This week we welcomed baby Claire to our family - congrats, Bobby and Al! She came a little earlier than expected, but is a very healthy baby, and mom is doing well too. It was so awesome to hold such a tiny little baby again, it's hard to remember Maggie as a newborn.
Beautiful Baby Claire!
Maggie really liked to "pet" the baby
My new niece!
I'm ready to go home!
Jamie and I spent most of the long weekend working on our yard. My mom came on Saturday to help us plant everything. It's been really tiring, but I'm very happy with the results! Hopefully I can keep everything alive...
My own special table!
Telling us all about her dreams post-nap:
The weather has been gorgeous, so we've been able to take Maggie outside for a lot of walks and playtime at the park.
Taking a stroll in the park
If I don't come out on the other side... know that I loved you
Whew, I made it!
Who knew shoes could be so entertaining?
I'll trade you my Mommy's pop for a few chips
We went Grandma and Grandpa's yesterday for dinner, and it was soooo yummy! Maggie had a great time, but was pretty tuckered out by the end of it.
It's been a while since I updated; last weekend was just too crazy busy to find time for the blog. I'll try to remember what all has happened in the past couple weeks...
Jamie's big art show at Bishop Foley was a couple weeks ago. He had some really great pieces of work, all different kinds. I was really impressed that a single teacher was able to bring about so much work over the course of the year. I heard a few parents saying the same thing... so proud of my husband!
Some of his students' work
Last weekend I had the stomach flu for the third time this year! If you see me next fall, please ask me if I've had my flu shot yet, and if I haven't, smack me hard!
We held a big diaper party at the house on Saturday for our friends Adam and Sara, and then Sunday was Mother's Day. We went to church and breakfast with my side of the family, and then went over Jamie's parents' for dinner. It was a really nice day, and Maggie had an awesome time playing with her cousin Luke!
Mother's Day 2014
Come on, Grammer, I'll show you where to go
I'll show you too, Uncle Bobby
Classy pose, Magz
Present time for Grammer!
Hanging with Aunt Amy
Going for a walk with Grandma!
We're so excited because Maggie gets a new cousin this Thursday, and hopefully another one in June or July!! Our friends Mike and Ashley had their baby boy, Thomas (Tommy) this week, and he is a little cutie-pie. It's raining babies!
This week was pretty good, except Maggie had a minor cold most of the week. She wasn't too bad, but we definitely couldn't send her to daycare. My mom came to spend the day with her on Thursday, and said Maggie was just a cuddle-bug all day.
Thursday was also Grandma's birthday! We had a delicious dinner at a new restaurant on the Nautical Mile (which required a lot of walking around with Maggie to keep her quiet), and yummy cake at the house. Mom was bragging because she could blow out all the candles in one breath now that she's done smoking - so awesome, very proud of her hard work!
Can't you sing better than that?
Maggie has been ridiculously cute this weekend. We were so busy last weekend, and it was wonderful to spend some quality time with her these past couple days. She's doing great with her walking, and loves to "run" into hugs with us. She kept coming up to me today and hugging me, I loved it!
Cruising
How can you not love this girl?
This morning my Mom and I braved the crowds to check out the flower show at Eastern Market. It was so cool (literally, it was pretty chilly), and it was really fun to see all the different things available. We got there right when it opened at 7:00, and by the time we left at 8:45 it was almost impossible to maneuver through the aisles! We brought a wagon and made two trips back to the car with everything! I think my favorite "find" was my hydrangea - 2 huge, gorgeous plants for $25 total = winning! Next weekend is going to be all about the yard... getting tired just thinking about it!
Inspecting my purchases
I love being outside!!
Here's Maggie playing around while I did some weeding:
We have a walker! Maggie has been taking several strides in a row these past few days, with a maximum of 25 consecutive steps! She seems to understand that walking is easier than crawling, and is a little more willing to keep trying. I think her little legs are tired out after all the walking we did this weekend!
Here's a little snippet, though she didn't get very far in this video:
Maggie is also doing great at feeding herself. She was good at getting solid things with her spork, but now she can shovel goopy stuff like oatmeal all by herself!
Saturday Maggie and I went to a baby shower for our friends Sara and Adam. I was a little worried because the last shower we went to was exhausting, and Maggie was very whiny. This time she was such a good girl! There was a 4-year old girl at the shower (who referred to Maggie as her best friend, so cute), and Maggie was just mesmerized by her ability to run and jump. I think she sparked Maggie's ambition to walk! We also found at out the shower that Adam and Sara are having a little girl! Yay, another new girlfriend for Maggie!
Playing with the "it's a girl!" balloon
Peek-a-boo!
The beautiful mother-to-be (and cheerleading husband?)
Saturday evening we had a chance to do dinner and drinks with our buddies Rob and Christy from Chicago! They brought their dog with them, and Maggie was in heaven (though a little freaked out at first). The poor dog was way more scared of Maggie, but tolerated being petted. We put the dog in the basement when we were ready to head out to dinner, and Maggie was sooo distraught. We had a good 4 or 5 minutes of her standing at the basement door sobbing.
It's a Bow-Wow!!
Today we had church and then lots of housework to do. We took a break and went to the park to play on the swings and slide. Maggie just loves being outside and playing, it was a great time!
Who do you love more, Daddy? Me or the dino?
Let go, Mom, I can do it myself!
