Poor Maggie (again!)

We had a weird day yesterday - Maggie had a cold, took only one 45-minute nap (instead of her usual 2 naps, around an hour each!), and woke up with hives that got worse as the morning progressed. I gave some Benadryl (for her cold and the hives) and when she woke up from her nap her face and lips were hugely swollen! Grant called her pediatrician for me and they said to come on in. Fortunately by the time we arrived her swelling had gotten much better and Dr. Chambers said they were most likely a result of the virus that caused her cold. Today she's doing much better HOWEVER she did wake up at 4:30am and cry for a little bit here and there until I finally gave up at 5:45 and got up with her. But I do want to mention that this was her first visit to the dr in her whole life besides well-baby check ups. I guess that breastmilk does a body good!


And now for a funny (but gross - consider yourself warned) story:
Every now and then we let Maggie run around without a diaper so that she has time to air out and prevent diaper rash. Well, a little while ago Grant was doing just that with her when he realized she had pooped on the floor and was playing with it (hey - I warned you!). Of course he immediately picked her up and rinsed her off, put on a fresh diaper and a change of clothes. Now I washed those dirty pajamas twice and each time they continued to smell like poop. Finally I decided to soak them in bleach as my last-ditch effort before I threw them away. When I took them out of the dryer I noticed a little rock in the bottom of the dryer. "Weird," I thought, as I reached for it. Well, Maggie has been interested in rocks lately. Maybe one somehow ended up in some clothes and was run through the dryer. As I pick it up, though, I notice it has a strange, dry, fibrous texture. I smelled it (don't ask me why) and immediately realized what it was: petrified poop! Of course it wasn't really petrified, but I think it went through the dryer three times with the pajamas so it was really dried out (and clean - it also went through the washer - and bleach!). My theory is that it when she was playing with it some got into the foot of her pajamas, and I just never noticed it. I am happy to report that the pajamas now smell like Arctic Breeze laundry detergent.


And now, to erase that gross story from your mind, is a photo of Maggie being sweet with Grant the night Erin and Jim told us she will have her first cousin! I think she's playing with some fake pickles, FYI.

My latest wedding flowers

The bride of this wedding is a video producer and is very creative. It was one of the most unique weddings I've ever seen! The colors were red and yellow and she wanted very minimal flowers. (Thanks Erin and Jim who were guests at the wedding and took the photos for me!)















Yes, I am spray-painting these (live) white mini calla lilies red. The bride had her heart set on true red callas (which don't exist in nature), so I used a special floral spray paint on them. I spend an hour doing it, but I think she liked what she got! My hands were red for two days though.
Below is a photo of the spray-painted callas which comprised the bride's bouquet. They have a cuff of white ostrich feathers and are being held by a bridesmaid.














Sorry again that you have to twist your head to see this one. This is the bridesmaid's bouquet.















Here's the cake!














There were four of the following arrangements on the stage where they said their vows. Behind the bride and groom was a giant backdrop of a Parisian scene with the Eiffel Tower. The flowers and the backdrop gave the effect of sitting in a cafe looking out at Paris. It was definitely nontraditional but really cool!

This is GOOD for Maggie?!

Maggie got her 12 month shots today (yes, I know she's 15 months old - we're a little...relaxed about the immunization schedule). I'm going to go ahead and say it was one of the top five worst things I've ever had to do since she was born. She got five (five!) shots and I had to hold her down while the sadistic nurse jabbed her twice in one thigh and three times in another. She turned the bright red of a juicy summer tomato with her own juicy tears running down her cheeks. It was definitely the hardest she's ever cried. I felt like I was torturing her by holding her down but I know I had to do it or else the sadistic (actually, she was nice) nurse might jab her worse! Afterwards she was very snuggly, which I liked, but it wasn't worth the pain and both of our tears. So - anyone who has chicken pox, measles, mumps, rubella, streptococcus pneumoniae, Hib disease, diptheria, pertussis, or a rusty nail (tetanus) can come around now any time! Although maybe not if you have the chicken pox. That one grosses me out a little.

The good news is she doesn't have to get any more immunizations until she's 5! The bad news is that her little legs were still bothering her tonight and after we put her bed she woke up 10 or so times crying. I got to go in, give her some more medicine, and snuggle her for a while. She's now sleeping peacefully and soon I will be, too.

Is this kid a genius or is it just me?

