Background

Graduation Weekend


Michael's Pinning Ceremony

Michael's Graduation
Green's Gluten Free Beer! Hard to find-from Belgium 
(One day Gpa and I will visit the Distillery!)

Well, it is official...Michael has graduated from Austin Peay State University.  It was a crazy week, but we all made it through smiling =)  We could not be more proud of Michael! He had his final assessment (final) on Monday and on Thursday was his Nursing Pinning.  The Pinning ceremony was beautiful-Megan, Eric, Panama, Nana joined the two Cleveland girls to cheer Michael on-he was awarded the Sigma Theta Tau International Award (yes, I am bragging on him!).  It was really awesome-of course, Nana says that is the best award! STT is the National Honor Society for Nursing and it is awarded to the student who has maintained the highest GPA and demonstrates impeccable leadership in Nursing. 
Graduation was on Friday-it was a small graduation in comparison to the UCSB graduations our family is used to. We arrived 1/2 hour early with no parking problems (I worked half a day) and we got great seats.  After graduation, Michael and I went into Nashville for dinner and celebrating with friends.  We went to a wonderful sushi restaurant, the Flying Saucer, and stayed at the Historical Union Hotel.  Amaya had a party night with her Nana-I hear they had a blast =) 
The weekend ends today with the Baptism of our God-daughter: Avery.  It will be a beautiful baptism. We are looking forward to a fabulous ending to a very special week.

Thanksgiving Weekend


Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes-Yum!!! (Notice her 'bull snort' face-she does sound effect too!)

Thanksgiving Night Pictures-I will get the entire family picture on here soon =)
Her first Christmas Decoration Morning
She enjoyed putting the first ornament on the tree

Rocking at school-Playing Patty Cake!!!

Thanksgiving weekend came and went so very quickly-we find ourselves so blessed! Amaya and Panama looked beautiful in their Holiday dresses. Amaya was thrilled to eat a mixture of sweet and white potatoes...she likes to grab her food by the fist full (unlike her dainty cousin).  
On Friday morning, Michael and I had a early morning date-shopping all of the best sales.  We had a ton of fun! Not to mention we finally went to one of Nashville's famous breakfast spots-Pancake Pantry-guess what-they had gluten free pancakes!!! Go Pancake Pantry!
Michael and I decided to get a real tree this year for Amaya's 1st Christmas.  She had a blast pushing the boxes around and hanging her first ornament on the tree. 
Last week Amaya started playing 'patty-cake!'  It is the cutest thing-she will clap whenever we sing the song.  I am trying to get her to clap to 'Yeah!' so that she can clap at Daddy's graduation =) She also finally has two bottom teeth =)
Our family has been busy, busy, but we are loving every minute of this crazy life.  

Sitting with Santa


Michael and I went to Borders to get some new books and we ran into Santa at the mall!!!  Amaya is not quite sure if she likes him yet or not =)

9 Month Princess


Pretty Ladies
Chasing the Kitty

The months continue to fly by...Amaya continues to enthrall us with her delightful personality, beautiful smile, and sparkling eyes.  She continues to pull herself up and walk around everything-she loves holding our hands and 'running.'  We cannot imagine that it will be too long before she is walking on her own-she has stood on her own, but then realizes that no one is holding her and she sits quickly =) Luckily, she is very cautious on the tile floors. She also loves chasing Lani -our kitty- around. Lani enjoys teasing Amaya and lettig her get within hairs of touching before she runs off. It won't be too long beore Amaya gets her hands on Lani. 

Our household continues to be a fun and crazy place.  Michael has started his preceptorship and the 12 hour shifts (14 hours if you include travel) are not much fun for Amaya and me...he goes to work while we're sleeping and gets back when we are sleeping...at least we are getting our beauty rest =) He is enjoying it though! School days are flying by for me. I am still really enjoying work, but I am also very much looking forward to taking time off to be at home. I am freaking out a little bit, because I am going to have to start cooking on my own again! I better watch Nana and learn all of her tricks. Michael will official graduate in less than a month and then the craziness will really begin =) We will keep you all posted...

Celebrating Life





Mom, Amaya, and I had a wonderful weekend (in Florida) filled with love and many memories of our dear friend Bobbie. Tim was so gracious to have us visit-we made many more unforgettable memories. Amaya was wonderful on the trip to and back from Tim's...I was thankful since I was flying on my own with her-with out the assistance of the hubby-aka Amaya Entertainer =) In our family, dad is the 'fun' one...mom means business =) Well...not really, but I like to think so...

