Happy Birthday Ben!

Ben turned 37 on Friday and we had a good time celebrating. His folks and Aunt Peggy came down for the weekend (although we suspect it was REALLY to see Maggie) and spoiled us all with some homegrown tomatoes, chocolate cake, helpful yardwork and lots of cuddles for Maggie. Our little girl especially got a kick out of playing with all the tissue paper in Ben's presents. Here's a pic of the birthday boy and his #1 little girl.

Solids, Take 2

After 2 unsuccessful weeks trying cereals, we took a break for a few days. Maggie was starting to get to the point where she would get fussy when we just put her in her feeding seat. So this time around we decided to try vegetables. So today we had carrots!



She did better this time. . . still doesn't quite have the whole idea but I think she ate a little bit. We probably tried half a dozen spoonfuls before she decided she had enough. After the first one or two, she would grab the spoon while I had it in her mouth and just suck or chew on it.



Of course it got all over her - much messier than the cereals were! But we had a lot of fun. I think this is going to work better this time - yea!

Six Months Old!

Maggie celebrated turning 6 months by taking her first trip to the beach . . . sort of. Our friends from Woodmont were making their annual trek to the sunny Gulf of Mexico and we (finally!) were able to meet them for a few brief hours on Saturday. Last year when we tried this (twice!) we were forced to change plans because of hurricanes! But we had a GREAT time seeing our friends and eating some fabulous seafood. Maggie was her usual joyful self - for most of the time. :-)



Here's our little Shrimp outside the Original Oyster House




















We didn't actually make it to the beach - it was too hot for it to be enjoyable in my opinion and traffic delayed our arrival so there wasn't time anyway. But this fall we'll take Maggie back so she can stick her toes in the sand and surf.

Maggie turned 6 months on Sunday and Monday she had her check up - all went well. She's now 15 lbs 4 oz, and 27 inches long - the doctor called her tall and skinny. He was pleased with her progress - sitting up, babbling, 2 teeth, etc. We talked about getting Maggie going on Solids - the cereal never caught on so after two weeks of trying we were taking a break so she wouldn't get frustrated. And discussed getting her started on using a cup (that was a surprise for me!). She had 3 shots and one oral vaccination.

Of course we can't believe how fast she is growing up! But she's still our little princess. :-)

Big Creek

While visiting family last week we took time to do a little hiking. Dad took us to a wonderful, little known spot in the Smokey Mountain National Park. We hiked on an easy trail which followed Big Creek, a small river with class 4 rapids (not that I know anything about that). Here and there along the trail you could climb down to river. Then there was a spot called Midnight Hole where it was safe to swim, and then Mouse Creek Falls! This is a picture of us at the Falls. It was a beautiful day and a really fun hike!

Rice, Rice, Baby!

Maggie began solids today! Her first taste of Rice went about as well as can be expected. . . most of it ended up on her bib. . . or her face. . . or her hands. . . or even her feet. But I think she managed to swallow a little bit and there was even a time or two when she smiled!

My Summer Vacation

We all took a trip last week to visit family and had a wonderful time! We visited first with Ben's parents and celebrated his mom's birthday. Then we visited Heather's parents and enjoyed a few days in the mountains before returning for another night at Ben's folks.

Heather's parents are currently taking care of a stray kitten, in the hope that it
will soon be adopted by Maggie's cousin, Mina. We got to play with it a lot on our visit - it was so VERY sweet and Maggie and the kitten (which is yet to be named) seemed to take a great interest in each other. The kitten would run around Maggie when she was on the floor and Maggie would try to kick at her. When we held Maggie in our lap, the kitten would crawl up and cuddle with us and sometimes Maggie would try to "pet" her - which involved grabbing it's fur. The kitten was very patient and didn't react to Maggie's rough handling. They were very cute together! If it hadn't been for our sweet cat at home, we probably would have been tempted to adopt the kitten ourselves, but we are quite happy with our own Alley Cat.

Maggie enjoyed showing off for her family - like how she can roll over from her tummy to her back and how she can sit up (with a little help). When we returned to Ben's parents at the end of the trip, we took Maggie to church. Grandmother LOVED showing off Maggie at church!

Now we are home to trying to return to a "normal" schedule. Maggie is working on cutting tooth number 2, but thankfully she's been napping very well the past couple of days!

We hope you had a good Fourth of July as well! God Bless!

She's Teething!

After several weeks of drool, yesterday I noticed Maggie had two swollen spots on the front of her lower gums. This morning there was a little tooth just barely poking out of the one on the right! Yea! She's doing pretty well - a bit more vocal and fussier than normal, but no screaming or bad crying so hopefully this won't be too hard on any of us. :-) I've tried giving her some teeting toys, but I have to hold them in her mouth for her, she won't do that on her own and even then she's not really sure if she likes it or not. We'll try them again today though. Oops - and now the fussiness increases. Gotta go!