Stationery Card 18 Mar 2013 7:10 AM (12 years ago)

Framed With Hearts Girl Birth Announcement

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family of four :) 24 Jul 2012 4:54 PM (12 years ago)

Big news in the Surratt household this month! We are having another baby and Maggie Claire is going to be a big sister!!! Of course we are all really excited, and can not wait to meet this new little one!

My due date is February 28th, but I'm guessing the baby will be here before that because I'll have a scheduled csection (I had a csection last time w/mc).

I took a pregnancy test while Mike was at work and got a positive, so I wanted to do something fun to tell him we are expecting. I immediately threw on some cute clothes, got out the tripod and made a little setup! These pictures turned out cute, I love her sassy expression in the top right picture. hilarious! The funny thing is, Mike saw the picture of the pregnancy test on my ipad before I showed him these pictures. He said "why did you take a picture of a pregnancy test if you're not pregnant?" I said, "Mike, I am! read the lines!!!" It was really funny, and then I showed him these pictures. He is really excited too.

Here is the sweet little gummy bear! It felt so real seeing the baby on the screen for the first time, especially that fluttering heartbeat. The baby's heartrate was 167 beats per minute and measuring right on track at 7 weeks and 5 days.

This is going to be so fun comparing the two babies during my pregnancy. At Maggie Claire's first ultrasound, her hearbeat was 136 bpm. Now, I'm wondering if it's a boy?!?! who knows, we will be happy with either one and I can't wait to find out! I'll be 9 weeks on Thursday, and I am definitely ready to be done with all this queasiness and all the fatigue. All I can think about are those sweet sixteen white powdered donuts, yum... no wonder I can't button my pants anymore! haha

"Children are a heritage from the Lord,
offspring a reward from him."

Psalm 127:3

to: dada love: mags 17 Jun 2012 4:00 AM (12 years ago)

I have to say that I am truly blessed by my amazing husband. I don't brag on him as much as I should, but he is amazing! He is the best husband to me, and he is a super daddy to Maggie Claire. He comes home from work, lets Mags climb all over him, and enjoys every minute of it. I can't be more blessed!

Maggie Claire is REALLY into shoes right now, When it's time to leave, she makes sure everyone has their shoes on before we walk out the door. When we get home, she makes sure everyone takes their shoes off. When we are home throughout the day she wants to wear "booooots" in the summertime. Then occasionally she puts on Mike's shoes and tries to walk in them. She says, "dada shoes, dada shoes, dada shoes!!" It's funny how much she loves shoes. {she gets it from her grandmas, i'm sure}

When I married Mike, he knew I would be dragging him to the beach, and as I'm walking behind him taking this picture, I couldn't help but smile. Best dad and hubby award right here!!! ;)

Nothing is better than hoping up on daddy's lap for some ice. {if you want mags to come sit with you, offer her ice, she will come}

Jumping and swinging with Daddy is fun too!

Thanks babe for being the best daddy to Maggie Claire, and the best husband to me! We have lots of surprises for you today, and we hope you love them!!!!

Happy Father's Day!!!

love, Maggie Claire

NYC part 2 11 Jun 2012 6:29 AM (12 years ago)

I'm still thinking about all the fun we had in NYC, and I wanted to share some more pics of our trip!

One of the subway entrances in the city.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was NBC studios. A lady gave us free tickets to the NBC studio tour, which was a big plus for us, because we were in line to buy them when she gave them to us! My fav show of all time is Friday Night Lights. I love Coach Taylor and his wife Tammy, and who couldn't love Tim Riggins?!?!? They had a whole section of FNL swag in the NBC store, so funny! I didn't buy anything, but I did take a picture of some of the stuff!

The week we were there, Will Ferrell was hosting SNL, and people lined up 3 days in advanced just for standby tickets, it was crazy seeing people camp out for it! Who knows if they even got in! We did get standby tickets for Jummy Fallon, but they didn't take any standby tickets the day we got them.

We did get to see Jermaine, the winner of the voice!!! He was walking to fast, so when he walked past us, all I got was this picture of the side of him! We went to China town, I wanted to do a little shopping, I bought a watch locket necklace and a cute knock off purse! :)

One of the coolest things that we saw was the 911 memorial, and the new freedom tower #1 and tower #2. The memorial was so cool, everyone should have a chance to see it. It put into reality somewhat what it was like that day, even though, I really can't even imagine what it was like. Seeing all the names of the people who were lost in the tragedy, it really was heartbreaking, and makes me so thankful for my family.

We went on a little harbor cruise boat ride all through the Hudson river (right where the plane landed in the Hudson) and we rode by the statue of liberty on Ellis Island. We would have gone to the island, but the statue of liberty is under construction, so we decided not to. I love the statue of liberty!!!

I loved all of the bridges! I don't know which bridge this one is, but they were all beautiful! We wanted to walk the brooklyn bridge, but we never got a chance to.

Here is a view of the new towers being built. The tallest one on the left is the freedom tower. Beautiful!

Here is Mike and I in central park. This was the bridge that is in a lot of movies. Central park was beautiful, and such a peaceful place. We walked around a little bit, but then we just sat on a bench there for a little while. We got tired of walking so much! It is such a different lifestyle!

These next couple of pictures were from the top of the rock, and that is central park! I never realized how big central park was!

