Caroline's Graduation

It's about time...Caroline finally graduated from high school!  My sweet little sister is now a high school graduate.  I couldn't be more proud of her.  There is an eight year age difference between Caroline and I.  So...we pretty much were raised like only children!  I left home for college when Caroline was just 10 and since then she has had my parents and the house to herself.  I don't remember, nor was I around for most of Caroline's childhood.  I missed getting to watch her grow up and become the sweet young lady she is today.  Now I would say we are closer than ever and I consider her to be one of my very best friends.  She will move to Jackson, MS in a few months to attend Millsaps College and play volleyball.  We are so excited to get to watch her play for the next four years.



Caroline and I at  Baccalaureate.

Caroline is the last grandchild on both sides of my family to graduate.  My Grandmother and my dad's brother and sister came in town with their families to witness the special occasion! No more high school graduations for The McKey's!!! Yay!!! Caroline graduated with honors and we couldn't be more proud of her!  Mary Grayson has such a wonderful role model as an Aunt and we are so looking forward to what the Lord has planned for her!

My Dad's side of the family with The Dudley's and Aunt Sadie

Our family with the graduate.

We love you Caroline!

Half Way to First Birthday

Happy half birthday MG!  Yesterday MG made 6 months old!! We cannot believe time has flown so fast!  Just yesterday it seems like we brought the little munchkin home!  Today we went to see our new pediatrician , Dr. Weed, for MG's 6 month shots :(!  She did great and we are happy to report she is 17 pounds 5.5 ounces (77%) and 25 inches long (24%).  We've got a little shorty on our hands!  We started a tradition of making a mark on our pantry door frame so one day MG can see just how much she has grown!(6 inches in 6 months so far!)

We have enough hair for a little ponytail now!

And everything goes in my mouth!

Little smile!

We took away the sign for a better chance at a good pic!

After 6 months MG has...
#1 Found her voice!!! She literally yells when she's happy, sad or just to hear herself scream!  It's sort of become a trade mark and 90% of the time it makes Marvin and I laugh.
#2 Mastered the art of sitting up!  Yep...she's a sitter and she is on the verge of just getting up a running!  She seems to be pretty bored with sitting and usually ends up on her tummy frustrated because she can't get to where she wants to go without one of us picking her up!
#3 Been on another plane ride!  She did great flying with me to New Orleans for Caroline's graduation.
#4 Fallen in love with banana pudding!!! Yes...she loved it!  I can't blame her.  Her Mommy and Daddy have a weakness for it too!
#5 Tried all sorts of baby food! And she hasn't seemed to dislike any of it! Bananas are her favorite! Daddy cringes when he feeds her the green veggies.
#6 Been teething FOREVER!!!! She is constantly wearing a bib because the slobber is just OUT OF CONTROL! Everything goes in her mouth first (toys, hands, Mommy's hair, etc..)  Hopefully, we will have 1 or 2 teeth to report with next months highlights.

In honor of MG's six month birthday we let her stay in her cupcake pj's all day and went on a long walk to the park with Sarge!  It was a great day!  

We can't wait to see what this month brings! Month 7 here we come!!!

First Mother's Day

Mary Grayson and I went home to Baton Rouge for my sister, Caroline's, senior sports banquet over Mother's Day weekend!  Grammy and Paw-Paw watched MG for the night, so I got a chance to really enjoy watching Caroline receive many well-deserved althlethic honors.  This year she won a State Double's Championship in tennis and was named MVP of her volleyball team!  Needless to say, I was a proud sister! 

Mom, Dad, Caroline and I with the State Champion Tennis Trophy

Grandmother got to come to the banquet too!  Caroline is her last grandchild to graduate from high school!

Sunday was my first Mother's Day, so we went to visit my grandmother in the nursing home!  She was so excited to see us and even got to feed MG her morning bottle! Then we went to a fun Mother's Day Brunch at Bocage (our racket club)!  Overall it was such a nice day!  Marvin had to work and couldn't travel with us.  MG gave me a Starbucks gift card and a new comforter set for our bed!  I am so blessed to be a mommy!!!

Me, MG and Meme on Mother's Day!



Mom, Dad, Me, MG and Caroline after brunch!



5 Months Old

April 26th Mary Grayson turned 5 months old!  She is literally growing up before our eyes.  Marvin and I were just talking the other day about how one day she's laying around on her back and the next day she is sitting up on her own without any help!  We are so enjoying watching her "new tricks!"  We are trying to video her more, so we will try to get those up on her so you can see our little one in action!  While we were in Baton Rouge for Easter we took MG swimming at Caroline's boyfriend, Tyler's house!  We get there and everyone is putting on their suits when I suddenly remember I had left MG's little bathing suit in her bag at home!! What an awful mother I am??  (and it was the cutest zebra print suit EVER!!!)  Needless to say, we improvised and borrowed one of Tyler's cousin's suits.  Yes...it was a little big as you can see from the pictures, but we made do!  It took some getting used to, but MG loved, loved, loved the pool and the hot tub! Then one of my best friends, Katie and her husband and little boy, Brandt came over for crawfish!  Again, MG was unimpressed with the crawfish.  Brandt didn't care too much for Katie holding MG!  But he was so so sweet to her!

Playing after we got out of the pool!  I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!

MG at her first crawfish boil!

Sweet kisses from Brandt.

5 MONTH HIGHLIGHTS:

-eating solid food (She loves sweet potatoes)

-rolling over from her stomach to her back (only a select few have witnessed it, Mommy not being one of them!)

-wearing size 2 diapers

-in 3-6 month clothes

-sitting with minimal assistance

-MG loves toys with lights and music

-went on her 1st airplane ride

-loves to talk and sing (especially at bedtime!)

-loves her bath

We love you MG and we can't wait to see what next month brings!

Birthday, Bunny and Baptism

April 24, 2011 was a VERY, VERY, VERY busy day for us Waggoners! This year Easter fell on my birthday! Sometimes I feel too young (26!) to be married and a mom!  I had a wonderful birthday! Mary Grayson gave me a beautiful fleur-di-lis planter for our front walk and Marvin gave me a new watch.   It was also Easter Sunday and the Easter bunny did come and visit Miss Mary Grayson!  We tried our hand at dying Easter Eggs, but MG wasn't too interested.  Last, but certainly not least, to wrap up our busy Easter Sunday, Mary Grayson was baptized at the church I grew up in back in Baton Rouge.  It was such a special day for us as we verbalized  in front of the Lord and our family our promise to teach Mary Grayson about her Savior until the day she can declare for herself her belief in Him!  Following the service, a brunch was held at my parent's house complete with great food and wonderful fellowship with close family and friends. For those that know her well, my mother's spiritual gift is OBVIOUSLY hospitality! She has a God-given talent of opening her home and entertaining with such Southern charm and grace!  This occasion was no exception EXCEPT for the fact that right when our guests began to arrive the electricity went out!!! Our house was not the only one affected by the outage!  Our whole street was without power. Oh! Did I mention it was sweltering hot?  It is Louisiana after all.  So after we moved the party out on our deck, a nice breeze helped to cool things off a bit as we played volleyball and croquet in the yard!  It was a great party and Mary Grayson did excellent.  She even brought her best smiles for her best friends!  Here are a few pictures from our special day!

Helping dye Easter eggs!

MG's Easter basket

Mommy and MG before her Christening.  My mom made her gown!

Rev. Andrews with Mary Grayson

Family Pic at church.  MG was tired!  It was a busy day.

MG and her godmother, Aunt "Linnie".

MG with her Grandmothers and Great Grandmother

MG with Grammy and Paw-Paw

Laughing in her Easter dress.

First Foods

Yes...as the title suggests Miss Mary Grayson has advanced to some solid foods!  These are a few pics from her first meal of sweet potatoes and applesauce! 

We have since added some rice cereal and bananas!  She loves loves loves to eat!  I guess she gets it from her Mommy and Daddy!

1st Plane Ride

This past weekend MG got to take her 1st REAL trip!  Yes...on an airplane!! We flew from Houston to Atlanta, GA for my Samford tennis team reunion! Getting through security with a car seat, stroller, carry-on bag and diaper bag was QUITE a challenge!  I had to take my shoes off, take MG out of the car seat, take the car seat out of the stroller (because it had to run through the x-ray scanner too!!), take the liquids out of the diaper bag, AND get the breast milk I brought litmus tested before even walking though security to our gate!!! Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck.  It was almost as if every possible person who could have helped me ran the opposite direction when they discovered I was traveling by myself with a four month old! I'm not sure if I blame them!!! And they had me thinking I was nuts by the time I got to our gate.  Fortunately the Delta crew at my gate were nothing but helpful and gate-checked my stroller and car seat and allowed me and sweet MG to board last.  Once at the entrance to the plane the crew must have notified the pilot that this was going to be MG's first flight and let us snap a couple of pics in the cock pit! 

MG and I in the cock pit.  She was really into the pilot on the right!

Finally in our seat!

 Once we finally made it to our seat I was informed that the crew had left the middle seat open between me and the other passenger so I could put the diaper bag if I needed to. Luckily the other passenger was a sweet teenage girl who kept telling me how good MG was being!  That made me feel good.  She took a bottle as we were taking off and then fell asleep the rest of the way!

Slept the whole time!

As we were exiting the plane the pilot handed MG her first set of "wings" and his card with a note on the back with all the details of her first flight!  So sweet!! I am so blessed to have a sweet little girl!  Everyone just loved her and I was so glad she was such an angel on the flight.

My team tries to get together once a year and catch up and this year we got to initiate 3 little Bulldogs into the group!  My best friend, Christie, met us at baggage claim and then drove us to her parents house where we would be staying the weekend. Once we got there we met up with Emily and her little boy Hudson (8 months).  It was so much fun seeing the two of them together.

Christie with Hudson and MG

We had an awesome lasagna dinner and then got the kiddos to bed! The rest of the girls came in on Friday!  Whitnie and Bethany from Birmingham, AL and Anna and Analei from Columbus, OH!  We gathered from around the country for a fun weekend! The weather was perfect and even got a chance to get the kids in the pool.  Here are a few pictures from the rest of our weekend!

Hudson and MG in the bath.

Chase (Christie's brother) with MG

Analei and Whitnie

Trying to catch a good girl pic.  This is all we got!!

Our first time in a bathing suit.

First time in the pool.

Anna and I with the girls in the hot tub.

Katie Mac drove in to have dinner with us on Saturday night!  Everyone minus Analei.  She was napping!

Trying out Hudson's bumbo seat.

Analei helping MG with her bottle.

The one shot of all three of them in one place at the same time!

Mommies and babies in the pool.

Christie's sweet parents offered to baby-sit while we went to a quiet dinner at the Country Club.  This is how I foud MG and Mr. Mac when I got home!! (Naked and asleep!)

Ready to go home and see Daddy.

Overall we had an amazing trip.  I thought MG was such a trooper, battling not sleeping in her own bed and in a different time zone! We were sad to leave our new friends, but excited to come home to Daddy!  MG did great on the flight home!  I think we have a world traveler in the making!