lil artist.

i hope to one day have a studio where i can just leave all of his art supplies out, so he can get messy & creative whenever he wants & not just when i'm up for it.

while steph was here we got the paints out.
he starts out all neat with a few brush strokes...




he's perfected the pouty face look. seriously, it's a work of art. he needs to be on a sitcom.
& then we get messy... full blown jackson pollack style.

he got so messy we threw him in the bath afterwards & then let him watch a movie. two of these individuals slept through it!
& then it was cool enough for him to play outside. in his undies.
check out how crazy his hair is!!

lil maya, all snuggled up.

flagstaff...

steph has always visited when i'm swamped with work(to help!) or finn's sick... so she really hasn't had a "fun" phoenix visit. it was too hot in august for us to do anything outside here so we headed to flagstaff for the day. steph & jeff left friday night & headed to prescott with their friend zach. we met up the next day & walked around.

it was still pretty warm (we've had no luck escaping the heat in northern az this summer) but lovely to be out & about. i was starting to get a lil stir crazy stuck in the house.

there was an art festival so we walked around there & found mom a birthday present! steph bought me one too, as a PUSH present. i like the idea of that.

maya's first time just hanging out outside. she loved it.



cutie patootie.



pretty girl.
we found some seats in our favorite lil alley of restaurants. so we sat & listened to a really great band for a bit.
trains go through the downtown every half hour, or so it seems. finn was in heaven.

plus we let him have some juice. double shot of heaven.
steph & jeff :)
me & my girl.
finn skipped naptime, but was so cute & not too cranky! he laid down & played with his cars.



at dinner zach played with finn. i think he drew 200 trains for him.
funny maya faces:

& yes, she's pooping. this girl is an awesome pooper!
:)
starting to get really tired.
the whole gang.
fun day in our favorite az town!

8 weeks old

for some reason my brain can't wrap around the fact that my daughter is 8 weeks old. i know everyone hears every single parent say that. but it's true. it's crazy that our sweet maya leigh, has been here that long.

i LOVE having a daughter more than i ever imagined possible. i'm a tomboy & a hippy. surprise! so, the thought of having a lil pink tutu-wearing, princess adoring girl freaked me out. i use to joke (before i had kids) that if she turned out too girly girl she'd be moving in with my sister. the two of them would be in heaven.

but, ya know what?
whatever this little girl decides to wear or adore is fine by me.

my hope is that she's patient, kind, funny & smart.

& she's already showing those wonderful characteristics...

"my mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive;
and to do so with some passion, some compassion,
some humor, and some style."
maya angelou
(her name sake)

love my lil cupcake!

steph & jeff visit!

it was their first time visiting together & jeff had never been to arizona before! so glad to finally have them! jeff was only in town for the weekend, so we had to make the most of it.

we did four peaks for dinner, our favorite with some yummy beers! finn & rae rae colored trains most of the evening.
& then we let him watch a movie, so we'd actually enjoy going out to eat!
finn found maya's headbands & made jeff & bryan wear one... so this was pretty entertaining to watch them build this awesome train track in costume.
goofballs!



they came bearing gifts... they brought finn a choo choo whistle & conductor hat. only he wouldn't wear the hat, so jeff put it on kyky.

finally we convinced him for one picture!
he loved the whistle.
they swam...
cute!
maya & daddy have been doing some bonding!
flagstaff trip up next!