Celebrating Maggie (All Month Long!)

January has been a birthday month for Maggie. Her birthday was actually the fourth, but we celebrated three different times for her special day. Here is how we celebrated!

December 30, 2013: 
My parents stopped through on their way to Florida. Since they were going to be out of town for her actual party, we had a little party with just them and us. Dee bought a cake and we ordered BBQ for lunch. It was a fun little day. Maggie really enjoyed the cake and being the center of attention.

 

Dee and Dad bought her a Minnie Mouse stuffed animal. Maggie loves stuffed animals. She loves to hug them and pat them and rock them....sweet little mama!

 

January 4, 2014
Maggie's actual birthday! We had a pretty low key day around the house. For dinner that night we made spaghetti and had a cake for Maggie! It was a fun night and she enjoyed her special dinner...the cake especially!

Sophie's and my decorating skills! We can bling up a cake! :)


Spaghetti Mouth

 

January 11, 2014 (Maggie's Birthday Party)

I went back and looked at an album on Facebook and realized my original due date was the 11th...thought that was strange...anyway...

The day was a horrible weather wise! It flooded. Anyone that has been to our neighborhood knows it is notorious for flooding and holding water on the way in. We were a little worried with the torrential downpours we had, but, alas, it didn't flood. 

We decided to do an Elmo themed party since Maggie loves Elmo. I don't understand it, but she loves him! My friend, Jaime, bought her a CD with Elmo singing to her and he says her name. She was dancing and laughing at it. She just LOVES Elmo! 

Most of my ideas came from Pinterest. (What would I do without it?) Here are a few of the ideas I stole!

 

Goldfish Party Favors and Elmo Vegetable Tray

We got the cake from Wal-Mart. It was wonderful! They also did a smash cake, which I think is new since we just got a Publix and they have always given a free smash cake. 

 

Before we gave Maggie her cake, Klint said a few words about how it is amazing she is here and gave everyone a brief history of our journey with Maggie. So sweet and I of course was crying and Klint had a few tears, though he blamed his on the dry air at the front of the room...he he! It was a very sweet moment.

 

I love this picture! Maggie was digging in and Sophie and her friend, Justin, were having a good time running around her. A very carefree party!

We opened gifts next! The rocking chair was a gift from Klint, Sophie, and me. Maggie loves a rocking chair!

The picture below shows her outfit. I got it off of Etsy. Love Etsy!!!

We had a great day! Can't believe our baby is 1!

These were the favors for the grownups! A year in pictures taken by our favorite photographer, Hope Baldwin!

Are you a DBR???

Do people still use the term DBR? Are you a DBR? Do you know what a DBR is?

"Daily Bible Reader": A term I heard growing up in church and really wanted to be but was not disciplined enough to carry through with it. I must admit that I lied...in church...about being a DBR....When all the hands around you shoot up silently screaming they are a DBR, my hand would just find itself up in their air silently waving too. I mean, in my heart, I wanted to be one. Didn't that count for something? I mean we always use the term "It's the thought that counts." Doesn't that apply to reading the bible? And before you throw stones, I was in middle school. This was not recent, however I was old enough to know better. So I am proclaiming my wrongs and making a change....

So, last year, I really tried to read the Bible daily. I used an app for my iPhone called YouVersion. I would read their daily Bible verse and then that would lead me to look at other things in the Bible and then I was done. About 20 minutes total. I felt pretty good about it. I also began to read Muscle and a Shovel (on "my books to finish" list) and I would look up the verses they used and study them. I did pretty good, but inevitably something came up and I got off of the band wagon. I must say that when I was doing my little 20 minute reading, although not very long, I did feel like I carried  what the verses said with me. I tried anyway. This also spurred me to start adding positive quotes and verses to the top of my lesson plans in my classroom. I leave my plans on my desk all the time. It is nice to have a positive thought to look at during my busy day.

But in the end I failed! I let other things get in my way and I quit reading the Bible unless it was at church. My bad and negative attitude returned. I knew that this was something I needed to change in the New Year. In my New Year's post my number one commitment was to read the Bible and pray more. No easy task even though it sounds so easy. Just read! But I don't want to just read the Bible. I want to know it. I want to learn it. I want to quote it. I know this won't happen in a year.  I mean I barely have the memory to keep up with my car keys (which reminds me I need to look for them).  I knew that I needed to study it, truly look at the verses, make notes, discuss it...DISCUSS IT! That got me thinking more.

