Opinions are like.....well you know the rest of the saying! I'm not sure what it is about having a baby, but as soon as you do people start dishing out opinions and advice (both warranted and unwarranted) left and right! I've been given one piece of good advice since having Maggie Kate (from ladies such as my mother Laurenda, Hope Brookes Moore and Tara Carroll) and I feel it's worth passing on to other mommies! It goes a little something like this, "You are her Mommy, you know her best, and trust me you will know what to do. You just know". Such a good piece of advice for a new mommy. I think the Good Lord gives a new mommy a special feeling or connection in which she will "just know" what to do! It is a miracle, it is amazing, and it is very true. It is the only way I can explain how I just knew to wake up and look in Maggie Kate's bassinet the morning she was choking and burgundy faced, but without sound! It is the only way I can explain that feeling I get when I'm in the laundry room, and I just know she is awake and as I turn the corner to our room, there she is wide awake.
Which brings me to this, my own mother was given some bad advice / a poor opinion once. And I am so glad she listened to her own "Mommy knows best" voice and "went her own way" with things.....
Bruce Dale Norris Jr.
When my brother was struggling through 1st grade at a local public school, the teacher called my mom in for a meeting. He was on the verge of not passing, and she just didn't think he could be taught. So she suggested to my mother that she and the resource teacher felt he should be placed in a special education class. I remember my mother sobbing that night, because even though he was dyslexic, deep down she knew he didn't belong in that class. I am so thankful my mother didn't listen to one person's opinion! After a few years at Camperdown Academy http://camperdown.org/ (where they believed in B.J.) he over came his learning disability. The little boy who once spelled DOG, "G-O-D" is now an excellent reader and writer. B.J. is now a senior in high school, on the A/B Honor Roll, a member of the student government, Beta Club, and most recently The National Honor Society. I am so very proud of him! So below are a couple of pictures of my B.J. (aka nanny Bruce)! Love him! And I love the fact that, one person's opinion could have made his life so very different, but his mother, my mother, knew better and followed her heart. She, by the grace of God, "just knew".
My first "rave", B.J.'s senior picture (above) was taken by Related Images Photography
Check them out at Related Images Photography
Yee-Haw, It's Fall!
I absolutely love this time of year. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, give me a holiday and I'm a happy momma! We recently took Maggie Kate and Ayda Lynn to have their first Halloween/Fall pictures made together. So begins my next few rave's and fave's! First of all, Gena Murphy Photography is who I selected to take the pictures of our girls and I was so pleased with them. More than pleased! She worked so well with the girls, so here are a few pictures. Enjoy! I know I did! The last picture is a BONUS, one I dug up of me and my Crystal-bell from a Halloween way way back! Hee hee hee!
Have you ever seen a cuter pig and spider? I think not! (my opinion though, and you know what they say!)
Good times, good times! The dalmatian is Crystal and I am Cruella Deville!
(Thanks to Marty and Chad, this was their costume creativity!)
Now for the details from the above pictures! The photographer is Gena Murphy and she can be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GenaMurphyPhotography. Check her out, I absolutely love her outdoor work! The costumes came from Chasing Fireflies, http://www.chasing-fireflies.com/, they also offer personalized pajamas, children/baby clothing, and my personal favorite, personalized soft leather baby shoes (see picture below)! Margaret now has 2 pairs! And finally, the matching hot pink "Hoot Owl" applique dresses came from Monkey Doodle Monograms, http://www.facebook.com/MonkeyDoodleMonograms. I found out about her through Nolan and Kim, and I have been in love with everything she does, ever since! Check her out on Facebook!
This is Halloween....this is Halloween.....
Here are a couple of pictures from Halloween night 2011! Enjoy!
Annual Merritt home treat bags!
Napkins!!! I get most of my party napkins personalized now, if you need large quantities (50 or more) it's actually cheaper than the getting them from the store! I get them from "For Your Party"! They're great! That's also where I got the matching treat bags! Here is a link to their website, http://www.foryourparty.com/.
Paula Deen's Cheese ball Goblin! Isn't he fantastic? And he tastes good too! Bonus....he's a delicious easy to make cheese ball, so don't decorate him and serve him at any other party too! Here is a link to the recipe, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/cheese-ball-goblin-recipe/index.html. Enjoy!
Grandma Teresa holding the angry Pig!
Baby Besties Maggie Kate and Tegan!
Maggie Kate and Daddy! (Love them!)
Aunt Marty, Noah, and Thomas Cole stopped by! :)
The Maggie Update
Margaret Kate Merritt went for her 6 month check up on Oct. 10th, and here is the update. Drum roll please.....she now weighs 22 lbs 9 1/2 oz, she is 29 inches long, and her head circumference is 45 cm. She is in the 99th percentile in all categories, which our sweet Dr. Nesbit says that means she is very well proportioned, and as always she still maintains Maggie Kate is her Champ! :) And oh how we love our Dr. Nesbit of the Christie Pediatric Group (http://www.christiepediatricgroup.com/)! Maggie's temperature still drops in the 97 degrees area at night, but Dr. Nesbit says she believes that's just the way she is and she doesn't feel it's anything to worry about! And in another update, there was no more signs (or sounds for that matter) of the innocent heart murmur that was heard at our 4 month check up! Praise the Lord!
So far Margaret.....
- has two "half" teeth on the bottom (Love it!)
- rolls everywhere she needs to go
- wears Size 4 pampers (that's right I said 4's)
- tries to get up on one knee
- says Da Da Da Da Da Da Da Da, ALL the time now (totally thrills Nathan!)
- wears Size 18 month clothing (that's right I said 18 month clothing)
- slobbers profusely
- sits up, almost completely unassisted
- and still hates riding in the car, but only in the evenings (Thank the Lord for the little things!)
BabyLand General Hospital
Some of my fondest memories are my summer's spent in Georgia visiting my Papa Satterfield's "people"! At the end of every trip my mom and dad, Mama Satterfield, Papa Satterfield, Crystal and her mom and dad, sometimes all of us, sometimes just a few of us, would take us to BabyLand General Hospital and let us adopt our very own Cabbage Patch Kid! It was a magical place, and as it turns out, it still is!!! Nathan and I took Maggie Kate for her 1st trip (but certainly not the last) to BabyLand General a couple of weeks ago, and even though she won't remember it, she LOVED it and so did this momma! It is much bigger and better than it used to be! And may I just say, if you've never taken your little one, YOU SHOULD!!!! It is an experience that every little kid should have! Below are a few pictures! Enjoy....we sure did! PS....all the dolls there, are handmade, right there in good ol' Georgia! LOVE IT!
Doesn't Maggie look like she belongs there? Our Aunt Crystal-bell said from day one Maggie Kate was her sweet Cabbage Patch Doll! :)
Look! Daddy found himself a friend too! LOL! There's nothing this man wouldn't do for Maggie and I, and oh how we love him for it!
"Dr. Matthews" after delivering Maggie's Cabbage Patch Kid from Mother Cabbage!
Myself, and my two Margaret's after signing the "adoption papers"! Yeah, we were excited! Margaret and Margaret kind of favor don't they?!
And here it is BabyLand General Hospital! Below is a link to their website!
Til' Next Time.....
I'll end this blog with a couple of pictures Betty Ann gave me of Nathan and Nolan when they were little. Confirmation that our sweet girls, Ella and Maggie Kate, look an awful lot like their daddies! Which makes their Momma's love them even more! :) So below are 2 pictures of Nathan and Nolan, and below those are 2 pictures of Miss Ella and Miss Maggie Kate at a recent photo shoot for Ella's 4 year pictures and Maggie Kate's 4 month pictures! Just so you can see for own eyes these "Daddy's Girls"! Enjoy! Ps....Susan Brewer Photography took these photos, and she did an excellent job! So below the last picture will be a link to her website and Facebook page, make sure and check her out!
Such sweetness! Crazy, it looks as if little Nolan is holding a "blue shirted" Maggie Kate!
More sweetness!
Farewell! And I leave you with this, hope it helps whoever reads it, as it did me....
"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." ~ Ephesians 4:32
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