My Mom

This Christmas, we finally got a sweet pic of my mom and Margaret Mary. Again, here she is with her giant pig. :)Margaret Mary is so blessed to have so many people who love her.

P.S

The top pic below is of a dress that Margaret Mary's godparents passed down to her. Isn't it cute! I love the little candy canes!

Godparents

Margaret Mary finally met her Godparents, Pete and AnnMarie Hynes. We love their family so much; they were our sponsers when we joined the Catholic Church. We can't wait for Margaret Mary to grow to love them as we do, and to learn from them the goodness of our God.

Meeting The Greats!

This Christmas vacation, we couldn't wait to introduce Margaret Mary to her Great Grandmothers. The bottom picture is of Jason's Grandmother, and I think it is sweet how seriously Margaret Mary is studying her necklace. The top is my Memaw. My Memaw got Margaret Mary a HUGE stuffed pig for Christmas, as shown in the pic, and Margaret Mary still cracks up whenever she sees it! Unfortunately, I didn't get a pic of Margaret Mary with Jason's Granny; if anybody took one at the Christmas party please send it to me!

Family Picture

So I know I'm still posting pics from 2009, but we've been busy! Here is our little, but fast growing family. :)

First Playdate with Piper and CJ!

I am so happy that Margaret Mary has cousins her age! While we were in Wilmington this Christmas, we took our baby to go see Jason's cousin Tonia's new baby (Piper) and her older son CJ. The kids had so much fun playing together! CJ was all about Margaret Mary, putting his arm around her, talking to her, sharing his toys. The funniest part of all was when CJ wanted Margaret Mary to walk, and when she didn't, he threw a huge fit. When his mom, in an effort to distract him, told him she liked his shirt, he took it off and threw it on the floor! I can wait for those days with Margaret Mary! I love the picture of Margaret Mary and Piper, it looks like they are holding hands!

Margaret Mary's First Trip to Big Boys!

It's a Cincinnati thing...

Night of Lights

Every year, the city decorates downtown with tons of Christmas lights. It is so beautiful and this year we were so excited for Margaret Mary to see them. It's hard to take pictures in that kind of light, but I really liked this one of Jason and MM. Over the Christmas break, they have really bonded and it has been so sweet to watch her fall even more in love with her papa.

Fraternus Christmas Party!

We had a great time at the Fraternus Christmas Party. We were a little worried because it was going to be a late party and Margaret Mary had had a rough day, but she did great! The two other kids there belong to Jason's boss, who has another baby on the way due in a couple of weeks. You could see his kids taking in Margaret Mary and studying her. I like the picture where Monroe, the boy, is holding Margaret Mary's hand. He is so excited about having a new baby! As you can see, we tried to get a picture of all the kids, but it turned out to be a much harder task then we had planned. Jason had a great time hanging out with all his missionaries and it was a great start to his Christmas vacation.

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

Eryn was invited to an Ugly Christmas Sweater party with the youth group but we didn't have time to take her out shopping for an ugly sweater. So we dug into our Christmas decoration box and made one! Check out Eryn's cute pregnant belly!

Nap Time!

Check out these two! How sweet!

Maggie's Baptism

Welcome to the body of Christ Maggie Anderson! We had the privilege of witnessing Maggie's baptism this December on the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. In Jason's words "There is nothing like seeing an infant writhing in original sin and then set free...it was awesome!" Father Ligouri baptized Maggie (the same one who baptized Margaret Mary) and surprisingly, but not shockingly, added a Christian name to her already packed out Christian name. Magdalen Marie Anderson became Madgalen Marie Guadalupe Anderson! That's almost as awesome as Margaret Mary Elizabeth Fatima Craig! Ha! Margaret Mary had a great time being held by all her adult friends and Jason had a great time reading a book about Jesus to Sam. Nothing beats a good baptism and the great fellowship that follows!

Christmas Parade

Margaret Mary had an okay time at the Christmas Parade. It was one of the first (and only) chilly days in St. Augustine and there was a slight drizzle. I had to take her in the church for part of it because a pirate float kept on shooting off real cannons and they were sooo loud. It made me think of how blessed we are to live in a relatively peaceful country; we don't wake up to gunshots and aren't used to loud exploding noises. I had a lot of fun pointing things out to Margaret Mary and waving at all the the floats. I can't wait until next year when she will really be able to get into it.