In college, our college minister, Jeremy Harrison, challenged us to read daily. He bought us Bibles, The Daily Bible with commentary by F. LaGard Smith. I got one, and I tried to read it, but when I found the book, the other day, I was only to like April and I think it is because I started reading it around April. Sorry, Jeremy! More than that, Sorry, Lord! I didn't just let Jeremy down, myself down, I let God down. Even worse, It only took me 8 years to pull it back off the shelf. (Geez! I am letting it show I am not perfect!)

So after my blog post the other day, I pulled my copy and Klint's copy off of the shelf. I gave Klint his copy and said, "Will you read with me?" He looked at me surprised and said, "Yeah. What is this about?" I explained to him briefly I wanted to read the Bible in a year. "I need to read the Bible." He agreed to read it with me. This also met one of my other resolutions. I love to read books with my husband because we can discuss them. We have read a few marriage books. We read Dave Ramsey and we read Muscle and a Shovel together (he finished and I didn't). The Bible just seemed natural to read together.

This Bible (I guess it is a Bible, or is it more of a book? Isn't the Bible a book? Confusing!) is written in chronological order. It starts with the beginning of the world and goes on. I tried to approach this with an open mind and just know that it would start with Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning, God created the heaven's and the earth." (Wrote that from memory, thank you very much!) I was prepared for it to be dry and just blah. I mean the creation story is told to you from the time you are four or younger. If there is any story from the Bible you know, it is that one.

I really did look at Genesis as trying to learn something new. And I did! Genesis is amazing and there is so much I wasn't aware of. The Bible is adventurous, dramatic, romantic, mysterious, and gloriously amazing. The Earth was God's creation. I think about things that I want to create or make, think of and how hard it is and then give up, but God just did it! He created it all! There was an intricate design and plan to everything he set in motion! God is truly amazing and such an unfathomable force! I have just been in awe reading.

Here are a few points that I have noted in my readings:

• Genesis 1:4-7 ~ It didn't rain!!! I had heard in a recent lesson that it didn't rain until Noah built the ark and that was the first rain, but it didn't really make an impression (could be I was wrestling a baby or a preschooler when it was said) until I read how the ground was watered. God caused the streams to bubble up and water the ground. Can you imagine standing in a cotton field (I live in south Georgia, first crop that popped in my head) and thinking "It is kind of dry, God. We could use some water." and a stream bubbling up and watering the ground. I am taking liberties I know, because a) I am sure God would know it needed water, and b) I am sure that a stream didn't just a appear to water the ground. But in my human mind, this is what I pictured. AMAZING!!!
• Genesis 2:23-25 ~ Some of my favorite verses and some I keep close to my heart for personal reasons. Adam said that Eve was "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh for she was taken out of man." The verse goes further to say "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and they will become one flesh." The reason I love these verses is because it shows man and woman become one, a team, united against life and they face things together. They are a unit. I am constantly saying that Klint and I are a team. I sometimes feel like he's the other half of my brain (especially when I am looking for my stupid keys...which I still need to find). Decisions about money, our house, our girls, our future are made together. This verse captures that for me! Love it!
• Genesis 4:10-16 ~ Cain has killed Abel and is being punished. As God hands down his judgement, Cain pleads and says it is more than he can take because someone will surely kill him. God shows mercy. He tells him that he will not be killed. This spoke to me in the old saying of "God will not give us more than we can bare." Cain knew he would struggle with his punishment and pleaded that it was too much. God knew that it would be too much he showed his Mercy and marked Cain from being killed. God is merciful! God knows what I can handle! I need to have faith in that and trust in him always!

I had other points I noted, but I want to study them more before I write about them. Mr. F. LaGard Smith does a good job with his commentary. It is pretty neutral so far and just what he thinks. It has really helped me with deciphering what Genesis is about. 

So there you have it. Now the burning question...Have I been a DBR? Unfortunately, I have to say no. I missed two days but I am caught up and will start reading where I should in my reading tonight. Speaking of which  I need to go get to it (and I need to find my keys still :) ).

My favorite saying for now!

Good night and happy reading!

Maggie is ONE!

