Christmas Cards

Every year I have the hardest time choosing a Christmas card to send out to everyone. There are so many decisions to be made: who you are going to order them from, what pictures should you use, and what design you want on your card. This year my friend Carrie told about a great deal to get 50 free cards from Shutterfly, so at least where I am ordering my cards from has been decided! Shutterfly has some really great designs that blend my style with Ron's and here are some that are in our top running:

Which one is your favorite?

There are so many cute cards to choose from that I know the final decision will be really tough! I tend to like cards that are "different" and Ron likes traditional, so we try to find a card that blends both styles! Shutterfly also has a great selection of gifts! Who doesn't love a personalized calendar, photo album or mug? I love giving personalized gifts and I have always been so happy with the quality of the items I ordered from Shutterfly.

Now is such a great time to purchase your favorite items from Shutterfly! They are offering free shipping on orders $50 or more. Calendars and photo albums are buy 1 get 1 50% off and holiday cards are 20% off! Check out these links for cards, gifts or photo albums:

Christmas photo cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards

photo gifts to http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-gifts

photobook to http://www.shutterfly.com/photo-books

Mac's Birthday Party

We had so much fun at Mac's 1st birthday party yesterday! It was great to spend time with family and friends that we don't see often enough! He wasn't too sure what to think about his cake and started off trying to "clean" it by attempting to take the polka dots and the monkey off.

Mac is dressed and ready to PARTY!!

Playing with the big kids

He wasn't quite sure what to think about the cake,

but once he had a taste he kept on eating!

Opening his first present:

All of the kids were a big help!

Wiped out from a fun, long day!!

Apparently I never posted this! I actually wrote this post a day after his birthday, oops! December was a CRAZY busy month, so I will try to get you caught up on our lives soon!

Happy Birthday Mac!!!

I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by since we were in the hospital (for 20 hours) waiting for Mac to arrive. We were so excited to have a baby and so excited to find out if we were having a boy or girl! Mac has blessed our lives in so many ways. His smile, laugh and curiosity make us laugh daily. Mac is constantly on the move and gets into everything! He loves opening cabinets and pulling things out of drawers and off of shelves. His favorite toy right now is a house that a friend of mine gave us. There are so many different activities on this house. He loves to put things inside the door and mailbox, turn on the radio and dance and pushing me out of the doorway! This week he has begun a new fascination with putting lids on different containers and stacking them inside each other. He crawls all over the place and does not stay in one location for very long. The only time I can get him to sit still is if we are out shopping or on a run. When we run he quietly looks around at everything, but when he shop he will talk to anyone who will look at him and if someone won't look at him he stares them down and talks louder until they at least give him a smile. At Publix last week he literally had a store manager, the cashiers, bag boys, and customers from two lanes paying him their full attention! We definitely have a VERY social boy! He isn't walking on his own yet, but he is so close. He holds on to everything to walk and will even push chairs around the house to help him move from place to place. He will stand unsupported for short periods of time and thinks about moving his feet, but ends up dropping to a crawl instead. As exciting as walking is, I'm nervous about the possibility of him being even more active!

Here we are waiting patiently at the hospital:

Welcome baby Mac!

A Thanksgiving Family Photo:

Last week we took some 1yr photos that I will post when I get them. Tomorrow we are having a party for him at the house so look out for a party post! It will be Mac's first experience with cake!!

Happy Birthday sweet boy, we love you!!!!

Halloween

We were in Moultrie for Halloween this year. Ron and his dad were at the Georgia/Florida game, so Kim (Ron's stepmom) and I took Mac on Saturday night to one of the larger neighborhoods in town. We met up with my friend Katie and her family at her in-laws house. I frequently refer to Mac as my little monkey because he is so active, so it was only appropriate that he was a monkey for Halloween:

He had fun on his first wagon trip with Katie's daughter Elizabeth. Here they are enjoying the tootsie pops they received at the first house.

We started pretty close to Mac's bedtime, so we only made it to 3 houses before he started getting grumpy. The neighborhood we were in gets very crowded, so we also wanted to get back to the house before the streets got too full! Needless to say, people definitely looked at us funny since our two trick or treaters were obviously not old enough to actually eat candy. Since the Georgia/Florida game is always the last weekend in October, I'm sure this was the first of many Halloweens in Moultrie!

Corn Dawgs Pumpkin Patch

We took Mac to a place in Loganville called Corn Dawgs. We only went to the pumpkin patch, but they have lots of different activities for older kids and adults. Mac did not have a very good nap before we went and finally fell asleep in the car as we pulled into the parking lot. Needless to say, he did not wake up happy and enjoy his 1st pumpkin patch experience...

A little mad about having to sit with pumpkins:

Now he feels better!

I had to join him in an attempt to get some pictures.

Finally a good picture!

I hope that next year he has a better experience!

Mac's First Haircut

For those of you that have seen Mac recently you all know that he has quite a combover on the top of his head. He lost the hair on the side and back of his head, but never lost the hair on top. Since I can't put any clips in his hair I was constantly having to push it "over" to keep it out of his eyes. When it was really windy outside we would laugh because it would just blow in the breeze! Mom and I took him to see Lydia and the combover is no longer :-( He did great sitting in my lap and stayed much more still than I expected. I did bring a container of his favorite cereal puffs that kept him occupied!

The before picture:

Enjoying a puff:

After with Lydia. He looks a little unsure...

Another Trip out West

Back in September Mom, Mac and I headed out west to visit her family. Our first stop was Las Vegas to meet my new little cousin Kinley! We stayed with my aunt and Kinley for several days while my uncle was on a golf trip. We thought Dani might need our help, but she had everything under control. Kinley is so cute and super sweet! Once her and Mac get a little older I think they will have lots of fun together on our family trips!

