hilary surratt

I am Chosen! recap: day 1

2012-01-24T04:21:00.000-05:00

Wow! Where do I begin? This past weekend was amazing. I attended the women's conference at Seacoast Church, and I am already way too excited about next year! I am still soaking in all that God has done in my life this weekend. I really just wanted to share some scripture and pictures from this weekend. SO here we go!

As you walk up to the church there was a red carpet leading straight to this huge mirror with flowers and beautiful decor around it. There was a vision for this from the women's minister and what a blessing this was for so many women. The women were escorted by a few men of the church on the red carpet. It was just a great start to the conference of showing all the women that THEY ARE CHOSEN! See that beautiful chosen logo painted on the window? yep, my sweet friend April did that on the windows all over the church. SO beautiful!

This verse kept coming up throughout the conference and the breakout I went to on day two, and I wanted to share it just to remind all of you ladies reading here that the Lord is with you and has anointed each one of us. What more could we ask for?!?! We are so blessed to be chosen by Him!

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Luke 4:17-18

I am a part of the missional moms community, so I made this sign for our info booth. I also made one for the sisterhood booth! They looked beautiful on the tables!

Here a a couple of the seating environments in the breezeway at the church- one in which was a bed swing hanging in the hallway. Everything was so beautiful!

The first night of the conference our awesome Pastor, Greg Surratt spoke along with Lisa Bevere. If you have never heard her speak, she is phenomenal! Lisa encouraged us to be virtuous & capable. Now those are two things that I am now striving to be through the Lord to serve others. I love this verse she shared with us:

"The Lord announces victory, and throngs of women shout the happy news."

Psalm 68:11

I was blessed to be apart of the Chosen boutique and sell some of my items that I am now listing in my etsy shop. {I'm putting the headbands in there soon, I promise!} This was the only picture I took of the headbands and hairbows, but I also had some monogrammed items for sale too.

Some of the other women who sold in the Chosen boutique were

Jessi from Naptime diaries, April from Worship Artist Ministries, Tiffany from the Sassy Shop, Stacie with her Sabbath in a Jar scrub, Jessica & her adoption fund beauties, and Hillary from noonday. It was such a blessing to be able to hangout with these ladies all weekend while we sold our crafty beauties! Each one of these ladies are dear friends of mine, and I support them, you should too! :)

In case you haven't seen me, I got 8 inches cut off my hair on Thursday morning before the Chosen conference. I absolutely love it! If you are in Charleston and need a beautician, Ashley is your girl! Message her on fb and she will get you in! Tell her that I sent you! :)

It was kind of perfect timing for a haircut. When I got to the church and walked up on the red carpet and looked in that mirror, I was reminded that He has chose me, no matter if my hair is short, long, messy, or just perfect. That humbled me just to see myself with a new fancy do, that He loves me no matter what!

Lisa Bevere also shared this verse with us at the conference:

"So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law."

Galatians 5:1

That is some powerful stuff! We are free in Him. Praise the Lord! To Him be all the Glory!

our busy sweet girl

2012-01-18T14:43:00.008-05:00

Time is going by way too fast, and I can't seem to get enough of this sweet girl. She is getting so big, and so busy! I can hardly keep up with her! I've been trying to take lots of pictures lately, to soak up all of this toddlerhood because before I know it, she will be going to school and talking about boys! {oh goodness, not ready for that!} But when she gives me and her Daddy this sweet face, she can pretty much get anything thing she wants.

Then again, most of the time, the pictures I take look a little more something like these two:

You mamas know what I'm talking about! Babies running from the camera because they have so many more important things to do while outside than to sit still and say "cheese" for the camera! lol.

Me and Mags, and you can see Mike taking the picture in the reflection of my sunglasses! {What a hottie!} And my hair is getting chopped off tomorrow. I'm pretty excited!

Then there was that one day that I decked Maggie Claire out in some cheetah and her jean skirt. yeah, she rocked it with her pretty self! :) I love having a little girl! I just dress her up like a baby doll everyday! {But we are praying for a maggie claire to have baby brother next, to even out the pink/blue ratio around here! lol}

I love her face when she looks down. Her cheeks look so sweet and those eyelashes are so pretty!

Yeah, I just want to kiss that sweet face all day long.

But I promise you, she does cry and pitch fits. It's so cute to take pictures of your kid crying, especially when they don't get there way! {She wanted another snack, after already having about 157 snacks! seriously! hehe}

Happy Wednesday and I hope you all have a great rest of the week! Tomorrow Chosen starts and I'll be back when it's all over to tell you all about it! :)

"Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!” "

Lamentations 3:23-24

a new year

2012-01-12T11:46:00.000-05:00

It's a new year, new goals, new inspirations, new exciting things, and a fresh way to start something new in my life! Oh yes... and this sweet little 15 month old to keep me on my toes! {seriously, can't believe she is 15 months old}.

I've been thinking so much about this year, I made a list of several things I would like to do this year, and a couple I've already gotten started on! You might have seen my list that I tweeted about. I started an etsy shop last week, and without even promoting it, I've already made my first sale! I only have about 8 items for sale right now, but I am adding more weekly! I would love for you to visit my shop and tell me what you would like to see more of! I just finished a Valentines shirt for Maggie Claire that I haven't listed yet, but it is so cute!

I've added more things to my list like taking a weekly beach trip with friends this summer. We will be at the beach more this summer than last, and that makes me so giddy! Another one I've added is to have more date nights with my handsome hubby. There are never enough date nights! I would like to go on a big vacation this year, maybe we'll finally take our cruise! haha! {You can read about our last cruise experience here about how we never made it on the boat!}

Starting the year off right is key for me! I've been getting ready for Chosen, the women's conference at my church, and I am so so so so excited about it. I just can't believe that it's next week!!! If you are in the Charleston area, you need to check it out. You can buy tickets here, you will not regret it! It's going to be fabulous!!

Well, babies are calling my name... so I better run! I'm aiming to blog 2x a week now, but we'll see how that goes!

"The spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me because the Lord has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives."

Isaiah 61:1

cousin fun & hat weather

2012-01-05T23:10:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday, we headed over to my brother & sister-in-law's house for Maggie Claire to have a little playdate with her cousins Jack and Tate! She had the.best.time. Thanks Bethany & Brad for hosting us. :)

The kids played in the backyard for a while and ran off all of their energy!

Jack was showing us all his new digger he got for Christmas.

Attempt to get a picture of all three of them. They are so sweet! I love these little blonde headed babies! :)

Since it has been a little chilly outside lately, you know I had to get pictures of Maggie Claire in her adorable cupcake hat she got for Christmas!

seriously- cutest cupcake ever!

teaching mags how to warm her hands by rubbing them together

I love this picture of Maggie Claire and her friend Will who is 11 months old. I watch Will a few days a week and Maggie Claire loves him. She gets so excited when he is here! He is such a sweetie! :)

"A friend loves at all times"

Proverbs 17:17a

blessed this Christmas!

2011-12-26T23:44:00.000-05:00

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. Mike's parents came from California and stayed with us for 4 days, and it was so nice having them here! They didn't have any problem "watching Maggie Claire" while Mike and I ran errands and had to be at all 6 Christmas Eve and the "Eve Eve" services. She had the best time with them, and today was looking for them when she woke up. They would have stayed longer, but they are moving to Denver next week, so they had to get back and pack up there house! She is the new CEO of MOPS {mothers of preschoolers} and we are all very excited about her new job!

Here is our family at the Christmas Eve service!

I wore my hair curled like this 3 days in a row. I'm thinking it should be my new hairdo for 2012 to spice up my "mommy look" a little bit! :) Right before we were leaving for church, I realized I never made Maggie Claire a headband to wear- I whipped this adorable one up really fast and it turned out too perfect! :) {I'm loving us in our matching pink too!!!}

Me, Mike, Maggie Claire, Mike's dad, sister and mom :)

Mags decided to stick her tongue out for the pictures of me and her. Then because we were all laughing she kept doing it. This totally sums up her personality! my sweet and silly girl! I love her and this picture of us!

My memaw came in town for Christmas too! Here is our 4 generations picture! Memaw, Maggie Claire, my mom and me!

Christmas day we woke up and did Christmas with Mike's family, and Maggie Claire got a cute little pony to ride! Of course, she loved it and loved the fact that it plays music.
After presents and breakfast at home, we headed to my dad's mom's house {Mama Nell}. She lives about 2 hours away, so Maggie Claire took a short nap on the way there and a LONG nap on the way home! I was so thankful she slept for just about the entire 2 hour drive on the way home! Here is me and a few of my cousins that were there. I should have taken more pictures, this is the only good one I got! Here is Meribeth, Madelaine, Blair, and myself. I brought headbands that I made and they each picked one out! so cute! :)
The last stop on Christmas day was at my mom's house. My grandparents, 2 uncles, and my brothers all came over to join the fun! I think there was a total of 18 people there, so it got really crazy {but to fun} when we were all opening presents! Here is Maggie Claire trying to chase after her big cousins, Jack and Tate. They had the best time together!
My mom got Maggie Claire the "over-sized" pottery barn chair for her room, and of course she loved it! Tate wanted to join in the chair too! :) They are so cute together, Maggie Claire loves Jack and Tate so much. She tries to keep up with them, and loves loves loves to hug and kiss them. In this picture, she is "patting" him! so precious!

We had a great Christmas Week. Mike and I have the rest of the week off work, so we will be enjoying this sabbath!!!

Thankful for our Lord and Savior who was born to celebrate this special holiday and then died on the cross for us to celebrate his returning soon!

"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."

Isaiah 9:6

Christmas cards!

2011-12-20T22:00:00.003-05:00

I love love love doing Christmas cards. I have done a photo card every year since Mike and I were dating{yea, I'm crazy like that!} and I try to make sure everyone who sends us one, gets one too, so bring them on! :)

My fabulous dear friend Jessi designed our Christmas cards this year and I love them! I should have ordered more, because I ran out after getting 1/2 way down my list, so I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas this year by sharing it through my blog and fb! I am off work today until January 2nd, so I will be relaxing and spending time with my family.... and monogramming! {hehe} Maybe I'll be blogging more too these next 2 weeks!

Merry Christmas from the Surratt family: Mike, Hilary, and sweet Maggie Claire :)

thanksgiving week

2011-11-28T10:20:00.001-05:00

My house has been decorated in fall things, and I love it! {the Christmas decor will be coming out tomorrow, can't wait!}

Since my 25th birthday was on Thanksgiving this year, we had a lot to celebrate this past week!

I made a "happy thanksgiving" banner and place setting cards for all of our family coming into town to spend thanksgiving with us!

Last week I told you guys about my birthday present... and here it is! A new "monogramming/embroidery" sewing machine! I have actually been putting all of my paint, bake, & create business money that I've been making lately towards this machine, and then Mike surprised me the other day and said "oh, I ordered your machine and it's coming tomorrow!" Of course, I started flipping out and waited anxiously by the door all afternoon. I still have a lot of learning to do, so I am telling myself practice, practice, practice! :) I have seriously already almost lost my salvavtion over this machine, but it is coming together and I am loving it!!!

We found out this week that Maggie Claire likes corn on the cob- just like her mama! she was so cute eating it and did a pretty good job at it too!

Will and Maggie Claire enjoying a ride in the wagon. They are so precious together, and Maggie Claire loves him so much!

This picture of MC makes me laugh so much. Since she is walking now, I always seem to catch her with this serious determined face, love this sweet girl and I am so thankful for her!

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving weekend {we sure did!} My in-laws are leaving to head back to California today, we sure enjoyed having them here! The best part is, they'll be back for Christmas! yay!

****Also- My sister-in-law, Bethany, will be having my new sweet baby girl niece, Sophie Grace on Wednesday, if not sooner! I'll post all kinds of sweetness when she makes her big debut in this world!****

my lil cupcake

2011-11-22T11:37:00.002-05:00

Today I dressed Mags up in her baker's attire. It hangs in the kitchen with my aprons and she always wants to play with it. She is just now getting into wearing the hat, so I had to snap a few pictures of course! She is her mama's girl and already loves baking!

She is officially a walker now. She walks more than she crawls, so I guess that means it's official. My "big" sweet girl!

Maybe she will surprise me with a cookie cake for my birthday on Thursday?! um.. only if her daddy helps!

Have a great day everyone!

welcome mid-november :)

2011-11-14T10:00:00.001-05:00

sweet november!

