8 weeks

 This has been a big week for baby girl!  We are amazed at how quickly she is doing things!  She is more awake and alert than ever!  She is now able to focus on objects and gets so excited!  She has a fun little lion that she loves!!  When she sits in her swing and sees the lion, she starts smiling!  She has also started laughing at it.  It's a funny laugh cause it's very much like a cry except she is smiling!  It's precious!!  She loves for us to talk to her and she loves chatting back with us. I LOVE IT!!!!!

(not much longer in the bassinet..she only sleeps on her tummy during daylight hours)

In other big news, Maggie has also slept one really long night.  Sunday night she went to sleep at 9:30 and slept until 4:15 Monday morning!  Oh it was SO NICE!  It's only happened once but oh it's exciting to know that we are almost back to semi regular sleeping hours.

Caroline's favorite thing to do before school each morning!

As excited as I am about sleeping soundly again, it does make me a little sad...our baby (our last one) is quickly hitting milestones and I am reminded she won't stay this age forever.  As tired as I am at 2 or 3 in the morning, it is a sweet time for the two of us.  Thankful that the Lord has given us this precious gift and I hope we continue to enjoy each step of the way!!!

So thankful for this little beauty!!

Sweet Sisters

Caroline is such a sweet big sister!!  Last night we read "Brown Bear" with Maggie and she thought it was so funny!  So this morning while waiting for Mrs. Charissa, Caroline wanted to read it again to Maggie!  Love these girls!!!!

Sweet Time with my big girl!

The tricky thing about two kids is trying to spend special time with each one...it's easy to do that with Maggie because she demands attention.  Little Miss C loves attention too but can soothe herself if needed.  But I have tried really hard to spend some special time with my sweet big girl.  These two items were gifts for the Big Sister!  We enjoyed working with each one.

Caroline and I enjoyed a fun girl day getting pedicures.  We tried several places before we found one open on a Sunday.  She was so excited for it to be just the two of us...funny how when it was just Caroline I enjoyed a day all by myself.  Now that there are two, a day with just one is like a day all by myself!!  Love the special time with Caroline!!

Good Sleep

I walked in the den earlier this week and found these two asleep on the couch...good sleep my friends, school is tough!

Spirit Friday's

 We survived!!!!!  Caroline was super excited to get to wear her school shirt today for spirit day!  I also wanted to include a picture of her work from school.  We had parent orientation last night and I was so happy to see her work displayed.  Her teacher said she was adjusting well and was such a sweet friend to her classmates!!!  Momma is proud!

7 weeks

 Look who is so ALERT these days!!!  I can't get over how quickly she is changing!!!  She is starting to smile so big these days!!  It's crazy the things that make her smile.  She loves smiling and chatting with Daddy.  Fun week!

My little glow worm is learning how to break free these days...she was ready to get up not lay there for mommy to get a picture!!

 Another major milestone this week, Maggie has moved up to 5 oz every 3 hours...hard to believe it's already time to put these tiny bottles away...sniff sniff

A little late...

So thankful for Uncle John including Caroline on the trip to the Splash Pad last week.  She had a wonderful time with Tyler and Nori!!! :-)

Company for Breakfast

Caroline and I were enjoying breakfast and looked over to find Big O waiting for breakfast too!

First Day of Kindergarten!

Somehow this day came all too soon...the day we took our baby girl to big girl school.  School without mommy...school that is so much larger than Calvary...a school where she didn't know the teachers...We have prayed about where she would go and felt this was our best option at this time.  I think it's a great school and I think she will do well.  But for some reason, I feel like I am feeding her to the wolves! ;-)

Miss Priss was up at 5:15 this morning when I got out of the shower...I guess she was either super excited or super nervous!  She did great eating breakfast and getting dressed!  Never once did she argue with anything I said...

She was so excited about her lunch box and taking her lunch to school today.  She wanted to make sure she got a picture with it.  Standing up, she looks so tall!  So big!!

