Santa Jack and our silly Maggie

This picture just makes me laugh:


Jack's Aunt Amy sent a Santa costume for him and I just think it's so funny! He's getting to be so much fun - laughing, smiling, grabbing things and he's really been working on building up his meaty thighs :)
Here's one of Maggie opening a present from Mimi and Poppy on Christmas Day. I'm not sure why I didn't do a better job with her hair; she looks kinda like a ragamuffin.

Maggie was saying her ABC's today and I noticed she says them in a funny way. I'll write it phonetically for your enjoyment:
ABCDEFGHIJK Ella Mena PQRS Bananas TUV Dubba U XY M Z (She says the Ella, Mena, and Dubba as if they're actually a letter of the alphabet.)
I don't quite know why she stuck the bananas in there except she happened to be looking at some bananas and every time after that kept the bananas in there.

When we put her in bed at night we say "Good night, sleep tight" and a few weeks ago I started adding "Don't let the bed bugs bite, and if they do pick up your shoe and hit them 'til they're black and blue" She now adds that part herself with one Maggie-esque improvement. She says, "Hit them 'til they're black and blue and pink!"

For the third (or fourth?) and hopefully final time we are potty training! The magic ingredient this time has been M&Ms. We give her one M&M each time she goes on the potty and she's averaging about 3-4 times a day! Yesterday she even ASKED to go to the potty at the YMCA and actually went once she got there. I think this really will be the time it works! (If you have any tips for motivating her to go #2 on the potty please let me know!)

And finally, here is another bedtime story. Maggie has gotten VERY particular about how she likes to be put to bed. She has a hand knit blanket from her uncles Steve and James that she HAS to have directly on her back, then her down comforter on top of that and then she wants to be patted firmly. If you get the blankets in the wrong order then she lets you know and if you're not patting her firmly enough she says "Pat me HARDER!" She honestly likes to be patted as hard as if you're burping a baby.
When I was putting her down for her nap today she kept telling me all these things she needed, like "put the yellow blanket down on top of the huge blanket" and "put my lovey HERE" and she kept wriggling around and messing up her blankets while I was trying to arrange them to her specifications. Finally I was frustrated and said, "Maggie! Please stop wriggling around or I'll just let you fix your own blankets." She said, "Okaaaaaay, Mooooooooommmmmmmm" just like a teenager! I have seen the future and I am scared!

All right, I'm going to publish this post and go watch a netflix movie with Grant. Sorry if this is all over the place!

We're leaving to go to California in about a week so I'll try to put up more Christmas photos before then.

Meanwhile, if you have a minute, look at this cupcake lovey I just found. It is adorable! I guess I'm a sucker for anything with a cupcake on it.

Merry Christmas!

This video was from Christmas Eve.

As I type this it's 8:53 on Christmas Night, Maggie is asleep and we are exhausted! We went to a Christmas Eve service at our church last night which started at 10pm and ended around midnight. We didn't go to sleep until around 1am and Maggie woke us up at 5:45 in the morning saying, "I'm ready to be awake now!" As soon as we got her out of her pack and play (we spent the night at my mom's house) she said, "Santa's cookies!" We had left cookies and milk for Santa and while I remembered to remove the cookies and milk I DIDN'T remember to bring the empty plate and cup back in its place. Grant quickly said, "Let's see if Santa took his dishes to the kitchen!" and ran in the kitchen and brought back an empty glass and a plate with some cookie crumbs. What a rookie mistake on my part! We also put out reindeer food in the yard (consisting of oats, bird seed and glitter). I think some of it was eaten by animals during the night but there was still some left so Benton ran out there and raked it around and made "reindeer tracks" in the mulch. Maggie was so excited to go out there and look at it.
We opened presents all day (Santa visited mom's house, dad's house, and our house!) and ate until we were sick.
While Maggie got a lot of really cute things including some adorable clothes and toys, I'd have to say her favorite gift is this toy.
I hope you all had a magical Christmas and enjoyed your families!

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. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever...
Isaiah 9:6-7

Maggie and Santa

Here is Maggie's photo with Santa! She didn't smile but she looks very cute anyway (totally unbiased opinion here). This is the fancy, Green Hills Mall Santa and the darn photo cost $15! But look at his beard - it looks all weird and scraggly! Maggie didn't seem to mind but Grant said "We paid $15 for this?" I kinda thought the same thing but since it was my idea... At least it's a step up from our intoxicated-looking cheapo Santa with a fake beard from last year.

