 16 feet high and ready to ring the bell.
Doug making sure that Maisie is safe and secure in the climbing harness.
Maisie ready to make her first climb on a rock wall.
Maisie did great for her first time making it almost the full 16 feet.
Coming down though, especially when you figure out how to push off and swing around is great fun.
Landings are made even more special when friends are there to help.
Ella and Jetty having fun playing on the bar.
Jetty and Maisie wanted to sit next to one another for dinner...in the same chair.
Ella being a little cutie.
Maisie modeling her Hello Kitty bandages.
Maisie in the Princess chair with Grandpa & Grandma.

Mark as read

I have been without my computer for over a week due to a Trojan that took up residence on my computer and caused Eammon hours and hours worth of work trying to clean up and restore my system. It's so nice to have my computer back but being over a week behind in almost everything I use my computer for is daunting. I've made sure that all our financial stuff is secure, I've researched a few items that I've needed to look into, I've added some back dated posts to both this and my Maisie Eats bento blogs and now I'm catching up on my email and trying to read some blogs. But oh my gosh, being over a week behind in reading blogs is just crazy as you people are quite prolific and as much as I hate to do it, to keep my sanity I must hit that "mark as read" button and start fresh.

On a more positive note let me first congratulate my Utah bloggy bash gal pal Lisa who now holds her sweet little Tate in her arms. I'm so excited that in just a few weeks Maisie and I will meet Tate when we head out to Utah for a visit.

Last Friday Maisie and I along with Kathy & Chani headed over to Lisa & Briana's home for some playtime, lunch and best of all, adult conversation...even if 99% of it was about the kids. It was nice spending time with friends and oh how much fun the girls had playing together and being silly. Head on over to Lisa's blog as she was the only one bright enough to have a camera with her that day.

This week Maisie started gymnastics camp and much to her glee our new neighbors K & A are attending along with her. When we first arrived at the gym Monday morning the three of them grabbed hands to walk in together, so stinking cute!! All three had a fabu day at the gym and are looking forward to going back again which is great especially as Maisie's attending camp almost every week this summer. Three days a week of gymnastic camp in addition to her two weekly practices, I'm going to have one very happy little girl as we all know, to Maisie the gym is nirvana.

Today we had a fun day starting with Maisie going over to K & A's home in her P.J's to have a pancake breakfast then all three kids came over here to play and have lunch until it was time to head to her practice. It's so fun having neighbor children that are about the same age as Maisie and especially great is that they play together so well.

Well I'm about as caught up on this blog as I can be so it's off to bed and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my computer problems are behind me and that I get caught up again with everything else.

Ta and goodnight!

Princess Maisie

Maisie just adores dressing up in her Princess or fairy dresses, fancy shoes and of course one of her many tiaras. Some days she'll choose one favorite outfit but other days she'll change from one to another with reckless abandon. On the days that she goes through most or all of her outfits a debris field of organza, tulle, satin, taffeta, lace, sequins and the ever present sparkles litters the floor. Sometimes Maisie will add multiple necklaces, gemstone earrings and rings and if she's feeling particularly omnipotent a wand or even two as she'll turn me into a goonie or if I'm lucky a Princess or fabulous fairy.

We had fun this day as Maisie in all her finery served up a sweet little tea party for the two of us. We had a fun day together being all girly and posh.

Holy artichoke Batman!

Maybe where you live, you see these all the time but I'm used to fitting 3 or 4 artichokes at a time in my pressure cooker but this beauty had to be cut in half because on its own it was too large to even fit the lid. Oh my was it delish though, Eammon and I ate most of it with our dinner and some remained for my lunch the next day. YUM!!

Yes, I'm a bloggy slacker

This was our first week of summer vacation but because Maisie's school let out a week before our county's schools and two weeks before some surrounding counties, summer camps have yet to begin. We've managed to keep busy though playing with friends, gymnastics practices, swimming lessons, a little down time and tomorrow will be Maisie's final day of ballet for the year and they're having a junk food play party.

The picture is from today when neighbor K came over for a short while. She and Maisie had so much fun playing on the bar and trampoline, just giggling and having a great time.

I've been such a slacker lately with taking pictures and blogging, I need to get back in the groove especially as this blog is my journal/scrapbook and Maisie's story so that someday she'll be able to go back and see what happened in her life. I'm a good number of posts behind in posting to Maisie's bento blog so I plan to work on those posts tonight too. As far as reading blogs, I'm so far behind I may have to mark all as read and start fresh again because I may never catch up on that front.

Maisie's now in bed and relatively quiet, Eammon's out watching a movie with a friend and I'm all set to watch the season premiere of SYTYCD, woohoo, love that show!! My show's about to start so have a great night, Ta.

A very pink day

In this post back in April I asked if anyone wanted to place bets on whether Maisie would actually make it out on stage for her dance recital or whether she would freeze, continuously looks stage right to see what her teacher was doing or if she'd actually go out and perform like a little star. Well yesterday morning was the big recital and I'm pleased to say that my little poofy pink ballerina pranced out on the stage and performed like a little star...even if the performance was filled with three year old interpretations, unique timing and even a moment of deer-in-the-headlights-look. It did provide for some great laughs and all the little girls were thrilled with their performance. Watch the video and enjoy the laugh.

After Maisie's recital we changed from her poofy pink costume to her sleek and shiny pink Fireflies team leotard as we attended the Spring Beach Party Blast at her gym. Eammon and my father made it through the recital but begged off for the gymnastics performance so my Mom and I watched as Maisie and her teammates demonstrated their skills on the bars, balance beam, floor and vault. They each received certificates and then the three little friends showed their love for each other. Tia, Mara & Maisie all really look forward to seeing each other at their twice weekly practices and are always so cute together.