We picked Andy up on the way...thought it would be a good idea to limit the extra car.  We were both teary and sad on the way.  We laughed about being strong through our tears...Andy is ALWAYS the strong one so I told him no need to change that today!!  HAHA  Once we got there we got a sweet picture of Caroline and Maggie.  Maggie as you can tell isn't too excited...she was sleeping well prior to this picture!

Once inside the building the kids went to the gym to wait with their teacher/class.  Caroline was very clingy in the beginning.  After talking with her teacher a minute, I asked her to please take a picture with them and she did!  Look at that sweet face!!!!!!  After this picture she gave each of us a hug and a kiss and then walked with her teacher over to sit with the other students in her class.

Dear Lord,
We thank you for blessing our sweet girl with these amazing, bible believing teachers!  We ask you and trust you to watch over her.  She is our first born, the one who made us parents.  It's hard to let her go...but we know that you are bigger than we are and for that we are so thankful! ~Amen

UPDATE: I was never so excited to see this kid walk through the door outside to car line!!!!

Twas the night before Kindergarten...

Twas the night before Kindergarten and it hit this Momma like a brick...I was packing Caroline's lunch when it hit...my sweet baby was going to BIG girl school without me...Questions started forming in my head:

• Is she ready?
• Is she nervous?
• Will she make a sweet friend?
• Will she cry when we leave her?
• Will she eat her lunch, she won't have much time?
• Would it be easier if she hadn't been with me the last 4 years?
• Did we make the right choice?

• Where did the time go?
• How can she be going to BIG GIRL kindergarten?
• She is an amazing little lady!
• She will shine for Jesus!
• She will be a great friend!
• We are so blessed to call her our own!

We are so thankful for you Caroline and can't wait to watch you shine this year!!!  I am so thankful for the time we have shared over the last 4 years and wouldn't trade our time at home for anything in the world!!!!  We love you baby girl!!!!!!

The last days of summer vacation...

We are trying so hard to soak up the last days of summer vacation!  Maggie has thrown us all for a loop and Caroline and I haven't had a typical summer...but whose complaining???  So we made plans to meet our friend Kate at the Y.  The girls were having a blast when Caroline decided she needed to go to the potty.  Maggie was fussy and ready for a nap.  The girls asked if they could go to the bathroom by themselves and I said sure...they were just inside the door.  I looked at Lori and said "prior to Maggie I would have NEVER let her do that on her own..."  It took them a while to come back so Lori went to check on them thinking maybe they were having trouble with their bathing suits.  A minute or two later, she comes back looking frantic.  I walk over and she can't find the girls, they aren't in the bathroom...panic struck.  The staff was quick to help us look for the girls but no one had seen them...I prayed as I ran to the front to notify the front desk and guess what...there were the girls.  The bathrooms were "closed" close to the pool...WHAT!!!  At that moment I didn't care, I was just so thankful to see both of the girls!!!!  It took about 10 minutes for my blood pressure to even out!!!

Treats to celebrate a fun summer!!!

Maggie was an angel!  She slept most of the time we were there!!

Kindergarten meet and greet

Today we headed to Caroline's new school to meet her teachers!  We were so excited that one of the first things we heard was Manning's voice saying "Hey Caroline!!!"

Once inside she wasn't too sure about too much!  I did get her to sign in but that was about it.  She didn't speak to her teachers at all...Lord I hope Monday goes a little more smoother!

6 weeks

I was hoping to get a picture of our girl awake but thought I would take what I can get! She is growing and is such a little ham!  We switched her formula this week to Enfamil gentlease and it seems to be helping so much.  We also increased her to 4 oz and she just seems like a happier baby.  She isn't spitting up as much as she was so we are thankful for that.  Her sleep is excellent this week!!!  She goes down after her 9PM bottle and sleeps until anywhere between 1am and 3am.  Then I have to wake her at 6!!  Woop woop I can handle that!!!!

