Big Day!

Yesterday we had a very exciting day. Our day started off with a lovely breakfast with our Couch Surfing guests, a wonderful couple from Brazil, Flavio and Andressa. We then had the closing on our new house on Adams Street. It is officially ours! Next we joined grandma for a short celebratory lunch, and then she accompanied us for the ultrasound of the new baby. Grandma had never before seen a prenatal ultrasound, and neither had Maya. Both were fascinated and we were all pretty excited to have a glimpse of the little person who has been kicking me for the last couple of weeks! Even though we already knew it, it was nice to have a visual confirmation that the baby was growing healthily.


Maya was really cute during the ultrasound, alternately seriously observing and wriggling and writhing when too much attention was being given to the screen or we were talking about the baby too much; I'm sure a small preview of the balancing act and adjustment period to come!
The day ended with a relaxing dinner at home and a fairly early (and welcome) bedtime for all.

Yesterday I found $100!

Yesterday I went to the bank to take out cash for a pick-up truck we were purchasing from a private party. As the teller was counting out the money, I thought I saw an extra $100....but when she counted it a second time, the amount was accurate. About an hour after I left the bank I counted the money again, and the amount was accurate. Upon paying the lady for the truck, she discovered an extra $100 in the bundle...bills had stuck together! She returned it to me, and I thanked her, completed the transaction and left.
If an ATM had spit out an extra $100 in all likelihood I would have kept it, however in this case I knew that the teller would be on the hook for the money. I needed to return it, preferably without telling her boss....It was just after 4pm and I knew she would be counting her drawer and discovering the error soon. I could imagine the sinking feeling of her discovering the error....i know if it had been me I would have been devastated. I called the branch several times before someone picked up, and I asked for the teller. She came on the line and I told her that I she had given me $100 extra a couple of hours earlier. She very hesitantly asked if I would be bringing the money back. I told her yes, but I would not be there for about 30 minutes. She said that she would wait. When I got to the bank, the guard let me in and I gave her the money. Near crying, she thanked me about 4 times...
It felt even better returning the money, than it did finding it in the first place!

Knowing where your food comes from

For the last week or so Maya has been going outside with Haim each morning and collecting the egg that has been laid that morning. (Only 1 chicken is currently laying) This morning I took her outside to collect the egg and on our way in, egg in hand, she waved at the chickens and said "Thank you chickens."

It makes me feel really wonderful that not only does Maya know where her morning egg comes from (we bring it inside to immediately cook and eat for her breakfast), but that she also knows to express genuine gratitude for those providing her food.

Thank you chickens!

Eggs!

Yesterday I went open the coop to let the girls out in the morning and I found 2 eggs inside. Maya ate both of them and pronounced them "yummy"

Also, of interest regarding "the girls"...last night Maya woke around 4am and was feeling restless...she kept walking to the window. Finally, I heard the chickens making a bit too much noise, so Maya and I went out to investigate.
A baby possum was on the roof! We made sure that the coop was secure, and that there was no mommy possum inside and went back to bed. This morning the "mouse" was gone...but there was another egg waiting for us!

Going with the flow...of a toddler

Today around 10 a friend called to invite Maya and I to join her and her girls at the park around 11. I was looking forward to seeing her, and Maya always enjoys her kids. We finished eating breakfast and I encouraged Maya to choose some clothing...she pulled it all out of the drawer (I stopped folding her stuff about a month ago so that I'm not bothered when she tosses it all out) and announced she needed to count it first. I encouraged her to choose once again, and when she ignored me i took a deep breath and laid down in bed to just hang out and watch her count her clothing...what is the point of fighting to go to the park after all?

I dozed off for a couple of minutes and when I awoke, I again asked Maya if she wanted to get dressed and meet her friends at the park. Again, the answer was an unequivocal no. At this point about 1 hour had elapsed, and I called my friend to cancel. She was running late and said she'd call as she was heading out just in case.

About 10 minutes later, Maya handed me some clothing and said she was ready to go...several minutes after that, as we were getting ready to leave, Beth called to say that they were leaving the house.

The end result of the whole process was that Maya and I had a relaxed, conflict free morning, and got to enjoy the park. In an alternate universe...we would have fought while I dressed her, she would have been mad about being forced to go to the park, I would have been stressed, and we would have then ended up waiting an hour for our friends who were running late. So much better to enjoy the agenda and joy of my child whenever possible!

Mango season!

I want to be Karlee when I grow up

Today we went to Karlee's house to play, and Maya got to play dress-up all morning

Visit to the Seaquarium

Artistic expression strikes again...

Happy 92nd Birthday GG!

Warm chocolate chip cookies!

The girls...