Two posts in one day!

Happy Birthday Little Miss!

Christmas Eve was Maya's Birthday, I am now the momma to a three year old Taiwanese Princess!

Maya is so much fun! She definitely thinks she is the one in charge and she is not afraid to tell you that she is. She is stubborn, sly, silly, shy at times, and oh so smart! Right now she speaks in full sentences, pretends to read, cooks you anything you would like...pretend rice and broccoli are her favorites to cook, loves to sing, count, dance. She is one loved little girly. Her latest accomplishment is that she is finally potty trained!! YAAAHOOO!

I can tell it is going to get harder and harder to separate Christmas Eve and Maya's Birthday as she gets older. This year I tried really hard to have everything ready for Christmas Eve the day before so we could concentrate on our girl for the first part of the day. To celebrate the boys and I braved the mall and took her to Build-a-Bear. She loved it! Meet "Pinky" the bear.

After B-A-B we let her and Jake take a spin on the Carousel and she loved that...there was plenty of jumping up and down and little girl squeals of delight as she went round and round.

After the Mall (which we were in and out of in less than an hour!) we came home and she got to decorate some sugar cookies with her boys while mom got everything ready for Christmas Eve. After all our guests had arrived we quickly took a few more minutes to celebrate our baby girl with her Princess cake and presents.

Then Maya got the starring roll as Mary for our very irreverent reenactment of the Nativity...here she is on her trusted donkey aka Tanner, and directing angel traffic with Jake posing as Joseph.

All in all it was a very fun filled full day of celebrating Maya and the birth of our Savior.

As usual, I had mixed emotions during the days that led up to Maya's birthday, I spent the 23rd which is the 24th in Taiwan thinking of her birth family off and on and feeling so extremely grateful for their part in making Maya a part of our family. I hope her birth family and especially her birth mother know of our love for them. I am sure it was a bitter sweet day for her birth mom and thinking back to the day she placed Maya in my arms I am so grateful that I got to look into her eyes to witness her love for the little girl I now call my own. Despite the language barrier and extreme emotions that day I know from that one moment when our eyes locked that we both know how much this little girl is loved.

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Merry Merry!

First off I really do feel guilty for not getting to this post in a more timely manner, but life moves at warp speed around here and I am trying really hard to enjoy life in the moment and blog about it when I get a minute or two to do so. Today is the Sat. after Christmas and the kids are all tucked away enjoying thier Christmas gifts and Maya is tucked in for what I hope is a LONG winter's nap so I best get to updating you on what keeps us busy!

Christmas was wonderful and brought lots of smiles, Maya still did not know what to think about this person called Santa who came to her house and left her all sorts of goodies, but she sure enjoyed it!

We spent our day "chillaxing" eating way too much good food and enjoying the family.

My baby girl and my not so baby boy!

This blogger continues to be really behind when it comes to blogging! If my life would ever cooperate and slow down for a even just a few minutes I may be able to fit blogging in on a regular basis, but I don't see that happening in the near future with the holidays just around the corner (which that thought alone is giving me a stressed out I have so much to do feeling). As it is the only reason I am blogging right now is because it is 5:30 am, the house is mostly quiet although the teenagers are just getting up to get ready for Seminary, and I could not lay in bed one second longer trying to get some much needed shut eye- there fore I am blogging!

So on with my post-

Spencer turned 16 on Thanksgiving Day...I still choose to believe that he really is not that old- how could he be 16 when just a second ago I was holding him for the first time! In honor of his birthday here are 16 reasons why I love my Spence.

1- He is my number one helper around here- something I rely on way to much, but it really is nice to know that he handle things when I need to be gone.

2- He is my Guinea pig and he is usually okay with it- we are navigating this road together and everything he goes through is new territory for us- sometimes figuring it out takes a lot of experimenting!

3- He is very caring- he loves his brothers and adores his sister even when they drive him to the brink of insanity (where he usually finds me clinging to the edge and we hang on together!)

4- His love of reading- don't know where he got it from, but when Spencer disappears for awhile he is usually found with a really good thick book. He is in heaven if he is in a book store.

5- His love of talking- this kid is an open book! When he was little his punishment was to sit on the couch and not talk for 10 minutes- which he never could do.

6- His love of organizing- although his room does not show it, he loves to organize things.

7- His love of learning- he is a sponge when it comes to learning new things and he is a great student- he handles high school with ease.

8- His constant mild temper- not much can ruffle his feathers, he is a very mild mannered person- although lately Mr T. seems to push his buttons.

9- He is a good friend- the kind of friend I wish I had more of in high school.

10- He is responsible and dependable- great qualities if you ask me.

11- His love of family- especially extended family in Utah and most especially if your name is Kinsie- the oldest of the two Cowan cousins- these two have been good buddies from the day they were born- they have quite the senior trip planned together- good thing the parents get to chaperon!

12- His love of the gospel- this kid has been getting up to go to Seminary (like bible study) by 6:30 am every school day for the past three years. No complaints- ever. He says its a great way to start the day.

13- His sensitive side- He has always worn his heart on his sleeve.

14- His mad computer skillz- not many a day passes without him having to bail his mom out or fix something she tried to do on the puter! He prefers to type not write.

15- He is forgiving- He won't stay mad for long, and he always forgives his mom when she looses it and dumps more than his share on him cause he is the responsible one and I can depend on him to do it.

16- I love him most for all of these things and hundreds more- he is my first born, the one who made me a mom, the one I still look at with amazement- He came into the world a hefty 9 lbs 6 oz by c-section. Back then I used to think about how he would be when he grew up, I think he is growing up perfectly.

Love you Spence!

And no together forever bolg is complete without some Maya cuteness, so I leave you with a couple Fall shots I took for her yearly adoption update- she is quickly approaching 3 (although she thinks she is 16)- so watch for her birthday update.