Maggie Claire update & some outside fun

These past couple of weeks I have seriously been reminding myself of how blessed I am to have Maggie Claire! She amazes me everyday, and she is already getting so smart. Maggie Claire is now 16.5 months old, and as healthy as can be! When we took her to her last doctors appointment, she was a little over 23 pounds, and I think 33 inches tall. She got her 15 month shots, and she had to get some blood drawn, and it was so pitiful. We gave her a sucker when they started to draw the blood, so that helped with her laying still, but she still cried when they stuck her :( She was a trooper and was obviously spoiled for the rest of the day! ;)

I took these sweet pictures of her last week while we were playing outside. It was still a little cold, so I was trying to get her to wear the hat. I got this cute picture before she pulled it off her head! She knows she's cute! ha!

Maggie Claire loves playing with her soccer ball, and a lot of the time, I will see her carrying around both her basketball and soccer ball at the same time! She was hugging her soccer ball and running at the same time her cheeks were jiggling! This toddlerhood stage is so fun.

She is getting quite the personality and I love it! She says words like mama, daddy, choo choo, cheese, side{outside}, shoes, mimi, papa, oma, opa, and she tries to say Jack "ack" and Tate "ate" too. Mags will try to repeat just about anything you say, but sometimes she just looks at us like we are crazy when we ask her to say something! lol.

Some of her favorite things to do are play outside, eat {she eats anything and everything!!}, watch yo gabba gabba, veggie tales, toy story 3, play with her picnic basket, play with her kitchen, and her most favorite thing still to do is read books! Today I saw her walk over to the stairs, sit on the bottom step with her legs crossed indian style and she was looking at one of her favorite books, Harry the Dirty Dog. She loves that book! I tried to snap a picture, but it was right when Mike got home, so as soon as she heard the door open, she started running to her daddy. :)

We are enjoying this fun stage of toddlerhood, and are looking forward to and loving this beautiful weather we are having today and tomorrow! We are also very excited about Mike's parents coming in town this weekend from Colorado!!! yay, Mimi and Papa will be here to play with Mags! :)

1 Thessalonians 5:24

"The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it."

soaking in her "big girl" sweetness!

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

11 months old!

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

10 month pics & updates!

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!

9 months

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

8 months old!

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