Put into Perspective

I am 8 months old!

I am 8 months old!  I have had an eventful couple of months.  Mommy has been so busy with 2 kiddos, the CHA Winter designs and her job.  Things are pretty crazy at our house!  She missed a month, so she appended it below. She started the 7 month one, but she never published it.  So here I am writing it up for her...

• I learned how to clap!  I love clapping and clapping and clapping.  It is fun to make the sound with my hands. 
• I am 22 lbs!  I am growing so big that I am now in 12 to 18 month clothing.
• I am scared of Tickle Me Elmo.  Once you turn it on, I cry and cry!  It is scary to see that thing roll around on the floor. 
• I am looking more and more like Daddy and his Mommy (my Grandma).  I have the little cleft chin and pretty epicanthic eye folds like them. 
• I love to sing with the music at church.  When there is worship time, I like to scream along with it.  I am completely respectful and silent the rest of the time though. 
• I like to play with my big brother even though he knocks me over a lot.  Sometimes it is accidental and sometimes I think he just pushes me over.  I laugh and laugh.
• I am so happy all the time.  Jonathan sees me smile and says, "Maymay is happy, Mommy!"  He is happy with me.
• My hair still stands up on end.  It is a bit poofy and curly just like my Daddy's. 
• Mommy and Daddy never let me in their bed because the few times I got to sleep there, I was turning in circles and kicking them.
• My big brother has learned to do the big brother pose for photos. He comes up and hugs me, and we smile for the camera together.  Mommy has tons of shots of that. 
• I have 4.5 teeth now.  And I know how to use them.  Nuff said.
• I learned my first sign - More.  Mommy has been trying to teach it to me for weeks and weeks, and one day, she saw me doing it when I was playing.  Yeah!
• I said "Ma" the other day.  Mommy is convinced it was for her.  It is for me to know, and her to find out if she is right on that being my first word. 

Well, until next month, stay safe and happy!

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I was 7 months old last month!

• I got my first two teeth this month.  It was painful and I did not like it, but now I have these two cute little white things that I can bite things with.  And boy do I! 
• Daddy went to Hong Kong for Great Grandmother's funeral.  I am glad I had a chance to meet her when I was only 2.5 months old, but I will miss her too.  Mommy tells me stories about her.  
• I am eating lots of new things.  My big brother feeds up Cheerios. But half of them end up in his mouth.  So I learned to feed myself.  
• I hate to be on my tummy.  My big brother helps me by rolling me over when Mommy is not looking.  He tells Mommy that I am upset and he is helping me. 
• I am 20 lbs!  I have outgrown a lot of my baby clothes and Mommy sent them to my cousin to be... 
• Mommy was feeding me, and I was crying.  And big brother started to make crying noises since he said he wants attention too!
• I love to eat yummy foods.  Strawberries, watermelon, sweet potatoes, congee, carrots and more!  I am feeling hungry.
• I can sit up by myself.  Now the world looks a lot different because I am not lying there all the time. 

Anatomy of a baby photo shoot

Things have been pretty crazy at our house.  But I am trying to get back into blogging.  I am working day and night on the CHA Winter release.  Just when you see the CHA Summer release in the stores, I am already onto the next thing.  I have enjoyed seeing the way everyone use our CHA Summer product.  I am also pretty sick.  Actually, while DH was away in Asia, all three of us were sick, sick, sick. Imagine taking care of two sick kiddos while you are feeling bad.  I was SO happy when DH got home.  Not that I am not normally happy about him coming home, but I bordering on overjoyed!

While Daddy was away, I took the chance to do a mini photoshoot.  My DH hates these photoshoots and always asks me to not to do them because he hates cajoling the kids to stay put and forcing them to play with each other.  He is not a great photo assistant since he lacks patience with doing the impossible - keeping the kids still for 5 minutes!  So I took the chance while he was away to get a few shots of the kids.  This involved our king-sized bed (just in case J knocked his sister over), a bribe of chocolate for Mr. J, and like 100 photos.  Of which these 3 looked the cutest. 

