I'm Not Going to Even Pretend...

That right... I'm not going to even pretend that I can remember everything that's happened over the past 2+ weeks! I'll just have to go by what pictures I took, so bear with me! :)

One thing I know for sure is that Maja's family got a little bit smaller (temporarily, of course) about a week and a half ago when Grandpa left to go to New Zealand for three weeks. In addition to tracking down kiwis, counting the plethora of sheep and eating yummy chocolate covered macadamia nuts, Grandpa will be spending some time helping out Maja's Uncle Uncle Alastair build part of his house (in particular his office - complete with built in desks). Although Maja knows that Grandpa will be coming home soon, she sure does miss him (as do the rest of us). Maja often asks me to call Grandpa, to go play with Grandpa and to show Grandpa things that she does (like pee pee in the potty... but I digress). So Dad, if you're reading this, "Hi" from Maja and all of us here - can't wait until you come home!

Another thing I know for sure is that I'm getting old... how do I know this, you ask?!? Well I know, because my eldest nephew Will just celebrated his 8th (yes, 8th!) birthday on June 7th! I can't believe he's only 2 years shy of double digits! So from Marvin, Maja and me...

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY WILL!

And another thing I know for sure is that "the other Maja" (Maja Grace) is now a big sister to Anthony Dario! Anthony was born early via c-section this past Sunday (June 8th) and weighed in at a hefty 10 pounds 1 ounce! Wow! So a "huge" (pun intended) congratulations goes out to proud Mama (Cynthia), Papa (Terry) and especially to big sis Maja G! Hope you're all doing well and we can't wait to meet the "little" fella! :)

Ok, ok... I know... you want to see pictures... ok so here goes. This photo is a cute one of Maja playing peek-a-boo with Grandma around one of the trees in our backyard (as you can tell by the fleecey-goodness pants and sweater, this was taken before our recent heat wave!)...
Here's a shot of Maja hamming it up at Kelsey's one night with Grandma & Grandpa...
A nice shot of all my teeth... :)
A group shot of Grandma & Grandpa reading to Maja...

One of my family's genes is the "I can't eat enough chocolate" gene... this gene is so strong that it far out weighs my mother's "I don't really like chocolate, I'll have the lemon cake instead" gene! :) As was the tradition when we were growing up, I introduced Maja to licking chocolate icing right off the beater! I have to say, she wasn't so into it. Maybe the gene takes time to kick in! Anyhow, here's a shot of Maja showing off her beautiful blue eyes while she casually licks the beater...
A nice shot of Maja looking out the bay window at Grandma & Grandpa's (this wasn't even a posed shot)...
Maja giving her Uncle Uncle Ron a great big squishy hug before heading to bed...
A great shot of Maja dancing with Grandpa to Sarah Brightman - she was dancing with Grandma but then specifically requested a dance with Grandpa...
A while ago, I bought Maja a Little People version of Grandma & Grandpa. Given how much she enjoyed playing with them (and of course showing them her pee pee in the potty - she's really turning into quite the little exhibitionist these days), I thought it would only be fair to bring on the rest of the family - much to Maja's excitement! So without further ado, I'd like to introduce you all to Maja's "family" - from left to right we have little baby, Teta Linda, Bakica (a nicely tanned version of Bakica, I might add), Daddy, Mommy, Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie and Kitty (unfortunately Uncle Mike was camera shy that day and didn't make it into the photo)...A nice shot of my wonderful husband working hard in the backyard...
Maja wandering around the backyard picking flowers (aka pretty weeds) and putting them in a small paper vase for Grandma (which Maja later refused to let go of and threw a temper tantrum when I tried to make her give it to Grandma - it's the thought that counts... right?)...
Maja stopping to smell the tulips at our neighbour's house...
Maja grinning as she sees Daddy come around the side of Grandma & Grandpa's van after breakfast one morning...
Maja directing Grandma to go "that way" (the direction of the park) while out for a walk...

A funny shot of Maja modelling a "sticky nose" (or Maple key, as per Stephanie) for me while we went around the neighbourhood exploring...
Maja showing me that she loves Daddy "this much"...
As you all remember, we recently had a heat wave (and we're apparently getting another one tomorrow - eek!). And what better way to beat the heat then prance around in a t-shirt, big sun hat (that's such a great hat Bakica - thanks for getting it for her), rain boots and a princess pull up?!? Here's what I mean...
And gotta love him... Daddy decided to battle the overgrown lawn on one of those crazy hot days! Maja & I thought that it would only be fair if we bring him a nice cold bottle of water to help cool him off. Here's a shot of Maja and Daddy cooling off together...
And finally, this past Sunday, Croatia played (and beat) Austria in their first EuroCup 2008 game! Let's hope the trend continues as they battle Germany this afternoon! Instead of gathering in the basement huddled around the tv to watch the game, we decided to move the tv outside and have a BBQ with Bakica, Teta Linda, Daddy, me and our neighbours. Of course, we couldn't just set up the tv, we had to get all decked out. You can see the Croatia scarf draped over the tv in this video, but what you can't see is that there were two Croatia flags hanging from the umbrella, two flags on the shed and a crowd of Croatians (ok, just Bakica, Teta Linda and Daddy) wearing Croatian jerseys in the background. Here's a short (only 6 seconds) of Maja cheering for Croatia...