Sam's first Hockey Game

Last Sunday night, Sam and I went to our first hockey game together. I made the mistake of telling Sam way to soon about it as he was asking for it all weekend, and every time that we went somewhere, he wanted to go to a hockey game.

He actually watched the entire first period before losing interest in what was going on in the game, but he had a great time. His highlights (based on what he tells everyone about the game) were: 1) seeing the big bird mascot 2) the mascot "getting" him 3) riding the train with Owen 4) and seeing Fire.

Here are a few pictures. And yes, we were wearing our eagles jersey. Partly because the Eagles played that Sunday night against the Cowboys, and partly because Sam does not have any Thrashers gear. There is a Christmas idea for him for anyone interested.

Evening on Thayer

Last night Sam, Maya, and I spent the evening out on our street and Sam met a new friend, Jeremiah. They enjoyed pushing their carts together and racing up and down the sidewalk. The fun intensified when I put Maya in the wagon that Sam was pushing. Sam really enjoyed it, but Maya REALLY enjoyed it. She especially enjoyed it when Sam almost tipped her a few times. She definitely has more of a daring personality than her brother.

This doesn't quite capture the smile that Maya had while Sam pushed her. To get that, I would have had to capture Sam at his fastest and my camera phone is not that good.

On another Maya note, she has started trying to stand up from an all fours position. It is pretty funny. She has tried it a couple of times and doesn't really get anywhere, but it is fun to watch.

Pride for Parents

For the past several months, I have been working with an organization called FCS Community Economic Development, primarily helping to run the Pride for Parents campaign. It has been wonderfully working there and has brought me great joy to help out with such a wonderful program that has been around for 26 years.

For those that do not know about it, it is a program that is designed to allow families in the neighborhood of South Atlanta (where we live) to purchase quality and affordable new and gently used Christmas gifts from a store here in the neighborhood. The premise is that allowing families to actually purchase their own gifts, rather than receive a handout, allows them to have a sense of pride about being able to provide for their family at Christmas.

Would you think about helping out this year? If in Atlanta, you could bring a toy by the store or volunteer? If elsewhere, you could help by donating to the campaign so we can provide more toys at the store that we do not receive through other donations. If you wish to donate, you can go to:

http://apps.facebook.com/causes/birthdays/214238

or

http://prideforparents.org/donate

If you want more information on the background of the sale and why it exists, please read Bob Lupton's newsletter about the start of the program here. Thanks so much for your support!

Weekend with Sam

This past weekend, Katie and Maya went to Texas to spend some time with her family because it was her father's ** birthday. That left Sam and I at home to hold down the fort and enjoy some one on one time together, something that has been rare since Maya has been born.

Of course, we did plenty of things that the two of us love to do: ride trains, eat at Five Guys, go swimming, and the highlight of the weekend for Sam, go to a hockey game. It was a lot of fun to spend so much time with Sam and I feel like we really bonded. After the hockey game, Sam held onto his new hockey stick from the time we left the arena until the next morning (yes he slept with it close to his chest!).

Perhaps the highlight of the weekend for me, was actually on Monday, after Katie and Maya came home. During the weekend, Sam and I began playing this game where I act as though I am sad (at Sam's request) and he comes and makes me feel better (sometimes that involves him bringing me a blanket!!). Sam gets a really soft cute voice and gently touches as though he is trying to comfort me, just like Katie and I do to him. When Maya came home, of course Sam had to try out his new comforting skills on her. After telling her about the Hockey game and swimming, Sam proceeded to talk to Maya in the comfort voice. What came out was a Sam version of a story that Grandpa told Sam on his latest visit to Atlanta. It went something like this: (in a high pitch Sam comfort voice)

"Maya, there are horses in Texas and they say...Neigh"

"Maya, there are cows in Texas and they say...Mooo"

"Maya, there are goats in Texas and they say...baaaa"

"Maya, there are sheep in Texas and they say...baaaa"

Now, I imagine that Randy's story had a few more things that filled in the gaps, making the story a little fuller. However, it was pretty funny to hear Sam try to tell a story!

While I was amazed at Sam and his ability to remember a story from several months ago and his desire to care for his sister, I was also thankful for all of the grandparents that Sam and Maya have in their lives and the relationships that they will have with them. Thanks for caring for them so well! And keep the stories coming Randy (just keep the guns out of the Texas stories :) )

Happy Halloween

We've had a fun week of Halloween festivities. Sam dressed up as The Man With the Yellow Hat and Maya was Curious George.

Sam had a fun party at school on Wednesday.

On Saturday we went to a Halloween party during the afternoon and did a little trick or treating with friends in the evening. Here is my attempt to take a cute picture of the two of them. The Man with the Yellow Hat was refusing to wear his yellow hat and Curious George was, well, curious.

This year was Sam's first time trick or treating. He figured it out quickly as he was shouting "trick or treat" all the way up the porch of our neighbors. It was a little rainy all evening, but we still managed to get plenty of candy!

A walk to the Playground

Sam, Maya, and I took a walk to the YMCA playground the other day. As is customary, Sam got off the stroller as soon as we passed through the YMCA gate. Again, as is customary, as soon as Sam saw the YMCA playground, he shouts "PLAYGROUND! I SEE PLAYGROUND."

But this time, Sam decides to walks next to Maya and proceeds to tell her all about the playground. "Maya there is slide, tunnel, firetruck." "Slides are for boys," etc... It was amazingly cute. It is really fun to see how much Sam cares for his little sister (except when she is playing with his trains, that of course is off limits).

Here are two pictures of the moment I tried to get on my phone. You can see Sam pointing to the playground and it looks like Maya is intently listening.

Catch up Photos

I finally got my pictures off of my camera. Some of these are old, but they are worth the wait:

This is one of the first pictures of Sam and Maya playing together. Sam was teaching Maya how to play with the barn. As you can tell by Maya's facial expression, she was intent on listening.

Well, what more to say. Sam wearing an Eagles jersey and sipping out of a Rita's cup. What a beautiful site!

Sam loved playing in the puddles during all the rain we have had over the last few months. This is him after one of the first times we went out to splash.

When Pop-Pop was here a few weeks ago we went to the mountains to get some apples and pumpkins. Sam and Maya enjoyed the wagon ride together.

I mean, how can you take these two seriously! Sam insisted that Maya sit in the car with him while grocery shopping today. And well, they were super cute together.

Sam and the Train

Yesterday Sam came along with me on a train excursion around Atlanta. It had been a while since Sam and I had a chance to ride the train together. We got a chance to see a lot of things yesterday: trees were more colors than just green, all of the "tunnels" on the MARTA line, large escalators, and probably his favorite of the day: pigeons! He loved the pigeons downtown.

My favorite part of the day was the confidence in which Sam moved around. Whenever we came to the gates to get on the train, Sam would ask for the breeze card (the fare card). He would then proceed to run to the gate, ask which one, and then tap the card to open it and walk through all by himself (usually with Dad trying to catch up as to not get left outside the gate :) ). It was a lot of fun to watch him have so much joy and fun in getting around town yesterday.

The past few months have been amazingly crazy for both Katie and I and unfortunately these moments that I had gotten used to in the first two years of life with Sam have been all too infrequent the past 6 months. That is probably what made yesterday all the more sweeter.

Maya is on the Move!

This week Maya has started to be able to move herself to where she wants to go. I hesitate to call is crawling. It is more like a chimpanzee scoot as she uses her arms to move her in a sitting up position, but it works. It has been a lot of fun to watch her as she begins to discover a whole new world, and a whole new ability to torment her big brother! Hopefully we will get a video up soon. The Delp house has gone through some technology changes and I am having difficultly getting videos off of our camera. Here is a picture for now:

This is one of the cutest pictures that we have of Maya yet! This outfit was a gift from one of good friends here in Atlanta.

A Glimpse of Sam and Maya

The past few weeks have a been a lot of fun around the Delp house. Sam is really playing by himself a lot and showing us his huge imagination, as well as, his OCD tendencies. Lining up his toys in particular order or by color is a common occurrence for Sam. All of this development is just in time for Maya starting to scoot a little! You can only imagine the fun this is!

Here are a few photos of Sam playing in his room:

These are Sam's cars lined up on the window sill. They are often going somewhere: the airport, in a tunnel, Texas, Pennsylvania, a friend's house, etc...

You may have seen Sam's last caps photo (scroll down), but here are all the caps that Sam owns. Yes, they are still $.50 a piece! And yes, they are as tall as me (Jeff).