These flags are outside the NBC studios, the ones you see on the today show! When we toured the studios, we actually got to go in studio 1A where they film the today show! Studio 1A is the only studio that has a window in it that they film from. All the other windows you see on the other shows are all fake. :) I was the only one on our tour that new the studio number. I told them I watch too much Kathy Lee and Hoda! lol

Thank you Stephanie for showing us around the city! We had a great time!!

It sure was a great seeing this sweet girl greet me with a flower!!!

You can't go to NYC without buying matching family tshirts. Mike got a grey one!

I love this sweet girl, she is growing up so fast!

"But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him.
His salvation extends to the children’s children"

Psalm 103:17

Welcome to New York City! 31 May 2012 12:09 PM (12 years ago)

I am so excited about writing this post about our trip to New York City last week!!! We had the best time, and we could have stayed for another week and been busy the whole time! This was our first time in the city for Mike and I. When we first got there, we were in traffic{of course for about 45 minutes}, and headed straight to times square! Our hotel was right in Manhattan, so only about 10 blocks from Times Square. It was amazing, I loved the busyness of it, and especially all big screens everywhere. We walked EVERYWHERE, which made us exhausted, so a couple of days we came back to our hotel and napped in the afternoon! Here is me in times square the first time walking through it!

I apologize for all the photos, I just have to take a lot of pictures for me to remember everything I saw! ;)

Seriously, there is a starbucks on every corner. In Charleston, where we live there are about 7 starbucks total. And none of them are conveniently close to my house. We enjoyed quite a few stops there. :)

Mike and I at "Top of the Rock" Rockefeller center- what a beautiful view!

My "bestie from birth" Stephanie, lives in NYC, and it was so fun meeting up with her a few days!!! We had a lot of fun seeing her, and she showed us all around NYC. This is us in SOHO, and we went to little Italy that night and ate at Lombardi's! yummy New York Pizza!

Times Square: my favorite place! I love all the stores there, and it was so fun just to people watch! They have bleachers set up in times square for that purpose, and we just sat for a while just watching everything. Oh, and I haven't mentioned about the 4 story forever 21!!! It was amazing! Mike and I both got something, and it was so fun to shop underground, because all the stores go down, definitely interesting!

This next picture was from top of the empire state building, you can see how bright times square is at night! unbelievable!!!

One of the coolest things that we did while in NY was seeing spiderman on broadway! We we went the tickets booth in times square the morning of the shows, and they give them to you for 30, 40, or 50% off. The spiderman tickets were 40% off, so we did good! The show was amazing, and I would recommend it to anyone! {I'm a huge Peter Parker fan}. I wanted to take pictures during the show, but of course, it wasn't allowed, and I tried to sneak one and Mike said, "Don't even think about it!" haha.

Later that night we met up with Stephanie and went to the FAO Schwartz toy store and played the big piano. Then we hit up this amazing place called Dylan's Candy bar, and had milkshakes. They were so good, and the place was so fun! If I had a candy store, it would totally look like that. They had these giant cupcakes you could sit in!!

Waiting for the subway with Stephanie! I liked riding the subway in NYC, but I was so confused with all the tracks & the letters! Good thing, I was with Mike because he had the app on his phone of all the train maps!

Part two of our trip coming soon!!!

springtime fun 19 Apr 2012 4:46 PM (13 years ago)

Hi friends! I haven't been around on the blog much, but if you follow me on twitter, fb, & instagram, you probably can tell that warm weather is my love language! ;) We have been enjoying the outdoors maybe a little too much {hence my sunburn shoulders from the beach yesterday}! I just thought I would share some pictures of our fun times outside lately!

This is my new favorite picture of Maggie Claire! Seriously, the polka dots are killing me! I could eat her up! ;)

We were at the beach for our missional moms April large gathering this week, and had the best time! I love love love going to the beach, but when you go with your friends, it's so much better, and Maggie Claire had the best time!

Her strawberry swim suit & hat this year are just a bonus to her sweetness.

This was from a few weeks ago at the GFI Charleston Easter egg hunt. This was her official first egg hunt, and let's just say she picked it up really fast, as you can see with her basket full of 20+ eggs!

If you want to join me for some springtime fun, I'm hosting a playdate at wannamaker park this coming Wednesday, April 25th at 11am! We will be meeting at the sprinklers, so bring your kids in their swimsuits & a lunch, and we'll have some fun! If you have any questions, just email me hilarysurratt@gmail.com

Have a great weekend! :)

miscellany 26 Feb 2012 8:05 PM (13 years ago)

Maggie Claire has become really good at stalling for bedtime. She is only 16 months old and she has already figured it out! When she brings me another book and signs "please", how can I resist this sweet face? Yup, that was our stack last night of the 11 books we read. So blessed to be able to read books to her. Not to mention, I love the fact that she loves reading. I'm hoping she will continue her love for reading and books! :)

Silly girl, she was giggling while I was trying to take her picture before she went to bed in her crib. I just want to remember all of these sweet moments with her! :)

Mike's parents were in town this weekend, and every time they leave, I wish they could stay just a little bot longer! Maggie Claire getting some mimi and papa squeezes in before they left, so sweet.

And because I can never get enough of this sweet girl, here are some pictures from last week. She stacked the cakes all by her self and we told her to say "tada!" then tried to sweetly repeat it. There were a few really warm days in the high 70s and we celebrated with our first popsicles of 2012!