Andy and I were chatting last night at dinner about the fact that Maggie was turning 6 weeks today.  When Caroline turned 6 weeks, I was heading back to work.  THANK YOU LORD JESUS I AM NOT HEADING BACK TO WORK TODAY!!!!  Our house is a wreck and I am exhausted!!

BIG NEWS!!!!  She has started smiling and it is so sweet!  She is also trying to talk a little!  So sweet!!!  We are definitely in LOVE with this bundle!

Caroline was so excited to bath Maggie

Maggie need a bath last night and Caroline wanted to help!  What a huge help she was.  I watched her as "she did it all by herself."  I was impressed!  She has been watching and paying attention!  So thankful for my big helper!!!

Splash pad fun with Church

We are working hard to enjoy the last few days of summer vacation!  Today our church went to the local splash pad to enjoy a fun day together.  It was Caroline's first trip to this particular one and she loved it!!!!  So thankful for our church family!

sweet Maggie along for the ride

Caroline playing with Josie and Noelle, she sure will miss these girls once they move tomorrow

When did my girl get so tall????

I love these two girls and both of these pictures!!!!

Maggie slept almost the entire time!!!

My friend Jill...

Friends are gifts from the good Lord...people who will walk through this life with you...make life better better because they are in in.  12 years ago I began my senior year in college.  For education majors that means lots of time in the actual classroom learning from some of the best in the profession.  Little did I know when I walked into my internship that fall, it would be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!  Miss Thompson soon because my good friend Jill.  We have gone through a lot together...good times and hard times...

When we found out about Miss Maggie, I called my sweet friend who didn't answer her phone for days...and only the good Lord knows why she has a cell phone cause she NEVER has in ON!  (Love you Jill!!!)  Then it hit me, she isn't home, she is at her sisters house in NY!)  When I told her I needed her to come meet my daughter when she returned she began crying...and it wasn't long after we got home that she stopped by.  She offered to help do whatever I needed her to do.  I said "Anything?"  She said "Anything!"

She most likely regretted saying that a  few days later...there aren't too many friends who will offer to help you sort your junk and organize a yard sale!  We met on Thursday before the sale.  What began as a task to organize the stuff became a clean out the garage too!  We worked ourselves like crazy from 9am till 3pm.  But it was done and looked great.  Two days later on a Saturday morning she showed up at my house at 6am to help me with the sale.

The Lord blessed our family that day.  We sold many items and made some much needed cash to help offset some expenses.  As thankful as I am for the cash I made that day, I most thankful for a friend who loves so deeply!  Yard sales are no fun, but especially when it isn't your yard sale!  HAHA

Jill, I know you are reading this because you are one of a handful of people who actually check in on us on our blog.  Sister, I LOVE you and am so thankful for you!  You have NO idea what a gift of service you gave to me and my family!!!!

Friends Shower

As I mentioned in earlier posts, the LORD has blessed us with some amazing friends!!  We had a third shower, given by my friend Charissa and Paige.  This shower involved many friends from church.  We received so many nice things!  We have been completely overwhelmed by the love and generosity of others...more on that later!

My sweet friend Amy meeting Maggie

I love this little guy...good thing cause Target messed up our registry and I got 4 of them!! HAHA

Maggie got lots and lots of attention!

my trusty helper

My crafty friend Jill made these sweet fabric covered canvas' for Maggie's room

The famous Miss Jesslyn!  The girls were in LOVE!  Miss Jesslyn gave me one of my favorite gifts, a free night of babysitting!!!!!  WOO HOO!!!!!!!

Thankful for these sweet ladies!

The beautiful spread of YUMMY food!!!!

BFF's-moms and daughters

my beautiful girls

another one of my favorite gifts from our friends Chris and Dargan-Maggie's first pair of monogrammed bloomers or party pants as a friend calls them!!!