I am not sure how Anne Geddes does this.  She must take like 1000 photos for each 1 that shows up in a calendar or in print.  There were lots of "Jonathan, please do not sit on your sister" and "I will give you an M&M if you sit still."  Luckily, Bethany is not yet crawling, so I was only dealing with one errent child.  I think those days are about to come to any end when B starts moving. 

I am 6 months old!

I am 6 months old!  Time really flies!  I am enjoying lots of new sensations and things nowadays.  So here is a summary of what is up in my life...

• I am a good sleeper.  I like to nap and sleep. And eat and nap and sleep.  Ahhh, what a life!
• I love when my Big Brother entertains me.  He dances around the room and sings, and I laugh and laugh.  It is so fun to see him play with me
• I am teething...  It sucks and hurts and makes me unhappy.  I like to chew on things to comfort me especially my little wrist rattle pig. 
• I am very tall.  I love to
• I had my first taste of food!  It was delicious homemade strawberry ice at Auntie Susan and Uncle Greg's house.  Yummy! 
• I am anti-tummy time.  I hate being on my tummy, and I just won't give up without a fight!
• Mommy went to the Orlando CHA Show, and I missed her terribly for the 30 hours she was gone.  I like my food fresh, not toted around in a cooler.  Thank goodness she made it home after her flight was canceled or else I would have been sad and hungry and eating the nasty frozen stuff. 
• Some people think I look like my Aunt Caroline and some people think I look like my Grandma (Daddys' mom).  I think I look like a Bethany, don't you?
• I have developed epicanthic eye folds. I was born without them, but poof they arrived one day. Like Mommy, Jonathan never got them, but I think they are pretty on me.  
• I am wearing 12 month onsies.  Mommy had to change out all of my clothes because I was growing so fast.  Today, I was at church, and Mommy put me next to a little girl who is 1.5 years old.  And I was only 2 or 3" shorter than her. 
• My Grandmother came to visit this month.  She is fun!  I will miss her when she leaves tomorrow. 
• I love to listen to music.  Daddy plays the keyboard with me in his lap, and I am happy as a clam!
• I am biting a lot.  I like to bite towels, blankets, animals, fingers, and anything that gets near my mouth.  The other day, I bit Mommy and Jonathan said, "No, Bethany!  Bad, Bethany!  She needs to go sit in the naughty chair!"  
• I am startled easily by loud noises. When there is a train whistle or a big truck going by, I have recently started getting jumpy.
• I am sad because my Great Grandma just passed away.  Mommy and Daddy took me to Hong Kong when I was only 3 months old so I could meet her at the hospital while she was sick.  Auntie Caroline has a tribute to her today. 

  Until next month, this is Ms. Bethany, over-and-out!

I am 3 years old!

I am 3 years old!  Can you believe it?  Me neither!  Time flies when you are a little boy growing up quickly.  Here I am with the cupcake Mommy made for my friends and me.  We had a party with some of my friends.  It was really fun to see all of them and run around in circles.  A few things from the past couple months.