I had to put sunscreen on her after I realized her shoulders were getting pink. Then she woke up the next day in a rash from the sunscreen on her face, shoulders, and neck where I put the sunscreen. :( Looks like we'll be getting some Aveeno baby sunscreen or something for sensitive skin soon for her! This was taken right after she woke up drinking her milk cup. I was worried for her all morning, then I just started praying for her, and by noon, it was gone! Praise the Lord!

Another day last week, I caught her stealing my sweet tea outside! She tasted it, and then gave me a funny look, haha. silly girl! She only drinks water and milk normally, so when she gets something else, she is shocked! {she does have diluted juice too at parties, or if we are out at a restaurant and it comes with her meal, she's not deprived! hehe}

I am a lover of these fruit/veggie squeezes. They are easy to take places and Maggie Claire loves them! Beech Nut just came out with some, and they are only 98cents. great deal, b/c sometimes they can be up to almost $2! I was super excited when chickfila started putting them as an option in the kids meals!

One great thing about when grandparents are in town and wanting to watch Mags, I get out and do some clothes shopping! I had a gift card from Christmas that I hadn't spent yet, so I was excited! Here's me standing in line for the dressing room at forever 21. They really need to open another one of these in Charleston! It's always a mad house when I go in there! I got a lot of clothes for spring! I was excited! Now, I just need a tan so I can wear my new yellow dress! ;)

I'm linking up with my sweet friend carissa over at lowercase letters.

Happy Monday Yall! Have a great day!

"And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

John 14:13

Maggie Claire update & some outside fun 22 Feb 2012 6:22 PM (13 years ago)

These past couple of weeks I have seriously been reminding myself of how blessed I am to have Maggie Claire! She amazes me everyday, and she is already getting so smart. Maggie Claire is now 16.5 months old, and as healthy as can be! When we took her to her last doctors appointment, she was a little over 23 pounds, and I think 33 inches tall. She got her 15 month shots, and she had to get some blood drawn, and it was so pitiful. We gave her a sucker when they started to draw the blood, so that helped with her laying still, but she still cried when they stuck her :( She was a trooper and was obviously spoiled for the rest of the day! ;)

I took these sweet pictures of her last week while we were playing outside. It was still a little cold, so I was trying to get her to wear the hat. I got this cute picture before she pulled it off her head! She knows she's cute! ha!

Maggie Claire loves playing with her soccer ball, and a lot of the time, I will see her carrying around both her basketball and soccer ball at the same time! She was hugging her soccer ball and running at the same time her cheeks were jiggling! This toddlerhood stage is so fun.

She is getting quite the personality and I love it! She says words like mama, daddy, choo choo, cheese, side{outside}, shoes, mimi, papa, oma, opa, and she tries to say Jack "ack" and Tate "ate" too. Mags will try to repeat just about anything you say, but sometimes she just looks at us like we are crazy when we ask her to say something! lol.

Some of her favorite things to do are play outside, eat {she eats anything and everything!!}, watch yo gabba gabba, veggie tales, toy story 3, play with her picnic basket, play with her kitchen, and her most favorite thing still to do is read books! Today I saw her walk over to the stairs, sit on the bottom step with her legs crossed indian style and she was looking at one of her favorite books, Harry the Dirty Dog. She loves that book! I tried to snap a picture, but it was right when Mike got home, so as soon as she heard the door open, she started running to her daddy. :)

We are enjoying this fun stage of toddlerhood, and are looking forward to and loving this beautiful weather we are having today and tomorrow! We are also very excited about Mike's parents coming in town this weekend from Colorado!!! yay, Mimi and Papa will be here to play with Mags! :)

1 Thessalonians 5:24

"The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it."

Happy Valentines day! 14 Feb 2012 5:40 AM (13 years ago)

Today we are going to hand out flowers at a nursing home with a few friends. I'm taking two cute kids with me! Here is some pics of Maggie Claire in her Valentines shirt! She is too cute! :)

Happy Valentines Day from our family to yours!

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”

Mark 12:30-31

chosen recap: day two 31 Jan 2012 10:00 AM (13 years ago)

Hi ladies, I am still soaking in all that I learned from the Chosen women's conference, and I wanted to share a little bit more of some wisdom I am trying to soak in from these wise ladies that poured into me 2 weeks ago. The second day started out with these two crazy ladies doing a little comedy act, and Brittany on the right had a pillow in her backside. hilarious.

Helen Lee was our first speaker of the day and she encouraged us to live out the dreams that the Lord has for us. Helen is the author of the book The Missional Mom, and just being real I haven't finished this book yet, but I am in the middle of reading it. All I can say about this book is: wow, what an encouragement to moms that have all of these hopes and dreams of "going big time", and then they have kids which seem to make us put our dreams on hold. I would highly recommend this book to any mom, especially new moms! :)

In my notes I wrote down that the Lord wants us to focus on His dreams He has for us and not so much our own dreams. How many can relate to that? Just going throughout my day I do things that I want to do, not so much focusing on what the Lord wants me to do.

Helen shared this verse with us:

"This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord."

Haggai 1:7-8

She left us with a challenge of living out the Lord's dreams for us and encouraged us that "If I'm alive, my mission is not over!" I knew they Lord was speaking to me about what my mission is and living it out for Him!

