Little Helper

Maeve gets into much more than Cam ever thought about doing.  Just today, she found a new cabinet that I'm sure she will make a b-line for whenever she's free in the kitchen from now on...the Tupperware/storage container cabinet!  Here she is making it even easier for us to get to church on time! 

Monster Jam

Cam and all of his "boys" went to Monster Jam.  Cam loved seeing the big trucks in action!  Gravedigger is his favorite, and he was convinced that he won it all.  Looks like this won't be his last trip. 

10 Months

I'm on the homestretch of keeping my promise to my second child.  After this, just two more photo sessions. Of course that means that my baby girl is almost a year old.  Bittersweet!

Maeve has been busy pulling up on anything that's convenient.  She loves to eat anything that she knows we are eating and is slowly giving up her beloved bottles. Her tummy is growing round.  We've lovingly nicknamed it her "tank" as it bulges extra just after she's filled it up.   She likes to clap, especially when you sing "Patty Cake."  She waves "bye bye" and likes to mock the sounds that you make and will keep on going back and forth with you.  She's become a bit more subdued, and we can now singly change a diaper instead of it taking atleast two adults.  She likes to put her mouth up to yours so that you can talk into hers.  (She'll probably gross out about that when she's older, but right now it's so sweet.)  As you can see, her fingers are still her security and comfort and probably will be for a long time. 

We love this baby girl! 

Happy New Year!

We enjoyed brining in the 2010 at home with our little ones this year.  Maeve was definitely our most memorable 2009 moment.  Here's a list of other highlights of our year in no particular order:

Best of 2009
~Maeve Annlee McCullers was born!
~Tony being named Teacher of the Year at NOHS
~Sharing ALL the newborn milestones with our besties, Marc and Hillary
~Cam loving three year old preschool
~A week at Amelia Island
~Celebrating my 30th year with a cruise
~8 years of marriage (143, Tony!)

Wonder what the big twenty 10 will hold for our family? 

Christmas 2009

The Christmas parade was the usual for us. Very cold, very rushed to get there. But there was one person in our crowd that made it all worth it....Maeve! She went to sleep on the way to town because she was all warm and toasty in her layers. But, when she woke up, her eyes were filled with wonder at all the lights and sounds she was experiencing.

For the first year, Cam walked right up to Santa, jumped in his lap, and started talking to him! There was no coersion, no protests, no tears...just a little boy who knows what it's all about now. I would have loved to hear what he was telling Santa, however, Maeve was screaming out of terror! She, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the strange man with the long white beard. Even after seeing Cam was with Santa for a few minutes, she did not warm up to the idea of sitting in his lap. The second time we tried to pass her to him, she squalled even louder. I'm guessing I'll have to wait another three years to get a happy picture of her and Santa.

All in all Maeve enjoyed her very first Christmas. I had a great time dressing her for each little occasion.  She had so many cute Christmas outfits that I really needed another month to get some more wear out of them.  She awoke to a sea of pink with a monkey theme on Christmas morning since she's our "Maevey Monkey."  She, typically, was more enthralled with Cam's toys than her own.  I have caught her several times"tending" to her new babies. 

Cam coming down the stairs on Christmas morning is a memory I hope I can hold on to.  I was sleeping lightly, listening for him to wake up.  I wasn't sure if he would go into the living room before coming to get us, but I wanted badly to see his reaction this year.  When I heard his footsteps coming down, I lept to the door of my bedroom just to watch him.  He got far enough down the stairs to peek over into the living room.  His jaw dropped and he ran down the remaining steps and into our room exclaiming, "There's a ton of toys in there!  Santa came!"  We got up, lugging a sleeping Maeve with us so we could watch Cam discover his new loot. 

Christmas is very much a magical time of year!  We are so thankful for this time together and for all of our many blessings!

9 Months

A couple of weeks behind, but I could not go without posting the milestone 9 month pictures. This photo shoot was perhaps the best time Maeve has had yet. She was very cooperative and very smiley, even though it was getting close to her bedtime. It may have helped that just the two of us went; we left our boys at home.

When I tell people she's nine months old, it feels official now that she's not my baby baby anymore. She's just a few months away from one. Wow! The year has gone by so fast.

We are looking forward to sharing Maeve's first Christmas with her. The first time she saw the tree in our living room, she clapped her hands. She loves pullin up on the hearth to ring Santa's bell. One time Santa actually toppeled over on her. She was quite perplexed when that happened. Each night, she undecorates the bottom part of the tree. I put our most baby-safe ornaments on the lowest level knowing this would probably be the case. We tell her "No! No!" and she grins back at us and says, "Na, na, na, na!" I love dressing her in her in all of her Christmas clothes. Wonder what she will think of the loot Santa will leave?

I know each year as I take these pictures out, I will love remembering our nine month old Maeve.

On the Quest for the Perfect Christmas Card

Can't get much sweeter than these faces...love them so!

Having too much fun playing peek-a-boo with Mama and the camera

Determined not to cooperate and smile a normal smile
What happened to my ever-ready photogenic Cam?

Grinning in front of her pink tree

(Yes...I am holding nothing back when it comes to the pink!)

CoCo almost made it into this one...that really would have been perfect!

The Kiss

Gotcha, Brother!

Each year, I get out my camera in hopes to capture the perfect Christmas card photo without too much effort and heartbreak. Unlike, my sister, I cannot seem to have one ready and waiting as early as June. (Gotta love your togetherness Sista!) Well, getting two subjects to cooperate for this has proven to be harder than I expected this year.

We have had fun trying. These are just a few little moments that I snagged with the camera. One of these may just be card worthy. (Actually, I think I need to just send out one big collage because it's so hard for me to narrow down my choices. I love them all for different reasons!)

Which one is your favorite?