I love November for many reasons, one of the main reasons is because it's thanksgiving, and just thinking about all the things I can be thankful for. My family is one of them, and so thankful that we are hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year! Mike's parents and grandparents are coming from California and St. Louis! I'm excited because I'm buying a turkey and making lots of yummy foods! oh, and decorating... which makes my heart happy! :)

Maybe one of the most exciting things about november is that it's my birthday month! ;) This year my birthday falls on Thanksgiving day, which what a blessing that is!! Everyone should be thankful for me. :) {I'm totally kidding, hehe} I've been saving up for my own birthday present this year, and I am just too excited about it... details coming soon!

I am so thankful for November and for this sweet baby girl who isn't so much a baby anymore. I'm also thankful for the excitement and busyness that this season brings.

Also for being in our new home this year. Typing that just fills my heart with joy knowing that this is our house to build our family in for the Lord! These pictures make me thankful for a my beautiful big backyard to take pictures in!

Watching this little baby girl grow has been one of the most precious things to see this year and I'm praying that her heart will be thankful the more she does grow.

I'm so thankful for my discipleship huddle that is so encouraging and challenging to me. We are doing a "no excuse november" that our women's ministry director started. It means there is no excuse to not read his word daily, so we are twittering #NEN for accountability along with a verse that we read that day. These women keep me accountable, and I am so thankful for that!

{follow me on twitter @hilarysurratt}

so blessed and so thankful!

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

soaking in her "big girl" sweetness!

2011-11-07T23:25:00.010-05:00

The time just kept getting away from me and I never posted these adorable 12 month photos that I took of Maggie Claire. Today she turned 13 months! This is my last monthly update of her and I am so glad I did these for her first year. I know that I'll always have these posts to come back and look on for all of us to remember! Without twitter, blogging, and status updates on facebook, I wouldn't remember anything! So thankful for amazing technology these days ;)

Now for the cuteness...

Maggie Claire modeling her leopard attire :)

She is full of personality! Sweet & happy as can be!

Her cuteness makes me giggle, complete from head to toe!

12 month stats:

19 pounds 8 ounces

30 inches

Last week when I took her in to the doctor for her ear infection, she weighed 20 pounds 3 ounces. Finally passing the 20 pound mark! ;) She was 12 months and 3 weeks old.

She is completely weaned now from breastfeeding. It was bittersweet the last time I nursed her. We were down to just the morning feeding and the next morning I skipped it, gave her the sippy cup with her whole milk in it. She was upset with me and cried because she new that wasn't in our morning routine of nursing her on our bed. :( She got over it in just 2 days, thankfully, because it broke my heart a little... just another baby step of her becoming a big kid.

Maggie Claire took her first steps last Wednesday! We were at church and she took 4 steps to me. I was so glad I was with her to see them! Ever since then she has been working on walking to us. I think the most steps she has taken total is 5. I'm sure by the couple next weeks or so she will be walking everywhere! We moved her up to the "new walker" room on Sunday in the nursery. I was actually working in that room, so it worked out perfect. ;)

This has been a big month for her! Not only is she completely on whole milk, she also learned to drink out of a straw, and she now has 4 teeth! Two on the top and two on the bottom. More are about to pop out soon- I already see them coming through!

The girl will eat just about anything you give her. She now loves bananas, spaghetti, and chocolate. Yes, the halloween candy stash has been found and I can't keep her away from it! hehe. I only let her have one chocolate bar though!

We are at the early stages of transitioning out of her morning nap. Two mornings a week she doesn't get her nap in , and she doesn't do too bad, but she definitely still needs it. Right now I try to only let her sleep an hour in the morning so she will be fall asleep in the afternoon. It works most of the time. But seriously, she is such a great napper and sleeper at night. I can't complain at all! Even if she doesn't nap, she still stays in her crib, plays with her blanket & bunny and I'll usually give her books to read. {her favorite thing to do}

She LOVES reading books. We wants us to read ALL of her books to her every night. It is so sweet, how much she loves it because when we get done with one, she hands us another one and immediately shows us her "please" sign! too funny.

Maggie Claire, you melt my heart everyday{multiple times a day}, and I just love you so much! You make me and your dad laugh all the time, especially when you talk all your jibber jabber. You have so much to say and you "talk" all day long! You are such a sweet and good girl. You don't like getting your diaper changed, or changing your clothes. Hopefully it's just a phase! You love love love your lovie bunny. You sleep with it, and as soon as I give it to you, you bury your face in it and way to go night night. You are just so precious and as much as I don't want my baby to grow up, we look forward to raising you for the Lord! Thanks for being the best daughter anyone could ever ask for! We love you Mags!!!!

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy." Phillipians 1:3-4

party details

2011-10-24T23:44:00.014-04:00

Party day! With all the crafting and preparation that I did for Maggie Claire's party, of course I would share all of the details with you!!

Here is her invitation made by the fabulous Traci over at punkinprints! She did the best job!!!!

{I cropped the bottom off because our address was on there}

I hung paper lanterns on the porch outside, and I had a couple of paper pinwheels too.

I made a ribbon wreath with a bag full of scrap ribbons that I had. It turned out so cute!

up close of the wreath

The kids corner at the party! On the left is the hairbow party favors that I made, and on the right is the pin the candle on the cupcake game. In the middle was bubbles for the boys.

hairbows for the girls :)

The cards said "Thank you for coming to my party! Love, Maggie Claire"

We served lemonade and sweet tea in pink cups with paper straws. The paper straws and the polka dot balloons came from The Polka Dot Market.

I made a paper pennant banner that said "happy birthday mags" to hang on the fence and it turned out so cute! I also made cupcake toppers for all the cupcakes with the same graphics.

I also ordered cupcake shaped cookies from my dear friend Anita. You should definitely check out Anita's sweets and treats! She does the best job and they are so yummy! I can't wait to have another party to order some more!!! {the stripes on them matched the paper straws}

The food table right before everyone dug in! :)

Here is the birthday party girl! Her outfit was so fun, I can't wait to put it on her again, she looks precious in it!!! Her outfit was from a local boutique in Charleston, but you can order it here.

We love you Maggie Claire!!!!

I would do a million parties for this baby girl!!!!!!

Cake time, she definitely enjoyed it!

She only stayed in my lap to open the first few presents, but she got lots of cute things and fun toys!

Thank you to everyone who came to her party! We enjoyed having you over at our house!

the perfect day

2011-10-23T20:50:00.002-04:00

I wanted to tell you all about Maggie Claire's birthday. We had the best day celebrating her and just spending time with her :)

Here we are right before lunch. We went to Cane's and we ate yummy chicken, which is her favorite. I love how she has her hands folded in this picture. She is precious and she totally knew it was her birthday, she was acting so giddy!

Big girl, she is so proud drinking her milk in her sippy cup!

Enjoying lunch a little too much.... {notice the foot propped up}

After lunch we went and picked up Mimi Sherry from the airport. She had a lot of birthday surprises for the princess!

We hung out outside, {her favorite thing to do is go "side", which means outside}

Swinging with Mimi Sherry

Before we went to dinner, I gave her a ponytail. It was so cute!

She has the best time pushing her princess car around!

I still can't believe how fast this year has gone by. I think I only cried a couple of times that day realizing that my "baby" is growing up! We had the best day with her. It was perfect!

fun fall day!

2011-10-15T22:49:00.007-04:00

Today was such a fun fall day! This morning I took Maggie Claire to get her picture taken in her cupcake halloween costume. Seriously, it was so cute. I have never taken her to get her pictures done by anyone, because I have just always done them, but this opportunity came up last minute and so I jumped on it. She did such a good job that the photographer gave her her first sucker. She loved it and sucked all of it gone! I can't wait to see how they turned out! Here is mags eating her lollipop with my mom who came with us this morning!

After taking pictures we went and ate at Chickfila. She has never really played in the playplace, so I let her play for a few minutes and she was acting like she could play in there forever! Crazy girl! {She had her legwarmers & bloomers on underneath her costume}

After Mags woke up from her afternoon nap, we went to the pumpkin patch at Boone Hall. I forgot my camera, so all of these pictures were taken on my phone! Here is our family picture at the pumpkin patch, We had fun taking pictures with all the pumpkins!

Maggie Claire even picked out her own little pumpkin. She was so sweet playing with it.

Maggie Claire with her Oma & Opa

I have been decorating my house for fall. I put my little pumpkin lights outside with our candycorn welcome sign! :) I think we will actually have lots of trick or treaters too because we have quite a few kids on our street! yay! :)

Happy Fall y'all!

Happy 1st birthday Maggie Claire!

2011-10-07T00:35:00.001-04:00

Maggie Claire, you are one!

One year ago today, I held you in my arms for the first time. I couldn't stop studying your sweet little face, your teeny tiny toes, and kissing those sweet chubby cheeks.

the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen, your sweet smile just melts my heart.

Your big blue eyes and wispy blonde hair are just as precious as can be

{I prayed for that blonde & blue when you were in the womb}

We ask you how old you are and you show us the number one on your sweet little finger...

...then you clap with excitement because that is what we do and it just reminds me of how smart you already are. You are so proud of yourself for doing it too.

you are very outgoing, talking to everyone you see in any store we are in. You tell them "hi", and it makes me giggle. praying for you to be just as excited to tell others about Jesus one day.

you are as fast as can be when crawling everywhere, especially when you are going for the stairs or we are chasing you. Then I remind you that mommy & daddy are always faster. :)

You could stay outside all day long, especially if swinging in the swing is involved.

your last favorite thing of the day to do is read your books. You have about 20 books on your bookshelf and you like to look at all of them. I hope you continue to love reading books forever!

I am so blessed to be your mommy and I love you more than you could ever know. But I just want you to always remember that God loves you even more!

I hope your birthday is so fun, and I also hope you enjoy your party!

Happy 1st birthday sweet mags.

xoxo

"This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

playdate with a purpose

2011-10-03T21:53:00.000-04:00

Last week I hosted the first "playdate with a purpose" at a park that is about 1 mile from my house. The goal for these playdates is to connect with other moms in the community, build friendships with them and be there for them whenever the time is needed. I had a really fun time and was able to connect with a lot of moms. I'm praying that these moms that come will see the light of Jesus shining through me how I love on my daughter and live out my life. I am just trying to send the message out to all these moms that The Jesus died for them, and if hanging out with them will help them realize this, I am all for it! :)

The vision of these "playdates with a purpose" came from a sweet friend of mine Jenna, after reading the book by Helen Lee called Missional Mom. I am almost done reading it, and it is soooo good! you can get it here off amazon. It just has helped me to realize that serving the Lord is my top priority in life, and being a mom comes after that. It is great motivation on loving the Lord and putting Him first, and being a great mom.

I made these cute cards to invite other moms who were at the park and encourage them to come. My friend Julie, who was with me made cookies to pass out as a welcoming invitation! She made the best cookies and brownies!!!

This is Maggie Claire {in the white} with her sweet new friend Allie {in the blue}. They were so cute swinging together! I went to school with Allie's mom, Lindsay, and was very excited that she was able to come. I think we are already building a great community here! :)

Here is my sweet baby girl playing on the slide, She seriously had the best time climbing up that slide! Thankfully my mom came and helped me with her while I was able to pass out some cards/cookies and invite some other moms who were at the park to come back to the playdate!!!

Our next playdate will be held on October 26th at 11:30, wannamaker park playground, and we are doing a little costume party for all the little kiddos. This will be another excuse for Mags to dress up in her adorable cupcake costume that we got her! umm... cuteness!!! :)

If any of you are in the Charleston area and would love to come to any of our playdates here is a list below of all the ones that a group of my friends from Seacoast Church are offering! Also, if you have any questions please feel free to email me hilarysurratt@gmail.com

Last Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. – Wannamaker Park
2nd Monday at 11:00 a.m. – Park Circle
2nd Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. – Park West Playground
1st Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. – Park West Playground
2nd Thursday at 11:30 a.m. – Pirate Park on Daniel Island
1st Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. – Hibben Playground in Belle Hall
1st Monday at 5:00 p.m. – The Gates, Dunes West

"Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

11 months old!

2011-09-20T10:18:00.000-04:00

Maggie Claire is 11 months old!

{9. 7. 2011}

Everyday Maggie Claire amazes me more and more. She is such an explorer! I spend most of my days chasing her around because when I turn my back she is into something else or headed for the stairs! She is very independent and would really like to do everything by herself. My mom told me I was the same way.

My new favorite thing about Maggie Claire is that she is signing "please." {in sign language} She melts my heart and I'll give her anything because it is the sweetest thing ever! The other day she was so tired and taking a bath, she looked up at me did the "please" sign and reached up for me to get her out of the bath. She is so precious and so smart! She does the "please" sign when she wants food or anything that we have we will say "What do you say?" or "Say please" and she will do the please sign. It's so nice for her to do this instead of grunting everytime she wants something, which is what she was doing before we taught her to sign please!

