Christmas tree

On Saturday afternoon Barbara's mom and aunt came over to help us decorate our Christmas tree. Maggie had a great time hanging up the ornaments and helping. We got a little tree that we put upstairs as well that is Maggie's. She hung all the ornaments on that tree by herself. I will include pictures of her tree in an upcoming post.

Breakfast with Santa

On Saturday morning, we took Maggie to breakfast with Santa. It was really good for the kids as they got a visit from Santa Claus. Maggie didn't hesitate to get closer to see Santa, and waved to him often. It was very sweet. Maggie wants a kitchen and mickey house clubhouse and "that's all". I think she has been such a good girl, that "that's all' may end up being a bunch. Maggie definitely understand that Santa comes to her house and brings her gifts because she has been so good. I can't wait to see her face Christmas morning!

Thanksgiving

We are so thankful for all that we have, and so much more so this year. We can't believe how amazing our daughter is and how lucky we are to have her in our life. We are truly thankful for every second with her.

We celebrated Thanksgiving at our house with my mom, Barbara's mom and aunt and Joanne, a friend of Barbara's mom's from Ashville. The turkey came out great as did the rest of the meal. It's the first time in a few years that EVERYTHING worked out great. It was probably because of Maggie's help.

Maggie seemed to enjoy her day and definitely was the center of attention. She does like turkey and all the side dishes and enjoyed her dessert of pumpkin pie and apple pie.

On Friday, Maggie woke up very lethargic, which she has not happened in a long time. She did not have a fever but we took her to the doctor anyway. She has an ear infection and was given an antibiotic. She was feeling better in no time. She also has a little cough, especially at night, but it has not progressed. I think it's something to do with the drainage from her ear infection.

As you can tell by this video, he jumping has progressed. She and Mia were both "promoted" at gymnastics and Maggie received her first medal. Barbara said it was very sweet.

Jack and Sam

Jack and Sam and their parents came over Saturday night for Chili and play time. The kids all played great together and were running and laughing most of the evening. The adults actually had time to play cards, which was fun. Maggie stayed up past her bedtime, but was able to sleep in yesterday morning. She is playing so well with other kids and we are blessed to have the friends we do.

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Maggie does understand who Santa Claus is and has seen him at the mall three times. The first time she just waved to him. The second time, she went to talk to him, with mommy holding her. Today Barbara said that she sat with Santa Claus and Maggie sat on her lap and told Santa she wanted a kitchen. She picked out the kitchen she wanted from a Toys R Us catalog a few weeks ago and it is the one thing that she really really wants. (I'm sure Santa was listening). We will have Christmas pictures made soon and we are booked up until Christmas with Christmas stuff. We are having breakfast with Santa the Saturday after Thangsiving, and we are going to a Holiday party put on by the Cranofacial Foundation of America the following weekend. We are also planning on taking her to do some holiday crafts and of course, shopping. It's an amazing time of the year, and we are so excited for Maggie's first Christmas.

The reindeer ears were given to Maggie by Santa. I didn't realize her eyes were closed when I took the picture.

Madagascar 2

Last weekend (actually 2 weekends ago) we went to Jack's 5th birthday party at Playworld Down Under. We all had fun helping Jack celebrate this special day and Maggie enjoyed herself as always. That was just the beginning of our day, however. Later that afternoon we met Mia and her parent's at the movie theater where we saw Madagascar 2. We were unsure how Maggie would do since she wasn't too fond of Wall-E. She and Mia both did great. They watched the whole movie and both said they enjoyed it. We then took the girls to play in the mall and went to dinner. It was a busy but fun day.

On Sunday, Will and Anna came over and spent the night. They played and played and played. Maggie had so much fun and is getting so much more outgoing. The kids stayed with Barbara on Monday and went to watch Maggie's gymnastics class.

Fall festival

On Saturday we went to a Fall festival for our local families with children from China group. It was held at an amazingly beautiful place in Dayton, Tennessee by one of the families in the group. Maggie and Mia wore matching outfits and had a great time. We left before the bonfire as it was getting cold, and we didn't want Maggie to get sick after the scare on Thursday, but I'm sure that was fun as well. It's been a blessing for us to meet such wonderful people as those in the group. We have made some great friends and look forward to our next get together.

Halloween!

On Thursday, Maggie's nose was running more than usual and she was sneezing quite a bit. On Friday morning she seemed a little lethargic and had a fever of 100.4. We thought that Halloween was going to be a bust. Barbara called the doctor and he was able to see us that afternoon. He said her lungs sounded fine and her ears looked fine, and she may have just had a minor virus. Her temperature was 97 and he said that as long as she felt well and didn't have a fever, there was nothing wrong with her going trick or treating. That was great news! It turned out that our thermometer still showed her having a 100.4 fever right after the doctor's visit, so we got a new one. It seems that Maggie probably didn't have a fever at all, but we're still glad we were safer than sorry.

With that said, Maggie did go trick or treating! She got the hang of it pretty quickly and after each house she said "I wanna go to another house". We went to 8 or 9 houses in the neighborhood and then came home. It was a beautiful day but got cold pretty quickly. Barbara's mother came over to hand out candy so that we could both go with Maggie on her first Halloween.