Our Weekend at the Farm

We spent the first weekend in June in El Campo with Michael's grandmother. We had a great time relaxing, eating like kings and generally doing a whole bunch of nothing. It was a perfect weekend. Here are some pics from the trip.

Maggie is not sure what to make of all the milo.

But she sure enjoyed the wash tub.

Relaxing with Great-grandma.

Grandma's Place

Any Day Now...

MagB will be walking.

11 Months

Maggie is now 11 months and 2 weeks old. It seems so hard to believe. It has been so much fun watching her grow and learn. It really is the coolest thing. This week she has started trying to walk. She is becoming more adventurous and loves to stand on her own. She has even ventured out with a couple of steps here and there and it's the cutest thing. She'll let go of the couch and toddle a couple of steps to where I'm sitting in the chair and then back. It's just so much fun watching her realize what she just did and seeing how proud she looks when we make a big deal of it. Then she wants to do it over and over again to get the same reaction. She just loves it when we make a big deal over her. And we do. Alot.

I have to admit that even though Maggie is almost a year old we had yet to venture far down the path of introducing table foods to her - aside from the occasional bites of macaroni and cheese, spaghetti and mashed potatoes. But we spent this weekend at Michael's grandmothers and were treated to a bounty of fresh vegetables from her garden. Since this is a rare find in the Krenek house, we took the opportunity to let Maggie eat her fill of good-for-you foods and she loved it. The child could not get enough green beans and black-eyes peas and squash. And now, since she got a taste of what we eat, she thinks she is entitled to anything we are eating. And she is not patient about it. Don't even think about trying to cut it into bite-sized pieces. See demonstration below:

(By the way - this video drove me to join Weight Watchers on Monday. Yikes. )

Maggie still enjoys chasing Toby. Here are a few pictures from a recent pursuit:

This is how Maggie crawls when she has a dress on: And Apparently it's exhausting (or perhaps she's "playing dead" in an attempt to trick Toby):

Or not. This appears to be a stare-off...


Not much else is going on here. We had a fun Memorial Day weekend with family and friends. Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

We spent Saturday at Mimi & Papa's with the cousins. Here are some shots of the cousins playing in the sprinkler.

Then we went to church on Sunday. Here is Mags before church. This first picture cracks me up. It looks like it should have been taken around 100 years ago when people didn't smile because photographs took so darn long.

Then on Monday we went to the McCoy's for some excellent food and fun. Maggie quite enjoyed playing with the letter magnets on the Fridge.

...and chewing on them too...

Here she hangs out with the menfolk on the porch:

This post is getting long so I will wrap things up with a video of Maggie at bath time. She enjoys splashing around in the tub.

Love to all!

Toys? What Toys?

There is not much more that fascinates Maggie these days than a cabinet full of dishes, an open dishwasher and an open refrigerator! Here she is with a recent find.


This is not a flattering picture of MagB. It does, however, showcase her new pearly whites. And yes, they really are that big and that is indeed a big ol' space you see between them. I'm not sure anyone else could pull off this look so adorably!

Since it has been a month since the last post I will leave you with some video of the Magster. In the first she is chasing Toby the Cat - something she does often. She gets the cutest little cackle going whenever she sees Toby. These are a little dark - but that's what you get when you use your digital camera as a video camera!

More cackle...

In other news, I got a fabulous new SLR camera for Mother's Day and am in the process of learning how to use it! Will post some pics from the new cam shortly! Hope you all have a great long weekend!

Tuckered out!

I don't know what they do all day at Maggie's school but whatever it is, it wears her out. On this particular day she couldn't even last through dinner.

Here are a few pics of our grown-up Mags ready to go to church. In case you are concerned - we did put some socks on her before we left!


I love the look on her face in this picture:

Our MagB gives the sweetest (and wettest) kisses. Here Michael captures some on video:

Hope you all have a great week! We love you.

Spring has Sprung (with a Vengence)

I have a love-hate relationship with Spring. On the one hand, I love that everything is fresh and new and starting to bloom. On the other hand, with the arrival of Spring comes storms. I worry about a lot of things - most of them out of my control. The weather is one of those things. There is not a whole lot more (not even deep water or swimming pool drains) that panics me more than the threat of severe weather. I come by this naturally. My dad's dad was a major weather worrier and my dad has those tendencies as well. I now count myself among the third generation of Nance's to sleep in close proximity of a NOAA weather radio. (Fully equipped with an alarm to notify me when a watch or warning is issued for my county!) So imagine my anxiety last week when on Monday, local TV weathermen began forecasting a "moderate" risk for severe weather later in the week. You have to love TV journalists and their flair for the dramatic. On Monday they were already predicting a doomsday forecast with likely tornadoes on Wednesday and Thursday. While the average person may take this news with a grain of salt - since forecasts are rarely accurate; especially in Texas – I go into major storm-track mode. I’m accessing every weather radar, NWS Polygon warning and short-and-long-term forecast I can get my hands on. It truly is exhausting being me. Turns out this time, though, the weathermen were right – at least where I live. For a good half hour in the wee morning hours on Thursday Michael, Maggie, Toby (the cat) and I bunkered up in the “toilet closet” of our Master Bathroom while the warning sirens blared and the storm bore down on us. We could tell it was bad; we just were not sure how bad. Michael ventured out of the closet once to assess the situation and came quickly back with news that the tree in our back yard was split in two. Now I must admit that in my head I thought, “That probably just means that there is a limb or two broken off.” (As some husbands of former journalists also have a flair for the dramatic at times.) But when the storm passed and we emerged from the toilet closet and took a look outside we found that of the four trees we have in our backyard – we had 1 1/2 remaining. But we were safe – and that is all that really mattered. Trees can be replanted. Turns out it was a tornado that hit. Albeit and EF1 – but a tornado none the less. Maggie’s first – and hopefully last.

Here are some pics we took:

First, here is what our backyard used to look like:





This is what it looks like now:

I don't know if you can tell, but this is the same shot as the one above. Of the three big trees that were once there. This is what we have left.

This is the big tree that is in the first picture - but now it's in half. (Turns out Michael was not kidding.)

Will post pics of Maggie soon! Have a great week.

Happy Easter

Maggie seemed to enjoy her first Easter. We went to church with my parents and then the rest of the Nance/Isler/Pressnell clans converged for a yummy dinner and the obligatory egg hunt. MagB did not particpate in the egg hunt this year but - cousins be warned - next year it's on! She did, however, participate in her day care's egg hunt on Good Friday and I'm just going to come out and say it: she got gypped! Of the six eggs she came home with only two included treats - one with some gummy lifesaver bunnies (which mommy enjoyed) and one with some stickers. The rest were empty. Empty! WHO BRINGS EMPTY EGGS TO AN EGG HUNT??? Now I might not be so bothered by this had I not spent all week worrying about what to include in the eggs Maggie would take to school. I mean, what do you put in a egg for a 9 month old? Candy is out. Stickers are an option but they don't know what to do with them yet. Michael graciously raided two different Target stores looking for options. (Thank you honey!) We finally decided on socks. Exciting? No. But what infant could not use an extra pair of socks? And, they fit easily into a small plastic orb. Of course Maggie was not bothered at all by the lack of treats. I, however, was a bit miffed.

With that rant, I will leave you with some more Easter pics of Maggie and a darling video of Michael making Maggie laugh. I love that precious laugh!

Hope you all have a great week!