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.