One-month Maggie

Wow, it's hard to believe, but my sweet Maggie is one month old today. I am already nostalgic about her, and not sure why. Either it's because I know she's almost definitely my last kid, or the fact that she's so quiet and easy--unlike my other two--which causes me to vow daily that I will NOT neglect her. She hardly ever cries, and when she does, I can calm her easily. She has, from Day One, slept amazingly at night. When she does wake up, she doesn't cry; she just struggles herself quietly out of her swaddle. Sometimes she puts herself back to sleep. She started to smile at about two weeks of age, when my parents were here, and my mom coaxed a few grins out of her. We are all definitely in love with her. Her one fault? She spits up a lot more easily than my other two... so sometimes we go through several changes of clothes a day.

White Sands with our Texas guests

Recently we had a couple sets of visitors: first my parents, and then my sister and brother-in-law. I so regret forgetting to take any pictures while my parents were here. I can place the blame on my baby brain, but it's still a travesty. Especially since Maggie was just born, and I have no idea when we'll see them again. So during Val and RJ's visit, I made sure to have the camera handy. My favorite part of their trip here? Going to White Sands with them.

Every kid and kid-at-heart needs to tote along a big sled when visiting White Sands:

Looking for the best hill:

Oh, the anticipation:

Wheeee!

Me with my sweet baby girl:

Val and RJ... so good to have them visit!

Our first picture as a family of five:

Attempting the impossible?

One of my family's Christmas pictures when we were little has my brother, sister, and me sitting on the piano bench, grinning at the camera. My sister was just a baby at the time and needed to be propped up a bit. So my dad's hand is in the corner of the picture, too, holding her up. We've always laughed at that hand. The moral of the story? It's much harder to take a good picture of three kids than I ever imagined! We're gonna have to keep trying. Here are a few examples from our recent attempt.