Wow, what a great week in California!!!

Not only did Maya meet her cousin, Loretta for the first time, but Shu Shu was released from City of Hope earlier than we anticipated and surprised us in Bakersfield. (It's still early, so please hold your calls and visits to mom for the next couple of weeks.)


The trip actually started in San Jose, where Maya, Benji, and I did some hiking and checked out the local farm animals.


Maya searched for her favorite animal (duck) among the chickens. Later that day, Grandpaji drove up to San Jose to give us a ride back to Bakersfield for the weddings.


On Saturday morning, Maya, Katie, and the rest of the Tacketts went to Barbie's (our sister-in-law Amy's sister) wedding. On Saturday evening, I officiated Ray and Toni's ceremony.

It was a Father's Day to remember as the entire Tackett clan met up for the first time.

One of the highlights was Little Loretta meeting her namesake, Greatgrandma Loretta.

We're back in Austin now, getting ready for our move to DC in two weeks.

Birthday Party #2

In order to celebrate the sale of our house and Maya's birthday (again), we decided to have a small impromptu birthday party on Sunday with the Trulls (Ava - 18 months), Kreagers (Anna - 1 day younger than Maya), and Nolds (Ginger 11 months). It was chaotic - and fun!

After playing inside and eating dinner, we hit the pool.
Apparently, the most desirable aspect of the pool was trying to get out of it. Here Maya and Ginger are trying to make a run for it.

Anna won the award for staying in the pool the longest (check out Ava behind her!)
Maya enjoyed demonstrating her walking skills for everyone.


Ava and Maya wait for Mr. Finger, our beloved next door neighbor, to come say hi.

Tomorrow (Maya's actual birthday), we are going to celebrate our little bug all day long. I'm staying home from work, and we are going to do some of Maya's favorite things: going on the train ride at Zilker, swimming, eating lunch with daddy, and watching the "Quack, Quack, Waddle, Waddle" video approximately 50 times on youtube. I can't believe Maya will be a year old tomorrow. The last year has been filled with some tough times, but having Maya be a part of our family has helped us weather all of the storms a little bit easier. She really is the best medicine. Maya Drake, you are my sunshine. Happy birthday eve, baby girl!

House hunting

Well, it looks like we're going to sell our house in Austin after only 48 hours on the market. And we submitted an offer on a house in Alexandria. Here are some pics from this weekend's trip to the DC area.


Maya's first ride in a big girl car seat. Renting one from Avis was much better that lugging it on the plane.



After a nice, long bath, Maya made herself comfortable on Mandy's bed in Alexandria.


We saw about 10 houses in Alexandria, Arlington, and Falls Church (we're priced out of 3 bedroom/2 baths in DC). Tomorrow morning we'll submit a formal offer on this house (and its FIVE decks), which is in a great little neighborhood called Jefferson Manor in Alexandria and only two blocks from the Metro.


Phillip and Tatman had us over to their place on Capitol Hill after a LONG day. Maya loved the fish.


And Logan.


Our baby girl is up to walking 15 steps on her own, however, she still loves a little help from her friends (thanks Bums).




This morning we had a great brunch in Alexandria and Maya jammed to a bluegrass show.



A couple boys hit on her during the concert. The DC adventure has already begun!

A few more pics from graduation

Thanks to Uncle Scott for taking these.

Party

We partied hard this weekend, celebrating Katie's graduation and Maya's 1st b-day.

Grandma and Pop Pop Klingler braved the rainy weather in Central Florida to arrive in time for the ceremony. Maya loved the reunion with her grandparents.

All of UT's PhD grads participated in the same ceremony. Maya amazingly sat still through the reading of 250 some-odd graduate names (and their advisers) to watch mommy walk across the stage.

Aunt Cory and Uncle Scott drove down from Dallas.


After the graduation, about 40 people came over to our house for a joint party. Maya's best friend from school, Lincoln, showed up to play.


The cake was a big deal.

Although somewhat skeptical at first...

...Maya dug in...

... and cleaned her plate.

Cousin Jackson was a constant source of entertainment throughout the weekend.

And Maya shared her box and toys with cousin Ali.

This is just the beginning of a busy summer. Next weekend we're all headed to DC to look at houses!

Mother's Day, Becky, and Loretta

Katie's first official Mother's Day brunch. Maya licks her chops after eating pancakes, strawberries, migas, tortillas, and cheerios.


Maya's new best friend has to be Becky Lee Bergson, who brought out some great smiles and a fun new laugh that sounds somewhat like a sprinkler. Becky also gave Maya this sweet dress.

On Friday we were also ecstatic to learn about another Baby Tackett, Maya's new cousin (Benji and Amy's daughter). Loretta was born on Friday, May 15, Benji's birthday. Check out the Life is Good blog link to the right. We can't wait to visit them in June!

Cousins

We had a great lunch with Jackson, Ali, Scott, and Claudia (Scott's mom) on Saturday. Ali and Jackson both enjoyed trying to make Maya laugh - and they were very successful! Now we are just waiting for Maya's California cousin to be born any day now!