Snow days

Brian had to dig a path for his car so he could go to work today! We have about a foot of snow in our yard. Penny had lots of fun blazing a trail through it this morning. Meanwhile, Maggie and I are nice and toasty inside. She's becoming such a big girl already! She can hold her head up a little bit longer now, and she is awake more throughout the day. She's started cooing and smiling at me. She can follow things with her eyes, and has started sleeping almost 5 hours at night! We had some visitors yesterday. Kristin, Ashley, Rachel and Sam came to play with Maggie. It was a nice visit. I think they made it home before the snow got too bad. Well, I hope you all stay warm and don't get buried in snow!

Maggie's Dr. Appointment

Miss Maggie had an appointment with her Dr. today. Just a check-up. She now weighs 7lbs and 14 oz, and is 20 1/2" long! Her Dr. said she looks great! She's following her growth curves and all that good stuff. She has a birthmark developing on her forehead, but he said it will probably go away eventually. After her appointment, we took her to the Conservatory to visit everyone! Most everybody was there, and they all loved her, of course! Maggie was very good traveling everywhere. She slept the whole time I think. Then when we came home, she was wide awake for a few hours! Well, I was glad to hear that she's growing well, and that she looks good. Thanks for thinking of her!

Fun weekend

We all had a very nice weekend at the Loomis household. We had some friends visit Friday night, and on Saturday Grandma Powell came to visit. It was much warmer outside, so we took Maggie out on the town for a little bit. We went to Kaleb and Kylie's apartment (they had a water pipe burst and Brian lent them our little shop vac to suck up the water) and then we went to eat at Mario Bros Mexican Restaurant. Maggie has experienced some gas because of the spicy food...oops. Not painful gas, just a lot of toots. ;) Maggie got some good quality time with her Grandma Powell! She even gave her some smiles! I haven't gotten any awake smiles from Maggie, but Brian and Debbie have!!! I just get the sleepy or "I'm going to toot" grins.
Sunday we just lazed around the house all afternoon, and in the evening we traveled to Grandma and Grandpa Thomas' house to watch the playoff game. Maggie needed some quality Grandpa Thomas time! I sat in the back seat next to Maggie, and Penny rode in the front seat. Penny kept trying to sit on Brian's lap while he was driving. We had dinner and watched some football. Maggie ate some dinner, too, and afterwards she was awake for a couple hours! She's very alert when she's awake, and she tries to take in all her surroundings! She can't quite get her eyes to focus sometimes, so she gets a little cross-eyed. It's very cute. Penny got to play with Oscar, her favorite buddy, and she ate several chew-sticks. We finished the football game and then headed home and went to bed. Maggie slept pretty well last night. She's such a good baby!

Gotcha Grandma!

Lazin ' AroundSleeping in her bedCousin Garrett

Night owl

Little miss Maggie kept Mommy and Daddy busy last night! She was up every hour between 3 am and 6 am. Luckily all we have to do to make her happy is feed her, change her, or just hold her! She's easy to please.
Maggie got another bath yesterday, and she seemed to enjoy it! She only complained a little when we first placed her in the tub. I'm anxious to find out how much she's grown! I had to reschedule her check-up since it has been so cold this week. Too cold for tiny babies to be out and about. I can't believe she will be one month old on Monday! It's going by too fast.

Well, here are some more pictures! Tummy Time Penny and Maggie Four-legged Baby

First post from Maggie's Mommy!

I am so blessed to have such a good baby! Maggie is blessed to have such wonderful grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc! I just want to thank everyone for their prayers for Maggie. I know she was getting lots of prayers even before she was born, and I know lots of you were praying for us when she had to go back to the hospital. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Well, I am loving being a mommy! It's been pretty easy since she's such a good little baby. She's spoiling us! Brian is such a good daddy! I'm not surprised, but feel very fortunate. He gets up in the middle of the night the change her or feed her when I'm just too tired, and he can't wait to come home from school and work to hold his little girl. He has been helping with the housework, too! What a guy! I guess that's why I married him. : )
Here are some recent photos of the little sweetie pie!

She likes to sleep with her arms above her head...like someone else we know (Grandma Thomas)!

Sleeping Beauties

Another day at the Loomis home. After a somewhat restless night, the day was full of naps.

My observations...

Visiting Val,Brian and Maggie daily during these first weeks gives me a great opportunity to see the new family in action. Val is busy "nesting". She missed that chance since Maggie's expected due date was actually tomorrow or the next day. She organized all of their dvds and cds and has gone through some of her clothes. I think the plan is to go through Brian's clothes today. They both really enjoy the time that Val is taking off from work to see what it will be like to be a stay at home mom. Hopefully Brian will find full time employment soon after graduation in May and the wish of both of them will come true...Val will get to stay home for real. In the meantime, they are making the most of this time. Val is very calm and confident with Maggie, and is handling motherhood with a lot of success. Maggie is thriving, is comfortable, and does very little "complaining". Brian comes home for lunch each day and hurries home from work. He can't wait to get home to his girls. It's a great atmosphere for a little one to grow up in. I'm so proud of them both.

Firsts

What a whirlwind weekend. Maggie's first official outing, other than medical, was to Great Grandpa Cook's house to celebrate Christmas there on Friday evening January 2. She was passed around the room several times, but survived it all! It was the first time for cousins Alexis and Kaylee to see her. Alexis got to hold her and quietly sang her a couple of songs. It was a great moment. The next day, the Thomas clan gathered at our house for our celebration. Maggie took all the attention in stride and slept through most of the festivities, although she did peep around at us a few times. Uncle Roger and Aunt Brooke got her a Colts outfit and of course she had to wear it for the game...even though they lost. After a quiet Sunday, where Brian and Val tried to catch up on some sleep, Monday afternoon Maggie was treated to her first bath. Val did very well, and Penny kept a watchful eye to make sure she did everything right. I think Penny is growing somewhat protective. At least every time Maggie makes any noise, Penny is right there trying to figure out what's going on. Her bath brought the expected response, a little fussing, but to my surprise, she quickly quieted down as if to say "Hey, I'm cold and I don't like this, I want...wait a minute...yes...this is nice...I like this...ahhh." I think you can tell in the picture that this was taken when she was beginning to think a bath might be a nice thing. After all the drying and powdering, Maggie's hair was all fuzzy, standing straight up on the top. It is very manageable, though, and didn't stay that way for long...thank goodness. Maggie is beginning to fill out her cheeks a little bit, I think. But those little stick arms and legs have a lot to go before they start plumping up. Thanks for checking in on her progress.

Smiles

Val caught Maggie smiling yesterday and snapped a quick photo. We've discovered that her smiles usually preceed her "gas". For someone so small, she can sure make a big stink! Do you suppose she's giggling to herself at the joke she's about to play on everyone? Paul and I stayed with Maggie while Brian and Val ran a couple of quick errands this afternoon. After many instructions...like we didn't have kids before...they entrusted their precious little one to the old folks. When they arrived back home no scissors had been run with, and no beans were inserted in any ears or a nose...thank goodness! Happy New Year Everyone!