curtains

Well, it doesn't look like I'm going to make anything for the baby before his/her arrival, but I did manage to make some curtains for Maggie's room with the help of my mom. They are the same style curtains we have in the baby's room with a different, more colorful fabric. Complements her room nicely, we think. Thanks for all the help, Mom!

hair cut

On Friday Mom and I took Mags to get her preschool haircut. As usual she was squirmy. I need to find a style for her that doesn't involve a straight bob with straight bangs. Too bad I like this one so much on her.

August birthday party

Despite the fact that August is statistically the month with the most birthdays (followed by July and September), only one of Maggie's friends had a birthday party this month that we could attend. (Her Papa - my dad - also celebrated his birthday this month, but he didn't have a party. Happy belated birthday!) Maggie's friend recently had a princess party complete with a backyard bounce house and plenty of friends to play with. Maggie loved it.

shoes

I'm catching up on Maggie's baby book and here are photos of her most recent shoes. The first group is from this past winter and the second group is her summer shoes. We had such a mild winter that she wore summer shoes in the winter too. Weird.

Book Sale

A couple weeks ago CBS47, Chad's television station, sponsored a community book drive benefiting the local county library system. The sale is taking place at a local mall (Sierra Vista, for you locals) this week and there are lots of great deals on books. We went with my parents and ended up with fun kids books and some great cookbooks. Go if you have the chance. The sale benefits a great cause!

movies

This summer I took Maggie to her first movie. Movies plural, actually. The theaters here have a special deal on Tuesdays and Wednesdays where they show children's movies at 10am and tickets are only $1 each. Maggie and I (and sometimes friends) got to see the following movies: Happy Feet, Hugo, Rio and Chimpanzee. Maggie loved the popcorn, the other kids in the theater, and the whole movie experience. Let's hope they offer the same summer deal next year. It's a fun and cheap way for us to beat the heat.

Dentist

Earlier this month Maggie had her third dental appointment. What a difference between this one and her last two (at 2 years and at 2.5 years)! She laid down patiently in the chair and let the hygienist and the dentist do anything they wanted to with her teeth. Yeah! They were able to clean and floss her teeth, perform x-rays and give her a fluoride treatment. At the end, as always, she got a bag with a new toothbrush and toothpaste, floss and lip gloss, a pink helium-filled balloon and a book. She chose a board-book about concrete mixers. Go figure. Oh, and because she has (mostly) stopped sucking her fingers she got a gift certificate for a free Jamba Juice.  I am so proud of her and how well she did at the dentist this visit.

a little celebration

Last Saturday my kind friends Amy and Katrina threw me a little baby shower to celebrate the upcoming arrival of our little squirt. There were 11 of us at the party and we had a nice time eating desserts and fruit, playing a game, chatting, and opening gifts. I had a great time and am thankful for my friends who put the time and effort into planning the afternoon. I also appreciate everyone who attended. A special thank you to my mom who drove up for the day and to Loren who traveled here for the weekend from the DC metro area. It wouldn't have been the same without either of you.

The top photos L-R are: the pregnant women at the shower and me with my hostesses. I wish I had a photo of the entire group of us, but I don't. Darn!

Mount Whitney

On Saturday Chad, our friend Andy, and two of our brothers-in-law, Todd and Jared, set off to climb Mt. Whitney. It was a grueling trek and a trip they'll remember for a lifetime. Three of them made it to the top and none of it was easy for anyone in the group. They were snowed on twice. Altitude sickness and/or delirium caught them all off guard. Basically, after 20 hours of unexpected twists and turns they left their camp, reached the 14505 foot summit and returned back to the trail-head. Many awesome photos were taken, but here are a few of my favorites from Andy's and Chad's cameras. Next time you talk to anyone in this group congratulate him on what an amazing job he did. I know I couldn't do it and I am so proud of them!

zucchini

In June Chad and Maggie picked the first zucchini from our spring garden. Here is Maggie cooking it in her microwave and holding it. Ultimately the entire thing went into summer soup.

new friend

In June we got to meet, feed and hold our good friends' new baby, Matthias. He's a cutie and we were so happy to meet him at just 3 weeks old. Maggie was giddy with excitement to see, kiss, hold, snuggle, tickle and play with him and somewhere there is a video to prove it. When we finally allowed her to hold him (with assistance, of course) she could not stop giggling and smiling and touching and loving him. Heart melting, really.