After leaving the gym we returned home and then my parents took us all out to our favorite Sichuan restaurant for a tasty spicy dinner to celebrate Maisie's performances. It was a fun day and at the end of the day the only one not tired was energizer-no-nap-Maisie who managed to go and go until she finally fell asleep after 9PM.

Maisie's really enjoying having my parents visit, especially the long walks she drags my father on. They go home tomorrow but in just a few weeks Maisie and I will travel south and stay with them so Maisie can get another Grandparents fix.

Same old same old

Today was Maisie's end of year party at school and all the children ate pizza for lunch then decorated visors and finally frosted and decorated cupcake ice cream cones. Maisie was acting silly as I took pictures, just having fun. What struck me though was the dress that she wore to school today was the same dress that she wore the first day of school back in August. Maisie seems so much older, more mature and to me, a lot bigger but almost all the clothing that she wore last summer still fits her and all the wonderful new clothes that I had set away for this summer are still too large. The dress she's wearing in the pictures is from Talbots and is a size 2. Maybe by the end of the summer she'll fit into some of the new clothes or who knows, it may be next summer before she'll be able to wear them.

In the sidebar I added a category, Maisie Videos. It's for easy access and contains some of my favorite videos of Maisie Miao Miao so go on over and check it out.

Birthday day

Thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes here on the blog, on FB and through emails and cards. Oh my gosh though, was my birthday day a long one!

* 2:11am I awoke to Maisie screaming because it was pissing down with rain with thunder and lightning and she was terrified. I got her and brought her into bed with me and Eammon moved to and slept in the Princess bed.

* 4:09am Maisie finally calmed down and fell back to sleep.

* 6:59am Maisie was up for the day and grumpy. Shoot I was grumpy too as we both needed a lot more sleep.

* 7:40am Maisie and Eammon give me my birthday card, a more positive way to start the day.

* 8:00am Maisie put in time-out, the first of many for the morning. I was hoping that wasn't a preview of what was to follow for the day.

* 9:10am I took Maisie to school and just hoped that she would have a good day and
would be well behaved (which she always is at school). I went on my way happily running errands in my awesome birthday pressie car.

* 1:00PM I picked Maisie up from school and she had a good morning there and was tired. I was hopeful that she'd take a good nap.

* 1:30PM Maisie was down for her nap and quiet. Tim the gardener showed up so I stepped outside to talk to him for a few minutes.

* 1:40PM I heard Maisie screaming in the house so I ran in to have her tell me that her arm hurt. She was holding it tight to her body and in obvious pain. I guessed that she somehow dislocated her elbow as she's done it twice before and the way she was holding her arm was just oh too familiar.

* 1:42PM I called the doctor only to reach the answering service. Found out that the office was closed for lunch but would reopen at 2PM.

* 1:50PM I got Maisie into the car and we headed down to the doctor without ever talking to them or letting them know we're coming.

* 2:05PM We arrived at the doctor's office and told the ladies at the front desk what was happening.

* 2:12PM We were taken back to an exam room where the doctor arrived in less than 2 minutes. She examined Maisie and because of where Maisie was saying it hurt, the doc decided to send us for an x-ray just to be sure her arm didn't have a fracture. While we were at the doc's office she also listened to Maisie's breathing and cough and put her back on an inhaler and some more and different allergy meds.

* 2:45PM We drove just down the road to the x-ray facility. Everyone was so good with Maisie, taking their time and working with her to get the necessary x-rays as any movement to her arm pushed her to tears. We had a STAT order and they said that the x-rays would be read and called into the doctor's office within an hour.

* 3:35PM We arrived back at the house to wait for a call from the doctor's office. Maisie just wanted me to hold her like you'd hold a baby so we settled on the sofa to wait.

* 3:50PM I heard the tow truck from Tommy Nobis picking up my Volvo so I held Maisie at the front door and we watched and said bye bye to the Volvo.

* 3:58PM The doctor's office called to let me know that there were no fractures (yeah) and they told me to bring Maisie back to the office so that the doc could pop her elbow back in place. I got Maisie back in the car and we headed over.

* 4:35PM We were driving home with Maisie's arm feeling perfect as it held the red Popsicle that the doctor gave her for being so brave and such a good patient.

* 4:45-7:00PM Maisie helped Tim plant herbs and veggies. Out in the garden we now have basil, cilantro, rosemary, thyme, early corn, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, french beans, bell pepper, hot pepper, yellow squash, avocado, watermelon, some other types of melon and a fig tree. She then ran around feeling great with neighbors K & A. They ate Popsicles, played in the yard, the playhouse and on the climber & slides they had a great time together. Then so sweet, K & A's Mum came over with a birthday pressie for me, a signed copy of Giada's cookbook. LOVE it! I read through the entire book last night and can't wait to make some of the recipes.

* 7:00PM Eammon had asked me if I wanted to go out for dinner for my birthday but I really wasn't up for it and there was nothing that I was interested in eating. So he went out and picked up some Chinese food and brought it home. I tried just a couple of bites and it immediately didn't sit well and the nausea set in so I went to lay down. Eammon gave Maisie a bath and got her to bed by 8:00PM.

* 9:00PM I awoke feeling much better, thankful that the nausea had passed and that I had kept the food down. Eammon was tired so he headed off to bed and I settled down in the family room to relax and watch Survivor & Grey's Anatomy.

* 9:40PM Maisie awoke screaming from a bad dream. I got in bed with her to settle her down and thankfully she was back asleep within 15 minutes and I returned to my shows and also read my new cookbook.

* I didn't end up getting into bed until after midnight and thankfully Maisie didn't wake up until morning. Sort of a crazy day but thankfully Maisie's feeling 100% again.