Magnolia Annabelle Crist

Here's our Magnolia Annabelle, getting more and more beautiful every day.

Magnolia, Melissa and Boston on a day hike.

I thought I would share our rationale for choosing Magnolia Annabelle to be our daughter's name. As some of you know, Zac came up with the name Magnolia from the Grateful Dead song "Sugar Magnolia." My first response when he said it was "no!" He was going through his Grateful Dead lyrics book and just throwing out potential names at me. After I said "no," he replied, "well, we could call her Maggie." I paused for a moment, then said "no." After a month or two, the name kept popping into my head.

I knew I wanted my daughter's middle name to be Annabelle, after my grandmother. My grandmother legally changed her name to Ann, because she hated Annabelle, I had always loved it though. When I mentioned it to her that I was thinking of using the name if we had a girl, I kind of noticed a glimmer of excitement in her eye, I think after so many years she had stopped hating the name she was given at birth.

With Magnolia popping into my head all the time, and knowing I wanted Annabelle as a middle name I finally came to the realization that both names fit together perfectly. Zac loves music, and I knew how excited he had been when he mentioned the name. Magnolias are my grandmother's very favorite flowering trees and bushes. She even had my aunt plant a Magnolia Tree just outside her window this last spring so she could watch it bloom those beautiful flowers she loves.

And that was it. We decided on Magnolia Annabelle Crist. Although I was so set against it at first, it's the most beautiful name I've ever heard, and I love the name Maggie as well, which is what most everyone calls our daughter.

Our boy name has an equally great story behind it, but I'll have to keep that a secret for now, just in case our next child is a boy!!

*Please Maggie fans, make some comments on the blog. I'd love to hear from some of you that are reading Maggie's updates!*

Happy Turkey Day!

Boston, Maggie and Daddy hanging out before bedtime.

he, he he... you would never know I was an anger ball about 15 minutes ago

What a cute baby I am.

This new toy is pretty fun.

Happy Thanksgiving! Today we had yet another relaxing day at home--some parade watching, napping, snacking, etc. This evening we headed over to Omah and Opah's (Zac's grandparents) for some Thanksgiving celebrating. Maggie, wasn't quite herself--she actually decided to yell most of the time we were there, always fun of course. There's no doubt anymore that we are dealing with early stranger (anyone who isn't mommy or daddy) anxiety. It was busier and louder than she's used to and she is more sensitive to the loudness, and lots of stimulation. She of course is sleeping great right now. She actually stored up all her smiles and laughing for right when we got home. I decided to get some pictures as proof for everyone she yelled at tonight that she is generally a happy go lucky baby. Grandma Monica spoiled Maggie with some new clothes and new shoes. She also got Maggie the new mirror toy (see pictures). Monica also spoiled me with a cherry pie (dairy/soy free of course), so yummy, thanks Monica! She sent it home with me, and I'm trying not to consume the whole thing tonight. That's the funny thing about restricting your diet, as soon as you find something delicious you can eat, you eat waaaay too much!

Mommy Loves Magnolia!

Maggie and I had a wonderful day together. Her school is closed Wed.-Fri. so I took today and Friday off. We slept in and cuddled this morning, played, read books, she took a nice long nap (thank goodness), we went on a few walks--we're completely in love with each other if you couldn't tell!

Update on Maggie's food allergies: Since Maggie's four months now, I will be reintroducing soy to my diet to see is she's allergic. When we first realized she had the milk protein allergy (the dreaded day of the first diaper filled with blood) I opted to eliminate soy as well due to the occurrence of soy allergies with milk protein allergies (30-60%). I'm not looking forward to this at all. It was so horrible those first few weeks before we realized she had an allergy---watching her squirm and scream in pain as she ate, and then to change the diapers full of bloody stools. I'm hoping for the best though! Soy, like milk proteins, is in EVERYTHING! It would definitely be nice to add a few more things back into my diet. If she isn't allergic to soy, we would then have the option of doing a soy based formula if we had to switch to formula for some reason. As most of you know, I'm hoping this will never be the case, because if she's going to outgrow this allergy she needs the antibodies in my breast milk which essentially "paint" the inside of her intestines against offending allergens. With food allergies being very dangerous, and sometimes life-threatening, lets hope Miss Maggie isn't allergic to anything else, and that her little body can soon outgrow this allergy.

