Small Milestones

Maggie and I stayed home from church today since she's getting over a cold. I was doing a load of laundry when she walked into the hallway with her fancy shoes on - which she had put on by herself! To my knowledge this is the first time she has put on her shoes without any assistance, so we celebrated with a photo and and extra glass of milk. :-)

Maggie's Got a Star!

When we arrived home from our fall vacation, we found a special letter waiting for us from the hospital where Maggie was born. Their nursery features a huge mural covered with gold stars. Every year the hospital auxillary randomly selects 12 babies to put on the stars - one for each month. Maggie's name was drawn out of the over 80 babies born in January 2006 at that hospital! So today we took a little drive to see Maggie's star and had lots of fun reliving memories from almost 2 years ago! I'm so excited to have her name there and to think that she'll be able to come back years from now and find her name on that wall.

Maggie's star highlighted:

Daddy helps Maggie find her star:

Maggie's a SuperStar!

Family Fest

Our church has an annual Family Fest on Oct 31 and for the first time they moved it indoors. Somehow I got asked to coordinate the decorations for the event, so I called on some good friends to help. Lori arranged for hay and mums, which I used to create some displays like this:

Joy got a great team of ladies together before the event to make some fun decorations for the insides of the building - these sunflowers and pumpkins were fabulous!

Dottie put together a wonderful photo area which was just beautiful!

Thanks to everyone to helped on these teams. . . Mike, Jennie, Toni, Nancy, Holly, Lori Ba., Susan, Toy, Myra, Rachel, Dee Ann, and anyone else I've missed! You're such a blessing!

Scarecrows!

Our local Garden is having their annual scarecrow contest so our playgroup went for a visit. We had a fun time exploring with the kids.

Maggie's friend Will was there and they were so cute! They held hands through the Rose Garden and Maggie led the way. I guess she's not the submissive type. haha. They also enjoyed looking at the fountain. . .

Maggie B, Superstar!

It's official - daddy's a sucker for his little girl. We walked past these sunglasses in Wal-mart and Maggie tried them on and that was all she wrote.

Fall Vacation '07

Well, it's that time of year again! Each fall we like to go visit my parents in Western North Carolina to see the beautiful fall color in the mountains. This year we began our trip by visiting Florence and had fun visiting with friends.

We took Maggie to the park we used to frequent. She loved swinging!

We had a fun visit with Daniel and Abbe and their sweet kids! We also got to attend the wedding of a friend from church and see many of our Woodmont friends at the reception.

Then it was off to NC!

Maggie had fun visiting with Grammy and Grumpa (pictured here). Grammy has a broken arm unfortunately so we had to limit our play a little bit but we still had fun. The weather was kind of rainy most of the trip, but we managed to get out some!

One of the best places to see color is at "Max Patch". There's a huge field on the top of a mountain surrounded by trees. Maggie could just roam around - she loved it!

My dad took Ben on a wonderful hike up to the top of a Lynn Lowry, a mountain named after a teenage girl who died from leukemia. She loved these mountains so much that her parents bought the top of the mountain, erected a huge cross and put lights on it. At night you can see this cross for miles up in the sky! It's a difficult hike to make it to the top of this mountain but Dad and Ben had fun hiking it. (that's Ben at the bottom of that picture . . . see? Huge cross. . . )

Our last day in NC it really cleared up and got beautiful so we spent some time just relaxing in the yard - it was fun to let Maggie run around and explore.

We ended our vacation by going through Opelika to see Ben's family. Ben was fortunate enough to get tickets to Saturday's game from a friend (War Eagle!) but for Maggie's first introduction to Auburn, we decided to take it easy. So we took her to campus early in the day and just walked around.

The End! :-)

Today was one of the first cool days of the fall . . . and by cool I mean not stifling. :-) So we decided to take advantage of something a friend had told us about and we got a season pass at the local garden. This was the first time for us to go during the day - we usually only go at Christmas to see the lights. Maggie loved it! She loved getting to walk around and look at the plants.

We spent several minutes just wandering around the rose garden. Ben was showing her how to sniff the flowers, but she couldn't quite get it. She kept blowing instead. It was so funny - she would walk up to a flower and ::ffhhhh:: into the rose.

As we wandered around the Garden I couldn't help but reflect on what a difference Maggie made in our experience. As we followed her through the different gardens, we would linger here and there, get excited over things like bugs and beetles and butterflies. We looked longer at some flowers and sat down on the ground to watch and wait. It took us 15 minutes to get through the rose garden when it usually takes us 30 seconds. I enjoyed the new perspective and look forward to many more trips where we can linger in different areas.

My favorite part of the garden was the butterfly area - there were SO many butterflies! I could have sat and watched them for an hour. But I think Maggie was frustrated at not being able to touch one -they kept flying away every time she got close -imagine that!

Our happy girl!

After we got through in the Garden we had a picnic lunch which included a new experience for Maggie - a "juicebox" of milk. (Does that make it a milkbox? I don't know). Maggie was very excited about this and got the hang of it pretty quickly. She still has to master the technique but it was pretty fun to watch.

