blessed beyond...

What a wonderful year 2010 has been for our family! We started out the year having no clue that a beautiful baby girl would consume our lives this year, but we were blessed with Maggie Claire in October and I couldn't imagine life without her. Tonight when I was feeding her I was just looking at her sweet little face,fingers & toes, thanking God for such a sweet blessing. To those of you who have children, you know exactly what I mean- it really is the most wonderful feeling in the world to have a child. She is beautiful & perfectly healthy, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect child! It comes down to it, we are living out Ephesians 3:20, blessed beyond all we could have asked or imagined!!!!!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

Ephesians 3:20-21

christmas overview 2010

Our Christmas was wonderful! All I could think about this Christmas is how blessed we are! We spent our Christmas with our families, and we had fun. It really was a whirlwind, and I feel like I didn't get as many good pictures as I would have liked to have taken. but I guess I can dress mags up in her Christmas outfits and take some more pics of her! hehe :)

Here she is in one of my favorite outfits that my mom got for her, with her christmas tutu and all! It's mudpie, and if you haven't seen their stuff, it's some of the cutest stuff ever & my mom loves it all, so I have a feeling MC will be wearing a lot of these cute outfits! :) and well, I can't complain because it sure is adorable!

When you work in ministry at a church, you all know the joys of Christmas Eve services. Well, at the campus that Mike & I work at, we had a christmas eve eve service, and then 4 christmas eve services. Needless to say, we were at church a lot around Christmas, and then we had church the day after christmas too, so we were worn out & ready to just be home! It felt good to have nothing to do when Monday came rolling around. Plus, Mike has off all week, so we are enjoying being home together! Here is a family picture of us at the Christmas Eve Eve service that we attended. MC had a different dress for the Christmas Eve service, which I never even got a picture of her in that dress. {she had a blowout in the church nursery, so when we left she had pjs on}But, I will put her back in the dress and take a picture because it was so cute on her!

Us all together with Mike's family. So sad they are moving away in less than 2 weeks! :(

We enjoyed being with them a lot this holiday season! Also, for Christmas, they gave us a paid vacation to fly to California anytime next year to visit them! {super excited about going to Cali for vacation}

Christmas day we went to mama Nell's house{my dad's mom}, and then later that night we went to Brad & Beth's and did Christmas with them, my dad & family! I managed to not take any pictures, but we did have a fun time.

On Sunday we did Christmas at my mom's house after church. We stayed all day long, the kids napped{MC not so much}, and it was fun hanging out with my brothers for that long period of time! I did manage to get a few pictures of my nephew, Jack decorating a gingerbread coookie with my mom. Oh, he had the best time! He kept wanting to eat it though! He had sprinkles everywhere- it was so cute. :) My mom loves doing stuff like this, I know she can't wait to have MC and Tate doing these kinds of things with her too. She's such a good Oma to Maggie Claire. I wish we would have gotten a family picture with my mom, I feel like I don't have any pictures with my mom & MC! We need to get one soon! :)

Ok, last but not least, here is everything Maggie Claire got for her first Christmas{well, some of her toys were actually already being put to use in other places so they didn't make it into the picture}. She got so much stuff that me & her dad didn't have to buy anything! {we are enjoying this while we can!} She got a lot of books, dresses, pjs, baby dolls, & toys! My mom got her a little pink back pack with her name on it! {it's to the very left in the picture} I can just see her wearing it to church w/her diapers in it when she starts to walk carrying her sippy cup, oh, I can't wait for the little cute things like that! :) MC is very much loved by her grandmas, aunts, uncles, & cousins! :)

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas as much as we did! If you have a Christmas post, add your link in a comment & I would love to read all about your Christmas w/ your family & friends! It's hard to believe that the new year is just a few days away! Bring it on 2011! :)

a few more days...

...until Christmas! Today we have family coming into town from St. Louis. Mike's grandparents haven't met Maggie Claire yet, and she can't wait to meet them either! They will be here this afternoon. The rest of our week is jammed packed with spending time with all of our families, doing Christmas Eve services at the church, and celebrating our Savior's birth! What a wonderful time of year it is, and such a special event to celebrate. I always look forward to going to Christmas Eve service as a family! We are actually attending the Christmas Eve Eve service {on Thursday night}, but we'll be at all the other ones. I'm working the nursery and Mike will be doing candle lighting and whatever else is needed- probably helping with the overflow rooms.

I wanted to show everyone some of my decorations around the house... this first picture is my favorite of our three stockings hanging. Isn't Maggie Claire's stocking adorable??? I designed it, and my friend Emily sewed & monogrammed it for me! Of course, she had to have ruffles on her stocking!