Her new favorite face! Making duck lips, so funny!

What Maggie Claire is up to right now...

climbing the stairs and anything else she can climb!
trying out whole milk (she thinks its ok)
sitting in her new convertible carseat
eating everything in site and everything she finds on the floor
loves giving kisses to her friends and mommy & daddy
favorite foods/snacks: goldfish, yogurt, cheerios, yogurt melts, crackers, cheese, black beans, mashed potatoes, and all the baby fruits & veggies she still eats
wears 12 months clothes
wears size 3 diapers, size 4 at night
started making a clicking noise with her tongue. so funny!
loves to dance
nurses 3 times a day, weaning to twice a day (I'm making it to my goal of one year!)
when she takes her hairbows out of her hair, she tries to put them back on top of her head
loves playing "get the ball" with daddy and she likes when we chase her around the house
opening and closing everything and pulling all my dish towels off the rack onto the floor
sleeps 12 hours everynight, usually 8pm-8am
she had her first ear infection :(
first antibiotic which was amoxicillin (I took a picture of the bottle)
she walks along the side of her crib
caught her standing by herself a couple of times with out holding on to anything!
loves to take EVERY SINGLE wipe out of the wipes case :)
SQUIRMY

11 month stats:

19 pounds

She is a tiny little girl! But still growing great! :)

Everyday when I get Maggie Claire dressed, feed her, fold her clothes, buckle her in her carseat, give her a bath, I just thank the Lord for her. I would have no idea what my life would be like with her and we just love her so much! She really is the sweetest, cutest, and most fun baby in the world! :) She makes me want to have lots more babies! :)

"Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their opponents in court." Psalm 127:3-5

Happy 11 months Maggie Claire! We love being your parents!! xoxo

productive friday!

2011-09-09T15:54:00.002-04:00

Every friday is our big day off, so Mike and I always like staying busy and having a good family fun day! This morning we went for a jog at the county park and then let mags swing at the playground area. {She loves swinging at the park!} Came home and it was time for her nap.

We got ready, went out to lunch and on our way out I saw this yard sale {on a friday?!?!} and I noticed they had a lot of kid stuff. After we went to lunch, went by a friend's house, went to the store, came back home, and put Maggie Claire down for her afternoon nap, I ran by the yard sale. I saw they had this little tykes table and chairs for $7! What a steal! I came home cleaned them us with some bleach, a magic eraser, and the hose and they were as good as new!

All the while, Mike was working hard extending our back patio with these paver stones that my stepdad gave us. They look great in our backyard and give us a lot more patio space! We are prepping for Maggie Claire's big 1st birthday bash that is coming up! yay! :)

Have a great rest of the weekend! :)

weekend recap {on a tuesday}

2011-08-30T15:29:00.008-04:00

I guess you can say I started my weekend on Thursday and well, ya know finally getting around to telling you all about it on late Tuesday night. So here's how it went:

Thursday: I get off work and head to Columbia with this lovely bunch of ladies to go to our friend's open studio and shop around for some lovely products! Talk about a fun car ride- seriously I think we need to go to Columbia more often together girls?!?!

Carrie, Katie, Jessi, April, Abbi, and me

We were all there supporting Jessi, over at naptime diaries :)

Friday & Saturday we just hung around the house because Hurricane Irene was coming! My goal was to get a picture for Maggie Claire's birthday invitations. She is such a squirmy girl so it is hard to take pictures of her! Here's a sneak peek- There were also balloons involved! :)

Sunday was Maggie Claire's 1st ever "girlfriend birthday party". So fun and so adorable! It was a baby pool party for Gemma! Gemma's mom is my friend Whitney and she throws the best and most beautiful parties and showers! Seriously! I was sad when we left and I realized I didn't take any pictures of all her cute decorations. I did get these little sweeties in the pool though. Gemma is in the yellow and Maggie Claire is in the pink.

We were inside cooling off and Maggie Claire wanted to hang out with her newest friend Elle. It was more like Maggie Claire wanted to kiss her! precious!!!

maggie claire, gemma, and elle- they haven't gotten the hang of "squeezing close to your best friends and smiling." They'll get it some day! hehe.

me and whitney with our babies- I can't believe they are turning one! Gemma is 6 weeks older than mc. I told Whitney that we have to coordinate our next pregnancies together so that we'll have babies the same age again! :)

That's all for now! I've got to tell yall about my double stroller story... that's another blog post! stay tuned! :)

does summer have to be over?

2011-08-23T11:05:00.002-04:00

I started a new "nanny/caregiver/babysitter" job last week. Can you tell I'm having trouble what to call my new job? hehe. It's 3 days a week, but it's 10 hour days 730-530, so it's a full time job. The little boy {he's 6 months old} comes over to our house so it has been great and so nice because Maggie Claire can stay on her schedule and nap in her crib. I'm just so blessed to have off on Wednesdays & Fridays! Especially because Friday is Mike's day off, so we declare it
"friday family funday" along with a lot of other families who work at Seacoast.

Since I started this new job we have had less time to soak up the sun at the pool or beach, but are still trying to as much as possible. On Friday, we set up Maggie Claire's baby pool in the backyard and let her play in it. She is just like her momma and loves to be outside. Can't you tell? She loves to cheese at the camera...
I really would like to go to the beach some more before it gets too cool outside, but luckily living in Charleston, you can go to the beach just about anytime up until November! Hopefully this weekend {if the hurricane doesn't hit us}, or next weekend we'll be hitting up the beach. :) What I do love about school starting back is that going to the park is way more fun because it seems to be less crowded. I'll be taking both babies to the park a lot in the fall. :)

Since summer is winding down, the fall brings a whole new season of life that we are starting back up including our Thursday morning Bible study! :) We are doing a Priscilla Shirer study called SEEDS, which I am definitely looking forward to! Also- it's starting to be birthday season! All of Maggie Claire's friends are having birthday parties-starting this weekend, and then it'll be Maggie Claire's 1st birthday in about 6 weeks! I'm trying to prepare myself for this- I am definitely not ready for my baby to be 1 yet. Good thing we still have 6 weeks.

Well, I'm looking at the baby monitor and looks like Maggie Claire is ready to get up and eat some lunch, so I better get back to mommyhood. It's very rare for both babies to be sleeping at the same time, so I was soaking in this blog writing time. Have a great Tuesday everyone! :)

California Trip

2011-08-19T14:56:00.011-04:00

We had the best time in the beautiful state of California! We've been home for 2 weeks now and I am finally getting back into the swing of things. It's more like the "new swing of things" being in out new house! ;) I wanted to share some pictures and show you all the exciting thing we did on our trip.

Here is Mags playing peek-a-boo with my new hat. She is so funny playing this, and it makes her laugh every time she plays it.

This place was so awesome. This "beach club" was in my in-laws neighborhood. It was a pool, but it had sand like a beach to play it. I'm not sure if I had more fun or Maggie Claire did playing in the sand!

We went to a couple of places where there were petting zoos and this lama{I think that's what it was} was just looking at MC and it kept doing its lips funny! It actually never scared her, she just kept looking at it like "what is this thing?!?!?!"

sweet mags swinging in the swing. Look at her precious sandals!

MC petting a goat at the petting zoo. This goat had weird eyes!

mimi sherry helped her not be scared of any of the animals, because you know this mama is not an animal lover!

We went on a little train ride too, Mags sat with mimi and papa. They had the best time with her, we were so sad to leave!

OK, yall! Maggie Claire road a real pony! This was the most precious thing ever and she loved it! She didn't even hold on the entire time- my brave girl! She really had no idea she was even on a pony! I was so paranoid the entire time she was going to fall off- as you can see my hand in the picture right behind her, as Mimi Sherry walked the pony. The pony's name was Dan. how cute! Afterward when we were taking pictures, she was so proud of herself. We got it on video too. It is the cutest thing! You can watch the video on youtube here!

Nothing says California like going to in-n-out burger! I'm not a burger gal, but it was delicious!

Mike and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary while we were in California! We went on a date that included riding a ferris wheel, shopping, and eating at the cheesecake factory. We had a great time, and I got to wear my newest favorite dress I bought at ross for $12.99! :)

it was a perfect night with my love!

Of course we went to the beach while we were there. The famous, Laguna Beach! We came here on our honeymoon and it was so neat to come back and enjoy it 3 years later as a family of 3. We also went to Balboa Island one day and that was fun too!

Mimi & Papa had Maggie Claire lots of toys and fun things to do at their house including this adorable fun hippo pool that she absolutely loved!

mags with her glamorous mimi sherry!

Looking forward to coming back again! Luckily, I have some really great in-laws who have a beautiful place for us to stay, so vacationing to California will be a regular event for us! We really did love it, and most of all we loved visiting them!!!

10 month pics & updates!

2011-08-17T10:28:00.001-04:00

Our baby girl is 10 months old!

She turned 10 months while we were in California on 8.7.11!

Maggie Claire- you are growing up soooooo fast! Look at her sweet face- I am so in love!

I don't have any stats this month, but I know she is growing and gaining weight, because she is getting so heavy to carry! The girl likes to eat, I am wondering how much she'll weight when we go for her 12 months.

Having Maggie Claire fills my heart with joy! I can't not look at her and smile! :) Even when she is doing the wrong thing- I just have to turn my head and giggle. What a baby doll she is! She amazes me by how smart she is and I seriously just want to kiss her face all day. She doesn't let me obviously because she would rather play!

This picture below cracks me up of the two of us! She is giving a thumbs up and she has what I like to call a "Mike face", where she looks just like her crazy daddy!{he makes that face sometimes} We just laugh so hard every time we look at it! hehe

What is Maggie Claire up to....

busy crawling EVERYWHERE and getting into anything she can!
loves opening and closing cabinets & doors
she can pull up on her knees, but hasn't pulled to a standing up position by herself yet.
eating more table foods & still likes all her baby foods. It's so much easier to give her table finger foods because I can eat too and I don't have to feed her! :) But... that is just another sign of her growing up :(
Her favorite table foods right now are grated cheese, black beans, & crackers
she now has 2 teeth! Her 2nd tooth came in while we were in California. That was pretty exciting because her mimi sherry got to witness her 2nd tooth coming in! :)
she is growing out of all her 6-9 months clothes and only wears 12 month clothes now
size 3 diapers
this has been such an exciting season for us because of so many firsts: airplane ride, visiting grandparents in California, moving into our first home as a family, and many more!
still nursing 4 times a day- the weaning process is starting in a few weeks. :( I am sad because she is my baby and it's hard seeing her grow up so fast, but it will be nice not being pregnant or nursing- I'll be a free woman! :)
She loves her new house! Her new room is pink and has a little tykes kitchen in it, and she loves it! Well, the only thing she can really do now is open and close all the doors and take all the play food out of it.
Her hair is getting so much longer too- its actually curling up in the back- sooooo sweet! :)
her first word is "hi" or "hey". It is so cute. She will say it to me or Mike when we walk in the door
she waves bye bye & claps
her newest thing is to dance! She sways side to side when there is music or we start singing to her. It's so cute!

WOW! slow. down. baby. girl! I just ordered a few party decorations today for her 1st birthday party. It's less than 2 months away!

We love this baby girl and are BLESSED to be her parents! :) Thank you for lighting up my life mags!

it's been a while...

2011-08-10T00:55:00.001-04:00

Well, it's been 2 weeks since I've blogged! We've been super crazy around here, ya know moving into our house, trying to get settled in, Mike was at youth summer camp, and we just got back from a week vacationing in California with my wonderful inlaws. Saying we were a little busy would be an understatement! hehe. Well, here are some fun things that I've been wanting to blog about... I started this post before we left for California, but I never finished it... enjoy! :)

My new beach hat! I have been wanting one of these big floppy straw hats for a while, and when this one was on sale at a beach shop in CA, I snatched it right up! I love it! :) This was on our anniversary, August 3rd, after we hung out at laguna beach for some fun in the sun.

This little summertime baby is just like her mama, she loves popsicles! In the afternoons, I've been taking her outside to play in her baby pool and I let her share a popsicle with me. She loves loves loves it! She also turned 10 months this week! gasp... she is growing up too fast! :)

Since she turned 10 months old, I began planning her 1st birthday party! It's going to be cupcake/polkadot/zebra theme... and it's going to be FUN! I got these adorable cupcakes in the mail last week as a taste tester for Mags party! They are from Anita's Sweets & Treats and they are too cute! On top of all the cuteness, they are so delicious! You should go check her out here!