Searching for the Great Pumpkin. . .

We heard about a great pumpkin sale that a local church does and decided to stop by. Maggie had a great time, but she thought those orange things on the ground were balls and kept trying to throw them. :-)

Play time

A friend loaned us this tunnel for Maggie to play with - she's having a ball. On a side note - this picture shows just how very badly she needs a haircut. We'll be taking care of that soon. :-)

To the Park

The weather FINALLY cooled down enough so we could all go to the park. We are very excited for the fact that fall is here and we can now spend more time outdoors. Maggie loves to be outdoors and she had such a good time at the park, even though she was so tired it wore her out! Just thought you might like to see these though. . . :-)

I was very impressed that Maggie would go down the big slides. . .for some reason it always surprises me to see all the things that she can do. I guess I ought to raise my expectations. :-)

Maggie Tries on Shoes

On a recent visit to Grandmother's and Grandaddy's, Maggie pulled a pair of shoes out of Grandmother's closet - her old work shoes. Maggie had a blast trying them on and we had a lot of fun watching. Click here to see a short video.

Summer Time has come and gone. . .

And nary a post to our blog. I guess we've been having a busy summer! Hopefully I can start keeping this updated again. The main reason this blog has been so neglected lately is probably the fact that I have two good friends in my life now that I enjoy spending a lot of time with. One is a neighbor who recently moved to the area. She has 3 young kids who Maggie enjoys spending time with. They also have a dog who Maggie refers to as "woo woo" - it's really cute. The other friend is a lady I met at church in our Bizzy Moms ministry. She has a son that is just 3 months older than Maggie and they are very good friends. It's nice to have some close friends here - Mobile is starting to feel more like home.

Water Fountain Fun

Today our play group went across the bay to the Eastern Shore Center - a big outdoor mall. In the center of it is this great fountain that kids can play in and they have table all around with umbrellas so the adults can relax in the shade while your kiddies have fun. This was Maggie's first chance to wear her new swimsuit from Grandmother and Aunt Peggy, and I also splurged and picked up some water shoes for her since I figured this might be something we do more than once. :-)

I really didn't expect much from Maggie. . . I figured the water would scare her but she really did well and had fun just walking around the fountain. She never got IN the water much but she did get wet. . . mostly unintentionally. But she had fun and after lunch went back for some more. Several more experienced families had brought water toys - buckets, balls and cups - which quickly became communal toys for all the kids to play with and generally everyone did quite well. Maggie liked this particular bucket quite a lot and carried it around for about half an hour. :-)
She also enjoyed washing her hands in this bucket. This is definately a fun way to beat the Gulf Coast heat!

Practice makes Perfect

Maggie is improving in her walking skills. Over the weekend she got up to 5 or 6 steps, and then 10 steps on Sunday. Click here to see a video.

First Steps!

Maggie took her very first unassisted steps Wednesday. . . while she was in the church nursery! Ben assured me that didn't count since neither of us saw it. However, yesterday she made her Mommy and Daddy very happy by showing off her new skills. She's not doing much yet - just 2 steps at a time. Click here to see the video.

Highly Recommended. . . .

Those of you who know us probably know we are big fans of Veggietales. So imagine my great delight when Ben came home from National Sales Meeting with a copy of Phil Vischer's autobiography, Me, Myself and Bob. An easy read, this book would be great for not only Veggie fans everywhere, but for anyone who has ever experienced the loss of a dream or ministry and wondered "Why?" "What now?"

The first third of this book is very entertaining as Vischer describes his childhood, and how he started down the path of Veggidom. The middle of the book tells of the rise and fall of Big Idea, Inc, home of Bob and Larry, but it's the end - where Phil tells "What We Have Learned" that really got me. The lessons God taught Vischer applied so well to my life as I struggle to figure out what I'm suppose to be "doing" for God when the most important thing is really that we just BE with God. If God hasn't told me what I'm suppose to be "doing" for Him, than all I need to focus on is being with him! What a relief!

Anything for a laugh

Wednesday night was crazy hat night at our chior rehearsal. . . so I took the craziest hat I had - a genuine Wisconsin Cheesehead! The next day when i was going to put it away, Maggie started laughing and so I started playing with it and found I could make her laugh and laugh by throwing it on and off my head! By the time we filmed it, she had already done it 3 times that day so the reaction isn't quite as big in this video, but you'll get the idea. :-)

Look Ma! No hands!

Maggie started working on standing up without holding onto anything last weekend. Today she did it for the second time. For some reason this works best in the bath tub. . . we had to keep her hands busy so she wouldn't grab hold of the side of the tub. So she is clapping in this shot.

Ahoy!

Yesterday we had the chance to do something that we've been wanting to do since we moved to the coast. . . visit the USS Alabama! Ben carried Maggie on his back while we explored all over the ship.

