At only her first attempt at steamed artichokes, Maya realizes the real reason we eat them...for the butter.
The Baby Breininger Blog
Welcome friends! In 2007 we started this blog to share the status of our adoption process. After an excrutiatingly long wait, we travelled to Haiti in June 2009 and brought our girl home on July 15. Now this blog is a place for us to share pictures and videos, give updates and brag about how wonderful she is. Enjoy!
Link to Landscape Smart Photos
Friday, May 14, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Mother's Day
After all these years of dreading this holiday, avoiding church with its inevitable mention of mothers and restaurants with their banners and such, I AM A MOTHER on Mother's Day!
Last year I was legally a mother. Maya had the last name "Breininger" and the adoption was finalized, but it still stung to be wished "Happy Mother's Day!" as being a mom on paper doesn't count.
The last eleven months of motherhood have been everything but boring. We've slept very little, laughed more than ever, softened in so many ways, become multi-tasking attempters, lost a bunch of battles to a three-year-old, spent countless hours rocking, both to sleep and to any kind of music that's on, frequented family-friendly chain restaurants that were previously at the bottom of our list, lapped our block following a little red trike dozens of times and much much much more.
One of the things that has consumed most of our time, conversations and reading has been trying to get our girl to sleep. As if on cue, she slept in her own room all through the night for the very first time last night. Happy Mother's Day to me!!! We can only hope that this is the start of a long-lasting pattern.
To show the joy and humor that our girl has brought into our lives, here are a few of her recent quotes. Enjoy and Happy Mother's Day!
Me: What would you like for breakfast today?
Maya: Ice cream.
Me: We don't eat ice cream for breakfast.
Maya: Then I'd like lunch, please.
Maya: I'm trying to see what you're thinking.
Me: You can't see what I'm thinking, just like I can't see what you're thinking.
Maya: Yeah, my forehead's in the way.
Maya to a man whose name I won't mention: You have a beard in your nose!
Me: Maya, look at the clock and tell me what time it is please.
Maya: Seven oh-ty three. (7:03)
Last year I was legally a mother. Maya had the last name "Breininger" and the adoption was finalized, but it still stung to be wished "Happy Mother's Day!" as being a mom on paper doesn't count.
The last eleven months of motherhood have been everything but boring. We've slept very little, laughed more than ever, softened in so many ways, become multi-tasking attempters, lost a bunch of battles to a three-year-old, spent countless hours rocking, both to sleep and to any kind of music that's on, frequented family-friendly chain restaurants that were previously at the bottom of our list, lapped our block following a little red trike dozens of times and much much much more.
One of the things that has consumed most of our time, conversations and reading has been trying to get our girl to sleep. As if on cue, she slept in her own room all through the night for the very first time last night. Happy Mother's Day to me!!! We can only hope that this is the start of a long-lasting pattern.
To show the joy and humor that our girl has brought into our lives, here are a few of her recent quotes. Enjoy and Happy Mother's Day!
Me: What would you like for breakfast today?
Maya: Ice cream.
Me: We don't eat ice cream for breakfast.
Maya: Then I'd like lunch, please.
Maya: I'm trying to see what you're thinking.
Me: You can't see what I'm thinking, just like I can't see what you're thinking.
Maya: Yeah, my forehead's in the way.
Maya to a man whose name I won't mention: You have a beard in your nose!
Me: Maya, look at the clock and tell me what time it is please.
Maya: Seven oh-ty three. (7:03)
Sunday, May 2, 2010
5k Success
Maya has been counting down the days to "Running Day" and woke up this morning talking about how today is the day that the police officers will say, "Sorry cars. You don't get to go on the streets today. Only friends."
She was right. The streets were blocked off and the morning began with a 1/4 mile kid run, which she whole heartedly participated in (photos at left). Then she hopped into the jogging stroller and we strolled the 5k. The weather was perfect, the turnout was great and thanks to a last minute donor I ended up in third place for fundraising, winning me a prize!
The exact total isn't in yet, but it's estimated that more than $15,000 was raised for Friends of the Orphans. Thanks for your support!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Countdown to 5k
Hello friends,
In just 3 days Maya and I will be participating in the Friends of the Orphans 5k, Maya in the Kid Run and me pushing her in the stroller for the walk/run. I'm currently 48% of the way towards my fundraising goal of $1,000 and need your help.
Friends of the Orphans is the organization that Sean works for that supports orphan homes in Latin America and the Carribbean, including Haiti. Sean has visited four of the homes and we both went to the Haiti home last summer. We have seen firsthand the powerful and life-changing work that they do, believe strongly in the mission, and try to support them in every way that we can.
The picture below is of our visit to the Haiti home, where we got to meet Herby and Deristin, the boys that we and Sean's brother sponsor.

If you live nearby, I'd love for you to join Maya and me as we walk through beautiful Highland Park this Sunday. If you're interested in supporting Friends of the Orphans by walking or running, please click on the link below for more info:
http://www.friendsoftheorphans.org/s/769/inner.aspx?sid=769&pgid=880&gid=1&cid=1890&ecid=1890
If you're able to donate to the work of Friends of the Orphans, please use the link below to do so online quickly & securely. I thank you in advance for your support, and really appreciate your generosity!!
http://www.active.com/donate/FOTO5K2010/abreininger
Thanks very much and watch for pictures from the event in the next few days!
In just 3 days Maya and I will be participating in the Friends of the Orphans 5k, Maya in the Kid Run and me pushing her in the stroller for the walk/run. I'm currently 48% of the way towards my fundraising goal of $1,000 and need your help.
Friends of the Orphans is the organization that Sean works for that supports orphan homes in Latin America and the Carribbean, including Haiti. Sean has visited four of the homes and we both went to the Haiti home last summer. We have seen firsthand the powerful and life-changing work that they do, believe strongly in the mission, and try to support them in every way that we can.
The picture below is of our visit to the Haiti home, where we got to meet Herby and Deristin, the boys that we and Sean's brother sponsor.

If you live nearby, I'd love for you to join Maya and me as we walk through beautiful Highland Park this Sunday. If you're interested in supporting Friends of the Orphans by walking or running, please click on the link below for more info:
http://www.friendsoftheorphans.org/s/769/inner.aspx?sid=769&pgid=880&gid=1&cid=1890&ecid=1890
If you're able to donate to the work of Friends of the Orphans, please use the link below to do so online quickly & securely. I thank you in advance for your support, and really appreciate your generosity!!
http://www.active.com/donate/FOTO5K2010/abreininger
Thanks very much and watch for pictures from the event in the next few days!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Add another "sport" to the list...
In our week of illness, which continues on, we've watched the four episodes of the Backyardigans countless times. One features pom pons, which, of course, prompted Maya to wish for a pair of her very own. When her life-saver of an aunt, Amanda, came to babysit for a few hours pom pons were created out of mere paper towels, tape, and glitter glue. Which led to this...
Monday, April 12, 2010
A bug?
After a call to the ENT office this morning to report the happenings of the weekend, we were told to head in to the Pediatrician or ER today to make sure Maya wasn't dehydrated. We went in to our Doctor and they took chest x-rays to see if she has pneumonia, which she does not. They think that she just happens to have a bug that coincided with surgery. We're making plans to have her stay home again tomorrow just to give her one more day before being around even more germs.
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