Here Comes the Sun...It's Alright

My wilder side

My back porch swingin' side

I was just reading a friend's blog about her Christmas adventures and it was if she was right beside me and I could hear her talking. I got so reminiscent about her and old friends and highschool and our pasts. See I get this way because tomorrow I turn the big 3-0. This whole year I have been preparing myself for 30. Saying over and over that it was no big deal, just another birthday, another day. And really I am not worried or sad or angry about turning 30. I am not stressed. I am simply 30. I look back on my life and I wish I could say I have no regrets but of course, I do. But I have prayed about them, I have been forgiven and they have been forgotten. How wonderful is that? I also look back and more than anything I find peace. I find love from family and friends. I find such hilarious memories that I still laugh thinking about them. I find friendships that have lasted 30 years! I find a wonderful relationship with my parents and family. I find a lifetime of happiness. I find the love of my life and the joy of a loving marriage and motherhood that he brought to me. I find that I am okay with 30, with where I am in life and the anticipation of my next 30 years.

December Already??

This year has flown by with everything that a new baby brings. All the firsts, like our first run to the hospital to hunt down the pediatrician (so lucky I work there), the first sit up alone, the first crawl, the first foods, the first stand up, first words, first bow in the hair and here we are now celebrating another huge first and the end of a first year. One year ago, this past wednesday. December 17, this family was blessed with a beautiful and healthy baby girl. Max Milligan has blessed our life in every way possible. I could never have believed that my life could change so much and in such a wonderful and loving way. Max Milligan cracks me up every day with her hugs and "aww" to her wide mouth kisses. How she flirts with the boys already and how she is incredibly nosy in restaurants. Her seriously serious face when she is trying to figure someone out and her silly laugh when her daddy makes her laugh. Simply amazing.
We had Max Milligan's birthday party on Saturday. There were tons of friends and family and a good time was had by all. I will post pictures later.
Also wanted to say how crazy it felt Sunday night at Church for the men's Christmas program. They put this program on every year and it is my most favorite thing and what I look forward to all year long. Last year it was on the 16th. Do you see where I am going with this?? Last year, one whole year ago, I was one day shy of my due date. I refused to miss the Christmas program and was there, huge belly and all. I even wore heeled boots. :) On the hour drive back to Albany, I began to feel "uncomfortable" and later that night we went to the hospital and had Max Milligan the next day. This year, watching the program and holding Max Milligan felt so surreal. I kept thinking, "I was here one year ago and you weren't" How wierd.

Happy Halloween

My little honey bee! She was so cute and we had so much for our first halloween. Daniel and I took Max Milligan to the Riverquarium to see the Spooky Dive Show. Max Milligan was all about the fish. Not so much with the little fish or the "normal" size fish, but the HUGE, size of a four year old, fish- now they were AWESOME! Every time one of them swam past her she cheered them on, clapping and bouncing so high in her stroller i thought she was going to bounce out. We did not make it anywhere else b/c everyone was beat after all that clapping. So I have to say that our first halloween was great and looking forward to all the ones to come.

What a year brings

Last year, Daniel and I went to Mark's Melon patch to get pumkins to carve and just to hang out. I was seven mos pregnant and I took a picture right here to show my 7 mos belly. A whole year later, we are back again with a 10 mos old. I cannot believe what a year brings. A very funny, very smart little girl with some major facial expressions. She is like a sponge, soaking everything up. She is talking and the speech therapist I am, I am counting the words and even writing some things out phonetically. Silly mama!
In this picture, the band had started playing and she was trying to go dance. What did we ever do before her?

The guys and their babies

Brian with his little one, Anna Kate/ Daniel with Max Milligan/ Chandler with the little man, Walt

and one last post for the evening

This is what I found when I walked in to get her from her nap. So funny. such a big girl.

A Few of Our Trips Lately

This weekend, I had a conference in Atlanta. Mama, Noah, Max Milligan and I made the trek and staid with Meg. Thank you Meggie for letting us stay and being my chauffeur.

Last weekend we were in Atlanta for a quick weekend and we were lucky enough to have lunch with my best friend and Max Milligan's godmother, Jamie. Such a blessing! And I got to see the wedding dress!!!! (said in a very sing songy voice). We miss you Aunt Jamie, all the time.

First Football game

Now, before everyone gets in a Tizzy because Max Milligan's first football game was Georgia Tech and not UGA, let me just quote my father... "Trust Fund" She will be like me and love all her teams. But, hopefully, she will head to Athens soon for a real football game!

Cheehaw Park

A few weeks ago, daniel and I took Max Milligan to Cheehaw park. It was a beautiful day and we had such a fun time. I don't have a picture of the bison, but they were definately her favorite. If I didn't have such a good grip, she would have jumped right down there. I guess she thought it was a very very large horse!

Quick updates

Lately I have had the "poor pitiful me" "miss my friends" blues. It's the little things that Max Milligan does that can pull me out of any funk, espiecially when it's a new trick. It's funny when she does something that is imitating me, but when she initiates something... it just blows my mind. For instance, this morning Max Milligan dropped her bottle. I looked over at her and she was signing "milk". Like I said, she has imitated me, but this was her- knowing that she had dropped her bottle and she was asking me for milk. She signed it again tonight around the time we give her her bedtime bottle. CRAZY. The other thing she did was "patty cake, roll em up roll em up." Let me explaing. She claps (at everything) and lately when I am doing patty cake, she will "roll em up roll em up" with me. This evening while we were at dinner, Max Milligan (on her own) started clapping and then started rolling her arms around. It was so funny and so great that Daniel and I were both there to see her. She is just the thing to make me smile and pull me out of my funk.

Go Dawgs!

Max Milligan and I got up and put on our gear for the day. So much fun to get her dressed up in her game day outfit. She is definately a Dawg fan. Max Milligan says (very distinctly I might add) "mama", "dada", "duhduh" (doggy), "ti" (tilly) and my favorite- "ruh ruh" (dawg bark). Yes people -I did. I taught my daughter to bark like a Georgia Bulldog. It is the funniest thing ever. I mean, I thought it was funny when I taught Tilly how to bark on command when I said "sick em" but this is sooo much better. Now they both do it. I love to call my dad, the Tech alum, and get them to do it for him. He's a little disappointed in me!

Congrats Dawgs on your win today!

I DID IT!

No matter how often it happens, "firsts" are always a big deal. First tooth (6 at one time), first time sitting (and falling over), first time rolling over (and over and over), first crawl (even if she is going backwards) and then there is my favorite. The first bath time mohawk! I love it. It was so much fun. Max Milligan will have so many firsts in her life and I can't wait to be a part of it. No matter how old we get, we still get to have firsts too. Like me, here is my first BIG picture. Yeah me!

Appreciation

This week has been crazy. Max Milligan has an ear infection. Not just one ear, BOTH ears are infected. Plus she has ulcers around her mouth due to the high fevers she was having. Luckily it was Daniel's short week on night shift which means that he will be working tonight and tomorrow night, so he was stay-at-home dad with Max Milligan Mon, Tues and Wed while I went to work.

After a few restless nights (all beginning last Thurs) and getting up at six every morning for work, this morning I was beat. This morning I asked for 20 minutes extra sleep. Sweet Daniel obliged and went to get the morning started. In 20 minutes, he had coffee made, Max Milligan up, bottle almost finished, an omelet waiting for me and was attempting to feed MM breakfast. She was not having it and I walked in the kitchen, refreshed, to see her throw a toy onto the floor with an "I'm testing you" look on her face. Daniel said to her, "I can tell someone is going to get a spanking today, well, maybe not a spanking, but definitely time out." HA- LARIOUS!!

I sat down and started to eat my breakfast that I didn't cook and drink my coffee that I didn't make and then heard some pretty awesome words that started my day off right. "I don't know how you do this every morning" That my friends, is appreciation.

Don't get me wrong, Daniel and I are teammates in every way and he does sooo much, but there are times when I feel down and out. I feel beat. I feel like I go, go, go. I never stop until my head hits the pillow at night. These past few days, with MM home with Daniel, I wasn't rushing to get Max Milligan to daycare and me to work on time or rushing to pick her up so we can go to the groce and get home before nap time, supper time, bedtime bottle, prayers and bedtime. Wehw. That makes me tired.

But this morning, I felt appreciated. For my hard work, for my love, for my "momminess" and for being a wife. I just felt appreciated. And for that I want to thank my husband. Thank you for taking such good care of us and for being the best daddy ever. And I truly appreciate you.

My Little Butterfly

This weekend was so much fun. We took Whit's advice and relaxed. Friday mama came over and we went to see Mama Mia. SOOO GREAT! I loved every minute of it. Saturday we went to DIG. It's a gardening center and it is beautiful. The owners are very knowledgable and love to just make things more beautiful. (I'll make sure pictures of my new yard are posted at a later date.) I took pictures of Max Milligan while we were there. How cute is my little butterfly?

Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon the fam went swimming. Max Milligan loves the water, which Daniel and I are excited about. So to some, our weekend might not seem like much, but to us, it was butterfly heaven.

Another milestone

This past Saturday, Max Milligan hit another milestone. It may not be a big deal to some, but for our little family it was huge. Saturday, our big girl Max Milligan, spent the night off. The whole night! I took her over to Blakely Saturday around lunch and we went to Bowen's first birthday party, which was so much fun. Then, I left. I left my baby girl and went back to Albany. Daniel took me out to dinner and we listened to Brandon play at Harvest Moon. Then we went home and went to bed. Sunday, I slept until 9:00. OH MY GOODNESS that is late. When I went back to get her she was so excited to see me. I am not kidding, she was excited and nobody can tell me anything different. Mama told me that she did so good. Noah spent the night with yah yah too and I was told that he completely entertained Max Milligan by standing on the coffee table and singing "My Girl" So we all got through it and it wasn't so bad. I am blessed with a sweet baby, an entertaining nephew and a very brave Yah Yah.

Bath Time

Max Milligan LOVES bathtime. Tilly loves bathtime as well. Squeeky toys are a big hit with both my girls. Max Milligan has already figured out how to aggrivate Tilly by keeping the toys away. Tilly just gets her back by "helping" bathe her.

Boys have Cooties

This is Jackson Ross, Lisa and Spanks little boy. He came over to play with Max Milligan last weekend. He was sooo sweet and when I wanted to take a picture of the two of them playing, Jackson offered to put his arm around Max Milligan. Well this is what happened. Max Milligan's lip started to poke out and she looked at him like what are you doing??? I could not help but get completely tickled. I pray for Max Milligan's future husband nightly. I pray that he will be strong in his faith and that he will love my daughter and his God with all his heart. But until then baby girl, this is just fine.

Wonder

This picture captures more than a baby and a fern. This is all things wonderful in this world. This is the innocense of childhood and the constant wonder and amazement that we have with nature and all things that He created. God is wonderful, my friends. So many times we look but we do not see, we listen but we don't hear. But children see things. They look, really look and want to know and learn and love. Max Milligan amazes me every day. EVERY DAY! Thank you Lord for this wonderful blessing.

Happy Fourth of July

I just have to say that i have some pretty amazing friends. My two best friends live in Atlanta and Athens and I do not get to see them as much as I want to. Sometimes I think Daniel gets tired of my pining, but I cannot help it. I miss me some Jamie and Melinda daily. Every now and then we get a chance to hang out. These girls are two of the most beautiful, funny, wild, loving, caring, special women I know. In November Jamie will be getting married and then come April sweet Mel will be getting hitched as well. And on goes the love. Isn't it funny that we are here? Wasn't it just yesterday that we were sitting on the porch on College Street talking about when life begins. Well here we are ladies. Thank you for being in mine always.

Melinda and me at her engagement party. Katie, Hannah and Becky

Jamie, Angie and Me on Girls Night Out!

Katie and Jamie at The Catch

A few pictures from this past month

can i just say like father like daughter. how funny is this?

Okay so now i'll say "like mother like daughter" she loves the horses.

oh my goodness how cute is she. i can't believe how much i love her!

Toothy toothy toothy

People we have a tooth! I came home from the gym yesterday to a baby with the smallest bit of a tooth popping through her gums. I was so excited. I would have NEVER imagined that something like a first tooth would be such a big deal. One more milestone that Max Milligan has met. Shine on you crazy diamond.

First Family Beach Trip

Daniel, Max Milligan and I had an exciting weekend. We took our first beach trip, we stopped nursing, we drank juice out of a sippy cup and we rolled over and slept all night on our side! Well technically "we" only took the beach trip. Max Milligan did the rest. I am feeling so many emotions right now. Looking back, I had a really hard time with the whole nursing thing. Trouble latching, it hurt, she ate ALL THE TIME and I just felt overwhelmed and kind of like a failure. Mama kept telling me, "just give it two weeks." Well, I gave it two weeks and at that mark I had a break down and almost threw in the towel and gave Max Milligan a bottle. But mama, being who she is and the best mom ever, came to our rescue immediately. She pulled me out from under the covers and sat with me for two days every time Max Milligan needed to nurse. She coaxed me through and I made it. Several times throughout this nursing experience I have almost given out and up, but again I was encouraged and found a way to increase my supply (sorry guys who read this). Then I got sick and it pretty much wiped me out. So over the last few weeks I have been nursing less and less until this weekend Max Milligan just said that's it and we had to go full on bottle. I didn't cry, surprising enough. But I did find that even that little encouragement of "she's ready, Katie" from mama was what I needed to get through this and be okay with it.
Well I was going to write about the beach trip but I guess something a little deeper came out of this. I can not believe how big she is getting. Again she is a blessing to us every day.

Sittin' round just thinkin'

This saturday Daniel and I were talking about milestones. We understand that babies reach milestones at different times but we were just wondering about them. Daniel decided that if the "sitting up by yourself "milestone happens around 6 mos, then at 5 mos we should be "practicing." So we took Max Milligan to the living room sat her up and tadaaaa, this is what we got. Now I understand that technically she is sitting up, but does it count if she's got her belly propped on her legs and that is how she is sitting up? Let's say yes! Congratulations for reaching another milestone,MM. Daddy and Mama love you, we are in love with you and you are a beautiful beautiful girl. You amaze us daily.

A note to James Taylor

Dear James Taylor,
Here is a little story for you. A while back I bought my mother a wooden sign that says, "the only thing wrong with life is that there is no background music." We thought this sign was very funny, because my family is that odd breed of people who are so in love with music that we do have "background" music playing in our heads constantly. We wake up with a song in our heads and throughout the day, we are humming a variety of songs to ourselves depending on what we are doing at that time. There's some Loggins and Messina, a little Allman Brothers, Simon and Garfunkle, Nylons at times, definately the Beatles, of course Jimmy Buffet but above all there is you. There is one of your songs (or several) for every part of my life. I was rocked to sleep with "Your Smiling Face." I danced to "Up On the Roof" on the roof with my sisters. I rolled down my windows and sang "Country Road" at the top of my lungs driving home from college for the first time. I listened to "Something in the Way She Moves" and prayed for someone to feel that way about me. I know all the words to all the songs.
You were at my wedding. There was no cannon in D for me. Mothers and Grandmothers were seated to my mother's favorite song, "Your Smiling Face." My bridesmaids (and best friends) walked down to "You've Got a Friend." I did walk down to the Beatles BUT Daniel and I exited to "How Sweet it is To Be Loved By You."
When I found out I was pregnant, "Sweet Baby James" was playing in my head as happy tears fell. I waited for 40 weeks to rock my baby to your songs. She is five months old now and I cannot believe how much she loves music. One Man Band stays in the car. If the is getting the least bit grumpy about riding. It goes on and she settles down. We had a difficult couple of nights where she was fussy with her last bottle. I got out James Taylor greatest hits, put it on and what happened??? She turned her head and stared at the cd player, settled down, and took her bottle like a pro.
Music is such a huge part of my being. It is emotional and brings so much to life for me. It amazes me that already music can get her moving and laughing, it can calm her down. I pray that she will continue to grow in her love of music. That she will experience concerts and "shows" and opera and whatever else that will bring emotion to the table. I cannot wait to take her to her first concert. Who will it be? Looking forward to a little James Taylor time!

Now I lay me down to sleep...

Every night, we do the same thing. We have a bottle while we rock. Then we get changed into our bedtime clothes. Then the little munchkin knows what is coming up and she starts getting excited. Her angel comes down and we have prayer time. Max Milligan starts smiling and cooing and kicking and reaching for her. She brings her down so that they are face to face and she just stares as if she is concentrating on the words that this angel is saying. I just love that she is learning that prayer time is a part of her day and a part of her little world.