We got to see how the men lived on the ship - I was especially surprised to learn they had a Soda Fountain (called Gedunk Stand) on board. . . ice cream every day!!! I decided if I had to serve on a Battleship that would definately be the job for me! We also got to go inside the turret of one of the 16" guns (those really big ones). The turret extends all the way to the lowest deck of the ship and inside they house the projectiles and powder and and it was very neat to see how it worked, although i can tell you for sure I wouldn't want that duty while those guns were pounding away every 30 seconds. There are nine of those on the ship and they can shoot a 2700 pound shell 21 miles. Wow!

Here you see Ben (and Maggie) trying out a 40 mm gun. Ben also got to visit a WWII Submarine which he said "made the decks in the battleship seem spacious!" All in all, we had a very fun day in the cool spring weather!

First Day of Spring!

We celebrated spring's arrival by having a picnic at the beach. It was Maggie's first time to put her fingers and toes in some sand (video link) and she did pretty well - no crying. . . although she never was quite sure what to make of the stuff. :-) I hope we can go back frequently and get her used to the beach. Maggie also got to try out a swing for the first time. . .

Veggietales!

This weekend our church hosted a Veggietales Premiere, complete with a visit from Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber. Here we are enjoying the day. . . what? You don't recognize me?

Learning to Walk

At 13 months old, Maggie is really starting to make progress. This weekend she has gotten much more comfortable with pushing around the walking toys we have. Click here to see a short video. I'm excited to see her progress - but a little nervous too . . . my little baby is growing up!

5th Anniversary

In February we took a trip to the beach to celebrate our 5th Anniversary. We stayed in a beautiful condo for 3 nights while Grandmother and Grandaddy stayed at our house with Maggie. I don't know what was my favorite part - the beautiful scenery, the great local seafood, or getting to sleep in for 3 mornings in a row!

We got to do some of our favorite things at the beach - Ben went with Heather to do some shopping. Heather went with Ben to the Naval Air Museum. We both enjoyed a trip to the zoo (ok, that was mostly for Heather) and a night of putt-putt. . . not to mention the fresh beignets every morning. Here, I am pictured with 2 baby camels at the Gulf Coast Zoo (the one featured on "the Little Zoo That Could" on the Animal Planet). Their names are Mac and Maggie. Of course I couldn't resist saying hi to Maggie.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAGGIE!

We can't believe our baby is now one! We're just a little proud and excited, as you can imagine.

To celebrate, Ben's folks hosted a party last weekend which several of our family members were able to attend, including both sets of grandparents, Ben's aunt and one of my sisters and her daughter.

Ben's mom made a terrific BBQ Chicken lunch and a delicious birthday cake, which I had the fun of decorating. We had a giraffe theme - one of Maggie's favorite toys is a giraffe that hangs over her changing table and plays music.



If you'd like to see a video of Maggie's cake experience, click here.



Maggie did well opening her presents. . . I guess it was all that practice she had at Christmas.



We all had fun just hanging out together, as you can see.



On Maggie's actual birthday we had her one year appointment - all is well. :-) She weighed in at 20 lbs and 3 oz. and is about 30 inches long (or 29 or 29.25, depending which measurement you want to go with). We've been given the assignment of getting her off the bottle in the next two weeks. Pray for us. Thankfully Maggie mastered the art of drinking from a sippy cup over the weekend and she loves to practice her newfound skill. She's also started pulling up frequently on furniture or anything available. No steps yet though (whew!). We're excited to see all the new things that she'll be learning.

Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive this year! Maggie is a joy to us and we LOVE being her parents and thank God for the privilege frequently.

The Heart of the Problem

We have a wonderful Associate Pastor at our church. His name is Kerry Skinner and he preaches most Sunday nights. When I go to the evening services I feel like I'm sitting at the feet of a great teacher of the Scriptures and I come away refreshed and recommitted to walking with Christ that week. I had a chance to talk with him recently and he told me of a book he had co-authored entitled "The Heart of the Problem". I thought it would be a good way to start out the new year. I'm three days into it (I started a week "late") and already this book is challenging me to rethink some of the humanistic philosophies that I had unknowingly picked up along the way and to refocus on the simple truth of the gospel. Who knows where this will lead but it's got me thinking quite a bit - meditating on the meaning of scriptures and examining my attitudes and beliefs. I recommend checking it out if you are looking for a good study.

Zwieback

Maggie had her first taste of Zwieback today. For those of you who don't know (I didn't until a couple of months ago) zwieback is a piece of bread that's been "baked twice" (in german) to form a very hard, crunchy, long lasting chew toy for toddlers. . . or sailors apparently. Anyway, I was surprised to see Maggie take to it so readily - she has just recently allowed me to put table food in her mouth and is still pretty hesitant to eat anything that remotely involves some kind of texture. So imagine my surprise when I handed her a piece of zwieback and she started munching away! I eventually grabbed my camera and got some video to capture the interesting facial expressions and the loud CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH. She had been chewing away for a couple of minutes by the time I got the camera rolling, so it doesn't seem as if she's that interested, but you can tell she's gnawed off a corner already. Here she is showing off the final product: