Maya at the Villa Borghese

She had a blast running through the grass at the villa Borghese. Every time she saw a statue laying down--she said "Na-night" like they were sleeping. Too cute.

A diva in Roma

Maya in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel Grand--she was too cute with her diva shades on.

Eating gelato in Roma

Maya enjoyed eating gelato in Roma!

New pictures of our sweet girl

The diva in Roma!

8 months since Gotcha Day!

I still can't believe that it has been only eight months since Maya Lily was placed in our arms. She is truly an amazing human being! She has grown so much and has learned more than I could have ever expected.
We are so grateful for this precious gift and love her more than words could ever say. I tell her all the time how smart and beautiful she is.
Maya has brought us so much joy in such a short amount of time.

Nonnie Dunn is here for a visit. She and Maya Lily have had a great time bonding.

Maya's photo shoot with Jim Straka

Maya had her first photo shoot with Jim Straka--a dear friend of ours--who is launching his own photography business.
If you would like to see 72 of the cutest pictures ever--go www.jstrakaphoto.com. click on client. see the one that says the dunns--type in the password: Lily. then click on gallery 2.
Gallery 1 is of her baptism in case you want to see those as well.

Christmas photos

These were taken on Christmas Eve. We went to Chef Mickey's for dinner.
Maya had a blast with the characters.

Happy 2008-hope it's great!

The highlight of 2007 was of course the arrival of Maya Lily! There was also the births of Finn in February, Cassie in July and Luke in September. Taking Maya to Rome was also very special. We had a blast. Photos to follow!
There was also a lot of sadness in the past year. We lost many of our loved ones including Pal, Papa Jimmy, Ella, Karren, Steve, and Papa Fountain.
However, 2008 looks very promising!
Maya will be 2 in March. We will celebrate our 1st anniversary of Gotcha Day in May with several Lianjiang families. My brother Jason and his girlfriend Narelle are expecting their first baby in May.

It's freezing cold in Florida today--40 degrees--yikes--where are my winter clothes--no flip flops today.

Here's to a healthy, happy 2008 to all!
The Dunns

Maya is 21 months old today

I could just cry! My little one is getting so big so fast! She is still our baby though.
We are so amazed at how far she has come in the past seven months.
This morning she ate a bowl of cereal--with my help--for breakfast. She loves Special K with vanilla soy--no Fruit Loops for this kid!

Making Christmas cookies

Maya donned an apron to help us make Christmas cookies. She really enjoyed the frosting!

Happy Holidays from the Dunns

Maya is certainly the best Christmas present we could have ever asked for!
We baked cookies tonight-she was such a great helper.
We will be heading to Rome for our annual Christmas vacation. My mom and dear friend Mary Linn will be joining us.
We are so excited to be bringing Maya there.

Have a wonderful holiday!
Love,
Aleisa, Patrick and Maya Lily

Ballerina girl--you are so lovely!

Maya is so adorable in her ballet outfit. She loves to twirl around. I have already had to buy her a new pair of ballet shoes--her little feet are growing so fast!

Thanksgiving has come and gone!

It was a busy week getting ready for Thanksgiving. We had a dozen people over for dinner and dessert--it was a lot of fun.
Maya fell asleep right before dinner--no turkey or stuffing for our little one. She ended up eating my meatballs for dinner when she woke up two hours later.

We put up our Christmas trees today while she was napping. When she came into the living room--she went "OOOOOOOhhhhhhh" it was too cute.

We are planning to take her to get her picture with Santa Claus next week-hopefully it will go smoothly!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for this year.

Love,
A, P and MLD

Happy 8th Anniversary!

Today Patrick and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary! Our gift was of course Maya Lily. We were so happy to have her to share our special day. We had dinner at Citrico's at Disney's Grand Floridian Hotel--it was lovely. She was so good!
We have been blessed as a couple, as parents and as a family of three.

Maya meets Emily and Andrew

Jill's family from Georgia are here for the week. Maya got to meet Emily and Andrew and Jill's grandmother Mama.
We ate at Kobe for dinner. Maya loved the shrimp and noodles.
Here she is with the kids looking at the koi fish at the restaurant.

Princess Maya Lily is 20 months old today!

It's hard to believe that in four months Maya will be 2! Here she is playing Princess dress up!

The two Disney Princesses!

Maya Lily and Grace love going to Disney. We have taken them to the Magic Kingdom and to EPCOT. We hope to get them over to MGM and the Animal Kingdom.
Living in Florida with Disney in your backyard certainly has its advantages!

Six months since Gotcha Day!

Wow-it is amazing to realize that we have had Maya for six months. She is doing so great. We signed her up for baby ballet classes--she loves it.
We have been going to Disney once a week with our friends Rachel, Grace and Luke.

Halloween pictures

Maya was a cheerleader during the day. Then she was a ladybug that night. She and Grace went trick or treating together. They had such a good time together.