After the morning session, there were breakouts all over the church, and I attended the breakout with the fabulous Jessi Connolly! She encouraged us to speak life in every area of our lives. In our home, in ministry, through social media, and on our blogs. She encouraged us to ask the Lord throughout the day, "who is louder, me or Him?" That hit me hard, because sometime I go throughout my day and I am not letting the Lord speak louder than me. That is where this encouragement is so good, I am reminded that the Lord is bigger than me, I need to let Him lead me throughout my day! I am trying to apply "speaking life" to my life daily. Thank you Jessi for all your encouragement!

Jessi left us speaking life over us with the scripture Isaiah 61:1

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,

because the LORD has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners."

After the breakout, our missional moms leaders group had the awesome opportunity to take Helen Lee to lunch. We had the best time, and so encouraging to share what the Lord is doing in our lives. I love each and every one of these ladies! If you want to know more about the missional moms community please visit this link! You can also follow updates on twitter! @missionalmoms

It was so beautiful to eat lunch looking on the beach and enjoy this beautiful January day with 70 degree temps! This is myself with Helen Lee. She is such a sweet women of God and was fun to introduce her to shrimp and grits! :) southern hospitality right there!

The last session of the day Lisa Bevere spoke again and she talked to us about being dangerous and awake! She talked about her most recent book Lioness Arising and how to wake up and change the world!

Lisa shared this verse with us:

Numbers 23:24

"The people rise like a lioness; they rouse themselves like a lion that does not rest till he devours his prey and drinks the blood of his victims."

Last but not least, the after party! This picture was taken by one of my friends before it all got started. There was dancing, a photo booth, a candy bar, marshmallow roasting stations to make smores outside, and did I mention dancing?!?!

It really was such a blast! You heard it here first, I'm inviting you to Chosen 2013, January 24-25, mark your calendars, take of work, you are not going to want to miss it! :)

What a hot mess we were at the end of it all. I don't think I left the church until 11:15pm, and there was still people dancing! Can't wait until Chosen 2013! :)

"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession."

Deuteronomy 7:6

I am Chosen! recap: day 1 24 Jan 2012 12:21 AM (13 years ago)

Wow! Where do I begin? This past weekend was amazing. I attended the women's conference at Seacoast Church, and I am already way too excited about next year! I am still soaking in all that God has done in my life this weekend. I really just wanted to share some scripture and pictures from this weekend. SO here we go!

As you walk up to the church there was a red carpet leading straight to this huge mirror with flowers and beautiful decor around it. There was a vision for this from the women's minister and what a blessing this was for so many women. The women were escorted by a few men of the church on the red carpet. It was just a great start to the conference of showing all the women that THEY ARE CHOSEN! See that beautiful chosen logo painted on the window? yep, my sweet friend April did that on the windows all over the church. SO beautiful!

This verse kept coming up throughout the conference and the breakout I went to on day two, and I wanted to share it just to remind all of you ladies reading here that the Lord is with you and has anointed each one of us. What more could we ask for?!?! We are so blessed to be chosen by Him!

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

because he has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Luke 4:17-18

I am a part of the missional moms community, so I made this sign for our info booth. I also made one for the sisterhood booth! They looked beautiful on the tables!

Here a a couple of the seating environments in the breezeway at the church- one in which was a bed swing hanging in the hallway. Everything was so beautiful!

The first night of the conference our awesome Pastor, Greg Surratt spoke along with Lisa Bevere. If you have never heard her speak, she is phenomenal! Lisa encouraged us to be virtuous & capable. Now those are two things that I am now striving to be through the Lord to serve others. I love this verse she shared with us:

"The Lord announces victory, and throngs of women shout the happy news."

Psalm 68:11

I was blessed to be apart of the Chosen boutique and sell some of my items that I am now listing in my etsy shop. {I'm putting the headbands in there soon, I promise!} This was the only picture I took of the headbands and hairbows, but I also had some monogrammed items for sale too.

Some of the other women who sold in the Chosen boutique were

Jessi from Naptime diaries, April from Worship Artist Ministries, Tiffany from the Sassy Shop, Stacie with her Sabbath in a Jar scrub, Jessica & her adoption fund beauties, and Hillary from noonday. It was such a blessing to be able to hangout with these ladies all weekend while we sold our crafty beauties! Each one of these ladies are dear friends of mine, and I support them, you should too! :)

In case you haven't seen me, I got 8 inches cut off my hair on Thursday morning before the Chosen conference. I absolutely love it! If you are in Charleston and need a beautician, Ashley is your girl! Message her on fb and she will get you in! Tell her that I sent you! :)

It was kind of perfect timing for a haircut. When I got to the church and walked up on the red carpet and looked in that mirror, I was reminded that He has chose me, no matter if my hair is short, long, messy, or just perfect. That humbled me just to see myself with a new fancy do, that He loves me no matter what!

Lisa Bevere also shared this verse with us at the conference:

"So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law."

Galatians 5:1

That is some powerful stuff! We are free in Him. Praise the Lord! To Him be all the Glory!

our busy sweet girl 18 Jan 2012 10:43 AM (13 years ago)

Time is going by way too fast, and I can't seem to get enough of this sweet girl. She is getting so big, and so busy! I can hardly keep up with her! I've been trying to take lots of pictures lately, to soak up all of this toddlerhood because before I know it, she will be going to school and talking about boys! {oh goodness, not ready for that!} But when she gives me and her Daddy this sweet face, she can pretty much get anything thing she wants.

Then again, most of the time, the pictures I take look a little more something like these two:

You mamas know what I'm talking about! Babies running from the camera because they have so many more important things to do while outside than to sit still and say "cheese" for the camera! lol.

