Seven Months and Nine Days...

Welcome to the first post on "Maggie Sunshine"! If you are reading this, you most likely already are very well aware of "Maggie Sunshine", "the" Maggie, Maggie D., Maggie Waggie and all of the other nicknames she has earned during her short 7 months and 9 days. She really is the sunshine of my life and so many others feel the same way. Now, I'm not just saying that because I just happen to be her Mama. That is fact. This child has led a life like no other 7 month old that I have ever known. As her Granddaddy says, she's the strongest baby out there because she has carried us since the day she was born. A life that I have been encouraged to document. Therefore, as of this week, I am beginning a scrapbook on my Maggie and also, under much persuading on Aunt Sarah and Aunt Susanna's part, am also beginning a blog. I hope you enjoy reading and I hope this will help me, too, to remember all of the little things that make our little girl so special. Welcome on behalf of "the Maggie"...

Now for introductions:
We are Jennifer and Tom, proud parents of Maggie. We have been married for almost 2 years. Our anniversary will be on June 24, 2008. During our first two years, we have faced about every major life crisis that one can face. Only 2 months after we were married, I returned to a job that I tried to love and Tom started a new job that he absolutely truly loved. So, I hated mine, he loved his. My dream job has always been to be a mom, but at the time, this was nowhere in our near future plans. So, as Tom settled into his new job and I coped my way through mine, life went on. In November 2006, our world was shaken upside down when my Mama, Sarah Denise, was re-diagnosed with Breast Cancer. If you knew my mother, you also knew that one of her main life goals was to become a Grandmother. Oddly enough, on January 6, 2007, Tom and I found out we were pregnant. At the time, we were shocked, and my family was thrilled. Maggie was exactly the motivation that Mama needed during those days, weeks, months. As I got bigger, Mama fought harder. She had a grandbaby that she was focused on. There was nothing more that she loved than to get on Ebay and buy smocked dresses, stocking away for her baby girl that was on the way. She often would pat my tummy and ask how "her" Maggie was doing. Maggie was "her" Maggie from day one. On September 3, 2007 at 2:47, Margaret Denise came into this world. The last person I saw before I had her was my own Mama. She rushed into the delivery room to see me just in time before her Maggie was born. Then little Margaret was here. She was the most beautiful and perfect little person any of us had ever seen. Mama was the first to hold her and taking her from me, she looked at her and said, "Oh, little Margaret". Her Margaret. Exactly two weeks later, Mama was gone.

Since then, Maggie Denise has been our rock, our sunshine, our "happy place". She is beautiful in every way. Her personality and her smile just radiate from her cheeks, her dimples, her long eyelashes and she shares this with everyone she meets. I know my own Mama has been constantly with her Maggie, watching over her, kissing her when she sleeps, making sure she is warm at night, making her smile when no one is looking. Maggie's own guardian angel is her Grandmama.

So, that takes us up to now where little Mag is going on 8 months old. The purpose of this blog is simply to share Maggie with everyone. Her smile, her laugh, her little teeth, all of her firsts. Hopefully, she can bring the same sunshine to you that she brings to me every single day.