Wish us luck, and we'll keep you updated!!

Maggie's Day

Maggie had a very relaxing day today. It started with a baby massage this morning then some tummy time. She was all slick from her massage oil, so we just moved right into tummy time---it's very beneficial when she is able to move her body freely when on her stomach. She then decided to do a little reading, Goodnight Moon of course. Margaret Wise Brown was a genius to write a book that somehow EVERY child loves. In the afternoon Maggie, Daddy and Boston went on a long walk in the foothills. Zac said she was very content, and may have even napped a bit on the walk.

I know, what a rough day, huh??

4 Months Old Today/Happy Early Thanksgiving

Maggie and Hailey

Maggie and Mommy--Yes, Mommy's a bit frazzled!

She's four months old today!! Time is really flying by. I told myself today I need to stop and really take in every moment with her when she's this young, because it's already passing by so quickly. Zac and I are thinking she's teething already, hence the frazzled mommy. She hasn't been herself this week at all, she's drooling like a monster, she can't stop chewing on everything--her bib, our fingers, her fingers, her toys, the blanket she's on, my chin, everything! Her naps were just getting consistent again, and now that's a mess--who knows. I guess we'll see (or I'll feel, which I'm a little nervous about) a little tooth soon if teething is the case.

My family did an early Thanksgiving this evening because Sara and Brad will be out of town with Brad's family for the holiday. Julie made a fabulous dinner, as usual, and most of it I could actually eat--Thanks Julie! We also all pitched in to get my mom a camera as an early holiday gift. She was actually still using disposable cameras--I know, no one even knew they existed anymore. Now she'll be able to take a million photos of Maggie, and she'll get some good pictures on her trip to Hawaii next week. We took an awesome annual family photo, which is always chaos as we try to set the timer on the camera, try to get everyone posed, which includes the dogs, and then try to smile. I think we managed it though. Hailey's got the picture, so as soon as I get it I'll post it.

To My Family: Thanks for being so loving and supportive. I love you all very much!

Maggie and Boston

Boston HAS to be with Maggie every time she's on the floor doing tummy time, or just playing. Maggie watches Boston so intently now--you can tell she's processing every little detail about Boston. She even reaches out to touch her.

Maggie and Boston's tummy time.

It was surprising how many people asked us how we thought Boston would do when our baby was born. Knowing our dog, Zac and I figured we were just going to add one more family member for Boston to love and play with. Don't get me wrong, Boston's life has changed a ton--no more morning walks on weekdays (just evening ones), she doesn't get let out every afternoon now and sometimes we are so busy we realize we haven't even put on her collar or filled her food dish for the day. Pets are so forgiving though--she's never held this against us. She's still the happy go-lucky dog that can barely hold her joy inside every time she sees us--this includes when she sees Maggie now too. Every morning when Maggie wakes up, Boston jumps off our bed and runs to Maggie's room, tail wagging. She's so excited to greet Maggie--Zac and I of course start yelling for her to get back in the room in hopes Maggie will fall back asleep for just a little bit longer, but this never seems to work.

Growing up with pets myself, I've realized that there are many life lessons that animals can teach us. Some of these lessons include: compassion, respect, responsibility and most importantly how to love. I'm so excited that Maggie and Boston have each other--we couldn't ask for a better dog!

My Friends!

Maggie doing tummy time with her July Birthday Friends.

Here's Maggie at school during beat BSU week. You'll notice her friends opted for the pink and brown BSU apparel--the electric blue and construction orange was a little too overstimulating for a baby!

Maggie and one of her friends listening to Kim read a story.

Maggie and one of her friends had a pretty eventful morning--they both crashed in Chris' arms.

Maggie at School!

So Mommy finally ordered the pilot caps for her--pretty cute huh? And the big news is...she's been getting her index finger and middle finger in her mouth a lot--if you've ever met my child, you know her work consists of getting those dang fingers in her mouth!


Maggie's first painting experience! I got to do it with her during my lunch break when I was at her school feeding her. She didn't actually like the feeling of her feet being painted too much.

So tired--here she is looking at her family pictures, cuddling Doudou and getting ready for a rest.

