2012 ~ A year of Maisie

January began with play dates and ended with Maisie, Mama & friends watching the Gymdogs compete against LSU.  In between Maisie’s time was filled with school & gymnastics, pizza lunches with friends, baking with Mama and even more play dates.  Maisie loved doing handstands on the balance beam and gymnastics through the living room.  Setting up forts with her mats was also lots of fun.  January was also when Maisie began before-school morning gymnastics practices where she especially loved conditioning and working out with the big girls.

February was a bit rough as Maisie suffered with terrible sinus infections and had to endure allergy testing, but that didn't stop her from enjoying life and having fun, including going out for pizza and play dates with friends.  Maisie continued to love morning gymnastics and she had a fabu time at Chani's horseback riding birthday party.  Maisie also had fun cooking with Mama & making an adorable pink Valentine house to add to your collection of foam holiday homes.

March was another rough month for my girl as she continued to have major sinus infections, so she was scheduled for surgery.  March was also a bit of a nightmare sleep wise for Maisie and our weather didn’t help as we had tornadoes & crazy high pollen counts.  Maisie kept up with school and her morning & afternoon gymnastics but when home she was happy to relax in her pj's & be a gim gobbling girl.  Maisie was sad to miss Baba’s birthday as he traveled quite a bit but she sent him a nice birthday wish.  Maisie had fun times with friends, with Briana at NMGC's parent's night out and also with herr teammates at the SEC Championships.  At school Maisie & her classmates got crafty, making big flowers for their teacher Miss. Lisa.

April was a wonderful month.  It started with Maisie’s school Easter egg hunt followed by a great trip with friends Brooke & Cole, over spring break, first to meet Winter and then to the beach in Naples, FL where you had good fun playing in the sand and ocean and doing gymnastics along the beach.  Once back home, Maisie had surgery to remove her adenoids and she quickly recovered, just in time for a fun fieldtrip with her classmates and her final day second grade.  The second half of April Maisie sailed on the Norwegian Sun, her second transatlantic cruise.  On the ship she made friends with all the other children, had fun at cruise camp, had your face painted almost daily and loved the nightly towel animals.  We visited the Azores & Amsterdam and finished April on board the ship.

Our cruise continued into May where we visited our final port of call, Copenhagen & Malmö.  Maisie and Mama spent a few extra days in Copenhagen after the cruise, touring around and visiting castles & museums.  We then flew to London for a quick visit with Maisie’s Grandma & some Aunts & Uncles.  Once back home Maisie returned to her gymnastics practices & also took horseback riding lessons along with Mama.  Maisie loved helping to cook and she especially adored meatballs.

June was a great month filled with Elite team gymnastics camp, rock climbing, a few play dates & Father's day.  It was also the month when Maisie lost her first tooth, so her first visit from the tooth fairly!  At the gym she mastered her kip on the bars & on the beam, both her cartwheel & back walkover.

In July our temperatures topped 100F, it was a hot month.  A lot of time was spent playing in the pool & sprinkler or just being indoors, a much cooler place to play with friends.  Mid-month Maisie had her second surgery of the year, this one on all her sinuses.  Maisie’s favorite place to rest and recover was snuggled in Mama & Baba's bed and thankfully she recovered quickly.  At the end of July her friend Elam, from our cruise in April & May, came to visit for a couple of days and the two of them laughed continuously, loving their time together.

August brought lots of changes to our home, both inside and outside.  Briana's pizza making birthday party was lots of fun as were bowling & gymnastics play dates.  Maisie lost her second tooth, received her new team leotards & warm up suit, attended school orientation and began third grade, she also competed in her first meet as a USA level 4 gymnast.  Maisie was also my big girl as I traveled for the first time without her, to Texas meet and help Judy with baby Nathaniel.  So many wonderful things happened in August!

September began with Maisie meeting baby Nathaniel.  Maisie and Mama traveled to Gulf Shores, Alabama where Maisie and her teammates competed at the Bounder's Beach Bash and Maisie rocked, taking first place all around with a 36.8.  While there Maisie had lots of fun sharing a condo and playing on the beach with her teammate Alyssa.  Maisie ended the month competing at Ultimate Classic where she had an A-Maisie-ing meet with a first place all around win scoring a 36.825.