Along with decorating our new house, we went to Ikea while we were in CA to check out some things we want to get for our house like a desk/workspace for me, a tv stand for our tv that we haven't even bought yet, and I found this adorable laptop support that I want to get! The closest Ikea to us is in Charlotte, so we have to plan a day to go there and shop, hopefully sometime soon!

garden flag- since becoming a homeowner a little over 2 weeks ago, I am on a buying frenzy. I love getting little things for my house. I've been really wanting a cute garden flag. They had a huge selection at the craft store the other day, but nothing really stuck out to me to buy. So I started searching online. How cute is this one? The tutorial is over at the vintage qwen. She seriously does the cutest stuff and has inspired me to possibly make a garden flag!

iced animal cookies- you know I love me some target. well, when these pop up in the dollar section, you know I get some! hehe. Mike was out of town the week before we went to CA and I was just sitting in bed on my computer eating them! bad habit- good thing he's not gone very often! ;) Speaking of Target... I had no idea there were Targets with starbucks in them?!?!?! When we were in California, I walked into Target and HELLO! There was a starbucks! Apparently this is normal for some people, but not in Charleston! I have to drive out of the way to get to a drive through starbucks. Life would be easier if I didn't have to get Maggie Claire out of the car to go to starbucks, but when it's attached to our favorite store.... AMAZING! :)

we're officially in!

2011-07-26T23:14:00.011-04:00

Wow- what a crazy busy week this has been! We closed on our house on Wednesday, painted & cleaned all day on Thursday and Friday, and moved in on Saturday! We love our house, it's so much fun being a homeower. I felt so grown up parking in our garage, and I am going to spoil myself everyday by parking in the garage. ;) It makes a huge difference because of how hot it is outside, especially putting Maggie Claire in her carseat, because it's not scorching hot!!

Here is me & Mags during her lunchtime yesterday. She is such a cutie and loves our new house too! :)

Being in my new living room is seriously like a fresh breath of air. The color of the walls is relaxing and I just want to sit downstairs, relaxing while writing blogs & drinking sweet tea all day long. It is very spacey and it's nice because the little babe has lots of room to crawl everywhere. She is like lighting speed towards the stairs too. That is another whole world to her, and it scares me to pieces.

Here is our wonderful living room. There is nothing on the walls yet, and the curtains aren't hung up, but it is so nice!

I've been looking at baby gates, but I can't decide on one. I would like to just have one and move it to wherever we are. It'll either be in the hallway upstairs, or at the bottom of the stairs. I'll probably end up buying one this week after I look at a few more. Anyone have a baby gate that they love?

Here is my cute kitchen. My mom came over and organized it put all of my stuff on top of my cabinets for decor. I love having that space up there!

I got some sticky hooks to hang up my aprons. too cute! :)

On top of all of our moving fun, Mike is going out of town for a few days and when he returns we will be heading to California!!!! YAY! We are going to visit with his parents for a week, and I am sooooo excited. It's also our anniversary which is exciting because we went to CA on our honeymoon too. It'll be so nice to go back 3 years later. We get to go on our anniversary date night while we are there, so we are going to do something fun! We are kind of nervous about flying with Maggie Claire because we have a 5.5 hour flight! I'm hoping she will be her cheerful self and have a good time on the plane! :) And possibly take a nap! We can be hopeful, right?

pool girlfriends

2011-07-19T15:26:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I met a couple of my girlfriends at the pool. My friend Carissa, has a little girl Sage, who is 4 months older than Maggie Claire. These girls are so funny, because they are both BIG TIME mama's girls! They sat at our feet the entire time and if we got up, they were watching our every move! Of course, I had to snap a few pics!

pool cuties

lunch time!

{carrots, strawberry apple puffs, and a slice of an apple}

I gave her a slice of an apple for the first time. I think she liked it because she thought she was a big girl. She chewed on that thing forever!

leftover carrots on Mags face. hehe.

I am loving all of these summer playdates! Invite us to a playdate and we'll come play & bring snacks! :)

Proverbs 17:17a
"A friend loves at all times"

miscellany monday: moving edition!

2011-07-18T14:32:00.000-04:00

It's closing and moving week!!! I drove by our house today and snapped this picture on the way home from a play date this morning with some wonderful ladies! It feels so good to see the SOLD sign! The landscaping needs some lovin' but that will have to come later! hehe

Only 2 more days until closing! It's Wednesday at 11am, so pray for it to go fast and smooth! YAY!

Last week, we went to lowes and picked out paint colors for our house! The cotton candy color will go in Maggie Claire's room, the serendipity will go all throughout downstairs {living room, dining room, and kitchen} and the gray frost will go in our bedroom. The bathrooms and extra bedroom will have to wait, these are on top priority right now!

Our living room is looking more like this, all boxed up, but there is still a lot of packing to go!

Last night Mike and I decided that we are going to give the BIG OLE' tube tv the boot. If you want it, come and get it, it still works! It takes up too much room, and it's pretty heavy. We already planned on buying a flatscreen tv on black friday, so until then, we will be tv-less! It'll be one less thing to bring into the new house. :) We don't have cable, so basically the only thing we use the tv for is to play the wii and watch DVDs. We can watch DVDs on our computers, so we'll just be without the wii for a few months. It'll be weird not having a tv in our new living room, but I guess it'll just be a sitting area until the end of November!

SO thankful for our new home! Now... I better get back to packing!

Link up your miscellany over at lowercase letters! :)

summer fun with mags

2011-07-15T16:17:00.002-04:00

Summertime is my ultimate favorite season of the year! {minus the 100+ degree weather we are having!} I love everything about the beach, pool, sundresses, getting a tan, popsicles, and slushies! Just trying to stay cool! I just wanted to post some of my favorite pictures that I've taken recently with my phone & a few from my camera!

I love getting Maggie Claire dressed in the morning. Her hairbows normally don't last all day in her hair, so I like taking sweet pictures of her playing in the morning after she gets dressed! ;)

She is definitely my baby girl, lovin' her some banana popsicles!!! We just came in from a walk in the stroller, and the poor girl was all sweaty, so I decided we needed some popsicles! I have a huge package of these banana ones, so I started feeding it to her and she just loved it! Then I was videoing her and she just took it from me and started going to town with it! hilarious!! She was so excited! I uploaded the video on youtube, you can watch it here!

Mags is at the baby food age right now and introducing solid foods is fun, but I sometimes get stuck and don't know what to give her! This normally means she ends up eating puffs or cheerios! Here she is with some little pieces of bread- she liked it, but then I think it was too dry for her, next time I'll do cheese toast! ;)

Last week we were suppose to have a playdate with some friends at their pool, but we left Maggie Claire's carseat in Mike's car that day which means we were left without a carseat to go anywhere! So... we packed up our pool stuff in the stroller and headed to the pool down the street! Here is Mags getting her sunscreen on! ;)

Our apartment pool is always SO DIRTY & packed with people who don't even live here, so we go to another apartment complex's pool across the street where there is NEVER anyone there and it's SO CLEAN!! {Hopefully no one will know that we don't live there!} :) hehe

We had so much fun and no one was even there! awesome- the entire pool to ourselves! :)

Do you like Mags' little hat? hehe- she somehow threw her hat out of the stroller on the way to the pool, and I didn't even notice until we got all the way to the pool, so I had to make-shift a hat out of her onesie. {We found the hat on the way back home by our apartment door}

What a little pool cutie!!!

Another fun summer outdoor activity we like to do is swing on the porch! We are going to have to find somewhere to hang our swing ASAP in our new house because of how much Maggie Claire loves her swing! Do you see her little baby doll that she's holding? She loves all her baby dolls right now, it's the most precious thing ever! :)

Here's our beach pics from last week when we went with a bunch of other ladies and babies for a beach playdate. Maggie Claire had the best time even though it was her naptime- she'll skip her nap anytime to go to the beach! She actually fell asleep the minute I put her in the car before I even had everything packed up! We had the best time!

This is Maggie Claire with her new friend Anson Mae at the beach. They were so cute playing together.

ahhh, I'm soaking up all this sweetness of me and my baby at the beach! ;)

So here's some of my favorite things that me and mags have been doing this summer! What are your favorite things to do in the summer?!?!? I'd love to get some more ideas!

9 months

2011-07-12T12:24:00.001-04:00

Happy 9 months to my baby girl!

WOW- time is just flying by and I just want to freeze it where we are right now! Maggie Claire is growing up soooooo fast, I can't even keep up! She is already 3/4 the way to being one year old! As much as I am excited about throwing her a 1st birthday party, I love love her baby sweetness and don't want her to grow up at all!

Maggie Claire is 18 pounds and 29.5 inches long!

She is in the 95th percentile for height, and the 45th for weight. She is one tall little lady!

What a fun, personality she has! Always smiling, "talking", and waving at people. Her favorite thing to do right now is clap. If we say "yay!" she'll start clapping. When she wakes up in the morning or from a nap, and we go in to get her she starts clapping. It really is the sweetest thing. When she is eating and she sees her food or after she takes a bite, she starts clapping.

In the past few days she has started to "dance" by swaying back and forth when I'm singing around the house or if she hears music. She gets so proud of herself for that too!

Maggie Claire is officially a crawler! This means she gets to move up to the crawler room at church. I'm sad, but I'm also excited that she is learning so much! She is getting into everything at the house. Yesterday I was charging the wii remotes on the charger and she just starting darting for them full speed! hilarious!!! I had to move the charger on top of the tv!

Her schedule hasn't changed much:

still taking two naps a day

eating three meals a day

nursing 4 or 5 times a day

Sleeps from around 730pm-8am

Still in size 3 diapers

9-12 month clothes,mainly in 12 month clothes though

eats a lot more table food, she likes black beans, brown rice, steamed broccoli, peas, and more that I can't think of! Oh, yea, and ice cream, crackers... ;) LOL. She wants whatever we have!

Taking pictures of her keeps getting harder and harder with all of her squirmy-ness! She is soooooo busy!

Maggie Claire, your dad and I love you so much. We laugh at you every day because you are so silly, and we love that about you! You love for us to play with you, and you are at the stage where we can't really leave you without you getting worried! You are such a big girl and you are growing up so fast! With you crawling everywhere now, we are in a whole different world, and have to watch you extra careful! We pray for you everyday that you will grow up to love the Lord and have a servants heart for Him! Keep staying cute & remember we love you!

love, mommy :)

"I will praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made!"

Psalm 139:14

we're moving!!!

2011-07-06T16:27:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share with everyone our exciting news of our NEW HOUSE that we are closing on at the end of July! It's a perfect house for our little family, and possibly an excuse to get pregnant again?!?! hehe, I'm totally kidding! We'll wait a year or two!

Anyways, it's our beautiful 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, with a 1 car attached garage. It's only 2 miles away from where we live now, which makes for an easy move.

Did I mention it has a huge fenced in backyard?!?! With a cute little shed and lots of trees! I'm eyeing a few for a hammock one day.

Maggie Claire's new room is BIG compared to her little room she has now! Plus, she has a walk-in closet for all of her clothes! This is a big room for a little girl! ;)

Here is our kitchen with black appliances! yay! Do you see the refrigerator/freezer that has an ice maker?!?! No more cracking ice trays! yay! It has a flat top stove with a warming drawer under the bottom of the oven! I am just super excited about it!

Here is a full view of the kitchen, and the window above the sink looks out to the backyard.

We had an inspection last week, and everything looked great! There are just a few minor fixes that we will get fixed, but the house is move in ready! The only thing that we need to do before we move in is get the carpet cleaned. It's in good shape, I just want to get it cleaned before we bring furniture in. I am so ready to get out of our apartment and into our new home!

Be on the lookout for more pictures to come in the next few weeks! :)

Also, pray that our closing will go smoothly!

beatin the summer heat!

2011-07-04T12:21:00.000-04:00

I am loving this sweet summer girl! We are soaking up all the time at the pool & outside that we can get! Maggie Claire loves being outside, even if it feels like 100 degrees! Our 4th of July weekend was so good! I bought Maggie Claire this little pillowcase dress from a friend of mine who makes clothes, it is so cute! It says "Future Miss America"! hehe, precious!!

Maggie Claire thinks its so funny when Mike puts on his sunglasses... she was just laughing at him! She cracks us up!

We had a family 4th of July party at my moms on Friday night and it was so cute seeing Maggie Claire play with her cousins, Jack and Tate. Tate and Maggie Claire are 4 months apart, and he is a lot faster than her, but they are so cute playing together! Here is a picture of the 3 of them... they are all VERY busy, we couldn't get a good shot! hehe, but they sure are cute in their red, white, & blue!

Our family 4th of July picture!

me & mags

She loves the outdoors! As you can tell in the picture with her cute grin & chubby cheeks!

