Early morning baking

This morning Maisie and I decided to bake some brownies. Maisie loves helping to measure out the ingredients and stir everything together but her favorite part of course is licking the spoon. The brownies are almost finished baking and the kitchen smells all chocolaty-minty delicious. Now I'm just hoping that my jury-rigged recipe works out and that they taste as good as they smell.

In other news, the duck that is nesting right outside our front door now has eight eggs in her nest. It's fun for Maisie and I to go out there each day to see either the duck or look at the eggs in the nest. Can't wait for those cute little ducklings to arrive.

UPDATE: The brownies were FABU, now I just have to remember how I made them!!

At the Aquarium with friends

Yesterday morning I had an appointment and Deb offered to watch Maisie for me. She made plans to meet up with Kathy & Chani and they all ventured down to the Aquarium and the playground. Deb did bring Maisie's boy-toy Ian along to provide additional support in keeping both Maisie and LiLi in check but from all reports, all the children were on their best behavior and the day was tantrum free. Thanks Deb for taking Maisie for the morning and thanks Kathy for all the wonderful piccies.

Five hundred

As of today Maisie has been with us for 500 days. I know that it's not all "that" long but to my ear it sounds so much longer than saying 1-year-four months-and-twelve-days. We had a nice morning of our 500th day with a visit from Georgia & Zoe. It was our first time meeting Zoe and she is such a smiley, happy little girl. And Georgia, even through her sleep deprived eyes you could see how happy she is to be a Mom. 

Seeing Maisie next to Zoe made me think about how little Maisie was 500 days ago and how much she has grown.

Five hundred days ago Maisie was 19 lbs - 2 oz, 29.75" tall, wearing 9 month clothes and size 3 shoes.

As of today Maisie is 25 lbs, 34.75" tall, she mostly wears 18-24 month clothes and is almost into a size 6 shoe.

We had a really nice but oh too short visit and the girls were so cute together.

We have a duck that decided to nest right near our front door, just under Maisie's bedroom window. Yesterday I didn't see the duck around at all and the nest was empty so I thought the duck decided to just find a new, more private spot.

Well this morning when I walked out I was surprised to see four duck eggs. I've already seen numerous little goslings and I'm looking forward to seeing the little ducklings soon, yeah!!

Playtime with BaBa

Today was the last day of Eammon's mini-vacation so he spent a good part of the day having fun and playing with Maisie. While Maisie enjoyed all the attention from her BaBa, I'm not so sure that BaBa quite enjoyed all the activities that Maisie imposed upon him.

A little break

Eammon had a few days off from work so we decided to take a little trip to escape the obscenely high pollen counts and also so that we could enjoy a little warm weather. I scored some ultra cheap flights and for less than the cost of a tank of gas, all three of us flew down to the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area for a few days of sun, fun and relaxation. Thanks to Tiffany who gave me info on renting homes or condos privately, I found and rented a two bedroom, two bathroom condo right on the intercostal for less than the cost of a hotel room, thanks Tiff! Check out the pictures of our views.

Maisie was once again a star on the flights, falling asleep within minutes of take off and waking about half an hour before landing. The girl loves airplanes and flying which is great because both Eammon and I love to travel.

We had a nice couple of days laying low, spending time at the pool and doing those family type outings that are great fun with a toddler. We did two outings, the first was to Gator Park where we did an air boat tour and watched a little alligator show.

The second outing was to Flamingo Gardens which is 60 acres of gardens and animals. We took a narrated tram ride to view most of the property and then we walked around to see all the different animals.

We had beautiful weather and we just had fun being away, no phone, no schedule, no commitments. Can't wait for our next, yet to be scheduled holiday away.