The Yellow Dog Adventure

Here's a story that's hard to believe, but it's ALL true. Two weeks ago Aaron, Maggie and I were in the car headed to Lancaster for my niece and nephew's swim party. Caitlin just turned 6, and JD is 3. We were quite on time and planned to grab a quick bite to eat before we got there. Traffic was pretty heavy but not too bad. We decided to take the HOV lane on the south side of Dallas. Those of you that have gone this way know this is kind of scary. It's completely closed in on both sides, and there are no exits for probably 5 miles. I mentioned seeing a yellow dog(AKA school bus) ahead of us because I was griping about how I don't think that buses should get to be in the HOV. We were probably 15 cars behind the bus. We're moving along at a relatively good pace when all of the sudden we come to a stop. We didn't just slow down. It was a complete and total, put on your parking brake stop. Lo and behold! What do I see? That yellow dog has broken down in the HOV lane ahead of us. There is NO WAY OUT! About 15 minutes into the ordeal, another bus comes in the northbound lane and stops with the help of a police car. All the kids get out, jump over the guardrail and get onto the other bus. So they're all free, but we're still stuck. Maggie starts to get pretty restless about this time, so we get her out and let her wander free in the car. There's not a whole lot to do though. We notice the couple in the car behind us has started playing cards. At least 2 different gentleman walk up the bus to try to render some type of aid. People get out of their cars and look around. I got out to see how many cars were behind us....as far as I could see down the HOV lane. Then I took some pics and got back into the car. After sitting for an HOUR AND A HALF, a tow truck finally comes to get the bus. We sat there for an HOUR AND A HALF with a baby with nothing to do. I can't say that I was in good humor the whole time, and I can promise that I will NEVER get into an enclosed HOV lane again. Yes, people, this too can happen to you.

She's 1!!!!

Maggie is 1!! We had a wonderful birthday party today. The weather was perfect. Maggie was in good humor. We were surrounded by wonderful family and friends. We couldn't ask for anything more. I just can't believe she's one. I'll post some pics later, but here's her stats.....

Weight: 21 lbs. 50%
Height: 29 1/2 in. 75%
Head: 17 3/4(I actually think they measured this wrong as this was the same as her 9 month checkup, but whatever) 75%

She got 2 shots at the doctor, and she took them like a pro. I'm so proud to be her mom. I just can't even explain it!!

Here comes Peter Cottontail.....and other such nonsense...

It's so weird that Easter was so early this year. It turned out to be a pretty nice day. Maggie looked beautiful in her Easter dress. I looked all right. I got to see my family. Aaron got to see his mom. My parents got to give the kiddos lots of junk they didn't need. :o) We saw some of Aaron's extended family. People hunted Easter eggs. It was all quite Eastery!!! Loved it. Now the only sad thing is that there's only one more day before spring break is over. Not loving that! However, we're sooooo on the downhill slide. It's hardly any time at all before it's all over. That is a good thing. I'm sure I'll have more to post later. Now I'm just too tired, and it's just too late....

I'm loving the bunny ears. Thank you Target $1 bin!!!
Here's my two favorite people just chillin'. I LOVE how she's all kicked back and leaning on my hubby!Here is Maggie "hunting" eggs. Hey, she did like to shake them. I think she was just sure they were egg shakers. Loving this outfit. Thanks Aunt Kelli!!!In our Easter finery. I love Maggie's dress. Thanks Mom!!! So it's not the best pic of me. Who cares!?? Maggie looks great, and that's all that matters!!! Happy Easter y'all!!!

Just some pics.....man, she's growing up!

Falling off the ends of the Earth.....

I know it's been a while, but there hasn't been much going on....just life. School is all right. TAKS is fast approaching, and I can't say that I'm excited about that. However, being the writing teacher does have its advantages this time of the year. Soon my part will be done. I'll be helping with the reading portion after that, but it's not really on my back.

Maggie is good. It's just so odd to think about that she'll be 1 soon. We had some pictures made with the cousins the other day, and they are so cute. I'm sure that we'll have pictures made when Maggie's 1 as well. I always think that's sooooo fun. Maggie's not the biggest fan, but we definitely need to have them. I'm thinking pretty dress...flowers...the works!! Good times!

Aaron will be doing some more traveling this year. I feel like a single parent when that happens, so it's pretty hard. I really don't know how single parents do it. They totally have my respect.

I hope to have more interesting things to post about soon, but no promises!!! I'll be back soon with pics....

Oh the times they are a 'changin....

Well, before I get to the main point of this point, I'll update about our illnesses. Maggie had an ear infection...AGAIN! She also had managed to have a bit of an eye infection. Some antibiotics and eye drops later and she's as good as new. She still has a runny nose, but it's that time of the year. I am also feeling much better as I've been taking my OTC drugs for a while now.

