Fourth Anniversary!

Today is our fourth wedding anniversary! I still can't believe how blessed I am that God planned for Jeff and me to spend our lives together. He's the best husband and friend to me, and he's the most wonderful Daddy to our sweet kids. On July 9, 2005, I could never have imagined the wonderful things these past four years would bring. Four years and two precious babies later, I can't WAIT to see what the rest of our lives hold. God truly does have a perfect plan, as He shows us more and more every day.

The Paci Fairy

We have been scheming for MONTHS for a way to sneak Maggie's paci away from her without the process being traumatic. Well, during Bible School a few weeks ago, a friend from church told us how she managed the process with her daughter. We talked about it with Maggie for a few weeks and decided to do the same thing, so....

Last night, the "paci fairy" visited our house to "take Maggie's paci and give it to a little baby who needed it." In return, the paci fairy was to leave Maggie a present to help her forget about the paci she has known and loved for the past almost-three years. Maggie, of course, insisted on several conditions: 1. She wanted to know who was getting her paci. ;) We told her it was going to Callie, the baby our friends Ashley and Brad. (Callie, by the way, doesn't use a pacifier, and I'm sure Maggie will insist on SEEING her with the paci, so this should be interesting.) 2. Maggie wanted to see the paci fairy. (I don't think the Santa Claus story is going to hold up very long with this girl!) We explained the necessity of the paci fairy coming at night, and Jeff drew Maggie a picture. :) 3. She started compiling a list of things she wanted the paci fairy to bring her (whew!). She wanted a "big ball," a football, some "water paint," and a "biiiiiig" Mickey Mouse.

So she went to bed last night with no paci. She left it on her bookshelf for safe retrieval. ;) (We could not leave it under her pillow because we were afraid she'd reach under there and it would end up in her mouth before morning.) :) She did fine last night, minus one hard hour between 3 and 4 when she woke up mumbling "Paci, paci, paci, Where my paci?".... When Mags woke up this morning, she was very happy about her presents. She even seems okay at the moment to have said "goodbye" to paci forever. I surely hope so! Otherwise, we will not be getting much sleep around here! Here are some pictures of Maggie's paci fairy setup:



My sister Candace always has something hilarious to say...In response to the email I sent friends and family last night with these pictures, she responded:

"Dear Paci Fairy,
Your handwriting looks suspiciously like my Mom's. And balls for pacis? I'm two, not clueless. There better be some cold hard cashola in this basket or you need to be hooking a sister back up with a paci. I do think it's cute that you thought this process would be this simple. Props on that.
Love,
Maggie

P.S. I better wake back up tomorrow morning with a paci in my mouth."

Breakfast and Maggie Quotes

The kids were being extra cute at breakfast today, so I thought I'd snap some pictures. Maggie's hair was also extra wild, so please excuse that. :) That's what it looks like every morning before a brush gets to it.

On to the latest Maggie quotes...

Said yesterday when she saw a clip of Michael Jackson on TV:
"Daddy, look at that girl singin'!"

A conversation with Mama yesterday:
Mama--"Maggie, open your door please. I like it open."
Maggie--"Well I like it closed!"

Said to Daddy when he told her to stop doing something (I don't remember what.):
"Go away. Get OUT of my house."

Said to Miller last night when they were playing before bed:
"Milla, pway puzzles with me!"

Said to Mama before bed every night:
"Mama, wead books with me. Two books?" (She then brings about ten or twelve books from her shelf.) :)

Said today as I was putting Miller down for his morning nap: "Mama, Milla not want to take nap."

I'll post more as I think of them. For the most part, Maggie is a very sweet little girl. The sassy quotes as listed above are just now beginning to make their appearance. ;)

Miller at 9 Months!

Yesterday was Miller's nine-month doctor's appointment. It went great! He weighs 19 pounds and 4 ounces and is 29 inches "tall." All in all, he is a very healthy little boy, and we are SO thankful for that. Here are a few facts about Miller at nine months:

• He is a SUPER fast crawler. Too fast for Mama and Daddy sometimes. Funny, but a little scary. ;)
• He pulls up and "cruises" around furniture. He can let go and stand for just a couple of seconds before sitting back down.
• He loves to "walk" holding Mama and Daddy's hands.
• He LOVED baby food until last week (ate two jars at each meal), but he now refuses it and wants all "big people" food.
• He says "Dada" (I think he is finally starting to realize what he is saying here), and he babbles A LOT! We love to hear him talk!
• He loves playing with his big sister. He wants to do EVERYTHING she does!
• When he hears music, he bounces, laughs, and tries to sing along. SO cute.
• He loves opening cabinets and drawers and "exploring." He also loves hiding. In the above picture, he is on his way to one of his favorite hiding places...the space behind the living room chair. He always gives his hiding places away because he laughs hysterically when we call his name. :)

I am so thankful for Miller. Just this morning, I was remembering this time last year...We were so excited about the upcoming arrival of our baby boy, but we had NO idea what a perfect addition he would be to our family. Miller and Maggie are living proof that God is constantly giving us more than we deserve. How blessed we are!

Maggie's Bible School Song

Maggie learned a few songs at Bible School last week, and she is so sweet singing them...She walks around the house ALL day humming them and singing some variation of the words (notice I said some variation). :) This is a video of Maggie using her "microphone" to sing part of her Bible verse song from VBS.

Transcript:

"Show me your ways, oh Lord! Teach me you paths!"..."Cheeeese!"

A ham? I think so!

Miller's Sweet Laugh

A video of Miller Man doing what he does best...

The Beginning of Summer!

We are so excited that summer is here! The kids love the pool, the ice cream truck, the warm weather, and the playground trips, but they (and I) especially love that Daddy is home for the summer! Miller took his first zoo trip last week, and he and Maggie both LOVED seeing the animals, playing in the water, and riding the train and carousel. Below are some pictures of our zoo trip.

In other news...Miller is growing SO quickly. He is crawling, pulling up, and trying to get into everything! He loves to eat (A LOT), play in his jumperoo (though he doesn't like being confined for too long) :), and torment his sister (He laughs EVERY time...). He is such a happy little boy and has the best smile and laugh.

Maggie is constantly cracking us up with her new sayings. Her new question is "Why?" She wants an explanation for everything, from why the sun hides behind the clouds to why she needs to sit at the table to eat a honeybun. :) She has become such a big girl over the past couple of months and is such a joy to be around.

Jeff and I are helping with Vacation Bible School this week and having a great time. Maggie is SO excited to go to "big girl Bible school," and Miller is just happy to play with friends and eat sweet potato puffs all morning. All in all, summer has been awesome so far, and we hope for more of the same!