Here is Kinley in her favorite sleeping position:

We left Vegas and headed to California for a week. We started of the week staying with my mom's girlfriend Stella. Mac and I played with Stella during the day while my mom went with my aunt Mo to her doctors appointments in the city.

Here is Mac in his new travel highchair. It was a great purchase and fits over the back of any chair!

We ended our trip in Pasadena at my Uncle Pat and Aunt Joan's house. My Uncle Brian, Aunt Dani and Kinley drove over from Vegas and stayed with us also. It was a fun filled family weekend! Patrick and Joan hosted a cookout on Saturday. Here is a picture of my mom with all of her siblings: After a week and a half of traveling we finally headed home. Mac was worn out and fell asleep right before we were supposed to board the plane. Once on the plane he stayed awake for our entire trip home! I love going to California. Growing up I spent 4-5 weeks out there every summer, so going back feels like going home. This was Mac's first trip to Cali, but he slept better there than he does at home! He slept 12 hours at night and took at least 1.5 hours naps too! I think he really likes visiting too. We can't wait to see everyone again!

Mac's Baptism

I am obviously a little behind on our posts, so my goal is to try and get caught up in the next couple of weeks!

Mac was Baptized on September 5th at St. Lawrence Catholic Church here in Lawrenceville. Mac had a great support system at church with him. All of his grandparents, two of his great grandparents, two of his great aunts, one of his great uncles, his uncle Joseph and soon to be aunt Heidi, and our family friends the Toneys were all there with us. Our church does one service for all of the kids getting Baptized, so it was nice to not be stressed about Mac making too much noise during church! Here is how he stayed occupied during the service:

Chewing his frog chew toy:

Eating cereal puffs:

Chewing on his spoon:

Finally it was his turn and he did great. He had a really funny look on his face, but never cried!

Our little family:

Mac with his godparents, Joseph and Heidi:

Baby Food

Before Mac was born I decided that I wanted to make all of his baby food myself. My cousin, Erin, told me about a couple of great cookbooks. The Petit Appetit by Lisa Barnes and Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel have been my favorite so far. Annabel Karmel actually has a pretty large selection of different cookbooks. Not only do the cookbooks contain great recipes, they also teach you a lot about the nutrition in babies. Lisa Barnes really taught me a great deal about the importance of organic food (although my husband would argue with you about it all day long).

Since I also want to go the organic route with Mac mom and I headed to Whole Foods. After our trip to Whole Foods I went on a baby food making spree! I wanted to make sure that I used everything I bought before it spoiled. After about two weeks of making food in the morning, letting it freeze, transferring it to Ziplocs and then doing it again after Mac went to bed, this is what my freezer looked like:

Sorry, the first one is a little dark, but you get the idea!

Needless to say any food that Ron and I want to freeze for ourselves has now been moved to a freezer in our garage. I have really enjoyed making his food and it actually tastes really good! I have found an organic brand of pre made baby food that I have used when we went on our trips to Vegas and Ireland. When we drive to our vacation destination I just pack a cooler of Mac food!

Of course he eats the basics like apples, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes, etc... But he also enjoys yummy combinations such as Chicken with sweet potatoes, leeks, and carrots; Spinach with carrots and peas; Apple and mango; Potato, carrots, and corn; and Strawberries, peaches, and pears. So far the only food that he does not like is cantaloupe and ground turkey. He will eat the cantaloupe if I mix it with mango and plain yogurt! I definitely have a little Marchant eater! Now I just need to start cooking for Ron and I!

Ireland

For my mom's 50th birthday she wanted us to celebrate with her by traveling to Ireland.

We flew over with my parents and Great Uncle. Thanks to a generous Christmas gift from my parents we were able to enjoy first class. I've never flown first class on an international flight and now I don't think I will ever be able to fly coach again. We put Mac's folding travel bed (that he just barely still fits in) on the floor and he slept much better than if I had attempted to hold him! Mac's bed was loved by the flight attendants and they referred to him as the "baby in a box" for the entire flight. One of our flight attendants was also on our returning flight and remembered us because of his little box. I was so nervous about Mac waking up and me not hearing him that I was able to get caught up on free movies!

Once in Ireland we met up with 9 more of our family and friends (including my brother and his fiance Heidi). We rented Lisheen Castle as our home base for the week and tried to squeeze in as many activities as we could.

On our first full day in Ireland we visited Holycross Abbey.

My dad and Ron loved that you could just turn on a spigot and have holy water:

On Monday Mac took us on a tour of Roscrea Castle:

Here is the view from the gardens: My cute parents in the gardens at Roscrea: Here we are with my brother and Heidi, at Bunratty Castle.

On Wednesday we went with my parents and uncle to Rock of Cashel:

We ended the day hosting the Irish McLoughlins for dinner at our castle. My mom is a McLaughlin and her grandfather was the only one from his family to immigrate to the United States from Ireland. It was very exciting to meet my 2nd and 3rd cousins!

Here is our little family before they arrived:

This is a picture of the American and Irish McLo(a)ughlins:

My parents kept Mac for us on Thursday so we went with my uncle, cousins, brother and Heidi to Blarney Castle, the city of Cork, the town of Kinsale, and then finished the day checking out the cliffs at Old Head of Kinsale.

Us on top of Blarney Castle

Us at Old Head of Kinsale

On our last full day in Ireland we visited Kilkenny Castle: Mac thought the castle was so exciting that he took a short nap... Just some cute photos of Mac that Ron took our last night at the castle:

Happy 50th mom!!!