Anyone up for SeaWorld?

About a month ago, after having such a good time and great trip to Utah, I tried to plan one last trip for Maisie and I before she turned two, but with short notice and our busy schedule it just didn't work out. Well we got antsy and you just can't keep these traveling girls home, so I decided to sneak in one more trip before December when Eammon, Maisie and I head to Aruba for a couple of weeks of fun in the sun.

Maisie and I will be heading to Orlando the beginning of November and visiting with my parents in LaLa Land. I had considered taking Maisie to SeaWorld while in Florida as she loves watching fish. Then today I took her down to the Georgia Aquarium and the girl was in fish heaven. The entire time we were at the aquarium I heard a chant of ooh, aah, wow, fish, more fish! So SeaWorld is now a definite on our schedule and we would love to meet up with any fellow bloggers who are up for a day of fish. If you want to join us on Tuesday, November 6 let me know by sending an email to LisaShanahan@gmail.com as we'd love to meet-up and have a fun day with some of our bloggy friends.

One day, two parties

It's 7:30 PM and both Maisie and Eammon are sound asleep and I'm not far behind as we had a busy day. We were up early this morning and after bundling up in cold weather gear, (because this IS Atlanta and it WAS below 60 degrees) including Maisie wearing her adorable hat from Julie & Tess, we headed out to the Children's Museum to celebrate Alexander's second birthday. Maisie, the other children and all the adults had a great time at the party and then we all enjoyed playing in the museum.

Unfortunately my camera battery decided to die on me so I don't have pictures. Also unfortunate, despite all our best efforts and noise making, Maisie fell asleep for the last 15 minutes of the drive home totally messing her up for a real and/or longer nap so come later in the afternoon she was less than cooperative or pleasant. That though didn't stop us from attending our second party of the day, a Halloween party at Theresa's. The real party started at 7PM but she invited those of us with little ones over for a 6PM pre-party. Though tired and not at her best, Maisie still managed to charm everyone she met and when we left at 6:45 she gave kisses all around. Overall another fun and exciting day in the life of Maisie.

What are they teaching her??

Lately whenever we're going somewhere or I tell Maisie we're going to do something, she'll cheer about it. Yesterday for example, we were heading over to LiLi's house so the entire ride over Maisie was yelling "Yeah LiLi." When I tell her she's going to have noodles for lunch she cheers "Yeah new news" and on the way to school (Mother's morning out) she cheers "Yeah choose" which is an improvement over her past pronunciation of school which was "Yeah booze."

This afternoon driving home from Mother's Morning Out, she really had me wondering what they were teaching her because there was none of her usual cheering of "Yeah home" or "Yeah new news" but clear as a bell she was yelling "A$$es down, A$$es down." Once home I reviewed her daily schedule and saw that they had been doing "Ring a Ring o' Roses" and I can only guess that Maisie has her own favorite line and version.

Party girl

Today we celebrated Maisie's 2nd birthday and it was a beautiful sunny, 80 degree and dry day. Lots of playgroup and other friends joined in on the fun. Bubbles, cake, playtime and fun, just a perfect day. Happy birthday little Miss Maisie Miao Miao.

Go England!

Tomorrow, England plays South Africa in the Rugby World Cup final. Al, Eammon, Pete and Maisie show their team spirit.

Birthday girl

Happy 2nd birthday my sweet baby girl, your Mama & Baba love you more than words can express. Big hugs and kisses today and everyday.

Celebrating Andrew & Chani

Saturday was a busy day of fun and celebration starting in the morning with Trixie's baby shower for Andrew. Unfortunately I was busy enjoying the wonderful lunch whilst also chasing Maisie, thus not a single picture was taken by me and Trixie hasn't posted any that I could nick...so no piccies, sorry.

Then it was a quick trip home where both Maisie and I took a brief nap before getting dressed again and heading out. I dropped Maisie off at Deb's house so that Maisie could play with LiLi and Ian (and Dad Dan) could babysit. Deb and I then headed out to Kathy's baby shower for Chani.

It was great fun and it was so nice to see some of the Georgia Bloggy Bash gals who came to town to join in on the fun. Check out more shower pics on Kathy's site.

Introducing Chani Mei Ren

Local adopters Kathy & Matt received their referral for their beautiful daughter Dong Fang Mei Ren, soon to be Chani Mei Ren. She was born Feb. 9, 2007 and is living in Jiangxi province, China. Check out Kathy & Matt's blog for updated information.

Congratulations to all the families who received referrals this month.

Decorating Halloween cookies

Oh what fun we had this morning at our playdate as all the children decorated cookies that Alexander and his Mom had made the previous day. It was a contained mess, all the children had fun and luckily Maisie was more into making the mess than actually eating the cookie so a nice long nap still happened...Hope that the other Moms were as fortunate.

Maisie working on her cookie.

Giving a little taste test.

A little more frosting.

Now that’s scary!!

Hi there!!

* Big shout out and hugs to the gal with the rock star hair for making my girl a little rock star too, thank you!

* Also thanks to the queen of ducks for the fun and friendly reminder. Upon seeing the duck, Maisie immediately went into a chant of duck, duck, duck and has made it her newest favorite bath toy.

* Upon returning from Utah I came down with an upper respiratory infection (diagnosed by Maisie's pediatrician) which combined with the fractured rib caused me to be out of commission for a couple of days but I'm happy to report that I'm healthy again and the rib pain has eased up considerably.

* Friday I took Maisie for her 24 month well baby appointment and she's doing great. She's now 32.25 inches tall and weighs in at a whopping 22.5 pounds.

* Sunday Trixie and WaWa stopped over for a visit and we met their son Andrew who was loving all the attention that his two beaming parents were lavishing on him.

*Tuesday was another first meeting where Maisie and I met up with Trixie, WaWa & Andrew and Cindy & Claire...Finally meeting the adorable Claire especially considering she's been home over a month already!!

* Also on Tuesday our friends Kathy & Matt received their referral for an almost 8 month old girl from Jiangxi. Congrats to them and we can't wait to see her picture.

* Wednesday we started our Music Together class again and Maisie & I love it! It's as if we never took a summer break as she knew the program and was totally engaged even though all the music was brand new.

* Maisie is still loving her bath and her new favorite food is new-news (noodles), both thanks to our Utah visit with Tiffany & Eliza.

* I'd love to try and sneak in one last trip with Maisie before she turns two on the 17th, any suggestions out there??