Crazy 8

If you have a child younger than age 14 and like the clothes at Janie & Jack and Gymboree then you may be interested to know about the clothing store Crazy 8. I just found out about it and it's owned by the parent company of J&J and Gymboree and it's their lower-priced clothing brand. I guess it's sort of like the Old Navy of the family:) Anyway, they had some cute clothes and surprisingly reasonable prices and I just wanted to pass the info along in case you hadn't heard of them either!

They don't have a store in Nashville so if you live here I guess you'll just have to shop online!

Some Christmas photos...and it's still December!

Boy, I must really be on top of my game now. Actually, I just have these photos to post b/c Benton just e-mailed them to me! Here is Maggie with her Poppy and Mimi's Christmas tree. Here she is trying to play a bugle instrument that hangs on their tree. She came up with a pretty jazzy rendition of "Joy to the World".
Grant hung some Christmas lights on our front porch and when we took Maggie out there to see them for the first time she audibly gasped and said, "It's MAGICAL!" That's a reaction that'll make you feel good about your light-hanging skills.

I also have to report that her hitting, pushing and biting has really decreased lately so please feel free to send your small children over to play without fear of bodily harm. I made a chart and rewarded her for all of her positive behavior and it has made a world of difference. She still has a few times where she pushes or hits but they're much fewer now.

Speaking of hitting...she has a friend at the YMCA nursery named Jack (maybe she just likes him b/c he has the same name as her cousin). Jack is about 1 1/2 and apparently has a really hard time at the Y if Maggie isn't there. The other day we walked in and his mom said, "Thank goodness you're here. He wouldn't stop crying but he'll be fine now that Maggie is here." I was really happy and thought how great it was that Maggie is so sweet to him. I went to get her name tag and sign-in sheet and when I walked back the mom had left and Maggie was hitting Jack repeatedly on the back of his head! Of course I stopped her immediately but now I wonder if Jack just likes being bossed around and treated roughly. It is also possible that Maggie is usually sweet to him and was treating him bad that day for some reason. But despite this story she really is doing better with hitting!

Things a child in 2007 would say...

that a child of the 80's wouldn't say:

(These are things that Maggie says, often!)

1. Let me see the picture (immediately after taking it on a digital camera).
2. I need a nonfat latte.
3. I need to check my e-mail.
4. Can I have some pita and hummus? (Okay, maybe a child of the 80's in the Middle East would have said this.)

I told my mom this and she thought maybe I was drinking too many lattes. I said, "Maybe, but don't forget that when I was Maggie's age I called every beverage 'Coke' because you drank so much Coke!"

Here's another funny:
Yesterday Maggie was asking me where her potsticker was. I had no idea what she was talking about because I didn't think she knew what potstickers (i.e. an Asian dumpling) were. Finally I realized she meant a sticker she has that looks like a pot! In case you were wondering why Maggie has a sticker that looks like a pot, it's from a Biblical Christmas story sticker book that her Grandma Howard sent her and it goes on a page with the the stable.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm continuing my trend of posting holiday photos a long time after the holiday. Here are some from our trip to Ft. Worth for Thanksgiving.
We went on a little train which Maggie loved. We passed a real train while we were riding and the trains blew their horns to each other, which was great. I think Grandma had a good time, too.

We had a little break halfway through the train ride so we got off for some photos. I can't remember why Maggie wouldn't look at the camera.
Here's a crazy one of Maggie with her wild hair and some funny earrings Grandma clipped on her ears.
This is Maggie and Grandpa at the zoo.
Here's one with Maggie at the zoo. Look for the lion in the background. By the way, if you ask Maggie what she wants for Christmas she says "A LION!" Grant does really want a pet but I'm not sure this is what he had in mind.

While we were there Maggie also saw her first movie. She was enraptured by all the previews and lasted about 45 minutes into the movie before she got antsy. Next time (in a long time!) we'll skip the previews and maybe she'll last longer.

All in all it was a great trip and we had so much fun and were all very spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa!

Stay tuned for Christmas photos. I'll try to have them posted by Easter!

Vitamins

Last night Grant stayed with Maggie while I went to the gym. When I came home he told me about a conversation they had:

Maggie: Um, Dad, I need to get some vitamins so I can nurse Bitty Baby.

Grant: Okay?

Maggie: So, okay, I need to go to the store now to get some vitamins. I'll be back in thirty minutes. I'm going to take your car!

Grant: Okay, see you later!

Maggie: Oh, I forgot my purse!

Crankypants

Have y'all seen these pants? You have to look at them; they make me laugh! If they weren't $70 I would want to buy some for Maggie...

They're called Crankypants!

Sorry I've been so bad about posting lately; I don't have any photos from Thanksgiving yet to put on here; they're still on the camera. I will try to do it very soon.