Me and Mags, and you can see Mike taking the picture in the reflection of my sunglasses! {What a hottie!} And my hair is getting chopped off tomorrow. I'm pretty excited!

Then there was that one day that I decked Maggie Claire out in some cheetah and her jean skirt. yeah, she rocked it with her pretty self! :) I love having a little girl! I just dress her up like a baby doll everyday! {But we are praying for a maggie claire to have baby brother next, to even out the pink/blue ratio around here! lol}

I love her face when she looks down. Her cheeks look so sweet and those eyelashes are so pretty!

Yeah, I just want to kiss that sweet face all day long.

But I promise you, she does cry and pitch fits. It's so cute to take pictures of your kid crying, especially when they don't get there way! {She wanted another snack, after already having about 157 snacks! seriously! hehe}

Happy Wednesday and I hope you all have a great rest of the week! Tomorrow Chosen starts and I'll be back when it's all over to tell you all about it! :)

"Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!” "

Lamentations 3:23-24

a new year 12 Jan 2012 7:46 AM (13 years ago)

It's a new year, new goals, new inspirations, new exciting things, and a fresh way to start something new in my life! Oh yes... and this sweet little 15 month old to keep me on my toes! {seriously, can't believe she is 15 months old}.

I've been thinking so much about this year, I made a list of several things I would like to do this year, and a couple I've already gotten started on! You might have seen my list that I tweeted about. I started an etsy shop last week, and without even promoting it, I've already made my first sale! I only have about 8 items for sale right now, but I am adding more weekly! I would love for you to visit my shop and tell me what you would like to see more of! I just finished a Valentines shirt for Maggie Claire that I haven't listed yet, but it is so cute!

I've added more things to my list like taking a weekly beach trip with friends this summer. We will be at the beach more this summer than last, and that makes me so giddy! Another one I've added is to have more date nights with my handsome hubby. There are never enough date nights! I would like to go on a big vacation this year, maybe we'll finally take our cruise! haha! {You can read about our last cruise experience here about how we never made it on the boat!}

Starting the year off right is key for me! I've been getting ready for Chosen, the women's conference at my church, and I am so so so so excited about it. I just can't believe that it's next week!!! If you are in the Charleston area, you need to check it out. You can buy tickets here, you will not regret it! It's going to be fabulous!!

Well, babies are calling my name... so I better run! I'm aiming to blog 2x a week now, but we'll see how that goes!

"The spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me because the Lord has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives."

Isaiah 61:1

cousin fun & hat weather 5 Jan 2012 7:10 PM (13 years ago)

On Wednesday, we headed over to my brother & sister-in-law's house for Maggie Claire to have a little playdate with her cousins Jack and Tate! She had the.best.time. Thanks Bethany & Brad for hosting us. :)

The kids played in the backyard for a while and ran off all of their energy!

Jack was showing us all his new digger he got for Christmas.

Attempt to get a picture of all three of them. They are so sweet! I love these little blonde headed babies! :)

Since it has been a little chilly outside lately, you know I had to get pictures of Maggie Claire in her adorable cupcake hat she got for Christmas!

seriously- cutest cupcake ever!

teaching mags how to warm her hands by rubbing them together

I love this picture of Maggie Claire and her friend Will who is 11 months old. I watch Will a few days a week and Maggie Claire loves him. She gets so excited when he is here! He is such a sweetie! :)

"A friend loves at all times"

Proverbs 17:17a

blessed this Christmas! 26 Dec 2011 7:44 PM (13 years ago)

We had such a wonderful Christmas this year. Mike's parents came from California and stayed with us for 4 days, and it was so nice having them here! They didn't have any problem "watching Maggie Claire" while Mike and I ran errands and had to be at all 6 Christmas Eve and the "Eve Eve" services. She had the best time with them, and today was looking for them when she woke up. They would have stayed longer, but they are moving to Denver next week, so they had to get back and pack up there house! She is the new CEO of MOPS {mothers of preschoolers} and we are all very excited about her new job!

Here is our family at the Christmas Eve service!

I wore my hair curled like this 3 days in a row. I'm thinking it should be my new hairdo for 2012 to spice up my "mommy look" a little bit! :) Right before we were leaving for church, I realized I never made Maggie Claire a headband to wear- I whipped this adorable one up really fast and it turned out too perfect! :) {I'm loving us in our matching pink too!!!}

Me, Mike, Maggie Claire, Mike's dad, sister and mom :)

Mags decided to stick her tongue out for the pictures of me and her. Then because we were all laughing she kept doing it. This totally sums up her personality! my sweet and silly girl! I love her and this picture of us!

My memaw came in town for Christmas too! Here is our 4 generations picture! Memaw, Maggie Claire, my mom and me!

Christmas day we woke up and did Christmas with Mike's family, and Maggie Claire got a cute little pony to ride! Of course, she loved it and loved the fact that it plays music.

After presents and breakfast at home, we headed to my dad's mom's house {Mama Nell}. She lives about 2 hours away, so Maggie Claire took a short nap on the way there and a LONG nap on the way home! I was so thankful she slept for just about the entire 2 hour drive on the way home! Here is me and a few of my cousins that were there. I should have taken more pictures, this is the only good one I got! Here is Meribeth, Madelaine, Blair, and myself. I brought headbands that I made and they each picked one out! so cute! :)

The last stop on Christmas day was at my mom's house. My grandparents, 2 uncles, and my brothers all came over to join the fun! I think there was a total of 18 people there, so it got really crazy {but to fun} when we were all opening presents! Here is Maggie Claire trying to chase after her big cousins, Jack and Tate. They had the best time together!