Now to the main reason for this post....... It's official. Maggie can FINALLY crawl!!! I know. She's almost 10 months old, but whatever! She's been thinking about it for a couple of weeks, but she just wouldn't do it. However, this morning she finally decided to get on the move. Now she's not good at it yet, and she doesn't want to do it all the time. BUT she can do it. We've both seen her. I figure it will be a couple of weeks before she's really good at it, and I'm going to try to enjoy that time until I have to put up the kiddie gate. The kitty just knows she's in BIG trouble. We're all excited and got it on video. Anyway, we're pretty excited but sad at the same time. Our baby really is growing up. Before we know it, she'll be 1!!!

Here's some pics for your Maggie fix....

Ugh...that's it, UGH!!

Okay, I was okay with me being sick. I've had a stuffy nose, sneezy, coughing, etc. Maggie has also had a runny nose, but now she might have PINKEYE! Could it get any worse? Poor baby. I'm miserable. She's miserable. Daycare made her leave. I have a doctor's appointment in about 40 minutes. I just feel UGH! For Maggie, of course, I'd do anything, but if I get pinkeye......things will be ugly around here!

I'm now done feeling sorry for myself. Thanks so much.

9 months have FLOWN by!

Guess who is 9 months old???! It's MAGGIE!!!!!

Here's our normal posting of stats....
Weight 19lbs. 7 oz.
Height 28 inches
Head 17 3/4 inches

She's getting so big. Before we know it, we'll be planning our 1st birthday party!!! How exciting!!!!!

More pics!!!!!!!!

I'm tired of being tired!!!

Well, the holidays came and went, and I don't feel any more rested. KWIM? The first week was all right except that I still had to dash around buying last minute present. I'm just that kind. I'll never be that lady that is done with her Christmas shopping in October. It's just not in my nature. Then we went to Florida to see Aaron's sister and mom. I love both of these families, and we had a great time having Christmas and staying at a condo. I even managed to get a tan since we went to the pool for 5 days! Can you believe that?! But it just wore me out. I was worried about getting there since Maggie's never been on a plane. She did just fine, but I was pretty much a nervous wreck until we touched down. I didn't want to be "THAT LADY" with the annoying baby. Then we had about a 3 hour drive to get to our first destination. After that we went to the condo. It was really nice. We had our own bedroom....but the bed was super soft. That is simply unacceptable. Aaron slept most nights on the floor! I can't do that, but I sure wanted to! The time there was pretty relaxing...going to the pool and all. But I'm the type that just wants to sit around, not put make-up on, not shower(gross, I know) and hang out in my jammies all day on vacation. That did NOT happen, and I am sad. Then we went to our third and final destination before heading back to the airport to do the flight thing all over again. Again, I was a nervous wreck. Again, Maggie was fine...even though she was much more of a handful thanks to an irritating flight attendant. Here's that story----She was sleeping all peacefully when the flight attendant came to get something out of the overhead compartment for someone right across the aisle from us. Then she SLAMMED it shut. Maggie almost jumped out of her skin and immediately woke up. I could have killed her! But all's well that end's well!

All in all it was a great Christmas. We hung out with the Rouws, Hulletts, Learneds, Hoods and Frankenbachs! We saw each side of the Christmas. We met new cousins and aunts and grandparents....crazy! I'll leave you with some pics of all the good times!! Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!!!

So cold...so cold!

I gripe when it's too hot. I gripe when it's too cold. I am really never happy except for a few short weeks usually sometime in late April or early May. :o) It's pretty much the truth though. Sweating...gross! Freezing...not fun! I am super glad for my wonderful husband who has been making me lovely fires to get through this cold spell. I only wish there would be some snow to go along with all this chilly weather. That would be nice!

There's a lot going on around here. Last week we had our small group Christmas party. It was super fun. I ate waaaay too much, but there's nothing new there! I've been trying to get my Christmas shopping done, but it's been pretty difficult. Thank goodness for the internet or I'm not sure if I'd have any gifts! Only one more week of school to go before our break. Hooray! This week Jeff and Linda are coming to visit. They will be hanging out here until Christmas Eve. This coming Friday will be Maggie's program at school. I don't know what they're doing, but they've been "practicing" for some time. Ummmm...should be interesting. I'll let you know when I know what in the world they're doing. We're spending Christmas Eve night with my family. On the 27th we'll be heading out to see Debbie, Frank, Angela, Perry, Briannah and Cadence. We're so excited to see Cadence since we haven't met her yet! It should be fun!!! At some point this week I hope to get my hair done. Maggie MUST have her picture taken with Santa as well. Thank goodness there's no Kindermusik! Somehow I'm sure I'll manage to get everything done. I will certainly be happy when this week is OVER!

Maggie pics....

Back to the grind....at least for a few more weeks!

Thanksgiving was fabulous. We always have such a great time in Little Rock. I love seeing all my family, and Aaron fits right in. This year there were a lot of new babies that joined. Since last year, there have been 3 new additions. It made it more fun, but it's pretty hard to keep everyone constantly entertained and try to keep on a sleep schedule. Whatever! I'm already looking forward to next year!!

