Whirlwind Vacation (Part 1)

Well, Maggie and I are almost recovered from our eleven-day trip to the East Coast. I say almost because Maggie has been taking four-hour naps the past couple days and I have been taking two-hour ones. We left on Saturday the 18th and got back in the wee hours of the morning yesterday. It was busy, busy, busy. We didn't get to see and do everything we wanted to, but we made the most of the time we had. We had a fabulous visit with my family and there were tearful goodbyes on both sides. Maybe it's a good thing that Mike was not with us this time. If we had not had the strong pull of him here in Kansas, I don't know that we would have made it home. :)

Here is a picture synopsis of our trip:

1. We started with a three-hour flight. Maggie was as good as a toddler can be. Her activities during the flight consisted of looking at books, coloring, snacking, climbing all over my lap, and playing peek-a-boo with the couple behind us. I was grateful to have an empty seat next to me, a kind couple behind, and no layover.

2. It was about bedtime by the time we reached my family's house and Aunt Rachel was only too happy to help Maggie with her bath and read her a bedtime story (a new Lion King one from Grandmommy).

3. Sunday, my dad, Rachel, Maggie and I headed down to visit with Sister Cruz and some other friends from my old Long Island ward. Unfortunately I am a dunderhead and forgot to take out my camera until everyone left. Luckily I did get a shot of Sister Cruz.

4. Monday, it was back to NJ by way of the city for lunch with my high school friends. Maggie had her first taste of both NY bagels and pizza. Oh how I miss both.

Car buddies

In front of the bagel shop

First bite of NY pizza
Maggie, Me, Jessica, Elise, Emily, Phoebe, and Mike in Phoebe's beautiful apartment (please note the aprons the girls are doning which in a fit of madness I decided to make several days before leaving for my trip)

And that's just the first three days...

Laundry Girl

Maggie is my laundry helper. Since she learned to walk a couple weeks ago, I showed her how to put her dirty clothes in her hamper. Now she can do it all by herself. Here is proof.

My favorite is when a piece of clothing doesn't make it all the way in and she fiddles with it until it is all the way in the basket. Mike is worried she is spending too much time with me and already turning into a perfectionist. :) I think she just figures if she's going to do a job, she's going to get the job done right.

She also enjoys helping me put the laundry in and out of the dryer. It takes me longer to have her individually put each item in, but it's worth it since it keeps her from making another mess in the meantime. It's also really funny when I give her an item that is too heavy for her like a large wet towel and it knocks her over. She takes it very well.

A Fun Fourth!

Our Fourth of July festivities began a few days early this year. Mike's sister Kathy and her kids Tasi, Sabrina, and Ryan drove in on Tuesday to visit Grandma, Grandpa, and the cousins here in the area. Wednesday, they came to visit us along with cousins Sarah, Amy, and Neil and my sister-in-law Lisa. We enjoyed a picnic courtesy of Grandma and then went to the Paola pool, where we had a blast. The only bad part was no one remembered a camera. Afterwards, the Cluff cousins slept over. We goofed off with the webcam and visited with family on there and then we rented Mall Cop from Redbox. I was pleasantly surprised. I may have just been extremely tired, but I found it hilarious. Thursday morning, we enjoyed a visit from cousins Emma and Ava. Friday and Saturday, we went to Liberty to enjoy some family time with Grandma and Grandpa, Kathy's family, Shawn's family, Kevin's family, and Robert's family. Then Sunday, we took a spontaneous trip back to Liberty to say goodbye to the Cluffs again. We miss them!

I wasn't too good about remembering to take pictures this weekend, but here are some shots I did get.

Coloring fun for everyone (Thursday morning)

Chillin' with Sabrina, Tasi, and Ryan

Friday's yummy dessert: Brought to us by Sabrina!

Eagerly anticipating the treat to come:

Half of Amy's face, Kevin, Abigail, Jenn, the very top of Emma's head, and Sarah

(clockwise from bottom left)

Maggie enjoyed putting the beads in and out of their container while cousin Rachel beaded.

