Sunday, November 18, 2007

Halloween 2007







It has been too long but finally here are some recent pictures. Maya was a monkey for Halloween. Her parents were more excited about the costume than she was but she did enjoy her treat of goldfish crackers. We also visited the cottage. It was a beautiful sunny fall day and Maya ejoyed playing in the leaves. Maya will be celebrating her first Christmas so stay tuned for pictures.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Cousin's visit





Maya had the pleasure of a visit with two of her cousins, Genny and Kendra. They played with her, fed her, and even took her for a swim in the lake at the cottage. They are looking forward to seeing her again in December and we are pretty sure Maya will excited to see them.

Maya's Baptism




These are some photos of Maya's baptism. It was a lovely ceremony performed by Paul's uncle, Father Michael. Maya was happy throughout (except for the "water on the head part", - it was like she was saying "now what did you have to go and do that for!"

Our Miss Maya was modeling two lovely outfits on this very special occasion. She wore a beautiful white and mauve dress with a matching sweater - given to her by the Pecus family in San Diego. Later, she sported a mauve Chinese silk dress which we bought for her in Nanchang.

Monday, June 18, 2007

More Maya Pics !



Sunday, June 17, 2007

Our Jiangxi Group


This is a photo of the families in our Jiangxi group taken about 3 hours before we left to return to Beijing. It was taken in the hotel lobby at the Gloria Plaza Hotel in Nanchang. Boy, we were a big group - and we really miss these people. Hopefully we'll be able to see them again soon.

Our 'official' group 244 went to a different province - Guangdong, and is not in this photo. We'll be seeing them in August at the pool party.

Taia and Maya


Our dear friend Taia came to visit Maya months ago (please note winter jackets in photo , Sorry, Taia!) We had a wonderful visit and Miss Maya still plays with the fishy which 'uncle' Allan gave her !! She'll be swimming in the lake at the cottage with the real 'fishies' very soon.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Little Miss Mermaid







At the beginning of June, we flew to Baltimore to spend a few days with Glenn, Beth and Jenael. Maya was a great traveler and she was thrilled to finally meet Auntie Beth and Uncle Glenn! As you can see, she loved being in the pool! Many thanks to Auntie Beth for the swimming lessons - next stop: wake-boarding !!

Mag and Ray's Party







Ray, Mag and their daughter Madeline, invited the families from group 244 to an afternoon party a few months ago. ( Yes, 'months ago' - sorry everyone, I'm officially in the 'lazy lump of cheese' category when it comes to blogging!) It was great seeing everyone again, and to see how much the kids have grown in such a short period of time! We plan to get-together again in August for a pool-party. Yippie ! We are soooo there !!!

Thursday, May 10, 2007

A Spring Shower for Maya






Last Saturday, we were invited to a baby shower which was given to Maya by Rosemary, David and their daughter Katherine. It was a lovely party, the food was amazing and the company was wonderful! Beryl, Oma, Michelle, Debbie, Eric, Pat & Anne, Joe & Rowena, Cesca & Jules, and Joyce were all in attendance. Their home was beautiful, as was the day they chose for this lovely party. Thank-you Rosemary and Dave for all of your effort, and thank-you for the love and support which you have shown to our little family. Maya would like to thank her cousin Katherine for sharing her toys, and for teaching her that the going rate for kisses is "ten bucks and a noodle"!

Some Recent Pics




A Visit From Gramma



A few weeks ago we had a visit from Maya's Gramma (mommie's mommie). 'Gramma' Mavis lives in Nova Scotia and finally was able to hug and kiss her grand-daughter ! Papa (or perhaps it's 'Grandpa') stayed at home and looked after the kitties while Gramma was with us for four days. We had a lovely visit with her and we hope both she and Papa will come to visit again - soon (hint! hint!)

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

"Spaghetti-legs" No More !

Perhaps life really is "what happens, when you are busy doing something else". Our something else involves daily trips to the park with our beloved canine, 'Sam'. It includes trips to Costco and to our neighborhood grocery store. It's the never-ending loads of laundry, and a house which will likely never be 'clean' again. It's hours that become days, and months that disappear with remarkable ease.

Like all parents, if we're not careful, our 'something else' just may cause us to miss our child's tiny (and some not so tiny) accomplishments. On March 31st, Maya discovered that she could roll from her back to her tummy, all by herself. On April 8th, she taught us to 'clap hands'. Somewhere along the way, she learned to use her index finger and thumb to feed herself Cherrios (no small feat believe me!). She learned to crawl, sort of, in a backwards direction, and is just now starting to push forward. Her 'spaghetti legs' ,as Paul calls them, are getting stronger and she delights in being able to stand up against our ottoman.

It's hard for us to believe that just three months ago Maya was a 15 lb little girl with very little muscle tone. She could not sit without assistance or intentionally grab anything with her hands. But oh, since then progress has occurred. Just the other night, we observed her playing with her elephant 'shape-sorting' toy on the living-room floor. To my amazement, she correctly inserted the orange star, and the lime-green block into their respective openings. My thought was ' dear God, this kid's a genius !', but then she proceded to try to smash the remaining shapes into whatever opening was available - so much for an early acceptance to Harvard !!

Friday, April 13, 2007

Some Easter Pics







We had a visit from Paul's good friend Richard last week. He now lives in Calgary but came over to see Paul and Maya while he was in town. He also took some great photos of Maya, and we'll try to post them soon.

The beautiful flowers are from Paul for our anniversary - is he a great guy or what ?

Friday, April 06, 2007

For The Love of Family



Paul and I were recently blessed by a visit from his sister Susan and her loving husband Donald. They live in Naples, Florida but they also have a beautiful home in Maine.
After a long nine hour drive from Maine, they arrived in Toronto and met Maya for the first time.
Those of you who know Susan, know that she is Maya's biggest fan. (Paul and I don't really count- we're her mommy and daddy - so we admit to being more than a little biased!) Susan wrote a lovely letter of reference for us, and was tremendously supportive throughout the adoption process. We think that after spending just a few short days with us that she has stocked-up on her Maya hugs and kisses until we see her again in June (for a very special 80th birthday - Paul's mom Genevieve!)
The top picture was taken last Christmas in Deep Creek, Md. Maya's uncles Glenn and Don, aunties Beth and Susan, Oma Genevieve, and cousins Robert, Genessa, Kendra, Jenael and Genny were all in attendance. Miss Maya was present also - in photographic form, and in our hearts.

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

True Friends





Lynn and Susan are my 'oldest' friends. Since they (read Susan!) never hesitate to remind me that I am older than they are, that would make me 'ancient'! We spent our teen-age years (close to thirty years ago! ) in Nova Scotia, and now we live in various parts of the country. A true friendship is not limited by time or geography. If we spoke to each other after several years absence, it would still feel like only yesterday - threads are never dropped from the fabric of a true friendship.

Paul and I are both blessed to have such friends in our lives. One of our fondest wishes is that our daughter Maya have dear friends such as these.