This next picture is my favorite from the entire weekend, because we went on a family bikeride! We bought one of those baby seats that attaches on my bike, and we rode to our new house!!!! {I'll post on that later this week!!!} The house is exactly 2 miles from where we live now, so that was quite the bike ride this afternoon of 4 miles! Maggie Claire seemed to like it, I think she was a little nervous about the whole thing after I took her over the curb which made her bounce and she didn't like that! I tried not to drive too crazy with her on the back! I'm sure I'm going to be sore tomorrow from riding! Can't wait to take her on it again!

All weekend, we wore red, white, & blue to celebrate our freedom in the United States!

God Bless America! :)

"So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

John 8:36

where dreams come true!

2011-06-29T22:10:00.001-04:00

Our Disney trip was so much fun! It really was a special time taking Maggie Claire to Magic Kingdom for the first time! When we take her back in a few years {I'm hoping next year, but Mike thinks that is a bit ridiculous} I know it will be even more fun because she will be into it so much more! She was such a trooper while we were there. What was fun was that she was able to do most of the rides!

Oh, I just loved these balloons. I wanted to get one for Maggie Claire, but there would have been no room in our car for it! lol

Family picture in front of the castle

Mags with her grandma sherry in front of the monsters, Inc. laugh floor. Maggie Claire made it on the big screen during that show for being a "cute baby!"

Here we all are {minus me, the photographer} on the monorail!

Welcome to Magic Kingdom!

All of the girls in front of the princess castle

Family picture when we first got there On Main Street USA going towards the castle!

This is Maggie Claire in the Baby Care Center on a changing table, it is a nice place available to change diapers, feed, and take a rest from the heat!

First family trip to Magic Kingdom! In front of the castle & the mickey landscape!

Enjoying the dreams come true parade!!!

That concludes our fun trip to the Magic Kingdom!

I am already looking forward to going back again {hopefully sooner than later} and enjoying it again with Maggie Claire and our little family! This trip was such a blessing to us from Mike's parents, enjoying lots of time with them while we were all in Florida! We are going to California in a little over a month to enjoy time with them at their new house! I love family get togethers!

here's the tooth!

2011-06-28T10:32:00.003-04:00

I finally got a picture of Maggie Claire laughing where we can see her tooth! What a little cutie!

Can you tell we are excited about 4th of July?!?! haha! I love 4th of July! I've been decorating the house a little bit & we are going to have a little 4th of July party at my moms house and I am super excited! :)

I've made some 4th of July hairbows to sell over at Paint, Bake, & Create, so jump on over, check them out, and order one! :)

Happy 4th of July week! {yes, we'll be celebrating all week long!}

8 months old!

2011-06-21T06:04:00.001-04:00

Happy 8 months to our sweet Maggie Claire!

Mags turned 8 months when we were in Disney a few weeks ago on June 7th!

We had the best time with her at Magic Kingdom, she is such a cute minnie mouse! :)

I don't have any stats this month because we haven't been to the doctor lately, but she sure is growing!!!

New things she is doing:

eating some table foods- she loves the puffs & cheerios. seriously, she'll shovel them all in her mouth! She had blackbeans for the first time the other day at moes! The girl likes to eat! She'll eat all the yummy baby foods.
crawling backwards!!!
rolls everywhere
does 360s on her tummy
wears size 9 months or bigger clothes
size 3 diaper
2 naps a day, and when she doesn't get them.... not so good. LOL!
still nursing 4 or 5 times a day
Does great with a sippy cup- she likes water! :)
She gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth, but still not totally crawling.
She smiles at everyone, she was belly laughing in Sam's today just looking at a lady, she is so funny.
Her 1st tooth is poking through!!! It came through overnight and I found it on Wednesday June 15th! It is her bottom right tooth, and it is so cute!
teething, teething, teething... chewing on everything & drooling everywhere!

Being silly in her crib!

"...give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations."

Psalm 100:4-5

baby hugs

2011-06-16T14:47:00.002-04:00

This was just the sweetest thing the other day! We were at the sprinklers with some friends and my friend Michelle's little boy, Ryker just got really excited when he saw Maggie Claire and wanted to hug her. I was holding her up and they just hugged and hugged, and it was so sweet!

The sweetest part about it was that Maggie Claire was giggling the entire time! I guess Ryker was tickling her neck while she was hugging her. Oh, it was the sweetest thing! He is 11 months older than her, and this was really the first time they ever played together! I love these babies!!!

happy birthday mom!

2011-06-12T21:20:00.000-04:00

Friday was my mom's birthday, and she had a painting party at a local place in mount pleasant called bottles and brushes! We had such a fun time and everyone's paintings turned out so good. I did mine as a nighttime look and my mom added Christmas lights to her painting to have as a Christmas decoration. Here are some pictures from the party! :)

I took pictures in between the different stages

It really was so easy, the teacher took everyone step by step to create their own masterpiece!

Jenny & Debbie

Penny {my mom} & Susan

Terri

Happy Birthday mom! I love you so much!!

{Everyone should be super jealous because I seriously have the best mom ever!}

florida trip in tweets

2011-06-10T15:05:00.003-04:00

I thought it would be neat to post all my tweets and phone pictures for a timeline of our fun and too short florida trip this week! :) Enjoy!

Day 1:

Lunch time! Eating some of mommy's salad at McDonald's:

Mommy in th backseat w/sippy cup & puffs keeping her happy #3morehours

Sleeping baby toes! :)

Mags is sleeping in the back so I'm whispering to @mikesur so I wont to wake her, he responds with hand motions! haha! #dontwakethebaby

We made it to Orlando and started out with dinner at UNOs! #vacation

Day 2:

We just went through the gates at Disney and we already have a sleeping baby! #disneyvacay

Maggie Claire made it on the screen on the monsters inc. Laugh floor for being a cute baby! Yay! #magickingdom

The place where dreams come true!

too much fun for this sleeping beauty! #magickingdom

We tried going in the exit to avoid lines, but they caught us. #disneywhammy

Tea party time {girls only} #magickingdom

I'm so proud of little MC! Went all day at magic kingdom with no meltdowns and only 30 min of sleep! #gonnacrashhard

RT @SherrySurratt This might be the face of too much Mickey magic

Day 3:

Mickey Mouse Hangover

Teaching papa how to use a foot on the ipad

Minnie eating some puffs & enjoying some time with Mimi!

So fun to keep driving by this place!

Best seat at the rainforest cafe beside the aquarium! what what!

Our time visiting the mice and princesses have come to an end. We'll be back! ;)

Day 4: on the way home!

New headband from forever 21, So fun! :)

Being patient... are we home yet mommy?

More pictures from my camera will come soon- I haven't even uploaded them to my computer yet! Have a great weekend! :)

here we go!

2011-06-03T22:23:00.007-04:00

We are heading to Florida this week to go on vacation with Mike's parents and sister from California! We are so so so excited to see them! We are meeting them in Orlando, and you know what that means.... we are going to a Disney park one day! :)

As you can tell Maggie Claire is excited...

I ran across this $5 minnie mouse tank on sale at babies-R-us this week when I was shopping for a baby shower present for one of my friends and I couldn't resist! Plus I still had gift cards left from when Maggie Claire was born, so now she has a super cute shirt to wear! Oh yes, and I made her little minnie mouse clippie she has in her hair...

No worries... you guys will be hearing all about our vacation when we get back! Have a great weekend!

Happy 1st birthday Tate!

2011-05-28T11:07:00.000-04:00

My youngest nephew, Tate, turned 1 last week! His birthday party was so cute! My awesome sis-in-law does the best job with Tate & Jack's birthday parties! It was a blue & green polka dots theme... here are the pictures!

cute "tate is one" banner!

birthday cake!

He was so cute when we started singing happy birthday, he started acting all smiley & shy. He is seriously the sweetest little boy I know!

I can't believe that one year ago Beth was at the hospital having him- oh, he is so sweet! He is such a big boy now- Happy 1st birthday Tate!

Maggie Claire{in the orange} was giving Tate some birthday cousin kisses! They are so cute together!

beach vacation recap!

2011-05-26T20:54:00.008-04:00

We had a wonderful little 2 day vacation to Myrtle Beach last week. We love going to Myrtle Beach, because they have so many hotels right on the beach, and lots of swimming pools too. We were able to take Maggie Claire in an indoor swimming pool in the morning and no one was there, it was so nice to have an entire pool to ourselves, for her to get use to the water. She loves the water, the pool and the beach!

Our view from the hotel room

Mike and Maggie Claire

my vacation cuties

Our setup at the beach

Her first time playing in the sand

Mama's gotta catch some rays!

We also visited my grandma, "Mama Nell" when we were there, she lives close by, it was so nice to see her and visit with her for a while. Maggie Claire was so sweet to her,

Day #2 at the beach- I love this tutu bathing suit thanks to my sweet friend Allison!

Eating the sand

I am so so so so so thankful for our family! After we left the beach, we went to my nephew's birthday party... that post & pictures will come tomorrow!

Have a great weekend everyone!

7 months update

2011-05-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

Happy 7 month to our sweet Maggie Claire! {May 7th} I think I say this every month, but this is the best stage that she is in right now! She is so fun and I just can't get enough of her sweetness!

7 month milestones & stats:

16 pounds 10 ounces {50%}
28 inches long! {98%}
had ice cream from her memaw and wanted more!
sitting up
clapping
waving and saying "heeeeeeyyyyyyyyy"
laughs so hard at her cousin Jack.... it really is the funniest thing!
size 3 diaper
size 6-9 months, 9 months, some 12 months clothes
still breastfeeding- I think I might make my goal to a year! :) We do 5 feedings a day
takes 2 {sometimes 3} naps a day
sleeps 12 hours at night usually- she is her mama's girl sleeping in- ha!
favorite foods- just about all baby foods- she's not picky!
she really is so friendly- she smiles at everyone she comes in contact with

This month has been crazy fun with her because of all the fun new things she is learning to do! She learned to sit up, clap, and wave all within a couple of weeks, and it is sooooo much fun! We love watching her learn, as you can tell I love being Maggie Claire's mommy! I am loving taking her to the beach and the pool. We just got back from vacation and we were at the beach and she loved the water and eating the sand. She makes me want to have more kids sooner {but we're not planning on it any time soon!!}

Here are some cutie pie pictures of her clapping and saying "yay"

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

anything she wants...

2011-05-18T09:40:00.001-04:00

The first weekend of May, Maggie Claire's grandparents came to Charleston to visit all the way from California. Maggie Claire was soaking up all the love from them. It was fun to have them here, we miss them so much since they moved in January! Here are some of the pictures that I captured of Maggie Claire with her Mimi and Papa. They are so sweet!

vacay, business & cuteness miscellany!

2011-05-16T09:00:00.000-04:00

{*}Vacation here we come! We aren't traveling far, just 2 hours to a beach resort so we won't have to have Maggie Claire in the car for too long. I'm praying everything works out, and we don't have a vacation gone bad like last May when we missed our cruise ship. Keep us in your prayers as we travel! I am so giddy to just lay on the beach! This is our first vacation with Maggie Claire, so I'm hoping she'll do good sleeping some where else!

{*}If you didn't see my post yesterday... I've re-launched Paint, Bake & Create! yay yay yay! I'm in between jobs right now, aka: currently looking for a job! Sounds fun, huh? {if you know of anything, let me know!} Well, I've been working on my new Paint, Bake, & Create blog in the meantime & I'm open for orders. I love making handmade things... so head on over to the website and browse around! While you are there, leave me some comment love on what you like the best. Also, feel free to grab my button below! Thanks for your support & be on the lookout for a giveaway in the near future!

{*} I'm now considered a top mommy blogger! woot!

{*}high fashion leopard baby sandals. These are too cute for words! We were at target this weekend and I saw these and loved loved loved them. I was with my mom, she got them & will be wrapping them as one of Maggie Claire's 1st birthday presents. {The smallest size they had was a size 5... so she'll wear them later on!}

{*}Oh yea... I had to show a Maggie Claire pic of her in her adorable strawberry dress! I love this dress & I bought it right when I found out I was pregnant and I didn't even know it was a girl yet! {Of course I made her a matching hairbow!}

Happy Monday! Link on up to Miscellany Monday over at lowercase letters.

open for business!

