My sister asked me to design birth announcements for Lucy and the house became a mini print shop, today. The design is very simple but I'm happy with the result. The design on the card back was found on shutterstock and the type on the card front was set in Avenir Light (my new favorite typeface). The paper is from Paper Source and our little HP did a surprisingly good job on the printing. Lucy's picture will be affixed in the space above her name so we still have a little work to do before they're complete. Can't wait to see them in the mail!

I took a little blog break. No particular reason... just lazy, I suppose. After just five days away there is a variety of things to report. (It's amazing how much she can change in such a short period of time.)

Our biggest accomplishment (adventure?) is that she is now sleeping in her "big girl" crib and through the night. I'll admit that she outgrew the bassinet long ago but Graham and I just weren't ready for her to be in a different room. We usually started the evenings with Maggie in the bassinet and then once she started rolling into the sides of it, we would bring her into bed with us. (Yes, I can hear some of you groaning.) There are a lot of things we like about sharing a bed but the biggest downside was that our own quality of sleep was suffering. She was waking us up and we were probably waking her up.

We made the switch the other night and I made the cardinal mistake of going against my own instincts and trying the "cry it out" technique. I know many parents that this has worked for and for some reason believed that we would only have success if we did the same thing. Despite the fact that I knew full well that this wasn't for us, I spent an hour listening to Maggie sob in her unfamiliar crib. It was terrible. In the end I scooped her up, allowed her to nurse as long as she wanted and went to bed with her in my arms. (Everything I wasn't supposed to do.)

The next night was much different and devoid of any "techniques". We simply put her down when she was ready and let whatever happen, happen. To our surprise she slept soundly through morning. Lesson learned: trust myself.

Our other recent milestone was the introduction of vegetables. She's a champ with rice cereal so we decided to give carrots a try. We simply boiled a frozen bag of them and then ran them through a food mill. The result was a lukewarm flavorless puree that Maggie received in disgust. Her facial expressions were priceless and how can you blame her? The only reason we ate carrots in my family was because my parents told us they put stars in our eyes. By "stars" I guess they meant celebrities because I was always told they saw Mr. Rogers. I tried telling Maggie that I saw Miffy but this didn't help.

Last tidbit... our pool opened this weekend! We finally have an excuse for Maggie to sport her bikini. (Aside from random exploitation of cuteness, as shown above.)

Maggie is asleep as I write this guest post. Today is day six of my stay with Maggie, Meghan and Graham. Maggie and I are having a quiet day of many naps and one quick trip to the grocery store. It's cool today so Maggie is shown here with sweater and cap for our outing.

Maggie is a very easy baby to be around. She is truly happy all the time and extremely verbal. Her conversations of squeals and squawks are entertaining and quite humorous. She has lived up to her reputation of "the best baby." I've loved my time with you, Maggie.

Love, Grandma Susie

My father-in-laws much coveted sheep and maryjanes are officially on sale at Etsy! These are lovingly knit and felted by John Still and can be purchased at: johnstill.etsy.com

(Photographs by Jen White... aren't they wonderful?)

Before and After.

My mom left for California last week and - lucky for us - we have some special people helping out. Kim watched Maggie on Tuesday and somehow managed to stay sane with four children on her hands. (Not that I'm surprised.) I wish I was there to watch her cousins interact with her. From what Kim tells me, Josh had Maggie in stitches.

Then yesterday Grandma Susie arrived from Kansas City to lend a hand through next Wednesday. We are so grateful to have her here and so happy to see her spend time with her granddaughter. She took these photos, today, capturing Maggie's array of facial expressions. The best surprise for us was pulling up to the house after work and seeing Maggie and Susan sitting in the grass, awaiting our arrival. They looked so sweet together with spring flowers in full bloom behind them. I'll be sure to preserve that memory.

This little swing set is a short walk from us and we've taken advantage several times this past week. Maggie's definitely a fan.

Our weekend was really enjoyable. I hope yours was too. We went to my grandparent's beach house on Friday night and stayed through Saturday. It's sort of silly to call it that because it now belongs to my parents and technically it's not a beach – it's a creek. However "my parent's creek house" sounds totally off. (My siblings will know what I mean.) Anyway, our time there was really a great way to get out of our house and relax. I was able to get some reading in which is a rarity. Maggie spent a lot of time absorbing her new environment. She's big on that. I've started calling her the "quiet observer".

Then today, of course, was my first mother's day! Graham took Maggie out for some errands this morning so that I could sleep in. Then upon his return he brought me breakfast in bed. (Quite luxurious!) Later on we brought Maggie to the swings and watched a few minutes of the kids'  soccer game that was being played on the adjacent field. Tennis (with Maggie napping court-side) and replanting our flower boxes rounded out the day, as well our usual Sunday house work. 

I may have a new favorite holiday.

This marks our 100th post on Maggiesville! I think this calls for a celebration... or at least a party hat.

Thank you to all that have visited and for letting us share. I'm always surprised when I hear that people have stopped by this little space and flattered to know that they enjoy coming back. Writing and documenting our experiences has helped us savor every day with Maggie and I'm delighted that others can take part in our joy. I'm also so pleased if this blog has allowed us to expand our circle. Visitors started with Graham, then family, friends, and I think even friends of friends. If we have not met, know that you're welcome and please feel free to introduce yourself.

All of that said, we'd love some feedback. What would you like to see more of? Which posts are a snooze? Is there anything you'd like to hear about? Comments or emails (meghansville@gmail.com) are welcome.

Maggie had her four month appointment on Tuesday. Here are her stats:

Height: 25 3/4 inches (95th percentile)
Weight: 14 pounds 11 ounces (50th percentile)

As our doctor said, she's built like a great dane. During the visit we also learned that she has eczema. We've been struggling with her skin for a while and it was great to finally learn how to treat it. This means changing her laundry detergent and bath soap and using a few over-the-counter creams. She's also taking a bath every night. It's already made a huge difference... she's well on her way to sweet and soft baby skin.

We were also given the green light on trying rice cereal! It's pretty cute to watch the confusion on her face as she rolls a spoon full of mush around on her tongue. Most of it ends up on her bib (or nose or hair or lap) but I think she was ready for it.

Our little girl is growing up!

I've been looking forward to our outing today for a while, now. We drove out to Millwood, Virginia to attend a small art show that takes place in a restored mill. My boss is old friends with a man named Roger who lives down the road from the mill with his wife, Snow. They have the most stunning piece of land that you can see glimpses of in these photos. They live in the beautiful white house that is behind our picnic and adjacent to their house is their own stone mill that has been restored. 

Roger made his living as a printer and over the years has gathered an impressive collection of antique presses and hordes of metal type. The image, above, is just one of the 100s (1,000s?) of drawers of typographic treasures. He stores all of this in the basement of the mill and hopes to convert the whole space into a small museum some day.

Roger (seated in the chair to the left of the group) and Snow are incredibly kind people and it's easy to see how fortunate they feel to have such a special home and how much joy they receive by sharing it with others. Our picnic on the lawn was wonderful. Good people and good food. What more could you ask for?