Maggie has 20-30 words in her vocabulary including "apple," "pretty", and "teacher". That last one she said tonight while Grant was reading "Brown Bear, Brown Bear". Do you know this book? You know, "Teacher, teacher, what do you see?" We asked Maggie "Where is the teacher?" and she pointed to the picture of the teacher and said, "Teacher".

And for those of you who haven't heard this story a million times by now, a few days ago I put a hair bow on her and she immediately said "pretty!" I'm sure she picked this up because in my unflagging attempt to coerce her into hairbow wearing, whenever I put a bow on her I tell her how pretty she looks with it. Of course, her saying it was pretty didn't lengthen the time she wore it before she ripped it from her hair.

And in unrelated, non-Maggie news, I'm going to have to warn you against watching The Weather Man. Grant and I just finished it and it makes me depressed and sleepy (not necessarily in that order). That doesn't stop Grant from watching the extra features, however! All right, it's 10:23 and it's officially my bed time. Good night!

One more thing...here's a few months old photo of Maggie right before she went into the studio to finish her first rap album.

Such a slacker

Sorry I've been such a slacker lately. My only excuse is the busy-ness of Christmas combined with being away from home for a week and a half. Maybe you'll forgive me if I post some new Maggie photos?
Here is our fourth annual Christmas progressive dinner. This photo is at the Dupree's house. We had appetizers at our apartment, dinner at the Dupree's, and dessert at the Griggs' (the couple at the end of the table - Molly is partially obscured by the antlers!). Erin and Jim were there, too, but I'm not sure why they're not in the photo. Grant must have taken this.







Where's Waldo?












Maggie rocks!

















One, going on twenty-one. I promise I didn't stage this, nor did I start giving her the phone and my purse - it's all her.











What we would have used for our Christmas card, had we sent one out.












Thanks to all of you who sent Christmas cards - I really enjoyed seeing your photos. I promise not to be so lame next year and vow to get my act together in time to send one out.










Maggie looks soo cute in hair bows, but she hates them, of course. If I'm really quick she'll keep it in for ten minutes before she realizes it's in there. However, if anyone says "bow" or "hair", she remembers to check for bows, and then pulls it out. So now we say, "Maggie, don't you look so cute with your b-o-w! Your h-a-i-r looks so pretty!" Obnoxious, I know.






Maggie Claire and Grandmama Clarice in front of the prodigious mountain range of Ft. Worth. Oh wait, that's actually rooftops. But don't they look pretty together?















Texas de Brazil. I think her makeshift bib makes her look like a bank robber. I'd give her all my money if she robbed me.















Poor Uncle Blake was only trying to take a nap, but every 5 minutes or so Maggie would attack him with hugs. I don't think he minded too much. She's missing her skirt, in case you were wondering. By the end of the week she could say "Dake" for Blake.









She did pretty good with not breaking/disturbing Christmas ornaments on the tree. She was particularly entranced with this one angel ornament.










Maggie received this pull toy from Grandma and Grandpa Howard and she loved it! She figured out what to do right away. She really got into opening presents this year with only a little encouragement. It's probably pretty easy to get into it when you receive a million presents.













Christmas morning. Maggie is trying on one of her new outfits. I'm glad this year we actually got one of all three of us in front of the tree. Last year we completely forgot, however, we were a little sleep-deprived.

All right, am I forgiven now that I've posted all these photos?

Regardless, have a happy new year!

Baby Gap Boycott

About a two months ago I entered Maggie in the "Face of Baby Gap 2007" contest online. Today I decided to go to babygap.com to see if they had announced the winners yet. They haven't picked the final winner but they have the 10 semifinalists for boy and girl on the website for the public to vote on. I can not believe they didn't choose Maggie for this contest!!! (I'm kidding of course. Well, not really.)

Go to the website if you care to:
http://www.gap.com/browse/division.do?cid=6344

And then click on the brown corner on the right side that says "vote now".

Meanwhile, if you think Maggie should have won, vote here on this blog. I've included the photo I submitted to the contest.

I'm about to be violent!!!