2011-05-15T09:10:00.000-04:00

I just got finished with the new Paint, Bake, & Create design on the blog! Head on over to check out all my wonderful handmade goodies! In case you've never visited my blog before I make everything from hairbows{headbands too!}, name canvas', hairbow holders, ribbon chandeliers, diaper cakes, princess hairbows, tutus, cupcake hairbows, and so much more! Plus, you can grab my cute button! Keep me in mind for baby shower or wedding gifts!

ray of sunshine

2011-05-10T14:08:00.004-04:00

There is something about the color yellow that just makes me smile. I love love love the color yellow. If you didn't know before, my bridesmaids wore yellow in my wedding. When you see someone in yellow, it should just brighten the mood. Especially when you see a cute baby like this in yellow. This is probably one of my favorite pictures of her ever. She lights up my life!

She is just like a yellow ray of sunshine. She will make you want a baby, she is so cute! ha!

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music."

Psalm 98:4

miscellany monday in may!

2011-05-09T14:31:00.004-04:00

I had a fabulous 1st mother's day. I have the cutest, happiest baby around town, so this momma is happy! :) Here is us yesterday: me, Maggie Claire, and my mom! I am so blessed to have a super mom who I love and can hang out with all the time. Maggie Claire loves her too! :) We got my mom a handstamped charm necklace with the grandkids names on it. I got it from the silver sunshine shop on etsy! I love her stuff, I would love to get a necklace for myself now! :)

My adorable friend Brittany graduated from college this weekend, and I was able to make her some sparkle garland for her party! Congrats Birttany! Here's the sparkle garland for my friend brittany sparkle! {Everyone knows her by sparkle b/c she loves glitter like nobodies business!} You can follow her on twitter @sparklespice. I love her!

This is what my house looks like after every weekend. We are in Mount Pleasant{about 20 min from where we live} about 75% of the weekend, which means I am always carrying stuff in and out of the house, and by the time I get home on Sunday afternoon, I just want to put it all down and crash on the couch. so this is what my house looks like every monday morning! haha- and it still looks like this and it's almost 3pm! I better get to cleaning b/c my mom is coming over to watch Maggie Claire tonight, and I need to cook some food to take to small group!

Happy Monday everyone! Link on up with other Miscellany Monday posts!

More post coming this week on Maggie turning 7 months, paint bake & create relaunching, and MC getting spoiled by her grandparents from California!!! :)

30 minutes

2011-05-06T22:23:00.000-04:00

{This was written on Thursday, but as most of you can relate to, being a mom and blogging means being interrupted 20 times and never being able to finish & publish a blogpost. hehe}

Today I was able to get 30 minutes of peace by the pool. It was much much much much needed, and I am so thankful that I was able to at least get 30 min. It would have been nice if it was an hour or 2, but you get what you get, and that 30 minutes was bliss! I read a little from Building a Discipling Culture by Mike Breen after attending my first discipleship huddle today w/ other pastor/ministry wives. Meeting with a group of people that you can be real with, let your guard down, and be full of high challenge is so refreshing. What a great Thursday it has been!

Maggie Claire's baby dedication

2011-05-01T22:52:00.008-04:00

On Saturday, we had a special baby dedication for Maggie Claire and her cousins Jack and Tate. We had family come from all over the United States, and this weekend worked out perfect because so much of our family was able to be there. My in-laws were in town from Orange County, California, and Mike's dad, who officiated our wedding, was able to officiate the baby dedication. It was so cool to have Maggie Claire's Papa pray over her and dedicate her to the Lord during this ceremony. Here are a few pictures from the big day!

Sitting on mommy's lap during the dedication. Oh, those sweet cheeks are too precious!

My brother Brad & my sister in law Bethany with Jack and Tate

{PS- Beth just announced she is pregnant with baby #3!!!!! Yay I get to be an auntie again!!!}

Me & Mike with Maggie Claire.

Papa bragging about his baby granddaughter :)

Our sweet family of three

Us with Mike's family

{Mimi Sherry, Papa Geoff & aunt Brittainy}

My dad, us, & my stepmom

Afterward, my mom hosted everyone over for a lunch and we took some family pictures in the backyard!

Me & my baby girl!

This picture is us with my mom's dad's side of the family

{we have a lot of family!}

4 Generations: Maggie Claire, me, my mom, and my memaw!

Easter pictures

2011-04-25T21:33:00.000-04:00

Our Easter was fantastic and we are totally worn out today. Being in ministry & working at a church, busy holidays will wear you out! Church was amazing and Pastor Greg did a wonderful job (as always). It was super fun to love on lots of babies all weekend in the nursery. Speaking of babies... I had one beautiful Easter baby, Maggie Claire! Here's the classic family Easter picture outside church.

We are so blessed to know that Christ died for our sins so we can live!

I'm hoping everyone had a wonderful Easter from our family to yours!

"And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus." Luke 24:2-3

fun saturday

2011-04-23T21:51:00.002-04:00

Saturday morning was my nephew Jack's 3rd birthday party. It was a fun family party with one excited 3 year old! He had a Thomas the tank engine theme party, and Bethany made a really awesome Thomas cake. Jack loved all of it and seeing his face light up with all of his favorite people around was just priceless. When we walked in the door he yelled with his three year old high pitch voice "It's another present!" We got him a bubble blowing gun, pretty cool for a 3 year old. He is such a sweet boy! Happy birthday Jack Jack! We love you!

Tonight was the beginning of the Easter services at our church. We had 2 services tonight, and they seemed pretty packed, so I know in the morning there will be so many people at all the church services. I'll be in the nursery for a couple of the services, so I know there will be a lot of babies! It's going to be fun, I love love love Easter! Plus, I can't wait to attend service tomorrow with Mike. It's going to be a great day! Happy Easter!

"It is true! The Lord has Risen!"

Luke 24:34a

wordless wednesday: ready for easter

2011-04-20T10:11:00.001-04:00

pool fun :)

2011-04-19T22:14:00.000-04:00

This week is spring break for the schools in Charleston, so that means I have the 3 kids that I watch plus Maggie Claire. I decided to do fun things this week, because nothing is better than having a week off a school and doing lots of fun stuff!

Yesterday we went to the aquarium and today we did the pool! It had been 2 busy days... now I need to figure out what we are going to do for the next 2 days, and I'll be good to go! {I'm thinking water balloons in the backyard might be fun?!?! hehe.} The aquarium was awesome, and these kids I watch are even more awesome because of how good they are!

This was Maggie Claire's first time at the pool. She loved it! She was just soaking it all in! I was too busy worrying about all the kiddos getting a sunburn, I wasn't even thinking about myself.... resulting in burnt shoulders and a burnt back, so glad my face didn't get burnt!

I got this new float for her on the way to the pool b/c I forgot ours at home and it was too far to turn back around. Needless to say, as soon as I was done taking this picture, it started deflating b/c there was a hole in it! I'm taking it back tomorrow and getting my $7.99 back, thankyouverymuchCVS!

As we were leaving the pool the glorious ice cream truck came rolling up, of course I couldn't say no, it's spring break for crying out loud! haha. I got the kids the firecracker popsicles, and I got the famous screwball. Screwballs were always my favorite thing to get as a kid, so I went for it... it was $2!!!! Seriously?!?!? It use to be the cheapest ice cream to get. I couldn't believe it, and it got a whole lot smaller! They don't make them like they use to! Plus, the 2 gumballs at the bottom were not even gum. They just kind of disintegrated in my mouth, it was really weird and very disappointing!

I am getting super excited about Easter coming up this weekend, and next weekend Mike's parents are coming into town for the weekend! I can not even wait! We miss them so much, I wish they were staying longer!!! We are also doing a special baby dedication for Maggie Claire next weekend. It will be so special. Her cousins Jack & Tate are getting dedicated too! Speaking of Jack... today he is three! His "Thomas" party is on Saturday and I'm sure it will be a blast! Happy 3rd birthday to my 1st nephew Jack! We love you!

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather! We sure are! :)

favorite things so far about April...

2011-04-18T08:14:00.000-04:00

sonic happy hour- after a long day of being a "nanny", "babysitter", whatever you want to call it, I always hit up some happy hour sonic. I always have to hurry to get there by 4! I guess I have an addiction when the car-hopper recognizes me and says "the usual applies!" After he delivers my cherry coke. I think he remembers me b/c I once was heading into the ladies room at sonic carrying MC in her carseat and he was in there washing his hands! I don't know why, but he apologized like five times and said he was "restocking the toliet paper." really? that was just a weird. he could have propped the door open if he was "just restocking the toliet paper!"
Playtime at the park- On Thursdays I attend a womens Bible study at my church and to close out the semester we had a celebration afterwards at a local county park. It was a lot of fun until Mags decided to give me a poop explosion out the diaper and EVERYWHERE- the stroller, her little friend that was swinging with her, my hands, and all over her clothes! We haven't had a blowout in a while, so I guess she wanted to remind me what it was like! Needless to say I had 2 naked babies at the park, wiping down and changing clothes! Thankfully, a sweet lady in my Bible study helped me get everything thing clean! Here is a picture pre-blowout {haha} that my sweet friend Katie took.

oh yum. These came out at Zaxbys{one of my fav lunch spots} when I was pregnant and you better believe that I had a few while Mags was in the womb! Good news is... they came back out for a while and I'm not even complaining! I'm not a fan of the chocolate whipped cream, so I get mine plain- had one on Saturday and it was delish!

enjoying time with Maggie Claire- She is just too much fun and I still can't believe how blessed I am to have her. I think to myself all the time "I can't believe that she's mine!"

summer outfits- As you all may know, Maggie Claire has way too many clothes that her grandma{s} buy for her! Well, her summer outfits are my favorite! I had her in this ice-cream top from gymboree & her white jeans from oldnavy. Please, lets talk about how cute these white jeans are! hehe.

I hope everyone has a fabulous Monday!!!

Link up over at Carissa's blog for some more miscellany!

half year birthday!

2011-04-15T21:12:00.002-04:00

little miss Maggie Claire is 6 months old!

What she's been up to...

jumping like a crazy girl in her jumperoo
wears a size 2 or 3 diaper
wears size 6-9 months
rolls over to the right and to the left from belly to back
is obsessed with cups, she started playing with one in the bath one day... and ever since then she loves playing with it! It keeps her occupied- haha! {that fact that her mom carries a tervis tumbler everyday, and her dad always has a styrofoam cup w/dr. pepper in it, it doesn't surprise me that she likes cups}
favorite vegetables: peas, carrots, & sweet potatoes
favorite fruit: pears
still exclusively nursing... she loves her momma! ;)
usually takes 3 naps a day: (2) 1.5 hour naps, and (1) 1 hour nap. I have a feeling we will be dropping that last nap pretty soon, so hopefully she'll be down to (2) 2 hour naps a day
practicing sitting up... only for about 1 second and then she falls over
smiley smiley smiley girl!
still loves the bath- I think she is going to be a swimmer like her momma and spend way too much time in the water! ;)
loves swinging outside, and going for walks in the stroller
we introduced her some puffs & a sippy cup this past month, and now she's trying to figure that out!
she's got the "surprise" face down! Everytime she gets excited or she wants something she makes her surprise face with her mouth wide open! It'll make you smile.
She has learned to pat with her hands... but it's more like banging with her hands everywhere. My friend called it the bird flap, because she does it with both arms.
She loves studying faces. She will grab your nose and face, she's too friendly.
When she eats, she smacks her lips when she really likes it & gives a grunting ummmmmm when she wants more. She loves her food!

6 month stats:

15 pounds 12 ounces

27.5 inches

We are so so so so so blessed to have a healthy baby! Praising Him!

she got some new gladiator style sandals that she wanted to chew on. They are so cute on her! She also got a big package in the mail today from Mimi Sherry & Papa Geoff in California. They got her some cute clothes and adorable sandals that I can't wait for her to wear!

Happy half birthday to my sweet little girl! I love you so much!!!!

"May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God."

Philippians 1:11

new hairbow & a big smile!

2011-04-09T22:57:00.001-04:00

I would like to introduce to you my newest creation, the cupcake hairbow.

I have seen these around online for about a year or so, but I never got around to making one, well, HELLO- I finally made one! A sweet cupcake hairbow for a sweet girl! :) She was too busy playing for me to get a smile from her!

This stage with Maggie Claire is so fun right now. She is seriously so happy all the time! {Well, most of the time!} She is getting to the point where she smiles at everyone who talks to her, and it really is so fun. She is really getting good at her jumperoo right now- she has her mouth wide open laughing as she does it everytime. It really is priceless!

Here are 2 pictures I took of her on Thursday in her cute outfit she wore. We went to sisterhood {my womens bible study group} and then had a quick lunch with Mike at Wendys.

What she's wearing: pink dress from The Children's Place, white w/ polka dots tights from Target, flower- made my me, headband from Princess of Tides!