"I freakin LOVE grapefruits!"

Playing with them that is...

Helping Mom in the Kitchen

I love my Mya Wrap!

What some are calling the BEST Pic of MM Ever!

hehe, I love this girl so much!

Picking Out the Christmas Tree!

Look at Margaret Mary already reaching for her papa's checkbook! Ha! She is obsessed with paper right now and throws HUGE fits when we take it away from her. I used to let her play with it, but she likes to suck on it, bite off a chunks of it and then try to swallow it. It freaks me out!

On a different note, we got our Christmas tree the first Sunday of Advent and have really been trying to live the Advent season; remembering the wait of Israel for the Savior, and kindling in our own hearts the desire for the second coming of Christ. Jason made a beautiful advent wreath out of cuttings from our Christmas tree and each night at supper, we turn off all the lights in the house, except the tree and the appropriate candles for the advent wreath, and eat in their light. We can't wait till Christmas season (yes, we as Catholics celebrate Christmas for 12 days!) when we celebrate the faithfulness and the love of our God for us, shown through the birth of our Savior!

Daddy's Girl

Run Ins with the Cat

Margaret Mary is becoming more and more fascinated with our cat. Every time she sees him she starts smiling real big, squealing, screaming and making a kkkss noise. We are trying to teach her to be gentle with Mac, and Mac is being a very good sport, but you can see his annoyance when she decides to pull his fur. He doesn't seem to care that much about her. In these pictures, Jason was holding Margaret mary and Mac jumped up and sat down in his lap wanting to be pet!

My little girl is growing up

The other night, Jason came in with the camera right after Margaret Mary had fallen asleep in my arms. Isn't she so sweet? I can't believe how big she is getting and how much she learns and grows each day. I pray that I can savor every moment of every day with my little girl, even the hard ones! I love being a mom.

When I get older, I gotta get me one of these!

Margaret Mary LOVES playing with the steering wheel in our car. Now when I saw play, I mean chew on and slobber all over. :) I think she is gonna be a papa's girl as she gets older. She loves the outdoors, loves watching cars drive down the road and loves being behind the wheel. Jason, of course, won't mind one bit! They are so cute together.

Playtime with Papa

So when I went to get her up from naptime...

Margaret Mary has learned to pull down (and somehow untie) her bumper pads! She pulls the pads down and then sticks her arms and face out the slots in the crib like she is in a jail cell! Sometimes she pulls the bumpers into her crib and plays with the ribbons on the outside. Its very cute but I'm a bit worried about the bumpers. They were handmade by my mom and the ribbons are sewn on. hmmm....maybe I should take them off? Check out the innocent face she is giving me at the bottom.

Uncle Keck Comes to Town!

Justin Keck came to town the other weekend to celebrate Jason's Birthday as Jason was in much need of some quality guy time. Jason and Keck spent the weekend fishing, perusing thrift shops for good deals on suits (check out the one that Keck found!), hanging out and spending time with "his girls." It was great to see Keck; he is such a good friend of the family. The bottom picture is a candid and is so cute. You can see how excited Margaret Mary was to see her Uncle Keck! She really took to him and enjoyed spending time with him.

Happy Birthday Jason

Jason turned 25 on November 18th and we had a great time celebrating. We opened presents in the morning and then for supper we had his favorite (beef stroganoff). Jason's co-workers and friends treated him to some beers after work a couple days later and we came up to join them for supper. The top picture is Jason hanging with some of the guys, the middle is Margaret Mary with Jana (one of the only people she lets hold her (besides me, Jase and Eryn) when she is overtired, and the third is Sam loving on Margaret Mary.

Other Fun Food Pics

So far Margaret Mary has tried avocados, bananas, pears, apples, sweet potatoes (which she does NOT like at all-top two pictures) and yes Tammy, rice cereal.

I also like freezing my concoctions and putting them in this little mesh thing (bottom picture). It is a great relief to her when she is teething. When she is done she bangs this mesh thing on her tray and food flies everywhere. :)