Our beautiful Christmas tree! I love our tree, it is very big! It's definitely too big for our little apartment, but it was free {it's a hand-me-down tree from my grandma} I love how full it is, I get lots of compliments on it. This might be the last year we have it though... I think we might be a smaller one on sale after Christmas. This one is just really old, a pain to put together, and the needles are falling of everywhere! But don't you love the white star tree topper? I scored that last year at Target after Christmas for %75 off. :)

The reason for the season...

Our front door wreath

Of course, Maggie Claire has a tree. It's pink, sparkly and has cupcake ornaments on it. Fits her perfectly! :)

I hope everyone is enjoying this week of Christmas with all the festivities going on!

Isaiah 9:6

"For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

my two favs

This week has been crazy busy, and I feel like this entire month is just flying by!!!! I thought that being a stay at home mom, I would have hours and hours of extra time to blog more. Well, I was totally wrong! It's been a week since I've blogged, my house is a mess, there is laundry & dishes to be put away, Christmas presents to be wrapped, and a few paint, bake, & create orders that I'm trying to finish! Where has December gone?? Christmas is next week! I can't believe it! I do love this time of year though. It has been REALLY cold for Charleston weather. We are use to 60s & 70s not this crazy 30 degree weather! We have been going to Christmas parties, baking goodies, & mailing Christmas cards! {and receiving them too!} I absolutely love getting Christmas cards in the mail. It's probably in my top 5 things I love about Christmas.

I snapped this picture the other day when Maggie Claire was hanging on the couch with Mike. I thought it was really cute because they matched with their gray hoodies & jeans. I love that jacket on MC, it has ruffles on it & it's sparkly. Oh, they are so cute. Love them- they are my two favs!

I'm so thankful for our little family this Christmas season. We are just enjoying Maggie Claire's first Christmas as a family! It's also Mike's parents last Christmas in Charleston. Yup, that's right, MC's grandparents are moving all the way across the country to Orange County, California the 1st week of January. We are so sad that they are leaving, but we are excited for them in their new area of ministry at Saddleback Church! We are soaking in every day we get to spend with them before they move. Looks like we will be traveling to California for our vacations now for visits!

2 months old

Maggie Claire you are two months old!

You are absolutely beautiful, and oh so very happy! You smile all the time and we love that about you! We pray that you will always be filled with joy & love from your Savior.

We had your well baby 2 month check up today and you were a star! You got your 1st shots and it was sad for you because you cried, but you calmed down right away when mommy got to hold you! {I think it was harder for me & your daddy than you!} Your 2 month stats:

11 pounds 13 ounces {70%}

23.5 inches long {85%}

We are so proud of you for growing and we love you so much!

You still love to take a bath, but you don't like getting out, last time I gave you a bath, I put your pjs in the dryer for them to warm up so they would be nice and warm when you got our of the bath! You liked that :) You love playing under your playmat with all of the toys hanging down and you love your swing. We are still working on tummy time, you only like it for a few minutes, but you are doing so much better holding your head up!

For your sleeping habits, You still like to sleep in your crib, bassinet, & swing.

A few days ago, you slept through the night completely from 11:30 until 7:15 am! That was super exciting! You usually wake up between 4:30-5:30, so when you did sleep until 7:15, we were very surprised! You can continue to do that for now on, ok? :)

I kinda like it that you are a momma's girl. Probably because we're together pretty much all day long, and I'm the only one that can feed you. I have been able to pump bottles for you when your dad and I go on a date night, but lately, you haven't been interested in a bottle. We're still working on that too, because we need our date nights & for you to take a bottle! :)

This past week I started working back at the church nursery on the weekends. Of course, you are there with me, but not always in the same room that I'm in, so I also need you to take a bottle at church too! It was a little crazy this weekend because we weren't home all day Saturday or all day Sunday, so I was WORN out by the time Monday came around, and I didn't want to do anything!!!! But, we're all about flexibility in this house! :)

It is such a joy being a mommy to Maggie Claire. When I do leave her, I miss her so much, and I think about her all the time. I seriously could just kiss her sweet chubby cheeks all day long. Oh wait, I do. I love this little girl & I feel so privileged to raise her up to honor God. Such a blessing to have her this Christmas. Last Christmas I didn't even have "having a baby" on my radar. Now, it's hard to remember life without her. :)

a visit with the jolly man.

