surviving & loving it! :)

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

baby friends

I wanted to do an updated post with all of my preggo mama friends with our babies! Whitney Courtney & myself get together pretty often and have breakfast or lunch with our girls, but all 4 of us don't get together very often b/c Abbey moved to Charlotte after she had Annabelle. This picture was taken last week when Abbey was in town for New Years Eve. We got together that weekend for breakfast and had so much fun catching up! We had breakfast at crackle barrel, and we got some pics of us & our sweet little girls! :) Here we all are!

Whitney & baby Gemma, Courtney & baby Gentry, Me & baby Maggie Claire, Abbey & baby Annabelle

This is us when we were all super preggo, actually this was just 2 days before Whitney had Gemma!

Whitney, Abbey, Courtney, & myself

Here was our first preggo mama get together when we all had just found out we were having girls! I think I was 16 weeks here!

Courtney, Whitney, me & Abbey!

I love all of these girls and I am so thankful that we get to share being moms together! It's so nice to have friends to relate to! Tonight the three of us that are in Charleston are all starting in our 2nd parenting class that is offered through our church. Can't wait to see all these moms & babies! :)

blessed beyond...

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

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

Ephesians 3:20-21

2 weeks

Happy 2 week birthday to my little sweetie pie,

Maggie Claire!

MC has been doing great nursing, and I am constantly working on giving her a full feeding so she will be stay full until the next feeding time, and she actually loves to eat- and I am so thankful! She pees and poops a lot and I am also thankful for that too! :) Yesterday we moved her up to a size 1 diaper- and it actually worked out perfect because we ran out of newborn diapers just in time for her to move up! I can't wait until her next doctors appointment on Tuesday to see how much she weighs, I can already tell she is gaining weight and changing so much!

These two weeks have been very exciting, and we are definitely trying to still figure everything out. It's been challenging but I am so thankful for friends and family helping with everything! We are trying to get Maggie Claire in a routine, which has been challenging but I just keep praying that we will make the right choices, and for the Lord to give us peace about any challenges that we encounter. We started her on a feed, wake, sleep cycle, sometimes its good, others... not so much, but we are still working through it!

It was a great day today, and since it has been 2 weeks after my surgery, I am now allowed to drive again. YAY! so our first outing.... of course was a trip to Target, and possibly a drive through to sonic for me to get a raspberry sweet tea! two of my favorite things!

Of course, while we were at Target I was just taking my sweet time... browsing through the clearance racks.... I snagged 2 new shirts for under $10 each. Gotta love Target clearance! Then I went checking out the shoes. I found these, and now I know what I want for my birthday!! Aren't these just the cutest things ever? I'm in love with the pink roses on top and I know they are screaming my name! hehe. :)

{FYI: they have them in black too!}

It was so nice to finally get out of the house, and MC slept the entire time we were out, so that was nice! Tomorrow is Friday, which means, Mike is off work, which means, family day! So excited- I am going to look forward to Fridays so much more now because we get to spend Fridays together- Love it! :)