• I started a new school and like it much better.  My English is now very good.  Now Mommy and Daddy have to remind me to speak Chinese at home.  I always switch back over for them, but I forget sometimes.
• I am a great big brother.  Little sister is a bit fussy since she is teething.  So the other day, she was crying, and I grabbed a bottle off the table, a little plastic nipple, and a bottle collar and put it together.  Then I went to her room to feed her.  I was worried she was hungry. 
• I hate spiders and bugs. I used to think they were my friends, but now I am obsessed with making sure Mommy and Daddy get rid of them.  I say "SPI-DER, YUCKY!"
• I am still a milk-a-holic.  I just cannot stop myself from drinking lots and lots of milk.  Love it!
• I am learning to write my letters, but I am stubborn.  I cry and cry and think it is too hard.  Makes Mommy and Daddy frustrated with me.
• I love to jump off the couch.  And jump on the couch.  And jump on the bed.  Jump, jump, jump like a jumping bean!
• I got a tricycle for my birthday.  I am so happy, but I do not know how to ride.  I just Flintstone it by running with my feet.  I hope I learn soon!
• I am very accident prone.  I have scratches, cuts and bruises all over from tripping, playing and just being an active little boy.  Mommy worries about it, but Daddy says all little boys need to just play and not worry about every little thing. 
• I am obsessed with chapstick.  I see Mommy using it and I always want to borrow it too.  I love that it smells like strawberries.  The other day, I found Mommy's lipstick and chapstick and smeared it all over my face, and then fell asleep.  My parents found me later with what they thought was blood all over me. But later they realized it was lipstick.  Mommy got some funny shots of it.   
• I am potty trained (mostly), and it makes everyone much happier.  It did not happen in a day like that book Mommy and Daddy read, but at least I am mostly diaper free!  Thank goodness!
• I like to dance a lot.  We watch So You Think You Can Dance together every week, and it is so much fun!  I dance around in circles just like them. 
• I went to the dentist for the first time, and she said my teeth were great!  I even let the nice hygenist clean all of my teeth without any fuss, and she even scrapped the bottom ones. I am still not really allowed to eat candy or drink juice, so that keeps my teeth nice and cavity free.
• I am enjoying the long days in summer by going out with Mommy and Daddy to the park.  It is so much fun!  We walk to the playground, I slide and play, then we walk some more around the neighborhood.
• My favorite color is red, and my favorite foods are shrimp, tofu, thousand year old eggs (sounds gross, but they are yummy in congee), ice cream and chocolate!  

Mommy spent the past few months on this big CHA Summer release!  I helped out too... Check out the sneak peek here.  There are a lot of cool things coming out in a few weeks...

CHA Summer is right around the corner

Can you believe it?  CHA Summer is just a few scant weeks away.  Caroline is close to her due date, so she cannot travel, but I will make it out for a part of the show.  It is hard with the little ones to travel cross country, so it will be a quicker trip. 

We have some cool new things in store for you!  We have a mix of old and new and much much more.  You will just have to wait for the sneak peeks.  But I have to say, that I will need to do more of the 'Anatomy of..." tutorials to give you more of a sense of what Maya Road behind the scenes is like. 

By the way, I am still waiting for the address of one of the RAK winners.  Remember to email me!  I am shipping the packages together this weekend. 

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the greatest Daddy in the world.  There are many reasons we love you, and here are just a few:

• You carry us everywhere.  Bounce us on exercise balls, hold us as we go to bed. We love Daddy's hugs!
• You change all of our poopy diapers without too much complaining.  You are the one who takes us to the small bathroom in the airplanes and clean us up after blowouts.
• You are patient even after we spill soup all over the table, and you pick up rice from the floor.
• You wake up in the middle of the night to comfort us when we cry even when you have work the next day.
• You do not complain about the spit up you have on your shoulders, just laugh when Mommy points out you had it there all day for your co-workers to see.  
• You tote Mommy's camera everywhere so there are cool photos of us.
• You take good care of Mommy when her back hurts after we are born, and she cannot hold us.
• You hold both of us on the bouncy ball when I (Jonathan) am jealous that you are holding baby sister.  
• You let us climb all over you when you take a nap on the couch.  And you let us sleep up against you when we are napping in bed. 
• You help to bathe us and keep us nice and fresh and clean.
• You brush my teeth every night and make sure Mommy comes to read me a story.
• You take us for walks and to the park after work to make sure we have family time. 
• You pray with us and for us to make sure we grow up big and strong. 
• You talked Mommy into having us! 

We are grateful for being blessed with the World's Best Daddy!  And Mommy said to tell you that you are not a bad Husband either! 

-----------And for our Grandpas-----------

We have not forgotten you, Gong Gong and Ye Ye!  We know you both live far, far away from us, so we try to visit as much as we can.  But it is hard because there are two of us now, and it is hard to get on a plane with all of our stuff. Mommy and Daddy show us pictures of you all the time to make sure we remember with you.  And we talk on the phone a lot (though little Bethany does not exactly do much other than babbling). 