big girl room

A couple months ago we had three walls in our guest room painted a light aqua/blue to prepare Maggie for the move into her new bedroom. We ordered and received her new bedspread but didn't want to fully move her into the double bed (from a toddler bed) until the room was painted and the bed was where we wanted it. We hoped to make it a big event for her. And even though it wasn't (and still isn't) complete and this past weekend we rearranged it all again, the switch was still a big event and she loves her new room. The are still things that need to be done (putting up a full-length mirror, adding a clothesline for artwork, hanging window treatments, etc.) but I'm giving myself a month or two (or more) to get them completed. There's no rush--the big move has been made and for the past couple months she's loved what we've done to it. We thought she might miss her old room but so far she hasn't. She talks about the baby's room as just that, and knows that she now has a super awesome big girl room that's all hers.

cowboy birthday

Maggie's bud, K-Bob, turned one this month and we got to celebrate with him this past weekend. His family threw him a darling cowboy birthday party in the country complete with stick horses for the kids, hats, bandanas, photo ops, swimming, food and a pinata. A great way to spend a warm weekend evening.

escaping the heat

This past weekend Chad, Mags and I went to the cabin to cool off. The weather was great, the mood was relaxed, and we all had a great time. Saturday morning we travel to Huntington Lake to watch the High Sierra Regatta. The three of us had a picnic while watching the boats and enjoying the fresh mountain air. And of course we took Maggie to the swing before the day was done.

Independence Day

We had a great, full-filled Fourth of July this year. We were invited to a BBQ where all three of us got to eat and play/chat with friends before camping out to watch the local fireworks show. It was great!

third birthday party

We threw Maggie her third birthday party on Saturday and she had a blast. She is super proud to now be three! Eight of her friends came to help her celebrate, and along with their parents, my parents and a few others, the group totaled over 30 people. The kids started out painting birdhouses (the very light party theme focused on birds. If you watch Portlandia you get it and if not, click here to see why). Then they played in the sprinkler toys for a little while before sitting down for lunch. After eating we had cupcakes and then let the kids take a few whacks at a bird pinata we stuffed for them. We filled it with the usual crap: candy, bouncy balls, bubbles, mini skateboards, etc. and the kids enjoyed both trying to break it with the stick and gathering the loot from the ground after it was broken. Finally we opened her gifts before everyone set off for home.  It was a busy but fun party and we're pretty sure most everyone had a good time. We hope anyway!

Cousin Keri's Wedding

In late June our beautiful cousin Keri got married in the bay area. Maggie was her flower girl and was pulled in a wagon with Liam, the little ring bearer, by our cousin Bailey. Maggie was precise with role as flower girl, only dropping one petal at at time and rotating evenly between the left and right side. Super cute. After the wedding they had a party and Maggie danced the night away. 

We all know Maggie is a lover and can't wait to give (and receive!) hugs and kisses. This night was no exception, as you'll see from a few of the photos in this post. She just can't help herself...

A fun weekend with family and I know everyone had a good time.

Congratulations, Keri and Matt! We love you!

Happy Birthday, Mags!

Today is Maggie's third birthday and yesterday we celebrated with her friends. More photos later this week, but for now...happy birthday sweet girl! We love you!

Father's Day

For the next month or so my posts are going to be out of order. Because I was so far behind in getting organized I'm going to have some posts that are somewhat timely and others that aren't.

We had a great father's day this year with Chad. It started out by me making eggs for breakfast. I know. I miracle. After breakfast we changed into our swimsuits and took off for Wild Water Adventures, one of our local water parks. We spent a few warm hours there playing in the water and eating lunch before coming home for a nap. Well, Chad got a nap. He played hard with Maggie in the water and sun so it was totally deserved. That evening we had dinner at one of our favorite steakhouses (way too hot to BBQ at home) and settled in for the night.

I hope Chad had as good of a Father's Day as Maggie and I did. She has a super great dad and we had lots of fun with him celebrating.

And a belated happy Father's Day to my dad, who I didn't get to see on Father's Day. Fortunately we got to spend the previous weekend with him and will be with him next weekend too! 

Summer Shoes

Now that it's fall and the temps are cooling down, I think it's time to start packing away some of Maggie's summer shoes. I figured, just like I did last spring, that I'd document what she's worn in the past season for her baby book. This time we're showing off her purple Keen sandals (her favorites), her pink Target Circo flip flops, her rainbow Keen sandals, her pink Nike strap shoes (that she could put on all by herself, making them fun for her to wear), and finally her OP water shoes. Goodbye summer!