Who said you could be there?

Blitz decided he needed to take a nap in Maggie's crib. He hasn't done that since before she was born. Idiot. He just laid there while I took pictures, and didn't even get up until I shooed him out.

Trying to take a family pic for Christmas Cards

By the way, how DO you get a 22-month old child to pose for a picture? The picture going out with our Christmas card/letter has Tyler and I smiling, but not her!!! Stinker! Here are some outtakes from our friend Seth taking our pictures:

Sometimes I just LOVE Wal-Mart!

Seriously. A lot of the time I shop there because it is cheap, even though the lines can be a mess. But, this find in the children's shoe aisle has quieted my distress!!! They were only $10, and they had them in her size. They also fit perfectly and don't slip off. These are Maggie's "dress brown" shoes for this fall and winter. And I love-love-love them.

It's Fall!

Fall came about a month late here in Nashville. Typically most of the leaves are off the trees by Halloween, but the drought we had this summer messed things up a bit. I was afraid the leaves on our trees would just shrivel and fall off instead of turning beautiful shades of orange and red, but last week they gave quite a show.
One of the young maples in the back yard.
The dogwoods in front didn't disappoint - I didn't get a picture of them at their best...
Across the street from us.

Guess who I saw at Wal-Mart today?

Supermodel Niki Taylor. She gave me her cart as Maggie and I ran in through some serious rain. No joke! She lives in the area, I guess. I checked out her fan website, and her management company is right down the street from BPSM/Wells Fargo, where I used to work before Maggie was born. Other famous person I saw at Wal-Mart (3 years ago): Alan Jackson. He also lives in the area and had his tour bus pull right up to the main entrance. Anyway, thought that was fun. =)

Potty-Training Update

So, you may have noticed I haven't posted any updates. Well, I don't want to bore everyone with this topic, but we do have lots of progress. At home Maggie is pants-off 100% of the time. She will use her potty chair faithfully for both #1 & #2. She just runs around in sweaters and slippers. We've not had so much luck with panties. She knows she can't pee in them, so the last time we tried them she took them off but didn't make it to the potty chair- she peed on her rug in her room. And, when she's got a diaper or pull-up on, she will announce her business but it's too late to get her to the potty. We aren't going to push it any farther for now, but after her birthday we'll reevaluate.

Just for Uncle Zach

Last night she was saggin' something terrible. Maggie's right at the stage where her 18-month clothes are getting too small and her 24-month clothes are too big, so we are in the land of in-between. And, she put on her hat that way, backwards and cocked to the side.

Oh what a tangled web we weave...

You may know the ending to the quote above: "When first we practise to deceive!" by Sir Walter Scott. Wednesday morning was the first time Maggie out and out lied and tried to deceive me. We are still doing the pants-off potty training, so first thing in the morning off goes her PJ bottoms and diaper. She really wanted the M&M's on top of the bookshelf, and I told her she had to go potty before she could have any... Off I go to the kitchen to get our breakfast ready, and in she runs, "I pee-pees! I pee-pees!"

So I went back to the living room where her potty chair is set up, and sure enough, there's tissue in it (we're working on the hygiene portion of potty training). BUT - that tissue is dry. Dry as a bone. Not a sprinkle of tinkle was in that potty. She had crumpled up a tissue and put it in her potty chair to make it look like she had used it so she could get M&M's! During this quick investigation she is practically frantic with the "I pee-pees!" chant, and so I ask her in a stern voice, "Maggie, did you go pee-pee on the potty?" I even lifted up the tissue and showed her that there was NO pee in the potty.

She got REALLY mad when I told her that she had not gone pee and that she could not have M&M's, and pitched a BIG BIG BIG fit right then and there. You could tell that she was mad that she didn't get the candy, and even madder that she got caught. I gave her a spank for the fit-pitching, I was pretty bowled over at the deception part of it all! Wow! And all that just for 2 lousy M&M's.
Said potty chair.
M&M's jar on top of the bookcase.

Trick Or Treat! Halloween 2007

Synopsis of Halloween, 2007: Maggie really enjoyed Halloween this year. Last week we went to a retirement community for her to "learn" how to go trick-or-treating, and on Halloween our church has an alternative to going out. CBC's Fall Festival is SO much fun! Shirley Haskins makes her homemade donuts (enough to feed 400 people!) - think Krispy Kreme sweetness in a thicker donut. MMM MMM MMM!

My pumpkins this year. I didn't have a lot of time, so they aren't as ornate as years past. Maggie's chicken costume. Notice the blurriness of her basket. She was whipping that thing around like crazy. Looking forward to some candy, I guess. Here we are at the Fall Festival. Tyler and I went as chicken farmers for Maggie's costume. Note that BOTH Daddy and Maggie have their hands in the candy. Our friend Matt and son Bob the Builder - I mean Jake. Zayli and Maggie and Tyler. Zayli was a farmer, too! You know those moments when you child slips away from you in a big crowd and you can't find them? Don't freak out, just look for the duck pond! Maggie got away from me in literally 2 seconds, and there she was, fishing in the duck pond. I know it's a bad angle, but look at the smile on her face! Here we are at the fishing booth. That big smile on my face is because we got a coupon for a free Chik-fil-A sandwich. Yum! Maggie & Zayli thought our props were fun toys. I put some smarties in one of the eggs, and that kept Maggie entertained for about 5 minutes. Zayli was looking at her mommy wondering if she could have some more candy. =) And, our fam. Seriously, does anyone know how to get your child to look AT the camera of the person taking the photo???End of the night. Her costume was so darn hot, she was just sweating! Look at that messy hair! I brought a shirt so she could take the top part of her costume off and still run around in her chicken legs.

Dancing from the Wedding Reception

Here are two short (less than 15 seconds) videos of Maggie dancing at the wedding reception yesterday. Hilarious!!!
Really Groovin' on the Music:

The Sugar has KICKED IN!