So cute!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend- we sure are! :)

baby snuggles

2011-04-02T17:03:00.004-04:00

On Friday we went in for Maggie Claire's 6 month well visit. She had started a little cough the night before, so I was just going to have the doctor make sure she was ok. Well, on top of having a cough, she had to get a couple of shots. I don't know about any of you other moms out there, but those shots always make Maggie Claire not feel well! Also, this time she spiked a 101.7 fever. She has never had a fever before! :(

She has been super sick all day today and it has been the most pitiful thing ever! {I won't go into details, but she has a runny nose, cough, along with other stuff too} All she wants to do is sleep, and when she is not sleeping, she just wants to be held so I get to snuggle with her! Normally, MC is way too busy to snuggle with mommy, she would rather play or be looking around. Not today, she's been laying on my shoulder, and her daddy's too. We hate the part of her being sick, but we sure do love those baby snuggles! :)

Please Pray for Maggie Claire to feel better!

her name

2011-03-29T14:45:00.000-04:00

Our sweet Maggie Claire.

After knowing her for these 5 {almost 6!} months, her name fits her perfect and no other name could be hers! When I found out I was pregnant, I had a feeling it was going to be a girl. I don't know why... but I guess it was my first instinct. I REALLY wanted a girl, but then I also would have loved to of had a boy. I had a girl name picked out, and I just knew we were going to have a Maggie Claire.

This is my story. in June 2009 I was talking with some of my friends at a party and baby names came up. {At this point I was still in school and had no intentions of getting pregnant ANYTIME soon.} I told one of my best friends that I liked the name Maggie and she just started freaking out. It went something like this: "Oh Hilary, you have to have a baby so you can name her Maggie and she will be running around with curly blonde hair and look just like you!" She kept bringing it up the entire night telling me how perfect that name would be. Ever since then, I just knew I was going to have a baby girl and name her Maggie. Her middle name came a little later. I had a few middle names in my mind. I liked Maggie Kate but I just wasn't feeling it after a while. There was just something about Maggie Claire that I just loved. I loved the fact that her name rhymed with my name, Hilary Blaire. It was just a feeling of complete peace in my heart and mind. That was going to be her name. After I surprisingly got pregnant in January 2010, I started looking up baby name meanings and when I looked up Maggie Claire, It was absolutely perfect.

Maggie means child of Light and Claire means bright and illuminating.

My prayer during my pregnancy and still is today, is that Maggie Claire will be a light unto the world. I know that her joyful personality is just that. Even at such an early age of almost 6 months, she already brings joy to so many peoples lives! I couldn't be more proud. We love our sweet little Maggie Claire and if you haven't met her, when you do she will light up your life. be She sure does mine!

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Matthew 5:16

meet sophie

2011-03-22T23:24:00.003-04:00

If you haven't heard of the famous sophie the giraffe. I would like to introduce you!

She is a fabulous teething toy that many parents rave about. Maggie Claire got one for Christmas, and i guess you can call it one of her favorite toys! It's easy to take places, it squeaks, and it makes MC smile every time when I take it out and squeak it at her. Well, the other day she was going to town chewing on it, so I took a video of it.

{There was a lot of people around, so just ignore all the talking in the background}

Enjoy!

Maggie Claire's first beach trip

2011-03-15T22:24:00.000-04:00

Today I took my baby girl to the beach. Just me & her, and it filled my heart with joy. The beach is seriously my love language- haha! I am looking forward to many many many more trips to the beach with her! It was a little chilly because of the wind, but the sun was warm, so I was able to take her out of the stroller and enjoy the sand & sun!

She was absolutely adorable at the beach & she loved it! She just was having the best time. It really was so fun just to sit & hold her and soak up these little special moments.

Her little toes got all sandy as she was kicking with her sweet little feet.

Ahh, this is the life! I love how all of these little pictures turned out!

I already know she will be a beach bum just like her mama!

"How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand..."

Psalm 139.17-18

5 months

2011-03-14T22:25:00.000-04:00

Maggie Claire, you are 5 months old!

{March 7, 2010}

My sweet Maggie Claire! You light up our life more than what's possible. We love you so much and are so so so so so blessed! You are getting funnier every day and your dad and I love it! We take videos of you all the time so that we will remember what you like like that this age. You can check out all the videos here. You are very much independent, at such a young age!

5 month stats:

15 pounds 7 ounces

26.5 inches

things that Maggie Claire does right now:

Tried carrots for the first time and LOVED them!
Still exclusively breastfed {never had any formula}
Today at church MC held her bottle BY HERSELF for the first time. My mom was feeding her and she insisted! This was a huge shocker, and too funny!
Sleeps 9-10 hours straight at night
has rolled over about 5 times total, but still doesn't seem interested in it.
Her feet & hands are her favorite toys, but she also likes her sophie the giraffe, violet the dog, the singing hippo, and other little toys she can grab & put in her mouth!
Still loves her paci & mommy does too, because it helps her go to sleep. ha!
She is most likely found in the outside swing on the porch, in the jumperoo, or lying on the floor on a blanket playing with her feet!
Sleeps in her crib at home, the pack-n-play at anyone else's house, and the swing at church
loves her new little friend that I'm nannying, who is 10 months older than her!
wears a size 2 diaper
loves being outside... {I'm so thankful it's warming up so we can be outside!}
loves to splash in the bath water! This past week we put the baby float on the tub, so she could sit up in it! You can see that picture here.
She sleeps with a blanket in one hand, a lovie in the other, her glow seahorse playing, and a sound machine. As you can tell, we're all about the sleep props! ha! When we go places where she needs to nap, we put it all in her "nap bag." Oh yes, she also sleeps in the aden & anais sleep sack. We have the fish & flower one & they are wonderful!
She started wearing hair bows without the headband!!! {I am in love}

I am probably missing so much more, but she is just a doll baby! Here are a few funny pictures that we got of her! She makes some funny faces! Especially when she gets excited about her giraffe!

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11

miscellany things i'm loving right now...

2011-03-07T08:00:00.001-05:00

1. tollhouse cookie dough- I know it's not that good for you, it's not organic, and it's not that trendy made from scratch stuff. but it's goooooood. I like it like that! ha! I'll put 6 precut cookie squares in the oven while we are eating dinner, and then they'll be ready when we finish. yum yum!

2. maggies new swing- my mom(who had foot surgery this week & is doing great) got MC this playstar infant swing and we set it up last week. She absolutely loves it! We put one of her highchair/shopping cart covers in it to give it a little extra padding and she would swing out there all day if we would let her!

3. easter candy... Of all the seasonal candies easter is by far my favorite! I just had to pick up some starburst jelly beans when I went to target today {they were on sale!} Starburst jellybeans are definitely my favorite, this is usually all I ask for in my easter basket every year! :)

My other favorite {they are Mike's favorite too} are the reese's peanut butter eggs. They are so delicious! I picked up a two pack of these at the gas station the other night for me & Mike. I ate mine slowly and savored every bite- Mike just devoured his in probably 2 bites! ha- the differences of me & my hubby!

4. my new haircut! The last time I got a haircut was in August 2009. I blogged about that haircut too- you can see that picture & post here. Seriously- it's been over a year and a half, you could say I was in desperate need. I got it cut off on Friday & I'm loving it! {sorry about the bad webcam quality picture!} The best part is... it's still long enough for a ponytail- that was my only requirement for this summer!

On another note... my baby girl is rolling over!!! Did I mention she is 5 months old today? oh, and she has enough hair for a little hairbow clippy to fit in? {without a headband} ahh.... slow down baby girl!!! Be on the lookout for her 5 month post & pictures later on this week!

Happy Monday! Link on up over at carissa's miscellany monday!

bestie

2011-03-01T22:43:00.005-05:00

Tonight I was texting my best friend since birth {seriously- she was at the hospital when I was born, our parents were good friends & my older brother stayed with them while we were in the hospital}. So technically we're friends since my birth. ha!

Me & Stephanie Amber

Today it hit me. We're getting old, our friends are driving minivans. haha. As I was texting her I was googling different strollers. {yes, that's what motherhood has done to me!} Stephanie moved from Charleston to Florida 5 years ago {I can't believe it's been that long ago!} and ever since then we've really only seen each other when she's been to visit in Charleston for different events, and now that her parents moved to Georgia, she rarely visits... excepts for weddings & baby showers! She surprised me at my baby shower back in Sept... you can read about that here.

She is moving to the big apple next week. {ahem, I might be a little jealous. ok... a lot jealous} Out of our group of friends from highschool/early college years, she is one of the single ones. {She's waiting for Mr. right} She can just move to the big New York City with out taking anyone with her and that's what she is doing. She's always up for an adventure! I'm praying that she finds her hubby there so I can have an excuse to go to NYC for her big snazzy wedding! hehe. I'm super excited for her and I know this is just the beginning for her. I think Stephanie will be perfect to live in the big city! By the way, I don't think Stephanie has any interest in getting married anytime soon, but... until then I can dream about her NYC wedding! hehe. :)

Watch out new york city, Stephanie Amber is coming to you! She's gorgeous, more trendy than I will ever be, has a huge heart for missions, and most importantly loves Jesus . :)

love you steph! :)

Little bits...

2011-02-28T22:49:00.001-05:00

No hairbow/ headband was worn today. {shocker I know!} My baby girl is known for the baby with the big bows and flowers! ha! But today... I couldn't get over the cuteness of what little hair she does have sticking up. So precious! :)

hairbows for Maddie

2011-02-23T20:55:00.005-05:00

If you didn't see my tweet or fb post last night, I wanted to share with everyone about sweet baby Maddie who went to see Jesus last week unexpectedly. You can visit her mom's blog over here and leave her lots of loving. Maddie was born exactly one week after I had Maggie Claire. Such a sad story, hold your babies & give them extra lovin' tonight.

Maddie's mommy requested on her blog to wear hairbows in honor of Maddie today. Since her and MC are both "M" names, Maggie Claire wore her monogrammed "M" hairbow in honor of Maddie today. Maddie is rejoicing with the angels now!

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"

Philippians 4:4

where did the weekend go?

2011-02-21T17:23:00.005-05:00

ahh.... the weekend just flew by too fast! I don't have much time to blog now... but I do have a few pictures to hold you over before I reveal my post on MC's closet. Yes, I love baby clothes, so I'm doing a whole post dedicated to it! :) The pictures of mags in her pretty dress was from yesterday after church, and the 4 month pictures were from a couple of weeks ago when she turned 4 months old! I love this little girl and being her mommy!

I thank my God every time I remember you.In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy!

Phillipians 1:3-4

valentines day surprises!

2011-02-14T16:35:00.001-05:00

Happy valentines day friends! Today we got a special valentines day package in the mail from Mike's parents in California! I was so excited... I opened the package outside because I couldn't wait! We got so many goodies & it was just filled with so many fun things! I got some cute dish towels & valentines washcloths, MC got a Barney valentines DVD, a tutu (she has it on in the pictures), a little cardigan, some toys, & we got lots of candy too! I hope everyone is having a fun valentines day like we are! It is a beautiful day! I was wearing a skirt & flip flops outside today! It is 70 degrees! What a perfect valentines day!

will you me my valentine?

2011-02-13T09:12:00.000-05:00

She sure is one cute valentine!

4 month chubbers...

2011-02-10T12:10:00.001-05:00

Maggie Claire you are 4 months old!

I just can't believe it! Being a mom these past 4 months is seriously the best thing ever. That's what everyone kept telling me when I was pregnant, but it really is! My heart just melts every time Maggie Claire gives me that huge gummy grin of hers. ahhh, i love it! Her chubbiness is my favorite thing, and I kiss those sweet cheeks of hers 100x a day. seriously. I don't want her to grow up, but then again- I'm looking forward to all of the fun stages ahead!