Maggie is one today! What a wonderful year it has been watching her grow and learn. She is amazing and a true miracle. We sometimes look at her and think about how she isn't supposed to be here. It is truly humbling to think we were chosen to be her parents and that God gave us that second chance to have her! (If you are lost as to what I am talking about, you can read it about it here and here.)

I am not good at doing monthly updates on everything Maggie did and each month she did what, but here are a few highlights of her first year!

1 month: Started smiling and by three months smiled all the time. She was and still is the happiest baby! She also started teething this month but didn't get teeth until 6 months or so. It was ridiculous how much she drooled!!!

1 month

2 months

3 months

3.5 months to 4 months: Started cereal. Milk just wasn't cutting it and I said I didn't want to do cereal at all and go straight to food, but that didn't work and Maggie had other plans. We didn't do cereal for long before we were doing food. We started with squash and worked up. Maggie was different from Sophie in that she loved veggies and meats better than fruits. Bananas were and still are not a favorite of Maggie's system. She can have them once in a day, but more than that and we are constipated. Poor thing!

I also left Maggie at four months for the first time. I had a work meeting in Wisconsin. She stayed with my Dad and Dee to help Klint out. I think it just made him more miserable. We missed her so much. Dee was so good about sending a picture of her everyday while we were separated.

The pack n play one is my favorite!

6 months: First trip to the beach!!! We went to St. Augustine. We stayed at the Holiday Inn in the historic district. We got a good price and they had a portable crib. It was great! Maggie did not like the ocean, but loved the sand. We had a blast and will be going back soon. Just an FYI, baby powder does work to get most of the sand off, but you need a lot of it!

Look at the drool! Still teething!

The Portable Crib wasn't the best thing in the world!

We also went to Klint's mom's for the 4th of July. We actually went there before we went to the beach. While we were at his mom's, Maggie started crawling! She turned 6 months on the fourth and started crawling that morning. By that night she was pulling up on stuff! I just wanted to cry! She was growing so fast! Maggie also had her first experience in a pool at her grandma's house. She liked it okay, but really wanted to be held and not put in her float.

7 months: The beginning of the "Stink Face"! We went in August to meet Maggie's newest cousin, Caleb, and celebrate her older cousin, Haiely's, birthday! We practiced on the way up and this was her first stink face.

We also finally had teeth by this point! Shortly after her bottom teeth came in her top ones started. We are now up to 6 teeth, four on top and two on the bottom.

9 months: HALLOWEEN!!! SO FUN!!!

10 months: We got RSV! So scary! She ran a fever and just looked and sounded horrible! Thanks goodness Dee was available to come be with her for the week so we didn't have to miss a whole week of work. We also had Thanksgiving at my aunt's house and Klint's parent's house. We saw grandma Linda. It was a fun filled month!

Tayor, Maggie, Sophie, and Ethan (Cutest Cousins EVER!)

11 months: Christmas and Pre Birthday Party! We had a great Christmas. Here are a few of our Christmas pictures taken by our friend, Hope Baldwin!

We also lost a couple of good friends in December. Cody and Chelsea had to move back to Mobile since Cody finished school. She was the girls' personal seamstress! I guess I have got to learn to sew now! Miss them so much!

My parents came the 30th and we did a pre-party for Maggie since they will be out of town for her party day. Here are a few pictures from that.

We also discovered Eli's kennel, Chick-fil-A, and the Tupperware cabinet!

12 months: Maggie is not walking! She crawls like lightning though! She will furniture surf and stands on her own. Sophie didn't walk before 12 months either. We aren't too worried!

Maggie can say mama, dada, Eli (E-I), thank you (tat tu), what's that? (sat?), and uh oh. She occasionally says "done" and "here". She shakes her head no. She puts her finger up when you say "shh!" She clicks her tongue to call Eli. She points to what she wants.

She loves her babies (Elmo mostly) and will hug them. She loves to rock in her rocking chair! She loves brushes and brushes her hair. She will rip out hair bows and try to put them back in. She tried to take her temperature. She knew the thermometer went in her ear.

She started eating table food at 11 months and is a great eater. She is also a messy eater!

We are so proud of her and everything she is doing! I am ready to see what the next years have in store for us!

Happy Birthday Maggie June!

Pictures are from newborn to twelve months going around the frame clockwise. Amazing to watch her grow!