My Aunt Tookie sent a check to us and told me to buy Max Milligan something wonderful. I really did think long and hard about what to get, but when I saw this outfit the thinking was over. To me, this outfit embodies my aunt Tookie and all the Bethea girls. See, the Bethea girls grew up in Tatum, South Carolina and ventured over to Myrtle Beach for a little fun in the sun, dancing and the real beach music. I can just picture them laying out, playing on the beach, riding bicycles, flirting with the boys and maybe even surfing. So this dress is in honor of those Bethea girls, Blanch, Gene, Dot (aka Gmama) and Tookie. Thank you Aunt Tookie.
One thing that I have been thinking about is that I want Max Milligan to know her family. I mean KNOW them. I want her to meet everyone and if she can't meet them all I want her to definately know that they are out there. By showing her pictures, talking to them on the phone, and telling her stories about them. I am so grateful that my grandparents and parents and aunts and uncles and cousins have always been story tellers. I am glad that they have shared their life experiences with me so that I will be able to pass them on to Max Milligan. I pray that she will listen to these stories and learn things from them. Things to do and certainly some things NOT to do. I pray that she will know their losses and their gains, their heartaches and their loves. I pray that she will know their lives. Thank you to my family. All of them. I love y'all

The going ons at the Davis home

Max Milligan sitting outside with
mama brushing Tilly

Daddy and Max Milligan
Mama and Max Milligan
Chillin at Loco's on a Sunday afternoon

Boot Camp

Am I nuts? I mean seriously people, am I crazy? Some say yes some say no. If I am not crazy then why on earth did I sign up for BOOT CAMP???? Yes, you heard me correctly. Not only did I sign myself up, I signed my coworkers Sharla and Sarah up for it too. It's every Tuesday for the next six weeks. Our instructer is Sue and Jamie, it's that Sue from Tony's. She is going to wip us into shape. We'll be outside running sprints, pushups, situps, the list goes on and on and on! What am I doing? I'll tell you what I'm doing. I am getting into shape. Next time you see me I will be hottie boom bottie! Hee Hee!

baby girl is 4 mos old

Well Max Milligan is 4 mos old and every day she gets bigger and becomes more coordinated by the second. This weekend we headed up to Atlanta to see the Barrows clan. Poor baby was passed around all day and she entertained them until she passed out. And now we are home and we just put her down to sleep and I am waiting for her to wake up again. It may be a long night.

Houston we have a problem

People, we have a problem. Baby girl is growing up too fast for mama. First with the laughing, then last night she rolled over (yeah rah go team) and now... she is moving from size one diapers to SIZE 2. How can this be? I have tried so hard to keep her in the size ones. Partly b/c i hate being wasteful and wanting to use them up, but mostly because size two means she's getting bigger and bigger means growing up and growing up means soooo much!!! It's scary, it's exciting, it's BIG! I pray, sunshine girl, that you continue to grow. In size and in spirit. And shine on you crazy diamond!

The greatest sound in the world

Baby girl laughed today. Not the little giggle that she has done before but a throw your head back, laugh out loud, greatest sound in the world- LAUGH! Daniel, Max Milligan, Tilly and I took a little stroll to the park down from our house. I took MM out of her stroller and sat down on the ground so that she could feel the grass beneath her feet. Those who know Tilly know that the outside and pine cones mean PLAY TIME! so Tilly was tossing pine cones at us trying to get us to play. Finally daniel kicked one for her to chase and Max Milligan thought that it was the funniest thing she had ever seen. So Daniel kept kicking the pine cone and MM kept laughing and looking up at me like she was saying, "are you watching this?" I will never forget this day!

Happy Anniversary to ME!

So many things to be grateful for in my life. One of them is my wonderful, good lookin, loves me so much husband. Monday was our one year anniversary and can I say this, "whoa what a year."
Friday, Daniel and I went to Callaway Gardens by ourselves. God was so with us because it rained on the way there and it rained on the way home but it did not rain while we were there except for a small drizzle while we were sitting on a swing in a garden. PERFECTION! Daniel and I had a picnic overlooking a lake. A slight breeze moving over the water. We watched a birds of prey exhibit with a hawk, a great horned owl and a falcon that flew right over our heads. Those who know me know that I do not like birds. In fact they freak me out!!! But this was not so bad. Pretty fascinating in fact. Did you know that the great horned owl has assymetrical ears? One points up and the other points south. So cool. We also went to the butterfly conservatory and the horticulture place. It really was a beautiful day. And it has been a beautiful and blessed year. I am looking forward to many many more.

the winners of the egg toss

and the LOSER