Maggie's First Thanksgiving!

Little Miss just celebrated her first Thanksgiving and it was just great! We spent the day with both Lyle and my family's. The first Thanksgiving was with the McClouds and the Fellows at the club. Maggie was on her best behavior and very popular. She tried the mashed potatoes, they weren't her favorite. Maggie loved dancing with Mac too! Our next stop was my Aunt and Uncle's house. Maggie got to see her Great Aunt, Great Uncles, Cousins, and Great Grandparents! It was a fabulous holiday and we can't wait until we get to see everyone again at Christmas!!

Maggie and her second cousin, Miller.

Maggie and her great grandmother, Maggie!

Maggie, very happy to celebrate Thanksgiving, with Mom (who is in desperate need of a haircut!).

Game Changer

Time to baby proof the house!

Have Baby, Will Travel

Much to my mother's chagrin, when Maggie was 6 weeks old we left her (with her grandparents) to go to a wedding in Florida. Not long after that, we left her again for another wedding (with her aunt and uncle this time!) which was local but I was the Maid of Honor and super busy so it was just easier to have someone else watch her. There have been a handful of other times which we gladly let the grandparents and/or aunts and uncles watch her.

When we found out we were pregnant, we knew having a baby would change our life but we definitely did not want to be those parents who hole up in their house, never to be seen again. We wanted to go on living our (moderately) fun lives and when we have the chance to go somewhere fun, we take it. Now that Maggie is a little bit older, it is all the more fun to take her with us! Well this past weekend, Maggie's good buddy, Caroline and her parents invited us to Lake Martin. Since UGA was playing Auburn and we had not seen Caroline since she was 3 weeks old, we decided to go. Matt, Alex, and Caroline all live in Louisville so whenever they come within 3 hours of Atlanta, we just have to see them! Plus, the Erwins are the best and we always have a blast when we get together! 

This is Maggie's third time to a lake in her 7.5 months on earth and it gets more and more fun each time we go. Here are some pictures from the weekend!

"Grandma Amy," Lucy, and Maggie on the boat.

These are pretty much how our family photos look these days!

Lyle was trying to get her to look at the camera!

Maggie and Uncle Matt discussing Cornhole techniques.

Cornhole in the driveway.

Maggie did not want to miss out on the Cornhole action.

Watching the Dawgs kick Auburn's butt!

The neglect-a-saucer is so much fun!

Needless to say, the weekend was a blast and we can't wait to see the all the Erwins again!

Ease into 5K

Full disclosure- I had grand visions of spending my maternity leave and summer break losing the baby weight I had gained (and then some) and getting fit. Ha! Instead, I spent the summer sleeping when Maggie slept, going to the pool, and just trying to survive the newborn months. Exercise was literally the last thing on my mind. Friend's weddings, family vacations, and Maggie (of course!) filled up all of my summer. Plus, have y'all been outside in the Georgia heat lately? Today the high was 85 and it's October 24! One can only imagine how hot it was in June. . . . Yes, I have walked numerous times but the majority of those walks involved catching up with friends and no sweat.

So yesterday, almost 7 months after Maggie was born, I actually full-on, legitimately, sweat-inducing, exercised. And after hearing about Couch to 5K on my friend Keight's blog, Put Up Your Dukes, I decided to try it. It has since been renamed Ease into 5K but it's the same thing. Basically, it is an app for your phone that "teaches" you how to run. The premise is this: run 30 seconds, walk 30 seconds, run 45 seconds, walk 45 seconds, etc. The times vary each exercise and the running amount increases while the amount you walk decreases. At the end of the 8 week program, you are supposed to be able to run a 5K in about 30 minutes. The best part of this program is that you only have to "run" 3x a week. My personal goal is to run at 5K without stopping to walk, and frankly, I don't care how long it takes!

Wish me luck! 

Maggie, my personal trainer and weights, will be with me on every run!

Strike A Pose!

Maggie's Aunt Katty LOVES to take photos so we scheduled Maggie's 6 month photo shoot with her a few days ago. . . Maggie behaved so well, we got some great shots!

Maggie and Mom

Maggie LOVES the Gracie dog!

Pure joy on Maggie's part . . .Gracie, not so much!

Family shot!

Another one!

Maggie searching for the Gracie dog.

And the meltdown begins!

In other news, when I took Kathryn's memory card to download these photos, I found all these photos. . . Needless to say, Aunt Katty really enjoys putting Maggie inside things!

At least Maggie looks like she is having fun, right? And she really does love her Aunt Katty!

Maggie, the first 6 months!

