wagon ride!

dinner with the Jones'

We try to get together with our friends David & Susan on Thursdays for dinner, and this week their kids, Ariana and Jamie, were really interested in holding Lilly.

Maggie's first day of preschool!

Today was Maggie's first day of preschool! She will be going half-day, just for a couple of days a week, but it is a big deal for her because (aside from grandparents watching her or the occasional few hours w/ our close friend Leslie) she's never been away from me or Will. Today went more smoothly than the meet & greet w/ her teachers on Friday (when she cried and screamed for nearly 30 minutes!)...only a few minutes of crying and "I want my mommy" today. :-) Her friend Eli is in her class, which I'm hoping will help ease the anxiety for her. Here she is modeling her new backpack before we headed out the door this morning.

crawling

Lilly is crawling like a little turtle these days. She always seems to be on a mission for something, and she gets so upset when you try to pick her up and move her.

road trip!

We packed up the family and headed out on a long road trip last weekend...~1600 miles in 7 days! We stopped first in the mountains, just outside of Boone, NC to visit our friends Kim & Peter for a night. They hadn't met Lilly yet, so it was good to catch up even though it was a short visit.

Maggie playing with stickers on the front porch, enjoying the cool mountain air!

Then it was on to western KY for a visit with our friends Ivy & David, whom we haven't seen in like 5 years! It was a wonderful visit, and Maggie really enjoyed playing with her new BFF, Archer. :-) They are pretty similar in temperment, so they got along well. We did all kinds of fun things, and Ivy & David were wonderful hosts. I only hope it isn't another 5 years before we get to visit with them again!

This was super cute...Maggie grabbed Archer's hand while they were climbing up the hill.

sandbox!

taking a water break


nature walk!

splooshing rocks...what could be more fun?

more splooshing...

Lilly watching the splooshing action

tiny crawfish...courtesy of Ivy, the crawfish whisperer

2 of Maggie's favorite things combined...rocks and painting!

Lilly chillin' in the baby pool

Lilly enjoying watching the neighbor's rooster

more sandbox!

On Monday, we packed up again and headed to west TN to visit my paternal grandfather, who has never met either of the girls. It was a great visit, and really meant a lot to all of us.

4 generations= Granddad, Maggie, Great-Granddad, Lilly and me

Maggie and Granddad having a chat after dinner

jellybeans!!!

Maggie and her Great-Granddad

After visiting my grandfather, we headed back to east TN to stay with my folks for a couple of days before heading home to Raleigh. As usual, Maggie kept Granddad busy with Play-Doh, stickers, and finding rocks & bugs, and the girls also helped celebrate Grandmama's birthday.

learning to play Wii with Daddy

I forgot to mention that Lilly decided this road trip was the perfect time to finally start crawling! Here she is looking quite proud of herself.

quiet time with Daddy

Maggie and Granddad flying a glider

budding artist

As you have seen in some of the previous posts, Maggie loves to paint. Here are some of her most recent creations, which I think are pretty fantastic!

randomness

Maggie has loved books ever since she was about 6 or 7 months old, and every now and then I'll catch her sitting quietly flipping through a book. I managed to covertly snap this photo of her with one of her new library books.

After a long, hot dry spell, it finally rained this past weekend!


My folks recently got Maggie some fingerpaints, which she loves. But her technique involves brushes (instead of fingers) and arms/feet (instead of paper). You'll notice that she was also inspired by my toenail polish.