Boo at the Zoo

The weekend before Halloween, the National Zoo has a fundraiser called Boo at the Zoo. We took the kids this year, and they (and Larkin and I) loved it. It was a nice cool Fall evening, so the costumes provided the perfect amount of warmth. There were tons of kids there. I think Maya's highlight was when two little girls stopped her and said, "Look, it's Snow White." Ben's highlight was the Small Mammal House (see video below.)



A Cow visits the Small Mammal House

Party pics

I know that we are quite behind in updating the blog, but the thought of going back to find the July and August pictures seems quite overwhelming to me at the this moment. We've had a great summer with trips to both California and Florida and lots of time with friends here in DC. The past couple of weekends we've gone to parties with my friends from college (some of whom have much better cameras than we do - hence, the better pictures.)




4 of the 12 Powerhouse from my third year at UVA.
Powerhouse 2.0

We are pretty funny....

Dance recital

Maya had her first dance recital this afternoon. We know that we are biased, but we both think she did wonderfully! She watched all the other dances attentively, seemed to really enjoy herself, and didn't seem nervous at all.



She and her best friend Mae danced 3 numbers (with a costume change at intermission).

In this first dance, she and Mae are princesses that are supposed to wake up the sleeping flowers. The laughter at the beginning is due to Maya yelling, "Mae, you didn't come out of the castle. You stayed in the castle, Mae" as Mae apparently missed her cue coming out of the castle. Unfortunately, my phone didn't pick up that detail (and my apologies for the poor quality of the video.)



In the second video, the girls have no idea that they are supposed to be facing the audience. Oh well. And in the last one, Maya is on the left, Mae is on the right.

We are very proud parents today.

Two birthday videos

Three Years

Three years ago today, I became a mom. It seems impossible to believe that I have only been Maya's mom for a little more than 1100 days. She has filled our lives with such joy (and such noise) that it is hard to remember how quiet and still our lives must have been before she arrived.

Maya Drake is full of life, enjoying each moment to its fullest. She constantly sings, dances, walks on her tiptoes, laughs, and is up for anything.

Her greatest role is as a big sister. If anything, I feel bad that she has only had the chance to do that for a year. She loves Ben, and Ben LOVES her.
Maya Drake, you are my sunshine. Happy birthday.

One year

One year ago today, Benjamin Robert Tackett was born. And I honestly wonder how I made it my first 31 years without him. The little man loves life (unfortunately, all too often that translate into wanting to start his day at 6 am. He doesn't understand weekends yet.) He shrieks with joy when he sees Larkin, me, or - his favorite person, Maya. His hugs are incredible - he will wrap his little arms around your shoulders and squeeze, squeeze, squeeze.
It has been so much fun watching the him grow and explore his world (as well as seeing what I would look like as a baby baby.) He is an active, curious kid whose default emotion is joy. He has sparkling blue eyes and an easy smile - and he knows how to use both. I am constantly stopped by strangers telling me that he is an absolute flirt. Ladies, watch out.
Another joy of the last year has been watching Maya be a big sister. The girl was born for this role. After telling us that it is 7 o'clock, the second thing out of her mouth each morning is "where's Ben?" She rarely loses her patience with him, even when he grabs her toys. She delights in accomplishments and is his biggest cheerleader. (When he took a couple of steps the other day, Maya ran over to hug him and told him, "Ben, good job! You pretended to be a boy!")

Ben, happy birthday! We love you so very much.