My mom got Maggie Claire the "over-sized" pottery barn chair for her room, and of course she loved it! Tate wanted to join in the chair too! :) They are so cute together, Maggie Claire loves Jack and Tate so much. She tries to keep up with them, and loves loves loves to hug and kiss them. In this picture, she is "patting" him! so precious!

We had a great Christmas Week. Mike and I have the rest of the week off work, so we will be enjoying this sabbath!!!

Thankful for our Lord and Savior who was born to celebrate this special holiday and then died on the cross for us to celebrate his returning soon!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

Christmas cards! 20 Dec 2011 6:00 PM (13 years ago)

I love love love doing Christmas cards. I have done a photo card every year since Mike and I were dating{yea, I'm crazy like that!} and I try to make sure everyone who sends us one, gets one too, so bring them on! :)

My fabulous dear friend Jessi designed our Christmas cards this year and I love them! I should have ordered more, because I ran out after getting 1/2 way down my list, so I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas this year by sharing it through my blog and fb! I am off work today until January 2nd, so I will be relaxing and spending time with my family.... and monogramming! {hehe} Maybe I'll be blogging more too these next 2 weeks!

Merry Christmas from the Surratt family: Mike, Hilary, and sweet Maggie Claire :)

thanksgiving week 28 Nov 2011 6:20 AM (13 years ago)

My house has been decorated in fall things, and I love it! {the Christmas decor will be coming out tomorrow, can't wait!}

Since my 25th birthday was on Thanksgiving this year, we had a lot to celebrate this past week!

I made a "happy thanksgiving" banner and place setting cards for all of our family coming into town to spend thanksgiving with us!

Last week I told you guys about my birthday present... and here it is! A new "monogramming/embroidery" sewing machine! I have actually been putting all of my paint, bake, & create business money that I've been making lately towards this machine, and then Mike surprised me the other day and said "oh, I ordered your machine and it's coming tomorrow!" Of course, I started flipping out and waited anxiously by the door all afternoon. I still have a lot of learning to do, so I am telling myself practice, practice, practice! :) I have seriously already almost lost my salvavtion over this machine, but it is coming together and I am loving it!!!

We found out this week that Maggie Claire likes corn on the cob- just like her mama! she was so cute eating it and did a pretty good job at it too!

Will and Maggie Claire enjoying a ride in the wagon. They are so precious together, and Maggie Claire loves him so much!

This picture of MC makes me laugh so much. Since she is walking now, I always seem to catch her with this serious determined face, love this sweet girl and I am so thankful for her!

I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving weekend {we sure did!} My in-laws are leaving to head back to California today, we sure enjoyed having them here! The best part is, they'll be back for Christmas! yay!

****Also- My sister-in-law, Bethany, will be having my new sweet baby girl niece, Sophie Grace on Wednesday, if not sooner! I'll post all kinds of sweetness when she makes her big debut in this world!****

my lil cupcake 22 Nov 2011 7:37 AM (13 years ago)

Today I dressed Mags up in her baker's attire. It hangs in the kitchen with my aprons and she always wants to play with it. She is just now getting into wearing the hat, so I had to snap a few pictures of course! She is her mama's girl and already loves baking!

She is officially a walker now. She walks more than she crawls, so I guess that means it's official. My "big" sweet girl!

Maybe she will surprise me with a cookie cake for my birthday on Thursday?! um.. only if her daddy helps!

Have a great day everyone!

welcome mid-november :) 14 Nov 2011 6:00 AM (13 years ago)

sweet november!

I love November for many reasons, one of the main reasons is because it's thanksgiving, and just thinking about all the things I can be thankful for. My family is one of them, and so thankful that we are hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year! Mike's parents and grandparents are coming from California and St. Louis! I'm excited because I'm buying a turkey and making lots of yummy foods! oh, and decorating... which makes my heart happy! :)

Maybe one of the most exciting things about november is that it's my birthday month! ;) This year my birthday falls on Thanksgiving day, which what a blessing that is!! Everyone should be thankful for me. :) {I'm totally kidding, hehe} I've been saving up for my own birthday present this year, and I am just too excited about it... details coming soon!

I am so thankful for November and for this sweet baby girl who isn't so much a baby anymore. I'm also thankful for the excitement and busyness that this season brings.

Also for being in our new home this year. Typing that just fills my heart with joy knowing that this is our house to build our family in for the Lord! These pictures make me thankful for a my beautiful big backyard to take pictures in!

Watching this little baby girl grow has been one of the most precious things to see this year and I'm praying that her heart will be thankful the more she does grow.

I'm so thankful for my discipleship huddle that is so encouraging and challenging to me. We are doing a "no excuse november" that our women's ministry director started. It means there is no excuse to not read his word daily, so we are twittering #NEN for accountability along with a verse that we read that day. These women keep me accountable, and I am so thankful for that!

{follow me on twitter @hilarysurratt}

so blessed and so thankful!