Maggie Claire went to go see santa claus for the first time. She didn't cry or even fuss! She just sat there and held on to his fingers! She was dressed in one of her cutest Christmas outfits, it has adorable ornaments on it!! Oh, she is just so precious!!!

This guy is a nurse at my mom's work and he dresses up every year as santa. They have a "cookies with santa" event where you can bring your family to see santa for free and they print you out a picture!

{All of these pictures were taken with my camera, I haven't scanned in the one that they printed out for us}

Here is all three of the cousin babes. They are just adorable!

Jack{2 1/2} , Maggie Claire{2 months}, Tate {6 months}

Tate couldn't resist MC and wanted to get her. I'm sure it was all of her pretty bows & ruffles!

Jack wasn't so sure of Santa. This was his third year of visiting this santa claus at my mom's work, and he's still not convinced that he's a good guy. hehe. Notice Jack's bull douser on Santa's knee, that is how santa reeled him in! oh, it was so cute!

Notice this santa suit is not your typical santa suit, I think it's an old English santa suit. My mom and I were talking when we left and we decided that we like the regular santa suit better. You know, the pretty Coca-Cola santa suit!

My mother in law said that it looked like Santa came to take pictures in his silky nightgown. haha. that just made me laugh!

Speaking of santa... you have got to watch this video on youtube. It's pretty funny, {warning: it has a few curse words} but it's called grandpa ruins christmas for kids This crazy grandpa goes off about how santa isn't real!

I remember going to see santa when I was little and it's so fun now that I have a child to do fun things like this during Christmas! To us, Santa is just another event or decoration, I don't ever really remember believing in santa. Do you take your kids to go see santa?

pretty & perfect

Yes, I have an ornament on my tree this year dedicated to my blog. I might have squealed a little too much when I saw this in a gift shoppe the other day when we were with our friends. I had to have it, there was no question about it & I absolutely love it. It's pretty & perfect! Plus, it has sparkles all over it which makes it even more perfect.

What has made you extra excited this Christmas season??

just doing life together...

Every Monday night we have a life group that meets. We have been apart of this life group ever since we have been married, which has been a little over 2 years. Last year we started the tradition of going to the festival of lights in our town together as a life group! A couple in our group have family members who own absolutely charleston, a company who rents out big party buses for events and special occasions, and we got to have one for the night! It was so fun!

Here is me and Mike on the bus.... (this picture was taken with my phone, poor quality)

On another note, look how long my hair is! My hair hasn't been this long since high school! I guess this is what prenatal vitamins will do to ya!

Here is our entire group. Our group hasn't always been this big, three couples just recently joined in the past 2 months. Actually this was the first time that everyone was together- all 16 of us! The festival of lights is a drive through deal, where you look at all the lights, but halfway through you can get out and walk around and they have stuff to do. There are big fire pits to roast marshmallows, so we brought our own fixings to make s'mores & hot chocolate. {they charge way too much- like $1 for 4 marshmallows- rip off!} We really had such a great time!

This is the crazy sand sculpture that was on display at the festival. I told Mike to not take a picture of it, because it is just going to waste space on my laptop. So I decided to make the picture serve a purpose and show it to all of you- It is pretty impressive and it is huge! I guess I'm just not the kind of person that takes pictures of random things. I like pictures of people and their faces, not dumb sand sculptures! hehe.

Here is our entire group again in front of the trolley that we took! A pretty good looking bunch of people! I'll name everyone from left to right:

Travis & Lisa, Leland & Mary, Matt & Ashley, Joel & Annette, Garrett & Lauren, Robert & April, Stew & Ashley, and Mike & me.

Such a fun way to get into the holiday spirit! Have you done anything fun to get in the Christmas spirit?? We did put up our tree{s} this weekend... I'll post on that later!

the golden year.

Today is my golden birthday. I honestly had no idea what a golden birthday was until a few days ago. All I know is that I have been looking forward to this birthday for years! I am 24 years old on the 24th! This is such a special birthday for me because this is my first birthday of being a mom. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present this year, because Maggie Claire is the best present I've ever had! :)

Today we went to lunch and did a little shopping with some birthday gift cards that I got and now Maggie Claire is napping before we head over to Mike's parents tonight. What an awesome birthday it has already been spending it with our little family!

Happy 24th Birthday to me! :)

wedding fun

This post is a couple weeks behind, but we took maggie claire to her first wedding, and it was actually her first road trip to Columbia- about 2 hours away. She was an absolute champ & did great! It was a fun wedding with a lot of our friends there.

We were celebrating the new Mr. & Mrs. Dycus!