At her 4 month appointment, Maggie Claire weighed 14 pounds 2 ounces and was 26 inches long. She is in the 75th percentile for weight, and the 95th for height. Her hair is growing so much & I love it! It's almost enough to put a little clippie in it! :) She's still rocking the headbands with the big ole bows! {my fav}

Some facts about Maggie Claire at 4 months:

wears a size 2 diaper
loves taking a bath... she coos the entire time
loves playing under her playgym & in the pack-n-play with some toys
has learned how to squeal, you can check out her youtube video of her squealing here.
I've caught her singing {cooing} in the car when I have taylor swift playing!
we got out the jumperoo! She doesn't jump yet, but she does like sitting in it & looking at the toys!
still has only had breastmilk, and does not prefer a bottle. hehe. {starting solids soon!}
wears sizes 3-6 months or 6 months. All of her 0-3 & 3 month clothes are too small now! :(
loves going for walks in the stroller.
she has started to belly laugh! Mike can get her to do it the best- it is awesome! :)
becoming more of a momma's girl every day! (sorry everyone who wants to hold/watch her!)
When I change her diaper, or she is laying on her back, she puts her hands on her knees and just holds them there, or holds on to her pants, it's too funny!
She loves chewing/sucking on her fingers & blankets! She hasn't figured out putting toys or objects in her mouth yet, but those fingers will always be there!
When she wakes up and I go get her out of her crib, she does this "I'm so excited you are getting me out" kick & waves her arms with full excitement! It really makes me laugh & fills me with joy everytime!
still likes the swing at church, but not so much at home...
she is such a flirt with her doctor! She loves him! Everytime we go in, she babbles to him, smiles at him, and she laughed at him during her 4 month check up!
She will always smile at people who talk to her, she already likes being social! {I wonder where she got that from?!?!?}
She doesn't like to look at the person who is holding her- she will look everywhere else, but you! It's so funny!
She also plays hard to get when it comes to smiling at the camera!! :)

I hope you enjoyed all the pictures! I think she is just the prettiest & sweetest 4 month old ever! Mike & I are just overjoyed to be her parents. I pray this verse over her daily!

"Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

cousin fun

2011-02-09T21:57:00.004-05:00

Today I met some friends at the park and it was super chilly outside! The kids had a lot of fun running around, but it was so cold that I left Maggie Claire in her carseat in the stroller almost the entire time! Before we left, I wanted to try her in the swing, so I got her out and we put her and Tate(my youngest nephew) in the swing together! They were so cute!!! Jack(my oldest nephew) enjoyed pushing them! He kept saying "Tate is laughing, Tate is laughing!" It was just too precious! Sweet cousin love!

a plan...

2011-02-08T22:11:00.002-05:00

I was at my sister-in-laws last week and I was drooling over the fact that she plans her meals a week in advance. I know... seems like common sense, I should have been doing this a long time ago. She got this {fancy} calendar thing from target that she writes her meals out on for the week. I decided to give it a try. I haven't made it to target to get a fancy board for my fridge, but I did write out on a paper what we were having for dinner for the week & it's working!! {well, it's only been 2 days... and they've gone as planned!}

I also wrote out lunch options for Mike to take to work and for me to have at home. This is helping us save money & not go out to eat when we haven't planned what's for dinner or lunch!! Mike was so cute & encouraging- he told me he was looking forward to "taco night" on friday. That's his fav! :) Good thing I know what my man likes!

I also stopped by my friend Carrie's blog today and she had an amazing post on how she is meal planning for the week and setting just a few "to-do's" a day so that she won't be bogged down for an entire day trying to get everything done! Check her blog out- it's a good one! I think I might try that too- so I won't always feel like I have so many things to do everyday! :)

babywear{ing}

2011-02-03T17:14:00.000-05:00

I love the fact of babywearing, and I need to do more of it! I have three baby carriers, each one I like for different reasons, and I would like to get maybe one more... but I need to put these three to use before I invest in another one! I usually use them to take Maggie Claire on a walk to get the mail, and yesterday I actually wore her in Target for the first time.

This is me & mags yesterday when I got home from Target with mags in the baby bjorn. It's hot pink and I got it at a consignment sale for $25 when I first found out I was having a girl! :) I really like this carrier, it's my favorite because I feel the most comfortable with MC in this one. I know she is strapped in and definitely won't slip out.

This is my moby wrap. The moby is just one very very very long, stretchy piece of fabric that you tie in different ways to carry the baby. I got this from my dear friend Carissa and I love the pretty green color that it is! The next time I got out shopping, I plan on wearing this one, because I like how warm it is and you can really snuggle that baby in there! As you can see mags likes to chew on the fabric. I had it on for about 10 minutes to test it out around the house and it was already covered with slobber. {I think we might have an early teether on our hands!} This is the only way I've tried to use this carrier, but I plan on trying out some other ways too!

The last carrier I have is this munchkin jelly bean sling. I also got this one at a consignment sale before I had MC. I've only worn it this one time when I took mags on a walk around the apartment complex. I had her all bundled up b/c it was pretty cold outside. I actually liked the way that she was sitting up in it, and I plan on wearing her more in this one too! :)

Do any of you other mommies out there have a favorite baby carrier? What other one I should be looking out to buy? I could get use to this babywearing thing... especially if it means I can always have such a cute baby like Maggie Claire snuggled close to me! :)

monday! monday!

2011-01-31T17:31:00.000-05:00

{1. back to work}

On friday, I went back to work{not full-time} to fill in for someone. I actually enjoyed working, making some money, and seeing all of my co-workers!

I sure did miss my sweet Maggie Claire though! I went home during my lunch break and was able to feed her for one of her feedings, but Mike gave her a bottle for her afternoon feeding. She did great at home w/daddy despite the fact that she is a total momma's girl! Since Mike doesn't work on Fridays, I am able to fill in if they need me while Mags stays home with daddy. :)

{2. milk trays}

My mom found these on the clearance isle at target. They are Sensible Lines milk trays to freeze breast milk by the ounce. You pour them into the trays and they freeze one ounce at a time. I thought they were pretty cool b/c I usually pump more than what Maggie Claire will drink, therefore... they might work for me so I won't waste the milk by freezing it all together! Has anyone else ever used these?

{3. blush}

I am seriously addicted to blush. I wear it everyday, and can never have enough. I get comments all the time saying "oh wow, you have rosy cheeks!" haha. Maybe they are trying to tell me... "you have too much blush on!" oh well! Maybelline's pinch o' pink is my absolute fav. My friend April always tells me "you gotta have your blush." hehe. My other go to makeup necessity is mascara. I have blonde eyelashes, so mascara is a must! :) I don't ever wear eyeliner though. I use to wear ALOT of it in highschool. I just kind of stopped one day though. Does anyone have a favorite eyeliner that they wear that I should try?

{4. valentines brownies}

Ohhh yes... I bought some of these goodies this weekend. I am such a sucker for holiday snacks. The seasonal section at Target gets me buying something everytime! I haven't opened them yet. It comes with 5 brownies in there, I thought that was such an odd number. I guess Mike and I will have to split the last one! haha.

{5. come on summer!}

You heard it... We are ready! Maggie Claire has her sunglasses and we've got our charleston county beach/park pass! This weekend made it to 70 degrees here in Charleston and it was wonderful!!!! I am looking forward to the summer more than I ever have before!!!

Happy Monday everyone! :)

pack-n-play time!

2011-01-29T21:43:00.007-05:00

Our dining room has turned into a great place for the pack-n-play to go! We rarely ever use our dining room table- we normally eat on the couch together, so I decided to see if the pack-n-play would fit in there... and viola! It fits perfect! Don't you just love how I color coordinated it too!? hehe.

I ended up turning it the other way, so Maggie Claire could look out the window better, but it works out perfect! I wanted to start training her to like the playpen, so that when she gets mobile, I can put her in there for "playpen time" while I take a shower or do other things around the house w/out her getting into everything!

Maggie Claire is enjoying some tummy time! She is doing SO MUCH better on her tummy, she loves all her toys {especially her light up ball from uncle Ron, Aunt Marla, Ryan & Morgan}!

Happy girl! She was really smiling/giggling for the camera when I was taking these!

In regards to a highchair, I'm thinking about the graco mealtime in little hoot. It's on sale at Target right now I think until february 5th. I like how it reclines, has different height adjustments, it matches our kitchen stuff, the price & I've been pleased with all of the graco stuff I have so far. :) What do you think??

totally target

2011-01-27T00:13:00.008-05:00

As some of you may know, I am in love with shopping at Target. When I find coupon deals at target, I get pretty excited. Well, this week there was a diaper deal going on. I have so many diaper coupons that I've collected over my entire pregnancy from different places, and I scored big this time! I got these 3 packs of diapers and a pack of huggies wipes all for $13.50! The packs of diapers ended up being about $3.80 each! {I don't have the receipt near me, so this is the estimate} I was able to stack a $3.50, $2.50, $2.50, $2, $.75 off coupons to get the good deal! Lesson- never throw away coupons that aren't expired- I've had so many of these for over 6 months!

Lately my preference of diapers for Maggie Claire is Huggies, especially the pure & natural- I love those! The sale this week at Target was $8.99 for huggies diapers, and if you bought 3 you would get a $5 gift card! I already had target gift card money left over from Christmas, so I ended up not having to pay anything out of pocket, and I got $5 gift card. It was a win-win for me! :)

I snapped a picture of Maggie Claire while we were in line waiting to checkout. Then I compared it to her first shopping trip to target when she would sleep the entire time I would go somewhere!

Here is her at 2 weeks and 3.5 months. Oh, slow down baby girl- you're growing up too fast!!!

Don't you just want to take a bite out of those sweet cheeks?!?!

Have a fantastic weekend! :)

I'm back: miscellany monday :)

2011-01-24T20:19:00.005-05:00

I didn't realize that I haven't participated in miscellany monday ever since I've had Maggie Claire. It's time to get back in the swing of it!!! Link on up @ carissa's lowercase letters

1. sisterhood mornings

I started going to a women's bible study on Thursday mornings at my church this past week. It felt so good to go worship with a bunch of ladies and hop into a group! My group is starting off studying one month to live by Kerry & Chris Shook. I am super excited about it & I'm looking forward to fellowshipping with a new group of ladies! I have always done small groups, but I am normally a leader of a small group for teens, so I was a bit nervous going on Thursday & the funny thing was that I think I was the youngest person there out of over 100 ladies that came! Talk about having a lot of people to look up to... I am so blessed!!! Have any of you read this book?

2. warm weather please

I know I say this every year, but all I can think about it going to the beach this summer! March, can you please hurry up so I can go to the beach and catch some rays with my sweet baby girl?? Thanks. :)

3. baby jeggings

Maggie Claire got her first pair of jeggings from her Oma. Yes, they are so cute I just cant stand it!!! I can't wait to pair them with more outfits & some boots!!

4. high chair

I am looking for a high chair because before we know it we will be introducing solids to Maggie Claire and we need a good one! I need your advice on an affordable high chair! I would really like a chicco polly high chair, but it seems to be a little pricey. We do have one, it is a wooden restaurant style one from pottery barn. I just don't think it's that practical for our house for maggie claire. I'm going to probably bring it to my moms house and leave it there for when we come over b/c it would work over there!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Monday!!!

surviving & loving it! :)

2011-01-23T17:00:00.003-05:00

I found this post that I never finished & posted from a couple of weeks ago. I didn't want to delete it because I wanted to have it to remember how I felt some days! Also, just so everyone knows that being a parent isn't always fun & games. I started writing this the day after we didn't have a good day...

"So the other day when Mike and I were talking, we were talking about parenting & how its challenging & hard. {Can I get an amen?} I just reminded myself that my goal right now is to take care of this sweet baby girl and love her to pieces. Bottom line= survival mode. Sometimes we have great days, sometimes, not so much. Yesterday was one of those days... Maggie Claire kept waking up from her naps early & she was fussy. I was trying to take down the Christmas tree & "undecorate" the house. I kept getting frustrated because every day we have something going on, I feel like half of Maggie Claire's naps are taken in her carseat and I just want to give up."

I love that this my life right now. Yes, a lot of people just think that I sit around and take pics of Maggie in her cute outfits all day... reality check... yea right, I wish! But I do snag every opportunity I can to take pictures of her!

Speaking of... last night was her first time in an exersaucer! I snapped a few pictures! She seemed to like it, I just couldn't believe how big she looked! She liked looking at all the toys, it was too cute.

I really am enjoying my sweet baby girl. This stage is really fun & she is so happy! She really is such a good baby and I can't complain at all because we are soooooooo blessed! At least she is taking naps & sleeping through the night! I couldn't imagine her not being able to sleep and cry all the time... I would lose my mind! :) I also love that she will smile at just about anyone! :)

Also, do you guys like my new header? I replaced the preggo picture and added a few of Maggie Claire. I love it! :)

"When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other."

Ecclesiastes 7:14

this is the life

2011-01-16T00:34:00.004-05:00

Today we went for a little family walk & I snapped a few pictures. This one is my absolute favorite, I can't wait until the spring & summer when I can take more pictures outside of Maggie Claire! She loves being outside {just like her momma} and she loved being on the walk outside.

She just chilled in her stroller and was soaking up the fresh air! It was such a nice day to be outside, even though it was a little chilly- the sun warmed us up! Gotta love a sunny day! :)

p.s. today forever 21 opened up in downtown charleston! I can't wait to go next week and check it out! I have been waiting for one of these stores to come to Charleston & it finally has! Did any of you locals go today? I know they were giving away gift cards to the first 400 people to come through the door, I heard it was packed!