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

soaking in her "big girl" sweetness! 7 Nov 2011 7:25 PM (13 years ago)

The time just kept getting away from me and I never posted these adorable 12 month photos that I took of Maggie Claire. Today she turned 13 months! This is my last monthly update of her and I am so glad I did these for her first year. I know that I'll always have these posts to come back and look on for all of us to remember! Without twitter, blogging, and status updates on facebook, I wouldn't remember anything! So thankful for amazing technology these days ;)

Now for the cuteness...

Maggie Claire modeling her leopard attire :)

She is full of personality! Sweet & happy as can be!

Her cuteness makes me giggle, complete from head to toe!

12 month stats:

19 pounds 8 ounces

30 inches

Last week when I took her in to the doctor for her ear infection, she weighed 20 pounds 3 ounces. Finally passing the 20 pound mark! ;) She was 12 months and 3 weeks old.

She is completely weaned now from breastfeeding. It was bittersweet the last time I nursed her. We were down to just the morning feeding and the next morning I skipped it, gave her the sippy cup with her whole milk in it. She was upset with me and cried because she new that wasn't in our morning routine of nursing her on our bed. :( She got over it in just 2 days, thankfully, because it broke my heart a little... just another baby step of her becoming a big kid.

Maggie Claire took her first steps last Wednesday! We were at church and she took 4 steps to me. I was so glad I was with her to see them! Ever since then she has been working on walking to us. I think the most steps she has taken total is 5. I'm sure by the couple next weeks or so she will be walking everywhere! We moved her up to the "new walker" room on Sunday in the nursery. I was actually working in that room, so it worked out perfect. ;)

This has been a big month for her! Not only is she completely on whole milk, she also learned to drink out of a straw, and she now has 4 teeth! Two on the top and two on the bottom. More are about to pop out soon- I already see them coming through!

The girl will eat just about anything you give her. She now loves bananas, spaghetti, and chocolate. Yes, the halloween candy stash has been found and I can't keep her away from it! hehe. I only let her have one chocolate bar though!

We are at the early stages of transitioning out of her morning nap. Two mornings a week she doesn't get her nap in , and she doesn't do too bad, but she definitely still needs it. Right now I try to only let her sleep an hour in the morning so she will be fall asleep in the afternoon. It works most of the time. But seriously, she is such a great napper and sleeper at night. I can't complain at all! Even if she doesn't nap, she still stays in her crib, plays with her blanket & bunny and I'll usually give her books to read. {her favorite thing to do}

She LOVES reading books. We wants us to read ALL of her books to her every night. It is so sweet, how much she loves it because when we get done with one, she hands us another one and immediately shows us her "please" sign! too funny.

Maggie Claire, you melt my heart everyday{multiple times a day}, and I just love you so much! You make me and your dad laugh all the time, especially when you talk all your jibber jabber. You have so much to say and you "talk" all day long! You are such a sweet and good girl. You don't like getting your diaper changed, or changing your clothes. Hopefully it's just a phase! You love love love your lovie bunny. You sleep with it, and as soon as I give it to you, you bury your face in it and way to go night night. You are just so precious and as much as I don't want my baby to grow up, we look forward to raising you for the Lord! Thanks for being the best daughter anyone could ever ask for! We love you Mags!!!!

"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy." Phillipians 1:3-4

party details 24 Oct 2011 7:44 PM (13 years ago)

Party day! With all the crafting and preparation that I did for Maggie Claire's party, of course I would share all of the details with you!!

Here is her invitation made by the fabulous Traci over at punkinprints! She did the best job!!!!

{I cropped the bottom off because our address was on there}

I hung paper lanterns on the porch outside, and I had a couple of paper pinwheels too.

I made a ribbon wreath with a bag full of scrap ribbons that I had. It turned out so cute!

up close of the wreath

The kids corner at the party! On the left is the hairbow party favors that I made, and on the right is the pin the candle on the cupcake game. In the middle was bubbles for the boys.

hairbows for the girls :)

The cards said "Thank you for coming to my party! Love, Maggie Claire"

We served lemonade and sweet tea in pink cups with paper straws. The paper straws and the polka dot balloons came from The Polka Dot Market.

I made a paper pennant banner that said "happy birthday mags" to hang on the fence and it turned out so cute! I also made cupcake toppers for all the cupcakes with the same graphics.

I also ordered cupcake shaped cookies from my dear friend Anita. You should definitely check out Anita's sweets and treats! She does the best job and they are so yummy! I can't wait to have another party to order some more!!! {the stripes on them matched the paper straws}

The food table right before everyone dug in! :)

Here is the birthday party girl! Her outfit was so fun, I can't wait to put it on her again, she looks precious in it!!! Her outfit was from a local boutique in Charleston, but you can order it here.

We love you Maggie Claire!!!!

I would do a million parties for this baby girl!!!!!!

Cake time, she definitely enjoyed it!

She only stayed in my lap to open the first few presents, but she got lots of cute things and fun toys!

Thank you to everyone who came to her party! We enjoyed having you over at our house!

the perfect day 23 Oct 2011 4:50 PM (13 years ago)

I wanted to tell you all about Maggie Claire's birthday. We had the best day celebrating her and just spending time with her :)

Here we are right before lunch. We went to Cane's and we ate yummy chicken, which is her favorite. I love how she has her hands folded in this picture. She is precious and she totally knew it was her birthday, she was acting so giddy!

Big girl, she is so proud drinking her milk in her sippy cup!

Enjoying lunch a little too much.... {notice the foot propped up}

After lunch we went and picked up Mimi Sherry from the airport. She had a lot of birthday surprises for the princess!

We hung out outside, {her favorite thing to do is go "side", which means outside}

Swinging with Mimi Sherry

Before we went to dinner, I gave her a ponytail. It was so cute!

She has the best time pushing her princess car around!

I still can't believe how fast this year has gone by. I think I only cried a couple of times that day realizing that my "baby" is growing up! We had the best day with her. It was perfect!

fun fall day! 15 Oct 2011 6:49 PM (13 years ago)

Today was such a fun fall day! This morning I took Maggie Claire to get her picture taken in her cupcake halloween costume. Seriously, it was so cute. I have never taken her to get her pictures done by anyone, because I have just always done them, but this opportunity came up last minute and so I jumped on it. She did such a good job that the photographer gave her her first sucker. She loved it and sucked all of it gone! I can't wait to see how they turned out! Here is mags eating her lollipop with my mom who came with us this morning!

After taking pictures we went and ate at Chickfila. She has never really played in the playplace, so I let her play for a few minutes and she was acting like she could play in there forever! Crazy girl! {She had her legwarmers & bloomers on underneath her costume}

After Mags woke up from her afternoon nap, we went to the pumpkin patch at Boone Hall. I forgot my camera, so all of these pictures were taken on my phone! Here is our family picture at the pumpkin patch, We had fun taking pictures with all the pumpkins!

Maggie Claire even picked out her own little pumpkin. She was so sweet playing with it.

Maggie Claire with her Oma & Opa

I have been decorating my house for fall. I put my little pumpkin lights outside with our candycorn welcome sign! :) I think we will actually have lots of trick or treaters too because we have quite a few kids on our street! yay! :)

Happy Fall y'all!

Happy 1st birthday Maggie Claire! 6 Oct 2011 8:35 PM (13 years ago)

Maggie Claire, you are one!

One year ago today, I held you in my arms for the first time. I couldn't stop studying your sweet little face, your teeny tiny toes, and kissing those sweet chubby cheeks.

the most beautiful little girl I have ever seen, your sweet smile just melts my heart.

Your big blue eyes and wispy blonde hair are just as precious as can be

{I prayed for that blonde & blue when you were in the womb}

We ask you how old you are and you show us the number one on your sweet little finger...

...then you clap with excitement because that is what we do and it just reminds me of how smart you already are. You are so proud of yourself for doing it too.

you are very outgoing, talking to everyone you see in any store we are in. You tell them "hi", and it makes me giggle. praying for you to be just as excited to tell others about Jesus one day.

you are as fast as can be when crawling everywhere, especially when you are going for the stairs or we are chasing you. Then I remind you that mommy & daddy are always faster. :)

You could stay outside all day long, especially if swinging in the swing is involved.

your last favorite thing of the day to do is read your books. You have about 20 books on your bookshelf and you like to look at all of them. I hope you continue to love reading books forever!

I am so blessed to be your mommy and I love you more than you could ever know. But I just want you to always remember that God loves you even more!

I hope your birthday is so fun, and I also hope you enjoy your party!

Happy 1st birthday sweet mags.

xoxo

"This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

playdate with a purpose 3 Oct 2011 5:53 PM (13 years ago)

Last week I hosted the first "playdate with a purpose" at a park that is about 1 mile from my house. The goal for these playdates is to connect with other moms in the community, build friendships with them and be there for them whenever the time is needed. I had a really fun time and was able to connect with a lot of moms. I'm praying that these moms that come will see the light of Jesus shining through me how I love on my daughter and live out my life. I am just trying to send the message out to all these moms that The Jesus died for them, and if hanging out with them will help them realize this, I am all for it! :)

The vision of these "playdates with a purpose" came from a sweet friend of mine Jenna, after reading the book by Helen Lee called Missional Mom. I am almost done reading it, and it is soooo good! you can get it here off amazon. It just has helped me to realize that serving the Lord is my top priority in life, and being a mom comes after that. It is great motivation on loving the Lord and putting Him first, and being a great mom.

I made these cute cards to invite other moms who were at the park and encourage them to come. My friend Julie, who was with me made cookies to pass out as a welcoming invitation! She made the best cookies and brownies!!!

This is Maggie Claire {in the white} with her sweet new friend Allie {in the blue}. They were so cute swinging together! I went to school with Allie's mom, Lindsay, and was very excited that she was able to come. I think we are already building a great community here! :)

Here is my sweet baby girl playing on the slide, She seriously had the best time climbing up that slide! Thankfully my mom came and helped me with her while I was able to pass out some cards/cookies and invite some other moms who were at the park to come back to the playdate!!!

Our next playdate will be held on October 26th at 11:30, wannamaker park playground, and we are doing a little costume party for all the little kiddos. This will be another excuse for Mags to dress up in her adorable cupcake costume that we got her! umm... cuteness!!! :)

If any of you are in the Charleston area and would love to come to any of our playdates here is a list below of all the ones that a group of my friends from Seacoast Church are offering! Also, if you have any questions please feel free to email me hilarysurratt@gmail.com

Last Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. – Wannamaker Park
2nd Monday at 11:00 a.m. – Park Circle
2nd Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. – Park West Playground
1st Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. – Park West Playground
2nd Thursday at 11:30 a.m. – Pirate Park on Daniel Island
1st Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. – Hibben Playground in Belle Hall
1st Monday at 5:00 p.m. – The Gates, Dunes West

"Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6

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