...Maggie's 3 Month Pictures...

Can you believe that little Maggie is 3 Months old?

This Wednesday, October 24th, Maggie will officially be 3 Months old. I just can't believe it! I know I am totally bias, but she is more beautiful everyday. She is still such a sweet and loving baby.

This past Saturday, Josh wanted to go and have a "photo shoot" with baby Maggie for her pictures. He is loving his photography gear and is using it whenever he can. Since we were due for pictures anyway and it was an absolutely gorgeous day, we headed to the local park. It was so much fun just playing and laughing and watching Maggie respond to Josh's camera. She loves to just smile and giggle and make some adorable noises.

We had an awesome day just being a family. The pictures Josh captured mean even more because he was the photographer. Hope you love them!

You can check out all of the pictures that were captured on Saturday by linking to Josh's Photography Website and clicking the Maggie2 gallery!

What A Wonderful World...

I love Friday's. I love how they signal that the weekend is about to begin! Everything is going swell at the moment. Josh is feeling okay. Is starting to have some minor pains in his chest again, but he has had to decrease some of his medications, so he feels like it is his body trying to get back to "normal." He has now been back to work for a month and doing fine. His co-workers are always checking on him to make sure he is doing fine. He returns back to his De-Fib doctor at the of November, so hopefully that will be a positive visit.

Ms. Maggie is growing like a weed. It seems like she grows from the time that I drop her off in the mornings to the time I pick her up in the afternoons. She will be 3 months old on the 24th of this month. That is hard to believe!! She has a wonderful and sweet personality. I can tell she is going to be such a sweet little girl.

Work for me has been going great. The kids have been awesome to come back to. They all seem to have missed me a lot and always ask about Maggie and how old she is. My co-workers at both schools have been wonderful.

We traveled up to Indiana this past weekend to see Josh's extended family, whom we have not seen since before Maggie was born. Everyone there was very glad to be able to check up on Josh and spend some time together. The trip was great, but really wore all of us out. You know, you have to pack the whole house and garage to be able to go out of town for a weekend. We stayed at Josh's mom and dad's house and had a great time. We visited a special place in Indiana called Applacres. It is an apple orchard and small shop. It was really cute. Josh has been talking about this place since we got married. He had a lot of special memories from there as a child. It was a great time to just go and enjoy the beautiful day and weather.

Brea and Jonathan have their new addition. Little Mary Elizabeth came home on Saturday and is doing great! She went to the Dr. on Monday for a check-up and she weighed 4 pounds 10 ounces. She is sleeping and eating great. Brea and Jonathan just glow with excitement. Anna, Isaac, and Luke love her very much. What a sweet family.

...I made it through the day!

So many people have been concerned about how my first day and week of school went. Thanks for all the sweet comments and concerns.

My first day back to school was out of this world. I never expected it to go as well as it did. Now, let me start by saying that I cried my eyes out all night Sunday because I knew I had to leave her on Monday morning. I couldn't even see to give her her bath because my eyes were just filled with tears. I woke up ready to get through the day. I knew that I was going to leave her, but with my mom, JuJu...who would take excellent care of her. Maggie loves her JuJu. She is going to be a very special person to Maggie, I can already tell. With Maggie feed and changed, mom had arrived to get her. She came to my house to give me a little extra time...so sweet of her!

Mom left the same time as me, only she had Maggie. That was so hard to pull out of the driveway without her and know that I wouldn't see her again until 3 o'clock that afternoon. I called twice to check on her and she was great. She did great all day and I couldn't get to mom's house fast enough that afternoon. I was even okay if I got pulled over. I thought to myself...
ok, I'll just pay the ticket if I get pulled over, I don't care.

School was fantastic. The kids really seemed to miss me and all were very excited when they saw me again. All I heard most of the day was..."Mrs. Harris, It's Mrs. Harris. She's back...Look, Look!!" How cute those words were. Children are so sweet and innocent. My awesome co-worker and great friend, Molly, had made a banner to welcome me back. It was hanging on the stage wall when I walked in. It read "Welcome Back Mrs. Harris! We Love(heart) You!" I will say, it brought tears to my eyes. It was so thoughtful and I knew Molly put a lot of time into it and making it special. She also arranged for all of the students to sign it. It was perfect. How special did I feel!

(This is me and my co-worker and great friend, Molly.)

The people that I work with are so caring and thoughtful. The school receptionist and Library assistant also got together make Josh and I's dinner for the night...They said they knew it would be a busy day and just didn't want me to worry with making dinner. I was floored by the kindness of my co-workers. Everyone wanted to know how my family was doing. Everyone knew about Josh's illness and was dying to know how he was recovering and how Baby Maggie was doing. It was so great to feel loved and appreciated.

So I am happy to say that I have made it through the first week, and I know that it will continue to get easier. The past two mornings when I have taken Maggie to mom's house, she is sound asleep. It is the sweetest sound to just listen to her sleep. I just drive to mom's with no music on, just listening to her. I am happy to get back to work. The children have missed me, which is an awesome feeling. I guess I just look at returning to work as another thing in our lives that is getting back to "normal." I do miss Maggie every minute of everyday. I just love her.
I just do...

The Day Has Come...

...So tomorrow is the day I have dreaded since I found out I was pregnant last year...I return back to work...

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job in every way. I love my co-workers, I love the kiddos, I love the schools I teach at. I just love Maggie more. I am really going to miss her. I know that she will be in great hands and will survive just fine without me for 7 hours, but I just am so sad to leave her. I know that tomorrow will be a very hard day to overcome. I just hope I don't spend the whole day crying!

I guess I just sit here thinking about how much this family has been through in the past 2 and a half months. It is just amazing. I just think of the time that I have had at home as the biggest blessing...time to watch Maggie grow and get to know her, time to take care of Josh and watch him recover, time to just be a mom. I believe that God shows us the greatest gifts through children. I always felt like our life was complete, but now I just know that our life was empty without Maggie. She is so fun and such a sweet baby. I know that she will continue to grow and change, I just hope that I can always remember these times and know that we are so blessed.

Maggie and Daddy...What a sweet picture!

How we love little girls!!!

How Josh and I love little girls...

If you haven't had a chance to check my sister's blog lately, here is what you have missed!!!

This is Mary Elizabeth Freeman...

On Friday, Brea and Jonathan found out they were getting a new daughter to add to their family. That means that Josh and I are an aunt and uncle again, how cool is that? She is adorable from the pictures that they have sent.

Brea and Jonathan are hoping to bring her home tomorrow, Monday. We are all very thrilled to meet her and get to know her. Maggie will have a great little girlfriend in Ms. Mary Elizabeth. They are exactly two weeks apart.

Brea and Jonathan are just thrilled with all that has happened in the last several days. Spending time on taking it all in and enjoying these moments.

So for those of you that are counting, Josh and I now have 5 nieces and 7 nephews!

Children are such a sweet blessing in life...Congratulations, Brea and J! We love you all!

Josh's Photography Take Two

As I have mentioned before, Josh is loving his new photography hobby. I think he is great at it! I just wanted to share some of his recent pictures he took yesterday. This is up in Greenbrier at an old Bridge along Old Springfield Highway. He has such a neat eye for how to capture objects, people, and structures.

He has also been working on his logo for his pictures. He made the little "jdh" camera logo in the bottom right corners of the pictures. How crafty is he?

Race for the Cure 2007

It's that time of year again!

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 2007

This is a wonderful opportunity to get out, enjoy the beautiful weather, and raise money for a great cause! The past three or four years, Rachel and I have walked in the Race for the Cure event. Breast cancer has always been a very important issue and cause to aid in raising money for. Several members of my family have had breast cancer, including my crazy Aunt Jane. I adore her and I have walked in her honor for the past races.

It is only $25.00 to walk and you get a T-Shirt with your fee.

Josh, Maggie, and I are all going to walk this year. Life is too short not to, in my opinion. It is always a great time for every member of your family!

This is a picture from last year. Alison, Mack, and Rachel ready to walk for a cure!

Here is the information on the Race for the Cure 2007:

Date: Saturday, November 3, 2007
Where: Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park downtown Nashville
Team Information: We are signing up under Rachel Smith's Team - Rachel's Runners
Begin Time: Registration is from 6:30 - 8:30 am and the actual race starts at 8:45 am but Rachel and I try to get there early to get all the free stuff before it's gone!
End Time: We’re usually home by noon ‘cause we’re pooped!
Cost: $25 per person (kids 0 – 5 are free)
Deadline: We must sign up by October 12.

Website to sign up:
https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=232528&lis=1&kntae232528=5CDF1FE6C1ED402DAD0656701F4AFB4B&supId=191105760

It is an awesome day and I hope all of you will join us!

Let me know if you need any other info!

Justin, Jodie, & Josh

The way that siblings love each other is such a special bond. It was so great to see Josh get to spend some time with his sister, Jodie, who lives in New Mexico and his brother, Justin, who lives in Indiana this past weekend. There are so few times that the three of them can get together and just hang out and enjoy each other. Jodie came in on Friday evening to visit with the three of us. We haven't seen her since June and we were so thrilled when she said that she wanted to come and meet Miss Maggie and check on her brother, whom she has been so worried about.

She is an amazing woman. She is a mother of seven...

Troy...Age 20, Adrienne...Age 18, Jennifer...Age 15, Michael...Age 10, Seth...Age 8, Aaron...Age 8, and Mark...Age 5. She is a wife to wonderful man named Jeff. He is in the Army out in New Mexico and does an outstanding job. She is a very special person to us and we just were thrilled that she could come out and visit for a couple of days.

We love you Jodie! Miss you loads already!

Our Family Picture

What a fantastic weekend! More details about that to come...

Here is a picture of our family (minus Dexter). Maggie was kind of sleepy, but we like it anyway.

Hope you enjoy it!

Alison (26), Josh (26), and Maggie (2 Months)