Here's a few other photos from the week:
Typical morning, hanging outside the bathroom while we finish getting ready
She found her way into our condiments... must have watched Supertroopers
Playing the drums with Daddy
We had a great weekend, though Maggie seemed a little off as we neared bedtime. About a half hour after I put her down, my poor little girl puked everywhere (of course I had just changed her sheets and given her a bath before bedtime)... she's running a fever right now and can't keep anything down. Hopefully she'll be feeling better in the morning after some rest.
Last week was Jamie's 30th birthday, so we did the usual celebration stuff...
Cake time with Twin Amy!
Hanging with Grandpa
How awesome is this baseball wreath?! Amy made it for Jamie!
Birthday lunch with Daddy... clearly having a great time
We went to the Tigers game on his birthday and then again on Thursday afternoon. Our cousin Donna hooked up Bishop Foley with 100 free tickets to the game, so we had to go! We took Maggie and while we made it all 9 innings, it was soooo much effort. She had a great time, and even took her first ferris wheel ride!
Go Tigers!
Hanging out with Donna and Pat in the comfy seats!
Us 3 girls cheering on the team
Ferris wheel = Amazing!
Jamie clearly had a great birthday week, but I had a few tricks up my sleeve still. A few months ago I told him that I was asked to speak at a seminar in Albany, NY and thought it would be more fun if he came with me. So we flew out on Friday morning and were waiting to be picked up by "Eric." Instead our good friends Andy and Katie were there to pick us up for a weekend of Jamie's favorites. We went to Ommegang brewery on Friday afternoon and the Baseball Hall of Fame on Saturday. We rented a really great house for the weekend, and spent the rest of our time hanging out, eating way too much and relaxing. It was so nice to get away for a weekend and spend some time with my man! Jamie said it was the most surprised he's every been!
Cheers from Ommegang!
Beautiful river in Cooperstown
Maggie stayed with Grandma and Grandpa all weekend. She was a good girl most of the time, but had some rough nights because of her molars. We missed her so much, and it was great to come home and snuggle with her a little bit before bedtime.
Maggie really loves to have conversations. She seems to have a whole new level of gibberish lately, and is very emphatic about her talking points. I have no idea what she's talking about, but it seems pretty intense!
I think we are starting to head towards terrible-two territory. Though not often, she has total meltdowns over silly things and it takes a while to calm her down. Yesterday I went outside with her to play before dinner, and we spent about 20 minutes walking around the yard and climbing the deck steps. Then I told her it was time to go inside, which resulting in much wailing and gnashing of teeth. It took about 5 minutes to stop the crying and another 10 minutes to get her to start eating dinner. It's really hard not to chuckle sometimes because she can be so incredibly dramatic and her face is so cute when she sticks out her bottom lip. So far the only way to get her out of a tantrum is to make her laugh... so I'm working on my stand-up routine.
This week Jamie took Maggie to school for their annual "Walk-a-Thon." She had fun goofing around with all the kids, and apparently really loves basketballs:
Put me in, coach!
On Friday we attempted to dye eggs with Maggie. We got this weird dye stuff that you roll around in a plastic bag. Maggie attempted to shake the bag and help us out, but really just enjoyed putting the eggs in and out of the bag.
We also walked to a nearby park to test out the kid swings. Maggie still seems a little small, but she really loved swinging. We just make sure to stand really close so she doesn't flip backward.
Woo Hoo!!!
The Easter Bunny came a little early on Saturday so that we could relax and enjoy our traditions without rushing everywhere. This was the first time Maggie searched for eggs, and she did fantastic! She really enjoyed putting the eggs in the carton. She also found her basket under the dining room table which had a few small toys and some plastic eggs with goldfish and animal crackers. She loved them!
I found one!
Take the picture so I can take these things off!
Do I detect notes of cheddar and salt?
We went to Grammer and Pops for lunch afterward, and got to enjoy some quality time with Luke, Bobby and Allison too. Best part was when Maggie TOOK HER FIRST STEPS! She walked about 3 steps from Grammer to me, it was wonderful! I think she did it one more time, but we didn't get it on video. We're going to keep working on it this week.
I'm here, let's party!
She was ga-ga for Grammer all day long
Hippo Bubbles!! Yes!!
Playing cars with Luke
Going for an afternoon stroll with the fam
Playing with Daddy in the yard
Saturday evening we went out for yummy BBQ with a few friends to celebrate Jamie's 30th birthday a few days early. It was kind of cute that of the five ladies there, three of them were pregnant! We came back to the house to hang out and have some cake. It was pretty tame, but I guess that's how parties go when you're OLD.
Friends with full bellies
Friends with rrrreally full bellies
Today we both woke up a little bit late, and decided to go to the 11:00 mass. We heard that it would be jammed for the children's mass, so we got there early enough to get seats. Unfortunately, we were not able to get Maggie down for a nap beforehand, so she was a huge handful the whole time. There was nowhere to escape to, people were everywhere!
Look at my pretty dress, Daddy!
Can I change now?
My little lady
We went over to Grandma and Grandpa's house this afternoon to see the Donoghue side of the family. We let Maggie change out of her dress so she could be comfy - tights are totally the worst!
Giving us a lesson on the chalkboard
Feeding the fish with Grandpa
Hanging with Grandma
Tonight is Jamie's last night to be in his twenties... I think he's handling it pretty well :)
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