the end of an era

Today is April 28, 2013, and it is my final day of breastfeeding. Maya is 3 years and 4 months exactly. It's a big day for both of us. Nursing bras out! Pumping gear gone! Wooo Hoooo!!

Greystone Mansion

Yesterday we enjoyed a rare family outing on a gorgeous day to the Greystone Mansion in BH. We were supposed to volunteer in one of their gardens in honor of earthday, but that was a bust. We still enjoyed the grounds, and Maya log rolled down a HUGE grassy knoll. I cant believe she didnt barf.

Maya chose a vegan and gluten free (so she could eat them) cupcake recipe to bake this weekend. They are called Bollywood cupcakes. Saffron cupcakes with a cardamom frosting. She got her apron on and her hair back like a real chef! She was so excited to decorate with sparkly frosting.

school

Here is Maya at school last week. The story behind the rainbow scarf: A mom told me to help with separation to give her something of mine so she had my smell close to her. Can you say Brilliant with a capitol B? worked like a charm and helped her so much. She asks for it every day before school no matter what the weather. By the time I come pick her up, its in her cubby with her shoe.

lunch date

Maya and I saw my college friends Amy and Amy for quick bite. This is one of the Amy's son Lincoln. We were commenting on their similar heights even though he's 2 years older. The kids had fun raising heck while we adults tried to eat some yummy vegan Mexican at Hugo's tacos.

The Gentle Barn

We drove out (I mean waaaay out)to the gentle barn with the twins Violet and Julian. It is a farm that houses animals that were supposed to be slaughtered for food but were saved (YAY!). Maya got to sit on the cool tractor, brush a cow, touch a BIG pig, and feed carrots to a few horses and one donkey. We got to see goats, chickens, and turkeys. It is funded by donations, and is volunteer run. It is such an awesome place, very similar to the one I volunteered at for 2 months in Watkins Glen NYC in 1998. Maya took the pic of Pedja and I.

Sous Chef

I try to have Maya in the kitchen with me as much as possible. So does Pedja. Here she is assisting with some soup making.

School update

Maya is no longer crying when I drop her off! She comes home happy and filthy each day which is wonderful. It is a total outdoor school, which was one of the reasons we chose it. Even if it rains (which is ummm NEVER here in so-cal), they take them out to jump in mud as long as they have a coat and boots. Of course if thats not what the parents choose, the kids stay inside. As most of you know Maya is not a fan of getting dirty (lord is she my daughter), but now takes off her shoes at school which is HUGE. We also have her teacher Melissa come and babysit every 2 weeks for 2 hours, which is also another big step. Im very proud of her progress.

Maya is 3!

I just realized I never posted her birthday! It was quite fun. We had the fiesta at Joey's gym like last year, with the same yummy food, but it was a hello kitty theme instead. Thats the outfit the birthday dressed herself in, a birthday smooch from dad, Maya's friend Lulu with her parents Aaron and Tamra, and Uncle Dan who stole her tiara

Go Wildcats!

Luka got his "uniform" for swim team. I mean common sense tells me a swim team uniform is a speedo. Maybe Im old? Well its the outfit they have to wear OVER their swim suits when they go to compete. At 6ft 2in, I wasnt surprised the pants were a little too short, so he wouldnt let me take a full body shot. I was lucky he even let me take this since he "doesnt smile on demand" which is why we have no pictures of him.

38

This year my birthday was awful. A disaster as I like to say. But I got to wake up to Mayas sweet face which did make it a bit better. Michelle and Jack took us out to lunch while Mia was in school. That also made me smile. I cant believe how big he's gotten. Maya took this pic of him.

the garden

Pedja and Maya planted their annual balcony garden, and now that Maya can write, he had her make the labels.

Noa is 2!

We had a great time at Noa's 2nd birthday party. It was an animal theme, and Maya got a kick out of the masks. They had a face painter (maya is not a fan of face paint, but hand or arm paint is always a winner) The lady said she had never done Hello Kitty before, but I would have never known. Maya tried to get back in line over and over for more paint, but the lady wasnt having it. There was also a special appearance by Minnie Mouse. That was a major hit. And a major meltdown for the birthday girl when she had to leave.

lunch with nana

We try to meet up with nana every couple of weeks for lunch. Here we are at PFChangs. YUMMMM

Cindy

I asked Maya why she drew on Cindy's head, and she said it was because she wanted a headband.

