The Best

This was one of those perfect evenings. Cool, foggy, no buggies. And Maya just wanted to walk. "Walk, walk," she's always saying lately. (She walks around the coffee table saying it.) So we took her in her jammies to Squaw Creek Park and let her walk up the road.

Of course the perfect weather lately suddenly changed into typical Iowa disgustingly humid weather. Blah.

Maya's First

Today my baby turned one.

If I could bottle her giggle, her smile, the way she blows kisses, the way she says "OOOHHHHH!!!", her excited hands when she sees a kitty, and the way she snuggles up and coos/laughs when she's tired I think I could start world peace.

She is the best. I lovelovelove her.

There's more Maya on mayainbloom.blogspot.com

Preoccupied

For the last couple of weeks I've been a little preoccupied with miss Maya. Doctor's visits and now a "waahh?" procedure tomorrow make me nervous. She's still a baby and she has no idea what's going on. And in the end all this precaution will be for nothing.

Just doctor's being overly cautious and causing a wee little girl unnecessary trauma.

If we were Scientologists, she'd have years of auditing.

Good thing we're not Scientologists.

Good thing we are animal lovers!! Here's a few pics from a short visit to Old Macdonald's Farm at Bever Park.

Hopefully We'll all get some fun time in the coming weeks, and I'll get some much needed photography time. It's my drug. And I'm dying for a hit.


more photos at my flickr site and some will be coming soon to Maya's blog!

Where did April Go?

Seriously, I feel like I'm two weeks behind. It's already May?? Tomorrow is Cinco De Maya..er, Mayo? Maya is almost one?? Time is going too fast and I'm too busy to slow down and enjoy the slloooowww spring we've had.

But here are a few pictures I took after a run at Squaw Creek Park.

Around Ames

I like going home. I like seeing my neighborhood and my family in the house we grew up in. I think it's a good sign that Maya sleeps well there.

Brighter Days

Oh what wonderful weather! Maya has been enjoying days in the park with Momma and Dadda, and Momma has on occasion been able to sneak away for walks along empty paths.

But I'm tired of taking "brown winter" pictures! Where are the greenies?? Where are the little peek a boo flowers and sprouty things? Perhaps I'll find some today and feel much better.

I love love love spring.
I love it so much I made a spring shelf. On it is my picture by Cori of my niece Nika, some bunnies, my little ACEO of "Pauline" (makes me think of the Neko Case song) by Annette which was my first purchase off of etsy. I love it. I've decided to buy something off of etsy every month from a different country. This month I'll be getting something from here and I'll show it off when it arrives!!

The whole shelf just makes me excited about spring and pretty girly things. I feel like now that I have a little girl, I have to represent by buying cute knick knacks of bunnies and things for her to adore when she's older ("Momma where's the dancing bunnies?"). I remember loving little treasures like that.



And Maya love love loves bath time.

Going Home

Over the weekend we went to Ames to visit my family. My mom lives in the house that I have known as "home" since I was eight years old which means that the house has become a part of the family. And if you look around it, it's as if my mom hasn't decorated it, it's just evolved. It's the little things scattered and tucked into corners that make it home. The scotsman toy on the mirror, the etched rocks sitting on the 100 year old sled (coffee table), the blankets made by friends and family, and Pete quietly banging away at the bathroom cupboards trying to open them to get Q-Tips out. I sleep well here. And I never sleep well.


While in Ames we had a Girl's Day Out (Jo Momma, Brynna, Me, and Maya) where we had lunch at Ivy's Tea Room at The Shoppe's On Grand. The last two photos are from there.I exclaimed while getting my hair cut that I was "straight for a day" because I got my hair straightened after the cut.

I figured out what I had said about four hours later.

Busy Busy

I've been super busy lately. I've fallen behind on Fourteen Days of Love. I love movies, the bald eagles that hang out around Cedar Rapids, making people laugh, and taking pictures with my cell phone when I've forgotten my camera and feel the need to keep an image alive.

I also love taking pictures of reflections.
This is Kyle and Maya in a balloon.

LoveLoveLove Day 2

I love these macro pictures that Kyle took last summer.

And I love sloppy open mouth Maya kisses. She gives kisses, that's just ahhh.

Bridges Between Here and the Next Place

In the past two days I've crossed over the Mississippi River and back again six times to attend a visitation and funeral of a dear friend's mother. Maya brought sad people happy smiles and many came up and said, "I've heard of this baby" and played with her bare toes because she refuses to wear socks.

(Maya loves Barack, and I often hold her little soft phone up and say, "Oh, look Maya, Barack is calling you.")

After the visitation we went to Harris Pizza because it's a Quad Cities "must" and because we were quite hungry. (And Maya needed some quite time, AKA a nap.)

Yesterday, funeral day, I drove back to the Quad Cities with Allan (Maya and her Daddy stayed home this time) and on the way to the burial we saw a black squirrel (I love love love them), and as we crossed the Mississippi into the national military cemetary we saw two bald eagles. What a beautiful send off.

Time, we don't have much of it. And someTIMES it takes a sudden death to help us remember how important family and friends are, and I sooo love Jo Momma. And I called her and told her so.