Could somebody please tell me if I'm being unnecessarily annoyed? Here's what happened: several weeks ago I called the YWCA domestic violence victim's shelter to find out where I could donate some things. Two weeks and two phone calls (from me) later, someone finally called me back and said I could come by M-F, 8-4 and drop it off at the office.
I stopped by the office today and the woman behind the front desk looked at me like I had six heads and said, "Can I help you?" in her iciest voice. I told her that I was told a week or so ago that I could drop a donation off any time during the week and she said, "Well, that was a week ago. We don't have room for anything right now. You'll have to take it to another shelter." I stood there, Maggie on one hip, two 15-lb bags of shoes on my other arm, and silently fumed. "Okay," I said, and walked back to my car where I had a trunk-full of stuff remaining.

Sheesh! I try to do something good and it's a pain in the neck. I promise to get over it ASAP but would you be annoyed?

Don't Eat Baby Jesus!...and other cute photos

Here are some new Maggie photos for you. First we have Maggie trying to eat Baby Jesus from our nativity scene. Maggie! Don't eat Baby Jesus!













And because I refuse to pay $20 for a photo of Maggie and Santa at the mall, we went to our Kroger where photos with Santa were free! However, this Santa was a little less than desirable. To quote the immortal Will Ferrell in "Elf", "You're not Santa! You smell like beef and cheese!" This Santa had about 3 days of beard growth on him and inexplicably would not pull up his fake white beard to cover it up. No wonder Maggie hated it! The second picture is the only proof that she wasn't crying the whole time. I think Santa had been hitting the eggnog.















In other news...Maggie loves to talk on the phone! She holds it up (backwards, of course) and says very profound things like, "Hi Dada!" and "Mama, no!" She also enjoys saying "Wow!" and "Whoa!" The other day I put up our Christmas decorations while she was sleeping at night, and the next morning we went downstairs when she woke up and she just said "Wow!" over and over in her sweet, breathy way. Sadly, she now says "Wow!" in out-of-context ways, such as while looking at the Hardee's coupons that came in the mail. But it's still very cute.















She also loves to wear ANYTHING on her shoulder like a purse - my actual purse, her drum, even the bags I wrap her dirty diapers up in. She clearly has discriminating taste.















The very latest in baby fashion...wearing your pants on your head! But who needs pants when you have pink baby Ugg boots?

Turkey Legs

Well, I made it... a five mile run on Thanksgiving morning. Grant sacrificed and stayed home with Maggie while my dad, sister Erin and Erin's friend Becky and I ran the Boulevard Bolt. I'm training (in theory so far) for a half-marathon in April with my best friend Tiffany, so this was a little notch in my belt on the way there. All I could think at mile 4 was "If this were the half marathon, I would still have 9 more miles to go." That was a little bit of a reality check for me. Anyway, it was fun running on Thanksgiving morning with an intimate crowd of 9,000 and I definitely made up for any calories lost that morning by eating turkey, dressing, and pie later that day.

Also, you know how sometimes you see people at the gym working out and they just look so cute? A little bit glow-y, hair in a ponytail, healthy and invigorated? Well, I am not one of them. At the gym I look sweaty, shiny, and in general, a bit...ugly. So with that said, here are two photos taken after the race.

Happy Belated Halloween!

Here is Maggie in her ballerina halloween costume PLUS her boyfriend, Ben Griggs, in his horse costume. Sorry it's so blurry. And here's the best part, the bow in the back. Sorry it's sidewise. I promise if Grant were doing this blog it would be rotated correctly.

And finally, what we are sending all the out-of-towners for Christmas:

Walk the line

It's official. At 3 days shy of 13 months, Maggie has taken her first steps! This morning we were playing with her drum set and right as I was thinking, "She could definitely walk RIGHT NOW," she took 2 steps. Then she did it again a minute later. I ran upstairs to tell Grant and see if I could get Maggie to walk for him, but she was more interested in crawling over to him. We went back downstairs and then Maggie walked 12 steps in a row over to Grant. I guess she was just waiting until she could do it well. I wonder if I can add video to this thing...

Okay, I know it's 99% about Maggie...

So here's one of her for you. It's a little old but I think it documents her "Smooshy Face" well.

She weighed 18lbs, 8 oz today at her 1-year check-up and is 26" long. That makes her 40th % for height and 15% for weight. Because she's so small her pediatrician asked if she has a good appetite...I knew anyone who's seen her eat would be able to attest to her mighty appetite.

She's also in the 100th% for cuteness and intelligence.

Why do I think anyone would care to read what I write?

Well, I'm not sure. Grant has some funny moments and Maggie has some clever moments, so I'll just do my best to document them for you and put some photos here. Speaking of photos, here's one for you.