New Earrings

As you know we got Maya's ears pierced for her 3rd birthday, and she chose pink sparkly hearts. Not a good choice. They are flat, and have gotten caught on so many things, and painfully ripped out of her ears numerous times, that I decided to have them changed to round ones like we all got pierced with back in the day. We lucked out because they had purple ones, and ever since we have had these in, its been smooth sailing. So a word to the wise. Dont pierce with cute earrings. Just get the round ones. Trust me - or Maya on this one.

first eye exam

I took Maya to have her eyes checked for the first time, and Im happy to report her vision is great! She had fun wearing the different glasses and looking at the different pictures. She also walked away with a pair of pink RayBan glasses! We have amazing vision insurance, so they were $10. But still, I just got my very first pair of RayBan's 2 weeks earlier. Im just sayin'

On a serious note

Its been so long since I posted, Im not sure I even got to talk about my new job. I work for a private chef named Vanessa a couple of nights a week. You can check her out at mothershelpinghand.com She is a single mom with 2 sons, Sam 10, and Declan (thats his sweet face),7. She cooks amazing food for hungry clients 7 days a week and is a joy to work for. She has these words hung up all over her home, and she truly lives by them. I feel honored to work for someone like this and learn alot in and out of the kitchen every week. I received and email from her this weekend telling me not to come to work this week becasue she just found out Sam has Leukemia. I really don't know what to say, but I cant stop thinking about him. I saw him last Tuesday and he was fine. Just like he has been every week I've been there. He loves Legos and is obsessed with the Titanic. I mean he knows crazy random facts about that ship, and rattles them off to me like he's talking about an episode of Spongebob. And bananas are his favorite fruit. I know you dont know him or this family, but Please Please hold Sam in the light.

STAR Eco Center

A couple of weeks ago, we met the twins Violet and Julian at the Star Eco Center in Culver City. They Rescue and rehabilitate exotic animals-- mostly the ones that people try to smuggle and sell illegally. Like one Justin Bieber I recently read about with a monkey in Germany. TSK TSK. I let Maya be the photographer once again. She got to touch the snake and turtle, but not the Bobcat :) Sadly the LAME people that had that Bobcat declawed it. AWFUL. Our guide told us thats like tearing out our fingernails. OUCH. Maya liked seeing all the different animals, and retelling all their sad tales to Pedja when se got home.

Happy Birthday Grama!

We had another birthday to celebrate this weekend, GRAMA'S! Luka had a hike with his swim team, so he and Pedja had to stay home, but Maya and I went for a sleep over and made a vegan feast in her honor - Moroccon faux chicken tagine with brown rice, and double chocolate bundt cake for dessert. The dinner was amazing. The dessert, not so much- but it looked pretty didnt it? :) We had her lovely amigas Marla and Karen (and Karen's mom Kay) over for cake. They graciously ate it with a smile. It was so great to be with my mom for her birthday. I can honestly say I have the best mom in the world and wish her many many more healthy happy years ahead.

Carter's 3rd Birthday

Last weekend we celebrated with Maya's fried Carter. The theme was outerspace, and his mom Dawn went all out. She made the photobooth at the bottom (what??). The activity was for the kids to decorate the cardboard spaceship that --guess what-- she built. She put out stickers, paint and markers and let them go to town. Maya was the first one there. The ball picture-- well I have no idea what to say about that. I dont know if you can see, but Carter's shirt and cake have a spaceship and the number 3 on it. No, his mom didnt make those :) We had a super messy fun time.

BFF

Its been a LONG time since Maya and Mia have gotten to hang, and as you can see a good time was had by all.

someone did her own hair today

Happy Birthday Uncle Dan!

I cant believe my little brother is 30! That means I am OH-ELLE-DEE OLD! To celebrate we went to Universal City Walk for a "skydiving" adventure at IFLY. It looked super fun. Maya was the official photographer. This was the only still shot we got. The rest were videos. Maya now only likes to take "funny face" pictures hence the bottom one.