Amaya had her first trip to the beach-she fell asleep about two minutes after we got there-I think it was the sound of the waves and the cool breeze. I enjoyed a 40 minute stroll along the ocean-boy, do I miss the smell of the beach and the salty water. No matter where I go, I will always miss Santa Barbara...

We enjoyed a lot of food and ate fabulous fish-yum!!! We also met many of Tim and Bobbie's friends. What a special group of people there! Tim, mom, Amaya, and I all celebrate my big 30 at a beautiful little restaurant down the street from Tim's house-we all had the Genuine Snapper-as opposed to Fake Snapper =) It was wonderful!!!  Amaya had one of her favorites: pears =)

At 8 months Amaya is still toothless! I did meet an 11 month old who had just gotten her first tooth, so I guess my kid is not too out there =) She is teething like crazy and will gnaw Nana's chin off any time she gets a chance. It is the funniest thing, something about Nana's chin makes Amaya want to chew. Amaya is always on the move. She is still walking around everything, crawling up the stairs (we are still working on how to get down them safely), and talking up a storm.  On the flight, she talked with everyone around us the entire hour & a half there and back...people all get a kick out of her and she is always making her momma laugh.  I cannot imagine life without her!!!

Turning 30...
Wow, I always thought 30-year olds were OLD!!!  Now I am one =) I think this is one of the best birthdays that I have had...I am so blessed with great family and friends. As I get older, I realize more and more how lucky I am to have the support system that I do. I truly feel grateful and I look forward to many more years of memories to be made.

PS...We found out this weekend that we are headed to...da.da.da.da---Germany!!! Who knows when our final arrival date will be-most likely next summer. We are more than thrilled-it will be a bittersweet move-we will miss Meg, Eric, and Panama more than I can imagine!

Pumpkin Patch

She was 'hog wild' for Halloween

She loves to give the 'smirk' smile

Amaya got 2 baby pumpkins 

Jumping Pillow

Amaya had her first trip to the pumpkin patch on Halloween and she had a fabulous time!  Michael, Amaya, and I all headed out on Saturday to Honeysuckle Hill Farms-it was fun for me to go back-it had been years since I went there on a field trip with my 1st grade class.  Each year, the owners of the farm add something new...this year they added a huge 'jumping pillow.'  I think I had the best time on that!!!  We went in the mazes-Michael and I let Amaya decided which direction by going on the trail that she looked in =) Needless to say, she got us very lost! 

Halloween night was fun...we had bar-b-que with good friends Bob and Cathy...we only had 10 tricker-treaters...more candy for me =) 

Piggy Tails =)

7am-momma on her way to work
daddy & Amaya at home to play
crazy crawler

Amaya can wear pig tails! She is cute as a button!!!

Missing Grandpa






Alot has happened in the past week...we went to Asheville, back to work, back to school, and family fun. Grandpa has been missing his girls-for the past couple weeks he has been living it up in Little Rock (well maybe not living it up, but he is earning a living) =) He has been doing some consulting and seems to be really enjoying it. So the girls decided they wanted to take a picture for Gpa, but they could not agree on which picture to smile in =) So we took many, but none of them has 2 smiling girls.  

We had Ken, Jan, and Brian swing through on their way home from a trip along the East Coast. It was great to have them here again...it had been since the first year Michael and I moved in...hard to believe it has been 5 years.


Michael and I decided that it would be fun to take Amaya to Ghouls at Grassmire zoo.  We all dressed up in our costumes (50s theme) and drove to the zoo...we waited in line for about 30 seconds before we decided that all we really wanted was a picture...so we went to Meg and Eric's and had a picture taken =) We ended up going to a Nashville pizza place that makes gluten free pizza...yum...yum.


Amaya is going like crazy. She loves being the center of attention and at this point she is standing more than crawling. She has not taken any hands-free steps yet, but walks around everything.  She reminds us of Skippy-John-Jones because she 'crawls over, and squeezes under' everything (if you don't know who SJJ is...you have to catch up on your kitty-kiddy reading).  She is quick! Even with all of us here, we have to keep a constant eye on her. Same goes for Panama...she quickly found Auntie's mascara today and decided she would be beautiful if she made herself up =)


Amaya loves playing peek-a-boo...notice the pictures =) She will hold up something in front of her face and likes to hear, "Where's Amaya" then she pulls it out from her face and laughs...it warms my heart just thinking about it. Parenthood is WONDERFUL!!!