We had some lovely family photos taken by Angela. They are so great. We will be giving many of them as gifts. Thanks Angela!!

This next Saturday the big Christmas shopping begins. I'm so excited. There will be my fav girls, yummy food to start us off and lots of money to spend. My kind of day! I only wish I knew what to get everyone....

Here's some Maggie pics to end with. Life is good.

Okay, I know I'm mean, but I LOVE this picture. So funny! Can you tell that she was fed up!??

Here comes Thanksgiving...here comes Thanksgiving....

Can you believe it??! It's almost Thanksgiving! I can't say that I'm sorry about that. Aaron, Maggie and I are heading down to Hot Springs for a few days before heading to Little Rock to eat turkey with the fam. I'm really excited about it too. A lot of my family will be there, and there will be lots of babies! Three more babies than there were last year! Fun, fun, fun!

Nothing much else has been going on. Angela Faris came over and took pictures for Maggie's 7th month and just some family ones of all of us. They're so good. I'll put a plug in for her. Check some of them out on her photography blog. We already put up the Christmas tree. It's not all done, but it sure is pretty. This will be the best Christmas ever since it will be Maggie's first.

In Maggie news....she got her second flu shot today and took it like a trooper. Aaron will be taking her to Kindermusik tomorrow, and I'm really excited about that. I know they'll have so much fun. I'll be doing conferences...yuck!!! I'm not concerned about them though. I'm actually glad we're having them. It's been a good year....

Here's Maggie....she was a bee for Halloween but barely got to wear her costume because she was sick! We went to a Halloween thing where Aaron works. They had bubbles! Maggie LOVES bubbles! Maggie missed her school photos, so I took some. I love her outfit. Isn't she pretty!!?

First real sickness....

Maggie got sick yesterday. I picked her up from daycare, and she was crying and carrying on like I've never seen. Well, she had totally pooed, so they changed her before we left. When I picked her up, she was really hot. I figured that I'd take her temp as soon as I got home. I walked in with her and walked into her nursery. She got this strange look on her face and was kind of gulping. I totally knew that she was about to throw up, but I just wasn't fast enough. Yep! She threw up ALL OVER ME. EWWWWWWW! She freaked out. I got her changed and got myself changed. Then I took her temp, and sure enough she had one. We decided to take a nap after getting some meds. She was okay after that. This morning she woke up still having a temp, so I stayed home with her. She's been cranky but seems okay. It wasn't too traumatic, but it is sad to have a sick baby. Plus they had school pictures today which she missed at daycare. It made me really sad to miss that. Whatever.... Here's some pics...

The State Fair rocks!

I have to admit that we got off to a rocky start. We went last Saturday around 11:00, and there was TONS of traffic getting there. Now those of you that know my husband know that he does not enjoy traffic. I thought he was going to turn the car around and just head home. Seriously! In the car, he is just like my dad. Anyway....we finally got there and parked. It was HOT, and people were everywhere. (Note to self...do not go on Saturday again.) We got to bypass the huge ticket-buying line thanks to my parents(they gave us a ticket) and made it in. We started with the dog show thing where they jump in the water and catch frisbees and such. Now I like this one. I've seen it before, but I have to say that I was disappointed that the pig races weren't until much later. I knew we'd never be there that long, and I really like the pig races. I don't know why. There's just something funny about it. Maggie wasn't too impressed with the dogs and did a lot of screaming. Gotta love it! After the dog show we got our foot long corn dog. HEAVEN! I only like corn dogs at the fair. They are so yummy. We plodded over to the car stuff. Maggie fell asleep, and I spent most of my time looking at mini vans. That's right, people. I said mini vans. When #2 comes along, I'm getting one. I'm not ashamed. I need convenience...and doors that open all by themselves. I got my fried cheesecake after that. We took some pics and went to the butterfly exhibit. This was neat, and I think Maggie liked seeing the butterflies. However, it was as hot as HADES in there. Sweat poured!! It was a greenhouse on the sun. Oh well! I still loved it. Enjoy the pics....

I'm 6 months old!!!!

The picture above was taken at Maggie's first Ranger game. Notice all the empty seats! :o)

Okay, Miss Maggie is 6 months old. We went in for her shots and check up on Friday. Can you believe it? They gave her 5!!!!!!!!! shots plus one oral vac. Needless to say, she wasn't super happy about it, but she got over it soon enough. Here's her stats....

Height: 26 1/2 inches...about 75 %
Weight: 16 lbs. 7 oz...about 50%
Head: 17 in....no idea about %

Tomorrow Maggie will be dedicated at church. She will be wearing a super cute dress given to us by our sweet friends the McGuires. So excited!

Just a little something.....

Maggie will be 6 months tomorrow. Oh how the time flies! Here's some pics to show how she's growing up......

Happy 6 month birthday, Maggie! Mommy loves you more than the last number......