I did not enjoy the anxiety I felt when she occasionally brought one to her mouth.

Sarah looks on as Sabrina and Maggie enjoy Spi-spi-spirograph

And everyone loved the chalkboard, not excepting my little one-year-old!

Not pictured: Robert, Lisa, baby Neil, the other half of Amy's face, Grandma, Grandpa, Kathy, Mike, me, pool fun, exciting family games like Animal Sounds, Signs, and Pictionary like it's never been played before, the girls watching Confessions of a Shopaholic (another pleasant surprise), Mike and I watching fireworks from our back porch, and many yummy meals and treats and cute kid antics. This weekend I learned how much fun it is to play games with Mike's parents. Signs was my favorite. Grandma can always be counted on to be quick and sneaking when receiving and passing the sign. Grandpa can be counted on to make a completely blank face when he does has the sign. I thought most of us were pretty good at looking guilty.

Thanks everyone for making it a fantastic Fourth!!!

Last, but not least, here is a video of Maggie playing chase with Ryan. It shows off her walking skills (and her extreme interest in cell phones).

Our Toddling Tot

Well, one week ago today Maggie took her first solo steps, a momentous victory. She was so close for so long, but just not brave enough to take the plunge.

The other day we tried to film her walking. We were kind of in a hurry, I think I had the camera too close to her, and she kept trying to scale the wall from old habit, so it's not great footage but Maggie was anxious for everyone to know about her newfound independence. She still drops to a scoot sometimes, which you'll see at the end of this clip, when she starts to feel off balance or wants to get somewhere more quickly. It cracks me up that she never really did crawl. She just didn't like being tummy down like that. I will miss her cute scoot. She really can go quickly with it when she wants something.

Sharing is Caring

Maggie enjoys doing this on a regular basis.

Fit Mama

Post number 50! I feel like I should celebrate!

Well, baby number two is starting to feel real. I'll be fourteen weeks tomorrow and this week we had a first ultrasound, so I guess I can get the news out in the open now. Some of you may already know if you're family or have guessed by my hints (e.g., Maggie's birthday picture of her and the baby doll).

I find one of my biggest worries this time around is staying fit. When I was pregnant with Maggie, I was constantly running after second graders or down the hallway to get copies. In addition, Mike and I had the lovely Lehi Legacy Center (a family gym in town) and would go swimming, play basketball, or do the elipticals there anywhere from zero to three times a week. After Maggie was born I had a speedy recovery. I don't know if I was really in that great shape or not, but I like to think there is a relationship there.

At the beginning of this pregnancy I was walking a lot and even ran a couple times. I know some people run/jog throughout the entire duration of their pregnancy, but I must be not be as tough as those ladies because I tend to get sick or shaky if I run much the first couple months and it gets uncomfortable around the halfway point when I can feel the baby bouncing around. But I digress. Over the past few weeks as the weather has gotten hotter and we have had several rainy days, I have been less inclined to get out walking.

And so I have a confession to make. Last week I found myself checking out pregnancy workout DVDs online. Many online reviews later, I ordered three on walmart.com with the free site-to-store delivery (our Walmart is right down the street). They came in today, a week before the earliest delivery date, and I immediately picked them up and tried Leisa Hart's Fit Mama.

I enjoyed it. It started with an upbeat aerobic dance workout, which was why I had picked it. I have come to terms with the fact that I am not one of those super slow yoga people and a lot of pregnancy workout tapes seem geared toward those. Hart does have a little yoga on her tape, but it's at a good pace and felt good after the aerobic portion. I just can't stand when the whole workout is listening to some person talk forever about your core and natural line or whatever and you don't do much besides breathe. The workout didn't really make me sweat, but I felt a little tired after it. Besides I don't sweat that much, so that's probably not the best gauge for me. It also took me back to when my sister Becca and I were little and would put on our leotards and do my mom's Kathy Smith 30-minute Workout tape. The other benefit was that Maggie thought it was really funny to watch me dance around with the video.