Fabulous Asheville


We had a splendid time in Asheville-The Brown's were great (as always) and we finally got to meet Buzz boy...We ate WONDERFUL food at both the Laughing Seed (a vegan-vegetarian-gluten free) restaurant and Posanas. Needless to say, I think we all may have gained a pound or two on the trip.  We did walk alot at both the Farmers' Market and the Biltmore.

Gluten Free!!!


I am sooo excited! Mom, Amaya, and I are headed to Asheville, NC for a weekend retreat-we are meeting up with the beloved Brown's =) I have just found a completely GF restaurant!!! It is called Posana...I will let the rest of you Celiacs know how it is...I know your jealous =)

Yum-Yum...Loving Gpa, Nana, Plums, Momma Time

Loving on Grandpa and Nana

Eating my prunes...I mean aged plums

Hello All =) Amaya and I are spending lots & lots of time together this week-Fall Break. We are both loving every minute of it. The girls all went shopping yesterday-Nana, Amaya & Momma...Meg was tending to Pancake who is under the weather.  Nana and I find that we spend way too much money when we are not working =) We had a great time shopping though-Amaya is an excellent shopper in training..we are working on teaching her the Ramsey technique-cash or debit only =) Michael has been a busy man with tests, clinicals, studying, papers, football season, and his girls (Lani included). We recently put in our Army "wish list," so the time is coming close when we will see where our next adventure will be. At this point, we are enjoying every minute of life together as a family-although we do really miss our long distance family who we hope to be seeing sometime soon...

Our Love Bug


Amaya was playing dress-up in her cousin's ladybug costume. She has not yet decided what she will be for the holiday...her and Nana have been talking-Amaya has convinced Nana to make her 1st costume =) She is just too cute...I had to share =)

7 Splendid Months!!!

Amaya now loves to crawl through different 'obstacles'
No more 'Army crawl' for this chick
Hard to believe-Amaya is pulling up to a stand and walking around things
Carrots for dinner-Yum-Yum

   Our precious baby girl turned 7 months today! Boy, is she full of personality!!! She is still as sweet as can be, but we now call her the pterodactyl child-she has a voice on her. When she talks-she screams. It is the craziest thing =) I will try and upload her crawling/talking video so you all can see. She officially started crawling on the 12th of this month. She is no longer doing her Army crawl-she is a mover and a shaker now.  She has also started pulling herself up and walking around things...her little life is flying by momma's eyes-I knew children grew fast, but I never expected it to go this quickly! We are still taking our sweet little time introducing food-last week it was oatmeal cereal and today it was carrots. Yum!Yum! She did like the carrots alot
   All else is going great. Michael is doing great in school-still no word where we will be next year though-maybe the Army will keep us right here in Clarksville-who knows. I will keep you posted...

Busy Bees =)

Big Girl Car Seat

Driving Lessons from Grandpa
Scooting Around the Mall

Now that Amaya is a 'big girl' we are upgrading her to a 'big girl' car seat.  Michael and I researched and finally decided on one...Amaya seems to like it, we have yet to use it in the car =)  We have had an eventful week-learning to drive, shopping at the mall, new car seat, visit from her favorite cousin-Panama!

Our 6 month Princess

OneLove Jazz Festival in Nashville
Amaya's daily lunch visit for "mummum" (as Panama calls it)-Amaya is featured in her handmade dress from Nicaragua given to her by Auntie Meg

Four Funny Faces 
All in a span of a couple minutes
She is a character!




Unbelievable, but Amaya is 6 1/2 months old! She is now all over the house performing her Army crawl. She has yet to crawl on her hands, but it does not matter to her, because she can move wherever she wants to go-of course she always heads straight towards the dog/cat bowl =) She is also pulling her self up to standing position! I don't think I am ready to see her grow so quickly!!!

We started her on rice cereal at 6 months and are introducing a new and exciting food every 7 days. So far she has had peas (a 5 on a 1-10 scale) and green beans (a 6 1/2). Of course we are a "by the book" family, especially with daddy's nursing expertise =) Next week...we will be featuring avocado! Yum, so exciting...

Micheal had a blast with Amaya while mommy started back at work. It has been a whirl wind for us here at the house. During those 3 weeks Michael managed to teach Amaya to say "dadadadada" all day long...grandpa had her for a week and now she is saying "dadadapapapapa."  Nana and I are left in the dust! How quickly little girls learn how to butter up  daddy and grandpa =) Amaya is talking, talking, talking...she has a very funny growl that she does as well-it gets us all laughing (Nana plays scared, and Amaya loves it).

School is going well for Michael. We cannot believe this is his final semester and he will be graduating in December. We are all so proud of him!