You guys are great because you take good care of us.  We know you are not big on the potty training and diapers, but your songs and stories are the best.  And you are both very fun.  We look forward to seeing you again soon. 

Warehouse sale + RAK winners!

Checkout our latest warehouse sale!  Caroline and I came up with the virtual warehouse sale when we were brainstorming one day.  We were thinking of having a traditional sale where people could come into our actual warehouse, but then only people living near it in Dallas could stop by.  So we started our virtual sale to make sure everyone had the same access. We pay all of the shipping costs for you, and you don't even have to get into the car to get your Maya Road stuff. 

And <drumroll here> the winners of our RAK are:

That is so interesting to know how the entire process works.

I have two "go to" stamps, the metric ruler and Noah alphabet.

Posted by: Christie Weist | May 28, 2009 at 08:43 AM

My favorite stamp is the journaling stamps as I can easily stamp wherever on my finished page.

Posted by: ginger | June 01, 2009 at 12:30 PM

i really love all the stamps but I enjoyed your owl or the clocks the most.
Thanks

Posted by: Lana Day | June 09, 2009 at 08:43 PM

Thanks to all of the entrants.  Go to Maya Road Contact Us and email me your address.  And wait for your package to arrive. 

And thanks to the last RAK winner who sent me these awesome photos of what she did with her package from last time!  Cathy A  has been super busy with all of her goodies. Check our her blog here:  http://catscraftcupboard.blogspot.com

I am 4 months old!

I am 4 months old already!  Cute, ain't I? Big brother always comes up to me and says "She is SO CUTE!"  I think it is because he hears other people saying it. 

• I am keeping Mommy and Daddy busy. I was stressing out Mommy because I was on bottle strike when she went back to work.  Turns out, I just liked fresh Mommy's milk, not that frozen or refrigerated stuff. Now I am okay with the less than fresh stuff, but still... fresh is best!
• I did a lot in May.  Another plane trip to meet my Grandpa for the first time!  He is cool.  All four of my Grandparents wanted to hold me all the time.  We spent a lot of time hanging together.  
• I like to play with my brother.   Or more like he likes to play with me. During tummy time, he comes over to lie down next to me.  
• I am a happy baby.  I like to smile and laugh and just be with people.  I like people a lot. Please pay attention to me!
• I hate tummy time. Today I learned to flip from my back to my tummy, but I cannot flip back!  So I am there in my crib on my tummy all upset and frustrated.  Help me!
• I like to scoot in circles.  I scoot, scoot and soon I am turning into a clockwise rotation.  It is fun. 
• I sleep with my eyes open still.  Mommy thought it was Daddy's quirk, but it turns out it is hereditary.  I like to see while I am sleeping.  :)
• I had a bad case of eczema, but it has finally cleared up.  It was not pretty for awhile there, and I was all lobster red and itchy!  
• I can turn on and off the Aquarium Seascape on my crib.  I just use my foot to turn it on and off, on and off.
• I am a good eater and sleeper.  I am 99th+ percentile on height and 85th+ for weight.  Mommy had to give all of my clothes to Noah's little sister to be and buy me a whole new set of 9 month+ sizes. 

Until next month, take care!  It is getting late, and my bedtime just passed.  Mommy said I have to get off the computer or I will be grumpy tomorrow.  Checkout Mommy's RAK!  Ends Saturday night. 

Anatomy of a Maya Road stamp

 Ever wonder how we make Maya Road products?  Well, here is a peek inside the world of a Maya Road through steps of making a new small stamp.  Imagine this for the 100+ products we release each show... :)