{Kristin and Zach}

Me & April {she was a bridesmaid}

Mike & his buddies

{Darrell, Curt, Robert, & Mike}

Family picture- all dressed up

{mc was falling asleep at this point}

hehe :)

Julie and myself

{friend from high school that I was super excited to see}

Me and Angela with our babies

{her little girl Jade just turned one! She is also expecting baby #2}

I'm 6 weeks old today!

Six weeks. Wow. I can't believe that it's already been that long! It feels like just yesterday I was holding you in the recovery room after delivery.

Today, Maggie Claire, you are six weeks old. You are a joy to be around and I thank God everyday for blessing us with YOU! You are such a wonderful baby, and you are doing great with everything! You like to eat and sleep, as I've said before, and you are still loving to take a bath! I can't wait to take you to the pool next summer- I know you will just LOVE it!!! I gave you a bath this morning, and afterwards I just held you and just wanted to smell that sweet head of yours that I just washed in Baby Magic. :)

You are smiling a lot more, and I took this sweet picture of you yesterday and you just kept smiling and laughing at me. I love all of your coos and grunts that you make. You will be talking my ear off befor you know it!

You don't mind other people holding you, and you like to sit with dad and while he watches tv and you just stare at the ceiling or other things around you. I left you in the nursery last weekend for the first time, you slept in your carseat until I came to feed you, and then some of the nursery ladies loved on you when I went back in to response time with your daddy.

You are slowing losing all of your baby hair, but you still have some in the back & on top of your head. I just wonder what kind of hair you will have when it starts growing back in!

{hopefully curly blonde like your mommy. hehe}

You really like your paci and I just got you a new cute paci holder, so now you are really styling! :) I like to dress you in black & pink alot, especially those black leggings. They look too cute on you!

I pray over you all day long, and I know God has big things in store for your life!

"For this child we have prayed... "

1 Samuel 1:27a

snail mail

Nothing is better than going to the mailbox & finding a package from a best friend! I got a package on Saturday & I was super excited to find all of these goodies inside!

There was a really cute and soft pink blanket w/brown polka dot trim, a package of three onesies w/animals on them, 4 pairs of leggings/pants, a flower headband w/rhinestones, a bag for me to put a few things in when I head out with mc and don't want to tote the entire diaper bag, a decorative wipes case that has a little bling on it, and my favorite: a sign for MC's room that says live life one cupcake at a time! How adorable is that???

This was all from my friend Christina and her two girls Olivia and Ella who live in Tulsa, OK. Oh yes, and I almost forgot about the stuffed mickey. Olivia just turned 3 and she loves loves loves Mickey Mouse, so she knew that maggie claire needed a mickey mouse! How sweet are they, and I can't wait for them to come to visit and meet Maggie Claire! :)

MC enjoying her new blanket with one of her onesies and new pants on!

On another note, Monday Mike and I were cleaning up around the house getting ready for small group and I laid maggie claire on the couch while we were putting things away. {don't worry, we were right there, and she wasn't going to fall or anything} Well, Mike looked over at her and she had flipped the pillow that was laying beside her with her hand on top of her head. It was so funny! She was just waving those crazy hands everywhere and kicking her feet trying to get it off! We moved the pillow back behind her and she did it like 3 more times! She was just having the best time with that pillow! I told Mike that she was trying to throw it at him, but she couldn't quite get it that far! hehe. Sooner or later she will be having pillow fights with him. she's practicing early!

Booginhead. that is the name of the paci holder that I have heard great things about, so I just had to get it for maggie claire. I recieved a few paci holders off my registry, but my friend carissa told me about the booginhead paci holder that both of her kids use, and she says it is wonderful! I got it in the mail yesterday and I have realized that I love love love shopping online! :) I want to do a lot of Christmas shopping online this year. Because I'm just not feeling dragging a baby out and about to go Christmas shopping with all the crazies out there!

Anyone else with me on wanting to shop online for Christmas presents this year?

Happy Wednesday! :)

Happy Birthday Mac!

Last Saturday we went to Mac's 1st birthday party! His mom is one of my good friends Anita, and Mac is just the sweetest thing ever! We tease about Mac and Maggie Claire getting married one day! Who knows- it might happen! Their family actually just moved away after living in Charleston for a few years, but luckily they only moved a few hours away, so a visit for a day is possible! :)

I took a lot of pictures at the party for Anita, so I hope you like them! :)

{I wish I would have taken more of everyone who was at the party- I was focused on getting a lot of pictures of Mac, I didn't take any of anyone else!}