Happy New Year!

This is my favorite picture post of her this year, I think. I take a lot of pictures of them so it's hard to say! I love this picture because I think it's the only time she's let me keep a barrette in. It was also taken right before I went to the hospital to have Veronica, way back when Maria was my little baby girl and not a big sister.

I hope and pray that I can be more patient with Maria in the new year. I also hope that she gets a little quieter, sleeps a little later, and is a little longer with the conversation and shorter with the endless, relentless repeating this year. We'll see.

Car? Car? Car? Car? Car? Car?

 

Two

 
This hardly ever happens. I can't remember exactly, but I would bet that she just clambered up beside him. This picture was probably taken in the three seconds before he beat it.

Take Me To Florida!

 
 
Ha! Maria is NOT loving her time in the snow. She is wearing Anthony's cute hate here, that Mike's mom brought him for Christmas today. It just occurred to me I didn't take one picture when everybody was here for our Christmas celebration, but it's too crazy, I guess. Anyway, she wanted to go out but she just couldn't keep her footing and oooh-weee was she mad! She came in and I put her up on the island to get her boots off and she kept waving her red, cold hands in front of my face, like what the HELL is up with THIS, lady? She gets very indignant and it cracks me up. That's when I like her best, to be honest.

Apple!

 
I want to post a picture of her with her new haircut in her little outfit my mom got her for Christmas, but they are all coming out badly. She moves CONSTANTLY. She was so bad when I was cutting her hair - Mike held her hands but there was no one to hold her head, which she whipped around like crazy. I can never take her to a real place. It came out fine, though, at least it's out of her eyes. She was good at my parent's house, shy with my brother and his family, but just at first. We gave her a Kai Lan doll and she loved it, then my brother gave her a Kai Lan book and she looked at me like HOW IS THIS HAPPENING? She is a funny ducky and although she drives us mad, she is a sweet thing, our Maria, and we hope she has many many more happy Christmases.

Party

 
Maria, at Anthony's party. Oh, she was ca-razy all the time! She wanted to take toys out of the playroom, she got her fingers caught in the bathroom door, waah waah, scream scream.

Early Saturday

 
I know this is early Saturday because later she had to wear a different shirt. She is a slob, to put it mildly.

Caught!

 

Beautiful

 
Pretty Maria. Crazy, pretty, loud, insane Maria.

Friday

 
This is not a great picture and she is pulling a barrette out of her hair, but I wanted to get a shot of this shirt, Candie gave us a bunch of clothes and toys and this shirt is one of them. They are all this cute.

Oh, girl

 



What are we going to do with that hair? I took her to get it cut today but the place we went only had one woman working, and she was barely cutting the hair of the kid in her chair. She was mostly chasing her own two kids out the door because their Daddy was a-coming to git them. Or something. She also scratched the heck out of her nose, see? I took her to Costco with me and, aside from some grabbiness, she was really good. I am always amazed at how good she is in public. I wish we could live there.