This is Sam at his friend Beth's birthday party. Sam and Beth have become quite good friends since they are in the same class at school this year. Here they are painting pumpkins (another great love of Sam these days!)

Maya's Dedication

Maya was dedicated this morning at church. She was very serious about the entire process. We are so thankful God gave her to us, and hope to raise her to know Him.

Today, Maya wore the beautiful dress that Mandy brought back from India. Thanks, Mandy!!

Caps for Sale

We've been reading the book "Caps for Sale" at bedtime this week. It's an old classic that Jeff and I both remember from childhood. It is about a peddler who sells caps that he has stacked on top of his head. Sam has been enjoying the book and yesterday he made his own tower of "caps" made of legos. He has been walking around the house yelling "Caps for Sale. 50 Cents a cap." for the past two days. Maya has been his biggest customer, though Sam makes her give the caps back. Watching Sam's comprehension and imagination grow is fascinating for me to watch. Here he is with his caps.

Maya is 8 Months!

Since I missed celebrating Maya's 7th month mark, I thought I would give her extra love for 8 months. She continues to be such a joy for our family. Her continuous smiles and chatters are contagious! She lights up every time someone new comes into the room and she seems not to know a stranger. Maya LOVES to eat and eats more than Sam at every meal. We are all so thankful for our sweet girl!!

Maya has inherited several outfits from Sam. Here she is showing off her Red Raider gear for the Texas vs. Texas Tech game. Before the game:

After the game (poor Tech):

Like I said earlier, Maya loves to eat. Thus, she spends a lot of time in the high chair. Earlier this week she spent an entire meal holding a balloon. Don't worry, it didn't slow down her eating!

Last weekend I thought it would be funny to see her reaction to a pickle. Turns out, she loves pickles and she devoured the entire thing. Not too bad for a girl with no teeth!

I love the fall, and fall has finally come to Atlanta this year. Thanks to Grammy and Auntie Shelva, Maya has a great fall wardrobe. Here we are in our coordinating fall attire.

Sibling Love

Sam and Maya ended up in the toy box together the other day. After Sam stopped fussing about Maya sitting on his toys, he realized that it was kind of fun to play with her in the box. I even caught this sweet moment.

A Few New Pictures

Just a few new pictures to share this morning:

Sam is already into his third week of pre-school and having a great year so far. Here he is on the first day of school.

For the most part, Sam is potty trained. I'm thankful we had the summer to work on it. Sam does need a lot of time to take care of his business, so this is a common site in our house.

Grammy spoiled Maya with some new fall clothes...Here she is showing them off.

Maya has become an early riser as of late. While we are a bit sleepy, it is hard to resist this smile in the morning. She wakes up smiling, and when Maya smiles it over takes her entire body. Here is her smiling face at 6:30 this morning.

Maya is 6 months!

Our sweet girl is already six months old (actually 6 1/2 now). She definitely doesn't get as much blog attention as her brother did at this age, so I want to make sure she gets a little blog love. Maya is growing so fast! She is still so sweet and smiles at everyone she sees. She loves people and loves to eat - two traits she picked up from her mama! She is getting close to crawling. Sam better look out because I think Maya is going to give him a run for his money.

Here are two pictures of her from the weekend.

My Little Puzzler

Sam LOVES puzzles as of late. He's constantly doing puzzles, and he's quite good at them. We keep moving up in difficulty. He's just about mastered 24 piece puzzles (it only took a couple of days). This morning he came out of the closet with a 300 piece puzzle and NEEDED to do it. So, after his nap we took a stab at it. He did a really good job of helping me turn all of the pieces over, and he even got a few pieces together. Overall it was a bit frustrating for him, but he stuck with it. I love a puzzles also, so its been a fun way for us to spend time together.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

This Saturday we headed to the Braves' game to celebrate with our friends, the Slade's, as Brent recieved the Community Coach Award before the game. The game ended up being sold out, and we were only able to get standing room only tickets. We still got to see the awards ceremony, then Sam played in the kids area and "ran" the bases. We all gathered back out our house afterward the game for a fun party.

Photo Session

Our friend, April, took these pictures of the kids last month playing in their room. She has a real gift, and we love how they turned out. Jeff will post more on Shutterfly when he gets back in town - I can't seem to figure it out!!