1.  Determine what we want to make - Each release we put together a list of what we want to put together.  For example, we want may do 6 coaster books, 9 rubons, 8 small stamps, etc. 
2.  Get an idea - C and I are never short of ideas.  We keep a huge spreadsheet of backlog ideas which we maintain from release to release.  There are some gems in there we just have not gotten to yet.
3.  Research the idea - Let's use one of our best sellers - the Owl Singleton stamp.  I may look at photos of owls, search our old design archives, and do some doodle sketches. 
4.  Create in a design program - I try several of each design in the program.  For our owl design, I may make 5 or 6 of them until I get something I like.
5.  Share with C - I send it to C and the fun begins.  We argue, discuss, and decide on our favorites.  Sometimes, we ask our DT to help break ties. :)
6.  Redesign for production - I refine the design and clean up the look and feel. 
7.  Review with C - I send final to C.  Sometimes she gives feedback like "the owl looks sad".  I am not sure what to do with that and sometimes I redesign it.  Don't tell C, but sometimes I just leave it as is, wait a few days and resend it.  If she says "Looks great, let's do it!" I am home free! :)  If not, it is back to the drawing board. :(
8.  Prepare for production - Resize, redefine, and set up for production.  This could take hours if you want to get the maximum number and size of stamps in the smallest area.  I fix, resize, reset and so on.  Over and over until I get it just right.  We like to give you the most for your money, so I am careful to fit the most in the smallest area to ensure you get the little extra stamps on the side. 
9.  Submit for sampling - Put together and send it in to sample.
10. Receive and review - Sometimes it does not come out as you expect, and it is back to the drawing board yet again.  Or there is an issue with size or style.  So you have to clean and fix.
11. Create packaging / UPC - Once the product is finalized, we make sure the packaging fits, and the UPC is set up.
12. Send to DT - Send the samples to the and wait for them to create some amazing things with it!
13. Release - Put that puppy in the catalog and release to the world. 

The last but not least step -
14. Wait and see what people think - Monitor the sales, check out the posts of folks using the stamp and more!

When I designed Mr. Owl, little did I know he would become so popular!  He was one of 10+ owls I designed, and we ended up releasing some of the owls as mini sheers.  So the work was not wasted.  :) 

I am hosting another Maya Road giveaway!  So post a comment what your favorite stamp is, and I will pick 3 folks to send out RAKs to.  I have a large sample stash I want to share with you! 

By the way, one person from the last RAK did not claim it.  If I missed you, email me again.  Thanks!

I am 3 months old!

I am 3 months old! It has been another great month in my life -- the third of those I have had in a row!  I guess I am on a roll...  A few things about this month.

• I got my first passport stamp.  I went to Asia with Mommy, Daddy, and Big Brother.  It was also my first plane trip since I was born.  I went to Asia twice in Mommy's tummy, but no passport stamps for me those two times. 
• I met my Great Grandmother.  She is sick and in the hospital, but when Mommy held me in front of her, she nodded for the first time since she had the stroke.  Everyone was really amazed.  I am glad I got to see her even though she could not say anything to me.
• I like to laugh and laugh and laugh.  I think everything is funny.  I especially like to be held and talked to. I always try to smile back. 
• Mommy and Daddy now dress me in pink.  For the first month or so, I was in all blue and everyone thought I was a little boy.  But now the hair and my pink clothes really give me away.  My Mommy's friend from Hong Kong gave me these cute little hair clips she made.  I cannot wait to wear them. 
• I hate bottle feeding.  Unlike my big brother, I cannot stand the whole glass and plastic contraption to get my nourishment.  Why do babies like that thing? 
• I am getting bigger now and am nearly 14.5 lbs.  Yeah!
• My favorite place in the world is in my Daddy's arms when he is on the bouncy exercise ball.  J sometimes joins us by climbing on the back of the ball and jumping up and down. 
• I still hate my crib, but the Seascape screen and Night mobile keep me entertained. But when they turn off, sometimes I get a little upset.  Okay, very upset!
• Everyone tells me I have fluffy hair.  What are they talking about?  I am not sure I see it.  My Auntie C said I could dress up as Kim Jung-Il for Halloween.  I saw a photo of him, and again, I am not sure what she is talking about. :)

This is a photo of me in Hong Kong.  Look at my neat travel digs.  Daddy wore me all over the place, and he got a lot of comments and compliments.  I do not think a lot of babies in Hong Kong go out since we saw very few of them.  And even fewer whose Daddies wore them around.  I am very lucky.  Until next month, this is Bethany signing out!