Maggie, the first 6 months!

Click on the link to view the slideshow! 

Pork and Green Chili Burritos

Lyle's favorite burrito place closed and is reopening in a new location at a date unknown. He was really wanting their pork and green chili burrito and being the nice wife that I am, I decided to make it for him (or he specifically asked for it. . . details). And use my fancy crock pot no less. See, fancy!

Full disclosure, this was the second time I have used my crock pot since we have been married. The first time, my sister in law borrowed it, made the dip, and then brought the dip back to my house for a party. So I guess technically, this was my first time. To be honest, I am not a big fan of pot roast or any other stewed meat stuff that I normally associate with crock pot cooking. And since I was lazy, I didn't really look for a recipe. Lyle wanted pork and green chilies, so he got pork and green chilies. Since we were doing burritos, I used a packet of taco seasoning as the rub for the pork butt and I threw an onion in there for good measure. Y'all, it was delicious. And SOO easy.

Here are the ingredients: 
1 pork butt
1 can of green chilies (Should have used two)
1 onion, sliced
1 taco seasoning packet (I used low sodium)

Here is what I did:
Sliced the onion and put it in the bottom of the crock pot. Next, I rubbed the taco seasoning all over the pork and put it on top of the onions. Then I poured the green chilies on top. (I did this all the night before since I was lazy and did not want to get up before Maggie woke up.) It sat overnight in the fridge and the next morning, I just popped it in the base and turned it on low for 10 hours. Once it cooked, I took it out and shredded it, then put the shredded meat back in the crock pot with all the juices for another hour on warm.

It was make your own burrito night in our house so we had tortillas, rice, jalapenos, cheese and sour cream.

Try it. Seriously. It's so good.

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."- Jeremiah 29:11

Today, Maggie was baptized. The weather was gorgeous. Little Miss behaved fabulously, except of course, while Geoffrey was giving his sermon. Brunch was delicious. It was a perfect day! 

Maggie and her mama on her special day.

Maggie with her godparents, Anne Peden and Cole

 

 

The Grand Godparents with their grand godchildren.

Maggie's godmother (Anne Peden) and Maggie's cousin, Merrill's godfather (Tim) are brother and sister so that makes their parents, Al and Elizabeth, the grand godparents! I think that it so special that all of our families are so connected.

The McCloud Family

The Fender/Smith Family

We are blessed to have such a wonderful family. A family that loves Maggie so much it is crazy! KK and Mac were so sweet to host the brunch at their house. Maggie's great aunt and great uncles along with her great grandparents were there too. It was a day filled with so much love and happiness, we could not have asked for a more perfect day!

Quite the predicament

Nothing. Nada.

WHAT? I have no hair!?!?!

Peach Fuzz. And this is considered A LOT of hair.

Maggie is now 5 months old. She can roll from tummy to back. She can hold her head up. She is almost sitting up. She is eating rice cereal and peas (loves it, too!). She is loving her jumperoo (aka the neglect-a- jumper). She laughs at her daddy. She snuggles with mama. All the milestones are being met, except one. A super important one. It's called the "I am a little girl and I have enough hair to prove it" milestone.

So, yea. We'll just be wearing lots of pink until the situation improves.

Yea, none.

 

 

Wild Dunes 2012

Last week we went on vacation with the entire McCloud family, minus Uncle Chris, to Wild Dunes, SC. It was Maggie's (and Merrill's) first time at the beach and she LOVED it! We all had so much fun. Merrill man was full of new tricks too- he started walking and saying "bye-bye" to anyone and everyone. Here are just a few pictures of our first family beach trip. . .

Merrill's first time in the sand

Maggie and Merrill's first time on the beach with KK and Mac

Mama, Daddy, and Maggie in the ocean

Aunt Katty and Maggie playing in the water

Aunt Harris, Uncle Stew, and Merrill Man in the water

Best Nap Ever

Playing with Daddy

Family photo on the dunes

All the McCloud Girls!

We cannot wait for next year's trip! Maggie will be walking around and causing all sorts of trouble with Merrill. And maybe exacting a little revenge for the abuse she endured this year, as captured below. . .

Seriously?

No, really, I am not ok with this

Maybe if I turn away, he'll stop

Why are you people letting him do this to me?

Do you see how much fun he is having with my head?!

Thank goodness he decided to stop

Nevermind

If I close my eyes, perhaps he will stop.

Don't worry Maggie, at some point you will have a little brother or sister and little cousins and you can show your love through head slaps too. I promise I won't stop you either. Because I'll be taking photographs of it.