Snow!

We were so happy to get to play in the snow yesterday! Jeff and Maggie went out a couple of times to play, and I stayed in with Miller most of the morning. (We did get a couple of pictures of him outside, though.) Maggie LOVED the snow...she loved rolling in it, jumping in it, throwing it, and eating it! She also loved getting to play with her friend Emma in the snow. It was a fun day for all! Below are some pictures from yesterday's snow fun.

Shawn's Visit

Maggie loves her buddies. She has two good "boy buddies"...Alex and Shawn. Yesterday, Shawn came to play because his little sister, Callie, was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. Maggie was SO excited to have him here. Below are some pictures of their "play date." Miller can't wait to play with his buddy Callie when she's all better! Disclaimer: Do not judge me for the red bow/pink outfit. Maggie likes to pick out her own bows first thing in the morning. :)

Marriage Share: Everybody loves a love story

This is another survey going around facebook...The picture above is one of my favorites of Jeff and me. It was taken on a mission trip to New Mexico only a couple of months after we'd met.

1. When was your "engagement" anniversary? December 25, 2003

2. When is your "marriage" anniversary? July 9, 2005

3. How long have you known your spouse? Since April 26, 2001

4. How long did you date/court before you were married? A little over four years

5. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time? We met at a Coca-Cola Scholars Program in Atlanta, GA. I didn't want to go because I was tired during a busy time of the school year. On the way to the airport, my mom said, "Cheer up. Maybe you'll meet the guy you're going to marry." I called home that night and told her that I had.

6. What is your spouse's full name? Jeffrey Landon Norris

7. Do you have any children yet? Yep!

8. How many? Two: Maggie (born October 20, 2006) and Miller (born September 8, 2008)

9. Do you have any house pets? Nope!

10. Do you own a house or rent? We “own” a house.

11. Do you live in the country or town/city? Both, kind of.

12. What is one of your favorite activities together? Mainly, we like to spend time with our sweet babies. We also like to watch TV (though Jeff loves reality TV and I like a plot) and listen to music in the car (We both sing at the top of our lungs...sorry, Jeff!). Recently, we have started listening to books on tape to replace some of the TV.

13. Do you have a favorite vacation spot? The beach! We want to actually go there this summer!

14. How many siblings (including in-laws)? I have three sisters. Jeff has two brothers. (Therefore, Jeff has three sisters-in-law on my side of the family, and I have two brothers-in-law on his side of the family.) I also have two more brothers-in-law (my sisters’ husbands), and Jeff has a sister-in-law (his brother’s wife).

15. What church do you attend? Shades Mountain Baptist Church...It took us a long time to find a church that felt like “home.” God has really blessed us, and we couldn’t ask for a better church home!

16. Is this the church you were married in? No, we were married at First Baptist Church in Monroeville, AL, where I grew up.

17. What town is your current address? Calera

18. Do you work or stay at home? I stay at home and take care of our babies! We weren’t sure if this was going to be an option for us when Maggie was born, but it is working out great, and I am so appreciative to be able to spend all day with our children!

19. Where did you honeymoon? We planned to spend a week in Destin and take a “further-away” trip after our first year of teaching. However, Hurricane Dennis hit the day of our wedding, changing the Destin plans, so we went to Callaway Gardens for a few days and then went to Panama City the day the beach reopened. Maggie changed the “further-away” trip plans, so we will take that one later...totally worth it!

20: Leave a piece of marriage advice: My father-in-law has always reminded Jeff of the order his priorities should follow: 1. God, 2. Family, and 3. Everything else. This is the best life/marriage advice I can give.

ABC's/Happy Baby!

The following is a video of Maggie singing her ABC's. This is her song of choice when I ask her to sing to Miller. :) She can get to "G" by herself and then really picks back up around "S." Maggie has also picked up a new habit this week...When we color, she likes me to make everything on the page "happy." This consists of drawing a smiley face on all the people, puppies, hearts, balloons, letters, and whatever else we draw/color. What a silly girl!

I also had a very-proud-Mama moment on Sunday. When I picked Miller up from the nursery after church, the ladies keeping him said he was the best and happiest baby they'd ever seen. They asked if he was always that happy. I proudly and very truthfully told them that he is! Miller brings so much joy to all of us and can always make his Mama smile. Below is a picture of our little man and his sister laughing at each other--their favorite thing to do!

"I wanna feed Miller...again!"

While I was feeding Miller his rice cereal this morning, I had the strangest feeling of deja vu. I remembered Maggie at that exact same age, doing the exact same things...grabbing the spoon from my hand, spitting out the cereal just as I thought she'd swallowed it, and giving me a huge milk-faced grin. I then looked at my Mags, who was shouting, "I wanna feed Miller...again!" and helping me guide the spoon toward her baby brother's mouth, and I was hit by a ton of emotions.

It seems like five minutes ago that Maggie was Miller's age...the same Maggie that now runs around asking for juice, telling Mama to be "happy, happy," begging for her "color colors" (crayons), and constantly entertaining us with her other new toddler-like skills. I know it will seem like only a minute before Miller is doing the same things.

I often get so stressed out about things that really won't matter two, five, or ten years from now--or even tomorrow. Much of the time, I really do forget to just enjoy the moment--to laugh wholeheartedly when Miller spits out his cereal all over his bib and cackles, or to tell Maggie how proud I am of her when she sings her "ABC" song or helps clean up her toys. I think children are the best reminders of all the blessings and happiness in life--and the best reminders for us adults to SLOW DOWN and appreciate all of the great things (and people) God's given us.

Wow...what an enlightening breakfast!

A video of sis helpin' little brother eat his cereal...
 

Happy, Mama, Happy!

Today has been very entertaining. Maggie is perfecting a new skill with which she plans to control her mama! Every time I have corrected her for anything today (for example, climbing into a basket that was too small for her, taking Miller's paci out of his mouth, trying to climb into the baby jumperoo, etc.), she has grabbed me by the face with both hands and said, "Happy, Mama, happy!" As one can imagine, it is almost impossible to keep a straight face when she does this! About ten minutes after naptime "began" today, she came skipping right out of her room, paci and blankie in hand, saying...yep, you guessed it..."Happy, Mama, happy!" I am very glad my Mags is so happy...even if it means shorter naptimes!

Miller is still rolling over every time I put him down, and he's as happy as ever, too! I love his smiles...they always melt my heart. His coos and laughter are some of the sweetest sounds I've ever heard, and I am blessed to get to hear them all day!

In other news, the yucky cold stuff has settled in for another stay in the Norris house. So far, Miller, Maggie, and Mama all have it. We're hoping and praying that it goes away soon! Maybe we won't have any doctor's visits this week! In the meantime, perhaps all the laughter and "happy, Mama, happy"-ness in the house will cure us!

New Family Pictures

We had some family pictures taken last weekend. Here are some of my favorites: