29 Years More

Mother's Day is almost here. As in, tomorrow. And this year I have a new sense of it all. This is my first Mother's Day as a mommy.

Last year I was 5 months pregnant and my Mr. went out and got my oil changed in my car. Before you raise your eyebrows at that, you should also know that he got me the sweetest Willow Tree Figurine ever and it still melts my heart when I look at it. Why? Because I'm a ridiculous, sentimental mushball it was such a thoughtful gift. And because when I received it, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. We were so excited about having our sweet boy, but we had no clue what color his eyes would be, or if he'd be a good sleeper, or if he would be bald (or have insane hair like he really does). We didn't know if he would have a loud cry or a soft one. If he would have an innie or an outie. Actually, the only thing we really knew at this point was that we were having a boy and his name would be "William Hudson." Now looking back, it's crazy how much has changed in one year. This time last year I couldn't fathom what he would be like. And this year? Well, I honestly can't imagine a single moment of my life without him being exactly the way he is. What a difference a year makes, huh?

So all of this got me thinking about my own Mama. She is wonderful. Really wonderful. She is my best friend. We match on purpose, love the same toenail polish colors, and sing together in the car. Don't judge us. We can say one word on the phone and know exactly what the other is thinking. When I'm stressed, she always know the cure for calming my crazy self down. When I'm sick or just really upset I turn into a total 3  year old with her and cry my eyes out. I seriously can't help it. It's really weird.

We find the same things funny. Like super funny. We will laugh until we can't breathe and people around us look at us like we are nuts. And guess what. We don't care. Not. One. Bit.

Her nickname for me is "Lucy." Why? Who knows. She doesn't, really, either. I've loved it my whole life. She sings "Que Sera, Sera" to me when I freak out about the future or anything unknown. She is my cheerleader.


But one of my favorite things? My whole life she has always said to me, "I love you 29 years more." She had just turned 29 when she had me and said that she had already loved me her whole life before I even got here. Sometimes she'd say "I love you," and I'd say, "Love you more!" She'd just smile and shake her head. "29 years more." On birthday cards she would draw 29 hearts, or put 29 stickers inside of them. She wouldn't even have to write it, and I wouldn't even have to count. I knew what she meant. Or at least I thought I did.

Then enters this kid. 

I learned how to be a mommy from my wonderful Mama, but this is the guy who turned me into one. The moment I looked at him, I knew I had already loved him for my whole life, even before he was one minute old. There is no way to explain what becoming a mommy feels like. It's like they've been there forever and they just walked into your life all at the same time.

I call him "Bug." Why? Who knows. I sure don't. He actually responds better to "Bug" than to "Will." I'm pretty sure he'll like that nickname when he's older, too.

And on every single birthday card of his I'll say "I love you 24 years more." And I'll fill it with 24 hearts and 24 stickers. And he will know exactly what I'm saying.

Happy Mother's Day,
Maggie

Will is 8 Months Old!

Dear sweet little buggy,

My oh my how your first year is just flying by. You're only 4 months away from your first birthday. Just so you know, your mommy is just not ok with this.

This month has been a doozy for you. You've got two teeth that you keep hidden pretty much all the time. They are pretty stinking cute. While you may have been just a little fussier than you normally are, you really didn't complain too much with your teeth. You still slept through the night and napped during the day. Basically, you rock. Your daddy and I get compliments on your behavior and I feel guilty saying thank you, because we really had nothing to do with it. It's just who you are. And we want to THANK YOU for that. Seriously. Thank you.

You haven't quite gotten the crawling thing down. Instead, you enjoy rolling. You roll all across the living room, roll to play with toys, roll to investigate new things you've never seen before. It's pretty hilarious. If someone sits in your way, you just roll and roll into them until they move. You try this with the couch and coffee table too, but they don't really get out of your way. You can crawl if you really want to, but it's more of an army crawl where you dig your elbows in and pull your body behind you.

You weigh almost 18.5 pounds now and I love every single roll on your tiny body. You are wonderful, baby boy.

I love you to the moon and back,
Mommy

I'm back, folks!

Hi there! Remember me? Nope? I don't blame you one bit. The last time I posted, I told you I was back. And that time I actually had a valid excuse for my absentness. This time? No excuse. I've had things I've wanted to post about, but for some reason I just haven't been motivated. Also? Right around the time I lost motivation, the blogworld was up in arms about the whole google reader/bloglovin' news. To be entirely honest, I was a little bit intimidated by it all. I felt like I was finally getting the hang of blogging and then this just threw a monkey-wrench in it. But here is the really embarrassing part. I just dove head first into changing to bloglovin'... and it took me less than 5 minutes. So it's official. I'm ridiculous. 

The last time I posted, my little guy had just turned 7 months old. Two weeks ago he turned 8 months old. I'll be posting about it tomorrow. I'm so mad at myself for waiting, because I had been doing a relatively decent job of writing his monthly updates on time. But here I am. Back on it. One day I'm sure he will read this and be totally mortified by his monthly updates and the 20348203984 pictures, but I think it's my job to make sure he is sufficiently embarrassed throughout his life. Right?

So today, I'll leave you with this picture. Just in case my absence made you forget what we look like. :)

Love,
Mags

OMGeez, I'm Such a Slacker/ My Baby is 7 Months Old?

Hey friends!

I hope you'll not hate me too much for disappearing lately. I'm sorry I've been away for some time, but the good news? I'm back! I took the GACE on Saturday. For those of you not from Georgia, or even those of you in Georgia who don't know too much about becoming a teacher, the GACE is the test you must take in order to teach a certain subject area. I took the English GACE tests to teach high school. I'm pretty sure my brain died on Saturday and is just now coming back to life.

For the past couple of months, I've felt guilty if I got on the computer to do anything except study. I know, I know. No excuse for disappearing. Also? I won't get my scores back for about a month. I think I'm just going to try to forget I took it until it's time to check my score. So, what better way to forget about those crazy tests? Obviously hanging out with my little guy. And guess what. He's 7 months old now. How did this happen? I'm not sure. Am I ok with it? Um, not really. He's getting big way too fast. I love every new milestone he hits, but I miss all of the more "baby" things he used to do. One in particular? Sleeping 9802934 hours a day. I know this is all part of it, but I feel like he is seriously bigger and smarter every day.

So, without further ado, here's his letter.

Baby Will,
I'd like to know who gave you permission to get this big. Go ahead. Tell Mama, because I have a thing or two I'd like to say to whoever it was. Along with getting bigger, you are getting sillier and more dramatic. You've been pretty dramatic since day one, but it's getting more and more intense and hilarious. For instance- you love to fake cough. You started this one morning while I was changing your diaper. I looked at you and you just started coughing. You also like to clear your throat, especially when your Daddy is doing it. It's kind of a game with the two of you. He clears his throat and you follow with your own little sound.

I've also been making your food lately, and not only is it fun, but you LOVE it. Seriously. Right now I think your favorite food is sweet potatoes.

Your 6 month appointment with your doctor was wonderful. You handled your shots like a champ and were happy and giggling the same night. The older you get, the more sad your Daddy is when you get your shots. I think he almost cried this last time. He claims he didn't, but I think he did.
We also learned that your weight and height are in the 26 and 28 percentile, but your head is in the 90th. It just confirms that you are, in fact, a baby genius. :)

The doctor said that babies grow in different ways. Sometimes a baby measures really long at an appointment and super skinny. Then the next time they are the same length but got chubbier. So no worries, little one. The rest of you will catch up to that pretty head.

We think you'll be getting your first tooth relatively soon. Know why? Because of this face. You make it so often and I can't help but laugh. It's so funny and precious. 

 It's hard to get you to smile when I use Daddy's nice camera because you're so fascinated with it. You just stare at it and reach for it. I have to pull out my most embarrassing best tricks to get you to forget about the fancy camera and just smile like you normally do. I may or may not have had to hit myself in the head with your stuffed monkey to get this face. :)

 You, little Buggy, are pretty awesome. Your Daddy and I could not love you more if we tried. You rock our worlds. Really. No kidding.

Love you to the moon and back,
Mommy

Just a Little Love and Liebster

Hey friends!

This past weekend I was so lucky to be asked by Sarah to be the featured blogger and a co-host for the "I Love My Post" Blog Hop.  I was so, so, SO excited! Since then, I've gained a few new friends around here, and I couldn't be more excited to get to know these folks! 

Also? I got nominated for the Liebster again by another wonderful Sarah over at Definitely Sarah B. It is always so nice to be recognized by other bloggers that you're a fan of, so I'm super excited to answer the questions she created for her nominees. 
This is my second Liebster nomination, so I am going to forgo the 11 random facts and the nominating other blogs parts. Want to read about my first go-round? You can check it out right here. 

So, without further ado, here are Sarah's 11 questions:

1} How long have you been blogging & why?

I have been blogging for a little under a year, though I did have a Xanga back in the day. Remember those? Me too. And luckily I forgot the name of the one I used to have. If I actually remembered it, I would probably be mortified by my crazy ramblings as a teenager. Just the thought alone freaks me out a little. 

2} What's one thing you couldn't live without?

Hm. This is tricky. Since we're talking things and not people, I'd have to say my iPhone. I know. Typical, right? But still. It's full of pictures like these.

And quite frankly? I can't live without them. If I didn't have my phone, how could I chat with my family and friends and text them ridiculous things? 

3} Favorite Sports Team?

Well, this one is a little tricky, but only because I seriously know absolutely nothing about sports. But I choose the Georgia Bulldogs. Go Dawgs! Since my hubby works for UGA, I figure, why not give them a little love on my blog? :)

4} Are you a shoe person? If so how many would you say you own?

I am a shoe person, kind of. Don't get me wrong. I love shoes. A lot. But when i was pregnant with my little guy, my feet were so swollen that only one pair of shoes fit them. At one of my baby showers, I had to walk around without any shoes because NOTHING fit them. It was pretty crazy. Now they are getting back to normal, but I still have about half of my shoes that don't fit. So I probably have about 40-50 pairs, but I really only wear like 10 on a regular basis. My favorite ones? These guys.

They were my "something blue" from my wedding. I'm still in love with them.

5} Your favorite Shampoo brand?

Ok. Does anyone else have this problem? I find a shampoo I love, use it until the bottle is used up, go buy a new bottle, and it makes my hair greasy. Basically I have to rotate shampoos all the time. Once the bottle I'm on right now is used up, I know what I'm getting though. Herbal Essences has brought back their original stuff! Please tell me I'm not the only one who abnormally excited about it! I LOVED that smell, and when they took it away, my heart broke a little. But now? Now I get to use it again! Wooo hoooooo!

6} What are you scared of?

Well, you see, I'm a pretty big chicken. I am scared of answering the door when I'm home alone with my baby. Thank you, Officer Hubby, for making me paranoid by telling me some of your stories from work. 

7} Morning Person or Night Owl?

I enjoy staying up late, but I'm never productive late at night. I don't really like getting up early, but I get WAY more done in the morning...So, a little bit of both? 

8} Sweet Tea of Coke?

I love both. Sweet Tea is typically my go-to. It's just so dang good. But sometimes you need something with some bubbles in it. Then it's coke all the way.

9} If you could do anything for a living what would you do?

Crafts. All day errrr day. Once we get our craft room set up (have I ever told you how much I love our new house??) I am opening up an Etsy store. Stay tuned, because I'll be sure to announce it all on here!

10} If you could be front row to any concert of all time, who would you see?

Just one? This is a toughie. My first thought was Bruno Mars. Just ask my Mr. He knows how much I love that guy. Then I thought about Beyonce. Because, let's just face it, she is beautiful with the most amazing voice and the best dance moves I've ever seen. In college, a friend of mine and I watched a how-to video on how to do the "Single Ladies" dance. We videoed ourselves doing this. Why? Apparently we like to torture ourselves/almost pee our pants laughing. And before you ask. No. This video will never, ever make its way to this blog. #SorryI'mNotSorry

Back to the question. I choose ADELE. End of story. She rocks my world.

11} Do you collect anything?

I love me some Willow Tree figurines. They are so pretty and so meaningful.

Thanks again, Sarah, for nominating me! Your questions were so fun!

-Maggie

I Love My Post- Blog Hop!

Welcome to the I Love My Post blog hop where we invite you to link up your favourite post of the week, to show it off and hopefully receive some love from the others partaking in the hop!

If you are yet to participate in a hop they are really simple to get the hang of all you need to do is 'hop' around, hopefully finding some new great reads!

The Rules are simple. 1. Check out and follow the hosts and co-hosts. Leave them a comment if you would like them to follow back. 2. Choose at least 3 other blogs and hop on over and leave them some love, plus let them know how you found them - I'm sure they would love it if you followed as well! 3. Have Fun and come back next Saturday.

Please just don't link up and click off to make this successful everyone needs to hop around!

Your Host’s this week are: Sarah from Life in a Break Down Bex from Futures and our lovely co-host’s are: Rachel from The Easley Family Clara from Walking in the Light Maggie from Maggie The Mrs Gayle from Grace for Gayle Ady from When in Doubt Just add Glitter

I would love it if you would tweet, share on facebook or place our button on your blog, the more sharing we can get happening the bigger this hop can become!

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This week's Featured Blogger is: Maggie from Maggie the Mrs

Follow Maggies life as a new Mother and wife to a Police officer in the Southern US! Her little one hit 6 months old the end of February and if your in need of some 'awww' factor this weekend make sure you check out her post on it. ~ Sarah

If you fancy being next week’s featured blogger make sure you follow all the rules give you hosts and co-hosts a follow and Sarah could be calling on you next week to come and feature with us.

P.S. If you want to be a co-host the lines are now open just drop Sarah a line at: sarah@lifeinabreakdown.com

That One Time We Moved with a 6 Month Old

Hey y'all!

I recently guest posted on Megan's blog and it was such a pleasure. This was the post I sent to her. I figured I'd like to post it on my own, too, for a couple of reasons. 1- this is a HUGE event in my life and I would hate to look at my blog a year from now and miss this post being there to remind me of our big ol' move, and 2- we had some pretty funny adventures already that I want to share with y'all!

So, here's that one time we moved... with a 6 month old's help.

So, my Mr. and I closed on our very first house on the day after Valentine's Day. And because we are masters at planning ahead, we got a UHaul on Thursday, Valentine's Day, and didn't begin packing it until 11:00 p.m. We continued to pack until 4:00 a.m. on Friday, our closing day, because we couldn't waste a single minute of being in our new house. Also? Apparently I thought I was superwoman because somehow I helped my hubby carry our entire couch plus our mattress and box springs. Yeah. I'm tough. Not. Just apparently super motivated.

However, I couldn't get it off the truck. The guy who was working on our cable offered to help my hubby after he witnessed my pathetic whole hearted attempt at picking it up one. last. time. Oops.

As you can probably guess, it's been a whirlwind of moving, painting, organizing, packing, unpacking, and about a million other things. Since I'm such an experienced (uh, not!) homeowner, I thought I might share some of the very new tips I've picked up.

First off, make sure that you are going through this process with someone who makes you laugh. Because if you move with someone who drives you nuts, well, may the force be with you. 

DO make sure have bandaids... Because you never know when your hubby will accidentally stick his finger with a screwdriver when an accident might occur. And yes, he does have a kid bandaid on. That's how we roll.

DON'T forget to pack bowls to go along with your cereal for your first morning at your new place...or your breakfast might look a little something like this... Whoops.

DO pack clothes appropriate for the weather. Apparently I forgot that Georgia does, in fact, get cold from time to time and I had no winter clothes to keep me warm. 

DON'T spend too much time cooking meals right away... We used this recipe from my sweet friend Lori's blog and made chicken and dumplings. Yum, yum, and YUM! It's easy, tasty, and such a great meal when it's cold outside.

DO choose a couple of paint colors that make you happy. My Mr. and I had been surrounded by only white walls for far too long. We wanted to paint just a few rooms and even though it was tons of work (um, who knew you could get finger cramps from using a paint roller?), we LOVE the colors and the feel it gives to our home. Plus, my hubby does cute things like this while I'm feeding our baby and my heart melts. 

DON'T forget to take time to enjoy the chaos. I went and took a giant bubble bath in our new tub. Maybe it's because we forgot to pack a shower curtain liner. But that was probably one of the best things we ever forgot because I totally forgot how wonderful bubble baths are. Speaking of which, I kind of want to go jump in one now. 

DO bring a cute baby to distract from the mess. I mean, really. He's a great helper.

DON'T paint with your mouth open... You see, sometimes when I concentrate really hard on something, my mouth is slightly open. Leave it to me to somehow get a drop of paint to make its way straight to it. Ew. And. Ew. Trust me on this one.


DO leave me some love... Since I did eat paint for this post and all. :)

Sending lots of love, 
Maggie

February Cara Box Reveal

Hey friends!

This month I participated in my first ever Cara Box. You might be asking yourself, "What is a Cara Box?" Well here's a little blurb written by Kaitlyn at Wifessionals (the brains behind this great blog swap) about this wonderful creation.

Cara Box Exchange

CARA BOX

cara (car-rah) noun   :   beloved friend

So:

Awesome things in the mail + Meeting new women + Encouragement = Cara Box

So this month, the theme was #clubsexy. The idea was basically to plan a date night for the person you got paired with. I was super lucky to be paired with the wonderful Emily from Be Blessed, Y'all and with Sarah from Blonde Southern Lovin'. Kaitlyn, the creator of the Cara Box, went above and beyond when she paired everyone up. She paired us each up with people from our state. I sent a box to Emily and I received a box from Sarah. 

Here is what Emily's box looked like on February 20 when it was sent to the post office at noon... Never to be heard from again. No seriously. I have no idea what happened to it. Emily still hasn't received it, and no worries. If it doesn't make its way to her, I'll just be sending her another because she is just too amazing and kind to not get something fun and exciting in the mail. However, I'm a little bummed because I'm (annoyingly) super proud of what I put together for her. Since we are still kind of living out of boxes from our big move, I can't even find the confirmation number to see what happened to it. 

My box came in the mail from Sarah and I was super excited to open it. I love getting stuff in the mail with my new address on it. It makes it feel more real. And I really love it when it's not a bill. Or junk mail. 

In my Cara Box I found a super sweet note, a James Bond movie, face mask, hand lotion, pedicure set, lollipops, and a pretty nail polish color. I've actually never seen that movie before, so I'm pretty excited about a date night in with my Mr. to watch it together. And I'm in deperate, I repeat- DESPERATE, need of a pedicure and I can't wait to bust open this kit and get to work on my toes. Thanks, Sarah, for  a fun box of goodies!

So what are you waiting for? Go on over to Wifessionals and sign up for the March Cara Box. It may be wild. It may be crazy. But it will definitely be fun. :)

-Mags

Oh, Boy! You're 6 Months Old!

Dear Little Buggy,

Please oh please tell me where these last 6 months  have gone. Every time I look at you I feel like you've gotten bigger and can do more and more exciting things. 

You think your daddy is the funniest man on the planet. I'm pretty sure you're right about that. Your little face lights up when he walks in the room and you normally get the giggles. 

You have learned how to sit up on your own and it's so funny. You wobble and then steady yourself over and over again. If you see a toy or your passy nearby you dive for it, so we have to make sure you are always on a really soft surface with lots of pillows and blankets around you. 

You also pay lots of attention to the camera these days. If I use the one on my phone, you'll normally give me a good smile or two since I shove it in your face all the time, but the real one? Well it's too interesting to remember to smile. You're such a curious boy and you want to know what everything is.