I haven't decided if I am going to also keep both Denise Austin's Fit and Firm Pregnancy and Madeleine Lewis's Buns of Steel: Pregnancy Workout but I very well may. I think having a few DVDs to rotate through will keep me from getting bored and all three are a lot cheaper and more convenient for my current stage of life than a month's gym membership.

Don't worry. I still plan to do real things like get out on walks and go to the local pool with Maggie once a week or so. But this gives me peace of mind for those days in between. I'll let you know how the other workouts go when and if I try them. The reviewers say the 80's outfits/music in Buns of Steel are to die for and Denise Austin's voice is annoying in Fit and Firm (but the workout is good), so lots to look forward to!

One Plus

Well, our little baby is one. Actually Maggie is one year, one week, and one day as of right now. Since her big day (last Monday, May 18th), we have been busy, busy, busy and I have been unable to sit down to write a post about the event. Above is a picture of our sweet one-year-old on the morning of her birthday with some presents from her mom and dad. At first she didn't know what to think about the walking toy, but by the end of the day she was cruisin' across the room (though she still has yet to figure out how to turn). We're hoping it will help her get brave, because she still is too nervous to try to stand alone. When she realizes I've let go, she waves her arms and quickly drops to a sit. That's our cautious baby for you. She prefers scooting around on her bottom or cruising around on furniture to crawling (which she finally did learn to do and did about three times before fully resorting to scooting and cruising). Despite this, she still manages to get into everything. Go figure!

Anyway, back to the birthday. Maggie's cousins Rachel and Abigail came around mid-day with Aunt Jenn, followed by Aunt Lisa with cousins Sarah, Amy, and Neil. At 5:30 we met Grandma and Grandpa Gotfredson, Uncle Robert, Uncle Shawn, Aunt Nadine, and cousins Emma and Ava in the park and the party began! Maggie enjoyed her party and is still enjoying her gifts. Thanks to everyone who helped make her day special!! Here are some pictures highlighting the fun:

The party guests enjoying dinner

The guest cake--I was feeling ambitious with my venture into cake decorating, so I made a little cake for Maggie and a decorative one with cupcakes for the guests.

Maggie and her cake
(she is taking her wish very seriously)

Maggie loves her cake

Opening presents

We may have been there for a long time

if not for some helpful cousins!



Yay!! A doll from Grandma and Grandpa--now Maggie can practice being a big sister!

Saying goodbye to cousins

Me and my precious one-year-old at bedtime

I am so grateful to be mother to this sweet baby girl, my little Margaret. Her sweet smile brightens my days; her antics make me laugh. I love watching her learn to do new things. I love the way she grins and waves her arms in excitement when I come to get her from her crib in the morning. I love the way she waves her hand in the air and bops to the beat when she hears a funky tune. I love how she pours over a book for ten and twenty-minute stretches (which is like hours in baby time). I love her latest trick of crawling under the bar stools and grinning out at me from her "cage." I love how she loves to eat meals with us and enjoys eating what we're eating and trying to use her fork and spoon. I love how cute she looks when she is drinking from her straw. I love going on walks and outings with her and how she grins and gasps in the wind and holds on to the sides of her stroller like she's riding a roller coaster. I love how when we play phone, she picks it up after a ring or two and puts the phone to my ear. I love her growl, her "mooo," her "yum-yum-yum," her machine-gun laugh (which she does when she notices everyone else is laughing and figures she should be too), and all the other cute and funny noises she makes. I love how she grins when her dad comes in the room, even if she has been fussing and whining for an entire hour previously while I'm trying to make dinner. I love spending all day, every day with my sweet, gentle "baby Maggie" as her cousins call her. She is my baby and my friend and I'm so grateful for her presence in our home. Mike and I are very lucky. No, blessed.