He Is Risen!

He is risen indeed!  And on this special Easter weekend in 2010, He also rose Maggie's first tooth and took Grandpa Voss to his permanent home.   

My mom made a special trip to KC to share Easter with us and Maggie's first Easter came with a beautiful new dress, a basket of goodies, and a first tooth.  She won't let us get near the tooth long enough to take a look but she's taken the opportunity to bite my finger multiple times.  She's handled all the excitement pretty well.  Other than waking up a bit at night and drooling a lot, the tooth doesn't seem to bother her.

Soon after our church service Sunday we all packed up and headed to Springfield to be with the family and lay my grandfather to rest. Robert "Archie" Voss passed away Saturday morning in his sleep.  My sister, Sondra, came in town from Dallas and even though the circumstance for her visit was due to a loss, it was great to see her. It was great to see everyone. I find it interesting how at the end of a loved one's life the final gift they give their family is reunion.  A military funeral was held on Monday, including a fly-over by an Air Force plane.  It was just as grandpa would have loved it to be.   And Maggie kept the family smiling by hiccuping through the entire funeral service.  I thought at least the gun shots would scare the hiccups away, but they persisted (the hiccups, not the shots). 

Maggie's First Easter Basket

Our Failed Attempt at a Family Photo

Maggie and her friend Louisa, aka Weezy, at Sunday's Easter Service

Playing in the Grass at Grammy's House

Mags Made Everyone Smile at Grandpa's Funeral

Presenting the Flag to Grandma Voss

The Fly-Over

I bet grandpa loved seeing this!

Sisters

Our Reason to Rejoice

Rest in peace Archie.

A Dozen for Half a Dozen

A dozen photos of Maggie at six months.

Thanks to Danny for, once again, catching Maggie's personality in these photos! We'll cherish them forever.

Our Family Likes Food

So avocado wasn't a hit, but Maggie seems to like sweet potatoes and sweet peas just fine.  Oatmeal for breakfast is just so-so, but when dinner time comes she gobbles up her veggies and rice cereal happily.  The varying colors of food that end up in her hair, under her chin and other random places makes bathtime interesting.   She doesn't seem to mind the mess and it's nothing a little soap and water can't clean up so Jared and I just smile and laugh along with her.

Jared's been working out with a trainer a few days a week, so when he emailed me one afternoon to say he was having a very busy workday Maggie and I decided to fatten him up with a treat when he got home.  It's moments like this that remind me how lucky I am to have the health, energy, and time to take care of my family.  Mags and I made a quick run to the store and had german chocolate brownies waiting for Jared when he walked in the door.  A crazy workday is always made better with chocolate and baby kisses.

Sweet Potato Face

Daddy's Special Treat

It's Time for a New Carseat

Miss Maggie turns 6 months old tomorrow.  She's growing up faster than I'd like and at 6 months it seems like we're starting so many new things...it's almost like starting with a new kid all over again.  She grows out of her clothes faster than I can buy them, and after playing with a toy for just a few days she gets bored with it.  Luckily she has a short memory and I can reintroduce a toy to her a week later like it's brand new. And it seems we're ready for a new carseat and stroller. 

Princess Petunia's perfectly pudgy.

At 20.3 pounds she's greater than the 97th percentile, which is considered to be off the charts.  She's 25 1/2 inches long (50th percentile).  And just as happy as a peach.   Maggie took her 6 month shots like a champ, hardly crying at all. And she chatted up a storm with the doctor and nurse. 

Maggie's carseat weight limit is 22lbs, which I had thought would get us closer to her first birthday, but at over 20lbs it's time for a new seat.  And a new stroller.  And pretty soon a high chair.  I've started making Maggie's first foods and "eating" is providing a lot of goofy pictures...entertaining for all of us.

Her First Taste of Avocado

Hair Finally Long Enough for Bows

Bunnies and Hedgies and Owls! Oh My!

Welcome to Maggie's playroom.  For Valentine's weekend Mommy and Daddy enjoyed a fun craft project turning a nook in the basement into a happy forest for Maggie and her friends.  Now the little space that was never used is now home to a happy tree and all it's critters including bunnies, birds, hedge hogs, owls, a fox, a squirrel, some snails and probably a few other things I've forgotten.

How We Started -- Ohhh Boy

The Artist of the Family

The Happy Tree

Maggie Helped

Maggie Loves Mr. Fox

We Think Maggie Likes It

The Finished Product

Even The Books Got a Wise Old Owl

It's rare to come across a company these days that provides good ole customer service, so when I do I sing their praises and become a repeat customer.  The company that designed these graphics, Graphic Spaces, is one such company.  I ordered the graphics at the begining of the week and had them by the end of the week.  They communicated with me throughout the process not just with bland updates on my order, but with cute messages like "All the little animals are so excited to be moving to Kansas! The hedgies are a little afraid of flying, but I'll make sure they get in your box and are comfortable."  And the quality of the product exceeded our expectations.  I so appreciate this! I wish more business owners ran their companies this way.  I digress...back to cute stuff.

After a hard day's work planting the tree and introducting Maggie's animal friends to their new home Jared and I enjoyed a wonderful Valentine's dinner with good friends:  Lisa & George and Jessica, Adam & baby Maddie.

We hope everyone else had a lovely and loving weekend.  XOXO

Exciting New Things

In Maggie's 6th month she's learning all kinds of new things.  She's found her toes, which she thinks is pretty special and has figured out how to put the big toes in her ears, nose, and mouth.  This mordifies her father and makes mommy laugh hysterically. 

Maggie's also learning how to eat and to cook.  Right now all she gets is rice cereal and oatmeal, but she's been helping mommy cook and bake all kinds of good things she'll get to eat soon enough
.

My toes! My toes! I love my toes!

Baking Lesson

Maggie Likes Spatulas

Maggie's First Food

"I'll do it myself, mom!"

And for those of you who are really, really bored....here's a video of Maggie getting her first bites of food.  Seriously, you must be really bored to watch this.

Home Office

It's my first week in 5 1/2 years not working for Ticketmaster.  At random times throughout the day I find myself concerned about the state of affairs at the company and then I remember it's not mine to worry about any more.  This is going to take some getting used to!  And I have another conundrum to worry about:  How am I busier now than I was when working 80 hour weeks?  Being a stay-at-home mom and semi-entreprenuer is a whole new kind of organization and productivity I'm still learning.  I'll get there.  Luckily Maggie and Jared are being very patient with me...the guy from HP I yelled at last night on the phone on the other hand probably thinks I'm a huge you-know-what.  I miss having an IT department!

For now my dreams consist of the following images.  Some where in a fairytale land a princess has this office and is being highly productive and efficient.