Maggie's 1st Hair Cut

Maggie had another first this past Saturday ... a first hair cut. She did pretty well. Amazing what a cookie bribe will do :)

Maggie wouldn't let me get picture of her after J was done. What can I say? She's 2. This is Maggie showing me her haircut later after her nap...

"I gaa hay cut!"

...and this is the best picture I got all evening. The stinker :)

Reading with Grandma

I think I have mentioned before that Maggie loves books. Her favorite thing to do is climb in your lap umpteen times in a row, each time with a different book to 'ree'.

This is one of Maggie's top picks:

The Doodle & The Mouse

Maggie met Mickey Mouse yesterday. We had driven to my mom's that morning, and after breakfast she asked Maggie, "Do you want to go see Mickey Mouse today?" Normally, the girl answers "no" to everything, but she stopped and pondered that question before nodding once emphatically and saying "Yes!".

So, of course, I dressed her up in her birthday outfit, complete with ears, and off we went to meet The Mouse.

I was a little concerned when we got there and were told that, at our place in line, we had an hour and half wait. I didn't know if I had it in me to wait that long, much less Maggie, but we were determined to give it our best try.

I gotta give it to the Disney Store people: they were all unfailingly polite, made sincere conversation with all of us waiting in line, and had the whole "Meet Mickey Mouse" thing down to an art form. That line moved.

(For the record, we were told our wait would be about an hour and half, and we meet Mickey at the one hour and twenty-three minute mark.)

Maggie was completely thrilled the first time she got a glimpse of Mickey - she was actually twitching with excitement and grinning from ear to ear.

Minnie Mouse was there also, and she and Mickey would switch off every 30 minutes, and when Mickey left, Maggie put her hands to her mouth and called to him "Bi-ckey! Bi-ckey!"

I'm sure he would have heeded her call had he only heard her :)

By the time it was our turn, Mickey was back on stage. The hilarious thing is, Maggie was pulling at me, trying to free her arm so she could run across the stage, and once I let her go, she turned around, saw how big he was, and hit the brakes. The girl would not move! Mickey was very sweet, and got down to her level, but she was having nothing of him - she even pushed him away at one point. No high 5's, no fist bumps, nothing. She totally left Mickey hanging {smile}

Once our turn was over and we were heading off the other side of the stage, she started pulling against me again, and didn't want to go down the stairs, trying so hard to get back to Mickey. I think if she had had more time to acclimate, she would have hugged and kissed Mickey all day long, but it was all so fast, she just didn't have the chance to settle down. The smile on her face was worth it, though - she obviously had a good time.

Afterwards, we went to check out the Disney Store, where my girl became enthralled with a 3-tier display of stuffed Disney characters, topped by a propeller that swung buckets of those stuffed animals high overhead. She kept running around and around, pulling out a doll and saying "Yook! Bickey!" or "Yook! Dondull!" (Donald Duck) or "Yook! Manny!" She ended up choosing Handy Manny, so Nana bought her one to take home.

All of that excitement wiped her out, and she crashed not 5 minutes later.

Mommy and Nana crashed for an hour or so once we got back to the house. A fun and exhausting day for all!

Later in the evening, Maggie and Manny had tea and cupcakes :)

PS: Today she has talked about "Big Bickey" ... maybe next time she gets the chance to meet him, we should better prepare her for his size :)

Bess 'ee Haar

Ya’ll know I’m an uprooted Southern girl. (If you weren’t aware of that fact, the first word in the prior sentence should be a dead giveaway.) I’ve always said that I wanted to raise my children as Southerners whether or not I lived in the area. I just believe that our child rearin’ ways are more respectful than many I see here in the Southwest and on the West Coast. You hear more ma’ams and sirs back home, ladies still have doors held open for them by strangers, thank yous and your welcomes are expected and usually received, and everyone is honey and darlin’ with nothing bad meant by it. It’s just a sweeter place to be, and I want to instill those mores in my daughter.

Plus, I love the South. It’s still home in my heart.

Well, we have seen signs of success in this area of manners and Southern-isms. Maggie is getting better at saying “tink oo” (thank you) and “way-come” (welcome), but one thing she picked up without any instruction at all: bless her heart. All y’all Southern folk out there know that this is a staple phrase, and covers all manner of things, from tragedy to joy.

Apparently, my mom and I say it a lot {smile}

Maggie will put Baby Emma* on her shoulder, pat her back and say “bess’ee haar”.

It’s just about the sweetest thing ever.

~*~

*Baby Emma is Maggie’s favorite baby doll. Her full name – Baby Emma – is almost always used. Maggie has started taking her everywhere and now sleeps with her (and “bee-yanky”, her blanky … don’t leave home without it!) When Maggie wakes up in the mornings or from her naps, she usually talks or sings to Baby Emma for a while – which is also the sweetest thing ever {smile}

I'm Married to a 40 Year-Old

It's official. Hubby turned 40. Does that automatically make me old, too? haha :)

I didn't think he'd let me, but in a moment of weakness, Hubby agreed to a 40th birthday party. He's not big on parties for himself, so I kept it was low-key. Our friends and family got together for a potluck party, with our pulled pork bbq as the main ingredient. It was such an enjoyable evening!

This is Maggie and Gabriel (or "Baby Gay-bu-wrul"). Maggie is constantly looking for him, and anytime she sees or hears a baby, she looks at me and questions, "Baby Gay-bu-wrul?" When she saw me holding him Friday night at the party, she reached up and said "Hold it", so we sat on the sofa to allow Maggie to hold Gabriel. Which she did for approximately 1.2 seconds. Then she just wanted to be beside him and pat him. It was a sweet little moment :)

Hubby wanted a Boston Creme Pie for his birthday cake, so that's what we did (my mom helped ... a lot. Thanks, Mom!). Yes, it's in the shape of a guitar. We managed to fit 40 candles on there, although I became concerned when we were lighting them because the first ones were halfway melted by the time the last ones were lit, but it all worked out!

Thankfully, due to all the singing he does, Hubby has great lung capacity and blew them out in one breath :)

I also made Boston Creme cupcakes, which are WAY easier than assembling the cake.

As you can see, they were a hit ...

Happy Birthday, Honey! We love you :)