So apparently she woke up after a nap and decided to explore the nap room a bit, and she wanted Doudou to go with her!

Maggie's Favorite Book

Here's Maggie reading her new favorite book.

Here's Maggie eating her new favorite book.

Gramma-Gramma (which would be my Grandmother) bought Maggie a Taggies book, which is a fabric book covered in tags of different textured fabrics, and it has quickly become Maggie's favorite book of all. The pictures are soft and simple, the text is repetitive, and it has lots of different textures to touch, and it tastes great! She's spent a lot of time looking at it, and of course bringing it to her mouth to explore.

Besides watching her discover a favorite book, it's just been amazing to watch the world come alive to her this week. She's reaching for our hands and her toys all the time, and is so interested in everything around her. She's being so patient and good natured through her first HORRIBLE cold right now as well. We're hoping she gets over it soon. It's so sad listening to her struggle to breathe through her stuffy nose as she eats and sleeps. She's been taking lots of steam showers with mommy and daddy, and enjoys this very much, and it seems to help for awhile too.

What a year to be born in!

WOW! As we are about to watch Obama's victory speech, Zac and I can't believe how memorable this year, 2008, will be for our daughter. Here's Maggie's picture after we left the polls--I think she'll enjoy seeing this one when she's older.

Green Parenting

Many of Maggie's toys are made from organic materials, such as organic cotton and wood.

So I discovered these leggings called Baby Legs. They also come in organic fabrics, and make it very easy to change diapers. Zac doesn't care for them too much, but I think they're great! (Oh did I mention she's rolling from her stomach to her back consistently now as demonstrated by this photo!)

Auntie Sara bought Maggie this stuffed Monkey toy. It's also made from organic fabric and wool that is free of chemicals--I don't even have to worry about the potential chemicals she'd be digesting, as she does what all babies do, chews on her toy.

Right away Zac and I knew we wanted Maggie to have the healthiest start to life possible. A big part of this was choosing to become healthier and more green in our own life. Here are some of the choices we've made, and continue to make as new parents...

• The Nursery: For Maggie's nursery we started with a safer paint. Most paints contain VOCs (aka that stinky paint smell). VOCs produce poor air quality and contribute to the depletion of our ozone layer. We used a paint called Yolo, which has low and zero VOCs. We also decided to get most of Maggie's nursery furniture used. Yep, her diaper changing table and crib are both second hand. We painted the diaper changing table and covered it with cork. We also used other materials from nature such as bamboo for curtain rods.
  
• Organic Bedding: This was an important one. If you think about how much time a baby spends in their crib, it's kind of scary thinking about all the pesticides and chemicals they could be laying on---laying on, drooling on and soiling. We splurged here. We purchased an organic cotton/wool mattress, a wool mattress protector instead of a vinyl one, and organic sheets and blankets.
• Natural Products: For diapers we've decided to do chlorine free brands such as Seventh Generation and Earth's Best for now. We are planning to try the G Diapers, which are basically a spin on cloth diapers, but with a biodegradable insert. Something that's been important to me even before Maggie was born, was using safer cleaning supplies in my home. A lot of people believe that what you use to clean with has to smell bad to work. A lot of these cleaners have negative effects on people's health, causing asthma, and not to mention they are poisonous for young children. I use vinegar a lot, which I guess some people may think smells bad--I don't. There are also many other safe products on the market. Sara even purchased me the Meyer's Baby All-Purpose cleaner. This has been great for Maggie's things.
• Food: Well, the best "green food" for a baby is obviously human milk. The milk that's made exactly for the purpose of infant consumption. As for myself, since what I eat Maggie eats, I stick to a mostly organic diet, especially concerning meat and produce which take in the most hormones, pesticides, etc. We actually have all our produce delivered from a local company called Brown Box Organics. This way we make sure to eat organic and fresh!
• Being Outside: We are choosing that Maggie not suffer from Nature-Deficit Disorder. We have opted to stay in our neighborhood which makes it very easy to get outside daily--especially when your house is so small you have to move outside whenever the weather is nice, which is what we do. We are able to walk and bike safely to get groceries, go to the park, see a movie, get some dinner and more.

So these are just a few of the choices we've made to be more green for ourselves and Maggie. Why do we do this??--because Maggie deserves a future as a healthy person living on a healthy planet!