October was very busy and super fun.  It started with our fifth annual trip to Cagle's with Lisa, Doug & Briana and Kathy, Matt & Chani where we all had so much fun together.  At school Maisie did a wonderful job on both her timeline and pumpkin projects.  Mid-month Maisie competed at Metro Retro and earned another first place all around win with a score of 37.625.  Maisie then turned seven years old and brought in her birthday celebrating with her school and gymnastic friends and also with a Spa-tastic party with a few of her girlfriends.  October ended with Mama & Maisie visiting Rock Ranch and Tiny Town and a Halloween dinner with friends.

Maisie had two gymnastics meets the beginning of November   First in Cartersville at Nifty November where she had another first all around win with a 37.6 and the following weekend she competed at the Candy Cane Invitational.  At the gym Maisie started working on her USA level 5 routines and her kip to the high bar and in morning practice she loved working with the big girls.  A sports themed birthday party for April was good fun and then Grandma & Grandpa arrived for the holiday.  Making cookies & spending time with Grandma & Grandpa was fun but Thanksgiving was a bit rough as Maisie, Mama & Grandma were all sick.  The morning after Thanksgiving Maisie’s elf Mortimer returned for the holiday season.

The first weekend in December Maisie & Mama were in Savannah for Maisie’s USA level 4 State meet.  Maisie did an A-Maisie-ing job earning fourth place all around with a 37.1, I’m so proud of my girl.  We then traveled to Aruba to visit with Grandma & Grandpa and where we celebrated being a family for six years.  We arrived home just before Christmas, where we spent a nice day together as a family.

Overall 2012 was a good year and now we are looking forward to another fun filled year in 2013.  We wish everyone a happy, healthy and wonderful new year.

I decided to do a Top 12 for 2012 over on Cook Lisa Cook highlighting my favorite recipe from each month.  It was truly a delicious year in our home and I hope that you’ll link over by clicking on the picture and check out my favorites. 

A truly delicious year, all the recipes posted on Cook Lisa Cook in 2012: Oatmeal, Cashew & Chocolate Granola Bars, Texas Chicken Sandwich, Seared Scallops with Creamy Pesto & Lemon Pepper Pasta, Thai Chicken Noodle Soup, Glazed Lemon Squares, Chang-Style Brussels Sprouts, Maisie “safe” No Bake Cookies, Ponderosa Lemon & Sour Cream Tart, Pork Dumplings with Rice Wrappers, Sweet & Spicy Apple Pork, Dark Chocolate Dipped Candied Lemon Peel, Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites, Double Chocolate Meyer Lemon Mousse Cake, Malted Pretzel Crunch, Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing, Apple Pancakes, Baked Egg & Avocado, Health(ier) Peanut Brittle, Crab Cake Stuffed Mushrooms, Broiled Sushi, Tomato Sauce with Onion & Butter, Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole, Slow Cooker Chicken Curry, Slimmed Down Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole, Baked Meatballs, Skinny Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad, Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars, Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Hearty Sausage, Mushroom & Cheddar Mini Quiche, Strawberry Soup, Chicken Tenders, Mango Melon Banana & Chia Smoothie, Lacy Cheese Crackers, Dried Cherry Almond Tart, Thai Cucumber Salad, Grilled Thai Chicken, Chili Maple Mustard Ribs, Curried Grilled Thai Chicken Salad, Copycat “KFC” Original Recipe Fried Chicken, Double Chocolate Mousse Cake, Cauli-Rice, Cauliflower Crust Pizza, Fritos Crusted Pollock, Chicken Satay Noodle Salad, Mini Cheesecake Bites, French Fries Hash Browns, Soup Day Soup, Thai Curry Shrimp with Shirataki Noodles, Toasted Sesame Ginger Salmon with Sesame Ginger Honey Glaze, Bacon & Cheese Zucchini Fritters, Fried Green Tomatoes, Crispy Zucchini Chips, Zucchini with Onion & Brown Sugar, Shrimp & Vegetable Madras Curry, Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings, Maisie “safe” Bacon & “Cheese” Zucchini Fritters, S’mores Granola Bars, Marshmallow Pops, Broiled Tomatoes, Steak with Bourbon & Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce, Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken, Sweet Italian Sausage & Roasted Chestnut Stuffed Mushrooms, Sweet Potato Glass Noodles with Honey Garlic Lime Shrimp, Curried Chicken Salad, Slow Cooker Ranch Mushrooms, Roasted Spatchcocked Turkey, Crockpot Baked Stuffed Apples, Cauliflower with Seared Peppers and Caramelized Onions & Garlic, Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes, Braised Beef Short Ribs and White Chocolate Marshmallow Cranberry Cashew Bark.

Enjoy!