You are sleeping through the night and we are so, so thankful for that. Your bedtime is between 9:00 and 10:00 and you normally sleep until 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning. You must love sleep just like your mommy and daddy do. You are so cuddly and love to be hugged and smooched on by your mommy and daddy. And guess what. We don't mind it one bit. :)

Love you to the moon and back,
Mommy

Tuesday Topics- What Chu Know Bout Me?

What chu know bout me? What chu, what chu know?

If you thought for a moment that I may have lost my mind and all grammar sense, please don't be alarmed. I tend to bust out in song and sometimes rap from time to time. That little gem of a song lyric is from "Lipgloss." Don't know it? Then you should most definitely go right here and listen. Why? Because it's amazingly ridiculous.

This long and crazy intro is of course leading the way to what other than TUESDAY TOPICS! If you know anything about my blog and me, then you know that this is my favorite link up. Maybe I shouldn't have favorites. But I do. SorryI'mNotSorry. 

So- today's topic is 4 things people don't know about me. 

1) I'm quite confident that I could win The Singing Bee. While attempting to memorize poems can bring me to tears (and when I say "can," I most definitely mean "did") I can remember the words to almost every song I've ever listened to. It's a little weird, I'm not gonna lie. And just in case you were wondering, I can sing a mean version of "Baby Got Back." 

2) I can't stand getting my nails filed. The sound of filing covers my arms in the bad kind of chill bumps. When I get a manicure or pedicure I always dread that part. I only relax once it's over.  

3) I've only broken two bones in my whole life. Just two toes, the same toe on each foot. I broke one in middle school at a pool party and the other I broke in college...making up my bed. In case you didn't know, I'm pretty clumsy. I had to drop my aerobic dance class because my toe wouldn't fit into my tennis shoe.

4) During college, my now-Hubby and I lived at the same apartment complex. I actually happened to work there. We weren't supposed to have pets, but my Mr. really wanted a hamster, so... we got one. His name was Green Bean and he lived in Blake's closet during the day. He wasn't particularly nice. As a matter of fact, he scared me because I couldn't stand it when his tiny little hamster teeth bit me. Blake loved him, though. 

What 4 things do most people not know about you?

Love,
Mags

Dream a Little Dream

Hey friends!

This Saturday is just made for dreaming. First off, I'm dreaming about how wonderful it would be to sleep like this...

No, but really. How awesome would it be to conk out in the middle of a noisy restaurant or birthday party? To just get to cuddle up and get cozy and sleep? I'll tell you how awesome it would be. Really, really awesome.

I'm also dreaming about the day when my Mr. gets Saturdays and Sundays off like a regular person. I know that being a policeman comes with many bonuses and with many sacrifices. I am so proud of what he does, but boy do this little guy and I miss him like crazy. 

But the majority of my dreaming? Well, today it goes to house stuff. Our closing is officially set to be on Friday at 12:00 p.m.! Say what?! At noon in SIX DAYS my hubby and I will be homeowners. We couldn't be more excited. And while we have practically all of the decor and furniture we need, I am going to go  window cyber shopping. And I'm going to pretend I have an unlimited budget. Ummmkay? LEH GO!

I really want a chair and a half. Why? Because they are oh-so-cozy. Who wouldn't want to snuggle up in a sweet little chair like this right next to the fireplaee? I know I sure would.

I love, love, love this door mat. I love what it says, how it looks, and the fact that it has the word "stand" on it. I know, it sounds silly, but I think that makes it more fun.

Pottery Barn, please come makeover our backyard! And by "makeover" I really just mean "make" because we absolutely nothing for it... besides a teeny tiny table and two infinity chairs. 

This little beauty comes from Target. Actually, almost every little beauty that I love comes from Target. I've been  hoarding saving my gift cards from Christmas and my birthday, so I might just have to get some of these. They have a few different sizes and colors. So cute.

An old ladder like this one so I can our blankets on it. I don't know what it is 

about this look, but I'm pretty much in love.

This dining room table? I am obsessed.We want a nice, big, sturdy table for our dining room and I would just love to find something like this.

And while this might be the end of my blog post, this most definitely just the beginning of my dream list. So- Friday? At noon? Please get here. How about now? 

Love, 

Mags